Another very busy day

After the excitement of last night's hugely successful African children's choir concert I arrived at school today with a spring in my step and very much looking forward to the day ahead.

My first meeting of the day was with Rev Karen Campbell, the minister at Marchmont St Giles. Our meeting gave us the opportunity to explore how we might work together in the future. Our school has much to gain from further developing partnerships in our local community and beyond. 

Immediately after this meeting I met with headteachers from our neighbouring secondary schools to discuss areas of mutual interest. This included curriculum structures and how each of our schools is progressing with Cfe.

At lunchtime I met with Dr Judith McClure along with Cat and Leanne (both senior pupils) and Mr Irvine (Curriculum Leader for Modern Languages) to explore how we continue to develop Chinese Studies at Gillespies.

In the evening we had a very well supported Open Night where we welcomed P7s and their parents from our local primary schools to visit our school. The evening was very well attended and, based on initial feedback, ran very went smoothly. Mrs Kinnear (DHT) will write to all of our P7 families to get further feedback and offer further opportunity to anyone who wishes to find out more about our school.

Amnesty Group

Well done to our amnesty group who raised £31.46 at a bake sale on Friday. Thanks to John and Mairi for organising this. 

Rock concert at Queen's hall

What a fantastic night out! A variety of bands from our school entertained a sizeable audience at this grand venue on Thursday evening. Well done and thanks to everyone who contributed to making the evening such a success. I particularly enjoyed seeing how comfortable our younger performers were on stage and how supportive the audience was. The staff band (Messrs Alexander, Carson, Mcphail, Adams and Dearsly) were tremendous and gave the younger rockers a run for their money. McPhail, who was an outstanding lead vocal, rolled back the years and shared with us afterwards that, prior to joining the second oldest profession, he sang in a band. We look forward to hearing more from this band as they continue to 'grow old disgracefully' together.

The heart of a child's learning

'Children do better when families support their learning. There are lots of different ways you can get involved - from reading together, spending time talking and listening and finding out about their day through to helping them prepare for exams.

Your involvement makes a world of difference to your child. so do it today. Speak to your school and visit the Parentzone website for practical advice and ideas.' (Source - Education Scotlanf website)

All parents are invited to the first meeting of our Parent Events Group (formerly known as the PTA) on Wednesday 12 September at 7 Pm. Please come along and support us!

Au revoir

The retirement of a special teacher is a watershed event for a generation of students. We all associate favourite teachers with our youth - a care free time when life was vibrant and summers seemed endless. On Friday night one hundred and thirty serving and former staff from Gillespie's attended a retirement function at George Watson's rugby club to say our farewells to a number of staff who have, over the years, made an outstanding contribution to our school. Those whose service to our school was being marked by this special occasion were:

• Mary Ross (English)
• Stuart Robertson (Chemistry)
• Sandra Evans (Modern Studies, Geography and Guidance)
• Sylvia Campbell (Art and Design)
• Kevin Woods (Geography)
• Duncan Macleod (Modern Languages)

Based on what I have seen in my relatively short time at the school and the outpouring of good wishes from so many associated with the school in recent months, I anticipated that this farewell event would be special. And so it was.

The food was great, the company superb and the after dinner speeches were quite outstanding. In just over two hours all those who were leaving shared many fond memories with us. Their well crafted stories, laced with humour, were hugely entertaining and provided a rich insight in to what makes Gillespie's such a special school.  We wish all of our former colleagues a deserved long and happy retirement.