Guest Reflections by Aileen Sangster DHT
It was with great excitement and anticipation we said ‘bon voyage’ to Team Malawi 2016 last Friday afternoon but by Monday Gleniffer settled back down to yet another busy week ahead.
On Monday evening I had the pleasure of attending the final Parent Council meeting of the session which was expertly chaired by Mrs Lesley Binning. Mr Scholes from the RMPS department delivered his monthly update which was packed with school events that had taken place since their last meeting. He talked about the success of Activities Day, the School Show, the Dance Show, the S6 Leavers Dance and the S1 to S3 Certificate of Merit Ceremony to name just a few of the higher profile events. Mrs Elliot, our Education Support Manager, delivered a fascinating insight into the working of the school budget and I explained how the management of Advanced Highers and the options process are undertaken. I was really pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this meeting with a great bunch of enthusiastic parents really working hard for our school and would urge any interested parent to come along and join the Parent Council next session.
On Tuesday Miss Campbell from the Science Faculty took 25 new Third and Fourth year pupils to Glasgow Caledonian University to the Optometry department to participate in the ‘Seeing is believing’ workshop. The pupils had a great time getting their eyes photographed and examined and were especially excited about how fantastic the optical illusions were. Again on Friday Miss Campbell accompanied the Advanced Higher Physics pupils to Glasgow University for a presentation. This is a very valuable opportunity for students working at this level and gives them every advantage before embarking on such a challenging course.
On Wednesday we hosted the Gleniffer High School Summer Outdoor Netball Tournament where all local schools are represented and compete against each other. There is plenty of healthy competition among the girls but at the end of the day they all went home best of friends. Sadly despite courageous efforts Gleniffer were defeated by their old rivals St Andrews and Castlehead.
This is the second week of the new timetable which is so far running well. I am still working hard sorting out senior pupil options, college placements and Advanced Highers which take place in a consortia agreement within the Local Authority. This can be a stressful and anxious time for pupils and parents but , be assured, I will always do my utmost to achieve the best outcome for all our pupils.
Mr Nicholls is still in Malawi for another week and walking in his shoes this week has been pretty exhausting. Everything is going well…….. but I think I still prefer my stilettos.
Mr Nicholls is in Malawi and returns to school on Monday 27th June