6th February 2012: Photos from Skerryvore
Spey and Almond classes enjoyed their trip to the Usher Hall to hear Skerryvore play a rousing blend of traditional Scots songs and contemporary music. Braidburn pupils were given the VIP treatment with front row seats and a chance to meet the band backstage, a perfect treat to celebrate Burns' Day.
23th January 2012: Burns' Day and more...
After the festive break we are all now back in to the swing of things; some have said it feels like we've never been away! Our Rainbow Cafe is back on every Tuesday afternoon from 2-3pm - parents of invited pupils are more than welcome to visit for a cup of tea or coffee and some of our homebaked treats. Tomorrow's we will be having Clyde, Don and the Red Class at cafe. Next week (31st) we will invite along Forth, Esk and the Orange Class classes.
On Wednesday it is Burns' Day, when people in Scotland and worldwide celebrate the life and poetry of Rabbie Burns. In Braidburn we are taking part in the celebrations by encouraging everyone to wear something tartan to school. On Tuesday Almond and Spey (Leavers) classes will be enjoying a special trip to the Usher Hall to hear the band Skerryvore pay their tribute to Burns with a blend of traditional Scots and contemporary music with a few of the bard's own works thrown in. More information can be found here.
We hope everyone has a good Burns' day. Slàinte!
9th January 2012: Welcome Back!
We hope that everyone enjoyed themselves over the festive period and that you are all revived and refreshed ready for the new year. In keeping with the vogue of beginning the year by recapping on the previous one we have compiled a summary of a few - there were too many to count! - of the events and achievements at Braidburn in 2011. This will be updated with some photos and further information within the next few days so keep your eyes peeled. In the meantime you may enjoy seeing the photos from our coffee morning with Boogie and Arlene from Radio Forth One, to which there is a link in the post below.
We look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow!
14th November 2011: Radio Forth DJs visit Braidburn! PICTURES HERE!
Today we had a special coffee morning as we welcome some very important guests: Radio Forth 1 DJs Boogie and Arlene from the breakfast show Boogie in the Morning!
At the coffee morning we sold cake and candy to help raise money for Cash for Kids - Radio Forth One's sponsored charity. Cash for Kids help support disadvantaged and underprivileged ledged youngsters in the local community and Braidburn pupils have benefited from the kindness of Cash for Kids in the past. Cash for Kids bought one of our pupils a Tobii communication aid, a very generous gift which has helped that pupil no end, and another pupil was bought a joystick so that they can now access a computer.
From the cake sales and lots of very generous donations we raised the grand total of £320 for Cash for Kids!
Everyone at school thoroughly enjoyed the day and loved getting the chance to meet Boogie and Arlene - the excitement continued in to the next day when the DJs mentioned Braidburn on air! - and it was great to be able to combine such fun with raising money for such a great cause.
Thank you very much to Boogie and Arlene for visiting us and many, many thanks to everyone that contributed to the cake and candy and everyone that donated!
For more photos of the Radio Forth Cash for Kids Coffee Morning at Braidburn please click HERE.
Below you can see Braidburn's entry in the booklet for the 2011 Staff Awards for Excellence - we won the 'Inclusive City' award (left to right: Joan, Mrs. Vaughan, Mrs. Millar, Mrs. Morrison, Judith, Eoin).
29th October 2011: The Story So Far...
After a fleeting summer we find ourselves in autumn, the October break now passed, the next holiday Christmas and forecasts of a cold winter already being announced. As always, there has been a lot happening here, and as it has been some time since the last update here is an update on changes since the summer and the story of 2011-2012 session so far...
Harvest Festival
The whole school got together to celebrate the coming of autumn and the Harvest Festival on the 6th of October. Everyone was very generous in their offerings for the harvest table and we amassed a huge amount of food which was donated to an Edinburgh homeless charity.
Our assembly was all the more special for being the first whole school assembly with our new deputy head teacher Ms. Philips. The assembly was taken by her, Mrs. Mooney and Rev. Gayle Taylor from Colinton Parish Church.
Ms. Philips
Gayle and her guitar
Rainbow Cafe wins the Edinburgh City Council Staff Award for Excellence!
The Edinburgh City Council Staff Awards for Excellence were announced recently and in the service for the community category own very own Rainbow Cafe team came out on top! The awards recognise a service that has made an impact on the lives of those in the community and has offered an inclusive environment, encouraging and supporting everyone to get active and take part.
The Rainbow Cafe is run by pupils from our senior classes - Spey and Almond - and supported by their registry teachers, HE teacher and support staff. The cafe is open most Tuesdays, offering tea, coffee, snacks and a delicious selection of homebaked treats to the pupils and staff in school and visitors from the community. Each week we welcome guests to come and enjoy the cafe and we have frequent visitors from the near-by Milehouse House and Caiystane Court.
The pupils work very hard to make sure the cafe runs smoothly and they are involved in every aspect - from shopping for ingredients, food preparation and cooking to serving the customers and counting the cash at the end of the day. With our cafe profits we have been able to donate to charities and we have offered support to CHAS - The Children's Hospice Association Scotland.
With such admirable and enthusiastic work the award is definitely well deserved - congrats to the Rainbow Cafe team!
The Rainbow Cafe Team
(l-r: Mrs. Morrison, Mrs. Millar, Judith, Jackie, Jacek, Sue Bruce (Edinburgh Council Chief Executive) Eoin, Hilary, Mrs. Vaughan, Joan)
In other news...
Amidst the re-shuffles of classes and teachers over the summer we can welcome our new deputy head teacher Ms. Philips, our new HE teacher Ms. Budd and we can welcome back Ms. Smith who is now teaching the Esk class.