Welcome to this year's report of what we did in the year 2021/22.
2021/22 saw a gradual return to something approaching normality after Covid-19, but with some worrying peaks in the numbers of people affected. Pupils returned to school, with a few periods of online learning still taking place when staffing levels could not support in-school provision. Thankfully these were few and far between, and we are very grateful to all the school staff for their unstinting commitment to our children. For our new S1s, face to face transition was once again possible, and for our senior pupils, prelims and then exams were taken under traditional exam conditions. A new team of invigilators did a sterling job of overseeing these, and we thank them too. The results from the 21/22 exams have been fantastic and Ross HS continues its upward trend in academic achievement. As has been the case in the past few years, the statistics for our pupils leaving school with a 'positive destination' have been some of the best in East Lothian; higher than the average for our district.
The long-awaited extension to the school has been underway, and many of the new learning areas are now in use. A new S1 social area is open and our new S1s are making great use of this space already. The work is expected to fully complete in the early part of 2023. The school is already looking very different - you can see some of the artwork from the new areas in the backgrounds of this report. It's very impressive! We hope there will be opportunities very soon for all parents to come into school to see it for themselves.
For the first time since 2020, our S6s were able to have their prom. Thanks to a generous donation, the Parent Council were able to pay for their DJ and a photographer. The pupils and some Parent Council members liaised with the venue to make the arrangements, and by all accounts, a (very!) good time was had by all. It was great to see this being able to happen again - thanks to everyone who was involved.
We continued to hold our monthly parent council meetings via Google Meet, and welcomed several new parents in doing so. As always, our meetings are very well-attended, and always with a substantial number of our local councillors present to support the school and parents. We'd like to thank them for their continued commitment to our young people, families and the school itself. Our most recent Parent Council Meeting was able to happen in person - the first since February 2020; it was lovely to see everyone again. Reminder that all parents are welcome to attend Parent Council meetings; we'd love to see you there.
Fundraising in person has not been possible for us, but we have continued to bring in income by way of our Ross High School Parent Council Lottery - more on this to follow. In 20/21 we had started the ball rolling with applying for charitable status, but, in view of all the other more pressing issues facing our parents during the Covid-19 pandemic, we put that to one side. We hope to pick this up again soon - it would allow us to receive charitable donations and perhaps apply for grants/funds only open to charitable organisations.
For much of the year parents were still unable to enter school buildings, but towards the end of the school year parents were invited into school to attend events such as the S1 Welcome Evening and the S6 Graduation. It was lovely to see so many parents attend.
Parent Consultations for all year groups took place again via Google Meet - again, parents seemed to prefer this format for a variety of reasons. Consultation will take place in the coming months to allow parents to feed back on whether they would prefer a different format for future meetings.
As we look back on 2021/22, it feels like we are on our way back to normality. The school have worked tirelessly to ensure the continued wellbeing and success of our young people, and the Parent Council would like to record our thanks to each and every member of Ross High School staff for this. A special thank you to Mr. Reynolds, our amazing Head Teacher who has somehow managed to steer his staff and pupils through a pandemic and a major building extension. We would also like to thank all parents and carers who have attended and contributed to our meetings. By coming along, you are actively contributing to the education of our young people - your feedback really is valued.
Finally - thank you to all our fantastic pupils, who have continued to amaze us with their resilience. They are a credit to the school, to their parents, and they are why we do what we do.
What's ahead for the Parent Council in 2022-23?
2022-23 is the 'Year of Respect' at Ross High School and as a Parent Council, we will continue to support the school as much as we can. We know young people achieve more when they are supported by their families, and we want to reach out to all our parent members and ensure Parental Engagement is key in the life of the school. We hope we are entering a phase where we are once again able to engage with parents on a face to face basis, and make sure families feel they are part of the school. Previous years have seen us take part in events such as the Winter Fair, a Burns Supper and Parental Engagement activities, and we hope to be able to see these things start to happen once more.
Fundraising
Our Ross HS Parent Council Lottery is the easiest way for you to help us. Each ticket costs just £1 and 50p of that comes straight to us. A further 10p goes to help other good causes within East Lothian. There's a jackpot of £25,000 and we've had a few winners so far.
The money we raise from this goes to fund anything the school feel they need help with, and our help will benefit all pupils. Last year we raised enough money to provide another £4,000 of Chromebooks for the school, we subsidised the S6 prom and were delighted to be able to provide a donation to Venture Out - who deliver fantastic experiences for our ASN pupils, and whose equipment was stolen last year.
This year we would like to be able to help fund the following:
- Sports equipment for the new S1 outdoor and social area. The area created by the new extension is fantastic - we just need a little help to add equipment.
- Replace the sports equipment that was cruelly stolen from our playing fields storage during the summer, including footballs, rugby balls, hockey equipment and damaged goals.
- This list is by no means exhaustive, and the school keep us up to date on areas they would like to focus on.
We can't do any of this without parents' help. Just £1 per family would make a huge difference, and you're helping all pupils at Ross HS. Click here to sign up, or use the QR code below.
What is the Parent Council?
We're just parents! We voluntarily come together to act on behalf of all parents and carers with children at Ross High School. We want to support the school and influence decisions which affect our children at school. We aim to represent the views of all parents and carers.
What do we do?
We hold monthly meetings, to which all parents are welcome to attend. Mr. Reynolds attends and sometimes other staff members too. Our local councillors attend as many meetings as they can and are valued contributors, as they know our communities so well. We (try to!) stick to an agenda and cover any issues that are relevant to our school and its pupils. Parents can submit questions in advance and Mr. Reynolds will help answer them.
The most important thing we do is to support the school and strengthen the link between school and parents. The school often uses us as a sounding board for new ideas/developments to get feedback from a parent's perspective, before they are implemented across the whole school. All parents' views are valid and listened to.
By giving the school a parent's perspective, we help them engage with parents and carers; involving them in their child’s learning, and in the life of the school. This also improves links within the community.
Parent council meetings allow parents to engage with the school, but also to listen to and engage with other parents.
How can you get involved?
Just come along to one of our meetings! Any parent/carer with a child at Ross High School may become a member of the Parent Council, and we want you there! We meet every last Tuesday of the month, at 7pm. You won't be roped into a job you don't want, and we don't do endless amounts of fundraising. We just want you and your views on your child's education.
We know not everyone can make our meetings, so if you can't make it, or would just rather not, you can send us a DM through our Facebook or Twitter pages and we can raise any concerns on your behalf.
Like our Facebook page and/or follow us on Twitter. We regularly post on communications from the school and our wider community - we always have a lot to say!