Friday 1 March

1.       The next Edinburgh (University) Maths Circle will take place this Saturday (2nd March) from 13:00 until 16:00. Please do drop in if you are free, for an afternoon of maths puzzles, games and activities! Further details and travel information can be found at https://www.maths.ed.ac.uk/school-of-mathematics/outreach/maths-circle

2.       Parents/carers are alerted that pupils involved in any of this year’s foreign trips are advised to have passports with at least 6 months’ validity from the date of travel.

3.       Well done to:

a.       Louis Mackintosh (S1) who came up with the idea for today’s staff/pupils Futsal competition in order to raise money for Social Bite and Street Soccer Scotland.

b.       Fabian Despinoy who, last weekend in Sheffield, won an individual bronze medal at the UK Athletics Indoor Championships, finishing 3rd in the U17 800 final.

c.       Kirsty Johnson, 3S1, who came third in the recent Scottish Cyclocross Series 2018/19, under 16 female category. The series consisted of six cross country races, all over Scotland from Aberdeenshire to Bute, from September to February.

d.       Scarlet Young, Chloe Stirling and Sadie Drye (all S3) who represented the school as ambassadors at an Anne Frank Trust event at the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday 26 February.

e.       Lucia Garland who, in the week prior to the February break,  represented JGHS in the British Mandarin Speaking finals in London.

4.       I am delighted to share that the government data published this week confirms that 97.25 % of last summers’ JGHS school leavers have a positive post-school destination. Our figures have gradually improved each year over the past few years. Well done to everyone in the JGHS community!

5.       Pupils returning to school for S5 and S6 from June 2019 must have their request sheet signed and returned to reception/main office no later than 4:00pm on Monday 4 March.

6.       On Thursday of this week I met with Esther (S3) and Fergus (S3)  to discuss the current pupil protests on Climate change. We talked about how teachers and pupils can join forces and work together on tackling this issue. Areas for discussion we will return to in the coming weeks include: a higher profile for ‘Learning for Sustainability’ across the school; Hosting a Climate Change conference at JGHS for school pupils across the Lothians; a school assembly with a Q&A session with specific Politicians and industry figures; a campaign to address pollution and litter in the school’s environs and promoting electric cars for teachers and parents. Both understood why as a  school we have to record classes missed through striking as ‘unauthorised’ absences.

7.       A survey link will be issued to all parents/carers today regarding your views on your child’s learning. We value your feedback so please take a few minutes to complete this. Deadline for completion is Friday 15 March.

8.       During the past week we welcomed a party of 30+ pupils and staff to JGHS from our partner school in Tenerife. Huge thanks to all who supported this and special thanks to our host families and Mr Irvine who coordinated the whole venture.

I wish all a delightful weekend.

Donald j Macdonald

Headteacher