5th September 2014

Inside this issue

SQAResults................................2
Workingtogether.......................2
ReferendumDebate...................3
PupilsPoems.............................3
ParentCouncilAGM...................4
ImportantDates.........................4
PupilPoem.................................4

New start
I hope that you were able to have an enjoyable holiday during the summer. I
certainlyfeelthatthepupilshavereturnedrefreshedandreadytogomanyof
themmissthebuzzofschoolandenjoymeengalltheirfriendsagain.Wehave
had year and house assemblies in the past few days to make sure that they
makeagoodstarttotheyearandgetintogoodhabitsstraightaway.Everypu
pil has aended school wearing school uniform and we really appreciate the
meandeorttakenbyparentsandpupilsduringtheholidaystoachievethis.
It lis the spirits to see pupils coming in to school in the morning dressed for
school,smilingandreadytolearn.TheSeniorManagementTeamisendeavour
ingtobearoundinthemorningtowelcomepupilsatthestartoftheday.
AsyouknowMrSummershasnowmovedontoworkwiththeScoshQuali
caonsAuthorityandthestaedwishedhimwellattheendoflastterm.Ihave
beenintouchwithhimduringtheholidaysandIcanreportthatheiswarming
tothechallengeaheadasheoverseesthedevelopmentofthenewHigherand
Advanced Higher courses! I feel very privileged to be holding the reins in the
coming months and I am determined that the school will connue to improve
whileweawaittheappointmentofournewHeadTeacher.
Thisnewsleerisslightlydierentfromthosethatyouhavereceivedinthepast
inthatitwillfeaturecontribuonsfrompupilsthismepoemswrienbyS2
pupils.Lastsessionthisclassvisitedthebeachtosampletheambienceassociat
edwithbeingbesidetheseaandtobeinspiredtowritecreavepoetrypieces
andsomeofthoseareincluded.

Musselburgh Grammar School Parental Newsleer
Striving for Excellence Caring for All
Welcomebackto
allourpupils.

We hope that you have had a
good holiday and are now
focussed on a hardworking
new session. In parcular, we
would like to extend a warm
welcome to our new S1 pu
pils. It is great to see such
enthusiasm and desire to
learn as exemplied by our
new pupils.
Well done to all pupils who
have done well in their exam
inaons.
Well done to all pupils on the
good start to the school year.
Keep up the good habits of
hard work, aendance, me
keeping and school uniform.

Keep up the good work!

We have received a very generous donaon to the school from Mr A Slater

who organised a Fesval of Football in memory of his late son Steven who
wasaformerpupiloftheschool.Stevenlovedhisfootballandthisdonaon
willallowtheschooltopurchasetwomoresetsofkitforthepupils.
I know that many senior pupils, parents and sta contribute in a variety of
waystosupporteducaonbeyondtheclassroomandIamveryappreciave
of the me that is given to help pupils develop and gain experience of life
beyond the school through extracurricular acvies such as concerts, trips
and sports. The school has pulled togetheron many occasions thispast year
and has donated approximately 4600 to charitable causes a wonderful
eort.
We are keen to encourage pupils to use the dining hall where the food is
healthyandreasonablypriced.S1pupilsarebeingallowedoutofclassslight
ly earlier to encourage them to use the dining hall and to get to know the
excellent menus on oer. All pupils have been issued with a smartcard that
theycanusetopurchaselunchintheschooldininghall.Youcanloadmoney
on to the smartcard remotely by looking at the council website for details.
The dining hall is supervised every day to ensure good order in the queues
andthatpupilsenjoytheirlunch.
PupilssingCurriculumforExcellencecourseshavedeliveredourbesteverre-
sultsatNaonal5level.WehavealsohadoneofourbestyearsforHigherre-
sults,with5pupilsaaining5ApassHighersaparcularhighlight.SMacKinnon
SQA Results
Working Together
Pupils in S4 this year sat the new
Naonal 2,3,4 and 5 examinaons.
Although we cannot compare per
formanceintheseCfExexaminaons
with previous years they sll set the
benchmarksforpupilstoprogressto
higherlevelsofstudyinS5.Iamde
lighted to say that we are very
pleased indeed with the perfor
mance of the year group with many
pupils gaining a wide and varied
group of awards giving them an ex
cellent plaorm to progress to fur
therstudyinsubjectsoftheirchoice.
This was one of the main concerns
expressed by HMI during their visit
last February so it is grafying to be
abletoreportthattheschoolresults
are much beer. Indeed they are
arguably the best set of results we
haveeverhad!
Thepercentageofpupilsgaining1,3
and5Highersareallatorveryclose
to the highest ever recorded with
almost 40% of pupils who come to
theschoolgainingatleastoneHigh
er before they leave. Five pupils
passed 5 Highers all at Band A.
StewartMacKinnonAcngHeadteacher
Senior Prefects
TheSeniorPrefectshavebeen
appointedforthecomingyear.
Theyare:
Head Girl
JennaMacDonald
Head Boy
MurraySim
Deputy Head Girl
LisaFinlayson
Deputy Head Boy
ThomasHamilton

Theywillleadthe60prefectsthis
year in helping with parentseve
nings, events, supervision at
break and lunchmes and run
ningthePupilCouncilthepupil
voiceintheschool.Asalwaysthe
school is very well represented
by the senior pupils and we are
delightedtohave300inS5/6this
year.

WhenIgototheBeachby
BlairAnderson

WhenIgotothebeach
Iusuallytakeitforgranted.
ButwhenIwenttolearn
Aboutwhatthebeachwas
likeIrealised
Itsabeaufulplace.

Withitsclearbluesea,
Therumblingofthemini
Waterfall,thebirdsyingin
thesky.
Theshiningofthebeauful
colours
Attheboomoftheen-
channg
Mysterioussea.

Icouldsmellthesaltfrom
thesea,
Freshcutgrass,
Dimpledgolfballs,icewhite
shells
Andclearseaglass.

Iknowitsnotaholiday
desnaon
Orabeachtogoandget
Asmoothbrowntan.
Buttomeitsamagical
place,
Aplacetogetcalm,
Aplaceformemories,
Last Friday almost all of S5 and S6 pupils voluntarily aend Musselburgh
Grammar School's referendum debate. A strong panel saw four MSPs take
quesons from rstme voters. Shadow Educaon and Lifelong Learning
Minister Kezia Dugdale MSP and Conservave MSP Gavin Brown spoke for
Beer Together while local SNP MSP Colin Beae and Scosh Greens MSP
AlisonJohnstonespokefortheYescampaign.
Holding this debate gave our senior pupils an important forum to raise the
issuestheyarepassionateabout.Feedbackfromtheelectedrepresentaves
andpupilswasveryposive.Ihopetheinterestourpupilshaveshowninthis
debate will lead to lifelong engagement with polics regardless of the out
comeofthereferendum.
ReferendumDebate

S2Poetry
S2Poetry

The Parent Council will be de-

lighted to welcome any inter-
ested parents to the annual
meeting or to join the Council.
The constitution is lexible
enough to admit many mem-
bers and it is not full. The AGM
will be held on Tuesday 23
September at 7.00pm in the
School Library. Any proposed
amendments to the constitution
have to be submitted to Mrs
Allen, the Chair of the Parent
Council, two weeks before the
AGM so by Tuesday 9
th
Sep-
tember. They can be sent to her
by handing your proposal in to
the school ofice in a sealed en-
ParentCouncilAnnualGeneralMeeng
Importantdates
Finallytheschoolisnowfullyupandrunningwithpupilsalreadytakingpartinmanyextracurricular
acviesaswellasselingdowntotheirstudies.Staandpupilsarebusyjointlyagreeingaainment
targets for the coming year. Musselburgh Grammar School is an excing place to be both as a pupil
andateacherwithsomanyacviesgoingon.Someoftheacviesplannedforthenextfewweeks
Day Date Event
Monday 08.09.2014 S2ScienceTriptoGlasgowScienceFair
FridaySunday 05.09.2014
07.09.2014
S6OutdoorEducaonatDalguise
ThursdayThurs
day
11.09.2014
18.09.2014
BaleeldstriptoNorthernFrance
Wednesday
Thursday
17.09.02014
18.09.2014
CATstesngofallS1pupilsleertoparentstoS1pupilstofollow
Thursday 25.09.2014 EveningvisittoschoolforallP7parentsandpupils
Friday 26.09.2014 StaMcMillanCoeeMorninginHomeEconomics
MondayFriday 29.09.2014
06.10.2014

S4WorkExperience(oneweek)
S4WorkExperience(oneweek)

Stewart MacKinnon
Acng Head Teacher
I hope you nd our newly restyled newsleer enjoyable and interesng to read !