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)

Friday 1 May

Dear Parents, Carers, Pupils, Partners and Colleagues,

I hope all are keeping well and looking forward to some sunshine over the weekend.

 SQA Arrangements (Mr Bob Shankland)

1. Work is ongoing across the school as we interpret the latest SQA guidelines and seek to ensure consistency of approach across the school.
2. Mr Shankland will continue to update parents and pupils as we gain further clarification on how we are going to award grades to S4, 5 and 6 pupils.
3. If you have any SQA related queries, please contact Mr Bob Shankland.
4. We would request that parents do not contact 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

 Vulnerable 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. The next food parcel delivery has been moved to the afternoon of the Thursday 7 May due to the school holiday on the Friday.  As always, please continue to update us via our email account below with any concerns or support needs as we are aware personal situations can continue to change. Admin@jamesgillespies.edin.sch.uk

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 transition to a new timetable staring at the beginning of June.
2. In summary, there will be a phased approach across faculties over the next 4 weeks. Based on the feedback parents provided we think that a phased approach is preferable to a ‘let’s all change at once’ approach which would likely swamp pupils.
3. Pupils in S2 should continue with all of 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 continue as they are, whilst (current) S4 and S6 focus on their new subjects.
5. More details will be shared in the coming days.
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 Leaders so that appropriate support can be made available.
7. If there are issues around accessing a device for online learning please email Mrs Laura Stewart for help and advice.

Cancelled School trips and events I am currently working with school staff in obtaining refunds for all trips and events that have had to be cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic. This is not straightforward as the different companies have varying capacities to respond to the current crisis facing the travel industry. We are aiming to obtain 100% refunds for all trips. Any refunds will be processed by ParentPay, so please do not contact your bank or credit card company for refunds as we can only help you through the ParentPay system. Please also make no further payments to any events or trips you have signed up for until you hear more from us.

The list of school trips and events affected are:-

1. S1 Residential
2. Spanish Exchange
3. French Exchange
4. German Exchange
5. History Trenches Trip
6. Sorrento, Italy Trip
7. CERN, Switzerland Trip
8. Aviemore Gaelic Trip
9. All Alternative Timetable Activities
10. S6 Prom 2020
11. Ski Trip 2021 (Awaiting guidance on whether this trip is viable)

Miscellaneous

1. The planning for next session’s timetable is at an advanced stage with pupils being assigned to class groupings in their requested subjects. This year’s overall match rates for course requests are over 98% for new S3 pupils and over 95% for senior pupils.  Regrettably there are a handful of pupils whose combination of requests cannot fit into the available structure and provision for next year. Over the next two weeks we will endeavour to reach any individual for whom a course request is unable to be satisfied at present. We will always try to find a creative solution and make use of collaborations with our neighbourhood schools before requiring a new choice to be made.
2. Planning continues for the development of Darroch as our annexe for next year.
3. Mr Ian Porter will be in touch with all of our P7 families next week to update on transition arrangements for our new S1.
4. School staff are not expected to be interacting with pupils on 4 May (Inservice training) and on 8 and 18 May which are ‘holiday’ dates.  We recommend that pupils also have a break from school work on those days.
5. The James Gillespie’s HUB will be open for the children of key workers on holidays and staff training days.

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.
3. Please continue to share positive news stories with me to share with others and lift our spirits.

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

Kindest regards to all,

Donald j Macdonald (Headteacher)

My quote of the week: ‘“Young people must take it upon themselves to ensure that they receive the highest education possible so that they can represent us well in future as future leaders.” (Nelson Mandela)

Donald j Macdonald (Headteacher)

James Gillespie’s High School

( Phone:  0131 447 1900