Clermiston Primary School

We are a school where everyone is supported and chalenged to be the very best that they can be. We want our pupils to develop and show respect for themselves and other.

As part of our school’s visions and values, we are working towards recognition as a Rights Respecting School. This is an award which is given to schools on behalf of UNICEF. Because of all the work we have put in so far, we have now achieved Recognition of Commitment!

The ‘Rights Respecting School’ award (RRSA) will help our pupils to grow into confident, caring and responsible young citizens both in school and within the wider community. By learning about their rights our pupils, your children will also learn how to respect those rights.

Our pupils are encouraged to reflect on how their behaviour and actions affect those around them, which allows us to build and maintain a positive and safe learning environment for all, both in the classroom and around the school. We have been doing this in class, in assemblies and through focus weeks such as Anti-Bullying Week.

Clermiston Primary is a non denominational school. We do however, as per City of Edinburgh Council policy, have some gatherings and assemblies that would be considered Religious Observance. Parents are entitled to withdraw children from these although we would stress that we consider all of our assemblies to be about the Clermiston community rather than focussing on the views and beliefs of any faith (or none) over another.

Every school in Scotland, primary and secondary, should now have a Parent Council, carrying out some of the work which a School Board used to do, and other jobs too. At Clermiston, parents decided to merge the former PSA with our Parent Council, so here, our Council looks after both the official parental liaison with the school and the fundraising and event activities.

We were one of the first two schools in Edinburgh to have our Parent Council up and running. Recently, we have campaigned on a number of issues, such as city-wide school budget proposals, local road safety issues, dog fouling near the school, and also Scotland-wide policy areas. We are currently in dialogue with the Council about the school's available classroom accommodation, given our growing school population. We work to make sure parents have a say in the appointment of senior staff at the school, including the appointment of our Head Teacher and Deputy Head Teacher, and we represent the views of parents to the school on school policy matters which affect us all.

It’s not all about campaigning though! We’ve worked with the school on a number of funding projects, such as the hall floor, hall audio-visual system, playground equipment funding, funding for i-pads and sports kit for various teams. Meanwhile, we’ve forged links with the other four Parent Councils in our cluster (Blackhall, Cramond, Davidson’s Mains and the Royal High School) and keep in regular contact with our three local councillors and with our MP and MSPs.

Here at Clermiston, we have a variety of Pupil Groups that children can apply for. We want our children to understand their role within the school community and how they can use their skills and ideas to feed positively into the wider community. From the green-fingered to the tech-heads, there is always somewhere for our pupils to shine.

In collaboration with Pupil Groups, we develop, discuss and implement their ideas to help make the school the best school it can be. Meetings are also a great place for new friendships to be made. Each Pupil group has a different focus, however our whole school focus of ensuring our aims and values are clear means that often groups work together for an even stronger voice.

We go on trips together, work on events such as Anti-Bullying week and Safer Internet Day as well as raise money and awareness for charities that share our values.