Dear Parent/Carer,

I wanted to write to you to give some updates for the new term and extend a warm welcome to our new S1 families and those who join us again for the new session. Young people return to school on Wednesday 19th August 2026. A reminder that Period 1 starts at 8.40am and all young people in S2-S6 should go straight to their P1 class.

Qualifications Scotland School Performance

On Tuesday 4th August 2026, learners across S4-6 received their results from Qualifications Scotland. We also had a couple of learners in S3 who also sat a National 5 exam. I wish to say a huge well done to all on their success.

As a school, we have seen an increase across 7 of 9 key measures used in Fife with clear improvement in the number of learners achieving at various levels including:

• 40.4% of learners in S4 achieving 5 or more National 5 qualifications (A-D) – an increase of just over 5% from last session and our best result at this level!
• 6.9% of learners in S5 achieving 5 Highers (A-C) qualifications – an increase of 1.7% and the schools best result at this level!
• 13.5% of learners in S6 achieving 5 Highers (A-C) qualifications – an increase of 1.5% compared to last year.
• Continued increase in the number of learners achieving 5 or more L3 awards in S4.

Over the course of the next few weeks, I will share more information about our successes as the data and analysis is undertaken across the school.

If any young person has a query or concern regarding their Qualifications Scotland results, please contact us, either by phone or e-mail and we will get in touch to discuss this.

S5/6 Re-coursing

Mrs Hamilton e-mailed all parents / carers of those young people who may wish to discuss their course choices for the coming session just after Qualifications Scotland results arrived. On Wednesday, 5th August 2026, Mrs Hamilton, Mrs Hume and I met with a number of young people and families to discuss course choices and next steps. Thank you to all who attended.

If your child wishes to discuss a change to their courses for S5/6 then they should meet with Mrs Hamilton or I on Wednesday 19th August 2026. We will be in the library P2/3. There will be no further changes after this session. For those who made changes last week, they can receive a new timetable by attending the STEPS room prior to P1 on Wednesday.

New staff

We are pleased to welcome the following staff to KHS from 17th August:

On permanent appointments:

• Aimee Warrender – Teacher of English
• Bradley McKay – Teacher of HE
• Viktoria Fedor-Szabo – Teacher of Maths

On Temporary appointments for next academic session:

• Philipa Thapa – Teacher of English
• Elizabeth Asady – Teacher of BGE
• Pamela Tinney – Teacher of BGE / Maths
• Natalie Gelley – Teacher of Biology
• Stuart Macmorris – Teacher of PE
• Nittiya Srakaeo – Probationer Teacher – Geography

First day arrangements

The new session starts on Wednesday, 19th August 2026. All young people in S2-S6 should report to their Period 1 class. Learners should then continue to follow their timetable as normal. Timetables were given to all S2 – S6 prior to the holidays. Parents / Carers can check these using parentsportal (S2-S6 only until Wednesday 19th August 2026).

If any learner does not know what class they are in P1, staff will be on hand around reception / STEPS room to support.

For our new S1 pupils, they should report to the assembly hall where they will be met by Staff and S6 buddies. Buddies will support all S1 classes throughout the first week of the new term, ensuring that young people know their way around. All S1s will leave class 5 minutes early to allow a smooth transition to their next class / break. For the first week, S1 will be allowed out 15 minutes early for lunch. Our new S1 will be directed to the sports fields / Astro for lunch time over the first week. We would stress that S1s should not leave the school grounds during term 1.

Lastly, there will be year group assemblies on Thursday 20th August to welcome young people back to school and re-enforce key messages. Information on this will be shared with pupils on Wednesday / Thursday through the Blue Bulletin and class teachers.

Uniform

Before the end of term, we shared with you our school uniform policy. Our uniform poster is in our policies folder for your information. I would ask for your support in ensuring that all young people are appropriately dressed for school and adhere to our policy. If any family has any issue with uniform, please contact us and we can support.

If any young person does not have the correct uniform, we will provide this and expect young people to follow our policy.

N.B. shorts are not part of our school uniform policy (except for PE). Young people should not wear shorts to school (this may be reviewed if temperatures are unseasonably high). Moreover, young people should not wear PE kit to school if they have PE P1 or 2. Young people should bring relevant kit and change as required at PE.

Update on Boys Toilets

Over the summer break, work has been ongoing on the Boys toilets in the Maths block. I am pleased to say that the works should be completed in time for the return of our learners. The whole toilet block has been ripped out and replaced with an open space with 8-10 floor to ceiling cubicles, including a new disabled toilet. All cubicles have a Vape alarm installed and any instance of this being set off will result in a member of our SLT attending and dealing with those responsible.

Changes to Kirkcaldy High School Management Structure 2026/27

Over the last 3 /4 months, we have been working with all colleagues to discuss changes to our management structure. At the end of last week, consultation with colleagues in school closed and agreement sought to change this structure. Our new structure has been agreed as follows:

From August, the number of Depute Headteachers will reduce from 5 to 4 with Mrs Davidson retiring in August.

This change will allow us to increase the number of Guidance teachers from 6 to 8. This will mean a reduction in caseload for each Guidance teacher from approx. 240 to max. 180.

Remits for Senior Leaders are in our “School Structure, and Improvement” folder.

From October 2026, how we support learners in KHS will also change. Each DHT will be responsible for a House and not a year group. We will seek to create a fourth House (called Beveridge provisionally). Each house team will consist of a DHT, 2 x PTG, and 1 learning support link. This will be complimented by 2 House leaders to support. PSOs will work across the houses.

Over the course of term 1, we will be consulting with stakeholders on house names, identities and the make-up of each house (caseload). Our guiding principles for this change and caseloads will be as follows:

We aim to:

• Ensure optimal communication with families and key partners so that a school-based Team Around the Child exists for every young person
• Provide consistency of support for young people and families
• Increase capacity of Guidance and support staff so that they can engage in meaningful contact with young people across their caseloads, with renewed focus on attainment and attendance

As a result, we will be reviewing all caseloads and allocating each YP to the most appropriate house from October 2026. This may result in a change of Guidance teacher. Further details will be shared over the coming weeks.

Notable dates for the term ahead

We are currently finalising the school calendar and will ensure this is with you by the start of the new term. At this time, please let me share the following important dates with you:

Parent / Carer Evenings

The dates for our parent / carer evenings are below:

• S1: 4 November 2026
• S2: 13 January 2027
• S3: 16 March 2027
• S4: 6 October 2026
• S5/6: 3 December 2026

Dates for our parent / carer information evenings are below:

• P7: 19 November 2026 – Family Learning Event
• P7: 10 June 2027 – Information Evening
• S1: 3 September 2026 – Maths / English Information Evening
• S3 – 6: 10 September 2026 – Family Exam Support and Information Evening
• S2,4 and 5: 2 Feb 2027 – Parents Curricular Pathways Evening

All Parent / Carer evening will be in person at KHS unless otherwise stated.

Reporting

All year groups will receive 4 tracking reports across the academic year. Reports will be accessed electronically using our tracking system Didbook – Progress. Information will be shared with families about how to logon and access reports early in term 1.

For S1 and 2, each report will include current CfE level and attitudinal metrics. There will be 2 full reports and 2 interim reports. Interim reports will include subjects such as Maths, English, Social Subjects, Science, Modern Languages and other subjects where young people attend at least 2 periods per week only. Full reports will include all subjects.

For S3, each report will include current CfE level and attitudinal metrics.

For S4-6, each report will contain their National Qualification level, target grade, working grade and attitudinal metrics.

A guide to help you access and understand reports will be issued in due course.

Reporting Dates:

• S1-3: 9th October 2026, 18th December 2026, 12th March 2027, 14th May 2027
• S4: 25th September 2026, 20th November 2026, 22nd January 2027, 16th April 2027
• S5/6: 25th September 2026, 20th November 2026, 26th February 2027, 16th April 2027

Parent Council – Provisional dates (1 meeting per term):

• Term 1: w/b 24th August 2026
• Term 2: w/b 9th November 2026
• Term 3: w/b 18th January 2027
• Term 4: w/b 3rd May 2027

Parent Council meetings take place online (TEAMS). All parents / carers are welcome. Agenda and link will be sent out to all parents / carers the week prior to the meeting.

School Photographs

We expect the photographer to be in school for photographs on w/b 5th October 2026.

Friends of Kirkcaldy High School (FoKHS)

Friends of Kirkcaldy High School (FoKHS) is a well established group of ex Kirkcaldy High School community, pupils and staff who work to support our school through volunteering, fundraising and support. FoKHS have helped to support our learners and school by providing funds for things like outdoor lunch benches for young people, improved sound and visual system for our assembly hall, kit for DofE expeditions and much more.

Over the course of a session, FoKHS host 2 events that are open to everyone in our community. They are:

• A race night, taking place on Friday 6th November 2026
• A ceilidh, taking place on Friday 5th March 2027

We would love to see as many of our community there as possible to support FoKHS and our school. More details will be shared shortly.

If you require more information or if you wish to join FoKHS, please contact Mr Young (DHT) who can share further information with you.

Finally, I hope you find the information contained in this letter useful. I look forward to working with you and your child(ren) over the coming session. Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can support in any way.

Best wishes,

Chris McKay