National success: The highlght of the week was being able to tell people of our success at a National level. We use a system called accelerated reader to promote reading for our pupils. The company behind this Renaissance Learning keep an eye on how well it is being used and as a result we were … read more
Focus on S2: Learning and teaching: Over this week senior staff have been popping into S2 classes to look at the quality of the learning and teaching. We have been very impressed by both the quality of the teaching we have seen and the attitude shown by pupils towards the work. As well as visiting … read more
On any given week there is a fair bit going on in Harlaw Academy. The blog this week lists 10 of the varied activities taking place over the last 5 days in the school: a group of our pupils went to Bridge of don Academy as part of a young inspector project most of our … read more
Mid Autumn/Winter brings with it; darker nights, falling leaves, changing weather, frost and snow. These conditions pose an added risk as we go about our daily lives and I am using the blog this week set out 5 simple ideas to help pupils reduce the risks and to stay safe. Set off earlier – the … read more
During this week we had a number of things to mark 100 years since the signing of the armistice which led to the end of World War 1. Our Art department worked on a display and towards the end of the week the library showed a film ‘They Shall Not Grow Old” which has recently … read more
As the holidays came to an end I was more than a little concerned. A lot of our old windows had been removed and new frames were going in bu there was no sign of any glass and there was a fair bit of mess to get tidy for Monday. Somehow over the final weekend … read more
Each year I am required to prepare a number of reports. two of the more important ones are the; Standards and Quality report which summarises what we did last sessio harlawacademy.aberdeen.sch.uk/…/Harlaw-Academy-Standards-and-Quality-Report-session-2017-to-2018.docx School Improvement Plan which sets out our priorities this session harlawacademy.aberdeen.sch.uk/…/Harlaw-Academy-School-Improvement-Plan-session-2018-to-2019-.docx I am pleased to attach both for your reference. If you have any comments on … read more
In a recent blog I mentioned the extra curricular open session we had ran for pupils to help raise awareness of all the opportunities which existed in the school. The subject came up at the recent parent council where we were asked if we could make the list available to parents. It gives me great … read more
This week we had out first Pupil Council and the first Parent Council meeting of the session. I see both groups as being extremely important in school improvement and in this blog wish to say a little about each group and the difference they can make. 10 things to know about our Pupil Council: each … read more
The first 3 weeks of the new term have flown past and I shall this first blog of the session to summarise the highlights Staff Changes: In April I was appointed to the role of Convener of General Teaching Council Scotland (GTCS) and chair the council of the regulatory body who oversee the 75,000 registered … read more