February 2006 Newsletter

Dear Parent,

Staffing

Mr Stewart MacKinnon, Senior Depute Head Teacher, has taken over as Acting Head Teacher at North Berwick High School from Wednesday 15^th February while Mr Sutherland is on secondment for 18 months. We wish him every success in his new acting post.

Miss McIntosh has taken over his remit as Interim Acting Senior Depute Head Teacher, with Mr Virtue taking over her remit in the meantime. Mr Plimer will now be Interim PT CDT.

Mr Burns takes over as Acting DHT for Moray House following Mrs Graham’s retirement.

PTA Car Boot Sale

Following the successful event earlier this year, another car boot sale is planned for 10-12 noon on the morning of Saturday 22^nd April – first Saturday after the Easter holiday, so plenty of time to clear the attic and the garage! Admission is free to customers, with a charge of £5 for sellers with cars or £7 for vans: sellers can arrive from 9 o’clock to set up.

S2 and S4/5 Course Choice Information Evenings

These were held on 1^st and 8^th February respectively, with a good turnout of parents on both occasions. The presentations from myself, Miss McIntosh and Mr MacKinnon were followed by lively question-and- answer sessions with the audience. Many thanks to the parents who attended. These events will now be an annual feature on the school calendar.

S2 pupils are now being briefed on the course choice process in their PSE classes. Their reports will be issued on Wednesday 22^nd February and the S2 Parents Evening is on Wednesday 1^st March at 7 p.m.

Penumbra Charity

You will recall from last month’s newsletter that Mrs Graham was doing a lot of fundraising for Penumbra last month in the final weeks before she retired. Various events took place – a dance display organised by the pupils themselves, a bring and buy sale, non-uniform day etc – and a total of to date of £1494. I would like to congratulate everyone who has contributed in any way to this sum.

OVER

Queen Margaret University College Roadshow

S2 pupils were involved in a series of workshops run by QMUC staff on Tuesday 7^th February, following an introductory talk from staff and students at QMUC. The workshops were well received by pupils. Later on, there was the opportunity for the community to see a model of the new campus and illustrations of what the building will look like internally. Rosalyn Marshall, Vice-Principal of QMUC, gave a presentation on details of the new campus and what it means for them and for the local community.

Enterprise Day for P7 pupils

Later that week on Thursday, we hosted an Enterprise Day for P7 pupils when they came up to the school for a morning or afternoon session and worked in groups on various problem-solving and design activities. The groups were made up of pupils from the different primaries so pupils had a chance to work with future classmates. It was a lively day and I would like to thank Mrs Clark of Campie Primary and Mrs Williams of Pinkie St Peter’s Primary in particular for their excellent organisation and co-ordination of the event. Even at this stage, the pupils are looking forward to their two days with us in June.

Personal music centres and mobile phones

Following consultation with pupils, we have agreed that pupils may have their phones on during break and lunchtime but that they must remain off at all other times and in pupil bags. The ban on using phones to take pictures remains absolutely in place. We have warned pupils that if phones are misused, we will revert to the old policy.

We have noticed an increase in the number of pupils bringing personal music centres like IPods to school. Rather than banning these entirely, we suggest that these need to be used sensibly – on at breaktime and lunchtime only. They should be out of sight in bags and switched off at all other times - never on when travelling between classes or in classes. Any pupil bringing personal items like these to school does so entirely at his or her own risk.

Parents may wish to consider whether such items are really necessary as part of a pupil’s educational experience in school.

Calendar for Session 2006/7

Please find enclosed a list of holiday dates and in-service days for next session. I would remind all parents that the school does not approve of term-time holidays and that a letter should be sent to the school requesting permission if it is absolutely unavoidable. Holidays during term-time are a significant factor in pupil absences and in their attainment.

Yours sincerely,

Ronnie Summers

Head Teacher