Author: hilarysnaith

‘Let’s Talk Scottish Education’ – Our National Discussion

27 October 2022: You may have seen the letter forwarded by the School about Our National Discussion on Scottish Education.

The National Discussion is a chance for everyone to share their hopes and ideas for the future of all aspects of Scottish education, from early years to options for school leavers. 

Have your say

The National Discussion is being run by the Scottish Government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (CoSLA) and there are many ways parents and carers can contribute, for example: 

Complete the online survey

Our National Discussion survey

Send in your thoughts

Email the National Discussion

Parental engagement charity Connect and the National Parent Forum of Scotland (NPFS) want to help families be part of the discussion too, and you can join their National Discussion Facebook Forum.

National Discussion Facebook Forum

Discussions with children and young people

The consultation leaders have also produced age-specific documents to help guide discussions with children, parents and carers at home:

Young children 3-7 years old

Children and young people 8-14 years old

Young adults 15 years and over

Consultation runs until 5 December 2022

You have until Monday 5 December 2022 to take part in the National Discussion and help create a vision for Scottish education for the next 20 years.

More information

Further information is available on the National Discussion website

National Discussion on Scottish Education

Latest newsletter from Connect is out now

6 November 2022: The November issue of the Connect newsletter is now available.

Amongst other features, there are articles on

  • Connect’s latest survey: Your Child’s Education and You 
  • Background information about the National Discussion
  • Online event for parents/carers about The National Discussion
  • Scottish Qualifications update and Phase 2 survey – the Hayward Review

Read the newsletter here

Report from Parent Council AGM on 12 October 2022

28 October 2022: The James Gillespies High School Parent Council held its Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 12 October, in the school library. We were joined by approx 30 parents, for this first in-person meeting of the PC in over two and a half years.

Meeting business

The meeting addressed a number of issues, and a full minute of the proceedings will be available shortly.

  1. Updates from previous Parent Council meeting
    • Headteacher recruitment
    • Council engagement
    • Donald J. Macdonald prize
    • School events
    • Rising rolls
  2. Arrangements for future PC meetings
  3. Chair’s Report
  4. Finance Report
  5. Election of Parent Council and Office Bearers
  6. Headteacher’s Report

There was considerable discussion about the rising rolls at the School, and this situation has been taken as an action for the Parent Council to pursue in the coming weeks.

The presentation made by PC treasurer Ros Ingle is available at the link below.

JGHS Parent Council Treasurer Presentation, October 2022

Darroch Annex

The PC heard from deputy head teacher Miss McIver about the refurbishment of the new Darroch Annex, which opened for business on 27 October 2022.

Pupils and teachers alike are very excited to be moving into the new teaching and activity spaces!

The images of the new annex at Darroch: clockwise from top left – new entrance, bright and spacious classrooms, gym hall (with a sprung floor), dining hall.

New members and office bearers

The meeting also re-appointed the existing office bearers of the Parent Council, and we were delighted that a number of new members have also joined the committee.

The full committee membership is below (new members are indicated by *):

  • Sarah Scott (Chair)
  • Kirstin Leighton (Secretary)
  • Ros Ingle (Treasurer)
  • Hilary Snaith (Communications)
  • Laura Bird (Communications)
  • Tiziana Basciani*
  • Nicolas Boyes
  • Rob Dunbar
  • Orla Hobson
  • Christiane Kerlen*
  • Padraic Kinsella*
  • Ailsa Macintosh
  • Caroline McKellar*
  • Aileen Nimmo
  • Bec Phipps*
  • Kate Pinault*
  • Vikki Plant
  • Joanne Sapienza Chapman*
  • Steffi Schultze
  • Lisa Sutherland
  • Penny Tarsia
  • María Angélica Thumala Olave*
  • Charles Warlow

We are very grateful to all the members, new and old, who have joined the Parent Council.

Next meeting

The next meeting of the Parent Council will be held online via MS Teams at 7 pm on Tuesday 29 November 2022.

More details will be available on our website in due course.

Contact us

If you have any questions for the Parent Council, or issues that you would like to raise with us, please do not hesitate to get in touch:

Email the Parent Council

Free half-term activities for families in Edinburgh

14 October 2022: The City of Edinburgh Council 1 in 5 project, which seeks to raise awareness of child poverty across the city, has just published its 2nd newsletter.

In this edition there is information about free family activities happening through out October, including storytelling, bug hunting, and the Big Draw.

Read all the details in the newsletter:

1 in 5 newsletter, October 2022

About the newsletter

The 1 in 5 Newsletter supports the work of the Equity Board and Equity Network groups, and aims to:

  • Bring together information on services that education and lifelong learning services can link with to support families experiencing poverty.
  • Provide updates and reminders about welfare benefits and grants available to families, resources and staff CPD
  • Share case studies and top tips across schools and services of good practise in poverty prevention.

JGHS Parent Council annual reports and AGM

Updated 7 October 2022: The Annual General Meeting of the James Gillespies High School Parent Council will be held on Wednesday 12 October at 7 pm in the school library. All parents and carers are most warmly invited to join with us.

This will be an opportunity to review the activities of the past year, appoint office bearers, and to welcome new members.

Meeting agenda

  1. Welcome
  2. Updates from previous Parent Council meeting
    • Headteacher recruitment
    • Council engagement
    • Donald J. Macdonald prize
    • School events
    • Rising rolls
    • Arrangements for future PC meetings
  3. Chair’s Report
  4. Finance Report
  5. Election of Parent Council and Office Bearers
  6. Headteacher’s Report
  7. AOCB
  8. Date of next meeting:  29 November 2022 (online)

Annual reports

The 2021/22 Annual Report from the Chair of the JGHS Parent Council, Sarah Scott, is now available, as well as the Annual Accounts and Treasurer’s Report prepared by the Treasurer Ros Ingle:

Annual Report 2021/22

Annual Accounts 2021/22

Treasurer’s report 2021/22

Information about the applications submitted to the Small Sums Fund over the past year, and details of the allocations awarded are also available:

Small Sums Fund

Join the Parent Council

If you are interested in joining the Parent Council, please get in touch with us by email before the AGM, or simply let us know on the night:

Email the Parent Council

Training opportunity: Making work work

6 October 2022: Are you looking to return to work after a career break?

Making Work Work – for Women Returners is the Challenges Group’s women returners programme. It is a free online Skills Development Scotland-funded course for women returners looking to get back into paid work after career break.

Find out more and register to attend on the Challenges Group website

About The Programme  

The programme seeks women in Scotland looking to step back into the workplace and who face difficulties in finding work that fits with all the commitments and fun of life following a career break (e.g. for maternity, caring, health issues / disability, redundancy, relocation or other reasons).  

We are looking for women who have management experience or aspirations from across Scotland to take part in a peer-led skills refresher programme which will facilitate the confidence and networks essential to finding work commensurate with their skills, ambitions and potential.  

Don’t worry if you have not had management experience – this will not exclude you from the programme. However, you need to be willing to learn about management and leadership skills – either for your next role or a future one.  

Participants also get support with their job search, personal development and designing their (work)life blend.  

Support from the Small Sums Fund enhances SfL space

2 October 2022: Every year the Parent Council’s Small Sums Fund provides additional resources to support and enhance the experience of youngsters in the school and in extra-curricular activities, in areas where funding is not provided by the City of Edinburgh Council.

The JGHS Parent Council Small Sums Fund is open to staff, pupils and anyone connected to
the school to bid for funding.

About the Small Sums Fund

Support for Learning classroom

This year we were delighted to provide support for a range of different activities, include funds to help fit out the Support for Learning classroom in Bruntsfield House.

Mr Cockcroft, Support for Learning Leader, said:

As you know, we moved into a large, empty room in Bruntsfield House last year. We spent the money on making the room more welcoming for the students who access it and bought soft furnishings, plants, cabinets to display pupils’ work and lots of picture frames.

We held a small art exhibition in July of the work of the students who access SfL and invited their parents in to see this. It was a great success and something we plan to replicate this year. Thanks again for the money we received.

Some photos of the new classroom are shown below.

Other projects

More information about projects supported by the Small Sums Fund is available at the link below

JGHS Parent Council Small Sums Fund

Parent Council Resource from Education Scotland

29 September 2022: Education Scotland has published an updated version of the Parent Council Resource. This is a guide for parents working in partnership with schools and the wider community to welcome all parents, gather their views and report back to parents.

The information is now live on Parentzone Scotland website

Parentzone Scotland

You can also access the details via the pdf linked below:

Parent Council Resource

Consultation on Local Police Plan

21 September 2022: Edinburgh Police Division are developing local policing priorities for 2023 to 2026.  A forward looking Local Police Plan will be published in April 2023.

The views of the local community are fundamental to ensure their priorities align with local needs.

They are inviting the community to contribute to development of the Local Police Plan by completing the “Your Police 2022-2023” survey.  They are keen to get as many opinions as possible, so please consider adding your input.

Your Police 2022-2023 – Police Scotland – Citizen Space

If you have further questions you can contact the South East Community Policing Team by email or visit their website:

Email Community Policing Team

South East Community Policing Team