Dear S4 Families,

As you will be aware, your child has now entered the Senior Phase of their education at Hyndland Secondary School. As of August, all learners in S4 were officially registered as SQA candidates meaning they will embark upon exams with the SQA in April / May 2025.

We thought it would be helpful for families to share some key dates and information relevant to both our S4 learners and their families. These dates including key reporting periods as well as an overview of the wide range of supports that will be in place for our learners as they undertake this important year at school.

Over the coming weeks ahead of the first report exercise, S4 learners will be undertaking a variety of assessments and will also be engaging in learner conversations with their teachers. These conversations will involve learners discussing their strengths, and perhaps most importantly, their next steps to continue to progress in their learning. It is really important that all of our S4 students take and act upon the advice from their teachers regarding their next stages. Strong attendance, timekeeping, application, homework returns and home routines are vital to ensure we are gaining robust evidence of progress and our senior phase pupils are on course to achieve their full capabilities.

Important information for S4 Learners and Families

Key Dates – Tracking Reports and Parents Meeting

• Tracking report 1 will be issued during week of 4th October 2024
• Senior Phase – Targeted Parents Meeting – Thursday 28th November 2024 – please note this is a targeted appointment only event based on tracking data from report 1.
• Tracking report 2 will be issued during week of 26^th January 2025.
• S4 Parents Meeting will take place on Thursday 29^th January 2025.
• Tracking report 3 will be issued during week of 24^th March 2025.

S4 Exams Success Evening – How to Support your Child with their SQA Exams

To support our S4 families, we will be holding an Exams Success Evening for S4 families on Wednesday 11^th September – starting at 6pm until around 7.30pm. The evening will begin in the Airlie Theatre and will involve some workshops following this including managing stress at home during exam times, supporting your child with English and Maths at home, as well as study skills. We very much hope you can join us on this evening.

Formal prelim assessment Diet – weel beginning 9^th December to Friday 19^th December 2024

To help prepare our S4 learners for the final exam diet in April / May we will be running our formal assessment diet of prelim exams over a two-week period. Students will be provided with a timetable nearer the time.

Saturday Breakfast Support

This year our ever-popular Saturday Study Breakfast Support will return again – we will inform young people via the year group Team and email families when this due to start.  The sessions will take place from 9.30am until 12.00pm. Staff will be in attendance to support and young people will have the opportunity to work in a quiet and supported environment.

E-sgoil online Supported Study

The Scottish Government will continue to offer online supported study for all learners across Scotland this year. E-sgoil involves weekly online lessons delivered via Teams by teachers across Scotland, and is available in almost all National 5 subjects delivered in our school.  Further information will be posted online in October 2024 – with some sessions starting in early October. For registration and more information visit the E-sgoil website on Study Support | e-Sgoil

S4 Supported Study Programme – In-House

A block of supported study will run in school to support our S4 learners as they prepare to undertake their prelims in December 2024.  Learners will be required to sign up in advance via a glow form. Further information will be issued to S4 learners, their families and posted on the year group team that students should check regularly.

We are delighted with how our S4 learners have settled back into school following the summer holidays and please be reassured we are planning to provide maximum support to our senior phase pupils to enable them to achieve what they are capable of. There are also lots of resources online to support our senior phase learners and families at home with private study – these can be found on our website (www.hyndland-sec.glasgow.sch.uk)