As always, this has been a very busy and productive term. Now that the clocks have gone forward we can all enjoy lighter evenings and take advantage of the better weather. I take this opportunity of wishing all staff and families a very relaxing and enjoyable Easter Holiday.
I can confirm that Wednesday 20 May will be an additional in-service day for all Nursery, Primary, Secondary and Special Schools in Edinburgh.
Pupils, parents and staff are asked to note that as a result of the extra in-service days over the next three years, the school day will have to start at 5.30 a.m. This will begin immediately after the summer holiday.
Liberton High School has been awarded £9,220 from ‘Awards for All’ to build on progress already made with Dance in the school!
During the past few weeks pupils across the school have been heavily involved in preparation for their final exams. Exam leave for S4 pupils begins on Tuesday 5 May and for pupils in S5 and S6 will begin on Friday 15 May.
Parents of pupils whose attendance continues to cause concern will be contacted by House Heads to discuss what support may be required, over the coming weeks. Well done, and thanks to all those who have managed high levels of attendance this session.
Warmest congratulations to Liam Allison, Lewis Allan and Callum Munro who won this year’s Edinburgh Schools Battle of the Bands final. The boys beat several great bands from all over Edinburgh to win the top prize of 2 days recording at a top studio.
Revision for exams All pupils are reminded of the extensive programme of revision classes that take place across the school during the school week. Additional classes will be on offer during the Easter Holiday. Details of these have already been passed to pupils. Please take advantage of these!
Events that have taken place in the last few weeks include:
• The astronomy club run by Mr Crawford meets regularly.
• Continuing rehearsals for Grease, which will be staged in June 2009
• Last week we ran a health promotion week across the whole school. ‘Body attack’ and ‘Cheerleading’ were among the activities on offer.
• Janet MacInnes, Writer in Residence, has been based at Liberton High School
• Syd Maddicott (British High Commissioner to Cameroon) visited us on Friday 27 March and presented to S6 pupils about life in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
• Jennifer Martin has joined us on a four week placement as a Musician in Residence
• Rudi Oppenheimer (Holocaust survivor) visited and addressed an S2 assembly on Tuesday 31 March.
• A BBC film production team visited Liberton High school to record pupils’ opinions on ‘Democracy and Politics in Scotland’ for a Learning Zone programme on Democracy in Action.
Staffing update Miss Nowosielska (Bursar), Mrs Day (Office), Mr Scott (Art) and Mr Waterhouse (CDT) are currently off through ill-health. We wish them all a speedy recovery.
The Library is collecting Times and Sunday Times tokens for free books for school. Please continue to support a very worthy cause!
Litter All pupils are requested to be considerate of others and our environment when disposing of waste. Please use the litter bins provided!
BBC Blast! Came into school and spent the morning with a lucky group of S2 pupils. The aim of the workshop was to introduce the pupils to the variety of Media products which can be created easily using simple computer programmes. During the two hour workshop, all of the pupils were involved in creating both a short radio programme and a short 3D animation. All the projects were a great success and the pupils were very proud of their work. Thanks to Miss Mackinnon for organising this.
On 24 March, Saffron Law, Kieran Armitage, Emma McNaughton and Fraser Murray took part in a Childline Conference which looked at the issues of peer pressure and bullying. They were asked to look at the issues and think about some solutions to the problems and at the end they had to make a presentation in which Saffron stood up and spoke in front of 100 people! They all found the day really interesting and informative and we have come back to school with lots of ideas to help combat the issues! Thanks to Miss Arnold for leading on this.
I am delighted to note the positive impact that the Story-teller, Ruth Kirkpatrick, and the Writer in Residence, Janet MacInnes, have had on the classes they have been visiting in the English department over the past few weeks. The pupils are very engaged with the work that was done by both of these creative people. A range of topics were explored with whole classes, and smaller groups, in order to raise awareness of, and encourage interest in, writing, especially by Scottish authors and poets. Work was undertaken with lots of our pupils of all abilities and across the year groups. A huge, long, Japanese poem called a Renga was composed in the library by pupils from S2-S4 and some really imaginative poems have been written by the pupils themselves!
We are now running a homework club for all pupils. S1 – S3 Tuesdays straight after school,
S4 – S6 Wednesday’s straight after school – these clubs allow pupils the opportunity to complete homework for any subject in a quiet environment and with access to computers and the internet. Thanks to Miss Rankin for organising this.
Key Dates for your Diary
Friday 3 April Term Ends (Dress Down day for charity)
Tuesday 21 April New term begins
Monday 4 May May Day Holiday
Tuesday 5 May Exam leave begins for S4 pupils
Friday 15 May Exam leave begins for S5 and S6 pupils
Monday 18 May Victoria Day Holiday
Tues 19 and Wed 20 May In-service days. Additional holidays for pupils
Check the school website for copies of all previous bulletins and other important news!
My sincere thanks for your continuing support in 2009. Donald J Macdonald (Headteacher)
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