Here we are at the end of another busy week. Don’t forget schools are closed for Victoria Day on Monday (20 May) – staff are back for an in-service day on Tuesday and pupils resume on Wednesday. Enjoy!
Here’s a round up of what’s been happening recently…
Sciennes and Stenhouse Primaries awarded Cycle Friendly Schools status
The Cycle Friendly School Award is for schools that actively encourage cycling. Sciennes recently bought ‘balance bikes’ so that children who had not yet learned to ride could be given the opportunity to pick up this valuable skill. Walking, scooting or cycling to school has been part of Stenhouse’s culture for a long time.
Certificates for both schools were handed over at Stenhouse by Cllr Paul Godzik, Convenor of Education, Children and Families.
£1m food education fund launch at Castleview
Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead launched a new initiative on Wednesday at Castleview Primary School, aimed at making food education part of the school diet in Scotland.
The £1 million Food for Thought Education Fund will help pupils learn about all aspects of food and encourage teachers to develop projects inspired by the extensive programme of major events planned for 2014 which includes the Year of Homecoming, the Commonwealth Games and Ryder Cup, creating a legacy for young people for years to come.
Read more in this press release from the Scottish Government.
South Morningside pupils would walk 500 miles…
Congrats to the 600+ pupils at South Morningside Primary who recently walked a mile each – from their school to Braidburn Valley Park – to raise money for the 500 Miles charity, which helps people in Malawi and Zambia who need prosthetic limbs.
Dalry pupils publish book for new starts
A sneak preview of the new book’s cover
The pupils of P6 at Dalry have been working on a transition project where they have written a book for new P1 pupils. Head Teacher Grant Gillies told us:
We applied for Live Literature funding and were awarded a grant to provide 6 workshops with an author (the fabulous Mary T Thomson) and they have written a real book which can be purchased in book stores and we are hoping to offer translated versions through Kindle. The book captures the spirit of Dalry Primary which is now the most multi cultural in Edinburgh (with 74 percent EAL!) and a rising role (50 pupils up on last year!) and was written and illustrated by the pupils for the pupils.
We are very excited about the project and hope to have a big fancy launch!
Positive Content competition launched
A competition has just been launched by the UK Safer Internet Centre, aiming to encourage the sharing and highlighting of positive content – both existing and new – for children online.
Adults and children are invited to submit positive content initiatives aimed at children aged 4-12 years; young people can even create content for peers up to 18 years of age. The deadline for entries is 1 November 2013.
Find out more about the competition on the UK Safer Internet Centre website.
Learning and Teaching ICT pilot success
Our pilot sites - Redhall Special School, Murrayburn Primary and the Digital Learning Team - have all received their new PCs and laptops from BT. As to be expected, there were some minor issues, but these were resolved very quickly and we are all set to start the main rollout on Wednesday 22 May.
50 of our schools and Community Learning sites have now had their bandwidth upgraded through the Learning & Teaching ICT Service Redesign project.
Interested in Modern Apprenticeships?
Finally, don’t forget that next Monday and Tuesday you can pop along to St Andrew Square to find out more about Modern Apprenticeships.
Staff will be on hand from 8am and 6pm to tell people where to find MAs and how to apply. Young apprentices from local businesses will be doing live demonstrations of traditional building skills such as sash and case windows, joinery, painting and decorating and stone masonry.
Last month we held the annual Edinburgh Learning Festival at Hibs Stadium. The event was very well attended and feedback from delegates has been very positive. Joyce Rochford, Senior Development Officer Curriculum for Excellence, introduces a report from the event.
Congrats to the brave staff at Drummond High who got a close shave on Tuesday to raise money for MacMillan Cancer Support. The event went really well, says Susan Lambert from the school, and they were delighted to raise over £2400 which is fantastic. People can still donate at 
Blackhall Primary will be representing Edinburgh in the national finals of the Euroquiz competition at the Scottish Parliament next Monday 13 May. Monika Wantoch, Global Citizenship Development Officer, wrote in to tell us more.
On Wednesday, environmentally aware pupils from four secondary schools watched their films star on the big screen as they sought the top prize in an anti-litter competition.
Joyce Rochford, Senior Development Officer for Curriculum for Excellence, gives an update on some of the learning and teaching initiatives that she’s been involved in recently, including a number of events and academies for staff and pupils, and a new booklet for pupils with info about how they can make positive choices after leaving school.
