Big Books lead to Big Ideas!

Today marks the end of Book Week Scotland (not to mention Children in Need and Road Safety Week) and the Breakfast Club were hard at work early this morning setting out all the books for our Big Book Giveaway which was looking very exciting by the time they had finished! Thank you to Mr A Hamilton for organising this (as well as the Big Book Scavenger hunt in the playground yesterday) and to everyone who donated books. Everyone who has visited so far this morning has been very excited to choose books and quickly become engrossed in them!

Quiet please, we’re reading!

Look, it’s got 186 pages!

Enjoying some of the ‘classics’

The Parent Council Fundraising calendar for 2022 went on sale today and it’s absolutely fantastic! Just when we think they can’t possibly get any better, they do! Staff, children, Parent Council and the Colony of Artists all have a month and the cover has been done by Mr Pratt, (O and L’s dad!), turning Mr Woodhouse into an overnight celebrity. He’s already been accused of diva-like behaviour this morning and it will only get worse as more copies are sold! You can order your copy through the Parent Council website for £6 – it’s the perfect stocking filler!

On BBC News this morning, I heard that in England, it will become legally binding from next year that schools must allow families to buy uniform from high street retailers and that second hand options must also be available. It amazed me that this has to be made into a legal obligation as this must mean that a significant amount of schools don’t have this approach already (although plenty do). In Edinburgh, and in Scotland as a whole, we have a much more progressive view and at Abbeyhill we have never insisted on branded uniform, with local high street retailers being named on our uniform policy as cheaper alternatives for as long as I have been at Abbeyhill. Thank you to the Parent Council who have been running regular second-hand uniform sales for several years now; this not only makes uniform more affordable but more environmentally sustainable. Thank you to all the families who donate school clothes that their kids have grown out of, as well as outdoor and winter wear.

I’m a big fan of second hand shopping and buy a lot of my own children’s clothes from Kidclo as well as eBay. Both of them have a ‘Pass It On’ buddy who gets anything that hasn’t been through the mill too much at Nursery and we benefit from my husband’s cousin who has 4 children of both genders – a nice bag of clothes comes our way quite regularly! For myself, I’ve recently discovered Thrift+ and Vinted (although I’m a bit late to the party with that one I think). It saves a fortune as well as the environment so what’s not to like?

Next week the countdown clock to the end of term will be about to start so parents should check next week’s email update for information on what we can and can’t do due to current restrictions and how we’ll be celebrating the festive season in school. I also hope to have more information on recruitment for a new Head Teacher from January.

Have a lovely weekend,

Sally Ketchin, Head Teacher

Many hands make light work!

Thank you to Mr Hamilton, Mr Woodhouse and Ms Graham (H’s mum!) for all the incredible work they have done to transform the Library (which had suffered terribly over the last 18 months) into a wonderful inviting and inspiring space, just in time for Book Week Scotland next week.

• 

  The newly refreshed library!

• 

  Social justice zone

• 

  Cosy corner

We’ll be quarantining books ready for the Big Book Giveaway on Friday next week and copies of ‘Celebration’ will be available for all adults. ‘Celebration’ is the Scottish Book Trust’s adult giveaway and features poems, essays and short stories – all true, or based true events – which have been written by people all across Scotland reflecting on the theme of celebrations as part of the SBT’s annual ‘Your Stories’ project.

Despite the disappointing news that some planned trips won’t be able to go ahead as planned next week, P6 and P7 still managed to get out and about this week and visited the Scottish Parliament and Calton Hill. Excitement was high as Sarah Boyack took a photo with P6 and P7 witnessed a marriage proposal on Calton Hill! Sadly Mr Woodhouse didn’t catch it on camera but many congratulations from everyone at Abbeyhill to the newly engaged couple.

• 

  P6 and Sarah Boyack at the Scottish Parliament

• 

  Inspiring views from Calton Hill

We are now busy working out what we can and can’t do in the run up to Christmas. Multi-class parties are still off this year but individual classes can still celebrate. We can still do the Nativity, but without an indoor audience. Thank you to Ms Gordon who has miraculously turned it into a screenplay in the last 36 hours! We’re also working on a Covid-safe version of a house event so watch this space for more details.

Oscars, here we come!

It is Road Safety Week next week so it is a good time for an update on what’s happening at the back of the school. The school and Parent Council are engaging with councillors and road safety teams about the busy road at the back of the school. Some of the dangers are created by parents parking illegally while either dropping off or collecting their children. This can create a bottleneck which means that passing drivers get frustrated and go faster than they should when they can finally get past, which of course increases the danger. Please consider parking elsewhere and walking, scooting or cycling the last part of the journey to make a healthier and safer environment. Councillors, parking attendants and community police will all be working with us on this issue in the coming weeks and months until the situation is naturally brought under control with the extension of the city centre controlled parking zone.

Best wishes,

Sally Ketchin, Head Teacher

Drop Everything and #ChooseKindness

Switch Off Fortnight

Our Switch Off Fortnight audits came back from classes and smartboards being left on without being in use seems to be our biggest offender! Each class has chosen a home or school pledge to try to stick to over the next few weeks to help reduce energy, save money and protect our environment. ‘Switch Off Monitors’ have been appointed in each class and they are taking their new roles seriously! Have a look at our pledges below; are there any you could try?

#choosekindness

On Monday we looked at some of the resources for Anti-Bullying Week and talked about the key message of this year’s campaign which is #choosekindness . This is something we’ve talked a lot about in Abbeyhill this year with one of our favourite videos being The Kindness Boomerang.

Book Week Scotland

We’ve thrown ourselves into Book Week Scotland thanks to some very hard work by Ms Howson. We’ve had DEAR (Drop Everything And Read), mystery book gifts, buddy story reading and the return of the very popular extreme reading competition! I’m not sure that anyone is going to beat P2’s efforts but it’s always worth a try…

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Children in Need update

Last week in the blog I reported that we had raised just under £260 from our ‘Wear Spots’ dress down day and toy and Book sale but I’m delighted to give you the update that after the final contributions came in we reached a total of £328.88! Well done to everyone who worked hard to organise the sale, including the Abbeyhill Ambassadors who helped on the day, and a big thank you to all the children and families who donated a fantastic selection of good quality toys and books.

Spotlight on P1 with Bookbug (AKA Mr Hamilton)

On Thursday, P1 celebrated Book Week by inviting all our parents and carers to come and take part in story book related activities with us. All of the activities were created from ideas generated by the children based on the stories we had read this week. We made unicorn horns from the book ‘Sophie Johnson Unicorn Expert.’ From the story ‘The Station Mouse’ we made mouse puppets and tried to hide them in amongst our cuddly toys (just like he does in the story). Finally, we used plasticine to make all of the characters from ‘The Prince and the Witch and the Thief and the Bears’ and then built castles for them to live in.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

At the end of the day, we were delighted to have Mrs Gilmour come and visit us from the nursery and present us with our BookBug Bags, containing all 3 books we had read this week, activity books, whiteboards, magnets and many more goodies. All of the children had an amazing time and Mr Hamilton would like to say a massive thank you to all of the adults who were able to come along and make it a fantastic BookBug Bag event that will help drive the love of reading even more in P1.

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

Sally Ketchin, Head Teacher

 

Looking back, looking forward

Thank you to Russell McLarty who led our Remembrance Assembly for P3-7 on Monday. He was supported by P6 who had completed a beautiful piece of commemorative artwork which everyone was then able to contribute to by sticking a handmade poppy to the field. The whole school, from Nursery to P7, observed the 2 minute silence at 11am and were respectful towards the occasion.

Switch Off Fortnight

The Abbeyhill Ambassadors have been stalking the corridors and classrooms as part of Switch Off Fortnight to complete their audit of electronic equipment left on standby and other energy wastes going on in our school. The results will be shared in assembly on Monday…watch this space!

Children in Need 

Thank you so much to everyone who donated toys and books for our Toy Sale and who entered into the spotty spirit of BBC Children in Need today! At the last count, we had raised just under £260 which is absolutely fantastic. A special thanks goes to Miss Macdonald for organising the whole event, as well as the Abbeyhill Ambassadors, Mrs Paxton and Mrs Peters for supporting on the day. We’ll be proud to add our donations to those that are already pouring in for such a worthwhile cause.

Anti-Bullying Week

This week was national Anti-Bullying Week and on Monday in assembly we’ll be recapping class discussions, sharing tips on how to deal with bullying behaviour and what to do if it happens to you. If this is something you’re worried about, please contact your child’s teacher in the first instance. It’s common for children to hide what’s going on, for multiple reasons, but the more people there are who are aware and able to look out for your child, the faster everyone can work to improve the situation.

Into Film Festival 

Lots of us have had the chance to visit the cinema this week as part of the Into Film Festival this week and it’s been great to see the excitement on everyone’s faces as they have headed off as well as hear all about it on their return.

Book Week Scotland 

Book Week Scotland starts next week and we have exciting plans, led by Ms Howson! Look out for book tasting, extreme reading, secret books and much more…come back next week to find out more about what we get up to.

Have a great weekend!

Sally Ketchin, Head Teacher

What a great week! (Oh no it wasn’t, OH YES IT WAS!)

Panto time!

It’s a little early for pantomime but we never let convention put us off at Abbeyhill and so we were delighted to welcome M&M Theatrical Productions into school on Wednesday who gave us two fantastic performances of ‘Dick Whittington’. Everyone from Nursery to P7 absolutely loved it and it was hard to keep everyone calm for the rest of the day! While we recognise and embrace the benefits of going to the theatre, this was an easy and cost-effective way for everyone to enjoy this experience together. Living in this wonderful city provides opportunities through festivals and our Artists-in-Residence programme throughout the year to experience live performances in more formal settings.

Winter Windows

It’s congratulations to Michael in P7 who was one of only a handful of winners of the City of Edinburgh Council ‘Winter Windows’ competition! Michael’s design on the theme ‘Festive Welcome’ will be made into a stained glass window style light box and will be displayed in West Parliament Square over the festive period. Please have a wander up the Royal Mile to see it, as well as all the other fantastic designs by other children across the city. As Michael is the first Abbeyhill student (in our memory) to win, P7 will go to visit the window and have a hot chocolate to celebrate his achievement. Well done Michael!

Parent Council

Thank you to everyone who attended Parent Council on Wednesday; we had a bumper session combining the AGM and a regular meeting. Congratulations to the post holders who were (re)elected and thank you to the wider Parent Council and school community for supporting all of their efforts. Most recently, Parent Council organised and run yet another set of brilliant Halloween parties. As usual, the children threw themselves enthusiastically into the spirit of the event and some wild and wonderful costumes were on show!

Switch Off Fortnight 

Switch Off Fortnight starts on 18th November and we’re embracing the key theme of ‘Goodbye, standby’. The Abbeyhill Ambassadors will be carrying out an audit of all the electronic items in their classrooms over the next week, mainly looking for items that are left on standby or left on without being in use. We’ll be bringing everyone’s attention to it from the 18th so expect vigilance in your home around TVs on standby, lights left on and phone chargers left in the wall. Sorry in advance! Of course, the 18th November also marks the start of Book Week Scotland and teachers will be communicating our plans for that once we have put our finishing touches to them on Monday (there might be another photo competition coming up….cameras at the ready!)

Next week

Monday is Remembrance Day and as always at Abbeyhill, we will be marking the occasion with a 2 minute silence at 11am and a special assembly led by Russell McLarty and P6. Everyone is always very good at understanding the solemnity of the day and I expect this year to be no different.

Also on Monday, I will be visiting Ratho Primary as part of my Leading Learning Partnership group where the participating Head Teachers will be sharing good practice and supporting each other with tips and advice. I’ll then be at a Head Teacher’s Conference all day on Tuesday before supporting the authority with an audit on enrolment and capacity planning on Thursday. Hopefully I’ll have time to speak to staff and children in between times!

On Friday Miss Macdonald and the Abbeyhill Ambassadors will be running the Toy and Book Sale for Children in Need; thank you for all the donations that have been sent in so far. I think I’ll get quite a bit of Christmas shopping done! If your child is having a clear-out in preparation for this, please check what they are donating before it leaves the house in case they have got carried away and have something of sentimental value or that you otherwise want to keep in their bag.

Thank you and have a lovely weekend.

Sally Ketchin, Head Teacher