Dear Parent / Carer,
Welcome to this weeks Rector’s Log. I hope you and your family are doing well!
The week that’s been…
It’s the end of January and it feels like a very long month is over in a flash! This week at school has echoed this sentiment but lots going on.
This week, learners in S5/6 continued with their formal assessments, with the last assessments taking place on Wednesday. As ever, our young people took on the challenge with great resilience and determination. Learners will receive the results over the coming days and will be provided with feedback through learning conversations and their own self-reflections. Families will also receive a report in the coming weeks where we will share this information.
On Tuesday, we held the third of four Parent / Carer Council meetings. At the meeting we had an update from the Head Boy, HT and Mrs Gibb (DHT) updated on the recent well-being survey of young people in S1-3. We also discussed issues around staffing and tracking report. The minutes for this meeting are available. In addition, the Parent / Carer Council have rebranded to Parents and Carers of Kirkcaldy High or PACK for short. A flyer with information about this is available. Please come along to the next meeting in May and get involved in our continued improvements.
On Wednesday, we had week two of the P7 Roadshows, attending Capshard and Torbain Primaries. Mrs Gibb, Mr Broadway, Laura Frew (Chair of PACK) and I attended and presented on a range of areas about KHS and what families and young people can expect through the remaining transition process and next session in KHS. A massive thank you to all families and young people who attended and to all involved in presenting.
We also had our fourth collegiate session with professional learning for colleagues around a common approach to feedback for learners to support learning.
Across the week, we have had lots happening and lots of successes to share. You can read more about all the goings on in our blog.
A wee update from Ms Black and our Supported Learning department:
In SLD1 with Miss Thomson we have been adding Spanish to our learning and with Mrs Geissler fantastic keyrings have been crafted, please have a look at our photos online. In SLD2 with Mr Stewart we have been working on angles in quadrilaterals, triangles and on straight lines. Finding missing angles and working out what angles should add up to. We have also been looking at the origins of the Cold War. With Mrs Logan we have been using comic books as a stimulus for our learning. In the senior phase we continue working towards our qualifications and held a Burns Celebration. Our guests had a great time and learnt more about our traditions and culture. We look forward to the Chinese New Year celebrations. As always if we can mark a special event that your family celebrate, please contact us.
House Point totals for the week and session so far are as below:
This weeks total:
Adam Smith – 66
Carlyle – 90
Oswald – 113
Overall total:
Adam Smith – 2334
Carlyle – 2511
Oswald – 2469
Well done to all!
The week ahead…
This session, we are in the process of reviewing our school vision and values. In November, we worked with colleagues in school to review these. In the next phase, we are looking to work with our young people and understand their views around this. On Monday, we will be sharing this with young people and taking this forward through Social Education classes over the coming weeks. We will also be sharing the course choice process with those in S2 / 4 /5.
On Monday, we will also welcome families into school for our annual learning fair. S2 families are due to be with us at 5pm for a brief presentation followed by an opportunity to visit the various stalls from faculties and subjects. Families of S4/5 are then welcome to join at 6pm for a presentation followed by the Fair. We look forward to seeing you there!
On Wednesday, young people in S2 / 4 / 6 will take part in the Equally Safe at School survey.
I hope you have a great weekend, whatever you are doing!
Best wishes,
Chris McKay
Rector
31 January 2025