Welcome to this weeks Rector’s log. I hope you and your family are doing well.

The week that’s been…

It’s the 1st of March today and I honestly can’t believe how quick the weeks are passing. There are only 4 weeks left of this term and we still have lots of learning and opportunities ahead for our young people.

Young people in S4-6 continued and completed their assessment window this week, with the final assessments taking place yesterday. Over the next few weeks, some assessment work will continue with practical exams, visiting assessors and assignments all continuing. Some young people may also have the odd assessment to complete, either as a catch-up or as part of their planned learning experience. Mrs Davidson has asked me to pass on how well all our young people have done and I echo how proud we are of them, especially at this very busy time of year.

Across the school, young people continue their learning both in and out of class. This week, our S2 young people undertook their course choices, meeting with their Guidance teacher to discuss their interests, possible career choices and were supported to choose their subjects for next session. I know that this can be an anxious time for our young people but they were appreciative of the support from their Guidance teachers, teachers and family.

Over the past week, I have been in and out of classes in Supported Learning. It is always a pleasure to speak to our wonderful young people and learn more about them and their learning. Ms Black has given a little update to share with you too:

“Another fantastic week in Supported Learning with a focus on planning our next steps; subject choices, person centred planning and promoting learner voice. There is an impressive attitude to what we want for ourselves and how we are going to achieve that. In SLD1 we have some learners working on animation and the creativity and skills shown is really incredible, others have been working on their John Muir award and we have welcomed the spring sunshine during outdoor learning. Lots of us have been learning in the community this week at the swimming pool, Nourish, developing our independent shopping at ASDA.”

Some staffing news to update you on next…this week we held interviews for some acting or temporary Principal Teacher posts. As you will be aware, Mr Jones (Maths) and Ms Tennant (Science) are currently acting Principal Teacher of Curriculum for their respective subjects. Miss Barclay (Maths) and Miss Irvine (Science) were successful in taking on the PT roles in Maths and STEM respectively. Well done to both!

Last January (2023), we opened up our Inclusion Hub to help support a range of needs for our young people. The purpose was to help support young people back to school / re-engaging with class(es) and offer a place to those who required greater nurture and support. Mrs Harrower has led this development and, working with other key staff, young people and families, ensured that more young people are attending school, supported with a range of needs and given the space and confidence to progress back to classes. If your child has been part of the HUB, we would like to hear your views on how this has supported your child.  Use our on-line form for this.

Mrs Harrower has decided to step back from this role, focussing on her class commitments and other areas of work in KHS. I am grateful to Mrs Harrower for all of her hard work to support our young people. The HUB would not be as successful without her drive, enthusiasm and commitment.

Today, Mr Geissler was successful at interview for the post of PT Inclusion. Mr Geissler will start this post after Easter holidays, replacing Mrs Harrower. Again, well done to Mr Geissler who I am sure will take the HUB from strength to strength.

I have also been asked to share that members of our local community are noticing an increase in litter in the woods and surrounding areas beside KHS. We pride ourselves on being good neighbours and I would ask you to speak to your child(ren) about this and re-enforce our expectations. We looking at how we can support in the coming weeks too.

Remember that you can always find the latest news, including our truly excellent “Blogs” and photos from the Paris trip on our website.

The week ahead…

With most assessments complete, we will be holding assemblies for S1-3 year groups, themed around our environment (in and out of school) and our role as leaders here at KHS.

After being out of school for part of the week due to other commitments across the authority, I am looking forward to going around classes, speaking to our young people and learning more about their current experience here at KHS.

It is also the annual Friends of Kirkcaldy High School (FoKHS) Ceilidh here at KHS. We look forward to seeing everyone and having a good time.

Best wishes,

Chris McKay

Rector

01 March 2024