HEAD TEACHER'S NEWSLETTER
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MUSSELBURGH GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Friday 16 May 2025
Friday 16 May 2025
I hope that our S3 students have had a successful and enjoyable week out on work experience.
May is flying by, and next Tuesday sees the first of our activity days with trips to Go Ape, Alton Towers and Blair Drummond Safari Park, as well as a range of activities in school.
It is the last of this year’s Inservice days on Monday 19th where staff are taking part in professional learning and development on Learning and Teaching in preparation for next year.
Our penultimate Parent Council briefing is on Tuesday 20th 7-8pm and I hope you will be able to join us online.
With best wishes for the weekend.
Jodie Hannan
Key Dates
Monday 19 May In Service Day
Tuesday 20 May: Parent Council online briefing 7-8pm https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/r/day/2025/5/20#:~:text=meet.google.com/tkd%2Drakc%2Ddor
Tues 20th & Friday 30th May -S1-S3 Activities week
Tues: Alton Towers/Go Ape/Blair Drummond/In-school activities
Fri: Cinema/Ten Pin Bowling/Air Hop/in-school activities
Tues: 10th June: MGS County Sports
Parental consent forms are available for all S1, S2 and S3 pupils for them to choose and get permission for their chosen trip on Friday, 30 May. 50% discount for those pupils on Free School Meals/Care Experienced will be applied to their SchoolPay account for their trip.
Pupils should pick forms up from Mr. Jordan in room C4 during registration, break, lunch or immediately after school until 3.40pm (only these times, please), and hand them back asap - and no later than Tues 20th. Activities have limited numbers, so please don’t delay!
Please note that if your young person has not signed up for any of the activities, they are expected to come into school as normal.
Remember you can find all events on our school calendar, and you can add the calendar to your own too.
Reporting on pupil progress
Reporting dates
There are several reporting stages coming up. Please note reports will be issued to learners at the following times:
Year Report type Issue date week beginning
S1 level, rating and comment 19th May
Staffing
We say farewell and thanks for all his work to Mr Fox, Teacher of Computing, who takes up a post at Dunbar Grammar School today.
School Improvement Plan (SIP) for 2025-26
We have now finalised our School Improvement Plan for 2025-26 and I am pleased to share it with you.
The aim of our School Improvement Plan is to improve attainment for all of our young people so that they leave school with the best possible set of qualifications.
We will do this by:
Consulting with all staff, families, pupils and community partners on our school’s new vision and values. Leadership of this vision will underpin all our improvement work, reflect our changing school and be in place for 2026 which is our 400th anniversary year.
A continued focus upon improving attendance
A continued focus upon high quality learning, teaching assessment as the core business of our school.
The summary of our SIP is above:
Parent Council Meeting dates
The next Parent Council briefing is Tuesday 20 May 7-8pm online. Please use this link to access the meeting:
https://meet.google.com/tkd-rakc-dor?authuser=0&hs=122
Monday 16 June: MGS PC full meeting – in person, in school 7-8pm
SQA Exam Diet
The SQA exam diet now commences on Friday 25 April, not Monday 28 April https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/files_ccc/nq-2025-exam-timetable.pdf
SQA’s learner booklet – Your Exams – is available to download from their website. The booklet contains important information for learners sitting National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher exams. It also highlights the rules that learners must know and follow to ensure they are not penalised. Please encourage your child to download and read the booklet. If you have any problems accessing the booklet please ask your child to speak to their pupil support.
Download Your Exams booklet: https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/100863.12732.html
A link to this booklet has already been made available to pupils in their google classroom.
Senior pupils arriving for exams are reminded to arrive 10 minutes before the start of the exam.
For all MGS pupils not taking exams
Can we ask parents to remind their young people that they should enter the building via the Music Department (unless they have an exam) during the exam diet. If pupils arrive after 9am, they should enter through the main front door, but are reminded to be very quiet. Thank you for your help with this.
In terms of ongoing support for exams, I hope that students are finding this revision poster helpful, and the immersion class timetable (link below) has been published. All pupils should attend their Immersion sessions (unless it coincides with an actual exam). We know these sessions are incredibly useful to pupils - it's their last opportunity to ask their teacher about anything they need assurance in.
https://sites.google.com/edubuzz.org/musselburgh-grammar-school/students/sqa-exams
Pupil Voice
On Sunday 11th May, some of our dedicated Pupil Voice group members, alongside five staff members, took part in the Bluebell 5k charity run to support MyPas, the charity that funds our school counsellor Alisa. The group raised an impressive £605 through Just Giving, a fantastic
achievement that highlights the commitment and generosity of our students and staff.
A huge thank you to our Learning and Teaching pupil group, who promoted and organised the event, ensuring its success. Despite the scorching temperatures, it was a beautiful morning for a run through Dalkeith Country Park, offering a perfect backdrop for the team to come together and support a wonderful cause.
Well done to everyone involved in this amazing effort!
MGS County Sports
Musselburgh Grammar PE department are looking for entries into this year's County Sports Competition on Tuesday 10th June. The event is a prestigious track and field meet, where pupils have an exciting opportunity to take part in athletics heats against all other schools across the region.
If your child is interested in participating, please see Maria in A45, or the PE department, as soon as possible.
Events throughout the day include: 100m, 200m, 300m, 400m, 800m, Relay, Shot Putt, Discuss, Long Jump and High Jump.
Thanks,
MGS PE Department
Active Schools
ATHLETICS
Congratulations to S1 student, Tom Ibbs, who won silver in the high jump and bronze in the 1500m at Scottish Athletics East Districts competition.
What a great start to the summer track and field season! Congratulations Tom from everyone at MGS
FOOTBALL
It’s been a busy week of football for our U14 boys team. Firstly, the boys competed in the U14 EMSFA tournament.
The team were up against some tough competition but finished with a 1-1 against Beeslack. On Monday, the boys played a friendly against North Berwick. It was a steady first half, however, the team had an amazing second half, finishing with a 4-4 draw.
The football programme across the school is recently new and driven by the enthusiasm of students and parents. A special shoutout goes to S2 pupils Molham Al Jehmani, Adnan Al Ghoush and Blair Oliver for kick starting the school football teams. Additionally, a big thank you to mums Leila McCardle and Rochelle Oliver for taking their time to support MGS Active Schools with this project.
CANCELLATIONS
Due to maintenance in the Musselburgh Sport Centre, there will be no Badminton or Volleyball from the 19th-30th May.
MGS Sports Awards 2025
Now Accepting Nominations!
MGS is delighted to announce that planning has begun for this year's Sports Awards.
Each year, the school hosts a formal, evening celebration of all the sports related success within our community.
If you wish to put forward the name of a pupil who you feel deserves to be celebrated, please complete the survey below:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1IN6ttHt5KTQG3VzxlKB4VO9U7Jf13i8BvOkzbMVmyY4/edit
Duke of Edinburgh
Our S3 Bronze DofE group completed their practice expedition last week in the glorious sunshine! Their route began at Thorntonloch near Dunbar, followed the John Muir Way along the coast and finished the following day at Pencraig Woods near East Linton. Pupils put into practice the expedition skills they have learnt in school including campcraft, map reading, route planning and even a bit of first aid (treating blisters - ouch!).
All four expedition groups displayed excellent teamwork skills, determination and resilience. We are very proud of the efforts of all the participants. The groups now reflect, plan and identify an aim/project for their assessed expedition at the end of May. Special thank you to the staff team of Mr Natta and Mrs Ferguson. A special thanks to Mrs Waye who was on her first DofE expedition and loved every minute!
Mrs Dias and Mrs Orsi
Meta Skills Event - Wednesday 21st May
Next week all S2 and S3 Computing/Woodworking pupils will be taking part in an interactive workshop event delivered by Balfour Beatty.
Each session comprises six interactive sessions that will highlight technological innovation in the construction industry and the wide range of job roles that exist in this key growth sector. Throughout the sessions, Balfour Beatty staff will highlight the importance of the essential meta skills for the world of work as well as share their own work experiences during delivery of the workshops.
We look forward to sharing some pictures with you next week of the event.
Year group attendance
Improving attendance to improve attainment is one of our school improvement priorities this year and we expect pupils’ attendance to be at least 90%. We are tracking pupils’ attendance carefully throughout the session and more information about our attendance strategy will follow. I hope parents and carers find this weekly update on each year group's attendance useful.
S1: 91 %
S2: 89%
S3: 90%
NHS Step into Allied Health Professions Work Experience Week Tuesday 17 - Friday 20 June 2025
Useful information for those interested in applying for university in 2026
Higher Education Entry Guide
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1w_ArM_UpbJJPFXdwncD8HW_UiMa0u3de/view?usp=sharing
Higher Education Open Days
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NUkBG3lqDNvbRyBGcMevg3Ymsp2duuIG/view?usp=drive_link
Medical
HPV VACCINE S1
Timetable for S1 vaccines Tuesday 3rd June 2025 - Assembly Hall
1C1 9.00am
1C2 9.15am
1G1 9.40am
1M1 9.55am
1M2 10.10am
MMR vaccine (only if you received a blue form) 10.40am
LOST PROPERTY
One cream fleece jacket and 2 water bottles handed in this week. If and of these items belong to you, please collect from Mrs Harvey's room.
MGS website and School Handbook for parents
Our website can be accessed here MGS (google.com), and it also contains our School Handbook.
School Policies
All of our policies can be viewed on our website
School Toilets
Our pupil toilets are checked on a regular basis to ensure everyone’s comfort and safety. These checks may be done by male or female staff
members, and signage is in toilets to make pupils aware of this.
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