To reflect the change in status of the assessment process prelims will be called ‘mid assessments’

• Tue 11th – Thu 20th Jan 2022 (most assessments will be in the hall with external invigilators)
• Additional assessments will take place in class as part of the ongoing learning and teaching process. These may also be used to help generate the school estimates which would be used as final grades in the event of the SQA exams being cancelled again this year.
• We are also planning to hold a second exam diet in the middle of March. The aim of this diet will be to provide pupils with a more realistic exam experience of the same length and demand as the formal SQA exams and while also helping to generate further evidence for candidate estimates.

Click below to view the timetable.

S5&6 Mid Assessment TT Jan 2022

Our ‘Future Friday’ provision for pupils on a Friday afternoon recently featured an off-road bike tutorial from Lanarkshire Police which was organised by our campus police officer PC Boyle. Pupils enjoyed finding out about the bikes and how police officers are trained to handle off-road driving. Thank you to Lanarkshire Police for delivering this very interesting session.

To reflect the change in status of the assessment process prelims will be called ‘mid assessments’

• S4 Thursday 2nd – Wednesday 15th December (at least three exams will be in the hall with external invigilators)
• Performance in these assessments will help to indicate likely performance but the will not guarantee any pupil estimate or final exam performance
• S4-6 pupils will receive one further tracking report and one subject report

Click below to view the timetable.

S4-Mid-Assessment-TT-Dec-2021

Please click below to view the slides from last nights Senior Phase Information Evening:

Senior Phase Information Evening Nov 2021

We would also appreciate your feedback. Please click link to complete our short survey:

Info evening survey

“This month the Pride Alliance would like to highlight the contribution made be LGBTQ+ people to the military throughout history.  Gay and lesbian citizens in the United Kingdom have been allowed to serve openly in the Her Majesty’s Armed Forces since 2000.  The United Kingdom’s policy is to allow LGBTQ+ personnel to serve openly, and discrimination on a sexual orientation basis is forbidden.
It is also forbidden for someone to pressure LGBTQ+ people to come out.  All personnel are subject to the same rules against sexual harassment, regardless of gender or sexual orientation.

Stonewall, a British LGBT rights pressure group, spearheaded the movement to end British military prohibitions against openly LGBTQ+ service members. It began when Robert Ely, who had served in the British Army for seventeen years, approached Stonewall.  The discovery of a letter he had led to his sexual orientation being disclosed and he was subjected to an investigation and thrown out of the army.

In 1998, Stonewall was approached by Jeanette Smith, who had been thrown out of the Royal Air Force, and Duncan Lustig Prean, a Royal Navy commander who was being dismissed.  They asked Stonewall to arrange legal representation, leading to a long battle through the courts with Graham Grady and John Beckett also joining the case.  Although the judges in the High Court and Court of Appeal said that they felt the ban was not justified they could not overturn it and Stonewall had to take the case to Strasbourg and the European Court of Human Rights before winning it.

However, many LGBTQ+ people served in the military in the past, keeping their gender identity or sexuality secret out of fear.  If you would like to learn more about some LGBTQ+ military heroes, please check out the Pride Alliance notice board in the foyer.”

Parents and Carers… have you signed up to the new Parents Portal yet?

If not, please click the link below for more info and consider registering ASAP.

Parent Portal

As we get ready for our autumn break on Friday I just wanted to update you on some of our plans for the next term.

1. Update on COVID procedures

We are still expecting staff and pupils to wear masks in school and if they travel to school via bus or taxi as we await further guidance from the Scottish Government. Testing is also an important part of our process to keep our pupils as safe as possible. Lateral flow testing kits are available from the school office, and we encourage all pupils to use one at least twice a week.

Please do not send your child to school if they have symptoms, have been identified through track and trace as a close contact or have had a positive result from a lateral flow test. If the latter is the case you should book a PCR test as a matter of urgency. Please keep us informed and get in touch if you need help or guidance.

2. Future Friday

Our programme for Friday afternoon activities continues to expand and your child is more than welcome to stay and enjoy them. These finish at 2.55pm and transport is provided for any pupil who is normally transported to the school. To find out more your child should speak to Mr Pryde (PE).

3. Reports/Parents’ Nights

S1 will receive their reports this week – please check school bags! Our S4, S5, S6 will all receive a report by the end of October.

Please go over the report with your child and, if there are any questions or issues, please speak to your child’s pupil support teacher in the first instance.

As it is unlikely we will be able to invite you into the school at present we are planning to hold virtual parents’ nights. Information on how to sign up for these events will be issued in due course. Please make sure we have your most up-to-date email addresses to enable us to continue to keep you updated.

Our S4 event is first and is planned for Tuesday 26^th October from 4.15pm until 6.45pm. Our S1 evening is on the 9^th of November with S5/6 on the 23^rd of November. Our S2 and S3 nights are after Christmas and we will wait to see if there are any changes to the guidelines before organising these events.

Please do your best to participate in these events. We are conscious that pupils have missed a considerable amount of work throughout the last two sessions and it is important your child works hard in school and at home to ensure they reach their potential. Staff will be able to share the best way you can support your child.

4. School and House Captains/Prefects

We are delighted that following an interview process we have the following senior pupils representing the school in leadership opportunities:

School Captain – Iona Eldhose

School Vice Captains –David Blair, Andrew Clark and Louise Day

Atholl

• Captain – Zoe May
• Vice-Captain – Amanda Hamilton
• Prefect – Olivia Rae

Lorne

• Captain – Rebecca Nevans
• Vice-Captain – Kara Tollan
• Prefect – Rebecca McLeod

Morven

• Captain – Kate Mitchell
• Vice-Captain – Katie Wright
• Prefect – Emily Dougan

Rannoch

• Captain – Ellie Anderson
• Vice-Captain – Amy McAlonan
• Prefect – Katie Morrison

I look forward to meeting with them after the holiday and working with them throughout the year.

5. October Week

The school will close on Friday 8^th at 12.30pm for the October break. Our Future Friday activities will run as normal. We will reopen on Monday 18^th October at 8.55am.

We will also be delivering some bags of food before the October break. Please let us know if this is something that could be helpful for your family at this moment in time. Any donations would be very gratefully received and can be handed in to the school office.

I hope all our staff and pupils have a good break and come back refreshed as we move into our winter term.

6. Natasha’s Law

New legislation has recently come into force regarding food labelling. This means that pre-packaged food will have a list of ingredients, protecting those with food allergies. The school canteen and our outdoor service area (van) are following these procedures closely to ensure pupil safety. Both of these cater to all tastes. Pupils using these services can eat in the canteen, along with those who bring a packed lunch.

Please remember we are here for you, if we can do anything to help, please get in touch. CLICK HERE to contact us