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.
© Copyright 2024