Headteacher Key Information Update
Good afternoon and happy holidays! A final update from me on the last day of term for session 24/25. Thanks for all your support and engagement this session. I hope the information in this update will be helpful in getting ready for August.
All pupils return on Wednesday 20th August
Staffing Update
Leavers
- Ms Adamson (DAS) will finish up with us to take up a permanent post elsewhere in the council. She’s been fantastic and we wish her the best moving forward
- Mrs Brown (Modern Languages) is leaving to take a break from the classroom and follow new adventures. We can’t wait to hear what she gets up to!
- Ms Chishti (English) leaves to take a career break where she will be teaching English abroad. We know she’ll be an asset in her now school
- Mr Dewar (Admin) leaves to take up his new post as a pilot for Loganair. He’s been a huge support to us and will be hugely missed
- Mrs O’Connor (Maths) leaves to take up a promoted post at St Andrew’s High School. We wish her well at her new school
- Ms Hutchison (English) is retiring early for health related reasons. We wish her well.
- Dr MacLeod (Biology) is taking early retirement and we wish him all the very best in this next chapter
- Mrs Ramsay-Service (PT Biology) is taking early retirement. We wish her all the very best and know she’ll be missed by colleagues and young people alike
- Mrs Fleming (PT Maths) is retiring in August. Mrs Fleming will be missed by families, colleagues and pupils and we wish her all the very best in her retirement
Thank you to all our staff leavers for your commitment and dedication to our young people and community
New/returning/change of posts
- Mrs Miller (PT Numeracy) takes up the PTC Maths post
- Ms Annandale (Home Economics) starts with us in August and has been in for a few days already
- Our newly appointed PT Raising Attainment in Numeracy teacher, Mr McGrath, will join the Maths team on 8th September
- Our PT General Science and Pathways teacher, Mr Treanor, starts in August and has been in for a few visits
- Mr Vivo will join us in Modern Languages from August
- Mr Hendry will join us as a teacher of History from August
- Mr Paterson (currently PT2 in Kilrie) will take up the Head of House post in Grange
- Mr Brown (currently PT2 in Piteadie) will move to Kilrie to take up a full time guidance post
- Mr Clark (History) will take up the post in Piteadie vacated by Mr Brown
- Mrs Logan will be stepping down to the PT2 post in Grange and will reduce her days to 3 days per week
- Ms Martyn will share this post with her as a PT2 in Grange
- Ms Burns will stay with us as a teacher of drama
- Ms Ferguson (History) will be staying with us next session
- Mrs Dewar continues with us at a part of our Home Economics team
- We also welcome 4 Probationer Teachers:
- Ms Mitchell (Biology)
- Ms Glover (English)
- Mr Petrie (Modern Studies)
- Ms Ritchie (Art & Design)
School Captains 25/26
Huge congratulations to our new School Captains, Lucy Backler and Summer Ferguson. Thank you to our outgoing Captains, Anna Davidson and Katie Sandilands, who have done a tremendous job in their leadership roles.
House Captains 25/26
A new addition to our Pupil Leadership roles in school are our House Captains. They'll be announced after the holidays.
Personal Devices (inc Mobile Phone) Use in School - Policy
This has worked well during our 'soft launch' period and I'd like to thank young people and families for their support in ensuring personal devices don't interrupt learning and teaching time in classes and in corridors. Our most recent policy can be found on our school website and will be a 'hard launch' from August.
School Uniform Update
We've updated our school uniform expectations to be more inclusive and affordable for all families. We would appreciate the ongoing support of parents/carers in ensuring their child(ren) arrive to school on time, in uniform and ready to learn. Our updated expectations can be found on our school website, along with information for families who may require any assistance - please don't hesitate to reach out if you would like to find out more about accessing any help with this, we're keen to support as best we can.
School Improvement Priorities - Session 25/26
Our School Improvement Priorities for next session are summarised below. Our full review of this session and our plans for next session will be uploaded onto our website in September and share with all families then.
Key Priority Areas:
Curriculum
- Moderating our S1 - S3 curriculum and offering more choice in S3
- Ensuring we continue to broaden pathways for all learners, linking with partners
Learning & Teaching
- Planning for learning and meeting learners' needs
- Using Digital approaches to support and enhance learning
Wellbeing & Inclusion
- Embedding our 'Promoting Positive Relationships Policy' and Staged Interventions
- Revised Merit/Demerits based on school values and engaging parents/carers
- Removing barriers to learning for all learners
We'll also continue to focus on Pupil Voice and Pupil Leadership being key features of leading our improvement work in school as well as Parent/Carer engagement opportunities to build stronger relationships between home and school. Celebrating success will take a top priority and will continue to be a pupil led initiative.
SQA Results
SQA results day this year is August 5th. We will share further information directly to families in due course.
Transforming Learning
You may be aware that Fife Council recently announced that they are investing in one-to-one digital devices that will be issued to all learners from P6 - S6. The project is called Transforming Learning Fife and aims to transform the ways we engage with teaching, learning and assessment; this will provide enhanced experiences, improve outcomes, develop vital skills and nurture individual creativity.
Balwearie staff recieved Apple iPads on June 3, ane we have begun to upskill staff in their usage and plan for enhancing learning using these transformative devices.
Balwearie learners are due to receive their personal Apple iPads in late September. These devices will be used across all learning in the school and at home. As we approach the learner deployment stage of the project we will also be holding parent and carer information sessions and more information will follow to illustrate what this will look like for families, including appropriate usage agreements.
To give a flavour of what this will look like in Balwearie, please click on the link below that will take you to a case study by Apple on how one-to-one devices are being used by Scottish Borders Council. The apps and devices are very similar to those that we will be receiving.
Previous meeting minutes are available to read here.
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