Christmas LPS Newsletter

Raegan in P4/5 got to meet the Dame at this year’s Panto at the Festival Theatre – oh yes, she did!

Just Giving: UNICEF

Thank you to everyone who has donated so far to our Christmas fundraiser UNICEF this year. There is still time if you or your family would like to donate something, no matter how small: https://www.justgiving.com/page/leith-primary-school?utm_medium=FA&utm_source=CL

Farewell Mrs Buchan

After sixteen years of working at Leith Primary School, Mrs Buchan, nee Bruce, will be leaving us on Friday. Mrs Buchan started with us as a student teacher, then newly qualified teacher and has taken on a range of roles including music teacher, P1 teacher, P7 teacher and currently part time teacher of P3a. Mrs Buchan also spent some years on secondment working with Youth Music Initiative before returning to us after maternity leave. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mrs Buchan for her work with us over the years and wish her well in the next stage of her career.

Great Attendance!

Thank you to everyone for attending our Christmas Open Classrooms session last week. It was really lovely to see so many of you popping along to see your young people in their classrooms, many singing a favourite seasonal song.

Also a great big thank you to everyone for attending the LPPC Christmas Fayre last Friday. There was a brilliant turn out and a lot of smiling faces. Thank you to all the parents and carers who gave their time to set up the hall, support at a stall and plan and organise all the events and prizes. Remember all the money made, goes towards trips, events and resources for your child. Thank you again for your valued support!

Finish Times

A reminder that children will finish at their usual Friday time this week.

CLASP finishes at 5pm this Friday.

All children return on Tuesday 6th January, 2026 at 8.50am.

Please remember to select your child’s lunches by the end of tomorrow (Wednesday 16th December) or food will not be ordered for them and they will need to bring a packed lunch during the first week back.

Food & Mental Health Supports Over Christmas

Free Food, Hot Meals and Other Support available this Christmas

While many services including the foodbanks won’t remain open on the bank holidays, it’s worth noting that there are still places people can go for support.

Food provision available over the festive period:

Hibernian Community Foundation are providing a free 3 course Christmas lunch on 25th December at Easter Road stadium. Alternatively they can deliver a meal to your home if people aren’t able to attend. You can refer someone to this here, and for more information please contact them at lewis@hiberniancf.org
Social Bite remain open on Christmas Eve and Christmas day to provide a free Christmas dinner to anyone experiencing homelessness. They are based in the City Centre on Rose Street. – more info here
Porty Community Fridge are delivering boxes of excess food collected from supermarkets on Christmas Eve and Hogmanay for anyone in a two mile radius of Portobello. You can check the radius of support and get referred for this here
Soul Food are hosting two Christmas meals on the evening of the 14th and Midday on the 18th of December at their Community Hub based in Oxgangs. You can find out more here
Steps To Hope are offering a free Christmas dinner on Monday the 22nd of December at from 5pm at St Cuthbert’s Church just off Princes Street. This is open to all and more information can be found here
Crisis are delivering three course hot meals to their members and service users on the 25th and 26th of December – more info here

Mental Health support services available over the festive period:

Edinburgh Crisis Centre offer emotional and practical support to people experiencing a mental health crisis and are open 24/7 every day of the year. They can offer same day telephone, video call of face to face support. They can be contacted via 0808 801 0414 and more info can be found here
Samaritans‘ helpline remain open every day of the year providing a safe and non-judgemental space to be listened to for anyone wanting somebody to speak to – more info here
Calm are a suicide prevention charity who provide 24/7 support for anyone affected by suicide or suicidal thoughts and remain open year round – more info here

Lost Property

We have a HUGE amount of lost property that has yet to be collected. Nothing has been labelled with children’s names so we are unable to get items back to their owners.

Please come and collect anything you think may be in Lost Property before Friday as any unclaimed items will be given to charity if not claimed.

In January, please remember to name all your child’s items of clothing, water bottles, packed lunch boxes and bags as this really helps to limited the number of items left unclaimed.

Well Dones!

Well done to Amelia in P7 for her brilliant poetry entry about the Scottish weather to the Green Pencil Award this year. I’m sure you will agree the sentiment is very apt!

Well done also to Jayden for gaining his red tab belt in the Korean martial art, “ Kuk sool won “. He is doing amazingly well in his class, always tries his best and, like a true Leither, never gives up even if it’s difficult.

Well done to our JRSO poster competition winners; Thea, Bhodi and Ritaj for their winning poster entries.

Leithers of the Week

Well done to our final Leithers of the Week for 2025!

Finlay	Primary 3A	Finlay has shown excellent listening and talking skills this week. Well done!
Alexander	Primary 3B	Alexander has been putting a huge effort into reading with his group this term! He is tackling more difficult vocabulary and has persevered with his decoding skills to improve his speed and confidence. Well done Alexander!
Musa	Primary 4	For making progress in reading unfamiliar words in books and around school. Keep it up!
Lilly	Primary 4/5	Lilly has been challenging herself by asking questions in class. She has been listening to others and then asking questions for others to answer. Well done!
Finlay	Primary 5	Finlay has consistently followed our rules of being ready, respectful and safe. He has been kind to others and a good friend.
Blake	Primary 6	For continually displaying our school values of kindness, responsibility and perseverance, and acting as a role model to those around her.
Chikanyima	Primary 6/7	Chikanyima has been hard-working and ready to learn in maths. She has been using her knowledge to help others work through problems too. Well done!
Katia	Primary 7	Katia consistently demonstrates responsibility through her hard work and attention to detail, especially in her writing. She always comes to school ready to do her best and engages fully in every task. Well done, Katia!