Dear Parent/Carer

Welcome to the news update which we publish on a weekly basis. I hope that you and your family are all good.

This week we have had assemblies for all year groups (except S4) with a focus on our “Active Schools” work and the role of our School Nurse team. These inputs were really useful. Special thanks to Calum Ritchie and Sophie Stark, the S6 Sports Ambassadors involved … both spoke exceptionally well at the assemblies.

Also on Monday, we had a large group of S1/2 working with youth workers based at the YMCA to bake scones, biscuits etc for sale on the Tuesday in support of a local homelessness project. It’s part of the wider “Templehall Action Group” initiative. Many thanks to Steven and Brendan, the youth workers who supervised. On that theme, I should say that the bake sale organised by Ellie Hitchcock (S5) in support of the Cottage Family Centre Christmas Appeal and held last Friday raised £125. We have added £300 to this in advance of our “dress down day” at the end of term to make a school donation to the appeal. This morning, Ellie, accompanied by fellow fund-raisers Emma Reekie and Courtney Nicholson, and Mrs Davidson (Depute Head) visited the Cottage to hand a cheque and some bags of donated goods to Paige Buchan of the Centre.

It was also the Rotary Young Chef Kirkcaldy final at Fife College on Monday. We had Holli Moffat and Jake Ramsay representing the school, supported by Ms Collins, Head of Home Economics at KHS. Holli and Jake were up against other competitors from the local schools. I’m absolutely delighted to report that Jake (pictured), despite being a little disappointed by the runniness of his dessert, has won through to the next round. I understand that this will be held at Dundee and Angus College on January 25. Well done to Holli also, who is only in S2 and shows huge potential.

On Tuesday morning, we had Patricia Keppie from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission speaking to our S2 “Battlefields” pupils. This was an excellent experience and our young people now know a bit more about what to expect, and also how to use their research skills more effectively. Then, in the evening, we hosted a special Parent/Carer Evening for S4 who will be undertaking the qualifications in National 5 next May. Many thanks to Mrs Hamilton, Mrs Hume and Mrs Morris for their inputs to this. And many thanks to you … we had an excellent turnout on a very dreich night. The focus was mindset, study habits and the specifics of SQA qualifications. Mrs Morris has now organised study workshops next Monday evening. It’s a family learning experience which will support our exam candidates.

Wednesday was the S3 Assembly and in addition to the active schools and nurse team input, Miss Wallace gave a talk a new group about the Duke of Edinburgh “Bronze” Award. This is a great initiative which involves volunteering, skills development, physical fitness and outdoor skills. I expect that we will be oversubscribed as we only have 20 places this session. I hope that you will encourage your son/daughter to sign up. Mr Sanderson and Miss Osborne will be helping Miss Wallace with the scheme. We also had another S1 trip along to Templehall Library later in the day, led by Miss Wilson (English). In the afternoon, we hosted a “live screening” of a film called “Balisong”, which was made by the “No Knives Better Lives” Campaign to highlight the dangers of carrying a weapon. We have a responsibility to tackle difficult issues such as this and at assemblies last year, we successfully encouraged all our pupils to pledge that they would “grass up” any pupil they knew had a knife or similar item to school. I am very grateful to Miss Young (Modern Studies) for taking this on to the next stage. The film was a harsh reminder of the consequences of staying silent about anyone carrying a weapon. Our pupils watched and listened very carefully and reiterated their pledge to “grass up” anyone bringing a knife or any similar weapon to school.

There was no S4 Assembly yesterday due to the Hall being used for a “Speedy STEAM” event. This time it was for S2 and we thank Fife College and The Royal Navy for their support. We had teamwork, problem solving and engineering challenges to be solved. “STEAM” stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics. After school, we had a very large group of S1 footballers along at Dunfermline High School and I’m told they all did very well, representing the school with enthusiasm and good sportsmanship.

This morning we had our S5/6 Assembly and we’ve also had the issue of the latest S5/6 Tracking Report. We hope these will be useful as students work towards their SQA qualifications. Being “on track” with work towards various milestones is essential. This afternoon, our choir (which is now 28 strong!) is along at ASDA on Carberry Road to mark the official Christmas launch at the store. I must thank Mrs Duckett and Mrs Simpson for the expansion of our community engagements. Despite being on maternity leave, Mrs Simpson has continued to support this type of work and Mrs Duckett has been responsible for the success of our community choir, which comprises staff and students and has now had a few gigs like this. It’s a source of great pride to me as Rector to see KHS out and about in Kirkcaldy, bringing cheer in this way. Good luck to our senior netball team, who are competing in the Fife Championships at Glenrothes today (pictured).

Best wishes also to all those who are part of our Premiership football trip to Newcastle United tomorrow. It’s the match against Manchester City and we have a large group of young people involved. Many thanks to party leader Mr I’Anson and thanks also to the other staff supporting the trip; Mr McPherson, Mr Greenhorn and Mr Naismith. Also, pupils involved in our French trip to Picardy in February will be fund raising at the B and M Store at the Retail Park. They are helping with bag-packing this weekend. Please say hello and donate if you can.

Next week we will not be having morning assemblies due to the Hall being used for several other purposes but we’ll have employability themed activities during tutor time. S5 students Rachel Cummings and Eryn O’Donnell will be visiting Ingolstadt in Germany with a group from St Andrew’s High School. Ingolstadt is Kirkcaldy’s twin town and I am grateful to Mrs Docherty (Modern Languages) who has made the arrangements. In the afternoon, Miss Young and I will be taking members of our “Rights Respecting School” Committee along to Kelty where Fife Council has organised a teachers’ conference about improving pupil participation in schools. KHS is regarded as leading the way with this and Rebecca Greig (S3) has been asked to deliver a “keynote” speech about the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Thanks to Rebecca, and also to Eilidh Drummond, Phoebe Brand and Gemma Hepburn who will make up team KHS on the day.

That evening, Mrs Morris has set up those parental study sessions for S4 and parents/carers. These run from 6-7pm to give some hints and tips for revision. We plan to run 4 workshops; a generic session on revision skills (timetable, SQA website/Study Guides etc); a Literacy based, so subjects with lots of writing, facts to remember (English, Modern Studies, etc); a Numeracy based session (Maths, Science, Engineering Science etc) and a session with S5/6 pupils who will talk to the S4 about what went well for them and maybe more importantly what didn’t go so well and what they would do differently.am so grateful to the numerous staff supporting this, and also to the S5/6 taking on leadership.

At 7pm, it is our pleasure to host the Kirkcaldy Salvation Army Christmas Concert in school. As well as the Army’s own musicians and singers, the KHS Community Choir will be doing their set again. I’m delighted to have been asked to do the welcome. I hope you can come along, perhaps after the family learning session, the event is entirely free of charge.

On Tuesday, our main event is the KHS Employability Fair which is being set up in the Hall. We have a very wide range of employers, College representatives and Universities in the Hall and all young people in S3-6 will be spending time at the fair. It’s a great opportunity to plan ahead for the next stage after school. The event will continue for a while after school (until 4pm) and you are very welcome to make arrangements to come along then with your son or daughter. Miss Malcolm has put details out on social media and a message has been emailed out by Mrs Davidson. So far we have confirmed attendance of; Royal Navy, Air Force and The Army, Careers at Sea, Babcock, Fife Council, Fife Voluntary Action, Kwik Fit, Skills Development Scotland, Clyde Marine Training, Kingdom Homes, Exterity, Raytheon, Proto-Pic, Addieshaw Goddard, The Law Society of Scotland, PDSA, IDTC, Sainsbury’s, Glam Candy, Fife College, Edinburgh Academy of Music, Aberdeen University, Dundee University, Glasgow University, Napier University, St Andrews University, Strathclyde University, Abertay University, the Students Award Scheme and the Duke of Edinburgh Award. Thanks to Miss Malcolm, our “Young Workforce” Coordinator, for her excellent work on this.

The Wednesday and Thursday sees our musicians honing their performances for the SQA exams, and later on Wednesday, it’s the S2 “Learning Fair”. With course choices coming up, it’s a chance for young people to find out about what’s on offer and what qualifications and pathways might be available over the next few sessions. We make the fair available for all parents/carers of S2 in the evening. Parents will have had a letter of invitation from Mr Young this week. We start the evening off with a short talk from me about course choice. As well as the Learning Fair, we’ll put on our Christmas Fair, and everyone is welcome. We’ll have stalls with gifts, crafts, baking etc. Mrs Davidson sent a “flyer” this week and explained that all proceeds go to subsidise the cost of the S6 Yearbook and Prom, which takes place in June next year.

On Thursday, Miss Tennant, Principal Teacher of STEM, takes a group of students over to Heriot Watt University to help prepare for the Go4SET national technology competition and I am very grateful to tech firm “Leviton”., based in Glenrothes, for all their support. In the afternoon, Mrs Davidson and I will go along to the Skills Development Centre at Mitchelston Industrial Estate for the “graduation”. We have had a group of four S5 pupils undertaking a construction industry basic training programme over the past few weeks.

On Friday, we have the Edinburgh University Engagement Team in school for an event called “Why Go?” for all S3 during periods 4 and 5. Many thanks to Dr Beattie of the Science Department, who is leading on this. As you know, we are keen to ensure that all our pupils are exposed to the widest range of opportunities possible. Also on Friday, our S3/4 Sports Leaders are supervising at the Michael Woods Sports Centre in Glenrothes. It’s the Fife Primary Athletics Festival that day.

The hot meal menu for next week is as follows; Monday: Lentil soup, Macaroni Cheese, chips, vegetables Tuesday: Tomato soup, Red Thai Chilli Beef and noodles with vegetables Wednesday: Minestrone soup, Pork sausage casserole, potatoes and vegetables Thursday: French onion soup, Roast Beef, Potatoes 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. 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).

Please mind our “engagement” sessions next week; the study skills for parents/carers, the Salvation Army Concert at 7pm on Monday, then our S2 Learning Fair and Christmas Fair … next Wednesday, 4 December from 6pm. A great way to support the school, get in the seasonal mood and do a bit of Christmas shopping too.

Never hesitate to be in touch if you need anything. All the very best to you and all your family.

Derek Allan

RECTOR

29 November 2019