The next step for Sciennes in achieving Level One of the Rights Respecting Schools Award is to establish class charters based on the UNCRC. Semantics is all, and below is some clarification and guidance about using rights based language:

Appendix 2. Clarifying rights, respect and responsibilities in the UNICEF UK Rights Respecting School Award (RRSA)
In August 2011 UNICEF UK released new guidance for class and school charters.

“Why have we recommended this change?
We want to ensure that the RRSA community is faithful to the general principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). The CRC applies to all children and they are the designated rights-holders. Adults such as parents, teachers, local and central government are duty-bearers. Rights are unconditional; they are therefore not dependent upon a responsibility and cannot be taken away, earned or used as a reward. Because they are universal, however, children and adults should be encouraged to show rights-respecting behaviours. In this way individual children can both enjoy their own rights and respect the rights of others.

We want all the adults, children and young people in rights respecting schools to understand the nature of rights as inalienable, universal, unconditional, inherent and indivisible. Rights do not come with responsibilities attached. It may be possible to refer to responsibilities if you can ensure that everybody understands that children are not the duty-bearers and that the rights are not a reward for the fulfilment of a responsibility.

What is different?
Our custom and practice was to recommend that schools established a negotiated agreement which focused on children’s rights and their responsibility to behave and speak in a way which respected that right. Over time we have come to see this as a risk. By linking rights and responsibilities so closely it may lead to a fundamental misunderstanding.

The new guidance has been developed to strengthen the school ethos by incorporating the role of the duty-bearers. Our new charters are negotiated agreements which identify the rights-respecting attitudes and actions of children and adults and the language has shifted from responsibility to respect.

[…] We recommend that before you next revise your charters you provide staff training and ensure that the whole school moves to ‘rights-respecting actions or attitudes’ and ‘respect for rights’; rather than only coupling the word ‘right’ with ‘responsibility’. Constant repetition may distort the balance and have the unintended consequence that adults and children believe that access to rights is dependent on ‘responsible’or ‘good’ behaviour. Of course we want children to grow up to be ‘responsible citizens’ who behave in a way that respects the rights of others; and a school ethos of mutual respect certainly supports this.”

1:5 Hungry for Books – Gift a Child a Preloved Book during Scottish Book Week

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 2015. We have been asking our pupils how they can make simple acts to bring about change and highlighting the Global Goals at our Assemblies.

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.

Hungry for Books 23^rd – 27^th November ‘Gift a child a pre-loved book’

Did you know that 1:5 children live in poverty or have at 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.

Hamish Croft, P7 member of Sciennes Pupil Council 

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

Kid President’s Awesome Global Goals Pep Talk 20.11.2015

On Friday 20th November 2015, Universal Children’s Day, on the anniversary of the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child, our P2-P7 pupils thoroughly enjoyed listening to Kid President’s ‘Pep Talk to the World’ on the Global Goals.

Last week at the P4-7 Assembly, Mr Howie shared the story of Samantha Smith, the Little Ambassador, as an example of how we can make simple acts to bring about change. Kid President (Robby Novak) began making films with his family (writer and director Brad Montague) and publishing them online, based on the belief that children have ideas worth listening to. The charming and amusing musings quickly set the Internet alight and led Robby to meet the real President, Barack Obama. The insirational pep talk to the world below – urging people to think of the world as ‘one big cool table’ where everyone is invited and everyone has enough – truly captured our pupils’ imaginations.

“This is a call to action to people all over the world. Sure, there’s lots of work to do, but there’s lots of awesome people out there in the world like you. This video was created and shown the night before world leaders met in New York on September 25 to announce the new Global Goals intended to tackle the most urgent issues of our time – poverty, inequality and more. People came together in over 100 countries to demonstrate their shared vision for a better future – from Australia to India, South Africa to Brazil – millions are taking action around the world.”
Kid President

 

If the Global Goals are going to work – they need everyone to know about them. You can’t fight for your rights if you don’t know what they are. You can’t convince world leaders to do what needs to be done if you don’t know what you are convincing them to do. If they are famous they won’t be forgotten. Tell everyone.

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Book Week Scotland Assemblies 27.11.2015

On Friday 27th November 2015, Sciennes’ Patron of Reading – celebrated author Janis Mackay – presented at both P1-3 and P4-7 Scottish Book Week Assemblies. Thank you to Ms Bethan Owen for leading our school wide Book Week celebrations with Janis so successfully:

P3 WORKSHOPS

P5-7 BOOK LAUNCH- “Wild Song”

JANIS AT ASSEMBLIES

MEET THE AUTHOR BOOK SIGNING

There will be an opportunity to meet Janis and buy signed copies of her books at a special discounted price for Sciennes’ families between 11am and 12.30pm on Friday 27^{th November}

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?

Sciennes P4-7 Scottish Book Week Assembly 27.11.15 from SciennesPS
 

Article 28  The right to learn
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

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1000 Pre-Loved Books Donated 11.1.2016

Throughout December, our Pupil Council worked with our Librarian, Mrs Katherine Peace, to sort and categorise over 1000 quality, pre-loved books which were donated before Christmas to Foodbank and other local charities.

Grateful thanks to everyone who supported our Hungry for Books appeal with City of Edinburgh Council.

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
Article 28  The right to learn

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JGHS Donate a Pencil Case Appeal 22.1.2016

On Friday 22nd January 2016 we welcomed former pupils Jessica, Katie and Anna to speak to our pupils at Assembly. The girls are now in their Sixth Year at James Gillespie’s High School and are about to embark on a visit to Zwelibanzi High School in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, as part of a longstanding twinning between the cluster schools. Pupils and families have been asked to support JGHS’s annual ‘Donate a Pencil Case’ appeal. Donations will be gratefully received and can be handed to the School Office until 9th February. Jessica, Katie and Anna will collect them before they fly off on 11th February.

 

Article 28  The right to learn

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Learning About Our Rights from P1-P7 24.1.16

Sciennes has a whole school focus on three UNCRC articles from P1-P7:

The right to learn
The right to be safe
The right to play

Classes focus on other articles when these are relevant to their learning.

All 42 Articles are contained in this slideshow, with simplified language.

Respecting Rights at Sciennes from SciennesPS
 

Article 42 All adults and children should know about the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

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Holocaust Memorial Day 27.1.2016

Our three Primary Seven classes are attending a special showcase of ‘Inside Hana’s Suitcase’ at the Filmhouse Cinema on Wednesday 27th January 2016, to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day. Our Class Teachers are experienced in handling this topic sensitively each year to help us learn lessons in how we treat one another. Mr Howie, who is a trained Holocaust Educator, has also been working with our P7 pupils.

Article 29 You have the right to education which develops your personality, respect for other’s rights and the environment.

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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. Pupil ideas will be collected in class.

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
Article 28  The right to learn

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Jonathan’s Re-Act Scotland Presentation 29.1.2016

Jonathan in P7B, assisted by Sam, gave a superb presentation to the P4-7 Assembly on Friday 29th January 2016 explaining how he has made a difference by supporting the Re-Act Scotland charity for Syrian refugees. He demonstrated how he has achieved the ‘Me and My World’ section of the Junior Award Scheme Schools and provided an exemplar model for other pupils to follow. Very well done, Jonathan!

Jonathan’s Re-Act Scotland Presentation from SciennesPS

Article 22 The right to have help if you are a refugee

Here’s how you can help: support one of the international charities

• Mercy Corps
• British Red Cross Appeal
• Oxfam
• Save the Children’s Child Refugee Crisis Appeal
• Refugee Council Crisis Appeal
• UNHCR’s Emergency Appeal
• UNICEF
• The World Food Programme
• Refugee Action’s Emergency Appeal – the money raised will support refugees and people seeking asylum in the UK
• Or of course, support Re-Act Scotland locally here in Edinburgh
  

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Hopscotch Theatre “We’ve Got the Right” 31.1.2016

We have been learning Hopscotch Theatre’s “We’ve Got the Right” song and look forward to their visit to school for two performances of their production “The Rights of the Child” in March for P1-P7 pupils.

Hopscotch “We’ve Got the Right” Song from SciennesPS

Article 29 You have the right to education which develops your personality, respect for others’ rights and the environment.

Article 42 All adults and children should know about this convention.

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Don’t Stand By 31.1.2016

Article 22 The right to have help if you are a refugee

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Sciennes Values Respect 5.2.2016

At the P4-7 Assembly on Friday 5th February 2016 P7 House Captains helped us think about the Golden Rule and how it can help us to RESPECT each other’s RIGHTS.

Fergus from the Pupil Council explained the 1 in 5 Make a Difference Award. Pupil Council leaders will collect class ideas next week. (P6 pupils can contribute their ideas when they get back from camp.)

P6 pupils will achieve one quarter of their Bronze JASS Award – the Adventure Certificate – when they attend Benmore Outdoor Education Centre next week.

Sciennes Golden Rule P4-7 Assembly 5.2.16 from SciennesPS

 

Article 29 You have the right to education which develops your personality, respect for others’ rights and the environment.

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How Would You Make a Difference? 6.2.2016

Sciennes 1 in 5 Make a Difference Award from SciennesPS
 

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 have planned a school wide launch of City of Edinburgh’s ‘Make a Difference Award‘. Pupils are taking 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. Pupil ideas will be collected in class.

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
Article 28  The right to learn

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Green Hearts Show the Love Campaign 7.2.2016

Make, Wear, Share a green heart this Valentine’s Day to raise awareness of Climate Change and #ShowTheLove for what could be lost.

http://fortheloveof.org.uk/show-the-love-green-hearts/

 

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P1 Class Charter 14.2.2016

We have been learning about our rights and responsibilities – we know that all children have the right to play, learn and feel safe. We carried out an art activity to complete our class charter – Miss Gallagher joined us for our lesson too!

Miss Gladstone, P1 Class Teacher

Article 29 You have the right to education which develops your personality, respect for others’ rights and the environment.

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#ShowTheLove Climate Change Campaign 14.2.2016

91 Primary Six pupils got together on Tuesday evening to Make and Share a collage heart of natural materials scavenged in the grounds of Benmore Outdoor Education Centre. They were keen to get involved in a Valentine’s Day campaign to raise awareness of Climate Change and #ShowTheLove for what could be lost.

http://fortheloveof.org.uk/show-the-love-green-hearts/

 

Article 29 You have the right to education which develops your personality, respect for others’ rights and the environment.

Global Goal 13 

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SHANARRI P4-7 Assembly 26.2.2016

On Friday 26th February 2016, House Captains helped explain SHANARRI and what we all need to be healthy and well. Pupils learned a ‘SHANARRI’ song, ready for our visit from Hopscotch Theatre on Thursday 10th March with their production “The Rights of the Child.”

(SHANARRI stands for Safe, Healthy, Active, Nurtured, Achieving, Respected, Responsible and Included – the key wellbeing indicators that form the basis of GIRFEC  Getting it Right for Every Child.)

Thank you to P7 pupils Luke and Lena and to Ms Kennedy (Support for Learning Specialist and Reading Co-ordinator) for their presentation about the exciting launch of our new Playground Reading Shed on World Book Day, Thursday 3rd March.

Sciennes SHANARRI P4-7 Assembly 25.2.16 from SciennesPS

Article 24

You have the right to the best health possible and to medical care and information.

Global Goal 3

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Fairtrade Fortnight Breakfast 26.2.2016

FAIRTRADE FORTNIGHT 29th FEBRUARY – 13th MARCH

We hope families will consider joining this year’s Fairtrade Fortnight campaign – “You eat, they eat” by choosing some Fairtrade products, at breakfast time particularly.

See link for further information:

http://fortnight.fairtrade.org.uk

#FairtradeFortnight
#YouEatTheyEat

Global Goal 10 

UN GLOBAL GOALS for 2030

World Leaders have committed to 17 Global Goals to achieve 3 extraordinary things in the next 15 years.
End extreme poverty.
Fight inequality & injustice.
Fix climate change.
The Global Goals for sustainable development could get these things done. In all countries. For all people. If the Goals are going to work, everyone needs to know about them. TELL EVERYONE.

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Sciennes South Africa Pencil Case Donations 2.3.2016

To Sciennes parents and pupils, a huge thank you for all your pencil case donations. We were overwhelmed by your kindness and generosity. We have just returned from South Africa and it was fantastic to be able to give your gifts to the children fron Charles Memorial primary school where they were greatly appreciated. The children were so excited as you can see from the attached photos.

Thanks once again,

Jessica, Anna, Katie and Amy

James Gillespie’s High School

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ChangeWorks Waste Week P4-7 Litter Assembly 4.3.2016

On Friday 4th March 2016 at Assembly, Arleen Sinclair from ChangeWorks successfully challenged P4-7 pupils to think about how we can reduce waste by recycling and re-using and how to make sure our playground and school are Grade A Litter Free. Our ECO team will meet next week (Waste Week) to discus and decide how to take forward improvements.

House Captains helped celebrate the launch of our wonderful new Playground Reading Shed on World Book Day (3rd March) and pupils’ recent achievements.

Sciennes Waste Week P4-7 Assembly 4.3.16 from SciennesPS

Global Goal 12

Article 29 You have the right to education which develops your personality, respect for others’ rights and the environment.

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Grade ‘A’ Today! 9.3.2016

Some of our Eco Team members were at the ready today with our brand new litter pickers and found… they didn’t need to use them! Great impact from Arleen’s ChangeWorks Litter Assembly on Friday with her message which challenged us all to reduce litter and waste and aim for a Grade ‘A’ playground! Let’s keep it that way!

Article 29 You have the right to education which develops your personality, respect for others’ rights and the environment.

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Scotland’s Play Strategy 9.3.2016

“Playing is central to children’s physical, mental, social and emotional health and wellbeing and is enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Through play, children develop resilience and flexibility, contributing to physical and emotional wellbeing.”

http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0049/00493571.pdf 

Article 31

You have the right to play and relax by doing things like sport, music and drama.

Article 15

You have the right to be with friends and join or set up clubs, unless this breaks the rights of others.

Article 12

You have the right to an opinion and for it to be listened to and taken seriously.

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Eurochild Drawing Competition 9.3.2016

EUROCHILD DRAWING COMPETITION


Sciennes Primary School is aiming to become recognised as one of Unicef’s Rights Respecting Schools. Throughout this year we have been focusing on Rights Education and embedding respect for children’s rights in our school. We are maintaining a school blog on our progress towards becoming a Rights Respecting School.

Raising awareness of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) throughout our school community is one of our key aims, so we would like to invite your child to participate in a drawing competition. If you wish to take part, please submit your child’s drawing online at:

https://eurochild.wufoo.eu/forms/sketch-my-rights by 15th April 2016.

Please feel welcome to give a copy of your child’s drawing to Ms Anstruther, Ms Gallagher or Mrs Noble.

Thank you,

Sciennes Senior Learning Team

Picture your rights and bring your voice to the Eurochild Conference 2016!
Upload a drawing of a right you think matters most to you! Your drawings will feature in Eurochild’s conference materials and you could win a trip to meet European officials and other young people like you in Brussels! Read more about the Eurochild Conference 2016 here.

Article 42

All adults and children should know about this convention.

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Hopscotch ‘Rights of the Child’ 10.3.2016

 

Many thanks to Ross, Liam, Sophie and Jen from Hopscotch Theatre for a high quality production of ‘The Rights of the Child’ that made learning about children’s rights fun and engaging for our 655 P1-P7 pupils on Thursday 10th March. Excellent feedback from pupils and staff and we congratulate the team on making the show so accessible and entertaining for all age groups. Bravo!

Article 42

All adults and children should know about this convention.

Feedback from Educational Experts

The show links to rights being being unconditional in a very clear and fun way! RRSA and Scottish Government/Education Scotland focuses on the message that children do not need to do anything to have rights, which comes across excellently in Hopscotch’s ‘Rights of the the Child’.

Gerry McMurtrie, Senior Professional Advisor (Scotland):  Rights Respecting Schools Award with UNICEF UK

Hopscotch’s involvement in Scottish school pupils’ lives is a creative and stimulating experience. Education performances such as ‘Rights of the Child’ continue to develop the breadth of experience that Curriculum for Excellence is designed to deliver.

Anthony Hutcheson, Learning for Sustainability Development Officer at Education Scotland.

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We’ve All Got Rights Song 11.3.2016

Article 42

All adults and children should know about this convention.

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Pupil Council at Scottish Parliament 12.3.2016

1 in 5 Raising Awareness of Child Poverty in Edinburgh – The Make A Difference Award 

Schools were invited to submit ideas on what they would do with £250 to help Make a Difference. Five members of Sciennes’ Pupil Council have been invited to the Scottish Parliament to submit our best ideas to City of Edinburgh’s ‘1 in 5’ Make a Difference Award Ceremony on Wednesday 16th March. Ms Anstruther will accompany.

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

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Angela Burdett-Coutts’ Philanthropy 11.3.2016

Mr Howie led our P4-7 Assembly on Friday 11th March 2016, cleverly linking recent learning in P5 Old Edinburgh, P6 Jacobites, World Book Day and International Women’s Day with Rights Education in his tale of the mightily impressive Victorian philanthropist, Angela Burdett-Coutts. Her philanthropy and influence were even more remarkable at a time when women could not yet vote.

Mr Howie encouraged everyone to keep thinking about how we can each make a difference and praised pupils Alex and Rory for their initiative in organising donations of Easter eggs for Foodbank at school.

P7 Reader Leader, Toby, explained how everyone can help keep the Playground Reading Shed organised and Lena told us about the Eurochild Drawing competition.

Sport Relief is on Friday 18th March and our P7 Sports Captains demonstrated Out of the Ark’s “Step It Up” Sport Relief dance. They informed pupils about signing up online to local Run, Cycle, Swim events next weekend and invited us to dress up in sports gear or P.E. kit on Friday. Sports Captains will collect any donations on the day.

Philanthropy P4-7 Assembly 11.3.16 from SciennesPS

Article 2 The right to protection against discrimination
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

 

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Making a Difference 18.3.2016

Sciennes Make A Difference and Sport Relief Assembly 18.3.16 from SciennesPS

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 2016 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.

Overall 1 in 5 Poster competition winner, Asma, with Pattie Santelices

Great achievement, Asma!

Runner up Samara

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.

Extraordinary Sport Relief fundraising P7A and P5c girls!

Ella, Ailsa and Sarah baked to raise £14 for Sport Relief. Great initiative!

P7 Sports Captains congratulated pupils for their achievements this week and led everyone in singing the Sport Relief song, “Step It Up”.

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

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Make a Difference Award of £250! 18.3.2016

Sciennes is one of six city schools taking part in a City of Edinburgh 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, 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 to add to the collection for borrowing.

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

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P2 Pupils Address CEC 1 in 5 Child Poverty Conference 22.3.2016

Confident Individuals, Emma and Bella, with Ms Carolyn Anstruther DHT

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

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Rights Hall Display Completed 13.4.2016

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World Art Day House Assemblies 15.4.2016

On Friday, 15th April 2016, Sciennes’ four Houses – Grange, Lauder, Sienna and Tanatallon – celebrated World Art Day on the birth date of Leonardo da Vinci. House and Sports Captains shared information about their favourite artists. Sciennes’ annual Swimathon event takes place week beginning 25th April and we are supporting UNICEF’s Day for Change on Friday 13th May.

A reminder that Monday 18th April is a holiday.

Sciennes World Art Day House assembly 15.4.16 from SciennesPS

Please collect loose change and bring to school on Friday 13th May to support Unicef’s ‘Day for Change.’ Thank you.

Article 29 You have the right to education which develops your personality, respect for others’ rights and the environment.

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P4-7 Earth Day Assembly 22.4.16

Sciennes P4-7 Earth Day Assembly 22.4.16 from SciennesPS
 

On Friday 22nd April 2016, we celebrated Earth Day by watching the Climate Coalition’s film (scripted by Michael Morpurgo and starring Jeremy Irons) and Greenpeace’s “Give the Earth a Hand” video.

We also commemorated the 400th Anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare (23rd April 1616) and asked pupils to play their part in making a difference.

A feeder ride will meet tomorrow at Sciennes at 11.00am to join the main Pedal on Parliament ride at 12.00pm on the Meadows, Saturday 23rd April, and pupils were encouraged to continue to walk, scoot and cycle to school, to play their part in tackling climate change.

P7 pupil, Toby Ward, showed how he had made a difference by donating his time volunteering at a local Food Bank as part of his Silver JASS award.

House Captains congratulated fellow pupils on recent achievements and reminded everyone about our annual Swimathon, taking place next week.

We informed pupils at both Assemblies this morning that the cones will be removed today, so our playground will be open fully on Monday 25th April.

Article 29 You have the right to education which develops your personality, respect for others’ rights and the environment.

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Equal Rights Assembly P4-7 29.4.16

Sciennes P4-7 Equal Rights Assembly 29.4.16 from SciennesPS

Mr Howie led the P4-7 Equal Rights Assembly on Friday 29th April 2016. He explored a definition of ‘prejudice’ with the pupils and asked them to consider how they can play a part in making sure everyone is included. P7 Sports Captains announced how well each House had done in our fantastic Swimathon this week, swimming the equivalent of Sciennes to Benmore! Sports Captains also congratulated pupils on recent achievements and Yash – who won both Racquet tournaments last year – presented the EPSSA Badminton trophy to this year’s winner, Ellen. Well done to Erin who came runner up in both Badminton AND Tennis tournaments.

Article 2

You have the right to protection against discrimination.

Global Goals: end poverty, combat climate change and fight injustice and inequality.

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Unicef Day for Change 13th May 3.5.2016

Please collect loose change and bring to school on Friday 13th May to support Unicef’s ‘Day for Change.’ Thank you. Pupils can wear blue, if you wish.

Article 29 You have the right to education which develops your personality, respect for others’ rights and the environment.

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Unicef Day for Change Friday 13th May 4.5.2016

UNICEF UK’s Day for Change 2016

Protecting children in emergencies

Dear Parent/ Carer

 

On Friday 13th May Sciennes will be supporting UNICEF UK’s Day for Change and we very much hope that you will join us in supporting this event. It is a great opportunity for our pupils to learn about and raise money for children in other parts of the world.

By donating loose change, we can help UNICEF protect children in danger around the world.Pupils may also wear blue, if you wish.

Why are we doing it?

Every year, UNICEF UK’s Day for Change focuses on a different theme. In 2016, Day for Change is all about protecting children caught in emergencies such as the Nepal earthquake and the Syria conflict.

UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, is the world’s leading organisation working for children and their rights. They work with families, local communities, partners and governments in more than 190 countries to help every child realise their full potential.
UNICEF supports children by providing protection, health care, nutrition and education.

To find out more information about UNICEF, please visit www.unicef.org.uk.

Unicef UK | Children’s charity | For every child in danger http://www.unicef.org.uk Unicef is the world’s leading organisation for children in over 190 countries. Make a donation and help us save children’s lives across the world.

Thank you for your support.

Sciennes Senior Leadership Team

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World Day for Cultural Diversity 21st May 20.5.2016

Do One Thing for Diversity and Inclusion

In 2011, a grassroots campaign ‘Do One Thing For Diversity and Inclusion’, celebrating the annual World Day for Cultural Diversity was launched by UNESCO and the UN Alliance of Civilizations.
By encouraging people and organizations from around the world to take concrete action to support diversity, the campaign aims:

• To raise awareness worldwide about the importance of intercultural dialogue, diversity and inclusion.
• To build a world community of individuals committed to support diversity with real and every day-life gestures.
• To combat polarization and stereotypes to improve understanding and cooperation among people from different cultures.

On Friday 20th May we will share information with pupils at Assembly about our International Summer Fair on Saturday 4th June. We will also celebrate the tremendous progress in City of Edinburgh’s 1+2 Languages at Sciennes this year, so ably led by our Languages Co-ordinator Bethan Owen, and thank our three Spanish support assistants – Primary Student Volunteer Language Assistant Initiative (FLO project): Manuel, Sergio and Isabel. We have also been extremely fortunate to host Erasmus Scholarship Spanish student Ana Vidal, final year Bilingual Primary Education Teacher from the Complutense University of Madrid.

Our P7 Sports Captains are preparing a presentation on Olympic and Paralympic values:

• respect – fair play; knowing one’s own limits; and taking care of one’s health and the environment
• excellence – how to give the best of oneself, on the field of play or in life; taking part; and progressing according to one’s own objectives
• friendship – how, through sport, to understand each other despite any differences

Article 2

You have the right to protection against discrimination.

Article 30

The right to enjoy your own culture, practise your own religion and use your own language.

Global Goals: end poverty, combat climate change and fight injustice and inequality.

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NSPCC ChildLine P6 and P7 Workshops 9.5.2016

ChildLine Schools Service 
P6 24th MAY and P7 26th MAY

The ChildLine Schools Service is a programme delivered by ChildLine staff and volunteers for every child in the UK in Years 5 /6 ( in England & Wales) and Primary 6/7 (in Scotland & Northern Ireland). ChildLine have been providing presentations and workshops for our P6 and P7 classes every two years since 2012, which complements City of Edinburgh’s longstanding personal safety programmes “Keeping Myself Safe” and “Keeping Myself eSafe” in P6 and P7. Parents/Carers received an email about the ChildLine workshops before the Easter holiday.

They will be holding a stage assembly presentation and then a class-based workshop about keeping safe for each class in P6 and P7 on 24th and 26th May.

The ChildLine Schools Service aims to give children:

* An understanding of abuse in all its forms including bullying, and an ability to recognise the signs of abuse
* Knowledge of how to protect themselves from all forms of abuse
* An awareness of how to get help and sources of help, including ChildLine.

The ChildLine Schools Service has discussed with us the content of the assembly and workshop. We are confident that they are appropriate for primary school aged children. All presentations will be delivered in a child-friendly and sensitive style.

After taking part in the programme, children will be asked to give their feedback online with school staff present. The ChildLine Schools Service would also very much welcome your feedback. If you would like to share your thoughts, please go to www.nspcc.org.uk/parentsfeedback when your child has completed the programme.

Article 19

You have the right to be protected from being hurt or badly treated.

Article 34

You have the right to be protected from abuse.

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Day for Loose Change Friday 13th May 10.5.2016

Message to schools from Michael Sheen, UK Unicef Ambassador

Day for Change is getting closer. On Friday 13th May we are asking for donations of loose change to raise money to help Unicef protect children affected by the conflict in Syria. Unicef Ambassador Michael Sheen, who recently visited a refugee camp in Lebanon, has a special message for you.

This year, the UK Government will double our Unicef Day for Change donation. Pupils can wear blue on Friday, if you wish.

Thank you.

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Rights Respecting Schools Inspection Wed 11th May 10.5.2016

Article 42 of the Convention of the Rights of the Child:
Governments must make the Convention known to children and adults.

Sciennes: A Rights Respecting School

Sciennes Primary began our journey towards Level 1 accreditation of Unicef’s ‘Rights Respecting Schools Award’ in September 2015. We applied to be considered for the programme in October 2015 and were awarded a Level of Commitment Certificate soon after. The Timeline on this blog:

https://sciennesrrs.blogspot.co.uk/p/blog-page.html

documents our progress towards ensuring that everyone in our school community becomes aware of the Convention of the Rights of the Child and that we use it to underpin our values in embedding Rights Based Learning.

We will receive an inspection visit from Uncief’s Rights Respecting Schools on Wednesday 11th May 2016, aiming to achieve a Level One Award.

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Unicef Day for Change P4-7 Assembly 13.5.16

Sciennes Unicef Day for Change P4-P7 Assembly 13.5.16 from Sciennes Primary School

On Friday 13th May at the P4-7 Assembly we reflected on our Rights Respecting Schools Level One Inspection on Wednesday 11th May. We celebrated achieving a Level One Award and all the positive feedback we received. We also thought about some of Unicef‘s recommendations for our next steps towards the Level Two Award. We thanked everyone for generously donating their loose change to Unicef on the ‘Day for Change’ and thought about what we could change to help us make sure everyone knows about children’s rights – at Sciennes and in other countries.

P7 Captains took on the task of collecting and counting the loose change. There was so much that they will have to resume counting next week! Thank you very much to everyone who donated. P7 Captains told us about the crisis in Syria and how children’s rights are being affected. The money raised today will help Unicef support Syrian refugee children.

Mr Howie showed a video ‘If the world were 100 people’ to continue to help us think about equal rights. P7 Captains congratulated pupils on recent achievements. Next week’s assembly will be at 9.50am and will focus on CEC 1+2 Languages for World Diversity Day.

Article 42 All adults and children should know about the UNCRC
Article 29 You have the right to education which develops your personality, respect for others’ rights and the environment.

Article 22 The right to have help if you are a refugee

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P4-7 Assembly UN World Day for Cultural Diversity 20.5.2016

Sciennes World Culture and Diversity P4-7 Assembly 20.5.16 from Sciennes Primary School

On Friday 20th May at our P4-7 Assembly we celebrated all the fabulous Language learning that has been happening at Sciennes, so ably led by Ms Bethan Owen, and thanked our three wonderful Language volunteers, Isabel, Sergio and Miguel, as well as our excellent final year Bilingual Primary Education student, Ana Vidal, from Madrid University.

We made suggestions for cultural activities that our children might get involved in over the weekend to celebrate UN World Day for Cultural Diversity on May 21st and were delighted to note so many of our children already take part in similar activities to the ones suggested.

We also looked forward to Sciennes Parent Council’s exciting International Fair on SATURDAY 4th JUNE 12pm-3pm and found out more about the mysterious yarnbombing phenomenon, which has decorated our playground overnight!

Next week, each class will contribute to City of Edinburgh’s 1+2 Twitter campaign and we used some examples of Tweets already happening this week, to give everyone ideas!

We started the day at 8am with a ‘Walking Bus’ and ended it at 12pm with an ECO Schools Clean Up Campaign. P6 pupils Laura and Arooj explained very clearly and confidently how these two events helped us make a difference in tackling Climate Change (Global Goal 13).

It was wonderful to welcome the team from Nourish Scotland to school on Thursday 19th May, who were gathering children’s views about The Right to Food’ for Tam Baillie, the Children and Young People’s Commissioner.

Unfortunately we ran out of time to hear from our Sports Captains on the presentations they have created about Olympic Values and Fencing, and the Day for Change count is still ongoing! Another very busy week at Sciennes!

Article 30

The right to enjoy your own culture, practise your own religion and use your own language.

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 NSPCC ChildLine Workshops in P7 24.5.16

Grateful thanks to the excellent NSPCC ChildLine team, including a retired Midlothian Headteacher, for clear, relevant and perfectly pitched presentations in P7 on Tuesday 24th May 2016.

Article 19

You have the right to be protected from being hurt or badly treated.

Article 34

You have the right to be protected from abuse.

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A Rose By Any Other Name… 26.5.2016

 “Education (SDG 4) underpins all of the other SDGs”

Reflecting on the Emergence of the UN Sustainable Development Goals:
A Call for Action in Scotland
May East (UNITAR Fellow)
Rehema M. White (University of St Andrews, Learning for Sustainability Scotland)

At Sciennes, we have found that children, particularly younger children, find the term “Global Goals” easier to begin to understand and have benefited from accessing the excellent “Tell Everyone” and “World’s Largest Lesson” resources to help share the message. However, we will try to take note of the recently published document [see link below] which calls for use of the term “Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) rather than the term “Global Goals”:

http://learningforsustainabilityscotland.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/ReflectionSDGsScotland_15April2016.pdf

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Morrison Construction Safety Assemblies 27.5.2016

Sciennes Assemblies Safety Sam Morrison Construction 27.5.16 from Sciennes Primary School

On Friday 27th May Kirsty and Gary from Morrison Construction – who are building our new Dining Hall – gave an excellent presentation at both P1-3 and P4-7 Assemblies. They not only explained very clearly how to stay safe near a building site, they also described many of the jobs involved in the construction industry.

P7 House Captains congratulated pupils on recent achievements and Ammar revealed that the grand total for Unicef Day for Change was £377! It took P7s a long time to count all the loose change! Thank you to everyone who donated so generously.

We also wished,”Adios!” and said “Muchas, muchas gracias” to Ana Vidal, our final year Primary Bilingual Student from Madrid University.

Lots of love and best wishes to our wonderful Principal Teacher Shona Pearmain, who began her maternity leave today.

Article 19

You have the right to be protected from being hurt or badly treated. 

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£377 Raised for Unicef Day for Change! 27.5.2016

Thank you very much to everyone who donated to Unicef’s Day for Change on Friday 13th May. It took our P7s a long time to count all the loose change! An amazing total of £377 raised!

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Day for Change £754 in total! (£377 matched by UK Gov) 27.5.2016

The UK Government will match monies raised for Unicef’s Day for Change, so that makes a grand total of £754!

Thank you!

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NSPCC ChildLine Workshops in P6 26.5.2016

Grateful thanks to the excellent NSPCC ChildLine team for another biennial round of clear, relevant and perfectly pitched presentations – this time to P6 – on Thursday 26th May 2016.

 

Sporting NSPCC stickers

Article 19

You have the right to be protected from being hurt or badly treated.

Article 34

You have the right to be protected from abuse.

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It’s Official! Unicef Rights Respecting Schools Level One Award! 1.6.2016

Thank you very much to Gerry McMurtrie, Senior Professional Advisor for Rights Respecting Schools (Scotland) with UNICEF UK for all his advice, support, enthusiasm and encouragement.

Thank you also to Jen Drummond, City of Edinburgh Strategic Lead Unicef Rights Respecting Schools Award, and her team who visited school on Wednesday 11th May. They were so supportive in their verbal feedback on the day and also in subsequent detailed, helpful, written feedback received on Monday 31st May 2016, confirming our Level One Award. The team rightly acknowledged the tremendous support we receive from our wonderful Parent Council, many of whom participated in the inspection visit.

Well done all! Great Sciennes Team effort and achievement!

Read about our journey to becoming a Rights Respecting school on our RRSA blog, which includes a Timeline.

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WE Free The Children 4.6.2016

We are very excited and looking forward to welcoming Free the Children to Sciennes on Wednesday 15th June 2016 to embrace the pupil leadership opportunities their programme provides for taking action.

Free the Children

Free The Children is an international charity and educational partner that believes in a world where all young people are free to achieve their fullest potential as change-makers. Over the last 20 years, Free The Children has grown into an international movement supporting youth empowerment through educational service-learning initiatives in North America and the United Kingdom, and a holistic and sustainable international development model. It is supported by the Queen’s Trust, the UN, Virgin Atlantic and has many international supporters –  Malala, Desmond Tutu, Prince Harry, Oprah will give a flavour. Their model is ‘children helping children’ and they promote pupil leadership and taking action, here and abroad. The scheme began in Canada, initiated  by one of the CEOs when he was 12, and is a social enterprise endeavour.

For more information about Free the Children, visit their website.

The ‘Free the Children’ programme will fit extremely well with our well established Junior Awards Scheme Scotland (JASS) programme in P6 and P7 where pupils are asked to take their own action to achieve a ‘Me and My World’ element. JASS is a children’s version of The Duke of Edinburgh Award, and the idea for it actually came from Sciennes! It is now adopted throughout Edinburgh and beyond so has been retitled Junior Award Scheme for Schools.

The Junior Award Scheme Schools (JASS) is an accredited learning programme, celebrating wider achievement, for young people (P6-S2). Sciennes and Tollcross Primary Schools have been implementing this scheme since we piloted it in 2009.
The concept emerged from a discussion during a Sciennes P7 visit to Lagganlia between Alice Brown, Gael Logan and Barry Hewitt who came up with the idea to set up a ‘Duke of Edinburgh’ style award scheme for upper primary pupils. The scheme has since been developed into a city wide programme.

There are three levels (bronze, silver and gold), each requiring a higher degree of commitment. Each level also includes four sections to be completed:

• My interest – a hobby or interest
• Get Active, Stay Active – involvement in a sport or physical activity
• Me and My World – a community or environmental project
• Adventure – a teamwork challenge through involvement in an outdoor activity (e.g Benmore and Lagganlia)

http://jassawardsciennes.blogspot.co.uk/

Sciennes helped develop an online version – eJASS.

Free the Children will also fit in well with our Unicef Rights Respecting Schools programme. We have recently achieved Level One and our next steps are to continue to extend knowledge of UNCRC and to expand global citizenship. The Free the Children programme will assist us with that. We have highlighted the relevance of the Global Goals for Sustainable Development since their launch in September and the programme also supports that well.

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Remarkable Parent Led International Summer Fair a Huge Success! 4.4.2016

Grateful thanks to graphic designer parent Jimmy Chow for superb artwork for the Summer Fair and to Thomas Elliott for his wonderful drawing of Sciennes:

Article 29 The right to education which develops your personality, respect for others’ rights and the environment.

Article 30 The right to enjoy your own culture, practise your own religion and use your own language.

At Sciennes, we recognise that we are incredibly fortunate to enjoy strong partnerships with families and to have such marvellous ongoing parental support. For this year’s Summer Fair, our fantastic Parent Council was able to capitalise on the broad range of cultures within our school community and provide exciting, engaging opportunities to promote learning and respect for one other through an International themed event. We are also most fortunate to have been able to draw upon a huge wealth of parental talent, experience and expertise.

Saturday 4th June 2016 saw the culmination of concerted efforts to create a remarkable and joyful parent led International Fair : organised and led by parents – supported by staff and pupils – with many workshops and presentations delivered by parents and also supported by the multitude of parents who attended.

Charlotte Herthelius, as Convener of the Fundraising and Events subgroup of the Parent Council, assisted by Sciennes’ Languages Co-ordnator Bethan Owen and Kristel Torokoff, as Chair of the Parent Council, have worked creatively with teams of parents, staff and pupils to achieve a most magnificent day celebrating Sciennes’ cultural diversity, as well as providing all the usual fun of the summer fair. Careful planning ensured the entire event ran extremely smoothly on the day.

We are indebted to all our contributors for providing FREE Languages Activities for the children. Special thanks to the University of Edinburgh, including Professor of Developmental Linguistics and Founding Director of Bilingualism Matters, Antonella Sorace, for her inspiring Keynote address and particularly to parent Dr Pau Navarro, Research Fellow at the university, for her support in organising so many activities.

A Silent Auction, Bake Sale, International Food Stall, Plant Stall, Toy Stall, Second Hand Uniform Stall, Football Stall and Ice Cream Stall, with very generous support from Sainsbury’s and Papa John’s, have helped us raise valuable funds to enhance the children’s experiences and learning.

These photographs are an attempt to capture just a glimpse of an extraordinary day, in glorious sunshine:

Thank you very much to CHARLOTTE HERTHELIUS, Chair of the Parent Council PTA and Events and Fundraising Group, and congratulations for leading and organising the superb International Summer Fair.

Sciennes’ inspirational Languages Specialist and Co-ordinator, BETHAN OWEN, facilitated Sciennes’ International Fair.

Headteacher Mrs Alison Noble, Paloma, Ms Owen and Professor Antonella Sorace agree that bilingualism matters! Grateful thanks to Antonella, Professor of Developmental Linguistics at Edinburgh University and Founding Director of Bilingualism Matters, for providing an exceptional Keynote address.

Sciennes bedecked in flags a glorious sight. Thank you very much to everyone who contributed to the success of the International Summer Fair!

KEYNOTE ADDRESS PROFESSOR ANTONELLA SORACE

Professor Antonella Sorace, Professor of Developmental Linguistics at Edinburgh University and Founding Director of Bilingualism Matters

http://www.bilingualism-matters.ppls.ed.ac.uk/

Wonderful to welcome back fenomenal Ana Vidal, fourth year Bilingual Primary Education student, who has recently returned to Madrid University after a very successful teaching placement at Sciennes.

MASS TRANSLATION ACTIVITY

Ms Bethan Owen organised the Mass Translation of Joann Sfar’s “Le Petit Prince” graphic novel.

Miss Richmond supporting the Mass Translation activity.

Grazie, parent helpers!

Ms Wendy French on hand to help with the Mass Translation.

Liza and her mum taking part in the Mass Translation.

Great to welcome back former pupils Maya and Jessica!

INTERNATIONAL PASSPORTS

Brilliant International Activity Passports!

Ciao Sophia using her International Activity Passport. How many countries did you visit at the Fair?

Thank you very much to Vice Chair of Sciennes Parent Council, Tanya Boughtflower, and the myriad of parent helpers who made the Summer Fair so successful and enjoyable for the whole school community.

 

Thank you to Sciennes Parent Council Treasurer Cathy McCormack for keeping everyone afloat with floats throughout the day!

ENGLISH AS AN ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE (EAL) ACTIVITIES

Our fabulous EAL Specialist, Helen Law, provided a host of international quizzes, games and arts and crafts.

Fun for all the family

MAPPING OUR CONNECTIONS

Mapping our connections

http://ccescocia.cat/indexE.html

HUMAN TOWERS
Colla Castellara Edinburgh provided an extraordinary demonstration of human towers.

Well done, Alba, who reached the top of the tower!

Thank you to the Centre Catala d’Escocia for providing wonderful cultural activities and demonstrations.

Designing flags and recreating traditional cuisine in Play-Doh were just some of the activities on offer.

Redesigning  a new flag by combining Scottish and Catalan flags   Sagrada Familia takes shape in cardboard at the Fallas (junk modelling) activity.

Sagrada Familia left unfinished in a nod to Gaudi.

INTERNATIONAL MUSICAL PERFORMANCES
Superb musical performances could be heard throughout the school during the Fair.

Fabulous musicians performing traditional Chinese music.

Wonderful to welcome back former pupils Kim and Alexander – such talented musicians! And current pupil, Elizabeth, too! All your practice has reaped considerable rewards.

INTERNATIONAL DANCE CLASSES AND DEMONSTRATIONS An impressive programme of dance classes and demonstrations ran all day throughout  the building!

Delightful dancers!

Traditional Chinese dance and costumes.

A well deserved break in the sunshine!

Thank you to all the groups who provided dance classes and demonstrations throughout the day in the Hall and in classrooms. Scottish country dancing, Street dancing, Indian dancing, Chinese dancing and Ballet.

Wonderful Bharathnatyam Indian dance classes

Robika gave a superb demonstration of traditional Nepalese dance.

Thank you very much to the Grange School of Ballet – and Rachel! – for elegant dance classes.

INTERNATIONAL STORYTELLING SESSIONS

The children were enthralled by the things they heard at the Worldwide Storytelling in the Library. Huge thanks to Claudio Michelon, Elena Chetlsova, Laura Kinsler, Tim Pask and Janis Mackay for sharing stories from their homelands.  We felt we had been transported to Brazil, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, Shetland and North America!

Thank you very much to parent Aileen Nimmo for organising such a broad and engaging programme of international storytelling and to all who supported.

Celebrated author, and Sciennes’ Patron of Reading, Janis Mackay led some of the Worldwide Storytelling sessions.

Parent, Tim Pask, regaled pupils with international stories in the school fiction library

Parent, Laura Kinsler, led an international storytelling session in the school non fiction library.

KOREAN COOKERY CLASSES

 Korean cookery classes were a huge hit!

 

Welcome back former pupil Erin, enjoying Korean cuisine.

MINDFULNESS SESSIONS

Pupil Support Assistant, Helen Anderson (pictured here with son Rory), provided an oasis of calm with her popular Kids Relax Mindfulness sessions.

Relax, Kids!

Very popular Mindfulness classes, which support an array of Mental Health and Wellbeing initiaitives introduced at school by Depute Head Carolyn Anstruther.

CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY AND ORIGAMI SESSIONS

Thank you to parents who manned the free calligraphy and origami sessions

Tihomir enjoys some Chinese calligraphy

Catie and her mum had fun at the Chinese calligraphy and origami sessions

Layla always has a sunny outlook, rain or shine!

 

So sad that star pupil Jaime from Murcia returns to Spain next year. Our love and best wishes to you and your family.

SCIENNES FOOTBALL CLUB FUN AND FUNDRAISING

 

PLANT STALL

The Plant Stall raised an amazing £273!

Thank you to Laura, Nikki, Mary and Rachel for setting out the Plant Stall so beautifully and manning it throughout the day.

 

SILENT AUCTION

The Silent Auction was a great success

Surprise star of the silent auction, Miss Stuffy McTat

BAKE SALE

Thank you to everyone who baked for and bought from the Bake Sale

Layla helps her mum man the Bake Sale

TOYS R US

Aidan and Katherine help at the Toy Stall

RECYCLED UNIFORM SALE

Phoebe and Mary man the uniform sale.

FRIENDSHIP BRACELETS

Thank you to Abi and Roma for selling 50 friendship bracelets handmade and donated by friend to the school, Anne Swap (retired Senior ASL ICT Development Officer).

Abi and Roma sold them all and made £50 for school funds!

WELCOME BACK FORMER MEMBER OF STAFF

Lovely to welcome back former member of staff Cath Walker to visit school with her family.

INTERNATIONAL FOOD STALL

What an outstanding success! Such a huge range of delicious cuisine from across the globe. Thank you to our generous sponors Papa John’s for providing oodles of pizza and to Sainsbury’s for supplying barbecue foods.

P6 pupils did a fantastic job selling International Food tickets

Thank you to all parents who prepared and sold such delicious international cuisine!

THANK YOU PAPA JOHN’S!

Thank you very much Papa John’s Pizza for generously donating pizza and for your continued support for the school.

 

THANK YOU SAINSBURY’S

Thank you to Sainsbury’s for generously providing barbecue foods for the International Food Stall.

Thank you team of super cook parents!

Thanks for all your help, former pupil Maxwell!

AND THERE WAS ICE CREAM, TOO!

WONDERFULLY SUPPORTIVE PARENTS

What can we say but thank you most sincerely to all who planned, organised, led and supported the Parent Council Summer Fair. A joyful celebration of our diverse community –  for the entire community to enjoy.

Thank you to everyone who donated even more of their time to stay on and count funds raised at the end of the hugely successful Summer Fair.

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Our Children’s Views Voiced at Children’s Parliament 8.6.2016

On Wednesday 8th June 2016 our P4-7 Pupil Council reps and a group of P6 pupils were invited to take part in a Children’s Parliament project at Summerhall to explore their views on the minimum age of criminal responsibility, through discussion, games and creative art activities. Thank you to Cathy McCulloch (Co-Director Children’s Parliament) and Chelsea Stinson (Children’s Voices Programmes Manager) for the invitation and the opportunity for our children to share their ideas and opinions.

In Scotland, the minimum age of criminal responsibility is currently set at 8 years of age and plans are being explored to increase that to 12 years of age. As part of the consultation process, it is commendable that the Scottish Government is actively seeking young people’s views. Our twenty pupils were part of that ongoing process. The Children’s Parliament project they were invited to attend on Wednesday was one of several commissioned by Tam Baillie, The Children and Young People’s Commissioner in Scotland. Tam has very kindly offered to come and speak at our P1-3 and P4-7 Assemblies in September, to explain his role to our pupils.

Article 12 The right to an opinion and for it to be listened to and taken seriously.

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New Digital Leadership Opportunities for Pupils for Next Session 10.6.2016

We have signed up to get involved in iTeach’s innovative Digital Leaders programme for next session and were delighted to receive a – very fetching –  t-shirt, lanyard and badge to help us promote the scheme to pupils early next session. The scheme will open up new opportunities for pupil leadership, as well as advancing pupils’ skills and confidence in using technology. We have already received excellent practical support and guidance from the iTeach team, who have worked alongside staff in school on several occasions, modelling innovative use of iPads with pupils, and have also provided tailored twilight training sessions for us last year. We look forward to engaging with them again on this exciting project.

Article 12 The right to an opinion and for it to be listened to and taken seriously.

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Rapping the Global Goals 14.6.2016

We are sure this rap song featuring the 17 Sustainable Development Global Goals (SDGs) from Flocabulary will really help children to understand and engage.#telleveryone

Website – http://www.Flocabulary.com
Article 42 All adults and children should know about the UNCRC

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WE Free the Children at Sciennes 15.6.2016

We were delighted to welcome Jacob Gruber from Free the Children to Sciennes on Wednesday 15th June to embrace the pupil leadership opportunities their programme provides for taking action.

Jacob provided an inspirational Assembly for P4-P6 pupils, telling the story of Craig Kielburger, co-founder of Free the Children who, as a 12-year old boy in Toronto, was inspired to take action after hearing the moving story of the fate of Iqbal Masih. Iqbal was sold into child labour as an infant but escaped and became a campaigner for children’s rights only to be killed as a 12 year old himself. It was hearing about this travesty that prompted Craig to become a social activist and found a charity which encourages children to make a difference. Jacob asked our pupils to think about how they could change the world.

Jacob then led workshops throughout the day with half the P6 year group (Sienna and Lauder Houses), encouraging pupils to think about the issues most important to them and which steps they could take to be change makers.

An uplifting day, giving our children a voice in making a difference.

Jacob will return in October to repeat the workshops with the remaining children. Ms Sellar and Ms Gaffney organised a day of workshops for Grange and Tantallon Houses, looking first at the Global Goals for Sustainable Development and then a particular focus on Gender Equality.

Primary Six pupils were fantastic ambassadors for our school, so capable of high level thinking, discussion, debate and planning. Thank you to Free the Children for giving us this wonderful opportunity and we look forward to continuing to work with them next session.

How will you be the change?

Remembering Iqbal Masih

Craig Kielburger, Co-Founder of Free the Children

Jacob leads hugely engaging workshops, getting the children to feel confident in expressing their opinions

Listening respectfully to one another was a key message

Which side are you on in the debate?

Voicing opinions in debate

One minute to state your group’s case

Everyone included and engaged and motivated

Article 12 The right to an opinion and for it to be listened to and taken seriously.

Free the Children

Free The Children is an international charity and educational partner that believes in a world where all young people are free to achieve their fullest potential as change-makers. Over the last 20 years, Free The Children has grown into an international movement supporting youth empowerment through educational service-learning initiatives in North America and the United Kingdom, and a holistic and sustainable international development model. It is supported by the Queen’s Trust, the UN, Virgin Atlantic and has many international supporters –  Malala, Desmond Tutu, Prince Harry, Oprah will give a flavour. Their model is ‘children helping children’ and they promote pupil leadership and taking action, here and abroad. The scheme began in Canada, initiated  by one of the CEOs when he was 12, and is a social enterprise endeavour.

For more information about Free the Children, visit their website.

The ‘Free the Children’ programme will fit extremely well with our well established Junior Awards Scheme Scotland (JASS) programme in P6 and P7 where pupils are asked to take their own action to achieve a ‘Me and My World’ element. JASS is a children’s version of The Duke of Edinburgh Award, and the idea for it actually came from Sciennes! It is now adopted throughout Edinburgh and beyond so has been retitled Junior Award Scheme for Schools.

The Junior Award Scheme Schools (JASS) is an accredited learning programme, celebrating wider achievement, for young people (P6-S2). Sciennes and Tollcross Primary Schools have been implementing this scheme since we piloted it in 2009.
The concept emerged from a discussion during a Sciennes P7 visit to Lagganlia between Alice Brown, Gael Logan and Barry Hewitt who came up with the idea to set up a ‘Duke of Edinburgh’ style award scheme for upper primary pupils. The scheme has since been developed into a city wide programme.

There are three levels (bronze, silver and gold), each requiring a higher degree of commitment. Each level also includes four sections to be completed:

• My interest – a hobby or interest
• Get Active, Stay Active – involvement in a sport or physical activity
• Me and My World – a community or environmental project
• Adventure – a teamwork challenge through involvement in an outdoor activity (e.g Benmore and Lagganlia)

http://jassawardsciennes.blogspot.co.uk/

Sciennes helped develop an online version – eJASS.

Free the Children will also fit in well with our Unicef Rights Respecting Schools programme. We have recently achieved Level One and our next steps are to continue to extend knowledge of UNCRC and to expand global citizenship. The Free the Children programme will assist us with that. We have highlighted the relevance of the Global Goals for Sustainable Development since their launch in September and the programme also supports that well.

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P6 Global Goals and Gender Equality Workshops 15.6.2016

Half of our P6 year group took part in Free the Children workshops on Wednesday 15th June 2016 and the other half took part in workshops designed by Class Teachers Ms Fiona Sellar, Ms Jenny Gaffney and Mrs Jane Maguire to encourage pupils to think about the Sustainable Development Goals, and in particular Goal 5 Gender Equality. The three P6 classes were split into Sienna and Lauder with Free the Children and Grange and Tanatallon Houses with Class Teachers.

Firstly, pupils in mixed teams from each class considered the Global Goals, decided which three were most important to them and explained why.

In the afternoon session, they were then asked to list as many jobs as they could, categorise them into male and female occupations on Post-Its and display these. Their ideas were discussed with the whole group and pupils naturally began to recognise and realise many stereotypes in their initial attitudes.

Ms Sellar explained how Global Goal 5, Gender Equality, is a fundamental goal in achieving the other goals and showed the pupils this thought-provoking video, “Like A Girl”:

Article 2 The right to protection against discrimination.

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World Refugee Day 20th June 16.6.2016

Monday 20th June is World Refugee Day. Will you sign the petition to stand #withrefugees?

http://www.unhcr.org/refugeeday/petition

The #WithRefugees petition will be delivered to UN headquarters in New York ahead of the UN General Assembly meeting on September 19. The petition asks governments to:

• Ensure every refugee child gets an education.
• Ensure every refugee family has somewhere safe to live.
• Ensure every refugee can work or learn new skills to make a positive contribution to their community.

Article 22 The right to have help if you are a refugee.

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Local Delicatessen Sponsors Healthy Eating ‘Food Focus’ Book 29.6.2016

“Food Focus” book in collaboration with local business

“Every child and young person is entitled to develop skills for learning, skills for life and skills for work, with a continuous focus on literacy and numeracy and health and wellbeing.”

Curriculum for Excellence: Building the Curriculum 3

Primary Four pupils marked the book launch of “Food Focus” – a collaborative venture between local business Victor Hugo Delicatessen and Cafe and each class at Sciennes – on Wednesday 29th June at the Meadows.

Twenty-two classes, from P1-P7, contributed selected highlights from our annual whole school ‘Food Focus Fortnight.” Each page promotes and celebrates healthy eating and an appreciation of cuisine from different cultures, which marries extremely well with Victor Hugo Delicatessen’s business ideals.

Victor Hugo, Continental Delicatessen and Cafe

Sincere thanks to the tremendous generosity of Victor Hugo Delicatessen owner, Karol Rzepkowski, who sponsored the creation of the book and additionally provided a free copy to each of our 99 P4 pupils. Karol is an – inspirational – former Sciennes’ pupil and the “Food Focus” book details the history of Victor Hugo’s, established by his father Zdzislaw (Jackie) Rzepkowski. Karol’s father’s story is also an inspiration:

In 1957 the business was started in Edinburgh, with a first shop in Spittal Street, by Karol’s father Zdzislaw Rzepkowski. Zdzislaw found it hard for anyone to say his name so was more commonly known in Edinburgh as ‘Jackie’. Jackie was born in Poland and was only 16 years old when the Germans invaded. He escaped a firing squad but was taken to Auschwitz, and then a munitions factory in an Austrian labour camp before escaping over the Alps to Italy. He then made his way south until he met the allies and from there to the UK and finally Scotland. He joined the Polish division of the British Army and fought in the Woijtek Division. This was the division most famous for the bear mascot rescued as a cub in 1943 and who carried their shells into battle, ‘Woijtek the Soldier Bear’. Karol even has a photograph of his father and maternal grandfather both standing with Woijtek the bear. After the war Woijek retired and went to live out the rest of his days at Edinburgh Zoo. Jackie was demobbed and went to work.

Karol said, “Our first concern is that Victor Hugo’s business contributes in some way to the local community. We want to attract customers from outside but the vast majority of our clientele are locals. In a deli people can buy and eat straight away – it is the ultimate fast food! No-one ever comes into our shop and asks for a ‘pie’. Food has also been our first and longest lasting introduction to Europe. We celebrate our cultural differences through food and it allows us to embrace our European culture. We want to engage with local people and the local youngsters too because they are our future market. Sugar seems to be the
drug of choice at the moment and getting kids passionate about food is so important. We want children to get passionate and enthusiastic about good food so that they can in turn pass it onto their own children.This is why we wanted to get involved in this book project with Sciennes Primary School. It was my school and I really enjoyed my time there so giving this opportunity back to the current students really feels like coming full circle.”

Very well done to P4 pupils Natalia, William and Hannah who gave speeches explaining how their classmates contributed to the book. Our Principal Teacher, Ms Shona Pearmain (currently on maternity leave), took the lead in co-ordinating classes’ contributions and will be very proud – of the children as well as the finished result. Sciennes School has been filled with delicious aromas since ‘Food Focus’ was first established by Ms Pearmain in October 2013, after the launch of our new kitchen (partly funded by Sciennes’ Parent Council). The kitchen is regularly used by all classes throughout the year to create delicious healthy food.

Thank you very much to the parents who attended the “Food Focus” book launch, including Hannah’s father Mr Jimmy Chow, who provided such excellent photographs of the event. Grateful thanks to Georgiana’s mum, Ivana Summerton, and Pupil Support Assistants Mrs Helen Robertson, Mrs Sally Nowell and Mrs Aliya Tariq who kindly laid out the books and cut up the special cakes for the children. Thank you to Janitor Mr Reid for helping with the gazebo, tables and chairs and to Class Teachers Mrs Susan Mackay and Mrs Katherine Clark. So typical of the Sciennes’ Family that everyone kindly pitched in to support. Thank you!

Grateful thanks to published author and Sciennes’ parent Mary Turner Thomson for giving the children the opportunity to see their work in print through her company Whitewater Publishing. This is the sixth book that Mary has published for Sciennes in six years and provides an extraordinary opportunity for our pupils.

It was wonderful to welcome back Karol to Sciennes earlier this year and give him a tour of his former school. We look forward to strengthening the links between Sciennes Primary and Karol’s neighbouring business Victor Hugo Delicatessen and Cafe; such a prominent and fondly regarded feature of the local community – and frequently frequented!

More photographs on the P4 Class Page.

“Food Focus” in print!

Ready for their speeches!

Natalia

William

Hannah

Karol and Mary

Victor Hugo Delicatessen owner, Karol Rzepkowski. Karol’s delicatessen and cafe can be seen in the background of this photograph.

Sciennes’ parent Mary Turner Thomson

Thank you to Class Teachers Mrs Katherine Clark, Mrs Susan Mackay, Mrs Emma Kidd, Mrs Joanne Hogan and Ms Shona Pearmain

Hannah’s page – lovely handwriting, Hannah!

Mrs Susan Mackay shows the children the special cakes

Thank you Mrs Summerton, Mrs Robertson and Mrs Tariq!

Not so healthy, but celebratory!

Thank you, Karol!

Back at school, everyone immediately engrossed in “Food Focus” books

“Food Focus” is a big hit with us!

Great to pass on Karol and his father’s stories to Sciennes children.

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September 2015-June 2016

Rights Based Learning at Sciennes Primary School

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