Dear Parents, Carers and Students
Belated Happy New Year to you all. We are already well into what is usually the busiest term of the school year. Please find some updates below relating to:
- Parents and Carers Coffee Evening
- Activities Week
- Study Support
- Prelims
- Course Choice
- staffing
Parents and Carers Coffee Evening
We will be holding our first Parent and Carer Coffee Evening from 4:30pm – 5:30pm on Tuesday 17/1/25. This informal event will allow us to meet with parents and students, hear how things are going, and share some information about the supports available.
Activities Week
Last week, Mrs McLaren shared exciting news about the reintroduction of Activities Week. We have worked hard to make this as accessible as possible to everyone and have decided to make even more of the activities free. Please see the updated list of activities at the link below:
https://forresterhighschool.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Activities-week-booklet.pdf
And book your place using the following form:
https://forms.office.com/e/6badHYsmbj
Information about Activities Week is found on our Achievement and Opportunities Page where you will also see information about other clubs and activities.
Study Support
We will shortly be adding a new Study Page to our website. This will contain useful links and study tips. In the meantime, please find below some content which will find a permanent home on our new Study Page.
Study Support is available in subject departments – please see timetable linked below.
https://forresterhighschool.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Study-Support-TT.pdf
Getting started with study – the first thing to do is plan when you are going to study, what you are going to study and how you will check whether your study has been effective.
Use self-evaluation tools (e.g. Traffic Lights) to identify the areas you need to work on – although it’s tempting, don’t spend too long on the topics you are already good at.
Use mind maps to create visual pathways of how topics are linked within a subject.
Use flashcards to help learn important facts and terminology.
Achieve – helps you plan, monitor and evaluate your own study and has excellent self-evaluation tools built in. Please follow link below to get signed up.
BBC Bitesize – this site provides a great overview and a good range of materials for all subjects at different levels, including S1-3 (3rd level and 4th level)
SQA site – useful for checking what is expected in each subject and obtaining past papers
ClickView – provides video content related to all subjects at all levels –(something for everyone)
West OS – an online school, created by teachers, providing recorded learning experiences for young people at Broad General Education (BGE) and Senior Phase levels
E-Sgoil offers live, interactive tutorials and seminars that students can sign up to using their GLOW accounts.
S4-6 Prelims
Good luck to all students who are taking part in prelims over the next few weeks. I hope that the information shared above is useful when preparing for these and while working towards the final exams.
S1 into S3 Coursing Evening
It was great to meet S2 parents (and some students) last Thursday to explain the S2 into S3 Course Choice Process. We are confident that the changes implemented for this year will benefit all students and provide a wider experience going into the senior phase. For those who missed this event please see the Curriculum Page on our website, linked below.
Forrester High School Edinburgh | The Curriculum
Please note, our senior course choice evening will take place on Tuesday 24th January from 6:30pm – 7:30pm.
Staffing
Staffing continues to be extremely challenging for the school, with recruitment difficulties remaining in Maths, English and CDT.
Despite these difficulties, I am very happy to be able to formally welcome the following new members of staff.
- Ms Donegan, English
- Mr Lawton, Support for Learning
- Mr Lam, Computing Studies
- Mr Mckeever, Business Education
- Ms Denysenko Enhanced Support Base
We will continue to work hard to recruit cover in our shortage areas.
Thank you for continuing to support the school.
Best wishes
Stephen Rafferty
Head Teacher