Dear Parent/Carers,

Education Scotland and the Scottish Government are very keen to hear what parents and carers think about STEM subjects.  STEM stands for Sciences, Technologies, Engineering and Mathematics.  Does your child love these subjects or maybe they are not so keen?  Would you encourage your child to continue with STEM subjects or choose alternatives?  What do you know about STEM jobs?  If you have a child/children in school (Primary 6 to S6) then you can help in the following ways.

1. Complete a short online survey by 01 July 2022.  It will take approximately 10 minutes to fill out: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/STEMParents2022

2. As an alternative to the survey, parents and carers can take part in an online focus group using the Liveminds platform.  The focus group is live for a week with a new question posed each day.  Parents/carers can contribute as little or as much as they like, at a time that suits them – on a computer, mobile phone or other smart device.  Anyone interested in the online focus group should email: laura.comincini@ekosgen.co.uk to confirm their interest.  They will then receive an email with joining instructions in advance of the focus group.

Many thanks in advance for your assistance.

We are looking forward to welcoming back our Senior Phase Learners on Monday. As part of their induction they will be trained to become MVP Mentors.

Based on the ‘bystander’ approach MVP motivates everyone to get involved in safely challenging abuse. The programme sees students as a school’s greatest resource in achieving this and trains senior pupils to act as peer mentors who then deliver sessions to younger students in the school. Since 2014 more than 10,500 mentors have been trained, with around 3,500 sessions delivered by mentors in 2018/19. Sessions target issues such as bullying, gender norms, domestic violence, knife crime and harmful sexual behaviour.

Presenters across the two days induction include Medics Against Violence and Rape Crisis.

Sanquhar Academy Senior Phase Induction will take place on Monday 30th and Tuesday 31st May.  Learners should report to the Learning Hub, Period 1 on Monday.

Also, any seniors who have issues with their timetable or wish to make any changes can do so on 1st June with Mrs Hetherington-Cree or Mrs McGuchan.

As part of our collaboration with the Nith Catchment Fishery Trust, the S3 biology classes spent the day at Rockcliffe carrying out a beach survey and litter pick. The pupils had great fun learning about marine life and the environment. Again, all pupils were a credit to themselves, their parents and the school.

Please see below consultation around school uniforms in Scotland:

The Scottish Government has committed to introduce statutory guidance in Scotland which aims to address equalitied issues around uniform policy and reduce the cost of school uniform, as this can be a significant barrier to participation in learning.

This consultation seeks views on:

• what should be included within the scope of the guidance
• the role that school uniform plays within the ethos, culture and day to day school life
• the considerations available to schools and education authorities in reducing school uniform costs
• the draft principles which are intended to be incorporated as part of national school uniform policy

Who is this consultation for?

This consultation is open to anyone with an interest in school uniform policy, but especially pupils, parents and carers, education authorities and education authority schools, and those who provide school uniform items.

https://consult.gov.scot/learning-directorate/school-uniforms-statutory-guidance-scotland/

Skills Development Scotland (SDS) are looking to gather views from parent/carers of our services.  Your views will help inform our service delivery in the future and how we can best communicate our services to parents and carers moving forward.  We’d like to hear from you about your awareness and use of Skills Development Scotland services and how you talk to your young person about careers. Let us know your thoughts:

https://eu.surveymonkey.com/r/6VV8YRD?Website=SocialMedia

This survey will be open until the 31st May 2022.