Have A Goal House Assemblies 15.1.18 #YOYP2018

Sciennes Have A Goal House Assembly 15.1.18 from Sciennes Primary School

On Monday 15th January we welcomed back pupils by holding our first House Assemblies of the new year for Grange (Ms Anstruther), Lauder (Ms Gallagher), Sienna (Ms Pearmain) and Tantallon (Mrs Noble). House and Sports Captains explained 'The Year of Young People', reflected on goals already achieved, shared their own goals for the coming year and asked pupils to think about their own goals.

Grange House - Maisie, James
Grange Sports - Iain, Flora
Lauder House - Fraser, Molly
Lauder Sports - Eilidh, Sam S
Sienna House - Sophia, Sam B
Sienna Sports - Louis, Emma
Tantallon House - Alice, Caspar
Tantallon Sports - Saad, Arwen

 

As part of the Scottish Government’s programme of themed years, 2018 is the Year of Young People (YoYP 2018).

YoYP 2018 activities and events are focusing on six themes that young people identified as most important for them as young Scots:

• Participation – looking at how young people can influence public services and decisions which affect their lives
• Education – creating a stronger role for young people in shaping their learning
• Health and Wellbeing –supporting young people to lead healthier, active lives and have opportunities to learn about and improve their mental health and resilience
• Equality and Discrimination – broadcasting the value of young Scots, challenging negative perceptions of young people, and supporting young people to take leading roles in challenging discrimination in all its forms.
• Enterprise and Regeneration – celebrating young people’s role in innovation, entrepreneurship and the Scottish economy as well as making Scotland a greener and more pleasant place to live
• Culture –celebrating young people’s talent and contribution to Scottish culture and arts.

Great to see almost all of our pupils in school uniform, and we appreciate parental support in continuing to encourage this. Warm, hooded jackets with hats, gloves and scarves at the ready, please, for the colder weather.

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You have the right to protection against discrimination.

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You have the right to an opinion and for it to be listened to and taken seriously.

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You have the right to find out things and say what you think, through making art, speaking and writing unless it breaks the rights of others.

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You have the right to be with friends and join or set up clubs— unless this breaks the rights of others.

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You have the right to the best health possible and to medical care and information.

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You have the right to education which develops your personality, respect for others’ rights and the environment.

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You have the right to play and relax by doing things like sport, music and drama.

Challenge Yourself! Challenge Your Mindset!

Sciennes Assembly Challenge Yourself 8.9.17 from Sciennes Primary School

On Friday 8th September we explored 'Challenge Your Mindset'  which is one of ten strategies in City of Edinburgh's Health and Wellbeing programme for "Building Resilience." The programme complements Sciennes' existing HWB work, successfully led by DHT Ms Carolyn Anstruther and staff and parent School Improvement groups over many years.

Pupils were encouraged to maintain a Growth Mindset and were reminded that their abilities need not be fixed. Believing that achievement is possible is important, but lots of effort and determination and being open to make and learn from mistakes are also keys to success. We watched videos from Class Dojo and Sport Scotland to encourage us to keep challenging ourselves and keep persevering in our efforts.





Miss McGrouther's P6B class has created a display with inspiring quotes on self belief entitled "Believe in Your #Selfie." Ivy and Alba researched leadership quotes for homework, working hard to impress their teacher with their extra efforts, and shared these at Assembly.

The first Maths Week Scotland takes place next week and Ms Mackintosh is leading many maths events and activities in school.  Some classes are also taking part in a national Sumdog competition, in school, at home or both.

Today, 8th September, is International Literacy Day and pupils have been invited to take part in the First Minister's Reading Challenge again this year. Reading passports have been ordered and reading challenges will take place throughout the year. One of the first is to join a local library, which then gives access to dozens of free resources such as Mathletics and ebooks.

This week P7C pupils assisted at Assembly in a quiz and in celebrating pupil achievements.

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You have the right to the best health possible and to medical care and information.

Resilience Role Models

On Friday 1st September 2017, Mr Howie led the P4-7 Assembly, continuing our 'Building Resilience' Health and Wellbeing focus by exploring Resilience Role Models and different types of role model. Mr Howie particularly focused on Teddy Roosevelt, engagingly telling the story of his fascinating, inspiring life and how he strove to overcome adversity and take on personal challenges. Mr Howie also highlighted links with some of the ten 'Be Resilient' toolkit strategies (from a City of Edinburgh HWB programme) that we will be exploring further this year.

Sciennes P4-7 Resilience Role Models Assembly 1.9.17 from Sciennes Primary School

Pupils from P7A helped launch our annual P6 and P7 Junior Awards Scheme for Schools (JASS) and we celebrated recent pupil achievements.

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You have the right to the best health possible and to medical care and information.

Be The Captain of Your Ship

Sciennes P4-7 Be The Captain of Your Ship 25.8.17 from Sciennes Primary School

On Friday 25th August 2017 we introduced pupils to Skipper, the lead character in a Health and Wellbeing programme called 'Building Resilience' which has been developed by a group of Edinburgh staff led by Karen Richmond (South Morningside Primary) and Pattie Santelices (Principal Officer Mental Health & Welllbeing, City of Edinburgh Council.) The programme complements and re-enforces our own Health and Wellbeing programme, developed by Carolyn Anstruther and staff, with support from our Parent Council Health and Wellbeing group, and well established over several years.

Primary Seven pupils from P7B helped introduce ten strategies that we will focus on throughout the year to help our pupils build resilience to support good mental health. We all got on our feet to sing 'Stronger' and considered Kid President's message that things in life may not always be 'awesome', but our response can be. Pupils were invited to research 'Resilience Role Models' at home and create a poster. A selection will be shared at next week's Assembly.





We congratulated our two Fringe Festival actresses Hannah and Faye who have had rave reviews on stage. Zoe in P4A wowed us with her Spanish language skills and we celebrated Aiden and Louis' tremendous achievements competing in an international mathematics competition in Beijing over the summer holiday.

Pupils were reminded that Pupil Council and ECO rep elections will soon take place and to prepare speeches if they wish to stand for election.

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You have the right to the best health possible and to medical care and information.

MSP Cabinet Secretary for the Environment and Climate Change Listens to Pupil Views on Air Quality

P6A pupils and Pupil ECO Group reps were delighted to have an opportunity to meet with Ms Roseanna Cunningham, MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform, on Wednesday 14th June, just ahead of the inaugural National Clean Air Day on Thursday 15th June, to share what they have been learning about air quality.

Ms Roseanna Cunningham Cabinet Secretary for the Environment listens to pupil views on air quality

Mr Gregor Hutchison with his P6A class, members of the Pupil ECO Group and JRSO Josh

Pupil ECO Group member Faye leading the march for improved air quality and increased active travel

James being interviewed by STV News

Lucy being interviewed by STV News

Principal Air Scientist Colin Gillespie and Senior Specialist Air Scientist Ian Wager from the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) worked with Sciennes' Science Specialist, Mr Mark McKenna, and P6 Class Teacher, Mr Gregor Hutchison, to deliver practical experiments designed to help the children understand how pollution and emissions can adversely affect air quality.

Principal Air Scientist Colin Gillespie, SEPA

Pupils from Mr Hutchison's P6A class have been learning about air pollution using SEPA's educational  resources

Raising awareness of factors affecting air quality through practical science experiments

P6A have been using Colin Gillespie's excellent SEPA materials in class and have been analysing data from an air quality sensor installed in our playground a few weeks ago by Ian Wager.

SEPA's Senior Specialist Air Scientist Ian Wager installed an air quality sensor two weeks ago

You, too, can monitor the air pollution outside our school on the website http://www.environment.scotland.gov.uk/get-interactive/data/air-quality-primary-school-sensor/

We were delighted to receive a handheld air quality sensor, courtesy of https://www.cleanairday.org.uk/

The pupils have also undertaken traffic surveys in surrounding streets to try to see and offer explanations for trends in air pollution at different times of the day. For example, the children noticed that raised levels occurred on two very wet days and hypothesised that could be due to more people taking to their cars. They were also concerned about the high levels of pollution that can be pinpointed to occur during their playtimes.

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You have the right to the best health possible and to medical care and information.

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You have the right to education which develops your personality, respect for others’ rights and the environment.


Hope as many as possible can join Ms Angela Christie who is leading another Cycle to School Day on Friday 16th June, as part of Bike Week.

Cabinet Secretary for the Environment to Visit Sciennes

We are looking forward to welcoming Ms Roseanna Cunningham, Cabinet Secretary for the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform, to Sciennes on Wednesday 14th June ahead of the inaugural National Clean Air Day on Thursday 15th June. Ms Cunningham will meet P6A pupils and members of our Pupil ECO Group to find out what they have been learning about air quality and how they have been analysing data from a recently installed air quality sensor, provided by the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA). Sciennes has pioneered and sustained active travel policies for more than twenty years and we hope to share our experiences and ambitions with the Minister during her visit.

Take the Pledge This Clean Air Day!

As you may be aware this Thursday (15^th) is the first National Clean Air Day which coincides with Cycle to School week. This is a perfect opportunity to continue the great work that Sciennes has done in promoting safer, healthier travel to school and of course to raise awareness about the dangers of air pollution. Thanks to the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) who have installed an air pollution monitor at the front of the school, you can monitor the air pollution outside our school on the website http://www.environment.scotland.gov.uk/get-interactive/data/air-quality-primary-school-sensor/ and use the drop down menu to visit Sciennes Primary School data. From here you can view the air pollution from each day, check the air pollution density times during each day, and track the air pollution to 5 minute intervals during school opening and closing times.

Please also check out https://www.cleanairday.org.uk/pledge to find out more ways to support National Clean Air Day. To get involved on social media please use the #NationalCleanAirDay

National Clean Air Day | Take a Pledge www.cleanairday.org.uk Latest. Free Resources for Scotland Download. Download free resources for National Clean Air Day in Scotland. Learn about air. Venturefest. Making the right choices ...

Another great website to check out at home is http://www.learnaboutair.com/  This is an interactive website with fantastic videos all about air pollution, the history, the causes and the solution to the problem.

Thanks for your continued support,

Gregor Hutchison (P6A)

Ian from SEPA Intalls Air Quality Sensor

Thank you very much to Ian Wager, Senior Specialist Air Scientist at the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) for installing an Air Quality sensor. We hope to see a drop in emissions when the road is temporarily closed for the Summer Fair on Saturday 3rd June and will analyse data from the sensor with pupils over the next few weeks in the run up to National Clean Air Day on 15th June.

Online Safety Advice from CYPCS

Thank you very much to P6 and P7 families who attended and engaged with our 'Right Click' digital safety workshop, sponsored by Unicef and BT, on Wednesday 29th August. We are very grateful to BT volunteers Mike Brown and Karen Halliday for leading the warmly presented and interactive event and to Zoey Ayling (Unicef's Programme Support Officer) for providing the opportunity.

Feedback was very positive and we aim to address inhouse the requests for additional sessions, for younger pupils and also a follow up parents only session.

Scotland's Commissioner for Children and Young People, Tam Baillie, visited Sciennes on Friday 2nd September and it is hoped families will find his team's advice on Online Safety useful in continuing dialogue with their children.

http://www.cypcs.org.uk/footer/online-safety

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You have the right to be given guidance by your parents and family.

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You have the right to collect information from the media.

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You have the right to be protected from being hurt or badly treated.

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You have the right to education which develops your personality, respect for others’ rights and the environment.

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You have the right to be protected from abuse.

Comedian Patrick Monahan Leads Assembly and Daily Mile!

What a wonderful start to the new session to welcome celebrated and legendary comedian Patrick Monahan to the P4-7 Assembly on Friday 19th August. Patrick inspired our pupils with his sparkling tales about his own experiences of running and then joined most of the upper school for a Daily Mile run in the Meadows.

It was joyful to hear the children's laughter in Assembly. Patrick had them in the palm of his hand in the Hall and also later in the Meadows where he led a warm up session before the run. We are so grateful to him for giving up his time to inspire our pupils to be all they can be and to Believe they can Achieve. Thank you also to former Pupil Support Assistant, Rachel Inglis, who contacted Patrick for us and joined us for the morning.

Patrick's Edinburgh Festival Fringe evening show at The Gilded Balloon, Teviot - "That 80s Show" is recommended for 12+ but he is also running a children's show - "Pub Quiz for Kids", again at the Gilded Balloon, Teviot, which is for age 5 and upwards, at 2.30pm on 19th, 20th and 21st August and from 23rd-28th August.  Come along and win a unicorn! We highly recommend!

Thank you, Patrick, for inspiring us, spreading happiness and laughter and for being so gracious with your time with all the children.

Patrick Monahan at Sciennes P4-7 Assembly from Sciennes Primary School

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You have the right to the best health possible and to medical care and information.

NSPCC ChildLine Workshops in P7

Grateful thanks to the excellent NSPCC ChildLine team, including a retired Midlothian Headteacher, for clear, relevant and perfectly pitched presentations in P7 on Tuesday 24th May.

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You have the right to be protected from being hurt or badly treated.

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You have the right to be protected from abuse.