East CraigsPrimary SchoolDecember, 2017

MESSAGE FROM THE HEAD TEACHER’S DESKWelcome to our December newsletter. We have had a very busy, but enjoyable, time in school as we approach the festive season. I would like to thank you all for the support you have shown the school in preparing our pupils for, and attending, performances and events. It really is greatly appreciated.

Christmas HolidaysPupils will finish for the Christmas holidays at 12:00 noon on Friday 22nd December. All pupils should return to school on Tuesday 9th January, 2018 at the usual times.

Staffing NewsI should like to advise you that Mrs Ruth Colley will be teaching Mrs Scott’s (P1A) class as she goes on Maternity Leave after the Christmas holidays. Mrs Joanna Peggie will be teaching Primary 5A, Tuesday to Friday, as Ms Donaldson will be coming out of class following the holidays, as stated in my last newsletter. Mrs Lewis will continue to teach the class on Mondays.We will also be joined by Miss Kate Inglis and Mr Phillip Palmer, both of whom have been appointed as temporary Pupil Support Assistants until June 2018.

I should also like to share with you that Mrs Mandy Crosbie, currently on secondment, has been successful in securing the post of School Administrator at Craigmount High School. On behalf of the school community, I would like to thank Mrs Crosbie for her years of service since joining East Craigs in 1997. We wish her very success in her new role.Mrs Paula Yardley has also been successful in securing the post of Clerical Assistant in Craigmount High School. Again, I would like

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East CraigsPrimary SchoolDecember, 2017

to thank her for her work in East Craigs and wish her well in her new post.In light of Mrs Crosbie moving on, Mrs Fiona McIntosh has been appointed to the post of School Administrator on a permanent basis. We are now advertising a 25.5 hour clerical post over the Christmas holidays, with interviews being conducted on 15th January.

Beauty and The BeastOur pupils thoroughly enjoyed their visit to the Brunton Theatre, on 29th and 30th November, to see the pantomime “Beauty and the Beast.” I think the staff team enjoyed the performance just as much! Many thanks to PTA for their funding of the coaches for both trips.

Nursery NativityOur youngest pupils performed beautifully in their Nativity “Donkey for Sale.” They loved seeing their parents, carers and extended family, come along to cheer them on. Many of our visitors remarked on the fantastic

efforts of all the pupils in learning so many words and songs, also commending our Nursery staff team who work so hard in helping the children prepare. Many thanks to all pupils and staff involved.

P1 NativityOur P1 pupils gave wonderful performances of their “Wriggly Nativity” last Thursday and Friday. They delighted their audiences by bringing both a tear to their eye, and festive cheer to their hearts. Well done to all pupils and the staff team who prepared the children so well for their performances.

The Sleepy ShepherdOur Primary 2 pupils also “wowed” their audience with their

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East CraigsPrimary SchoolDecember, 2017

performance of “The Sleepy Shepherd.” It was lovely to see our parents, carers and friends of the school singing along with the children- they had clearly been practising very hard at home!! Many thanks to our P2 pupils and staff team for all their hard work and preparation.

Choir Success If you are able to, please remember to tune in to the “Christmas Songbook” Christmas day programme on STV2 to see the recording of our Choir performing “Oh Holy Night” and “It Was On A Starry Night” at St.Mary’s Cathedral. They also gave a fantastic performance at the “Evening of Carols” on 13th December at Craigsbank Church. I was extremely sorry to miss their performance due to family commitments. Huge thanks to Mrs Graham for all her work in leading the choir from strength to strength throughout the year.

East Craigs CDSales of our CD “Songs for All Seasons” went really well at our Christmas Fayre. If you would like to purchase a copy, you can do so at the school office at a cost of £6.00.

East Craigs Twitter AccountOur Digital Leaders are working hard to post tweets about school news and events through our Twitter account. Please follow us @EastCraigsPS. You can also access the account through the link on the school website.

P6 Christmas WorkshopOn 6th December, Primary 6 Classes participated in the Scripture Union Christmas Workshop at East Craigs Church Centre. Here the children engaged in an interactive session with storytelling, video clips and drama sketches linked to the

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East CraigsPrimary SchoolDecember, 2017

timeline and history around the birth of Jesus, the people of the time and the key characters in the Christmas Story. The volunteers supporting this session commented on how well the children participated and were able to contribute confidently.

P5 Carol SingingOn the 11th and 12th of December, P5 pupils visited the Balfour Care Home to sing Christmas Carols for the residents and clients there. The children sang beautifully and impressed the team in Balfour Court so much that they have been invited back to sing again in the summer term. The staff and clients commented on how lovely it was to see the pupils speaking with the residents of the care home following their performance. Once again, the pupils showing themselves to be excellent ambassadors for our school and our community.

Craigmount Christmas ConcertA group of our P7 pupils attended the Craigmount Christmas Concert on Monday 11th

December to join with other pupils across the cluster for their performance of “How Far I’ll Go” and “Let It Snow.” This provided an additional transition opportunity for pupils, enabling them to strengthen relationships across the cluster and get to meet more of the Craigmount staff.

Christmas PartiesOur pupils have been having great fun at their parties, enjoying taking part in the dancing and games. Our Nursery, P1 and P2 pupils were delighted by their special visit from Santa! Many thanks to our PTA for funding the food for the parties.

Christmas ServicesThe Services at Craigsbank Church went very well, with our House Captains doing an impressive job of leading the proceedings. Well done also goes to the instrumentalists and choir for their excellent performances.

Active Schools ClubsWe will have our new block of lunchtime and after-school clubs starting on Monday 15th January. There has been a very positive response to our existing clubs and we are very pleased to be able to pick up pupils from the waiting list for both our

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East CraigsPrimary SchoolDecember, 2017

Gymnastics (P5/6) and Netball club (P6/7). Our lunchtime Dance (P1/3) and lunchtime Mini Kickers Football (P2/3) will continue, as will our After School Dance (P4/7) Fencing (P3/7) Basketball (P4/5 and P6/7). We would like to extend a huge thank you to Neil and his team from Active Schools, Ms Mowat and Ms Niven who provide these opportunities for our pupils.

East Craigs Parent CouncilMany thanks to Mrs Susi Isler for the following message:-

We would like to wish everyone a lovely festive break and a reminder that our next parent council meeting is on 24 January at 18:45.

Follow us on twitter @ecpcinfo

Or contact us by email eastcraigspc@live.com or via the school office

East Craigs PTA Many thanks to Mrs Jane Adams for the following message from the PTA:-

Our Christmas Fayre raised a phenomenal £2137.30!! We raised £303 for the iPad mini draw and the winner was Avril Green. The draw was done by our House Captains today. We raised £122 for Guess Rudolph’s Birthday and Paperchains. The winners were Hanna Kelly P7b (December 14th, chosen by Mrs Graham) and Brodie Stephenson P4a. Many thanks to the community for all your support and to all who helped organise the event.

We would like to thank everyone for all their help and support all year round and would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy, Healthy New Year.

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East CraigsPrimary SchoolDecember, 2017

Children In NeedJust an update to let you know that our Children in Need day on Friday 17th November raised a total of £337.47. Many thanks for all your support.

EPSSA/Interscholastics EventsMany thanks to Mrs Lynn Wallace for the following article:-As mentioned last month we have created a working group for EPSSA comprising of Jackie Reid, Maureen Allan, Martin Cheung, Neil Russell (Active Schools Coordinator) and a number of parent helpers. We held our first meeting on 14th December and there were some really positive discussions. Neil Russell, Active Schools Co-ordinator, was very supportive and has offered to organise training for parent volunteers interested in coaching the children in a variety of sports. Kerry Kelly has been working tremendously hard on securing sponsorship and I'm delighted to say we have now received £250 from Kelly Joiners and £250 from TBC. This money will be used to buy sportswear for children representing the school at sports

events. The parent/carer members of the group are as follows:

Gemma MillerLaura ArmstrongTim NorwoodKerry KellyJohn KellySandra MalloyJoanna WithersLynn Wallace-Admin

Nursery NewsMany thanks to Mrs Young for the following:-

Thank you to everyone that came to see our Christmas Nativity show ‘Donkey for Sale’. The children had a wonderful time performing and did a great job learning their lines and singing the songs. We would especially like to thank Mrs Scott for all her hard work that helped to make our show such a success.

Our Christmas parties were a lovely end to the term. With Mr Boom – “A Children’s One Man Band from the Moon!” and a very special, early visit from Santa. Thank you to all the parents, carers and families that made it along to share and join in this with us.

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East CraigsPrimary SchoolDecember, 2017

Many thanks for all your hard work and support at this very busy time. We would like to wish you all a lovely, relaxing and happy holidays from the Nursery Team.

Pupils’ Achievements

In P1A, Chloe Black made her Rainbow Guide Promise on 14th

November. She has also taken part in her dance show “A Night at the Movies.”In P1B, Cora Watson also made her Rainbow Guide Promise and has been welcomed into the 103rd

City of Edinburgh Rainbow Unit.In P2B, Eshnika Gayam performed in the Telugu Association of Scotland, doing a traditional dance.Also in P2B, Emily Gerard has completed her Level 1 at skiing.

In P2/3, Katie Matthews was awarded a medal for performing in her gymnastics display. She was also selected as ‘Player of the Match’ at a football party she attended.Also in P2/3, Aidan Gill was awarded a bronze medal for competing in the Fencing Challenge Cup.In P2/3, Emma Gordon has moved up a level to Beginners 2 Penguins, at her swimming lessons.Anna Bendall in P2/3, has passed her Pre-Primary Ballet exam.Olly Conner in P2/3, has achieved his 5th Kai at Judo.Blake Hatfield, also in P2/3, has achieved his ‘Learn-to-Swim’ Level 3 and has now moved up to Level 4. He has also completed his 3rd Kai, orange belt at Judo.In P2/3, Alan Drozdowski has now achieved his Level 2 ‘Learn to Swim’ Award and has successfully completed his Hearts Soccer Academy sessions for this term. Well done Alan!In P3B, Hannah Kelly and Abi Black also performed in “A Night at the Movies.” Hannah danced to “Ease on Down the Road” and Abi danced to “Sugar, Sugar.” In P3B, Gracie Molloy achieved a round off back flip at her Gymnastics club in Livingston. She has also been voted as ‘Dancer of the Month’ at her ballet school, Edinburgh Ballet. She was awarded a certificate and a teddy bear to keep.In P4A, Heidi Fieldhouse is practising some very hard pieces on the piano, which she will perform in her Christmas Concert. We look forward to hearing about that, Heidi.

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East CraigsPrimary SchoolDecember, 2017

Aaron Williams in P4A, has made his Mum cups of tea and coffee for the very first time. In P4B, Sophia Gerard has completed her Level 2 award at skiing.Amelia Isler McCurdy in P4B has moved up to Intermediate 1 in her swimming lessons. She was also very pleased to have featured on Forth 1’s “Barrel of Laughs” at the weekend, telling her joke!In P5A, Ryley Conway was awarded a medal for being the top goal-scorer in his final match with his football team, Edinburgh City.Liam Davidson in P5A and George Deighton in PB have both achieved their purple belts in Karate.In P5B, Rachel Newby was one of the runners up in Alex Cole-Hamilton’s Christmas Card Competition. Her design features on the back of his 2017 Christmas card. Well done Rachel.In P6B, Jo Scott has donated some of her hair to the Little Princess Trust.Chloe Reid in P7A, was awarded a trophy for her performance in Primary Highland.

In P7B, Hanna Kelly was the ‘Star of the Term’ at her Acroclass.Simone Isler McCurdy in P7B, has passed her Grade 1 Piano exam. She has also now moved up to Gold Level in her swimming.In P7B, Libby Keenan went on the ‘Big Tower’ at Edinburgh’s Christmas. It was 90m tall and brave Libby went on, all by herself, despite being terrified!Mounika Pasupulate in P7B, is now an orange belt in Karate. She has moved to 7th Kyu.Aidan Lappin in P7B, also completed his grading in Karate and has gained his purple belt, making him 4th Kyu.In P7B, Lewis Andrews ran 1600m in a cross country race in Alloa. He completed it in 7m 50secs. This is a new personal best for Lewis. Well done.

Jackie ReidHead Teacher

On behalf of the staff team at East Craigs Primary, I would like to wish all our pupils and families a safe, peaceful and

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East CraigsPrimary SchoolDecember, 2017

enjoyable Festive Season and Happy New Year.

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