HT Weekly Update: Week-ending Friday 18th August 2023

Friday 18th August 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

First Week Back:   This week our staff have re-engaged with school and their roles.  We clarified our school mission, improvement priorities and completed relevant training, including information sharing,   on Monday and Tuesday.  We also welcomed several new colleagues.   From Wednesday we welcomed our students.  This is when the school comes ‘alive’ again and it has been a delight to see new faces and returnees.  Our aim was to get students back into their learning as quickly as possible, establishing productive routines and habits.  Our ‘Welcome Back’ Assemblies also took place this week where we saw all year groups to remind students of our values and purpose and how to ensure they are ready to learn and engage.  We are pleased overall with the dress code compliance and our new policy is being reinforced at the front doors each morning by SLT and Student Support.  The half-zip hoodies seem to be a real success.  Thank you for all your support.   

Calendar: Key events in school next week; on Monday through Thursday our S4 students will work with Edinburgh College to secure a First Aid qualification.  Our students will have photographs taken on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Friday is our first Dress Down Day of the session.  

Staffing Update:  This week we welcomed a number of new colleagues to our school.  Maia Aiken (Art & Design),  James Casey (Mathematics),  Rebecca Edgar (Spanish),  Grace MacKenzie (Maternity Cover in Home Economics),  Richard Scobie  (Modern Studies),  Harry Gaughan (Physics),  Courtney Naismith (Chemistry) and Kirstie Scott (ASN).  We have 3 Newly Qualified Teachers this session;  Abby Cleland (Art & Design),  Morgan McCurdy (English) and Robbie McDonald (PE).   Marion Reid has switched roles and now works within ASN in our Pod in a Pupil Care and Welfare Officer role.  We have 4 new Learning Assistants in ASN; Diane Baena, Catherine Douglas, Julie Brown and Yvonne Chan.  In addition, our new  Business Manager,  Pawel Padziunas, started with us, as part of our Senior Leadership Team, on Monday 7th August.  We would also like to pass on our best wishes to Jackie Costello who will be taking early retirement in October following over 21 years service, largely in Student Support in Lasswade HS. Jackie will be greatly missed by her colleagues in SLT and Student Support.   We congratulate Mel McGurk on securing a well deserved promotion.   She heads off to her new PT post at Gracemount High School on Thursday 31st August.  

S4 First Aid Qualification:   Next week all S4 students will be attending Edinburgh College for 1 day to complete a First Aid Award. They will largely be going in house groups, accompanied by members of staff from each house team.  There are a few students who can’t go on their house day so have been moved to a different group/day.  This award was previously completed in S6 as part of the S6 Induction Programme.  Our concern, and reason for the switch of year group, was that students who left at the end of S4 or S5 missed out on this excellent opportunity.  

Senior Phase Awards Ceremony:  This annual event ceremony will take place from 6.30pm on Wednesday 13th September, a little earlier than previous years, in an effort to allow more recent S6 Leavers to attend.  Mrs Brown leads on the planning of this important event which aims to recognise the attainment and achievements of our 2022/23 Senior Phase students.  We have secured a wonderful guest speaker, Ben Smith, who I am sure will be a real highlight.  Click here to find out a wee bit more about Ben.

Bike Shelter:   There is a new secure bike shelter at the front of the building.  See our social media feeds for details.   This will be open from 8am to 8.45am and again from 3.15pm to 4pm (Mon-Thur) and 8am to 8.45am and 12 noon to 1pm (Fri).  It is designed for staff and student use only. The shelter will be locked out with these times.  As always we’ll monitor these arrangements,  seek feedback from those using the service and adapt our practice, if necessary, as the weeks progress.

School Photographs:  Coldwell’s Art, our school photographers, will be in on Tuesday and Wednesday next week.  All year groups will be involved.  Please click Photographer August 2023 to see what they’ll do and your options to purchase.  We use the individual photos in our school management system and the S6 Group is displayed in our Assembly Hall.  

Senior Phase Re-coursing:  S5/6 Student re-coursing arrangements were shared last week and reinforced this week.  Miss Petrie is leading on this and requests for an appointment,  through a Google Form in Year Group Google Classrooms,  close today. Requests are being processed with changes made.  Class lists will be finalised by the end of the month.  Senior Phase Year Heads are also analysing coursing to ensure we maximise the ambition and potential achievement of all our students.  It’s a competitive world and our aim is to ensure that our students achieve as much as they can to broaden their options when they are ready to leave.

School Calendar:  Our 2023/24 Whole School Calendar of significant events is now available on our website.  It is a ‘live’ document and the same calendar is shared with staff within our Google Workspace.  This means when there are updates made they are effective at the same time and available for our staff and the parent/carer body.  Click here to view the calendar on our website.  Please check it semi-regularly and we’ll continue to highlight things on a weekly basis through this HT Update.

National Reform:  Just a reminder that two significant reports were issued by the Scottish Government prior to the summer break.  All Learners in Scotland Matter (May 2023) click here  and It’s Our Future (June 2023) click here.  You may want to read these.  The Government will respond later in the year and are seeking feedback from schools before the end of October.  We’ll do that, as you’d expect, and also keep you updated as the reform programme progresses. 

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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