MUSSELBURGH GRAMMAR SCHOOL
HEAD TEACHER'S NEWSLETTER
What a treat it was to hear the Countess of Wessex String Orchestra in school yesterday rehearsing for their sell out performance at the Brunton last night. A number of Grammar pupils were part of this, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience of playing alongside professional musicians, as well as rising wonderfully to the challenge. Around 150 pupils were their audience yesterday afternoon and it was a lovely way to end the school day.
These are the moments, amongst many in the daily life of a vibrant school, that bring my colleagues and I joy.
Wishing you a lovely weekend.
Jodie Hannan
Staffing:
CDT
As mentioned in last week’ newsletter, staffing challenges in CDT mean that we will be teaching all S1 and S2 classes timetabled for CDT an alternative curriculum from Monday 23 January until approximately the Easter break. This will consist of blocks of learning centred on skills building, digital literacy and employability. I will keep you updated on progress towards recruiting a permanent full time CDT teacher, as well as any changes to the interim syllabus plans.
I will keep you updated on progress towards recruiting a permanent full time CDT teacher, as well as any changes to the interim syllabus plans.
Wallyford Learning Campus
I must also clarify any confusion and worry caused in last week’s newsletter when letting you know which colleagues are moving from MGS to Wallyford Learning Campus after Easter: this is only 3 members of staff, Mrs Anderson, Ms Roddy and Mr Thomson.
Mr Valentine takes up his DHT Pupil Support post at Wallyford Learning Campus on 6 March.
Mrs Donnelly, Mr Greig, Mr Dickson and Ms Chisholm remain at MGS.
New school structure at MGS from August 2023
I will explain the new faculty, Senior Leadership Team and Pupil Support structures in a separate edition of this newsletter next week, and this will also be an agenda item at Tuesday’s Parent Council meeting.
Mathematics
I plan to interview candidates for the PT Maths post next week.
Key Dates
Tuesday 24 January: Parent Council 7-9pm online meet.google.com/fdr-rowe-xau
Thursday 26 January: S2 Parents’ Evening 5-7pm in school
Tuesday 31 January: S5 &6 Parents’ Evening 5-7pm online
Kayla and Rory's Weekly Rundown
Welcome back to another one of Kayla and Rory’s weekly rundowns. We both hope everyone has had a lovely week and has been wrapped up warm in these cold conditions.
A huge congratulations to all S3 pupils who have been appointed a Junior Leadership role. It is a big achievement and we look forward to working with you and the House Captains.
Good luck to all Seniors applying for university as we approach the UCAS deadline next week. We both hope everyone’s application have gone well and you are all looking forward to getting all the offers back.
Finally a reminder to all S6s to try and meet with your group leader and try to plan your activities.
We hope everyone has a great weekend and we will see you all next week! :)
House Points
Congratulations to our Hibs Ticket winners for November-December!
100% Attendance Awards: Scott Paton & Sophie Davidson
House Point Champions: Archie Oswald (52 points) & Daniela Belcheva (48 points)
Pupil Support Pupil of the Month: Ellis Mason
Certificates were awarded by our Hibs Ambassador, and Hibs Ladies first team player, Rosie Livingstone. Winners can find Miss Holmes in PE to find out how to claim their tickets and will also be sent an email to their gmail accounts with full details.
House Charities
To continue to celebrate house identity we have introduced ‘house charities’. Every member of each of the three houses will have the opportunity to nominate a charity that they believe is deserving of support. Google Forms have been shared on every year group Google Classroom and pupils should complete the form assigned to their house. Nominations close on the following dates. Moray: Tuesday 24/01/23, Grange:Wednesday 25/01/23, Caird: Thursday 26/01/23.
Nominations will then be collated and all pupils will have an opportunity to vote for the charity that they believe should be supported by their house. This is a great opportunity for pupils to champion causes that are important to them as well as allowing the school to support a variety of different causes.
Fuel Change
We are very excited to announce that we are partnering with ‘Fuel Change’ to offer a new course to S5/6 next session. As a team, pupils create solutions to real-life sustainability challenges then present their solutions to a panel of industry judges. Throughout the course, the participants will gain the skills needed for the workplace such as teamwork, critical thinking and collaboration. The course is recognised by the SQA and completion of the award will gain 8 credit points which can be used for UCAS applications and on job application forms. Groups will meet with industry experts throughout the year and have a mentor to help them compile their presentation for the panel. This is an excellent opportunity for seniors and we look forward to starting our challenge in August. Watch the video below to find out about the challenge and hear about the experiences of other pupils.
See Mrs Dias for more details.
Advanced Higher Geography
There is nothing that a geographer loves more than a field trip and on Thursday 19th January the Advanced Higher pupils teamed up with pupils from Preston Lodge High School to study the Water of Leith, Edinburgh. Fieldwork is an essential element of the AH course and despite the freezing temperatures, pupils displayed excellent data gathering skills as well as teamwork, determination and enthusiasm. A special thank you to Ruth from the WOL Visitor Centre, Mr Mells (honorary geographer) and Mrs Mitchell from PL. We can’t wait for the next opportunity for some outdoor learning, although maybe on a slightly warmer day!
Strictly MGS
We have some fab-u-lous news! The stage is set, our Strictly Stars are rehearsing and the judges are dusting off their paddles. Returning to a dance floor (Assembly Hall) near you: Strictly MGS!
Our 2019 event was a night full of hilarity that celebrated our pupils’ achievements and raised £1087.89 for charity. This year’s fundraiser (And battle for the Glitterball Trophy!) will take place on the evening of Thursday the 9th of February so please save the date.
Tickets will be available to purchase through SchoolPay on Wednesday the 25th of January. All money raised will be split across the House Charities and the School Fund.
Stay tuned as the dancing couples will be revealed in next week’s newsletter. However, if you can’t wait that long, keep an eye on our new Twitter account for updates throughout the week: @MGSStrictly
Professional Reading Group
This week saw the relaunch of the staff professional reading group. Staff were invited beforehand to engage with three different pieces of media with a focus on differentiation. The professional reading group is designed to allow teachers to reflect on their classroom practice and work together to come up with new teaching strategies to ‘get it right’ for every pupil at MGS. Differentiation is one way staff do this, ensuring that learning is tailored to the individual needs of every pupil. If you are interested in what staff have been engaging with the links are below:
Read - Differentiation: The dos and don'ts https://www.tes.com/magazine/teaching-learning/general/differentiation-dos-and-donts
Listen - 'Exploring the method of practitioner inquiry for understanding teacher professional learning' University of Strathclyde - School of Education - Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/podcast-32-mini-lecture-kate-wall-on-exploring-the/id1533469559?i=1000555960413
Watch - Effective differentiation TEDX https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HjRMzlGMo8
Mrs Craig, Teacher of Philosophy
Breakfast Club
A great news story this week… we have managed to secure £500 of funding from Lidl’s community trust for our daily breakfast club. We cannot thank Lidl enough for this funding. This type of funding is vital in allowing us to keep providing a free nutritious daily breakfast to all pupils.
Breakfast Club runs every day 8am - 8:20. Monday & Tuesday in Mrs McElhaney’s kitchen (C13) and Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in the Nurture Room (B24). Everyone is welcome to come for a chat and some excellent breakfast grub! We have toast, pastries, fruit, cereals and lots of fresh fruit juice or squash.
Food Containers - FFC
All pupils in S1 and S2 will be given a plastic reusable container in their food lessons next week. This container should be brought with pupils each week during their cooking period. This allows us to cut down on disposable packaging, which is becoming harder to purchase due to recent law changes.
Pupils who fail to bring their container on 3 occasions during a term, will miss one period of cooking for one week only. During the period if not cooking, pupils will be giving meaningful written work tasks that link into their theory lessons that week. This is to help pupils develop responsibility for their own learning and help them to prepare themselves for lessons. We recommend pupils set a reminder on their phone to bring their container the morning of their practical lesson each week.
The Countess of Wessex String Orchestra
On Thursday, the Countess of Wessex String Orchestra visited MGS for a morning of rehearsals and a short concert to pupils ahead of an evening performance at the Brunton Theatre They performed a selection of music from classical and romantic to film music and pop hits. The day concert for S3-S6 music students was a great success with much of the audience taking part in the interactive elements of the performance. The evening concert was equally impressive, with pupils from MGS, Knox Academy and Ross High joining the Countess of Wessex String Orchestra for a fantastic night of music. We're especially proud of our MGS string players:
Regan Baillie
Poppy Bichan
Ben Brown
Leah Durham
Milo Egan
Emily Hamilton
Ruby Mercer
Nicholas Morley
Jacob Ng
Tapha Seydi
This event was a brilliant experience for all involved and we look forward to more Orchestra visits soon!
Medical
All vaccination forms must be returned by the end of January. Please return your forms and direct any questions to Ms Harvey. The vaccination day is Thursday 23rd February.
Lost Property
There are lots of jackets, jumpers, etc. Please come and see if these belong to you. 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.