Happy New Year and welcome back to Spring Term 2023! This term is jam-packed with exciting learning opportunities and events. Please take a moment to look over a few reminders and dates for your diary. Remember that school calendars can still be purchased on ParentPay and can be collected from the school office. Please note, the school is no longer able to take cash.
Important Spring Term Dates
| Date | Event |
| 10/01/23 | Primary School Strike Day – All primary schools in Edinburgh will be closed on this day. Pupils should stay at home and undertake home learning. Details contained in letter emailed to parents. |
| 11/01/23 | All children back at school (Secondary schools in Edinburgh only strike today) *PLEASE ENSURE THAT ALL SCHOOL LUNCHES ARE ORDERED BY WEDNESDAY EACH WEEK FOR THE FOLLOWING WEEK AS THE KITCHEN ORDERS THE FOOD ON A THURSDAY. IF YOU ORDER AFTER WEDNESDAY, THERE WILL NOT BE A LUNCH MADE FOR YOUR CHILD DURING THE FOLLOWING WEEK. YOU WILL BE ASKED TO BRING A PACKED LUNCH IN FOR YOUR CHILD* |
| 16/01/23 | Ceilidh Kids – Buddy Class Fun in the name of the national bard! (during the school day) |
| 18/01/23 | 6.15pm – LPPC Meeting in school gym hall |
| 23/01/23 | Class Newsletters and Home Learning Grids emailed to parents |
| 24/01/23 | P7 Mock Court event (info to follow for P7 pupil concerned) |
| 25/01/23 | Possible School Strike Day – Confirmation nearer the time |
| 30/01/23 | NSPCC – Speak Out, Stay Safe letters emailed to parents |
| 03/02/23 | Open Classroom Morning – dates and times to be confirmed |
| 06/02/23 | Children’s Mental Health Day Internet Safety Week Booking for Parent Consultations Opens – details to be sent out |
| 08/02/23 | P5-P7 Ski group leaves for two-night residential to Lagganlia/The Lecht |
| 09/02/23 | P4, P5/6, P7 – Generation Science workshops in class |
| 10/02/23 | All pupils break for February holiday (13th-17th Feb) Skiing group returns – time TBC |
| 20/02/23 | All pupils return to school |
| 21/02/23 | International Mother Language Day – let’s celebrate our 25 different first languages at Leith PS! Shrove Tuesday |
| 22/02/23 | P2, P2/3, P3 – Generation Science Workshops |
| 01/03/23 | St David’s Day P7 at The Art of Noise event at The Hub (details to follow) |
| 02/03/23 | World Book Day – details to follow PARENTS CONSULTATIONS 4.00-6.30PM |
| 03/03/23 | PARENT CONSULTATIONS 1-3.30PM |
| 08/03/23 | Holi Festival International Women’s Day |
| 13/03/23 | Sleep Awareness Week – Parent Event, details to follow |
| 15/03/23 | 6.15pm – LPPC Meeting in the gym hall |
| 17/03/23 | St Patrick’s Day |
| 20/03/23 | Neurodiversity Week – Parent event, details to follow |
| 27/03/23 | Earth Hour – switch off to save help the planet |
| 31/03/23 | Term Ends! Easter Holiday 3rd – 14th April Pupils Return Monday 17th April |
Lunch Order Timings
It is very important that school lunches are ordered on or before the Wednesday of the week before. Michelle Stewart, the kitchen manager, orders food every Thursday based on the numbers submitted by the Wednesday for the following week. If you have not ordered by Wednesday, food will not be ordered for your child for the following week. If your child comes to school without having a lunch ordered for the week, you will be telephoned and asked to bring a packed lunch in for your child. If you order lunches Thursday – Sunday, which Parent Pay permits you to do, your order will not be counted or prepared for. Therefore you MUST order by Wednesday. When there is a school holiday, lunches for the first week back must be ordered by the Wednesday of the last week of the previous term. Any lunches ordered on the last Thursday or Friday or during a school holiday will not be counted or order for. We know that this system can cause some confusion and thank you for your patience and support.
Contact Updates
Some lucky people may have been gifted a new mobile phone at Christmas or might have created a new email account. One or two of you may even have moved home. Please can we request that you update the school office ASAP with any new details so that all text messages and emails are sent to the correct address. If you feel that your emergency contacts have changed since August, please can you also let us know who should be removed from your child’s file and the details of the replacement contact. Many thanks for this.
Strike Days
All primary schools in Edinburgh will be closed due to industrial action on Tuesday 10th January. This also extends to nursery classes attached to a primary school and therefore will included Leith Primary Nursery. There is a further strike day planned for Wednesday 25th January however this has yet to be confirmed. If there is a last minute change of circumstances, we will alert you ASAP.
For anyone who did not see the letter emailed to parents/carers centrally from the Head of Schools and Lifelong Learning, please see below.
Free After School Clubs
Extra curricular activities are a vitally important part of a child’s learning. Clubs allow children to develop their social and communication skills further, support skills development and nurture and encourage talents and interests. As a school, we decided some years ago to prioritise extra-curricular skills development over excessive formal homework tasks. We fully encourage parents to support their children to join youth clubs, sports classes, community organisations, artistic endeavours and wider achievement opportunities of which there are many within the wider Leith community. To support with this, we are delighted to be able to offer an enhanced programme of FREE clubs, partially funded by the KPE4 fund and supported by our teaching staff and Active Schools partners. Lunchtime groups can be attended ad hoc by pupils. After school clubs must have signed parental consent and will be restricted in number. Priority will be given to pupils who do not currently attend any other wider curricular opportunities and some may be invited to attend a group of their choice. Groups were coordinated based on pupils’ suggestions and the skills and talents of people within our community. We really encourage you to discuss activities that your child might enjoy this term or the next.
- Please note that we will continue to maintain high expectations of pupils’ standard of behaviour in these groups as we do in class. Any pupil who consistently or seriously breaks our school rules of Be Ready, Be Respectful, Be Safe or does not respect or uphold another pupil’s rights, may be asked to miss a week (Articles 3, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 22, 23, 24, 26, 28, 29, 31 of the UNCRC)
| Activity | Target Year Group | Day | Times | Location | Staff Lead | Signed Parent/Carer Permission Required? |
| Lego Club | P1-P3 | Monday | 12.30-1.00pm | Room 10 | Ms Harris & Mrs Slattery | No |
| Singing Club | P1-P4 | Tuesday | 12.40-1.00pm | Room 3 | Ms Craig | No |
| Craft Club | P1-P3 | Friday | 12.00-12.45pm | Room 4 | Mrs Young | Yes |
| Dance Club (Summer Term) | P1-P3 | Monday | 12.00-1.00pm | Room 2 | Mrs Kinnell | No |
| Sewing Group (Summer Term) | P5-P7 | TBC | TBC | Art Room | Mrs Cook | TBC |
| Chess Club | P4-P5 | Wednesday | 12.45-1.15pm | Library | Mrs Moloney | No |
| STEM Club | P4 | Tuesday | 3.15pm-4.00pm | Room 8 | Mrs Fraser, Ms Kirkwood | Yes |
| Chess Club | P6-P7 | Thursday | 1.00-1.30pm | Library | Mr Stuart | No |
| Lego Club | P4-P7 | Thursday | 1.00-1.30pm | Room 17 | Mr Mackenzie | No |
| Drawing Club | P4-P5 | Monday | 12.45-1.15pm | Room 14 | Mrs Watson | No |
| Singing Club | P5-P7 | Wednesday | 1.00-1.30pm | The Loft | Mrs Richards | No |
| Craft Club | P5-P7 | Thursday | 1.00-1.30pm | Art Room | Ms Christensen | No |
| Dance Club | P5-P7 | Friday | 12.30-1.20pm | Gym | Ms Wilson | Yes (see Active Schools list http://www.joinedinburgh.org) |
| SumDog Club | P3-P7 | Thursday | 12.30-1.30pm | Library | Ms Craig & Mrs Scott | No |
| History Club | P5-P7 | Thursday | 1.00-.1.30pm | Room 22 | Ms McDonald | No |
| Drama Club | P5-P7 | Monday | 3.15-4.15pm | Room 23 | Mix Up Theatre – Stewart McLaren | Yes (info@mixuptheatre.com) |
| Yoga | All | Weds/Thurs | 3.00-4.30pm | Room 23 | Yoga Leaf – Laura Bailey | Yes (yogaleafedinburgh@gmail.com) |
| Code Club (Summer Term) | P7 | Monday | TBC | Room 9 | Ms Scott Dickins | TBC |
| Mandarin Club | P5-P7 | TBC | 3.15-4.00pm | Room 20 | TBC | Yes – details to follow |
| Pilmeny ASN Group | P4-P5 | Monday | 2.45-3.30pm | Room 1 | Pilmeny Development Project | Yes – Parents contacted individually |
| Multi-Sports | P1-P3 | Monday | 12.15-1.00pm | Gym | Active Sports | http://www.joinedinburgh.org |
| Football | P1-P2 | Tuesday | 3.00-4.00pm | Gym | Active Sports | http://www.joinedinburgh.org |
| Fencing | P5-P7 | Wednesday | 3.15-4.15pm | Gym | Active Sports | http://www.joinedinburgh.org |
| Basketball | P1-P3 | Thursday | 12.15-1.00pm | Gym | Active Sports | http://www.joinedinburgh.org |
| Parkour | P3-P7 | Friday | 1.30-2.30pm | Gym | Active Sports | http://www.joinedinburgh.org |
| Rock Climbing | P6-P7 | Friday | 2.00-3.00pm | Alien Rock | Active Sports | http://www.joinedinburgh.org |
| American Football | P5-S1 | Tuesday | 5pm-6pm | Leith Academy Astro | Active Sports | http://www.joinedinburgh.org |
| Swimming – ASN Group 1 | P4-P7 | Wednesday | 3.45pm-4.25pm | Leith Academy | Active Sports | http://www.joinedinburgh.org |
| Swimming ASN Group 2 | P4-P7 | Wednesday | 4.25- 5.00pm | Leith Academy | Active Sports | http://www.joinedinburgh.org |
| Fencing | P5-P7 | Thursday | 5.00-6.00pm | Leith Academy | Active Sports | http://www.joinedinburgh.org |
| Basketball | P3-P7 | Friday | 2.00-3.00pm | Leith Academy | Active Sports | http://www.joinedinburgh.org |
| Boccia – ASN Group | P3-P7 | Friday | 1.00-2.00pm | Leith Academy | Active Sports | http://www.joinedinburgh.org |
| Rugby | P3-P7 | Friday | 2.00-3.00pm | Leith Academy Playing Fields | Active Sports | http://www.joinedinburgh.org |
Fever, Sickness & Diarrhoea Protocol
Whilst we are thankful that health protection measures have changed radically over the last year, we must still be mindful that there are numerous viruses within the community. To prevent the spread of such viruses, we ask that no child is sent in if they have a high temperature. Any child who develops a temperature at school will requested to be collected and taken home. Any child who has vomited or has had diarrhoea within 48 hours should also remain at home. Any child who has these symptoms at school will be also be asked to be collected and taken home. Please ensure your contact details are up-to-date with us. We also remind parents that footballs from home and toys are not permitted in school unless by prior agreement with a member of school staff.
Term Time Holidays and Country of Origin Trips
Please note that we strongly discourage pupils from being taken out of school to go on holiday or to visit their country of origin during term time. Catch up work will not be supplied to compensate for missed learning. There are very few situations where term time holidays can be approved and these tend to relate to situations where, for example, one parents works offshore or when there has been a death of a close family member. Any withdrawal of a child from school during term time must be communicated to the school in writing beforehand. Extended leave must be requested centrally from the Head of Schools and Lifelong Learning. Any subsequent concerns around poor attendance at school will be reported to the Educational Welfare Service and in some instances may be referred to Social Work. This is in compliance with the City of Edinburgh Council policy and is not specific just to Leith Primary School.
Families with female school or nursery age pupils who plan to return to a country where Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is permitted must speak to a member of the school or nursery leadership team before they leave Scotland as per the Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation (Scotland) Act (2005). Countries include, Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt, Gambia, Kenya, Sudan, Uganda, Indonesia. Families who do not comply with this request will automatically be referred to Social Care Direct who will visit the family upon their return to the country. We apologise in advance for any embarrassment this situation may cause but ask families to understand that schools must comply with safeguarding protocol regarding this matter.
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