Friday Update

1.       Warmest congratulations to 3 of our pupils who received the following honours in the annual Paolozzi Awards:

a.       Jamie Carlyle – Winner of ‘Spirit of  Paolozzi’

b.       Naomi McGuire – Winner of ‘Talent and Creativity’

c.       Flora Mealyou – Highly commended for ‘New Directions’

Thanks and congratulations to the Art department who all attended on the evening and continue to support and inspire our pupils.

2.       Well done to all who helped in constructing and building our portable garden at last weekend’s Gardening Scotland event at Ingliston. We won third prize for our innovative use of space!

3.       Well done to the Duke of Edinburgh team and special thanks to Mrs Ann Campbell who oversees our DoE programme. Gold expedition next week involving number of S6. Best wishes to all involved.

4.       SQA exams now finished - huge thanks to Mr Jeff Warden (DHT) for coordinating the entire programme and to everyone involved for their support.

5.       New timetable settling down well. We are timetabling for 240 intake for the new S1.

6.       Accommodation is extremely tight and even more so from August onwards. From August 2018 we will have to look at adapting and/or extending the current accommodation.

7.       Wi-Fi access - Parent Council has written to local councillors as youngsters don't have access to Wi-Fi in school. This is required in order to ensure that all of our pupils can access appropriate learning materials.

8.       All Parents/carers are requested to hand in any revision books, study notes etc. that can benefit other pupils in the coming years. These will be relayed to departments to distribute to pupils who might not otherwise afford such resources. Please hand in to the school reception.

9.       JGHS Trust meeting took place this. The Trust have received some major bequests and they are inviting applications from staff and our Pupil Voice to bid for money. £20,000 will be distributed to support various projects. Criteria will be set for this and shared in due course. In the spirit of the Trust, equity and equality will be a key focus.

10.   An ’A’ level Art exhibition will take place in the Malala building from 5 – 8 pm on Tuesday 13 June. All welcome.

11.   We will welcome 2 staff and 4 students from our Partner schools in South Africa to JGHS from Sunday 11 June to Sunday 18 June. They will feature in our annual Diverscity show that takes place on the evenings of Friday 16 and Saturday 17 June. Tickets available from reception.

12.   Tickets are now available from reception for the S6 leavers’ ceremony that takes place on Thursday 29 June.

13.   Future planning:

·         Over the next few months the school will be consulting on and considering how we might offer the International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma to supplement the current curricular provision for senior students.

·         In the next few months we will consult and plan further on how we will manage a school roll that is forecast to rise in the coming years.

I hope all have a lovely weekend.

Donald j Macdonald

Headteacher