Friday 5 June

Dear Parents, Carers, Pupils, Partners and Colleagues,

I hope this finds you all well.

August 2020 Arrangements.

My senior team and I are now processing the most recent advice received from both the Scottish Government and the City of Edinburgh Council. In summary, conditional on the relevant medical and scientific advice at that time, we expect all pupils to be involved in blended learning from 11 August.   This means that pupils will attend school on a part-time and rotational basis. For the rest of the time, when pupils are not in school,  they will be continuing with online learning. We will do our best to provide clarity around all the arrangements by the end of June.

School Trip Refunds

We are in the process of calculating refunds to all parents and carers for contributions made to the many trips and events James Gillespie's High school organises. The school's administration team is working hard to collate the income, expenditure and charges for each of these events and, of course, discussing with suppliers refunds for cancelled trips and events. You will be aware from Press reports that some companies are very reluctant to give cash refunds. In line with government advice, we are asking all of our suppliers for full cash refunds. We are aiming to refund all monies paid by the end of June and would hope to complete this process by the end of July.

Miscellaneous

The John Watson Trust is a charitable trust that provides funding for disadvantaged families in Edinburgh and the Lothians. Individuals can apply for grants for school equipment such as books and laptops. All the information on the application process can be found online via the following link.  http://www.wssociety.co.uk/charities/jwt/

The next deadline for applications is 31st July 2020.  The process must be supported by a professional such as social worker or teacher. They will also require proof of finances. If you would like to apply please contact Mrs Oram before the 12th June to allow time for action prior to the summer via email.  elaine.oram@jamesgillespies.edin.sch.uk

The National Parent Forum of Scotland (NPFS) is working in partnership with ‘Count On Us’ with support from Education Scotland to bring 8 online numeracy and mathematics events for Parents in June 2020. These ‘Learning Together’ sessions will focus on the use of interactive and visual methods to help you and your child confidently engage with numeracy and mathematics problems, whilst supporting learning at home.

Visit this link to book your place at these events. Visit this link

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.

My quote for the week: “I believe that every person is born with talent’’. (Maya Angelou)

I’d like to wish everyone a lovely week ahead.

Donald j Macdonald (Headteacher)