Dear Parent/Carer
I am delighted to be writing
to you and updating you on the progress of the school this session. I hope you find the information useful and as
always I would be very keen to receive any feedback you may have about the
school.
Rights Respecting Schools – Respect Week
This week is Respect Week in
school. Pupils and staff are looking
closely at the United Nations Convention of Human Rights.
The award is based on principles of equality, dignity, respect, non-discrimination and participation and we know that working towards this award is having a significant impact on improving the school ethos and the quality of relationships across the school.
Improving
Learning and Teaching – Co-operative Learning Academy
All our
teaching staff have
just completed a 3-day Co-operative
Learning Academy. We have focused on
this approach as we believe if we get this right, we can have a significant
impact on the learning of all our pupils.
Co-operative learning can be defined as learning tasks or activities where students work together in a small enough group for everyone to participate on a collective task which has been clearly assigned. This can be either a joint task where group members do different aspects of the task but contribute to a common overall outcome, or a shared task where group members work together throughout the activity.
The impact of collaborative approaches on learning is consistently positive. Effective collaborative learning requires much more than just sitting pupils together and asking them to work together; structured approaches with well-designed tasks lead to the greatest learning gains and this will remain a focus for us throughout the forthcoming sessions.
Get
Gracemount Going – Scottish Government Innovation Fund
After making a successful bid to the Scottish Government for
funding through their innovation fund programme, our Get Gracemount Going
Programme has been officially launched. The
main aim of the programme is to improve activity levels and healthy eating
habits for an identified cohort of S1 pupils.
A targeted
group of pupils will be extracted for additional health and well-being
lessons. These will take the form of
both practical and theory sessions. Pupils
will:-
·
Focus on a variety of topics including nutrition
and energy intake
·
Be inducted in to local leisure facilities using
our close links with Edinburgh Leisure
·
Be provided with activity sessions in school
·
Develop coping strategies for the demands of
school life
·
Be shown healthy cooking techniques and recipes
Pupils must
attend at least one in school extra-curricular club per week and will also be
expected to keep an accurate food diary.
The pupils involved will be provided with a Fitbit to monitor their activity
levels and enable them to set genuine targets relating to their personal
results. Activity levels will be
recorded throughout the year.
A large
part of the programme is also based on parental involvement. Parents will be expected
to sign and comment on diaries and will be invited into the additional Health
and Well Being Lessons. Parents will have the opportunity to participate in PE
activities and cook healthy dishes with their child. Recipe books will be provided which can also
be used at home. The programme also offers
the option of childcare on site for parents who may require it.
We are very
excited by the launch of this programme and I will keep you updated on progress.
Staffing Update
Depute Head Teacher
Mrs Dee Scott took up her
post on Monday 7 November. Mrs Scott is Year Head for S1,2 and S6 and will lead
on Pupil Support across the school.
Mathematics
Mrs Ebru Ustan has taken up
the temporary vacancy in the Maths Department and will be with us until the end
of the session.
Support for Learning
Mrs Justine Haddow has joined
us in Support for Learning.
Pupil Support
Mrs Sarah Ellis has joined us
as Leader of Skye House.
Support Staff
Mr Stuart Riches has joined
us as a Pupil Support Assistant.
Miss Gigha Lennox has joined
us as a Classroom Assistant.
Curriculum Consultation
On Monday 12 September we
held a curriculum consultation with parents/carers. We were very pleased with
the turnout and parental feedback has helped us shape our curriculum proposal.
An information evening will be held on Monday
28 November at 5.30pm in the school library where final details of the
changes to the curricular structure will be presented. We look forward to
seeing you there.
If you cannot make it along,
details will be emailed out and posted on the school website.
School Calendar
Forthcoming Dates
21 November – Formal
Assessments (S4-6)
14 and 15 December – School
Dance Show
19 December – S1 Reports issued
22 December – School ends
(further details regarding the last day of term to follow)
10 January – Pupils return
If you wish to keep regularly
updated, please check the school website at: -
http://www.gracemounthighschool.co.uk/ or follow us on twitter via @GracemountHigh
Kind regards
Ross Hunter
Head Teacher
