As we enter the clock changing weekend there is a clear indication we are moving into spring / summer term. With that comes lots of events, activities and work towards young people achieving their hopes and outcomes with the support of school and home working together.
Key points;
S4,5,6 Assessment / Exams – Our S4,5,6 continue to work hard through the remaining hours / weeks towards their outcomes. Lesson, after school session and Easter revision are all in place to help. Our letter outlining the Council’s approach to exam leave is attached to help Families and young adults with planning post Easter, we hope this helps.
S4,5,6 Track 3 Report – These reports will be emailed to Families today, latest by Monday and should form the basis of a supportive discussion at home. If there are any questions arising or support you need please get in touch on Admin@leith.edin.sch.uk or 0131 554 0606 and we can direct your question to support.
Easter Revision – SIGN UP by 5pm on Monday 27th March
The timetable for Easter Revision sessions is now complete and S4-6 pupils can sign-up via the link https://forms.office.com/r/J68DJ1PqqD for the sessions they wish to attend (this link has also been emailed out to S4-6 school email accounts). The sessions are three hours long (9am-12pm or 1pm-4pm) and take place during the Easter break, running Mon 3rd April – Thurs 6th April and Tues 11th April. We have a fantastic number of sessions on offer from staff to help pupils in this key time of year in the run up to their final exams. The sessions are free to all pupils if they have registered to attend. If a subject/level appears more than once, they can sign up for it more than once, however once the deadline has passed I will then allocate the sessions based on numbers (eg they may only be allocated one session in a subject area if numbers are high). Those who sign-up will receive an email to their school email account next week with their individual schedule of sessions. With limited numbers in each session it is important that those who are registered for sessions do attend them.
Ms Rachel Watson, Depute Head Teacher
S3 Assessment experience – As per previous years, we are slotting an S3 ‘Hall assessment experience’ in to the exam diet. This allows the S3 pupils to experience how a prelim/exam runs and helps with early literacy and numeracy assessments.
We fit the assessment around the S4,5,6 exams and will run the S3 assessments at the following times.
- Tuesday 9th May, P5/6 – Literacy/English
- Tuesday 16th May, P5/6 – Numeracy/Maths
Our Maths and English teams will speak to their S3 classes in the run up to this explaining the processes involved but essentially it is the same as the exams – they report to exam board at the start of the period, find their name on the seating lists on the wall, go to the appropriate room/seat and sit an assessment. We have found this is a huge benefit to enable our S4 prelims to run smoothly, start on time and takes some of the nerves around how it all works away for them to allow them to focus on the prelim itself. Additional support requirements are also fully taken account to support all learners.
Heritage language opportunity – Many pupils in Leith Academy speak Arabic, Polish, Cantonese, Mandarin or Urdu at home. This is a great opportunity to get an extra qualification next year.
This work is aimed at supporting senior phase pupils with pathways to qualifications in some Heritage Languages. The languages offered in session 2023-24 will be:
Arabic GCSE
Polish GCSE
Cantonese Higher
Mandarin Higher
Urdu Higher
These courses would be offered in addition to the pupil’s school timetable. If you are interested, write your name on the sheet on the Modern Languages staff base door by Wednesday 29th March. Looking forward to seeing you.
Mrs Whitelaw, Head of Modern Languages
National Curriculum hours – There is currently a survey out from Scottish Govt to all stakeholders in education (Pupils, Staff, Parents, Partners) about the number of hours children attend school in Scotland and whether this should be placed in statute going forward. The link to the questionnaire and supporting information is here – The school week Prescribing the minimum annual number of learning hours: consultation – Scottish Government – Citizen Space
S1 HPV Vaccinations – Our NHS colleagues are in school next week to support this uptake. An email has been sent to families to keep informed. Any questions please email Admin@leith.edin.sch.uk or call 0131 554 0606
S2 National Science Success – Just after February half term, nearly 60 representatives from S2 competed in the Scottish Schools’ Hydrogen Fuel Cell Challenge. The overall aim of the challenge is to help participants explore and understand the role of hydrogen in transitioning to a net zero economy / STEM.
We had teams that went through to the City final at Meadowbank a couple of weeks ago. At this event, one of our teams, Christina Alexa and Skye Harper (Anderson 2.3), came FIRST in this city-wide competition.
This led to them qualifying for the Scottish Final in Aberdeen on Monday this week, where they came THIRD! A brilliant achievement for the pupils, who are understandably very proud. Big thanks to Ms Bell for taking them to both the finals.
LGBTQ+ – We were delighted to be asked to share our work, experiences and continued learning at the City wide LGBTQ+ conference this week. Lily and Bruna both gave a presentation and carried our culture and our ongoing work (it is never finished) in a supportive and informative way as ever. Thanks to Mr Stewart for supporting as we continue to work towards our revised LGBTQ charter. Well done both!
Have a good weekend from all at Leith Academy.
