Head Teacher Updates 26-27

HT Update 28/08/2026

Thank you to all parents who attended the Family Learning session on the BGE Curriculum. The slides are here: BGE Curriculum Information Evening 26th Aug 2026 Please note that, for security, you need to be signed into your child’s edubuzz account to access these.

Our first in person Family Learning event is our Welcome to Rosehill session, for P7/S1. Invitations and booking information for this event, which takes place on the 17th September, will be sent to the relevant year groups next week.

We’ve had some keen pupils asking already about co-curricular activities for this session. We are currently collating a list of these offers and this will be out to families by the September weekend. 

As noted in our Improvement Plan, we want to build on our recognition of achievements by encouraging young people to share what they are doing outside of school. Please look out for our mailing on Rosehill 100 achievements next week- we look forward to hearing from you.

Our senior phase pupils are currently undertaking a range of activities to support their move into positive destinations. These include:

• LEAPs interviews for eligible young people. You can find out more about the LEAPs programme here: https://www.leapsonline.org/ 

• Queen Margaret University workshops on thinking ahead, and on writing a university application

• Talks from the Royal Conservatoire Scotland and the University of the Highlands and Islands on opportunities in the arts and beyond

• Ongoing work with Skills Development Scotland on training, apprenticeships and further education

In staffing, next week will be Mr Pecerrilo’s last with us, as he moves into a new post in the city centre. An advert for Teacher of Maths is currently open, and the team is currently being supported by Keith Ritchie to ensure as much consistency as possible. Making use of our Pupil Equity Fund, we are also pleased to be moving forward with specific posts supporting Literacy and Numeracy interventions in the BGE.

HT Update 21/08/2026

It’s been a very positive first full week, with lots of focus on our Rosehill Ready routines and expectations. 

You may have picked up some media reports around papers on mobile phone use in school that have been considered by elected members. For clarity, please be aware that the guidelines in the paper are not for immediate implementation, as schools need to e.g. sort out storage solutions, agree local level procedures, and ensure that communications are clear with pupils and staff. We continue our pilot in Languages & Literacy, and Maths & Computing, and will be expanding this over the course of the month. A reminder that:

• Young people can keep their mobile phones in silent and in their bag, or store them in the box/ pouch supplied by the class teacher

• However, should they then have their mobile phone out, this must then go to the classroom teacher until the end of the lesson

• If they refuse to do this, as support call is made and a disciplinary incident is begun, which may lead to contact home/ withdrawal from class/ parental meeting/ formal disciplinary warning (our message is- it’s just not worth it)

Almost all young people have managed this very well. However, we have had a small number of issues where young people have been using their phones during learning time to respond to texts or calls from parents. You can support us by keeping any communications before/ after school and during break or lunch.

We are looking forward to seeing BGE parents for our online BGE Curriculum Evening on Wednesday 26th August. As this is online, there is no need to pre-book. A mailing with joining details for the meeting was sent earlier this week, but please let the admin team know if you can’t locate this.

Our S6 residential takes place at the start of September and parents of those S6 who are signed up to attend should look out for an invitation to a brief information session coming up. Zack Williams will be able to outline the itinerary and answer any questions about arrangements. 

In staffing, Kieran Ferns is currently on paternity leave, but will be back in early September. We are delighted to share that baby Phoebe has arrived safely and everyone is well. Next week, we’ll be saying goodbye to Ross MacLeod and Shona Robertson. Both have made significant contributions to our Languages and Literacy faculty in the last few years, and both are moving to posts closer to home. We wish them all the best in their new schools. We have preferred candidates for both posts, so new teachers for Modern Languages and English will join us very soon. We are also looking forward to Harry Gaughan joining us as our new Teacher of Physics on the 2nd September. We have recruitment ongoing in support roles, with interviews for ASN auxiliaries and admin coming up. We have also appointed a preferred candidate to our new (PEF funded) Pupil Welfare Officer role. This role has a specific focus on tracking and monitoring attendance, as this is an area we want to improve further.

And finally, we’ve been asked to share the following information about the upcoming SYP elections. Our link for this in school is Laura Anderson, so any young people with an interest should feel free to speak with her. All the info needed is on the link at the end:

Nominations now open for Scottish Youth Parliament election

The Scottish Youth Parliament is the democratically elected voice of Scotland’s young people. It raises young people’s voices and campaign to make Scotland the best place to grow up.

Registrations now open for young people interested in becoming a Member of the Scottish Youth Parliament. Nominations must be made before 20 September and elections will be held 2 to 15 November. Support will be offered to all candidates.

Scottish Youth Parliament constituencies are the same as the Scottish Parliament’s. Candidates will stand, and pupils will vote, for the constituency based on the schools they attend as follows:

• Edinburgh Eastern, Musselburgh and Tranent: Ross High School, Musselburgh Grammar School, Rosehill High School

• East Lothian Coast and Lammermuirs:  Preston Lodge High School, Knox Academy, North Berwick, Dunbar Grammar

Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament are 14-25-year-olds who are elected to represent young people in every part of Scotland. They:

• take part in youth voice and participation activities in their local area or organisation

• consult young people to find out about the issues they care about

• meet with local decision-makers, like Councillors and MSPs, to share young people’s views

• campaign for change and hold decision-makers to account.

Young people interested in standing for election to SYP can find out more and register online at elections.syp.org.uk/elections/75

HT Update 14/08/2026

It feels like we picked entirely the wrong week to come back to school, with lots of glorious August sunshine meaning a slightly sticky start to the school year!

Despite this, it’s been an absolute joy to see the young people return and re-engage. In particular, we have the excitement of our first ever S6, and around 145 new S1s starting their Rosehill journey. As noted at the end of last term, we have welcomed several new staff across our faculties; an updated staff list is available on the website.

Our two Professional Learning Days covered a variety of staff development topics, including:

• Engagement with our 26-27 Improvement Plan

• Beginning work to become an LGBT Charter School

• A support staff conference

• Rosehill Ready routines

• Initial review of senior phase attainment

We are very proud of the young people’s work on the Qualifications Scotland results, with early indications of improvements in A-C passes at National 5, as well as a promising start from this year’s small Higher cohort. However, please be aware that the breadth of the curriculum means that not all attainment is ‘in’ as yet, and we need to wait for the updates to Insight (the national data hub) in September to get a full picture and accurate data. Ahead of this, faculties are looking carefully at existing subject level data to identify current strengths and any points of development for the next session.

We held an extended Welcome Back assembly for all young people on Wednesday morning, with key reminders of routines and expectations, including more support for phone free learning. A separate mailing on this was sent earlier this week, and we’ll feedback on the programme and any changes/ expansion as the term progresses.

Our first opportunity to connect with parents through our Family Learning programme will be the BGE Curriculum Evening at 6.30pm on the 26th August, online. Any of our S1-S3 families are welcome and will find relevant points for them in terms of the national and local picture, but we particularly recommend this session for parents of our new S1. We’ll look at our curriculum rationale, how we timetable (including personalisation  and choice), and how you can support learning at home. Google Meet details will be sent a couple of days ahead.

Whilst our first Parent Council Meeting isn’t until September, anyone who would like to get involved can contact rosehillhighpc@gmail.com to note their interest. I promise that they are very friendly and very welcoming!

Today we say goodbye to Carys Mitchell who is moving to a post in Edinburgh. Her replacement, Carina Campbell-Welsh, will be with us from Monday. We are also delighted to have appointed Richard Watson to the temporary Principal Teacher: Pathways post. This is part of our Pupil Equity Fund planning and will focus on curriculum development to meet learners’ needs. Richard will remain in the classroom first and foremost, so this will not affect current coursing arrangements.