As we enter the weekend when the clocks change, it has been a busy week on a number of themes. Some key points and updates below;
S4,5,6 Parents’ Eve date – Next Wednesday is our Anderson House and Barton House Parents’ Evening. These are always positive evenings with a chance to talk to Teachers about the progress your child is making through their course; what is going well, and what they need to work on as we approach the Prelims in a few weeks. Cowan and Port date is 13th Nov as per the Parent Friendly calendar on the website.
P7 into new S1 Parent info evening – This is 6th Nov with a 6pm start in our Drama Theatre. Ms Watson has sent messages to our relevant Primary Schools and we look forward to welcoming our new S1 cohort.
CEC Communication guidance – We regularly receive requests for information or calls / emails to help young people / families through a range of situations. In a School of 1000+ young people this can be busier at certain times. To help, the council has guidance linked to the return of calls / emails for all Schools, see below;
Thank you for contacting the School. Leith Academy is committed to supporting positive mental health and wellbeing for all members of our school community. Our staff have fixed commitments throughout the day such as meetings and classes therefore they may not be able to get back to you immediately. We aim to resolve your issue within 5 working days, as per council policy. If we can we, will do our best to reply sooner.
If you need to raise a matter urgently, please contact the school office on 0131 554 0606. From there we will look to direct your query to the best placed colleague to support.
Message from Fire Service Scotland – Please ensure you discuss with your Family the important aspects of safety and the law, linked to fireworks / bonfires. A link to information can be found here Fireworks and bonfires | Scottish Fire and Rescue Service .
Care Experience Week – Next week we will raise awareness of our young people who are care experienced and the steps we can take to support each other. Mr Connor and our staff teams will have a range of events and themes in place, see examples below;
S3 session – Next week we are pleased to welcome back Graeme Armstrong to Leith Academy. Graeme is a best selling author on the areas of gangs, gang violence and other themes that can have a negative impact on society, with his book ‘The Young Team’ being highly acclaimed. He will deliver a session to all S3’s on Wednesday morning, these are important themes that we think our young adults in S3 will be interested in, and hopefully be impacted by positively. A link to Graeme’s work can be found here BBC commissions new drama The Young Team adapted from Graeme Armstrong’s best-selling novel
Leith helping Leith event – Here at Leith Academy, we want to support our whole community, especially as the cost of living is negatively impacting a number of our families. We aim to run a Giveaway 1.30-3.30pm, on Friday 5th December. If you are in a position to help, please hand in any unwanted gift sets, preloved toys and books and anything that can be re-gifted into the school office before Thursday 4th December. And, if you would benefit from some FREE TOYS and GIFTS, to help with Christmas, please join us on Friday 5th December 1.30-3.30pm. Everything is FREE!
We also have a breakfast club every morning (free food for any child who needs it) and this continues to thrive. Thanks to Ms Ralston and the staff who support her.
Thanks also go out to our neighbours, The Twelve Triangles, who have been incredible in continuing to support us (offering free food to any child who needs it)…..if you’re in The Twelve Triangles, please say a thank you from us. Additionally, we are receiving a weekly donation via Fair Share from Tesco. A thank you to them too. And, last but not least, a thank you should go out to Compass Roofing, who have made a cash donation to this year’s Giveaway. We are very appreciative of the great community Leith is and proud to be a part of it
Hong Kong 2026 – With Finn and Joe returning from their fantastic trip to Hong Kong last week, we are now taking notes of interest for the next trip. Details in the letter attached. This is for S5 and S6 pupils at time of travel, those interested please complete the application form in the letter by the closing date of Nov 14th .
Maths national success – Congratulations to Sam Foggo, Emma Kerr and Meernan Abdulaziz for all achieving certificates in their latest National maths competitions. A special congratulations to Anne-Marie Jiang and Ciao Tsai who did so well in the UKMT maths competition that they have now progressed to the British Olympiad!
Youth Philanthropy Initiative YPI – We got this year’s competition underway this week with around 15 charities in for a speed dating session with our S3’s. This work allows youngsters to focus on a charity they believe in to try and win them £3000 – link Home | YPI
Trip, to the Poppy Factory – From Ms Gooch. As part of the S3 History Unit on World War I, students visited Lady Haig’s Poppy Factory on Tuesday. Here they met Davie and Dougie, 2 of 35 veterans, who showed them round the factory, highlighting how the poppies and wreaths are made for Remembrance Day.
With the clocks changing we are entering the Autumn / Winter season. Have a good weekend, we will see all in uniform Monday morning 8.30am ready to learn.
