Friday 28 February

1. We will continue to distribute regular communications from the medical authorities on the evolving situation with the coronavirus. We will communicate directly with families who may be impacted by excursion travel restrictions.
2. All parents and pupils are encouraged to download the school communications app at: https://www.jamesgillespies.co.uk/school-mobile-app/  As a school we will be increasingly directing more of our communications via this App in the coming weeks.
3. Please find below a link to a feedback questionnaire regarding our recent S4 – S6 prelim exam diet.  We would be grateful if you could take the time to complete this as the valuable information you provide will help us to improve the delivery of our prelims in future academic years. The questionnaire will be open to submissions until Friday 28th February 2020. 2020 Prelim Feedback Questionnaire
4. We would therefore be grateful if you could complete the following online survey using the following link no later than Friday 13 March: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/QXNKHTF
5. On Wednesday 26th February S6 received a presentation from Edinburgh University's Blood, Bone Marrow and Transplant (EUBBT) society in association with the Anthony Nolan Trust. This project is also run in partnership with NHS Blood and Transplant and aims to teach 16–18-year-olds about the importance of donating blood, organs and stem cells. They hope to empower young people to make an informed choice about whether to register as potentially life-saving donors.

Well done to:

6. All those who took part in this year’s Youth Philanthropy initiative (YPI). The winning group was Edinburgh Young Carer's Project who were presented with a giant cheque for the £3000 to give to their charity (proper cheque to follow). Thanks to Mrs Bladon who leads on this for us.
7. Scottish National Cross Country Championships in Falkirk last Saturday – Anna Cruden (S1) and Jessica Taylor (S1) who were  part of the 4 girl U13 team for Edinburgh Athletics Club. Jessica collected a silver medal (she was 22nd out of 143) and Dylan Daunt (S1) was 12th out of 157 in the U13 boys race.

Good Luck to:

8. Our S3 school netball team who have made it into the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup and will be out of school on Tuesday 3rd March period 6. The students involved will be:
1. Hannah Carlyle
2. Isobel    Crawford
3. Isla         Cruden
4. Rose      Kinsler
5. Nettah  Loening
6. Katie      McCormack
7. Ailsa       Peebles
8. Pia          Rogers
9. Chloe     Rough
10. Erin        Sheehan
11. Ruying   Yang
12. Elissa     Shorrock
13. Lyla        Sutherland
14. Minnie  Stevenson
15. Emily     Sturt
16. Fergus  Jajdelski
17. Morwena  Williams
18. Amelie  Primrose

Dates

9. The following pupils are attending the City of Edinburgh Youth Climate Summit at Dynamic Earth today.
1. Ewan Briggs
2. Emma Bulloch
3. Rhiannon Cochrane
4. Ezra Course
5. Toby Duncan
6. Georgia Emmerson
7. Calum Sneddon
8. Dilan Stanford
9. Louise Thomson
10. Caitlin Wright
11. Rabi Jha
10. Parents are launching a fundraising campaign to develop the school’s outdoor spaces and to support pupils’ wellbeing. Join us for a Fundraising Quiz Night hosted by Richard Melvin TONIGHT, Friday 28 February, 7pm in the school canteen. Bring your friends and come as a team of six or help make up a team on the night. BYOB and glasses, bottle bar and snacks available. Tickets £5 via ParentPay. Over 18s only.
11. The next Edinburgh Maths Circle will take place this Saturday (29th February) from 13:00 until 16:00. Please do drop in if you are free, for an afternoon of maths puzzles, games and activities! https://www.maths.ed.ac.uk/school-of-mathematics/outreach/maths-circle
12. The well-known and popular band Tidelines will be at JGHS on Friday 28 February. Some of our pupils will join them for one of the songs during a special assembly in the latter half of the morning!
13. The S4 parents’ consultation meeting is on the evening of Monday 2 March
14. On Friday 6th March the Amnesty group will have a “wear yellow to school day” to show support for universal human rights and to raise money for Amnesty International Some of our pupils will go around visiting classrooms and collecting donations from participants.
15. The S5/6 parents’ consultation evening is on Wednesday 11 March.
16. Teenage Booster Immunisations – Tuesday 3^rd March in room 2.01 and 2.02 – full list of names/classes are available from the Welfare office.

My quote of the week:

“The more that you read, the more things you will know, the more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”– Dr. Seuss

Best wishes to all for a lovely weekend.

Donald j Macdonald

Headteacher