Balfron Matters

8 November 2021

Weekly communication for staff

Dear colleagues,

Another week in the bag. We are moving at a pace through the term.

I am collating each team's priorities this week. It will be good to see the posters around the school up to date.

Phil is planning for prelims and to ensure safety, we are planning to use the Theatre in addition to the Games Hall. This will allow us to ensure candidates safety for longer periods of time in one space. We will be able to space the desks further apart than SQA requires and be confident that young people are seated safely.

Claire and I have been recording the 2021 Prize Giving. It should be ready for sharing by the end of the week. In the meantime, I am pleased to be able to share that our prizewinners are:

Junior Dux: Katie McDonald

Junior Proxime Accessit: Lachlann Mitchell

Senior Dux: Alistair Huxtable & Peter McColgan

Senior Proxime Accessit: Charlotte Schmautz

Some of you will be attending network meetings this week. It will be a welcome opportunity to collaborate with colleagues throughout the local authority. The agenda for these meetings is:

· Introductions

· Subject updates/latest news

· SQA updates

· Assessment approaches being used within the subject areas in different schools this session

· Senior Phase summary from each school, providing details on subjects and courses offered, etc.

· Initial thoughts for areas to cover at the meeting in February

Have a great week.

Elaine

This week at Balfron High School:

Team meetings (where possible)

Tuesday 9 November - network meetings

Parent Council, 7pm

Wellbeing Wednesday nominations

Thursday 11 November - Remembrance Assembly

Respect Assembly Follow Up

Thank you all for showing the Respect assembly and encouraging young people to complete the survey. We have seen an increase in the number of reposrt that have come to SLT. It is good that young people feel that they can reports that let us know about issues.

We discussed the results at SLT last week. The next steps are really important, so I am keen to share the plan:

EB to share responses with staff. Request for discussion at first available Team Meeting (see document on right). Individual or team responses can be shared on this form
EB to feedback to Parent Council (Tuesday)
Assembly to be shown in form time with overview of results for pupils week beginning 15 November
Invitation to pupils and staff to be part of a working group to consider and coordinate action and run focus groups
Invitation to pupils to be part of focus groups relating to racism, disablism, sexism, homophobia/transphobia
Collation of key themes and suggestions for action.
Calendar of Form Class focus themes
I imagine that we will link with a range of speakers and charities to have an input with key stages.

Respect Survey Responses

Temp Leadership Opportunities - PT PS (0.4) and Equity Lead (4 periods)

As you know, Jenny MacKay is going for treatment in the new year. As her Job share, Elaine Johnstone is able to pick up 0.2 of the remit. I am pleased to be able to offer the opportunity for a suitably qualified colleague to pick up the 0.4 PT PS position. Importantly, we all wish Jenny the very best in her with her treatment.

David Whiteford has embarked on one of the Project Lead posts. This leaves an opportunity to pick up the Equity (4 periods) Lead Learner role.

I will email details of both posts.

Head Prefects - Supporting Pupils with Study Tips

Head Prefects, Millie and Tom, have recorded the first of a series of short assemblies focusing on Study Tips. It would be great if hese can be played at Form Time. This is appropriate for S3-6 and are only two minutes long. I will also post them on the year group Google Classroom for pupils.

Study planners and blank cards can be picked up at pigeon holes.

Senior Phase Courses

I appreciate that you are working hard to keep young people in courses. More than ever, we are recieveing requests to have pupils with draw from courses.

There is much at stake for young people, and it is important that we do all be can to support them through before we agree to them waithdrawing. Where possible the focus should be on building resilience. SLT will:

discussion with PT to review progress
discussion with parent
consideration of requirements beyond school
decision
Info to Phil to update SQA data.

CLPL Corner - Understanding and Supporting young people and mental health

Andrew Lauder found this free resource from SAMH for teachers. This may be useful if you are interested in an introduction to mental health, skills and knowledge to recognise and respond to a pupil experiencing a mental health problem and lead a conversation about positive mental health.

https://www.samh.org.uk/about-mental-health/elearning-for-teachers

Professional Discussion Group - Thursday lunchtime, Strathendrick Suite

Education in Scotland is a fast changing landscape at the minute.It seems a whirlwind of surveys, reviews and reports. A few weeks ago, a paper was released by Scot Gov called:

Scotland’s Curriculum: Into the Future: Implementation framework for the OECD’s 2021 review of Curriculum for Excellence (link below)

This is a key document for us, as the outcomes are going to shape everything from curriculum to assessment and even how our profession may develop and change.

The paper sets out a framework for how Scotland will address the recommendations in the OECD report.

It includes using the analysis and advice set out in Professor Stobart’s working paper, ‘Upper-secondary education student assessment in Scotland’ (shared in Balfron Matters last week).

Reform is being addressed under 5 Themes:

Re-assess the vision of CfE
Clarify roles and responsibilities
Align assessment and qualifications
Increase curriculum development capacity
Agree measurement and evaluation approach

It would be great to discuss of a few of these areas over next couple of weeks, what it means for us as teachers and for our own school.

We will start with 'aligning assessment and qualifications'.

Here is a quick read:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KCytlgqy9tQg2gjJzNVQ6bjbKQZB9daNjEbhRmuWBvI/edit?usp=sharing

I've extracted this section from the document onto one page in the link, to make it a very quick read.

It would be great to hear thoughts on assessment reform and the role of qualifications in your subject area so come along for a blether and a biscuit!

Full document link:

file:///C:/Users/primary/Downloads/scotlands-curriculum-future-implementation-framework-oecds-2021-review-curriculum-excellence.pdf

Michelle Skinner