Headteacher Update
Dear Parents, Carers and Pupils of Craigroyston,
I hope you’ve all had a good week! We’ve had an incredibly busy week at Craigroyston and there’s much to be done before we finish on Friday for the February break!
| Priorities |
| Staffing Concerns We continue to work closely with staff from a range of schools and the central team at the council to try and secure consistent teachers for our young people. Our immediate focus is on young people who will be sitting exams in May. I will continue to keep you updated on our staffing but please do contact me if you would like to discuss this further. Coursing Coursing begins on Monday 9th February. In preparation, S2 pupils had an assembly this week to inform them of their choices and the importance of their decisions at this time. S3/S4/S5 will have assemblies on Monday before coursing begins. Please take some time to look through the coursing booklets on the school website to plan for your child’s coursing. Teachers have now made recommendations for your child in terms of subject and level. These will be shared with your child. Pupils will be coursed at some point during the dates below: Monday 9th February – Friday 13th February 2026 Monday 23rd February – Friday 27th February 2026 If you have any questions about university requirements, please contact Mrs. Grant in the first instance. Her email address is: Catriona.Grant@craigroyston.edin.sch.uk. If you have any queries about college or the School College Partnership (where pupils attend both school and college) please contact Ms. Stewart at Claire.Stewart@craigroyston.edin.sch.uk. |
| School Security |
| Vandalism This week there have been several damages to areas across the school including the boys and girls’ toilets, the drama studio and individual stairwells. This is incredibly disappointing. We want our school to be a positive learning environment and a place that everyone can enjoy. We will be working hard to ensure this does not happen again and will be contacting individual parents/carers to discuss the costs of the damages. |
| Staffing |
| Interviews for the following posts will take place on Monday 9th February: PSO permanent (x3) PSO temporary We continue to work on recruitment to ensure that posts are filled as quickly as possible so that our young people have consistent teachers. |
| Headteacher Highlights |
Paris Trip 2026 On Sunday, Mrs Brown and Ms Cameron are taking 17 S4 pupils to Paris! They’re all very excited! They’re going to be learning about the engineering behind the rides at Disneyland, as well as having a go on them as well! They are also going into the city centre to have the full experience of Paris! We can’t wait to hear all about it! This has been our first large overseas excursion since before covid so it’s brilliant to have these fully up and running again! Have an amazing time! Creative Industries On Friday 13th February our Level 5 Creative Industries class will be putting on a Bake Sale at break time! This will contribute towards their Unit 4: The Creative Project and they will be raising money for Tinderbox community projects. Pupils can buy some tasty cakes in the canteen – only cash is accepted! Library This week our Craigroyston Columbans and S6 Journalism visited the Granton Walled Garden and Arts Centre. They continue to represent our school and themselves positively and are outstanding role models to our younger pupils. Well done everyone! P7 Transition More than 35 pupils from Pirniehall Primary School visited our school this week. They did literacy activities and spoke about books that they liked in the library. They also discussed their worries and wishes about coming to high school. S1 pupils were outstanding in showing how quickly young people can grow up and mature after coming into secondary school. PE A huge well done to Tariq (S2) in PE. Another pupil was injured and Tariq stayed to translate as well as showing great sympathy and compassion. It’s lovely to hear these very positive stories about our young people! Whole School Our Under 16 boys’ football team played against Balerno this week! Whilst they lost 7-1, the game was intense and competitive and the boys showed excellent sportsmanship! Our S1-S3 girls’ football team played at Broughton High School this week in a Football Festival. A special shoutout to Esme and Ruth for scoring goals and to Amy C for outstanding effort! A huge congratulations to Ayla in S3 who has been selected to be a Member of the Scottish Youth Parliament! Currently, her main focus is to ensure that young people have the opportunity to voice their opinions on the use of mobile phones in school. Please encourage your child to use the link below to complete the survey and give their views: https://consultationhub.edinburgh.gov.uk/cf/7c310789/consultation/intro/ |
| Parent/Carer Council |
| We are really keen to relaunch our Parent/Carer Council. This is a group of parents/carers who come together each month to help us make decisions as a school and who represent the voice of the parents and community. It is really important that we have your views and opinions as we move forward to try and improve the school. If you would like to be part of our Parent/Carer Council, please complete the form using the link below: Craigroyston Parent/Carer Council – Fill in form Please do this by Friday 13th February. It would be great to see as many people signed up as possible! Thank you to those of you who have signed up already! |
| Important Upcoming Dates |
| Friday 13th February February Break Begins School Finishes at 1pm 9 – 13th February Coursing 23rd – 27th February Coursing |
| And finally… Quote of the Week |
| ‘Let us remember; one book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the world’ Malala Yousafzai |
I hope you have a lovely weekend! Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or concerns.
Thank you.
Kind regards,
Shelley
Shelley McLaren
Headteacher
Craigroyston Community High School
Craigroyston Community High School 