Newcraighall Primary School

[EduCativ]

We are one of the smallest Primary Schools in the City of Edinburgh, offering high-quality education in a village school setting. Our much-loved building has been attended by generations of local families for over 100 years.

The first village school in Newcraighall was very small. It was situated on the opposite side of the road from the present building behind the cottages.

In 1897, a new pit opened and many miners and their families moved into the village. Much bigger premises were needed and the present school building was constructed by Inveresk School Board to cope with this demand. The school was built on one acre of the ground by Sir Charles Dalrymple, the local landowner. It was red stone from Closeburn Quarry and rubble from Hopetoun and Bankstone Quarries.

The building was designed by a young architect Mr. Murray Hardie and was the first school designed by him. It was intended to hold 300 children up to the age of 10 and consisted of a large central hall with five classrooms off, cloakroom, and boys and girls lavatories – outside! The building was heated by hot water pipes with radiators in the hall and corridors.

At Newcraighall Primary School high-quality learning opportunities will be provided by an enthusiastic and committed staff within a caring, happy and safe environment. Everyone will be valued and respected and all individuals encouraged to achieve their full potential at school, at home, and in the community.

Our Aims:

• To promote an atmosphere of equality and fairness in which everyone can work cooperatively, independently, and confidently.
• To provide a broad and balanced curriculum which acknowledges the importance of the core skills of literacy, numeracy, health, and well-being and lays the foundations for effective lifelong learning.
• To promote achievement and raise standards of attainment by having high expectations and through effective partnership working.
• To work closely with the home and family to enable each child to become an active and responsible member of a health-promoting community.
• To provide positive support for all staff in the further development of their skills to enhance the quality of learning and teaching.

We are committed to providing a safe, caring, and happy school where everyone is valued and respected. We aim to provide a calm, purposeful and nurturing environment which supports learning and teaching. We believe that secure and trusting relationships are central to the healthy development of each individual. We expect everyone to give their best at all times. We celebrate all that the children have achieved through our classroom and school displays, newsletters, assemblies, photograph albums, learning logs, and Our Golden Tree of Achievement.

We offer as wide a range of sporting and cultural activities as possible. There is a range of extracurricular activities available for pupils after school. These vary from term to term. Parents will be informed about these. In addition to in-school activities, classes also make regular educational visits and field studies, These visits are linked to pupils’ classwork. Visits usually incur some costs and while these are usually subsided from funds, there is usually a charge to parents.

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