Category Archives: Parental and Student Information

Parental and Student Information

SQA Exam Leave 2016

In order to allow pupils and parents to plan ahead in terms of a study timetable, SQA exam leave for this session is outlined below. It has been made slightly more complicated this year by the regulations surrounding Curriculum for Excellence so I have tried to bullet point the arrangements to make them easier to follow.

  • S4 pupils sitting 3 or more National 5 exams/ all S5 and S6 pupils will have their last day of classes on Tuesday 3rd May.
  • Exam leave will run from Wednesday 4th May and will run until Wednesday 1st June (inclusive).
  • S4 pupils sitting two or less National 5 exams are not entitled to the full exam leave but will get two days study leave prior to each exam (plus the day of the actual exam).
  • S4 pupils with no National 5 exams will be expected to attend school throughout the exam leave period. A programme of lessons and activities has been arranged including opportunities of taster courses at Edinburgh College or work experience.
  • There will be an Induction programme for S4/5/6 pupils on Thursday 2nd and Friday 3rd June (a small number of pupils may have an exam on one of these days and therefore should not attend the induction).
  • The new timetable will start for all S5/6 pupils on Monday 6th June.

As we reach this important stage in the lives of senior pupils, I would encourage them all to plan their study time carefully and make the most of the Easter Revision Programme the school is offering the first week of the Easter break and to use the remaining week for focused study too. There will be opportunities when they return after Easter to seek help and support from their teachers in the final preparation leading up to their exams. I am sure parents will be playing their part in offering help and support and ensuring time is created for study.

I would like to wish all exam candidates well on behalf of everyone here at Drummond Community High School and to hope they secure the results they deserve from their hard work and effort throughout the years.

Susan Cook (Acting Head Teacher)

Parental and Student Information

Bad Entertainment: The Untitled

Since last April pupils from Drummond Community High School have been working with the outreach team at the National Galleries of Scotland.  They were given the task of thinking about how society could look if the normal rules didn’t exist – if ‘society’ itself didn’t exist.

After months of ideas, creating, planning, filming & hopefully fun, our pupils have made a significant contribution to a new exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery called Bad Entertainment : The Untitled.  The exhibition officially opens on Saturday the 30th January but there is an open invite to all pupils at Drummond to attend a preview at 6pm on Friday 29th January at the Portrait Gallery.

This link should take you to a Radio Scotland interview involving a Drummond pupil about the exhibition: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06vmzg2     (the interview starts at 48mins into programme).

Over the last year, the National Galleries of Scotland Outreach Team has invited ‘the next generation’ to make the kind of art that they would want to see, inspired by the work of contemporary artists. This challenging exhibition created by young people across Scotland, reveals both their personal stories and their take on society.

As a response to GENERATION: 25 Years of Contemporary Art in Scotland, young people from Alloa, Irvine and Edinburgh, have made artworks and films that show their lives caught between the actuality of everyday experience and the fantasy world of media culture. These new artists have smashed up the tactics and attitudes of contemporary art to make an installation that is ‘legitimately creepy’. They ask, ‘Are you sure?’ and encourage us to, ‘Take what you can…’, before they sketch out the rules by which they would want to live if the future was in their hands.

We hope that this exhibition will attract anyone who cares about the issues young people face today, and a new young audience, inspired by the honesty and imaginative freedom of their peers.

https://www.nationalgalleries.org/whatson/on-now-coming-soon/the-untitled/

https://www.list.co.uk/article/77722-children-art-the-future-young-scots-create-bad-entertainment-the-untitled/

Bad Entertainment 2
Bad Entertainment 3
Bad Entertainment 1
Parental and Student Information

Learner Pathways for current S3, S4 and S5 pupils – Initial Coursing Review

  • Initial Learner Pathway sheets were issued to S4 and S5 pupils today (Friday 8th January)
  • S4 and S5 pupils are expected to return these sheets to Mr Hunter by Friday 15th January.
  • Initial Learner Pathway sheets will be issued to S3 pupils during PSE on Wednesday 13th
  • S3 pupils are expected to return these sheets to Mr Hunter by Monday 18th January.

This process allows the subject choices for 2016/17 to be put into a column structure which will aim to give as many pupils as possible the opportunity to follow their chosen subjects.  The finalised learner pathway sheet for the senior school will be issued in early February.  If you have any general questions regarding Learner Pathways please feel free to contact the appropriate Guidance teacher.

There will be an information session for S3-S5 parents about Learner Pathways on Wednesday 10th February from 7pm-7:30pm in the Community Lounge.

DCHS Senior Phase Coursing 2016-17 (PDF, 1.01MB)

The Learner Pathway Reviews (or subject/course choices for the current S3, S4 & S5 pupils) will take place with Guidance teachers between Monday 22nd February and Friday 4th March

G Hunter – Depute Head Teacher, Senior Phase.

Parental and Student Information

Vaccinations and Consent Forms

Are you protected?

There is another chance for teenagers to get their MMR and HPV vaccine in the summer term if they have previously missed out.

MMR
Ten per cent of secondary school pupils in Lothian have not had the second dose of the MMR vaccine meaning they are at risk from Measles, Mumps and Rubella.

In Lothian there has been a recent outbreak of mumps, a contagious viral infection with symptoms including fever, headache and swelling of one or both cheeks or sides of the jaw. Common complications include inflammation of the testes (1 in 4 adult males) and meningitis (1 in 7 cases) with less common complications including hearing loss and inflammation of the pancreas.

Children with mumps will need to stay off school for at least five days.

The NHS Lothian school nurse team will be sending letters to pupils due to be vaccinated. Please read this and discuss vaccination with you parents, carer or guardian.

HPV
The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, given to girls in S1 and S2, protects against cervical cancer.

This vaccine is designed to protect against the two types of HPV that cause 75% of the cases of cervical cancer, but uptake of this vaccine in Lothian has not been all that high. It is important that you get this protection early enough for it to be effective. So, you should have all the required doses as soon as they are offered at secondary school.

If you receive a consent form, make sure you discuss it with your parents, carer or guardian and return the form to your school.

More information about these vaccinations can be found on the Immunisation Scotland website. Or you can call NHS Inform on 0800 22 44 88 (8am to 10pm, every day).

Parental and Student Information

SQA Exam Leave 2015 – Message from the Headteacher

In order to allow pupils and parents to plan ahead in terms of a study timetable, SQA exam leave for this session is outlined below. It has been made slightly more complicated this year by the regulations surrounding Curriculum for Excellence so I have tried to bullet point the arrangements to make them easier to follow.

• S4 pupils sitting 3 or more National 5 exams/ all S5 and S6 pupils will have their last day of classes on Friday 1st May.
• Exam leave will run from Tuesday 5th May (Monday 4th is a holiday) and will run until Friday 29th May inclusive.
• S4 pupils sitting two or less National 5 exams are not entitled to the full exam leave but will get two days study leave prior to each exam (plus the day of the actual exam).
• S4 pupils with no National 5 exams will be expected to attend school throughout the exam leave period. A programme of lessons and activities has been arranged including opportunities of taster courses at Edinburgh College.
• The new timetable will start for all pupils on Monday 1st June. Any pupils who have exams after this date will be granted study leave as detailed above.
• There will be an Induction programme for S4/5/6 pupils on Thursday 4th and Friday 5th June.

As we reach this important stage in the lives of senior pupils, I would encourage them all to plan their study time carefully and make the most of the Easter Revision Programme the school is offering the first week of the Easter break and to use the remaining week for focused study too. There will be opportunities when they return after Easter to seek help and support from their teachers in the final preparation leading up to their exams. I am sure parents will be playing their part in offering help and support and ensuring time is created for study.

I would like to wish exam all exam candidates well on behalf of everyone here at Drummond Community High School and to hope they secure the results they deserve from their hard work and effort throughout the years.