This concise weekly HT Update is generally published every Friday afternoon. It’s 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 by Monday afternoon on the school website link. Given the Easter break we’ll aim for Monday 17th April.
Key messages from this week
Calendar: Key events in school on our first week back after Easter: on Monday we’ll have HPV Immunisations for S1 and any students who missed their one previously; on Tuesday we’ll have our final S4 SQA Assembly; on Wednesday morning we’ll hold a DYW Event (see below)
Staffing Update: This week we offer our best wishes to Wendy Easterbrook and Lynsey Whitson as they both commence their maternity leave. We say goodbye to Ant Mayer today and thank him for all his excellent work supporting our Outdoor Learning programme. We’ll welcome Kelly Diamond, Support Assistant to the Office Team, on Monday 17th April.
Dress Code: Over the last few weeks we have been engaging with students and parents/carers regarding our dress code expectations. Yesterday we posted a website post click here and will share information via Google Classrooms for our students summarising what we plan to apply from August 2023. You’ll see we have broadened the opportunities to comply and are going for a black/white theme with at least one item that has a clear link to the school, i.e., tie, blazer or our new branded half zip top. As part of the website post we are asking your view on our expectations.
Review of Qualifications and Assessment: A sincere thanks to those able to attend our meeting on Wednesday. We’re collating the thoughts of our students, parents/carers and staff and will submit our LHS response next week.
SQA 2023: Please visit our website for our most recent update. This includes Easter School details. Click here.
DYW Event: We will be hosting a pilot DYW event on Wednesday 19th April which will focus on construction and the built environment – one of the key growth sectors in Midlothian and across the country. We will welcome 50 x S3 students from other secondary schools (and will include 10 of our own!) from across Midlothian and they will meet invited employers, college and university colleagues and participate in some practical activities to raise awareness and understanding of the jobs and pathways within this sector.
Midlothian’s Festival of Music Young Musician of the Year: Congratulations to Alister Doig, S4, who was awarded first place for his guitar performance in the Midlothian competition on Monday night. Other outstanding performances came from Maisie Walker (Flute) and Maggie Goodall (Voice) and Fraser Robertson (Tenor Saxophone) who all represented the school so well. Thanks to our Music Team who have supported all the performers and in particular to Mr Brown who attended the event to support and accompany performers.
SPOTY: Congratulations to all our students and staff who were recognised at our annual SPOTY Ceremony last night. Particularly to Tilly Bee who is a highly skilled gymnast and our overall winner as Sports Personality of the Year. Photos can be viewed click here Our thanks to ‘Lee Live’ for his support and Mark Martin for hosting.
COVID-19: From Monday 17th April the extra spot-cleaning we have had in place will cease to be provided by Midlothian Council.
Thank you: As we head off for our Easter Break, Ali and I would like to thank all students and staff for their hard work and efforts during what has been a busy term for everyone. Your support, as parents/carers, is also essential and appreciated. We hope that you are able to enjoy some downtime as families. Having said that, Senior Phase students should be busy studying! School reopens for all students on Monday 17th April.
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
Exam Timetable
This week students were issued with their final exam timetables and copies of SQA’s Your Exams support document. An online copy of this is provided below.
It is critical that students check their personal timetables carefully and report any errors to Ms Struthers, or to Mr Hunter.
Below you will find a copy of the PowerPoint shared at assembly this week, along with a full Lasswade High School exam schedule. Please note that most of our morning exams start at 8:30, this is to fit with the timings of the school day. Students should adhere to this schedule, and to their personalised timetables, which also include their rooms and seats, to ensure they are on time for each exam.
Study Leave
A letter has been issued emailed to all S4-6 parents today to provide details of the school’s study leave arrangements. Study leave will run from Monday 24th April – Monday 29th May (inclusive). Students will return to school on Tuesday 30th May. A copy of this letter is also attached for your reference below.
Study Supports
Our Easter School will begin next week, offering students the opportunity to access revision sessions during the holiday. Letters have been issued to students who have signed up to these sessions. We would ask that students make every effort to attend booked sessions, and arrive promptly.
E-Sgoil are also running a two week, virtual Easter School. This covers a wide range of subjects and can be used in addition to the Lasswade Easter School. See the link below for their timetable and sign-up instructions.
https://e-sgoil.com/easter-study-support-2023/
Achieve is excellent online revision resource which supports knowledge and skills development across many subjects. This provides the opportunity to learn, test and track progress. If making an account for the first time our school code is: Zx7tGreK
https://achieve.hashtag-learning.co.uk/
Read and Write is a tool downloaded on all Chromebooks, click the purple puzzle piece to access it. Attached to this post click here is a document showing a variety of ways this can be used this to help with revision.
Our Grade Booster Day timetable will be shared when we return from the holidays, we are in the process of organising this to ensure students have a final opportunity for supported revision ahead of their final exams.
Between now and until the end of April we aim to gather views on our school dress code arrangements for session 23/24. This follows recent consultation with Student Voice Year Groups and our Parent Council. See our website news post of Monday 20th March. Our aim is to confirm 23/24 dress code expectations on Friday 28th April. Please note no changes will come into effect until August 2023.
The rationale we are adopting is that a school dress code is important for a range of reasons. You’ll see this in our guidance. We also recognise that school uniform can be expensive for families and therefore are seeking to widen the options available, particularly when there are significant financial pressures on many households. At the same time we are seeking to balance what is a range of opinion on school uniform/dress codes and our guidance includes more and less ‘traditional’ options.
Our guidance in relation to PE recognises the challenge we are currently facing with a popular and successful part of the school attracting lots of students and challenges we have around too few changing rooms. There is no immediate prospect of additional changing rooms and we are proposing reverting to our Covid-19 approach of expecting students to come dressed for PE on the days they have PE. Of course we will retain an option for those who want to change and offer advice on what we’d expect on wet weather days. You’ll see this means black/white clothing themes for PE. This allows us to maintain our overall Dress Code Vision. In summary our vision is to encourage students to dress in a combination of black/white with ideally at least one item having the LHS logo/badge. This would be a tie, blazer or our new half zip top.
To view the initial draft guidance we consulted on click here.
To view the updated guidance, following our recent consultation, please click here Showing both allows you to see the changes made during the consultation.
To give your view on this new updated guidance, through a short Google Form, please click here to provide feedback. This feedback opportunity will close on Monday 24th April.
Link to Free School Meals and Clothing Grants
| Payment | Paid to Bank Accounts | Notes/Comments |
| Easter Holidays
3rd to 14th April 2023 |
Monday 3rd April 2023 | £21.00 per Primary School pupil
£23.00 per Secondary School pupil |
Feedback submitted from HT Update week ending on 24/03/23.
| My Question | Comment | Suggestion related to the school this week is: | HT’s Response |
| Do you have a private room available for the kids who are fasting so they can pray at lunchtime? | Yes, our Multi-faith Room is available and used regularly. |
This concise weekly HT Update is generally published every Friday afternoon. It’s 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 by Monday afternoon on the school website link.
Key messages from this week
Calendar: Key events in school next week: on Monday S4 are involved in a SQA Exam Assembly; on Wednesday we have our Student Voice Parliament and a S5/S6 SQA Exam Assembly, also on Wednesday we’ll hold our Parent Information Evening on Professor Hayward’s Review of Senior Phase Qualifications, via Zoom, starting at 6.30pm; on Thursday our Senior Phase Alert Report is issued and in the evening we’ll hold SPOTY 2023 in the Assembly Hall; on Friday we’ll have a Dress Down Day and also break up for the Easter Holiday.
Staffing Update: This week we offer our best wishes to Colin Fulton, our Senior Learning Technologist. It’s Colin’s last day today. We offer our sincere thanks for his work and service to the school and wish him good luck in his new job. We welcome Caitlin Russell on Monday who joins us in P.E. as Emma Helm’s maternity cover, and Sian Moir who joins us in Art & Design until the Summer. Congratulations to three members of our current staff; Sinead Marshallsay in Computing, Erin Thomson in Mathematics and Sarah Blair in RMPS, all three have secured permanent posts with us from August. Finally, congratulations to Hollie Paget who has secured a permanent Youth Worker position with us.
Easter School and SQA Preparation: Please visit our website to access further information on supports available for our students as they work towards the April/May SQA Exam Diet click here.
Parent Council Meeting: Thank you to those able to attend our Parent Council Meeting last night. There was really insightful discussion that will help shape how we move forward with our school dress code and Parents’ Evening model.
Review of Qualifications and Assessment: A reminder that next Wednesday we are offering an on-line session for parents/carers, via Zoom, on the national review of qualifications and assessment that is being led by Professor Hayward. She’ll not be there but school staff will lead you through what’s being proposed and gather feedback. We’ll send a Zoom code to all parent/carers on Tuesday. Click here for more information.
Free Golf Coaching: Please click here to access information on an opportunity for students in years S3 to S6 who would be interested in free golf tuition during the second week of the Easter Holiday.
Ramadan: Please be aware that we have advised our staff that Ramadan, the holy month of fasting in Islam, started on Wednesday and will continue until around Friday 21st April. We advise our staff that some of our students will be fasting and may be more tired than usual, or experience dehydration and headaches. Our PE team are also aware that students may not take part fully in PE.
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
Our fifth Parent Council Meeting of the session is on Thursday 23rd March. The meeting, in-person, will be held at the school in rooms 114/115 (on the first floor) between 7.00pm and 8.30pm. However, please be reassured our most recent meetings have tended to last around an hour!
As part of the meeting there will be discussion on
All parents/carers 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 Thursday 23rd March.
On Thursday 23rd March at our Parent Council Meeting we aim to consult on Parents’ Evening arrangements for session 23/24. Thereafter, we will consult with our school teaching union representatives and staff to finalise arrangements. This process is completed during the summer term.
At our meeting on Thursday, we’ll discuss the following presentation click here. We’ll highlight the rationale for the three recommendations we are making and gather parent/carer feedback. The feedback gathered will inform what we discuss and hopefully agree with our staff in the summer term.
If, as a parent/carer, you are keen to participate in our discussion on this issue and have your voice heard please attend our Parent Council on Thursday.
Over the course of this week and until the end of April we aim to consult on and agree our school dress code arrangements for session 23/24. This will be timelined as follows
At our Parent Council Meeting on Thursday 23rd March, beginning at 7.00pm, we’ll discuss the same draft guidance that we are with our Student Voice Groups this week. We’ll highlight the rationale for the recommendations we are making and gather feedback. The feedback gathered will inform what we consult on between next week and Monday 24th April.
The rationale we are adopting is that a school dress code is important for a range of reasons. You’ll see this on our draft leaflet. We also recognise that school uniform can be expensive for families and therefore are seeking to widen the options available, particularly when there are significant financial pressures on many households. At the same time we are seeking to balance what is a range of opinion on school uniform/dress codes and our guidance includes more and less ‘traditional’ options. It also recognises what, to a fair degree, is happening in practice.
Our updated guidance in relation to PE recognises the challenge we are currently facing with a popular and successful part of the school attracting lots of students and challenges we have around too few changing rooms. There is no immediate prospect of additional changing rooms and we are proposing reverting to our Covid-19 approach of allowing students to come dressed for PE on the days they have PE while retaining the option for those who want to change. You’ll see this means black/white clothing themes for PE or young people using the changing rooms.
In, summary our aim is to encourage students to dress in a combination of black/white with ideally at least one item with the LHS logo/badge as part of their clothing. This could be a blazer, tie, hoody, t-shirt etc. No changes will come into effect until August 2023.
If, as a parent/carer, you are keen to participate in phase 1 of our discussion please attend our Parent Council on Thursday.
To view the draft guidance click here. The main revision is the middle section of page 2 under ‘Dressing for Excellence CHECKLIST’ The remainder of the guidance has minor alterations when compared to our current advice on the website in the About Us section.