Pupils at Leith Academy have received a major boost, with Tesco donating £1,500 to ensure young people have access to a healthy breakfast before they start their school day.
The Leith Academy Breakfast Cafe project was established 12 years ago to make sure pupils attending school can set themselves up for the day ahead, providing healthy breakfast snacks such as cereals, yogurts, juices and slices of toast.
To bolster the service, the school applied to Tesco’s Stronger Starts scheme, which awards funds to charities and community organisations that make a positive difference in the lives of children and young people.
The school’s application was successful, earning it the special £1,500 grant, and teacher Sheila Ralston said the money will go towards giving young people further support at the beginning of the day, allowing the school to provide food products and new kitchen equipment for the café sessions.
Sheila said: “When a child arrives at school, they sometimes haven’t been able to have access to a full, healthy breakfast, which makes focusing during school even more challenging for them.
“Our experience has shown that a breakfast club plays an integral role for pupils from all backgrounds, ensuring that every pupil has a positive start to their day.
“With a wide range of students from a variety of backgrounds, we strongly agree that no child should be hungry, so with our free breakfast café, we’re providing an opportunity for them to start the day right. Also, to prevent any food going to waste, any leftovers are also provided to our Community Fridge to provide support to further others in our community.
“With this Tesco funding, we can continue to purchase healthy food items such as cereals and yogurts to support more pupils looking to start the day in the right way. We’d like to thank everyone who voted for our school and helped us to receive this grant to further boost our breakfast café project.”
The Stronger Starts scheme, in partnership with the Groundwork charity, aims to support many community projects and good causes in the coming years, with thousands of pounds to give away. The scheme typically gives shoppers a chance on voting for local good causes to receive a £500, £1,000 or £1,500 grant.
Since Tesco launched its Community Grants programme in 2016, more than £100million has been given to more than 50,000 local schools and community groups.
Shoppers can support their local school and children’s groups by dropping the Tesco blue token they receive at checkout into the relevant voting box as they leave the store.
There is a big difference between making a painting OF a photo and making a painting FROM a photo.
It is rare that artists can have the luxury of face to face painting of a person until completion and so knowing how to work from photos can be necessary, but also liberating and quite fun to decide on different backgrounds and so on.
Come to our friendly 5 week course to learn how to avoid pitfalls of working from photo reference, and how to make your paintings stand out as works of art, based on your favourite photo.
Hopefully it will help develop your painting skills along the way. You can decide what image you like and what background you would like and any other ideas for making a personal fantastic painting.
We will be looking at :
Composing a portrait
The limitations of the camera
How to take useful reference pictures
Understanding what we SHOULD see and compensating using logic and knowledge
Theory of light on form
Colour mixing and creating harmony.
The course starts from 22nd February at Leith Academy from 6.30 – 8.30pm but book asap to secure your place.
(£48.30 standard – £24.25 senior citizen/ student – £19.15 benefits)
Thirteen tennis courts across four park tennis venues in Edinburgh, alongside a new booking system, have been officially launched after a £190,000 renovation.
This refurbishment was managed by the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), and funded by the City of Edinburgh Council, the UK Government and LTA Tennis Foundation.
On Thursday (September 14) at the tennis courts in Leith Links, Culture and Communities Convener Councillor Val Walker, along with representatives from the LTA, saw in the official reopening of Edinburgh’s new courts.
There was also an opportunity for schoolchildren from the nearby Leith Primary alongside young leader pupils from Leith Academy, and other members of the local community to pick up a racket and get on court for a range of tennis sessions.
The Council contributed £33,000 towards the total investment, with the remaining £157,000 funds coming from the UK Government and LTA Tennis Foundation grant.
The courts have undergone extensive work to ensure viability for years to come, including resurfacing, repainting, new fencing, and a new gate system. This nationwide programme of investment is seeing thousands of existing park tennis courts in poor or unplayable condition brought back to life for the benefit of communities across the country, providing vital opportunities for children and adults to get active.
As part of the partnership, the Council’s Parks and Greenspace service will manage the courts and adopt the LTA’s Clubspark booking system to manage community access which will be connected to a smart access gate at each of the refurbished venues.
The new booking systems and gate access technology means it is now easier to get on court by booking in advance to guarantee availability. The small booking fee of £1 will ensure that the courts are maintained at their new high standard for years to come. The LTA and the Council will work together to ensure free park tennis sessions are also available on the courts providing regular opportunities for anyone to pick up a racket and play.
As well as weekly free park tennis sessions, with equipment provided, the new courts will host Local Tennis Leagues, giving people the opportunity to get involved in friendly and social local competitions.
The refurbishment works for courts at Inverleith, Victoria Park, and Leith Links have now been completed. Works at St Margaret’s Park are expected to be completed in the coming weeks.
Culture and Communities Convener, Councillor Val Walker said: “I was delighted to attend today’s launch at Leith Links and meet the local schoolchildren who will be some of the many in the community who will benefit from these newly refurbished courts.
“It is fantastic that courts at three out of four of the parks, Inverleith, Victoria Park, and Leith Links have now had works competed and have reopened, with St Margaret’s Park expected in the near future.
“We very much welcome the funding boost that the LTA project will bring to the city’s provision for tennis. Working together we’re investing in and improving four of our park tennis courts giving more opportunities for residents to get involved in the sport. I am looking forward to seeing residents and visitors take advantage of these fantastic new facilities.”
Julie Porter, Chief Operating Officer at the LTA, said: “After months of hard work, we’re delighted to see park tennis courts across Edinburgh officially back open to the public, and in better shape than ever.
“Public tennis courts are such vital facilities for getting active and we want as many people as possible, of all ages and abilities, to pick up a racket and enjoy playing tennis. Thanks to this investment the sport will be opened up to more players, for years to come.”
Stuart Andrew MP, Sports Minister, said: “We are committed to levelling up access to sport which is so important for the nation’s physical and mental health.
“The Government and the LTA are working together to deliver thousands of refurbished courts across Great Britain, supported by £30 million of investment including in £189,217 in the City of Edinburgh Council.
“These improved tennis facilities in Edinburgh will provide the local community with fun opportunities to get active and potentially become the next Andy Murray or Emma Raducanu.”
Blane Dodds, Tennis Scotland Chief Executive, said:“With tennis participation and membership in Scotland at record levels, it’s important that we continue to invest in facilities to grow capacity.
“Park facilities are key to ensuring tennis is accessible to all, so we are delighted that these park courts in Edinburgh have opened following refurbishment.
“The appetite for tennis in Scotland has never been higher and these revamped courts, along with a number of other facilities being built and refurbished around the country, will help make sure more people are able to get access and play tennis across Scotland.”
Edinburgh’s major festivals have revealed the extent of their year-round school engagement programmes, which have reached almost every school in the city over the period January 2018 – May 2019.
The new report finds that Edinburgh’s festivals have reached more than 90% of schools across the city through wide ranging activity which takes place both during and out with live festival time.
Through mapping of activity across the 18 months period, the study shows that festivals have engaged with every secondary school in Edinburgh, and almost all the city’s primary and special schools.
The engagement has had a big impact locally.
In West Pilton, Forthview Primary School has a particularly strong relationship with the festivals, being involved in 8 programmes and with over 1,400 pupil engagements since 2018.
The school regularly attend performances at the Children’s Festival, and the Book Festival’s Bailie Gifford programme. It is also part of the Fringe’s Children and Young People scheme, which offers free Fringe vouchers and bus tickets, to help overcome some of the barriers for pupils and their families to see shows.
Forthview is one of six Edinburgh primary schools participating in the Children’s Festival’s Immerse project, an ambitious 3-year initiative which embeds creative learning in the classroom.
The project started in autumn 2019 with each school hosting the ground-breaking immersive theatre production ‘The Lost Lending Library’, which uses drama to support attainment in literacy.
In Leith, Leith Academy have a long standing relationship with many festivals, regularly participating in programmes such as the Book Festival’s Bailie Gifford programme, the Science Festival’s Career Hive and the Film Festival’s Media Days workshops.
The Edinburgh International Festival has partnered with Leith Academy for a three-year residency, opening up a series of unique cultural opportunities for pupils. Three artists in residence are working in the school, with creative workshops linked to festival performances, and a culture club which offering social trips to experience theatre, music, visual art and dance in the city throughout the year.
The residency also looks to develop personal and vocational skills, with pupils being supported to work towards Personal Development Awards qualifications, and mentoring for senior students by festival staff to help build confidence and prepare for their next steps.
There have been over 58,000 pupil engagements – the number of times pupils have been involved in festival activities – with many benefiting from multiple opportunities.
From Gilmerton to Granton, Corstorphine to Craigmillar, the festivals are working with children and teachers across the whole city to bring young people enriching experiences and opportunities for creative learning.
These cover regular longstanding education programmes as well as new projects, through which festivals have supported learning in areas including music, drama, visual arts, science, technology, film and many more.
In addition to their spread throughout Edinburgh, there is a clear focus to the festivals’ engagement. It is within areas of the city with the lowest attendance at festivals that there is the highest participation in school programmes: a great step toward an Edinburgh where everyone regardless of background has the opportunity to make the most of the festivals.
Two thirds of residents attend shows and events at the festivals each year, but it is also hugely important to enable young people to engage with culture and develop the next generation of festival-goers.
There are several examples of programmes working over a long-term period, involving deeper engagement to create truly collaborative projects that will be of lasting benefit.
As well as directly working with pupils, the festivals also work with teachers on continuing professional development opportunities. These encourage and enable teachers to see the wider creative learning possibilities of engaging with festivals and help teachers bring creativity into the classroom.
A few examples of projects that the festivals have been working on, alongside some comments from teachers who are involved, include:
Teachers’ Theatre Club
A new collaboration between Edinburgh International Children’s Festival and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society that aims to encourage Edinburgh’s teachers to see more live performance, become more confident in discussing this with their students and enhance students’ learning experiences.
Serena Jagpal, Pentlands Primary School, said: “When applying to be a part of the Teachers’ Theatre Club, I saw it as interesting CPD. I never thought for a second that it would give me so much more.
“Over the course of the project I have engaged in discussions with a wide range of professionals in the arts, experienced theatre that I would never have thought to go see myself and discussed how I would use these shows with my pupils ….what has taken me by surprise is the camaraderie I have experienced. I hope this project runs for many years to come and I urge as many teachers as possible to experience this.”
Leith Academy residency
A three-year Edinburgh International Festival residency with Leith Academy, involving new cultural opportunities as well as developing pupils’ personal and vocational skills.
The residency includes a series of projects, from pupils working with artists in residence to learning about marketing and branding with the festival’s own teams. In addition, students are supported to gain a Personal Development Award at SQA level 6, with workplace experience with staff at the festival.
Mike Irving, Head Teacher, Leith Academy said: “In 2019/20 there is an ever greater need to look creatively and collaboratively at our curriculum. Our work with the Edinburgh International Festival helps us harness the skills of creativity, teamwork, problem solving and communication daily.
“This particular branding event allowed our young people to not only see how branding ‘comes alive’, but to actually be part of creating it from start to finish with skilled professionals …
“In a world where the jobs young people will do is a dynamic and fluid one, we are very grateful to the wonderful opportunities the young people of Leith are being offered through the residency in order to open their horizons of what their ‘next steps’ may be.”
Edinburgh Science Festival
Every year, Generation Science offers a programme of interactive shows and hands-on workshops for primary schools, delivered in the classroom.
The Careers Hive, which gets underway this year from 25 February, is an interactive showcase for careers in science and technology, targeted at secondary school pupils and designed to highlight opportunities from studying STEM subjects. Through Generation Science and Careers Hive, Edinburgh Science reach 81 schools across Edinburgh and more than 12,500 pupils.
With over 90% of the city’s schools already getting involved, the ambition of Edinburgh’s Festivals is to use the collective picture of schools’ engagement to inform the targeting of future projects and initiatives and enhance the lives of many more young people for years to come.
Lothian MSP Miles Briggs visited Leith Academy yesterday to talk with their S3 modern studies class. The visit was organised so that pupils could ask Miles about his role as an MSP.
It was an opportunity for the politician to listen to the ideas and concerns of young people in Scotland.
Miles Briggs said: “I always enjoy the opportunity to meet and talk with my constituents. The young modern studies pupils at Leith Academy asked very insightful questions about my role as an MSP.”
Congratulations to Leith’s Pilmeny Youth Centre, who won the Sunday Mail Young Scot Community Award for their Remembering the Leith Battalion project at a gala event at the EICC last night.Continue reading National award for Pilmeny Youth Centre
