Dear Parents and Carers,
Thank you for your continuing efforts in supporting your children to learn at home. We still have no definite idea of when a return to school for some or all pupils might take place, and it is vital that children stay focussed on their learning to prevent them from falling behind. Several parents of S1 and S2 pupils have been in touch to say that they, or their children, find organising the work for their many subjects too confusing and it is making an already difficult situation even harder. To try to mitigate this we are introducing a 2 week rota of subjects for pupils in S1 and S2. Pupils will have fewer subjects to focus on each week, but will have more work to do for those subjects that week. This should allow for a better depth of learning to take place and for greater consolidation.
Next week is a Week A: S1 will do English, Social Subjects, Music, Art, Technical and Languages. S2 will do Maths, Sciences, Drama, Home Ec., PE, Computing and Business.
Week beginning 8th Feb is a Week B: S1 will do Maths, Sciences, Drama, Home Ec., PE, Computing and Business. S2 will do English, Social Subjects, Music, Art, Technical and Languages.
Week beginning 15th February is a holiday so, the week beginning 22nd Feb will be back to week A and so on.
There will be no changes for S3 and Senior phase pupils. Pupils in classes studying for National exams must continue to complete all new learning tasks set by their teachers but should also be setting aside time for revision too. As many of you will have seen on the news, the SQA have extended the deadline by which teachers will submit their assessed grades to the middle of June. This was a necessary change to allow schools time to collect and moderate enough evidence for their judgements. Students will be taking assessments now, and when they return, that could be part of the evidence used to produce their final grade. Failure to engage fully with learning that is taking place now is likely to have a negative impact on future attainment. Where pupils are having issues with specific aspects of work they should get in touch with their teacher immediately for help. Pupils who are struggling with their mental health or have more general concerns should contact their pupil support teacher or the school office, who will forward it to the most appropriate person or agency.
Enjoy your weekend.
Yours sincerely,
Anthony Tuffery, Headteacher
