Parent Council

Mr Macdonald is leaving us

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:

Mr Macdonald’s retirement collection

Once we have arranged the gifts, we will post the details on the PC website. please note that the Pot will close on 24 June.

We have also set up a ‘virtual’ leaving card which you may also wish to sign – this may be found here:

Mr Macdonald’s leaving card

**PLEASE USE THE CARD AND NOT THE DONATIONS PAGE FOR ANY MESSAGES, as Mr Macdonald will not see the donations page**

Many thanks!

Update on recruitment of new Headteacher at JGHS

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.

Email the Parent Council

Results of survey on online parent consultations

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.

A summary is presented below.

Next Parent Council meeting is on Tuesday 17 May

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.

Email the Parent Council

Online Parents’ Evenings – what do you think?

2 April 2022: The Parent Council would like to hear from parents about how online parent consultations with teachers have been working, and your views on whether we keep this format or go back to in-person meetings.

What has worked for you and what has not?

In the future, what sorts of school events are best held in the school and what can be done online?

Our survey will be running over Easter and can be completed at the link below:

Parents’ Evenings Survey

It will only take 5 minutes and we hope to hear from as many parents as possible.

We will feed the results back to the School to help inform future planning.

Thank you!

Recording of JGHS Parent Council 22 March 2022 meeting now available

24 March 2022: Many thanks to those who were able to attend the meeting of the Parent Council on Tuesday 22 March.

The main issues discussed were:

Report on Parent Council activities by Sarah Scott, chair JGHS PC
Report of Active Schools clubs at JGHS by Eliot Ambrose
Presentation on the Maths curriculum by Ashling Dolan, Acting Curriculum Lead
Headteacher’s report by Donald McDonald
Q&A

Active Schools presentation

Maths Curriculum presentation

The recording of the meeting is now available to watch again on YouTube

JGHS Parent Council meeting 22 March 2022

Next Parent Council meeting on Tuesday 22 March 2022

22 March 2022 update: The next Parent Council meeting is tonight, Tuesday 22 March at 7 pm and will include a presentation by Faculty Head, Ashling Dolan, on the Maths curriculum.

Agenda

Update on PC activities – Sarah Scott, PC Chair
Mathematics Curriculum – Ashling Dolan, Acting Curriculum Leader for Maths
Update on Active Schools – Eliot Ambrose, Active Schools Co-ordinator
Head Teacher’s Report – Donald Macdonald
Questions – via Q&A chat

The joining link has been sent out by email by the School.

Please email the PC with any questions or issues you would like included in the Head Teacher’s update.

Email the Parent Council

Details of last meeting

The recording of our last meeting on 26 January 2022, and a copy of the Q&A, are available on the PC website:

PC meeting 26 January 2022

New projects supported by the JGHS Small Sums Fund

20 March 2022: Applications to the JGHS Parent Council Small Sums Fund were submitted in September 2021. In conjunction with the JGHS Trust, we were able to fund all the bids made.

After this process, for the first time ever, we had not spent all the surplus funds from the school year 2020-21, and had £1600 remaining. We have therefore run a second supplementary round of applications to allocate the remaining funds.

Projects funded in the new round include new textbooks for the maths department, basket ball strips for PE, and materials for the knitting club. The documents linked below give details of all the applications received and the allocation decisions made.

Applications to the Small Sums Fund February 2022

Funds allocated by the Small Suns Fund February 2022

About the Small Sums Fund

Next round of applications in May 2022

Applications to the Small Sums Fund for the school year 2022-23 will be invited in May 2022, earlier than in previous years, so that staff can plan their activities further in advance.

However, we are unable to allocate the funds until we know how much money we have available at the end of the school year on 31 July 2022, so the applications will be reviewed and allocated after that date.

Input into the process is welcome from any parent/carer – if you would like to help, please contact the PC via its email address.

Email the Parent Council

The more funds we raise this school year, the more we will have available to allocate for staff projects such as those described in the applications document, so please consider donating to the PC via ParentPay if you are able and have not already done so.

Donate to the Small Sums Fund on Parent Pay

Choice, attainment and positive destinations research project

5 March 2022: James Gillespies High School is taking part in a research project being led by Stirling University on the impact of Curriculum for Excellence on attainment, subject choice and student experience.

Take part in the project

As part of the research, the investigators would like to speak with a group of 4-6 parents with a child/children in S4-S6 to learn about their experience of supporting their child to make subject choices.

There will be an online meeting with the group on Monday 14 March at 7 pm (about an hour). If you would be interested in participating, please contact the Parent Council by email:

Email the Parent Council

Further information is available on the project website and on Twitter:

Choice, Attainment and Positive Destinations

Twitter