October 19
Dear
Parent/Carer
We
are now well settled into the new school term and now is a good opportunity to
update you on the schools work so far this session.
School Vision – A Statement
of our Intent
“Gracemount High
School creates a Responsible, Respectful and Safe community that values
learning, success and confidence.”
Developing
our vision for our school was a key part of our work last session. I’ve stressed
to all staff that it’s our responsibility to bring this to life. It is more
than just a sentence or two, it defines our purpose and what we work towards
achieving every day. We will do this to be very best of our ability.
School
Values – what we stand for
Our school values are what we want to promote
in every person who is part of our school community. It is my ambition that
every pupil knows and understands our values and that we are able to see these
values come to life in our school. They link directly to our school rules and
are a fundamental part of what is means to be part of Gracemount High School.
1. Responsible
- We are responsible for coming to school
ready to learn, participate and contribute to the success of our school.
2. Respectful
- We respect ourselves, our
environment and the rights of others.
Safe -
We all work to ensure our school community is safe and understand that everyone matters.
We take the behaviour of pupils
very seriously in and out of school. There are a minority who continue to cause
concern in the following areas and these are not areas we can address without
the full support of our parents and carers.
1. Community
concerns – at times groups of pupils can congregate outside of the school and
this can cause fear and alarm for residents. Ellen’s Glen is an area of concern
and we ask that parents encourage their children not to attend this area.
2. Use
of social media is a 21st century reality for us all. Unfortunately,
if used irresponsibly, it can be damaging and is linked to bullying behaviour
and the increase of mental issues for our young people. We encourage all
members of our community, and especially our young people, to use this
responsibly. Should we have concerns then we will be in contact with home and
in the most extreme cases we will prevent young people from bringing their
phones to school.
3. Looking
after our community is a key part of being a successful school. Regrettably we
often get complaints about litter in the community, especially at Gilmerton
shops and near Tesco. It is damaging to the environment and the school’s
reputation. We may have to take steps to prevent access to these areas for
certain individuals if concerns continue. We want all our young people to
respect their school, their community and their environment and not dropping
litter is an important part of this.
School
Priorities
Our School Improvement Plan is available on our
website along with our Standards and Quality report from last session. Our
focus is very much on the national priorities as outlined below:
1. Improving attainment,
particularly in literacy and numeracy.
2. Closing the attainment gap
between the most and least disadvantaged children.
3. Improvement in children’s
health and wellbeing (focus on supporting mental health).
4. Improvement in employability
skills and sustained, positive school-leaver destinations for all.
I am in the process of completing the school’s
annual attainment report and this will be available to view in due course via
our school website.
StaffingOur new staff have settled into the school very well. Last week we welcomed Gillian Styles, our Pupil Support Officer, who will work as part of our Support for Learning Team and be involved in supporting the emotional wellbeing and development of our pupils.
We are currently recruiting a Curriculum Leader in Maths and Science. We are interviewing next week.
Important Dates
·
4 October – Senior tracking issued
·
4 October – Gracemount High School and Gracemount Primary School fund
raising event. Held at Gilmerton Miners Club. Please save the date if you can.
Tickets can be purchased from the school office.
·
14 October – October Holidays begin
·
21 and 22 October – School In-service days
·
24 October – P7 Open Evening
·
23 October – pupils return
Mobile Phone Policy
All
S1 parents have been made aware that S1 pupils are not permitted to use their
phone in school and should not bring this to school with them. Should they do
so, then it should remain in their bag at all times. Teachers have reported
that classrooms have been very settled and our S1 pupils have been very
respectful when asked to ensure their phones are not used in lessons. So far, this
policy has been very well received and I would like to thank the parents/carers
who are supporting us with this implementation.
All
other pupils in S2-6 are reminded that phones can only be used in class with
the explicit permission of the teacher. Despite the best efforts of our staff
this is an on-going area of concern and our approach to the use of phones in
school will be reviewed this session. Our focus is on ensuring a positive and
focussed learning environment and the misuse of phones can significantly
compromise this. Parents are requested
not to directly call or message their child during the class times. Should they
require to make contact then this should be done out with class times or via
the school office.
Access to school toilets
We
will be changing when pupils can access the school toilets and I will be
sending a separate communication with regards to this matter. All pupils who
have a toilet card will continue to have access to a toilet throughout the
school day.
Sponsored Walk
A huge thank you to all that took part and supported their young person
to participate. It was a great day. All sponsor money should be handed into the
school office and every penny raised will go directly to our young people via
our opportunities fund which is used to support equity of access to education
for all.
Stay Informed
Last session we launched our Facebook page. This is a great way to keep
in touch with all that is happening in our school, so we’d encourage you to
follow us on Facebook if you can. Our school website http://www.gracemounthighschool.co.uk/ is also a great way
to keep informed.
We have so much to be proud of and to celebrate. Our young people
continue to amaze and inspire us all and I’ve never been prouder of our school.
If you haven’t already, then keep in touch through our social media and you’ll
see how amazing our young people are.
I look forward to continuing our progress and working alongside you all. Should you have any queries
please contact the school office on 0131 664 7440 or email GRA-Admin Account Admin@Gracemount.edin.sch.uk
Kind Regards
Ross Hunter
Head Teacher
