Greenfaulds High School

Head Teacher Blog

Dear Parent/Carer

I hope you have had a good week.

The final week before the October Break is upon us. As I was discussing with Mrs Beattie at lunchtime yesterday, it has been a very positive term for the school in lots of ways some of which are listed below. However, the list of our achievements so far are, only a small sample of all the amazing things which have happened since school returned in August.

As always, if there is anything you would like to see included within the blog, don’t hesitate to be in touch.

The Year So Far …

We returned to school with our Senior Pupils having achieved a great set of results. Whilst exam results are a very personal experience with some pupils being thrilled and some maybe a little disappointed, as a school our pupils delivered the best ever results for 5 Highers in S5 where the pupils increased the school results from 23% the year before to 34% of our new S6 having achieved 5 Highers in one sitting. The best results Greenfaulds Pupils have ever achieved.

We continue to work on making the learning experiences for our pupils as relevant and stimulating as possible. In the last month we have undertaken our first Learning and Teaching visits of the session to help us all improve our teaching to ensure all young people realise their full potential.

We have started work on revising our homework practices. I was delighted to see the high level of family engagement with our survey and I know that Mrs MacAdams is working hard on looking at family views and incorporating these into our policy moving forward.

In response to pupil views, we are currently reviewing our anti-bullying policy. Over a third of pupils responded to our questionnaire regarding how pupils are engaging with one another and on the best ways to make school as positive as possible for everyone.

Our amazing Pupil Parliament has returned for another year and has met and represented the views of the school pupils on a range of issues, including transport and prelims, in its meetings.

Welcomed our P7, S1 and S5/6 families into a range of events and the feedback from them all has been overwhelmingly positive and supportive.

Our Maths Department have provided two evening sessions for families of pupils in S1 to help them to help their child. The feedback for these two sessions have been extremely positive and we look forward to welcoming families back for a third session later in the year.

Our Inter House Competition is back and underway again this session and I look forward to seeing how the other houses will topple Skye from first place this year.

Our pupils have been out and about on whole range of curricular and extra-curricular trips including museums, science partners and Blair Drummond Safari Park.

In order to help our senior pupils prepare for their Mid-Term Assessments we have produced and circulated their MTA timetable well in advance of their first dates in mid-November.

All of these activities and achievements are only possible thanks to the spirit of collaboration between pupils, staff and families and we should all rightly be very proud of this small sample of all the amazing achievements that have been made so far. I look forward to many more next term.

Future Fridays Update

Block 1 of Future Fridays has been a success with around 200 pupils engaging in an activity of their choice each week. We have had a variety of activities running including: Football, Basketball, Dance, Rugby, Well-Being, Swiftie Club, War Hammer and Dungeons and Dragons. This has provided our pupils with the opportunity to learn new skills, meet new friends and have fun!

We also had 48 young people complete their Level 6 Emergency First Aid, a fantastic qualification to gain and something I am sure will come in handy. They were commended by the company for their hard work and enthusiasm shown throughout the day – well done! There is another opportunity for S5/6 to complete the First Aid course through New College Lanarkshire, information will be shared about this after the October Break.

During block 2, our Mental Health Ambassadors are going to be running new clubs which will provide a space for our young people to come and ‘wind down’ from a week at school. There will also be an opportunity for S4-6 pupils to attend a quiet space to study/catch up on homework, alongside opportunities to attend Supported Study during this time.

Information on block 2 will be shared on Monday 21st of October – there will be a sign-up form sent out via Group Call for parents/guardians to sign up their child.

Follow @ghsfuturefridays to be kept up to date!

Maths Supported Study

The Maths Department always offer a fantastic range of supported study sessions for pupils from S1 all the way through to S6. These after school sessions are led by the Maths Team and provide any and all pupils with opportunities to get expert advice on any aspect of their course.

If your child is looking for any additional supports with their Maths I would urge you to encourage them to attend these sessions. Our very strong results in Maths this session were a testament to the determination of the Maths Staff to get the best for pupils.

A number of families were requesting details of the sessions and as such I’m delighted to provide these in the image on the left-hand side and a full size version is available here.

Attendance Snapshot

On Monday, all families should have received an attendance update for their young person. As we know, the school community has placed high levels of attendance as a school priority for this school year. Part of this is to ensure that all families are aware of the attendance figure for their young person and where there are any concerns that there is an opportunity to discuss these with the appropriate Principal Teacher of Pupil Support.

Ruby Campbell

I’m very conscious that although we get to witness some amazing achievements by our pupils during their time in school, these achievements are only part of what amazing things are pupils get up to. As such, I was delighted to hear of Ruby Campbell’s out of school achievement last weekend.

Ruby completed the Great Scottish Run half marathon in an impressive 2 hrs and 8 seconds. This is an amazing achievement as this was her first ever half marathon. For someone who can barely run 2 minutes, I’m blown away by her Ruby’s ability to run this distance in such a short space of time. Go you Ruby!

If your child is involved in any achievements outside of school, I’m always delighted to share these on the HT Blog. Please do get in touch.

Online Study Resources

For Senior Pupils we wanted to ensure that we were providing as much support for them as possible for studying and revising. Alongside traditional supported study in school I felt it appropriate to draw your attention to two online resources.

Firstly, this year we have continued our school account to provide our pupils with access to interactive study materials via the ACHIEVE platform https://achieve.hashtag-learning.co.uk.

When signing up to create their own account pupils should use their school GLOW Email address and use the unique Greenfaulds High School Code (XQfQPVhy) to activate their account. As you will see they will have access to many resources for learning key concepts, testing their knowledge, self-evaluating etc.

Secondly the e-sgoil study resources – Pupils can access a range of resources including help with Study planners, revision tips, managing stress etc. They can also access a wide range of subject webinars every week. Details are posted each week to advise what topics are being covered each evening in the Webinars. They can Google Esgoil Study support and it’s very straight forward or can use this link. We have posted the link on Teams for them already.

Transportation concerns

A big thank you to everyone who responded to my communications over the last few weeks around school transport. Your support is greatly appreciated. I would continue to stress that if you are collecting your son/daughter at the end of the day by car, please be aware that the process may take a little longer than previously. I would also ask that if you are waiting to collect your son/daughter that you utilise the parking bays within the car park as there many spaces available here as well as in the drop/off pick up area. There is also the opportunity to collect your child a little later, the school building is always open, warm and safe for your son/daughter to wait inside for an additional few minutes to avoid you having to wait in standing traffic.

Thank you for all your ongoing support and understanding.

Free School Meals and Education Maintenance Allowance

A reminder to all families, if your family normally receives Free School Meals or EMA (16+ yr. olds) please remember to reapply for continuation of this service as it does not automatically continue each year. Families need to apply annually. There were a few incidences today 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

Likewise, for families of young people over 16 they may be eligible for the Education Maintenance Allowance and the link is here: Education Maintenance Allowance | North Lanarkshire Council Once pupils have received their forms they should bring them to Mr Adler for a meeting about expectations to receive their EMA.

If families would like any support with these forms, please contact Mrs Foley who would be delighted to support you in completing these.

Hope for Autism

Hope for Autisms next Information drop-in session. This event is for parents/carers of families with autistic children or autistic people themselves to come and see what support is available in their area.