Saturday 15 February 2014

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 truly enjoyed their company. Every camp is special but this year's group particularly impressed us with their 'can do' positive attitudes in challenging weather and their very good listening skills. 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. All of our staff had cameras and but it was nigh impossible to get a signal on our smartphones. Benmore has installed wifi in two rooms but publishing photos on the go was challenging and we didn't manage to share information about every group as much as we had hoped. However, we hope you enjoyed the updates and we will continue to publish more photos here in due course.

Thank you to P6 teachers Ms Gaffney, Ms Sellar, Mrs Hogan, Mrs Campbell and Mrs Mackay 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.  It was wonderful to have our Active Sports Co-ordinator, seasoned camper Jonathan Wallace, accompany 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. Mrs Mehmood accompanying added to our high staff to pupil ratio and she also thoroughly enjoyed getting to know all the children better. Mr Hewitt is seconded full time to City of Edinburgh Council as Principal Teacher for Outdoor Learning and we were delighted he came for a few days to visit us. Grateful thanks to the entire team and also to the extended team back at Sciennes, particularly Mrs Noble, Ms Anstruther, Mrs Crolla and Mrs Ellis who have an even busier week than usual without us. Mr Scott and Mr Reid also deserve a thank you for helping us get safely on and off the coaches.

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, and a Benmore Certificate.

Thank you to Mrs Nowell and Mrs Tariq and all the staff back at school who have ensured that the three pupils who remained also had an enjoyable and interesting week. We were very sad that new pupil Allyce was unable to attend through illness and hope she is feeling better.

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

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