Life @ EA
Rector's Blog
Thursday 16 May
With Half Term starting at the end of next week (not before please!) this term seems to be speeding up as we race towards Exhibition. It’s been a wonderful week with our students enjoying the sun and with the first cohort of senior students starting to finish their exam process.
Whilst a large number still have exams to go, with almost two weeks gone of the exam process, there is definitely light at the end of the tunnel. It is important to remind parents of those who are still sitting exams that the school is still very much open to them, and our staff would be delighted to provide any assistance and guidance that those on study leave might require. A small group of 7ths were sat in the RMPS Department for most of the morning today working their way through their final questions.
It was great to see our 3rds arrive back from Loch Eil having had such a wonderful time on the Outward Bound course. Alongside the excellent activities and challenges, there are also some very valuable conversations about character education, virtues, integrity and teamwork which build into the development of our young people. I must thank Ms Isherwood and all her team for all they do during this week, as the feedback we have received has been wonderful. In the same vein, the Enlightenment Week for our 2nds finished on Friday and the presentations, projects and assembled pieces of work were of a very high quality indeed. This style of Inter-Disciplinary learning is an important aspect of education at EA and something that we are seeking to develop further in all areas of the school, including the introduction of the Scottish Baccalaureate next year to members of the 7ths. Details of this programme will come out to current members of the 6ths after the exam process is complete. Our 3rds will soon be embarking on the Islands Project, which is another example of this type of inter-disciplinary learning, where ideas, skills and knowledge from a variety of different areas of the curriculum are brought together to answer unusual challenges and problems. Next week sees the Geits disappear off to Dounans for their three day residential trip - as a dad of a Geit, I am looking forward to this trip and the ensuing peace in particular!
If you have been watchful, you will have seen that we launched our new website this week. It is a very fresh and up-to-date production which we hope will provide new members to our community the information that they need. We will continue to update and tweak this new website but with parents now having access to Firefly and SOCS, it most probably will not be the first port of call for existing members of our community. As I had a relatively quiet Thursday last week in terms of emails received, I must assume that the emailed version of this News Sheet was successful and so we will continue in this manner. Apologies to those parents who are more Twitter-savvy!
As I type this the first night of The Twits is underway and I am waiting with excitement to hear the reviews. By all accounts it is a wonderful show and it has now sold out for Thursday and Friday nights. My thanks to all members of the cast and crew of this production and to Miss Ingram who is masterminding the show. Break a leg, everyone!
With best wishes
Barry Welsh
Rector
