Headteacher Update
Dear Parents, Carers and Pupils of Craigroyston,
I hope you all had a lovely Easter holiday! Now we begin the busy summer term where there is much to look forward to!
| Priorities and Matters Arising |
| Qualifications Scotland Exams The exam diet is underway and what a great start it has been! 100% of pupils have attended all exams so far – and without calls or pick ups! A huge well done to all our senior pupils who have understood the importance of this and are working very hard to do their very best. On another note, there are exams taking place across the whole school, so we’d like to remind our S1-S3 pupils to move quietly and thoughtfully around the building at this time. Easter Study A huge well done to all pupils who attended our Easter Study sessions. I hope these were beneficial to you! A big thank you to all the teachers who delivered sessions during their Easter holidays! Mega May A reminder that until 1st June, which is change of timetable, S4 pupils should be doing one of the following: on full study leave (pupils sitting four or more N5s) in to follow the Mega May timetable which is below in to complete qualifications in the Senior Attainment Hub/working with partners such as Spartans, MYDG or Midnight and Beyond All pupils should meet in the drama classroom for the Mega May timetable. All S5 and S6 pupils are on full study leave. Scottish Parliamentary Election – Thursday 7th May 2026 Whilst the registration for voting has closed, we encourage young people to think about who they’re going to vote for and the process of voting on Thursday 7th May. If you have any questions about this, please do not hesitate to email us. Change of Timetable Our full school timetable will change on Monday 1st June. We’re working hard behind the scenes to ensure that this is all in place. If your child, has still not been coursed, we will do this before then. Any questions about this, please do not hesitate to contact me. Vision and Values Over the coming weeks, we are going to consult with our young people about changing our vision and values as a school. We have not done this for a number of years and feel that it is time to give our young people the opportunity to discuss what changes need to be made. This links with the introduction of our fourth house (please see below!) and our ever-growing school! Focus groups will take place this week and young people will be informed about this in the coming days. Sports Day After many years, we are reintroducing Sports Day! We’re very excited about this comeback and looking forward to the competition this brings! Sports Day will take place on Thursday 7th May. It is anticipated that all young people will play a part – whether that is competing or helping with the activities. More information will be given in PE but there are also posters around the school encouraging young people to sign up through a QR code. Term Dates Consultation A consultation is underway for the term dates for 2027/28 and 2028/29. For each session there are two proposals with different October breaks and different start dates for Christmas and summer. These have been devised by a working party including Headteachers/Head of Centre, parents and central staff. In planning these dates, we need to take into account City of Edinburgh Council Public Holidays and the exam diet for our Senior Phase pupils. Please complete the form using this link Term Dates 2027/28 and 2028/29 – Fill in form by Tuesday 5th May 2026 if you would like to give your thoughts. |
| School Security |
| We continue the drive to ensure that our school is a positive, safe and pleasant learning environment for all. This includes ensuring that there is no litter lying around after breaks and lunches and that our school is not vandalised in any way. Although a little more positive this week, we still have issues around this. We will be speaking with our young people about this but any support with discussions around this at home would be really appreciated! Thank you! |
| Staffing |
A huge congratulations to Mrs Craven (Teacher of Biology) who gave birth to baby Caleb on Friday! He’s absolutely beautiful and both Mrs Craven and Caleb are doing well! We’re so happy for her and hope she enjoys every minute of this very special time! On Tuesday we welcomed Miss Charlotte Smith (back!) to our school in the permanent post of Teacher of Biology! We’re delighted to have Miss Smith back with us – she previously worked here as a biology teacher and in the Senior Attainment Hub! A huge welcome to Mr Chris Fyvie who has joined us in the English faculty this week. Mr Fyvie will be with us in post of Teacher of English until June 2027. Also joining the English faculty is Mr Anthony Daly who will be with us until summer – welcome Mr Daly! We also welcomed Miss Megan Priestley who will be joining us as Teacher of Support for Learning! Miss Priestley will be with us until summer. A big congratulations to Mr Ross McLaren (not my husband as some pupils suggedted!) who was appointed as CL Expressive Arts this week! Mr Ross will hopefully be joining us prior to the summer! The following interviews will take place next week: Teacher of English (permanent) Monday 27th April Pupil Support Leader (permanent) Tuesday 28th April Teacher of Support for Learning (permanent) Thursday 30th April The following post is currently advertised on myjobscotland: Teacher of Biology (temporary) – it is likely two posts will be taken from this interview The following posts will be advertised in the coming weeks: Development Officer of Attendance (temporary) PSA Wellbeing Hub (permanent) PSO We continue our drive towards a full staff in August – nearly there! |
| Headteacher Highlights |
Well Done, Lilly! A huge congratulations to Lilly Baxter who did incredibly well at Allstars World Cheerleading Champions in Orlanda, Florida over Easter! Lilly and her team, Capital Allstars, came SEVENTH in the whole WORLD! What an outstanding achievement for Lilly and her teammates! Please congratulate her if you see her!  Library Senior Phase pupils have been working really hard in the library this week in preparation for exams! This is brilliant to hear! S1 reading groups have been doing very well! Particularly 1C and 1F have had a brilliant first week back to the library! Fourth House Name At the moment, we are in the process of appointing a fourth Pupil Support Leader. We have made this decision so that we can make the house numbers per PSL smaller meaning they should have more time to focus on our young people. This therefore means that we will have a fourth house. Initially, when we started our new house system about six years ago, we named our houses after islands that could be visited (and had places for us to stay!) with the hope that over the course of the pupils’ six years at Craigroyston they would visit their house island! The PSLs have been working on a name and logo and I am delighted to let you know that our fourth house will be Skye and the logo will be an otter because otters live there. Please see the new logo below! Any pupil changes to houses will be done for the start of the new term in August.  |
| Important Upcoming Dates |
Monday 4th May Holiday Tuesday 5th May Inservice Day (staff only) |
| And finally… Quote of the Week |
| ‘The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones that do.’ Steve Jobs |
Please do not hesitate to contact me at Shelley.McLaren@craigroyston.edin.sch.uk if you have any questions or concerns.
Thank you.
Kind regards,
Shelley
Shelley McLaren
Headteacher
Craigroyston Community High School
Craigroyston Community High School 