MUSSELBURGH GRAMMAR SCHOOL

HEAD TEACHER'S NEWSLETTER

I can’t quite believe that there are only 10 school days until the Easter holidays! Time is flying past and there is still much to do and look forward to before we break up. Now though, time to recharge.  

With best wishes for a lovely weekend however you are spending it. 


Jodie Hannan

Key Dates

Friday 24 March: SQA assembly for S4-6.

Monday 27 March: Launch of MGS’ Superpower Agency books 5-7pm.

Wednesday 29 March: Family Learning Session - 'How to Support Your Child With Revision' in the Social Space (6-7pm)

Thursday 30 March: Study packs distributed to S4-S6 pupils.

Friday 31 March: Official last day and leaving ceremony for S6 pupils to which S6 parents/ carers are invited- details to follow. Also the last day of term for all pupils and staff.

Monday 17 April: All pupils and staff resume for the Summer term.

Staff

It has been another busy week of recruitment in Maths and Guidance, with another Maths teacher appointed for August and the next stage of the temporary Guidance interviews is on Wednesday. We are also holding PE interviews next Monday for the successful candidate to start in August. 

A key part of our recruitment and selection process for all staff  is pupil involvement, whether via pupil panel or observing the candidates teach a class and getting pupils’ feedback. The pupils are always keen to participate, mature, supportive and incredibly perceptive and insightful.  Their feedback is invaluable in the process and huge thanks to all young people involved in the busy and ongoing recruitment process.

Kayla and Rory's Weekly Rundown

Hi and welcome back to our weekly roundup. As we head towards the end of term we hope all of our seniors are feeling well prepared for their exams.  For our S6 leavers we are working on our leavers events which will take place on Friday 31st March - Stay tuned for more info!

Parental Engagement

The Parental Engagement Strategy was launched in 2017 and aims to ensure that all Parents/Carers are encouraged and supported to engage as partners in their children’s learning, and to become involved in the life of the school.  The strategy also ensures that it can continue to build on good practice and create further opportunities for our parents and schools to work together.  There are 6 strands to the strategy and we are seeking responses to evaluate the impact of each of them.  The Full strategy document is available at Parental Engagement Strategy | Parental Involvement | East Lothian Council.

Please can all parents complete the following survey. Parents only need to complete one survey if they have multiple children at your school, but will need to complete more than one survey for children at different schools.  The survey results will be collated on a school basis which will be shared with the Headteacher and Chair of the Parent Council to support any actions arising shortly after the closure of the surveys.  There is also a QR code attached. Parental Engagement Strategy - Questions for Parents - East Lothian Council - Citizen Space.

Pupils views are also invaluable and all MGS students are also asked to complete a survey on engagement: https://forms.gle/4dws6k6oMMhr4HgW6

Family Learning Session - 'How to Support Your Child With Revision'

All parents, carers and students are invited to a family learning session aimed at helping parents/carers support their child with revision. The session will focus on Senior Phase (S4-6) preparation for exams, but parents of S1-3 students are also welcome as many of the revision methods are useful for all year groups. It will include:

This will take place in the Social Space on Wednesday 29th March from 6-7pm.

If you plan on attending, we would appreciate it if you could fill in the short form below.

https://forms.gle/CrzE6KXoXk7mZUMPA


Mr Jordan and Ms McCrorie


Skills Development Scotland

Skills Development Scotland (SDS) is delivering a national webinar ‘How to have meaningful career conversations’ on Thursday 23 March at 6.30pm.

Parents and carers can join the webinar to hear about the value and benefits of having career conversations and get some practical hints and tips on how to approach these. 

Parents and carers can register for our session here: https://Meaningfulcareerconversationswithyoungpeople.eventbrite.co.uk

SQA Coursework Deadlines

The next school deadline for final SQA coursework is 30th March.  This is for: 

Learners should ensure they have handed all coursework to their teachers/ complete assignments in these subjects by that date, or an earlier date if determined by class teachers.  

Miss Chisholm 

Supporting the Community in RME

The following are requests from pupils regarding supporting those in need. 


Please bring in donations to Mrs Craig to D1 for a charity called Fresh Start. This is a homelessness charity and this homelessness charity is being supported in RME classes. Fresh Start is based in Edinburgh to help those that are homeless, get established in their new home. Some things to bring in are dishes and cutlery, cleaning items, pots and pans, bed linen and towels, small household electrical items and long lasting food products.


Hi. In RME we are supporting our local community by handing in food and making posters for homelessness. The cause that I am supporting is giving food for the (formerly) homeless. A couple facts about my cause is that whenever food gets handed in it goes straight into someone’s home and put to good use, same goes for house essentials like towels,cutlery and more. A few donation ideas are tinned food, towels, cleaning products, cutlery and more.  If you would like to give a donation make sure you come to Mrs Craig’s room in D1. 


In RME we are supporting our local community and the cause that we are supporting is homelessness. Homelessness is a massive cause in Scotland, in Scotland every 19 minutes someone becomes homeless and that is just not right. Between the year 2020-2021 27,571 people were assessed as homeless in Scotland and the highest age group for homelessness is between 25-34 years old. Here are a couple ideas of donations you could donate to our cause if you're wanting to try help out a little; Below is a list of household items that can help make a house a home for people in need...



Bring any donations to Mrs Craig in D1 


Thank you, any donation would help massively.

Open Evening

ZOT Engineering are recruiting


APPRENTICESHIPS – OPEN EVENING

THURSDAY 6th APRIL 2023 – 6PM

Also, look out for the Trade Modern Apprenticeships with East Lothian Council vacancies that will be opening on 24 May

House Points Update


Easter Revision 2023

S4/5/6 pupils will be offered an Easter Study Programme during the two weeks of Easter Holidays from Monday 3rd April to Friday 14th April. 

Sessions will be organised and taught by MGS teachers in person in the school building.  A variety of subjects and levels are offering sessions. The timetable for these sessions is below and can also be accessed via the MGS Student Hub. 

These sessions are designed to help support our learners in the lead up to SQA exams and qualifications. 

From Monday 6th March pupils who are interested in attending any of the sessions should sign up with their relevant subject teachers. 

Any questions please see Miss Chisholm

Vaccinations 

HPV vaccinations will take place on Thursday 23rd March 2023 for S1 boys and girls. If you are in S2-6 and received a pink form you will be vaccinated too. Thank you, C. Harvey 

Supported Study

You can access the supported study timetable using the slides below. 

MGS Study Support 2022-23

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.