Dear Parent/Carer

I hope that our weekly message finds you in good health. Best wishes to you and your family. You’ll not be overly surprised to learn we’ve been very busy again. Please put aside a good10 minutes to take all this in!

Last week I mentioned that we had a group of 15 pupils up at Nethy Bridge in the Cairngorms for an outward bounds experience from Friday until Sunday. Many thanks to Miss McIntosh and Miss Malcolm, who led this trip. It was very challenging and enjoyable programme aimed at boosting confidence. Those involved got a great deal from the experience and were involved in all sorts of active, outdoor adventure experiences such as climbing and abseiling. It’s all part of our “health and wellbeing” agenda, and this trip was targeted at those who have not had an outward bounds experience in the past.

This week we had the AGM of Friends of Kirkcaldy High School on Monday evening and I must once again thank this fantastic group for the excellent support they offer our young people. The two main fund raising events are the ceilidh and the race night and I am delighted that FoKHS has offered to use funds raised to support young people from less well-off backgrounds (qualifying for free meals) to take part in foreign trips in the year ahead. Specifically, two of the ten places on our planned trip to visit Groupe Scolaire Bumbogo, our twin school in Rwanda, will be reserved for pupils on free meals.

On Tuesday, we had a group of 28 young people participating in the Fife Schools’ Athletics Championships at Pitreavie. Many thanks to Mr Harrower, who organised this. Congratulations to Sean Stewart (S4) and Scott Graves (S3) who each won a Gold and a Silver Medal … coincidentally, both in Long Jump and the 100m respectively.

We also had music students taking part in a Trinity Music Workshop at Lochgelly Centre. This was a fantastic opportunity and the chance to listen to professional musicians perform a programme of rock and pop music before learning to play some music in smaller groups on their chosen instrument. It was also being completely funded by Trinity Music so there was no expense for those involved.

You’ll probably be aware that it was our Prizegiving on Tuesday. We were delighted to be joined by Joe Pike as our Principal Guest. Joe is a Political Correspondent with ITV and is the husband of the late Gordon Aikman, former Head Boy of KHS. Gordon died of Motor Neurone Disease last year and was a remarkable ambassador for that cause. We intend to make the Scottish Motor Neurone Disease Association the main focus of our charity work for the next few years ahead and have introduced the “Gordon Aikman Cup” for charity work, sponsored by Gordon’s family. Joe was a brilliant speaker and gave a moving account of Gordon’s life, challenging our young people to make the most of theirs and to be someone who makes a difference, as Gordon surely was.

Prizegiving celebrates academic, sporting and wider achievement. Once again, it was a brilliant showcase for our young people. I really felt very proud of all of them as they received recognition for their efforts. I should give a special mention to our major prizewinners. Congratulations to our Dux for 2017-2018, Rebecca Meekison. Rebecca is the leading scholar of the year, having gained straight A passes in her Highers and excelling in her studies this year too. She is off to Glasgow University to study Law and has ambitions to one day work for the United Nations. Rebecca is also the recipient of the McDermid Bursary for this year. This is an award of £500, given by internationally renowned crime writer, Val McDermid, to support a young person in their first year of a University course, living away from home. Val is a former KHS student. Well done Rebecca, we are all very proud of you. The first ever winner of the Gordon Aikman Cup was Charlie Murdoch, a Second Year pupil who is chair of our Rotary Interact Club. Charlie has raised hundreds of pounds for several good causes in his two years at KHS and thoroughly deserves recognition. Please see attached pictures of the Prizewinners and Charlie pictured with Joe and the Gordon Aikman Cup.

We changed the format of Prizegiving this year, with an earlier start, slightly shorter programme and a bigger informal get together in the staffroom afterwards. It seemed to go well, but we are always keen to review these things. If you attended Prizegiving, please email your thoughts and comments in a reply to this message. Your feedback is very valuable to us.

On Wednesday, our new crop of Sport Leaders were assisting at the Disability Sport Fife Athletics Championships which were held at Pitreavie. It was a very rewarding experience for our young people and their support was greatly appreciated by the organisers, who were in touch to express their gratitude, on behalf of all the competitors. All of our Sports Leaders showed exceptional commitment to supporting the disabled athletes, as judges, timekeepers or setting up equipment. In particular, I wish to commend Zak Cairns (S6), who was described to us by Gilbert Cochrane, of Scottish Athletics, as “outstanding” on the day. Zak told me that he had be humbled by the experience and had found it a very rewarding one.

This week has also been our Primary 7 Welcome Days, held on Wednesday and Thursday. Many thanks to our buddies, escorts and Prefects who brought the P7 to the school and looked after them. Our visitors followed a “normal” timetable and met their new teachers. Last night there was a parent/carer evening and a disco/barbeque for the P7. It was a great way to break down barriers, get over any fears and make new friends. I have to say it was excellent. Many thanks to Miss Diamond and Mrs Aitken, who organised the days. Thanks also to our Pupil Support Assistants, who gave excellent support. It was good to meet our new intake and their parents/carers this side of the holidays.

We also had Academy Uniforms, our recommended uniform supplier, in school last night. Uniform orders can also be placed online for collection in August.  These will available from Monday 6 August 2018.  Do be assured that blazers sourced elsewhere are also perfectly acceptable and we have school badges for sale from the school office at only £5.

Today we have a group of 18 S4 Science students taking part in a “Next Generation” activities event at Port Edgar Sailing Centre. This sounds like a real active learning event. The week ends with our leavers’ Prom this evening, which is being held at Forrester Park, Dunfermline. It will be a final send off for the “Class of 2018”. Good luck to them all, they have been a real credit to KHS.

Tomorrow, our LGBT+ Support Group members are off to take part in Edinburgh Pride, I am sure they will have a great day out. I must say that I am immensely proud of this group and all they have achieved in a short space of time. KHS is a better place for their campaigning work, and in fact their influence extends beyond this school. This has been recognised by Fife Council and I am very pleased to share that the group has been nominated by the Council for the “CoSLA” Excellence Awards 2018.

Next week may be the penultimate week of term but it is still an exceptionally busy one. We have our new S3 First Chances group off for a residential experience at St Andrews University from Monday to Wednesday. From Wednesday onwards our S4 students will then stay at the University with their graduation at the end of the week. Many thanks to Mrs Hunter and Mr Dick for their commitment to this. Also on Monday, and again on Friday, our Advanced Higher Chemistry students are spending the day in the Edinburgh University labs at King’s Buildings.

We also have the S3 Youth and Philanthropy Initiative (YPI) Finals in school on Monday, this is sponsored by the Wood Group and will result in a local charity receiving a cash donation of £3000. It’s a very worthwhile initiative and involves groups of young people researching good causes and becoming advocates for that charity.

On Monday afternoon, we have “Boozebusters” Peer Educator Training supported by “Clued Up” and our Employability Partners Meeting after school, arranged by Miss Nessel. On Monday evening, we’ll have a group attending the performance of “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time” at the Adam Smith Theatre, thanks to Mr McPherson.

On Tuesday we have an Adam Smith Assembly and Miss Osborne (History) is taking a group of S4 students to St Andrews University for workshops and lectures to help with their studies. The theme is “War on the Home Front”. In the evening it’s the AGM of our Parent Council at 6pm. Derek Dunsire (Chair) has asked me to invite you all along for the event. We will table reports on our use of the “Pupil Equity Fund”, our latest budget position, a staffing update and our Improvement Plan for the year ahead.

Wednesday is an Oswald Assembly and we are also attending YPI National Event at Perth Concert Hall. Our winning team from Monday’s competition will be attending this event. I expect the highlight will be a performance by Emeli Sande. The Headteacher also receives an invite and I am seriously wondering if I can manage to get along to Perth myself!

We are also holding a staff “Bake Off” in support of Cancer Research UK at lunchtime, many thanks to Ms Collins. KHS LGBT+ will be training NHS staff at Whyteman’s Brae Hospital and we’ll be represented at the planning meeting for Fife’s “ACES” film over at Beath High School after school. “ACES” are “Adverse Childhood Experiences” and it is now widely accepted that these are key to understanding childhood trauma and the subsequent impact on socialisation, behaviour, confidence, resilience and learning. Mr Broadway, who heads up our team which supports learning is also part of this and attended a meeting at the Scottish Parliament earlier this week. He is now part of a national steering group on this subject, a group which includes MSPs and the Deputy First Minister, John Swinney. It’s good to have an input at policy level on such an important social issue.

Our Boozebusters sessions, delivered by the peer educators take place on Thursday and on Friday we have two trips to Edinburgh … one is a Business Studies trip to the Investment 2020 Conference and the other to the Royal Highland Show (Home Economics). I did say it was an action packed week.

Next week’s menu is;

Monday: Lentil soup, Macaroni Cheese, chips, vegetables

Tuesday: Tomato soup, Roast Chicken, baby boiled potatoes, broccoli

Wednesday: Minestrone soup, Pork sausage casserole, potatoes and vegetables

Thursday: French onion soup, Red Thai Chilli Beef, noodles and vegetables

Friday: Leek and potato soup, Breaded fish/Steakbake, chips, peas

We also have baked potatoes, pizza, pasta, sandwiches and salad available every day as well as our outdoor snack bar. Please do be aware that we offer a free cup of soup with bread for all our young people, regardless of their “free school meals” status. We also have our “Breakfast Club” available from 8.10am and this is free to those facing hardship (it costs 50p otherwise). We have cereal, toast and jam and juice on offer.

Finally, I mentioned that I would provide a report on our staffing situation at the Parent Council AGM. In outline, you perhaps already know that Mr Britain (Music), Mrs Tulloch (Computing) and Mr Morrice (CDT) will be taking retirement … thanks and best wishes to them all. Also, Mrs Skelton (English) and Mr Fairley (Maths) will not be continuing at KHS due to ill health. Again, very best wishes. Congratulations to Miss Shepherd (Geography), who is moving to take up a post nearer home, in Arbroath. Miss Nessel is moving on too, to take up a Principal Teacher post in Aberdeen, a well-deserved promotion. Finally, Mrs Hume has secured a one year secondment with “Education Scotland” (the Government’s education agency), again a well-deserved recognition of her abilities. Her role as Head of English will be undertaken by Mrs Thompson in the year ahead. Well done to Mrs Thompson. It means that we are currently looking for a new Guidance Teacher and our advert is still currently “live”.

We are also actively recruiting in other areas and I am pleased to share that we are now joined by Mr Scott Hunter in CDT. Mr Hunter is a highly experienced teacher who will be a real asset here. I am also delighted that Miss Mollie Osborne (History) is now permanent to the staff. Miss Osborne has been with us since January and has settled in very well. There will be more news next week, especially about probationer teachers as we are expecting to hear of further appointments today.

The email is being dispatched a bit earlier than usual today as I am off to a meeting in the Edinburgh City Chambers this afternoon to represent Fife at a meeting of Headteachers and Directors of Education from Fife, Midlothian, East Lothian, the Borders and Edinburgh. Perhaps you have heard about the “South East Collaborative”? The project aims to encourage greater sharing of expertise across local authorities. We will be discussing our common goals in planning for the year ahead.

Please expect an “Annual Data Check” form for checking next week. We will provide you with a copy of the contact details etc we have on record. These will be given to your son/daughter in a sealed envelope for you to confirm or amend and return to us by the end of term. It is really important that we have the correct information and I would urge you to ask your son/daughter about this … we all know how forgetful teenagers can be!

As always, please do be in touch if we can be of any assistance. As I say, we’d appreciate any comments you may have about Prizegiving. Next week I will give details from the “Parentwise” and “Pupilwise” surveys conducted by Fife Council online earlier this year and these shows a strong connection here between school and home. Stand by for a few graphs and charts!

Yours

Derek Allan

RECTOR

15 June 2018