This week we brought you the winners of the Getting it Right for Every Child category from our Achievement Awards, news of the launch of Dalry Primary’s football-inspired creative writing anthology Hearts and Minds and a report from the recent Wester Hailes cluster celebration.
In other news…
Castleview Primary get the reading bug in National Book Week
Fathia from Castleview with the Book Bug
Monday was the start of Book Week Scotland, which runs from the 24 – 30 November this year. The initiative, which is delivered by the Scottish Book Trust, sees every P1 pupil in Scotland receive a special Book Bug pack containing activities and three books:
- Robot Rumpus by Sean Taylor and Ross Collins
- Princess Penelope and the Runaway Kitten by Alison Murray
- Lost for Words by Natalie Russell.
These three books comprise the shortlist for the Scottish Children’s Book Awards 2015.
Castleview Primary were visited by the Book Bug to help launch the event with the Scottish Book Trust.
This was only one of the many things the school has done to celebrate Book Week Scotland. Visit the Castleview Primary website to see what else they’ve been up to!
Active learning and parliamentary debates at WHEC
Students at the Wester Hailes Education Centre (WHEC) in Social Subjects and Religious Moral and Philosophical Studies (RMPS) have recently enjoyed active learning with the help of the UK Parliament’s loan box.
Stuart Sinclair, curriculum leader in Social Studies at the WHEC, tells us about the loan box.
This resource contains everything required to recreate a parliamentary debate in our school. All S1 students have led and held debates on whether or not the vote should be given to 16 and 17 year olds. Our senior RMPS students have debated the issue of capital punishment for the UK. The UK Parliament’s loan box has helped to
- encourage lively classroom debate
- introduce the concept of law making
- enable the students to understand the democratic process though active learning.
Order a Parliament loan box on the UK Parliament website.
Robots invade St Mary’s Leith Primary!
It wasn’t so much ‘crush, kill, destroy’, but rather as ‘learn, teach, amaze’ when St. Mary’s Leith Primary received a visit from world-renown robotic expert Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro and his humanoid robots last Tuesday.
Professor Ishiguro had been invited to Edinburgh by Professor Ruth Aylett of Heriot-Watt University, who brought him to St. Mary’s Leith for a special ‘Kids Love Robots!’ workshop. The pupils took part in a hands-on experience with the robots and saw some of the most advanced robotics in the world.
Watch the video below to hear about the visit from Professor Ruth Aylett.
Eco Schools success in our schools
Edinburgh keeps getting greener, as more and more of our schools and early years establishments aim for the top Eco-School status, Green Flag. Recent recipients of the Green Flag are
- Liberton Primary
- Oxgangs Primary
- Moffat Early Years Campus.
Panmure St. Ann’s School also recently received their Silver award.
This means that of all our Council run schools and early years establishments:
- 113 have a Bronze award
- 117 have Silver
- 70 have Green Flag status
Congratulations to those working to keep Edinburgh green!
