All posts by Mr Hamilton

Pride Alliance May 2021

As we start to move into the month of May and things start to feel more summery, it is fitting that we are celebrating the yellow stripe of the Pride flag.  The yellow stripe represents sunlight, a perfect fit for this time of year.  You can view the LGBT+ Icons for the month of May on the Pride Alliance noticeboard in the foyer.

One of this month’s LGBT+ Idols in Katharina Lindner, who was a star striker for Glasgow City from 2005 to 2011.

Now that the days are longer and we are starting to enjoy some good weather, we start to think about spending more time outside and enjoying sports.

Sport has often been a challenging place for LGBT+ to find acceptance.  Many LGBT+ people have felt excluded or discriminated against in the world of sport.  This is why Stonewall started the Rainbow Laces Campaign.

Rainbow Laces is a Stonewall campaign where participants do something active while wearing Rainbow Laces in their boots or trainers, to show their support for LGBT+ equality.  It has grown from a campaign that specifically focused on homophobia in football, to something that now acknowledges the challenges all spectrums of the LGBT+ community face within sport as a whole.  It’s a positive campaign that celebrates LGBT+ people and their allies, and helps to start conversations about how we can improve LGBT+ inclusion across sports so that they become everyone’s game.

Sport is a fantastic way for people to come together and if you would like your very own pair of rainbow laces to wear on the court, pitch or to the gym they will be on sale for £1 in the foyer every Tuesday in May or you can see Miss Logan in Social Sciences.

WELCOME BACK

The Braidhurst community welcomed back all pupils to school after an extended period of home or blended learning due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. On Monday 26th April pupils in S1 to S6 arrived at school eager to resume classroom learning with their teachers.

Enhanced hygiene measures remain in place, including the wearing of face masks for all pupils when indoors, pupils remaining in year group bubbles throughout the day, and increased hand washing with anti-bacterial hand wash as they enter the school building.

All pupils are also encouraged to follow school uniform guidance which includes the wearing of full uniform with a Braidhurst blazer, unless they are scheduled to participate in P.E, and on these days they are expected to arrive at school in clothing suitable for outdoor exercise.   A blazer must be worn at all times.

The entire Braidhurst community are delighted to have all pupils back in school and learning. Good luck everyone for the term ahead.

New Contact Tracing Procedures

FOR INFORMATION ONLY – there are currently no positive cases Braidhurst.

Parents & carers should note that following a change in the communication process for positive Covid-19 cases in schools, if your child is identified as a close contact of a positive case, contact tracers from NHS Test & Protect will be in touch with you directly with information.

Schools will still be in contact to ask for children and young people to be collected but won’t be issuing close contact letters from NHS to parents/carers directly.  Schools will be kept informed and a wider community letter will be issued from the school.

Pride Alliance April 2021

As we advance through the year, each month will be dedicated to a colour of the Pride Flag.  This month the Pride Alliance invites you to celebrate healing, the orange stripe.  At the moment we may be focusing on physical healing, or our mental well-being, but there are other aspects to healing.  Visit our notice board in the foyer to see this month’s LGBTQ+ Icons.

Healing and action are important across all aspects of society.  Consider the Black Lives Matter movement, the democracy protests in Hong Kong and Myanmar, and the push for LGBTQ+ equality around the world.  In five countries and in parts of two others, being LGBTQ+ is still punishable with the death penalty, while a further 70 countries imprison citizens because of their sexual orientation.

In the UK conversion therapy is still permitted.  Conversion therapy includes medical, psychiatric, psychological, religious, cultural or any other interventions that seek to erase, repress or change the sexual orientation and/or gender identity of a person.  Stonewall’s “LGBT in Britain Health Report” found that one in twenty LGBTQ+ people (five per cent) have been pressured to access services to question or change their sexual orientation when accessing healthcare services.

This comes at a time when Alan Turing is about to be feature on the new £50 note.  Turing is seen as the father of modern computing and a hero of WWII.  He ended his life after his forced conversion therapy.  Many are questioning how the UK government can continue to allow conversion therapy while expressing regret at the treatment of LGBTQ+ people in the past.

If you wish to find out more about how you can help to end conversion therapy you can check on the following link:

https://www.stonewall.org.uk/our-work/campaigns/ban-conversion-therapy

Senior Phase Update

Good afternoon to our Senior Phase pupils.  We hope this message finds you and your families well.  NLC have issued information on the date when grade judgements have to be submitted by staff. 

This is scheduled for the beginning of June.  As a result, you will be assessed regularly between your return to school on the 19th of April and the 4th of June. You will be given the opportunity to develop your knowledge and skills with the support of your teacher. 

Please ensure that you revise over the break, just as you would before any assessment.  Also, take time to relax and rest in preparation for a return to school. 

If you have any questions don’t hesitate to get in contact with your class teachers.  Believe in yourself, you can do this! 

Mobile Testing Units in North Lanarkshire

Additional Mobile Testing Units in North Lanarkshire

Coronavirus (COVID-19) testing that is now available for people with or without symptoms at the following locations, all of which are open 9.30am – 5.30pm, 7 days a week :-
• The Edward Lawson Centre, 297 Coltness Road, Wishaw, ML2 7EX
• School Road Car Park, Newmains, ML2 9BE
• Sir Matt Busby Sports Complex, Main Street, Bellshill, ML4 3DP
• Airdrie Leisure Centre, Motherwell St, Airdrie, ML6 7HU

To book a test at the Wishaw, Newmains or Bellshill test sites go to www.nhsinform.scot or call 0800 028 2816 if you cannot get online.

The Airdrie test site is a walk-in site and you do not need to make an appointment in order to receive a test at this site.

Spring Break Digital Supported Study

This year the Digital School has coordinated a Spring Break Digital Supported Study Offer to further support young people in S4 – S6 who are undertaking National Qualifications.

These supported sessions will be in the form of subject specific master classes at National 5 and Higher level delivered by North Lanarkshire teaching staff. Timetabling of the classes can be viewed on the attached programme. All sessions will be delivered via Microsoft Teams and will last approximately 1 hour. 

In order to attend any of the master classes you should follow the link below, where you’ll be asked to sign in to this using your Glow username and password.

https://bit.ly/SpringSupportedStudy2021

Please select the supported study sessions you would like to attend and make sure you only select 1 session for each time slot per day.

You will then be added to a Microsoft Team for each study session you sign up to, the study session will then take place on the appropriate team at the advertised time in the form of a Microsoft Teams meeting.

There may be events/circumstances which mean that a session is unable to run.  Any cancellations or rescheduling will be communicated directly to you via your Glow email.

All places must be booked by 1pm on Thursday 1st April.

Spring Break Schedule – April 2021