Dear Parent/Carer

 

I hope that you and your dearest ones are well. Here is the news from Dunnikier Way.

Last week I mentioned that the week ended with our hosting of the KHS leg of the Rotary Club “Young Chef” Competition. Many thanks to Ms Collins (Head of Home Economics), who organised this event, and also to Rotarian Sharon Munro, who led the judges. Many congratulations go to Jake Ramsay (S6) and Holli Moffat (S2) who have both now been put through to the next round to be held at Fife College on November 22.

This week has been another busy one. The S3 had a special assembly on Monday to share details about our upcoming “Employability Week” which takes place next week. Many thanks to Mrs Davidson, who explained the programme and expectations. Also, many thanks to Miss Malcolm, who has been mainly responsible for making all the arrangements (see below). In the afternoon we were joined by Mary Patrick, Mark Rossiter and Tony Paine from Kirkcaldy Rotary to conduct interviews for the Rotary International Leadership Camps which take place next summer in the Cairngorms. This process went well. Best wishes to all our potential RYLA students. I’ll update you when we hear more. We also had First Year pupils out on a trip to Templehall Library. They walked along accompanied by teachers and S6 pupils and this is happening again for a S1 different group today. All S1 are being encouraged to join the Library and borrow a book. Literacy is such an important lifeskill and we have quite a few events planned for Book Week Scotland at the end of this month.

We had House Assemblies on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to mark Remembrance. These were organised by Miss Osborne of the History Department, with support from Mrs Duckett and Mr Duncan of the Music Department. We had an illustrated talk from pupils who were part of our Great War Battlefields trip in May, tributes from several other young people, a wonderfully expressive dance routine from Amber Thomson and Eve Denholm (S4) and a beautiful song specially composed and sung by Martina Giorgio (S6). I think that we were all very moved. We were also moved by Cameron Hamilton (pictured right), who played the “Last Post” on cornet. Watch out for Cameron if you are attending Starks Park on Saturday. Cameron will again be playing to end the two minute silence before the Rovers match against Stranraer. Also pictured is Charlie Murdoch (S4), speaking at the event (below).

The assemblies were extended, and during the longer tutor sessions, young people had a further input on The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Tuesday was an especially busy day, as we also had our “Quadcopter” design and engineering team up at Auchmuty High School in Fife competing for a place in the UK finals in Birmingham. It was about making a working drone and the competition is sponsored by Raytheon. Many thanks to Miss Tennant, who led on this. Miss Hay accompanied our “Enterprising Maths” team of S3 to The Glasgow Science Centre to compete in the Scottish final of this competition. They did so well recently up at Glenrothes and really enjoyed the event in Glasgow. They were presented with a lovely glass trophy by the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.  After lunch that day, we had outreach team in from Edinburgh University to support our S6 with their “UCAS” applications, especially the “Personal Statement” element. We also had an English Department trip for S3 and S4 to Jupiter Artland, near Edinburgh. It’s an amazing outdoor space and sculpture park which is an inspiration for creative writing. Miss Dickson was in charge of the group. Thanks to her.

Thanks again to the Rotary Club of Kirkcaldy, sponsors of the “Youth Speaks” public speaking competition, which took place on Wednesday evening. We had a team of Third Year girls talking on the theme of Human Rights, and especially the UNCRC. Eilidh Drummond, Rebecca Greig and Phoebe Brand did very well and I’m pleased to report that KHS are the official Rotary Club Public Speaking winners for 2019 (pictured at foot of report).

Yesterday we held the Senior UK Maths Challenge, thanks to Miss Cunningham (Principal Teacher), who oversaw this. Our Modern Languages Department had also organised a trip to Edinburgh to the Filmhouse on Lothian Road, for a special showing of “La Famille Belier”. In the evening, it was our S2 Parent/Carer Night. It was good to meet so many of you there. Just before the Parents’ Evening, Dr Murray, Miss Collins, Mrs Patton, Mrs Hardie, John Hamilton (S6) and I met with Cara Spence of LBGT Youth Scotland to discuss the next stage in our “journey” towards achieving the LGBTYS Charter. It was a very useful discusiion and later Cara joined the KHS LGBT group at the information and awareness stall they laid on for the parents and carers of S2. The group has designed a leaflet which is intended to be helpful for families. I’ll send it out as an attachment next week.

Today, reports for S4 pupils are ready to be issued and this afternoon we have a group of S4 volunteers helping along at Chapel Level Care Home as part of the SQA Volunteering Award. This is a new initiative being run by the English Department and I am grateful to Mrs Hume for her leadership of it. This evening it’s our “Friends of Kirkcaldy High School” Race Night. Once again, may I add that I am very grateful to “FoKHS” for all their fantastic fundraising efforts … this is a brilliant support group which has donated over £8000 in the past two years. Please consider becoming a FoKHS member for a minimum fee of only £5 per year. You only need give us a call on 01592 583405 and ask for Mrs Davidson.

Many thanks to Miss Steedman for the weekly sports results roundup. Our girls footballers lost out at Balwearie this week, but played some great football and scored two cracking team goals from Rebecca Thomson and Lauren Mitchell. KHS U13 boys attended a football festival at Woodmill (photo). We had three teams taking part and it was a great occasion. Check out the lovely picture on “Twitter”. Our U16 team  had a Scottish Cup tie at home to St John’s Academy of Dundee, which is an SFA “Performance” Academy. I’m delighted to report that KHS won 5-0 and that Cammy McGregor scored a hat-trick. We now take on Harris Academy, also of Dundee, in the next round. Our netball teams were up at Bell Baxter in Cupar, where our seniors lost out but the S2 team recorded a 13 – 0 victory. Thank you and well done to everyone who is representing Kirkcaldy High School. I’m proud of you all.

We’ll be out and about this Sunday, with our senior prefects laying a wreath at the Kirkcaldy War Memorial after being part of the town’s Remembrance parade. In the afternoon, the KHS Community Choir will perform at the “Rejects” store’s Christmas launch. The Choir, which comprises staff and students, will be singing at 2pm and I am especially grateful to Mrs Duckett (Head of Music), our excellent choirmaster.

The hot meal menu for next week is as follows; 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 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. There is also our “Breakfast Club” (sponsored by Stephens the Bakers) available from 8.10am and this is completely free for those facing hardship. We have cereal, toast and jam and juice on offer. Lunchtime meals are priced at £2.20 for pupils, and this is the value of the “free meal” entitlement. Main courses are £1.55 and desserts are priced at £0.65. Please call if you are facing financial hardship and would appreciate help to apply for free meals. You should ask for Mrs Hardie (Family Link Worker).

Next week itself is a shortened one for pupils, with a staff training day on Friday 15 November. On Monday we will be observing a two minute silence across the school at 11am to mark the 101st anniversary of the end of the Great War. At the same time, our Prefect team will lay poppy wreaths at our own war memorial in school. The KHS memorial is a tribute to the 215 men and boys who gave their lives in the World Wars of the twentieth century.

On Tuesday, outreach staff from Edinburgh University will be holding a “focus group” with S6 on the subject of widening access for young people from working class families. A group of S2 will be taking part in an awareness event about job opportunities for “Allied Health Professionals” in the NHS. The focus will be on Physiotherapy, radiography etc. All of our S5 will travel up to Glenrothes for the “Safe Drive – Stay Alive” Roadshow and at lunchtime, Mrs Davidson and I will be joined by Interact Club members along at the regular Rotary Club lunch at the Dean Park Hotel. Our Interactors will be presented with a cheque for £500 by President Robert Main as a contribution to our MND Scotland fundraising appeal. Also, our Advanced Higher English students are visiting the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh. That evening, it’s a Parent Council meeting. Please do come along at 6pm. The main focus will be our efforts at consistency of approaches to relationships, our curriculum “rationale” and the upcoming “Rights Respecting School” initiative. I’ll also be happy to take questions on any aspect of our work from any parents attending. Every parent or carer is automatically regarded as a member of the Council I would be delighted to see a good turnout. If you have anything you would want to raise, please be in touch and I’ll pass you on to Gillian McIntyre (Chair). This invitation to be in touch applies to any query you may have, please do be in contact if we can help with anything.

On Wednesday morning, I’ll be attending a meeting of the Trustees of “Kingdom Kids”, the Kingdom FM Charity. I am delighted to have been asked to join the Board and to assist in decisions about this important work. We also have more S1 pupils visiting Templehall Library that day.

Thursday sees Mrs Davidson involved in a meeting about a new recruitment drive for the NHS, with a focus on Nursing careers and in the evening, I will join her along with several other teachers along at Fife College (Halbeath) for a conference on the School/College Partnership arrangements. We work closely with Fife College on a variety of different programmes including Foundation Apprenticeships in Childcare, Software, Engineering etc.

I mentioned the staff training day on Friday. The main part of this is a Teacher Conference hosted at KHS with the main speaker being Carrie Lindsay, Fife’s Executive Director of Education and Children’s Services and newly appointed President of the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland (ADES). Staff from Viewforth High School and several local primaries will be joining us that day.

However, right throughout next week, our main theme, especially for S3, is “Employability”. We are fully committed to giving all of our young people the best chance of a successful pathway to employment and want all of our leavers to be “job ready”. Next week sees all out S3 out on a workplace visit on Tuesday afternoon. On Wednesday they will be off the usual timetable to take part in team-building and then design activities. We’ll also have an information session from Fife College. The “destination” for about a third of our leavers is the College. On Thursday, our staff will be delivering “Barclay’s Lifeskills” sessions on creating a CV. I hope you’ll agree that this sounds really relevant to the world of work. The final piece of the jigsaw is on the Friday. We are asking that all parents/carers of S3 pupils try to arrange for their son/daughter to spend either the day or part of the day with them in their workplace if this is at all possible. Perhaps a relative or a neighbour might be able to help if there is little opportunity for you to provide that experience? We believe this would be a very useful experience for our learners.

Lastly, today is the final day, for a wee while, for Mrs Hunter, Guidance Teacher for Carlyle House. Mrs Hunter goes off on maternity leave … best wishes to her. Mrs Hunter’s guidance duties are being covered by Mr Mitchell. Congratulations to him on his appointment.

A final wee “heads up”. I’m hoping that you will come along to our Christmas Fair which will take place alongside our S2 “Learning Fair” on the evening of Wednesday 4 December. There will be crafts, gifts, candles and the like and all proceeds go towards supporting our S6 Prom and Yearbook. Thanks.

Thanks also for your ongoing support and best wishes to you for the weekend.

Yours sincerely

Derek Allan

RECTOR

8 November 2019