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 28th 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 5th 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.