Dear Parent/Carer
I do hope that you are well. Here is the news!
This week we have had House Assemblies with introductions of the House Leaders and House Captains, a further focus on the year ahead and a number of presentations of certificates including for our “Boozebusters” peer mentors and SQA exam top achievers. Many thanks to Sergeant Jimmy Adamson and his colleagues from Kirkcaldy Police, who presented the “Boozebusters” awards along with Jayne Preece from the “Clued Up” support agency.
On Wednesday our Active Schools Ambassadors were out on a training day at St Andrews University Sports Centre. Also on Wednesday and again on Friday we are hosted teachers from the Czech Republic, Germany, Slovakia and Japan as part of their professional learning. It’s always good to welcome our European colleagues and as always they were very impressed, commenting on the strong family “ethos” or “feel” of our school.
Yesterday we had a group of English pupils attending the Edinburgh International Book Festival and in the evening we had a “Friends of Kirkcaldy High School” meeting. I must publicly thank all the “FoKHS” members, especially those who mentored our Higher pupils, helping them to achieve “best ever” results for the school, since becoming a comprehensive school in the 1970s.
This morning we took our S5/6 out of class to have a special focus on the “I Can” skills which is part of our focus on becoming “job ready” on leaving school. Many thanks to Mr Farquharson (Guidance), who organized the session. It was excellent.
Next week we will hold Yeargroup Assemblies with S1 on the Monday etc. We’ll cover some basic school rules such as circulation rules on the stairs etc. It’s also a Personal Learning Planning Week for S4 and there is an expectation that they will discuss progress and targets with their teachers before we put together the tracking letter which we’ll post home shortly.
On Tuesday, I’ll be attending the Kirkcaldy Rotary Club lunch with Blain Aitken, Steph Blyth and Kiara Montgomery (all S6). All were sponsored by the club to participate in the RYLA Leadership Camp in the Cairngorms this summer and will speak about their experiences at the lunch. Many thanks to the Rotary for all their support.
The Wednesday sees Miss Wight out on a trip to Tentsmuir Forest with the Higher Geography class in association with the St Andrews University “Geobus”. On Thursday, for S5/6, the timetable is suspended for our Senior Health Day. After a series of in-school sessions in the morning which includes healthy cookery, mental health and physical activity, all S5/6 will walk to Kirkcaldy Leisure Centre in the afternoon to take part in various classes such as Body Pump, Body Combat and Swimming. Many thanks to Fife Sport and Leisure Trust for their help with this major event.
For the S5/6 Assembly on the Friday, we welcome Michelle Reid, a student of Lochgelly High School, who will be sharing her recent experiences as part of the “Polar Academy”, visiting Greenland and undertaking a very challenging expedition. Also that day, our Sports Leaders are up at the Michael Woods Centre in Glenrothes supervising the “Go for Gold” event, which has attracted over 40 teams from primary schools all across Fife.
Next week’s menu is;
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.
Looking ahead, we are holding a ‘Next Steps’ parents/carers evening for S6. This takes place on Monday 3 September at 6pm. The focus is primarily on UCAS and university applications but we also cover college, apprenticeships and employment. There will be input from Skills Development Scotland too. The S6 are receiving a letter from Mr Farquharson today and I attach a copy. I hope to see many of you there on the evening.
We’ll have special assemblies during week beginning 10 September to unfurl our “Rights Respecting School” banner and on the afternoon of Tuesday 11 Sept we are delighted to be welcoming the Osiligi Maasai Warriors Dance Troupe to KHS. They dropped by in 2014 and caused quite a buzz … I’m sure their amazing routines will be appreciated by our S1 and S2 pupils that afternoon. On Thursday 13 September I’ll be joined by Dr Murray and members of our KHS LGBT+ Support Group at Verity House (the COSLA HQ in Edinburgh) to deliver our presentation for the Excellence Awards (Tackling Inequalities and Improving Health).
If we can be of assistance, please do be in touch. Your son or daughter’s Guidance Teacher is the usual first point of contact. However, please do make an appointment as our Guidance staff do teach and are not usually available without notice.
With very best wishes to you.
Derek Allan
RECTOR
24 August 2018
