Dear Parents and Carers Thank you for your continued support. We are missing the opportunities to meet with you face-to-face and we do hope that covid-restrictions allow us to return to these activities very soon. For now though, thank you for continuing to communicate with us via emails and phone calls - we always appreciate the contact! Today's update contains 4 notices from the senior leadership team: If you have any questions about these topics, or anything else, please don't hesitate to contact us. We hope you have a lovely weekend, Claire Meakin (Head Teacher) ![]() Prelims and revision for senior pupils (Mr Ewing) S4 Prelim arrangements Monday 24h to Friday 28th: For S4 there will be no study leave and pupils are expected in school as normal. However, when in classes, National 5 S4 pupil will be given the opportunity to study, and National 4 pupils may work on internal assessment, added value units etc. Pupils should, if they have no exam, go to College as normal. S5 and S6 exam arrangements: S5/6 study leave continues until Friday 28th January and pupils will only be required to be in school if they have an exam, or they choose to study here. Pupils will be welcome to study in school during study leave but we ask that they wear dress code and sign in and out of school at normal times i.e. at the start of the day, break and lunch. This is important as we need to know who is in the building for safety purposes. Study support: Pupils that they can access live webinars and a whole range of resources to support their revision on: https://e-sgoil.com/study-support/ E-sgoil have recently published their ‘Easter Study Support School’ too which is definitely worth investigating. Your exams booklet: We’ve uploaded a copy of this to the home page of our website. It lets pupils know what to expect in their exams. Page 9 also has a useful reminder about items that would be prohibited in the exam hall. Covid Mitigations for prelims: We have identified week beginning 31 January as a catch-up week when any pupil who have missed a prelim due to Covid will have the opportunity to sit their assessments. Pupils will be asked to wear masks during their prelims and to hand sanitise on their way in and way out of their venue. Pupils should be aware that the prelim venues will be well ventilated and should wear suitable clothing. ![]() Our options programme for S2 - S5 pupils (Mr Ewing) S2 into S3 Options: S2 into S3 options materials are now live on the KGS Website under the options 2022 link on the right-hand side of the homepage. There will be an online options information evening for S2 on Tuesday 25th January 6pm – 7pm. To join go to: https://app.vscene.net/r/EFJnqsG1NI S3 into S4, S4 into S5 and S5 into S6 Options: Options for our senior phase pupils will begin on 1 February and close on 4 March and more information for parents and pupils will follow shortly ![]() Our drive towards perfect punctuality (Mr Harvey and Mrs Watson) Punctuality in the morning continues to be an improving picture. There are now very few pupils arriving in school late. Staff continue to share with pupils the importance of being punctual and this week we have started issuing detentions to pupils who have been late twice. Thank you to all parents/carers for supporting this message at home. We’ve been focusing on punctuality throughout the day too and have been closely monitoring the electronic registers each lesson period. We’re asking pupils to arrive promptly at each lesson, ready to learn. In the small number of cases where pupils haven’t met this expectation, a detention has been issued. ![]() An opportunity for 13 - 16 year olds (Ms Devlin) Police Scotland is looking to rebuild the Police Scotland Youth Volunteer (PSYV) unit in Kirkwall by recruiting a number of Youth Volunteers (between 13 and 16 years). PSYV provides an opportunity to find out how Emergency Services work within the community. Volunteers can work at events within the community such as the County Show, music festivals and emergency service exercises. The PSYV scheme is good for building confidence, team working and has been recognised as very helpful on applications for employment, college and university. If you think that your son/daughter would be interested, please ask them to let their Guidance Teacher know. Dear Parents and Carers
We’ve enjoyed lots of successes and achievements this week, including presenting a group of pupils with their John Muir Discovery Award. You can read a little about the pupils’ hard work, along with seeing some of them receive their awards from Mr Ewing, on the homepage of our website. We loved chatting with S2 parents and carers this week at our virtual parents’ evening and we look forward to seeing S3 parents and carers on 2nd February. Details about how to book appointments will be shared on Monday 24th January and the booking will close on Monday 31st January. We will be sharing our latest tracking summaries with all S1 – 3 parents before the midterm break and we will keep our senior parents updated with pupils’ progress in their prelims before the end of term. If parents or carers have any questions in the meantime though, please don’t hesitate to contact the relevant Guidance Teacher. Securing the best outcomes for all (Mr Ewing) S4 Prelim arrangements Monday 17th to Friday 28th: For S4 there will be no study leave and pupils are expected in school as normal. However, when in classes, National 5 S4 pupil will be given the opportunity to study, and National 4 pupils may work on internal assessment, added value units etc. Pupils should, if they have no exam, go to College as normal. S5 and S6 exam arrangements: S5/6 pupils will have study leave from Monday 17th to Friday 28th January and will only be required to be in school if they have an exam, or they choose to study here. Pupils will be welcome to study in school during study leave but we ask that they wear dress code and sign in and out of school at normal times ie at the start of the day, break and lunch. This is important as we need to know who is in the building for safety purposes. Covid Mitigations: We have identified week beginning 31 January as a catch-up week when any pupil who have missed a prelim due to Covid will have the opportunity to sit their assessments. Pupils will be asked to wear masks during their prelims and to hand sanitise on their way in and way out of their venue. Pupils should be aware that the prelim venues will be well ventilated and should wear suitable clothing. S2 into S3 Options: S2 into S3 options materials go live on the KGS Website on Monday 17 January. There will be an online options information evening for S2 on Tuesday 25th January 6pm – 7pm. Login details etc to follow S3 into S4, S4 into S5 and S5 into S6 Options: Options for our senior phase pupils will begin on 1 February and close on 4 March and more information for parents and pupils will follow shortly Promoting positive behaviour and relationships (Mr Harvey and Mrs Watson) SUPPORTING PUNCTUAL ATTENDANCE TO SCHOOL We have been working hard over the past few months to effectively support pupils to arrive at school on time. It is important that all pupils arrive at school on time for registration at 08:35am. Registration is an important part of the school day, giving pupils a consistent daily start at Kirkwall Grammar School. There has been a dramatic reduction in the number of pupils arriving for school late over the past months and we want to thank all pupils, parents/carers and staff for supporting this. As a result, we are now able to adopt a slightly different approach to monitoring and supporting punctual attendance. From Monday 17th January the following approach will applied:
Universal support (Ms Devlin) Last week we shared with parents the link to sign their child up for the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel scheme. We have been made aware that the application form is quite extensive so we are keen to support all parents to complete this. If you we can help in this process, please contact Amy Berry on the normal school number who will organise a time to support you. For Parents/Carers of S5 Pupils: Applications to Sutton Trust Summer Schools are now open. What is the Sutton Trust Summer School? This opportunity is for pupils who may be interested in degree apprenticeships or going to study at University. Successful applicants experience a week-long residential at one of thirteen universities across the UK. Attending Summer Schools increases confidence, raises aspirations, and prepares students for the way ahead. All costs including travel, accommodation, food and activities are covered which means it is completely free of charge for students to attend. You can watch a short video here to give you a taste of what Sutton Trust Summer Schools are like. Pupils should speak with their Guidance Teacher, if they would like to find our more information on how to apply. Finally, we had a reminder from OIC Chief Executive this week: The May Day Bank Holiday on 2 May has been cancelled and this has been replaced by a Jubilee Holiday on 2 and 3 June. Our calendar has been updated on the homepage of our website. We hope you all have a relaxing weekend. Miss Claire Meakin Dear Parents and Carers Thank you for your support with ensuring pupils returned to school ready to learn following the holiday. The next few weeks will be incredibly busy with prelims for our senior pupils, S2 parents’ evening and our course choice programme starting, beginning with S2 pupils. As always, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s Guidance teacher who will be very happy to help. Over the last 2 terms, staff and pupils have taken part in a range of feedback and planning sessions, including questionnaires and small group discussions, which led to the creation of our whole school improvement plan. The plan has 3 key priorities which we will focus on for the remainder of this session, along with next (2022 – 2023). We have identified some focus areas and will be updating you on our progress against them across the next 18 months. We would welcome parents’ involvement with these priorities and would encourage you to contact our Parent Council if there’s an area of interest for you: [email protected] Positive behaviour and relationships – Mr Harvey and Mrs Watson We have seen a marked improvement in punctuality this week and we want to thank all parents and carers who have supported us with this. We are in the process of redrafting our ‘Promoting positive behaviour’ policy and we hope to be able to share this with you shortly. Our celebrating success programme continues to be a success with pupils receiving house points and nominations each week for their excellent effort, attitude and achievement. Please keep letting us know about your child’s achievement outwith school so we can include these in our celebrations. Best possible outcomes – Mr Ewing S4/5/6 Prelims. A communication will be shared today with S4/5/6 parents outlining arrangements for the prelims taking place week beginning 17 January. An updated timetable is available from the homepage of our website. Our S2 Parents’ evening is on Wednesday 12th January from 5-7pm. If you’ve had any challenges booking appointments, please contact your child’s guidance teacher. S2 into S3 options. A communication outlining the options process will come out to parents today. S2 into S3 Options materials will go “live” on the KGS website on Monday 17th January and Guidance staff will be discussing options process with pupils in PSE. Options close on Friday February 18th Universal support – Ms Devlin All 5-21 year olds resident in Scotland are eligible from 31 January 2022 for Young Persons' Free Bus Travel, using a National Entitlement Card with the free bus travel product on it. Without this, young people will be unable to travel for free on bus services in Scotland. Where can Free Bus Travel be used? Cardholders with the free bus travel product on it will be able to access free bus travel on registered bus services across Scotland including a very limited number of local cross-border services from the south of Scotland into northern England. https://getyournec.scot/nec/?opt=NEC-Card/301 This link is also available through our KGS website in the ‘Financial Support’ tab. Info for parents and guardians: If you are a parent or guardian of a 5-15 year old then you must apply on their behalf. This will allow you to continue to exercise responsibility over their wellbeing and safety. Remember that free bus travel is available nationwide. This means your child can travel across Scotland, so please take care when making the decision about applying for them. Finally, we loved reading the Winter newsletter from Papdale Halls of Residence so we thought we would share it with you incase you haven’t seen it: http://www.kgsorkney.com/papdale-halls-of-residence.html We hope you all have a relaxing weekend and we look forward to seeing pupils on Monday, Miss Claire Meakin |
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