North Berwick High School Handbook 2018-19 Page 1 of 66 CONTENTS Introduction Page Letter from Head Teacher, Mrs Rodger 3 School Aims 4 School Details 5 Accommodation 6 Section 1: Organisation/Transfer Primary Transfer and Enrolment 7 Staff and Staff List 8 Areas of Responsibility of Senior Staff 9 Pupil Support 10 Anti-bullying Policy 12 Positive Behaviour Policy 13 School Dress 14 Section 2: Curriculum The Broad General Education - S1 to S3 16 The Senior Phase - S4 to S6 17 Assessment and Reporting 18 Target Setting 19 The S3 Profile 20 Home Learning 21 Extra-Curricular Activities 22 Section 3: General Information Attendance and Punctuality 24 School Meals 24 Valuables in School 25 Medical Care 25 Religious Observance 26 The School and the Community 26 Instrumental Provision 27 Parental Involvement 27 Communication Between Home and School 29 Examinations 30 National Attainment and Destination Measures 31 Summary of School Report for 2017-2018 33 Appendix 1: East Lothian Council Handbook Communication 4 School Ethos 5 Parental Involvement 6 The Curriculum 8 Assessment and Reporting 10 Transitions 13 Support for Pupils 15 School Improvement 19 Local Authority Policies and Practical Information 20 Useful Telephone Numbers 26 Page 2 of 66 INTRODUCTION Dear Parent/Carer A warm welcome to you, as the parent of a prospective pupil in S1 at North Berwick High School next session. In this handbook you will find lots of information about the school, giving you a flavour of just some of the opportunities which await our new S1 pupils. While the move from primary to secondary school can be daunting, I do believe the Primary 7 pupils in our cluster primaries are well prepared for the transition and can look forward to the move with optimism and excited anticipation. There are a number of opportunities for the pupils to spend time together at North Berwick High School before they start in S1. For example, in November we host a ceilidh, a joyful occasion when P7 pupils put their country dancing skills into practice, ably led by our S6 pupils. Another event for the P7s is the STEM challenge day at Edinburgh College, where the P7s take part in a variety of workshops on the day and follow-up activities back in their primary school. Perhaps the highlight, though, is in June when the pupils spend three days with us. They take part in a sports activity day, giving them a taste of different sports and challenges, then they follow their timetabled classes for two days, meeting their teachers and getting a real sense of what it is like to be a pupil at NBHS. As well as enabling the Primary 7 pupils to get to know their future classmates and High School staff, I hope these days give them a strong sense of the ethos of NBHS. It is a happy school, where fostering good relationships is a priority and the values of curiosity, diligence, kindness and belonging are encouraged in every member of the school community. We pride ourselves in valuing each pupil individually and equally, recognising that all pupils have different needs. We aim to support those needs through the provision of a wide variety of learning experiences for all our pupils, both within the classroom and beyond. We want learning to be fun, exciting and challenging, with pupils who are curious about the world around them, who are inspired to find things out for themselves and who have the resilience to cope with any challenge they may face. It is important to us, too, that we work in close partnership with our parents and the wider community. We are always encouraged by the support we receive from parents and look forward to many years of successful collaboration with you and your child. You may be reading this handbook as the parent of a pupil coming into a year group other than S1. If that is the case, I am sure the information in this handbook will be of value to you, too. It is my sincere wish that all our new pupils will settle quickly and will love being part of the North Berwick High School community; I look forward to welcoming them to the school. Yours sincerely Lauren Rodger Head Teacher Page 3 of 66 North Berwick High School Aim Higher Every child in our school will achieve their full potential. Our school is a community where children will feel happy, healthy, safe and valued and will develop into active and responsible citizens. School Aims North Berwick High School aims to offer education of the highest quality. We aim that our pupils: 1. are at the centre of all our activities and are fully involved in the life of the school; 2. experience a progressive learning environment which is optimistic and motivational; 3. have opportunities to achieve and to have these achievements recognised and celebrated; 4. strive constantly to improve; 5. treat everyone with respect, concern and tolerance and are treated that way themselves; 6. take pride in our community; 7. become independent lifelong learners. Whole school ceilidh Page 4 of 66 ADDRESS: North Berwick High School, Grange Road, North Berwick, EH39 4QS TELEPHONE: 01620 894661 E-MAIL: [email protected] WEBSITE: http://www.northberwickhigh.net PARENT SCHOOL PARTNERSHIP: [email protected] HEAD TEACHER: Mrs Lauren Rodger ROLL: The school roll at December 2018 was as follows: S1 162 S2 185 S3 155 S4 154 S5 127 S6 143 TOTAL 926 North Berwick High School serves North Berwick, Dirleton, Gullane, Aberlady, Athelstaneford and the surrounding areas. It is a non-denominational, co-educational secondary school. The school is linked with five partner primary schools - Aberlady, Athelstaneford, Dirleton, Gullane and Law Primary (North Berwick). THE SCHOOL DAY MONDAY to THURSDAY Registration 8.39 am - 8.45 am Period 1 8.45 am - 9.45 am Period 2 9.45 am - 10.45 am INTERVAL 10.45 am - 11.00 am Period 3 11.00 am - 12.00 pm Period 4 12.00 pm - 1.00 pm LUNCH 1.00 pm - 1.50 pm Period 5 1.50 pm - 2.50 pm Period 6 2.50 pm - 3.50 pm On Fridays the school morning is identical, except that the school closes for pupils at 12.00 noon, with teaching staff being involved in the afternoon in a Staff Development Programme of whole-school and faculty in-service meetings. Page 5 of 66 ACCOMMODATION North Berwick High School was founded in 1893, but before that there were already two schools in North Berwick - the Parish School and the Burgh School, the former dating from 1661. By the mid-nineteenth century the Parish School was held in a building at the corner of School Alley (now called Church Road) and High Street, and the Burgh School met in the room which is now the upper floor of Brian Ferguson, Chemist, at the corner of Market Square and High Street. The two schools united in 1868 and in 1876 moved into a new building, now the Museum, in School Road. In 1893 the High School began with thirteen pupils in what is now the Abbey Church Hall, but in September of that year the pupils moved into their new premises in Law Road (the present Community Centre). In 1931 the High School and Burgh School combined, retaining both the School Road and the Law Road buildings until 1940 when the secondary school pupils moved into the current building beside the playing fields. The 1940 building forms the front part of the current building with a two-storey teaching extension built in 1960. Sound and solid though this main building was, it proved inadequate for a school that grew to twice the size it was in 1940. In 1994 the then Regional Authority (Lothian Region) agreed to include North Berwick High School in its capital budget with a four-year plan to upgrade the school accommodation. Building work, designed to replace our temporary accommodation with new permanent buildings and to refurbish the existing building, commenced in December 1996 and was completed in April 1998. The school was further enlarged and refurbished under a PPP scheme which started in March 2003 and was completed in the autumn of 2005. The school now has a full set of classrooms in all areas of the curriculum. IT equipment includes Promethean interactive whiteboards in every room, together with a large number of portable PCs for pupil use. The school has a large assembly hall with good facilities for staging musical and dramatic productions and these are well used by the school and local community groups. We have excellent sports facilities both within the school and in the adjacent Sports Centre. We also have social areas, including a school garden/courtyard, and a dining room. Our school is now very well-equipped and is in an excellent position to rise to the challenge of providing quality learning and teaching under Curriculum for Excellence. Learning about aerodynamics Page 6 of 66 PRIMARY TRANSFER AND ENROLMENT Most transfers to secondary school take place at the end of Primary 7 and the large majority of transfers are from the partner Primary Schools associated with North Berwick High School. We are the district secondary school for five primary schools - Aberlady, Athelstaneford, Dirleton, Gullane and Law. Such transfers are normally automatic and parents of Primary 7 children will be informed of transfer procedures by the Head Teachers of their Primary School. However, attendance at an associated primary school does not automatically mean transfer to the attached secondary school if the family does not live in the catchment area.