Back in the swing of things

The holidays already seem a distant memory as we complete our first week back at school. Thank you to all the families and staff who continue to comply with our Covid safety measures; there is no doubt that the ‘new normal’ has just become ‘normal’ although we all look to weekly updates from the Scottish Government with anticipation as changes to restrictions are made throughout the UK.

There have been a wide range of activities going on in school this week from mini palaces in P1B, inspired by their visit to The Palace of Holyrood House at the end of last term, to mime in drama for the P5s. Mr Hamilton made a challenging ‘cleaning up’ situation for himself in P3 but the space art that was created was worth it! P2 have started ‘The Enormous Crocodile’ as their new class novel and were inspired to start building crocodile traps in the playground with the loose parts play equipment (hopefully they don’t actually catch one). Meanwhile, P7 have been putting their woodwork skills to good use while making frames to create a gallery of Abbeyhill Calendar covers and artwork – well done P7! An ‘Artists in Residence’ project has begun in P4 and the Abbeyhill Ambassadors have been set a Kindness challenge…watch this space for more news in the coming weeks.

Crocodile traps by P2

Space art by P3

The family update that was sent today included information on universal free meals being extended to P5, national entitlement travel cards for 5-21 year olds, Active Schools, drama and two Warn and Inform letters which are also available on this website.

Next week we’ll be gearing up for Burns with lots of practise for our online Burns’ recital which we’re all looking forward to.

Have a lovely weekend everybody!

Sally Ketchin, Head Teacher

Welcome back!

Happy New Year! It’s been lovely to have the children back in school for the last few days and we’re all looking forward to our first full week next week.

Covid

Guidance is changing rapidly so please keep your eye on information from the Scottish Government as well as anything sent via school from the City of Edinburgh Council. If you are ever in any doubt, contact Test and Protect for advice.

In school, we continue to:

• Keep classrooms ventilated
• Wear face coverings (staff) when moving around the school and if working closely with learners
• Encourage good hand hygiene for all with the use of hand washing facilities and sanitising points
• Maintain 2m distance between adults
• Carry out lateral flow tests several times a week (staff)

We would ask that you continue to:

• Stay outside the playground, with the exception of Nursery, P1 and P2 parents and carers
• Wear face coverings if you are in the playground, unless exempt
• Adhere to social distancing guidance
• Keep up to date with government guidance around testing and self-isolation

Friday play sessions at The Collective

Friday afternoon outdoor play sessions will continue starting next Friday (14th January) and will be on every week during term time. This is a great opportunity to get out and have fun in the fresh air (with the play shelter as a base), exploring a part of the city which not everyone knows about!

You’ll learn about weather systems and the biodiversity found at The Collective and the surrounding areas. Wrap up warm and stay cosy with a hot chocolate at the top!

School Uniform Bank

Further to Lorna French’s letter which was sent to families on Wednesday we have been asked to share some more information about the Edinburgh School Uniform Bank to explain how this organisation can support families.  More information is available on their website  https://edinburghuniform.org/

Have a lovely weekend,

Sally Ketchin, Head Teacher

Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from us all at Abbeyhill! It’s been an exceptionally busy term with lots of challenges, mostly Covid related, and I thank our school community of children, parents and staff for their tireless support and passion for making sure our children have the best possible school experience.

Enjoy your holiday and we look forward to welcoming everyone back on 6th January 2022.

Best wishes,

Sally Ketchin, Head Teacher

Update from NHS Lothian Health Protection Team 10.12.21

Dear Parents/Carers,  

 As you may be aware from the news, a more precautionary approach is currently being taken for the new variant of COVID-19 ‘Omicron’, until more information is gathered about this variant. Therefore, this may mean a change in the way that the ‘close contacts’ of people who test positive for the new variant are identified, and what advice is given to them. Please pay attention to any updates from the school, and check the NHS inform website (https://www.nhsinform.scot/illnesses-and-conditions/infections-and-poisoning/coronavirus-covid-19/test-and-protect/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-households-with-possible-coronavirus-infection) for more information.  

NHS Lothian Health Protection Team 

Festive fun at Abbeyhill!

Our final week of term is upon us! Despite tightening restrictions around the new variant of Covid which all parents were emailed about on Friday, we are still managing to have plenty of festive fun!

Reclaiming the pallet!

Practising woodwork skills

Sustainable Christmas tree

Everyone has been busy enjoying the festive season right across the school, from baking to planning a Christmas menu on a set budget, making Christmas decorations and using woodwork skills to create sustainable Christmas trees. Well done everyone!

Planning a menu

Personalised Christmas tree art

Enjoying the French cafe

Checking budgets

Christmas Jumper Day

Thank you to everyone who donated to our Reduce, Re-Use, Recycle Christmas Jumper Boutique, which ended up being more a Christmas Jumper Day giveaway as everyone took the ‘re-use’ message to heart which was fantastic. The Christmas Disco Daily Mile was a sight to behold!

Parties

Christmas parties are going ahead but in classes rather than larger groups; this measure was already in place before warnings about the Omicron variant. Next week we will be extra vigilant with our existing safety measures including the wearing of face masks and coverings, hand sanitising and not having any face to face meetings. Further measures to reduce the risk of Omicron cases will include no indoors mixing of classes for any significant length of time and no non-essential professionals in the school. Although the news of lengthy periods of self-isolation for any households with a positive case is worrying as we approach a holiday that is traditionally spent with friends and family, we would urge families to remain calm and stay safe as they have been doing. We will get through this as a school community as always.

Please remember that our term ends for Nursery – P7 on Friday 17^th December between 1155 and 1205, depending on which class your child is in.

Have a lovely weekend,

Sally