MUSSELBURGH GRAMMAR SCHOOL
MUSSELBURGH GRAMMAR SCHOOL
THE GRAMMARIAN
Embedded Files
Friday 1st May 2026
Friday 1st May 2026
What a treat it is to come to school in the sun and leave while the skies are still bright blue- let’s hope it continues for the long weekend and next week’s S3 residential in Berwick upon Tweed!
Best wishes for the weekend.
Jodie
KEY DATES
Monday 4 May: Bank holiday
Monday 18 May: In Service day for staff
Tuesday 19 May: Pupils return to school
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
PARENT COUNCIL MEETING DATES
The last meeting for this session's Parent Council is:
Thursday 4th June: 6.30-8.30pm in school
STUDY LEAVE FOR S4-S6
Commences: Wednesday 22 April
Ends: Friday 29 May.
STAFFING UPDATES
Mrs Toles, DHT, is busy writing the timetable for next session and ensuring we have staff in place.
Unfortunately, we have been unable to recruit, nor able to secure probationer teachers, for Ms Ritchie’s maternity leave from her post of Business Education and for the vacant CDT post. These remain areas of critical national teacher shortage so we are currently looking at alternative and meaningful curriculum provision for several periods per week of S1 and S2 from August 2026 and will let you know the details of this in due course.
EDINBURGH MARATHON VOLUNTEERING OPPORTUNITY
🌟 Be Part of the Edinburgh Marathon Festival Event Team! 🌟
Calling all local organisations, schools, and community groups! Want to get involved in one of Scotland's biggest sporting events AND raise vital funds for your cause?
Join the Event Team and play a key role in making the Edinburgh Marathon Festival a success — while fundraising for your school, club, or organisation along the way! 💚
🔗 Register your interest today at eventteam.zone
Once you've signed up, our team will be in touch with all the details.
Don't miss this fantastic opportunity to support your community and be part of the action!
GIRLS FOOTBALL - S3/4 SPAR CUP NATIONAL FINALS
Our S3/4 Girls (with three S2’s playing up an age group!) finished in 1st place in the regional round of the SPAR Cup at Peffermill last Friday going unbeaten across the whole day.
They have now made it through both the local and regional rounds and will be one of 6 schools across the whole of Scotland taking part in the National Finals in Glasgow on June 3rd.
Congrats Girls!
GRAND DESIGNS - POND PAINT
Mr Harpham’s S3 class was given a challenge. How much paint would be needed to be bought to cover the pond refurbish?
After many measurements and calculations by Jessica, Robbie, Justin, Holly and Elodie (some were too shy to come on camera) we worked out we needed to cover 21.1m². If we are painting it twice then 42.2m² of paint is needed to be bought.
TIPS FOR HELPING YOUR CHILD WITH ANXIETY
TIPS FOR HELPING YOUR CHILD WITH ANXIETY
You may feel you have to deal with this on your own but you don’t – we are here to help. So it’s really important to get in touch with your child Guidance Teacher so we can help you and your child.
You may feel you have to deal with this on your own but you don’t – we are here to help. So it’s really important to get in touch with your child Guidance Teacher so we can help you and your child.
This video from YoungMinds shows you how to create an ‘anxiety iceberg’ with your child, to help you identify what’s bothering them. Helping your child remember that worries can pass and that things can get better gives them hope.
https://youtu.be/s5I-qvDmJ9I?si=P4B7SiP-VaLlq8dG
The YoungMinds website has more great tips on how to help your child if they are feeling anxious. You can also read more about helping teens with anxiety and helping neurodivergent teens with anxiety here.
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.
SPORTS AWARDS
Voting for MGS Sports Personality of the Year 2026 is now open.
We are looking for the young person who has been a stand out participant in all aspects of sport, both in school and in the community. If someone you know has an inspiring story, demonstrated the best version of themselves or achieved in a high level of performance, please make it known!
Previous award winners have included:
-National athletes and champions
-Volunteer coaches, referees and helpers
-Role models within sport
-High level performance and participation across multiple sports
If you wish to submit a nomination for an award, please complete the short survey below, including as much detail as possible. Closing date for nominations will be Monday 18th May.
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.
NOTES FROM THE OFFICE
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
CAR PARK SAFETY
A reminder that for everyone’s safety, the car park is only to be used for staff and visitor parking, not dropping pupils off, waiting for them to
leave school at the end of the day, nor for driving lessons.
Pupils should be dropped off in the turning circle outside the school gates and use the pavement to walk into school, not walk through the car park.
Thank you for your support with this.
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.
MEDICAL
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.
Asthma - All pupils who have Asthma please make sure you have an inhaler with you at all times.
LOST PROPERTY
LOST PROPERTY
A few new items in lost property, if you have lost anything, please go and see Ms Harvey after the Easter break.
A few new items in lost property, if you have lost anything, please go and see Ms Harvey after the Easter break.
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.
Our Healthy Respect drop in service runs in school every Wednesday lunchtime. 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.
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.
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