Dear Parent/Carer
I hope you are very well and are looking forward to the weekend.
Last week I mentioned the achievements of Sam Aslam (S6) in the Scottish Mock Trial Competition. Sam had been named as one of two “Rising Stars” in this legal competition and was part of the top defending solicitor team in the East of Scotland, along with Sorcha Cross (S5). Last Sunday, Sam was part of the final selection process for the European Mock Trial to be held in The Hague in January 2018. Fingers crossed, he should hear news soon.
We’ve had another highly productive week here in KHS, with yeargroup assemblies all week on the theme of the “Rights Respecting Schools” programme. This is a UNICEF initiative and we are committed to making the world standard for promoting fairness, equality and the principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. We also had an appeal from the S5/6 Personal Development class, who have organised a collection for Kirkcaldy Foodbank. Thanks to all our young people, they were excellent at the assemblies.
On Monday, we had an English trip to Stirling Castle to take part in a creative writing project which is based on the experiences of soldiers in the Great War. This was a great success and the staff at the Castle commented on how well our pupils had done. After school, there was another “First Chances” trip to St Andrews University. As you probably know, this is a wider access project and we are proud to be a partner of St Andrews.
On Tuesday, parents/carers of all young people who are expected to take the National 5 Qualification in English and/or Maths in May 2018 were invited to come along to a special event. This was undoubtedly a useful opportunity for parents/carers to find out more about how they can support young people to do well in the coursework and the exam. As well as the presentations given by Mrs Hamilton and Mrs Hume, there was a question session and the opportunity to purchase packs of past question papers.
On Wednesday, our senior Science students were involved in a “STEM” session with Fife College and the RAF. This concentrated on learning and job opportunities in engineering. It also happened to be great fun! Our Higher Photography class spent some time along at the Charter Photography studio at Mitchelston Industrial Estate and got a lot from the experience. We also held the first auditions for “Ceasefire Babies”, which is a production being staged by our Drama Department at The Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh in the spring. This is part of the National Theatre of Scotland “Connections” Festival.
Yesterday, our S1 Modern Languages classes took part in a special “roadshow” laid on by Jet2, the airline and holiday company. This had a focus on the importance of modern languages in the workplace. We also had another opportunity to further strengthen our “Employability” agenda when Mrs Davidson (Depute) and Mr Hamilton (CDT) met with Karen Jackson, the Head of Strategic talent Acquisition for National Oilwell Varco in school. The company has a plant in Glenrothes and we hope to establish a work experience and learning link. Many thanks to Mr Hamilton for his initiative in respect of this.
The week closes today with a Business Education trip to the Investment 2020 Conference at Standard Life HQ in Edinburgh and our Personal Development group on a team building day which includes ten-pin bowling in Glenrothes. We’ve also had a School Nurse Service stall set up in the War Memorial area and a group of Science Club pupils are currently at the Michael Woods Centre in Glenrothes competing in the “Quadcopter” Competition sponsored by Raytheon. This has involved building and flying a drone aircraft and taking part in various challenges. As all of this is happening, I’ll be at a conference at the Scottish Parliament looking at the future of digital learning and involving leading figures from industry and education.
You’ll see that it’s been a week with a particularly strong emphasis on the world of work … this continues to be a big theme. We are committed to getting our young people in to a “positive destinations”. Another example of this has been our three separate visits to the Victoria Hospital labs this week as part of national “Pathology Week”. You’ll also find our weekly jobs bulletin attached. Thanks to Miss Nessel for compiling this. You can also check out this video link online:
it explains one of our business partnership links, in this case with Costa Coffee. If you are part of a local business which would like to link with KHS (eg to offer work shadowing or even for recruitment) please contact Mrs Davidson (Depute Head) in school.
Next week it’s a Personal Learning Planning week for S4 and it’s also “Book Week Scotland.” We’ll mark this at House Assemblies on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The other notable event is World Aids Day on Fri 1 December and we’ll also be explaining HIV/AIDS at the assemblies. Mrs Aitken is attending a reception at the Scottish Parliament on the Tuesday evening to mark the event and on Friday, all young people will be offered a red ribbon to wear should they wish to do so.
Next Tuesday 28 November, please do come along to the school for 6pm when we will have a special event promoted by the KHS Parent Council. It’s all about internet safety and will include issues such as online grooming, sharing inappropriate images, “sexting” and online scams. As well as our own staff explaining how we try to deliver lessons which help young people stay safe, we’ll have a special input from Scott McGready, “ethical hacker” and cyber security expert. Scott is a very skilled communicator and also has another career as a magician and consultant on TV. He will be delivering safety talks in school to all of our pupils during the day and be part of our parents evening too. It’s a bit different, and I do hope that you will be able to attend. For information, I have attached a copy of the letter we issued earlier.
Crime writer Doug Johnstone will talk to English classes next Thursday, supported by “Bloody Scotland”. This is part of “Book Week Scotland” too.
As I mentioned, next Friday (1 December) is World Aids Day, and all pupils will be offered a wee red ribbon at Tutor Time which they can choose to wear to mark both respect for those who have been lost to HIV/AIDS and to raise awareness of the risks of the virus. Pupils will have had some information shared at assemblies and we’ll also have an education stall at break on Friday with leaflets etc from HIV Scotland as well as a collection tin for the Terence Higgins Trust. Then, on Friday afternoon, our School Orchestra will be playing Christmas music at ASDA to mark the switch on of the Christmas lights in the store. It’s good to contribute to community events like this. It’s always a very happy occasion.
Looking ahead, and on that seasonal theme, we have a date for your diary … our Christmas Concert on Thursday 14 December. It’s going to be a little different this year and will include some dance and drama along with the usual Christmas musical items. The evening will include mulled wine and nibbles from 6.30pm. All the young people performing will receive two free invitations and other tickets will also be available. More news of this next week.
The menu next week is;
Monday: Lentil soup, Stovies with crusty bread, turnip
Tuesday: French onion soup, Chicken korma, boiled rice and vegetables
Wednesday Tomato soup, Steak pie, potatoes and vegetables
Thursday: Green pea soup, Sweet chilli beef and noodles, vegetables
Friday: Vegetable soup, Breaded fish/Scotch pie, chips, peas
We also have baked potatoes, pizza, pasta, sandwiches and salad available every day as well as our new outdoor snack bar. Please also remember that we offer a free cup of soup with bread for all our young people, regardless of their “free school meals” status.
Once again, many thanks to those who have completed “Parentwise” survey either on paper (eg at the S4 National 5 Parent/Carer evening this week) or online.
On that theme of involvement, Fife Council has planned an event for parents. It will be called “Bringing Parental Involvement Alive in Fife”, and it will be held from 10.00 -12.30 on Saturday 20 January 2018 at Rothes Halls, Glenrothes. This new event, which will bring together parents from across the whole of Fife, will share information relating to parental engagement and provide opportunities to discuss; recent developments in education nationally, the Parental Involvement Strategy for Fife and ways in which you can be more involved in the school. Please get along on 20 January.
As always, wishing you well.
Derek Allan
RECTOR
24 November 2017
