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Dear Parents and Carers,
Unbelievably we move into December next week and the KGS Christmas decorations are now going up! A big thanks to Mrs Slade and the Drama Department who have been busy preparing the school for the big “lights on” ceremony on Thursday. We are also delighted to announce our live Christmas Service is back, and Mrs Reed and the Music Department have been working hard getting the pupils ready – more details below. Mr Neil Ewing Acting Head Teacher Today’s update contains 13 notices
1. Pupil behaviour down the street We had several complaints recently from some shops and community facilities about disruptive behaviour and some shoplifting on Friday afternoons by a small minority of our S1 to S3 pupils. All pupils have been spoken to in assemblies about the importance of respecting our local community but if parents/carers can reinforce that message, we would really appreciate it. 2. Christmas Service Christmas service takes place on Tuesday 20th December at 7.30pm in the cathedral, with rehearsals all day on Monday 19th and Tuesday 20th. This will be the first Christmas service since before lockdown and we are really looking forward to it. 3. Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) These sessions will explain the funding packages available from the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) for those planning to undertake higher education courses (HNC/HND/Degree courses) as well as how and when to apply and an opportunity to ask any questions. These sessions will be online and will take place in the evening during December. Parents and carers can check the available dates and times and book a place on these talks here https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/137287290983 Once booked, they will receive a booking confirmation with a link that will allow them to access the meeting. If you have any questions relating to this offer, please email [email protected] and we will get back to you asap. 4. 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 last visit this year will be on Tuesday 6 December and parents can email [email protected] by Friday 2nd December to book a place. Securing the Best Outcomes (Joe McCall) 5. Prelims We are currently working on the prelim timetable and will issue this to pupils before Christmas. The prelims will run from Thursday 12th January to Friday 27 January. S5 and S6 pupils will be on study leave from Monday 16 January until Friday 27 January while S4 pupils will attend classes as normal but will be given the opportunity to revise and prepare for their exams. 6. Music Performance Prelims If your child is sitting N5 or Higher Music, they will have a performing prelim on either Monday 9, Tuesday 10 or Wednesday 11 January. Students are required to play their entire programme of pieces, with accompaniment/backing tracks as appropriate. These prelims will provide valuable evidence and a chance for students to see how they perform 'under pressure'. You can support your child by reminding them to practise regularly and by listening to them play through their pieces a few times before their prelim. They will be out of class for around 30 minutes each. I realise this will eat into last minute prelim preparation for other subjects but the final SQA performing exams can take place any time from mid-February, so we need to get these prelims done early. Detailed timings are available for students in Teams and are also on the music department noticeboards. If you have any questions, please email me on [email protected] Many thanks for your support. 7. Senior Phase – Orkney College UHI Parents’ Evening On Wednesday 30 November, from 5.30pm, Orkney College UHI would be delighted to welcome you to the College for their Senior Phase Parents’ Evening, to discuss your child’s progress on the college course they are doing as part of their school timetable, and to find out more about the academic progress routes (further and higher education) available within the College.
View full details, including the times lecturers are available, here. 8. E-sgoil Study support for senior pupils A reminder that Webinars are now available in almost all subjects Registration for Evening Webinars will be via the link below. (Pupils must log on to Glow before accessing the link to the registration form, and should check the timetable carefully before choosing the webinars they wish to attend.) https://www.e-sgoil.com/study-support/ Paper copies are also available to pupils from Mr McCall. Promoting Positive Behaviour and Relationships (Mr Harvey) 9. Senior Tracking Staff have been busy having learning conversations with S4, S5 and S6 pupils over the last couple of weeks to inform the next Tracking Summary. Due to this week's Strike, Summary Reports will now be issued to parents/carers at the beginning of next week. Reports for Isles parents have been posted. The information contained in the Tracking Summary will be used to support pupils between now and the prelims to help them achieve the best possible grades 10. Being Punctual We have been focussing on attendance and late coming over the past few months in order to support pupils and families. Regular attendance and arriving at school on time has an impact in maximising pupil attainment. Around 3% of pupils are late each day at KGS. The majority of these pupils are in school by the start of period 1, however missing part or all of registration means they are missing an important part of the school day where they receive important messages and get themselves prepared for a busy day of learning. Could we ask that you remind pupils of the importance of being punctual in conversation you have at home. We understand that there are genuine reasons why pupils may be late and if you feel this is the case then please make contact and let us know. Securing the Highest Level of Universal Support (Ms Devlin) 11. Cost of Living Crisis Support Scotland A new Scottish Government website has been launched to signpost advice and financial support available to people in Scotland. It includes information about support with increasing energy bills, Scottish and UK social security payments and benefits, support with housing costs, payments for families, as well as where to get further advice, benefit calculators, and wider health and wellbeing information. The website can be accessed at the link below: https://costofliving.campaign.gov.scot 12. Free school meals and clothing allowances Orkney Islands Council provides assistance with free school meals and clothing allowances to families on a low income who meet the eligibility criteria. The current clothing allowance is £120.00 per eligible primary child and £150.00 per eligible secondary child. More information can be found here: https://www.orkney.gov.uk/Service-Directory/S/School-Meals-and-Clothing-Allowances.htm 13. Tracking and Monitoring of pupils’ Health and Wellbeing The tracking and monitoring of how pupils are progressing in their subjects is a very important part of the work that staff here at KGS do. Making sure that we are also aware of how pupils are coping with aspects of their health and well-being is equally important. So that we can support any concerns that our pupils may have that we are unaware of, they will be undertaking a simple survey in their PSE lesson, as part of our usual Tracking and Monitoring processes. This will take place over the next two weeks. Following this, we will try to make sure that we are able to offer support to any pupil where there is a concern. Pupils will be sent an e-mail with the link to the survey on it on Monday morning. Please reassure your child that they are not expected to do the survey at home but will get help with it in PSE. The survey will ask pupils around 10 questions, based on aspects of their health and well-being. Questions will include topics on how safe they feel, how they feel about their achievements and how included they feel. Given that the pupils have the survey in their e-mails, feel free to look at it with them at home. Please don't hesitate to get in touch with Ms Devlin or Mrs Firth if you would like further information. Dear Parents and Carers, This week has been a challenging one weather wise - winter is well and truly here! Hopefully things will calm down next week. We had a fantastic series of Children in Need events this week including a fancy dress day on Thursday with some fantastic costumes on show! A huge thanks to our S6 Charity Committee for organising events throughout the week. Mr Neil Ewing Acting Head Teacher Today’s update contains 14 notices
1. Pupil behaviour down the street We had several complaints last week from some shops and community facilities about disruptive behaviour on Friday afternoons by a small minority of our S1 to S3 pupils. All pupils have been spoken to in assemblies about the importance of respecting our local community but if parents/carers can reinforce that message, we would really appreciate it.
2. Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) These sessions will explain the funding packages available from the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) for those planning to undertake higher education courses(HNC/HND/Degree courses) as well as how and when to apply and an opportunity to ask any questions. These sessions will be online and will take place in the evening during December. Parents and carers can check the available dates and times a and book a place on these talks here https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/137287290983 Once booked, they will receive a booking confirmation with a link that will allow them to access the meeting. If you have any questions relating to this offer, please email [email protected] and we will get back to you asap. 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 last visit this year will be on Tuesday 6 December and parents can email [email protected] by Friday 2nd December to book a place. Securing the Best Outcomes (Joe McCall) 4. Music Performance Prelims If your child is sitting N5 or Higher Music, they will have a performing prelim on either Monday 9, Tuesday 10 or Wednesday 11 January. Students are required to play their entire programme of pieces, with accompaniment/backing tracks as appropriate. These prelims will provide valuable evidence and a chance for students to see how they perform 'under pressure'. You can support your child by reminding them to practise regularly and by listening to them play through their pieces a few times before their prelim. They will be out of class for around 30 minutes each. I realise this will eat into last minute prelim preparation for other subjects but the final SQA performing exams can take place any time from mid-February, so we need to get these prelims done early. Detailed timings are available for students in Teams and are also on the music department noticeboards. If you have any questions, please email me on [email protected] Many thanks for your support. 5. Senior Phase – Orkney College UHI Parents’ Evening Save the date - on Wednesday 30 November, Orkney College UHI from 5.30pm would be delighted to welcome you to the College for their Senior Phase Parents’ Evening, to discuss your child’s progress on the college course(s) they are doing as part of their school timetable, and potential future courses available from the College. At the same time, you will be able to visit their Festive Foodbank Fayre, organised by pupils and students from the Foundation Apprenticeship in Hospitality and NC in Administration. Details of the times lecturers will be available to speak to parents and carers will be in next week’s bulletin. 6. To Parents and carers of pupils who sat SQA exams in spring 2022 SQA is currently carrying out a large-scale evaluation of the 2022 approach to National Qualifications assessment. Part of this includes gathering views from parents and carers on the Appeals 2022 service. They have a panel of parents and carers who take part in occasional surveys for SQA. If you would like to take part, please sign up using this link. www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/96570.html. The survey will be open until Friday 2 December. 7. National Discussion Scottish Education We would encourage as many parents as possible to engage in the national discussion regarding the future of Scottish education. You can find all the resources here: https://consult.gov.scot/national-discussion-scottish-education/ 8. E-sgoil Study support for senior pupils A reminder that Webinars are now available in almost all subjects Registration for Evening Webinars will be via the link below. (Pupils must log on to Glow before accessing the link to the registration form, and should check the timetable carefully before choosing the webinars they wish to attend.) https://www.e-sgoil.com/study-support/ 9. SQA Your National Qualifications 2022-23 booklet At senior pupil assemblies this week, pupils have been talked through and issued with a booklet from the SQA with information about the exams process 2022-23. For interested parents/carers, plus any pupil who missed the assembly through absence, here is a link to the booklet. https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/files_ccc/Your-National-Qualifications-22-23-school-edition.pdf Paper copies are also available to pupils from Mr McCall. Promoting Positive Behaviour and Relationships (Mr Harvey) 10. Year Group assemblies We held year group assemblies this week and covered the following: Promoting positive behaviour in relationships between pupils regardless of race, gender, nationality, sexuality or other differences and the importance of not labelling fellow pupils 11. Senior Tracking Staff have been busy having learning conversations with S4, S5 and S6 pupils over the last couple of weeks to inform the next Tracking Summary. Data entry for this by teaching staff has now been completed. Summary Reports will be issued to parents/carers on Friday 25th November just before the S4 Parents Evening on Tuesday 1st December. The information contained in the Tracking Summary will be used to support pupils between now and the prelims to help them achieve and attain what they are capable of. Securing the Highest Level of Universal Support (Ms Devlin) 12. Cost of Living Crisis Support Scotland A new Scottish Government website has been launched to signpost advice and financial support available to people in Scotland. It includes information about support with increasing energy bills, Scottish and UK social security payments and benefits, support with housing costs, payments for families, as well as where to get further advice, benefit calculators, and wider health and wellbeing information. The website can be accessed at the link below: https://costofliving.campaign.gov.scot 13. Free school meals and clothing allowances Orkney Islands Council provides assistance with free school meals and clothing allowances to families on a low income who meet the eligibility criteria. The current clothing allowance is £120.00 per eligible primary child and £150.00 per eligible secondary child. More information can be found here: https://www.orkney.gov.uk/Service-Directory/S/School-Meals-and-Clothing-Allowances.htm 14. Tracking and Monitoring of pupils’ Health and Wellbeing The tracking and monitoring of how pupils are progressing in their subjects is a very important part of the work that staff here at KGS do. Making sure that we are also aware of how pupils are coping with aspects of their health and well-being is equally important. So that we can support any concerns that our pupils may have that we are unaware of, they will be undertaking a simple survey in their PSE lesson, as part of our usual Tracking and Monitoring processes. This will take place over the next two weeks. Following this, we will try to make sure that we are able to offer support to any pupil where there is a concern. Pupils will be sent an e-mail with the link to the survey on it on Monday morning. Please reassure your child that they are not expected to do the survey at home but will get help with it in PSE. The survey will ask pupils around 10 questions, based on aspects of their health and well-being. Questions will include topics on how safe they feel, how they feel about their achievements and how included they feel. Given that the pupils have the survey in their e-mails, feel free to look at it with them at home. Please don't hesitate to get in touch with Ms Devlin or Mrs Firth if you would like further information. Dear Parents and Carers, I’ve kept the links to the two Scottish Government reviews in this week's update just to make sure parents have had the chance to contribute. We are anticipating significant changes to the exam system over the next few years, and it is important everyone's opinions are heard. There is also the opportunity for the parents of pupils who sat exams in May 2022 to give their views on the exam and appeals service. Mr Neil Ewing Acting Head Teacher Today’s update contains 13 notices 1. Independent Review of Qualifications and Assessment/Hayward Review 2. National Discussion Scottish Education 3. Family Fridays @KGS 4. University of Edinburgh Adolescents’ wellbeing, resilience, and stress-coping study 5. KGS Parent Council 6. To Parents and carers of pupils who sat SQA exams in spring 2022 7. E-sgoil Study support for senior pupils 8. Celebrating Success 9. Cost of Living Crisis Support Scotland 10. Free school meals and clothing allowances 11. Billie Theatre Performance 12. Tracking and Monitoring of pupils’ Health and Wellbeing 13. Injuries that require crutches to be used. 1. Independent Review of Qualifications and Assessment/Hayward Review For your information, the public consultation for the Independent Review of SQA Qualifications and Assessment/Hayward Review is now live. Links to the public consultation can be found below. https://www.gov.scot/groups/independent-review-of-qualifications-and-assessment/ 2. National Discussion Scottish Education We would encourage as many parents as possible to engage in the national discussion regarding the future of Scottish education. You can find all the resources here: https://consult.gov.scot/national-discussion-scottish-education/ 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 next visit will be on Friday 18th November and parents can email [email protected] by Wednesday 16th November to book a place. 4. University of Edinburgh Adolescents’ wellbeing, resilience, and stress-coping study The aim of this study is to understand how parents’ thoughts in parenting make differences to adolescents’ wellbeing, resilience, and stress-coping. This study is conducted completely online and will take less than 15 minutes from parents, and less than 10 minutes for adolescents to complete. Please see attached poster for full information (including QR codes to the online survey and the researcher contact).  5. KGS Parent Council
The next meeting of the KGS Parent Council is at 6pm on Tuesday 15th November in the conference room at KGS. Please email [email protected] for more details Securing the Best Outcomes (Joe McCall) 6. To Parents and carers of pupils who sat SQA exams in spring 2022 SQA is currently carrying out a large-scale evaluation of the 2022 approach to National Qualifications assessment. Part of this includes gathering views from parents and carers on the Appeals 2022 service. They have a panel of parents and carers who take part in occasional surveys for SQA. If you would like to take part, please sign up using this link. www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/96570.html. The survey will be open until Friday 2 December. 7. E-sgoil Study support for senior pupils A reminder that Webinars are now available in almost all subjects Registration for Evening Webinars will be via the link below. (Pupils must log on to Glow before accessing the link to the registration form, and should check the timetable carefully before choosing the webinars they wish to attend.) https://www.e-sgoil.com/study-support/ Promoting Positive Behaviour and Relationships (Mr Harvey) 8. Celebrating Success At KGS we are keen to reward pupils for hard work, effort and generally doing well. This is done by issuing House Points. Each week the registration class that receives the most House Points receives a prize which you may have seen shared on our website and Facebook page. We have also started issuing individual certificates when pupils amass 20 or more House Points in a term. These are emailed to both pupil and parent/carer. Look out for these in your email inbox during the term Securing the Highest Level of Universal Support (Ms Devlin) 9. Cost of Living Crisis Support Scotland A new Scottish Government website has been launched to signpost advice and financial support available to people in Scotland. It includes information about support with increasing energy bills, Scottish and UK social security payments and benefits, support with housing costs, payments for families, as well as where to get further advice, benefit calculators, and wider health and wellbeing information. The website can be accessed at the link below: https://costofliving.campaign.gov.scot 10. Free school meals and clothing allowances Orkney Islands Council provides assistance with free school meals and clothing allowances to families on a low income who meet the eligibility criteria. The current clothing allowance is £120.00 per eligible primary child and £150.00 per eligible secondary child. More information can be found here: https://www.orkney.gov.uk/Service-Directory/S/School-Meals-and-Clothing-Allowances.htm 11. Billie Theatre Performance A reminder that on Wednesday 16th Nov S3 & S4 pupils will have the opportunity to watch the production of “Billie” by Rolled Up Theatre This production explores through the eyes of young people, the prevalence, impact, and effects gambling can have on individuals, families, friends, and the wider community. The play does include reference to a range of risk-taking behaviours, drugs, alcohol, smoking, etc, as well as references to death and bereavement. There is mild swearing. Following the 35-minute play, there will be a short interactive facilitated session that will pose questions and raise awareness's on several areas in the play and a range of risk-taking behaviours. It will endeavour to empower the audience to make more informed choices and decision making. 12. Tracking and Monitoring of pupils’ Health and Wellbeing The tracking and monitoring of how pupils are progressing in their subjects is a very important part of the work that staff here at KGS do. Making sure that we are also aware of how pupils are coping with aspects of their health and well-being is equally important. So that we can support any concerns that our pupils may have that we are unaware of, they will be undertaking a simple survey in their PSE lesson, as part of our usual Tracking and Monitoring processes. This will take place over the next two weeks. Following this, we will try to make sure that we are able to offer support to any pupil where there is a concern. Pupils will be sent an e-mail with the link to the survey on it on Monday morning. Please reassure your child that they are not expected to do the survey at home but will get help with it in PSE. The survey will ask pupils around 10 questions, based on aspects of their health and well-being. Questions will include topics on how safe they feel, how they feel about their achievements and how included they feel. Given that the pupils have the survey in their e-mails, feel free to look at it with them at home. Please don't hesitate to get in touch with Ms Devlin or Mrs Firth if you would like further information. 13. Injuries that require crutches to be used. If your child gets an injury that will require them to use crutches or a wheelchair for a time in school, we would be grateful if you let their Guidance teacher know before they return to school if possible. This is because a special fire safety routine will be organised, to ensure that pupils can exit the building safely in the event of a fire. In addition, pupils using crutches may need to leave lessons slightly early to give time for them to get to the next lesson and avoid crowds in the corridors. |
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