Portobello High School Poems

Read the poems written by students of Portobello High School about their heritage.

Heritage by Holly Ugocini

 

H ome

E dinburgh/English

R ealness

I nteresting (finding out about others)/Italian

T raditions

A ncestors

G enerations

E everyone

 

Duke of Edinburgh Award by Farrah Akhtar

 

D iversity

U nderstanding

K nowledge

E xtraordinary

O pportunity

F airness/friendship

E quality

D edicated

I ndependent

N ature (outdoors)

B elief

U niversal

R eliable

G uardian

H eritage

 

Niddrie by Saffron Somerville

E veryone coming together!

D oing things together

I ndependence

N iddrie

B ridges being built

U nique

R eliable

G rowing up

H appiness

 

Expressions by Erin McRirie

Expressions are wonderful things, like a wild animal, they come in different shapes, forms, colours and cling to different people. Expressions are wearable and reflect, as do mirrors. Althought they crack and change as you do. Humans are like Christmas trees you can hang expressions on you. Tattoos are preserved memories like pressed flowers. Like preserved corpses.

 

Growing Up by Molly Mavor

Growing up, we were told to pucker up.

Mashed potatoes and carrots were familiarised,

Ever growing meadows peppered with buttercups,

Staying up late resulted in dozy eyes,

Plethoras of people lining streets,

Heritage is based on people we meet tattoos are preserved memories we keep.

 

Culture by Chandni Kaur

C is for Curry

U is for unique

L language

T is for Tradition

U is for Understanding

R is for respect

E is for equal.

 

Heritage by Harpreet Singh (S1)

H is for Home

E is for Ethos

R is for Rituals

I is for Inviting

T is for Traditional

A is for Ancestors

G is for Generations

E is for Equals

 

Heritage by Krisma Singh

B is for Believe

E is for Edinburgh

L is for languages

I is for Indian

E is for equal

F is for family

S is for Sikhism

 

Sikhism by Harpreet Singh

S is for Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji

I is for India

K is for Kaur

H is for Harpreet

I is for Indian

S is for Singh

M is for Mata Gujiri

 

The Teen Mind by Naz Yilidrim

 

I find it interesting that people hide so much in their minds, some look so happy but could be so lost and confused and some people look so lost and upset but would have their entire life planned out.

 

Teenagers are weird and confusing but that’s the fun of it, the mood swings and all the drama it keeps you going, it gives you a reason to drag yourself to school each morning because I know I will get to see all my friends and other people. I think of all the things everyone will achieve in their life and it makes me happy.

 

Expressions by Molly Mavor

They are wonderful things, like a wild animal, they come in different shapes, forms, colours and cling to different people. Expressions are wearable and reflect as do mirrors, although they crack and change as you do. Humans are like Christmas trees, you can hang expressions on you. Tattoos are preserved memories like pressed flowers, like preserved corpses.

 

Pakistan by Nosheen Tariq

P is for Pakistan

A is for amazing

K is for Kurta (clothing)

I is for Islamabad

S is for Sunny

T is for Tallest mountain (K2)

A is for Ancestors

N is for Noor

 

Egypt, Mother of the Land by Mariam Zaki

 

For no other place I wish to be,

But standing at the window near the tree,

The honey sun shining,

Baptised by the Summer’s bliss,

In the corner stands a flag,

Wine red, white and black,

Black, blue and mourning,

But it’s pride never falling,

For the eagle protects the nature,

Egypt, mother of the land.

 

Loose Buttons by Erin McRirie

Art, I harbour a slight obsession for it (slight being a major understatement). I love learning about art, making art, everything about art. The Scottish colourists, I memorised every fact I could find. My nana would describe Van Gogh as missing some buttons, no sane person gifts a severed ear or shoots themselves dead. But, his lack of mental stability doesn’t bother me in the slightest. The idea that Van Gogh’s brother died of a broken heart when Van Gogh shot himself is interesting.

 

Friends by Chandni Kaur

I think friends are all about being trustworthy and respectful to each other. It is not just about their background and culture. My best friend is Farrah, she’s weird, unique, caring, kind. I have other friends but not as kind and caring as Farrah. I think friends are also about always being there for you.

 

Fashion and Beauty by Farrah Akhtar

I am a 13 year old Muslim girl who loves beauty, I will be writing about make up and fashion. I started wearing make up when I was 12. At first my parents didn’t approve, they still don’t. They would say ‘you’re too young’, ‘you don’t need it’ and ‘who you trying to impress?’ I wear make up because it’s fun and I can express myself with it. It’s really cool to see the transformation and you can do so much with it like wear blue eye shadow and black lipstick. I have a best friend called Chandni she’s the best.

Now onto fashion. I love expressing myself with clothes. You can do so many things with it. My normal favourite outfits are jeans, crop tops or hoodies with trainers. I guess I struggle with what we can’t wear, shorts or skirts without something underneath. I am Muslim so we can’t show our legs or be revealing so it is definitely hard when going swimming or wearing a dresses. Now I don’t care it’s like ‘whatever’. I feel like my outfit speaks for me and I like it. My favourite place to shop for clothes are JD Sports, New Look, H & M, and Primark. For shoes Adidas, Nike and Puma. I say whatever your style is wear what you want, because it is YOU!

 

Heritage by Harpreet Singh (S1)

Hi my name is Harpreet Singh, I am a Scottish Sikh. I am 12 and at Portobello High School. I enjoy painting and drawing. My favourite subjects are art, CDT and science. My female role model is my oldest sister because she has gotten a job in a Woman’s Aid and is helping women every week and I want to be that successful when I am older!

 

Natasha by Saffron Somerville

I started this project before Christmas, my photovoice project was based on where I am from and who I grew up with. My cousins and friends are the people I have in my photos because they mean loads to me and always there for me. My role model is Natasha because she is funny, kind and honest. She is always there for me and always listens. Natasha works at The Mission (a community space in my local area). We have done fun things, like the time we went on a residential in Scotland. I went with my pals, leaders and Natasha. In the dark one night we did an outdoor activity. We did it all in our onesies and I had a dinosaur onesie!

 

Inner Beauty by Krishma Singh

Hey my name is Krishma Singh and I am 13 years old. I am a Sikh girl and from a strict family. My parents are really strict at me for wearing make up and painting my nails and stuff. What I have learned is you don’t need to wear make up to impress people and to make friends because your parents are actually right. They actually try to tell you you’re beautiful no matter what you are and who you are. To be honest you don’t need make up because I think the people that wear make up are scared of showing you their inner beauty.

 

Hibernian FC by Harpreet Singh

I support Hibernian FC. I support Hibs because my dad was brought up in Leith and all of my dads family support Hibs. Hibs started in 1875 and the manager is Neil Lennon, it is owned by Sir Tom Farmer. They won the Scottish Cup last year in 2016 after 114 years. The league they are in is the Scottish Championship, the home stadium is in Easter Road.

 

Heritage Project by Harpreet Singh

I am Harpreet Singh and I started the Duke of Edinburgh in August 2016. So far we have been doing a photo voice project. We had to take three photos and write a little quote about them. One of my photos was the Golden Temple (Ori Harminder Sahib) in India it meant a lot to me because my religion comes from India it is where the first copy of the Guru Grant Sahib (holy book) is kept. My second photo was of inside a Sikh temple. My third photo is of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji the frist Guru. We also chose role models and my models were Bubi Satnam and Bibi Wanagure. These were two girls who saved Harminder Sahib (the Golden Temple).

 

The Gypsy Travelling Community by Margaret McPhee

Hi, I am a Gypsy traveller. I have something I want to share with you about my religion. You are not allowed a boyfriend under the age of 16 because your family wouldn’t talk to you again and if you ever got married under 19 you would not be close in our family. You can’t run away with your boyfriend or something would happen. You are not allowed to cut your hair because it needs to be long. You have to help your mum in the caravan because that’s the way our religion is.

 

Inside and Out by Holly Ugocini

Hey, I am Holly Marie Elizabeth Ugocini. My interests are mostly based on creativity, I have done art, I find it fun and relaxing and that you can do anything or make anything and it is all up to you. I like to bring my ‘art’ into make up and fashion. I always had an eye for putting things together, so like putting one top with certain things. My fashion sense is retro glam. I am very into fashion like Audrey Hepburn and Coco Chanel. I use a wee bit of make up a day and sometimes a full face, but I don’t like how people think I’m doing it to hide what I look like or not doing it for myself. I am simply doing it for my own happiness. I love my natural face, but I think of my face like a canvas what I can do and the many looks I can create. I can make my features stand out in a good way, it’s not trapping my face it’s letting it free to be anything.

 

Being Turkish by Naz Yilidrim

My dad is Turkish, but grew up English, my brother was born half mixed and I was born a full Brit. My mother grew up next to the sea in Izmir! It’s beautiful in the Summer we spend there. I may be Turkish by blood but Britain is all I’ve seen. I wait impatiently for the Summer each year. Just so I can go see the blue sky at the beach. I stare out of my Gran’s balcony thinking of all the crazy past memories, as I watch the children playing on the streets experiencing all of my childhood scenes.

 

The Hijab by Nosheen Tariq

Hi, my name is Nosheen. I am going to write about the hijab and how I started to wear it.

I started wearing the hijab when I was quite young, it was my choice. I was in primary school, I used to wear it just at home not at school. When I was in primary 6 I decided to wear it to school. It was quite a hard decision. When I first started to wear it at school everyone was really supportive. A few weeks later a girl who went to my school and saw me wearing it said to me that I suited it. I told her ‘thank you’. She came in a few days later and she was wearing the hijab. I went over to her and told her she suited it.

Blog by Farrah Akhtar

In June 2016, I as well as others took part in a photo voice project. For photo voice we took photos of our heritage, things that were important to us and things we enjoy. In my poster I included my family, friends and important things to us. I then laid them out unto card paper and wrote a few words on them.

What does heritage mean to me? Heritage means family, friends, clothing and background.

For my role models I chose my two older sisters Zayrah 18 and Rawiyah 20. I chose them, because I look up to them and they are confident, smart, kind and hardworking.