I was lucky enough to be joined for Pupil Voice input by members of the Design Team this week. I learned as much as the young people with regards to terms such as biophilic design and supergraphics. We shared a number of images from the 3D building models and talked through the key concept of trying to bring nature from the outside, to the inside. I am particularly fond of the planning for real trees in our central atrium, and of the sheer amount of natural light that will flood into each part of the building. I’ve been encouraging all future pupils to take a look at the building ‘close up’ if they can, as there is plenty you can see from the roadside.  In addition to this, a number of pupils have asked about the possibility of both ‘real life’ visits and video/360 tours of the building inside. We obviously need to balance this up with the health and safety associated with building sites but do watch this space…we are working on it!

I have now shared the curriculum rationale for the Broad General Education (S1-S3) on the website. This outlines the key drivers behind our curriculum and highlights its core principles of wellbeing, inclusion and equity. As well as clear alignment with Curriculum for Excellence, it also reflects the conversations that have been undertaken with parent and pupil groups. I have shared this ‘big picture’ thinking with our timetabler who is now working turning it into technical reality. We hope to be able to share a couple of ‘sample’ timetables ahead of the Christmas break.

Pathways are important beyond as well as within school, and today I met with our Skills Development Scotland (SDS) link. Schools have a shared responsibility with SDS and other partners to support young people into sustained, positive destinations. Part of this is offering high quality careers education and identifying, at an early stage, which young people might need some extra help in figuring out their next steps. Although this seems like a long way away for our youngest learners, it’s important that we get that input right from S1 onwards.

Pinkie St. Peter’s Primary hosted our most recent Parent Engagement session. This was on Theme 3: Our identity. It was great to hear from parents about how they see the local area, and how they think others see it. We even started to generate some ideas for the name of the high school and its Houses. All suggestions welcome ahead of some votes in the New Year! We also discussed dress code and the importance of this being appropriate for active, collaborative learning- comfortable, easy to look after, gender neutral and inclusive. I’ll be picking this up with pupil groups next.

If you would like some ‘in person’ updates on a range of matters pertaining to the school, as well as the summary messages from the engagement work around Theme 2: Our Community, please feel free to join me on Google Meet live at 4pm on Monday 28^th November. The link is in the letter that you were sent by your current schools in early November. However, if you don’t have this to hand, please email wlctransitions@edubuzz.org and it can be re-sent. If you can’t make that time, a recording will be added to the Parent Engagement page on the website a few days afterwards.

And finally, our last parent engagement session is hosted by Musselburgh Grammar on Monday 5^th December (6-7pm) and is on Theme 4: Our learning. There are still places available and I would love to see as many people as possible to look at all things curriculum and learning and teaching. Please email to book your spot.

One highlight of this week was undoubtedly attending the Learning Places Scotland conference at the SEC in Glasgow. It was a great opportunity to think specifically about the architecture of our new building and how this promotes innovative approaches to learning and teaching. I particularly enjoyed learning from the experiences of young people from both West Calder High School and Inverurie Academy, all of whom had recently moved into new build schools. They had some great advice about the importance of letting pupils gradually get used to the variety of different learning spaces. I also had the chance to speak with a range of potential partners about how we can support an exciting BGE curriculum within the STEAM facility, including Glasgow Science Centre and Morrison Construction.

On Wednesday, I joined a number of Wallyford residents and the Community Centre, for a Bite and a Blether. This included a talk on the history of Wallyford, by Alister Hadden. I learned so much about the way in which the community has grown and changed over the years, and I want to make sure that the eventual name of our school and its Houses really do reflect our unique context. We did laugh a lot together when we saw the images of the original school building in Wallyford, with only four rooms!

All parent and pupil engagements around Theme 1: Our school’s purpose, have now been completed. I therefore held a brief Google Meet on Thursday to summarise some of the findings. These Google Meets are recorded and will be added to the website in the next few days. The website also includes graphics showing the main areas of discussion. However, do feel free to join live if you are able to, as this gives you the chance to add any questions to the chat as we go.

Still on the subject of questions, you may have noticed a couple of new pages on the website. I have pulled together both Pupil and Parent FAQs. These can be accessed through the link to the relevant Google document, which makes it easy for me to update as we move towards opening.

Our next Parent Engagement session is on the 24^th November at Pinkie St. Peter’s Primary, at 5.30pm. This will still be going ahead, despite potential disruption to the normal school day. I look forward to seeing some of you there.

It’s been another busy week with a focus on getting out and about meeting pupils and parents, including:

• Our second parent engagement meeting
• Our first Pupil Voice groups at Musselburgh and Wallyford
• A Musselburgh Parent Council meeting
• Assemblies for P6 and P7 at Pinkie St. Peter’s

One theme that has been coming through is the value placed on good communication. I couldn’t agree more. It’s good to be aware that I am unable to initiate contact with any parents or pupils directly until they are confirmed as pupils who will be attending the campus, so I hope the following strategies are proving useful:

Information letters on engagement opportunities sent via pupils’ current schools.

Updates via the Twitter account: @WallyfordLC

Setting up the email wlctransitions@edubuzz.org

Building the website edubuzz.org/wallyfordlc/ (Please note: there is no capacity to respond to comments on the website- these should be submitted via email.)

Please do get in touch with your queries. If I can’t answer them myself, I will find someone who can! I am also in the process of developing a Frequently Asked Questions page on the website which will bring some these together for the benefit of both parents and pupils.

Another topic of discussion has been around a name for the new school, and its Houses. I’ve been in touch with a number of contacts in the community to explore ideas around honouring a place or a person that might otherwise be forgotten. I am also thinking about ways in which we might reflect aspects of the local environment. Eventually, I will pull together a list of options and ask you to vote. Schooly McSchool Face will not to be in the list! If you have any ideas you would like to share, do let me know.

Linked into this are our plans for the overall ‘look’ of the school in terms of the colours, materials and textures that will be used.  The design team are working on the central idea of beaches/coastlines, and trying to capture something of the beauty we are lucky enough to have in East Lothian. You will see some of these colours start to filter through the website and other communications.

I also met with our consultant timetabler for the first time, to look at how we do the technical side of building the new curriculum. I will be able to share progress on this within the next couple of weeks so that you have a chance to explore the curriculum rationale, then to start to see what a school day might look like for pupils in S1-S3.

I am delighted to share that our website is now live. If you are reading this, you have found it! Please take the time to have a look through previous head teacher updates which help to show the progress we have been making over the last few weeks.

There was a continued focus on staffing this week as I worked with local authority colleagues to plan roles and remits for the school’s Extended Leadership Team, who will lead in curricular subjects and in pastoral care. All school leaders will be able to join me well ahead of the school opening, in order that we have time together to plan the best learning experiences we can.

This was also the main consideration in my meeting this week with Leigh Watson, the Senior Education Officer for Curriculum Innovation at Education Scotland. As discussed with parents at our most recent engagement session, I’m committed to developing a curriculum in S1-3 that really does deliver a Broad General Education and that includes space in the timetable for important work around Learning for Sustainability, Digital Literacy and Skills for Learning, Life and Work. It’s great to have the reassurance that we are working in a way that genuinely reflects the principles of the Curriculum for Excellence.

Pupil voice groups are now established in Wallyford Primary School and Musselburgh Grammar. They will be working through a range of topics, including the chance to take part in a consultation with our interior designer. I will be doing an introductory assembly at Pinkie St. Peter’s on the 10^th November, and will form pupil groups thereafter. It’s really important to me that we are listening and responding to what matters to our young people. I will post update about their activities on the ‘Pupil Voice’ tab once we are up and running.

Partnership working is hugely important for the new campus, and I got my walking shoes on this week with one of our local youth workers, Vanda Dow, to get out and about in the catchment area and start thinking about any issue and opportunities related to our School Travel Plan.

And finally, a date for your diary. I will be hosting the first of a series of brief live Google Meets on Thursday 17^th November, where I will talk through some of the themes emerging from discussions with pupils and parents thus far. You can join me here Google Meet 1

A recording of the session will also be posted to the website afterwards.