Dear Parent/Carer,
I hope the first two weeks of term have been a positive experience in your household. It has been great to see the school full of energy again. The pupils look so smart in their school dress code and there is a lovely ethos across the building that is palpable as you walk through the corridors.
A huge welcome to our S1 pupils who have made a positive start to S1. They have been working well with staff in the classrooms and the feedback I have received about them as a year group has only been positive. Keep up the great work!
Congratulations to our pupils who sat SQA exams before the summer. Whole school results are positive and showing an upward trend based on last year’s results. At the moment, we have some young people being resourced with Ms Bones. If your young person needs a coursing meeting, please direct them to Ms Bones before the end of the week.
While all of our young people deserve to be celebrated for their exam results, we do have some young people who received the special accolade of Dux and Proxime Accessit. I am delighted to announce our Dux winners for 2024/25 are as follows:
Senior DUX – Hannah Scott
Senior Proxime Accessit – Max Richardson
Junior DUX – Snowy Chen
Junior Proxime Accessit – Sophie Hastings
Well done to all four pupils for their outstanding achievements. They will be celebrated further during our upcoming Senior Awards ceremony on the 4th September.
Last week we also interviewed 12 S6 candidates for our School Captains role within the school. All pupils who put themselves forward were exceptionally well prepared, professional and thought provoking during their school captain interview. They should all be very proud of this. Nevertheless, four pupils have been selected as a result of their application, interview, pupil and staff vote. I am delighted to announce that the following pupils will be our School Captains for session 2025/26.
Lucy Anderson
Jamie Conlon
Isla-Rose Motion
Danny Yeoman
I look forward to working closely with the Pupil Senior Leadership Team.
It is a busy start to term- I have noted some key dates below which may be of interest:
04.09.25 Senior Awards Ceremony 7pm – 9pm
08.09.25 UCAS Parents Evening 5pm – 8pm
12.09.25 School Holiday
15.09.25 School holiday
Please note other key information for parents below:
Digital Learning
As the new school year begins, we would like to remind all families that you can find webinars and website links on the digital safety page of the Equipped for Learning website to help with keeping children safe online. You may be aware that internetmatters.org is a particularly helpful site that has downloadable parent guides for commonly used apps and platforms, including this one for WhatsApp. If you are worried about online communication involving your child, please visit the CEOP site for advice and reporting.
Midlothian Education Service Improvement Plan
Find a link to the
Parent Partnership Meeting
The next meeting will take place on Tuesday 16th September 7pm – 9pm.
Take care
Emma Ormerod
As a result of the publication of examination results on 5 August 2025, any pupil in S5 or S6 who wishes to discuss a course change should make an appointment to talk to Miss Bones on one of the In-service Days. Appointments can be made by clicking this link: https://parents-booking.
Dear Parent/Carer,
It is hard to believe it is the end of term already, but no doubt all the pupils are looking forward to their well deserved holidays.
As always, the end of term has been very busy. We celebrated our S1 – S3 pupils during our wider achievement ceremony. Congratulations to all pupils who received an award, whether it was for personal progress or wider achievement. Thank you to all parents and carers who attended the evening. We were delighted with the turn out and hope you enjoyed celebrating with us.
In the same week we also welcomed our P7 pupils for their transition days. The whole staff commented on how engaged, motivated and polite this year group were during the three day visit. We are very much looking forward to seeing you all again in August.
Last week, we held our expressive arts showcase where we witnessed the talent and creative skills of our young people. It was an evening full of art, dance, drama, music and even a crufts performance. I would like to thank the talent, our pupils, and of course our staff for organising the evening. It was a lovely celebration for the end of term.
On Friday, we held our S6 graduation ceremony and school prom. This was the first time we have amalgamated both events and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Thank you to the pupils, staff and parents who helped make the evening a success. While it is a bitter sweet moment saying goodbye to our S6 cohort, we know they are ready for this next step in their personal journeys to success.
Some key information for next session is laid out below:
Staffing :
We say goodbye to our Newly Qualified Teachers;
Angus Sandison, Biology, Amy Wilson, History, Sarah Sked, English, Olivia Robertson, PE, Aneeka Dewan, Geography.
We wish them all the best of luck in this next chapter of their careers and thank them for everything they have done for Dalkeith over the past year.
Laura Beattie, Teacher of inclusion/outreach, also leaves us at the end of this school session to fulfil a new role within Penicuik High School. We wish Laura the best of luck in this new role and thank her for the impact she has had on our young people at Dalkeith High School.
Clara Heggie, Teacher of Modern Languages, has secured a new post at North Berwick High School. Clara will be greatly missed by staff and pupils alike. She has undoubtedly left a mark on our school and we wish her every success in her new role in East Lothian.
Lorraine Fraser and Anne Tait, Teachers of Support for Learning, have both made the decision to hang up their teaching hats for retirement. Both Anne and Lorraine have lovely plans for their retirement. I would like to thank them for the support they have shown our young people and our staff who have sought out their expertise. They will be missed by our school team and we wish them a healthy and relaxing retirement.
Susan Shanks and Joyce Bain, Admin Support Assistants, are also retiring. Both Joyce and Susan have been invaluable members of our staff team. Joyce will be missed for her creative skills and patience as she passes over the reigns of our school website and bulletin. Susan worked tirelessly to ensure our attendance figures were accurate and up to date. She leaves with a tremendous amount of knowledge. Thank you and good luck to both Joyce and Susan.
Rachel Waterhouse, Pupil Support Leader, leaves us to go off on maternity leave in early August. We wish Rachel and her family all of our best wishes for the new arrival and we look forward to meeting them soon. Jennifer Byres, Teacher of History, will be covering this Pupil Support Leader role, while Rachel is on maternity leave. All Lothian pupils should note this change for session 2025/2026.
Beth Frith, Teacher of English, is taking a career break for the next academic year. We wish her the best of luck for the year ahead and we look forward to welcoming her back in due course.
Diane Douglas, Teacher of English, was successful in gaining the LEad TEacher role for Creative Industries. Diane will be based at Dalkeith HIgh School, but will support all Midlothian schools in delivering the Foundation Apprenticeship in Creative Industries. We look forward to working with Diane on this development.
Finally, we welcome Andrea Melian, Teacher of English, back from maternity leave in August 2025. We look forward to working with Andrea again.
After a busy recruiting period, I am pleased to inform you of a number of new staff who will join us from August 2025.
Name Role
Andrew Norbie Teacher of Maths
Nicolas Robinson Teacher of Maths
Yanna Colmerauer Teacher of Maths (Fixed term)
Maisie Hewitt Teacher of English (NQT)
Rhona Mackay Teacher of English (NQT)
Theo Forbes Teacher of Modern Studies
Johanna McCarthy Teacher of Modern Studies (NQT)
Andrew Murphy Teacher of RME (NQT)
Malcolm Murdoch Murchison Teacher of History (NQT)
Tamara Irvine Teacher of MOdern Languages (Fixed Term)
Camilla Amitrano Teacher of Biology (NQT)
SQA Exam Results
SQA exam results will be issued on Tuesday 5th August, 2025. Certificates will arrive via post and if young people have signed up for “MySQA”, results will also be issued by text and/or email on the same day. Young people can still sign up for this electronic service by visiting www.sqa.org.uk.
Appeals 2025
Once results have been received, young can appeal if they have concerns about a grade (or grades) on their certificate. Appeals can be made directly via SQA or by the school. Appeals 2025 will follow the same process as last year and alternative assessment evidence will not be looked at. Instead, a senior marker will carry out a marking review of SQA-marked assessments. More information on the appeals service will be sent to parents/carers by Mr Knight
Re-coursing
Any pupil who wants to discuss recoursing, after they have received their exam results should book an appointment by following the link below:
https://parents-booking.co.uk/dalkeith
Appointment slots will open on Tuesday 5th August. A letter will be sent out separately as a reminder.
Parent Partnership Meeting Dates
I want to thank Ed Jupp, Co-Chair of the Parent partnership and Joanne Arneil, Secretary, who step down from their roles next session. Helen Beasley will continue to co-chair along with Karlyn Durant next session. Parent Partnership meeting dates have now been added to the whole school calendar which can be found on the school website. See dates below:
Date Theme
16/09/25 Curriculum
18/11/25 Health and Wellbeing
03/02/26 Attainment
05/05/26 Learning, Teaching and Assessment
Finally a reminder that pupils return on Wednesday 13th August 2025. Pupils are expected to arrive in school dress code and school colours. I appreciate your support with this. A separate reminder of the school dress code will be sent to all parents before the start of term.
I hope you all have a lovely summer holiday and thank you once again for all the support you have shown the school over the past year.
Take care
Emma Ormerod