Geoscience Career Day

Leonluca Klein

Parent SQA Information

Dear Parent/Carer

Please see attached letter with the latest information regarding National Qualifications.

SQA Parent Information

 

 

 

SAAS Student Funding Application Workshops

Dear S6 Student

SAAS Student Funding Application Workshops

Previously at this time of year, the SAAS Funding Awareness Team would be setting up our annual in-school application workshops.  This year, we will be running these remotely, due to Covid-19 restrictions.

During these workshops, we will deliver our funding presentation and offer assistance to Scottish students to help them to complete their 2021/22 funding application.  Students can sign up for one of these events here – Scottish Student Funding Application Workshops (eventbrite.co.uk).  (Please copy and paste this link, thank you).

We are sharing this information for any pupils planning on studying at HNC, HND or Degree level at College or University this year.  The attached flyer explains what students will need to bring with them to the workshop.

Kind regards

SAAS Funding Awareness Team

S4-S6 Formal Assessment Arrangements

Formal Assessment Arrangements

PHS Assessment Schedule May/June 2021

 

In line with the ‘Alternative Certification Model Guidelines for Midlothian Secondary Schools 2020-21’ we are pleased to share with you our Assessment Schedule for May and June, outlining planned assessments for certification purposes.  This Assessment Schedule has been created to enable our students to achieve their best results.  Care has been taken to manage the assessment burden for students by ensuring that only one subject area assessment is taking place at any one time.  We have also taken measures to ensure appropriate supports are in place for students, including all Alternative Assessment Arrangements.  Please click on the following link for the schedule:

PHS May 2021 Assessment Schedule Student

Our teaching staff have been working in collaboration with staff from across Midlothian to ensure all assessments used are consistent and equitable.  Assessments have been designed to have ‘high predictive value’, ensuring no student is disadvantaged.  All assessments used have been verified by the local authority’s assessment and moderation process.  In additional to these measures, all secondary schools have been allocated 2 additional assessment in-set days after Easter.

Where appropriate there will be at least one reassessment opportunity.  The need for any further re-assessment will be based on context and teacher professional judgement.  In those cases a clear record of the rationale for a further re-assessment will be recorded and stored as part of the student’s evidence.  Students should be aware that all provisional grades remain subject to internal and external verification.

Due to the disruption of face to face teaching this session there will be no study leave.  Students will be fully supported in school.  All students should attend school as normal and will be excused from classes to attended scheduled assessments.

Finally, we would like to take this opportunity to thank our senior students for their continued engagement and hard work during what has been a challenging 12 months.  We have been extremely proud of how our students adapted to remote learning and, more recently, our phased return.

These assessments are your opportunity to demonstrate what you can do; work to the best of your ability to ensure the end results are what you deserve.

 

Hollie Lyon

Depute Head Teacher (Acting)

S4 Medic Insight Day 2021

Dear Parent/Carer

I am writing to make you aware of Medic Insight Edinburgh and the completely free-of-charge programme we offer for students in years S4 and S5, or equivalent. We are a group of medical students at the University of Edinburgh and we want to give as many school students the opportunity to gain medical work experience as possible. We run a programme which aims to provide these students with an initial insight into medicine and help students, through our events, decide whether or not medicine is a programme of study they may wish to embark upon.

We run 2 events each year, one for SS4 students and one for S5 students. We are waiting on some information becoming available from NHS Lothian before we can confirm details of our S5 event but I am delighted to be able to share details of our S4 event for this year.

Virtual S4 Day Event

Medic Insight Day 2021 – Saturday 27th March 2021 via virtual platform

Applications for this will open on the 24th February 2021 at 1pm.

The event will consist of talks from medical students and doctors followed by an afternoon of workshops all designed to provide an initial insight into what a career in medicine could look like.

Updates regarding applications will be posted on our website and Facebook page – this is also where the links for applying will become available on the advertised dates.

Website: https://medicinsightedinburgh.wordpress.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MedicInsightEdinburgh/ 

Should you have any queries then please do not hesitate to get in touch or should any students have any queries then I would encourage them to getting touch with us at contactus@medicinsight.com.

Jack Gray

5th Year Medical Student @ UofE

General Manager

Medic Insight Edinburgh

December Internal Assessment Schedule

 

Please see our December assessment schedule through the link below.

December Assessment Schedule V2

Continuous assessment is a priority for our senior phase pupils, to ensure we maintain an accurate picture of their achievements and progress throughout the year.

However, following the cancellation of National 5 exams and  subsequent SQA guidance, there will be multiple opportunities for our pupils to demonstrate their knowledge and skills to ensure they secure the grades they are capable of. For N5 students these will replace prelims. The schedule below represents the first such opportunity; it will be overtaken by other such assessment schedules in 2021.

Please be aware that subjects can appear multiple times on the schedule. These represent shorter ‘chunks’ of assessment than would be the case with standard prelim exams. However this allows us to make the assessments more manageable over the session.

Please be aware that due to the impact of coronavirus, our schedule may be subject to change.

Please also be aware that SQA policies and procedures are continually updated to reflect current circumstances, which could potentially impact assessments as currently proposed.

Congratulations To Our New Senior Prefects

We are thrilled to announce our new Senior Prefects who were chosen after a rigorous selection process. Our new Senior Prefects will take on an integral role in the running of the school. They will be responsible for organising events, supervising key areas during break and lunch, and helping to mentor our younger students. We are all really proud of their initial impact on the school. Please join us in congratulating them all.

 

Congratulations to our newly elected senior leaders!

Congratulations to our newly elected senior leaders!

At Penicuik High School, we want senior leaders who are mature in their outlook, independent in their thinking, driven by positive values and fully committed to the life and ethos of the school. As session 2020/21 is unusual as a result of Covid-19, the established recruitment procedures and role responsibilities of the Senior Leadership Team have been revised to reflect our ‘new and evolving normal’.

All S6’s who believed they possess the values and characteristics outlined completed an application form in August. All S6 applications were considered by teachers from across the school and the candidates put together a short video presentation which was shared with staff and students remotely. A whole school vote was then carried out to appoint our new Senior Leadership Team!

S6 Student Leaders

Roy Meehan: My name is Roy and I am Student Leader this year. My main priority this year will be to help improve student voice in the school.

Yoana Yordanova: Hello everyone, my name is Yoana and I am one of your Student Leaders this year. One of my main priorities is to hopefully bring Wifi into the school and I look forward to working together!

S6 Depute Student Leaders

Daniel Anderson: Hello. My name is Daniel and I am one of your Deputy Student Leaders. This year I want to encourage more physical activities and sport in the school.

Fraser Hall: Hi, my name is Fraser and I’m Deputy Student Leader. My goal is for the school to have more sports teams.

Micheal Hood: My name is Michael and I am one of the Deputy Student Leaders this year. I hope to establish better communication between the year groups at Penicuik High School.

Chloe Steel: Hi everyone, my name is Chloe and I am one of the Deputy Student Leaders. One of my priorities this year is to introduce a student Wifi so everyone can have access to the internet and classwork. I look forward to working with you all.

S4-6 Online Learning Opportunities

e-Sgoil is a Scottish online learning platform based in the Western Isles but open to all students in Scotland.

They are offering free, real-time, interactive Study Support webinar lessons to help consolidate your school-based learning for Higher and for National 5 courses.

The sessions last 45 minutes and are at the same time each week for 8 weeks but limited places are available. To sign up you need to log into Glow and have your examination SCN available.

More information can be found at http://www.e-sgoil.com/studysupport2020/ and we would encourage you to sign up and commit to these sessions as soon as possible as we hope they will be a great complement to what we do in school.

Pupils also have access to Scholar – the online courses run by Heriot-Watt University http://www.scholar.hw.ac.uk

S5 and S6 should already have their passwords and S4 will get them shortly.

Parental Information Update

Re-Opening Penicuik High School Session 2020-21

This update outlines information on the new school day Timetable for all levels S1-3 and S4-6 as from Monday 17 August, 2020 when all students are expected to attend Penicuik High School full time. This adapted timetable will allow all students to experience their full curriculum entitlement as we reconnect and recover learning.

Key Points at a glance

• S1-3 students will start as normal at 8:30 am and MUST enter by the assigned entry door and sanitise hands before going to registration classes.
• S4-6 students will start at 8:40 am and will go straight to period 1 classes where they will be registered and school information via the normal school bulletin will be shared.
• The staggered start times will prevent bottlenecks and enable better social distancing.
• During the day the S1-3 will have a different break and lunchtime from senior students in S4-6. This will support supervision of the indoor lunch spaces assigned and enable social distancing. Please refer to the Timetable below.

Monday – Thursday S1-3		Monday – Thursday S4-6
Registration	8.30 – 8.40 am	Registration	None
Period 1	8.40 – 9.30 am	Period 1	8.40 – 9.30 am
Period 2	9.30 – 10.20 am	Period 2	9.30 – 10.20 am
Period 3	10.20 – 11.10 am	Interval	10.20 – 10.35 am
Interval	11.10 – 11.25 am	Period 3	10.35 – 11.25 am
Period 4	11.25 – 12.15 pm	Period 4	11.25 – 12.15 pm
Period 5	12.15 – 1.05 pm	Lunch	12.15 – 1.00 pm
Lunch	1.05 – 1.50 pm	Period 5	1.00 – 1.50 pm
Period 6	1.50 – 2.40pm	Period 6	1.50 – 2.40pm
Period 7	2.40 – 3.30 pm	Period 7	2.40 – 3.30 pm

 

Friday S1-3		Friday S4-6
Registration	8.30 – 8.40 am	Registration	None
Period 1	8.40 – 9.30 am	Period 1	8.40 – 9.30 am
Period 2	9.30 – 10.20 am	Period 2	9.30 – 10.20 am
Interval	10.20 – 10.35 am	Period 3	10.20 – 11.10 am
Period 3	10.35 – 11.25 pm	Interval	11.10 – 11.25 pm
Period 4	11.25 – 12.15 pm	Period 4	11.25 – 12.15 pm
School closes		School close

 
Health and Safety Update

The last parent communication on Tuesday 11 August laid out our health and safety protocols to enable safe opening of schools.

Some Reminders

• All students need to bring a packed lunch and a drink. No food service is available at the moment. Water is available in school.
• Students from S1-6 have clear supervised venues to go to for lunch and breaks when the weather is poor and students have been told this. If the weather is fine    then they will be encouraged to go outside where they will also be supervised.
• Students may go home for lunch. Please confirm this arrangement in writing to the school. There is clarification for parents in receipt of a free school meal allowance on our website, see HERE
• It is strongly suggested no student goes out to food shops at lunchtime. S1 MUST stay in school at lunchtime all session. No students are allowed to leave at break time. If they do enter a shop they must wear masks (unless they have a medical reason)  and not congregate in or around any premises.  Shops know our break times and will call the school if they have concerns. Police will be making safety checks.
• School bags are allowed. Suggested equipment to bring to school was outlined on Wednesday morning – please see website
• Students must observe social distancing in all interactions with staff. This includes all movements within corridors, around teacher’s desks and in using the one way    system and must not walk to classes in such a way that brings them into close contact with staff.
• We do encourage and support students wearing facemasks in school – particularly those in S5/6 as scientific evidence about the risk of them spreading infection is less  clear than for younger students
• Students MUST not run in corridors
• PE arrangements have been sent home to parents

We are aware that some rules that are in place will create inconvenience and you will not necessarily agree with all of them. Our safety protocols are in line with current health advice and the Scottish Governments Guidelines for reopening schools. The Penicuik High Schools current Risk Assessment document will be placed on our website early next week. This a dynamic document that will be updated in the face of new advice or analysis of issues arising in school.

 

If you have any queries please email the school office penicuik_hs@mgfl.net

 

Craig Biddick

Head Teacher (Acting)