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HEAD TEACHER'S NEWSLETTER
Time to turn off the alarm clock and laptop! I'm sure we’re all looking forward to a week off school and I wish you all a lovely October Break however you are spending it.
Jodie Hannan
Parents’ Evening
It was lovely to see so many families in school for the first in person parents’ consultation since 2019 and thanks to all parents for their positive feedback. I am aware of some frustration caused by a delayed start and this will be rectified for the next parents’ evening.
Staff
Congratulations to Mr Wright, Teacher of Physics, who has been appointed to a teaching post in Edinburgh. Mr Wright leaves us at the end of October. His post is currently advertised and until a replacement is appointed, his classes will be taught by a supply Science teacher.
Key Dates
Monday 17- 21 October: October Break
Monday 24 October: Bank Holiday
Tuesday 25 October: Inset Day for staff
Wednesday 26 October: all pupils return to school
Wednesday 26 October: Parents’ Evening for all Primary 7 parents in school 7-9pm
Thursday 27 October: S1 Fright Night
Kayla and Rory's Weekly Rundown
Hi guys, welcome back to another weekly rundown. We hope you are all looking forward to the October break and take a break from all of your hard work. Quick reminder for all S1s - Fright Night tickets are £2 and are available via iPay (how you put money on your young scot card).
This week was S3 parents' evening, we really enjoyed being there and seeing all our S3 pupils, we hope you didn’t get in to too much trouble! Also a big thanks to the prefects who helped out at the event
Have a good last day and we will see you in 2 weeks! :)
House System Update
Class of the Term: 1G3 (1721 points)
We are excited to announce that Hibs FC have kindly provided us with free tickets to their home games this season. We have awarded several pupils this term based on their hard work and commitment to their learning this term.
The winners were:
100% Attendance
Wyatt Mundell
Rachel Smith
Most House Points Awarded
Mila Grbic
Callie Cuthbertson
Pupil of the Term
Felix Lodziewski
A massive well done to these pupils!
For information on how to redeem your prize, please check your edubuzz email or see Miss Holmes in PE for more information.
Thanks must go to Hibs FC for providing us with these tickets that allow us to recognise our pupils for their hard work!
Please see below for information on Hibs’ School Programme and their discounted tickets!
https://www.hibernianfc.co.uk/article/st-johnstone-h-friday-night-under-the-lights
Parent Council
The 2022 MGS PC AGM (that’s an awful lot of letters eh? 😂) was held on Wednesday 12th October. We had new members join us, some members were bid a fond farewell and there were some minor changes to post holders. We’ve prepared an annual report and accounts for your reading pleasure. These will be circulated by the school. We’ve got 3 sub-groups to establish and you can join these without being part of the PC. They are 1) Learning, teaching and curriculum 2) Inclusion, Equity and Wellbeing and 3) Fundraising, Events and Communication join us, have fun (yes really!) and help us support the school community for everyone’s benefit.
We have two “help wanted” notices to share – is anyone an accountant who would look at our accounts as an ‘independent’ please? The accounts are short so won’t take up much of your time. We need a new clerk and this is a paid position. Clerks prepare agendas, take minutes, and check the parent council inbox regularly. There is lots of support from the Chair to help you settle into your post. If you are a S4-S6 pupil and interested in doing it – you must have a National Insurance number and be able to attend online/ in person meetings running as late as 21:00 hrs.
Thanks to all who joined us on Wednesday – the next meeting is an online meeting on Wednesday 9th November. A google meet link will be sent out closer to the time.
Support for Learning
Free to good home stall was this week and what a fantastic success it was. Mrs Howie and Mrs Beveridge dedicated so much of their time to this fabulous community wide initiative and managed to produce one of our biggest ever displays.
Thanks so much for everyone's donations and to all of the pupils/staff (too many to mention) that gave up their free time to come and help out. Another massive success for our support department and a great way of highlighting the importance of sustainability in MGS.
Eco Club Update
Our Eco Club members have been very busy over the past few weeks, washing, drying, counting and writing messages on the crisp packets collected this term. So far this term we have collected 99 crisp packets which is enough for one blanket or two mats for the homeless. Thank you so much to all involved, please continue to collect crisp packets and pass them on to us!
Pupils have also been super busy coming up with ideas for our school’s Eco Code and after lots of hard work and votes from all around the school we are pleased to present our MGS Eco Code:
Travel & Tourism
The N4/5 Travel and Tourism class visited Edinburgh College to carry out some cabin crew training this week. Each group had to train as a role for cabin crew including welcoming passengers and making announcements, the safety demonstration, pre flight checks and running the food service. All of those who participated were assessed and completed the work based unit of the course. The staff at the college were very impressed with the enthusiasm of the group - and some would make excellent cabin crew! Thank you to Edinburgh College for their support - and filling the trolly with lots of snacks and drinks to make the experience more realistic!
Ribbons for Ukraine
Pupils in Support for Learning and Inclusion have been making ribbons for Ukraine. A big thank you to Mrs Riding for helping pupils with this!
This week the Personal Achievement Award started to sell ribbons to MGS staff, raising £35 in just three periods! Our hope is to continue to sell these tokens of solidarity after the holidays and to sell them to pupils on the dress down day for Ukrainian refugees in November. Ribbons will be sold for £1 donation.
Music
Huge congrats and thank you to all the pupils who performed at the East Lothian Instrumental Music Service concert at St. Mary’s Parish Church in Haddington this week. The concert was in aid of MacMillan Cancer Support. Well done to Fraser Walters, Michael Hoole and the MGS Wind Band for showcasing their talents!
Ex-pupil visit to MGS
Dr Colin Kilday, an ex-pupil visited MGS to talk to S6 pupils who are considering a career in medicine. He is very supportive of the school and would like to ease the burden of anyone applying for medicine by offering his valued advice.
Colin studied at Glasgow Medical School from 2012-2018, he then moved to Yorkshire to work as a Junior Doctor and is now studying to become a GP.
If you are in S5 and intending to study medicine and would like Dr Colin Kilday to assist with work experience, UCAS form etc, contact Ms A Hoffman, Rm 16.
Blythswood Shoebox Appeal
We now have 20 boxes packed, checked and ready to go! We have another 22 boxes partially filled and need more items to get them ready for dispatch. In order to complete these boxes, the key items that we need donated are: hat/ scarves/ gloves, socks, toothbrushes and toothpaste.
We are very grateful for all donations that we have received so far and welcome any final donations when we return to school between 26-28th October. The boxes are being collected on Friday 4th November.
Thank you for your support, Mrs Dias and the D of E crew.
Literacy
The Super Power Agency is now at Musselburgh Grammar! Want to get involved? Email your interest and a little about yourself and they'll get back to you.
Fright Night
We are delighted that the S1 Fright Night Disco and Horror Tour is back!
There is an unknown virus that has taken over MGS and we need our S1s to help the scientists with experiments to find a cure. You are encouraged to dress up!
Tickets to attend are £2 and you can pay online via ipay.
We hope to see you there!
If you have any questions, please see Miss Holmes in PE.
Pupil Support
Sorry to be mentioning the Christmas word so early, but we are delighted that the MGS Christmas Market has got the go ahead this year and will take place on Saturday 10th December. Pupils in the Inclusion space have been given the task of arranging the raffle for this event and we are in the process of handing out letters to all local businesses to ask for donations. We would also be very grateful to receive any prizes that parents and carers may be willing to donate. Last year, we were very lucky to receive some excellent prize donations from local businesses, parents and carers and raised over £200 in the raffle alone. If you can donate anything towards our raffle, please hand it in to the school office and let the staff know it’s for the Christmas raffle. Thank you for all your support.
Future Pathways Evening
Healthy Respect Drop-in
The Healthy Respect Drop-in is on Fridays term time 12-1.30pm at the Gatehouse in Lewisvale Park,
This is a Health Hub for young people 13yrs and over. It has been a valuable resource for the School and in place for 15 years. Young people may have forgotten about it since the pandemic but it is promoted in school.
Come along for a chat with a NHS Nurse: the service includes advice on any health issues and C Card.
Janie McCafferty
NHS School Staff Nurse
Lost Property
There are lots of jackets, jumpers, PE clothes, water bottles etc. in the Medical Room. Please come and see if they belong to you. If the items are not collected by November, they will be recycled. Thank you, Ms Harvey
Newsletter Archive
There's an archive section on the newsletter site with all of the previous newsletters organised by date. It can be viewed by clicking on 'Archive' in the menu or using this link: https://bit.ly/ht-newsletter-archive.
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