P2 Pupils Address CEC 1 in 5 Conference 25.3.2016
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| Confident Individuals, Emma and Bella, with Ms Anstruther |
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| Audience at Faith Misson, Edinburgh 1 in 5 Child Poverty Awareness Conference |
Sciennes is one of six city schools taking part in a City of Edinburgh Council (CEC) pilot project to raise
awareness of 1 in 5 Child Poverty and explore ways to reduce the cost of the school day. Depute Head, Ms Carolyn Anstruther, and Headteacher, Mrs Alison Noble, accompanied P2 pupils, Emma and Bella, to the Faith Mission in Edinburgh on Tuesday 22nd March. In front of a huge gathered audience of Headteachers and school leaders, the P2 girls spoke about their award winning idea to ‘Make a Difference.’
They realised that events like World Book Day can cause expense for families so cleverly suggested that school could keep a ‘dressing up’ box of costumes for pupils to borrow and their idea was awarded £250! Ms Anstruther has invited everyone to donate any old, grown out of, costumes to school to add to the collection for borrowing.
Everyone is immensely proud of the terrific confidence shown by Emma and Bella and they were congratulated at the P1-3 and P4-7 Assemblies on Thursday 24th March.
Article 12 The right to be heard
Article
26 The right to have help if you are poor or in need
Article 27 The right to have a good enough standard of living
Easter Assembly 24.3.2016
P2 pupils Emma and Bella were commended on their £250 Make a Difference award winning dressing up box idea to tackle 1 in 5 Child Poverty.
Make a Difference Award of £250! 20.3.2016
awareness of 1 in 5 Child Poverty and explore ways to reduce the cost of the school day. Depute Head, Ms Carolyn Anstruther, accompanied five Sciennes Pupil Council members to the Scottish Parliament on Wednesday 14th March and she announced at
Assemblies on Friday 18th March that two of our P2 pupils, Emma and Bella, have won an award for their idea to ‘Make a Difference!’They realised that events like World Book Day can cause expense for families so cleverly suggested that school could keep a ‘dressing up’ box of costumes for pupils to borrow and their idea was awarded £250! Ms Anstruther invited everyone to donate any unused costumes to school toa dd to the collection for borrowing.
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| Sciennes Pupil Council at the Scottish Parliament |
Article
26 The right to have help if you are poor or in need
Article 27 The right to have a good enough standard of living
Make A Difference and Sport Relief Assembly with Pattie Santelices 18.3.16
Sciennes Make A Difference and Sport Relief Assembly 18.3.16 from SciennesPS
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| Pattie Santelices and Ms Anstruther present at Assembly |
Pattie Santelices, City of Edinburgh Principal Officer Health and Wellbeing, joined our Assembly on Friday 18th March to share information about City of Edinburgh’s 1 in 5 Child Poverty Awareness project. Ms Anstruther accompanied five Sciennes Pupil Council members to the Scottish Parliament on Wednesday 14th March and she announced that two of our P2 pupils, Emma and Bella, have won an award for their idea to ‘Make a Difference!’ They cleverly suggested that school could keep a ‘dressing up’ box of costumes for pupils to borrow and their idea was awarded £250! Ms Anstruther invited everyone to donate any unused costumes to school to add to the collection for borrowing.We were all absolutely delighted when Pattie announced that P6B pupil Asma’s poster, highlighting 1 in 5 Child Poverty, has been selected as overall winner and will be used in campaign literature throughout Edinburgh! Pattie presented Asma with a framed copy of her artwork and a certificate. Runner up P6C pupil Samara also received a framed copy of her artwork. All the children who entered the competition received special highlighter pens for their contribution in highlighting 1 in 5 child poverty. Thank you to Art Club Teacher, Heather Lucchesi, and to Ms Anstruther for helping the pupils express their ideas so well visually.
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| Overall 1 in 5 Poster competition winner, Asma, with Pattie Santelices |
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| Great achievement, Asma! |
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| Runner up Samara |
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| Highlighting 1 in 5 Child Poverty |
All the pupils were congratulated for helping to Make a Difference by dressing up in sports gear and P.E. kit and donating to Sport Relief. Our end of day total was £450! Congratulations to Ella, Ailsa and Sarah for showing great initiative in organising their own bake sale and raising £14. Very well done to P7A and P5C girls who raised an incredible total of more than £400 rollerskating across the Forth Road Bridge! We look forward to hearing about any other personal fundraising efforts from our pupils since many are taking part in local run, swim or cycle events this weekend.
Special commendation to Alex, Rory and Alex for their initiative in Making a Difference by organising a school collection of Easter eggs for Foodbank. Outstanding citizens! Thank you to everyone who donated.
Article
26 The right to have help if you are poor or in need
Article 27 The right to have a good enough standard of living
1 in 5 – The Make A Difference Award 31.1.2016
1 in 5 Raising Awareness of Child Poverty in Edinburgh – The Make A Difference Award
What would you do with £250 to help Make a Difference?
Sciennes’ Pupil Council met on Friday 29th January to plan a school wide launch of City of Edinburgh’s ‘Make a Difference Award‘. Pupils will take the lead in encouraging fellow pupils, classes, staff and parents to
submit ideas of how they would use the award money to help make a
difference to children and families living on or below the poverty line
in our school community.
Your ideas might involve:
- Raising awareness of the realities of living in poverty in the UK.
- Contribute towards reducing school costs e.g. uniform, trips, books and resources for those most in need.
- Support income/benefits advice and management for families.
Any other ideas you might have to Make a Difference?
Schools will submit their top three ideas for judging by an independent panel. the winners from each school will then be invited to present their idea at the 1 in 5 Launch and Roll Out event on the 22nd March before receiving the £250 award money to take forward their idea in their school.
Who can enter?
Individual or groups of staff, parent councils, individual pupils or classes/tutor groups.
Submission dates for ideas?
FRIDAY 12th FEBRUARY 2016
How do I/ we enter?
Contact your school to receive a Make a Difference Award submission form.
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26 The right to have help if you are poor or in need
Article 27 The right to have a good enough standard of living
Article 28 The right to learn
27.11.2015 Pupil Council Lead Hungry for Books
Sciennes’ Pupil Council thanked everyone for supporting City of Edinburgh’s 1:5 Child Poverty Awareness project throughout Scottish Book Week by donating preloved, much loved and gift condition books to a child via Foodbank and other organisations.
Please note that the project has been extended at Sciennes and we will still be collecting donated books until Wednesday 2nd December. We hope to see you at the Winter Fair on Saturday 28th November 12pm-3pm. Coming along? Could your child select a favourite, high quality book to bring to gift to a child in need?
Hungry for Books Running in Edinburgh this Week 26.11.2015
Could your child select one much loved, high quality, gift condition ‘preloved’ book to donate during Book Week Scotland (by Friday 27th November). Sciennes is one of six school collection hubs and our Pupil Council is helping to sort and deliver donated books.A report on City of Edinburgh’s 1:5 Hungry for Books project published in the Edinburgh Reporter on Tuesday November 24th, 2015 by Phyllis Stephen:
Reporter went along to Dalry Primary School to find out
about the latest project they are involved with. Donating children’s
books to be distributed in the run up to Christmas is the latest phase
of the City of Edinburgh Council’s pioneering child poverty campaign.
organisations in time for Christmas.
of books in different areas of the city – Broughton High School (north),
Royal High Primary School (east), Sciennes Primary School (central),
Gracemount Primary School (south), Dalry Primary School (west) and
Hillwood Primary School (south west).
Children and Families Convener, said: “The ‘Hungry for Books’ challenge
is a positive way of trying to help more children living in poverty
access the type of books other children enjoy. It is well-documented
that children from poorer backgrounds lag behind at all stages of
education so it’s important we do all we can to close the attainment
gap.
both on their own and with their parents, is a positive way for the
public to play their part in achieving this.
Gillies, said: “The ‘1 in 5’ project has had a significant impact on
the life of our school and the decisions we make because the children
and families in our school community face real challenges. It is our job
to equip them with the skills and aspirations to overcome these. More than that though, as a school we
have social responsibility to ensure opportunities are for all and they
are inclusive. That’s why pupils are very excited about being part of
this Hungry for Books Challenge.
raising awareness within our school project is when we planned for our
whole community outing at Christmas. We spoke about the way we charged
for it in the past and this year we have a price structure that means
bigger families pay less. It is these small things that make a
difference. Small changes in our approaches make for big changes in our children’s lives.”
awareness of the impact of child poverty and identify best practice and
changes that can be introduced to make school more affordable for
families on low incomes. The project involves working with children,
staff and parents to challenge the stigma that affects children living
in poverty.
launched at Hillwood Primary School where pupils took part in creative
art workshops led by artist Heather Lucchesi to design images which
highlight some of the issues faced by children whose families live on or
below the poverty line.
into a poster to be distributed to primary schools across the city along
with guidelines for schools on how best to support families living on
low incomes including actions to reduce the costs associated with school
such as school uniform, trips and resources.
each Council ward having child poverty rates of over 10%. It’s estimated
that the cost of delivering services to address the impact in the
Capital is around £156m a year according to the Child Poverty report
which outlined various actions being taken by the Council to lessen the
impact. Key areas identified include:
- Developing more flexible and affordable good quality childcare to meet the needs of families on low incomes
- Improving attendance at schools and early years establishments, and the attainment and achievement of young people
- Reducing the attainment gap between lowest achieving pupils and their peers across the city
- Identifying and developing more safe places to play
club provision and further develop family engagement with a focus on
strong home-school partnerships.
importance of income maximisation to raising attainment. Research has
shown that the level of household income plays a major role in
attainment levels with more initiatives needed to increase wages,
encourage take up of unclaimed benefits and other finance-related
poverty costs.
1:5 Hungry for Books – Gift a Child a Preloved Book during Scottish Book Week 22.11.15
Sciennes’ Pupil Council is leading a ‘Hungry for Books’ campaign, launched at House Assemblies on Universal Children’s Day 20th November and taking place ONLY throughout Book Week Scotland from Monday 23rd November to Friday 27th November.
Sciennes Primary School is proud to be one of six schools in Edinburgh working with Pattie Santelices (City of Edinburgh Principal Officer Mental Health and Well
Being) and committed to raising
awareness of children in poverty.
The aims of the project are:
* To highlight the scale and impact of 1:5 child poverty.
* To explore cultural and structural explanations of child poverty.
* To consider the costs associated with the school day at Sciennes
* To reflect on how we can make education fairer and equitable for all
Last year, P3 pupils successfully organised a whole school Harvest appeal leading our school community to donate food items generously to Foodbank. This year, we are asking everyone to feed minds by donating at least one ‘preloved’, much loved, quality children’s book which will then be redistributed by Foodbank and other organisations.
Sciennes is one of six school hubs for the city – Central Hub – and our Pupil Council members will work with volunteer Librarians to help collect and deliver donated books.
some time in their lives? This is shocking to us in Sciennes’ Pupil Council.
And we want to help. So we have decided to do a book collection. Please give a child
in poverty a book to pass the time and make them feel like an ordinary child.
And try to think how many hours are really in a day when you don’t have the
money to buy expensive video games and other things. So
please bring a book for the book bank.
1:5 children living in poverty leave school unable to read well. These children are
also less likely to have books in the home and read for pleasure. During Book
Week we are seeking donations of high quality children’s books which our Pupil
Council will then redistribute to children in need through Foodbank.
I would also like families in school, who would welcome an opportunity to select
some books, to please contact me directly. I can assure you of my utmost
discretion and confidentiality.
Alison
Noble, Headteacher
Article 28 The right to learn
3.10.2015
Sciennes Primary School is proud to be one of six schools in Edinburgh committed to raising awareness of children in poverty and exploring ways in which we might
reduce the ‘Cost of the School Day’.
We are offering parents thechance to hear from Pattie Santelices, a me mber of the Health and WellBeing team at City of Edinburgh Council, talk about the implication ofchildren living in poverty in Edinburgh.
The aims of the session are:
* To highlight the scale and impact of child poverty.
* To explore cultural and structural explanations of child poverty.
* To introduce the wider ‘1 in 5’ Project.
* To consider the costs associated with the school day at Sciennes
* To reflect on how we can make education fairer for all
Thereare many costs associated with school and education (e.g. unif orms,
materials, trips, meals etc…) and together we would like to explore
ways to reduce these costs where possible in order to make education
fairer for all.
The presentation will be held on:
Tuesday 6th October 6.30-8.30pm and is repeated on
Wednesday 7th October 1.30 – 3.20pm
If you would like to attend please email the school: admin@sciennes.edin.sch.uk
Complementary sessions are taking place with staff and pupils in school. Feedback
from everyone will co ntribute to new Council recommendations andguidance for schools.
Council plans to beat child poverty
A report going to the Education, Children and Families
Committee next week (Tuesday 6 October) shows that just over 21% of children in
Edinburgh live in poverty and this figure is forecast to increase significantly
by 2020.
Every area of the city is affected with each Council ward
having child poverty rates of over 10% and it’s estimated that the cost of
delivering services to address the impact in the Capital is around £156m a year.
Next week’s Child
Poverty report outlines various actions being taken by the Council to lessen
the impact.
Key areas identified include:
*Developing more flexible and affordable good quality childcare to meet the needs of families on low incomes
*Improving attendance at schools and early years establishments, and the attainment and achievement of young people
*Reducing the attainment gap between lowest achieving pupils and their peers across the city
*Identifying and developing more safe places to play
Other actions include increasing breakfast club
provision, working in partnership with food banks to better understand why
families in poverty are using their services and further developing family
engagement with a focus on strong home-school partnerships.
A major school project – the ‘1 in 5: Raising Awarenessof Child Poverty in Edi nburgh’ – has already started in five primaries and one secondary school. It aims to identify best practice and changes that can be introduced to make school more affordable for families on low incomes. The project involves working with children, staff and parents to challenge the stigma that affects children living in poverty.
The report also highlights the importance of income maximisation to raising attainment. Research has shown that the level of household income plays a major role in attainment levels with more initiatives needed to increase wages, encourage take up of unclaimed benefits and other finance-related poverty costs.
Councillor Paul Godzik, Education, Children and Families
Convener, said: “Child poverty matters to us all as it damages childhoods,
damages life chances and damages society as a whole. Children from poorer
backgrounds lag behind at all stages of education so it’s important we do all
we can to close the attainment gap.
“We have developed a range of actions to challenge and mitigate
the impact of child poverty in the Capital and will continue to work closely
with our partner agencies to ensure everything is done to ensure children given
every opportunity to have the best possible start in life.”
Alison Noble, Head Teacher at Sciennes Primary School, is
one of the schools taking ‘1 in 5: Raising Awareness of Child Poverty in
Edinburgh’ project.
She said: “This project provides a valuable opportunity for Sciennes to make a difference and ensure the outcomes for our children are not undermined by poverty and inequality. By taking part we can focus our efforts on addressing the barriers that exist within our community and help us to begin to fulfil one of the objectives in the Scottish Attainment Challenge – to close the attainment gap and provide every child with the same opportunity to succeed.
Our ward includes an area of multiple deprivation so raisingawareness of the issues surrounding poverty may contribute to our children making a positive contribution to the school, local and wider community.”
LAUNCHING THE GLOBAL GOALS and CHILD POVERTY AWARENESS 25.9.15
End extreme poverty
Fight inequality & injustice
Fix climate change
Throughout the year, we will help our pupils understand and support the Global Goals and the Articles of the United Nations’ Convention for the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) by linking them to our curriculum.
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