Dear colleagues,

Thanks to everyone for your input last week. It was a very busy week with lots of great things happening across the school as the photos below show.

A warm welcome to Conner Heath who took up the permanent post in Physics last week.

Our S5 MVP pupils did a fabulous job delivering PSE to S1 pupils. They showed confidence, skill and empathy in delivering and discussing the sensitive topics associated with violence prevention. Massive thanks to Claire Appelquist, Clair Miller and Lesley Smith for their work in training our seniors. I have no doubt that this project will have a positive impact on school ethos.

The S1-3 Halloween disco was really positive. Young people and colleagues both commented on how great it was to have a relaxed and fun event running again. Massive thanks to all colleagues who planned the disco, helped and attended, dressed up, supervised and tidied up - our young people loved it! It couldn't have happened without you.

Another great success last week was Active Girls Day. It was important to get the message right through input at Form time while giving our girls opportunities to participate and celebrate sport and physical activity. Thanks to Fiona for leading this and all staff for contributing, running activities and supporting the day.

It is with huge pride and thanks that I am able to share that Balfron High School been shortlisted for the Sport Scotland School Sport Award. Getting this far is fantastic and very much down to the hard work of our staff - PE team and colleagues across the school who deliver in and beyond the curriculum along with our partnerships with Active Stirling, Strathendrick Rugby, and many others in our community. It is great to see former pupils Ross Murdoch and Lewis Stewart making the short list in the Moment of the Year and Para Athlete of the year categories. The Awards themselves are on the 7th December so join me in keeping everything crossed for Balfron, former and current!

Thankful Thursday nominations were back last week. I invite staff to make nominations through this link . I will tannoy and invite nominees to the Strathendrick Suite on Thursday morning to join the Head Prefects and me for a hot chocolate or fruit tea.

The Leadership Team are out of school on Monday to take part in a Leading Pedagogy day. The purpose is to draw on the research, reinforce and share understanding of what makes great learning & teaching and to design a toolkit that we as a school can use to promote consistency and improved understanding across the school. Our draft will be shared through teams next week.

It is Dyslexia Awareness week. Thanks to Lynne and the Flexible Learning Team for putting together the slides for form class this week (below & emailed).

If you are doing any online shopping, please link to your shops via the Balfron Easy Fundraising app. A percentage of your purchases comes to the school fund. We have raised just over £2,000 in the time it has been running.

The Lomond House DHT post will be interviewed on Wednesday 9 November with many Lomond colleagues involved. It will be a busy and disruptive day, so thank you in advance for your support and patience. I am meeting each of the five candidates for a walk around between Tuesday 1st and the 8th, so will introduce you if our paths cross.

Thanks again for all that you are doing to rebuild our ethos and give our learners a fantastic experience, in and out of the classroom. Have a great week.

Elaine