Head Teacher Blog
Dear Parent/Carer
I hope you have had a good week.
Happy Halloween is, I suppose, how I should be greeting you today, given the date of this blog. Whilst I’m not intending on missing out on the opportunity to steal sweeties from my hard earned 8-year-old’s trawl of our local streets over the weekend, I hope you have a restful weekend without any unexpected or unplanned surprises. The blog this week, yet again, contains some lovely examples of our school pupils and school community being amazing.
As always, if you have any questions in relation to the information contained within this blog or any other school matter please do not hesitate to be in touch with the school. Moreover, I’m always delighted to share good news of pupil achievements outside of school as many pupils are participating at an exceptionally high level in a range of activities. If your son/daughter is involved in something, please do share this with me.
Mental Health Ambassadors
The issue of mental health and mental wellbeing is a priority for us all within the Greenfaulds High School Community. This week Mrs MacAngus and Ms Kirkwood worked with a number of our pupils to support them in becoming Mental Health Ambassadors.
We are very impressed with the candidates who are committing their time and efforts into this programme, as we believe their care, contributions and desire to help others will not only help support the Mental Health & Wellbeing of our pupils, but also help address the stigma around the range of Mental Health Issues many young people face. Working together with staff and pupils will hopefully create a culture of continuous improvement, to ensure we are Getting it Right for Every Child.
Once our Mental Health Ambassadors are trained up they will deliver the following:
- share their knowledge/experiences to PSE classes using detailed lesson plans and effective activities to start important conversations
- run clubs during lunchtimes and/or Future Fridays to give pupils an outlet, as well as meet new friends
- create a safe space and sanctuary for our GHS pupils to visit if/when they are struggling and need someone to talk to
- create a buddying system to help those within the younger years who may need some extra support and guidance
We are excited about these plans coming together and will keep you posted.
S1 Reports
All S1 families should be able to access their child’s first tracking report via Parent Portal today. Parent Portal gives families access to a range of platforms and information which means it is a one stop shop for families to access parent/carer evening appointments, view your child’s timetable, download a copy of their most recent report, make online payments, report absence, monitor their attendance etc.
Whilst almost all families are now signed up to the Portal, if you are struggling to access it, he sign up process is relatively straightforward and is available here. If you are struggling to sign up, please contact the school and we can support you to do so.
S5/6 STEM Trip
On Monday a group of 38 S5/6 pupils went to the city of Glasgow college where they had two excellent workshops on Arhcitecture and Engineering.
The Architecture workshop required the students to design their own classroom. With the design brief of a dream eco-classroom. It had to be sustainable, comfortable and inspiring. Whilst, the Engineering workshop required the student to build an electric train line powered using Marshmallows, Spaghetti and strawberry laces. They had to make sure the electric line was not saggy. As you can tell there was still more work to do!
The pupils were excellent and engaged in both tasks brilliantly.
P7 Open Evening
We are really looking forward to welcoming our newest members of the Greenfaulds High School Community on Thursday evening next week. Families will get to learn more about the school and to have taster sessions in a huge range of subjects including safe cracking in Maths, a range of sports and activities in PE and experiments in Science.
SQA Presentation
This week all pupils in S4/5/6 should have been shown this presentation Your-NQ-presentation-2025.pptx in Registration. however, I’m always mindful that not all information makes it home and as such I wanted to share this with all families.
School Podcast
The school podcast is back thanks to Mrs Logan and a small but determined group of pupils. The first episode (which I think is great) is available here: https://tinyurl.com/mryk46yt
Scottish Book Trust
This past few weeks the Art Department have been working on a Kate Leiper illustration even. Pupils really enjoyed meeting artist Kate Leiper and learning about her work and children’s book publishing as well as creating their own Gaelic posters on the theme of Metamorphosis (a sample of which is here). A big thanks to The Scottish Book Trust for their funding.
This week the Art Department held it’s anual S1-S3 Interhouse Halloween Competition. All entries were frighteningly good with the winners being:
1st Emily Doctor 3TH
2nd Rhema Omeri 1NE1
3rd Gabriela Kania 2LO2
Interhouse Halloween Competition
The English Department were delighted to receive so many entries this year to their annual Interhouse Writing competition. Pupils respond to a “spooky” image in any way they choose – but they’re only allowed 50 words! The standard, as you will see, was amazing with many of the entries available to read here. Huge congratulations to all involved and to all who took part. Happy Halloween!
School Buses
I was contacted yesterday by NLC Transport regarding pupils and bus passes. They have asked me to remind all families that if your child moves home address or changes school, a new transport application must be submitted to re-assess eligibility from new home address/school.
Mr Adler and I were also in discussion regarding buses and reissuing of young scot cards. Moving forward if your son/daugther requires the school to reissue a young scot card we will need a note or email from home.
S1 Parent Maths Class – Monday 3rd November
We’re delighted to invite parents and carers of S1 pupils to the first Parent Maths Class on Monday 3rd November from 6–7pm. The first session will focus on fractions and offers a great opportunity to refresh your maths skills in a relaxed and supportive environment. Whether you’d like to boost your confidence or better understand the methods your child is learning in class, we’d love to see you there!
Parent Council Reminder
On Monday at 6.30pm the Parent Council met and discussed a range of issues. The Parent Council is a hugely helpful and informative body for myself as Head Teacher and for the wider school. If you would like to attend any or all of the sessions this year the dates are as follows:
Monday 24th of November on Teams (Curriculum Discussion and Fundraising to be discussed)
Monday 26th of January
Monday 23rd of February
Monday 30th of March
Monday 27th of April
Monday 18th of June (in person and always a bring a dish night for a catch up and some lovely food).
If you would like to find out more please contact me at the school.
Rag Bag Collection
As you may know, Greenfaulds High School is participating in the Rag Bag textile recycling scheme which provides us with some regular fundraising and raises awareness about recycling.
Please bring any of the below unwanted items in a securely tied plastic bag by for collection by 12th November.
Rag Bag can accept good quality clean Men’s, Ladies and Children’s clothing, belts, bags and paired shoes (tied together).
The bags will be collected and transported to the Rag Bag factory where they will be sorted and graded for reuse or recycling.
Higher & Advanced Higher Maths Study Weekend – “Maths Camp”
Booking is now open for the Higher and Advanced Higher Maths Study Weekend, “Maths Camp”, which will take place from Friday 13th to Sunday 15th March 2026 at Lockerbie Manor Outdoor Centre.
This exciting residential trip combines fun outdoor activities with focused maths exam preparation sessions, offering pupils a great opportunity to develop both teamwork and study skills in a unique setting.
Pupils have been issued with a letter containing full details — places are limited, so please ensure returns are made as soon as possible to secure a place on the trip.
Pupils on holiday during term time
As you know, one of the key ways in which we can assure pupils achieve their very best in school is to be in school for as much time as possible. As such, we would always encourage families to take holidays during holiday time. However, we are conscious that this is not always possible. As such, if your family is going on holiday, we are not always able to provide individualised work for pupils. Nonetheless, there are two very helpful supports which we would direct all families to access to support learning whilst away.
Learn and Revise with BBC Bitesize As you will be aware, BBC Bitesize is a national resource of study and subject specific materials for all pupils
ACHIEVE – ACHIEVE more at National 5 and Higher As a school we have provided all pupils with access to this website for those studying at National 5 upwards. It contains a range of revision and study materials.
Allergies
In response to a growing number of pupils and staff who have a severe allergy to nuts, we would like to work towards reducing the prevalence of nuts within our school as much as possible. This is to protect both pupils and staff.
We would ask that you are vigilant about packed lunches, sweets etc and ensure that no nuts come on to the school grounds. Please do not send your child into school with any nut-based product for a snack or packed lunch – this includes:
- Nutella based products / chocolate spread
- Cereal bars with nuts
- Some types of biscuit containing nuts
- Condiments, e.g. satay sauce
- Cakes containing nuts
- Some snack pots containing nuts
Study Support
Last year, study support took place across the school in a range of subjects. This week, I was passed the programme for Maths Supported Study for both Junior and Senior Pupils. This is a great way for pupils to check their understanding and to get a little more practice in any areas of their Maths.
Evening Study Support 2025-26
Registration for this year’s evening webinars is now live. Study Support | e-Sgoil
Study support is for Senior Phase learners (S4-S6) who are working towards National Qualifications.
This year’s programme offers 55 weekly webinars covering 29 subjects across N4 to Advanced Higher levels.
PLEASE NOTE THAT YOU WILL NEED TO BE LOGGED INTO GLOW TO ACCESS THE REGISTRATION FORM.
If you do not know your Glow username and password, please speak to a member of staffwho will be able to provide you with these.
Webinars will start week beginning 27th October 2025 and will run through to the SQA exams. Timetable is below:
Support for pupils with ASN
As a parent with a child who has an additional support need, I know that information can be particularly helpful to ensure you are supporting your young person in the best possible way. The Support for Learning department work closely with Speech and Language therapy, Occupational Therapy, Hope for Autism and the Neurodevelopmental Team. If your child is on a waiting list to see any of the services, or have been given an identification of an Additional Support need, the following Facebook pages may be useful to you. They share hints and tips, have rolling programmes of local workshops for parents and children on common themes such as Sleep, Anxiety, language processing, sensory difficulties.
NHS Lanarkshire Children and young people, Occupational Therapy
https://www.facebook.com/share/19hopRtsiN/
Speech and language therapy NHS Lanarkshire
https://www.facebook.com/share/1BevUC39FW/
Neurodevelopmental service-CYS NHS
Hope for Autism
https://www.hopeforautism.org.uk
Free School Meals
A reminder to all families, if your family normally receives Free School Meals please remember to reapply for continuation of this service as it does not automatically continue each year. Families need to apply annually. There have been a few incidences since we returned of pupils not having money on their cards. We did of course ensure that they received lunch but please do ensure that you have reapplied for Free School Meals. Please apply here: Free School Meals and Clothing Grant Application | North Lanarkshire Council
EMA 2025-26 session
The new EMA form is now live on the NLC website for the new session 2025/2026 starting in August. Any students who got EMA last years has to reapply this year.
To apply you must meet the following criteria
| Gross Taxable income | No. of dependent children in household | Award |
| Up to £24,421 | 1 | £30 |
| Up to £26,884 | 2+ | £30 |
Please note – dependent children are all those up to the age of 16 and those over the age of 16 and up to age 25 if they are in full time Further or Higher Education (proof required).
Once students have their form completed and a letter confirming they are getting EMA they should bring their EMA contract to Mr Adler who will then discuss attendance requirements with the students, but to get EMA students must have excellent attendance and be on time to school.
Community News
As always, I’m delighted to share the following pieces of community news with you.
The first information poster is an offer of support is for families with young people who have ASD. I hope you find this information helpful:
Mental Health and Wellbeing is a priority for us as a school community and as such I wanted to share the following information about supports available to young people and families.
We were also contacted this week by Airdrie Community Club regarding their player recruitment, please see below.
The Cumbernauld and Kilsyth Care group do a huge amount to support our school community and as such I’m delighted to highlight a winter event that they are running in November.
Dates for your Diaries
Monday 3rd of November: Maths Sessions for Families (6–7pm)
Thursday 6th November: P7 Family Open Evening
Have a lovely weekend.
Moran Taing
Jamie
Jamie Vaughn-Sharp
Head Teacher
