HT Update Week Ending 16th June 2023

Friday 16th 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 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

Feedback here

Take Care

Campbell Hornell and Ali Mitchell,  Head Teachers

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