Dear Parent/Carer
Welcome to the penultimate “Rector’s Log” of the session. How the weeks have flown by this year!
Last Friday evening was our S6 leavers’ Prom, held at Fernie Castle, Letham, and what a brilliant night it was. I must thank all of the Committee (pupils and staff) who put together such a great event. The Class of 2016 have been a credit to the school right to the end. Those of us who have attended a good few Proms over the years reckon that this one was just about the best ever.
On Monday we held the Parent Council AGM in the Boardroom. It was really good to see some new faces. It is planned to elect (or possibly re-elect) Office Bearers at a meeting on Tuesday 20 September and to have a special careers/employability evening on November 22 – we will have employer representatives and “Skills Development Scotland” attending.
On Tuesday we had an Adam Smith House Assembly, with Carlyle on Wednesday and Oswald on Thursday. Also on Tuesday, Mrs Davidson and I met with Professor Sally Haw of Stirling University and others from St Andrews to discuss the next phase of a large scale health study we have been involved in over the past 3 years. All Kirkcaldy High pupils have been asked about their attitude to smoking and the project tracks changes over time. The results are helping form Scottish Government policy eg on plain packaging and “e-cigarettes”. As you will be aware, promoting healthy attitudes is a key part of our role and we are happy to support this research.
Also on Tuesday, we held a meeting after school with local business people with a view to extend the range of employability opportunities we offer. It was great to meet with partners and I must thank our new Employability Team of Miss McIntosh and Miss Nessel (Principal Teachers), who are taking a lead role – one outcome is the planned Parent Council event on 22 November.
This week was “Wizard of Oz”, and I know that many of you came along on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. It was an excellent school show, with amazing performances and original costumes, a professional band, and the cream of our school’s young talent on show. I was very proud to propose the vote of thanks last night. Special recognition must go to Mrs Turnbull (Director) and the rest of the team who delivered such a magnificent show.
Yesterday, our Learning and Behaviour Development pupils had a visit to the Royal Highland Show at Edinburgh and today our “Go4SET” National Engineering Champions are at Brand Rex, Glenrothes on an industrial visit. Our “Energy Hub” pupils are also off to Aberdeen today on an industrial visit. They will take part in an engineering challenge at Aker Solutions, visit an ROV (Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicle) training centre, then see an underwater helicopter safety/escape exercise first hand. We are trying very hard to build real life employability opportunities into our learning programmes.
Next week is the final week of term and we have 2 special assemblies. On Monday the S2 will have a talk from the Fire and Rescue Service about fire safety. On Tuesday, speakers from the Teenage Cancer Trust will deliver a talk to S3. Also on the Tuesday our Higher Maths pupils will take part in engineering challenges set by the training department of Babcock Rosyth. Thanks to Mr Allan of the Maths Department for organising this. Also that day, we’ll have a group involved in an outdoor experience at Lochore Meadows with Mr Broadway.
On Wednesday afternoon a group of S4 pupils will have a work experience at the Kwik Fit Training Academy at Broxburn. Thursday is our end of term celebration; we call it the Big Event and have stalls, craft “try-outs”, fun outdoor games, exhibits, ice cream, a bouncy castle … that kind of thing. Many thanks to all the community partners who are helping out. We also have our prize draw, with many prizes – the top prize being a mountain bike sponsored by Spokes Cycles, Dundee.
On Friday, it’s the end of session Dress Down Day in support of our drive to purchase a defibrillator for the school. This could be very useful in an emergency, especially given that we have many community users and are on a main road. Pupils are asked to donate £1 if they can. We also have our pupil Talent Show (organised by the Prefects) after interval and the school closes shortly after midday. We are expecting the school buses around 12.15pm. On the first Saturday of the holidays, our LGBT group, which promotes equality and diversity (especially for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people) is organising a visit to the Pride March in Edinburgh.
Looking a bit further ahead, for those awaiting exam results, D-Day is Tuesday August 9. The staff will return to school on Monday 15 August with pupils back in classes on Wednesday 17 after two days of staff training. One of these will be on an electronic tracking system for homework. We will be in touch shortly with information about how you can be part of that tracking. Another training event involves a guest speaker from Police Scotland’s Violence reduction Unit.
Last week I mentioned the staff who are retiring or moving on to new posts at the summer break. We now have further news of our current crop of probationers in training. I am pleased to report that Miss Ashby (Social Studies) will be staying on at KHS and the same goes for Miss Malcolm (PE). This is great news for us. Best wishes to Miss Braid (Geography), who has been offered a post at Waid Academy. Mr Campbell of the PE Department has decided to head abroad for work and will take up post at a school in Dubai. Miss Burke, teacher of Modern Languages, has also decided to travel and will leave her position at the summer break. Finally, Miss MacEachen, also in Modern Languages, will move to Madras College, St Andrews, to become Head of Department there. All will be sorely missed. To all those moving on, many thanks and best wishes. Your contributions here have been greatly appreciated.
We are anticipating the arrival of quite a number of new staff in August. Eight probationer teachers have been earmarked for KHS and there will be three or four further new appointments. I currently await confirmation.
On that theme of looking ahead, we have now almost finalised our calendar for next session. I thought it might be handy to give the parent/carer evening dates just now; S1 – Tuesday 15 November 2016, S2 – Wednesday 1 March 2017, S3 -Tuesday 30 May 2017, S4 – Monday 13 March 2017, S5/6 – Wednesday 7 December 2016. We also have our Primary 7 Open Evening on Thursday 27 October, our Employability Evening (with business partners) on Tuesday 22 November, Primary Evenings on Tuesday 17 and 24 January and our S2 Learning Fair on Wednesday 22 February. I will send home a calendar with key dates in August.
The other thing I would remind you of is that school starts at 8.42am from August (with the 4 minute warning bell). Lunch time is from 1pm until 1.50pm and we will finish at 3.20pm.
Next week’s hot dish menu is; Monday: Chicken and mushroom pie with potatoes. Tuesday: Gammon steak and chips. Wednesday: Mince pie and mash. Thursday: Lasagne with garlic bread. Friday: Snack menu. We also have our pasta, sandwich, soup and salad options too.
Do have a great weekend. As always, please be in touch if you or your children require any support with school related issues.
With kind regards
Derek Allan
RECTOR
24 June 2016
