Community Update: 5 Dec 2024
Community Update: 5 December 2024Â
Senior School Leadership Team StructureÂ
Following the consultation with our SMC and MES Senior Leadership Teams we are now in a position to announce the structure of the Leadership Team for the new Erskine Stewart Melville Senior School. The selection process was rigorous and designed to ensure that the final team represents the best combination of skills, experience, and leadership qualities needed to meet the challenges and opportunities ahead. The decision was difficult to make, reflecting the depth of talent within our current teams.
The new Senior Leadership will cover three areas: Academic Progress, Wellbeing and Student Experience. This new structure will help to: enhance our wellbeing and guidance provision; improve the way we support our students and track their academic progress, enhance our inclusive learning environment, ensuring that no student is left behind; and expand the sport and co-curricular opportunities we offer our students.
The Academic Team will be led by:
Senior Deputy Head (Learning):Â Jen Bennett
Deputy Head (Student Progress):Â Allan McDiarmid
Deputy Head (Curriculum and Standards): Kate Siljehag
The Wellbeing Team will be led by:
Senior Deputy Head (Wellbeing): Thomas Gray-Timms
Deputy Head (Student Support): Janet Fitzgerald
Assistant Head (Inclusion): Alison Herrera
The Student Experience Team will be led by:
Deputy Head (Student Experience): Valerie Thomson
Roles and ResponsibilitiesÂ
Learning:
The Senior Deputy Head (Learning) will be responsible for driving the continued improvement of teaching and learning, and academic performance in the Senior School.
The Deputy Head (Curriculum and Standards) will be responsible for developing the curriculum, coordinating the subject choice process, staff learning and development (including induction, student teachers, PRD and GTCS) and overseeing Careers and Higher Education.
The Deputy Head (Student Progress) will be responsible for developing how we monitor and evaluate student progress, coordinating the School’s reporting process, coordinating examination and assessment strategies, and overseeing the academic work of the Assistant Head (Inclusion).
WellbeingÂ
The Senior Deputy Head (Wellbeing) will have responsibility for shaping our wellbeing provision and the wellbeing and safeguarding of all students in the Senior School.  They will have particular oversight of the students in S5-S6.
The Deputy Head (Student Support) will have responsibility for the development and support of student counselling services, development of and responsibility for the rewards, interventions and sanctions process, and development of the Senior School House Challenge.  They will be the Deputy Child Protection Coordinator.  They will have responsibility for the wellbeing of all students in S1-4 and the transition to S1 from P7.
The Assistant Head (Inclusion) is a new post, its creation reflects our desire to further enhance our inclusive learning environment.  They will be responsible for the development of enhanced learning support, inclusion, and accessibility: this will include our Gifted & Talented provision and accessibility for all learners with additional support needs including, but not limited to, neurodivergence, emotional based school avoidance and disability.
Student ExperienceÂ
The Deputy Head (Student Experience) will have particular responsibility for all matters relating to student enrichment and the co-curricular programme in the Senior School, including residential and non-residential trips. In addition, they will also have oversight of the calendar and large School events, as well as line management of Sport, CCF, Outdoor Learning and Music.
Over the weekend the Senior School Leadership Team enjoyed a walkaround the site to explore and imagine possibilities and opportunities for the new merged senior school.
With the Senior School Leadership Team now appointed, we will begin drafting proposals for the roles that sit underneath our Senior School Leaders. Consultation with affected staff on these proposals will commence in January, ensuring a collaborative approach to shaping the structure and providing opportunities for input and feedback.
Many of you will notice two notable names missing from this list. Gavin Park and Martin Kemp are much-loved colleagues and valued members of the Leadership Team. Martin is yet undecided about what his future holds but at present he is enjoying his work as Deputy Head of Upper School at Stewart’s Melville College. On his return from Malawi this summer, Gavin Park announced that while excited about the plans for the new school he wished to take early retirement so that he could dedicate himself fully to the charities in Malawi where he serves as a trustee. We will be drawing on Gavin’s and Martin’s expertise in the transition to the new School.
Staff TrainingÂ
A comprehensive staff training and transition plan has been developed for the new School and the Deputy Head of Learning is currently gathering feedback on this from staff.
Student Engagement:Â Â
We have been very impressed by the level of engagement among students in helping to shape the future merged school. Over 1200 students took part in a senior school survey to gather views on the upcoming merger. They shared their perspectives on a wide range of topics, from school uniforms to outdoor spaces, lesson lengths and new subject choices. Their thoughtful responses reflect their strong desire to be heard and their commitment to shaping our future.  The survey marks the first step in the student engagement process as individuals also identified their desire to be involved in focus groups in the future. Mike Kane is now exploring how we engage the views of our Junior School students.
Uniform Update Â
We have had additional meetings to discuss the new school uniform. Stevensons have impressed us with their proposals to engage the community in the development of the new uniform and with initial ideas on how we could limit costs for parents, without compromising on quality.  While we have not yet made any final decision on uniform suppliers, conversations so far have been positive, and we should be able to begin engaging with the wider community on initial ideas soon.
Site UpdatesÂ
We have been working closely with our architect to remodel the Science and Technology building to accommodate additional science labs and expand the Product Design and Computing spaces. Meanwhile, our Junior School Senior Leadership Team has been looking at transition planning and has made great progress in developing plans to relocate P4-P7 to Ravelston.
Honouring Our HeritageÂ
Our Heritage Officer has begun an inventory of all the parts of our school that celebrate and honour our rich heritage. This important work marks the first step in a collaborative process, during which we will invite our community to join us in exploring how best to honour and preserve the legacies of our founding schools when we merge. The voices and memories of our students, staff and alumni will be important as we work to ensure that our shared history features throughout the new School, honouring students from our past and inspiring future generations.
An Award-Winning Term
Amidst all the changes we are making I am delighted to say that the schools and the students continue to thrive – in fact it has been a term of awards and achievements. Hot on the heels of the Rising Star Independent School of the Year 2024 Award, The Mary Erskine School has received the prestigious STEM Nation Award by Education Scotland. The award recognises our dedication to excellence in STEM education. Education Scotland commended our efforts to engage families in STEM learning and recognised the strong partnerships we have made to enrich our curriculum. Particular thanks go to Fiona Neave, Head of Chemistry, for all her work in helping gather all the evidence to help us achieve this Award. We are looking forward to building on this achievement as we progress with the merger, ensuring that all our young people have access to excellence in all things STEM.
All three schools have been awarded a Gold Award by the Carnegie Centre of Excellence for Mental Health in Schools, recognising our outstanding mental health and wellbeing provision. This is a very rare achievement for schools and signifies that we are having an impact at a regional and national level to develop wellbeing in schools. Notable initiatives, such as the Junior School’s use of VR headsets to support neurodivergent students and our Smart Student Council programme, were praised by the awards body, along with our positive whole-school culture towards mental health. This was a huge amount of work to coordinate, and Susan Woodshore has done an amazing job working with a small staff team to capture all that goes on across ESMS and summarise it in the required comprehensive report.
Our Junior School has been awarded the Reading Schools Accreditation by the Scottish Book Trust. This recognition highlights the incredible reading environment our teachers have created for our children, helping them to foster a love of reading and developing literacy skills from a young age. Through creative and engaging approaches, our staff have made reading a central part of school life, ensuring that students have access to a wide range of books and are inspired to explore the joy of literature both in and out of the classroom.
We are also proud to be chosen, once again, as a Microsoft Showcase School for our innovation in teaching and learning and preparing students for the future.
Last but not least, our U16 team made it to Murrayfield for the National Scottish Schools Cup final yesterday and our 1st XV U18 team brought home the cup!