Friday 19 February

 I hope all had a good mid-term break and a chance to switch off. Pleasingly, there are positive signs that restrictions are starting to ease so we have much to look forward to in the coming weeks. Over the past few days, we have been planning for the return of a limited number of pupils in S4,5 and 6 for the purpose of undertaking assessment related work that cannot be completed online. The provision of our HUB for the children of Keyworkers and a few others continues.  More to follow on that in the next few days as we work out the best way to safely operate the different groups . At the next Parent Council meeting on Tuesday evening, we will update on several matters including SQA business, Advanced Higher planning for next session, Lateral Flow Testing, Online learning etc.  Earlier this week, Mrs O’Brien shared a link to a document with pupils on Tips for Online Learning. This is attached for information.

 Senior Students – Essential Practical Activities

As you may be aware, guidelines have been recently shared with schools regarding the organisation for senior students to come into school to complete essential practical work, related to national qualifications.  For clarity, this is work that cannot be completed remotely and may, for example, require the use of specific school facilities and/or resources.  A broad structure for how we will organise these sessions has been agreed this week and we are now working through the finer detail of how the sessions will run in conjunction with our HUB and remote leaning activities.  Contact will be made with students and parents next week regarding the specific times students will be expected in school.  It is likely that most sessions will begin the week beginning 1 March.

 SQA Update

Earlier this week, schools were given an update from the SQA regarding the arrangements for the delivery and assessment of this year’s national qualifications.  The details of this update can be found using the link below.  Most notably, the date for the submission of provisional course awards has been reviewed again and is now set for Friday 25 June, the last day of the summer term.  

Update on Delivering N5, Higher and Advanced Higher Results

 S4 & S5/6 Parents’ Evenings

Please be aware that we have upcoming parents’ evenings on the following dates:

S4 – Monday 8 March

S5/6 – Wednesday 17 March

Information regarding the booking of appointments and the requirements for conducting online appointments will be shared with parents in due course.

 There is now a section on the school website (link included below) which contains information updates and key documents relevant to our Capacity Planning for 2021-22.  Information will be uploaded regularly to this page as well as emailed out and included in the Friday updates.

https://www.jamesgillespies.co.uk/information/capacity-updates-2021-22/

 The next Parent Council meeting will be held on Tuesday 23 February at 7pm.  As usual, the meeting will be online and a link will be circulated via the school next week.  This will be a chance for a general update on several issues such as SQA assessments arrangements, capacity contingency planning and feedback on home learning.  There will be the opportunity on the night to ask questions via the Q&A typed chat facility, but if you want to raise a question in advance it should be sent by Monday at 2pm to the Parent Council email jghscouncilcomms@gmail.com and we will try to include it in the updates.

 Course choice is now open for S2, S4 and S5 pupils to make subject selections for the 2021-2022 academic session. Please refer to the information sent out by Mr Warden and on the school website. If you have not already done so, please download the School App for Parents on your devices to get the latest updates. Please be assured that although there is a submission deadline for initial course choices on 1^st of March, this does not prevent any amendment to these choices after further progress reports and parent/teacher consultations. 

 Apprenticeship Opportunity One of our former pupils, Josh Dow, is keen to offer an apprenticeship in his landscaping business. Any school leavers interested in a full-time paid Gardening apprenticeship can check out the details at https://www.apprenticeships.scot/vacancy-details/?refCode=13190

 

My quote for this week. ‘The future depends on what we do in the present’ (Gandhi)

 

Best wishes to all for a safe and relaxing weekend.

 

Donald

Friday 5 February

 Dear Parent/Carer, 

Following the Government announcement on Tuesday of this week, we are now planning towards bringing a limited number of senior pupils into school from 22 February for the purposes of completing assessment related work that cannot be done online. This will take a bit of time to set up as we familiarise ourselves with the evolving Health and Safety guidelines and the latest advice from the SQA. The current in-school arrangements for Keyworkers’ children and others who need some extra TLC will continue as per the past few weeks. Every weekday between 30 and 50 pupils have attended our in-school provision and we would like to thank them all for their hard work, kindness, patience and understanding. We would also like to acknowledge the incredible hard work of all our teaching, admin, catering, cleaning and janitorial staff for the smooth running of this temporary learning environment. Over the half term holiday, there will be no provision between 8 and 15 February inclusive. The in-school provision will continue from 16 February until further notice.

 If your child has attended the Hub in January you will have been sent an email with some important changes to administrative procedures for February. You child will also have been sent an email with a link to an short evaluation form. Please encourage your child to complete the evaluation and if you would like to contribute as a parent please email your feedback to jam-admin@jamesgillepsies.edin.sch.uk

 The first week back after the holiday (Tuesday 16 - Friday 19 February) will be a consolidation and review week of learning. As is normal practice after a holiday, teachers will review work to consolidate pupils’ understanding.

 What does this mean?

1. Teachers will still have 'live' lessons at the normal times, but these will be focused on the consolidation of prior learning, completion and/or development of existing work, and sharing feedback.
2. Teachers may also invite a small group of pupils to a 'live' lesson, to offer more support to pupils who would benefit most from the smaller learning environment.
3. Teachers will continue to post work, but this would be an optional extension task with no requirement to complete by a certain deadline.
4. No new deadlines will be set that week, so the week beginning 22 February is a 'fresh start' for all.
5. Pupils will still follow their normal timetable the week beginning 16 February and S1 and S2 pupils will still follow their rotation of subjects for the time being.

This rotation is attached to this email. This review week of learning will benefit pupils as an opportunity to catch up with any outstanding work which will aid future learning and progression. This should also support pupils who are feeling 'behind' in some of their work and are becoming anxious about this. Our aim is to ensure the best learning experience for our pupils during this time, and we will continue to review our practices and make adjustments where necessary.

 To that end, as you may already be aware, we are currently seeking parent/carer and pupil feedback on how we are doing as a school in supporting your children with their online learning.

We will use this to find out what is working well and what we need to do differently to improve. You can access the Parent/Carer survey here  We have extended the deadline for the pupils completing the pupil online learning survey until 5pm on Monday. The pupil survey link has been posted on Key Adults teams and Year Group teams.

 We greatly appreciate you and your child taking the time to complete these. We will share a summary of the results with you, and what we intend to do in response. 

 Thank you to everyone who attended the meeting that was organised and hosted by our Parent Council on Tuesday on capacity contingency proposals and to all those who put forward comments and questions.  Following the meeting, the Parent Council have sent a response on what was presented to the school and the Council, and that letter is available on the Parent Council website at:  http://jghscouncil.btck.co.uk/News. The meeting itself was recorded and can be viewed at https://youtu.be/N6S-pQcHbxE.  The next Parent Council meeting will be held on Tuesday 23 February and further details will be sent out nearer the time.

 I’d like to thank our Parent Council for organising Tuesday night’s meeting to talk more about our plans to combat the challenges that arise from having insufficient classroom accommodation for next session. As a school, we would prefer not to be in the unfortunate position of having insufficient teaching spaces to cater for our increased numbers from August 2021. That having been said, I’m confident that the option we have settled for offers the best way ahead for us. As a follow up to the Parent Council meeting on Tuesday , we have sent an email to all S5 Parents/Carers detailing our next steps in our Capacity Planning for 2021-22.  This includes the setting up of a working group of interested S5 students and parents/carers to work with us as we refine our plans for next year’s AH courses. If you or your child are interested in being a part of this group please email laura.stewart@jamesgillespies.edin.sch.uk.  Please ask your S5 child to check their S5 Year Group Announcements Teams page.  Here we have uploaded a PDF detailing everything so far.  This is the most reliable way to ensure everyone is able to view the information regardless of the device they are accessing it on.  Following the February break, there will be an opportunity for S5 students to meet both Mrs Stewart and me on a Teams meeting on Thursday 18 February.  There will also be a survey link provided for all S5 students planning on studying AH courses in 2021-22 so they can share concerns and feedback confidentially with us.

Please note that schools are on holiday from Monday 8 to Monday 15 February – both dates inclusive. The school will be closed to all pupils who have been attending in person over recent weeks. No homework or assignments will be set during holidays for pupils in S1,2 and 3. Pupils are expected to read for pleasure and get as much exercise and fresh air as possible within the current guidelines.

If you are contacting the school for any reason, please use email rather than leaving a telephone message.

My quote for this week: “There is nothing more beautiful than someone who goes out of their way to make life beautiful for others.” (Mandy Hale)

  I’d like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy and relaxing February break.

  Donald j Macdonald (Headteacher)