Dear\u00a0Parent\/Carer<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
As always, I’m hoping this update finds you well. Best wishes for the weekend.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0week\u00a0past has been\u00a0a Personal Learning Planning week for our S4\u00a0pupils who\u00a0will have had\u00a0discussions with teachers about targets and about what they need to do next to do their very best in the SQA qualifications in May 2017. Full reports will be posted home in the New Year. S5\/6 also received their latest on track report on Tuesday in advance of next week’s parent\/carer evening. For all senior phase students (S4-6) there is now an increasingly strong focus on preparing for the exams. With that in mind we’ll share details of our prelim exams (January for S5\/6 and February for S4) soon. Our Saturday School revision programme (from January to March) will also be issued shortly. Details of our lunchtime and after school study support classes are currently published daily on “Twitter” and there are posters up around the school.<\/p>\n
We also had House Assemblies (from Tuesday to Thursday)\u00a0at which we welcomed Marie Penman representing\u00a0Refuge Fife. This is a locally based charity which supports refugees; those who have settled\u00a0in Fife\u00a0and those who are in temporary camps across Europe and the Middle East. Jan McColl is one of the volunteers and she was lined up to deliver the assemblies. Unfortunately, she is currently stranded in Greece, sleeping in a truck on a mercy mission.<\/p>\n
Mrs\u00a0Penman delivered a\u00a0sometimes\u00a0quite shocking presentation\u00a0highlighting the struggles faced by Syrian refugees. Our young people are being asked to donate items of clothing which they no longer need to help these kids keep warm this\u00a0winter. Once again, before Christmas, Jan McColl\u00a0and her team will be travelling by truck overland to a camp in Thessaloniki, Greece. All donations of clothing suitable for\u00a0children of all ages\u00a0will be gratefully accepted. Bags have begun to come in already. Please be aware that we have a large quantity of lost property (especially PE kit)\u00a0which has been unclaimed for some time. We intend to donate this to the cause – please regard this as a “last chance” to reclaim lost items. On Tuesday, our Rotary Interact Club presented a cheque for \u00a3180\u00a0to Refuge Fife after completing a sponsored walk recently. Very well done to them. The new committee has made a great start.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday afternoon, Kingdom FM visited school to record a “Beat the Boss” quiz session for the Euan Notman lunchtime show. It will be broadcast at 1.15pm\u00a0every day next week. You can\u00a0perhaps understand my apprehension when I was invited to pit my wits against team KHS, the Kirkcaldy Schools’ quiz champions\u00a02016 – six S6 students with some\u00a0of school’s sharpest young minds! Tune in to find out how it went. Then, on Thursday afternoon, it was a pleasure for us to host a netball tournament for teams from our associated primaries: Capshard, Fair Isle, Torbain and Valley.<\/p>\n
This morning, accompanied by\u00a0Prefect representatives, I attended the funeral of Councillor Kay Carrington, who represented the Kirkcaldy East Ward and was a very\u00a0powerful community champion. Kay was also\u00a0a great friend to KHS, she will be sadly missed\u00a0and\u00a0is a sore loss to the Fife political scene.<\/p>\n
Next week we have our S5\/6 Parent\/Carer Evening on the Wednesday (7 December). On the Thursday will welcome\u00a0well known children’s author, Craig Robertson and in the evening, a good number of our S6 will attend the Kirkcaldy Schools Ceilidh at the Dean Park Hotel – it has been organised by young people from St Andrew’s High School this year.<\/p>\n
Last week I mentioned the focus we are having on Numeracy and building a “Growth Mindset” about Maths. If there is one thing you can do to help your son\/daughter do well in maths,\u00a0it is to\u00a0urge them to stick with problems. I know that some parents\/carers find this difficult as Maths was perhaps not their favourite subject in school.\u00a0It takes a persistent attitude to master\u00a0Maths\u00a0– please encourage your kids to persevere.\u00a0 Success is almost always built on foundations of failure. We now have\u00a0some new National 5 Mathematics resources on the school website, which will be useful when revising and studying for prelims or the\u00a0final exam:<\/p>\n
There is also an attachment to this email. As part of our business engagement programme, we are inviting local businesses and employers to become an official sponsor of the school. As you can see from the attached letter, working together can be mutually beneficial. If you have your own business or are in a position to bring this opportunity up with a local company, please give sponsorship some consideration. The advertising offer has already attracted several positive responses. Many thanks.<\/p>\n
Next week’s hot dish menu is; Monday: Chicken and mushroom pie with potatoes. Tuesday: Gammon steak\u00a0and chips. Wednesday: Mince pie and mash. Thursday: Lasagne with garlic bread. Friday: Chicken curry with naan bread. We also have our pasta, sandwich, soup and salad options too.<\/p>\n
One last point, we are currently\u00a0receiving “placing requests” from families outwith the catchment wishing to enrol P7 children into our\u00a0S1 from August 2017. Places are likely to be limited, so please spread the word that the deadline for submission is 15 March 2017. That said, we would prefer earlier contact from parents\/carers.<\/p>\n
As always, please be in touch if we can help out with anything.<\/p>\n
All the best to you<\/p>\n
Derek Allan<\/p>\n
2 December 2016<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dear\u00a0Parent\/Carer As always, I’m hoping this update finds you well. Best wishes for the weekend. The\u00a0week\u00a0past has been\u00a0a Personal Learning Planning week for our S4\u00a0pupils who\u00a0will have had\u00a0discussions with teachers about targets and about what they need to do … Continue reading