Sciennes P6@Benmore 2013

Tuesday 19 February 2013

Thank You!

Thank you from all of us to all of you for working with us to provide the children with such a memorable, beneficial week away together. It was a genuine pleasure to escort the pupils and we really enjoyed their company. P6s have made lasting bonds - with each other - and with the staff.

The Sciennes staff also gave it their all and sustained the 24/5 duty by working very closely as a team. Four of our staff had smartphones and showed great ingenuity in blogging from hillsides when out and about, because it really was very tricky to get a signal. Publishing photos on the go was challenging and we didn't manage to share information about every group as much as we had hoped but we hope you enjoyed the updates and we will publish more photos here in due course.

Thank you to P6 teachers Ms Pearmain, Mrs Barker and Mr Hewitt for devoting their time, energy and above all care to their children, making sure all the pupils had the best possible experience.

Ms Christie was her usual amazing self: high profile with all the groups day and night - as were all the staff. Mr Hewitt is a seasoned camper, highly experienced in Outdoor Education, and now seconded part time to City of Edinburgh Council to support Outdoor Learning. We were delighted he could join us. Miss Inglis really enjoyed getting to know the year group, and we were fortunate to have her with us, particularly since she has previously been an Outdoor Education Instructor herself. We are very grateful to Mrs Noble for lending us her son, Scot, who was an invaluable member of staff and worked so well with all the pupils. We benefited from being accompanied by Cameron Wood who is a trainee Instructor and allowed us to have such a high staff to pupil ratio. Grateful thanks to the entire team and also to the extended team back at Sciennes, particularly Mrs Noble, Mrs Atkinson and Mrs Ellis.

We are indebted to all the magnificent staff at Benmore who go out of their way to make our stay with them as comfortable as it can possibly be, always going the extra mile to accommodate our needs, and for the great skill, expertise and dedication of the Instructors. After a full day's activities from 9am till 5pm, each instructor spent additional time preparing individual comments written personally for each pupil for their JASS folders. All pupils who took part this week will also receive the 'Adventure' certificate; one quarter of the way towards full Bronze award accreditation.

Thank you to Mr Kearton and Mrs Nowell and all the staff back at school who have ensured that the ten pupils who remained also had an enjoyable and interesting week.

Thank you most sincerely to all the families who support us, not least of all financially, in providing what we believe to be an invaluable educational opportunity for our children.

We hope you had a wonderful holiday and we look forward to building on the success of the trip. Well done, Primary Six!
Ms Gallagher