21 August 2022: The JGHS Parent Council meeting will be holding regular meetings throughout the year. All parents and carers are very warmly invited to join us at these meetings, and to bring any questions or areas of concern to our discussions.
This year’s meetings will be held in a mixture of online and in-person formats.
Dates of meetings
Meetings will be held at 7 pm on the following dates:
Tuesday 6 September 2022
Wednesday 12 October 2022 (AGM)
Tuesday 29 November 2022
Wednesday 1 February 2023
Tuesday 21 March 2023
Wednesday 31 May 2023
Contact us
f there are any issues you would like to raise with the Parent Council, please contact us by email:
19 August 2022: The first Parent Councilmeeting for 2022/23 will be on Tuesday 6 September at 7pm.
This will be an online meeting and will be an opportunity to find out about the work of the PC, meet our new Headteacher, Neil McCallum, and hear about what is happening at the school at the start of the new term.
Questions for the meeting can be raised in advance by emailing the Parent Council and we will try to include them in the updates. There will also be the opportunity to raise questions via the Q&A typed chat facility on the night.
When the Parent Council made an appeal to families to contribute to a fund to mark Donald Macdonald’s retirement from teaching, and from JGHS, we were confident that it would be well supported, reflecting the high regard in which our departing Head teacher is held, and the affection which the school community has for him.
We are therefore delighted to announce that this appeal raised the sum of £2,212.86.
We were delighted, on behalf of parents and families at the school, to present Donald with a beautiful bowl from a local pottery, and also with his very own Leavers 2022 hoodie. The lovely farewell messages from JGHS families have been compiled and are being passed on to Donald as a further souvenir of his time at Gillespie’s.
Gifts presented to Mr Macdonald by the Parent Council
Donald J Macdonald Award
The generosity of families means that we are able now to set up an award which will be an enduring legacy of Donald’s time at the school. This will be named the Donald J Macdonald Award and will aim to recognise the achievements of pupils, reflecting the values of the school of respect, kindness, integrity, inclusion and high expectations, which Donald himself values so much and promoted throughout his time here.
Further details of the award will be announced in the new school year, to allow consultation with the school and – most importantly – Donald himself.
Thank you!
Over the last ten years at Gillespie’s Donald has seen thousands of children through their schooling and on to life in the outside world. We would like to thank him for for his commitment to Gillespie’s over that period, through good times, and great times, but also – and particularly over the last two years – in times which have been challenging and stressful.
His support of children and families throughout, and also his willingness to take unpopular stances on our behalf, knowing that it was in the best interests of the school and its pupils, has been very much appreciated.
Goodbye, Donald, and our very best wishes for a long, healthy and happy retirement. Or, as they might say in North Uist: Gur math a thèid leibh, a Dhòmhnuill – bidh sinn gur n-ionndrainn!
This edition includes an introduction to Connect’s new Executive Director, Patrick McGlinchey, who takes up his role on 1 August 2022.
You can also read a summary of Connect’s Health and Wellbeing in Schools survey report. Booking links for the live online Information Sessions for August and September are available too.
10 June 2022: Today parents and carers at JGHS received a letter from Jackie Reid, Acting Senior Education Manager at the City of Edinburgh Council, to say that Mr Neil McCallum, currently Head Teacher at Balerno High School, has been appointed as Acting Head Teacher at JGHS from August to December, 2022.
The letter went on to say that “Mr McCallum has previously worked in James Gillespie’s, which provides him with a well-established knowledge of the school context. His extensive leadership skills and experience will augment the strength of the existing senior leadership team to provide the continuity and stability needed at this time”.
1 June 2022: As you will be aware, our Head Teacher, Mr Macdonald, is retiring at the end of this term.
The Parent Council thought it would be nice to mark the occasion by setting up some awards in his name for pupils, to fit with the school values. We would also like to get him some small personal gifts.
We hope that many parents would like to contribute to this, so if you wish to do so, please use the following link to CollectionPot:
27 May 2022: The post of Headteacher at JGHS was advertised by the Council at the beginning of May, with the hope that a replacement for the school’s retiring Head, Donald Macdonald, could be put in post as close as possible to his departure date in August.
That advert has now closed, and the Council have decided that the post should be re-advertised to allow more time for all prospective candidates to register an interest. This will take place after the summer holidays at the beginning of the 2022/23 school session.
For the period up to Christmas, the Council are planning to designate an Acting Headteacher, and are hoping to recruit a suitable candidate from amongst the secondary Headteachers in Edinburgh.
Parent Council involvement
Parent representatives have been working with the Council to find the best way forward in this process. The Parent Council has emphasised the importance of a capable, committed and enthusiastic acting Headteacher being in place as soon as possible so they are able to work with Mr Macdonald in the run-up to his retirement and can take over smoothly after the summer.
They have also stressed that the new recruitment process should be a dynamic and open one, which is advertised as widely as possible and will maximise the possibility of a competitive range of candidates being attracted to the role.
Please send any comments you have about this matter to the Parent Council.
18 May 2022: Many thanks to those who attended the meeting of the Parent Council on 17 May. It was a momentous evening, as it marked the last time for our current headteacher, Donald MacDonald, to attend this meeting before he retires this summer.
We were also very grateful Nikki Graham, the new JGHS Mental Health Coordinator, who spoke about supporting pupils at the school with mental health challenges. You can access the slides from her presentation below.
18 May 2022: Many thanks to everyone who took part in the recent survey about online parent consultations at JGHS – over 160 people sent in their views – which was a fantastic response.
As was reported at the Parent Council meeting on Tuesday 17 May there was a broad overall split in views, between parents who preferred online meetings, in-person meetings, or a mixture of the two.
Many parents felt that it was more convenient to attend the meetings online, with no need to travel, or navigate their way around a busy school. Equally, many also missed the opportunity to see the environment in which our children spend so much time, and to engage with teachers face-to-face.
The survey results have been passed to the school to help inform their planning for the upcoming academic session.
Updated 13 May 2022: A quick heads up that the next meeting of the JGHS Parent Council (and the last of this academic year) will be next Tuesday 17 May at 7 pm on MS Teams.
The joining link will be forwarded by the School the day before the meeting.
Agenda
School update – Donald McDonald, Headteacher,
Mental health support at JGHS – Nikki Graham, JGHS Mental Health Coordinator
Q&A
If there are any questions you would like to see addressed at the meeting, please email the Parent Council by noon on Monday 16 May.
JGHS Parent Council 