Head Teacher Blog
Dear Parent/Carer
I hope you have had a good week.
It’s my birthday today! I turn the grand old age of 48 which, when I see it written down, makes me feel very old. However, spending the day with some of the best, brightest and funniest people around is a great way to spend a day when you are feeling every minute of those 48 years. As we now take a week off for the October Break, I hope you too have some time to relax and unwind before the manic dash to Christmas is upon us.
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 a large number of 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.
UCAS
All pupils applying to UCAS have been asked to ensure that their personal statement is handed over to their PT of Pupil Support by the first day back after the October Break. Most pupils have already done this (thank you!) but for the remaining few, this is just a reminder.
Moreover, whilst most of our young people are very good at sharing news and updates, the return rate of information is never 100%, as such I just wanted to make families of young people who are applying via UCAS this year that the S5/6 Team which all pupils in S5/6 are part of has a new dedicated channel for all UCAS materials. If your son/daughter is applying to UCAS please ensure that they have shown you all the information that has been shared thus far.
School Show Sponsored Walk
The cast of Grease 2027 set out on their sponsored walk on Saturday 3rd Oct to help raise funds for the show.
The pupils were in great spirits and were a real credit to the school (and somehow also had the energy to sing in harmony throughout the whole 7km walk!).
A massive thank you to the parents/volunteers who gave up their Saturday morning to help with the event and well done to the pupils for their sponsorship efforts too!
Just a reminder that the best school show of the year ‘Grease: School Edition’ will be performed at GHS June 15th, 16th and 17th 2027.
P7 Showcase Night
A note to all families in P7 that the letter with dates on for transition had a mistake on it. The Showcase Night for P7 families is due to take place on Wednesday 4th of November from 6pm to 8.15pm, not Thursday the 5th of November. Apologies for this confusion.
P7 Space Adventure
On Tuesday the Science Department welcomed some aspiring Space Cadets from the primaries. The pupils spent the whole day working as teams alongside our very own Science Ambassadors on a Mission to Mars where they had to overcome challenges such as how to get clean drinking water, use their knowledge and imagination to design landers and rovers and finally look for microscopic extra-terrestrial life in some unusual places. It was fantastic to see the enthusiasm from all participants and we thoroughly enjoyed having them with us for the day.
S4 Football Victory
On Tuesday Night the S4 Boys Team played Chryston after school. David Lawson one of the coaching staff has given me the following Match Report (there is absolutely no bias!)
Greenfaulds started off on the front foot and totally controlled the game straight from the first whistle. We kept pushing forward. A goal came through a clever Aaron free kick. We next pounced on a 1 goal lead very quickly after kick off. Kyle made it 2 with a lovely touch from Aaron’s outstanding cross. The vibes were high. Greenfaulds were in full control and from a Zane cross, Aaron’s movement went on to find himself in a great position to tap the ball in. Half time 3-0. As the second half kicked off it was the same as the first half. Greenfaulds dominance. As subs came on an impact was made. Bright dropped the shoulder and took a positive touch that led him to strike the ball on the volley that struck the roof of the net. To top off the game another substitute Stuart found himself and was able to put the ball in the back of the net.
Full time 5-0 Greenfaulds. Led by the fantastic 4. (Alfie Banyard, David Lawson and Harley Shields).
S1 Taekwondo Success
Two of our S1 girls, Casey Lawson and Alicia Breton, recently had amazing success in Poland at the UITF Taekwondo World Championships with Alicia and Casey both winning gold and silver medals. Well done girls!!
Gaelic Sports
On Thursday, S1 and S2 Gaelic speaking pupils took part in a sports event at Glasgow Gaelic School. Sports included netball, shinty, volleyball and table tennis.
They all made some new friends and met some old ones, and enjoyed playing the sports they love.
A big well done to Georgia Baillie, Fraser Daly, Samuel Duke, Molly Fleck, Alice Hall, Emily Hall, Mara Hughes, Jack MacLeod, Nicholas McGowan, Caelan Mclachlan, Belle Metcalf, Avery O’Connor and Jack Ward.
F1 in Schools
The F1 in Schools initiative has now been running for 3 years and goes from strength to strength with more and more pupils opting to engage in this extra-curricular activity. This week, I’ve been asked by one of our teams to publicise a competition they are running on sustainability sponsored by one of our local businesses, Conrad Energy. Full details are below.
James – A medal winning artist!
Huge congratulations this week goes to James Hagerty (S4) who collected his bronze medal at an awards ceremony at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum on the 30th of September. James created a beautiful tonal sketch of a famous painting A Man in Armour by Rembrant van Rijn when visiting the museum as part of a school visit in April and entered it into the Glasgow Museums Annual Competition for Schools 2026.
MTA Timetables and Study Planners
The timetables and Study Planners were issued to S5 and S6 during assemblies on Wednesday. Pupils were also taken through Qualifications Scotland guidance on National Qualifications, Courseworks and Assignments, the use of AI, avoiding Malpractice by ensuring all work is entirely their own etc. The link to this guidance is below.
https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/files_ccc/your-NQ-2026-school-edition.pdf
Careers Appointments
A key priority for us is to ensure that all pupils move into a positive destination after school. To help support all pupils our Careers Advisors Morven and Gail offer advice and guidance to all pupils. If your son/daughter would like an appointment to discuss their options, irrespective of their age and stage, please get them to complete the form via the QR on this poster:
Lift and toilet passes
In the Pupil Support Meeting that I attended this week, the issue of lift and toilet passes was discussed. As a school you will be aware that we always try to meet pupils’ needs with the resources that we have. In relation to specific passes for toilets and lifts I would like to take the opportunity to stress that we do need to have a medical note to issue either one of these passes as the staff themselves are not able to make decisions about who needs or does not need a pass. I appreciate your understanding on this.
Lift and toilet passes
In the Pupil Support Meeting that I attended this week, the issue of lift and toilet passes was discussed. As a school you will be aware that we always try to meet pupils’ needs with the resources that we have. In relation to specific passes for toilets and lifts I would like to take the opportunity to stress that we do need to have a medical note to issue either one of these passes as the staff themselves are not able to make decisions about who needs or does not need a pass. I appreciate your understanding on this.
Date for your diaries
One of our S4 Leadership Pupils has gone above and beyond in their leadership project this year. Xaria Young has undertaken and is currently finalising a Spooktacular Halloween Craft Fayre. This is scheduled from 4pm – 7pm on Friday the 30th of October. The event looks amazing and offers everyone the chance to buy some last minute Halloween goodies. Full details are on this poster:
Trips
I spoke recently to all P7 and S1 families about the importance of communication and urged them all to let us know of areas which we can improve upon in terms of communication. I was contacted by a family member regarding trips who asked for a list of the residential trips coming up in the next few years to allow families to possibly plan and consider which ones to allow their child to apply for. This was an excellent idea, but one we had never considered. As such I hope you find the table below helpful.
| Session 26/27 | Maths Camp (S5/6) November
Ski Trip (S1-S3) December Dance/Football London (S3-6) March Gaelic Trip to Skye (S1-6) June Europe Trip (S1-2) June |
| Session 27/28 | Maths Camp (S5/6) November
Gaelic Trip to Skye (S1-6) June European Watersports (S4-6) June USA Trip (S4-6) June |
| Session 28/29 | Maths Camp (S5/6) November
Ski Trip (S1-S3) December Dance/Football London (S3-6) March Gaelic Trip to Skye (S1-6) June Europe Trip (S1-2) June |
Gaelic Pupils continue to thrive
We were delighted to see that two of our former pupils have continued to learn in Gaelic when Sabhal Mor Ostaig (The Gaelic College on Skye) posted a picture of their new BA Gaelic and Education Students this week. Notable on the post were two of our ex-pupils, Scott McDade and Aaron Weir. It was so amazing to see that from the national cohort Greenfaulds are contributing over 10% of these students!
Clubs
As a school we try to offer a range of activities for pupils to engage with either through the week or on Friday after lunchtime. Ms Jeffrey has provided all pupils in S1 with the opportunity to find out more about the clubs today (Friday) but I wanted to share the list with families.
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
Young Scot Cards
Increasingly, the use of Young Scot Cards for our pupils are very important, both in and out of school. As such, if your son/daughter loses their card it can be problematic. We are able to apply for a replacement card on their behalf. However, we would ask that if you would like the school to do this, that parents/carers need to email Mr Adler nladlerp@northlan.org.uk with the students full name, date of birth, a photo, their address to send the card to and give permission to apply for a card.
Educational Maintenance Allowance
The new EMA form is now live on the NLC website for the new session 2026/2027 starting in August. Any students who got EMA last years has to reapply this year. (The web page has not been updated and says application are currently closed, please ignore this or to go straight to the form click on second link below). Once they the students have their form posted to them, they should bring it to Mr Adler and he will sit down with the students and go through the expectations to get their EMA, about perfect attendance and behaviour. Attendance below 95% will potentially loose EMA. Students are only allowed 5 days absence in 1 academic year and 5 late comings after that if they are absent they will not get paid that week.
To go straight to the form please click on link below.
Education Maintenance Allowance 2026/2027
Child Protection and Safeguarding
If you have concerns of a child protection or safeguarding nature, we would encourage you to use the following information.
Community News
As always, I’m delighthed to use the HT Blog to share information regarding events taking place in the community.
Nuts
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
It is important that you check the labelling of food products before sending your child in to school with them – it is not always apparent that products contain nuts or traces of nuts. We really appreciate your support in this matter.
Dates for your diary
Friday 9th October: School Closes for the October Break
Monday 19th October: School reopens for pupils and staff
I hope you have a lovely weekend.
Moran Taing
Jamie
Jamie Vaughn-Sharp
Head Teacher
