FAO College Pupils

Please see below confirmed online delivery which will be in place until further notice for courses that have been delivered face to face either in school or on college premises.  All other courses delivered online will follow the normal timings.  

The college is aware that schools online timetables are not all the same and there may be clashes so colleges will either record lessons/make work available online where possible. 

Inverness College CoursesOnline Day/Times
Cookery (Inverness Campus)Friday 9am – 11.30 & then 1pm – 2.30pm
Rural Skills (Nairn)Follow normal school t/tabled sessions
Rural Skills (Kingussie)As agreed between school/lecturer
Cookery (Nairn)Follow normal school t/tabled sessions
Activity & Tourism (Kingussie)As agreed between school/lecturer
Beauty (Inverness Campus)Friday 9am – 11.30 & then 1pm – 2.30pm
FA EngineeringFriday 9am – 11.30 & then 1pm – 2.30pm
Skills BuilderNo online delivery
West Highland College CoursesOnline Day/Times
ChildcareWednesday 9.30am – 10.20am & then 1.40pm – 2.30pm
Outdoor Adventure (Portree Campus)Wednesday 2pm – 3.40pm
Outdoor Adventure (Ft William Campus)Wednesday 9.30am – 10.15am & then 2.40pm – 3.10pm
BeautyWednesday 9.40am – 10.30am & then 2pm – 2.50pm
Drawing & PaintingWednesday 9.40am – 10.30am & then 2pm – 2.50pm
FashionWednesday 9.40am – 10.30am & then 2pm – 2.50pm
Hospitality (Gairloch)Follow normal Friday times
Hospitality (Ullapool)Follow normal school t/tabled sessions
Cookery (Ft William Campus)Wednesday 9.40am – 10.30am & then 2pm – 2.50pm
Construction (Portree Campus)Wednesday 10.45am – 11.35am
Construction (Ft William Campus)Wednesday 9.40am – 10.30am
Construction (Ft William Campus)Thursday 9.40am – 10.30am
Computing (Kilchuimen)Follow normal school t/tabled sessions
Digital MediaWednesday 9am
ESOL N5/H (LHS)Follow normal school t/tabled sessions
Psychology N5/H (LHS)Follow normal school t/tabled sessions
Mental Health & Wellbeing N5/H (LHS)Follow normal school t/tabled sessions
Access to Skills & Learning (Portree Campus)As per email from lecturer to schools
Access to Skills & Learning (Ft William Campus)As per email from lecturer to schools
Ardnamurchan (agreed with school)9:40-10:30 – group S1a10:45-11:35 – group S2b11:35-12:25 – group S3a12:25-13:15 – group S2b14:00-14:50 – group S1b14:50-15:50 – group S3b

Any issues please contact your Guidance Teacher.

Skills Development Scotland support

As schools across Scotland are closed to the majority of pupils, Skills Development Scotland careers advisers will continue to provide careers information and advice by phone and digitally. Kirsty Wright is our fabulous adviser and she will contact pupils who were scheduled to have a face-to-face appointments to make alternative arrangements.

Pupils might be starting to think about Subject Choices at this time and that could be an ideal time to speak to SDS. Career information and advice is available online for anyone who needs it at My World of Work.  You can also contact your local centre to speak to an adviser or call the SDS helpline on 0800 917 8000.

This is also the perfect opportunity for parents and carers – to join the conversation and discuss where their options might take young people in the future. You’ll also find lots of helpful tools and information to help with subject choices, on the careers service website, My World of Work. Visit www.myworldofwork.co.uk/subjectchoices

Return to School

Happy New Year and welcome back to school for 2021.  This has not been the start that anyone wanted but with true Grantown spirit we are aiming to meet the challenges with positivity and resolve.  As such please find the adapted timetables all pupils will be following from Monday 11th January.  The timetables have been developed with 4 clear aims:

  • To support parents and pupils with a move to online learning in January 2021.
  • To clarify the expectations of online learning for staff, pupils and parents/carers.
  • To ensure health and wellbeing is foremost for staff, pupils and parents/carers.
  • To give consistency in approach to online learning and teaching for pupils in Grantown Grammar School. 

Registration – Your child will be asked to register online every morning. A registration form will appear every day in their GGS Registration Classroom – it is vital that all pupils register by 0930 every day as attendance will be monitored closely both by the school and the authority. The register will be open from 0700 and you will receive a text if your child does not register by 0930. To register, your child just needs to follow the steps in the post and if they have any difficulties then please contact the Guidance team.

S1-3 Timetable – It is important that your child engages as much as possible with the work being set. If they are struggling or have issues they must get in touch with their class teacher or guidance teacher (by email).  If in doubt, pupils should submit work which is partially completed rather than no work at all. We will be monitoring engagement and following up on any concerns we have.  We have provided a timetable (below) to help the pupils structure their learning and we recommend that they follow this timetable as it links to when staff are available online for support.  We understand not all family situations will allow this and should you need further assistance with structuring your learning please contact the guidance staff.

S1-3 Timetable – https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZuhfY2PQjIcQpjwnvX5DYy05ag0BhYffxeXyPWeaZ0Q/edit?usp=sharing

S4-6 Pupils – 2020 has been a hugely turbulent year.  With no exams this academic year it is imperative that pupils maintain their learning so that they are in the best position to produce the assessment evidence when they return to school.  All pupils have set target grades that they are working towards and must complete all the work set if they hope to attain these target grades.  As a result the work which is assigned in the senior phase is mandatory.  We strongly recommend that pupils use the timetable provided to complete the work as again it correlates with online support.  We also appreciate that not all pupils will be able to follow this timetable but the work that has been set should still be completed by the deadline provided.  Again, pupils should submit partially completed work rather than no work at all.  If pupils are having difficulties structuring their learning please contact your guidance teacher.

S4-6 Timetable – https://docs.google.com/document/d/11X_w9AOiRnYei-7K70e3jzE5nz_mTgWHM8_s4c6V8Ys/edit?usp=sharing

Assigning and Submitting work – All Senior phase work will be assigned by 0930 on a specific day (Mon – Wed depending on the subject).  The work set will have enough content and depth to fill the time allocation for that subject for the week (7 days).  The hand in time will be a week from the date assigned and will be specified on the assignment details.  Pupils must complete all the tasks involved or seek advice/support to complete the tasks.  All staff will be using google classroom and assigning work as an assignment.  Pupils will find this work in the classroom section of their google classrooms.

Support – We appreciate the difficulties all parents, pupils, carers and staff face during this new lockdown.  We want everyone to know that we are in this together and if there’s any way the school can support your family or your child’s learning please contact us.

TASK FOR ALL PUPILS – To ensure all pupils are fully prepared to start their learning on Monday we have set a quick task for them in the GGS Registration class.  The task requires them to write out their new timetable so they are prepared for Monday.  All pupils will be able to access the task in the GGS registration google classroom – classwork – NEW Timetable or just follow the link.

NEW Timetable task – https://classroom.google.com/w/NzY1OTg0OTY5ODda/tc/MjUxMjcyOTE3NzI1

Yours faithfully

Mrs McGonigal, Mr Wilson, Mr Ross
Senior Leadership Team

Adverse Weather Closure

Due to the severe weather warning, Grantown Grammar will be closed tomorrow, Friday 8 January.  All staff and pupils concerned have been notified.  However, we are expecting a big thaw over the weekend so we’ll be open on Monday to children of key-workers S1 and S2 if needed (please make sure you have completed the Google Form) and also those pupils who have been contacted individually. 

All other pupils should check the Google Registration Classroom tomorrow and complete the Timetable Assignment to ensure that they are ready to start their online learning on Monday 11 January.  Mr Wilson has even provided a video with instructions so definitely worth checking the registration classroom!

Key worker pupil placement

In order to help us best plan and prepare we are asking that all parents who consider themselves key-workers and require to send their children to school from 6th January, let us know via this form.

Please note that this applies only to children in S1 or S2 and should be used if absolutely essential and parents have no other options according to Government Guidelines.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScOwjuAAjVRxpIxVoH7Nc-ehe8cAz-RcQQwhR6QnvXi4WeV9Q/viewform

Chromebooks for online learning

If any pupil requires a replacement Chromebook for online learning, then please collect one from the school office today or tomorrow morning (22nd December).

Please contact the school if there is any issue that may prevent you from collecting one and we will arrange a delivery during the holidays.

Covid-19 update

As you know, the First Minister announced at the weekend that there will be some changes to the way schools return after the Christmas break.  Tomorrow (Tuesday 22 December) a letter will be issued to all parents and carers of children and young people in Highland schools to give you the key information about this.  Please do not contact the school today about the new arrangements, to allow School leaders and staff to focus on planning for the new term.