SQA has just released their statement following the First Minister’s announcement on Sunday.

The current public health advice has meant that SQA have had to make some really difficult decisions about coursework. This means that for this year, schools and colleges are not required to submit learner coursework for marking, in Higher and Advanced Higher courses.

We await further advice from the SQA regarding the estimation of grades to be submitted by teachers.

Read the full statement from Fiona Robertson (SQA Chief Executive and Scotland’s Chief Examiner)

Thanks to a very generous contact within our school community we have received a fantastic offer on a rolling basis for FREE Kindle Books.

• Are you interested in the sea, epic, mermaids, mermen and marine conservation?
• Reading Level? Anyone who can handle Northern Lights or the Hobbit should be comfortable with them. 
• Some of the action is set in Scotland: The author is a scuba diver, so the action is based on real locations and real animals. 

The FREE books are available for 5 days from the dates below:

• Atlantis Lost - from today
• Orion's Hunt - 26 March 2020
• The Mermaid and the Flame - 28 March 2020
• Poseidon's Deep - 30 March 2020
• The Island of the Last Song - 1 April 2020 
• The Labyrinth Under the Waves - 3 April 2020
• When the Tide Comes Rising - 5 April 2020 

There are paperback versions too, but Amazon doesn't allow a giveaway on those (yet). 

Thanks to the author for his generosity.

There is now one S1 and one S2 Tech/CDT Google classroom.

Class codes 

S1 cnfrr5z

S2 njkr5sq

• Miss Smith, Mr Watson and Mr Tait will all help within the classes.
• Learning will be a mixture of computer and paper based learning.
• We will post the equivalent of 1 period a week S1 and two periods a week S2, plus extension work.

To set yourself up download or get used to using the free software below for future learning.

We will set the equivalent amount of learning as you would have for each week, like a virtual timetable.

Free Software

INVENTOR:
Create an account using your EDUBUZZ email (2D and 3D CAD)
We are awaiting our school to be added so download the trial version just now.
INKSCAPE
Free Graphic Design software (flyers, logos, brochures, magazines)
PIXLR
Free online Photoshop clone (photos, logos)
TINKERCAD
Free online CAD program, very quick to learn.
YENKA
Free downloadable Electronic and Physics simulation software
GOOGLE SKETCHUP
Free in browser or downloadable CAD program, quick and easy to learn CAD
products and Architecture
RESEARCH & REFERENCE SOFTWARE
This also has a free 2D drawing app.
LOGO MAKER
Sign up using your Edubuzz email. This is a simple to use logo maker.
GRAFFITI CREATOR
Create some cool lettering for a design using the Graffiti text generator.

Stay safe, keep calm and carry on !

Some pupils who were issued with School Chromebooks to take home are likely to have found it necessary to keep reconnecting them to their network after use. A change has been made to the Chromebook management setting today by East Lothian Council IT to allow them to automatically connect to home networks. 

That change may not affect wireless network connections set up before today. You may need to use the "Forget" option in the network settings screen and connect it again.

If you are still seeing a problem with connections dropping:

• click the settings area, bottom right of the screen, to open the settings menu
• click the cog, top right of that, to open the full Settings page
• click Network menu option on left
• where you can see your network listed under Network, click it
• on the next screen, click the right-arrow beside it
• check that "Automatically connect to this network" is switched on (showing as blue).

Feedback on this would be appreciated, as it will have been affecting any learners with loan devices.