HT Update Week Ending 24th February 2023

Friday 24th February 2023

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: Key events in the school next week: on Monday it’s our S3 Student Voice Year Council; as alerted the next phase of scheduled industrial action takes place on Tuesday and Wednesday with the school closed to all students on both days; on Thursday we have a S4 DofE Training Day, our S1 and S2 Student Voice Year Council meetings and also our virtual S1 Parents’ Evening is on Thursday between 4.30pm – 7.00pm, held via video conferencing; on Friday we’ll hold our S4 Student Voice Year Council.

Staffing Update: This week we offer our congratulations to Sophie Histead (Science/Biology) and family on the birth of baby Innes. Mum and baby are both doing well.     

Midlothian Budget:  On Tuesday of this week Midlothian established their budget plans.  The catastrophic element of the proposals was removed but an impact will be felt. The most significant impact will be a 1% budget reduction in all schools next session.  We expect to receive the full implications of the impact on us over the next few weeks as central staff work up the details for each school.  As you’d expect we have been doing some contingency planning and this allows us to progress most of our work for next session.  If you have time, please follow the link to watch our School Captain, Mollie Gilmore, give an impassioned speech to the Elected Members before their meeting on Tuesday.  We are extremely proud of Mollie.   The other speaker, Callum,  is from Newbattle CHS, with representation in the chamber from almost all secondary schools.  View Mollie, and Callum, from section 4.1 click here

Student/Staff Success: We are proud that our colleague and students have been involved in impacting the future of women in business as a result of the work that Ms Gee has been involved in with the Scottish Government. Their thoughts and contributions are captured in this publication click here

QR Code Update: Following consultation between our Student Parliament and SLT it has been agreed to withdraw the requirement for S5 and S6 students to use the QR code when leaving class.  Following analysis of the data it has been confirmed that S5/S6 students out of class are not causing a major issue.  They are also wishing acknowledgement of being part of the school adult population and we are sure they can be trusted to conduct themselves appropriately and prioritise their studies in class. We will continue to use the system for all S1-S4 students from Monday 27th February.

Senior Phase Course Choice:  Course choice will take place for all S3,S4 and S5 students from now until 20/03/23. Students will attend a scheduled course choice meeting with their Student Support teacher or a member of SLT over this period. Students should discuss any questions they have about next year with their teachers and our website also holds a huge amount of information.  This week Miss Petrie also led on a series of Year Assemblies.   Please ask your child how this process is progressing and do not hesitate to contact their Student Support teacher if you have any questions around the process. 

Easthouses Education Consultation Please follow the link below to access information on the proposal to establish a new primary school and its associated catchment area within the land at Easthouses.  This also will involve a realignment of the catchment areas of Lasswade High School, Dalkeith High School and Newbattle High School.  The consultation opens on Monday 27th February and closes on Sunday 23rd April 2023.  Midlothian Council are seeking your views should you wish to offer them.  You can find more information, such as the consultation proposal document and online survey, at click here  Please note the page will go live on Monday 27th February but we are obligated to inform you before it goes live.

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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