On Friday the 3rd of November we are going to launch our Oaklands Mile. We have adapted the Daily Mile challenge to make it fully inclusive for all our young people. It will be embedded into our daily school activities with each pupil achieving mile certificates at their own pace.
We would like to make this a family event and if you would like to come along and support your child around the course, we would love to have you there.
Oaklands Mile Letter – Please complete and return to school.
We were delighted to welcome Farmer Bob and his herd of alpacas to Oaklands who took over our playground on Thursday 28th of September!
This alpacalypse (sorry, couldn’t resist!) was a multi-sensory experience not to be forgotten and the pupils and staff enjoyed getting up close to (the excellently named) Apollo, Balthazar, Calvin and Eureka.
We hope to have more pet therapy type sessions later in the year.
On Friday 29th September a group of volunteers from the Finance Department at Edinburgh University spent a day at Oaklands School. Their objective for the day was to ‘make a difference’.
They joined us for our Harvest Service; they spent time in classes and then they worked hard on our outside areas for the remainder of the day. We thoroughly enjoyed their company and really appreciated their hard work. Their day certainly made a difference to us.
We can’t thank them enough and we hope they’ll be able to visit our school again soon.
Thank You Edinburgh University Finance Department! (see photo below)
On Saturday 23rd of September Maddie Shanley headed down to Prestonpans to represent Team Oaklands in Lothian Disability Sports Swimming Gala. Maddie had spent the last few weeks practising for this event in her weekly swim sessions. Full of excitement and enjoying the atmosphere on poolside Maddie stormed up the pool knocking a full 30 seconds off her entry time of 2.11.19, achieving her first ever PB.
Well Done, Maddie!
Thank you to Michelle who gave up her Saturday to support Maddie in the pool.
Harvest was celebrated in style this year at Oaklands. We had a special assembly where we discovered why we celebrate the harvest and sang some lovely songs. Our school Chaplin, Dan Robertson, came along and played some music on his guitar for us which we really enjoyed. Each class brought along items for the food bank.
Well done class 3 for sending out the letters and organising the collection. The table was completely filled with donations! including; biscuits, coffee, wipes, pasta, soup and tins of beans. In a few days pupils from Class 3 will go across town to the food bank to deliver our donations.
Thank you so much for your contributions. We’re sure we’ll be able to help lots of families in Edinburgh!
Find our updated SQIP documents in the section POLICIES AND DOCUMENTS
Summary SQIP 2017-18
Full SQIP Oaklands School 2017-18
Our latest newsletters are now available in the section POLICIES AND DOCUMENTS
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This is the link for the National Improvement Framework survey: https://response.questback.com/scottishgovernment/mwaxxjjbnu . The survey is quite short and it will help us find out what matters to parents about their school and their child’s education, focusing on what needs to done to make the improvements we all want to see. The survey will be run until 16 October.
If you have any further comments, please feel free to contact Tara Clark on 0131 244 7016
Tara Clark
National Improvement Framework Unit
Learning Directorate
Background
Councillors approved a citywide 20mph speed limit network for Edinburgh at the Transport and Environment Committee on 13 January 2015 following extensive consultation and research showing a high level of public support for its introduction.
Slower speeds bring many benefits to places and people. They help to reduce the risk and severity of collisions, encourage people to walk and cycle and spend more time in an area. The new limit also recognises the importance of community wide safety for children that extends further than the last 100m of their school journey.
Removal of part time 20mph speed limits outside schools
The placing and positioning of signs for the 20mph network is being carried out to the standards of the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions (TSRGD) This is national legislation made by the Secretary of State in consultation with Scottish Ministers in accordance with the Scotland Act 1998. They set out the design and conditions of use of official traffic signs that can be lawfully placed on or near roads in the UK.
Where an existing part time 20mph limit becomes incorporated into a new full time 20mph area, different signage is required to comply with the TSRGD. Consequently, the signs with flashing lights outside schools signalling the lower speed limit on stretches of 30mph roads have to be removed as the part time speed limits will no longer be in operation. In their place, new signage as shown in the diagram below will be erected.
We have received a number of enquiries from schools requesting the installation of VAS signs outside their school. There are 88 primary schools in Edinburgh, along with 51 secondary, independent and special schools. Many of these schools will have 20mph streets adjacent to them and, unfortunately, we cannot install permanent vehicle activated speed signs at all of these schools as part of the initial 20mph roll out. We are, however, trialling the installation of temporary vehicle activated speed signs for short periods at locations across the city to reinforce the 20mph message and Roseburn Primary is included in the list of locations for this.
Enforcement of 20mph
The Police are supportive of lower speeds across the city and are working with us to achieve this. Streets with significant numbers of collisions and areas near schools are likely to be prioritised for enforcement activities. The new 20mph speed limits will rely on a shift in driver behaviour which will take time to embed. The Council is working with the Police to raise awareness of the new speed limits through road safety education and prevention activities. A communication and engagement strategy supports scheme implementation, with each phase accompanied by an awareness raising campaign to encourage compliance with the new speed limits.
Monitoring
Monitoring to assess traffic speeds, road casualties, and public perceptions is included in the 20mph programme, which will continue throughout the implementation of all four phases. The final phase is expected to conclude in early 2018. The results of the monitoring programme will be reported to the Council’s Transport and Environment Committee one year after this. The Committee will consider the findings and decide whether any further action is necessary, for instance additional signage, vehicle activated signs, footway buildouts or traffic calming features.
For further details please contact:
Name: Simon Lievesley Eileen Hewitt
Tel: 0131 529 4315 0131 469 3502
Email: simon.lievesley@edinburgh.gov.uk eileen.hewitt@edinburgh.gov.uk
Team Oaklands will be participating in Lothian Disability Sports Swimming Gala on Saturday 23rd September, Mercait Gate leisure Centre, Prestonpans, East Lothian at 10.30am.
Come along and support Maddie Shanley and Ben Holmes who will be representing Oaklands in this event.
Oaklands School 