Dear colleagues,

It is with sadness and respect that we acknowledge the passing of Her Majesty The Queen. Our flag has now been removed to bring us in line with protocol. As part of Operation Unicorn, Secondary Head Teachers in Stirling have been instructed to read The Proclamation to young people. This will happen at the beginning of period 1 after the S5/6 assembly. A small complication is that listening to The Proclamation is optional, so a tannoy will explain that during Form Time and invite those interested to come to the Theatre. You may be aware that The proclamation has been read in churches and in town halls on Sunday. Stirling’s Accession Proclamation of King Charles III was made by Provost Douglas Dodds on Sunday 11 September at 1pm on King Street.

To ensure that the social areas are safe and orderly, I would really appreciate your help to supervise at breaks and lunch. If you could give time please put your initials in the time and a place on the availability rota. It is great where we have multiple people in places - for company and back up.

Massive thanks to the Project Leads who delivered a fantastic session for S4 and S5 parents on the Science of Learning last week. Informal feedback was highly positive and there was a lovely, positive buzz in the sessions. It was great to reconnect with parents in person.

I have had some positive feedback on the Parent Padlet. Please do take a look. The link is at the top of the notice boards on the right. If you have items for inclusion on this notice board, please send them to Susan Wilson or to me directly.

At the meeting on Monday, Principal Teachers will be reviewing and discussing the proposed vision and principles set out in Phase 1 of the Hayward Report, formally known as The Future of Qualifications and Assessment in Scotland. I have saved copies of the key documents in the staff Google drive, link here, and would encourage you all to keep abreast of developments, contribute to the discussion and influence the decisions.

Finally, Friday is National Teaching Assistants day. Let's take this opportunity to thank our wonderful SLAs for all the excellent support they provide in our classrooms and behind the scenes. They make an enormous and important difference to our most vulnerable young people and help us all with our common goal - teaching, guiding and supporting Balfron's learners.

As always, thanks for your hard work and professionalism.

Have a great week.

Elaine