We were delighted to start the week with the first of our whole staff transition visits to Musselburgh Grammar school. Our three S2 and four S3 classes all took part in a session focused on The Rosehill Way, including the opportunity to reflect on their time as a secondary pupil so far, and what might be new or different at Rosehill. I spoke with all seven groups, both to welcome them personally and to reflect on change and its necessity as part of life. A few repeat themes came up in our discussions, which it’s worth sharing here for clarity.
Mobile phones: Mobile phones have no place in our classrooms. Our young people all have access to Chromebooks throughout the day, so they are not required in any way for learning. All young people have lockers they can access and our recommendation is that phones are stored there. If your young person chooses not to do this, phones should be on silent and out of sight in all classes. Phone use in class is not in line with our core value of respect. As well as potential issues around cyber bullying, recording people without permission etc., using a phone instead of learning is going on is never going to help someone to be the best version of themselves. It’s worth noting that phones are personal property and that, therefore, the school can take no responsibility for loss or damage to these or other devices.
Rest breaks: Rather than one very short and one longer break, we are piloting pupils having two 30 minute rest breaks. This means that there are two opportunities for them to visit the toilet, refill water, have something to eat, and get some fresh air, thus creating a much more balanced school day. There is not time, therefore, for them to go anywhere much beyond the campus. In keeping with our core value of responsibility, our school is not a prison, and pupils won’t be locked in! However, if they are off campus, there are no adults around to support them if things go wrong. Whilst it is up to families to have these conversations with their young people and to set your own expectations, we strongly recommend that all pupils remain on campus throughout the school day, to reduce the risk of bullying incidents or anti-social behaviour.
Dress code: If you have been following the updates, you know all about this! However, it seems a number of young people don’t. I have been shown a range of black trousers with the question, ‘Are these okay?’ Yes, black trousers are always okay! In keeping with our core value of kindness, no young person will ever be criticised based on what they are wearing. If we notice a specific issue, we will have a conversation with the young person to find out what any barriers are. A reminder of our simple dress code is here: The Rosehill Way: Dress Code
Our Curriculum Leader for Health and Wellbeing, Paddy Cuthbertson, has also put together this note about clothing/equipment for courses in his faculty: HWB Clothing and Equipment
By the end of next week, we will be providing access to our ‘What You Need To Know’ Google site. This collates lots of the discussion points that have come up during transition so that you have them all to hand. Please take the time to go through this carefully with your young person after it is published.
Thank you everyone who attended our final Parent Engagement Group of this session. This was focused on character education and its place at Rosehill. The slides for the sessions are here: Character Education During the session we talked about the: Association for Character Education We also made reference to our plans for the Youth Philanthropy Initiative (YPI) in S3: YPI Scotland
We’ve also continued our work around ‘One Page Policies’. A couple of examples of our most recent policy work are here:
The Rosehill Way: Ways of Being
The Rosehill Way: Parental Engagement and Family Learning
These will remain in draft throughout this school session, as we will learn and modify as we go. As always, your questions and feedback are welcome as we share our thinking as we go.
And finally, some news on our Twilight Tours. As you are aware, getting the building over the line has meant thinking really hard about prioritisation. You will be able to see that the campus looks ‘finished’ (seeing the signage go up was a lovely surprise when I drove by on my way to the Wallyford Gala last weekend!) but there are lots of health and safety checks and snagging that needs to be done during this handover period. However, we can now confirm that visits for pupils and their families can take place on the 26th and 27th June. Slots will be s between 4pm and 6.15pm, and you should anticipate your tour taken around 30-40 minutes. In order to ensure the health and safety of all, all visits must be booked in advance. We will email a letter with booking information next week.