Headteacher Key Information Update
As we head off for the festive break, I wanted to share a few updates ahead of our return on 6 January 2025. Thank you for all your ongoing support and partnership. I'm very mindful and appreciative of the key role that our parents/carers play in helping our young people achieve their full potential.
Staffing Update
- Mr Harrison will be joining us in January. He is a teacher of English and will be supporting across the school too.
- Mrs Forbes was appointed as Acting Administration Coordinator as we say farewell to Mrs Scott in the Admin team. We wish Ros all the very best in her (early) retirement - she'll be hugely missed.
- Mrs Fleming (PTC Maths) has shared with her learners and our staff that she intends to retire, but thankfully we'll not be losing her until June 2025. Needless to say, her pupils were sad to hear this news and several commented that she was obviously far too young to retire. I'm certain there will be lots of great stories, gratitude and memories to share in due course and I know the community will feel her loss at the end of the session when she steps away from the classroom.
- Mrs Thomson heads off on her maternity leave and we wish her all the best for the safe arrival of 'Baby T'! We have Mrs Stewart (Art & Design) joining the Creative Industries team during this time, with Mr Crawford (Design & Technology) joining us for an additional day. We have, as anticipated, made some tweaks to the curriculum to ensure our senior phase learners in Design and Technology subjects continue with a subject specialist.
- Mr Brown (Modern Studies/Piteadie Guidance) is currently on his paternity leave following the safe arrival of his newest little one, Maura, last weekend.
- Mrs McBride (Grange Guidance) will be returning to her substantive post as teacher of Biology in January.
- Ms Martyn (Home Economics) was successfully appointed as our temporary Principal Teacher of Guidance for Grange House and will take up her post in January.
- Mr Chapman, our head janitor, is taking a step back and reducing his hours from January. Congratulations to Mr Paterson who will pick up the reins.
Prelim Diet 2
From Monday 20 January to Tuesday 4th February we will be holding our second preliminary examination diet of the session. Pupils have received a copy of the timetable via their year group Teams. Further information will follow after the Christmas break,
S1 Pupils - change to lunchtime arrangements
From Term 3 (Jan 2025) S1 pupils will be allowed to leave the school grounds over lunchtime (13.10pm - 13.50pm) if they wish to buy lunch in the local community or have a home lunch. Pupils should remember they are representing the school when they are out in the community and should therefore be responsible with regards to conduct, disposing of litter and practising good timekeeping to ensure they are not late to class period 6 (13.50pm). Pupils should remain in the school grounds over break time.
What else have we been up to?!
Polar Academy Success
I'm thrilled to share the brilliant news that we were successful in our application to become a 'Polar Academy' school! 'What on earth is that?' I hear you say. Well, in short, it's an incredible opportunity for 15 young people and their families to experience a year long training programme, working towards a Polar expedition in March 2026. Yes - an actual Polar expedition!! For more information, have a look on their website. The recruitment process for young people will begin in January 2025 with year group assemblies and will, in due course, identify the young people and families who will participate in this very special programme. I'm incredibly proud of the young people and staff who helped us with our interview preparations - a real team effort!
MVP
Friday 6 December saw our Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) leaders running a successful event where we raised £853.32. Well done to Mrs Williams and the MVP team who worked so hard.
Practical Cake Creations
Our Practical Cake Crafters have been busy again this year - have a look at their awesome creations.
Christmas Concert
Another fantastic Christmas Concert took place on Wednesday 18 December. We had a full house to perform to which was brilliant - we're so grateful for all the support of our families and friends who come along to enjoy our performances. Thanks to all the Instrumental Instructors and Classroom Teachers who work so hard with the young people to help them achieve this standard. Thanks also to our technicians, janitors and admin staff who help behind the scenes to keep everything running so smoothly.
Check out some footage of life in the Performing Arts dept!
Winter Formal
Our S6 Winter Formal event took place on Monday 16 December. Thanks to our fantastic S6 pupils, Mr Booth and all the staff who helped make this evening such a great success.
Mobile Phone Consultation
We are beginning the consultation phase for our mobile phone policy in school. As the Local Authority hopes to head towards a programme of transforming learning which will see learners with a 1:1 digital device to support their learning, we feel now is a good time to review what we want our policy on the use of mobile phones in school to look like. Currently, mobile phones should not be used in classrooms or corridors, unless directed by a member of staff for learning and teaching purposes. We recognise that mobile phones are important for learners for medical, safety and obviously communication purposes but are also mindful of the negative impact they can have, for some, on engagement, wellbeing and, in particular, mental health. We're capturing the views of staff initially, asking what they feel are the biggest challenges with our young people using mobile phones in classes and what they feel would be appropriate adjustments to our policy and sanctions for inappropriate use. In the new year we'll be seeking the views of learners and thereafter of parents/carers. We'll then be in a position to put together a refreshed approach based on what our community believes to be in the best interests of our young people and staff ready for the start of the new academic session in August.
DAS Winter Sale & Panto Trip
Friday 6 Dec was also our DAS winter sale event which was, as usual, a roaring success. It was great seeing all our learners and teachers working together to prepare and manage the stalls, serve refreshments and look after our visitors. The DAs calendar is looking great for 2025 too - make sure you order yours if you haven't already! We also loved our visit to The King's Theatre, Kirkcaldy, on Monday 16 Dec to see 'Ya Wee Dickie McWhittington'. The theatre looked after us so well and said we were the tidiest school group they've had in (and with the treats and sweeties we enjoyed, that is quite a claim!). Thanks to all the staff and families who joined us for helping make the visit so great.
Boys U16 National Youth Quaich
Congratulations to Cameron, Jason, Noah and William who were part of the winning team last Sunday, with the final score sitting at 31-25. The boys were part of the recently formed team combining players from Kirkcaldy and Glenrothes Rugby Clubs.
Fife Schools Netball Senior Tournament
On Friday the seniors competed against 18 other teams from across fife.
Senior A team - over all champions, won every game! Fantastic effort.
Senior B team - fantastic performance, qualified for the cup which means they were in the tope 8. This was due to their amazing first round of games but unfortunately knocked out by our A team in the quarter final.
Girls Get Set
Last week our GirlsGetSET cohort learned more about the roles and responsibilities of being a Lead Mechanical Engineer and a Senior Materials Engineer when they were visited by industry mentors Rebecca and Laura from Baker Hughes.
Both of our mentors followed different pathways into their current roles and the girls were very engaged and full of curiosity about their career to date, current workload and future plans. The career spotlight was followed by mini design project, building bridges across the desks to support different masses. The girls had a wonderful time applying a variety of metaskills throughout the session and are very excited to continue developing these skills and applying their knowledge of Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage during the in-house project day investigating Balwearie's Carbon Footprint, scheduled for the 16 Jan 2025.
Please click the following link to view the GirlsGetSET Autumn newsletter, to learn more about GirlsGetSET and where some of our work has been featured on page 8 (posters).
Previous meeting minutes are available to read here.
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Building Works and Refurbishment News
The new accommodation is now on site! It's been fascinating to see the speed and accuracy with which our skilled colleagues have brough the huge blocks on site and positioned them with such ease! In the new year work will commence on the internal spaces with electrics, plumbing, heating and ventilation being connected up. Thereafter, we'll take delivery of lots of furniture to make the spaces ready for use by the middle of the year we hope!
The space uses have been agreed as follows:
Top floor - 5 new science classrooms to replace the older science rooms in J Block.
Lower floor - Continuum of Support space to support our learners who access Pupil Support, DAS, in/out reach work, partners and enhanced provision. Please be assured there will be no changes to our current DAS provision in the building it is situated in - the new accommodation will simply provide a further opportunity to access our mainstream setting as appropriate for individuals.
Within the main building we will continue with our plans to upgrade some spaces including the C Block science rooms, Home Economics spaces, reorganisation of some faculty areas and 'future proofing' our curriculum plans as we progress with the offer for our young people. Lots more information and detail will be shared in the new year as plans are finalised.
We'd like to thank our neighbours for their patience and understanding while all this work is going on - we appreciate it greatly!
We wish all our families a restful break and we'll look forward to seeing you all again on 6 January 2025!
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