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Dear Parents and Carers, Following the sad news yesterday of the Queen’s passing, we are expecting more information and guidance on the period of mourning in the coming days, and we will update you as we receive it. Mr Neil Ewing Acting Head Teacher Today’s update contains 10 notices:
1. Family Fridays @KGS Over the course of this session the Parent Council would like to invite parents into KGS on Friday mornings for school visits. The visits would be in small groups and run between 10am and 11am. Each visit would include a tour of the school in action, a chat with the Senior Leadership team over a cup of coffee, and a visit to some classrooms. The next visit will be on Friday September 30th and parents can email [email protected] by Wednesday 28th September to book a place. 2. Breakfast@KGS Just reminder that breakfast is available for pupils from 8.20am. The breakfast menu is on the school website and includes toast and cereals with hot food such as filled rolls and scrambled eggs available on demand. 3. Maths for S1 Parents Roz McMahon, our Acting PT of Maths, is putting on a series of Maths information events this session. The first online event will be on Wednesday 21 September, 7.30pm to 8pm on Vscene - Introduction to Maths and will look at the topics covered in S1, available resources, Assessments in S1 and Maths progression in the BGE and beyond Join here: https://app.vscene.net/r/V3x9LacmRa The second online meet will be on Wednesday 5 October 7.30pm to 8pm on Vscene and will cover the following: Number and how we teach it Join here: https://app.vscene.net/r/uYOoVaC7XL Promoting Positive Behaviour and Relationships (Mr Harvey) 4. SCHOLAR Senior Pupils have access to Scholar and many of our teachers use Scholar to support learning and teaching. Scholar are delivering an information session for Parents and Carers. Details can be found below and we would encourage parents/carers to sign up.
5. Mobile Device Use
The use of Mobile Devices as a tool for learning both inside and outside the classroom has opened up many amazing opportunities for us to enhance the learning and teaching experience. This has been one of the few upsides of COVID. The short video below will explain our rationale for Mobile Device use and how we manage this in classrooms. https://prezi.com/v/view/5Rp6vN61BizZCDZqH39X/ 6. Attendance policy changes School communities – from head teachers to parents and carers - are being asked to help support attendance at schools throughout Orkney. If your child is absent due to illness, please phone the school office before 9.00am and leave a message on the answer machine - explaining the reason why your child will not be in school. Parents will be expected to phone and inform us on each day of illness unless it is a planned absence. Where the school has not been informed of a pupil's absence, a text message will be sent to the main parental contact number (usually a mobile telephone number) asking them to contact the school to explain why their child is not in school (at this stage choose option 3 and speak directly to a member of the office staff). Parents/guardians/carers are asked to respond to these texts promptly, as there may be a serious reason why a pupil has not reached school in time to be registered. If we haven't heard from parents or carers at this stage, we will then try to contact you by phone to confirm that your child is absent with your permission. Securing the Highest Level of Universal Support (Ms Devlin) 7. Safe Islander event for S1 pupils: Thursday 22nd September 2022 Kirkwall Grammar School hosts an annual event for all S1 pupils in Orkney, called Safe Islander. This is the first time it has been held since 2019. Safe Islander is an educational programme where participants learn life skills that will help to keep themselves and others safe in the future. Small groups of pupils rotate around a number of workshops that are hosted by various agencies and businesses. They are presented with potentially hazardous situations and are encouraged to participate in a range of simulated practical exercises. Safety messages and advice are given by the presenters. The situations covered are safety on building sites and farms and at sea, fire safety, e-safety, dangers around drugs, flooding and electricity. The activities are designed to help young people become more aware of personal safety; react appropriately to dangerous situations; and understand the role of the emergency services and how and when to contact them avoid becoming a victim of an accident or crime Exact details of when your young person will attend during the school day will be shared with them directly nearer the time. 8. S1 break and lunchtimes We are continuing to let all S1 pupils out of class for break and lunchtimes five minutes early each day, along with Senior Phase pupils, and will continue with this system until the October break to give our S1s plenty of time to settle in. 9. Scottish Child Payment – expansion of scheme. The expansion of Scottish Child Payment was announced yesterday. Applications for all eligible children under the age of 16 will open from Monday 14 November. The award will also increase to £25 per week, per child. Clients will receive the payment every 4 weeks. The current award is £20 per week, per child for eligible children under 6 years old. Families who used to get Scottish Child Payment, but whose child has since turned 6, will need to complete a new application. The administrators of the scheme anticipate a large volume of new applications. This means people applying for the first time might need to wait to receive their award however, if eligible, clients will have their payments backdated to the day they first applied. For more information regarding Scottish Child Payment and current eligibility please see: https://www.mygov.scot/scottish-child-payment 10. Orkney Careers Fair 2022 The Orkney Careers Fair 2022, which has been organised in partnership with Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) Orkney and Skills Development Scotland (SDS) is next Thursday – 15th September. The event will consist of employers, education and training providers exhibiting side by side providing access to a range of information. The intention is that by speaking to employers about careers in their sector and identifying appropriate training or education routes, it will provide a fuller understanding of the options available in Orkney and further afield. More information, including the exhibitor floor plan, can be found at https://www.dyworkney.co.uk/orkney-careers-fair-2022.html At KGS we plan to walk all S3-S6 students down to ‘Picky’ throughout the day, with each group having the following time slots in The Arena: S3 Pupils; 0930-1030 S4 Pupils; 1145-1300 S5/6 Pupils; 1400-1530 More details will follow early next week. Dear Parents and Carers Thank you for your continued support during another busy week. We are currently preparing for possible school closures next week and ensuring our pupils are ready for individual learning on these days. In the meantime, we hope you all have a relaxing weekend. Mr Neil Ewing Acting Head Teacher Today’s update contains 7 notices
1. School closure arrangements - should industrial action take place next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and KGS is closed to pupils: College Courses - Wednesday morning and Thursday afternoon Orkney College will be open as normal to KGS pupils who attend classes there on Wednesday morning and Thursday afternoon. However as there will be no school transport, pupils will need to make their own travel arrangements. Bus passes are available in the school office if pupils need them. Independent learning for S2 to S6 S2 to S6 pupils will have tasks to complete during school closure days and all resources will be available on their individual class Teams. Pupils must check they have access to their Teams. Any pupils having password problems should email Mr Harvey: alasdair[email protected] Independent learning for S1 S1 pupils aren't ready for Teams quite yet, so there will be an area on the front page of the school website where S1 pupils can find a link to each of the subjects they would study on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and instructions on the tasks they should complete. The work provided will not mirror the amount of class time the pupils will miss in each subject and instead will be a proportion of it. Our experience of lockdown was that pupils were sometimes overwhelmed by the amount of work they were being asked to do so we have tried to make the work provided easy to access and realistic to complete. Pupils can complete their subject work in any order. There will be assemblies for S1 and S2 pupils on Monday explaining how they will access learning. 2. Attendance policy changes School communities – from head teachers to parents and carers - are being asked to help support attendance at schools throughout Orkney. If your child is absent due to illness, please phone the school office before 9.00am and leave a message on the answer machine - explaining the reason why your child will not be in school. Parents will be expected to phone and inform us on each day of illness unless it is a planned absence. Where the school has not been informed of a pupil's absence, a text message will be sent to the main parental contact number (usually a mobile telephone number) asking them to contact the school to explain why their child is not in school (at this stage choose option 3 and speak directly to a member of the office staff). Parents/guardians/carers are asked to respond to these texts promptly, as there may be a serious reason why a pupil has not reached school in time to be registered. If we haven't heard from parents or carers at this stage, we will then try to contact you by phone to confirm that your child is absent with your permission. 3. Family Fridays@KGS Over the course of this session the Parent Council would like to invite parents into KGS on Friday mornings for school visits. The visits would be in small groups and run between 10am and 11am. Each visit would include a tour of the school in action, a chat with the Senior Leadership team over a cup of coffee, and a visit to some classrooms. The first date is Friday 9th of September and parents can email [email protected] by Wednesday 7th September to book a place. The next visit will be on September 30th and then take place monthly after that 4. Maths for S1 Parents Roz McMahon, our Acting PT of Maths, is putting on a series of Maths information events this session. The first online event will be on Wednesday 21 September, 7.30pm to 8pm on Vscene - Introduction to Maths and will look at the topics covered in S1, available resources, Assessments in S1 and Maths progression in the BGE and beyond Join here: https://app.vscene.net/r/V3x9LacmRa The second online meet will be on Wednesday 5 October 7.30pm to 8pm on Vscene and will cover the following: Number and how we teach it Join here: https://app.vscene.net/r/uYOoVaC7XL 5. Promoting Positive Behaviour and Relationships (Mr Harvey) Dress Code Over the first 3 weeks of the new term we have continued to consistently share our expectations with pupils. As always the majority of our pupils conduct themselves in an exemplary manner most of the and are a credit to their families and the school. It has been great to see pupils in Dress Code. It is now extremely rare for us to have to remind pupils about Dress Code during the day. As the weather gets colder in the weeks ahead the temperature in school can fluctuate so we ask that pupils have both a school hoodie/jumper and a hoodie/jumper so as they can continue wearing Dress Code as the top layer in all circumstances. Please take a minute to watch the short video below that gives an explanation of our Dress Code and why we have it: https://prezi.com/v/view/748XzCvTZJJACWmYchXg/ Securing the Highest Level of Universal Support (Ms Devlin) 6. Younger pupils’ safety on school buses We have had a few concerns raised about S1 and 2 pupils crossing the road in a dangerous way when they get on and off school buses in different locations in our school catchment area, and members of the public have reported this to us. We would very much appreciate it if you could remind your young person not to walk out from behind school busses to cross the road. 7. Orkney Careers Fair 2022 The Orkney Careers Fair 2022 will be held on Thursday 15 September 2022, in the Arena, Pickaquoy Centre, Kirkwall. There will be 66 exhibitors attending, representing a wide range of career pathways available to young people and adults in Orkney. The event will be open from 9.30am-6pm. The Guidance team are working to make sure as many of our S3 to S6 pupils will be able to attend the event as possible and more details will follow shortly once arrangements are finalised. |
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