Balfron Highlights

Dear Parents and Carers,

Looking back over last term, we had masses to celebrate in March. As you'll see from this edition, we are a very busy school.

I have included a broad range of activities and have provided a peak into classrooms, photos and videos of activities, event and achievements.  I hope this gives you a true flavour of our school in March.  

Our senior pupils are now on study leave and exams are well underway.  Our young people are in the safe hands of Mrs Bath, our Chief Invigilator who has been working closely with Mr Slavin (Qualifications Scotland Coordinator)  planning for the exam diet.

Last session we had a successful digital event for parents and carers.   To help you learn along with us, I have included some of the slides from out parental digital awareness event as well as slides from our assemblies.  Please do ask your young people about these.

Thanks to everyone who completed the school improvement survey.  I have attached slides below with data and next steps.  From the survey, our immediate focus is assessment and reporting.  I am running focus groups next week to discuss the process with parents.  You would be most welcome to attend.  It is the same session offered at two different times planned for:

• Tuesday 12 May 9.30-10.30am

• Wednesday 13 May 4-5pm

If this is of interest and you are free please email me directly to help with planning - bannatynee01s@glow.sch.uk

Rights Respecting School

We are delighted to share that our school has officially embarked on a journey with UNICEF UK toward the Rights Respecting Schools Award (RRSA). This initiative places children’s rights at the very core of our school’s ethos and culture, aiming to enhance wellbeing and help every child realise their full potential. We are proud to announce that we have already achieved the first stage of the award, Bronze: Rights Committed, which shows our commitment to promoting children's rights and encouraging adults and young people to respect the rights of others.

Our staff are currently embedding the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) across our curriculum to ensure these values underpin our teaching and decision-making.

Central to our progress will be our Pupil Parliament. We are using this pupil-led group to give our young people the opportunity to lead this journey and ensure that:

• the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) underpins our values and decision-making in school,

• the whole school learns about the CRC and respects the rights of others,

• children are empowered to become active learners and active local and global citizens.

By learning about their rights, our pupils are developing as confident, rights-respecting citizens. We look forward to sharing more updates as we work toward Silver. For further information, please visit unicef.org.uk/rrsa.

Celebrating achievements

Further below is a week by week overview of events and achievements in our school.  Feedback on Balfron Highlights is always welcome.  I am grateful to receive this directly   

Thank you all for your support. 

Elaine Bannatyne

Head Teacher

bannatynee01s@glow.sch.uk