This concise weekly HT Update is generally published every Friday afternoon. Given the holiday, it’s a Thursday edition this week! 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 each Monday on the school website link. Again, given the holiday the response will be upon our return.
Key messages from this week
Calendar: School breaks up today and we welcome back all students and staff on Tuesday 16th April; please note our Easter School will run during the break, see below. Events on our first week back are fairly light: on Thursday we’ll hold HPV vaccinations and work with primary pupils on a P7 Maths Challenge; on Friday we’ll allow our S6 to be off-timetable prior to the SQA Exam Diet beginning, our School Captains are working on a special programme of events.
Staffing: The long awaited maternity for Mrs Brown began today. I’m pleased to say she was working right to the end, chairing a meeting with the Head Teacher’s of our associated primary schools. We’ve had the hot water and towels on standby for a wee while but thankfully they were not required. However, our Early Education and Child Care students are disappointed that an anticipated practical assessment opportunity did not transpire. It should not affect their overall qualification. This week Claire Main was appointed 0.4 full time equivalent Depute Head Teacher until the end of June 2024. Mrs Sharp and Miss MacDonald will step up roles and involvement in St Leonards House. Carly Heywood has been appointed full time Principal Teacher Humanities on an acting basis until March 2025. We also appointed Matt Dryden as a Principal Teacher within our Mathematics Team. Matt will join us in August. Today we also said thanks and farewell to two members of our Science Team, Rachel Paul and Jennifer Richmond, who are moving onto new schools after Easter. Rachel to Newbattle CHS and Jennifer to Whitburn Academy.
Quality Improvement Parent Carer Survey: We send out a general survey to parents/carers every two years. The link was sent initially on 15/03/24 as a text message to the main parent/carer contact of all our students. Last Friday we sent a reminder. Thank you to those, over 230 parents/carers, that have managed to complete the survey. We are getting close to a statistically valid sample. A final reminder text will be sent to all parents/carers later today (please ignore it if you’ve already completed the survey). Please take the time to fill it in if you’ve not. Your response helps us to confirm what we do well and gives us a basis to think about improvements to our work. We’ll close the survey on Tuesday 16th April.
SPOTY: Lasswade High School, in partnership with Active Schools, hosted the Sports Personality of the Year (SPOTY) awards last week. Teachers, parents/carers, VIPs and guests came along to celebrate and promote sporting success within the school. LHS PE staff, Sarah McKay, and Lasswade Active Schools Coordinator, Katie McPherson, organised the event with students from our Sports Council offering help and support. We are grateful to our Parent Council for supplying teas and coffees at ‘half time’. Mark Martin, hosted the evening superbly. Over 1600 votes for the finalists of the main award, Sports Personality of the Year, were cast with Harry Jackaman taking home the main award, for his achievements in rugby. This includes breaking into the Scotland U18s squad. He’s got a truly phenomenal sidestep.
Free School Meals: Reminder that Midlothian have asked us to share the following, click here in relation to free meal payments over the holiday period.
School Uniform: Reminder, please click here to access a leaflet from Borders regarding their upcoming 20% discount off uniform. The offer opens on Monday 22nd April and closes Sunday 19th May.
HPV Vaccinations: Please click here to see the attached schedule for Thursday 18th April. Information will be shared with students first week back.
SQA 2024: We posted an important story on our website today regarding the SQA Examination Diet, please click here.
Easter School: During the Easter Holiday Lasswade teachers are offering Easter School to help support revision for SQA Exams. An updated timetable has been placed in Year Group Google Classrooms. Today students, and parent/carers, should receive an email confirming allocated sessions. Some subject sessions have been oversubscribed and my thanks to Miss Whittingham and colleagues who’ve been working to resolve issues. It has not been possible in all cases I’m afraid.
If you have any feedback/questions relating to this update please submit them via the link below
Take Care
Campbell Hornell, Head Teacher
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.
Your-Exams-2024-school-edition
It is critical that students check their personal timetables carefully and report any errors to Ms Struthers in Rm 112, or to Mr Hunter in Creative Learning.
Below you will find a copy of the PowerPoint shared at assembly today, 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. Please note we have provided only the ‘main exam’ schedule – students who have additional time should adhere strictly to heir personalised timetables, given out yesterday.
In advance of the exams, the SQA have provided details of the services that are available to students if they are unable to sit an exam, for a reason ‘outwith their control’. The SQA have also outlined their approach to the Appeals procedure and how coursework will be graded this year. This full communication can be viewed here.
Exceptional Circumstances
There are times when student cannot sit an exam for reasons that are outwith their control – these are called ‘exceptional circumstances’. If your child cannot attend an exam it is vital that you let us know so that we can prepare alternative evidence for them. Alternative evidence is in the form of formal assessment materials that have been produced throughout the course of the session. It is important to note that not all absences from an exam are exceptional circumstances, and students must have completed all non- exam components (i.e. assignment, project…) to qualify for this service.
Grading
This year full course assessment returned in many subject areas. The SQA are mindful of the fact that students are completing coursework for the first time and will consider this in their grading decisions.
Appeals
In keeping with last year, appeals will be free for all students and open to all students for any of their qualifications. Appeals will involve a review of SQA marked exam or coursework only, and not any alternative evidence. More details on how to access this service will be provided in the coming weeks, and we will provide support for appeals following the publication of results.
Study Leave
Last week we published details of our study leave programme. Study leave will run from 29th April to 29th May (inclusive). Students who have an exam between 22nd April and 29th April are entitled to take an additional study day the day before an exam.
Response to feedback submitted from HT Update week ending 22/03/24. One other comment relating to a broken Chromebook. I’ve passed those details to Ms Struthers.
| My Question | Comment | Suggestion related to the school this week is: | HT’s Response |
| I think it’s great that you recognise sporting achievement in the school – SPOTY this week, although not mentioned in the update is a great example of this and encourages the kids to excel at something else, not just academia. We all have different strengths and should be recognised for them. Well done. | Thank you. Agree entirely. Ran out of time on Friday, will do a SPOTY post this week. |
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 each Monday on the school website link.
Key messages from this week
Calendar: Events next week include: on Monday and Tuesday S3 students are involved with Live n’ Learn, an external organisation, working on Entrepreneurial Attitudes; on Tuesday we’ll hold our 5th Parent Council Meeting of the session from 7.00pm, see below; we’ll hold a series of SQA Assemblies on Wednesday for S4/S5/S6 students, our Industry Insights events continue on Wednesday afternoon for Senior Phase students, we’ll also issue a Senior Phase Alert 2 Report via email to parents/carers; on Thursday will hold our Student Parliament, have a extended break, see below, and finally break-up for Easter. Students and staff return to school on Tuesday 16th April 2024.
Staffing: Recruitment continues next week with our aim to make appointments in Mathematics and English. We’ll also continue with the back-fill arrangements resulting from Mrs Brown’s maternity and appointments to date, (it’s complicated, recruitment, not Mrs Brown’s maternity!).
Quality Improvement Parent Carer Survey: We send out a general survey to parents/carers every two years. The link was sent as a text message to the main parent/carer contact of all our students last Friday. Thank you to those that have managed to complete the survey. A reminder text will be sent to all parents later today (please ignore it if you’ve already completed the survey). Please take the time to fill it in if you’ve not yet managed to do so. Your response helps us to confirm what we do well and gives us a basis to think about improvements to our work. We’ll look at the feedback to date at our Parent Council Meeting on Tuesday.
Parent Council 5: Our 5th Parent Council Meeting of the session is on Tuesday 26th March form 7.00pm. Please note this meeting is in-person and will be held in Room 113/114 on the first floor. All parent/carers are welcome, please click here for more details, including the agenda.
Free School Meals: Midlothian have asked us to share the following, click here, in relation to free meal payments over the holiday period.
School Uniform: Please click here for information from Borders regarding their upcoming 20% discount off school uniform. This opens Monday 22nd April and closes Sunday 19th May.
S6 Car Wash: Thank you and well done to those in S6 who helped out with the car wash last Friday. Over £300.00 was raised to go towards the S6 Events Fund.
Read&Write Free for Families: You may be aware of the literacy toolbar Read&Write. We use this toolbar in school to support learning and it is installed on all Chromebooks. Midlothian Council was part of a video case study on the positive impact of Read&Write. You can watch the videos and find out more here. The exciting news is that Midlothian has negotiated a world-first deal that means you can now download the Read&Write toolbar at home, on up to 5 devices for free! Please use this link to download. You will be asked for the school’s postcode and then be given instructions on what to do next. Have a look at this feature tour to see all the things Read&Write.
Easter School: We’ve posted a website story on Study Leave and Easter School click here. This builds on information communicated via the HT Update last week, including Study Leave dates and arrangements.
Midlothian Council: Please click here for information on the proposal to relocate Beeslack Community High School and realign the associated catchment areas. This does affect Lasswade High School. This consultation opened on Monday 19th February and closes on Tuesday 16th April. Midlothian Council are seeking your views. To assist there is an in-person Public Consultation in school on Monday 25th March from 7.00pm to 9.00pm.
Extended Break, Thursday 28th March: To allow our staff to come together at the end of term, we will have a joint and extended break for students next Thursday. The timings for Thursday morning for all classes S1-6 will be adjusted to the following:
IT/ Communication : As part of our ongoing efforts to optimise our communication tools, we will be moving from Zoom to Microsoft Teams for our virtual meetings. This means Information Evenings and Parent Council Meetings (winter of 2024/25) will be held via Teams. Microsoft Teams offers a comprehensive suite of features that align with our requirements, including robust security measures. In addition, it is included in our Microsoft Office 365 subscription, which means we no longer need to pay for an additional Zoom subscription. Every little helps!
If you have any feedback/questions relating to this update please submit them via the link below
Take Care
Campbell Hornell, Head Teacher
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 29th April – Wednesday 29th May (inclusive). Students will return to school on Thursday 30th May. A copy of this letter is also attached for your reference below.
Study Supports
Our Easter School will begin on Tuesday 2nd April, offering students the opportunity to access revision sessions during the holiday. Students will be notified of their sessions next week.
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://www.e-sgoil.com/senior-phase/easter-study-support/
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. In addition, this website has a new section this year called ‘Succeed’ which can support with revision strategies, such as how to prepare flash cards, etc. 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 sessions 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.
Unfortunately, we’ve had to postpone our fifth Parent Council Meeting of the session. It was due to be held on Tuesday 26th March. We’ll rearrange for a date after Easter.
At the rearranged meeting we still plan discussion on
All parents/carers are welcome to ‘attend’.
Please send in any questions, via email and with ‘FAO Parent Council’ at the top of message, to
Or, post a question to the Parent Council Facebook page
On Friday 22nd March, there will be a dress down day in support of British Red Cross.
The British Red Cross are currently providing life saving help for Palestinian and Israeli civilians who have been impacted by the ongoing crisis in the region.
There will also be a bake sale with proceeds going to the British Red Cross.
If you would like to know more about how the British Red Cross are providing aid please follow this link https://donate.redcross.
The S6 Charities Committee will be at the front doors and playground doors with buckets to collect donations. ParentPay is also open and available, if families would like to donate online. It is not necessary to contribute towards any dress down day.
This will be our final dress down day before the Easter holidays.
The Easter School programme is now ‘live’ on Google Classroom. Parents/carers should click here to access the timetable, note Week 1 is w/b 1st April and Week 2 is w/b 8th April.
There is a ‘note of interest’ Google Form in Year Group Google Classrooms. Students interested in our Easter School should complete this by the end of next week to indicate which sessions they would like to attend.
Students are advised to consider which subjects they would like to focus on most to make best use of their time. The timetable may evolve as student interest is noted and we get a clearer picture of the demand for certain subjects.
To avoid missing out, we are advising early sign up.
No feedback received from HT Update dated 15/03/24.
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 each Monday on the school website link.
Key messages from this week
Calendar: Events next week include: on Tuesday we’ll hold our Sports Personality of the Year Evening; our Industry Insights events continue on Wednesday afternoon for Senior Phase students; on Thursday we’ll hold our Student Parliament, we’ll also undertake a series of classroom visits, with partners from outside LHS, to see learning in action, also on Thursday we’ll aim (weather permitting) to undertake the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Silver Training that we postponed this week; on Friday we’ll hold our March Dress Down Day.
Staffing: Recruitment continues, on Monday we appointed Emma Whittingham as a temporary Depute Head Teacher who’ll act as Mrs Brown’s backfill as she leaves at Easter to begin her maternity.
Quality Improvement Parent Carer Survey: I am very aware that you have been asked to respond to a lot of surveys and consultations recently. We send out a general survey to parents/carers every two years. Later today we’ll send a text to the main parent/carer contact of all our students with a link to the survey. Please take the time to fill it in. Your response helps us to confirm what we do well and gives us a basis to think about improvements to our work.
Ramadan: Please note we have advised our staff with information and guidance regarding supporting the Muslim members of our school community during Ramadan, which began on Monday of this week. We have stressed the impact that the fasting aspect of Ramadan may have on students and asked staff to make allowances within their teaching approaches and activities as required. Information has been shared with students via Year Group Google Classrooms.
Live n’ Learn: All S3 will be engaging in sessions with Live n Learn about Entrepreneurial Attitudes in order to develop resilience, responsibility and self-improvement strategies. Each House Class will be in a workshop for a double period across Monday 25th March and Tuesday 26th March. Details for students of their time will be placed in Year Group Google Classrooms.
Easter School: During the Easter Holiday Lasswade teachers are offering an Easter School to help support revision for SQA Exams. The timetable has been placed in Year Group Google Classrooms (please note the timetable may evolve further as we gauge student interest and staff availability, e.g., N5/ Higher Business is still to be added). We are asking students to look at the timetable over the weekend and think carefully about whether there are sessions they would like to attend. Students are advised to focus on the subjects they find most difficult to help make the best use of their time. Parents/carers should click here to access the timetable, note Week 1 is w/b 1st April and Week 2 is w/b 8th April. On Monday afternoon we will post a ‘note of interest’ Google Form in Year Group Google Classrooms. Students interested in our Easter School should complete this by the end of next week to indicate which sessions they would like to attend.
Midlothian Council: Please click here for information on the proposal to relocate Beeslack Community High School and realign the associated catchment areas. This does affect Lasswade High School. This consultation opened on Monday 19th February and closes on Tuesday 16th April. Midlothian Council are seeking your views.
Coldwells: For the latest update from our school photographer click here. Relevant for school leavers.
Burges Salmon Partnership: We are absolutely delighted to forge a relationship with Burges Salmon, a Law firm based in Edinburgh, to support a group of our S5 students who are interested in pursuing a career in Law. This will be primarily through a mentoring programme that will provide much needed experiences, advice and opportunities to meet the demands of applying to University to study Law, and/or related courses. Each of our S5 students has been allocated a solicitor as a mentor and the group has had an introductory session in the firm’s offices. The mentoring sessions will then begin properly in the next few weeks. We are hugely grateful to Burges Salmon, and most importantly the individual mentors who have put themselves forward for this programme, that has potential to be hugely supportive of our students.
If you have any feedback/questions relating to this update please submit them via the link below
Take Care
Campbell Hornell, Head Teacher