HT Update: Week ending 18th November 2022

Friday 18th November 2022

This concise weekly HT Update will be published every Friday afternoon with 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 on Monday afternoons on the school website link. 

Key messages from this week

Calendar: Next week’s key events include;  Study Skills Week is running across the week with Study Skills Workshops for students after school on Monday through Wednesday and a session for parents/carers, via Zoom click here, on Tuesday evening from 7.00pm;   on Wednesday we have a 2Morrow’s Drivers’ Event for S6; our third Parent Council Meeting of the session will be held via Zoom on Wednesday from 7.00pm; the school will be closed to students on Thursday due to industrial action taken by the the EIS and AHDS teaching unions;  next Friday is a Dress Down Day and Active Boys’ Day

Staffing Update:  This week we welcomed Jeff Meechan into our Social Studies team and Iona Wineberg as a Learning Assistant in our Creative Learning team.   Next week Helen Muir, our school librarian, moves on to another post outside Midlothian Council and we wish her all the best with this new position and thank her for all her support to the school and students whilst she has been with us. 

Industrial Action: following the letter sent to all parents/carers on Tuesday regarding the industrial action being taken on Thursday 24th November I expect to communicate again with parents early next week with the limited arrangements we are able to put in place for student learning activities on Thursday 24th November.  Please also be aware that College courses will also not be running next Thursday.  Please also be aware that staff involved in the other significant teachers union, the SSTA, are likely to announce a date for industrial action next week.  This will take place during week beginning Monday 5th December.  

Head Teacher News:  Please note that from Monday I will resume my three day/two day split between my Head Teacher role and my temporary role with the council. Ms Mitchell will be Head Teacher at the times I am not in the building.

Lasswade Art & Design Exhibition 2022: Thank you to all staff and students who were involved in the Art & Design Exhibition last night – it was a brilliant evening! We were able to celebrate the achievements of not only Art, Design and Photography but also Fashion, Design and Technology and the Origami Club. We welcomed over 500 guests into the building, and enjoyed live music by Morgan Murphy and Eilidh Garland. Aleesha Doherty and Leah Cantwell were our official photographers of the night – see art_lasswade on Instagram for more content from the event. 

Students Out of Class: We are experiencing an increase in the instances of students co-ordinating being out of class together at the moment. We have advised our teachers not to allow students out of class unless in exceptional circumstances, but also with clear directions on expectations of where they are to go and timings. We expect students to fill up water bottles at break and lunch times as required. Thank you.

Wider Achievement:  We have added a new section on our website on wider achievement, including the first newsletter that we will publish four times per session.  For more information and to read the newsletter click here

Parent Council 3:  Please note this meeting will take place on Wednesday 23rd November.   This meeting will be held via Zoom.  Further details are available on our website click here

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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