Friday 1 November

1. It was great to see so many S1 parents at our two parent consultation evenings this week. These meetings give us the opportunity to identify any settling in issues that may have arisen in the transition to High School and to strengthen partnership working between our staff and parents/carers.
2. Our S1s enjoyed their Halloween party on Tuesday evening. I’m delighted to hear that the ‘Green Lady’ who has ‘lived’ in Bruntsfield House for hundreds of years made her customary appearance. Thanks to Andrew Digance (DT Faculty) for coordinating the event.
3. S4 reports will be issued to pupils on Wednesday 6 November.
4. The planning application to upgrade Darroch to a modern school went live earlier this week. We are scheduled to be using Darroch as an Annexe from August 2021.
5. All the very best to Mrs Edwards (Modern Languages) who is now on Maternity leave and to Mrs Charnley (Gaelic) who will shortly leave us to take up a Gaelic post at Breadalbane Academy.
6. Parents are advised that under no circumstances should pupils take any fireworks to school. We remind all to be careful at this time of year and to be especially mindful of the negative impact fireworks have on other people and on animals who share our neighbourhoods.
7. We look forward to welcoming pupils and staff from Law Ting Pong (our partner School in Hong Kong) to JGHS next week. Sincere thanks to the families who are supporting this partnership by hosting HK pupils. JGHS is one of several Edinburgh schools who formed a HKSSISP partnership (Hong Kong Scottish Schools Improvement Partnership) a few years ago. Our partnership working with Law Ting Pong Secondary School is now in its third year and developing in scope. We are a founding member of this group and now work closely with schools, both independent and state, to promote educational and cultural links with HK. JGHS also has exchange partnerships with schools in South Africa, Spain, France and Germany. We are in the early stages of developing a Gaelic school partnership with school(s) in Nova Scotia.
8. Many thanks to all who have contributed so generously to our Food Bank. Items delivered to us will be collected at 130 this afternoon. The Food Bank collection is now closed.
9. JGHS has recently embarked on achieving ‘Right Respecting School’ Status. Our coordinator is Ms Tania Peters, one of our Pupil Support Leaders.
10. This week we launched Gaelvember/Gàidhlig Sa-mhàin, courtesy of Miss MacIver’s hard work. The idea is to encourage S1 and S2 pupils to use their Gaelic in more social settings for the month of November (and hopefully beyond) 
11. Well done to all pupils involved in the various charities we support as a school. Earlier today bake sales raised £138 for our local Foodbank and a further £200 for Islamic relief. I am so proud of the efforts of all in supporting such worthy causes.
12. Our Higher History pupils have been invited to a Higher History Conference at Stewart’s Melville College to hear speakers on the Scottish wars of Independence on the morning of Thursday 7th November. 
13. We are looking for donations of good quality PE/Sports kit (tracksuit bottoms, shorts, t-shirts) and Winter Coats. If you have any of these items which your child has grown out of then we would love to find them a new home. We may share out donations with pupils who are in need and/ or use for fundraising / charity events. If you have any donations then please hand them into the school office.

Congratulations to:

1. Sam Shannon in 2S1 who won the Central Junior Squash Open Division 1 at Bridge of Allan Squash club at the weekend. He was seeded fourth, but defeated the number one and two seeds to take the title. He will now captain the U13 Scottish Team at the British Closed Championships in Nottingham this weekend.
2. Darcey McConville who now represents Scotland at U19 level in Water Polo.

Good luck to:

14. The following pupils who sat Oxbridge admissions assessment earlier this week:
1. James Beeston – Natural Sciences Admissions Assessment
2. Ellen Beattie – Thinking Skills Assessment
3. Molly McMahon – Thinking Skills Assessment & Modern Languages Admissions Test
4. Liam McLaughlin – Thinking Skills Assessment
5. John Dabos-Doukas – Mathematics Admissions Test
6. Ruoyu Li – Thinking Skills Assessment
7. Rebecca Sparks – Biomedical Admissions Test
8. Neelu Saraswatibhatla – Cambridge Test of Mathematics for University Admission
9. Siddharth Kalappurackal – Engineering Admissions Assessment
15. The following pupils who, on Monday 4th Nov, will take part in the Senior UK Maths team competition.
1. Abi Hossell (S6) 
2. Minnie Peacock (S5)
3. Catriona Forrest (S5)
4. Neelu Saraswatibhatla (S6) 
16. Isabel Scott [S6] and Natalie Cameron [S6] will represent James Gillespie's High School at this year’s National Gaelic Debate. The first two rounds will take place in Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis on Tuesday 5th November and Wednesday 6th November. Gura math a thèid leibh!

And finally, a reminder of what our school values are, as updated from earlier this year:

Respect; Kindness; Integrity; Inclusion and High Expectations.

Wishing all a lovely weekend.

Donald j Macdonald

Headteacher