Friday 8 May

Dear Parents, Carers, Pupils, Partners and Colleagues,

I hope this finds you all happy and well.

 SQA Arrangements (Mr Bob Shankland)

1. Teaching staff across the school have been working on estimate grades for all pupils in S4,5 and 6.
2. The deadline for submission to the SQA is 29 May.
3. If you have any SQA related queries, please contact Mr Bob Shankland.
4. We would request that parents do not contact subject teachers directly to seek clarification on procedural matters related to SQA.

Arrangements for children of Key Workers (JGHS coordinator - Mr David Anderson)

1. Key workers, whose children are unable to be at home during working hours (0800 – 1800), can check their eligibility and apply for a place at any of the City of Edinburgh Council HUBs by completing the booking form accessed here. https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/schools/emergency-school-closures/1
2. This provision will continue over the summer term and will be open on public holidays.
3. Marie Lyon, from the Council central team, is the person to contact if you have any general HUB related queries. Marie.Lyon@edinburgh.gov.uk

Support for Pupils (Mr Ian Porter and Mrs Laura Stewart)

1. If you are in need of any support or you know of a family that is, please email us to let us know. If we cannot provide the support, then we will find someone who can.
2. It is important that all of our pupils are able to access our online learning materials. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you need any advice or help.

 Online Learning (Mrs Deirdre O’Brien and Mr Jeff Warden)

1.       During the past week we have made steady progress in planning how we will change to a new timetable starting at the beginning of June.

2.       We are currently reconsidering how best we can fully engage our S1s without stressing them out. We recognise that asking our S1s to continue ‘online learning’ with 16 subjects is unrealistic and demotivating. Mrs O’Brien is leading on this area of development.

3.       Pupils in S2 should continue with all their current subjects until 18 May after which they should focus their efforts on the subjects, they have chosen for S3.

4.       Similarly, current S3 should continue with their present subjects. The (current) S4 and S5 should focus on their new subjects.

5.      Pupils in the current S4 and S5 have been issued with work so that they can start on their new courses a month earlier than they would otherwise have done. It is important that they make every effort to complete this work or contact teachers if they need help.      

6.       We know of some pupils who, for various reasons, have struggled to engage with online learning. Please continue to contact your child’s Pupil Support Leader so that appropriate support can be made available. If there are issues around accessing a device for online learning please email Mrs Laura Stewart for help and advice.

7.       We recognise that expecting pupils to engage in online learning puts additional pressure on families. Please be reassured that everyone’s health and well-being is paramount. Don’t be too hard on your children or on yourself if you are finding this whole situation really challenging. Engaging with the online learning may help to break the monotony of being at home all the time but don’t let it become a source of stress or worry for you or for any of your children.

Student Awards Agency Scotland     

1. Information from SAAS (The Student Awards Agency Scotland) has now been added to the pupil PSE Microsoft Teams. The Online Application service is now open and their General Enquiry Unit are dealing with email and voicemail correspondence on a daily basis. This is a link to the Application Help video that may be useful for students to view before completing their application for support. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ3hUrcjpGY
2. We also wanted to remind you about the very useful guide and checklist one of our parents put together about the process of applying to university from start to finish which can be found on our school website. https://www.jamesgillespies.co.uk/university-and-college/ Thanks to Jacqui Stark, one of our parents, for developing and updating this great resource.

Miscellaneous

1. We are starting to think about what a partial reopening of the school might look like and how this could operate. We will issue further details as and when decisions have been take at national and council levels.  
2. Planning continues for supporting the current P7s who are joining us from August.
3. School staff are not expected to be interacting with pupils on 8 and 18 May which are ‘holiday’ dates.  We recommend that pupils also have a break from schoolwork on those days.
4. The Gillespie’s Trust received lovely feedback from two students (Eva & Hector) who recently spent a year in Chile & Nepal. This is now on the Trust website: https://www.jamesgillespiestrust.com

Contacting us

1. Our admin email will be checked each day and we will continue to respond to requests.
2. Please note that though the school is physically open for the HUB, the school campus remains off limits to everyone else. Some limited access will be made available to staff in the coming days to access resources.

Finally, I’d like to wish all a lovely weekend.

 Donald j Macdonald (Headteacher)

My quote of the week: ‘Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned at school.” (Albert Einstein)