Newsletter June 2005

 

23 June 2005

Dear Parent

Parental Newsletter June 2005

SQA Results and Appeals

The SQA diet of examinations for 2005 is now complete and S4 and S5 pupils have returned to their new timetable. The results should reach pupils by post on the morning of Tuesday 9^th August – please make sure SQA and the school have your current address or the certificate of results will go astray. If your child’s results do not reach you on that date, please do not contact the school - as a matter of policy we do not release exam results to pupils and parents. If your child’s results have not arrived by Wednesday’s post, please then contact the school and we will contact the SQA helpline.

Details from the SQA Appeals booklet will be posted on noticeboards by Miss McIntosh. Parents should realise that the school must have evidence from preliminary examination performance and coursework to support an appeal in any subject – asking the school to consider if an appeal can be made does not mean that an automatic appeal will be made on your child’s behalf. Even where we do decide that an appeal is justified and submit an appeal, not all our appeals are granted by the SQA.

Uniform

In general terms, the vast majority of our pupils have responded to the move to school uniform from August last year and regular visitors to the school have commented on the change. As Head Teacher, I still expect all pupils to be in school uniform every day of the  school week – and this includes Fridays. We are introducing one small change to the uniform following an earlier consultation - girls in S3 and S4 will be allowed to wear plain black cardigans instead of school sweatshirts. A copy of the amended school uniform is enclosed with this letter and the same details are listed on the school website. Senior pupils are expected to be in uniform every day as part of their senior school contract, moreover: we expect them to act as role models for younger pupils.

School transport

All pupils living in Whitecraig and Wallyford have to apply to the Transport Department each year for a pass for the new session. If you live in these areas, an application form should have been sent out to your home by Transport and the deadline for return was 9^th May. If you have not returned a form, please have your child collect one from the school office and return it to us at the school by the end of this term.  Where no form is completed, a bus pass cannot be issued by the Transport Department and you will have to pay the bus company for transport each day. The school is not responsible for these arrangements and cannot intervene on your behalf either with the bus company or with Transport. We distribute bus passes on the first day of the new term.

Primary 7 visits

These took place on Tuesday 7^th and Wednesday 8^th June to familiarise our new S1 intake with the layout of the Grammar School, the structure of the school day, arrangements for Smartcards and cashless catering, to meet some of their teachers and to meet their Guidance teacher.  Mrs Mackie received very good feedback from the P7 pupils. The new S1 roll is capped at 260 by the authority and we are getting very close to that figure now.

PPP

You will be pleased to know that all the major renovations have been completed, with all departments now settled into their new areas. Mr MacKinnon will receive a plan of building works which will be carried out over the summer sometime this week, including completion of work in the Library. I am rather disappointed that so little snagging work has taken place since Easter. The progress of the remaining snagging and work in the Library will be regularly monitored during the holiday period by Mr MacKinnon and myself and by the authority.

Citizenship

I spoke to the new senior school on Friday 17^th June at assembly and I have posed them a challenge – to work with the school on ways to develop local citizenship through supporting different local charities each year and on ways to develop global citizenship to one charity location in South Africa for a number of years – to do our part in making poverty history.

I have been greatly touched by the generosity of our pupils in various appeals this year and we have presented cheques at our Christmas and Easter services to the Sick Kids’ Foundation in Edinburgh (£676), to the Mysthenia Gravis Association (£200), through Action on Aids to the Waverley Trust (£400), and to Christian Aid (£50). We raised £3102 in a single day for the Tsunami Appeal – a tremendous effort.  Finally, Miss Moore’s Christmas Pantomime raised £462 for World Vision – and we have received back letters and photographs from the Karkokandi community in Bangladesh who used the money to build a kitchen house for their church community centre – and we may seek to make links to the school there in future years.

End of term events

Our final fund-raising event of the year is “Gig on the Grass” on the final day of term organised by Mr Gallagher of CDT and other staff and pupils – let’s hope the weather stays fairer than last year!

Before we get to the final day, we have the Honest Lad and Lass visit and the Summer Concert on Thursday 24^th June, Merit Award ceremonies on Monday and Tuesday 27^th and 28^th June, and the Prizegiving on 29^th June.

Staffing

A number of staff will leave us at the end of this term for a variety of reasons.

Foremost of these is Miss Alexander, who retires at the end of June after spending all bar one year of her teaching career at Musselburgh Grammar School – her loyalty to the school is unquestionable and I am sure many parents who attended the school themselves remember her with affection and gratitude. Her dry sense of humour will be much missed and we wish her a long and happy retirement.

Two members of staff leave us after several years here - Mr Hewson in Physics, Miss Tyler in Modern Languages. Dr Burns has been with us this year as cover for Mrs Wilkinson, who returns in August. A number of staff joined us temporarily for a single year as NQTs and now move on to other schools - Mr Edgar in Chemistry, Mr Stanley in CDT, Miss Robert in Modern Languages, Miss Evans in Art and Design and Miss Gristwood in Home Economics. To all these members of staff, I would offer thanks for their service to the school and hope that they have enjoyed and benefited from their time here.

Mrs Bovill (PT English) and Mr McNaught leave on 23 month secondments to Edinburgh University and the Scottish Executive respectively, and Mr McIntosh of Modern Languages leaves on a 12 month secondment to CILT in Stirling.

Miss Leroux remains with us following her success at interview for the post of teacher in Modern Languages. Mrs Fraser (now job sharing with Mr Mainds), Mrs Brooks, and Mrs McSherry have all returned from maternity leave recently.

Other appointments following interview, with staff arriving in August, are:

Ms Walker and Mrs Main in Art and Design; Ms Anderson in History; Mr McLoughlin in Home Economics, Ms Moonie in Chemistry, and Ms Cairns in Modern Languages.

As Head Teacher, I would like to thank and compliment all my staff for their hard work and commitment to the school over the last session - they go far beyond their minimal contractual commitment and contribute greatly to the positive ethos of the school. I intend producing a booklet for the mailshot in August called “More than Chalk and Talk” to illustrate the number of activities which occur outwith the formal classroom curriculum at Musselburgh Grammar School.

I noted in my last newsletter that David Cameron, Head of Schools, was moving to Stirling Council. David has been a superb supporter of Musselburgh Grammar School in his time in post. On a personal note, he has been a first-class source of advice and encouragement.  The authority has appointed Don Ledingham, Head Teacher of Dunbar Grammar School as Acting Head of Schools for one year as David’s temporary replacement and I look forward to working with him.

The cluster of schools in Musselburgh also loses two of our primary colleagues – Gordon Hall who is retiring as Head Teacher of Wallyford Primary and Jennifer Ross, Head Teacher of Stoneyhill PS who is moving to Costorphine Primary in Edinburgh – and I thank them for their links to the Grammar over the years and wish them both well.

And finally..

The school closes at 3.45 pm on Thursday 30^th June and reopens to pupils on Monday 22nd August at 8.45. I wish a good holiday to parents, pupils and staff alike.

Yours sincerely

R I SUMMERS

Head Teacher