Headteacher Update
Welcome to the February/March HT update. There'll be one further update as we head off into the Easter break, but there's too much great work and information to share with you before then!
Staffing Updates
Mr Brown (Social Studies) has taken on a short term post in the Guidance Team (Grange House) and Mr O'Donnell is continuing with us on a supply basis to ensure continuity for our learners.
Important Information & Updates
Positive Destinations - School Leavers
We're delighted to report that our school leaver data has shown an increase of approximately 2.5% this year. 96.1% of our leavers moved into a positive destination. By way of comparison, the national average is 96.12% and the Fife average is 95.26%. This is the result of planning, preparation with young people, strong working relationships between school, families, Skills Development Scotland (SDS) and other partners across Fife. For those not yet in a positive destination, the SDS post-school team will continue to engage with individuals and school to support them into an appropriate post-school destination.
SQA - Upcoming dates
You may be aware that learners in S4-6 who require Additional Assessment Arrangements have had their plans shared with them earlier this week. The deadline for returning these to the front office is Tuesday. After this point we will confirm arrangements with SQA so they are in place for the final exam.
Week beginning the 18th March, we will share information with all learners confirming the arrangements for exam leave and also our study support offering for the final few weeks before the exam and during exam leave.
On Wednesday 17th April, all S4 - 6 learners will receive a finalised exam timetable that will detail rooms, times and seat numbers for the exams. These will be handed out during year group assemblies.
As a reminder, the SQA Exam Timetable can be found here
Current study support information can be found here
Update on School Uniform Options
We've opened up early orders for our new uniform option that I shared information about in the previous update. They've been popular so far and we have the orders coming in already. You can find order information on our school website and can pay for items through iPay Impact.
Fife Council ParentWise Survey 2024
A reminder that parents/carers are invited to share feedback via the link below. Your views are very important and this is an opportunity for all parents/carers from Nursery, Primary and Secondary settings to provide feedback about the educational experience of your child. The link has been live for a few weeks (shared in a previous HT update) and will close today, 8th March 2024, so pop on today if you want to provide any feedback.
Proposed Changes to the school day
We are now progressing with the changes to the school day following the period of consultation and feedback involving all stakeholders. A letter from Shelagh McLean was shared with you via email yesterday (Thurs 7th March). Further information from individual HTs will follow in due course which will detail specific information for each school regarding the changes that will take place from August 2024.
S4 & S5 Course Choice Information
The course choice information is now available and learners in our current S4 and S5 cohort must make their choices by the end of the day on Monday 11th March. I've included the links below that you and your child should access to support and make their choices;
S4 Course Choice Information 2024
We're working on our curriculum to make sure that we maximise choice and attainment for all our learners. For those in the senior phase (going into S5 or S6) a Wider Achievement option will also be selected. Any queries, please contact your child's guidance teacher in the first instance. Once all the choices are in, all learners will meet with their guidance teacher/SLT to discuss and finalise their options. We'll always do our best to get pupils into the courses they choose but it's not always possible. We'll have 1:1 conversations with learners who may not be able to get their first choices to help identify a suitable alternative or allocate a reserve.
Attendance
As you're aware, attendance at school is directly linked to the engagement, attainment and achievement of learners. When a young person is absent from school they miss out on vital learning that can be difficult to catch up on. So much of what we learn is supported and enhanced by the interactions with our teachers and peers and missing out on this can have a detrimental impact on a learner's confidence and engagement when they return. We know that there are times when it's unavoidable for a learner to be absent from school. We work hard with families where there are unique circumstances that require additional support to help their child(ren) attend and engage in lessons. We're grateful for the support of parents/carers in ensuring their child(ren) attend school every day, on time, and are ready to learn.
Contacting School
Any parents/carers who wish to make contact with the school should use the main school phone number or email address in the first instance. Parents/carers should not make direct contact with teachers initially. This helps us ensure any queries are directed to the most appropriate person. Thanks for your support with this. You can find all our main contact details by clicking on the button below;
Celebrating Success
Dragon's Den - Tote-Ally Sweet!
I was delighted to judge the first round of the 'Build A Business' Enterprise competition recently. Our S2 group progressed onto the next round of the Dragon's Den competition this week. They have created a Tote Bag company for our P7 (new S1) learners, current students and staff, complete with information about the school and fully personalised with names etc. They have planned out a robust business plan and are already selling their products across the school. Although they didn't win, Tote-Ally Sweet were praised for their teamwork, effort and the ability to answer quite challenging questions from the 5 Dragon's on the panel.
Young Musician of the Year 2024
It was inspiring to attend the first round of the Young Musician of the Year in school on Monday 26th February. 7 of our senior musicians took part in the competition and were absolutely fantastic. The maturity, musicianship and communication demonstrated by all through their performances was outstanding. Congratulations to Rohan and Jack who were our winner and runner up respectively. Here are all 7 performers from the evening - congratulations to all and good luck to Rohan in the next round.
Sister Act
Staying with the Performing Arts theme, HUGE congratulations to our students who took part in the recent KYMT production in the Adam Smith Theatre. It was a fun, confident and entertaining production that really showcased the importance of all that the performing arts has to offer young people. Thanks to all who supported and attended and congratulations to all participants both on and off stage.
LEGO Tournament
We have our very first LEGO League Tournament entrants visiting Fife College today to take part in this great event. Good luck to our S2 entrants and their S6 supporters who are attending with them. What a way to demonstrate our creativity value!
Equalities - LGBT+ Group Visit
I was delighted to meet with some of our LGBTQ+ learners recently who meet regularly in school. I was interested to hear about and support their plans to raise awareness of the work the group do and their strategy for supporting others across our school community. This is an area we will focus on as we move towards our next phase of whole school improvement planning and ensuring that all young people and staff feel valued and respected.
Sporting Successes
Here's a quick summary of the amazing successes of our sporting teams. Congratulations to all our sportspeople and thank you to all the coaches, supporters and parents/carers who play such an important role too;
Senior Basketball team - winners of Fife Schools Basketball tournament held at the Michael Woods Centre, Glenrothes
Senior Netball team - winners of the Fife Schools Netball tournament held at the Michael Woods Centre, Glenrothes
S3 Netball team - winners of the 'Plate' Section of the S3 Fife Schools Netball tournament held at the Michael Woods Centre, Glenrothes
Footballing success - Poppy McInnes-Walker is off to Latvia to represent Scotland U17 ladies football squad
Swimming success - Sylvie McNicol - Silver medal in the Fife Schools Girls 12 and Under 50 metre Breaststroke
Career Ready Graduates
Well done to our Career Ready graduates who attended a graduation ceremony on 7th March at The Old Course Hotel in St Andrew's. It is amazing to see their progress and how well they have engaged with the programme and opportunities presented to them.
Upcoming Key Dates
If you'd like to leave any feedback related to this update, please use the form below.