Blog Archives

Week Six

24/9/2021

Dear Parents and Carers

Thank you for your continued support this week. Pupils have continued to impress staff with their focus in their lessons and their determination to make the most of activities beyond the classroom.

The first tracking summary for senior pupils will be sent out today, with parents of S2 and S3 pupils receiving theirs before the October holidays. We remain hopeful that covid restrictions will be eased after the holidays allowing us to organise a Parents’ Evening for S1 pupils soon after.

The two following documents have been drafted by e-Sgoil so support pupils learning at home whilst isolating, but we think all pupils could benefit from access to the resources. Please let your child’s Guidance Teacher know if you would like any more information: Secondary BGE Senior Phase

Notice for S1 Parents: SDS (Skills Development Scotland) have organised a webinar to introduce careers information to parents. “Want to know more about SDS career information, advice and guidance support for your young person throughout their time at school? Join our careers advisers Lesley and Gordon to hear about SDS, the role of SDS careers advisers in schools and information to support career planning. The online session will also introduce our careers web service My World of Work, which has a dedicated area for parents and carers. Parents and carers can register for our session here. https://s1parentsandcarers.eventbrite.co.uk”

Finally, we’re asking parents of ex-pupils to check if there are any textbooks at home that haven’t yet been returned. If you do find one, we’d love to have it returned to the school reception area. Thank you for your support with this.

We hope you have a lovely weekend,

Miss Claire Meakin
Head Teacher

Week Five

17/9/2021

Dear Parents and Carers,

This week Ms Devlin and I had the brilliant opportunity to visit Papdale Halls of Residence and to hear about the experiences for some of our pupils of staying away from home during the week. The pupils’ stories were incredible and they demonstrate real confidence, resilience and determination to make the most of every opportunity.  We are already looking forward to our next visit.

Over the last 4 weeks we’ve undertaken to listen to as many pupils’ views as possible through questionnaires to all pupils, along with small group and one-to-one follow up discussions. So far pupils are reporting that the areas of our school that they believe are the strongest include: They feel safe and happy; they have strong support from staff and they have a range of extra-curricular activities to choose from.  Areas they would like the school to focus on in the future include: How we celebrate their achievements and how we can give them more opportunities to make choices about their learning. We have one final questionnaire being shared with pupils over the next two weeks and then I will summarise all their responses for you before the October holidays.

This week we’ve been asked to share 2 emails regarding covid with you. The first was from James Wylie, Head of Education, Leisure and Housing in Orkney Island Council. The second was from Jason Leitch, National Clinical Director.  Both emails thank our whole community for their efforts to keep everyone as safe as possible and ask that, where possible, we continue to encourage our young people to take twice-weekly lateral flow tests and to wear our face covering when social distancing cannot be guaranteed. Thank you for your support with this.

Teachers have been reviewing pupils' progress so far this year and are in the process of completing our first Tracking Summary of the year.  We will use this information to support pupils to ensure they meet their targets and achieve their potential. We aim to share the first set of information with Senior parents / carers next Friday, with information being shared with S2 and S3 parents / carers before the October holidays. An explanation of Tracking and the Tracking Summaries you will receive can be found on our website:
http://www.kgsorkney.com/pupil-progress.html  We will be organising a S1 parents’ evening as soon as covid restrictions allow but please don’t hesitate to contact us in the meantime if you have any questions.

Guidance staff have been pleased to launch 'togetherall', a confidential online mental health support community to our S5 and S6 pupils this week. This offers pupils the opportunity to access  well being support that is right for them, at a time that works for them. Further details can be found at www.togetherall.com.

All pupils have also been reminded that our School Health Team, and our In School Counsellors are back in school and are available to support pupils. If pupils would benefit from meeting with a School Counsellor, or a member of the School Health Team, appointments can be made through Guidance staff, or pupils can self-refer - whatever feels easiest for them.

As always, if you or your child have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

We hope you all have a relaxing weekend,

Miss Claire Meakin
Head Teacher

Week Four

10/9/2021

Dear Parents and Carers,

This has been another busy but successful week with pupils demonstrating determination to succeed both in their lessons and their extra-curricular activities.

Thank you for your continued support of our dress code. Pupils are asked to wear one item of clothing with the school logo on, and that the logo can be seen whilst walking around the school building and during lessons. If you have any questions about our dress code, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

You will no doubt be aware of the Covid cluster in West Mainland https://www.orkney.gov.uk/News?postid=4550. We have been asked to remind all families about the importance of taking twice weekly lateral flow tests to catch asymptomatic cases in our community. The school has a large stock of tests that pupils can bring home – we simply ask that parents return a signed consent form if your child is under 16 or they can complete one themselves if they are over 16. A pdf version of the consent form can be found on the KGS website in the Parent section under downloads. If you would like a printed copy, these can be collected by your child from reception.

KGS is continuing to implement covid mitigations to keep everyone as safe as possible whilst in school. These include asking pupils and staff to sanitise their hands regularly and wear a face covering whilst inside the building. Thank you for support in helping pupils to understand why these simple actions are so important.

Finally, we had some brilliant news this week when we learned that Mr Ogbhemhe has been awarded the first ever Saroj Lal award. You can read the full story here: https://www.orkney.gov.uk/News?postid=4539

We hope you all have a lovely weekend,

Miss Claire Meakin
Head Teacher

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