17 November 2022: The NE and SE Locality Meeting for representatives of Parent Councils and Senior Education officers of the City of Edinburgh Council met on 26 October 2022.
Minutes from this meeting are now available.
Information about SQA assessments
17 November 2022: If your child is doing their National Qualifications this year, you may have questions about how they will be assessed, especially if they are doing National Qualifications for the first time.
The SQA have published a couple of latest blogs about how National Courses will be assessed for 2022-23.
Details are available here:
5G Mast Planning Application
15 November 2022: Parents may be interested to know that there is a current planning application for a 5G phone mast, which would be located in Whitehouse Loan, opposite the end of Bruntsfield Crescent and beside the entrance to the school.
The proposed mast would be 20m high and accompanied by a set of cabinets at the pavement level.
Details of the application can be found on the City of Edinburgh portal at:
5G mast planning application information
If you would like to make a comment on the application, the closing date is Friday 18 November 2022.
Connect membership
15 November 2022: The Parent Council is a member of Connect, which is an education charity which provides support for parents, Parent Councils, Parent Teacher/Staff Associations, and other parent bodies in Scotland.
Through Connect through Connect parents can gain access to services like online Information Sessions, regular newsletters, advice and support, Parents’ Voice online surveys, dedicated Facebooks pages and other facilities.
Have a look at the latest Connect newsletter here:
All parents at JGHS can also register as members – just choose the option ‘The PC/PTA at my child’s school is a member of Connect’.
Independent review of Scottish qualifications and assessments
11 November 2022: The Scottish Government has announced that it is their intention to reform qualifications and assessments in Scotland.
About the review
To provide guidance for this reform, an independent review of qualifications and assessments has been launched by the Scottish Government, which will run alongside the ongoing National Discussion on education in Scotland.
This review will look more closely at how learner’s achievements should be recognised and looks specifically at issues such as the role of curriculum for excellence, the balance between external and internal assessment, the use of technology and equity.
Details of the review and its background are available on the consultation website:
Hayward Independent Review of Scottish Qualifications and Assessments
This reform process will seek to ensure that all learners’ achievements are fairly recognised to afford every learner an enhanced and fair opportunity to demonstrate the breath, depth and relevance of their learning.
Submit your view by 16 December 2022
The review is asking for input to the consultation. You can submit your responses via their online survey:
Qualifications and Assessment survey
The National Discussion
Once the consultation on The National Discussion finishes in early December 2022, the findings will also be fed into the review.
More information: Let’s talk Education – The National Discussion
Once the qualifications and assessment review is completed, Professor Louise Hayward will provide recommendations to the Cabinet Secretary in March 2023.
‘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
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:
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
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
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.
- Updates from previous Parent Council meeting
- Headteacher recruitment
- Council engagement
- Donald J. Macdonald prize
- School events
- Rising rolls
- Arrangements for future PC meetings
- Chair’s Report
- Finance Report
- Election of Parent Council and Office Bearers
- 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:
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
- Welcome
- Updates from previous Parent Council meeting
- Headteacher recruitment
- Council engagement
- Donald J. Macdonald prize
- School events
- Rising rolls
- Arrangements for future PC meetings
- Chair’s Report
- Finance Report
- Election of Parent Council and Office Bearers
- Headteacher’s Report
- AOCB
- 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:
Information about the applications submitted to the Small Sums Fund over the past year, and details of the allocations awarded are also available:
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:
JGHS Parent Council 