HT Update Week-ending 26th June 2026

Friday 26th June 2026

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.  

Our next HT Update will be on Friday 14th August 2026.

Key messages from this week  

Calendar:  Significant events week beginning 10/08/26;  Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday will be the final days of the summer holiday for all students.  Tuesday and Wednesday  are Inset Days for staff only;  on Thursday we’ll welcome all our students back and hold a series of Year Group Assemblies.   Parents/carers should continue to note that there is a ‘draft’ message across our school calendar on this website.   The Inset Days and Holidays are accurate, but other items will be finalised on our August Inset Days.  We expect that our update on 14/08/26 will highlight important calendar items.   

Staffing:  Today was the last day for a number of colleagues who are moving on to pastures new.   We thank these colleagues for all their work with our students and their support for colleagues during their time at Lasswade High School. We have one job live on myjobscotland – PTC Complex Needs (Temporary).

Wider Achievement News:   We’ve posted the Summer Wider Achievement News on the website, click here. A great addition to your holiday reading. On the page you’ll also be able to access previous editions.  Our thanks to Rebecca Hardie, Art & Design, for providing these regular updates. Rebecca will be stepping back from this role in the coming session. Our new PT Pathways will now take on the mantle and share our Wider Achievement news. 

BGE Awards Ceremonies 2026:  This week, we celebrated 455 student award winners from our 4 school Houses. The ceremonies were absolutely fantastic, with musical performances, staff challenges and a highlight from this year’s school show Legally Blonde.  We had over 650 guests at the ceremonies as well as the entire House Teams. What a wonderful way to end the year! Our thanks to the House Teams, Music and Drama staff, Angela Bowman, the School and House Captains and student helpers.  In addition, particular thanks to Karen Hughes for her leadership on this work.

Bagpipe Brilliance: Special thank you also to Toby Briggs for piping us into each award ceremony this week, but also for piping us all out of school on Wednesday, in advance of Scotland’s last group stage game against Brazil. It was a very special moment, a few grown men cried. Toby was magnificent!

YPI: On Wednesday, seven teams from S3 participated in the YPI final.  YPI is a national philanthropy competition run by the Wood Group and teams represent charities of their choice; the winner receives a cheque for £3000 which supports the charity.  Our young people were phenomenal and put in a huge amount of to present on behalf of their chosen charities including Ronald McDonald House, Pitcairn Pantry, Richmond’s Hope, Simon’s Community, Women’s Aid East and Midlothian, Play Midlothian and Maggie’s.   After much deliberation, the panel selected Women’s Aid as the winners.  Thanks to Liam Lyall and the Social Studies team who lead this so well.  Thanks also to Grant from JP Morgan who supported the groups with their presentation skills and was a judge on the day.

Centre for Race, Education and Decoloniality Anti-Racist Bronze Award : We are delighted to announce that Lasswade High School has been awarded the Centre for Race, Education and Coloniality Anti Racist Bronze Award by Leeds-Beckett University. This is a highly prestigious award which showcases the work we have done over a number of years to embrace diversity and challenge racism within our school community. Thank you especially to Sarah Blair and Katherine Lebida (Humanities) who put in a huge amount of work to support this accreditation.

Free School Meals and Clothing Grants:

Payment	Paid to Bank Accounts	Notes/Comments
School Holidays Monday 29th June to Wednesday 12th August 2026	Thursday 25th June 2026	£75.90 per Primary School pupil £87.45 per Secondary School pupil

Please see Midlothian Council web post for more information on the above.

MenB Vaccinations: Following recent cases of meningitis in the UK, a time‑limited MenB vaccination programme is being offered to specific groups of young people who may be at increased risk of exposure to meningococcal group B bacteria.

The programme is open to:

• Young people born between 1 March 2008 and 28 February 2009
• Any young people who were in S6 during the 2025–26 academic year

Please see this NHS communication to find about access to the summer vaccination programme. MenB Information for Parents/ Carers

Midlothian Adult Learning Opportunities: Communities and Life Long Learning are offering a range of adult learning opportunities to everyone aged 16 and over. Whether you want to gain qualifications, change your career or simple enjoying learning – now’s your chance!

National 4 Maths – Starting Wednesday 26/08/2026 6:30pm to 9pm The Lasswade Centre
National 5 Maths – Starting Tuesday 25/08/2026 6:30pm to 9pm The Lasswade Centre
National 5 English – Starting Monday 24/08/2026 6:30pm to 9pm The Lasswade Centre
PDA Sociology – Starting Wednesday 26/08/2026 6:30pm to 9pm Newbattle Community Campus
National 4 History – Starting Tuesday 25/08/2026 6:30pm to 9pm Newbattle Community Campus

CLL are offering a limited number of fully funded places for these qualifications. Once these funded places have been filled, no further funding will be available.To book a place on your chosen qualification/s please click on the link: https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/clle-adult-learning-programme-3864753

 

Take Care and have a wonderful summer,

Lasswade High School SLT

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