Dear Parent/Carer

Welcome to the Rector’s Log. I’m hoping you are well.

It’s been a particularly difficult week with Covid affecting staff and pupils in significant numbers, as I explained in my message on Wednesday. You can help by supporting your son/daughter to test at home (and report the result online) and by ensuring that they bring a reusable face covering to school every day. Please be reminded that schools are no longer responsible for “contact tracing” and we won’t be in touch asking young people to self-isolate. This is now the responsibility of NHS Fife. If you think that your child has had contact with a case, the best thing to do is keep them off school and organise a PCR test as a precaution. Many thanks.

Despite all the ongoing public health constraints, our S1 pupils in Adam Smith House had a fantastic time at Fordell Firs Adventure Camp where they took part in challenge and team activities such as climbing, potholing, zip wire and archery. Next up are Carlyle and Oswald House with S1 out week beginning 13 September. Our S2 pupils will also get the chance from 20 September onwards.

It’s also been good to see the resumption of some “normal activities”, including after school badminton and football, woodwind and brass lessons and the planning for educational excursions, including a potential ski trip for 2023. Check out our daily bulletin. A link is also posted each day on Twitter @KirkcaldyHigh.

Also this week, we had staff training ahead of our first use of video conferencing for parents evenings later this month. Parents and carers of S3 pupils can expect to receive instructions very soon about the new set up. It’s a web based system which will work on any smartphone, tablet or laptop. The S3 Parents’ Evening is on Tuesday 22 September.

St Andrews University have also been in touch about their latest Parent and Carer information sessions for parents of young people involved in “First Chances”. These take place as follows: S1 on 7 Sept at 5pm or 8 Sept at 6pm, S2 on 7 Sept at 6pm or 8 Sept at 5pm, and S3 on 9 Sept at 5pm or 9 Sept at 6pm.

This morning, we held a fire evacuation drill. I have to say “well done” to our young people. It was a first time through with new arrangements and we cleared the building in under 4 minutes, assembling in an orderly fashion at the new muster stations marked out in the playground.

I must thank everyone who contributed to our winter clothing appeal to support Afghan refugees who will be re-settled in Fife. What a brilliant response. Two carloads of gear were collected and delivered to Fife Voluntary Action. Thanks to organisers Mrs McMahon (Home Economics) and Ms Mahr (RE) and also to Amanda Wright and Georgie Christie-Whelan (S6) who helped out too.

Next week will see the resumption of our “Health Zone” provision, in conjunction with NHS Fife. The school nurse team offers a confidential drop in service every Friday lunchtime in the nurse base diagonally across from Guidance. The team offers all sorts of advice and support, including in respect of mental health and sexual health. They are also able to “sign post” young people to other services available in Kirkcaldy.

We recently held an online meeting of the “Friends of Kirkcaldy High School” (FoKHS). This is a long standing and highly valued support group for the school. Harry Kerr is the current Chair and membership mainly comes from former pupils and staff. The group raises funds to support projects in school and helps out in other ways, including accompanying trips, helping invigilate assessments and even mentoring individual young people. Unfortunately, the next planned fund raiser, a “Race Night” scheduled for November, has had to be postponed due to Covid. Despite that, FoKHS has still managed to sponsor a new set of laptops for use in the Science Department, these are on order. If you are interested in joining FoKHS, please be in touch and ask for Mrs Davidson (Depute Head). Many thanks.

Looking ahead, and we are hoping to hold an online meeting of the KHS Parent Council this term, currently pencilled in for Tuesday 28 September at 6pm. Last session the KHSPC was held online on “Zoom” and this was a very popular format, with an excellent turnout all session. I’m hoping that we can replace Chair Gillian McIntyre, who has now stood down as the last of her children have left KHS. I’m indebted to Gillian, who was a first class Chair. If you think you would be interested in the role, please call the school and I will be happy to discuss the vacancy. We do have at least one expression of interest at the moment. At the upcoming meeting we can reflect on the online/video Parents’ Evening arrangements, look forward to SQA plans for 2022 and keep you informed of all the latest issues around public health.

I have some staffing news to close. Very well done to Mark Adams (Business and Computing), who will take up the post of Head of Computing at Lochgelly High School at the end of this month. Mr Adams’s promotion will not surprise anyone who has worked with him. It’s a thoroughly deserved success and we’ll all miss him greatly, staff and pupils alike. And good news about Mr Dick. He is out of hospital and making good progress.

You know that I don’t like to go on (!), but please do remember the Lateral Flow Covid test this weekend. We’ll be distributing more kits at the end of next week … enough to see young people through to the October break. The other health related news is the flu vaccination (by nasal spray), with the first round on Wednesday 22 September, for all S5 and S6.

Thanks, as usual, to Mr Paterson for the employability bulletin (attached). Please take care, and do be in contact if we can help with anything. In particular, please keep us informed of any virus cases in the family.

Yours

Derek Allan
RECTOR
3 September 2021