Well done to all our hardworking Leithers this week!

Hamody M	Primary 1a	Hamody has been working really hard with his reading this week and has also made fantastic progress in P1 following our rules and routines. Well done Hamody!
Leonardo	Primary 1b	For sharing great ideas during class discussions and always being a responsible and kind member of our class. Well done Leonardo!
Pippa	Primary 2a	Pippa has been working hard to understand positional language and has been using her knowledge to follow direction clues accurately. Well done for showing a growth mindset and great concentration!
Quinn	Primary 2b	Quinn has been working so hard in our phonics sessions. He says his sounds and forms words with huge enthusiasm. Well done Quinn!
Lena	Primary 3	You have been persevering with your reading and have worked really hard on your blending. You also have been really supportive of your classmates in our group work, telling them “you can do it!”
Anita	Primary 3/4	Anita has been working very hard in her literacy this past week and showing more confidence. Well done and keep it up!
Jess	Primary 4	Jess has been supportive, encouraging and kind to our P1 buddies. Thank you and well done!
Runa	Primary 5	Runa has worked very hard in maths and reading this week. Well done!
Ola	Primary 5/6	For demonstrating good sportsmanship in PE and being kind to others.
Charlie	Primary 6	Charlie always has a positive attitude and perseveres with a smile on his face.
Osh	Primary 7a	For his progress in numeracy this term. Osh has been working really hard! Well done!
Seren	Primary 7b	Seren has been trying her best and being a responsible prefect setting a good example for others.

Well done to the last few week’s nominated Leithers of the Week!

Ali	Primary 1a	Ali has a very positive attitude to his learning and has worked really hard this week. He has done a fantastic job of following our school rules. Well done, Ali!
Ritanya	Primary 1a	Ritanya has consistently shown kindness and treats everyone with respect. We are so lucky to have you in our class!
Abeera	Primary 1a	Abeera is very resilient and isn’t afraid to try and try again. She perseveres with tasks even when she finds them tricky – well done, Abeera!
Louis	Primary 2a	Louis tried his best in writing this week and tried hard to hear the rhyming sounds in words.  He persevered and said each one out loud, which helped him match the picture of things that sounded the same.  Well done Louis!
Riham	Primary 2a	Riham is making brilliant progress with her talking and listening and is starting to use lots of new words to ask questions about what she is learning and say what she thinks in class discussions. Well done Riham you are doing really well!
Aurla	Primary 2a	Aurla has done a great job this week, counting on from and number and also finding numbers that add up to 10.  She used her fingers and counters to help and checked that she was right.  Well done Aurla, keep up the good work!
Aris	Primary 2b	Aris has continued to show he is ready to learn by always being incredibly respectful and listening intently during learning time.
Aryan	Primary 2b	Aryan has been building his skills in working independently. He has shown he can lead his own learning, practicing his letters and numbers without the help of an adult. You are really growing Aryan!
Amaya	Primary 2b	Amaya has been completing her work in class to a very high standard. She has been using incredible detail in her drawings and writing.
Isla	Primary 3	You showed a huge amount of kindness towards your classmates this week. You have also taken on your class job this week with a really positive and enthusiastic attitude and you bring this to your learning too. Well done!
Manvir	Primary 3	You have been going above and beyond with your morning challenge and have been working really hard in using your French greetings in class and around the school. You have such an enthusiasm for learning and I enjoy learning new things with you every day!
Musa	Primary 3	You have been doing a great job in Maths during teaching time and you did brilliantly in your spelling last week. It has also been so great to see you getting more confident and I enjoy our little jokes!
Shafeeah	Primary 3/4	Shafeeah, you always work incredibly hard with all your learning and this week you have really impressed me with how many tricky words you know how to spell- amazing! You are going to make a fantastic spelling buddy to others in our class.
Liam	Primary 3/4	Liam you continue to grow in confidence and I have been very impressed by how hard you work to challenge yourself more. You are also a wonderful friend and classmate to others-thank you!
Napiu	Primary 3/4	Napiu has been a wonderful friend to others in class and was incredibly helpful during one of our learning tasks this week. He listened and showed respect to others in his group and led by example. Keep it up Napiu and thank you!
Nathan	Primary 4	Nathan has applied his Numeracy skills to some tricky problems this week, well done!
Esmee	Primary 4	Esmee has shown kindness, consideration and empathy to her peers this week  Thank you!
Ilhan	Primary 4	Ilhan consistently approaches all tasks with commitment and perseverance.  Well done!
Ella	Primary 5	Ella showed kindness this week by making something for everyone in the class. She has also tried hard in maths and spelling this week. Well done!
Jayden	Primary 5	Jayden has continually worked hard in literacy, numeracy and science. He always pushes himself to do his best. Well done!
Lily	Primary 5	Lily has worked really hard in maths this week. She has also been respectful, kind and helpful. Well done Lily!
Aleks	Primary 5/6	For showing perseverance in class and doing a fantastic job with his reading comprehension task.
Amelia	Primary 5/6	For active participation during class discussion and for always trying her best during lessons.
Kieran	Primary 5/6	For staying focused and trying his best in class and during group work.
Noor	Primary 6	Being respectful, kind and always ready to give her best.
Gloria	Primary 6	Always kind, respectful and ready to her best.
Annabelle	Primary 6	She has proofed herself to be always ready and responsible. Well done!
Minh Duc	Primary 7a	For continually challenging himself within numeracy and maths. Even reaching the number one position in Scotland for certain Sumdog challenges!
Alice	Primary 7a	Alice has taken on board the importance of being a prefect. Alice supports younger classes positively and acts as a great role model to those around her.
Alexa	Primary 7b	Alexa has been working very hard and showing a persevering attitude to her learning. Well done and keep it up!
Jakub	Primary 7b	Jakub has been an excellent role model in P7 showing all the school values and following all the rules. Great job.
Maya K	Primary 7b	Maya shows the school value of kindness, responsibility and perseverance by always trying her best and supporting her peers and other school members.

A great many thanks to the whole school community – pupils, staff, parents and school partners – for their overwhelming support and hard work during our recent HMIE school inspection. Inspectors were very keen share how fantastic they thought the children were during their focus groups and how welcoming everyone had been throughout their week with us. The results of the inspection should be published by Education Scotland towards the end of the year. Parents will be sent a letter summarising the inspection findings in due course.

Big Family Event

Family Holiday Activities

The Whole Family Wellbeing Team have collated a list of free and low-cost activities for families which are taking place over the school holidays. Please share the below and attached information widely with families and colleagues. If you are aware of any other activities which could be added to this or any future school holiday activity lists, please contact wholefamilywellbeing@edinburgh.gov.uk

School holidays can be a challenging time for many families. To support families in Edinburgh we’ve details on our web pages of free or low-cost activities in Edinburgh.

Take your kids on the train for £1, go to soft play, visit the museums, book a woodland walk, do some arts and crafts or learn about looking after pets. We’re updating the activities all the time, so please keep checking before and during the holidays on our Family Holiday Activity page.

Support for families

Check our other Support for Families web pages for lots of other supports and activities provided by different organisations the rest of the year.

If you need any help finding support for you or your child, please email supportingparentsandcarers@edinburgh.gov.uk

Incredible Years

Leithers of the (quite a few) Week (s)

It has been a busy five or six weeks so we have a huge number of brilliant Leithers to congratulate on being past Leithers of the Week. Well done to all for demonstrating the school values, enacting the school vision, making great progress in their learning and being all-round fantastic Leithers.

Bonnie	Primary 1a	Bonnie has settled in nicely in P1 and is always ready to learn! During our class outing, she demonstrated our school rules and values as she was responsible and safe. Super job, Bonnie!
Alex	Primary 1a	Alex was very enthusiastic and ready to learn during our outdoor maths lesson. He did a fantastic job of drawing around his friend and measuring length using his feet and hands. Super work, Alex!
Coby	Primary 1a	Coby has been a fantastic role model as line leader this week, moving silently, sensibly and safely through the school. He has also shown he is ready to learn and tried his best in all tasks. Well done!
Mohamed B	Primary 1a	Mohamed has been a very responsible member of our class this week and follows rules around all areas of the school. He follows carpet rules and treats adults and his classmates with respect. Well done, Mohamed!
Mayar	Primary 1b	Mayar has inspired us by facing things she finds scary. Well done for being brave and persevering with things you find challenging. We are all proud of you!
Dominic	Primary 2a	Dominic did a fantastic job creating symmetrical patterns, in his Maths activity.  Well done Dominic you’re doing a great job!
Liam	Primary 2a	Liam has worked hard on his writing this week.  After finding it a bit tricky, he persevered to write a sentence, using key words, a capital letter, finger spaces and a full stop.  Well done Liam, I think it’s great that you didn’t give up and tried your best!
Caelan	Primary 2a	Caelan has a really positive attitude everyday and is a great example to his classmates. Well done Caelan!
Esmeralda	Primary 2a	Esmeralda persevered to solve subtraction problems this week, by using our steps to success and using her mental maths strategy of starting with the larger number and counting back.  Well done Esmeralda!
Mason	Primary 2a	For showing perseverance in French whilst learning his numbers and colours. Mason has been showing great concentration and effort to improve his French pronunciation and accent.
Oskar	Primary 2b	Using his skills to be a great leader of learning, helping and encouraging other children with the knowledge he holds.
Hazimah	Primary 2b	Hazimah always perseveres with her maths and very determinedly tackles new concepts.
Rival	Primary 2b	Being a great listener and always showing consideration, respect and patience when listening to others.
Miles	Primary 2b	Miles has been continuously building confidence and giving lots of interesting answers during lessons. His confidence shone through in his reading this week.
Jayden	Primary 3	You have been working so hard independently and showing pride when you complete a task. You have been showing great responsibility this week and are always super helpful and kind to all of your classmates.
Darcie	Primary 3	You have been working so hard in class, especially on your literacy and I know you have been working really hard in your groups as well. I am so proud of the progress you are making and I enjoy watching you grow in confidence as you answer questions in class.
William	Primary 3	He has been so responsible and an amazing helper this week. You have made sure to help all of your classmates and I have enjoyed watching you play the teacher this week.
Clova	Primary 3	This week you went above and beyond in your spelling. You didn’t just write sentences using your spelling words but you wrote a whole amazing story which included all of your words in it! Well done on challenging yourself!
Naira	Primary 3	You combined our learning in literacy, art and health and wellbeing to create your own ‘My Many Coloured Days’ book. I really enjoyed reading it and you should be so proud of your creativity and hard work!
Freya	Primary 3/4	For demonstrating perseverance during our rugby session. Freya stepped out of her comfort zone and gave throwing and running with the ball a go and had a huge smile at the end of it. Well done Freya- keep it up! 😀
Freya	Primary 3/4	Freya, you have shown perseverance and more confidence in rugby. We love that you have been more involved in passing and moving with the ball-well done and keep it up! 😀
Lilly	Primary 3/4	Lilly, you are becoming more confident in your learning about 3D shapes. You were the first person in our class to manage to put together a cube net and the class and I are incredibly proud of you. Well done!
Linda	Primary 3/4	Linda, you have worked incredibly hard in your literacy learning this week. You challenged yourself by stepping out of your comfort zone- well done! 😀
Muhammad	Primary 3/4	For writing some fantastic sentences to describe a character- good job Muhammad!
Elhibr	Primary 3/4	Elhibr has worked very hard in literacy this week, identifying and sorting different adjectives- well done!
Sam	Primary 4	For insightful and interesting contributions to class discussions.
Ellie	Primary 4	Ellie has shown good sportsmanship in PE this week.  Well done!
Ellie	Primary 4	Ellie has been responsible and helpful in class this week.  Well done!
Ilhan	Primary 4	Ilhan has show excellent descriptive language in Writing this week. Well done!
Louise	Primary 4	Louise is consistently kind, considerate and helpful.  Well done and thank you!
Holly	Primary 5	I was so impressed with your periodic table which you made at home and presented to the class! Well done Holly!
Keira	Primary 5	Keira has worked hard this week in all areas of learning and always shows that she is ready, respectful and safe! Well done Keira.
Tabitha	Primary 5	Well done Tabitha for being hardworking and respectful. You have worked hard in reading, writing and maths this week and I enjoy reading your stories!
Martha	Primary 5	Martha has consistently shown perseverance in her learning, whilst being kind to others and respectful. Well done Martha!
Mamadou	Primary 5	Mamadou has worked really hard this week, especially in reading. Well done Mamadou!
Kamil	Primary 5/6	Kamil Firlej – for making a big effort to improve his written work.
Ruben	Primary 5/6	For lots of active participation during Maths this week.
Waris	Primary 5/6	For completing his home learning (working on his spelling words).
Henry	Primary 5/6	For listening well and participating actively during class discussions.
Tempy	Primary 5/6	For working hard to up-level her writing in class this week, and producing a fantastic final text!
Katia	Primary 6	Hard work and readiness to learn, and help others to learn.
Robert	Primary 6	He has put a great effort to finish his work showing perseverance.
Stefan	Primary 6	He is persevering to achieve his goals and always ready to do his best.
Olive	Primary 6	She perseveres and shows kindness to friends and adults.
Kaleb	Primary 6	He has been kind and caring for his friends showing off the school’s values.
Ndeye	Primary 7a	For excellent use of adjectives and similes in writing this week. Well done Ndeye!
Hadley	Primary 7a	For working independently in writing and also taking great pride in his presentation.
Dominik	Primary 7a	For taking initiative and leading by example in the corridors when on prefecting duty. You are doing a great job Dominik well done!
Harjot	Primary 7a	Harjot for settling into Leith Primary so well. He’s worked extremely hard in numeracy this week and has shown he is always ready to learn.
Amos	Primary 7a	Amos is continuously upholding the school rules. He has shown great responsibility in his prefecting duties and is an excellent role model to others in the school.
Megan	Primary 7b	For challenging herself and creating a detailed piece of digital art.
Kieran	Primary 7b	Kieran has been working well in class, he has shown perseverance and challenged himself. Well done Kieran.
Keira	Primary 7b	Well done for being organised and setting a good example with her perfecting role.
Rubi-Anne	Primary 7b	Rubi-Anne has confidently been sharing her knowledge and learning with others. Well done
Dorothy	Primary 7b	For excellent perseverance and always challenging herself to do her best with all her learning.

End of Term 1

A reminder that all pupils start back on Tuesday 22nd October. Have a relaxing October Holiday!

The whole school took to our usual part of Leith Links to enjoy and celebrate seasonal and locally produced Scottish foods at our annual One Planet Picnic event.

One Planet Picnic draws attention to the many foods that are grown close to us during each season. Choosing to eat foods that are in season and grown locally cuts down on carbon emissions that come from artificial heating systems and long-haul transportation methods when we eat foods grown in artificial conditions or in countries thousands of miles away. Pupils took part in lessons that looked at the impact of year-round food availability and its impact on the planet and found out about foods that are seasonal and grown right here in Scotland. This is one of many ways in which our pupils learn about sustainable ways of living.

Responsibility

One of our key school values is Responsibility. This is something that we try to instil in all Leith Primary pupils and staff. This value encompasses responsibility for ourselves, for our learning, for our belongings, for our school, for others, for our community, for the world around us. At the start of the new school year, pupils take on a class responsibility such as being a line leader, a milk monitor, a resource manager and so on. This teaches pupils the importance of interdependence – that the class cannot function successfully unless everyone plays their part.

Primary 7 pupils have been applying to become prefects this week. Many will take on responsibility for looking after younger classes at break and lunchtimes (under staff watchful eyes) or will support with leading school tours for visitors, with recycling, or with setting up for assemblies or other events. Some of our Primary 7 pupils have already been supporting younger children in their role as Paired Reading guides.

Primary 6 have started undertaking their role on rotation as administrative assistants to Mrs Gatton, our school administrator. Later on in the session, Primary 6 pupils will learn how to become Playground Buddies who lead games with younger children and support with common playground issues.

This week, we have also been saying a big thank you to our Pupil Leadership groups who are making way for new membership this term. We are now looking for two representatives from each P3-P7 class for our Pupil Council, our Eco Committee, our Health & Wellbeing Committee, our Eco Group, our Rights Respecting Schools Champions, our Equalities Group, our Playground Squad, our Junior Librarians Group and, new for this session, our Sports Council. It is our hope that each pupil will have at least one or two opportunities to represent the views of their class and inform the development of their school during their time at Leith Primary School.

These leadership opportunities develop improved communication skills, help to grow confidence and encourage problem solving and creative thinking. Participating in a pupil leadership group supports a sense of school community and develops ownership and responsibility for our school. We are looking forward to celebrating our new pupil reps at a future school assembly.

Open Classroom Session

A reminder that classrooms will be open to parents and carers this Wednesday 11th September in the afternoon. Everyone is warmly welcome to come along, meet their child’s new class teacher and join in some learning for the last part of the day. Doors are open from 2.30pm for P1 and P2 classes and from 2.40pm for P3-P7 classes. We look forward to seeing you there.

Rights Respecting Schools Gold Award Report

As we announced in our last newsletter, we were delighted to be awarded with our Gold level Rights Respecting Schools Award. As we await delivery of our new banner, some of you may be interested to read the report from the UNICEF assessor, Gerry McMurtrie. It is such a wonderful reflection of the hard work of all the pupils who took part in the assessment day as well as the ongoing work of our last Rights Respecting School Champions. Well done again to everyone involved. We are still to announce how this wonderful achievement will be celebrated by everyone at school. More details to come in later weeks.

New Shared Google Calendar on LPS Website

To try to keep parents and carers updated on our busy school events, we have included a live school Google Calendar on our website. This has details of all the important upcoming events for the year, including Parent-Teacher consultations and school photo day. Here, you can keep an eye on when your child has swimming lessons or when the next open classroom sessions are. We hope you find this new feature helpful. Find it on the right-hand sidebar of the homepage.

School Photo Day

School photographs will be taken on Monday 23rd September. This year, we will ask you to opt in to sibling photos rather than taking them as standard. More details on how to request sibling photos will be sent out by LPPC.

Teen Triple P

We welcome applications directly from parents and carers or someone can apply on their behalf. Applications can be made by completing our online application form. Please see link to application below.

https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/teentriplepform

North East Edinburgh

Venue: Richmond Church Craigmillar 227 – 229 Niddrie Mains Rd, Edinburgh EH16 4PA

Day and Dates: Tuesday’s 8/10, 15/10 no group Oct hol, 22/10, 29/10, 5/11, 12/11, 19/11 telephone call no group,  26/11 telephone call no group,  3/12 (6 group sessions, 2 telephone contacts)

Time 9.45-11.45am

Virtual Course – requires access to a laptop, ipad or pc.

This course requires parents/carers to engage in interactive session online session each week. On the dates below parents/carers will come together on TEAMS as a group with facilitators

Dates 9/10,  (16/10 no group Oct hol)  23/10, 30/10, 6/11, 13/11, 20/11 telephone call no group,  27/11 telephone call no group,  4/12 (6 group sessions, 2 telephone contacts)

School Pick Ups

Every part of the school day counts therefore we politely request that parents do not ask to take their children out of school early unless in exceptional circumstances. Unplanned early pick ups during school time cause disruption to the smooth running of the school office and to the pupils in your child’s class. It means that your child may miss out on vital learning that can cause them to fall behind. We understand that children occasionally have dental and hospital appointments scheduled during school hours. We ask that you please notify Mrs Gatton at least one day in advance of such appointments so we can arrange for your child to be ready for you at reception at the correct time. Thank you for your support on this matter.

Tremendously well done to our hard working Leithers over the last three weeks. What a great start to the year!

George	Primary 2a	George has been a fantastic Eco Monitor this week!  He’s made a massive effort to tidy up and help his classmates recycle in the classroom and did a brilliant job picking up litter in the playground at breaktimes.  Super work George, you’re a great example to everyone!
Klara	Primary 2a	Klara has made a great start to P2! She has shown that she is ready to learn by showing super listening skills of eyes looking, ears listening and sitting on the carpet quietly and quickly, ready to start the task or game. Well done Klara!
Riham	Primary 2a	Riham has worked really hard to write her name this week. She persevered to use a capital letter and to have all her letters facing the right way. Well done Riham!
Lottie	Primary 2b	Lottie has shown she knows how to be a responsible citizen by caring for both her classmates and her work. She has brought smiles and enthusiasm to our classroom community!
Lawe	Primary 2b	Lawe has been putting in a lot of effort to follow the school expectations, particularly when sitting and learning on the carpet. Lawe has also inspired us all by continuously being himself and being proud of who he is.
Abdallah	Primary 2b	Abdallah has been very caring towards his classmates and children in the wider school community. He is very considerate and always works hard to understand others feelings. Thank you for your kindness Abdallah!
Lena	Primary 3	Lena has shown a great deal of kindness towards her classmates in her first week of P3. She always looks out for everyone in class and takes on any task with a smile.
Arlo	Primary 3	You always show great kindness to everybody in class. You go out of your way to make sure everybody feels included and you put your best effort into all of your work. Well done!
Naira	Primary 3	You are kind and patient with everybody in the class and you go out of your way to make sure everyone feels included. You are a great listener in class and set a great example with your silent, safe and sensible walking.
Stanley	Primary 3/4	Stanley has been an absolutely fantastic role model to others, always ready, responsible and respectful. We are all very proud of him- well done Stanley! 🙂
Lori	Primary 3/4	Lori has gone above and beyond helping others around the classroom. She has shown a positive attitude towards her learning and has had some fantastic ideas for improving our classroom- well done Lori and thank you! 🙂
Arthur	Primary 3/4	Arthur has shown confidence and a very positive attitude in his literacy learning and we are all very proud of him- well done Arthur!
Cormac	Primary 4	Cormac has supported others with our shape work this week,  Well done!
Sahib	Primary 4	For consistently persevering and trying her best with every task.  Well done!
Meera	Primary 5	Meera has consistently showed the school values of kindness, perseverance and responsibility. She has worked hard this week, been a fantastic listener and a respectful and helpful member of the class. Well done Meera!
Jaivik	Primary 5	Jaivik is a hardworking, enthusiastic learner. He has shown respect and kindness to all and he is a pleasure to teach! Well done Jaivik!
Alex	Primary 5	Alex has continually worked hard, especially in numeracy and science. He is a polite,  helpful and conscientious learner and is a joy to teach. Well Done Alex!
Diego	Primary 5/6	For participating very actively during our class discussions.
Chikanyima	Primary 5/6	For taking care to present her work neatly in her jotter.
Lamar	Primary 5/6	For demonstrating the our school value of kindness towards her classmates, other pupils and staff.
Felix	Primary 6	He is great example of the school values and rules, showing to be ready, respectful and safe at all times.
Jack	Primary 6	Jack has shown his perseverance when encountering difficulties while he has been kind, respectful and ready.
Lucia	Primary 6	For her being kind, thoughtful and helpful. Always ready to do her best.
Cordy	Primary 7a	For being an extremely supportive classmate this week.
Leland	Primary 7a	For settling in to your new P7 role and pushing yourself when things may be hard. Excellent perseverance Leland!
Patryk	Primary 7b	Patryk has shown a positive and persevering attitude to the start of P7. Well done and keep it up.
Scarlett	Primary 7b	For showing great perseverance and ambition to achieve her best.
Sofia	Primary 7b	Sofia enthusiastically engaged with all the lessons for One Planet Picnic.

Leith Primary School receives prestigious UNICEF UK Gold Award!

Leith Primary School has been officially awarded Gold by UNICEF UK’s Rights Respecting School programme.

UNICEF is the world’s leading organisation working for children and their rights. The Rights Respecting Schools Award is granted to schools that show commitment to promoting and realising children’s rights and encouraging adults, children and young people to respect the rights of others in school. Gold is the highest accolade given by UNICEF UK and shows a deep and thorough commitment to children’s rights at all levels of school life. There are over 600 schools across England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales that have received Gold.

The school has been working with UNICEF UK since August 2021 and received the Silver certificate in June 2023.

Headteacher of Leith Primary School, Ms Fiona Craig, said: “I am delighted and proud of our pupils and staff for the hard work and commitment they have shown towards supporting children’s rights both here and across the globe. It is wonderful that our efforts are being recognised with the prestigious Gold Award from UNICEF UK. The school community faced some tough times during the COVID pandemic and its aftermath. Having such a wonderful achievement to celebrate demonstrates our how much our school vision, ‘Believe-Persevere-Achieve‘, really motivates us to overcome challenges and achieve success. What makes this particularly special is that we achieved this together as a whole school community. For example, every pupil is involved in creating a class charter, staff and pupils make links to rights in their learning and rights are referred to when discussing and solving daily disputes in the playground. I would like to thank Ms Kirkwood, Ms Wilson, the Rights Respecting Champions and all the staff, pupils and parents for their ideas, enthusiasm and support to put children’s rights at the heart of everything we do here at Leith Primary School.”

The Award recognises achievement in putting the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child at the heart of a school’s planning, policies and practice. A Rights Respecting School is a community where children’s rights are learned, taught, practised, respected, protected and promoted.

The UNICEF UK Rights Respecting Schools initiative is aimed at schools across the UK, including those in an early years setting. Currently, it works with nearly 5,000 primary schools, secondary schools, schools for children and young people with special educational needs and pupil referral units across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Schools have reported a positive impact on pupil behaviour, relationships and well-being by enhancing pupils’ self-esteem, leading to less truancy and bullying, better learning and improved academic standards.

Welcome Back Everyone

Welcome back to Session 2024/25. It has been wonderful to have all our young people back at school this week wearing their school colours and eager to step into the next stage of their learning journey. A special welcome to all of our new Primary 1 pupils and their families and to all of our new enrolments to the school.

Everyone is welcome at Leith Primary School and all can call themselves a Leither – ‘once a Leither, always a Leither’, as the local saying goes.

We see Leith Primary as a reflection of our unique community; vibrant, creative, hard-working, inventive, diverse, inclusive, proud, persevering. It is this unique community spirit and identity that makes Leith Primary School such a wonderful place in which to learn and work.

Here is a staff list for this year:

Class	Teacher	Support Staff*
Primary 1a	Ms Lauren Kirkwood	Mrs Bilkies
Primary 1b	Ms Jo Kinnell/ Ms Georgia Downie (Fri)	Mrs Lynsey Elbekhti
Primary 2a	Ms Sally Richardson	Ms Natalia Ramos (EYP)
Primary 2b	Ms Fiona Harris/ Maryam Hafeez (Fri)
Primary 3	Ms Catriona Campbell	Mrs Qudsia Ainy
Primary 3/4	Ms Saira Afzal	Mrs Edith Stiven
Primary 4	Mrs Kim Watson (Mrs Lauren Kennelly)
Primary 5	Ms Megan Browning	Mrs Yvonne Thomas
Primary 5/6	Ms Catherine Barclay	Mr Callum Cochrane
Primary 6	Mr Alberto Agea/ Mrs Gillian Clarkson (Weds)	Mrs Miriam Saleh
Primary 7a	Mrs Shenel Scott/ Ms Georgia Downie (Mon/Tue)
Primary 7b	Mrs Anne Katrine Christensen	Mrs Sabia Begum
Support for Learning (Literacy)	Mrs Ella Ciechanowicz
Support for Learning (Numeracy)	Mrs Gillian Clarkson
Health & Wellbeing	Ms Georgia Downie (PE – P3-P7)	Mrs Gillian Aitken (The Loft)
Depute Headteacher	Mr Hugh Stuart
Headteacher	Ms Fiona Craig

Posts currently or awaiting to be advertised: Principal Teacher, x2 full time permanent class teachers, x3 Pupil Support Assistants, Pupil Support Officer (Leith Academy Learning Community – Attendance)

Lines

Day	P1 and P2	P3 – P7
Monday	soft start entry	soft start entry
Tuesday	soft start entry	class line for assembly
Wednesday	soft start entry	soft start entry
Thursday	soft start entry	class line for assembly
Friday	soft start entry	soft start entry

Classes	Entrance
P1a, P1b, P2a, P2b	Main school door
P3, P3/4, P6, P7a	Infant playground/gym side door
P4, P5, P5/6, P7b	Upper Playground door

What is a ‘soft start entry’?
A soft start entry is when the children can enter their designated entrance at 8.50am without lining up and waiting for their class teacher to collect them. We have found that this creates a faster and calmer start to the day for pupils.

At what time will my child be marked as ‘late’ on the register?
The infant and upper school playground doors will be opened by a member of staff at 8.50am and will be closed at 8.55am. After this time, your child should go to the main school office door where they will be marked as ‘late’ and will be handed a pink slip to let their class teacher know that they have been registered as present by the office.

Why have I received an absence text message from the school?
A child will be marked as absent on the school computerised registration system if a parent leaves a voice or text message before 8.50am to let us know why their child will be off school that day. If we have not received notification from a parent/carer about why their child has not arrived at school on time, they will be marked as ‘To Be Confirmed’. This prompts an automated text message to be sent out to a parent asking them to let us know either by text or by phone call why their child is absent that day. This is done to ensure a child’s safety. It is assumed that all children are in school during school hours, as is legally required, unless we are told otherwise. We therefore ask that parents keep the school informed about any absences and keep all other reasons to take children out of school to the minimum eg; dental or GP appointments.

Why have I received an absence text message from the school when I know my child has entered the school building?
Sometimes, a pupil might go to the toilet or delay their walk to their classroom. This might mean that they are incorrectly marked as ‘To Be Confirmed’ which will trigger an automatic text message to their parent asking for their reason for absence. Equally, a child may come in late without letting the school administrator know that they have arrived so they are not marked as being present on the register. This can sometimes happen on the mornings when there are assemblies or of a child comes in through the wrong entrance and does not collect a late slip from the office. Occasionally, staff may make a mistake but these are rare if children arrive on time or let the office know they have arrived late. We know that these messages can cause parents alarm so ask that you encourage your child to be on time or enter through the main entrance to collect a pink slip if they are late.

Can I come into school to help them with their jacket and bag?
We try to encourage all our pupils to develop age-appropriate independence from P1 onwards. We know that this is very different for P1 parents in comparison to nursery procedures however we find that our youngest pupils become accustomed to this routine very quickly. We ask that parents say morning goodbyes outside and send their child in with their peers. Staff are on hand in corridors with big smiles to help children hang up their jackets and unpack their bags. If the morning routine continues to be particularly tricky for your child, we are more than happy to discuss an alternative routine for them until they settle in.

Communications

You will have received our yearly data check form and KIC form on Friday along with a reminder about helping us to keep you informed about school matters. Please check that the information is correct on the form, including emergency contacts and any changes of phone number and email address. Please make sure that the school is the one of the first places you inform should you change any details over the course of the year.

Here is a FAQ that explains how we will communicate with you and how you should communicate with the school about a few common issues.

Issue	Type of Communication
When is parents night this year?	Check the school newsletter either on the school website or in your email inbox.
On which days does my child have PE/gym this year?	Your child’s class teacher will send out a class newsletter in the first few weeks of each term confirming details like this.
I am having trouble ordering my child’s lunches on ParentPay. Who can help me?	It usually takes a week or two for new pupils to get set up on ParentPay. If after you have received your login details you are still having trouble, please look at the help centre on the main ParentPay website: https://parent-support.parentpaygroup.com/hc/en-gb/articles/4416963652113-How-to-get-help#how-to-get-help-0-0
I am concerned about my child’s learning and am not sure how they are managing in class. Who do I talk to?	Your child’s class teacher should be the first point of call for all questions to do with your child’s learning and daily wellbeing. Your child’s class teacher can be contacted by email or Online Learning Journal (P1-P4). Please allow at least two working days for a response. If the matter is urgent, please leave a message at the school office and the information will be passed on.
Does my child get homework? They say they don’t but I am not so sure…?	Leith Primary School staff encourages all children to read for pleasure at home or enjoy having stories read to them. We also encourage pupils to join after school clubs and to go outside and play with friends after school. However, teachers will issue something called a Home Learning Grid each term by email, Online Learning Journal (P1-P4) and via 365 (P5-P7). There are activities on the HL Grid linked to work being done in class that children can do independently or with an adult as extra skills practice. All children have a login to a website called SumDog where they can practice times tables, addition, subtraction, division as well as spelling and grammar. A parent or main carer’s interest in what a child is learning has been shown to have a greater impact on academic success more than doing old fashioned jotter-based homework. So try to have regular chats about what they are enjoying at school and what they find tricky. Also try to read for pleasure yourself – books, magazines, newspapers all count. Not only is it a relaxing thing for you to do, it shows your child that reading is something to be valued. Good readers make successful learners.
My partner and I have separated. I am concerned about how this is affecting my child at school. Should I share this with school staff?	It is not uncommon for children to behave uncharacteristically when big changes happen at home. It can be helpful for a class teacher to know that your child is adjusting to a new situation at home. They can keep an closer eye on them and make sure they get additional support if its needed. New behaviours can be better understood and taken into account when responding to incidents in class or in the playground. You are welcome to speak directly to your child’s class teacher or to Ms Craig or Mr Stuart if you wish to share information of a personal nature. Our Family Support Worker, Kristy, is also available to chat to you about any family changes or concerns. We will always treat this information confidentially.
I appear to have missed my child’s class assembly. Why was I not told about this?	We try to give parents/carers as much notice as possible about school events. This will usually be communicated in the termly class newsletter or in the main school newsletter which is sent at least once per month. We also try to send out reminder text messages. Please make sure we have your most up-to-date phone number and email address and ensure school emails go to your email inbox and not to junk mail. The most recent school newsletter will be posted on the school website so please check there if you think you may have missed something. Let us know if you think you might not be receiving information from school so we can check our systems.
I am really concerned about my child’s behaviour at home and worry that they might be Autistic or have ADHD or similar. I am not sure what I should do about this or if I should talk to someone at school?	School can definitely help with anything to do with your child’s development, whether that is their learning or their physical, emotional, social or general development. Senior school staff have decades of experience of working with children and can usually help parents to identify the main reasons why a child might behave in a certain way and what they can do to try to support this. At school we believe that all behaviour is a form of communication. There are lots of reasons why a child might act up at home or at school. In recent years, we have seen excessive use of smart phones and tablets, difficulties with sleep and less consistency with routines and boundaries at home after COVID being some primary reasons for trickier behaviours and increases in children’s worries. Sometimes there may be an underlying developmental condition that could explain difficult or unusual behaviours and we can certainly help support with this too. We work in partnership with lots of different agencies who can help support parents and children with getting back on track or, if appropriate, with making a referral to the NHS for further assessment. Please make an appointment to speak to Mr Stuart (P1-P4) or Ms Craig (P5-P7) to discuss your concerns. Equally you can make an appointment to speak to Kristy Johnston, our Family Support Worker. Kristy is also a trained sleep specialist so can support with concerns in this area. We are all here to help without judgement.
I think my child is being bullied. Who should I speak to?	It’s not nice to see your child upset about something that has happened at school. It is natural for parents to want to do something immediately to fix the problem. The best thing you can do is listen to your child and reassure them that you are there for them. A cuddle can fix many of life’s issues! A falling out between friends is a normal part of childhood and so too is learning how to best express their wants, needs and feelings. Young children can go through phases of using physical behaviours such as pushing, grabbing, hitting, throwing, kicking when they are not yet able to identify how they are feeling or what it is they want to say. Some may then progress to saying unkind things to each other in reaction to experiencing unpleasant feelings such as disappointment, embarrassment or rejection. School staff do a lot of work with children on understanding emotions and using words to express how they feel but also with learning how to understand situations from another’s point of view. Like reading, writing and maths, some children develop their social and emotional skills more quickly than others and some children require extra support. We encourage children to try to sort out friendship issues themselves so they feel they have some control and say over what happens next. Staff will often help them to do this through having a supported restorative conversation. Sometimes, children feel like they have no power to change things and are too frightened by the behaviours to say anything. The RespectMe website is a good source of information on bullying for parents. If you believe your child is being bullied, please contact the school and ask to speak to Mr Stuart or Ms Craig so we can support your child as soon as possible.

School Colours

Thank you to parents/carers for sending the children back to school in their smart school colours and school sweatshirts and hoodies. They look terrific. If you have not yet managed to get school items, we welcome pupils wearing dark bottoms (black, grey, navy, trousers, skirts, shorts, pinafores), white or light blue polo shirts or t-shirts and plain dark tops (navy, black, grey cardigan, jumper or ideally school sweatshirt or hoodie). Blue gingham dresses are also acceptable.

School branded items can be ordered from Image Scotland: https://leithps.imagescotland.com/shop

Please do not send pupils in with designer branded clothing, clothing with football team logos or tops with slogans. Your child may be asked to take these items off for collection at the end of the day.

Children should wear sensible footwear to school (no heels please). Children should also bring waterproof jackets with a hood to school as pupils will go outside for break and lunch in all weather except for really extreme weather.

If you would like financial support with purchasing any clothing for school, please speak to Kristy Johnston, our Family Support Worker or speak to the school office.

Digital Learning

Like all schools in Edinburgh, we support all children to develop their digital skills from nursery onwards. We ask all P5-P7 parents/carers to co-sign an agreement about acceptable use of their iPad in school as older children use iPads with increased regularity in preparation for secondary school. If you are interested in how iPads are used to support learning in class please look at the Edinburgh Learns Digital website: https://edinburghlearns.digital/parents-carers/overview/

Important Dates for Your Diary

Event	Date
LPPC Welcome Picnic on Leith Links for all parents and children, especially those new to the school.	Friday 30th August – after school
Meet the Teacher – Open Classroom Session	Wednesday 11th September (PM)
Holiday Monday	Monday 16th September
Autumn Term Ends	Friday 11th October
Pupils start back	Tuesday 22nd October
Autumn Parent-Teacher Consultations	Wednesday 13th + Friday 15th November
Open Classroom Session	Wednesday 11th December (PM)
Winter Term Ends	Friday 20th December
Pupil start back	Tuesday 7th January 2025
Lagganlia Residential Trip	Wednesday 19th – Friday 21st February
Spring Parent-Teacher Consultations	Wednesday 12th + Friday 14th March
Spring Term Ends	Friday 4th April
Pupils start back	Monday 21st April
Monday Holiday	Monday 5th May
P7 Benmore Residential Trip	Tuesday 6th – Friday 9th May
Victoria Day Holiday	Monday 19th May
Sports Day	Wednesday 28th May (4th June back up)
P7 Transition Visit Days	Tuesday 17th – Thursday 19th June
P7 Leaver’s Assembly	Wednesday 25th (PM)
Summer Term Ends	Thursday 26th June
Session 2025/26 Starts	Wednesday 13th August

FAREWELL MRS MOLONEY & MRS FRASER!

After 33 and 39 years of service respectively to the City of Edinburgh Council, Mrs Moloney, our Principal Teacher and Mrs Fraser, long-standing class teacher, will be retiring at the end of this session.

Both teachers have made a huge contribution to Leith Primary School over their combined seventy-two years of service. Mrs Moloney most notably has excelled in her work to develop our equalities and anti-racist education at the school. From supporting award winning dramas to sharing the excellent practice of our current Equalities Group to raising the profile of our Young Carers within the school, Mrs Moloney has demonstrated an enormous commitment to social justice throughout her career.

Mrs Fraser was herself a pupil at Leith Primary School many years ago. Her love for the school and the community meant that she chose to return some years later as a qualified teacher, becoming one of the school’s longest ever serving class teachers. Mrs Fraser was at the school for the creation of our Time Capsule and huge map of Leith in mosaic form on the ground floor, made to celebrate the Millennium. She was also at the school when there were big celebrations for the school’s centenary in 1998.

Both teachers were job-share partners when their own children were very little. It seems fitting that they end their career at Leith together as job-share partners. Between them, they will have taught over two thousand pupils throughout the course of their career at Leith Primary. They now are teaching the children of their former pupils. What huge generation impact they have made!

Mrs Fraser’s last day will be on Wednesday 26th June and Mrs Moloney’s will be Friday 28th June. I know you will all join us in wishing both fantastic teachers all the very best in their future, far less stressful, lives! Thank you for your service to the pupils and families of Leith Primary School, ladies.

Next Session Arrangements

On Friday, details were shared with parents and carers about arrangements for next year’s classes. Please check your inboxes or junk mail box to see this email.

You may remember that our colleagues, Mrs Anna Hind , Mr John Mackenzie and Mrs Ailie Scott-Dickins, all left during the course of this session due to promotion, relocation and career change. Now that Mrs Fraser and Mrs Moloney are retiring, we have a total of four full time permanent class teacher posts to fill.

For the last few years, the City of Edinburgh council has conducted a yearly centralised recruitment process. Candidates who are successful in that process and teachers who have been declared as surplus at other schools are then matched up to schools who have vacancies. The matching process takes place centrally and headteachers are told towards the end of June which teachers have been matched to their school.

I can confirm that we have been told about two of these matches so far. We are delighted to welcome Mrs Saira Afzal and Ms Catherine Barclay to Leith Primary from August this year. In addition, we will have a probationary teacher joining us, Mr Alberto Egea (Ee-hay-ah). All three will attend our meet-the-teacher session on Tuesday afternoon.

Ms Lauren Kirkwood will continue with us for another year whilst, Ms Campbell and Ms Richardson will also continue into the new session.

Currently, Ms McDonald will return from maternity leave in December this year, as will Ms Wilson and Mrs Young who are due to return in January 2025. Mrs Buchan is due to return to the school in February 2025 from maternity leave.

We still await the news of a few final names of teachers for next session. Parents and carers of pupils affected by this will be informed as soon as we are told.

Two of the full time permanent class teacher positions have been released to us to recruit for at school level. Our parent council chairs and pupil council will play a part in this important recruitment process.

Finally, we will say farewell to Mrs Slattery at the end of this session as she leaves education to embark upon a new career as a child minder. I would like to thank Mrs Slattery for her hard work and commitment to Leith Primary over the last eleven years. We all wish her the best of luck in her new career.

School Uniform for the New Year #3 #5 #18 #26

Parents and carers may be looking to purchase new sweatshirts, polo shirts and hoodies for the new session in August. Image Scotland are the official stockists of our officially branded school uniform items. You can arrange to have these delivered to the school for free or to your home address for a small fee. Any items ordered over the school holidays can be picked up on Monday 12th or Tuesday 13th August when staff will return for the in-service days. https://leithps.imagescotland.com/

Wearing school uniform promotes a strong sense of belonging and safety for all pupils, something we are very committed to. Leith Primary School school welcomes pupils from a diverse range of socio-economic and cultural backgrounds, something we are fiercely proud of. The wearing of school uniform and school colours promotes equality and inclusivity by removing the differences in dress that may exist between pupils of different backgrounds. Research shows that classrooms where pupils wear the same outfit are calmer and more focussed on learning and less distracted by pressure to wear trendy, branded or brightly coloured clothes. The school is safer as pupils can be easily identified as belonging to Leith Primary. It streamlines the morning routine as there is no need to chose what to wear. Overall, it is far most cost effective and for some, completely free to obtain.

*Pupils must never wear football related clothing to school (even Hibs tops!)*

Pupils may be asked to remove or change any clothing with inappropriate slogans or football logos. Please avoid this potentially embarrassing situation for your child by supporting them to wear school colours or a school hoodie or sweatshirt.

All pupils should wear ideally school sweatshirts or hoodies every day to school, unless instructed otherwise eg; for dress up days. We also support pupils wearing non-branded ‘school colours’ eg; navy, black or grey school clothes with a white polo shirt, which can be bought inexpensively from any supermarket.

We are happy to accept donations of clean school clothing items for our pre-loved rail which will be available to parents to take from during the in-service days and throughout the session. We can also support parents to apply for school uniform grant or to the school clothing bank. Please arrange an appointment with Kristy, our family support worker or Kerry, our family finance support worker, at the school office.

CHAI Support in Schools #26 #27

Please remember that the wonderful Kerry Anderson can help families with any financial issues. She works at Leith Primary every Thursday morning. Please use her services or we will lose this valuable support:  

Tel: 07837 214 689 or Email: kerry.anderson@chaiedinburgh.org.uk

Here is CHAI’s latest newsletter.

Support Research Into ASD Diagnosis Process #23

I’m a Psychology postgraduate at the University of Northumbria conducting a study looking into whether families of children with autism are getting the right support through the diagnosis and post-diagnostic process. I want to give people a voice in areas of Edinburgh that are often overlooked to see whether parents of children with autism are receiving the support they are entitled to and understand the options available to them. 

If you are a parent of a child with autism and would be interested in being involved, please do get in contact at: allys.binge@northumbria.ac.uk

Support with Tricky Parenting Issues #5

Triple P course for parents and carers of 6 – 10 years.

This interactive course supports parents and carers to explore strategies to manage common behaviours such as aggressiveness, tantrums, shouting, answering back and refusing to follow rules. Delivered in group sessions with the support of trained facilitators. 

Castleview Primary School, 2D Greendykes Rd, EH16 4DP

Wednesdays starts 18 September until 13 November (8 sessions)

9.15am – 11.15am

We welcome applications directly from parents and carers or you can apply on their behalf, thank you. Apply to attend a Primary Triple P course 

To find out more about the group parenting programmes visit Parenting Programmes in Edinburgh

Trinity House Tour Guide Success #29

Very well done to our P6 pupils who graduated as this year’s Trinity House Junior Tour Guides. This fantastic project has been running at Leith Primary School for twelve years in partnership with Historic Environment Scotland and Illuminate. The pupils delivered their tour with a very polished performance and received certificates from Captain Wibberly, one of the house’s Master Mariners. Well done P6!!

Pupil Leadership Sharing Session #12 #13 #14 #15

Many thanks to all the parents who were able to come along last Friday to our Pupil Leadership sharing session. Pupils from our Eco Committee, Rights Respecting Schools Group, Pupil Council, Health & Wellbeing Group and Equalities Group shared what they had led on with their group this session. We are very proud of all our pupils who contribute to the positive development of the school in this way. We also have pupils who are Digital Leaders, Junior Librarians and our newly formed Playground Squad. In addition, Ms Craig meets with randomised pupils through her weekly Bingo Ball Blethers, where pupils are encouraged to share their views and ideas on different aspects of the school. At Leith Primary, we feel very strongly that our school’s ongoing development should be led as much by our pupils as it is by staff and parents. Pupil leadership is continuously developed in the classroom through activities such as Cooperative Learning Groups, Talking Tubs, Floorbook planning, independent pupil learning projects and through child-led play. This year, older pupils have developed their leadership skills by being Playground Buddies, Paired Reading mentors and by leading learning with their buddy classes.

Leith’s Got Talent! #31

Well done to all the pupils who took part in this week’s lunchtime talent show sharing on our playground stage. We were treated to singing, dancing, jokes, puppetry, football tricks, magic and…spelling! What a super-talented bunch we have a Leith. Thanks to our Rights Respecting Schools group for organising the event as part of our Proud Week.

Well Done to Our Leithers of the Week! #29

Praise	Primary 1/2	Praise is an incredibly helpful girl in class and always follows our school rules.  Well done Praise!
Jakub	Primary 1/2	Jakub has worked hard on positional language and correctly used direction vocabulary in a variety of tasks.  He was also very skilled at programming beebots this week.  Well done Jakub!
Klara	Primary 1a	We have been looking for a super role model this week and Klara has been just that! She is respectful towards others and is silent, sensible and safe in the line. Well done, Klara!
Aurla	Primary 1a	Aurla demonstrates our school values of kindness, perserverance and responsibility often. This week I was particularly proud of how responsible she was during our school trip to the zoo. Well done, Aurla!
Mayar	Primary 1b	Mayar has been continuously following our school values showing she is ready, respectful and safe.
Zite	Primary 1b	Being a kind friend to all at Leith Primary.
Darcie	Primary 2	Darcie has worked really hard to learn her tricky words and did a great job of recognising and reading them in her reading book this week!  Well done Darcie, keep up the great work!
Musa	Primary 2	Musa used his numeracy skills and used his fingers to count on from a number, to find out how much he would spend, during our money game.  You’re doing a great job of reading, saying and writing numbers too.  Well done Musa, I can see that you are using what you have learned every day!
Momen	Primary 3	You have been working really hard in class and I have seen you challenge yourself more and take on more responsibility. I am very proud of you, keep it up!
Nancy	Primary 3	This week you have been much more focussed on your tasks in class and have been working really hard on being more independent. I have enjoyed seeing you feel proud when you complete your tasks.
Riyaa	Primary 3	Amazing work in her numeracy group! She’s now really confident in SEAL after two terms of hard work with a super attitude.
Sam	Primary 3	I have been really enjoying your contributions to our class discussions about the Rights of the Child and current affairs. You make such good points and I hope your interest in the wider world continues on.
Anton	Primary 3/4	Great work with fractions and can work out some fractions of numbers. He even figured out three fifths of 100 today!
Runa	Primary 4	Runa has worked very hard in Reading and has made lots of progress.  Well done!
Tamer	Primary 4	For showing responsibility and commitment to his role in Equalities group
Gloria	Primary 5a	Gloria always demonstrates excellent team working skills. She works well with partners or as part of a group. Good job!
Stefan	Primary 5a	Stefan has been working hard, showing an excellent attitude to his work. He is making good progress and trying his best. Well done !
Mati	Primary 5b	Thank you Mati for being a responsible and helpful member of our class, especially supporting others with digital technology this week!
Sophie	Primary 5b	As a member of the Equalities group, Sophie went above and beyond during Proud Day- cleaning paints, putting up or taking down displays and being as helpful and kind as she possibly could! Thank you so much Sophie, you are a superstar!
Dash	Primary 6	Dash is a fantastic role model for P6, He is always ready to learn and looking to do his best work. He’s a responsible and respectful team mate. Keep it up Dash.
Dorothy	Primary 6/7	Dorothy has been making great progress with her reading and writing. Dorothy is resilient and determined to improve and learn, well done Dorothy!
Jude and Joseph	Primary 7	For showing fantastic sportsmanship during PE and in the recent Leith Academy Football Festival. Both Jude and Joseph were encouraging others and shining by demonstrating great football skills and positive attitudes. Well done!

Last Day Arrangements

School will finish at the usual times on the last Friday of term however, pupils will ‘clap out’ the Primary 7s onto the Links at 12 Noon, with a piper marking the event. If parents wish to collect their child from the Links or playground around this time, please ensure that the class teacher is aware.

Thank you again to everyone who was able to come along to one of our Sports Events on Wednesday morning this week. We were delighted to welcome so many families to our patch of the Links for an hour or so of some fun in the sunshine. Thank you again to LPPC for supplying the ice lollies.

Congratulations to Our New School Administrator

– Mrs Gatton!

We are very pleased to announce that, for those who do not already know, Mrs Gatton was successful at interview in being appointed as the new School Administrator for Leith Primary School. Mrs Gatton not only brings her existing knowledge of the school, the pupils and staff to the post but also a wealth of experience in administration and management in previous roles. We know she will do a super job of fulfilling this busy role at the heart of the school and will be a familiar face and voice as the first point of contact for our parents and carers..

Is Your Child in a Pupil Leadership Group? #12 #13 #14 #15

If your child is in our Pupil Council, Equalities Group, Health & Wellbeing Group, Eco Committee or is a Rights Champion or Junior Librarian, please come along next Friday to hear how they have been supporting the development of the school this year.

Any interested parent is warmly invited along to find out a bit more about how our Pupil Leadership Groups work. Find out about what the school has been working on this year, what our plans are for next session and what your thoughts and ideas are for our improvement journey towards excellence in education.

Please let us know if you would like to come along so we can prepare for the correct numbers of people. https://forms.office.com/e/nuXhG18ehZ

Junior Award for Schools – JASS Update #12, #13, #14, #15, #24, #29, #30, #31

All of our Primary 3-7 pupils have been given the opportunity to work towards one of the JASS Wider Achievement Awards this session. There are just a few more weeks left for them to get recognition for their involvement across four areas:

• Adventure: The activities and challenges they have completed in the outdoors eg; Benmore, Bonaly, Lagganlia, Craigmillar Park, Holyrood Park, Leith Links…
• Get Active, Stay Active: Engaging in activities that get their heart rate up (excluding their taught PE classes) eg; sports clubs, cycling to school, the Daily Mile, dancing
• My Interests: Developing an interest either at home, at school or in a club such as; baking, playing a musical instrument, taking care of a pet, attending a lunch club at school, learning the books of the Qur’an, preparing for and delivering a performance
• Me & My World: Engaging in voluntary work in their local community eg; Paired Reading, Playground Buddies, being a Junior Tour Guide, being in a school leadership group, litter picking, gardening, looking after a wildlife area

Each level corresponds to an amount of time required for each section, with more time dedicated to the top levels and less for the lower levels:

	Year Group	Adventure	Get Active, Stay Active	My Interests	Me & My World
White	P1	1 hour	2 hours	2 hours	2 hours
Yellow	P2	2 hours	3 hours	3 hours	3 hours
Red	P3	2 hours	4 hours	4 hours	4 hours
Green	P4	3 hours	5 hours	5 hours	5 hours
Blue	P5	3 hours	6 hours	6 hours	6 hours
Bronze	P6	3 hours	8 hours	8 hours	8 hours
Silver	P7	5 hours	12 hours	12 hours	12 hours
Gold	S1 & S2	8 hours	18 hours	18 hours	18 hours

JASS is seen as great preparation for the Duke of Edinburgh Award which can be completed when pupils are in secondary school.

This year, we are hoping that 65% of our pupils will achieve a JASS certificate in their corresponding year group level.

Many of the activities will be completed in school however, we know that many of our pupils do amazing things in their free time and may wish to have these activities credited towards their hours required for their JASS award. Blank log sheets for the My Interests and Get Active, Stay Active sections can be obtained from your child’s class teacher or from the school office which can be taken to sports coaches, youth club managers, Scout leaders, mums and dads, etc for sign off.

If you have any completed logs, please ensure that they are handed back in to school by Friday 21st June so your child can be awarded their certificate and badge at our end-of-year Celebration Assembly on Wednesday 26th June.

Children who do not manage to complete any of the sections before summer, will be given until October 2024 to finish their current level before starting on the next level with their class.

This year, we have focussed on P3-P7 aiming for their awards however we may consider introducing the certificates for P1s and P2s during next session of parents, pupils and staff are happy to do this.

Well Done to Our Leithers of the Week! #29

Arthur	Primary 1/2	For making such good progress in phonics this term. He has been focused and working very hard with Miss Callan. Well done Arthur – keep it up!
Grace	Primary 1a	Grace is a fantastic role model and follows our school rules no matter what. Well done Grace!
Jeremy	Primary 1b	Jeremy has gone above and beyond to be respectful and take care of the resources and toys we have in class.
Arlo	Primary 2	Arlo was really excited to do some research this week, when we were finding out about where cotton came from, in our living and non-living things Science lesson.  He took a keen interest in what we were learning, saying that he wanted to find out more about the topic and we then spoke a bit about how we could do this.  Well done Arlo, you have a super attitude to learning and are taking ownership of your learning!
Omer	Primary 3/4	Good listening to directions, being helpful to staff and classmates, and making good choices
Ella	Primary 4	Ella has made excellent progress when learning about fractions. Well done!
Noor	Primary 5a	Noor has been making great progress with her reading. She shows the school values of perseverance and responsibility and always has a great attitude to all her work. Well done Noor.
Anjola	Primary 5b	Anjola has persevered this week, especially when overcoming challenges in fractions. Well done, Anjola, you have worked hard!
Zaynb	Primary 6	Zaynb created a wonderful piece of cold writing, making sure she used lots of creative ideas and writers’ tools.
Bikari	Primary 6/7	Bikari showed great determination and resilience during sport day. He gave every activity his best effort and powered on throughout the whole day. Well done Bikari, you smashed it!
Grace	Primary 7	For working hard to accurately convert tricky mixed numbers and improper fractions. Well done for your dedication to learn!

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,

We’ve been back a little over a week and already it has been a busy start to the summer term. We were delighted to welcome some former pupils from Leith Academy along to one of our whole school assemblies to share the work they are doing in preparation for their Silver Award. This term will be an important one for Leith Primary as we make our final preparations for our Gold Award assessment in June. Children’s Rights underpins all we do at Leith from our welcoming and inclusive ethos to our commitment to play-based learning, supporting pupils’ talents and hobbies, reducing the financial cost of the school day to parents and nurturing of pupil leadership. At our Tuesday assembly this week, we discussed the importance of dignity. Everyone should have their dignity preserved, even those who may have lost the respect of their peers by being unkind. The right to privacy (#16) links closely to our approach of PIP and RIP – Praise in Public, Reprimand in Private: Pupils may not always know what happens next after they report when someone has not followed our school rules – Be Ready, Be Respectful, Be Safe. This does not mean that nothing has happened but that the adults have dealt with the situation in private to maintain the person’s dignity.

Farewell Ms Kennedy!

Goodbye and good luck to our wonderful school administrator, Alex Kennedy, who will be leaving us on Friday (26th) after nearly two years at Leith Primary. Ms Kennedy has been a key member of our school staff during her time here and the smiley, welcoming face for many at the start of each school day. Ms Kennedy will be taking her experience of school administration to a larger school in the private sector and we wish her the very best of luck in her career.

Whilst we undertake the recruitment for Ms Kennedy’s replacement, please note that our office will be manned only at key points during the day. It is therefore very important that all pupils arrive at school at the start of the day 8.50am. The telephone voicemail, text system and admin email inbox will be checked regularly throughout the day so please leave us a message if you need to get in touch about something important. Repeated phoning and hanging up leaves multiple blank voice messages on our system meaning it might take longer to get back to you so please do leaved a brief message so we can get back to you as soon as possible.

Mrs Beattie, our school Business Manager will be working additional hours to support with new enrolments and ParentPay issues.

Thank you for your understanding during this transitional time.

Junior Award Scheme for Schools – JASS # Article 29 #Article31 #Article 15

We are very excited to be offering all pupils between P3 and P7 the opportunity to have their Wider Achievements recognised in a more formal and progressive way through the introduction of the Junior Award Scheme for Schools. This has been made possible by the generous donation from KPE4, who support the school with reducing and removing costs to parents for clubs and residential trips. If your child attends a club or group, they can get accreditation for the time they spent at a sports club or drama group, dance group, Scouts, Brownies, Youth Club, madrassa, etc. Along with activities planned in school, this will lead to JASS certification. JASS is an excellent precursor to the Duke of Edinburgh Award that many children get the opportunity to do at secondary school. Please look out for the log sheet that children can take to their club for initialling by the group leader, as evidence of attendance. Good Luck!

School Library Reopens #Article17 #Article29

We are delighted that our school library is now back open for all pupils to use. This is thanks to the dedication of our parent council, LPPC, who have audited the books and supplemented them with amazing new ones. LPPC were supported by staff from our local Leith bookshop, Argonaut Books on Leith Walk, who advised on the best selection of new titles that would appeal to our young people. Mr Stuart and Mrs Kinnell have also been working with the National Literacy Trust to establish the best way to encourage pupils to read more for pleasure. Mr Stuart has also established our Junior Librarian group which consists of pupils from all year groups who support their class with maintaining the library and sharing the views of their classmates on which books are most popular.

As many thousands of pounds have been invested in purchasing new books, we would really appreciate parents and carers support in helping pupils to take care of the books when they go home. We were really keen that our pupils get the opportunity to take books home to read in the evenings and at weekends. However, we would like all the books to come back in one piece so that other children can enjoy them. Pupils will be able to exchange their book each week if they would like to select a new one. Se regret that a new book cannot be taken home unless the previous one has been checked back in.

Another big welcome and thank you to our Senior Librarians, who are a small team of parent volunteers who will support classes each week in exploring the new book collection and keeping the library in good order.

Thank you to everyone involved and we hope everyone enjoys our fabulous new books.

Support for Children’s Mental Health #Article23 #Article5

Tennis Coaching This Summer #Article31 #Article24

Family Fun Day #Article 18 #Article 31

Low Traffic Neighbourhoods – Your Views #Article13 #Article 12

We are currently looking at setting up some more research with parents now the low traffic neighbourhood measures have been implemented. We’re interested in finding parents of P6 and P7 children who are interested in taking part in a small focus group on Thursday 9^th May at 6pm. The research will be asking parents what they think of the low traffic neighbourhood measures and whether they feel they’ve affected safety of walking to school etc. Groups will be run online using Zoom, will last up to around 90 minutes and parents would receive £40 as a thank you for taking part. Please get in touch with Rachel Young if you are interested in attending this session: rachel.young@progressivepartnership.co.uk

Well Done to Our Recent Leithers of the Week #Article29 #Article31

Lori	Primary 1/2	For trying exceptionally hard in maths these past couple of weeks. Well done Lori!
Finlay	Primary 1/2	For trying very hard in numeracy this week. Finlay has been very confident when ordering numbers from smallest to biggest.
Jed	Primary 1a	Jed was a fantastic role model on our school trip to the museum yesterday! He followed our silent, sensible and safe rules. Very well done, Jed!
Danya	Primary 1a	Danya has been working hard to stay focused and has done a fantastic job of following our carpet rules. Well done, Danya!
Aryan	Primary 1b	Aryan has been working really hard on his writing, forming new letters and practising his name.
Alice	Primary 1b	Alice has been working really hard on her reading and writing. She can now write full words independently and is very enthusiastic when showing her knowledge of sounds in phonics.
Manvir	Primary 2	Manvir has been demonstrating his brilliant addition skills in our Big Maths activities.  He has been challenging himself to improve the speed and accuracy of his addition within 20 and has done an amazing job! Well done Manvir!
Ryan	Primary 2	Ryan has been putting a big effort into phonics this week!  He used what he knew about the sound ‘gl’ to come up with some more complex words.  Well done Ryan, keep up the good work!
Freya	Primary 3	It has been so lovely to watch you work so hard in Maths this week. You have created some amazing arrays for our Array City and I am so enjoying watching you challenge yourself. Keep it up!
Napiu	Primary 3	You have been working so hard in all aspects of your literacy. You challenge yourself to write more every lesson and it has been so lovely to hear you growing into such a confident reader. I hope you keep being proud of yourself for all of your hard work.
Bhodi	Primary 3	You have been working so hard in your Maths lately, you always come to your group ready to learn and with a super positive attitude. You have worked so hard in counting the number of jumps to find missing addends and I am so proud of you.
Ellie	Primary 3/4	For being an effective contributor to group work in Maths and showing a positive attitude to her work.
Kasey	Primary 3/4	Kasey has been an effective contributor to the class this week, especially during a maths lesson looking at measuring mass.
Riyaa	Primary 3/4	For making super progress in her numeracy learning.
Austin	Primary 4	Great technique and teamwork in Volleyball this week.  Well done!
Aaron	Primary 4	Aaron worked hard in Writing this week, focusing on his Literacy target.  Well done!
Belle	Primary 4	For supporting others during French this week. Thankyou!
Jamie	Primary 5a	Jamie for asking interesting questions and for using technology to support his learning.
Aleks	Primary 5a	Aleks has been working on his perseverance and aiming to achieve his best. Well done
Anjali	Primary 5a	Anjali listens very well to others and to feedback. She is always aiming to improve her work and achieve her best.
Alfie	Primary 5b	Alfie is a responsible and respectful member of our class always ready to learn and is  great asset in paired, group and class activities. Well done Alfie!
Cooper	Primary 5b	Cooper has been very supportive when his friends have been dealing with big emotions.
Scarlett	Primary 6	Scarlett has been really applying herself in her maths and reading this week. She has also been a fantastic supportive learning partner.
Alexa	Primary 6	Alexa was brilliant in athletics this week, taking part in the activities and doing her best in her sprinting. Well done Alexa!
Chloe	Primary 6/7	Chloe has been continuing to grow in confidence within Numeracy and has worked hard to build up her solid understanding of improper fractions and mixed number fractions. Great start to the term Chloe!
Wegdan	Primary 7	For always showing respect by listening to instructions and using her eye contact and body language. Wegdan is hardworking and completes tasks with full concentration. Well done!