No feedback gathered from the HT Update Week-ending 27/01/23.
This concise weekly HT Update will be published every Friday afternoon with a simple opportunity for you to also feedback/ask questions via the link at the bottom of each Update. Feedback received, where appropriate, will be responded to and published on Monday afternoons on the school website link.
Key messages from this week
Calendar: Next week’s key events include: our S6 and Staff Burns Supper on Thursday we also hope to conclude our S2 into S3 Course Choice by next Friday.
Staffing Update: This week we offer our best wishes to Sophie Histead, Biology Teacher, who starts her maternity leave. Congratulations to Craig Dewar who has been appointed as DHT at Penicuik HS, we know he’ll do a fantastic job. We wish him all the best in his new role and thank him for all his hard work and commitment during his time at Lasswade.
Former Staff: Our school community may well be aware of recent sad news regarding two former members of our staff. Both have died recently. Ian Stewart worked in our Modern Languages team and Brandon Inglis in our Computing team. Ian left several years ago and it’s unlikely that he’ll have taught many of our current students. Brandon left last summer to move to a school in Scottish Borders. Many of our current students will have known Brandon and may be affected by this news. We put a message in Year Group Google Classrooms this morning. As I hope you know we are here to help if your child is affected by this news. In the first instance please contact Student Support click here
Midlothian Council Budget: If you do have time please access and respond to the website post from Monday on the serious financial challenges facing Midlothian click here It is important that you take time to consider the options being considered, particularly as the impact on schools is likely to be significant. Lasswade’s share of proposed reduction in teacher numbers, outlined in the ‘pack’ as an option, could be up to 12. That would have a huge impact on what we are able to offer as a school.
Positive Referrals: We have asked all staff to send in positive referrals, using our internal system, for students living and breathing our school values. In total, as of Wednesday, there have been 880 positive referrals submitted. Emails to parents/carers have/will be generated for your attention. Please pass on our congratulations and thank-you for your support. As parents/carers you are doing the most difficult job fabulously. We’ve asked our staff to keep noticing and recognising the positives.
Out of Class QR Code: Our use of this system has helped us identify students who are missing some significant learning time being out of class repeatedly throughout the day. Student Support teams are working on the data with some students and if necessary with parents/carers. It has also helped us to identify students who have conducted themselves in a poor manner and to take action to encourage more positive behaviours. Thank you for the ongoing support with this.
LHS Nursery: The Nursery was visited by an Inspector from The Care Commission on Thursday 19th January for a Quality Framework Inspection, which are always unannounced. Five Quality Indicators are reported upon and the initial feedback on this has been very positive. A full report will be published on The Care Commission website when it is finalised, however a big well done and thank you go to the staff in the Nursery for their hard work and provision of a very caring, nurturing and happy learning environment.
SCQF Ambassador Programme Success: The SCQF Ambassadors joined us at the recent Senior Phase course choice info evening and also got their message out via our previous podcast. This caught the attention of SCQF and we have been invited to share our good practice at 2 upcoming events – one in February with SEIC colleagues and another in March as part of the SCQF week. Congratulations to all involved.
Lasswade Life Podcast: You can listen to our next episode and hear about the fantastic work of the Equalities group. Thanks to those involved.
If you have any feedback/questions relating to this update please submit them via the link below
Take Care
Campbell Hornell and Ali Mitchell, Head Teachers
Link to Free School Meals and Clothing Grants
| Payment | Paid to bank accounts | Details |
|---|---|---|
| School closures due to industrial action on Thursday 26 January 2023 | 26 January 2023 |
|
Feedback submitted from HT Update week ending on 20/01/23.
| My Question | Comment | Suggestion related to the school this week is: | HT’s Response |
| There only seems to be an emphasis on sport extra curriculars. It would be good if there was something for those not interested in that such as a baking group or gaming/coding. | I sympathise with this as lots of our clubs are sports based. It’s the nature of the demand and adults willing to lead a club. However, there is a S1/S2 Cookery Club which I’m afraid is currently full. We’ve no Gaming/Coding. However, we do have clubs for Art & Design, Chess, Choir, Creative Writing, Equalities, Origami, Russian, Science and STEM. There are posters around the school or see Miss Park in PE for details. |
Please access the link below to view a letter from our Executive Director. The link within the letter will take parent/carers to a lengthy report that outlines the options that our Elected Members will consider. The potential impact on all schools could be significant. Proposed savings could result in a major reduction in staffing and a knock-on effect to the service we currently are able to provide.
Communication to parents and carers 23012023
The link below will take you directly to the ‘pack’ referred to in Fiona Robertson’s letter. The options to be considered kick in from p 27
Agenda Document Pack – Midlothian Council – 31_01_2023
Please take the opportunity to have your say before the Elected Members meet on 31/01/23.
This concise weekly HT Update will be published every Friday afternoon with a simple opportunity for you to also feedback/ask questions via the link at the bottom of each Update. Feedback received, where appropriate, will be responded to and published on Monday afternoons on the school website link.
Key messages from this week
Calendar: Next week’s key events include: our Senior Phase Course Choice Evening will be held on-line on Tuesday; the school is closed to all students on Thursday due to Industrial Action; Friday is a Dress Down Day
Staffing Update: This week we bid farewell and wish all the very best to Rebecca Ling in Art & Design who leaves us today to take up her new post at Hawick High School.
Local Authority Visit: Our school will have a planned visit from Midlothian Council on Tuesday 7th February. This is to help support and challenge the work we have been doing, and plan to do, to improve the quality of our Learning, Teaching & Assessment. A programme of classroom visits and student/ staff engagement sessions will be planned for this day.
Events Calendar: With a view to identifying all potential financial requirements during the academic year, we have been working to create an ‘Events Calendar’ for parents, carers and students. The calendar will list all of the planned activities across a term, a school year and all of the cost implications. The rationale behind the Events Calendar is to be completely transparent with families by removing any barriers and hidden costs to school related activities and to allow families the chance and time to budget. We expect to share this after the February Break. Feedback on what you’d like to see in this calendar as we shape it would be appreciated. Please use the link at the end of this post.
Parent Council: Thank you to all parents/carers who attended our Zoom Parent Council Meeting on Wednesday. Unfortunately we had a challenge around our Zoom access so apologies for the abrupt ending to the meeting for those in attendance. We agreed that at our next in-person meeting on Thursday 23rd March we will have further discussion on the format of Parents Evening next session and also discussion on our Dress Code.
Midlothian Council Budget: We expect that over the next few weeks Midlothian will build on recent consultations and analysis to outline actions that will be taken to address the financial challenges facing the council. Please expect communication from next week that will sit outside this regular Friday update. It is important that you take the time to consider what comes out particularly as the impact on schools is likely to be significant.
If you have any feedback/questions relating to this update please submit them via the link below
Take Care
Campbell Hornell and Ali Mitchell, Head Teachers
Supported study sessions are great way to get help with tricky concepts, revise key topics and prepare for senior phase coursework submissions and examinations. Please find the updated timetable below. Students can attend their own teacher’s study sessions but they are also welcome to attend other sessions, should they fit better with after school commitments. Students who require a bus to get home following a session should use their travel card, if there are any issues with this please see Mrs Brown, DHT.
Supported Study Timetable January 23 update
Please follow the link below to access a letter from our Chief Operating Officer regarding planned industrial action by teaching staff next week. If this planned industrial action takes place our school will be closed to all students on Thursday 26th January 2023.
Our school nursery staff will contact parents/carers who use our service directly.
Letter to Parents&Carers 230117
Our fourth Parent Council Meeting of the session is on Wednesday 18th January. The meeting, via Zoom, will be held between 7.00pm and 9.00pm. Though to be accurate our learning from last session was that Zoom meetings usually last around an hour.
As part of the meeting there will be discussion on
All parent/carers on will automatically be sent joining instructions for the meeting. All are welcome to attend.
Please send in any questions via email to
Or, post a question to the Parent Council Facebook page
All questions should be submitted no later than 1.00pm on Wednesday 18th January.