We enjoyed our first whole school Celebration Assembly this morning. Many thanks to all the parents and carers who sent in photos of their young people achieving great things out side of school and being ready to take on new challenges. We also enjoyed seeing examples of home learning from across the year groups, particularly the P5s who had created amazing dioramas of the solar system as part of their study of space this term. Congratulations to our JRSOs, Lara, Dina, Alex and Ewan who ran a very successful road sign and reflective jacked design competition. The winners were Pippa, Heaven’ly, Evan, Cordy and Erin with Skand the overall winner for the P1-P3 category and Annabelle the overall winner for the P4-P7 category. There were special Over-and-Above mentions for Jaydon SB and Esmee for their brilliant leadership skills. It was a real delight for us to learn about all the amazing achievements of our young Leithers both in and out of school. They should all feel very proud of themselves.
Parent/Carer-Teacher Consultations
This event will take place on Thursday 2nd November 4pm-6.30pm and Friday 3rd November 1pm-3.30pm. Primary 1/2 will take place on Wednesday 1st November 3.30pm-6pm and Friday as above. We are awaiting a small technical issue to be resolved with our booking system Parents Booking. When this has been fixed the booking details will be sent out swiftly, hopefully early next week. We look forward to seeing you soon to discuss your child’s progress with their learning.
For always trying his best and taking pride in everything he does. Well done!
Cormac
Primary 3
Cormac has been trying particularly hard in his maths groups recently. Really impressed with your times tables facts, well done Cormac!
Kaleb
Primary 5b
Kaleb showed impressive leadership skills during our co-operative learning group work last week. He completed the tasks to a high standard, ensuring that everyone took part, as well as encouraging his team mates too. Well done, Kaleb!
Liam
Primary 1/2
Liam always tries his best in class. He is ready to listen and learn and is an exceptional role model to his peers. Well done Liam!
Noor
Primary 5a
Noor has an excellent persevering attitude, she tries her best at all tasks and has very good listening skills. Well done Noor.
Christopher
Primary 6/7
Christopher has made many positive choices this week and shown great progress with his numeracy and reading skills. Well done Christopher!
Jack
Primary 5b
Jack is always ready to learn. He is a great listener, follows instructions promptly and is a fantastic role model. Thank you Jack!
Dino
Primary 6
For his mature attitude and insightful answers in the I heart sessions as well as Health and wellbeing. Well done Dino!
Mayar
Primary 1b
Mayar has shown excellent engagement and progress in phonics through excellent listening skills. Well done Mayar!
Nathan
Primary 3/4
For setting a good example to others in class. Great job Nathan!
Jayden
Primary 2
For showing super listening skills in class. Really well done Jayden!
River
Primary 7
River was really focused in his writing this week and created lots of exciting similes to use in his character description. Well done, River!
October Break
Have a lovely October break. We look forward to seeing the children on Tuesday 24th October at 8.50am
Practicing numeracy skills using a whole school favourite app, SumDog.
We were all very glad to be back to our normal routine this week after the support staff strike days the week before. The darker mornings seem to be with us already and we discussed in assembly ways to make sure we get to school on time every day. We have also been looking at the importance of celebrating the accomplishments of Black British Women during this year’s Black History Month as women, especially Black British and moreso Black Scottish women have been missing from our history books. We know that some of our brilliantly talented girls at Leith Primary will be the successful Black and minority ethnic Scottish women of the future!
Goodbye Mr Mackenzie!
Staff and pupils bid a fond farewell to Mr Mackenzie last week as he set off for his new life in the beautiful Perthshire hills. Whilst the recruitment process for his replacement takes a little longer than hoped, we welcome back Mrs Cook as the interim teacher of Primary 7.
School Photos This Wednesday
Individual school photos will be taken this Wednesday. Sibling groups can also be taken if brothers and sisters attend Leith Primary School or Nursery. Support with ensuring your primary-aged children is wearing school colours would also be greatly appreciated.
Dogs in School
We love hearing about our pupils’ furry friends at home. Many of the school staff are dog owners too. However, we regret that dogs cannot be brought into the school grounds: playground, nursery garden and the school or nursery buildings, unless they are a trained, certified support dog visiting us with an appointment. For the comfort of some of our littler Leithers, we also ask that if you are waiting for your child with your dog, that you do so away from the narrower walkway beside the blue fence. Thank you so much in advance for your support with this.
SchoolAttendance
The local learning community primary schools that feed into Leith Academy are working together this year to tackle poor and late attendance at school as part of a whole city drive to improve the school attendance across Edinburgh, post COVID.
Poor school attendance has a very close link with poorer progress in learning and problematic behaviour, wellbeing and friendships. Any attendance that falls below 95% can begin to impact negatively on these aspects of a child’s development.
We understand that many children get unwell from time-to-time and need to stay at home. Occasionally there are valid reasons such as a close family bereavement or important hospital appointments where absence is fully understandable. These types of infrequent absence are not what is being targeted.
A parent’s legal responsibility to ensure their child attends school every day unless there is an exceptional reason not to. If a child must stay off school for an exceptional reason, the reason must be communicated to the school either via the absence line, by email, by text or in person. A letter can also be sent in when the child returns to school explaining the exceptional reason for the child’s absence from school. This is the standard expectation in all Scottish schools.
Some of our pupils who have recurring absences from school have no reason recorded for their absence, even when prompt text messages are sent out to parents/carers requesting this information. In some circumstances, we are able to identify patterns of absence such as Fridays and/or Mondays for some children and their siblings. Sometimes recurring absence without reason is on sporadic days with no clear pattern.
These types of absences without a reason being given to the school can, over time, have a catastrophic impact on a child’s overall progress, mental wellbeing, confidence and friendships.
As much as possible, we want to see a complete reduction in this type of absence for our pupils.
We know the reasons behind poor school attendance can often be complex. Our intention is not to judge or blame parents and carers but to do whatever we can to get pupils into school as close to every single day as we can. If we know what the main issues are behind these absences we can try our best to match up the right types of support.
Please always let us know the reason why your child is off so we can provide you with the best kind of supportif it is needed.
Any child who has an absence rate of under 95% with a large number of unexplained absences will receive a letter from school and may be invited in for a meeting with the Head or Depute Head Teachers. Any child whose absence falls below 85% may be referred to the Educational Welfare Service or to Social Care Direct if no acceptable reasons for the absences are given.
Did you know that if you take a two-week holiday during school term time, the highest attendance you can achieve is 94.7%?
Did you know that if you are 15 minutes late for school every day, it’s equal to two full weeks absence by the end of the school year?
Did you know that there are 190 days in a school year? That means 175 days are left for watching TV, sleeping late, going shopping, attending appointments, playing games, etc.
Every day counts
Anxiety Group for Children Aged 7-11
Some of Our Recent Leithers of the Week
Aris
Primary 1/2
Aris is an extremely respectful member of our class. He is always ready to listen and learn. Well done Aris! Keep up the good work!
Excellence
Primary 1/2
Excellence always tries her best. She is ready to listen and learn and has shown a great attitude towards her learning.
Caelan
Primary 1a
Caelan has gone above and beyond this week. He has been working super hard during our phonics sessions and has been extremely kind by helping others tidy things away he he hasn’t even been playing with! Amazing work, Caelan!
Pippa
Primary 1a
Pippa is an extremely kind and respectful friend. She shows kindness to all and is always happy to show new pupils around and look after them. She has also been working really hard with her maths this week. Thank you for being so kind, Pippa!
Anaya Khan
Primary 1b
Anaya has been exceptionally responsible and helpful in class. She has also been very ambitious with her writing this week. Well done Anaya!
Mayar
Primary 1b
Mayar has shown excellent engagement and progress in phonics through excellent listening skills. Well done Mayar!
Abdallah
Primary 1b
Abdallah has been a lovely friend to his classmates.
Linda
Primary 3
Linda has been persevering with reading and writing this week and always tries her best. Well done Linda!
Ariana
Primary 3
Ariana has a smile and a kind word for everyone she meets. She is a very good role model for kindness at Leith Primary. Well done, Ariana!
Ivy
Primary 3/4
Ivy has been doing exceptionally well in Maths learning about positions and directions. She programmed the Beebot to go to the right location every single time! Well done Ivy.
Alex
Primary 3/4
Alex always makes the right choice and is willing to help his peers whenever they need help. He works hard and is always ready to learn. Well done Alex.
Tamer
Primary 4
Tamer has really been showing he is Ready, Respectful and Safe this week. Well done!
Lucia
Primary 5a
Lucia has been achieving her best. She has done a number of home learning activities showing her dedication to her learning. Well done.
Diego
Primary 5b
Diego has been a responsible and helpful digital leader, helping take care of our iPads and supporting his peers. Thank you Diego!
Alexa
Primary 6
For taking the initiative in her own learning. Alexa was able to use the letters the class were practising and type them into her ipad and practice them there. Well done Alexa!
Bikari
Primary 6/7
Bikari continues to work hard everyday and always gives 100% effort to his work.
Leland
Primary 6/7
Leland has been trying hard to focus more in class and this week has produced great work in our Numeracy and handwriting lessons.
Georg
Primary 7
Georg is always ready, respectful & safe in class and sets an excellent example to others – well done Georg!
Jack
Support for Learning
Jack is always ready to learn. He is a great listener, follows instructions promptly and is a fantastic role model. Thank you Jack!
Well done to Lara, Dina, Alex and Ewan, our P7 Junior Road Safety Officers (JRSO) who attended their induction morning at Edinburgh City Chambers this week to learn about how to promote road safety awareness with pupils at Leith Primary School. They did a great job of representing their school well.
Open Classroom Morning
Thank you to everyone who was able to attend our open classroom event this morning. It was lovely to be able to welcome familiar faces and our new parents from P1 and elsewhere in the school. Thank you again for your time and support. We look forward to seeing you and others at a future learning event in school.
Important Dates for Your Diary
Here is a list of dates for the rest of the calendar year you may wish to add to your diary.
Event
Date
Stage/Class
Black History Week
Wk beg 2nd-6th October
Whole School
Autumn Celebration Assembly (Tell us about any successes you young person has had in hobbies, clubs or activities at home)
Friday 13th October
Whole school
Autumn Term Ends
Friday 13th October
Whole School
Pupils start back at school
24th October
Whole school
LPPC Halloween Discos
Friday 27th October
P1-P4 P4-P7
Primary 1 Open Day (details tbc)
Thursday 2nd November
Parents of P1s who will start in August 2024
Parent Consultations
Thursday 2nd and 3rd November
Whole school
Anti-Bullying Week
13th – 17th November
Whole school
Outright Campaign Week: Climate Action
20th – 24th November
Buddy Classes
Celebration Assembly
Friday 22nd December
Whole School
End of Term
Friday 22nd December
Whole School
Primary 7s Launch Refurbished Tennis Courts
Our Primary 7s enjoyed being part of the official opening of the LTA (Lawn Tennis Association) on Thursday newly refurbished tennis courts on Leith Links. The pupils enjoyed being coached by Ryan Harrower after they posed for photographs with invited dignitaries who cut the ribbon for the grand opening.
Martha consistently makes the right choices, focusing on her work and being helpful to her peers. Even when she finds something challenging she perseveres which is lovely to see. Well done Martha!
Tas (Tashung)
Primary 7
For consistently producing work to the best of his ability in all areas. He particularly impressed with his illustration and character analysis in a reading task this week.
Alma
Primary 3
Alma has shown great belief in herself this week and is challenging herself in reading. Well done Alma!
Youcef
Primary 1/2
This week in PE Youcef has shown he can be very responsible and safe. He followed the school rules really well and listened to all of Mrs Scott’s instructions. He was extremely engaged in all of our games. Keep it up Youcef.
George
Primary 1a
George has been a fantastic line leader this week demonstrating silent, safe and sensible walking. He showed kindness and responsibility on our trip as he happily let a friend without a partner join his pair and tried his best to ensure he stayed with the class at all times. Keep up the super work, George!
Archie
Primary 4
Archie has been our star Rugby player this week. He has participated enthusiastically and been a great team player.
Gloria
Primary 5a
Gloria is an excellent member of our class. She always follows the school rules of Ready, Respectful and Safe. She has been persevering and trying her best to achieve. Keep it up Gloria.
Olive
Primary 5b
Olive has persevered and demonstrated a growth mindset with some tricky number work this week. Well done Olive!
Amos
Primary 6/7
For adapting to our routines and working hard.
Tamara
Primary 1b
Tamara’s confidence and independence have grown hugely since starting P1 only a few weeks ago. She always tries her best.
Megan
Primary 6
Megan demonstrates the school values every day and always keeps the school rules. You are a great role model to others! Well done Megan.
Monday Holiday
A reminder that Monday is a holiday. We look forward to seeing the children on Tuesday. Have a great September Weekend.
Former Leith Primary Pupils Heads of Leith Academy
Congratulations to our wonderful former pupils Lottie, Evie, Joseph, Mhairi and Lily (L-R) who make up five out of the six members of the new Pupil Leadership Team at Leith Academy. Evie and Joseph were selected to become Head Girl and Head Boy. The pupils, who attended Leith Primary from nursery through to Primary 7, engaged with a formal application, presentation and interview process before being successfully chosen by the Academy’s Leadership Team. We are incredibly proud of them and wish them the very best of luck in their new student positions. Go Team Leith!
We are absolutely delighted to announce that our very own Mrs Gillian Aitken was successful at interview this week and has been nominated as the preferred candidate for the post of Pupil Support Officer. Mrs Aitken will take on much of the remit that Mrs Richards had and will work mostly from our nurture base, which is affectionately known as ‘The Loft’. In addition, Mrs Aitken will work with some families to help improve school attendance and will be part of our new Attendance Support Team along with Educational Welfare Officer, Jamie Thomson and Leith Academy cluster schools’ attendance support officer.
Congratulations also goes to Mrs Cherri Stewart who will act up as our second Early Years Officer in the nursery whilst the recruitment for a new Senior Early Years officer commences.
ELOSCN Breakfast Club
A reminder that ELOSCN runs a breakfast club within our lunch hall every day from 7.30am. If you would like to apply for a space, please click on the link below.
Well done to Ruby-Ann who received a letter from the King and Queen thanking her for the good wishes she sent on their coronation. Well done to Ruth who completed the summer reading challenge at the local Leith Library. And well done to Troy, who also completed the reading challenge over the summer and did a brilliant job of litter picking this week with his friend Kieran. Keep telling us about your successes Leithers!
Names on Clothes
Please can we ask parents and carers to put their children’s names on all their school clothes. We have already had some items of clothing go missing and some other items found left around the school, none of which have names on them. Last session, we donated multiple bags of unnamed sweatshirts, jumpers, cardigans, coats and fleeces to charity or to our pre-loved rail as none had been reunited with their owners. Thank you for your support with this.
Mindroom are restarting their monthly online Parent and Carer Peer support groups for families of neurodivergent children and young people in Edinburgh.
Please see below for a link to the flyer for this, including details of how to sign up.
The first group will be held on Teams on Thursday September 7th 2023 at 10.30-11.30am.
Very well done again to Primary 1 who continue to demonstrate excellent school attendance along with Primary 2 and Primary 3. The school’s overall attendance rate is 95.50% which is strong but we would like to aim for even better. Every day counts towards successful learning, wellbeing and friendships.
P1
P2
P3
P4
P5
P6
P7
98.46%
96.24%
95.39%
95.21%
94.07%
94.74%
93.48%
Well Done to Our Leithers of the Week!
Hayden
Primary 1/2
For settling into P1 so well and being extremely responsible in class. Well done Hayden!
Willow
Primary 1a
Willow is a very responsible member of the class who is respectful to all. She has been a fantastic class helper by making sure our classroom stays tidy and treating our resources with care. Super work, Willow!
Oskar
Primary 1b
Oskar has been very brave in his first few weeks in Primary 1. He has tried new things, including eating new foods and been very kind to his classmates.
Lena
Primary 2
Lena has been very responsible, by helping to hold open the door for the whole class, when we’re moving about the school. She has also shown shown very silent, sensible and safe walking, when she has been walking about the school with the class. Well done Lena!
Stanley
Primary 3
Stanley has been a super responsible member of P3 so far and takes great care of our classroom, always helping others tidy and tucking in their chairs. Thank you, Stanley!
Anthony
Primary 3/4
Anthony has been incredibly helpful this week and has been looking out for his classmates. He has also helped tidy the book corner and the sink after painting. Well done Anthony!
Poppy
Primary 4
Keira has worked really hard and persevered in Numeracy this week, well done!
Ruth
Primary 5a
Ruth always tries her best. She applies her full attention and capabilities to all subjects. Well done!
Mati
Primary 5b
Mati has gone above and beyond this week! He has shown everyone in class how to be responsible and helpful, at every opportunity. Well done!
Kade
Primary 6
For making a really great start to Primary 6 and for showing a really positive attitude in P.E.
Jack
Primary 6/7
Jack has shown great confidence in Maths and recognised that is an area which he enjoys. Jack has fully engaged with our revision of addition strategies and used his understanding to help others.
Ewan
Primary 7
Ewan was first to finish a difficult maths starter.
Welcome back to all our pupils, families, staff and friends who are new to the school. It has been a really great start back to the term, with a wonderful Welcome Picnic on the Links on Friday after school for all our new pupils and their families who are now part of the Leith PS family. We are very excited about the new school year and are looking forward to supporting our children to flourish.
Our new Primary 1 pupils have had a super first week at ‘big school’ and look so smart in their school colours.
The rest of our pupils have been back on good form and have really looked part of Team Leith in their school colours. Thank you to our parents and carers for supporting the wearing of school colours on all days (including Fridays!) as it supports inclusivity and equality and hopefully streamlines the morning routine. By offering school branded hoodies, sweatshirts, polo shirts whilst equally welcoming generic, non-branded school wear from supermarkets or high street shops in dark school colours (navy, grey, black, blue gingham) we hope to offer a range of practical, flexible and affordable ways to enable our pupils to dress the part. We can also offer further support to obtain school uniform if finances are tight. Please let us know if this is something your child would benefit from.
School Paperworkand General Communications
As an Eco School, we rarely send information home to parents in paper form. For this reason, it is vitally important that you check the contact details you have provided the school and continue to update us should you change your phone number, email address or home address. This also applies to emergency contact details.
Details of planned events and important information will be sent to your email, often within a newsletter like this one. Please make sure school emails do not go to your junk/spam email folder.
Nursery and class teachers in P1-P3 will continue to communicate with parents via Online Learning Journals which will be accessed two-three times per week. P4-P7 class teachers will communicate with parents either through the admin email address or their own school email address. Your child’s class teacher will let you know how best to get in contact with them in the class newsletter.
We will send reminder text messages to parents at times but as they can be costly, we will try to limit these to reminders and communication with individuals. There is a character limit so we apologise if they appear a bit abrupt at times!
If you would like to arrange to speak with a member of staff, please make an appointment through the school office or catch us in the playground at the end of the day. We are sorry that class teachers are unable to have lengthy conversations with parents/carers in the playground at the start of the school day as getting children to their classroom is the main priority.
All urgent messages for pupils or class teachers should be directed to the school office.
School Lunches, Snacks, Water and Milk
Please remember to order school lunches on Parent Pay by WEDNESDAY of the week before as anything selected after this will show on your Parent Pay account but will not have been ordered by the kitchen who only cook-to-order.
If you are experiencing problems with Parent Pay, please check the Parent Pay website in the first instance here or get in touch with them directly through their online support.
A reminder that pupils are not allowed to bring in fizzy drinks to school as part of a packed lunch or snack. We strongly encourage healthy packed lunches and request that sweet treats are limited to one small item, if at all.
We encourage children to bring a piece of fruit for their snack or a similar small item. If pupils bring very large bags or packets of crisps, biscuits, cakes or sweets or multiple snack items staff will ration these appropriately for your child or swap the item for a piece of fruit. Your child may then collect remaining food items at the end of the school day.
Children can bring in a filled water bottle with plain water to drink through out the day. Children are not permitted to sip on fruit juice through out the day in class due to the damage it can do their teeth.
Pupils who have applied for and receive free school meals (Clothing Grant) are also entitled to free school milk. Milk can be ordered and paid for via Parent Pay if you would like your child to have this too.
Welcome to Leith PS Place 2 Be!
This year, Leith Primary Schoolbegins our partnership work with Place2Be, a national charity supporting schools to improve the confidence and wellbeing of children and young people.
Place2Be provides emotional and therapeutic support to children and young people, families and staff in more than 450 schools nationwide.
It gives children and young people a space to express themselves through talking and creative work, and to think about any worries they might have. Place2Be also provides support for parents and staff too. Some information is enclosed to tell you more about Place2Be and its work.
Place2Talk
One of the most popular aspects of this service is called ‘Place2Talk’. It’s open to all children and young people at Leith Primary School, and they can make an appointment to spend 15 minutes with a trained counsellor, either by themselves or with a friend. On average, about a third of children and young people who access the service in schools take advantage of this service every year. Children and young people often talk about friendships or any worries they may have.
Place2Be will record your child’s name, date of birth, year group, gender, ethnicity, the broad topic of discussion and any actions taken as a result of the session. This information is stored securely. It is used in key coded form to evaluate Place2Be’s service and improve our work.
Parental Agreement for Accessing Place2Talk
Unless we hear otherwise from you, the school and Place2Be will assume that your child has parent/carers’ permission to come to Place2Talk.
If you would like to find out more, or would prefer that your child does not use this service, please contact Amelia Burns(Place2Be Mental Health Practitioner) on amelia.burns@place2be.org.ukwho will be very happy to answer to any questions.
For many of us, money is a big worry just now. To support families with concerns around money, housing, benefits and more, Leith Primary welcomes a new dedicated Money Advice Worker on Thursdays. Kerry Anderson, from the Community Help and Advice Initiative (CHAI) will be based in our family room (where our Family Support Worker, Danni Taylor is based) every Thursday morning. Kerry will offer three appointments each week at 9.30am, 10.30am and 11.30am which can be booked through the school office in the usual ways (Tel: 554 4844, email: admin@leith-pri.edin.sch.uk, text: 07860 029 682). Kerry will start on Thursday this week, 31st August, so please get in touch to see if she can support you with your concerns. A translator can be booked if you let us know in advance.
Run by MCFB and Homestart with support from the Health Visiting team, this group is a fun way for Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic mothers with young children who may be new to the area or feeling isolated to get to know other local families in a relaxed supportive environment. Mums can attend with their little ones or if their children are at nursery are also welcome to attend on their own.
There is no need to book, families can just drop in. For more information on the group contact Vanja 07789 731888 or Dammy on 07562 792653
Tell Us About Your Achievements
Our Pupil Council would like to help celebrate pupils’ achievements in and out of school with Achievement Boards on each floor of the school. If your child has achieved a medal, a new coloured belt, a new badge, a certificate, taken part in a show or any other achievement after school, please email or send in a photo so it can be added to one of our Achievement Boards.
Welcome Back Everyone! Welcome back to all our pupils, families, staff and friends who are new to the school. It has been a really great start back to the term, with a wonderful Welcome Picnic on the Links on Friday after school for all our new pupils and their families who are now part of……
As you may already have noticed, excellent school attendance is the top priority for the Leith Academy Learning Community. It cannot be stressed enough just how important regular attendance at school is for our young people. We can see a clear, direct link between children who are not achieving at their expected levels in reading, writing and maths with poorer school attendance. For some, those gaps will not be made up and will last until secondary school where pupils who may have been capable of achieving good exam results do not fulfil that potential and may have reduced options when they leave school.
We want all our children to achieve their fullest potential whatever that may be. Good school attendance is the best indicator of achieving academic potential, maintaining positive relationships with friends and staff and overall wellbeing and positive mental health.
We know that there are exceptions to this rule and for those pupils who have medical or personal reasons for not attending full time, an individual child’s plan will identify supports and track targets that address these barriers.
Please consider the attendance percentage from your child’s end of year report in June and look at the following table for the anticipated outcomes for your child.
Please get in touch if we can support you or your child with improving school attendance. We are here to help.
Each week the class teacher selects one pupil who has demonstrated the school values, the school rules, personal progress in an area or has been a great role model to others in some way. We are all Leithers, but these guys are the Leithers of the Week.
Lori
Primary 1/2
Lori has shown exceptional kindness since starting back at school. She has been such a positive role model supporting the new P1s settling into their new school. Thank you Lori for being such a great friend!
Nina
Primary 1a
Nina has settled in beautifully to P1! She sets a super example for the rest of the class, is always kind to others and follows the school rules. Well done, Nina!
Dhanvika
Primary 1b
For demonstrating excellent responsibility in class and setting a good example to others. Great start Dhanvika!
Ahmed
Primary 2
Ahmed has been very responsible this week and has gone out of his way to help to tidy up his things and also his classmates things, after an activity. Well done Ahmed, you’re a good example to your classmates!
Zerin
Primary 3
Zerin has been showing her very best work in P3 so far. She has persevered through some tricky spelling words and has been a kind and helpful member of the class this week. Well done Zerin!
Tabitha
Primary 3/4
Tabitha for showing the Leith school values-particularly responsibility. She is very organised and has even helped me keep organised this week! Well done Tabitha.
Jayden
Primary 4
Jayden has had a great start to P4, he has been kind and helpful and supported his classmates. Well done!
Jayden
Primary 4a
Jayden has had great start to P4, he has been kind and helpful and has supported his classmates in their learning. Well done!
Sophie
Primary 5
Sophie is such a great example to the rest of the class. Responsible, kind and helpful at every opportunity. Well done and keep up the good work!
Henry
Primary 5a
Henry has tries his best at absolutely everything. He has shown all the school values especially Kindness and being a great class helper. Well Done Henry
Marley
Primary 6
For showing kindness by asking a class mate to join in their game of football which was really appreciated by the other child
Maddison
Primary 6/7
Maddison has settled in well to her new class, making a real effort to mix with all of her classmates and proving to be a responsible member of the class.
Arthur O’
Primary 7
It has been brilliant having Arthur back in class. They have worked hard in all curricular areas, but I was particularly impressed with their snow leopard research. They found interesting facts and re wrote them in their own words as well as creating some great illustrations to go with them.
School Attendance Race
We know that so many of our pupils attend school brilliantly. We want to recognise and celebrate the year groups that do this well each week and acknowledge those who work hard to improve their overall attendance. In our first week, we have two clear winners:
Full Staffing List for this Session
A summary of our main staff team and their roles this session:
Class
Teacher/s
Support Staffin Class (at various times)
Room Number
Primary 1a
Mrs Kinnell (Mon-Wed)/ Ms Richardson (Thurs/Fri)
Ms O Rourke Ms Ramos
Room 4
Primary 1b
Ms Kirkwood
Mrs Gatton Ms Ramos
Room 3
Primary 1/2
Mrs Slattery (Mon-Tue)/ Mrs Scott (Wed-Fri)
Mrs Aitken Mrs Stiven Ms Weir
Room 5
Primary 2
Ms Harris (Mon-Thurs) Mrs Swinson (Fri)
Mrs Aitken Mrs Stiven Ms Weir
Room 2
Primary 3
Mrs Young
Mrs Elbekhti Mrs Gatton
Room 22
Primary 3/4
Ms Scott-Dickins
Mr Cochrane
Room 19
Primary 4
Mrs Watson (Mon-Wed)/ Mrs Buchan (Thurs-Fri)
Mr Matthews
Room 15
Primary 5a
Ms Christensen
Mr Cochrane Mrs Aitken
Room 10
Primary 5b
Mrs Fraser (Mon-Wed)/ Mrs Moloney (Thurs-Fri)
Mrs Stiven Mrs Thomas
Room 8
Primary 6
Ms McDonald (Mon/Tue, Thurs/Fri) Mrs Clarkson (Weds)
Mrs Saleh Mrs Begum
Room 9
Primary 6/7
Ms Downie
Mrs Thomas Ms Shafiq
Room 11
Primary 7
Mr Mackenzie
Ms Shafiq
Room 13
Support for Learning Teacher (Literacy)
Mrs Ciechanowicz (Tues-Fri)
SfL Room (Room 14)
Support for Learning Teacher (Maths)
Mrs Clarkson (Tues/Thurs)
Maths Support Room
Reduced Class Contact Time (RCCT) Teacher
Ms Richardson (Tues/Weds)
Art Room
Leith Academy Transition Teacher (P7)
Jessica Chapman
Senior Early Years Officer
recruitment in process
Nursery
Early Years Officer
Mrs Ashley Watt
Nursery
Early Years Practitioners
Sabela Rivas-Vazquez Syeda Showli Ali Bego Barrena Hanan Eltayieb Cally Little Cherri Stewart
Last Friday, our wonderful Primary 7s performed a spectacular version of the Lion King to a gathered audience of family and friends. The pupils had co-written the script, co-created the dance routines, produced the costumes, backdrops, props, scenery and sung the songs from the well known stage musical and Disney film. They were word and note perfect and demonstrated wonderful team work, confidence and talent in abundance during the successful 80-minute performance. Highlights included some wonderful solos from Andrew as Simba and Matilda as Nala along with brilliant supporting roles from Charlie as Mufasa, Ashaz as Scar and charming performances from Timon – Ella, Zazu – Steven and Rafiki – Ellia. The hyenas, the dancers and the acrobatics did not disappoint and nor did the wonderful singing from everyone. A huge thank you to Ms Scott Dickins, Daisy Douglas and Mrs Gatton who prepared the young people for this highlight of the year.
Good luck to all our P7s in August when they start S1 and thank you to them for brilliantly representing the school over the last seven years.
NB: The Primary 7 Leavers’ Assembly is on Tuesday at 2.30pm in the main hall. All P7 parents/carers and families are welcome to attend.
WeAre Silver Award Winners!
Enormous congratulations to Our Rights Respecting Schools Champions whose brilliant discussion with the assessors highlighting all the rights-based work of the school earned them the Silver Award this week. Ms Craig and other members of staff were interviewed to verify the impressive body of evidence Ms Wilson submitted a few weeks before the assessors arrival. The panel have yet to send us their official feedback but were impressed enough to ask us to become an Ambassador School to support other primary schools on their Rights Respecting journey. A huge thank you again to the young people and to Ms Wilson for all their hard work and commitment to achieving this important award.
We are delighted that Ms Kirkwood will lead the Rights Champions next session towards their main aim of going for gold!
Here are a selection of the slides from the presentation for assessors that demonstrates the terrific rights-based work going on in classes:
End of Term Staff Changes
It’s that time of year when we must say farewell to some of our wonderful staff but welcome some new and familiar faces too.
Farewell to Mrs Wells, who is taking early retirement. We wish her all the best for the future and thank her for her support to Leith Primary pupils over the years.
Congratulations and farewell to Mrs Richards who will be taking up a position with East Lothian Social Work Department. We thank her for all the support she has given our pupils who have attended sessions with her at The Loft and wish her luck in her new job.
Goodbye too to Mrs Cook who has been with us for the last two years and to Ms Birnie who will be starting teacher training in August. Thank you to both for being a big part of the team.
An official and final farewell to Mrs Hughes, who has been on an extended career break for the last few years. She has decided to resign her substantive position as Depute Headteacher of Leith Primary. I know many of you will remember Mrs Hughes fondly and will also want to wish her well.
Happy news too, Ms Bruce will return to us in August as Mrs Buchan. We all wish her a very happy wedding day.
Ms Wilson will be leaving at the end of term to have her baby. And a few weeks ago Mrs Dunn left to have her first baby too – who will be first?! We wish them both well for a safe delivery and look forward to meeting the little ones at some point in the future.
We welcomed back Mrs Ciechanowicz this week. Mrs Ciechanowicz will resume her Support for Learning role after the summer.
And a very warm welcome to Ms Downie, Ms Richardson and Ms Swinson who will be working with us from August.
World of Work Week 2023
Thank you to everyone who came in to speak to our young people about their jobs earlier on this month. We had a wide variety of jobs represented from an architect to a musician, police officer, baker, investment manager and football coach. It really gave our learner’s something to think about and we hope will have inspired many to think about the skills needed to get a job in an area they love. Thank you to everyone who took part and to Ms Harris who coordinated the visits.
P6 Junior Tour Guide Success
A massive well done to our P6 and P5/6 pupils for successfully achieving status as Junior Tour Guides. This year, pupils gave tours around the historic South Leith Parish Church, which is adjacent to Trinity House Maritime Museum, where the tour guide project normally takes place. Pupils, dressed in period costume, described Leith’s maritime past, the church’s links to Mary of Guise, historic links to the African Slave trade and Leith’s position as a major whaling port many, many years ago. The pupils spoke confidently and knowledgably about the subject matter and impressed their various audiences, not least their families.
End of Session Assemblies
Thank you to all our families who were able to attend their young person’s end of session sharing assembly. We had a packed hall for every class and year group. Classes enjoyed sharing highlights from their learning experiences this year and gain in confidence at speaking in front of a gathered audience. Well done to everyone for learning their lines, sharing their writing and artwork and for delighting us with their singing and dancing. We look forward to more of these events next session.
Proud to Be Me – LPS Proud Week
Our pupils celebrated identity last week during our annual Proud Week. Pupils were given the opportunity to celebrate whatever they are proud to be, whether that is their ethnic origin, local community, religion, football team they support, talent they have, first language they speak, cause they support, family they come from or any other aspect that is important to their sense of identity. We learned that many of us have similar identities and many of us are proud of our very different and diverse identities. What we all share is that we are proud to be Leithers! Thank you to our wonderful Equalities Group for helping to arrange this fun week.
Be A Buddy Not A Bully
Well done to Rahim in P2/3 who created this fabulous canvas with his mum as part of his home learning this term. We love the catchy phrase and think it will really take off next session – look out for the posters around school. Well done Rahim!
School Clothing Grant/ Free School Meal/ Milk Allowance
Summer holiday payment
The summer holiday payment will be paid into bank accounts by 23 June. This is £85 per child and will be paid to parents of all children currently in receipt of an income-based eligibility to Free School Meals.
Applications for 2023-24
As in previous years we have automatically awarded free school meals to most children of parents who have a current benefit claim. Parents were notified by letter on 6 June. If we already hold their bank account details, we will pay their clothing grant using these details by 21 July.
We include P1-P5 children in the automatic awards – although they receive ‘universal’ entitlement to free school meals, this does not include free milk, holiday payments or the clothing grant. The automatic award will ensure the parents receive the clothing grant and holiday payments for these children.
Families who did not receive an automatic award letter can apply for 2023-24 and applications are now open. This year we include an option for families who do not receive one of the eligible benefits but who are suffering financial hardship.
What’s on This Summer
As the holidays approach, here is some information you might find helpful.
Your child is invited to sign up for this year’s Summer Reading Challenge. Sign up at your local library!
What is the Summer Reading Challenge?
The Summer Reading Challenge encourages children to keep reading during the school summer holidays – and to enjoy anything they like to read! Children aged 4-11 are invited to set a reading goal, and collect rewards for their reading.
It’s FREE to take part, and last year 75% of children taking part improved their reading skills over the holidays.1
Why should my child sign up?
They will be better prepared to return to school in the autumn.
The Challenge supports the move into a new year group.
Becoming more independent in their reading boosts children’s confidence and self-esteem.
The library provides free access to books and fun family activities all through the summer.
Library staff are on hand to offer support and book recommendations.
Set a reading goal and get tips for accessing books for free at home.
Unlock digital badges and online rewards, including a printable certificate.
When?
Throughout the summer holidays. Check with your local library to find out start & finish dates near you. Unsure where your closest library is? Use the Library Finder to check.
Head to your local library this summer and sign up! If you have any questions, please contact Mel Hollingshead- Library Development Leader
What do families think? “I never liked reading before because of this challenge I got the courage to read more books and I have more interest in books. This has been the greatest experience ever in my life to read more books than before thanks.”
Girl, aged 12+
“The challenge encouraged my child to read more often, and in turn encouraged myself as well.”
Parent/carer of 6-7 year-old boy
“Enabled us to have some fun cheap days out and reading together has brought us closer than before.”
Parent/carer of 8-9 year-old girl
“We’ve joined the reading challenge for the past 4 years and every year it has inspired and encouraged a deeper joy for reading. For a young dyslexic boy the challenge helps make reading fun.”
Parent/carer of 6-7 year-old boy
“My child lacks confidence. Going to the library and meeting the friendly staff has definitely made him more confident in himself and encouraged him to read more being able to pick his own books to read from their huge collection.”
Parent/carer of 10-11 year-old boy
Parents Mind Well Sessions
Parents Mind Well Sessions
Mind Well sessions provide an opportunity for parents who are caring for a young person with emotional or mental health issues to gain information, support and meet other parents. Information on the upcoming Mind Well sessions are below-
Parents Mind Well -Self Harm
Date: Tuesday the 4th July 2023, 5.30-7.30pm
Venue: VOCAL Edinburgh Carer’s Hub, 60 Leith Walk, EH6 5HB
Delivered by Penumbra Edinburgh Self Harm Service
This session aims to increase parent’s understanding about Self Harm and offer some practical ways to help young people who may consider or display self-harming behaviour. Please book at
Thanks to all who made it along to our Linking Leith workshops and for all the feedback! Just a wee reminder that we still have our live consultation which can be accessed in the link below if you want to give further feedback.
Remember to order new school hoodies, polo shirts and sweatshirts for the new school term from Image Scotland, a local company we support.
Happy Holidaysfrom the Heidie!
I would like to wish all our pupils a restful and fun summer break. They have worked really hard this year and most have made great progress in their learning and development. We could not be more proud of the achievements they have all made.
Thank you to all the Leith Primary School staff. They work tirelessly to support the young people in their care and invest a huge amount of professional skill and knowledge and emotional care to help them achieve their best. They are a terrific group of people and our wee Leithers are very lucky to have them.
Finally, thank you to you, our wonderful parents/carers for your ongoing support of your young people and of the school. 85% or more of each child’s year is spent at home and only 15% at school. We recognise the important and powerful influence parents and carers have as their child’s main teachers. I hope we can continue to support each other to achieve the best outcomes for your amazing children next session.
I look forward to seeing you all again on August 16th at 8.50am 🙂
P4-P7 Pupils warm up before undertaking their Fun Run as part of Leith Primary’s Health Week
What a busy terms this is! There is such a buzz around school at the moment with rehearsals for class assemblies, end of year shows, level assessments and plans for trips and celebrations. It is also a great term for us all to get outside a bit more, get active and get learning in our beautiful surroundings. Leith Links really comes into its own in the summer term. We are so lucky to have this fantastic place on our doorstep. Fingers’ crossed for lots of fair weather!
Sports Day Changeof Date
We had originally planned to have our annual Sports Day on Wednesday 31st May however so many classes have clashing arrangements that we felt it would be best to switch to our back up date of Wednesday 7th June. We really do not wish any class to miss out on this fun event but do apologise for any inconvenience this might cause. We hope you understand our reasons for the change. Please see the times below:
Primary 1 – Primary 3: 09.15 – 10.30
Primary 4 – Primary 7: 11.00 – 12.30
Thank you in advance to the Sports Leaders from Leith Academy for supporting us with this and thank you to LPPC for the ice lolly refreshments.
Everyone is very welcome to come along and cheer. We love the community spirit Sports Days creates.
Children will bring along their water bottle as usual. We ask that parents and carers respect that it is still a normal school day and request that they do not bring along sweets, chocolate, fizzy drinks and other items that would not normally be consumed during class time. Pupils will have their usual break time and lunchtime and the event will be no more strenuous than their usual twice weekly PE lesson.
Parents and Carers: We Need Your Feedback!
It’s that time of year when we reflect on the developments we have undertaken this year, ask how we can get better and identify our next steps for the academic session ahead. Our Parents and Carers are such an important part of our community so we really need to hear from you too. As our Step 1 in that process, we would really appreciate if you could complete this very quick survey to give us an idea of how you feel we are doing.
Recently, we have been asking our pupils for their feedback on matters that are important to them. We have been able to see how pupils’ answers have changed over the last two years. Here is a summary of how the P4-P7 pupils answered some of the survey questions this year:
Statement
2021
2023
% Increase/Decrease
Even if I find something hard, I keep trying
86.6%
94.6%
+ 8%
I try to learn from my mistakes
89.1%
94.6%
+ 5.5%
I laugh at other people when they get into trouble or get hurt
2.28%
8.4%
– 6.12%
I enjoy being in school
77.6%
66.9%
– 10.7%
My teacher talks with me about how I can make my work better
77.6%
85.6%
+ 8%
I can calm myself down quickly after getting angry
87.9%
86.9%
– 2.3%
I am encouraged to take part in after school activities
60.6%
72.5%
+11.9%
I enjoy learning new things
75%
93.1%
+18.1%
My teacher listens to what I have to say
65%
86.9%
+ 21.9%
Most of the time, I am happy at school
50%
86.1%
+ 31.1%
I feel positive about my future
75%
88.4%
+ 13.4%
Here are a section of pupils’ comments from the survey:
What is the best thing about Leith Primary School?
My friends
There are many kind people and it’s really fun to learn
All the different clubs like dancing, yoga and parkour
Kindness
That you learn skills
iPads
All the teachers are very kind
Making friends and having fun!
Class trips
Friendly people
How they try to get everyone to talk about their culture like culture day!
My friends and the people who care about me
Leith Primary knows that it is ok to have different opinions, disabilities and religions
iPads and laptops because it helps us do better maths
The different and unique people
I like it how the people that Work here try their best to make you feel comfortable at school.
The school pizza and the trips
The Loft is so calm and Mrs Richards makes you feel so much better
The teachers are very kind and encouraging
What would make Leith Primary even better?
A shelter in the playground
If some people were a bit more kind and friendly
Better playground equipment
Fix the girls bathrooms
Having better accessibility
More out of school trips
Clean toilets
If we could go to school later every morning, more Minecraft, free pens to take home, no assembly
Less bullying and racism
More outdoor learning
If maybe some people where kinder but most of people are kind!
More football
Leith primary would be a better place if we could help planting and the environment
Go Karts, more trips out of school, a swimming pool
Starting at 10 instead of 8.50
Mr Stuart and Ms Craig continue to meet with pupil focus groups every Friday morning for Bingo Ball Blethers. One of the best parts of the job is listening to the amazingly creative, honest and insightful views of the children. Whilst so many comments are positive, our pupils do not shy away from telling us about what could be better for them in their school.
As well as the day-to-day teaching and learning in class, staff and pupils are also working hard on developing different aspects of the school. Here is an overview of some of the improvement actions our staff and pupils have been working on this session:
Please do take 60 seconds to complete our Parent/Carer Survey so we can take your important views into account when we are planning for improvements next session. Click on this LINK
Support for Families in the North East of Edinburgh
Mental Health support for BAME communities
The Health in Mind Equal Access service in Partnership with MEHIS are running workshops at Craigmillar Library for adults from ethnic Minority communities. The Mental Health Toolkit sessions will run on Wednesdays 24th May and 31st May 11.30am-1pm (leaflet attached). There are also a fortnightly online wellbeing drop in groups running (leaflet also attached).
The Love Loss and Living course supports parents who do not have care of their children and may benefit from support in managing the emotions related to such a loss. A pilot was run last year, parents found the course incredibly beneficial.
Shared Parenting are going to be delivering the course again in two ways starting on Wednesday the 31st of May:
Online, there are six modules that will be released weekly that will be supported by some coaching sessions.
Face to Face training taking place in the Shared Parenting Scotland Offices (Edinburgh, address below) again weekly, commencing on the 31st of May 6-8 pm
Both courses are free of charge and people can self-refer through their website: www.sharedparenting.scot or call the helpline on 0131 557 2440
A new Buggy/ Parent and Toddler Walk (leaflet attached) will run each Tuesdays 10am-12pm from Hays Community Hub, 3 Hay Avenue, Craigmillar. Parents can enjoy a walk, meet other local parents, followed by refreshments afterwards at the hub. The group will be run by Places for People. For more information contact Paul Sanderson Tel: 07803453502 paulsanderson@pfpleisure.org
Growing Not Waiting – a stay and play group for mothers in temporary accommodation with a child under 5 starting Wednesday 24th May
Every Wednesday (term time) 10:30-12:30pm
Leith Community Centre, top floor of the Kirkgate Shopping Centre at the bottom of Leith Walk
Growing Not Waiting is part of One Parent Families Scotland Edinburgh. They provide a safe, welcoming play space for children under 5 and offer support and advice for mothers living in temporary accommodation. They run a monthly housing rights clinic in partnership with Shelter Scotland as well as financial support, parenting advice and guidance and any other wrap around support that may be needed regarding issues that result from the experience of living in temporary accommodation. They provide travel costs or a taxi to get to the group. No referral needed and drop ins welcome, if a parent is working with other services they can call Jenifer Hamilton on 07909112036 to make a referral over the phone or email Jenifer.hamilton@opfs.org.uk and they can contact the parent directly to support them to attend.
Edinburgh and Lothians Out of School Care Network are running a breakfast club within the Leith Primary School from 7.30am. We serve children breakfast and give them time to relax and play before taking them to their class for the school bell. Our registration is now open for 2023/24 and you can register your child/children via this link – Leith Breakfast Club
Let’s Celebrate Our Fabulous Leithers of the last three Weeks!
Mason
Primary 1a
Mason did a wonderful job with his cold writing this week! He knows it’s important to persevere and that challenges are good for his brain.
Jakub
Primary 1a
Jakub has settled in really well to P1. He is kind and helpful and has a smile for everyone he meets. Well done!
Lilly
Primary 1b
Lilly is a very responsible member of our class who always treats others in the class with respect and kindness. She has worked very hard in all areas of her learning this week and keeps going even when faced with new challenges. Well done, Lilly!
Jayden
Primary 1b
Jayden has made fantastic progress with his reading and writing this week and has been so excited to develop his skills further during play. He has challenged himself to read books independently and has enjoyed drawing and writing about our caterpillars! Well done, Jayden!
Alma
Primary 2
Alma has been really persevering with her number work. She has been using her counting forwards and backwards skills and using this to count on and back from. Well done Alma, keep up the good work.
Momen
Primary 2
Momen was really persevering with his writing this week, writing words by himself and making sure he had finger spaces. Well done Momen.
Tabitha
Primary 2/3
Tabitha takes great responsibility for her learning and behaviour at school. She sets a fantastic example to her classmates by always being ready to learn, behaving in a safe and respectful way to her classmates and to staff and by putting a full effort into her classroom jobs and responsibilities. Well done Tabitha, you’re a great example to others!
Sarvesh
Primary 2/3
Sarvesh always demonstrates a growth mindset at school. He takes on each new task with a smile and a positive attitude and perseveres when he is faced with a challenge. Well done Sarvesh – you’re a ray of sunshine in our class!
Taylor
Primary 2/3
Taylor used her questioning skills for information, during our reading group session by asking others about their experiences. Well done Taylor, those questioning skills are helping you deepen your learning and getting others to think more about what they’re doing! Well done!
Ella
Primary 3
Ella has shown an improved attitude this term towards her work and is now completing tasks in the allocated time. In particular, she is trying hard to persevere with writing tasks. Keep up the good work!
Mira
Primary 3
Mira is showing improved confidence to join in with our learning and share her ideas in English. Keep up the good work!
Mariam
Primary 3
Mariam has been trying her best in rehearsing for our class assembly. She has shown great enthusiasm in her singing and dancing. Well done Mariam.
Misha
Primary 4a
Misha has been responsibly helping keep his group table tidy and putting away resources. Thank you Misha!
Snithik
Primary 4a
Snithik is always ready to learn and contributes to class discussions. He has also been a responsible member of our class making sure we’re tidied up. Thank you Snithik!
Anjali
Primary 4a
Anjali has grown in confidence, making progress in her learning, being a supportive friend and a responsible member of our class.
Annabelle
Primary 4b
Annabelle is hard-working and kind to everyone in class. She has been very responsible this week, taking good care of our class resources. Keep up the good work, Annabelle!
Mateusz
Primary 4b
Mateusz has settled so well into Leith Primary School. He perseveres with new learning challenges and is always ready to learn. He has already made some good friendships and follows the school rules. Well done, Mateusz!
Iacov
Primary 4b
Iacov is settling in well to Leith Primary. He is learning our school rules and routines and beginning to follow them. Iacov has worked hard with his writing and did a super job trying all the different sports during Health Week. Well done, Iacov!
Struan
Primary 5
Struan takes great responsibility representing our class as one of our Eco representatives. He has put in extra effort when helping with the planters and is always ready and keen to go to the meetings.
Coryn
Primary 5
Coryn has been showing perseverance in her learning and challenges herself. Well done Coryn.
Sofia
Primary 5
Sofia has been using technology to support her learning particularly her writing where she’s been writing longer stories. She always has great ideas.
Chloe
Primary 5/6
Chloe has made a great start at Leith Primary and is proving to be a responsible member of our class.
Osh
Primary 5/6
For his huge improvement when reading his JTG script.
Bikari
Primary 5/6
Bikari for his excellent cold writing story
Lucy
Primary 6
For setting an excellent example on our trip to the Scottish Parliament. She demonstrated respect at all times and asked interesting and thoughtful questions to the tour guide. Well done Lucy!
Maddison
Primary 6
For her persevering with summarising her book. She took her time and asked for help when she needed it. She was then able to complete the final part of her summary independently. Well done.
Carter
Primary 7
Carter has been taking responsibility for the set design as part of our lion king project. It has been great to see him get stuck in and work really hard on something that will benefit the whole class. Well done Carter!
Kirk
Primary 7
Kirk has been a superstar this week and overcome his fears by performing in front of the whole class with confidence and courage. It was wonderful to see him bring the character of Pumba to life. Well done Kirk.
Kai
Primary 7
Kai was a great team player at the handball festival on Tuesday. He made some new friends and worked well as a team. Well done Kai!
P4b enjoyed their object handling session this week with our friends from Trinity House Maritime Museum.
Welcome Back to Our Summer Term
We’ve reached the last term of the school year at Leith and what a busy term it is. Here is a list of dates for your diary. Class teachers will also let parents and carers know about the date and time of your child’s class assembly this term.
Date
1st May
Bank Holiday – All off
2nd May
Staff In-Service – Nursery – P6 pupils off
2nd May
P7 Pupils head off to Benmore school residential
8th May
Coronation Monday Holiday – All off
10th May
First Families Connect Session begins (nursery and P1 parents only)
15th – 19th May
School Health Week
22nd May
Victoria Day – All off
23rd May
Class Photo Day
24th May
LPPC AGM at 6.15pm
31st May
Sports Day (back up day 7th June)
5th – 9th June
World of Work Week
5th – 9th June
P6 and P5/6 Junior Tour Guide Performances at South Leith Parish Church
8th June
New P1 Induction Day
12th – 16th June
Proud Week
16th June
P7 Lion King performance for P7 Parents & Carers
16th June
End of Year Reports out to parents and carers
20th – 22nd June
P7 Transition Days at Secondary School
21st June
New P1 Optional Activity Morning
27th June
P7 Leavers Assembly
28th June
Last Day of Term – All finish at 1pm
Calling Parents of Current P1 and August ’23 P1 Parents
We would love parents from our current P1a and P1b classes and parents who have a child starting P1 in August this year to take part in our new Families Connect Programme. The eight-week course will be run by our Family Support Worker Danni Taylor and our nursery EYP Natalia Ramos.
Families connect is unique in that it focuses on three key areas:
Social and emotional development
Literacy and language development
Numeracy and mathematics.
The families connect course is aimed at supporting children aged between 4-6 years old. It is a play based program and introduces games and activities to parents and carers that support their child’s learning at the same time as being fun.
Parents who have attended previous Families Connect courses have enjoyed meeting and making friends with other parents, finding out about how to best to support their child develop and having fun in the activities with their child in the last half of the session.
The course will start on Wednesday 10th May 1pm-3pm until the end of term. We would love to see you there.
End to School Food Pantry
After much deliberation, we have taken the difficult decision to end our weekly Wednesday Food Pantry. We started our Pantry to support many of our Leith Primary families during the height of the COVID pandemic when many families were finding the strain of redundancy, ongoing furlough or zero hours contracts a real challenge. Whilst the cost of living crisis continues to affect, arguably, even more families our small Pantry cannot keep up with the level of need. With less food spread around more organisations offering food support, we felt we were inadvertently adding to the problem.
Any families who require support with food can still be referred to the South Leith Food Bank by Danni, our Family Support Worker. We hope to promote other subsidised or free grocery options to you in the upcoming weeks. We can also support parents with benefits applications or with debt management options. Please get in touch with Danni directly on 07947 580 404 or danni@citadelyouthcentre.org.uk for more information.
Our World of Work – Parents We would Love Your Help!
During the 5th-9th June, we are hoping to have a focus for pupils on the world of work and further learning. We would love any interested parents and carers who have a job of any kind to volunteer whatever time they can to talk to one or two of our classes about what they do. Our children are interested in finding out about different kinds of jobs and the skills that are needed to do them. If you have any photos of your workplace, tools that you use or products that you make to bring in and show us, even better. If you are unsure about what to say, don’t worry as we would be only-to-happy to help you with this. Even five minutes for a question and answer session would be really appreciated.
If you are interested in coming in to school during that week to chat to your own child’s class or another class, then please get in touch with us via admin@leith-pri.edin.sch.uk
Many thanks!
LPPC Needs a New Chair – Could It Be You?
Our brilliantly supportive Leith Primary Parent Council will host its Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 24th May at 6.15pm in the school library. Our co-chairs for the last two and a half years, Lauren and Emily, plan to step down due to increased work commitments so the parent council are hoping to elect a new chair or chairs. If you are outgoing, positive, friendly and can spare an hour or so each week and time to chair the six meetings a year, please consider putting yourself forward for this or one of the other roles within the parent council. If you have any questions about the role of chair or other roles you might be interested in, please get in touch by email leithppc@gmail.com
Our Hardworking Leithers of the Week
Two weeks of pupils demonstrating our school values of Kindness, Perseverance and Responsibility.
Zaha
Primary 1a
Zaha is always a kind and very hard-working member of our class. She did an excellent job remembering some of our new sounds and tricky words when she wrote her Spring poem this week!
Arthur
Primary 1a
Arthur is a friend to everyone in our class and is always polite, helpful and respectful. We are so proud of you, Arthur!
Youcef
Primary 1b
Youcef worked very hard on his Spring poem this week and used his senses to describe what he could see and hear. Well done Youcef for showing perseverance with your learning.
Lena
Primary 1b
Lena has worked incredibly hard in all areas of her learning this week and has grown in confidence when sharing her ideas with the class. It’s been a joy to hear you voice Lena and we are very proud of you!
Eva
Primary 2
Eva created a super artwork with chalk in the playground, then she looked at it and thought ‘I can make this better’ and she did! Good perseverance Eva and well done on challenging yourself.
Zerin
Primary 2
Zerin was really creative in her description of a setting this week. She used lots of exciting describing words. Well done Zerin!
Anthony
Primary 2/3
Anthony has made super progress with his reading recently. He has worked hard to learn many new tricky words and can recognize these in the past two reading books he has had. Well done Anthony – keep transferring those skills!
Sahib
Primary 2/3
Sahib has made brilliant progress with her reading. She is reading with more confidence and can recognise lots of tricky words. She did fantastically in our Tricky word game and read tricky words at lightening speed. Well Sahib, your skills are getting stronger every week!
Poppy
Primary 3
Poppy always has a positive attitude to her learning and approaches all tasks with motivation and enthusiasm. In particular this week she has contributed lots of interesting ideas during our guided reading sessions.
Stefka
Primary 3
For trying her best in reading today. Stefka is sounding out words to help her read. Well done for keeping so focused.
Felix
Primary 4a
As well as always being a responsible and respectful member of our class, Felix has made great progress with addition and subtraction and challenging himself with hot activities. Keep up the good work Felix!
Aarush
Primary 4a
For sharing his ideas confidently and for being a supportive partner in our new topic activity.
Tempy
Primary 4b
Tempy has been working really hard recently, particularly in writing and maths. She has completed some fantastic, long pieces of writing and shows resilience and perseverance working through some tricky maths questions. Well done Temps!
Jonathan
Primary 4b
Jonathan has settled really well into P4 at Leith Primary. He has a fantastic attitude towards his work and has been following the school rules well. Keep up the good work!
Megan
Primary 5
Megan always demonstrates all the values of a Leither. She is kind and respectful to everyone and puts lots of effort into all of her work. Well done Megan.
Cordy
Primary 5
Cordy demonstrates the school values of kindness, responsibility, perseverance and upholds the school rules: ready, respectful, safe at all times. She is an excellent class mate, friend and Leith Primary pupil.
Chloe
Primary 5/6
Chloe neatly re wrote some faintly printed questions for a p5 that couldn’t see them clearly.
Yanis
Primary 5/6
Yanis was supportive of his groupmates during our first JTG session. His behaviour and reading were excellent throughout too (and he shared his snack!).
Zara
Primary 6
Zara for always being ready and respectful in class and for her great effort learning Spanish.
Dine
Primary 6
Dina for her effort and enthusiasm in music – really well done!
Zara Z
Primary 7
For consistently demonstrating the school values and being extremely helpful to the supply teacher. Well Done.
Ellia
Primary 7
It was great to see Ellia performing in front of the class confidently singing and projecting her voice. She felt her fear and did it anyway! Well done Ellia. 🙂
As we reach the end of a long hard term, we look forward to a well earned rest and time with our friends and family. Pupils have persevered throughout this term to reach their goals in learning both in class, outdoors and at the many after school and lunch clubs run this term. We are proud of all our young Leithers for having a goal and sometimes just having a go. Learning is a life-long process and developing a great ‘can-do’ mindset in primary school can set you up for success throughout life. Go Team Leith!
Sleepy Leithers Count Their Winks
Thank you to those of you who supported your young people with our big Leith Bedtime Tracker project. Lots of you shared with us that you are getting the recommended amount of sleep for your age. Here is a reminder of the durations that are recommended by health professionals for optimal brain development:
Age
Recommended Number of Hours Sleep Needed
0-3 months
14 – 17 hours
4-11 months
12 – 15 hours
1-2 years old
11- 14 hours
3-5 years old
10 – 13 hours
6-13 years old
9 – 11 hours
14 – 17 years old
8 – 10 hours
Pupils shared that when they do not get enough sleep, they feel grumpy, fed up, have more fall outs with friends, do less well in their learning, feel less well, forget more and make fewer good behaviour choices. We also know that it can play a big part in poor school attendance. An ongoing lack of quality sleep means that the brain is unable to retain and organise information, the body cannot repair muscle tissue and the immune system is weakened leading to more chance to catching viruses and getting unwell.
Common reasons for difficulty with getting enough sleep include, sharing a room with a noisy sibling, noisy neighbours and neighbourhood noises, irregular sleep routines, worries about family and friendships, having access to screens in the bedroom or too much light in the room. Some of these factors are out of anyone’s control and it can be really difficult to break poor sleep patterns as a result. Our Family Support Worker, Danni, can support with sign posting parents to agencies who can help with housing matters or concerns at home. Danni is also a trained sleep consultant and can help you with establishing good sleep hygiene at home.
Top Tips for Better Sleep:
Keep to the same bed time each night, even at weekends if possible. Regular sleep and wake up times are much better than some early nights, some later nights and long lie ins. Taking naps for too long can also affect night time sleep.
As much as possible for your family, try to keep bedtimes calm, quiet time. Keep TV and family chatter at softer noise levels to help kids to nod off.
Although popular, watching screens in bed can keep the brain active and make it more difficult to enter deep sleep later on. Reading or being read to, listening to audio books, soft music or brown/green/white noise are much calmer activities for the brain than watching a favourite movie, Youtube or TikTok. Phones, tablets and consoles are best kept out of bedrooms away from midnight temptation and distracting pings as many of us adults know!
Keeping active during the day is a great way to support children’s overall health and wellbeing and promotes the need for rest later on. Staying still for large parts of the day, even if busy mentally, might make for a restless night.
If nighttime bed wetting or very frequent toilet visits is still an issue for your child, try increasing the amount of fluids drunk during the day. This can help the bladder become used to holding on to slightly more fluids overnight without accidents. Our school nurse, Mel Davidson, can help advise on night time enuresis if this is a concern.
Bed time is often when children decide to tell grown ups about all the worries of the day which can then lead to upset and delay to falling asleep. Try to set aside a time slot earlier on for talking about concerns or sharing stories from the day if this often causes issues. Let your child know that this is the time to share their worries when you can spend more time listening and helping.
If you are concerned about any aspect of your child’s sleep such as frequent waking, reluctance to be left alone, unplanned co-sleeping, night terrors or anything else, please get in touch with Danni Taylor at school or go to the Sleep Scotland website for advice and resources.
If you are concerned about other aspects of your child’s learning and development such as difficulties with making progress, friendship issues or reluctance to go to school, consider if a lack of sleep might be the main issue.
P6 Team Takes Part in Euro Quiz
Well done to our group of four P6 pupils who entered into the first round of the Scotland-wide Euro Quiz. The group had to answer lots of tricky questions about things to do with European countries, culture and languages. Whilst they did not reach the final, they represented Leith Primary School very well and we are so proud of their competitive spirit and impressed with their general knowledge.
Eco Group Support Wee Wilding Project in Leith
Our wonderful Eco Team have started working with the Thriving Green Spaces Team to help create re-wild a small part of Leith Links to encourage biodiversity. MSP Lorna Slater came along to promote the project and our Eco Team joined in with tree planting. We look forward to see how this project develops.
Leithers of the Week
Well done to everyone who has worked hard and tried their best over the last two weeks.
Mio
Primary 1a
Mio is always a very kind friend and this week has been making beautiful artwork for other people, just to make them smile! You’re a star, Mio!
Lilly
Primary 1b
Lilly is a very kind and polite member of our class who always takes turns and shares with others. Well done Lilly for trying your best, we think you are a star!
Ariana and Jayden
Primary 2
Ariana and Jayden were showing great teamwork this week. Together they designed and created a house with lots of different resources and then presented this to the class. Great team work Ariana and Jayden!
Lily
Primary 2/3
Lily did an amazing job this week, as our Eco rep. She showed great teamwork whilst planting trees for the school’s re-wilding project then confidently spoke to the class about the work they had done and future work that was planned. Well done Lily!
Rahim
Primary 2/3
Rahim has put a huge effort into his writing activities. He’s beginning to use Non-negotiables more frequently and is writing at a quicker pace and producing more wonderful writing. Well done Rahim, all that hard work is helping you to achieve great results. Keep it up!
Evan
Primary 3
Evan displayed a fantastic growth mindset this week in our numeracy lesson. She worked hard using trial and error to solve a number problem and persevered, even when others in the group had given up. Well done!
Alisa
Primary 3
Alisa is making fantastic progress at Leith Primary. She is participating in class and making new friends. Well done Alisa.
Abed
Primary 4a
Abed has been very respectful in group work and has worked hard to learn new skills.
Erin
Primary 4b
Erin has made a fantastic effort to settle into Leith Primary. He is already making super progress with his reading and writing, keep up the good work Erin!
Polly
Primary 4b
Polly has been working really hard this week. She takes great care with her work and has been thinking about her next steps in writing. She has also made fantastic progress in maths recently. Well done Polly!
Anuj
Primary 5
Anuj has been showing kindness and responsibility supporting his classmates in maths. Well done
Mario
Primary 5
Mario was showing resiliency and perseverance when completing his work this week. He has increased his focus and tried his best at his writing and his maths. Well done Mario
Christopher
Primary 5/6
Christopher has made fantastic progress in literacy and maths this school year. Recently he has picked up lots of new strategies when working with fractions and created a fantastic poster to teach others how to use these.
Jonathan
Primary 5/6
Jonathan has made excellent progress across the curriculum this year. He has particularly improved his writing, his nomination this week is for his fantastic football story
James
Primary 6
For his progress in reading. James has become a much more confident and fluent reader and has enjoyed chairing his group’s literature circle. Well done!
Kayla
Primary 7
Kayla has been writing some very descriptive narrator lines this week for a scene of our Lion King play which we will perform at the end of the year. Well done Kayla!
Ella
Primary 7
Ella confidently sang in front of the class which was wonderful. She has quite a few solos in our P7 performance and she overcame some initial nerves to perform successfully. Well done Ella!
Easter Break
We would like to wish you and your families all a very happy and restful Easter break and Ramadan Mubarak. All pupils and staff return in Monday 17th April at 8.50am. We look forward to welcoming you all back then for a busy summer term.
Well done to all our hard working Leithers this week.
Ahmad
Primary 1a
Ahmad has been using a growth mindset this week. He has been trying new things and persevering. Well done Ahmad!
Max
Primary 1b
Max tries his very best every day and loves to challenge himself with new learning. Max is also very responsible and takes pride in doing class jobs and helping to look after our classroom resources. Thank you for your hard work, Max!
Jankey
Primary 2
Jankey has been working eally well in her numeracy andliteracy work this week. Jankey has also been a great Leither, being ready n the carpet, doing super listening and being respectful and thoughtful towards her classmates. Well done Jankey!
Taylor
Primary 2/3
Taylor found it tricky to use her non-negotiables but throughout this term, she has persevered and worked hard on this and now uses them much more consistently. This has made a huge difference to the quality of her writing! Well done Taylor, keep developing those skills!
Robert
Primary 4a
Robert has been respectful and responsible, including being an enthusiastic participant in our PE lesson. Well done, Robert, keep this up!
Charlie
Primary 4b
Charlie has shown he is ready to learn this week in maths. He has worked hard and persevered to solve addition problems. He takes great care of his work and always presents it beautifully! Keep up the good work, Charlie!
Rubi-Anne
Primary 5
Rubi-Anne is very considerate and kind, she helps others and has been showing increased levels of responsibility for herself and her learning. Well done
Lara
Primary 5/6
Lara is always kind, respectful and hardworking. She has shown a persevering attitude in maths and has made fantastic progress recently.
Mia
Primary 6
For speaking to assembly about our work on Neuro-diversity. She has shown how confident she is speaking in front of an audience. Well done!
Ashaz
Primary 7
Well done to Ashaz for his confidence in rising to the challenge of playing a big character including a solo song! I can’t wait to see how he progresses over the coming months. Well done Ashaz!
Believe. Persevere. Achieve. 
