What an explosive end we had to our term- Primary 3 were recreating volcanic explosions in our playground on Tuesday.
Our Swimming team attended the Gala at the Commonwealth pool and came back with Bronze in the backstroke.
Primary 4 continued their exploration into the workings of the human body, focussing on how we digest food!
Both P2 classes enjoyed their trip to the local park and demonstrated wonderful road safety awareness.
P7 had a very exciting trip to the North bridge as part of their High School transition.
Primary 1 were building their gross motor skills by beating an assault course in PE.
Primary 6 welcomed staff and volunteers from RedStart and took part in their brilliant financial education workshop. They enjoyed creating Easter craft with their P1 buddies.
I have continued to visit all the classes to share learning and have been very impressed with the high quality learning happening in all our classes.
For this week’s update I include:
Home Learning
Letter from Lorna French
Letter from Lorna French
You should all have a letter from Lorna French emailed out today.
Home Learning
Thank you to all the families who took part in our home learning. It was a pleasure to share this in assembly and in classes this week.
Easter Break
I would like to wish you all a lovely break and we will see you back in school on 17th April.
Finally
We are always available to speak to if you have any queries or concerns.
Please either get in touch through e-mail to the school office or make an appointment to come in to discuss with a member of staff.
As always, I wish you a wonderful, restful, and relaxing weekend.
The highlight this week has been welcoming our parents and carers into school for parent consultations and Stay and Play in Nursery.
On Tuesday Mr W Hamilton led assembly on Equality and Diversity. The children considered how we are similar and how we are different and, very importantly, everyone is included and belongs.
Our kindness heart wall is continuing to fill up as we recognise our key value- Kindness.
Snapshots of this weeks learning:
Primary 5:
Primary 5 enjoyed another trip this week, this time they were off to Holyrood Park to travel back in time with the ranger service. They explored the evidence left of settlements and found out about how people dressed, lived and worked during the Iron Age.
Primary 6 & 4:
Primary 6 and Primary 4 also enjoyed a trip to Holyrood Park. Primary 6 were supporting Primary 4 develop their outdoor learning skills.
Primary 6:
Primary 6 also started a digital literacy project in the school grounds using Lego characters- keep an eye out for updates on that!
Primary 4:
Primary 4 have been exploring how the human body works – I loved hearing all about the brain and lungs this week.
Primary 3:
For international day of happiness, P3 reflected on things which make them happy, as well as thinking of ways they could share their happiness with others 😊
Primary 2a:
Primary 2a have been learning about people who help them and letter writing.
They have also been working on their co-ordination and spatial awareness in PE this week. We were lucky enough to have our very own lollipop lady help us with our road safety too 🚦
Primary 2b:
Primary 2b have been tying knots at their fine motor skills station and problem solving during a ‘the floor is lava’ PE game.
Primary 1:
Primary 1 were excited to share how they had created rainbows in class and have also been learning about money.
Nursery – Stay & Play
Shared Classroom Practise:
I have had a brilliant week sharing classroom practice with Primary 4 and Primary 2. It was super to see the enthusiastic learning and high-quality teaching taking place.
I am looking forward to being in the rest of the classes next week.
For this week’s update I include:
Whats App
School Website
Achievements
Parent Contact meetings
Conversation Café
Headlice
Home Learning
Whats App
A few weeks ago, I highlighted the difficulties that Whats App was causing in school. Sadly, once again the use of this App has caused incredible upset.
Whats App is for young people 13yrs old and over.
If you have allowed your child to join Whats App in Primary school, please be proactive in monitoring the activity on your child’s phone.
School Website
This School round up is shared on the website each week too with additional photos of the learning happening throughout the school. Please log on and have a look.
Achievements
Keep sending us in achievements that we can share in assembly.
Parent Contact Meetings
Thank you to everyone who attended parent contact this week. It was lovely to see so many of you in school.
Conversation Café
I have attached a leaflet for a conversation Café being run at the local church- please pop along if you are interested.
Headlice
We have had a couple of cases of headlice in school recently. Please check your child’s hair and treat them as soon as you become aware of any unwelcome visitors.
Treatment is available on Minor Ailments scheme at your local Chemist.
Home Learning
Home learning should be returned to school by Tuesday 28th March. I am looking forward to sharing the Family learning at Assembly that day.
Finally
We are always available to speak to if you have any queries or concerns. Please either get in touch through e-mail to the school office or make an appointment to come in to discuss with a member of staff.
As always, I wish you a wonderful, restful, and relaxing weekend.
As a staff we are delighted that the industrial action has been resolved and there will be no further strike days.
Primary 7 Camp – Lagganlia
The highlight this week was the incredible achievements of our Primary 7 children who showed such enthusiasm and determination to master new and exciting skills. I have loved following them on Twitter and in all the updates each day from the staff.
A huge thanks for Mrs Flowers, Mr Hamilton and Miss Taylor for giving up so much of their time to allow the children to have such a wonderful experience. I cannot wait to hear all about their adventures in person next week.
Out and About with Abbeyhill.
Closer to home, Primary 5 enjoyed their trip to the Money Museum on Tuesday. Our nursery children had so much fun investigating floating and sinking and movement of water outdoors after our torrential downpours. They are expert puddle jumpers!
Active Schools
Mr Chetwynd organised taster sessions of lacrosse which Primary 5 and 6 thoroughly enjoyed.
Playground Upgrade
Many of you will have seen the wonderful new markings on our playground which were applied on Wednesday. The children are exploring the new opportunities for play already.
Thank you to the parent council for securing the grant that allowed us to develop our playground.
Achievements:
We celebrated achievements from two wonderful Abbeyhill pupils during assembly as well as adding another kindness heart to our wall.
Please share any achievements from outside of school with us so we can celebrate the success.
Snapshot of this weeks learning:
P2a Scientists during Science WeekP2a Scientists during Science WeekHurdling in P1Card making in P1Card making in P1.Card making in P1Exploring nature in P6Clay spelling and handwriting with P6.
For this week’s update I include:
Parent Contact meeting for the Primary school and nursery class
Uniform exchange
Road Safety
Crossing patrol
Weather
Lateness
Parent Contact Meetings
Thank you to everyone who has already booked a Parent Contact meeting for your child. These will take place next week.
Uniform Exchange
Our Parent Council have set up the uniform in the front foyer. Just come in and have a look if you need anything. We have lots of additional uniform stored so if the size required is not there, please just ask.
There will also be a small amount non-perishable foods and toiletries.
Road Safety
I have been out monitoring Brand Place again this week, and though there has been some reduction of cars parking in the double yellow lines, when I checked out of the window, there were 8 cars parked.
Just stopping for a moment is still very unsafe for all the children, families and the crossing patrol.
Crossing Patrol
Sadly, some families are not using the crossing patrol to cross their children over the road. When we have staff on duty please always use them. I know it can take longer but it is so important that we all model safe road safety procedures.
Weather
Our school is an outdoor school and the children will be out at break and lunch in all weathers.
Please ensure they are dressed for the forecasted weather and bring a coat every day.
Lateness
School starts at 8.50 for P3-7 and 8.55 for P1-2. It is very important that your child is in school on time.
We have updated our attendance policy which will be sent out on Monday. The procedures outlined in this will come into effect in April on our return from the Easter break.
Finally
We are always available to speak to if you have any queries or concerns. Please either get in touch through e-mail to the school office or make an appointment to come in to discuss with a member of staff.
As always, I wish you a wonderful, restful, and relaxing weekend.
The highlight this week was our Achievement and Ethos assembly. Pupil voice has been front and centre with all the classes sharing their Class Charters.
The children have discussed the 6 UNCRC rights of the child that we have chosen as a school and decided what that will look like in their classrooms.
We are also working on a playground charter which everyone will have discussed in their classes.
Snapshots of this weeks learning:
We were learning to give 6 figure grid references to find Wally. We’re going to take these skills to the geography department at Drummond next term to complete a mapping exercise.Murdo (Primary 1) working on a satellite. Primary 1 have been making use of our comfortable library. Primary 1 & their Primary 6 buddies on a unicorn hunt.P1 & P6 found plenty of unicorns around Holyrood Palace. P2b drew some portraits of inspirational women for International Women’s Day and were brave enough to share their thoughts with the class.
For this week’s update I include:
Parent Contact meeting for the Primary school
Parent contact meetings for Nursery
Uniform
Headlice
Crossing patrol
Parent Contact meetings
Thank you to everyone who has already booked a Parent Contact meeting.
We already have over 50% of families booked on.
These will be held in person on Wednesday 22nd March and Thursday 23rd March.
Nursery parent contact
Parents and carers of children in N5 will have received an e-mail with the link to sign up for a parent meeting with Mrs Lyall.
These run throughout the week beginning 20th March.
Uniform
A reminder that all children should be wearing school uniform. On PE days the children should still be wearing school jumpers with dark bottoms.
Headlice
Please check your children’s hair regularly, especially if you see them scratching a lot. Headlice are easily spread in schools.
There are very effective treatments available through the pharmacists, Minor Ailments scheme if required.
Crossing Patrol
I sent out a message yesterday to alert parents that the crossing patrol at Brand Place was absent until the Easter break.
Mrs Pender and Mrs Brotherston will be covering the crossing on Brand Place on alternate days.
This will mean that there will be reduced crossing patrol support at the front of the school. Please be patient if you are waiting a little longer than usual so we can keep reinforcing our road safety messages for the children.
Finally
We are always available to speak to if you have any queries or concerns. Please either get in touch through e-mail to the school office or make an appointment to come in to discuss with a member of staff.
As always, I wish you a wonderful, restful, and relaxing weekend.
Well, our week for some was short but it was jam packed!
World Book Day was celebrated in all classes and in Nursery on Thursday.
P1 & P6 creating story characters on SketchbookP1 & P6 sharing their love of readingP1 & P6 Buddies showing of their reading skills. Buddies helping each other. P5 enjoyed doing the @TeachersPetUK Emoji Story Book Challenge to celebrate #WorldBookDay! Well done to O who got a whopping 16/20!! 📚 Their favourite question was: 🐌🐳🌊Celebrating World Book Day today in P2A! The class made some amazing reading monsters so they always have a friend to do some reading with 📚
Our final Hip Hop taster sessions were completed.
It was wonderful to welcome parents into school for the Parent Council Coffee and Chat session this morning.
Our amazing PSA team took the opportunity to refresh our front foyer during the Industrial Action days.
Look out for our Vision Values and Aims display going up shortly.
For this week’s update I include:
Whats App
Swimming lessons during Easter break for ASN children
Vision Values and Aims
Allergies in school – updated procedures
Parent Club campaign
Parent contact meetings
Whats App
Whats App is a great way to communicate but it is designed for 13yrs and above. Social media can be a very difficult thing for young children to navigate so if you allow you child access to a Whats App group it is vey important that you are monitoring their interactions and talking to your children about respectful behaviours online, just as we would expect face to face.
ASN Swimming lessons for P4-7 children.
Active Schools are running Additional Support Needs swimming lessons (P4-S3) over the Easter break for pupils with Autism and/or learning disabilities. There is a club link for both sessions should families be interested in further lessons. These sessions are not appropriate for pupils with a physical disability due to facility limitations.
Venue and dates:
Leith Academy Dates/times: Tues 4, Wed 5 and Thurs 6 April. 10.00am-12.00pm
The Royal High School Dates/times: Tues 11, Wed 12 and Thurs 13 April. 10.00am-12.00pm
Parents/carers can sign up via Microsoft Forms which can be found on flyer, due to potential demand we have asked that parents/carers select just one venue.
Once closing date is reached, we will allocate children a 30-minute session for each of the 3 days – same time each day.
Vision, Values and Aims
I am delighted to share our finalised vision, values and aims for Abbeyhill school and Nursery. This has been a huge piece of work involving our whole school community. Thank you to everyone who has taken time to respond to surveys and take part in our discussions.
Our focus from parents, pupils, staff, and wider partners is ensuring that our learners are at the very centre of all the decisions and planning we carry out. Our communities focus on inclusion, equity and celebrating our diversity shone through
Allergies in school – updated procedures.
We are updating our procedures at lunchtime. If your child has a special diet arranged with school catering, we will be issuing them with a purple wrist band each day.
Parent Club Campaign
The Scottish Government has launched a new Parent Club campaign, to help families who may be feeling overwhelmed by the additional pressure brought on by the current economic crisis. Please see the posters up around school outlining support that is available.
Parent Contact meetings
These will be held in person on Wednesday 22nd March and Thursday 23rd March. You should all have received a booking e-mail but just in-case, I have attached the sign-up details.
Finally
We are always available to speak to if you have any queries or concerns. Please either get in touch through e-mail to the school office or make an appointment to come in to discuss with a member of staff.
As always, I wish you a wonderful, restful, and relaxing weekend.
Abbeyhill Primary School 