Parent Council

Parent Council meeting on 10 September 2024

7 September 2024: The next meeting of the James Gillespies High School Parent Council will be this Tuesday 10 September at 7 pm on MS Teams. All parents and carers are warmly invited to join the meeting.

The meeting agenda will be:

  • Welcome and brief report from the Parent Council
  • Report from the Headteacher on activities in the school including updates on:
    • Results of school survey (Summer 2024)
    • Website, communications and the school app 
    • Use of mobile phones in the classroom
    • Facilities in the school, including changes to toilets and provision of study space for S6
  • Open Q&A (questions can be posted in the chat)

The joining link for the meeting will be shared by the School via email.

If you have any questions that you would like to raise in advance of the meeting, please email the Parent Council:

Email the Parent Council

Welcome back!

18 August 2024: It’s hard to belive that the new school sesssion has already started, but here we are!

The Parent Council hopes that all parents, carers and young poeple at James Gillespie’s High School enjoyed some rest and relaxation over the summer break, and managed to find at least a little bit of sunshine!

First meeting on 10 September 2024

The Parent Council will hold its first meeting of the School year on Tuesday 10 September at 7 pm. The meeting will be online via MS Teams, and the link will be shared in email from the School in the week of the meeting.

Details of the agenda will be posted on our website in advance of the meeting, and included in the Friday newsletter from the Headteacher.

We very much hope that you wil be able to join us.

Upcoming meetings for 2024/2025

The list of all our meetings for the year is given below:

  • Tuesday 10 September 2024, 7-8.30 pm (online)
  • Wednesday 9 October 2024 – AGM, 7-9 pm (in person at JGHS)
  • Tuesday 26 November 2024, 7-8.30 pm (online)
  • Wednesday 29 January 2025, 7-9 pm (in person at JGHS)
  • Tuesday 25 March 2025, 7-8.30 pm (online)
  • Wednesday 4 June 2025, 7-9 pm (in person at JGHS)

If you have any issues that you would like to see addresed by the Parent Council, or if you would like to get involved, please get in touch via email:

Email the Parent Council

Learning Together – Engaging parents and carers

18 August 2024: Parent and carers may have seen the recent information on “Learning Together” – the City of Edinburgh Council’s strategy for engaging parents and carers in learning and school life.

You can read a copy of the document below:

Learning Together framework summary

The CEC is currently reviewing the strategy – if you have comments on the issues raised, that you would like to share with the Parent Council, please get in touch:

Email the Parent Council

Notes from Parent Council meeting on 5 June 2024

23 June 2024: The JGHS Parent Council meeting on Wednesday 5 June and discussed a number of issues, including:

  • a brief report on Parent Council activities since the previous meeting in March 2024;
  • the Empowered Learning strategy and use of digital tools in teaching at JGHS, presented by DHT Laura Stewart;
  • an update from HT Neil McCallum including details of the recent Equally Safe at Schools survey, and the attainment of pupils at JGHS and their onward destinations

Copies of all the presentations are now available (all links open as pdfs):

Report from the Parent Council June 2024

Presentation from Laura Stewart on Digital Learning at JGHS

Headteacher’s update by Neil MacCallum

If you have any comments, please get in touch with the Parent Council via email:

Email the Parent Council

Many thanks to all parents and carers for your support and engagement over the past year. We hope that you have a restful and restorative break over the summer, and look forward to welcoming you our meetings again next session. Dates and further details will be posted here once confirmed.

Welcome to the new S1 students

17 June 2024. It was great to see so many of the parents of the incoming S1 students at the P7/S1 transition event at JGHS today.

A copy of the slides presented by our co-chair Hilary Snaith are available below. They give information about the role of the Parent Council at JGHS, some details about the activities we have been engaged with over the past year, and information about how you can get invovled.

Welcome to the JGHS Parent Council (opens as pdf)

Our first meeting of the new session will be Tuesday 3 September – we hope to see you there!

If you have any questions at all, or if you have feedback you would like to share, please get in touch by email:

Email the Parent Council

Parent Council meeting Wednesday 5 June

3 June 2024: All parents and carers are warmly invited to attend the last meeting of the James Gillespie’s High School Parent Council for this academic year on Wednesday 5 June. The meeting will be held in the school library at 7 pm.

Agenda

  1. Short report from Parent Council co-chairs – Tiziana Basciani, Hilary Snaith
  2. PC Treasurer’s report – Kirstin Leighton
  3. Presentation on the Empowered Learning Strategy at JGHS – Laura Stewart, DHT
  4. Headteachers report – Neil McCallum
  5. Questions and comments from attendees

We look forward to seeing you there!

Recording of PC meeting 19th March now available

24 March 2024: Many thanks to everyone who was able to attend the meeting of the JGHS Parent Council on March 19th.

The recording of the meeting is now available on YouTube:

JGHS Parent Council 19 March 2024

You can also download an update from the JGHS PC Chair, a presentation about the teaching of the English curriculum, an update on the A+ Group’s activities to support pupils of colour and their families, and the headteacher’s report. There is also a supplementary report on lesson plans for Relationships, Sexual Health and Parenting (RSHP) that the headteacher shared, after interest was shown in the meeting.

PC Chair Update

Teaching the English Curriculum at JGHS

Activities of the A+ Group

Headteacher Update

Lesson Plans for RSHP

N.B. For more information about the A+ Group, please see this recent PC Post, from November 2023. The next A+ meeting will take place on March 27th. Please contact A+ Group Coordinator Zaki El-Salahi if you are interested in participating.

Parent Council meeting on Tuesday 19th March

The next meeting of the JGHS Parent Council will be held online on Tuesday 19th March at 7 pm.  We warmly welcome all parents and carers to join with us. 

Agenda

  • Teaching of the English curriculum
  • Activities in the A+ Group
  • JGHS updates from the Headteacher
  • PC update
  • Q&A session

If you have any questions or issue that you would like to have addressed at the meeting, please get in touch with the PC by email:

Email to Parent Council

The MS Teams link will be shared by the school on the day of the meeting.

Links to the current JGHS improvement plans and the JGHS Standards and Quality report from 2022/23 can be found below:

JGHS School Improvement Plan 2023/24 (opens as pdf)

JGHS School Improvement Plan 2023/24 Priorities (opens as pdf)

JGHS Standards and Quality Report 22/23 (opens as pdf)

February Fundraiser

2 February 2024: As was mentioned at the PC meeting on Wednesday 31 January, the Parent Council is launching Fundraising February!

The Parent Council’s Small Sums Fund distributes funds raised by the school back to the School Community. More information about the Small Sums Fund is on our website.

Last year, the projects we supported included:

  • SfL:  Bike repair tools
  • PE:  Sports strips and dance leotards
  • Art & Design:  Resources for the photography club 
  • GME:  Basketball hoop & ball for Darroch playground 
  • Modern Studies:  Anti-racist books 
  • English:  Subscription to The Week Junior 
  • Modern languages: Pearson online textbook subscriptions 
  • Geography/ES Digimaps subscription 

This fund is made up primarily by donations by parents and carers so we are asking you all to consider supporting important educational projects at JGHS, and providing help to our pupils who need it most.

Whilst we normally request donations to the Fund around Christmas time, the Parent Council acknowledges that December is often a difficult month for families so this year we are having a Fundraising February.  If you can, please consider playing a donation via Parent Pay:

Click here to visit ParentPay

Look for the “Parent Council Fundraising” button at the bottom of the list of payment items for your JGHS student(s).

All funds raised during the Fundraising February go directly to the Small Sums Fund.

Thank you!!

Reports from Parent Council Meeting 31 January 2024

9 February 2024: Many thanks to everyone who was able to join the meeting of the Parent Council on 31 January. It was a full and fruitful session. 

Presentations

You can now access copies of the presentations given via the links below (links open as pdfs). 

As always, if you have any questions or comments, please get in touch

Email the Parent Council