Calderglen High School
May 2023 Newsletter
Welcome
Dear Parent/Carer,
I am delighted to be able to share with you a selection of some of our activities, trips, achievements and areas of focus over the last few months and some information for you. We have so much more going on but this is representative of daily school life in Calderglen. I hope the newsletter enthuses and inspires you and that the information is useful.
Liz White
Head Teacher
Curriculum in Action
Digital Schools Award
We are delighted to have been awarded the national Digital Schools Award.
Here are some extracts from the Digital Schools Award Validation Report:
In relation to leadership and vision at Calderglen High School, digital technology is fully integrated into school and faculty planning. The school's digital strategy from September 2021 recognises that the "use of technology promotes innovative and engaging learning and helps create digitally confident students.
The school facilitates the strategic delivery of CLPL relating to the use of digital technology in accordance with the needs of the school and identified staff needs. Faculty plans show that digital technology is being used in creative and innovative ways to enhance teaching and learning. The school supports the strategic deployment of digital technology for the inclusion of pupils with additional support needs. It provides guidance to teachers, parents/carers on how assistive and other technologies can personalise support. Teachers and pupils can articulate how learning and teaching has been enhanced through the use of digital technology. In relation to the culture of digital technology in Calderglen High School, digital technology is ubiquitous and permeates most aspects of school life. Teachers can articulate how their use of ICT/digital technology has enhanced the motivation of pupils. The school's pupil Digital Leaders/Ambassadors & Junior pupil Digital Leaders/Ambassadors contribute significantly to the development of digital learning across the curriculum.
Inter-Disciplinary Learning
Last week our S2 year group was off their usual timetable and engaged in their choice of one of three inter-disciplinary learning projects: The Rocket Car STEM project, Five Alive Health and Wellbeing Project and Fight for the Right Respect project. Our pupils were developing important skills and acquiring knowledge across the three areas of activities.
Scottish Apprenticeship Week
Celebrating ScotAppWeek by visiting EKGTA and learning all about careers in Engineering and the benefits of pursuing an apprenticeship in the industry!
Art and Design
Check out these brilliant oil pastel portraits courtesy of 1P10 & Miss Gallacher. Great proportion, colour and detail.
History
Our S5/6 Higher History students enjoyed a visit to the Bannockburn centre. Well done to all of them who got hands on with history, particularly those who dressed up as medieval soldiers.
Gaelic
Here are our S1 winners of the competition to see how many teachers they could get to say something in the Gaelic language. They did a brilliant job of promoting Gaidhlig!
Competitions
S3 IDL YPI
Against really tough competition where S3 pupils researched local and national charities and bid for the coveted prize for their charity, these young men collected the £3K grant to support their new local Revive MS centre in EST Kilbride.
Outdoor Learning
Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award
Tree Planting
Tree Planting with East Kilbride Rotary! Over 450 trees planted in our community!
P7 Transition
International Links
Twinned Town Visit
We were delighted to host a group of Grade 8 pupils and their teachers from Baltorpskolen, Ballerup, Denmark and to reconnect with students from East Kilbride’s twinned town.
Parent Council
Goodbye Gillian!
This June we say farewell to the Chair of our Parent Council, Gillian Hanna. Gillian has done an excellent job on our Parent Council and over the last 4 years as Chair. She has consistently raised funds for the school and been an excellent representative of our parent forum. Gillian has also represented Calderglen at a range of local and regional Parent Forum events and has kept up to date with the many changes in Scottish education. We take this opportunity to celebrate all that she has achieved as Chair and to say a massive thank you from our young people, our staff and most of all, on behalf of all of our parents. We are delighted to announce that our new Parent Council Chair is Hannah Shanks who will take up her post in August 2023. We look forward to working with Hannah and taking our partnership with parents forward in the new session.
Parents Portal
We have sent a letter to all parents via parent mail detailing how to sign up to the new Parents Portal. Please ensure as many of you do this as soon as possible, as we will be switching over our communication streams to this new platform in the coming months!
Dates for the Diary
Thursday 25th May Blackpool Reward Trip
Friday 26th & Monday 29th May Bank Holiday
Thursday June 1st New S5 Induction (morning only)
Friday June 2nd New S6 induction (morning only)
Monday June 5th Start of new timetable for seniors
Thursday 8th June School Prom
Thursday 8th June P7 Day Visit
Friday 9th June P7 Day Visit
Monday 12th – Sunday 18th June Paris Trip
Monday 19th June BGE Prizegiving – S1/S2/S3
Tuesday – Thursday 20th -22nd June School Show (3 evenings)
Monday 26th June Alton Towers
School Closes for Summer Tuesday 27th June at 1pm