Introduction – Acting Head Teacher

Dear Parents/Carers

It is an honour and privilege to introduce myself to you, as Acting Head Teacher of Calderhead High School. As you know after many successful years as Head Teacher, John Robertson retired prior to Christmas and so on Monday 6th January, I officially joined Calderhead High’s learning community.

Yesterday, through individual year group assemblies, I introduced myself to every pupil within the school. During these assemblies the pupils made a remarkable first impression in terms of their conduct and attitude and were a credit to the school and their families. I spoke with the pupils about our shared vision for the school and my expectations as Head Teacher regarding behaviour, uniform, time keeping and attendance. We also discussed engagement in extracurricular and out of hours events and reflected on our school values with regards to attainment and achievement. I shared my plans with the pupils regarding working closely with the staff of Calderhead High School to ensure that we continue to offer the best opportunities and experiences for each young person within our school. In order to build upon the strong school-home partnerships already in place, I ask that you also continue to support the school in each of these areas.

Over the last few weeks of term, I had the opportunity to meet with some of our parents/carers and I look forward to meeting each one of you and working with you in partnership to benefit our young people. To help facilitate these meetings I plan to hold a series of short ‘Introduction to the Head Teacher’ meetings at future Parents Evenings already scheduled in our school calendar. The first of these being the S5/6 Parents’ Evening on the 15th January. This event is primarily aimed at parents/carers of pupils in S5/6 however any parent who wishes to attend is more than welcome. I will deliver a short introduction in the Assembly Hall at 4.15pm, 5.15pm and 6.15pm and parents are welcome to attend at any of these times. I will also be available all evening to discuss any concerns or issues you may have. I will then offer the same introductory meetings at the remaining parents evening scheduled for February and March.

I’d like to thank the whole school community for the warm welcome I have received, and I look forward to supporting the pupils, staff and parents of Calderhead as we move forward together.

Kind Regards

Jennifer Di Mambro

Acting Head Teacher

Calderhead High School

Acting Headteacher from January 2025

Mr Robertson, our Headteacher, is retiring at the end of December 2024.  He has been in post for over nine years.  Mrs Jennifer Di Mambro will taking on the role as Acting Headteacher of Calderhead High School from January 2025.

Mrs Di Mambro is currently a highly experienced Depute Head Teacher within North Lanarkshire. She is excited about taking up the position of Acting Head Teacher at Calderhead High School and getting to know the school community.

The link below is a letter from Mr Barry Smedley, Chief Officer (Education – South) to parents and carers.

Letter to Calderhead HS HT

 

Calderhead High School Parental Calendar for session 2024-2025

The link below takes you to the School Calendar for this session.  This includes the dates for all Parents’ Nights, Tracking Reports and Full Reports. It also includes when the official school holidays are.  The S4 Prelims begin on the 5th of December 2024 and the S5/6 Prelims are scheduled to begin on the 12th February 2025.  The SQA exams will begin on Wednesday 23rd April, 2025 and finish on the 2nd June 2025, as yet we do not know the exact days of each exam.

We have changed the date of the S4 Parents’ Meeting from 31st October to Thursday 7th November in order to avoid Halloween.

The date of the INSET Day 3 has moved to Monday 18th November.

Both of these changes are in version 2 of the Calendar.

Calendar 24-25 parent version 2

Attendance and why missing school is missing out.

The biggest single thing parents and carers can do to improve a pupil’s attainment is to make sure that they have excellent attendance.  Spoiler alert, you cannot have excellent attendance if you take term time holidays or regularly have days off such as a Friday.

Why is attendance at school so important?

Having excellent attendance at school is key to your child having the best opportunity to learn, and therefore the best start in life.

Below are some great reminders of why it’s important for our children to attend school:

  • To learn
  • To meet friends and socialise
  • To build and develop social skills
  • To understand responsibility
  • To develop a healthy work ethic
  • To be active
  • To gain new experiences in life
  • To develop new life skills – useful for life in the workplace, as well as at home and in the community
  • To develop a wider sense of self
  • To encounter and learn about different beliefs / religions / cultures
  • To grow as individuals into mature young adults
  • To gain qualifications in preparation for moving onto a positive destination
  • To achieve their full potential

We have put together an information sheet on why everyday counts and why missing school is missing out.

Attendance Support document for parents June 2024

Parent & Carer Feedback May 2024

As part of our annual improvement process we again asked all parents and carers on their views of Calderhead High School. We are very pleased to share the results. A particular highlight for us is that 92% of respondents said they were satisfied with Calderhead HS.

Although we provide 4 tracking reports and a full written report  to S1 parents/carers plus a face to face meeting, we recognise that we need to do more around what the information is telling you.

Self Evaluation for Improvement May 2024

New Timetable June 2024

As per the Whole School Calendar the new Timetable will start on Monday 3rd June. House Time will be extended on Monday to 0915 to enable House Time staff to issue new Timetables.

It has always been our intention to keep House Time teachers with their House class as they move through the school. As such the current House teachers will have the exact same pupils/class from Monday as they have now and pupils should report to their normal House Class on Monday morning.

New S2 pupils ( current S1 pupils) all have PE on Monday and should bring their PE Kit as normal. The current 3F class also have PE on Monday, the PE department have already let these new S4 pupils know.

On Monday, New S5 and S6 pupils will have an extended Assembly from 0915 to 1040 as part of their induction programme.

John Robertson

Headteacher

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