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HEAD TEACHER'S NEWSLETTER
Friday 06 December 2024
Friday 06 December 2024
I’m sure senior pupils are breathing a sigh of relief with the end of prelims, and the Chief Invigilator asked me to pass on how well behaved and mature all students have been over the past fortnight.
The next tracking report for seniors will be issued in the week beginning 14 January, and contain information on your child/ren’s progress in these assessments.
I can hardly believe that we are now in December with the end of term only two weeks away!
The Christmas Fayre is tomorrow 11am-1pm and we hope to see many of you there. All S1 and S3 pupils have been incredibly busy working on making products to sell at their pop up stalls so it’s a chance for you to pick up reindeer dust, Christmas decorations and stocking fillers.
Have a lovely weekend.
Jodie Hannan
Key Dates
MGS Christmas Fayre - Saturday 7th December, 11am - 1pm
Christmas Jumper Day - Monday 9th December
S3 Parents’ Evening - Wednesday 11 December
Senior Christmas Dance - Tuesday 17th December, 6.30pm - 8.30pm
Christmas Concert - Thursday 19th December TICKETS AVAILABLE ON SCHOOL PAY NOW
S1/2 Christmas Ceilidh - Friday 20th December
Christmas themed dress down day - Friday 20th December
Term ends - Friday 20th December
Remember you can find all events on our school calendar, and you can add this calendar to your own too.
Parents’ Evenings dates
All Parents’ Evenings are in person 5-7pm. We will notify parents nearer the time to allow you to book appointments with teachers.
Wednesday 11 December: S3
Tuesday 21 January: S2
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: 92 %
S2: 89 %
S3: 90 %
S4: 90 %
S5: 92 %
S6: 92 %
Parent Council Meeting dates
Thursday 23 Jan: MGS PC Online briefing 7-8pm meet.google.com/vnh-jkwe-kkd
Thursday 13 Mar: MGS PC full meeting – in person, in school 7-9pm
Tuesday 20 May: MGS PC Online briefing 7-8pm meet.google.com/tkd-rakc-dor
Monday 16 June: MGS PC full meeting – in person, in school 7-8pm
Preliminary Examinations
Well done to all students that have participated, assessment results will be given to pupils, in classes before the Christmas break.
University Guide for parents
Thanks to Jacqui Stark, a parent at James Gillespie's’ High School for allowing us to share with you a guide she has written for parents and carers who are supporting their child's UCAS applications.
The guide is updated every June and September and can be accessed via this link as well as on the website in the information for parents tab: PDF Document · 868 KB
Buzzing Success with Beekeeping
We have kept you up to date with our bee keeping course which aims to provide students with unique environmental and agricultural education. This initiative comes after a year of training undergone by four of the school’s staff members at Newbattle Beekeeping Academy. Mrs. Watson, Mrs. Dias, Dr. Brown, and Mrs. Burns embarked on an extensive beekeeping program to become certified beekeepers. Each teacher was responsible for managing their own colony and successfully passed the final assessment to qualify as instructors for the new course.
Now, the school is buzzing with excitement and activity as it celebrates its first successful year resulting in the harvest of their very first batch of honey.
Students from various year groups have learned to care for bees throughout the seasons. From winter feeding to regular hive checks ensuring the bees were content and not swarming, the pupils were hands-on in every aspect of bee husbandry. Their efforts were crowned with the collection and processing of the honey, culminating in jars filled with high-quality 'summer honey', noted for its pale colour and set characteristics.
The harvested honey boasts a refractive index of 17, indicating its purity and high quality. It is mainly derived from summer flora making it a genuine product of the pupils' care and dedication throughout the year. This first batch of honey will be available for sale at the upcoming Musselburgh Grammar Christmas Fayre on 7th December for £8 per jar.
Pupils who participated in the course shared their experiences, highlighting the engaging and rewarding nature of beekeeping. One enthusiastic pupil remarked, “A lot of people are scared by beekeeping but it's been my favourite subject since I started it. It feels incredibly rewarding seeing the honey being sold after all our hard work and doing hive checks is really fun. Even the written work is interesting and I now know so much about bees including how to identify different types of bees, where to put bee hives and a lot more. Beekeeping is really fun and you won’t really get stung if you know how to 'Bee' safe! Our honey day, where we extracted the honey, was definitely the highlight of the subject so far.”
Inspiring Young Minds with LS Productions
Inspiring Young Minds with LS Productions
Last week the LS team went back to school as we welcomed pupils from across several local Edinburgh and Lothians High schools into the LS Productions offices. The ambition. To shine a light on careers in the creative, film and media industries, share a little bit about our own career journeys and to lift the lid on what really goes on behind the scenes of our mysterious black doors on Constitution Street. What followed was a brilliant and inspiring session, full of fun and interesting conversations, which only served to reaffirm our commitment to breaking down industry barriers, building grassroots connections and helping young people in Scotland (and Beyond) envisage the future creative career paths that exist on their doorstep. Planned in conjunction with DYW (Developing Young Workforce) Co-ordinators from across Edinburgh, Midlothian & East Lothian, we welcomed around 25 pupils from Preston Lodge, Musselburgh Grammar and Drummond Community High School. The visit was designed to inspire senior pupils with a keen interest in the film and television industries to learn more about the skills, experience and attributes required to work in the industry and the diverse range of pathways available.
Our MD, Sarah Drummond kicked things off, with an emotional introduction to her career journey, how she worked her way up through the industry, touching on neurodiversity and with a passionate pledge that the production industries are open to everyone from every single background with the right attitude and mindset. Taking a whistle stop tour through our services, some of our most recognisable projects (with a few celebrity anecdotes thrown in for good measure) and what a day in production really looks like, we then moved on to an interactive quiz with some ‘must have’ LS tote bag prizes up for grabs. With a Q&A session rounding things off, where some of the LS team discussed their own career journeys, the aim was to illustrate that there are no direct linear routes into the film and TV and production industries and there are many directions to travel once in. Our key message - the industry is open to you - so back yourself, work hard, create, be curious and ultimately don’t be afraid to be cheeky to push open doors and build connections. As the future of an industry is in rapid change, it is exciting to think that this generation of pupils will be the ones to drive its evolution, unlock the challenges currently facing the industry and build the creative landscape of the future. Huge thanks to the DYW for organising the session and with a special shout out to Elaine Gorman, Amy Kirk and Sue Anderson for co-ordinating each of the schools and keeping LS on track. Most of all thank you to the pupils who came, listening to what we had to say and for asking such fun and insightful questions. We hope it sparked some thoughts for the future and we look forward to welcoming some of them on set as extras based on the plans that were being hatched as they left. We’ll leave you with our favourite question of the day ‘‘Please tell me Harry Styles is as nice as I hope he is.
Festivities in Food, Fabric and Care
It’s Mrs McElhaney’s favourite time of the year in the department and I really wanted to show off the fantastic work of my S2 and S3 in Practical Cookery. Our S2's have spent the last 3 weeks creating their Gingerbread Houses and the S3 2 weeks on their Yule Logs. They are so impressive and I really hope they are proud of themselves, well done!
Watch this space on the last week of term’s newsletter as I can’t wait to show you the excellent Christmas Stockings the S3 Fashion & Textiles have been creating.
Borders College Open Day
College places for January starts
If you require help in applying for any of the above courses, please call into B16 to make an appointment with A Hoffman or S Dalton.
Save the Children Christmas Jumper Day
Time to look out those Christmas Jumpers, dust off the antlers and fluff up your Santa hats!
MGS is linking with Save the Children for Christmas Jumper Day. Ours will be on Monday 9th December. Pupils will be asked for a small donation on the day: one third will be donated to our school hardship fund, one third to the Trussell Trust foodbank and the remainder to Save the Children.
The last day of term will be a Christmas themed dress down day. Again, we will ask for a donation to go towards the places named above.
Medical
The Flu vaccinations will take place on 12th and 13th December 2024.
S3 pupils will receive a polio/dip/meningitis form next week. Please return to school as soon as possible. Vaccine will take place in March 2025.
Pupils who have Asthma should carry their inhaler with them at all times.
If you feel unwell during the school day, please go to the medical office. As a school we have a duty of care and pupils should not leave the school building without permission.
Reminder
If you don't already, please encourage your child to bring a water bottle with them - there are water fountains around the school for pupils to refill bottles.
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