St Modan's High School
Parent Newsletter - Week beginning Monday 2nd February 2026
Parent Newsletter - Week beginning Monday 2nd February 2026
During this term, our S2 - S5 pupils will be asked to complete their option choices. There will be lots of support available to them in school during HWB, PSD and in class.
Here is a link to our Curriculum Pathways Hub that will give you access to key dates, information, guides and resources to help with their choices.
We now have a termly Celebrating Success Newsletter. December's edition can be found here.
Celebrating Success December 2025
If you would like to nominate their child to be in the Celebrating Success Newsletter, please email smhscelebratingsuccess@stirlingschools.net
Many thanks,
The Celebrating Success Committee
We are looking for people to join rehearsals for St Modan's Pantomime "Sleeping Tootie" in the ensemble (singing and dancing) and to help with behind the scenes. Rehearsals are every Tuesday after school 3.20pm to 4.20pm in the Benedict Hall. See Miss Rollo for more info.
Dear parents and carers,
Thank you to all who responded to our consultation regarding the proposal to create the Education Admissions Policy. The Consultation Report has now been published on the Engage Platform. Should you wish to view the report, this can be found here - https://engage.stirling.gov.uk/en-GB/projects/education-admissions-consultation
Kind regards,
Bryony Monaghan, Head of Education
I have summarised the recommendations that will be made affecting St Modan's High School below.
Placing requests to attend St Modan’s High School
Pupils resident within the catchment area for St Modan’s High School who are baptised Roman Catholic (RC) can automatically enrol to St Modan’s as they meet the catchment criteria. In line with legislation and policy, those not baptised are required to submit a placing request as they do not meet the criteria for direct enrolment. As stated in Section 8 of this report, as a result of this consultation, Stirling Council has amended the Education Admissions Policy to state that pupils who are not baptised but attend an associated RC primary school within the catchment area will receive an element of priority when placing request decisions are being made. This update will be communicated to church representatives.
The current Placing Request Policy states that in the event that demand for places at any school exceeds the number of places available, final allocation will be made based upon prioritising pupils residing on the shortest route from their ordinary residence to the requested school. Feedback received as part of the consultation suggested that pupils from within the catchment area applying to attend St Modan’s High School, who are not baptised Roman Catholic but have attended a Roman Catholic primary school within the catchment, should receive priority over distance when allocating places.
This has been considered by Schools, Learning and Education, and as a result of this feedback, the Placing Request section of the proposed Education Admissions Policy will be updated to reflect this suggestion.
As the catchment area for St Modan’s High School extends beyond Stirling into Clackmannanshire and a proportion of Falkirk, distance would still be used to allocate spaces once all other criteria had been considered. Therefore, the criteria for reaching decisions on placing request applications will be updated as follows (bold text):
Placing requests are split into 2 groups:
Group A: Pupils resident within the Stirling Council Area; or pupils resident outwith the Stirling Council area with a sibling attending the same establishment for the session the application is being made.
Group B: All other pupils resident outwith the Stirling Council Area.
All applications within Group A are considered prior to looking at Group B.
Children from within the Stirling Council area will receive priority over all applications from out with the Stirling Council Area.
The following criteria are then used in order to prioritise each group of applications:
Medical/ASN grounds relating to the child making the application, such that the chosen school is the only school that could provide for the child. These must be supported by documentary evidence from the family doctor and a local health practitioner. The Service Manager with responsibility for ASN will assess all applications seeking to receive recognition under this category.
An older brother or sister will be attending the same establishment for the session the application is being made.
For Placing Requests to St Modan’s High School only, the child named in the application is not baptised Roman Catholic however has attended an associated Roman Catholic primary school within the catchment area of St Modan’s High School.
The child is from a family that has exceptional family circumstances or is from a lone parent family. You may be asked to support this by suitable documentation.
Please note that Schools, Learning and Education cannot accept childcare, transport to or from school or parental work arrangements under this category.
Under this category the individual circumstances of each application will be considered and a judgement reached by Officers of Schools, Learning and Education.
Where it is not possible to accommodate all requests and 2 or more applications have equal criteria the final allocation will be by the distance from the child’s ordinary residence to the requested school, the nearest getting priority. Distance is measured by the shortest available route and not the shortest distance geographically.
Our school robotics teams took part in their second competition of the season on Thursday 29th January at the National Robotarium. The competition was tough, with 15 teams participating - including 9 teams who travelled up from England. All our teams made it to the semi-finals, 3 teams made it to quarter finals and Ctrl Alt Elite (S6) made it to the final match, where they put up a good fight.
Ctrl Alt Elite were also presented with the award from the CEO of the Robotarium commending their design and team effort.
We are super pleased with all pupils involved, as they showed such resilience and their hard work paid off. Preparation is now underway for the last Regional competition of the season taking place on Saturday 7th February, which we will be hosting for the first time in St. Modan's!
Our Burns Supper took place in the Benedict Hall on Friday 30th January. This, the second of our newly-resurrected, biennial Burns events, was a hearty celebration of all the things Robert Burns loved – family, music, poetry, dance and good cheer.
We were delighted to welcome around 60 guests, all there to support their children and grandchildren in a variety of recitals, performances and good old Scottish traditions.
Our bairns did not disappoint – from our wonderful wee piper to our graceful wee Highland dancer; from a dramatic ‘Address to the Haggis’ to a poignant ‘Immortal Memory’ rendering of ‘To a Moose’ (complete with a wee moosie!); from our hearty reciters to our talented Trad Band; from our Toast to the Lassies to the Lassies’ Reply. All played a vital part in establishing this great Scottish tradition as a favourite in our school calendar.
We would like to thank everyone who helped and supported, cajoled and transported – you made this the most memorable evening for our young people. We hope you enjoyed it too.
Special thanks go to Mrs Daly for her inexhaustible energy and spirit.
Lang may yer lums reek and see you again in 2028!
Young Carers Drop In Sessions - The next Crop in session will be held on Wednesday 18th February for BGE and Senior pupils.
See Ms Fitzsimons for more information.
Please click on link below for a list of our Practical Music Exam timetable for S4/S5/6.
The dates are Monday 23rd, Tuesday 24th and Wednesday 25th February - 50% of our course will be completed on these dates.
Best wishes,
The Music Dept.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1auQOJCqPmakVj5szQ6NvLJM46lzCfRCpy8T-3hGtfjs/edit?usp=sharing
Here is a link to the Parent Calendar for next year - link to calendar
We are currently seeking a member of our school community to serve as the Church Representative on our Parent Teacher Partnership (PTP).
This is a voluntary role that supports the school’s values and aims. The Church Representative sits as a full member of the Parent Council (PTP) and, as such, plays a vital role in linking home, school, and parish.
Role and Responsibilities
As a full member of the PTP, the Church Representative is expected to:
Take an active interest in the school’s effective management and development as a Catholic school.
Promote effective partnership between the home, school, and parish in the education and formation of our young people.
Represent the views of the Catholic Church, as specified by the Bishop of the Diocese.
Encourage commitment to the spiritual formation of the school community through the shared experience of prayer and liturgy.
Operate as an active member of the Parent Council, working for the benefit of the school and its wider community.
Report to the Archdiocese on major issues of potential concern, conflict, or sensitivity (e.g., school closures or amalgamations).
If you would like to be considered for this role, or would like further information, please contact the Chair of our PTP at ptpstmodans@gmail.com
A reminder of some of the clubs and activities that we are currently running after school and at lunch.
We have a supply of pre-loved uniform; shoes; food parcels and period products available in our school. If there is anything that we can do to support you and your family, please contact the pupil support team on pupilsupportstmodans@stirling.gov.uk or complete this google form. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfI2tw5JxeAjWYVzHvf61nKOI9QTij0r_7NffBTGMtrNPdUww/viewform?usp=sharing
Please make sure you have completed the free-meal entitlement and uniform support if you think you may be eligible as a family. If you need help completing the form, please contact the school. Also, this is the form regardless of your 'home authority' as we are a Stirling Council school:
As you may be aware travelling by bus is now free for 5-22 year olds around Scotland. So if you haven’t already applied for your child’s card why not do it today in time for the summer holidays and obtain Young Scot discounts & Rewards www.youngscot.org/discounts-and-rewards
You can apply now or check out the below links for more information.
How to apply for Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel on behalf of your child: https://youtu.be/EYiz87G0MSE
How to apply for Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel on behalf of your child under 16 who already has a card: https://youtu.be/A3sKTzZVpiA
How to apply for Young Persons Free Bus Travel if you’re over 16: https://youtu.be/CLWDKSzfCqA
The most effective means of getting in touch with us is email. The email addresses are:
General Enquiries:
Pupil Support, ASN and Inclusion:
pupilsupportstmodans@stirling.gov.uk
Autism Provision: