As we enter our final days of operation in the Duddingston Road building that has been our home for 51 years, we would like to share information and arrangements about our move to our new site on Milton Road.

Please see the full arrangements here.

We are very pleased that we will be the very first school in Edinburgh which will be able to take advantage of the latest technology in biometrics to ensure that meals and snacks are paid for as quickly and efficiently as possible. Essentially, pupils will access their account via a fingertip reader rather than through a PIN or a swipe card, saving time for pupils and staff and avoiding the possibility of lost cards and forgotten numbers.

Further information can be found here.

Please note that any parent who does not wish their child to take part in this scheme, must let the school office know by noon on Friday 7 October. If you have any questions, please contact the school office.

It’s time to start the new term. These are the arrangements for starting back:

S2 – S6 come in at 8.30. They will initially go to their old KAGs where they will be informed about their new KAG. Each pupil will be issued with a slip of paper informing them of their new Key Adult and their registration room.  At 8.40 a bell will ring and they will go to their new KA group where they will be  registered and informed what to do in the event of a fire alarm being sounded. At 9am the fire alarm will sound and KAs will take the pupils out to line up in their allocated areas. They will go back in as soon as – they need to be back and out of the back playground by 9.15 as the S1s will start coming in.

When they go back to their KA class pupils will be issued with their timetable. You will then have about 20 minutes to start to support your new KAG to bond and to think about how they will welcome S1 when they join their KAG on Thursday. More information on the management and implementation of the new KAGs will be issued on the  in-service day – Tuesday 16^th August.

At 9.30 S1 will line up in the back playground and be registered and then at 9.40 be taken to a class for period 2 where they will meet with their Guidance teacher. During that time the Guidance teacher will issue the S1 pupils with their timetables and take them out to show them the KAG area that they line up in in the event of an evacuation.

From Sunday 31 July, the legal speed limit in streets across much of Edinburgh’s city centre and rural west area went down to 20mph, the first phase in a planned rollout of lower speeds across the Capital.

The new speed limits are designed to increase safety for all road users in Edinburgh as well as creating a calmer, more people-friendly environment in shopping and residential streets.  A network of key arterial roads across the city will be retained at 30mph and 40mph, resulting in a modest impact on journey times overall.

Our phased 20mph rollout between now and early 2018 brings to fruition many years of planning and public consultation and the network has been designed in line with robust criteria in partnership with key stakeholders such as Police Scotland and Lothian Buses.

Police Scotland will enforce the new limit, focusing on areas where particularly high levels of contraventions are recorded. Anyone caught breaching the limit risks a £100 fixed penalty and three penalty points on their licence.

We have long recognised that a majority of city residents want to see speed limits reduced in the city centre, around residential areas and in busy shopping streets.

Phase 1 ‘go live’ marks the start of sharing these benefits right across the Capital.  Further information and a detailed map of the 20mph network is available at www.edinburgh.gov.uk/20mph or visit our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/edin20mph.

This year’s SQA examination results arrive with candidates on Tuesday, August 9th. They will arrive by first class post and also by text or e-mail if the candidate has registered for this service through “My SQA”. If you do not receive your results or have a question, you can phone the school.

We hope everyone has the results that they were hoping for. If you would like to discuss a change of course following your exam results, you can make an appointment to see Mr Cotter on Thursday 11 August or Friday 12 August. Appointments can be made from Tuesday 9 August by phoning the school office. Parents and carers are welcome to attend with their son or daughter. Please note that some classes may be full at this stage but following the publication of the results there may be some movement. In such cases a waiting list system will operate.

If you do not have the result you were expecting and would like to ask about the SQA Post Results Service, you should speak to the relevant Curriculum Leader at the beginning of term in the first instance..

Another year has passed and exams are finally over. The pupils this year have worked extremely hard and have earned the right to enjoy themselves in the sun!

In light of this, we have a newsletter to share with you from our Head Teacher, Ruth McKay. A link to this can be found below.

PHS 2016 Newsletter

Happy Summer!