Principal's Newsletter

 

Dear Parents

It is once again my pleasure to write to you at the commencement of another new year and to extend to you my best wishes for the months ahead.

There are, of course, a number of School matters to bring to your attention and I trust that you will take note of the contents of this letter.

Staffing

We welcome two new members of staff at the start of this Term. Miss Kate Casey joins us to provide maternity cover for Samantha Thorburn (Modern Languages] and Ms Carolyn Blair takes over from Ms Susan Price, who has relinquished her duties as After School Care Coordinator but will continue to undertake her various other remits within the Junior School.

Building Developments

Further to Mr McIvor's full and detailed article in December's Bulletin, the scheduled completion date for our new building has slipped a little, principally due to delays in provision of core utilities - gas, water and electricity - which were outwith the control of our contractors and, accordingly, we now expect completion of the building works by Friday 15th February.  The conclusion of the construction work and formal handover of the building precedes a period of fitting out and final preparation for occupancy and therefore we expect our new facilities to be in use at the commencement of the Summer Term on Wednesday 16th April. We would hope to have our new catering facilities in use prior to this date. There will also be a number of departmental moves within the Senior School which will take place over the next few months.

Obviously in undertaking these final stages of the building process we will continue to ensure minimal disruption to the working life of the School.

In association with the completion of construction, a great deal of work is being undertaken by our Marketing & Development Manager, Evelyn McManus, the PTA, and the Marketing & Development Sub-Committee of the Board in planning appropriate events to celebrate the opening of the new building, and I would ask you to keep the following dates in your diaries:

Saturday 10th May OR Saturday 17th May              

Formal Opening of New Building [Garden Party-style event]

Saturday 31st May                                                     

Celebration Ball - to be held at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum

The Celebration Ball will include a four-course dinner, dancing to a live band and a fundraising auction. The auction will be conducted by Andy Cameron, well-known entertainer and former parent, and proceeds will be used to begin the fundraising programme for the construction of a new Junior School. Auction prizes are currently being sourced by the Marketing & Development Committee but please feel free to contact Evelyn McManus at the School if you can help in this regard. This will be a unique and memorable occasion in the history of the School and I would encourage you to support this evening and to bring along friends and relatives. There will be a maximum of 350 tickets available for this event and further details will be available in due course.

School Buses/Parking

The building work continues to have several implications for arrangements in relation to the School Buses and parking and I would again ask that you note my comments in this regard.

The buses are dropping off and collecting pupils from the area on the School side of Broompark Drive at the junction of Sandringham Avenue. There is sufficient space at this point for all our buses and this location means that pupils do not have to cross any roads. However, it is essential that parents do NOT park in this location and I would ask for your support in this regard - there is ample space for cars further along Broompark Drive, which the buses cannot use.

Careless parking, both in front of the School on Sandringham Avenue and, to a lesser extent, on Lochbroom Drive, continues to give cause for concern. I would again ask that you do not park in such a manner as to block the entrances and driveways of neighbouring houses and that you park only on the School side of Lochbroom Drive, Sandringham Avenue and Broompark Drive. I would also ask that you do not park directly in front of the main pedestrian access to the School.

There will continue to be no vehicle access to the School during the day, although there will be parking available in the playground on Parents' Evenings.

Fees

I would also take this opportunity to remind all parents of the importance of paying fees on the due dates and of the School's policy in relation to non-payment of fees as outlined in the Fees Notice issued at the start of this academic session in August 2007.

Parents' Contact with the School

I would like to remind you of the following points:

  • Please call the school office or e-mail before 9.15 a.m. on 1st day of absence for your son/daughter and remind your son/daughter that they must sign in at the office if they miss registration for any reason.

Pupils are requested not to:

  • Ask to use the office phone or to ask staff to phone parents for forgotten homework, books, PE kit etc. It is really up to the child to take responsibility for this. A pay phone is situated at the front door for pupil's use out with class time.
  • Parents are requested not to phone the office to pass routine, non-urgent messages to their children. Emergency situations or a request to arrange after school care are obvious exceptions to this.

School Web-Site/E-mail communication

The School website is regularly updated and I would encourage you to use this as a source of up-to-date information. I would also again ask that you use e-mail as your primary means of contact or enquiry whenever possible. Please ensure that the Office has your up-to-date contact information.

Instant text-messaging alerts linked to our Management Information System will be introduced this Term - trials of this prior to Christmas revealed one or two technical problems which we hope to have resolved shortly

Forthcoming Events

I would draw your attention to the Calendar of Events issued prior to Christmas and which is also available on the website. Reminders of important events will be issued at appropriate times but I would urge you to plan ahead and support whenever possible.

In addition to the range of Parent/Teacher Interviews scheduled for this Term and the PTA Meetings held on the first Tuesday of every month at 1930 at the School, I would highlight the following to you:

  • Saturday 12th January             Interviews for J1 applicants
  • Tuesday 15th January              S1 Option Choices Evening
  • Tuesday 22nd January              Deadline for receipt of J2-S6 applications
  • Thursday 24th January             J5/6 Swimming Gala
  • Saturday 23rd February           Interviews for Nursery applicants
  • Friday 29th February-Sunday 2nd March     Ski Week-end [Fort William]
  • Thursday 27th March               J4-6 Show

 Once again, I extend to you my warmest wishes for the year ahead. As always, I would remind you that I am delighted to speak to you at any time on any issue - please do feel free to contact me at the School by telephone, e-mail or by appointment through the School Office.

Kind regards

Melvyn D. Shanks

Principal