Article 29: Education must develop every child’s personality, talent and abilities to the full.

Our Vision 

“At Penicuik High School we aim to create a caring community where everyone is
respected, included, treated with kindness, and feels safe. We believe in nurturing a
learning environment that strives for excellence, values diversity, promotes dignity and
encourages personal growth, preparing students to succeed in a connected world.”

To realise this vision we will:

• Give all our children the best possible start in life, providing a nurturing and inclusive learning environment.
• Ensure that every young person has the opportunity to be a successful learner, confident individual, responsible citizen and an effective contributor.
• Work with our communities to promote high expectations which deliver the best educational outcomes for all learners.
• Celebrate diversity, reduce inequalities and remove barriers to learning.
• Provide a caring and supporting environment which ensures the health and wellbeing of all of our pupils is always at the forefront of our minds.

Our values 

1. Kindness
2. Inclusion
3. Respect
4. Determination

These values underpin the culture that drives teaching and learning in Penicuik High School therefore we want them to shape our pupils’ experiences.  They feed into every part of school life from lesson planning to assemblies, to our behaviour policy and the whole structure of the school day.  They are the heartbeat of our school and every staff member is committed to them.

Our core values help us to make strategic decisions within school.  They also define the relationship between staff, pupils, parents and the wider community.  Finally they also ensure consistency across multiple areas within the school and foster a culture that helps people work together in an effective and valuable way.

Our new positive relationships and behaviour policy is under development. This is driven by the UNCRC (United Nations Convention for the Rights of the Child) which now has legal standing in Scotland with the passing of the incorporation bill in January 2024. The school currently holds a Silver level Rights Respecting Schools Award that recognises how well we promote the rights within the
UNCRC in school and we are working towards the Gold Award.