Headteacher Update
As we arrive at a mid-way point in Term 2, I wanted to get in touch with our families to share updates about school life and future events taking place over the next few weeks. Based on parent/carer feedback and as recently agreed at our Parent/Carer Voice group, it was preferred that the frequency of HT updates should be 1-2 per term. Any urgent/important updates will continue to be communicated to you directly via ‘Groupcall’ and will be posted on our school website which continues to be developed and is regularly updated. Speaking of which, I’ve also updated the HT welcome on our website – pop over and have a read here.
Staffing Updates
This term we will say thank you and farewell to Miss Todd who leaves us from her post as a Teacher of ASN to take up a new post in a different local authority as a teacher of Drama. We wish her all the very best in her new school.
School Events
Safe Drive Stay Alive
On 31st October we welcomed the ‘Safe Drive, Stay Alive’ team to meet with our S5 pupils who deliver key messages around road safety as many of them start thinking about learning to drive. This is an important life skill and one which can be an exciting and natural part of the transition into adulthood. It is important that we share (sometimes difficult) messages with them about keeping themselves and others safe on the road.
DYW
Our improvement focus this term is themed around Developing the Young Workforce (DYW), Curricular Pathways and Positive Destinations for our learners. We have enjoyed input from our Skills Development Scotland (SDS) colleagues at Principal Teacher and all staff professional learning sessions, our STEM focused career event was attended by 18 of our partners and lots of parents/carers. Feedback from the event included comments such as:
"Nice mix of industry and academic presenters"
"Many students and teachers present, good starting presentation and work done at Balwearie by getting students involved in STEM"
"One of the best organised events I have attended, great engagement and hosts"
"Students asked great questions and many were engaged in what we had to say"
Our Inset Day on 10th November really got us thinking creatively about our vision, purpose and meeting learners’ needs.
£350 was raised for our Young Enterprise Programme.
Remembrance
Remembrance Assemblies took place for our S1 and S5 students, led by our school chaplaincy team. I was really impressed with our young people who were very respectful and was grateful for the support of our Pupil Leadership Team who were present throughout to represent all other students. On Sunday 12th November, Euan, Isla and I attended the Kirkcaldy Remembrance Service starting at the Town Hall. We were joined by the 3 other HTs within our cluster alongside their School Captains, all of whom laid a school wreath and paid their respects.
Green Flag Award
I’m very proud to announce we have been awarded our Green Flag Award from ‘Keep Scotland Beautiful’. This award recognises the work our Eco Group, led by Miss McFarlane, have been doing around our school. Their focus on the environment and climate has led to improvements in and around our school. Well done to all involved!
Wear Orange Day
We are excited to have our ‘Wear Orange’ day coming up to support our Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) programme, led by Mrs Williams in school. This features as part of the national ‘16 Days of Activism’ campaign. You can find out more in this short video from Education Scotland who will be popping in to see what we are up to!
Pupil Voice Group
Pupil Voice Group is now up and running with Mr Shankland supporting our senior students to move this important part of our school self-evaluation and improvement planning forward. I met with the group a couple of weeks ago and was delighted to hear their plans and thoughts about how we can work together to make Balwearie High School an even better place to learn, work and be.
Career Ready
Career Ready is launching next week for our new cohort of 7 students in S5. This is a fantastic social mobility project that links young people with industry mentors during a 2 year programme of learning, coaching and work based opportunities. Our new S5 group will meet their mentors on 21st November at the Fife launch event. I’m looking forward to attending the pre-event meeting where Jenny Gilruth (Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills) will learn from guests about the benefits of the programme and will also address all the participants during the launch session. You can find out more about the Career Ready programme here.
Celebrating Achievement
Celebrating Achievement recognition is something we’re working hard to improve. Led by Mr Robertson, our newly formed Communications Group (comprised of students and staff) will be developing our strategy for sharing students’ (and staff!) wider achievements with families and our school community…watch this space!
And finally...
Finally, I’d like to thank you for your continued support. It was really great to meet some of our parents/carers at the recent Parent/Carer Voice meeting. I’d appeal for your ongoing support with reminding students when they should be accessing the toilets during the school day. We have, unfortunately, been experiencing some vandalism in our toilet cubicles recently and we believe this to be happening during times when students should be in classes. Where possible, we will be requesting that students remain in classes and will continue to encourage them to access these facilities at break/lunch times and at the start/end of the day. This will help us minimise disruption to learning and teaching and will allow us to address and resolve the issues by working with families and individuals. We fully understand that some students with medical conditions may require access to our facilities throughout the day – please be assured these students will continue to be allowed to do so.
During the entirety of the Prelim diet the Lower Crush Hall will be out of bounds unless learners are waiting to enter an exam. The external access door in the Lower Crush Hall should not be used and no learners should be in the area around the Biology pond at any time. The Senior Dining Hall will only be accessible from the outside doors on the carpark side. These arrangements will help ensure that all learners undertaking their prelims do so in a quite and purposeful environment.
This is a busy term for Parents’/Carers’ Evenings and Tracking Reports – the schedule for the remainder of the session can be found below:
I’ll soon be reaching out to parents/carers to seek your views on our curriculum and experiences at Balwearie High School. In the meantime, if you have any feedback/queries relating to this update, please complete the feedback form.