Feedback submitted from HT Update week ending on 23/06/23.
| My Question | Comment | Suggestion related to the school this week is: | HT’s Response |
| Lasswade HS is exceptional at celebrating sporting achievements and has today and previously given time for the whole school to gather to congratulate the sports teams/persons that have achieved. What does the school do for those pupils who achieve academically, are there plans to bring the school together to celebrate those that achieve exceptionally in their academic studies ? | Recognising the achievements of our students is a central part of our work and is done in a range of ways to reflect our traditions and the context of the student success.
For example, this week we are celebrating the successes of students in S1-S3, this includes subject based awards which could be viewed as ‘academic’. Each September we hold our Senior Phase Awards Ceremony. This is where we celebrate the successes of our students on a subject by subject basis. That event is more formal than our celebration on Friday with usually over 100 recipients of awards. It includes the presentation of the Marshall Memorial Medal, first presented in 1901, to the student in S5 who secures the highest level overall level of national qualifications. This is in effect our Dux. Parents/carers are a significant presence on that evening allowing a degree of home/school celebration. |
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 senior students are visiting the V&A Tartan Exhibition in Dundee, we’ll also hold BGEd Awards Ceremonies for Melville and St Leonard’s students; on Tuesday we’ll hold BGEd Awards Ceremonies for Mount Esk and St Anne’s students; Wednesday is our last day of term, there is no early closure with a normal 3.25pm finish for students. We will adjust and extend the morning interval on Wednesday to allow us to collectively say farewell to staff who are moving on elsewhere or retiring.
Staffing Update: Congratulations to Marion Reid following her successful application for Pupil Care Welfare Officer in our Complex Needs Provision (Pod). After the Summer break, Marion will be PCWO in the Pod on a Mon-Wed and PCWO in Student Support (SL) on a Thursday and Friday. At the end of this term we say goodbye and thank you to Kirsteen Wilkinson (Creative Design), Andy Scott (Mathematics), Gillian Wilson (Creative Learning), Gregg Meikle (Citizenship and Society), Christopher Leslie (Creative Design), Chloe Henderson (English), Racheal Moffat (English) and Ian Carpenter (Science). We thank these colleagues for their work with our students and wish them the best of luck in their next adventure. Finally, happy retirement to Fiona Williams (Humanities) and Mike Smith (Mathematics). Both colleagues have put many years of service in our school and in Mike’s case in Edinburgh schools too. We hope both will enjoy their future time away from the ‘chalkface’.
Sunshine on Leith: On Wednesday and Thursday of this week those present were privileged to witness an outstanding piece of entertainment. Our summer show was Sunshine on Leith, written by Stephen Greenhorn and featuring songs by The Proclaimers. All on stage, the back stage technical teams and the staff from our Performing Arts Team supporting our students came together to deliver two outstanding evenings. Particular praise and recognition to the main cast; Keir Allison, Sandy Bishop, Maggie Goodall, Sophie Kayembe, Jenna Masson and Daniel Wheeler. The evenings were the final school performances for former S6 students Keir, Sandy, Sophie and Daniel. Thank you and what a way to leave us. Phenomenal.
Football Celebration: Today the whole school came out into the Atrium area towrds the end of period 4 to celebrate the achievement of our U15 and Senior Girls footballers. Both teams won the Scottish Shield this session. Please see our social media platforms later today for footage.
School and House Captains: This week we appointed 15 School and House Captains. We had almost 40 applicants in total and the standard was incredible. We will work hard to keep those who did not come through to Captain roles as involved as they can be in opportunities across the school. Our 7 School Captains for session 2023/24 are; Eve Foley, Maggie Goodall, Georgia Graham, Manolis Patronis, Kirstie Phillips, Caitlin Tough and Natalie Vinall. Our House Captains are: Grayson Urquhart and Kamila Blazkhova (Melville); Robbie Hamilton and Phoebe Kong (Mount Esk); Lara Boot and Laila Campbell (St Anne’s) and Aimee Scott and Roisin Free (St Leonard’s). We are looking forward to working with these students on a range of projects throughout their S6.
Beginning of Term: A reminder that students should return to school, following our summer break, on Wednesday 16h August.
Thank you: Ali and I would like to thank you for your on-going support of the school. It’s been another highly successful year for LHS and our colleagues continue to work hard to improve both the experiences and outcomes for our students. We hope you enjoy the summer and look forward to resuming our weekly HT’s Update on Friday 18th August.
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
https://www.midlothian.gov.uk/info/855/school_meals/117/free_school_meals_and_clothing_grants/2
| Payment | Paid to Bank Accounts | Notes/Comments |
| School Summer Holidays
Thursday 29th June to Tuesday 15th August 2023 |
Thursday 22nd June 2023 | £71.40 per Primary School pupil
£78.20 per Secondary School pupil |
The Equipped for Learning project has recently reached its second milestone. A device has now been issued to every school-aged child in Midlothian, and the WiFi infrastructure in schools has been upgraded to ensure that these devices can be used to best effect in the classroom. New interactive panels are being installed in classrooms. Teachers and pupils are being supported to make best use of devices for learning.
The Midlothian Council project team is now planning its delivery of the next phase of the project. This survey forms a part of the consultation process for that planning, with the aim of establishing what has gone well, what has not gone well, and how we can prioritise activities to best support learning for all children and young people.
We value your feedback. If you would like to be involved in future opportunities to give your views as the project develops, please respond accordingly at the end of this survey.
Completing this survey should take no more than ten minutes, and we are very grateful for your time and input.
Thank you!
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeLslTD9kPxUpurXFvoMs3uLdeokPpvyJghUBwCf1OIhNFnlw/viewform
One comment from a parent regarding the positive team spirt and culture within the winning U15 Girls football squad. Thank you for taking the time to message us.
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 through Thursday our new S6 are involved in First Aid Training, on Tuesday through Thursday our DofE work continues with a S4/S5 Silver Qualifier and Gold Practice expeditions, on Wednesday and Thursday we’ll hold our Summer School Show, Sunshine on Leith, on Thursday some of our S3 are out on a trip organised by Home Economics to the Highland Show, on Thursday and Friday our BGEd Award Ceremony rehearsals continue, next Friday is a Dress Down Day.
Staffing Update: Recruitment continues with teaching and non-teaching staff. We have made appointments in Modern Studies, Mathematics, Home Economics, Chemistry, Physics/Maths and in our Creative Learning/Pod team Next week we aim to secure a teacher in Art & Design and our Business Manager (thank you for your help in spreading the word). Recruitment this time of year is on-going and may stretch into the holiday period.
P7/S1 Transition: Thank you to all involved, particularly Mrs Brown and Mrs Main for their organisation at our end. Mr Paterson also organised the S6 Buddies who in turn provided excellent support. There were a couple of blips, as you’d expect, for a few P7s. We follow that up with their primary school and their parents/carers to establish learning. Nevertheless, the two and a half days have gone well and we look forward to the students returning to us in August. A major thanks go to the primary staff for their many years of support to these young people. They’ve done a terrific job.
Finance Update: We are still operating under the moratorium that was put into place earlier this year by Midlothian Council. That allows essential spend only. Yesterday we received an annual budget statement and we expect to meet with our allocated Finance Support Assistant on Monday to get more detail around this. At present, we are required to make a 1% saving and have no ‘carry forward’ to support our budget this session. That has been retained by Midlothian. We are reviewing all spending to ensure we minimise the impact on our students. As you’ll appreciate, this is a very challenging situation, as it is in many parts of the public sector, and we are grateful for your support as we move forward.
End of Term: A reminder that next week is our last full week. Week beginning 26th June is a short week. Our last day is on Wednesday 28th June. There is no early closure with a normal 3.25pm finish for students. We will adjust and extend the morning interval on that day to allow us to say farewell to staff who are moving on elsewhere or retiring.
U15 Girls Football: Best Wishes tonight to our U15 Girls team, who are aiming this evening to retain the Scottish Shield trophy they won last session. The final tonight is in Alloa against Wallace High School who are from Stirling. Keep an eye out on our socials, it should be but isn’t on Sky Sports.
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
No feedback submitted from parents/carers to HT Update week ending Friday 9th June 2023.
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 through Thursday there are Student Voice Year Group Councils for all year groups, on Tuesday some of our S2 students will attend a national Youth and Philanthropy Initiative (YPI) event in Perth; on Wednesday through Friday we welcome 299 P7s from 23 primary schools who make up our session 23/24 S1 year group; on Thursday morning our N5/Higher Dance students attend a performance at Edinburgh based MGA Academy of Performing Arts; on Friday our U15 Girls Football team are playing in the Scottish Cup Final at Alloa, best wishes to them.
Staffing Update: Congratulations to Lisa Paton who has successfully secured the permanent position as PT Creative Learning ASN. Today we said farewell and thank-you to Ruth Watson, our Business Manager, who left us following 19 years service to the school in a variety of roles. We will miss her warmth and support as she moves onto her new post. It is a testament to the respect and affection she is held in by our staff that Ruth left this afternoon with a small lorry load worth of gifts collected by her from staff across the school as colleagues offered their thank-yous and good wishes over the last few days.
Youth and Philanthropy Initiative (YPI): Thank you to the Social Studies teams for their work on this. The final was held yesterday. Our judging panel noted the confidence and commitment shown by the students which really demonstrated the value of this work. The £3,000 cheque was awarded to Maggie’s cancer charity, though all would have been worthy recipients.
‘Old’ S6: Tonight over 50 staff will join our session 22/23 S6 students at their Prom at Murrayfield Stadium. This is a particularly high number of staff attending and reflects the esteem in which our recently departed S6 is held in. An outstanding year group and we’re confident that tonight will be an excellent send off for them.
‘New’ S6: On Thursday over 70 of our new S6 students were trained to act as Buddies when our new S1 students arrive for their Induction Days on Wednesday through Friday next week. Today Mr Chisholm, Miss Dowie and I had the privilege of undertaking group interviews with those from our new S6 cohort who have applied (around 40 in total) for School and House Captain roles for session 23/24. Ms Mitchell and Mr McQueen, did a leadership/communication activity with the same students. It is no exaggeration to say that our Captains applicants are phenomenal. The process continues next week and we expect to announce our new School and House Captains during the week beginning 19th June. This allows those, through no fault of their own, who were unable to attend to undertake the process.
Senior Girls Football: Congratulations to our Senior Girls team, players and coaches, who came through a tough match on Tuesday evening to secure the Scottish Shield trophy. The team played a strong Grove Academy team and scored late in the second half to secure a deserved 2-1 victory.
Active Schools: This week has been National Volunteer Week. Our Midlothian Active Schools partners, who do excellent work, are looking for volunteers to lead or support sports/physical activity sessions for children and young people aged between 5 and 18. Training will be provided. If you are interested or would like further information please email activeschools@midlothian.gov.uk
If you have any feedback/questions relating to this update please submit them via the link below
Take Care, and enjoy the sunshine while it lasts
Campbell Hornell and Ali Mitchell, Head Teachers
Thank you to the parents, carers and P7 students who were able to join us for our third and final online session on Wednesday 7th June. The session was well-attended and we received very positive feedback.
If you weren’t able to attend and/or would like to revisit the slides from the presentation, please click here to access them.
Our in-school transition programme starts on Wednesday 14th June. Students should arrive in the back playground for 8.45am, for a 9am start. We look forward to having the P7s in the building on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of next week.
Feedback submitted from HT Update week ending on 02/06/23.
| My Question | Comment | Suggestion related to the school this week is: | HT’s Response |
| Where can I purchase the school of football tops for my son that will be starting s1 after the summer | All current P7 students who have come through the trials process and will join us in August will be given all their kit.
Thereafter, they should contact PE if they want or need extra kit. |
| Will there be opportunities for school residential trips for S2’s going into S3?
|
It is difficult to confirm at this time. All students should be vigilant to their Google Yeargroup classroom for opportunities. In August we’ll have a section on the website that will outline trips offered. We are working with our website developer this month to set that up. |
| Could details / timelines of how pupils should apply for Duke of Edinburgh, bronze as an extra curricular activity be shared, thanks.
|
I’ve spoken with Mr Scade. He tells me he plans to ‘recruit’ new DofE Bronze students before we break-up for the summer. Students should be vigilant to their Google Yeargroup classroom for details. |