Dear Parent/Carer

I hope that you are doing OK. Welcome to the KHS news roundup.

This week has seen a continued focus on getting on with learning in the safest possible way and I continue to be very impressed by our young people’s commitment to doing the right things. Despite the inconvenience, the issues of forgetfulness and the ambiguity of some of the requirements, our kids are doing their best to respect the rules on face covering, hand and workspace hygiene, physical distancing for adults and the one way system. This has been highlighted in the local and national press this week, with KHS being recognised as a school doing very well in the circumstances.

I’m also grateful to you for keeping your son/daughter at home if they are ill and for keeping us informed of any test results should Covid symptoms be detected. I’m happy to report that there have been no positive test results for any pupil, parent, family member of staff associated with KHS. But we won’t be complacent, and we know that it could happen. However, I am satisfied that we have appropriate risk assessment and response procedures in place. Thanks to Mr Reekie, our Business manager, for his work on keeping these updated in line with changing Scottish Government advice.

I’ve mentioned PE over the past few weeks and have become aware that some schools appear to be restarting indoor lessons. Mr Stewart and I agree that we’ll be sticking to the guidance issued by “Education Scotland” at the start of this week. It goes like this; The re-introduction of indoor physical education should be in line with the Scottish Government plans for allowing over 12 year olds to participate in indoor contact sports. The proposed date for this is 5 October. The Covid-19 Sub-advisory Group advises that indoor physical education in schools, for pupils of all ages, should not re-start until this date. This will enable the effects of the major step of schools reopening to be understood, and the necessary school-based mitigation practices to become established. Physical education within school settings should only take place outdoors for the time being.

I wonder if you saw The Courier this week? KHS was front page news on Tuesday with an in depth “back to school” report. There are also a couple of very interesting video reports available on the Courier website here;

 

Courier – VIDEO: Educating during a pandemic — how life in secondary school looks now pupils are back

Well done to all the contributors, pupils and staff, who, as usual, were outstanding ambassadors for our school.

Then, on Tuesday, a reporting team from The Times came in to school and today published a very insightful account of the new educational offer under virus restrictions. They found our school to be in happy, robust form and making the very best of it. In fact, I’ve just had a message from Fife’s former Director of Education, who is now based in Hong Kong. He congratulates the school on such a positive report. Here’s a link, but I’m afraid it involves a “paywall”;

The photo is one of our Pupil Leadership Team, taken by James Glossop of The Times.

And of this all ties in very well with the latest upload to the KHS “Youtube” Channel. I give you “Happy Together” by the school staff;

We thought it would be good to be “together” in video clip like this at a time when it’s hard to be together physically. It’s just another wee connection with you too, given that parents’ evenings and the like are not possible right now.

However, we will manage our planned Parent Council Meeting this Tuesday (22 Sept) at 6pm as planned. I mentioned last week that this will be held online on “ZOOM” and that it will be chaired by Gillian McIntyre. To register your proposed attendance, please simply reply to this email before the end of the day on Sunday and I’ll send the joining details in an email to you by email some time on Monday. Our Health and Safety regime, SQA matters and your general questions will be on the agenda. It’s quite informal and you are very welcome to tune in.

Also next week, on Monday morning, we will have an S5 Year Meeting to give details of two upcoming opportunities. The first is a mentoring programme called Career Ready, which involves finding out more about the world of work and includes a paid work placement. We’ll also be piloting a new leadership programme with the Royal Navy. I’m grateful to Miss Malcolm and to Miss Osborne who are taking the lead with these initiatives.

Back to matters Covid, and in particular the issue of face coverings. Please remind your son/daughter that coverings are required on public transport and that this includes the school buses. The rule also applies to shops, so if your son or daughter drops into the Coop or any other shop on the way to school, they will need to ensure their face is covered. Seemingly, this is not being very well observed in the local shops and I have suggested to retailers that any young person who is wilfully ignoring the public health guidance be refused service. It’s a decision for the local shop keepers, but you might want to discuss this at home.

A final word for the weekend. Do you know where your kids are? The Police and Community Wardens have asked me to highlight anti-social behaviour which is regularly taking place at the foot of the Middle Den, on the path down to the Vic, near Octavia House. I really hope that it’s not KHS pupils who are involved in drinking alcohol, setting fires in the woods and leaving litter and broken glass, especially on Friday nights. I suspect it’s likely kids from other parts of Kirkcaldy. However, please discuss this type of thing with your kids if you think they could be part of the large gatherings (of 50 or so youths) which seems to happen quite frequently, and not just at this location. The Police have said that it’s only a matter of time before they will have to take formal action against those involved. It’s not acceptable, especially when large public congregations like this pose an extra risk to public health, in addition to the disturbance aspect.

So, do have a good weekend. If you need any help with any matter, never hesitate to be in touch. Please reply to to this email indicating that you want to register for next Tuesday’s Parent Council meeting.

Yours

Derek Allan

RECTOR

18 September 2020