Dear colleagues,

I hope that you have had a positive first week back. It was great to see you all. I would like to extend a warm welcome to Matt Harvey who joins us as PT Expressive Arts (acting) while Anna is on maternity leave. Please join me in providing the support he will need to find his feet and making him feel welcome.

Thanks to everyone for your contributions to ensure that the prelims are running smoothly.  It has been a positive start.  This is a particularly busy week - exams on the right. Pupils who come in to study or catch up with a member of staff should sign in and wear uniform.  Parents were emailed and pupils told in advance.  However there seems to be evidence of some amnesia!  Please join us in reminding them if you see them. 

Thanks also to Elaine Johnstone for creating the alternative programme for those who do not require study leave.  Unless a plan has been made with a member of staff to complete assessments, these pupils should only be in school to take part in the programme.  Just a reminder that the pupils are:

• James Smith, Kieran Thomson, 4C1; Erin Irvine, 4C2; Stephen Boag, Shannon Gilchrist, 4L2; Nicholas Gold, Archie McFadzean, 4E1; Dylan Hunter, 4E2

• Harris McMillan, 5L2

• Lewis Roberts, 6C1; Rosie Haggerty, 6E2; Campbell Curtis, Nathan Henderson, 6L1

I have posted a link to the programme beside the prelim information.

The S3 Parents Night is online tonight (Monday). Please let David know if you are accessing the parents' night from school. This will allow him to check that ICT is working and let Bellrock staff know who is in the building.

With a small group of parents, I have been working on a resource to help the wider parent body with social media and use of phones. It is called SMART with your smartphone and this month's focus is Snapchat.  Here is a link.  I am keen to get some help and feedback from any interested colleagues who are more skilled in use and understanding of social media to help me.  Please reach out if you have ideas.

I am delighted to share that Susie Gill had a baby boy on Tuesday.  Both are well.  I have included a pic of baby Jamie Ryan Gill in the 'last week at Balfron' section.

Thank you for your hard work and professionalism. 

Have a great week.

Elaine

Important points from the data to support decision making

We should consider these as teams and as a s school

According to our tracking data, in S3 there are 21 pupils who are likely to be N3/4

• How confident are we on the accuracy of BGE levels?

• How are curricular areas catering for these young people?

• Are our learning pathways flexible enough to allow choice and progression for all of our learners?

• Does our curriculum offer meet their needs?

According to our tracking data, in S2  there are 41 pupils who are likely to struggle with some N5 courses.

Their names are on a tab on the spreadsheet on the right.  

We should consider the same questions from above at team and SLT level.