Dear Parent/Carer
Welcome to the “Log”. I’m hoping that you are well.
We’ve had a good week in school, with the SQA diet now drawing to a close. Next week sees the last few exams with Computing, Environmental Science and Drama. I’m hoping that our SQA candidates will receive good news in August.
It was great to see our next crop of S1 new starts in the school this week for special taster sessions in Business, Enterprise and Computing. It helps them get a little bit more used to KHS in advance of our two “transition” days on 16 and 17 June. Many thanks to Miss Nessel, Miss Samfat, Miss Lipton and Mr Davidson Kelly, who laid on a varied programme which was greatly enjoyed by the P7 kids.
Yesterday and today, our S1 “First Chances” pupils are at Fife College as part of their engagement programme with a focus on Higher and Further Education. I’ll be attending their “graduation” at 6pm this evening and I am very grateful to our own Mr Dick and Dr Black, who are supporting this group of young people.
I mentioned the Fife U15 Shield final in last week’s log. This took place at Bayview Stadium last Friday evening and I am delighted to say that KHS became Fife Champions by beating Woodmill High School on penalties. Well done to the boys and congratulations to coaches Mr English and Mr I’Anson. It was a very fitting end to Mr English’s long school football careers. He is retiring from teaching the summer and was given a special presentation by the Fife Schools Football Association before the final on Friday.
More sports news … and I am very pleased to report that our S1 Netball team won the Dave Garland Memorial Tournament played at Glenrothes High School on Tuesday. Dave Garland was a former colleague of mine, who died of motor neurone disease and I am very proud of our girls, and coach Miss Kirkwood. Well done.
Next week is a shorter one, with the additional public holiday next Friday (3 June). Before then we have our S1/S2 Sports afternoon on Monday. Many thanks to Miss Steedman and her PE colleagues who are organising this new event. Good luck to all of our athletes.
Our S3 Parents’ Evening is being held online on the Wednesday. I think I mentioned before, the plan is to go with the online Parents’ Evening planned for Term 1 next session. This will be for the new S3 in September. During August and September, we will review public health advice and take parental opinion before deciding whether to revert to “face to face” parents’ nights after the October break. Both arrangements have advantages. Please give it some thought before we consult with you next term.
Study leave ends next week with all pupils expected back in school on Thursday 2 June. Please ask your son or daughter to return any text books by that date. The new S6 will have an induction day and be involved in the election of our new Head Boy and Girl.
Our new timetable starts on Tuesday 7 June (Monday 6 is also a holiday). We’ll have assemblies on 8 June and our “Youth and Philanthropy Initiative” (YPI) finals are on 9 June. This is an excellent programme which sees groups of young people promoting good causes with the winning charity receiving a cheque for £3000, sponsored by the Wood Group. It’s also National Empathy Day, so there is a good tie-in to the idea of philanthropy.
Our Prizegiving and S1 Welcome Days take place the following week with our S6 Leavers’ Prom on Friday 17 June. During week beginning 20 June we’ll have a Parent Council meeting on the Tuesday Evening and our School Show, which is “Little Shop of Horrors” on Wednesday to Friday. On the Thursday, the Home Economics Department will be running a bus to the Royal Highland Show outside Edinburgh.
The final week of term starts 27 June and our Duke of Edinburgh Award pupils are on their expedition in The Lomond Hills at the start of the week. Thursday is the final day of the session with Friday being the start of the summer break. We’ll have a “dress down” on the Thursday and our traditional end of session talent show in the Hall later in the day.
Some staffing news as usual. Mr English and I are not the only ones retiring shortly. Very best wishes to Miss Roberts (Home Economics) who has decided to take retirement in September this year. We are advertising for a replacement teacher this week. Other staff who will be retiring this summer include Mrs Collie (Art and Design), Mr Spence (Maths) and Mr Douglas (English). Very best wishes to every one of them.
We have also been advised that seven new probationer teachers are expected to join us in a variety of subjects from August. Further permanent appointments have also been made in Modern Studies, Business and DET (two teachers). Our Guidance vacancy should be resolved shortly and we are recruiting further new teachers and Teaching Assistants in Supported Learning as that Faculty continues to grow.
Very best wishes to Mr Hunter (DET) who is heading off this weekend to take up a new position as Head of Department at Turriff Academy. Mrs Hunter (Guidance) will be joining him next week. Thanks and all the very best to both.
All in all, I am happy that the new staff team is coming together quite nicely. It’s always a difficult time especially when we are likely to be recruiting around about 15 new teachers in total. It’s looking like Nicky Grant, the new Headteacher, will have a full (crosses fingers!) complement of staff with a good range of skills and experience come August.
Miss Osborne has asked me to advise that all of our new S2 and S4 will be taking part in the annual SHINE Survey in SE lessons shortly. The aim of this survey is to gain information about pupil Mental Health and Wellbeing in Scottish Schools. Please find attached information sheet. If you would prefer your son or daughter not to be involved, please complete the form and hand it back into the office. You can also advise us by email.
Employment opportunities this week include apprenticeships in Customer Service, Vehicle Servicing Manufacturing and Social Work. Apprenticeships are a great way to earn whilst learning and for many jobs it means you can work your way up in a career without the need to go to University. There are also plenty of part time jobs on offer including in Starbucks, Fast and Fresh and Beijing Banquet. Keep up to date on the KHS Padlet.
This week, Mrs Whyte (DYW Coordinator) organised a visit to Haines Watt Accountancy to learn about career paths in accountancy. Also, Mr Ritchie and Mr Fulton (DET) visited Cess-Con in Leven to learn about employment into the Oil and Gas Industry, especially in de-commissioning of offshore platforms. If you are involved with a company which wants to link with KHS in this way, please contact us.
On that theme of “moving on”, our formal leaving date is 31 May. The S6 hoodies are in and Yearbooks are available for collection. Please ask your son or daughter make sure we have a note of their contact details and “next steps”. We are very happy to help with College applications or any other issue even after 31 May.
Do have a good weekend. Very best wishes to you.
Derek Allan
Rector
27 May 2022
