Our third planned Parent Council Meeting of the session will be held on Tuesday 9th December, 2025. This follows for our recent Extraordinary Meeting. The meeting on 09/12/25 will be held on-line, via Teams. Parents/carers will be sent the link to the meeting, to their phones, on Tuesday morning. The meeting begins at 7.00pm and should last just over an hour, and certainly finish no later than 8.30pm.
At the meeting we plan discussions on
All parents/carers are welcome to ‘attend’. As stated, we’d love to see some new folk!
Please send in any questions, via email and with ‘FAO Parent Council’ at the top of message by lunchtime on Tuesday 9th December, to
Or, post a question to the Parent Council Facebook page
On Thursday 20th November 4.30pm – 6.30pm, the online S4 Student Parent/Carer Consultation Evening will be taking place.
The system that we use for S1-S6 Parents’ Evenings is called ‘Parents Booking’ (see website https://www.parents-booking.co.uk/lasswade).
Dates for your diary – the booking system opens at 6pm on Sunday 9th November and will close at 10am on Tuesday 18th November.
You will not be able to log in to your account before this time.
Please note that as we are opening the parents’ booking system on a Sunday evening, our admin staff will not be able to respond to any issues, or respond to any calls until Monday.
All of our Parents’ Evenings are now fully online (video call), so if you have not taken part in an online Parents’ Evening at Lasswade HS before, please read the Parents Booking User Guide ahead of the evening or watch this useful video: Video Meetings Demo, with Troubleshooting. If you have any issues logging in or making appointments please contact the school admin team lasswadehsoffice@midlothian.education who are happy to support.
Each appointment lasts for 4 minutes (on screen timer) and will be automatically end when the 4 minutes is up.
If more than one parent/carer wishes to join the video call, the identified ‘main carer’ (person who makes the appointments) must be the person to share the joining details with the other parent/carer.
SDS Careers Advisers are available for telephone appointments to discuss any career related queries.
As you may be aware via the Parent Council Facebook, click here, and the most recent Parent Council Meeting minute, click here, I have been concerned about the timing and impact of the Tone Zone refurbishment. The news on the 21st October that the Tone Zone was closing on November 4th was a complete surprise to myself and our PE Team. Our Business Manager had been assured that no final decision on the timing of the refurbishment would be taken without our involvement. That did not happen. The decision on timing, in a partnership context, was taken without our involvement.
Discussions between the school and Sport & Leisure colleagues have not been successful. The school has been offered at various times a container in the back playground, the Squash Court and the Multi-Purpose Room. None of these suggestions provided a big enough space for equipment and classes, or could have been implemented in the 9 day period. A combination of spaces was discussed and withdrawn. Our suggestion of Dance Studio B, whilst not ideal, was workable for the school but was rejected.
Today, Sport & Leisure colleagues have indicated they’ll proceed and provide the Multi-Purpose Room as a ‘gym’ space. We’ll work hard to make this work for our students but are worried the space won’t be big enough for an entire class. We rejected an offer of a S&L member of staff to supervise those students who couldn’t fit into the space. It’s just not appropriate.
What is clear is that Sport & Leisure customers and LHS students and staff will be disrupted during the period of refurbishment. When the work is complete all parties should benefit from a first class facility.
In the meantime, please make sure that your child has wet weather clothing. Whilst we’ll aim to keep as many of our 300+ students, who’d normally access Tone Zone on a weekly basis, with their teacher as part of PE, we won’t be able to do that on every occasion.
I’m sorry that this situation has arisen and apologise on behalf of the school that your children are potentially affected. In my view they are the important folk that have been let down.
FRIDAY 31ST OCTOBER – DRESS DOWN DAY!
We hope that you are having an enjoyable summer and you are looking forward to returning to school this week. We would like to share details with you regarding the first week back (Wednesday 13th – Friday 15th August).
All students return to school on Wednesday 13th August at 8.40am.
ALL Students
All S1-S6 students should arrive at school for no later than 8.35am and make their way to their ‘house room’ for 8.40am. For 20 minutes, ‘house teachers’ will re-issue students with their timetables and share important messages. At 9am, all students will then attend their period 1 classes.
Students should check their year group Google Classroom to find out who their house teacher is and which classroom to report to. There will also be posters at the main entrance and playground doors with this information.
Please remember to wear school uniform, bring your charged Chromebook and other necessary materials such a refillable water bottle.
S1 Students
S1 students should meet their S6 Buddies in the playground from 8.30am each morning (just like the June transition days). Please remember to bring along your S1 information card, just in case you forget your school house or registration class.
For the first week (Wednesday 13th, Thursday 14th and Friday 15th August), all S1 students will have an extended break and lunch time to enable them to familiarise themselves with the dining hall and playground. S1 break time will be 10.10am – 10.35am and S1 lunch time will be 12.05pm – 12.55pm (first week only).
As you are aware, all S1 students must remain on campus during break and lunch times. With this in mind, all S1 students should bring a snack for break time and students will be entitled to a free school lunch on Wednesday 13th August (S1 only). S1 students are also welcome to bring a packed lunch.
As S1 students will be receiving their ParentPay information and PIN code on Wednesday, they should bring a packed lunch and/or top up ParentPay accounts ahead of Thursday.
All S1 POD students, should report to the Cabin directly at 8.45am.
S6 Buddies
We are very fortunate to have 90 fully trained and dedicated S6 Buddies, who will continue to assist our new S1 students during the first week of school in August (Wednesday 13th to Tuesday 19th August).
S6 Buddies should ensure that they report to Mrs Brown, Mrs Main and Mrs Ramsay in the Atrium at 8.30am to collect their signs. S6 Buddies will then meet their classes in the playground and escort them to their house room/house teacher for 8.40am. At this point, S6 Buddies should then report to their own house room/house teacher before collecting their S1 classes again at 9am.
S6 Buddies will support their allocated S1 classes around the school and between classes for 5 school days. S6 Buddies will then also conduct a class visit in late August/early September to touch base with their S1 students.
Head Teacher’s Update
At the end of each week, our Head Teacher (Campbell Hornell), will share plans/updates for the week ahead.
Results Day – Tuesday 5th August
This year all students will receive their SQA results on Tuesday 5th August. Certificates will arrive in the post and, if your child has signed up for MySQA, they will also receive a text message or email to inform them of their results too.
Students should not come into school on results day, as staff will not be available.
We know that our students have worked incredibly hard this year – but this will nevertheless be an anxious time. Whilst we hope that they receive the results they are expecting, it is important to know the process for Appeals, should one be required.
SQA have prepared this document to support students, following their results, to support them in deciding whether an appeal is right for them.
Appeals Process 2025
The Appeals 2025 service will be the same as last year’s service – students can request a marking review of their ‘SQA-marked assessment components’ (i.e. exam papers and assignments). Alternative assessment evidence’, like prelims, will not be required for this service. The service will be free and available to all students. Whilst students will be able to appeal directly to SQA, we would advise that they appeal following a discussion with their teacher.
Appeals 2025 will include a priority service for students with conditional offers for further education, training or employment. To use this service you must have an existing offer (e.g. via UCAS) that you can share with SQA. Students who require this service should enter their appeal directly, as the deadline is very tight this session.
Should I appeal?
If you are considering an appeal for one of your grades, then you are advised to discuss it with your teacher. Whilst you can appeal directly, and no ‘evidence’ is sent by the school, you might want to know more about your ‘breakdown’ (marks) in the exam, and you should consider your performance over the last year before you make a decision.
You must also be aware that proceeding with an appeal can result in your grade going up, staying the same or – in a minority of cases – going down.
Dates for Appeals
Please be aware if you register for an appeal yourself there are earlier deadlines – these are available via the SQA website.
If you would like to discuss your results, or the appeals process, the SQA email inbox will be open on 9th August to respond to questions: lasswadehs-sqa@midlothian.education
If, following your results, you need to reconsider your course choice for this year there will be a short window of opportunity to do so. Please remember, coursing changes will only be considered in exceptional circumstances and where a student requires a particular course/grade for specific reasons (e.g. entry to further/higher education, training etc) and not because they have changed their mind from the original course choices allocated. A Google Form will be made available prior to the return to school in August, via Year Group Google Classrooms, this will go live on result day. Students should complete this as soon as they become aware that any change of course is required. Recoursing will be completed by 22rd August.
We are hosting a school uniform fitting evening on Thursday 29th May 4pm-6pm in the school Atrium.
Our current school uniform suppliers will be present to show you the range of products available to families. You will be able to order uniform in person on the night or online from the Borders Embroideries website click here
We will also have a range of second hand uniform on display for families to take home, free of charge. At Lasswade, we believe in sustainability and equity so we try our utmost to support families in need and ensure that all good quality uniform can be passed onto other students.
If you are new to Lasswade High School, please familiarise yourself with our school uniform and dress code expectations for all students click here
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-2025-SQA-school-digital (1)
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 8:40, 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 their personalised timetables, given out this week.
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’.
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. The SQA’s information on this service is available here.
Appeals
In keeping with last year, appeals will be free for all students and open to all students for any of their qualifications. 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
As announced earlier this session, study leave will run from 28th April to 30th May (inclusive). Students who have an exam on the 25th April are entitled to take an additional study day on the 24th April.