MUSSELBURGH GRAMMAR SCHOOL

THE GRAMMARIAN

Friday 27th March 2026

What a wonderful morning!

Our whole school paraded through Musselburgh as our big event to celebrate our 400th anniversary: thank you so much to our community of families, alumni, primary schools and neighbours who cheered us on along the route and made it such a special day for us all.

All our staff and young people thoroughly enjoyed the walk and represented the Grammar so proudly- I am bursting with pride in them!

I am very grateful to our community for their support and thought I would leave the last word to Iain Clark, Deputy Lieutenant, on the experience:

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I wanted to offer my warm congratulations to you and everyone at Musselburgh Grammar School on the marking of 400 years. The anniversary parade was a truly outstanding celebration and a moment of real pride for the whole town.

As a former pupil, I was especially grateful for the invitation to attend. It meant a great deal to be included in such a significant milestone for the school and for the wider Musselburgh community.

The pupils were exceptional throughout the parade. Their enthusiasm, conduct and sense of occasion reflected brilliantly on the Grammar. It was clear how much preparation had gone into the event, and the young people carried it with confidence and pride.

It was also wonderful to see the strong support from the community, local primary schools and nurseries. Their involvement highlighted the continuity of learning across the town and the shared commitment to community, heritage and partnership.

Congratulations to all staff, pupils and partners involved. It was a superb celebration of 400 years and a reminder of the Grammar’s enduring place at the heart of Musselburgh.

Kind regards,

Iain

Iain Clark DL

Former Pupil

Have a lovely weekend everyone,

Jodie

Lovely to see our 1952 Dux of MGS Jim Wood walking in the parade today

KEY DATES

Beginning 30 March: SQA assemblies and SQA timetables issued to S4-S6

Wednesday 1 April: Parent Council online briefing 7.30-8.30pm. This will include a discussion with Jennifer Boyle, Quality Improvement Officer, about the proposal to site an ASN provision at MGS.

Thursday 2 April: S4-S6 leavers ceremony

QUALIFICATIONS SCOTLAND

The SQA is now known as Qualifications Scotland, and the exam timetable for 2026 can be viewed here: https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/files_ccc/nq-2026-exam-timetable.pdf

VISION AND VALUES

I am delighted to let you know that after extensive consultation with our school community over the past 6 months, we have now finalised our school’s refreshed vision and values.

Our values are honesty, respect and perseverance, and our vision is Together everyone achieves more.

The We are beside our values and our TEAM vision represents our ethos of everyone belonging to our school and promoting ambition in all we do as a TEAM.

Musselburgh Grammar School:

We are honest

We are respectful

We persevere

Together everyone achieves more

The final design and branding is still to be done but it was important that we had our identity in place for our parade next Friday, and our vision and values will be on the banners that our Values Ambassadors will be carrying at the front of the procession.

Thanks to Mrs Toles, acting DHT and Grammar alumni for the interim banner design.

POWERING FUTURES 2026

2 teams of S5/6 pupils presented to a panel of judges as part of their Powering Futures course at Easter Road Stadium this week. Judges came from companies such as Price Waterhouse Cooper, Zero Waste, Marine services and Forth Green Freeport.

Powering Futures in an SCQF level 6 course that helps pupils to develop their meta skills and work on real work challenges set by industry. One team was challenged to find a way to encourage people to eat more seafood (by Seafood Scotland) and the other looked at ways to use old containers (set by BAE systems). Throughout the year, the pupils have been building up their presentation through looking at techniques such as the Disney creative process, pillars of sustainability and risk mitigation. They have worked closely with Stuart Turnbull, from Musselburgh, who has worked on high profile transport planning projects.

We are very proud of all of the pupils who took part. Not only did they create presentations that were detailed and imaginative, they spoke confidently and answered questions from the panel well.

OCEAN YOUTH TRUST

I first discovered OYTS when I was invited to join a voyage in October 2024. At first, I was really nervous about getting on the boat, and it was only with Hoff’s encouragement that I finally did. The first couple of days were unsettling, but once I relaxed, I didn’t want to leave.
I loved the experience so much that I started researching how to join another trip. I begged Hoff to put me down as a reserve and ended up in her office every day until I was lucky enough to get a place. On that voyage, I stepped up as a leader and role model for the group.
Through the trips, I grew more confident speaking to people on one voyage I met Connor McNara, Youth Worker for OYTS who introduced me to Youth Voice, gave me a card, and encouraged me to get in touch. I emailed them and soon became part of Youth Voice. I even spent a weekend in Oban on board Alba Ventura (I’m still waiting for my chance to experience Alba Explorer).
That first sailing trip truly changed me. My confidence has grown, my mental health has improved, I’ve built a wide circle of new friends, and I discovered a real love for sailing I didn’t know I had.
I’m so grateful for the opportunities OYTS has given me. I am completing my bosun training on 3 April 2026 to continue this amazing journey.

To top this, I did some fund raising for OYTS, abseiling at the Falkirk Wheel on 22 March. I was extremely nervous but I managed to raise £575 to date. If you would like to donate here is the link https://www.justgiving.com/page/joanne-friend-1 any help is appreciated.

Amy Friend

PARENT COUNCIL MEETING DATES

These are the dates for this session’s Parent Council meetings:

22nd April 7.30pm-8.30pm online

https://meet.google.com/csy-mvmg-mtu?authuser=0&hs=122

Thursday 4th June: 6.30-8.30pm in school

SPORTING ACHIEVEMENTS - we want to hear from you!

At Musselburgh Grammar School, we want to celebrate the successes of our young people. If you want to share the achievements of your child with the school, please email mlyle@elcschool.org.uk

YEAR GROUP ATTENDANCE

As a reminder, school absenteeism remains a significant challenge across Scotland. In 2023/24, 31.4% of pupils were persistently absent, missing 10% or more of the school year. While this has since improved, with a 2.9 percentage point decrease to 28.5%, absenteeism continues to impact learning, wellbeing, and attainment.

ATTENDANCE MATTERS

If you are concerned about your child’s attendance, please reach out to the schools Attendance Officer or your child's Pupil Support Leader for support.

Have a look at the Parent Club website, there is a lot of useful information on here to help. Whether it’s managing anxiety, easing stress, or working with the school, Parent Club has practical advice and support for you.

INDIVIDUAL SUCCESS FOR MGS STUDENTS

Over the past week, there has been plenty of sporting success for students across the school.

Firstly, Tom Ibbs (S2) represented Scotland at the SIAB Cross Country event in Wales. The competition consisted of the home nation teams competing against each other on a tough running course. Tom had a superb individual run, helping to secure his team to place 3rd in the competition!

Secondly, Nina Millar (S1) took to the pool to represent Musselburgh Grammar School at the Scottish Schools Swimming Qualifier- East Lothian and Borders Schools Trials. Nina not only achieved a personal best in the 100m breaststroke but won a bronze medal too!

Eilidh McIntyre (S3) has been selected to join Edinburgh Rugby’s U16 Pro-Alignment Squad! Musselburgh RFC have been a valuable part in Eilidh’s sporting journey- from taking part in their mini rugby section to being part of pathway training and crunch matches at the Hive Stadium and Oriam.

From everyone at Musselburgh Grammar School, we congratulate Tom, Nina and Eilidh on their hardwork, dedication and determination that have taken them to achieve in their individual sports.

If you have any achievements or news of what your child has gotten up to in their individual or team sports, please contact Maria Lyle, Active Schools Coordinator: mlyle@elcschool.org.uk

THE HONEST THREAD

Our Honest Thread, “free to a good home” initiative is a new way to share gently used school uniforms within our school community. Anyone who is in need of these items are welcome to request them free of charge.

If you would like to receive any uniform items, please complete the short Google Form below. This allows us to organise requests and prepare your order for collection from the School Office.

https://forms.gle/8NGk3eGnr5M9bMd56

The form will be added to on a regular basis and we hope that we will be able to include items other than schoolwear; this scheme is entirely donation based, so families are always invited to donate clean, good-quality items they no longer need. All donations are much appreciated and can be dropped off at the School Office FAO Ms Ritchie.

UNIFORM REMINDER

Thank you for your ongoing support of our dress code.

Wearing uniform in school continues to be an important feature in school, not least for a safety aspect, as it allows us to identify who all our pupils are.

As our S5 and S6 pupils have chosen to return to school and are aware of the expectations of uniform and attendance laid out at the beginning of the session, I do expect our seniors to uphold our uniform standards. This is not only for safety reasons but also as role models to all younger students.

To encourage this, uniform wearing will be considered alongside attendance as a deciding factor for seniors attending social events.

Our uniform expectations are:

Trousers/ skirt- black only
White shirt and tie
Black jumper

Blue jeans, ripped jeans, cropped/ belly tops, band t-shirts and joggers/ tracksuits etc are not part of our dress code.

Please get in touch with the school office or your child’s PSL (Pupil Support Leader) if we can support with any uniform items.

Thank you for your ongoing support of our dress code.

CAR PARK SAFETY

A safety reminder to all families who drop children off at school in the morning that they should be dropped off in the turning circle

outside the main gates and then use the footpath to the main doors, not walk through the car park.

This is due to a few near accidents recently with the volume of cars in the car park and pupils walking through it. If it is essential to come into the car park then the one way system must be used, again, to prevent accidents.

In addition, any S6 pupils having driving lessons should not be using the school car park for any part of the lesson due to the amount of cars in the area including narrow lanes and parking bays.

Thank you for your support.

NOTES FROM THE OFFICE

Reminder that all absences should be reported before 8am by texting 07860 049075. Please help us cut down on staff time and costs by notifying us before we have to contact you.

Please also remember to let us know in advance of any healthcare appointments for your young person, to save time at the point they need to leave school. If we haven’t been notified in advance, we will need to call you to verify, which may delay their departure from school.

We would like your help to ensure that all young people arriving in school after 08:30am sign in with the QR Code or office staff to avoid any unnecessary messages home.

PUPIL SUPPORT

If you would like to speak with a member of the Guidance Team (Pupil Support Leaders) please email Pupil Support Admin on: pupilsupport@musselburghgrammar.elcschool.org.uk

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.

MEDICAL

HPV will take place on Thursday 11th June 2026. Please return all forms to school asap. All S1 Boys and Girls and some catch ups too.

Asthma - All pupils who have Asthma please make sure you have an inhaler with you at all times.

Thank you C Harvey

LOST PROPERTY

A few new items in lost property, if you have lost anything, please go and see Ms Harvey

MGS WEBSITE AND SCHOOL HANDBOOK FOR PARENTS

Our website has lots of useful information for parents, and includes our School Handbook and School Policies. Have a look! We welcome your feedback.

Our Healthy Respect drop in service runs every Wednesday lunchtime in the Training Room. This NHS run wellbeing service is in a discreet area of school, is free and confidential, and offers support and advice to young people on a range of matters including sexual health information for pupils over the age of 13.

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