January 2020
Our School
Vision Statement – A Statement of our Intent
“Gracemount High
School creates a Responsible, Respectful and Safe community that values
learning, success and confidence.”
Dear
Parent/Carer
A
very Happy New Year to all. Please see below for a few important updates.
Embedding
our School Values – what we stand for
Our school values link directly to our school
rules and are a fundamental part of what it 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.
3. Safe -
We all work to ensure our school community is safe and understand that everyone matters.
Our values are helping our
school focus on what behaviours we expect to see from all our young people and
staff and your support in reinforcing these really matters.
If
you have not done so already, please access the class charts app. This enables
you to track the behaviour of your young person in school. Details were sent home to all parents careers however if you need these
again please contact the school. We will be contacting those that haven’t signed
up to encourage them to do so. Our over and above behaviours give our pupils
something more than the bare minimum to achieve. It also gives our staff a
structured way to recognise positive behaviours. Over and above behaviours can
be awarded by any member of staff at any point across the school. Our focus is
on the following:
1.
Achievement – where a pupil succeeds with effort, skill or
courage.
2.
Resilience – where a pupil demonstrates grit and
determination in class to succeed.
3.
Contribution – where a pupil plays their part in bringing
about a positive outcome for themselves or others.
We also focus on
recording pupils who:
1.
Are
late to class
2.
Receive
a Low level on-call
3.
Receive
a high level on-call
Careers
Event and Options Launch – 9 January
We had another successful day/evening and thank you
all parents/carers that came along. We hope you found the evening informative
and that it will support you and your young person in making the right choices for
next session. Please note the deadline dates below:
S2
Pupils –
return course choice sheet by 30 January
S3/4/5
Pupils -
return course choice sheet by 16 January
Staffing
Mrs Whyte will be going on Maternity leave very soon. As I informed you in December, Ms Carly Murray will take up post to cover this leave.
From 20 January, Ms Gordon (DHT) will be leaving on a temporary secondment to take up a similar post at Queensferry High School. As a result, Mr Whale has been appointed to replace Ms Gordon, Mrs Ellis (Skye House) Pupil Support Leader will replace Mr Whale as Senior Development officer and Mr Doak (former Pupil Support Leader for Tiree) will return to take over for Mrs Ellis. These changes will be in place until the summer break.
Key dates
·
20 January – S1 reports issued
·
28 January – S3 Parents Evening
·
27 January – Parent Council
·
3 February - Senior reports issued
·
7 February – last day of term
·
17 February (week beginning) – letters will be issued if S4/5/6 pupils
are being recommend for a
change of level or move to freestanding units.
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 am very proud of our school.
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
In the meantime, can I take this opportunity to wish you all a very Happy
New Year and we all look forward to working hard to get the very best for our
pupils.
Kind Regards and
best wishes
Ross Hunter
Head Teacher
