Week Eight

Dear Parents and Carers 

The first term of the year is always a tiring one, and this has been especially true after 2 disrupted years due to covid, but we are incredibly proud of how positively the pupils have engaged with their lessons and how motivated they have been to make the most of opportunities available to them.  

When we return after the holidays, we’ll refresh our promoting positive behaviour policies, including exciting news about how we’ll be celebrating our pupils' successes further. Thank you in advance for encouraging them to continue arriving punctually for school each day, wearing their dress code and being ready to learn.  Please also check that they have money on their account for the school canteen if they use this. 

During this term, all pupils have been invited to give the school feedback – through questionnaires, pupil council meetings and one-to-one discussions.  They told us that they’d like to make more decisions about their own learning, they’d like us to recognise their achievements more and they’d like to get to know the staff better.  We’ll be working on these areas with pupils next term and we hope to gather feedback from parents during face-to-face sessions (covid restrictions permitting) including parents’ evenings and other school activities.

Advance notice for parents of our senior pupils: Our prelims are calendared to take place 17th - 28th January 2022.  Pupils will be receiving study skills lessons next term and will be fully supported to be successful in these practice exams. 

We were hoping to have an announcement about updated covid-restrictions in school before the start of the holidays but unfortunately this hasn’t happened yet.  Therefore, the restrictions will stand as they are currently when we return from the holidays.  Obviously if there is an announcement over the next 2 weeks though, we will let you know.  During the holidays, we would still continue to advise pupils take twice weekly lateral flow tests.  Please remember that logging both positive and negative results helps public health to have a better understanding of cases across our community. 

We’ve been asked to share with you 3 additional notices: 

• Inclusive Orkney 
  
• Unsung Hero Award 2021 
  
• Firework Safety 
  

 
We hope you all have a relaxing October holiday and we look forward to seeing pupils back on Monday 25th October. 

Miss Claire Meakin 
​Head Teacher