Did you buy a raffle ticket from P6? If not, you must have done a very good job of hiding from the ticket sellers over the last few weeks as they have made over £700! It’s not surprising as the prizes were fantastic. There were signed football and rugby balls, a digital camera, family passes for Pizza Express, Nandos and Gusto, cash prizes from £25 – £75 and more! Well done to Mr Hamilton, Miss Macdonald and P6 who have worked hard to prepare and promote it. Well done to all the winners and thank you so much to everyone who supported it by buying tickets and of course to the businesses who made such generous donations. Expect thank you letters very shortly!
We have had a lovely week with lots of outdoor activity at Abbeyhill. Last Saturday we had the fantastic and much anticipated Summer Garden Party which was organised down to the last hot dog by the Parent Council. It was a brilliant day and everyone who came had a great time! Thanks so much to everyone who supported the school by donating baking or tombola prizes (special shout out to Mrs Pender and her beautiful knitted ‘upside down’ doll) and to those who helped on the day. We especially appreciated our special guests from the Ranger Service, Fire and Police Scotland!
Thankfully the weather was brighter this week and we had our Sports Day in Holyrood Park. It was a brilliant afternoon and once again, we all agreed that we love the new location. Thank you to Mr Martin for supporting Mrs Souness with all the planning and organising and to Mr Martin for getting it all ready on the day as Mrs Souness is now on maternity leave. Thank you to all the families who came along to cheer us on and a special well done to the adults who braved the family race! It got very competitive….
Yesterday I had a lovely morning with the Nursery group whose turn it was to go on Forest Adventures. I discovered new areas of Holyrood Park I’d never have thought to go looking for and experienced for myself the difference that being outdoors can make to emotional and mental wellbeing. This is the second year that we have done this in the Nursery and the staff are looking forward to taking it forward in August. If your child is in Nursery, ask them to show you the secret fairy garden, or where the horses live! Make sure you wear your walking shoes….Nursery don’t shy away from a trek!
The Pupil Council were third time lucky today as they finally did their ‘2 minute litter pick’ on Abbey Street. Our previous two attempts had to be rained off! We collected what looks like a small amount of litter but once we had multiplied it by the whole of Edinburgh, then Scotland and realised that we collected it in 120 seconds on one small street we realised that it represented a lot of single use plastic; lots of sweet wrappers, cigarette butts (which contain plastic), a straw, a fruit snack pot, a teabag (which should be in food waste) and one poor woodlouse who got swept up in all the excitement! (Don’t worry, she was released safely). Thank you to the Pupil Council who helped prepare for the event and welcomed two P6s who have been dabbling in ‘flashmob’ playground litter picks this term!
Check back next week to see how Abbeyhill’s first staff yoga session went!
Sally Ketchin, Head Teacher