HEAD TEACHER'S NEWSLETTER
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MUSSELBURGH GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Friday 19 September 2025
Friday 19 September 2025
It was lovely to welcome so many S1 families to school on Tuesday for their first high school parents’ evening. I know how much we all enjoyed meeting parents and carers to share the positive settling in stories and progress so far, and I am sure the good news will continue.
Please see further information in the newsletter on my plan to consult with our community on our school’s vision and values and how you can be a vital part of this exciting discussion.
Happy weekend everyone.
Jodie Hannan
Key Dates
S1 Parents Evening Tuesday 16th September 5pm - 7pm.
P7 Parents Visit Wednesday 1st October.
Remember you can find all events on our school calendar, and you can add the calendar to your own too.
Staffing update
Farewell to Mrs Lynch, Teacher of Art & Design who leaves us today: we wish her all the best in her new role.
We welcome Mr Fraser, ASN Auxiliary, and Ms Edwards, PSW in Inclusion to the MGS team.
I am very pleased to say that we have been able to recruit a permanent part time Teacher of Mathematics to replace Mrs Coyle, and Mr Archibald will commence after the October Break.
Senior Phase Reports
S4, S5 and S6 received their Tracking and Monitoring reports this week which include current working grades and target grades for this session.
Please click this link to find out more about the information provided on your child’s report:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xuJfgCbQua1RXo8YKc6NgN2CjnkNQnh77JKfdTFPpVU/edit?usp=sharing
Our school’s vision and values
You may be aware that one of our School Improvement Priorities this year is to refresh and reset our school’s vision and values.
Between recording our best exam results in almost a decade at S4 and S5, experiencing quite a lot of change with our school roll, and approaching our 400th anniversary next year, it feels like the right time to revisit our vision for our school, the values we hold dear and discuss what we want our school to give our young people.
Your voice is really important in shaping the school’s future and I want to gather as many views as possible from students, staff, families, associated primaries, our partners and the wider community over the next few months and will be emailing all families with further details about how you can be part of the discussion.
Parent Council Meeting Dates
These are the dates for this session’s Parent Council meetings:
Tuesday 4 November AGM 6.30-8.30pm in school.
Thursday 11 December 7-8pm online https://meet.google.com/idi-dhis-hjo?authuser=0&hs=122
Tuesday 3 February 7-8pm online https://meet.google.com/csy-mvmg-mtu?authuser=0&hs=122
Wednesday 1 April 7-8pm online https://meet.google.com/csy-mvmg-mtu?authuser=0&hs=122
Thursday 4 June 6.30-8.30pm in school
House assemblies this week were led by the Pupil Voice team with lots of useful information about what Pupil Voice involves, what it wants to achieve and how pupils can have a voice in school.
Next week’s Pupil Voice meeting will include a discussion about our new school vision and values as part of the consultation process with all young people.
Pupil Radio Show
It’s always a pleasure to share news of what our pupils are up to, not just in school and so I am pleased to share with you that Gracie Peattie and Aimee Lee Swan have their own radio show on Radio Saltire called The Young Team!
The show is based in Tranent, aimed at young people but we welcome all ages! They often like to talk about the community and what's happening in the local area.
Gracie and Aimee Lee love interacting with their audience so you can message them via their Facebook account called Radio Saltire's Young Team.
Radio Saltire is currently working on an Instagram page too, and you can tune into The Young Team every Saturday 11am-1pm.
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.
East Lothian Works and Economic Development are working with SCMA this year on childminder recruitment. A drop in event is planned for Tuesday 14th October for anyone who may be interested in starting up as a childminder.
Our Healthy Respect drop in service will start again in school from next Wednesday 24 September and run 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.
PRESS RELEASE FROM UNICEF 19.09.25
Musselburgh Grammar School receives prestigious UNICEF UK Award
Musselburgh Grammar School has been awarded the Silver Rights Respecting School Award by UNICEF UK.
UNICEF is the world’s leading organisation working for children and their rights. The Rights Respecting Schools Award is granted to schools that show commitment to promoting and realising children’s rights and encouraging adults, children, and young people to respect the rights of others in school. Silver is given to schools that make excellent progress towards embedding the principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child into its ethos and curriculum. There are over 1,300 schools across England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales that have achieved Silver and over 600 schools that have been awarded Gold, the next step up and highest accolade granted by UNICEF UK.
The Award recognises achievement in putting the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child at the heart of a school’s planning, policies and practice. A Rights Respecting School is a community where children’s rights are learned, taught, practised, respected, protected and promoted.
The UNICEF UK Rights Respecting Schools initiative is aimed at schools across the UK, including those in an early years setting. Currently, it works with nearly 5,000 primary schools, secondary schools, schools for children and young people with special educational needs and pupil referral units across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Schools have reported a positive impact on pupil behaviour, relationships and well-being by enhancing pupils’ self-esteem, leading to less truancy and bullying, better learning and improved academic standards.
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.
Blythwood Shoebox Appeal
The Bronze Duke of Edinburgh group is coordinating the Blythswood Shoebox appeal this year. Shoeboxes filled with gifts are delivered to schools, orphanages, care homes and households in low income communities across 8 different countries including Ukraine. You can support this cause by:
Filling a shoebox and dropping it in to school by the 1st October
Donating items that can be put into shoeboxes such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, packs of cards, hat/ scarf/ gloves, small toys, make up, stationary items. Please hand items in by 24th Sept so that boxes can be filled.
All items MUST BE NEW AND UNOPENED.
Any donations can be handed in to Mrs Dias (D7) or Mrs Orsi (D9). Leaflets can also be collected from there. For more information, check out the charity website:
HEAD TEAM
This week we have continued our focus on prefects. They were present helping out at the S1 Parents' Evening and they will be on hand to help out at more events in the coming weeks. We have also met with them to start introducing the duties we have planned for them, and are in the process of making a rota.
Grace is in close planning with the P7 parents evening next week as part of her initiative for the year, Holly has presented at this week's assemblies for Pupil Voice applications as a part of hers. Libby has also been coming up with ideas for the 400th anniversary.
Have a lovely weekend!
Medical
All flu forms must be returned ASAP to school
Lost property
A black jumper was found in the playground. Please see Ms Harvey to claim any lost property.
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.
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
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