The school board wishes you all a happy and safe Easter break with friends and family.

We wanted to take this opportunity to recognise that it's been a different first term but that we are proud at how everyone has stepped up to ensure our school is a happy and safe place where our kids can continue their education.

There is a lot of property work happening in the background, often supported by many volunteers in our community. The board recently approved the redevelopment of the sports centre (former swimming pool building) based on evidence that funding could be obtained for this, as opposed to demolition where there are few funding options. The board cannot use any MoE funds tagged for school property for redevelopment or demolition so this has been a tricky subject. The board is grateful to the sports centre subcommittee for really doing the hard work exploring options, costs and benefits/risks. We are also looking towards the next stages of the school redevelopment, involving Rooms 1 and 2 as part of our 10 year property plan. This term the board's primary focus has been student achievement and in keeping the school open to deliver that. 

With a shortage of relievers we are fortunate our staff have stepped up, including Mary into the classroom and Norah has expanded her role and achieved a limited authority to teach (LAT) to support the school. Our Principal has been driving the introduction of HERO, a powerful data management and communication tool which will revolutionise assessment and monitoring of student progress so teachers and parents have real time reporting available online. HERO can also help provide quality data to the board, such as health, safety and wellbeing reporting, and once running will make a number of processes efficient for staff.

Just a reminder it is a school board election year. So if you have skills in governance, property, finances, employment management, teaching, policy, health and safety and an interest in supporting our school, please get in touch with one of the board. Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 17th May at 7pm, likely via zoom and anyone is welcome to attend. Likewise please get in touch if you have any feedback for the board about how we can work together to make Lochiel School awesome. There have been less opportunities to connect with everyone this year so far, thanks to covid and isolation. So please do pick up the phone or email if you want to get in touch. 

Our school also has a fantastic network of parents supporting the school, the Lochiel School Network (LSN) who meet regularly, so there are lots of options to stay in touch, get connected and be part of our community.

Have a safe and happy break, hopefully with some rain and chocolate and we look forward to welcoming everyone back to school in Term 2.

Warm regards, Amy McStay, Mary Miller, Fraser Anderson, Norah Thomson, Robbie Watkinson and Roger Nicholas