December Bulletin

As another very successful and exciting year at Liberton High draws to a close I am delighted to bring to your attention a brief summary of some of the things that are happening in and around the school at the moment. Events to finish off the term will include our annual Carol Concert and traditional staff/pupil Pantomime to mark the last day of term.

Along with this newsletter you will also receive a copy of your child’s attendance summary. I am pleased to say that overall attendance across the school is improving. Please continue to support us in reinforcing the importance of attendance to all pupils. Do contact Guidance Staff if you feel the record is inaccurate or you can update absences recorded as unexplained. Many potential employers do look at punctuality and attendance before deciding on who to interview.

I hope that pupils sitting prelims in January will make time to do some revision work in preparation for their prelim exams at the end of January. I take this opportunity of wishing all of our families a very happy Christmas and a prosperous and successful New Year.

Parent Council News The Parent Council is very concerned about the impact of budget cuts on our school. The budget for all schools in Edinburgh was cut by 1.5% this year and we have been informed that it will be cut again next year. The Parent Council will send out a newsletter (by pupil post) with more details about this and what action we intend to take.

We have been asked to consult all parents about the school session dates for 2010/11. The proposed dates can be found on http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/internet/Learning/Schools/Parent-involvement. Please send any comments to us by 23 January 2009. Either send a note to the Parent Council (c/o the school office) or e-mail (lhs.parentcouncil@googlemail.com)

The next Parent Council meeting will be on 20 January 2009 at 7.00 pm in the school staff room. All parents are warmly invited to attend.

Very well done to the following:
• Kirsten Kryzaniwsky, Lauren Hand and Lauren McHugh, all in S2, who won a trip to London, after winning a national competition on Stem Cell research. Runners up were Georgia King and Lauren Bell our S3 team.
• Rebecca Stevenson (2T) and Rebecca Graham (2C) who took first and second places in the Central schools trampolining championships.
• Andrea Sheen who was a medallist in the 200M and put in a personal best time at the Edinburgh Schools swimming finals – this despite being off school ill for the two days before the races! Additionally, her younger brother, Murray Sheen, who is in P7 at Liberton Primary, also swam brilliantly in the 50m breaststroke breaking the magic 50 second barrier.
• Connor Hounsom who has achieved black belt 1st Dan in Tae Kwan’ do
• Jack Crawford, Michael Ellis, Matthew Gilliland, Cameron Laing and Darren Reid (all S3) took part in an investment challenge. They did very well and managed to increase their £15,000 cash to a portfolio value of £95,400 and ended up a very respectable fifth out of 25 schools, the highest position and value in the 3 years in which we have been taking part in the competition.
Staffing update. Mr Bryant (Art), Ms Nowosielska (Bursar) and Mr Scott (Art) will miss the last few weeks of this term; I am sure you will wish to join me in wishing them a speedy recovery and return to work early in the new year.

Dress Code. Friday 19 December will be a dress down day for charity for all pupils and staff. This is sure to be fun and it is fitting that we use some of the money raised to help those who are less fortunate than ourselves. Each pupil and teacher is invited to pay a minimum of £1 each.

Events that have taken place in the last three weeks include:
• AIDS/HIV awareness workshops for a range of pupils from across the school.
• Auditions for Grease, which will be staged in June 2009
• Pupils entry to Lego challenge– involves programming a robot and presenting a climate related project.
• Oral history information gathering by various pupils working with Edinburgh University
• S6 pupils engaged in reading with S1 pupils
• £326 raised by the school for Children in Need
• The House Captains have led assemblies on anti-bullying
• Senior pupils have visited local primary schools (Liberton and Gilmerton) to share skills and interests with younger learners
• Visit by S3 standard grade chemistry pupils from LHS to The Royal Society of Chemistry Christmas lecture, on the chemistry of fireworks at Edinburgh University.
• Pupils involved in a number of activities across the school to commemorate Guy Fawkes’ use of Gunpowder
• Our HE department and pupils raised £136 for one of our sponsored children in Nicaragua by having a wraps and soup lunch.
• A travelling Art Gallery visited our school on Monday 1 December
• Several pupils featured in an advert by the British Heart Foundation to encourage the eating of healthy food
• S3 and S4 pupils attended a conference at Edinburgh Zoo on Global Climate change
• A large number of pupils continue to take part in a range of extra curricular activities every week

Dates for the Diary
Thursday 11 December S4 Parents’ Evening (6-8 pm)
Monday 15 December Carol Concert
Friday 19 December Term ends
Monday 5 January All resume
Thursday 15 January S2 Parents’ Evening (6-8 pm). A general information session on courses for S3 will take place in the library at 5.30 pm.
Monday 19 January Meeting for parents of those going to Paris in June 2009
Monday 26 January Intermediate and Higher prelims begin

Please share any news with me that you would like me to publicise. Do also let me know if there is anything in particular that you would like to see included in future editions of this bulletin.
Check the school website for copies of all previous bulletins and other important news! (http://www.liberton.edin.sch.uk)

My sincere thanks for your continuing support in 2008.

Donald J Macdonald (Headteacher)