HT Weekly Update: Week-ending Friday 6th October 2023

Friday 6th October 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:  Next week,  on Tuesday we’ll hold our S2 Parents’ Evening via our established video platform; on Wednesday we’ll hold 3 SQA Assessment Assemblies for S4 S5 and S6 across the day;  on Thursday we’ll hold our Parent Council AGM (see below) and our Academy of Performing Arts Performance Evening.

Staffing: On Thursday we say ‘Goodbye and Happy Retirement’ to Jackie Costello. Jackie has worked in a couple of roles within our school but primarily within our Student Support team in an administrative capacity.  She’s been with us for over 20 years.   We thank her for her excellent work and wish her well.  Amongst other things she is planning to develop her pizza making skills.  

October Break: Next Friday we break up for our October holiday.  Staff return to work on Monday 23rd October and our students on Tuesday 24th October.  This, for subject rotation purposes, will be Week 2.

Flu Vaccinations: We thank our NHS partners and our School Office Team for their support in coordinating the Flu Vaccinations at the start of this week.  It is a mammoth task which ran impeccably.

Parent Council AGM: On Thursday of next week we’ll hold our Parent Council AGM at 7.00pm in room 114.  This will be a short in-person meeting where we confirm our Office Bearers;  Chair, Treasurer and Clerk.  We expect it will last around 15 minutes.  All parent/carers are welcome. The  only other items on the agenda will be any questions raised.  Separate website post at the beginning of next week with details.  

Extended Break: On Thursday 12th of October we will have an extended break for all students. This will allow staff to gather to say ‘goodbye and good luck’ to both Ali Mitchell, more on her next week, and Jackie Costello. 

Dyslexia Awareness Week Scotland:  This will run nationally from the 1st to 7th November.  As a school we will focus on it from week beginning Monday 30th October. With 1 in 10 people in Scotland likely to be dyslexic our Creative Learning Team are planning to use this week to raise awareness of dyslexia in our school.  We’ll highlight resources for good practice for teachers, lessons for PSEd, informative and supportive displays and sharing stories from some of our students, staff and hopefully parents/carers.  Therefore, we are keen to speak to any parents/carers who have dyslexia and would be willing to share their story. Please reply to this post, via the feedback facility, if you are willing to share.  Our team will then contact you for further information.

If you have any feedback/questions relating to this update please submit them via the link below

Feedback here

Take Care

Campbell Hornell,  Head Teacher

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