Irn Bru vs. Glenfinnan Viaduct

I was delighted to be back in school today and spent time with P3, who were working on models of volcanoes, and P5 who had some very impressive Scottish iconography adorning their walls. Which do you think are true Scottish icons?!

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We had Parent Council on Tuesday evening and it was great to see so many new and returning faces. Although online meetings have their drawbacks, they also fit well round family life and so keeping our meetings virtual for now works well. Keep an eye on the Parent Council page for the minutes of the meeting where we discussed everything from road safety to the Library.

Thank you to all our staff and families who continue to work so hard at keeping Covid-19 at bay with our infection control measures. We have had to send a few ‘warn and inform’ letters home with information about cases in a few classes but unfortunately this is the reality that we face with restrictions lifting. Some may say it’s a price they are willing to pay but for others there is still very real and understandable anxiety around Covid-19 so please respect and support each other as we continue to work through this.

Next week we will see the welcome return of the Daily Mile as everyone from P3-P7 attempts to run or jog a mile every day. This is a 15 minute burst of physical activity a day which has been shown to improve children’s physical, mental, social and emotional wellbeing. P3-7 will be encouraged to run or jog for 15 minutes, gradually building up fitness at their own pace until they can achieve their daily mile. Look out for staff wearing their trainers and joining in on Monday!

I will also be asking teachers to help their class decide on who their Abbeyhill Ambassador reps will be and we will be busy making sure our windows are beautifully decorated ready for the Colony of Artists festival next weekend. It’s come around fast!

Have a lovely weekend.

Sally Ketchin, Head Teacher

Imagination is the key

What a treat we’ve had today! We all went to the nearby Meadowbank Parish Church for a special concert with Fischy Music and heard the debut performance of ‘Imagination’ which P4 wrote from scratch and recorded with Margaret and Christy from Fischy. P4 (or ‘Baby Alien’ which is their official band name) gave a fantastic performance and managed not to be distracted by the fact that they were being beamed up onto big screens for everyone to see. We all had a brilliant time, dancing and singing along – including the staff and parents who managed to join us!

Of course, some of us had our Pudsey ears on as it is BBC Children in Need today. Mrs Brotherston and Mrs Pender got into the spirit of it as always and have had a bit of extra attention from the traffic as they have carried out their lollipop duties! Thanks also to Miss Macdonald, Mrs Lyall and Mrs Macdougall for organising our Children in Need toy sale yesterday; we raised £135 and all leftover toys will go to a local charity as suggested by Luca as part of our ‘Make a Difference’ assembly block.

Yesterday, I was delighted to welcome a small group of parents for our first ‘Parents Lunch’. It was lovely to have a sociable lunch together whilst giving them a chance to experience what their children do each today, including lining up and being reminded what they had ordered! They gave good feedback on the food and the experience and next time I plan to run it at the same time as the school lunchtime to give families a rare opportuntity to enjoy a weekday lunch together!

On Wednesday, we had our Parent Council Annual General Meeting (AGM) and there will be an opportunity to vote for new post holders at the next meeting in January. Thank you to Vlad who has stepped down after doing a sterling job as treasurer for several years, as well as to all the parents who have joined us and are doing such an amazing job of supporting the school.

Also on Wednesday, I spent the day at a National Improvement Framework conference for all Edinburgh Head Teachers where the new ‘Edinburgh Learns’ policy was launched and discussed at length. Edinburgh Learns encourages a renewed focus on learning and teaching which is the core business of all schools. Although we all felt the pressure that being out of school for the day brings (not least in the mounting pile of unanswered emails!), we all agreed that it was a valuable professional experience. As a staff, we shall explore Edinburgh Learns over the coming weeks and months.

Next week I am going to Buckstone Primary for a reciprocal visit following my hosting a group other Head Teachers a few weeks ago and I’m looking forward to seeing further good practice and having follow up professional dialogue. Back in school, it’s Book Week Scotland and Mr Martin will be launching an exciting week of activities in assembly on Monday. Check back next week to see what we get up to!

Sally Ketchin, Head Teacher

Pizza Party!

Last week, Primary 5 visited Pizza Express to make their very own pizzas! In class we had all been working very hard on our pizza party booklets, and had all managed to answer 800 addition, subtraction, multiplication and division questions correctly. Primary 5 definitely deserved a slice or two!

100 days!

The Primary 1 classes celebrated their 100th day in school this week.  They got together and took part in some great activities including making 100 Day crowns, doing 100 exercises and painting 100 dots.  Most importantly, they reflected on all the things they have learnt and achieved in school so far and felt justifiably proud.  We are very proud of them too.

And they’re off!

You might have heard about the initiative ‘Mile a Day’, that has started in some schools around Scotland.

During school each day, children go out with their classes to walk, run, jog or skip a mile. Schools involved have seen fantastic benefits: improved fitness, behaviour and concentration.

We thought it sounded like an excellent idea! This week Primary 7 measured out two different tracks and got active. Primary 2 and 3b have also been using our track, with the rest of the school to follow after our February break, staff included!

Primary 7 have enjoyed their first full week of this, and have set targets for themselves. They also enjoyed buddy time, when helping Primary 2 on their first day, also joined by 3b.