Kingussie High School Tel: 01540 661 475 Ruthven Road Email: [email protected]2015 Ollie Bray Head Teacher 2015 KINGUSSIE HIGH SCHOOL NEWSLETTER Newsletter Introduction – February 2015 It has been a funny start to 2015 at Kingussie High School and as you will know we have been closed on a number of occasions due to flooding, bad weather and most recently no water! Hopefully we are now though the worst of the closures as we begin the final countdown to the 2015 SQA exam diet. Don’t forget, to enquire about school closure information please phone the Highland Council emergency closure number 0800 564 2272 and when prompted enter the pin for Kingussie High School 04 1120. Finally, press ‘1’ for severe weather and ‘3’ for general information. Behind the scenes we have been working hard on next year’s curriculum and I look forward to welcoming many of you to our senior options information evening on the 3 rd March at 7pm in the main school hall. We have also been refining our interim reporting methodology for S1 – S3 and working on an up-dated communication strategy for 2015/2016 (which will make more use of parent email and our recently trialled text message service). Finally, our international education work continues to flourish and most recently we have welcomed Mr Dumisani Magwejani to KHS from our partner school in Muloza, Malawi. As well as seeing snow for the first time Mr Magwejani has also been working in our science department and given a talk at Aviemore Primary School. The purpose of the February newsletter is to give you an up-date on Parent Council Activities, Remind you of key dates between now and the end of the year and to provide some additional information on our vocational pathways and PSHE programme. As always if you have any questions about your child’s education, please do not hesitate to contact me at the school.
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We are proud to announce that the PC has achieved Charitable Status! This broadens our fundraising scope considerably and also means that anyone making donations to the PC (for example, businesses) can do so via Gift Aid and recover the tax. A huge thanks to Ali Leiper and Penny MacKenzie for ploughing through the paperwork. Our Charity Number is: SC045172
Parent Council Fundraising team Looking for new members! We are looking for new enthusiastic members to come and help us raise much needed funds for the kids of Kingussie High School. If you are interested to learn more please contact the Parent Council or better still come along to our next meeting where you can discover for yourself what is involved. We have supported the sponsored walk, sports day, organised raffles, held coffee mornings, lemonade stands, smoothie stands, School Quiz’s, a jewellery night, bag packs at Tesco and have started a lucky numbers lotto which this year alone has raised £430.00! In recent years we have raised money for the following: Reward charts, Home Economic equipment, Orienteering Equipment, Headphones, Digital Recorder, Maps, Equipment for the Library, Equipment
for the Arts Dept, Equipment for the Support Centre, Sports strips for the PE Dept, contributed to school show and paid for the school sign at Main Gate which we are waiting delivery of. The work is lots of fun and the rewards are
great knowing that we are supporting the
kids in their endeavours, so if you think you
would like to help please get in touch!
The Parent Council (PC) would welcome your opinions and input on a variety of issues. We have drawn up a survey in consultation with the school Senior Management Team. Please complete the form at http://goo.gl/forms/kiL6FrryIE by Friday 13th March 2015. If you have problems with this link, please contact Eileen Holmes ([email protected]).The summarised results will be made available on the PC website and discussed at PC meetings with the SMT.
On Thursday 5th Feb, in spite of the school closure, a group of young
people from Kingussie High School travelled to Inverness College.
They were able to find out about some of the Skills for Work
courses available at college for school pupils, by taking part in two
hands-on workshops.
Courses are open to anyone in S3 – S6 and give school pupils the
chance to learn in the college environment every Friday. The
programme offers courses that are not normally available in school
and include Construction, Car Mechanics, Fabrication & Welding,
Energy, Uniformed & Emergency Services, Cookery, Beauty and
Hairdressing. The courses have an application deadline of 25th
March and application forms are available from Guidance Teachers
at school.
Vocational Pathways
Programme
S 2 and S3 Elective Drama Groups
Mr Mackintosh and Lorraine Hemmings (the Creative Drama worker
from Eden Court) have been very pleased with the work and progress
the second year students have made with this course. Tuesday
afternoons are used for active performing work with Lorraine, while
the Wednesday period has contained more study and preparation type
work. However, they have recorded short scenes and monologues that
they created themselves. Their next task is to rehearse and perform
a short scene from a play. Mr Mackenzie’s third year group have also
been doing well. Thanks to sixth year students, Rosemary MacDonald
and Craig Smillie, who have been helping out with the S2 group.
Starting in S1 we look at the process of puberty and the affect this has on young people. We support young people to learn the anatomy and terminology of sexual parts and encourage them to discuss sexual matters openly within the classroom. We use a variety of resources including the BBC DVD “The Human Body” by Robert Winston as well as “About You” materials provided by Proctor and Gamble. In S2 and S3 we use the SHARE (Sexual Health & Relationship Education) materials, recommended by Highland Council. This is an evidence based programme which looks at sexual health in the context of loving relationships. Jan Johnson, the school nurse, supports delivery of the STI’s (sexually transmitted infections) and contraception topics. We also use resources such as the education packages from television programmes like “Baby Borrowers” and “Under 16 & Pregnant” to explore the issues around parenting. In S4 our focus is on relationships, including those that are not positive and healthy. As with all personal and social education there is a strong theme on taking responsibility for positive decision making in the context of sexual health.
Sexual Health Education
If you have any questions or would like more information about the programme please do not hesitate to contact your child’s Guidance Teacher.
As part of the Personal and Social education programme we teach sexual health to S1 – S4.
S3 Drugs Education Over the past few weeks, S3 students have been exploring some of the issues around miss-use of substances. The programme allows young people to consider substance use and the short and long term dangers of continued use. We are very grateful for the support of Stuart Mackellaig from ‘Police Scotland’ and Jake Lee from ‘Nairn & Ardersier Young People’s Drug and Alcohol Services’ in the delivery of the programme. Their specialised experience and knowledge provided a great context for the delivery of drugs education especially around new psychoactive substances. Jake is able to offer confidential and free advice to young people aged 16 to 25 about any issues around drugs and alcohol. He can be contacted on 01667 452101 or mobile 07824 417 725. All S3 students will be issued with an information pack collated by the Badenoch & Strathspey Drug & Alcohol Forum which includes a guide for parents. Information and advice can also be found on the “Talk to Frank” website.
Our local policeman Stuart Mackellaig has been in school today talking about Drugs and Alcohol education with groups of S3 students as part of our Social Education programme.
He also dropped off some excellent new posters and teaching resources.
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Kingussie High School Sports Dinner
23rd April 2015 from 7pm, MacDonald Resort Aviemore
Ticket prices (Include 3 course meal and speaker):