Balfron Matters

28 February 2022

Weekly communication for staff

Dear colleagues,

Thank you all for your quick response to the snow day on Thursday. It was great so see some really innovative activities and live lessons and meetings going ahead. The picture in the banner above was a pupil response to learning about land art. Junior pupils were asked to create their own land sculptures. A few more pictures stolen from the Art Team Twitter account, are below.

I have reviewed the supervision rota to make it more manageable. We have had considerable damage and frequent vaping in the toilets and we are trying to have a presence in the corridors outside them. If you are not on the rota and could give just one break or lunchtime, it would really help. I share the rota with Hilary who is happy to provide a snack or lunch for those giving their time. Many thanks if you have already volunteered to help. Please check that the slot you are scheduled for suits you. Supervision Rota

It is great to have the school calendar up and running well again. With the S4 Duke of Edinburgh group going out, a clash was noted with a couple of planned assessments. It would make sense to put all SQA related assessments into the school glow calendar in order that colleagues can avoid excursions on dates that those yeargroups are already committed.

As ever, thanks for all you are doing. Have a great week.

Elaine

This week at Balfron High School:

S4/5 FCL interviews
S2 Tracking week
Post prelim meetings (PTs/HT)
S2/3 Course Choice Info evening for parents

BGE Outdoor Land Sculptures

Prelim Results Whole School Analysis

We have fewer pupils in S5 who are sitting 5 highers at this stage in the year compared to previous years. The pattern of S5 attainment over the last seven years is below. As you can see from the data below that, the best we can do it 36% and the reality of that is extremely low. We have already had pupils talk with us about dropping courses.

Our whole school priority is to keep pupils in courses. Where that is impossible, alternative qualifications or attainment over two years should be seriously considered with young people and their parents.

Prelim Data 2022

S5 Higher (155 pupils in the cohort when in Sept of S4)

56 pupils - in 5 Higher courses (36%)

23 pupils passed 5 H prelims (15%)

The picture in S4 is very much more positive.The pattern of attainment for comparison is below.

S4 N5 (154 pupils)

134 doing 5+ N5 courses (87%)

85 passed 5+ N5 prelims (55%)

Insight - National Measures 2021 Released

Insight - it is easiest to get in through the Glow Tile

The national measures were updated across Scottish schools last week. The data shows the tariff points from SQA awards attained by all of our 2021 leavers, from all yeargroups.

A noticeable issue for us to pick up on is a drop in the total attainment of our lowest 20% and middle 40%. Each of these has dipped below our virtual comparator.

Again, I reinforce the importance of keeping as many of our young people as possible in courses with the 2022 results in mind.

I am extremly keen that teams take a look at alternative awards that could be offered to our lowest 20% who have the most limited of choices.

The dashboard summary is below.

BHS Assembly Programme Feb - May 2022.doc

Our programme will coincide with updated COVID mitigations. In addition, we will add the following in-house mitigations:

staff remain at the bottom (or top) of the tiered seating - complete paper register

seat pupils with free row between form classes
CO2 monitors at front and back to monitor levels.

If you have items that would be helpful to share in assembly, please let me know. I will be starting with a back-to-basics approach.

CLPL Corner - helping our young people with revision and holding info in long term memory

The short youtube on the left provides an excellent overview of interleaving and how it works.

I plan to share this at senior phase assemblies. I think it might help pupils plan their revision.

Getting Mixed up with Interleaving

This is a really interesting podcast. They discuss the impact of interleaving to help maths success. Many of the key points can be applied to other curricular areas.

Paul is a maths teacher with a strong interest in research - so much so that he is now embarking upon a doctorate. He also holds the prestigious title of being Jo Morgan’s favourite maths blogger. In this conversation we discuss Paul's research into Interleaving - what is it, what is it not, and how can teachers harness its power?

For more information about today’s guest, plus links to the websites, resources and ideas they mention, please visit the show notes page: http://www.mrbartonmaths.com/blog/paul-rowlandson-getting-mixed-up-with-interleaving/

Calendar 2021-22

28 February Team Meetings

4 March S2 Tracking due

7 March Working Groups

11 March S3 Tracking due

14 March Team Meetings

Calendar 2021-22

wb 14 March S3/2 Course Choice

23 March Leadership Team Meeting

28 March Team meetings

1 April Last day of term

Health & Wellbeing - Counselling for staff

Did you know counselling is available through Stirling Council?

Employee Counselling is available through our Occupational Health provider, People Asset Management (PAM)

There are a few ways employees can request Counselling.

Stuart Shaw on shaws@stirling.gov.uk
Contact hr@stirling.gov.uk
Call Ann at PAM on 0800 882 4102

If you want some more information about counselling, what to expect or looking for self-help resources then please pop in and see Karin Figliolini or drop her an email.

20220107143917395_Changes-to-Self-Isolation-Jan-2022 (1).pdf

H&S should always be on your Team Meeting Agendas.

Although it does look like the Covid situation is improving nationally, please ensure that you continue to be aware of – and observe – all Covid guidelines.

The latest information can be found in the Google Staff Shared H&S Folder here:

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1NzmJ3aMg1bipnSyVTNJin5hukriH7oKs

And also on the Glow Stirling Site here:

https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/st/policiesguidelinesandforms/covid-19-guidance/

Useful Links

Leadership Team Minutes

SLT Minutes 21-22

Staff supervision rota

Reset Pupil G Suite Password

Prelim schedule (Jan 2021)

Collegiate calendar 21-22

2021-22 school holidays