Dear Parent
The first holiday of the term is upon us already, and staff and students are looking forward to a well-earned long weekend. There is no doubt that working in the way we are at the moment is exhausting and the energy levels are lower than we would normally see at this time of year. Please find a brief update below.
Show my Homework
All S1 students and parents now have access to our own online homework platform called Show My Homework. Letters were issued to students last week with details of how parents can login to track and monitor allocated homework. If you did not receive a letter or have and issues with setting this up, please contact the school.
Pupils should use their school login details to access their account. (e.g school number @ea.edin.sch.uk)
Children’s Parliament
The Children’s Parliament are keen to get as many young people, up to the age of 14 years, as possible to complete the wellbeing survey below. This will enable them to take a temperature check on how well young people are or aren’t coping with the pandemic situation.
https://www.childrensparliament.org.uk/our-work/children-and-coronavirus/
(The school also plans to check on students’ wellbeing through a survey carried out in PSE in next week.)
Senior Team
It was great to meet with our Senior Student Team this morning. We talked about how we might mobilise our S6 to support other students and the work of the school. Normal duties such as buddying, and in-class support are particularly difficult this year due to restrictions, but we know we have a great S6 who are ready to support in any way they can. The first major task of the Senior Team is to connect with the rest of the school through an online assembly. Filming started in earnest this week.
S3 Reports through email
We are really pleased to have been able to share S3 reports with parents through email. This is a first for Forrester and a first for the City of Edinburgh and means no more reports being lost or left lying in school bags or lockers. Not only does this method of distribution complement our infection control measures, it is an important milestone in the way we want to develop as a digital school. Parental feedback has been very positive, and parents tell us that they like to receive reports in this way.
iPads
We were delighted to be able to issue a further 70 iPads to students on Monday evening. We are really pleased with the support and engagement of students and parents. It was also great to see the iPads being used in a wide variety of ways to support learning as I visited classrooms across the school this week.
Equalities Focus Group
A reminder that we would like to consult with parents to gather their views about equalities within school. We are looking for a few more parents to sign up to our Equalities Focus Group. If you are interested in being part of this group or if would like more information, please complete the survey linked below.
The survey will close on Monday 21st September.
SFA School of Football
Our S2 programme is already up-and-running, after some adaptations to comply with guidelines, and is working really well. We are now looking forward to the S1 programme getting underway in the next couple of weeks after the completion of selection and trials which begin today.
Finally, I look forward to seeing everyone back safe and well on Tuesday 22 September, which will be back to week 1 in our rotation – periods 1, 3 and 5 on student timetables.
Thanks, and best wishes
Stephen Rafferty
Head Teacher