Day: May 24, 2024

We were delighted to welcome the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Education, Jenny Gilruth, to Leith Primary School yesterday. Ms Gilruth came to announce the launch of a new school library fund which will allow Scottish schools to replenish their book stocks with contemporary books written that appeal to and are representative of modern children. Ms Gilruth was happy to cut the red ribbon to officially launch the opening of our refreshed school library. Our wonderful parent council, LPPC, have worked hard to fundraise money through school photos, the school calendar and other endeavours to buy many exciting new fiction, non-fiction and picture books for our pupils to enjoy. They have also worked with the staff and pupils to take on board their views around how they want their library to look. The library is now a bright, airy and comfortable space with plants, fairy lights and multicolour bean bags, cushions and chairs for children to sit, relaxed and dip into a favourite or new book. Every class has time scheduled in their timetable to spend time swapping their book, sharing recommendations and finding out about new authors. We know that children who read for pleasure do better overall in their learning and tend to have been friendships and mental health. The best thing a parent or carer can do with their primary or nursery aged child is read to them, read with them, listen to them read and talk about what they have read.

Ms Gilruth also joined a Families Connect session with our Family Support Worker, Kristen Johnston, EYP Natalia Ramos and some of our parents from nursery and P1. Families Connect is a 12 week programme that supports parents of younger children to instil positive habits for learning, development and behaviour. The second part of the session involved the children getting involved in a fun activity with their parents and a little bit with Ms Gilruth. It was a pleasure to share some of the fabulous work happening in the school just now.

Well done to our very own DHT Mr Stuart for explaining how important our school library is to our pupils. #17 #24 #31 #believe https://t.co/5Ws4ng3z5f

— Leith Primary School (@Leith_Primary) May 24, 2024

Some Key Dates for Your Diary #12 #24 #29 #31

It is, as ever, a jam-packed summer term. We have lots of trips, performances, assemblies and other events planned over the next few weeks. Here is a run-down of what to look out for:

Class Photos #26

Standard and a Silly versions of class photos will be able to order on ParentPay from Tuesday next week 28th May. Each one is 5×7″ and costs £3.

For Nursery there is just one photo for all.

There are no digital copies available for purchase.

If you would like to look at the photos beforehand, please go to this website: ClearPhotography using the password is LP2024MAY

If all orders could be paid for by Monday 10th June on ParentPay, this will allow them to be delivered before the end of term.

Pupil Group Parent Sharing Session #5 #12 #13 #15 #29

Pupils from our Pupil Leadership groups including; the Eco Committee, Rights Respecting School Champions, Equalities Group, Pupil Council, Health & Wellbeing Group & Junior Librarians would love to share the work they have done this session with their own and any interested parents and carers. The session will take place on Friday 7th June at 11am. Please let us know if you can come along to the session here: https://forms.office.com/e/nuXhG18ehZ

Recent Leithers of the Week #13 #29 #31

Lilly	Primary 1/2	For trying her best in phonics sessions! Lilly is making good progress!
Liam	Primary 1/2	For always having a positive attitude towards his learning. Well done for trying so hard Liam!
Willow	Primary 1a	Willow has been doing some fantastic writing this week! Not only did she create a fantastic story in school, she practiced her writing at home. She wrote some funny sentences and taught her grown ups about our rights in her writing too! Well done, Willow!
Esmeralda	Primary 1a	Esmeralda demonstrated fantastic team work skills during our junk modelling task. She showed good leadership, shared her ideas and listened to others to create a super scarecrow!
Oskar	Primary 1b	Oskar has shown he is a supportive classmate by giving his classmates lovely compliments on their work in class. Oskar has been encouraging to others and brought lots of smiles to lots of faces.
Ascia	Primary 1b	Ascia has been working really hard during phonics lessons. She has been showcasing her new skills in reading and writing confidently and should be really proud of herself!
Mame Diarra	Primary 2	Mame Diarra wrote a super creative story, during our play and free writing time!  She was keen to read it out loud and also wanted to up-level her writing by looking for punctuation to add and other parts she could improve!  Well done Mame Diarra, I love the way you got really excited about your writing and wanted to do your very best like a true Leither!
Ali	Primary 2	Ali put his numeracy and problem-solving skills to the test this week, when he was stuck on a place value question in a Big Maths activity.  He used some number cards to look at how the number was made up, which helped him to decide the value of each digit.  Good work Ali, I like the way you were resourceful and sorted out the right things you needed to help you solve the problem!
Brooke	Primary 3	Brooke has worked hard in PE to improve her personal best and was encouraging her partner. Well done Brooke!
Ilhan	Primary 3	You have settled in very well to our class and you always work hard to produce high quality work. Well done Ilhan!
Nathan	Primary 3/4	For challenging himself in mental maths and trying his best to understand complex instructions in French. Super attitude!
Rahim	Primary 3/4	Having a great respectful attitude, quick to refocus, learning from mistakes and being a supportive friend
Pneuma	Primary 4	For his fabulous solo at our Drumming show!
Mira M	Primary 4	For persevering in Reading this week.  Well done!
Felix	Primary 5a	Felix did an excellent job with his cold writing. He has also been enjoying the library books. Great job developing your skills !
Katia	Primary 5a	Katia has been working very hard she listens well to her friends and adults. Well done
Temperance	Primary 5b	Tempy is always ready to learn. She has successfully worked hard to complete personal challenges including research on our Vikings topic. Well done Tempy!
Troy	Primary 5b	Troy has shown a greatly improved attitude towards completing tasks to the best of his ability. He is also trying hard to act in a responsible and safe manner.  Well done Troy!
Nico	Primary 6	For being so enthusiastic and trying all the different activities at Forest School and also being helpful to others there.
Osh	Primary 6/7	Osh has continued to grow in independence this year and has become a trusted member of our class who Miss Downie can rely on to represent our class in a positive light by modelling the school values. Well done Osh, keep it up!
Grace	Primary 7	Grace worked hard to create a wonderful t-shirt celebrating diversity and acceptance in a way that showcased her creativity. Well done!
Joseph	Primary 7	Joseph has been working hard in class and actively shown an improvement in his concentration and determination to learn. Recently, Joseph created fantastic sentences using precise verbs and adjectives to add imagery and detail. Keep it up!

A Note on the Rainy Weather #5 #24

A reminder that we will always send our pupils outside for breaks and lunchtimes except in exceptionally poor weather. Therefore, it is important pupils continue to attend school with waterproof jackets, ideally with a hood.

Being outside, even in rainy weather, is far healthier than keeping the children inside hot, stuffy classrooms where viruses, such as the common cold, can spread more easily and pupils are unable to burn off excess energy freely.

Contrary to popular belief, you cannot catch a cold from getting wet in the rain. If you are wet and cold for a prolonged period of time, your immune system may be lowered and you may be less likely to fight off a virus. Therefore wearing a jacket will prevent your child from getting too wet whilst outside on a rainy day.

We thank parents for their support on this matter,