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HEAD TEACHER'S NEWSLETTER
Friday 17th January 2025
Friday 17th January 2025
Another busy week in school!
We are looking forward to welcoming our S2 parents on Tuesday 21st January
Hope you all have a lovely weekend.
Jodie Hannan
Key Dates
January 2025
Tuesday 21 January: S2 Parents Evening 5-7pm
Wednesday 22 January: S2 Coursing
Thursday 23 January: Parent Council online briefing 7-8pm meet.google.com/vnh-jkwe-kkd
Wednesday 29 January: Young Musician of the Year event
Thursday 30 January: S3 Coursing
Remember you can find all events on our school calendar, and you can add this calendar to your own too.
S2 Pupils
Tuesday 21 January: Parents' Evening 5-7pm in school.
The link for booking appointments opened on Tuesday evening at 6pm.
Wednesday 22nd January - S2 Coursing appointments
Course choicing is being run slightly differently this year. All S2s have been sent their appointment times via edubuzz, and parents have been emailed this information too. Please read the letter issued on 09/01/25 which contained information on course choices, and how parents can help their S2 make their choices. S2 pupils have been issued with a paper course choice form, but information is also available on our website.
Pay it forward Fund
This fund is available on IPay, thank you to those who have donated to the fund so far.
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
Mobile Phone Use
We continue to be concerned about the misuse of mobile phones in classes and the significant disruption to learning and teaching they cause.
All pupils are expected to have phones switched off and in bags unless they are specifically given permission to use them by teachers.
Parents and carers will be notified by text each Friday about the number of times and in which subjects across school their child/ren have not
followed the school’s phone policy of putting their phone on the teacher's desk after a warning not to use it.
SCP 2025/26 College courses link
Edinburgh College have started to publish their School College Partnership (SCP) and Full Time Courses for the next academic year, starting in August 25.
This is a link to the SCP courses, where you would attend college normally on a Tuesday/Thursday afternoon.
https://www.edinburghcollege.ac.uk/courses/for-school-pupils
The Edinburgh College website will also publish their Full Time Courses for any school leavers.
Please be mindful that whilst college are updating their website some courses from 24 are still sitting on the system, please ensure you are looking for August 25 starts!
If you would like support with your application, either SCP or Full Time, please come to the library on Tuesday 21th January 25, Period 2 or 3 to help support your applications if you required.
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.
Prom 2025
Prom 2025 is currently being organised and we are looking to support our S6 students as much as we can with their prom attire; prom outfits are normally only worn once and can be costly.
We are looking for any dresses, suits, shirts, ties, shoes, bags, and jewellery. The Honest Thread will set up a pop up shop prior to prom for pupils.
If you have any pre-loved items you are able to donate please donate to the main reception FAO Ms Ritchie.
Thank you for your support.
Pupil Voice
The pupil voice group met on Wednesday 15th January period 2&3. 44 pupils attended this. The first part of the meeting pupils worked in their teams in classrooms, led by their team leader. For the later part, they took to the social space and presented to the wider pupil voice body; focusing on their progress so far towards their impact deadline of 28th February. The session ended with some healthy team building competition against each other. Well done to the Learning and Teaching group for winning this. Pupils will share their work so far this session, in detail, whole-school at assemblies of the week beginning 17th and 24th February.
S3 Residential 2026
We are excited to announce that the first S3 residential to PGL Ford Castle will be taking place in May 2026!
All current S2 pupils have been asked to complete a form posted on their year group Google Classroom as a note of interest. Ms Ritchie will be handing out consent forms next week with all relevant information. These will be due by Friday 31 January.
We would love for as many pupils as possible to attend this trip, it’s going to be a good one!
SQA Exam Diet 2025
Please follow this link to see the SQA Exam timetable for Spring 2025: Exam timetable and learner apps - SQA
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: 91%
S2: 89 %
S3: 89%
S4: 90%
S5: 92%
S6: 91 %
Medical
Polio/Dip vaccinations
All S3 Boys and Girls and also some catch ups will have received a polio/dip/meningitis form. Please return this to
school asap.
The vaccines will take place on Thursday and Friday 20th/21st March 2025.
HPV VACCINE
All S1 and also some catch ups will take place on Tuesday 3rd June 2025. Please return your form back to school
asap.
MMR VACCINE - Catch ups (only if you received a blue form) will be vaccinated on Tuesday 3rd June 2025
Reminders to parents:
Asthma: emails have been sent out regarding returning Asthma consent forms. Please return these if you have not yet done so. If your child requires an inhaler, this must be carried with them at all times.
Infection Control - if your child has had vomiting/diarrhoea, they should not return to school before 48h after the last episode. This helps limit the spread of any bugs - thank you for your co-operation.
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