Now that we are into November and the weather is getting colder I would ask parents to ensure that pupils have a suitable winter coat. You would be surprised at how many pupils claim that they have to go home to change after being caught in a shower on their way to school! Needless to say, we will not send pupils home to change unless they are absolutely drenched and we have contacted parents to ensure there is someone at home.
Parent Questionnaire The On Board Rewards Group has produced a short questionnaire to seek parents’ views on the system. This can be found on the school website www.liberton.edin.sch.uk. To obtain the necessary password, please telephone the school office on 0131 664 7514.
We would very much appreciate you taking the time to complete this to help with our planning for the future.
Dress Code We are a bit concerned by the small number of pupils, mainly in S3 and S4 whose washing machines appear to break down on a Thursday evening. Parents should note that Fridays, like any other day, are normal dress code days. If there is a genuine difficulty with your child wearing dress code on a particular day then please be sure to provide him/her with a note.
‘X’ Factor Thursday 11 October saw Liberton High School hold its annual X Factor Competition. Ross Hunter claimed the Best Instrumental award while Mark Milligan of S1 won over the crowd with Toploaders ‘Dancing in the Moonlight’ to take the Best Vocal performance award. The Best Dance award went to Dancetastic; this group was made up of 3 S2 pupils Caitlin Welsh, Andrea Munro and Alexandra Chalmers. The band ‘Minority’ featuring Liam Allison, Michael Selkirk, Ross Hunter and Callum Munro claimed the Best Band award. As an extra bonus, and thanks to one of our judges Mrs Cathie Rae of the Sound Café recording studio, the boys have been given the chance to record their own song in the studio. This years X Factor Champion was also last years joint winner. Jack Robertson of S2 once again put on a fantastic performance to claim the title of X Factor Champion 2007.
Staffing update Welcome back to Mrs Lee who has rejoined us after illness. Mrs Reid (Learning Support) will be off for a few more weeks. Mr Porter (Guidance) will be leaving us to take up a more senior position in Firrhill High School in December. Mrs Coburn has been appointed as Principal Teacher of PE. We will be interviewing for the vacant Teacher of Chemistry position in a few days time.
Christmas stocking fillers Here are a few ideas for stocking fillers for our pupils at LHS: New fully stocked pencil case; A Liberton High School Fleece with logo (available through our school office); Past papers for various subjects (Available from good bookshops)
Samba 10 pupils from S2 and S3 have recently been working with an instructor from the Edinburgh Samba School. They led the Lantern procession on Sunday 4th November as part of the Wee Autumn Festival.
Homework and assessments Parents are requested to check regularly with pupils as to when homework and tests are due. Your encouragement really does make a difference. As a minimum homework, all pupils are expected to be checking over their notes each evening. Anything that is not clear should be raised with the class teacher at the earliest opportunity.
The Liberton High School Careers’ Convention scheduled for 8 November has had to be postponed until the Spring. Details will follow later.
University We really appreciate the tremendous support we get from the University of Edinburgh in providing a range of activities to stimulate our most able pupils. Of course we expect all our pupils to aspire to obtaining University Entrance qualifications. Currently, around 1 in 5 of our S1 intake goes to University. Why can’t we all aim to increase that number over the coming years?
Higher Geography Conference Well done to all the pupils who attended and participated so well in the Higher Geography conference on Friday 26 October.
Media studies excursion In order to enrich their studies, a group of senior pupils from Ms Mackinnon’s class attended National Schools Film Week screenings of ‘A Guide to Recognising Your Saints’ on Wednesday 30 October.
House Captains Congratulations to the following who have been elected as House Captains for this session:
Clyde – Jessica Finlayson and Lindsey Louden
Dee – David Laidlaw and Laura Rae
Forth – Jennifer Fawkes and Heather Lennie
Tay – Rachel Docherty and Sean Young
African Lunch Mrs Imlach’s S5/6 Int 2 Hospitality class will make an African lunch for staff on Tuesday 13 November. Proceeds will go to supporting our sponsored child (Seidu) from Ghana.
Sponsored Fast 2007 Congratulations to all 40 staff and pupils who took part in the Sponsored Fast on Thursday 8 November. All the money raised goes to charity.
Swimming Well done to Andrea Sheen who continues to make excellent progress in swimming. We wish her success if she qualifies for the finals on 22 November.
Diving Four of our first year girls were entered into the White Rose Diving competition in Leeds over the October holidays and did amazingly well. All the places are out of 26:
Daisy Forbes (1T) placed 20th
Rebecca Stevenson (1C) placed 17th
Taylor Ross (1DA) placed 18th
Rebecca Graham (1C) placed 3rd!!!! (Rebecca is in the Scotland squad for her age group)
Darts Star Well done to Jamie Clayton (S5) who is making a name for himself as a darts player. We wish Jamie all the best as he is shortly to begin work experience with a local employer. Did you know that playing darts is a great way of developing mental arithmetic? Another idea for a Christmas present!
Dates for the Diary
Tuesday 13 November S1 parents/teachers consultation night
Thursday 15 November Race night in aid of Liberton Ski Trip (Tickets from School office)
Thursday 22 November Parents’ information evening – sexual health
Monday 26 November S4 work experience begins
Tuesday 27 November Parent council meeting. 7 Pm in staffroom.
Friday 7 December S2 reports to parents
Thursday 13 December S2 parents/teachers consultation night (5- 7 pm)
Monday 17 December Carol Concert (Tickets will be available from school office)
Friday 21 December Term ends at 12.30. (Charity dress down day for staff and pupils)
And finally ... The Health Promoting Schools working group are well on their way to achieving stage one of health promotion status. The group need to identify 4 tasks that will contribute to taking Liberton forward on its journey to becoming a Health Promoting School. So far, we have surveyed students, parents and staff views to come up with the 4 tasks and are in the process of identifying these tasks and carrying them out. This is an exciting time for Liberton and already some very impressive health related projects are going on in school. For example, the ‘On Board’ system. This system promotes a very positive ethos in the school and encourages the well-being of our students. We will keep you updated in December with more details. By this time we should have achieved stage one.
Please share any news with me that you would like me to publicise or let me know if there is anything in particular that you would like to see included in future editions of this bulletin.
Donald J Macdonald (Headteacher)
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