Balfron Matters

13 December 2021

Weekly communication for staff

Dear colleagues,

It is a time for caution as we head towards the end of term. Omicron is gathering momentum so, as mentioned in tannoys and emails, it is important that we ensure all mitigations are in place to keep ourselves and eachother safe. Please ensure that seating plans are up to date and saved in the staff Google Drive.

Given isolation implications and risk, all extra curricular activity should now be suspended until the new session. It seems unwise to bring groups together that do not need to be, given the new context.

Thank you for joining me in constantly reminding our young people about face coverings, distance and sanitising every lesson. It is important that we all insist on these measures.

While it is impossible to know exactly what is ahead, we should be ready for a move to remote learning on the off-chance that decision is made.

On a lighter note, it has been great to see the atrium set up for Christmas. Many thanks to Joanne Gannon for sorting this out and bringing some Christmas cheer.

Many thanks for the additional help with supervision. This has made a positive difference.

We are nearly there. Thank you so much for your hard work this term. Have a great and safe week and a wonderful break when it comes.

Elaine

This week at Balfron High School:

S4, 5, 6 Tracking

Prelim Assemblies

Phil and I have been slowly working through yeargroup/house assemblies with our senior phase pupils. The slides are available on the right for those who may have missed the presenation.

Our plan is to replicate SQA exams as far as possible in order to prepare our learners for what whould lie ahead.

To ensure that everyone is safe and feels confident, candidates will be in the Games Hall or small gym 2m apart.

Young people in S4-6 will be entilted to study leave from 10 January.

S456 Prelim Assembly December 2021.pptx

Digital Prelim Papers

I have recreated the google form method for uploading/sharing your prelim papers with the technicians.

The link: https://forms.gle/CLRpYYXwCj6kKVgn6

Use this link to upload all prelim papers please.

· Either Word or PDF documents can be uploaded – please ensure they are high quality documents.

· Poor formatting and mixed font/size/text will lead to a poor exam experience for AAA pupils.

· Audio files can also be uploaded for listening exams.

Please follow the instructions carefully on the form.

· For prelims with a single paper - please rename the exam paper (eg Practical Cookery Nat5 Single Paper ).

· For exams with 2 papers, please upload both papers together, correctly renamed (eg "Physics Nat5 Paper 1" and "Physics Nat5 Paper 2")

(but note that all multiple choice answers should be completed on paper)

· You should also upload a Digital Answer Book if there is one, and a cover if that is separately needed.

All subject specific Digital Answer Books (DAB) can be found on the SQA website here:

https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/68471.html

For pupils with an agreed “ICT no AAA” request, they must only use a “spellcheck off” answer book. This can be subject specific (use the link above),

If no subject specific answer book is available, they must use the generic spellcheck off book. Use this link https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/files_ccc/Generic_Answer_Book.doc

General guidance on Digital Question Papers can be found here

https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/30026.html

Phil Slavin

Project Lead (Recovery) - Live-N-Learn sessions

Live-N-learn Workshops will take place this week as follows:

Wednesday 15th December:

Period 1&2 - S4 Campsie

Period 3&4 - S4 Endrick

Period 5&6 - S4 Lomond

Thursday 16th December:

Period 1&2 - S5 Campsie

Period 3&4 - S5 Endrick

Period 5&6 - S5 Lomond.

Below is the list of pupils who will be in each group. I will re-send this email the week before as a reminder, but I though now might be useful for future planning assessments etc.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WPzkG-ynQ6sFry_weqvJ2ZYawFr0pmboQZB-rg7_rl0/edit#gid=0

Thanks,

Heather, David and Clair

Project Lead (Recovery)

Parents/Carers Support Sessions

We are offering a range of online workshops for parents and carers that seek to give practical tips and advice for supporting our young people with some post-pandemic issues.

All workshops will be held on Google Meet in the evening, with links being made available to parents via email.

Teaching Strikes Back with Bruce RobertsonListen to this episode from Becoming Educated on Spotify. Bruce Robertson is the Rector of Berwickshire High School in the Scottish Borders. Bruce is the author of the brilliant ‘The Teaching Delusion:why teaching in our schools isn't good enough (and how we can make it better)’. ‘The Teaching Delusion 2: Teaching Strikes Back’ and ‘The Teaching Delusion 3: Power Up Your Pedagogy’. You can get the trilogy now from John Catt Educational. Want to support the ongoing work of the podcast: buymeacoffee.com/dnleslie

Feedback: Focus On ‘Useful’, Which Means Focus On ‘How’While learning can happen without feedback, it will always tend to be better when feedback is involved. The less expert anyone is in any area, the more important is feedback from an exper…

CLPL Corner

Read, Listen or watch. You choose.

This week, read this lovely blog, Teaching with Pam. 36 years of brilliant teaching summarised in this short blog Teaching with Pam

Or read the brand new companion website to the Teaching Delusion. This week the focus is on 'useful' feedback, which means 'how.'

Or if you'd rather listen to some big thinking, listen to the Becoming Education Podcast. The link is on the left.

Or, if you'd rather go back to basics, watch Kate Jones, 5 Formative Assessments Strategies in Action

Advanced Higher Biology Trip

16 of our Advanced Higher Biologists visited FVC's new Falkirk campus to use their amazing new labs and equipment.

They spent two days training in lab techniques including PCR, Immunoassay's and Electrophoresis, getting hands on with the equipment and analysing their results. Given these three techniques are the basis of our current COVID diagnostic kits, it made for a really exciting experience of real-world science. They were exhausted though, many falling asleep on the bus home on Friday night!