27 October 2023: There will be an interactive workshop about How to Respond to Children’s Reports of Racism, organised by the School of Social and Political Science at the University of Edinburgh.
The event is at 6 pm on Wednesday 7 November, Macdonald Road Library, Edinburgh.
More information and registration is available on the event’s Eventbrite page:
27 October 2023: Healthy Respect – NHS partners who provide training on relationships, sexual health and parenthood (RSHP) – are setting up a new parental engagement project looking to find out what parents and carers want and need to support their child’s learning around RSHP.
A coalition of NHS Boards commissioned independent research to explore with parents and carers a number of themes, including:
The new project that has been developed from this is called The Chat:
There are a number of ways that parents/carers can get involved. The first opportunity is to be part of a group conversation about this area of learning. Please see the Chat website for more information.
26 September 2023: Following on from the last meeting of the Parent Council on 5 September, the School Improvement Plan for 2023/24 is now available. The plan covers five key priorities:
You can download the full plan, and the summary of priorities at the links below:
JGHS School Improvement Plan 2023/24 (opens as pdf)
JGHS School Improvement Plan 2023/24 Priorities (opens as pdf)
18 September 2023: Sixteen pupils nominated for the inagural Donald J Macdonald Kindness Awards. All were outstanding nominations and were richly deserving of winning the award. However, the pupils detailed below had mutiple nominations from staff across the school and were awarded the prizes this year.
The prize was set up by the JGHS Parent Council through the many donations made to celebrate the retirement of the former headteacher Donald J Macdonald in June 2022.
The pupils receiving the awards were given a glass pendant and certificate the to mark the occasion.
A foreign student spoke with a member of staff because they felt that they had no friends. They mentioned this to the student named above and they befriended the student and arranged a weekly lunch date together. They would have organised more lunches, but the students were at Darroch on other days.
The foreign student left JGHS this summer, to return home. However, they have swapped numbers and will keep in touch and a friendship has been established for life. Rosa has shown this level of kindness to a number of pupils and sought to make sure that they feel valued and included.
Kyle has been receiving treatment for cancer for several years. He had been granted a wish from ‘Make a wish’ foundation. When he found out that a mum didn’t get granted a wish due to being an adult. Kyle wanted to let her make a wish instead of him to make her feel better. This was granted and the lady got the experience of a lifetime.
When Kyle was in SFL another pupil was very upset and visibly distressed. Staff were working with the pupil to try and calm them down. Without any prompting, Kyle went to the cupboard, got a game, went over to the pupil and said, “do you want a game”. Within minutes the pupil was calm, then Kyle had them interacting and laughing and playing the game with him. This is how he approaches all young people and looks to support them.
He is one of the kindest pupils I have ever met. He is always willing to help those around him and is nice to everyone he meets. Although I have only ever taught him when covering a class, he always comes out of his way to ask how myself and the others in the department are. Despite what he has been through he is so positive and kind. He comes in with Adam, Oscar and Dharun to work on his basketball and he always is so grateful for allowing him to do this and he has improved so much. He is so polite and just genuinely lovely and a really deserving person to win the award. He also helps with junior basketball on Mondays which the S1s love and he is an excellent role model for them and all that he is involved with in the school community.
Farra has overcome many challenges over the past few years and yet has consistently shown kindness to others less fortunate than herself.
Farra currently works weekly in a voluntary capacity with children with a range of complex social, emotional, and behavioural needs despite facing challenges and adversity in her own daily life. Farra is an outstanding young person and is richly deserving of this award for the kindness she shows daily towards others. She is an excellent role model and works to look after others in our school community and beyond.
28 August 2023: The Parent Council heard from two of the recipients of last year’s Small Sum Fund (SSF) about the imapct the funds have had.
Kerry Jones in the PE department received an award last year to purchase a set of matching team leotards for the about girls gymnastics team.
The team was able to attend a competition last year due to the small sums award, and the gymnasts loved their new smart leotards.
Kerry Jones, PE Department
The award to the girls’ football teams was used to buy strips for a range of teams as the number of girls involved in JGHS continued to grow. The 2022-23 year was the school’s busiest and most successful year yet, with around 92 girls across JGHS involved in football.
The teams had the following notable achievements:
Our proudest achievements were in both our U15 and Senior sides being crowned Edinburgh league champions for their respective leagues this year. This is the first year these leagues have been introduced – having our name be the first engraved on both trophies is historic, and hopefully the beginning of something that will build and be sustained over the years.
In this respect, Gillespies are leading the way for girls’ football in Edinburgh which is testament to the passion, enthusiasm and togetherness of our students.
Frank Carstairs, PE Department
Updated 30 May 2023: The last meeting of the JGHS Parent Council for this school year will be on Wednesday 31 May at 7 pm in the school library.
More information about the JGHS Trust, and details of the financial guidance provided to Parent Councils can be found below.
Information about the JGHS Trust
JGHS Trust Annual Report 2021/22
Financial guidance provided to Parent Councils by Connect
JGHS PC Money Matter finance health check May 2023
JGHS PC completed finance health checklist May 2023
Finance report for Parent Council meeting 31 May 2023
If you have any questions or issues that you would like to raise at the meeting, please contact the Parent Council by email:
This is the last meeting of the Parent Council for this school year. Details of the previous Parent Council meetings are available on our website:
Parent Council meeting on 1 February 2023
Parent Council meeting on 21 March 2023
You can read the minutes of all parent council meetings back to 2015/16 here:
The provisional dates for meetings in 2023/24 are below:
Updated 30 May 2023: Many thanks to everyone who was able to attend the JGHS parent council meeting on Wednesday 1 February.
This was a very interesting meeting, which covered a wide range of topics over the course of the evening.
Minutes from JGHS parent council meeting on 1 February 2023
An update on school activities was presented by the headteacher Mr Neil McCallum – see link below.
Headteacher’s report 1 February 2023
The main focus was on antiracism activities at JGHS with presentations give by teachers Mr Porter, Mr Watt and Mr Cham, and by Grace Dempsey from Intercultural Youth Scotland, and the work she is doing in the school to support pupils and teachers to address racism and discrimination.
We were also very pleased to hear about the A+ Group, a new project that will be starting in the school later this month, led by Zaki El-Salahi.
The group:
You can learn more about the group and its aims below:
The group will meet online on the last Wednesday of each month from February to June 2023. For further information and/or join the A+ group, please contact Zaki:
1 February 2023: Following discussion at the JGHS Parent Council meeting in October 2022, it was agreed that the Parent Council would seek to engage with the City of Edinburgh Council about future accommodation requirements at the School.
The Parent Council has now sent a letter to Edinburgh City Council outlining the our concerns and asking for meaningful dialogue with the Council to address the issues raised.
A copy of the letter is available at the link below:
James Gillespie’s High School Capacity Planning
If you have any comments to make about the issues raised, please send them to the Parent Council.
15 December 2022: Many thanks to everyone who came along to the JGHS Christmas concerts this week (Tuesday 13 December) – it was fantastic to see everyone back in the school to celebrate the talents of our young people and to meet one another again.
The Parent Council took in over £400 on the refreshments stall at the fayre that ran between the concerts, and also raised over £100 at the coursing night on 6 December – we are very grateful for all these contributions, which will go towards the Small Funds Fund supporting activities in the school.
There is also still time to make a contribution to the Parent Council’s Festive Fundraiser, which is currently running on Parent Pay. Again, all the funds raised will go to the Small Funds Fund, and will be most appreciated.
8 December 2022: The James Gillespie’s High School Performing Arts Faculty invites you to the Christmas Concerts 2022!
This year there will be two performances of the Christmas concert on Tuesday 13 December at 5 pm and 7.30 pm, in the Muriel Spark Theatre at James Gillespie’s High School. Tickets can be booked via Parent Pay.
In the time between the two shows, there will be a mini-fayre in the Forum, Malala Building, with a home baking stall, crafts table and refreshments, in aid of the Parent Council’s Small Sum’s Fund.
Some pupil committees will also be showcasing their work.
All parents are warmly welcome to attend this part of the evening, even if they do not have a ticket for one of the concerts. It would be helpful if guests could bring cash to this event if possible please!
5.00 – 6.15 pm Concert 1 in the Muriel Spark Theatre
6.15 – 7.15 pm Refreshments in the Forum (Malala)
7.30 – 8.45 pm Concert 2 in the Muriel Spark Theatre
We are delighted that Tony Marsh will be videoing the concert. The recording will be available by the 31 January 2023.
JGHS Parent Council 