QUEEN VICTORIA SCHOOL
NEWSLETTER
APRIL 2015
NEW THIS TERM:
Note from the Head
CONTENTS
Travel Info Request form - Summer 2015
Diary of Events - Summer Term
Minutes of PLG Meeting held 15.3.15
:
Tuesday 21 April - SUMMER Friday 29th May - Activity
Trips Day
TERM BEGINS - Pupils
return by 2000 hours
Monday 1 June - Thurs 4
June - P7 to Ardgour
Sunday 10 May PARADE SUNDAY Inspecting Officer:
Saturday 13th June Brigadier P Harkness MBE Trenchard Family Day
Parent/Teacher Meeting details Friday 22 May
Exam timetable/
SQA Study Leave
arrangements
and permission
form (S4/S5/S6)
Sunday 3rd & 17th May CCF Beating Retreat
Rehearsal, Redford
Barracks
Thursday 21st May Combined Bands CCF
Beating Retreat, Holyrood
Palace
W/c Monday 8th June Work Experience Week (S4)
Friday 26 June - GRAND
DAY & END OF SUMMER
TERM
Tues 18 August AUTUMN/WINTER TERM
BEGINS - Pupils return by
2000 hrs
Friday 22 May Parent/Teacher meeting for
P7, S1 and S3: 1530-1730hrs. Wed 19 August - New
Drill & Turnout competition intake arrive
1730hrs - parents welcome
Bethan, Caitlin, Kiera & Jade were
fantastic ambassadors for QVS and
the Make A Difference (MAD) Group
this Spring term.
The girls volunteered their free time to
fundraise in the community and raised
£135.94 for Marie Curie which was
greatly appreciated by the organisers.
Well done, girls!
Sat 23 & Sun 24th May Relaxed weekend: no
SUNDAY 13 SEPTEMBER lessons, athletics or Chapel BATTLE OF BRITAIN
SUNDAY 4 OCTOBER BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR
SUNDAY 8 NOVEMBER REMEMBRANCE
SUNDAY 29 NOVEMBER ROOKIES
QUEEN VICTORIA SCHOOL
NEWSLETTER
APRIL 2015
Note from the Head
It's been a short but very busy term, with lots of preparation for next term's
public exams, that preparation including the S5/S6 Prelims. We've also been busy on the
Games front, with both the 1st XV and the U16 rugby teams reaching their semi-finals in the
Brewin Dolphin Plate Competition; unfortunately both teams were defeated at that stage, but they
did very well to reach it.
A team of CCF cadets from QVS attended the Welbeck College Challenge weekend for the first time in the
School's history - and came first out of fifteen teams from across the UK: a fantastic achievement and a
great credit to both the boys in the team and Mr Scott Harrison who coaches them.
The standard of playing and dancing at this term's Parade, on 15th March, was the highest ever, it seemed to
me, and our new venue for Morning Music - the Parade Square - met with much approval from visitors.
I'd like to take this opportunity to draw your attention to our arrangements for ensuring that the food served
to pupils and staff alike is of as high a quality as we can manage. Being familiar with the MoD, you'll not be
surprised to learn that we have £3.51 per pupil per day for three meals, an in-House snack and any other
provision that we want to make. We are also limited to a 1000-item core range of food products from which
we can order. Despite those limitations, the ESS catering staff provide meals which consistently pass
government, MoD and Care Inspectorate assessments, meeting a range of healthy eating guidelines and
requirements.
What we cannot do is force the pupils to make and eat a healthy choice from what is available.
We have decided to create a space on the School website for the season's menus (there is a four-weekly
cycle, and the menu cycle changes seasonally four times a year) and for the Catering Committee Minutes
and meeting dates. The Catering Committee meets every three weeks during term-time and comprises the
Deputy Head (Pastoral and Guidance), a senior pupil representative from each House and at least one
member of the Catering Team. We should welcome parent representation on the Catering Committee; if you
think you could manage a 20-minute meeting, mid-morning, once every three weeks during term-times,
please contact Mr Steve Adams or me.
We are also happy to welcome any parent to any meal at the School, without notice. All you need to do is
sign in at the front desk and ask for a member of the Senior Leadership Team to show you into the Dining
Room. You'll realise that we're not funded to feed anyone other than pupils and duty staff, but the Catering
Team are proud of what they do - and we are proud of them - so an occasional visitor is something that we
are very happy to accommodate. There has been some parental interest in our catering recently, and I hope
that the above is helpful. There really is nothing like coming along and trying it for yourself, however!
I wish you and your families a happy and restful break over Easter, and look forward to seeing you at
some point in the Summer Term.
With best wishes,
Yours sincerely,
Wendy Bellars.
QUEEN VICTORIA SCHOOL
NEWSLETTER
APRIL 2015
All parents are invited to attend the Prize-giving
Ceremony in the morning as well as the Parade in
the afternoon. We would like to remind parents that
the whole school is expected to attend the Prizegiving and NO pupil should be outside the marquee
after 9.50am. Everyone must be seated by 10am. If
you are not attending Prize-giving, please avoid the
area around the Marquee while Prize-giving is in
process. Thank you.
The format for Grand Day is as follows:
9.50am - Parents, guests and the whole School
seated
10.00am - Prize-giving
2.00pm - Parade
Time may be fairly tight and it is regretted that we
do not have catering facilities for lunch for everyone.
However, if you would like to bring a picnic, you are
welcome to use the School grounds. In addition, the
School caterers will be providing a cafeteria service
in the CCF building where snacks can be purchased
from 11am onwards.
Parents unable to come to the Prize-giving may wish
to attend the Parade along with relatives/friends.
Those attending are asked to be seated prior to the
Parade.
We should like to remind everyone that any pupil
found to be out of their Houses during the
night/early morning before Grand Day will not be
allowed to take part in the Grand Day Parade. We
very much hope, however, that lessons have been
learned by the necessity to invoke such sanctions
in previous years.
Summer Term 2015 ends after Grand Day,
Friday 26 June.
Pupils going home after Grand Day may
do so after the Parade ends.
Pupils who are staying at School overnight
on 26 June will travel on the first available
train/bus on Saturday 27 June.
Parents are asked to forward any travel
tickets/documentation for safekeeping to
the School, along with the enclosed travel
info request form, by no later than
Wednesday 3 June.
Autumn Term 2015 begins on Tuesday
18 August and pupils must return by 2000
hrs. A meal will be available in School at
1700hrs with supper at 2000 hrs.
New pupils arrive at School on
Wednesday 19 August.
PLEASE NOTE TRANSPORT TO AND FROM
THE AIRPORT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF
PARENTS, WHO MUST MAKE APPROPRIATE
TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS FOR THIS.
(Please see separate details for
WELMET, our recommended escort
QUEEN VICTORIA SCHOOL
NEWSLETTER
APRIL 2015
HOLIDAY AIR TRAVEL - A PARENT’S PERSPECTIVE
BY STUART CLARKE (FATHER OF EVIE CURRENTLY IN S2)
You may already be aware that many airlines offer a service for unaccompanied
minors. Flybe seek approximately £30 each way for this service whilst Virgin (using Air
Lingus) offer the same process free of charge. Over the past 3 years, my daughter has used
both airlines and been very impressed by the level of service (for example, neither Flybe nor
Virgin charge extra for hold luggage and the unaccompanied minors get a food voucher for a
snack and a drink). I too have been impressed with the level of security offered; unaccompanied
minors can only be dropped off and collected by a named individual who can show
photographic identification.
So, that is the easy bit! The challenge is to get your child from QVS to the departure airport.
Some pupils are lucky to have family nearby or loyal friends who are willing to provide a lift to
the airport. An alternative is to use a CRB/Disclosure Scotland-checked escort service, such as
Welmet ([email protected]) who manage a reliable band of drivers who are dedicated to just
this type of task. Again, we have used this service and been impressed by the reliability and
safety offered. The only consideration is the expense, as with a pupil travelling alone, the return
cost from QVS to Edinburgh is over £200. Welmet are not interested in abusing their loyal
customer base so will split the costs between all passengers: so if 4 pupils travel together, the
costs become very reasonable and with air fares around £50 each way to London, I doubt that
you could drive the journey for less.
My daughter is often surprised at the airport to find QVS pupils waiting for their flights,
oblivious that by coordinating their plans, they could have saved their respective parents some
hard-earned money! Therefore, it falls to the parents to communicate, which is always a
challenge given our diaspora is spread across the globe. The first improvement this year has
been a well administered QVS parents' facebook chat room. Joining the group will allow you to
monitor matters of the moment as well as ask questions of more experienced members.
Secondly, I have volunteered to coordinate travel to and from QVS' local airports (Edinburgh &
Glasgow typically) using my email address: [email protected]. The final destination of the
flight is not relevant, but the departure time is.
So in summary: if you are considering sending your child to QVS and just cannot predict where
you might be living/working, then air travel offers a pragmatic and secure solution for the
holidays. However, to ensure that the costs are affordable, coordination is the key. If you
have any questions, please drop me an email.
Please find below details of the QVS representative:
Mrs Gina Riley
Tel: +44(0) 1243 82333 Mobile: +44 (0) 7958 550368
Email: [email protected] Website: www.welmet.co.uk
QUEEN VICTORIA SCHOOL
NEWSLETTER
APRIL 2015
Old Victorians’ Weekend 2015 - post Rugby match
celebrations
Generally our pupils are reasonable and
understand that the Ceremonial aspects of
QVS life demand a conventional hairstyle and
hair colour. Occasionally, however, we find that
pupils return to School after a holiday with an
unnatural hair colour or without having their
hair cut. We would ask that you support and
encourage your sons and daughters to respect
the requirements, and ensure that they have an
acceptable haircut before returning to School.
Hair must be worn off the collar when in
Ceremonial uniform. Thank you for your
support in this.
The end of session Summer Concert will take
place on Thursday 25 June at 6.30pm and
will be held in the Chapel. All parents and
carers are warmly invited.
If your child is required for a School
engagement - sport or band - then exam
leave will need to be cut short and he/she
will be expected to return to School. As
always, we thank all of our team and band
members for their commitment.
We respectfully ask that visitors to the School
do not park in, or block, resident staff’s parking
places on the Parade Square, in front of the
School and around Trenchard. This is
particularly important at busy times such as end
of term. The places are clearly marked in blue
paint.
Many thanks for your help with this.
Our Foreign Language Assistant, Nina Kussau,
leaves us in the summer having completed her
one-year placement with us. She has been a
great asset to both Trenchard House and the
Modern Languages Department. We thank Nina
for her hard work and commitment; we shall
miss her and wish her every success in the
future.
Please remember that the School Medical
Centre needs
for holiday
immunisations. A travel form can be downloaded
from the Dunblane Medical Practice Website:
dunblanemedicalpractice.co.uk
This can be completed and returned directly to
the Practice at Well Place, Dunblane, FK15 9BQ.
Please ensure the ‘home address’ is completed
as Queen Victoria School.
Your support is greatly appreciated in adhering
to term dates. Early leavers/late returners cause
disruption to the general running of House and
School. The holidays are generous and family
holidays should wherever possible be organised
to fit into these dates.
Thank you for your support of the School in this
regard.
QUEEN VICTORIA SCHOOL
NEWSLETTER
APRIL 2015
The Cunningham House American Diner was
unveiled this term and has proved to be a great
venue for Cunningham House events as well as school
events such as the Junior Award Pizza and Film
Night held earlier this term.
When settling the school bill, you are requested to
pay the whole amount at the start of each term.
The School’s preferred method of payment is
internet banking and our bank details are:
Payee Name: Queen Victoria School
Account No:
02019219
Sort Code:
30-00-02
Should you have any problems with settling the
total amount due, please contact our Finance and
Administration Manager, Iain Mair, on 0131 310
2905 as soon as possible. Alternatively, Iain can
Each House has a voice-mail service on its
main phone line. Below is a reminder of the
House telephone numbers and email
addresses:
Cunningham House - 0131 310 2923
[email protected]
Haig House - 0131 310 2922
be e-mailed on [email protected]
Parents/guardians with outstanding school bills
are requested to settle these straight away, unless
an alternative payment plan has been agreed with
the School.
[email protected]
Trenchard House - 0131 310 2924
[email protected]
Wavell House - 0131 310 2955
[email protected]
When paying for pocket money and miscellaneous
items additional to those included in the school
Email contact with parents is very
useful, especially in urgent situations.
If you think that we do not have your
current email address, please send it,
with your child’s name and school
number, to: [email protected]
or [email protected]
bill, parents/guardians are requested to pay the
child’s boarding house pocket money account
direct, with a cheque made payable to the
relevant boarding house. Additional amounts
volunteered should not be added to the settlement
of the main school bill, and should not be paid by
internet banking.