Dear Parents and Carers
It has been a while since my last update and I wanted to draw your attention to the incredible range of opportunities that our students and staff are engaging in.
Events and Visits:
Escape, Relate, Connect Conference
- Three students represented us as the first Escape, Relate, Connect Conference on 26th October.
Live ‘n’ Learn
- On Monday 29th October, Live ‘n’ Learn came into school to work with S4 students. The focus of these sessions was growth mind-set, setting goals and study skills.
STEM Talk by Herriot-Watt
- 130 senior students participated in a session delivered by Herriot Watt on 1st November. The team from Herriot Watt remarked on our “outstanding” students.
Excursion to Scottish Parliament Tuesday 6th November
- Thirty senior students took part in an excursion to the Scottish Parliament, as part of their Modern Studies course.
Drama Trip – A War of Two Halves (Wednesday 7th November)
- Senior Drama students represented the school impeccably
S1 Parents’ Evening
- Fantastic night for the school – 84% of parents in attendance. 100% contact with parents, soup and bread provided by senior students. This parents’ evening was also supported by MyWOW ambassadors and our Parent Council.
Charity Football Match with Tynecastle
- We are all very proud of our senior team who represented Forrester at Easter Road
Manchester Football Trip
- Outstanding feedback received about this great group of young people – thanks to Miss T and the rest of the team.
Author in Residence
- Our Author in Residence started work with Senior Students on Wednesday 14th November.
YPI Final
- Our Youth and Philanthropy Initiative Final took place on Thursday afternoon with representatives of YPI and local charity groups in attendance. This event was a great showcase of what our students are capable of. Sue Beattie from YPI was blown away by the quality of our finalists and our judges could easily have picked all 7 teams as winners. The winning Charity was Richmond’s Hope.
Winter Windows
- Katie Watson from 1R1 will have her ‘Kindness’ artwork blown up and displayed in a 2 metre high, lit glass box on West Parliament square over the Christmas period.
Christmas Collection for the Foodbank
- We are supporting the Broomhouse Foodbank this year and will be collecting donations at the school reception in the run up to Christmas.
Heroes and Villains book launch (S1)
- The launch of S1 Students’ fantasy short stories book took place on Tuesday 20th November, 6pm-8pm. This event was well attended by parents and students. We also were able to share with parents some of the work we are doing to improve literacy, numeracy and communication. Attention was drawn to the school numeracy booklet which can be found at the following address: https://forresterhighschool.org.uk/general/numeracy-2
S4 Work Experience
- Our S4s will be out on work experience on the week beginning 3 December.
Senior Citizens’ Coffee Morning
- Preparations are well underway for our annual Senior Citizens’ Coffee Morning which takes place on 12 December. This event is entirely led by our S6 students.
Duke of Edinburgh
- We now have a core group of five staff who are supporting Duke of Edinburgh to run once again this year. Forty students from S3 and S4 have now signed-up.
Science Award Celebration
· Several of our young people have been involved in the Royal Society’s Book Award this term with our other awesome librarian, Mrs Black.
Make it Happen
- A group of our students who play Club Basketball have successfully taken part in a coaching event at Herriot Watt University on Friday 16th November.
MyWOW Ambassadors making a positive difference
- Our My World of Work Ambassadors have been supporting our students and staff to engage with My World of Work. 88% of our students are now registered for MyWOW which is well ahead of City and National uptake.
Senior Leadership Class
- Our SQA Leadership class are embarking on work placements in local primary schools and sports centres. This will run over the next 6 Fridays.
Activities Week
- Plans are now well under way for our first Activities Week, taking place the last week in May.
Updates
Show my Homework
- We apologise for the ongoing delay in implementing Show my Homework. We are continuing to work hard to get permission to go ahead.
Visit from Teachers from the Netherlands
- On Friday 16th November, twelve Senior Leaders from schools in the Netherlands, visited the school. They were very positive about the welcome they received and impressed by the young people and staff they met on the tour.
And finally, a special mention should go to our S6 Charity Committee for organising two major fundraising events. Halloween dress-up day raised nearly £400 for Childhood Cancer and on Friday 16th they continued the Forrester tradition by raising over £700 for Children in Need.
Have a great weekend.
Stephen Rafferty
Head Teacher