Dalkeith High School Parent Council
Tuesday 19 May 2015
Present: Allyson Dobson (AD), Steve Kelly (SK), Caroline Pearson (CP), Jane
Richardson, Stephanie Heasman, Bill McQueen, Morag Ryan, Ross Cartwright, Anne
Williams and Deborah Slater (DS)
Apologies: Marianne Flockhart, Sarah Davie, Anne Murray and Jacqui Fitzpatrick
Visit to proposed site for stained glass: The Parent Council visited the entrance to the
school to make a final decision on the location for the stained glass to commemorate the
centenary. A location close to the ballerina was chosen, opposite the doors where pupils
enter the school from the bus bays. Many thanks to Kate Henderson (stained glass artist)
and Bruce Kennedy (parent creating frame for the glass) for attending the meeting.
The remainder of the meeting was held in the conference room.
Approval of minutes: Minutes of the last meeting were approved and signed
Notification of AOCB:
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Midlothian Science Festival
Teachers' leave
Uniform
Evaluation of assertive mentoring programme: Ross Cartwright (PE) attended the
meeting to give a PowerPoint presentation evaluating what the mentoring programme has
achieved so far and what could be achieved in the future by targeting support where it is
most needed. It was confirmed that the mentoring process is different for different pupils
according to their needs and that teachers share best practice with each other. The
original training on mentoring and tracking was done by Eamonn Farrar and AD identified
the need to revisit that for new staff who have joined the school since then.
Tracking for S1 – S3 is now done three times per year. For S4 – S6 tracking it is done six
times per year.
CP thanked Ross for attending the meeting to give the presentation.
Head Teacher update:
Staffing: Allyson Dobson explained that she has spent a great deal of time so far
interviewing for new staff.
Sharon O'Hanlon has been appointed to the Art Dept, Fiona Ramsay will be the new
Computing Science teacher. Three teachers at the end of their NQT year are in the
running for the chemistry post, the next stage being an observed lesson. A temporary RME
teacher will also be selected in this way (interview and observed lesson).
In addition to these appointments the school will have NQTs next year in biology,
chemistry, English and history. We will also have an extra Depute and this will be
advertised internally first.
Lindsay McPherson will be leaving the music department at the end of term so there will
be a new appointment in music.
A query was raised about whether Advanced Higher Chemistry could be offered next year.
AD explained that as an NQT is being appointed then AH chemistry will not be offered in
their first year. Instead an arrangement will be made with another Midlothian school,
hopefully St. Davids, to offer AH chemistry. DHS might be able to offer AH physics for both
schools in return.
Extra study days for chemistry are being offered in the week beginning 25 May, a full day
for Higher and a half-day for Nat 5.
SQA exam progress: Getting towards the end of the exam period now. Despite changes
this year, S4 exam leave is still not working well and needs to be looked at again. Next
year there will be a May programme for S4 pupils who are not doing exams, perhaps an
employability programme. Next year the SQA exam period is likely to be shorter, starting
in mid-May.
School show (including fundraising): This year's show is “Rent”. The production costs
are high so the cast are having a sponsored stay awake on 29 May in Newtongrange to
raise funds.
School improvement plan priorities: AD started by explaining that while the school is in
a good place, there has been quite a long period of change and challenge and so now is
the time to “steady the ship”. AD presented the school improvement plan priorities for
2015-16.
There was a discussion about the timing of unit assessments and the need to co-ordinate
them so that the workload is spread better.
Another issue highlighted was dealing with stress in teenagers, especially around exam
time. A training course is available and this could be offered to DHS staff, parents and
teenagers in different formats.
AD also pointed out where DHS is in the inspection cycle. She suggested that it might be
useful for the Parent Council to look at another school's HMIE report at a future meeting.
All agreed that this would be both useful and interesting.
Rather than a Senior Leadership Team, there will be an Extended Leadership Team to
include the Faculty Heads.
S5 work experience week:
This is still happening but is voluntary. SK to find out dates (action point) In future it
may be possible to have work experience as part of the timetable.
S6 induction day is 1 June
S5 induction is 3 – 5 June
Finance: school / PTA account update – The meeting between Steve Kelly and Anne
Murray has still not taken place. Again Caroline Pearson expressed concern about the
time this is taking.
Action point: SK to contact Anne Murray with a date for the meeting
Approval of school values – final list: The Parent Council approved the choice of words
made by the pupils: respect, confidence, success, fairness, honesty
AOCB:
Midlothian Science Festival: It was suggested that DHS should be involved; AD
responded that Lindsay Ward (new Head of Science) is keen to engage with the
community and will take this forward.
Teachers' leave: Following a query, AD reassured parents that teachers take their
holidays in the school holidays. There may be exceptional circumstances, e.g. to attend a
sibling's wedding, but other than this nobody is given special leave.
Uniform: It was agreed that there is still a job to do to reinforce the uniform. This is
something that will be tackled once study leave is over as the wearing of uniform has
slipped over the exam period.
Proposed changes to February week: Midlothian Council is seeking views on a
proposed change to the February holiday in 2016/17. Action point: DS to circulate info to
those on Parent Council email list
Exam room etiquette: There was a question about why candidates are allowed to leave
the exam room before the end of exams as this causes a distraction for others. SK
responded.
The meeting was closed.
Parent Council meeting dates 2015/2016:
8 September (AGM) 2015
22 September 2015
10 November 2015
12 January 2016
23 February 2016
12 April 2016
17 May 2016