Welcome to this week’s Friday note. We have had another very busy week here at CCHS and I thank all young people and staff for their hard work and commitment to learning and teaching. I have taken part in a range of lessons this week and it is an absolute pleasure to observe young people and staff working so well together with creative and innovative practice in action in the classroom.
We work towards the October holiday next week and this is always a milestone in the first term. We have a lot to be proud of as a school and we look forward to continuing to work with young people after the holiday where we will be asking them for their views on many aspects of school life. Pupil voice will be a priority over the next year to make sure young people have their say in how they learn, their experiences in the classroom and how we can continue improve how we do things at Currie.
Health and Safety:
Covid cases remain low again this week and we await a further update from the Scottish Government on whether any guidance will change on our return from mid term. As always, I will keep you updated.
Equalities Update:
We had a fantastic Equalities professional learning afternoon for staff last Friday. The focus was on Anti Racism and one of the most powerful elements of the learning was from a young person of Currie who presented to all staff about their experiences as a young person of colour. It was outstanding how well they spoke to identify what we do well in terms of Anti Racism practice and what we need to do to continue to be pro actively anti racist. We will working with all young people on this important aspect of school life over the coming months and by being more deliberate in our actions will ensure all young people and staff feel safe and included. It is of course Black History Month this month and our Equalities group are supporting faculties to share powerful messages so that we can understand and celebrate the impact of black heritage and culture. There are some lovely examples across the school.
Celebrating Success
European Day of Languages:
Well done to the winners in all year groups of our European Day of Languages quiz! The challenge involved guessing which teacher was speaking in which language. Answers varied from Mr Toal speaking Gaelic, to Mr Ingham reciting Harry Potter in Latin to Ms Jordan practising her Spanish. The highlight was Mr Brunton singing ‘Happy Birthday’ in Norwegian! Well done to all pupils who took part and in particular to our overall winners.
S1: Benjamin Shields, Connor Mackay, Elsie McLeod, Rebecca Tait, Ben Deuchars, Stanislas Malarz
S2: Ronan Bassett, Taha Basbaydar
S3: Ruby Keegan, Ava Irwin, Emily Gibson
S4: Chris Reid, Sam Reynolds, Finlay Rankin, Gaynor Gibbons, Katie Nicol
S5: Ciara Rankin, Catriona Duncan
S6: Bronwyn Welsh, Lucy Maloney
SSAA (Scottish Schools Athletics Association) Road Race:
The following pupils took part in the above road race this week:
- Rebecca Harborow
- Isla Hutchison
- Esther Taylor
- Ella Jones
All young people were great representatives of the school. It was a very hilly course which made it very competitive and a tough run. Places haven’t been confirmed yet but what we do know is that each of these pupils did themselves proud! Well done!
Duke of Edinburgh:
We have had Bronze Duke of Edinburgh participants out this week on expedition. They are doing superbly well so far and lovely to see D of E up and running again. We look forward to hearing how they get on at the end of their adventures next week. They are certainly a highly committed and determined group of young people.
Communication:
We will in the coming weeks be launching our school app. This is a one stop shop for communication and is a very exciting development indeed. We realise that you receive a huge amount of information from us and we want to make life simple by ensuring that everything is in the one place. Watch this space. The app is coming soon!
Late Coming:
We have noticed a deterioration in late coming to school after registration from 8.40am. Young people should be ready to come into school from 8.25am. For some young people, there may be genuine reasons as to why they are late and for others, this is now becoming negative habit forming. We will be reinstating after the October holiday lates detentions for those young people who are repeatedly late to school so that we can educate them that this is about preparation for life beyond school and positive habit forming. Please can I ask for your support in ensuring your child does get to school on time. It does make a difference and if counted up over a week, can be one or two hours of learning missed. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
S1 update evening (Wednesday 27th October at 6PM):
Mr McKinney (S1 Year Head) and I as Head Teacher would like the opportunity to share with all S1 parents an update on how well they have settled into school, some information about break and lunch and a chance for S1 parents/carers to ask questions. Mr McKinney will share a form with you all next week to ask questions in advance of the meeting itself. This will be on Teams and we will share a link shortly.
Calendar week beg 11.10.21
Monday 11th October – PiP Meeting 7PM Join conversation (microsoft.com)
Tuesday 12th October – S4 Parent’s Evening 4.15 – 6.45PM
Wednesday 13th October – S1 Settling in Reports issued
Friday 15th October – Start of October holiday
Dates for your diary:
Tuesday 26th October – S2 Workshops with Mrs Hutchison and Mr McKinney (more information to follow)
Wednesday 27th October, 6PM – S1 update evening with Head Teacher (Mrs Hutchison) and Year Head (Mr McKinney) via Teams for all S1 parents/carer and S1 pupils
Thursday 28th October – S4 Workshops with Mrs Hutchison and Ms Muir (more information to follow)S1 settling in evening with group tutors 4.15-6.45pm
Friday 29th October – ‘Show Racism the Red card’ day (Dress Down day for one of our school charities – Wear Red!)
Have a wonderful weekend everyone and thank you all once again for your unwavering support of the school.
