Spring / Summer term 2010

30 June 2010

The P6 musical was a smash hit! Over the last 7 years, the productions just seem to be getting better and better. It was wonderful to see all of the Primary 6 children playing their part on the stage, creating a wonderful evening’s entertainment for us all to enjoy. Special thanks are due to Mrs Russell and Mr Dean for the supreme efforts they have put into getting the show on the road, so to speak, after the trip to Holland.

Thanks also to you all for your lovely emails and words of congratulations, following the announcement of my appointment as Head of Grantown Primary School. I am delighted to be moving home, to be able to resume a more normal existence but after 7 years of Academy life, I will be very sad to leave. The School is in very good heart and I have been privileged to be part of a most talented team.

May I take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support over the course of the session and may I wish you all a very happy summer holiday with your family.

23 June 2010

Many of us enjoyed a spectacular concert at the Usher Hall on Sunday evening, where many sections of the School Community came together in music and song. Naturally, I was very proud of our Chamber Choir, who added a very special ‘something’ to the evening and thanks to the excellent tutelage of Mrs Libby Russell, our Head of Music, they performed to a very high standard. Congratulations go to all participants but particular congratulations must go to Mr Tully, who conducted everyone with his usual verve and enthusiasm.

This week sees the culmination of a lot of hard work by Mr Dean and Mrs Russell as the preparations for the P6 Musical, Gel, come to a conclusion. We hope that those of you with very young children will be able to attend our matinee performance on Wednesday at 5.00pm. The other two performances take place on Thursday and Friday, commencing at 7.30 pm. I look forward to seeing many of you during the course of this our penultimate week of term.

16 June 2010

I am glad to see that Mr Dean kept you all informed of last week’s events, when I was away on ‘holiday’ with our Primary 6s. It was a terrific trip and I hope that the children have indeed returned with a host of memories, which will last a lifetime. Our visit to the Dutch school; our trip to Amsterdam; the clog and cheese factory; and of course the theme park, were all special in their different ways. Both staff and pupils put a huge amount of energy into all the various activities, so I am sure the weekend was spent catching up on some much needed sleep.Now is the time for them to gear themselves up once again for the musical, Gel, at the end of next week.

On Friday the sun thankfully shone after a week of rain, which meant that the P1-3 Sports could go ahead without a hitch. This is always a very special day and it was wonderful to see all the happy smiling faces of the children, no matter whether they had one or six stickers adorning their t-shirts at the end of the afternoon! It is always a very busy time of year, with all the usual end of year events.

At the end of this week, the children meet with their new class teacher and the Primary 6s will enjoy an induction afternoon at Henderson Row – a sure sign that another session is indeed drawing to a close.

09 June 2010

On Friday we had our Primary 4 - 6 Sports Day and we were truly blessed by the weather. The sun shone and the children enjoyed their afternoon. Congratulations to all of the boys and girls and many thanks to Mr Enos, Mrs Dean and the Primary staff who all worked so hard to make this a special day. Let’s hope the weather improves for this coming Friday, when it is the P 1 - 3 Sports Day, I am sure the boys and girls are looking forward to this.

Our Primary 6 Year Group is in Holland this week and they have had an excellent start with a visit to a Dutch school and also a day visiting Amsterdam. I am positive that the children and staff involved will bring back many happy memories. This is a busy time of year and I would like to take this opportunity to remind parents that on Friday 18th June children will be meeting their new class teacher for the next academic session.

26 May 2010

Both the Primary 3 show and the P1 / 2 Grandparents Day were hugely successful events and thanks to all of you, who supported.

The relentless pace of activities and entertainment continues this week as we build up for the half-term break. This week is ‘Get Fit’ week for the Junior School with all sorts of health related activities organised to reinforce the importance of healthy lifestyles to the children. Assemblies will take on a different form, with aerobic sessions led by nominated teachers, being held on the Astroturf, Sodexo are providing a number of different tasting sessions, smoothies created by Mr Zbikowski will be on offer and to top it all we have our very own Edinburgh Academy Has Got Talent contest this Friday. The lucky finalists will be announced tomorrow and it is once again a house competition, so much excitement is being generated.

Finally, the weekend beckons and I hope that the sun continues to shine to enable you and your families to enjoy a most relaxing weekend.

19 May 2010

The Primary 6s enjoyed a very worthwhile visit to Ingleston on Tuesday, where they took part in the ‘Choices for Life’ day. This is a day of activities and talks specifically designed to help those children, who are transferring from Junior School to Senior School. We hope that this has proved helpful for them as they prepare for the big step to Senior School in the Autumn. Equally successful I believe was the Transition afternoon for P6 parents, which was held at Henderson Row on Thursday.

Apologies for once again banging the same drum but I have to mention parking yet again and in particular, double parking. It has been reported to me that the same parents are continuing to double-park at the end of Kinnear Road. Please can I ask those parents to refrain from doing so as it continues to endanger the lives of our children as they go to and from school. Thank you for your support in this very important matter.

12 May 2010

Given the number of notes of appreciation, Mrs Robertson has received, it is clear that the Primary 3 trip to York was a tremendous success. The trip has clearly greatly enhanced the teaching and learning of this Viking project and the children themselves have been very eager to relay all that they have learnt. It was a mammoth exercise in organisation but thanks to colleagues and to Mrs Robertson in particular, the trip went without a hitch. Fortunately, volcanic ash has not hit the railways! A particular mention must be made of the parents, who willingly gave up their time to accompany the children. Trips like this are not possible without your assistance. We are all very grateful.

Another trip is in the offing and I am sure this will be equally successful. This is namely the Primary 6 trip to Holland and the information evening for this will be held at 5.45 pm in the School Hall on Wednesday, 12th May. I look forward to seeing many of you there. In addition there is also the Transition Afternoon for the P6 parents this week on Thursday, 13th May at 2.00 pm at Henderson Row.

5 May 2010

On Tuesday of last week, pedestrians on Arboretum Road must have wondered what on earth was going on at The Junior School as children arrived at the school gates dressed in a wide variety of night attire – it was our Pyjama Day and Easter Fair, where we had the opportunity to raise money for The Sick Children’s Hospital. The day got off to a wonderful start with the Senior School Charities Committee, leading assembly with a carefully choreographed dance routine, led by Sasha Spratt. In the afternoon, the Primary 3 to 6 children organised and ran their own stall and when the final monies were counted at the end of the day, we had raised over £1112.68. This exceeded our expectations and we are very grateful to all the parents, who lent their support both on the day itself and beforehand. A special thank you to those who spent time decorating a jam jar (£200 raised by 6C), supplying home baking (a record breaking £256 in P3) and to the nursery for donating £95 to wear their pyjamas for the day.

This week, the Primary 3s are off to York on Tuesday and Wednesday and they have an action packed programme both on the day of their trip and the day on which they remain in school. I for one am mugging up my knowledge on Viking bread, which we will be baking.

28 April 2010

For many of you, the start of term was not the easiest, if you were stranded in far flung places around the globe. I know that there are still a number of families who are not due home until the end of this week. Those families have my sympathies as much as it sounds wonderful to have an extended holiday, I can only imagine the nightmare of having to contain and amuse children, whilst negotiating revised travel plans! However, I did hear of one family, who managed to enrol their children in the city in which they were stranded – now that really would be a holiday to remember!

For those of us, who were here last week, things got off to a remarkably smooth start and the Primary 5s immediately went off to camp at Meigle. I had the chance to visit them on Thursday evening and it was clear that they were having a marvellous time with so many exciting tales to tell of the weeks’ activities. I hope that you, as Parents, had tired but happy children over the weekend.

Welcome back to one and all – the summer term is always a busy term but when the sun shines all seems easier somehow!

Spring term 2010

31 March 2010

With snow forecast for this week, it feels as if we should be breaking up for our Christmas holidays and not Easter! However, come snow or sunshine, I would like to take this opportunity of wishing you all a very happy and restful Easter holiday and to thank you for your continued support and enthusiasm for the many activities, with which we have been involved over a long and busy term.

A suitable finale to the Primary 4s work on Egyptians was a superb show last week and an interactive learning session for parents on Friday afternoon. Particular thanks go to those parents who so enthusiastically took part in all the activities from the building of sugar pyramids to impressive displays of ‘walking like an Egyptian’.

Tonight sees the annual Spring Concert, where once again we will no doubt see an array of talent on display, which will be the culmination of a lot of hard work by Mrs Russell, Mrs Penman and the team of very able instrumental teachers. On Thursday, the Primary 6s will be exhibiting their Electricity projects under the careful guidance of Mr Zbikowski and Tuesday, weather permitting, sees all the older children taking part in the annual crosscountry division event.

24 March 2010

The highlight last week for the Junior School was most certainly the Swimming Gala, so ably organised by Mrs Dean and her team. It was a wonderful team effort and terrific to see such an array of talented swimmers, some of whom do not necessarily shine either on the hockey pitch or rugby field. Very well done to all participants and to the staff, who gallantly took part in the Staff Race at the end of the gala, despite having to return for a photo shoot at school for new ID badges! Cockburn emerged as winners but it is all up for grabs next week at the annual Cross Country Competition.

I would also like to mention the wonderful Senior School musical, ‘Anything Goes’ which ran for 3 nights last week. It was a superb show and particularly pleasing to see so many of our Junior School pupils taking the talents they had displayed in the P6 musical to new heights in Senior School. Congratulations and thank you to the cast for a great evening’s entertainment.

17 March 2010

Wonderful Spring sunshine brought out the crowds on Saturday morning to watch the Division Rugby tournament, which saw some very exciting play. It was great to see all the boys enjoying their matches played in the right vein, displaying a competitive spirit alongside camaraderie and sportsmanship. Kinross emerged as victors after a hard fought final against the holders, Cockburn. Many thanks to all the parents for turning out to support and make this, such a pleasurable occasion. Thanks too are due to Mr Dean and his team of coaches and referees for helping the event run so smoothly.

The hockey girls are also to be congratulated after their various successes on Saturday, particularly the Primary 5 girls.

Away from the sporting arena, there have been notable successes in national competitions. Congratulations to Alec Crichton in Primary 6 for winning the Royal Mail Young Letter-writers’ competition and to Eilidh McGoldrick for being a runner up in the Junior Road Safety Poetry Competition.

This week sees the Primary 5 and 6 Swimming Gala and on Thursday, Julia Beckett, who swam at the Bejing Olympics, will be attending assembly to present the medals. I am sure this visit will be inspirational for the young swimmers.

10 March 2010

Our annual Funky Fashion parade on Friday morning was the culmination of our Book Week activities and it was a very successful event with some wonderful costumes and extremely creative designs. There was some very loose interpretation of the criteria set as the likes of Lady Gaga and Amy Winehouse, who stole the show, demonstrated! The Michael Rosen video link was also extremely popular with the children. It was a great example of how modern technology can help someone as popular and well-known as Michael Rosen reach a much wider audience and the technology did not let us down! Congratulations to Mrs Stewart, our IT guru!

I hope that those of you, who have attended our earlier Parents’ evenings have found them useful and informative. Once again, feedback on any of the current issues is welcomed and I look forward to meeting with many of you on Wednesday, which is the last of our evenings for this term.

Our class concerts take place this week and I do hope that many of you will be able to attend. All children, however musical they might be, just love to have the opportunity to perform in front of an audience so the more the merrier! Another upcoming event, which may be of interest is the P5 and P6 swimming gala, which takes place next Wednesday morning, 17th March at 10 am.

3 March 2010

One of the undoubted highlights of the week for us was the fact that our Chamber Choir under the excellent tutelage of Mrs Russell emerged as winners of the Edinburgh Schools’ Choir Competition. I was very sorry not to have been present at the competition but by all accounts, they were a credit to both themselves and the school, not only by the way they sang but by the manner in which they behaved. In tune with the recent winter Olympics and the Vancouver 2010 motto, they were indeed glowing with pride. As a result of their success, they have been invited to take part in the Highlights concert on March 6th in the Queen’s Hall. Performers who have particularly impressed the adjudicators are selected to take part and we are very honoured to be invited. The first half is a lovely mix of recitation and poetry, solo singing, and instrumental playing. The second half is the concerto competition when 4 young people play their solo instruments with an orchestra.

This week is Book Week and we hope that all the children will take the opportunity of refocusing their attention on books and the great pleasure to be derived from books. On Thursday, Primary 3 – 6 children will be enjoying, through a video link, a presentation by Michael Rosen, past Children’s Laureate. He will be reading extracts from his very popular books and poems and inviting questions from his audience of many school children across the country. Friday morning once again sees our annual Funky Fashion parade, where staff and pupils alike get to dress up as their favourite character.

I look forward to seeing many of you at the upcoming Parents’ evenings, which take place this Tuesday 2nd March and Thursday, 4th March and the following Wednesday, 10th March.

24 February 20010

I hope that you all managed to enjoy a relaxing mid-term break. I know that many of you, like me, were benefitting from the optimum conditions on the Scottish mountains. I hope wherever you were, you had an enjoyable time.

Last Thursday, we all enjoyed a very entertaining Junior School concert, where many budding young musicians were demonstrating their many talents. Many thanks to both the performers and their teachers, notably Mrs Russell, Mrs Penman, Mrs Scott and Mrs Ferguson from the Junior School side and to Dr Coad and Mr Tully.

Last week also saw ‘the opening’ of our own Forest School for our youngest pupils in the grounds of the Junior School, thanks to the supreme efforts of a Junior School parent, Mrs Clare Nugent. We are also greatly indebted to the Parents’ Association, who helped with financial support in order that we could clear a suitable site. For those of you, who may be unfamiliar with Forest Schools, these were developed in the UK after a visit by a team of early years staff from Bridgwater College to Denmark in the mid-1990’s. Forest School compliments the Curriculum for Excellence by offering hands-on play and learning in an outdoors, natural context. At this stage, The Edinburgh Academy sees its Forest School project as a core experience for all children ahead of their transition to primary education.

10 February 2010

I do hope all of those, who rely on the diary for key dates have taken note of the fact that the Junior Concert, which involves some of our Junior School pupils, has been postponed until Thursday 18th February. This will take place in the Main Hall at Henderson Row and commence at 7pm. The reason of course for the postponement is for the very important rugby fixture, which takes place on Thursday evening at Murrayfield. Many of the Junior School staff, parents and children wish to support our rugby team in their endeavours to lift the Scottish Schools trophy on Thursday. Best of luck from all the Junior School!

As half-term approaches, may I take this opportunity to wish you a very relaxing weekend with friends and family.

03 February 2010

It has been a week of relative calm with the annual assessment programme being the main focus last week. However, there is plenty on the horizon to look forward to, not least the Primary 1 Highland Games! One event, which I would like to draw your attention to is the annual Junior School Parents’ Seminar, which is being held on Tuesday, 23rd February at 7pm. There will be 3 parts to the programme, comprising Managing Pupils’ behaviour positively, our Reporting Programme and finally Mathletics, where you will have the opportunity to put your mathematical skills to the test with our new online programme! We do hope that there will be a good attendance at this event as I believe that real success with any of these programmes depends on good understanding and partnership between parent, pupil and school. We hope the evening will be both informative and fun!

27 January 2010

Thank you to all those of you, who supported our Scots Language and Culture Competition, which took place last Friday. I hope those of you, who attended, enjoyed the event and like me, were quite astounded by the standard of singing and recitation achieved by children as young as 5 years old! Congratulations to all the participants, with a special mention to Angus Reynolds, who surely must have his name up in lights one day and to Dundas, who were the overall winners of the Division trophy.

The Primary 6s held their very own Burns Supper on Thursday evening and once again, all participants who took either a speaking or musical part surpassed themselves. Alfie Tomasson, who did the Toast to the Lassies, will surely have a place at a future Senior School Burns Supper and will be one for Mrs Stark to look out for in the future!

This week is a somewhat calmer week with all pupils involved in the annual assessment programme.

20 January 2010

The season of Burns is upon us and here in the Junior School we are immersing ourselves in Scots culture and verse over the next week or two. On Friday we will be holding our second ever Scots Language and Culture competition, where many will be competing for the much coveted trophy. I am looking forward to it immensely, although being on the judging panel, is one of the hardest jobs I have to do over the course of the session. The standard looks to be as high as ever and in advance, I congratulate all our competitors, who are working so hard at learning their lines, practising their songs and fine tuning their accents!

On Thursday of this week, the Primary 6s have organised their own Burns supper, the responsibility being theirs down to the last detail. This is the first time the Primary 6s have held such an event so many of the staff, who have accepted the invitation to attend are looking forward to being the recipients for a change! I am sure it will be a great success and will become a standing item on the Primary 6 calendar.

13 January 2010

Happy New Year to you all – I do hope it was a good one. It was certainly a snowy one and in my neck of the woods, 120 centimetres of snow fell over the Christmas period, creating a veritable winter wonderland! However, I wonder if any felt like me come the 4th January, and despite the pleasures of having all the family home for the Christmas period, it was in fact quite nice to get back to the routine, at least out of the kitchen sink for a little while! This sentiment ( not in relation to domestic chores, I suspect) seemed to be echoed by all the boys and girls last week as they seemed pleased to be back once more and enjoyed seeing their friends and playing in the snow, to say nothing of getting down to work!

There are lots of dates for your diary coming up and I must apologise for the administrative error, which resulted in several key Junior School dates not being included in this year’s term diary. I hope you have all now received the communication from Mr Dean, which outlines any important dates, which are missing. I look forward to another action-packed term.