Embedded Files
HEAD TEACHER'S NEWSLETTER
Friday 8th November 2024
Friday 8th November 2024
It’s been another busy week in school as well as planning ahead for various events. I hope you enjoy reading all about it, and seeing you on Wednesday at our Employability Pathways evening 6-8pm.
Have a lovely weekend.
Jodie Hannan
Key Dates
Wednesday 13 November: Employability Pathways evening open to all S1-S6 pupils and parents/ carers 6-8pm
Remember you can find all events on our school calendar, and you can add the calendar to your own too.
Staffing
Mrs Fullerton, Teacher of Business Education leaves MGS today. Her post was advertised but unfortunately we are not able to proceed to interview due to lack of applicants. We intend readvertising the post and while I remain hopeful we will be able to fill the post, Business Education is a national shortage subject with multiple unfilled vacancies across the country.
From Monday 11 November there will therefore be changes to the Technologies Faculty timetable with Mrs Fullerton’s classes reallocated to other members of Technologies staff.
Ms Casado, Art Teacher, is retiring from MGS at Christmas. Her permanent part time post has been advertised and interviews are being held on Thursday.
Parents’ Evenings dates
All Parents’ Evenings are in person 5-7pm.
Wednesday 11 December: S3
Tuesday 21 January: S2
Prelims Timetables
Individual prelim timetables will be handed out at registration early next week.
SQA Assemblies
Mrs Watson will be holding SQA assemblies at the following times below:
Wednesday 13th November – S5 & S6 during period 5 PSE/PE
Thursday 14th November – S4 During registration
Parent Council dates
Thursday 21 Nov: MGS PC Online briefing 7-8pm meet.google.com/oxc-fwdh-pmz
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
S2 reports
Will be issued to pupils to bring home in the week beginning Monday 18 November.
Mobile phone policy
Please see attached letter from Nicola McDowell, Head of Education, which outlines ELC’s position on the use of mobile phones in schools.
The Grammar’s policy remains that all phones should remain in bags unless requested by teachers for learning purposes. If a pupil is using a phone without permission 1 warning is given, and if seen again should be handed over to the teacher to retain for the period. Pupils requesting out of class for the toilet should leave their phone with the teacher and not take it to the toilet.
All our policies can be viewed on our website MGS (google.com
Anti-Bullying Policy Re-Launch
During assemblies this week Mr Nisbet, Pupil Support Leader, highlighted our new anti-bullying policy to students and staff. There will be further lessons in PSE next week which is anti-bullying week (this year's focus being ‘Respect’).
There will now be a new online form to fill in for any conflict / or bullying incidents that take place in / out of school. This will be shared via students Google Classroom, the school website and via QR codes around the school. Of course pupils / parents can still report any incidents to our Pupil Support Workers, Pupil Support Leaders, Head of House or other staff member face-to-face.
More policy details to follow in the near future!
Skills Development Scotland
Skills Development Scotland – Helping young people with career decisions and next steps, Webinar hosted by Connect for parents and carers
Tuesday 12 November, 7pm
Webinar hosted by Connect and open to all parents and carers as part of Careers Week!
Parents and carers can join this live online Information Session with Skills Development Scotland (SDS) to find out more about the different opportunities for young people as they make option choices in school, think about their careers and plan their next steps. Find out about SDS careers services support, including the My World of Work website and its resources for young people and parents. Get information about apprenticeships and more.
PLEASE NOTE: This session runs from 7-8pm.
Register here: https://www.connect.scot/events/skills-development-scotland-helping-young-people-career-decisions-and-next-steps-online-12-november
Parents and carers can sign up to this free webinar: Skills Development Scotland – Helping young people with career decisions and next steps, hosted by Connect, Tuesday 12 November, 7pm Register here: https://www.connect.scot/events/skills-development-scotland-helping-young-people-career-decisions-and-next-steps-online-12-november
Skills Development Scotland – Helping young people with career decisions and next steps, Webinar hosted by Connect for parents and carers
Tuesday 12 November, 7pm
Webinar hosted by Connect and open to all parents and carers as part of Careers Week!
Parents and carers can join this live online Information Session with Skills Development Scotland (SDS) to find out more about the different opportunities for young people as they make option choices in school, think about their careers and plan their next steps. Find out about SDS careers services support, including the My World of Work website and its resources for young people and parents. Get information about apprenticeships and more.
PLEASE NOTE: This session runs from 7-8pm.
Register here: https://www.connect.scot/events/skills-development-scotland-helping-young-people-career-decisions-and-next-steps-online-12-november
You can now find us in the following locations:
Monday 9am to 4pm – Pennypit Community Centre, Double Dykes, Rope Walk, Prestonpans
Tuesday 11am to 4pm – Musselburgh East Community Learning Centre, Haddington Road, Musselburgh. Drop in every week from 2-3pm.
Tuesday 12pm to 4pm – Volunteer Centre East Lothian, 56 High Street, Tranent.
Wednesday 1pm to 5pm – Bleachingfields Centre, Countess Crescent, Dunbar.
Thursday 1pm to 5pm – Citizens Advice Bureau, 46 Court Street, Haddington.
Every 2nd Friday 9:30am to 12:30pm – Job Centre Plus, Eskmills Park, Musselburgh.
Please call us on 0131 665 3120 to make an appointment with one of our advisers
myworldofwork.co.uk - for all your work, skills and learning needs
employers.sds.co.uk - supporting businesses across Scotland
apprenticeships.scot - for all the latest on apprenticeships
skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk - corporate website
committed to best practice - our external accreditations
Remembrance Assemblies
Thanks to the Humanities faculty for our Remembrance Assemblies this morning.
Very well done to Aimee-Lee Swan, Rosa Morris, Victor Carr, Ella Main, Anna Parisi and Martha Bremner for leading these important commemorations.
A big thank you to the Brass musicians for providing music for the assemblies; Julia Scott, Hannah Scott, Noah McBirnie and Zoa Strachan. These pupils will also be playing for the community this Sunday.
H/AH trip to Torness Power Station
Geography pupils visited Torness Power Station on Tuesday in order to better understand the potential positive and negative impacts of nuclear power. We had a really informative guided tour around the power station with lots of opportunities to ask questions and view all the inner workings of the station. Pupils will be able to use this information as part of their coursework assignments later in the term.
We also had talks from two employees which gave a lot of insight into employment opportunities and pathways within EDF energy. The first talk was from an engineer who had followed a graduate program and the second was in his 4th year of an apprenticeship. EDF will also be at the MGS Pathways evening on 13th Nov for anyone who would like further information.
Mrs Orsi and Mrs Dias
Social Enterprise; The Honest Thread
Big well done to Hamish Delaney and Ewan McLaughlan (S3) who have rebranded our social enterprise: The Honest Thread.
Great work!
Reminder that we are still looking for the following items to help with our launch:
School clothes
Casual clothes
Sports clothes/equipment
Jackets
Halloween/dress up
Christmas dance
Prom
Dalguise - costumes/general outdoor clothing
Nightwear (including eyemasks/hot water bottles etc)
Shoes
Accessories
School bags/luggage
Toiletries: deodorant/body spray/toothpaste/toothbrush/wipes/shower gel etc
Make up/Hair products/accessories
Stationery
Books
Any donations should be handed in for Miss Ritchie.
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: 87 %
S3: 88 %
S4: 88 %
S5: 93 %
S6: 92 %
Future Pathways Evening
We are excited to invite you, along with your family and friends, to our Future Pathway Evening on Wednesday, 13 November from 6pm – 8pm.
This event is a valuable opportunity for pupils of all ages, whether you are currently making subject choices or planning for the future. Every school department will be attending alongside universities, colleges, employers and the Army and Navy. This is an ideal chance to connect with these professionals, explore career paths and seek advice in areas that interest you as you prepare for the future in the world of work.
Musselburgh Rotary Club’s Young Musician of the Year Competition
This year’s Rotary Club’s Young Musician of the Year competition will be held next Thursday 17 November at 7pm at Loretto Chapel. This event features musicians from MGS, Mansfield School of Music and Loretto. MGS will be proudly represented by 5 MGS pupils; Tom Barrett, Dan Barrett, Jacob Ng, Kira Meszaros, Natalia Benedetto. Come along on the night and wish them all luck!
SCQF Ambassador Update
Last week, we held engaging assemblies which focused on encouraging more pupils to get involved as SCQF ambassadors. Our goal is to expand our group and to continue promoting the benefits of alternative courses and a more varied curriculum. We were thrilled to announce to pupils that we’ve achieved our Bronze Award and that we’re now just a few steps away from reaching our Silver Award - we can’t wait to celebrate that milestone together.
To keep the momentum going, we plan to be active at parent council meetings and visit PSE classrooms to talk directly with pupils about the exciting opportunities that alternative courses offer. We also aim to highlight alternative courses in our future newsletters and on our notice board to increase awareness and understanding. In addition, Mrs Neill is attending an SCQF event which is focussed on how to increase parental engagement with curriculum development and alternative courses. With the support of parents and pupils, we’re confident we can grow our group and achieve the silver award together.
At our last meeting we took a moment to say goodbye to Mrs. Fullerton, expressing our heartfelt gratitude for everything she has done for us. We’re excited to welcome our new teachers, Mrs. Burns and Mr. Jordan, to the team! The future is looking bright for the SCQF team at Musselburgh Grammar!
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
Winter Fayre
Head Team
Hi everyone!
We hope you all had a great Halloween and managed to see some fireworks on Tuesday.
This week we were busy organising for some upcoming events! As I'm sure many of you will know Monday is Remembrance day so we will be laying a wreath at the WW11 war memorial in Musselburgh (opposite the Caprice) on Sunday at 12.30pm to pay our respects. If you are able please come along as it would be wonderful to see as many people as possible, don't forget to wear a Poppy!
We had a prefect meeting on Wednesday to catch up with what's happening surrounding their duties and after school events. We are making some changes to the way prefects will do their duties to hopefully make them more visible in school. This was really well attended and we think making some changes will really help.
Looking into next week we have our employability evening on Wednesday from 18:00-21:00 so if you are interested please come along! It is a great opportunity to learn about university applications, colleges, apprenticeship and much more. We would recommend the experience to all years!
The junior pupil leaders will soon be visiting the primary schools to help build the bond between primary and secondary schools, and hopefully make the transition from P7 to S1 really smooth and less daunting! They will be accompanied by Ailsa to Whitecraig Primary school on the 11th of November and will eventually go round all of the primary schools to talk to them about high school life and answer any questions they may have.
Have a great weekend!
-Katie, Ailsa & Summer
Study support
Study support
Our updated One Stop Shop for Study Skills is now updated for this session and included in this email as the links to each site are live.
Mrs Donnelly, Curriculum Leader of Technologies, will also be running drop in sessions on how to use the online resource Achieve for parents, carers and pupils at 4.45-5pm then 7-7.20pm on both of the Senior Phase Parents Evenings (Wednesday 23 October, and Tuesday 29 October) before teacher appointments begin at 5pm.
MGS Revision Resource Poster.pdfExtra Curricular clubs and Study Support Sessions
We have added links to our website with information on all lunchtime/after school clubs, and also our Study Support sessions. You can find it all in the ‘Student’ section of our school website.
SQA Exam Diet 2025
Please follow this link to see the SQA Exam timetable for Spring 2025: Exam timetable and learner apps - SQA
Medical
The Flu vaccination will take place on 12th and 13th December 2024. If you did not receive a form please go and see Ms Harvey in the Medical room. All forms must be returned to school as soon as possible.
All pupils who have Asthma please have your inhaler with you in your school bag at all times
If you are unwell during the school day please go and sign out with Ms Harvey. As a school we have a duty of care for pupils. Do not leave the school building on your own and go home without permission. I will call your parent/carer
C Harvey
School Medical Assistant
MGS website and School Handbook for parents
Here is the link to our website, and it also contains our School Handbook.
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