Tag: Forthview Primary School

Chain reaction: Community rallies to support Forthview following bike thefts

Mackenzies serves up support for school hit by robbery

forthview

The Forthview Primary School community was devastated when their storage shed was broken into over a holiday weekend in May. Thieves stole bikes which had been borrowed to help teach pupils cycling proficiency, leaving the school facing a potential bill of one thousand pounds it could ill-afford to pay.

Forthview’s Tracey Berry said at the time: “Bikes that we had borrowed, so that Bill Stobie could teach bike ability to P6, have been stolen, along with footballs and gardening equipment. We are responsible for the bikes: it will cost us about £1000 to replace the them!

“Our fundraising is meant to be for outings and activities for Forthview children, not replacing things that thoughtless people have stolen. If you find one please hand it to the school – the more we find, the less money we have to pay out from the school funds.”

An appeal went out to trace the stolen bikes (see NEN blog ‘Forthview break-in: can you help trace bikes?, 11 May) – and the community response has been nothing short of remarkable!

Forthview head teacher Eileen Littlewood said: “Not only have parents, grandparents and their friends rallied to make donations for us, but a fairly new restaurant in Davidson’s Mains contacted us when they heard about the theft. They are very eager to support the community in any way they can and they offered to hold a fundraising night where staff and other people could come and enjoy a taster menu with wine for £30 a head.

“Staff who went along had a wonderful evening and the food was delicious. We enjoyed 8 courses and half a bottle of wine each. The cuisine was superb and at the end of the evening, Grant and Jamie who are the partners in the business gave us every penny back – £550!

“They did not even want to cover the costs of the food. We have been overwhelmed by their generosity. As one staff member said: ‘what a fundraiser – we made a lot of money, had a brilliant meal and wine as well!’Forthview FundraiserThe business in question is Mackenzies Restaurant and Bar in Davidson’s Mains, which opened under new management at the end of April. Mine hosts Grant and Jamie are local lads- from Granton and Wardieburn – and together with Grant’s partner Trisha pledged to help a local school in need.

The Mackenzies team’s tremendous support is greatly appreciated by all at Forthview – and they may just find that their generosity is reciprocated by a grateful community. Well done, Mackenzies!

PS: And the icing on the cake – a number of the missing bikes have been recovered too! 

 

 

Stolen Lives: Forthview pupils produce WW1 poetry anthology

A series of emotional First World War poems written by Forthview primary school children  have been transformed into a new book.

Stolen LivesForthview Primary School P and P7 pupils saw the National Theatre’s superb production of War Horse at the Festival Theatre earlier this year, and they were so inspired by the show they decided to write a series of poems based on the experiences of Scottish people during the war.

These have now been turned into an anthology, Stolen Lives, which was recited for the first time at a special launch event at the Festival Theatre yesterday (Tuesday 30 September).

The poems were read out by actors from the critically-acclaimed First World War play Regeneration, which is currently on a week long run at the King’s Theatre in Edinburgh.

The pupils watched War Horse as part of the START project run in conjunction with the Festival Theatre which aims to make cultural venues more accessible to young people. They were then helped in turning their poems into a book by author Mary Turner Thomson – and it was during one of her workshops that P7 pupil Demmi-Leigh Brammer came up with the title Stolen Lives.

war horseDemmi said: “We wrote our poems after seeing War Horse and hearing some World War 1 poems. I thought of the title, ‘Stolen Lives’ because the soldiers were killed by complete strangers as if their lives were being stolen from them.

“I am really excited about the launch. I think it’s going to be really fun but, at the same time, I am quite nervous about singing in front of lots of people.”

Forthview Primary School Head Teacher Eileen Littlewood said: “The pupils were inspired to write these wonderful poems after seeing War Horse as they were captivated by the story of Joey and the historical events of the First World War. The pupils really are very talented writers and thanks to their excellent teachers they’ve succeeded in writing very beautiful, atmospheric poems.”

Mary Turner Thomson said: “I was very impressed with the pupils’ poetic endeavours and felt they had put a lot of effort and emotion into their contributions.  This whole project has been an amazing experience and a reminder of the horrors the people who fought in the war went through.

“It’s good that a whole new generation of our children are inspired to think about their sacrifice 100 years since it began. These young poets, seeing their work in print within their very own book of poetry, will now remember and pass this on to the next generation as well.”

Cerin Richardson, Learning & Participation Manager at the Festival and King’s Theatres, said: “Watching the inspirational War Horse led the pupils to taking part in some artist-led music, dance, puppetry and poetry workshops in school, as part of the START project funded by the Princes Foundation for Children and the Arts.

“The children produced some extraordinary work and this encouraged them to write the poems included here in their book, Stolen Lives. The Festival Theatre is delighted to have been part of the process which has led to this wonderfully imaginative and beautifully written book of poems.”

Today’s launch also coincides with Historic Scotland, who run Edinburgh Castle, launching their new school project ‘Learning about Scotland’s First World War’.

Craig Fletcher, Senior Learning Manager at Historic Scotland, said: “We are delighted to be working with Forthview Primary School and other partners on this new project which allows young people to explore their local heritage, whilst learning more about the war and its impact on Scottish people.

“Historic Scotland will work in partnership with local schools during the commemorative period for the First World War. Pupils will visit historic properties to explore buildings, museums and objects as they investigate and discover the impact of the War in Scotland and discover real people’s stories. They will also have the opportunity to participate in interactive workshops enabling them to reflect on their learning experiences.”

Special thanks also go to officers from the City of Edinburgh Council’s Integrated Literacy Strategy team and students/tutor from the Illustration Department of Edinburgh College of Art who worked with the pupils to illustrate their poems.

War Horse wee

Forthview superheroes get on their bikes!

On 28 February Forthview Primary’s I-BIKE crew organised a Superhero Day as part of the The Big Pedal, a national competition to see which schools in the UK bring the most bikes and scooters to school.

There will be three Big Pedal days at Forthview, where the numbers of children, parents and staff bringing their bikes and scooters to school will be recorded. Superhero Day was the fantastic first day, and this will be followed by further Big Pedal days on Friiday 8 March  and Wednesday 20 March.

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MBE for top teacher Tracey and more Forthview news

Our thanks to P5 teacher Ian Holden for keeping us up to date with everything that’s going on at Forthview Primary School:

We put out an appeal for used stamps last year and the response was really good – they were able to support a local charity called Pass It On, who help disabled children with access to computers, with a big donation. We’ll continue collecting until June, when we hope to sell the stamps to collectors and give the raised funds to The Sick Kids Hospital and Pass It On. I’ve tried to up the pace of our appeal now, contacting lots of local businesses to see if they can help – United Wire have already been helpful, as have City of Edinburgh Council and I am sure others will be too in due course. If you can help please get in touch!

Forthview’s P5a appeared at the childrens’ exhibition in the Mews at The Queen’s Gallery at Holyrood last month, one of four local schools involved. I’m also pleased to say that 16 pupils from my class won the best film category in the Children and Families department’s Safer Internet Day competition, designed to increase awareness of how to work safely online.

And last but definitely not least, Forthview’s Family Support teacher Tracey Berry received an MBE in the New Years Honours List for services to education.

Head Teacher Moira Heatly said: ‘Tracey Berry has been working with families at Forthview Primary and previously at Craigmuir for 18 years. As a teacher she took on the role initially as home link teacher but over the years that followed, the value of the role was recognised and it has since evolved to being a crucial part of Forthview’s school community. Tracey sees her role being about making the sure that the children are ready to learn and to do this she reaches out to all the parents, carers and families, many of whom did not have positive experiences at school, to help them to engage in learning with their child. Tracey is highly valued by the families at Forthview, who know that she always goes above and beyond to support them. They are happy to acknowledge the impact she has had on their lives. This award of an MBE is well deserved.’

Everyone at Forthview is very proud of Tracey – congratulations!

Ian Holden, Forthview Primary School

Tracey Berry
Tracey Berry

NEN man grilled by Forthview P5s!

I paid a visit to Forthview Primary yesterday to meet the P5 children and talk about the NEN and how North Edinburgh has changed over the years. It’s usually me who asks the questions when I’m out and about, but the tables were well and truly turned yesterday! It was great fun, though, and I promised to post the childrens’ comments on the visit on the NEN blog (see below). ‘Super duper smart and cool?’ – that’ll do me!

In P5A Dave came into talk about a newspaper called the NEN. He was very nice and all the information was outstanding. It taught me a lot. I was very happy. I think he has done a good job and thank you for letting us keep the amazing newspaper.

Demi

When Dave came to visit from NEN, he told everybody a lot of interesting information, like about before there were any speed bumps. We also learnt about a nursery that got set on fire. Dave was super duper smart and cool. We had a great time.

Louise

This morning Dave from the NEN news came into our class and told us about himself and why he wanted his job. He wanted his job because he said it would be good working at a place about where he lives. After he gave us all a newspaper each and everybody had a look at it. I learned that he did more than one job.

Natalie.

Thanks, P5!

Stamp of approval for Forthview project

Forthview Primary School’s P5A class is collecting stamps to raise money for charity – and they could use your help.

New teacher Ian Holden explained: “Since the holidays we’ve carried out some learning about stamps and the Olympics and on Tuesday we were visited by Roberto Catto, the General Secretary of the Edinburgh Philatelic Society. Roberto brought in his collection of London 2012 stamps, including all the stamps issued by Royal Mail following on from Team GB Gold medals.”

Ian went on: “The class will also be collecting used stamps which we will then sell to an auctioneer and give the raised funds to a charity of the children’s choice (not yet decided). If NEN readers would donate any used stamps to Forthview Primary School – for care of Mr Holden and P5a – we would be very much obliged.”

So don’t throw away those used stamps – drop them off at Forthview Primary in West Pilton Place – and remember, philately will get you everywhere!

Stolen school files recovered

Dozens of school pupil files that were stolen from a city council worker’s home during a burglary have been recovered. The files contained information about  Broughton High, Granton and Forthview Primary School pupils who have had contact with the Education Welfare Service.

It’s understood that the data records, stolen during a break-in last month, concerned the childrens’ school attendance.

A city council spokesperson said: “The files were recovered on Wednesday after the car that had been used in the robbery was found. The files do not appear to have been tampered with and we have sent a letter out to all the families to let them know this.”

Files on local school pupils stolen

 

An investigation has been launched after the confidential files of 45 school pupils were stolen from an Edinburgh City Council worker’s home earlier this week. The files relate to pupils from Forthview and Granton Primary Schools and Broughton High School, who have had contact with the Education Welfare Service. 

The files were stolen during a burglary on Wednesday, BBC Scotland has revealed.

The council said the files were ‘predominantly’ about school attendance, and a city council spokeswoman added: “We are working closely with the police on this matter but believe that these files weren’t targeted by the thief. We are making contact with all the families this information relates to and have made staff available to them to help with any questions or concerns they may have.”