Monday 20 November 2017

Headteacher Update 15 - Monday 20th November 2017



November 2017

Dear Parent/Carer

We are now well into the school term and pupils have returned and settled in after the October break. We have a very busy schedule right up to the Christmas break and I hope you find the information detailed below useful and informative.

Staffing Update
Maths
Ms Purdie continues to be absent and until last week, Mrs Ustun was covering her classes. Mrs Ustun has now begun her maternity leave. We secured short-term supply cover which has now ended and we continue to seek more supply cover. To ensure pupils get as much access to subject specialists as possible there will be some changes to Maths classes. Further details will follow.

Physics
We have successfully appointed Mr Chasomeris to replace Mr Nugent who left us last month.

Drama
We have successfully appointed Ms Vidotto who will take up the 2 day-a –week vacancy that has existed since the start of term. The start date is yet to be confirmed.

Art
We have successfully appointed Ms Saez-Martinez who will cover for Ms Shannon’s continued absence. We are hopeful that she will be able to take up post very shortly. In the meantime, classes and timetables have been altered to ensure that senior classes are getting as much access to subject specialists as possible.

English
Ms Flannigan has left us to take up a full-time permanent post as Pupil Support Leader at Forrester High School. We wish her well and thank her for all the hard work over the last three years at Gracemount High School. We are currently in the process of recruiting her replacement.

Mr Swan continues to be absent and in the meantime, Mrs Morrison is working on a supply basis to support the English faculty.

Social Subjects
Mrs Corsar has taken up a fixed-term post as Pupil Support Leader at Castlebrae High School. Mr Nolan has been appointed to fill the vacancy.

Pupil Support Assistants
We welcome Ms Devine and Ms Laing into post.

School Support Assistants
We welcome Ms Donaldson and Ms Galbraith into post as School Support Assistants.

Supporting the School Dress Code
Recently we have witnessed a decline in the standard of dress. A small number of pupils are not wearing the correct footwear and/or a school tie. There is also concern with some girls who are not wearing leggings with skirts as per school policy.

We are very proud of our school and our dress code contributes to a positive and safe ethos. We ask again for your support in ensuring your child is suitably dressed for school and is adhering to the school dress code.

Opportunity Fund - Financial Assistance
The school is committed to ensuring that no pupil misses out due to poverty related issues. Our opportunity fund is designed to support young people and their families and we ask that parents contact their child’s Pupil Support Leader in the first instance should they have an issue regarding purchasing items for school.

It is important to note that school clothing grants are now paid directly into the parent’s bank account, which gives the family greater choice about where they shop and the school has pre-loved uniform that can be purchased at a significantly reduced cost.

We will continue to do all we can to support all our young people and ensure an equitable provision of education across the school.



Sponsored Walk
Our very first sponsored walk took place on Friday 6 October. This was a hugely successful event and almost all of the school participated in the 12km walk around Edinburgh. The pupils and staff were fantastic as were the parent helpers who came along with us. We were very well supported by local businesses who provided food and water for our walkers.

To date we have raised just over £1600, which is an incredible effort from our young people and our community. We are so thankful for all the support we received and delighted that we were able to have so many young people positively contribute to the school community. We very much hope this will become an annual event.

Rights Respecting Schools
We continue to promote our Rights Respecting Ethos and our aim to achieve the Rights Respecting School level 2 award is on track. Our Rights Respecting School Ethos is promoted across all levels of the school and permeates all our work within and beyond the classroom. Part of this includes our Respect Week initiative detailed below.

Respect Week
Our annual Respect Week takes place week beginning Monday 13 November. A number of activities are planned during the week which will help to promote our Rights Respecting School Ethos.

We will be launching our updated and revised anti-bullying policy. We decided to focus on this for the coming session in light of pupil feedback from last year. Please look out for the new policy which will go live on the school website. Leaflets will be available to collect from the School Office and pupils will be informed during assemblies.

We are holding a staff training event on Friday 17 November to familiarise the new policy.

Latecoming (mornings)
A revised approach to promoting punctuality and skills for life, work and learning has been launched this week and all parents/carers should have received information about this.

We are asking for your support in ensuring that all young people arrive to school on time.  This helps them get a positive start to the school day.

There are 3 bells in the morning as follows:-

1.     8.27am - (Warning Bell) – we encourage all pupils to be in the vicinity of the school building at this time.

2.     8.30am – This bell indicates the start of the school day. All pupils should make their way to registration or assembly.

3.     8.32am- This is our late bell. Any pupil who arrives after this bell will be recorded as late to school.

Any pupil who is late twice in one week without a reason will receive a below expectation detention. This will be completed at lunchtime on the day they are late for the second time. Pupils who are late more than twice in a week will receive a detention each time they are late in that week.

Magic Breakfast - TOA5T
We are delighted to announce a forthcoming partnership with Magic Breakfast, which will enable us to provide food and snacks for pupils across the school in the morning. This is not your typical breakfast club and we aim to make it as inclusive as possible so all pupils will have some form of access.

In the meantime, we continue to provide a breakfast option in our HE departments (TOA5T club) and any pupil can attend and access a range of breakfast food and drinks.

Reporting
On the back of national advice from Education Scotland this session, we have launched a new style of report which we hope is easier to understand. Our aim is to report more frequently on the progress of all our young people and the new style of report is the start of this process. Reports have gone home for both senior and S2 pupils and as I write this blog S3 reports are due to be issued on Friday 17 November.

Mentoring (Senior School)
This session we have 2 forms of mentoring taking place as follows:-

1.     Positive Intervention Programme (PIP) is aimed at S5/6 pupils who are studying 3 Highers. The Senior Leadership Team is leading this initiative and a range of pupils have been allocated a mentor from the Senior Team who will meet up to 4 times per session with the pupils. Two meetings have already taken place in preparation for the forthcoming formal assessments.

2.     Learning to Learn Mentors – this programme is aimed at S4 pupils. 10 staff have been assigned a mentor role and will mentor 5 targeted pupils each throughout the session. A parent engagement session is planned for Wednesday 15 November and we very much hope parents can make it along. All parents invited will have received a text message and email from the school.

Pupil Achievements
Football
Congratulations to Abigail Hunter (S1) who has been playing for Hearts ladies under 13s. She has been playing an age banding above her own because she was shining in her own age group. Abigail's league recently finished and they achieved a second place finish.

Abigail was spotted by scouts and has recently participated in trials for the Scotland girls under 13 team. We will find out if she has been successful in the next fortnight. Good luck Abigail.

Brandyn Bain (S3) has been on trial at Hearts under 15s. Brandyn played five games on trial with some strong performances in goals - most notably Brandyn saved a penalty in a victory over Rangers. After these strong performances, Brandyn is set to put pen to paper and join the team.
Brandyn also successfully trialled for the Edinburgh under 15 select squad and has played in two of the qualifying fixtures in the nationwide competition.

Our Senior Football team remain unbeaten in the league and are top of the Lothian’s Under 16’s league. This is a great effort and the boys are now playing in the new strips funded by Gilmerton Grocers. A huge thank you to them for supporting the school and helping us to purchase the strips for the boys.

Active Schools - Girls Day Out
4 girls from S3, Anna Munro, Nicole Gilroy, Rachel Forbes and Erin Neave took part in 6 workshops; dance, step, boot camp, yoga, health and wellbeing and clubbing.

Sports Ambassadors
Maja Majerowicz and Amy Dickson from S4 have been appointed as our sports ambassadors and they are working hard to promote participation in a range of sports across the school.

Princes Trust Programme
Congratulations to Mitch Mitchell and Brandon Bova who completed the Achieve Level 4 Programme at the Princes Trust programme. Both boys demonstrated real commitment to achieve the overall award and we are very proud of them.

Robert Burns World Federation
Congratulations to Luke Alexander who received a certificate of distinction for his work, which was entered in the RBWF writing competition.  Luke received his certificate at assembly on 7 November.

Edinburgh Schools Rock Ensemble
Congratulations to Jamie Aquino who has been selected to sing a solo as part of the Edinburgh Schools Rock Ensemble concert.

Lessons from Auschwitz
Samantha Foggo and Cara Wood Conway both visited Auschwitz as part of the lessons from Auschwitz programme.

Winter Windows Competition 2017
Congratulation to Amie Cowan who has won the Winter Windows Competition. Amie will attend a celebration event at the National Gallery on Friday 24 November.

Future Chef
Congratulations to Meryn Parsons and Gary Watson who won the school heats in the future chef programme and will now compete in the local final at Edinburgh College on 4 December. Good luck to both pupils.


Important Forthcoming Dates for your Diary
13 November                Respect Week
16 November                Gracemount does strictly
20 November                Formal assessments (Higher Pupils Only)
20 November                Parent Council (6.30pm School Library)
1 December                  S1 Tracking Report issued
12 December                S2 Parent Consultation Evening
15 December                Senior Tracking Report 2 issued
18/19 December            Gracemount High School Dance Academy Show
22nd December            School term ends

Please note the school will be holding its very first Burns Supper Event in Partnership with Edinburgh Food and Wine. The event will take place on Thursday 25 January. A number of tickets will be made available to parents and communication regarding this event will follow in due course. We hope to see you there. 

Kind regards

Ross Hunter
Head Teacher