Following on from the well-attended S3 Information Evening last week, we had the S3 Parents’ Evening on Tuesday. Again, lots of interested and engaged parents turned up to find out how their youngsters are doing, and to get advice on choices for next session. Hopefully we will be able to accommodate all the pupils’ choices and give them the best possible educational experience. Next week we have coursing appointments for S3 pupils, and course choices need to be into the school by Friday 13th.

On Wednesday the Parent School Partnership met. We discussed issues in the school car park in mornings and I was able to report that we are going to be making some changes to the lay-out of the car park in order to alleviate some of the traffic issues we are having. Sad to say, if these measures are unsuccessful and we still have people making dangerous three-point-turns in front of the building, or folk speeding onto the campus, we will have to start shutting the school gates to everyone barring taxis and school buses. So, if you can drop your child near to the school and not drive onto the campus, I would be extremely grateful.

We also introduced our “S1 to S3 Tracking and Monitoring” plans to parents and will be talking to pupils about them in assemblies next week. The long term aim of this is to raise attainment. Each pupil will receive a "Learning Conversations" Booklet that they must look after carefully for the remainder of the session. Long term, this will mean that pupils will have to official learning conversations with each of their teachers twice per session (once before Christmas and once after). During these conversations the teacher and pupil will discuss their long term targets. Pupils will be asked to record these targets in their booklet and also consider the strategies they will need to use to meet these targets. The teacher will also record them within our management system. Pupils may be referred to Guidance if there is a concern that targets may not be reached and appropriate staff can then intervene to provide support. There will be a real responsibility placed on the learner to consider their own learning and next steps. Please encourage your child to look after their booklets (which will be issued in plastic wallets during assemblies next week).

Also on Wednesday I was delighted to hear that 37 of our pupils are to receive Raspberry Pi computers next week. Skyscanner and Young Scot teamed up to offer pupils from Edinburgh and Borders the opportunity to own a computer and the accessory kit, and there were 500 in the giveaway. Well done to all that applied.

If you remember earlier in the year I mentioned that some of our swimmers had qualified for the Scottish Schools Championship in Aberdeen. Congratulations go to all of them, but in particular Fiona Dickson who came 4th in the 100m Freestyle with a time of 1.02.38 and 5th in the 200m Individual Medley, completing that in 2.33.44. This was a very impressive display.

NHS Lothian have asked me to relay the following message about upcoming immunisations: Thanks to immunisation, diseases such as polio have disappeared in the UK. However, these diseases could come back as they are still seen in many countries throughout the world - which is why it’s so important for young people to get their jabs. Although they were probably immunised against tetanus, diphtheria and polio as a child, and may have some protection, they still need a teenage booster to complete the routine immunisations and give them longer-term protection. Likewise they need a booster dose of the MenC vaccine as a teenager to be protected from meningitis and septicaemia (blood poisoning) caused by meningococcal group C bacteria. The booster dose increases protection against MenC and is given at the same time as the tetanus, diphtheria and polio booster. These vaccinations are provided in school by the NHS Lothian school nurse team. If your child is due to be vaccinated you will receive a letter this week. Please ensure you read this and discuss vaccination with your children. Please ensure completed consent forms are returned as soon as possible to school. More information can be found on the Immunisation Scotland website.

Next Friday we are having a dress-down day to raise money for our partner school in Ruhanga, Rwanda. The funds will go towards ensuring that young people there get to stay on at school and get the qualifications they need. It just costs £1 and I would encourage everyone to join in. Please be aware, that whilst we are “dressing down” pupils need to remember to dress appropriately for school i.e. no really low-cut tops, hot pants, onesies, or clothing made of material that would cause a health and safety problem should they have to attend Science or Technologies that day.

School closes for the holiday at 12.05pm next Friday and everyone resumes on Monday 23rd February at the usual time.

Have a very good weekend.

S Ingham