F1 in Schools

soldiers of whom 7,977 still remain unknown. All the known names of the soldiers are on blocks surrounding the grave.

We then had an hour and a half to go around Ypres near where we were staying before returning to our hostel where we put on our School uniforms and headed out for tea before going to the Menin Gate ceremony. At the Menin Gate ceremony two of my classmates, Guilandra and Patrick, laid a wreath. After leaving the Menin Gate we went back to Poelkappelle where we had our own private ceremony at which we laid another wreath while my classmate Kate read a poem and lit a candle.

The next day was our last day and we spent it in Bruges where we went sightseeing for the day in groups. After being in Bruges all morning and some of the afternoon we headed back to Zeebrugge to get the ferry back to Hull then to Aberdeen.

Overall the trip was an incredible opportunity which I will hopefully carry with me for the rest of my life.

Eilidh Munro

F1 Challenge in Schools

Our F1 team of four pupils – Soumya Tangirala, Faraj Monnapillai, Arran Brunning and I – have just returned from the World Finals of the F1 Challenge in Malaysia. As reported in last year’s Magazine we were Team Vulcan at the School.

Our Journey:

What is F1 in Schools? F1 in Schools is a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) based project which can be entered by all schools across the globe. Pupils are then arranged into teams and assigned roles based on their strengths. The aim of the competition is to create the fastest F1 car made out of a polyurethane-based block, otherwise known as “The F1 Block”. The dimensions for the F1 block are: length 223mm, width 65mm and height 50mm. Folios, presentations and pit displays are all required at each stage of the Competition, to allow the judges to have an understanding of who we are and what we have done to create the most aerodynamic F1 in Schools car.

We went to the Regional Finals at Inveralmond High School in Livingstone and competed against teams from across Scotland. We won the judges’ recommendation award which allowed us to progress through to National Finals.

At the National finals at Silverstone, we competed against teams from across the UK and were awarded Scottish Champions, which entitled us to go to the World Finals.

The World Finals in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in September 2017 were an amazing experience. Our team were honoured to represent Scotland on the global stage. Although unplaced we did not disgrace ourselves and two of our team were 26

The F1 Team

given places in the top ten with offers of acceptance for real life Formula One training.

We met other participants from all over the world and made lasting friendships. We also were able to walk on the F1 track and then attend the F1 Qualifiers and the Grand Prix itself. It was amazing to see it in real life and experience the atmosphere and the noise of the engines of the F1 cars. It was brilliant to experience a different culture and foods.

Overall, the competition was a fabulous journey, a great experience and an amazing learning adventure.

Cameron Roe S6

Duke of Edinburgh Awards

On the evening of 26th February 2018 Aberdeen Grammar School pupils were celebrating their success in completing their Duke of Edinburgh Awards.

The annual Aberdeen City Duke of Edinburgh Awards Ceremony took place at the Beach Ballroom and was attended by eleven Grammar pupils, along with Mr. Kerr, Miss Waddel and Mr Douglas. Over 180 pupils were in attendance from across all the city schools, making this year’s awards ceremony the biggest to date. Dozens of parents, teachers and volunteers were also present on the evening.

Over sixty Grammar pupils successfully completed their Duke of Edinburgh Award at either Bronze or Silver level in 2017 – one of the highest numbers of any Aberdeen school.

Volunteer of the Year Award

On Thursday 26th October 2017 Aberdeen Sports Awards held an evening to recognise all the fantastic achievements that many people had done over the year in sporting fields. I was lucky enough to have been nominated, as one of four nominees, for the ‘Volunteer of The Year Award’. I was nominated because I have completed over 750 hours of voluntary service with Aberdeen Football Club Community Trust. During my volunteering I have done football coaching with people from all over the City and Shire aged between 3 and 70 years old. I have also been helping with dementia-friendly techno gyms for the over 65s and for dementia-friendly health walks around the City for over 65s. One of the participants I really enjoyed meeting was 104 years old. AFC Community Trust runs various programmes for under-privileged young people and I really enjoyed helping with these.

During the time that I have volunteered with AFC Community Trust I have been privileged to work with so many members of our community and can’t 28