15 minute read
The School Today News
Coronavirus – The School Moves Teaching and Learning Online
At the High School of Dundee, we worked incredibly hard to ensure our pupils had the best school experience throughout lockdown.
Just as if the pupils were in the School themselves, a timetable of lessons was in place with most of them delivered live using Microsoft Teams. During the first week of lockdown more than 600 live lessons took place in the Senior Years and around 150 in Junior Years. Our teachers also created pre-recorded lessons and continuously uploaded resources to our Virtual Learning Environment.
Our Learning Skills Team continued to provide timetabled support whilst our Junior Years teachers devised activities which ensured pupils stayed engaged with one another and had the chance to work and play alongside their friends virtually. Our Senior Years Guidance Teachers met their groups online every week, continuing to provide one to one pastoral support. We also ran a Care Hub at Mayfield to allow the children of key workers to be looked after. Throughout lockdown, we wanted to be sure that we were also building skills in creativity, resilience and confidence so that our pupils were able to adapt to our ever-changing world and take responsibility for their own learning in the widest sense. We provided as many co-curricular activities as we could. As well as taking part in Sport and Cookery weekly challenges, our pupils have created wellbeing podcasts, produced their own lockdown newsletter and much much more. PE lessons and music tuition also took place online.
Rector Lise Hudson said at the time, “The wellbeing of our pupils is always our number one priority, and is something we have worked hard to protect and safeguard during lockdown; listening to our pupils’ concerns and feedback and responding to their needs.
“We are a community that works to support each other, and kindness is at the heart of all that we do. As we move towards a reopening, we have learnt how precious our shared humanity is and the power that we have to change the world for the better through our individual and collective actions.” Around 20% of families receive bursary support. Many of our families have been affected financially by the Covid-19 crisis, but our mission is to ensure that no child leaves the School due to financial reasons. We are working hard to support all our families; we’ve put in place variations to help those who need it and our fees are frozen for the forthcoming year.
Budding Artist Raising Money For Charity
The creative endeavours of a budding High School of Dundee artist resulted in a bumper donation for a Dundee charity earlier this year.
Lauren Chesters, now L3, managed to raise a fantastic £665 for Dundee Bairns back in June by selling t-shirts emblazoned with colourful artwork which she created during lockdown.
Dundee Bairns provides meals for vulnerable children and families in Dundee and has dished out more than 100,000 meals in the last two years alone.
Lauren’s mum Estelle explained “A virtual lesson with Miss Wallace on Van Gogh tasked Lauren with some homework to paint her making a selection of scrub bags for NHS workers earlier in the summer months. After finishing their shifts, NHS workers put their scrubs or uniforms into the bags, which they can then put straight into the washing machine, thereby reducing the risk of crosscontamination. Sarah utilised old pillowcases and duvet covers as material for the bags, which she then sewed together and added a drawstring to. The finished bags, once put together, were then washed at a high temperature, ironed and placed in clean, clear bags with a note of thanks for the staff who received them. Sarah has said “I’ve been making scrub bags for NHS staff who have been working throughout the covid crisis. own version of Starry Night. For fun we created a Facebook page for her, and the painting was immediately bought by our friends for a £50 donation to the NHS. “After that we decided to get some t-shirts made up with Lauren’s paintings on the front to raise money for local charities. She has now done many paintings using acrylic on canvas and through the support of friends and family buying the t-shirts we have raised £665 which we are donating to a wonderful local charity ‘Dundee Bairns’”.
Lauren’s fundraising success even caught the attention of the
Pupil Makes Scrub Bags For NHS Staff
As part of the volunteering component of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Silver Award scheme, High School of Dundee pupil, Sarah Elliot (now F5), busied herself
Evening Telelgraph! You can read more at: bit.ly/37KCxNH “My mum gives them to her work colleagues. The staff seem to appreciate the bags and find them useful and I have had some lovely messages from grateful staff. “I had never used a machine or even sewed much until earlier this year but I’ve really enjoyed learning and making something that is useful for staff working hard for the NHS.”
The Care Hub At Mayfield
The coronavirus pandemic saw the School move to remote learning, with lessons and teaching delivered online. However, Mayfield Sports Centre and the adjacent Nursery were used throughout lockdown to allow the children of key workers to be looked after, enabling their parents to continue their essential work in response to Covid-19.
The Care Hub was open from 8am until 6pm Monday to Friday and looked after around 40 pupils from age 3-18 throughout the week.
The service was run by school and nursery teachers as well as support staff members, who worked on shifts. This meant that the pupils were surrounded by familiar faces each day to help them adjust to the new arrangements.
Children from Nursery to L3 were being cared for in the Nursery building whilst pupils from L4 to F6 were based in the Sports Centre. Social distancing was in place throughout with pupils being split into small groups to maintain this.
At the Care Hub, as they would at home, the pupils followed their year group or class remote learning programme. The groups also took it in turns to use the outdoor space at Mayfield, ensuring they had the access to fresh air and exercise, which is vital to wellbeing. YouTube channel here: youtu.be/_zFISyre7U4. The musical performance followed on from a number of VEthemed events which took place at HSD throughout the course of the day. At 11am, live lessons and school activities stopped for a twominute silence to honour the service and sacrifice of the wartime generation and to reflect on the devastating impact that Covid-19 has had on so many lives across the world. During the day, a special History department takeover of the PE Instagram account saw pupils and staff recreate Churchill’s iconic V-for-victory salute. The photos are still available to view on the PE Instagram page (search HSD Sport). Rector of the High School of Dundee, Lise Hudson, said at the time, “All the children attending have parents on the front line of this pandemic. Our staff are able to provide a remote learning environment away from home whilst their parents work long hours or rest between shifts. The children are all coping remarkably well with this difficult situation. It really has developed into a little community of its own, with everyone supporting one another at this challenging time.” You can hear our staff and pupils talk about their experience of
VE Day 75th Anniversary: We’ll Meet Again
On Friday 8th May 2020, HSD pupils and staff lent their voices to a stirring rendition of Vera Lynn’s famous song – We’ll Meet Again – to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the end of WWII in Europe. The video is still available to watch on the School’s
our Care Hub on our YouTube channel here: bit.ly/39Emn9S Meanwhile, the Health & Food Technology department challenged pupils to create dishes using a week’s worth of WWII era rations, while in the Junior Years some children learned more about VE Day with the help of everyone’s favourite bear – Paddington! At 2.55pm Tegan Ellis (now F3) joined Trumpeters and buglers up and down the country to perform a moving tribute to those who lost their lives during the war. Tegan played The Last Post before pausing for a moment of silence and finishing with the Reveille, to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day. You can watch the performance on our website by following this link (please scroll to the bottom of the page for Tegan’s performance): bit.ly/3mqWqxt
We also collated some interesting material from our archives in honour of those who contributed to the war effort. You can browse this content on our website here: bit.ly/379K3Qp.
Sporting Achievements Recognised
The efforts and achievements of HSD pupils on the sports field were recognised through a special event on Wednesday 3rd June.
Social media platform, Instagram, was abuzz with anticipation as the nominees and winners for the various prizes up for grabs at the School’s annual Sport Awards were revealed and announced via the PE Department’s Instagram page.
Tries, goals and points scored, along with a host of other success stories from a range of sports over the previous 12 months, were to the fore as the online event unfolded and the titles – including and staff over the course of the session. Such events ranged from charity bingo nights, cake sales, a staff charities Christmas card, to participation in the Rotary Swimarathon, various non-uniform days and many more. Even as lockdown began, support for good causes continued with pupils, staff and parents donating essential items and money to the Dundee Foodbank. Pupils and staff also raised money for NHS Charities Together with an array of selfie haircuts! Other charities to benefit from the fundraising include: Wheelpower, WWF, MacMillan, UNICEF, Books Abroad, HorseBack, Children in Need, the Maxwell Community Centre, Alzheimer Scotland, Young Carers, Eagles Wings Trust and Home Start. Throughout the school year, a community outreach programme also saw 30 pupils in F5 and F6 spend a total of almost 1,700 hours volunteering at care homes, community centres, Dundee Foodbank, and nurseries. the coveted Sports Personality of the Year award – were (virtually) handed out.
Pupils tuning in to the event were also treated to some sporting words of wisdom and encouragement from Former Pupils Zander Fagerson (Scottish Rugby Internationalist), Charlie Guest (Winter Olympic Skier), Cameron Golden (Scottish Hockey Internationalist) and Shona Campbell (Scottish Touch Rugby Internationalist), who had all contributed video messages.
You can view the full list of award winners here:
School Raises £10k For Charity
The High School of Dundee raised a fantastic £10k for a variety of charities throughout the academic year 2019/20. This incredible figure was generated through a variety of fundraising events and initiatives organised by Nursery, Junior and Senior Years’ pupils
bit.ly/31MkpPH The School’s Charities and Community Outreach Co-ordinator, teacher Karlene Douglas, recorded a message of thanks to everyone who has been involved in the fundraising and community work, which can be viewed by following this link: youtu.be/zF9XPM-tQzQ.
Artwork by Anna Kerr F6 as part of the Pupil’s Paradigms Project set over lockdown.
Pupils Launch Wellbeing Podcast
A group of Senior Years’ pupils marked Mental Health Awareness Week in May with the launch of a brandnew podcast.
Throughout the 2019/20 session, the Form 6 Wellbeing Prefects worked together to create a range of resources to help promote and support an awareness of mental health and wellbeing issues.
As part of that, the group decided to produce a series of podcasts, with each episode focusing on helping the listener to understand a particular aspect of our mental health, before going on to examine helpful self-management techniques, and flagging additional support available both in and out of school. Presented by Kirstin Petrie, the first episode looked at Anxiety and was released to the school community via Firefly. Further editions by Kirstin and Emily Baxter (both F6 at the time) focussed on Social Anxiety and Sleep.
The podcast series followed on from a number of successful assemblies and the launch of the Purple Club. This co-curricular group – led by Abigail Cousins, Charvi Kanodia and Anya Wilson – aimed to help break down friendship barriers by providing opportunities for chatting, playing board games and taking part in craft activities. Even in lockdown, you can still take on the world as one of our pupils demonstrated after claiming a podium place finish in the World Online Piping & Drumming Championships in May. During lockdown, Josh Gordon (now F2) was awarded third place in the P/M Alasdair Gillies Memorial Challenge 2/4 March for pipers aged 12 or under. He also placed fourth in the Grade 4 – 2/4 March section D category. Josh, a member of the School’s Pipe Band, found out about the competition, which attracts entrants from across the globe, through social media. He then recorded his performance at home before sending it in to the judging panel. He said “Everything being posted was about cancellations, all the band and solo events. Then news started appearing about the online competition, so I thought I would give it a go. I practise better when I have a goal. “I was really surprised when I found out about the results because I didn’t expect to place. You never know what will happen in a competition – I was pleased, it felt good!” A portion of each entry fee for the Championships was donated to the Centre for Disaster Philanthropy COVID-19 Response Fund. Deputy Rector and Head of Senior Years, Sam Watson, said “I am so proud of all that our Wellbeing Prefects have achieved and want to thank them all for their hard work and commitment throughout the year. They have successfully developed accessible resources that ‘speak to’ their generation and provide the right support for our young people at HSD.”
You can tune into the first episode of the Wellbeing Podcast on our website here: www.highschoolofdundee.org.uk/news-and-
Piper Claims Third Place In Online World Championships
events/news/pupils-launch-wellbeing-podcast
Prize-Giving 2020
With the traditional Caird Hall ceremony cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic, the School hosted a virtual Prize-Giving in June to mark the end of 2019/20 academic year.
The online awards ceremony gave the school community the chance to congratulate and celebrate its principal prize-winners and to wish our departing F6 year group well as they waved goodbye to the Pillars.
The virtual ceremony also saw the Head Boy and Head Girl share reflective and emotional speeches, the new Heads of School, Senior Prefects and House Captains welcomed into their new roles and the announcement of the House Shield winner, which this year was Aystree!
QuaranTimes, HSD’s Lockdown Newsletter: By Pupils, For Pupils!
Budding journalists at the High School of Dundee were busy throughout lockdown creating a brandnew publication.
We welcomed QuaranTimes, HSD’s Lockdown Newsletter, which was packed full of features ranging from baking recipes, to tips on staying active and staff interviews. The publication was created by a team of Senior Years’ pupils, led by Malavikha Sudarshan. It ran from April until the end of the school year in June, with a bonus summer blog edition thrown in for good measure. Malavikha said of the project “We wanted to start a student-led publication which we hoped would be useful for pupils whilst in lockdown. Its main aim was to allow our fellow Senior Years pupils to see what we were getting up to during quarantine, and possibly inspire them to take up a new skill, reach out to others and to stay calm." The F6 cohort also heard some inspiring words of wisdom from FPs Andy Nicol, Eilish McColgan, Jonny Petrie and KT Tunstall, who all wished the leavers well as they prepared to wave goodbye to their school days under the most unprecedented of circumstances.
Rector Lise Hudson spoke of the challenges which the coronavirus pandemic had presented, praising the pupils for the way they had responded and thanking the staff for their hard work and dedication. Our virtual prize-giving is still available to watch in full on our website here: youtu.be/PKI3mzUm6aw
With our pupils returning to school in August, we were thrilled to also see QuaranTimes returning too. Since the end of September, the publication has been re-named The Term Times. The first edition of the new academic session was released on August 28th and can be viewed here, along with all other editions: bit.ly/34xrtBL
Pupils Fundraise For Parkinson’s UK
Since the beginning of term, facemasks have been available at the school for pupils and staff who forget to bring one.
However, in order to raise money for charity, pupils in the School’s Interact team have come up with the idea of asking those wishing to obtain one of the disposable facemasks to make a minimum donation of £1, with the money collected going to Parkinson’s UK. Karlene Douglas, the School’s Charities and Community Outreach Coordinator, said, “Of course pupils and staff will not be turned away if they do not have money to donate as safety remains the number one priority.
“Washable masks remain the way forward if possible for pupils, and also help to reduce single-use plastic waste. “However, we’d like to ask anyone who needs a mask to consider donating to this worthy cause.”
Well done to members of the High School of Dundee Pipe Band who helped NHS Tayside celebrate International Day of Older Persons in October by performing outside Ninewells Hospital.
Led by the School’s Pipe Major, David Wilton, nine pupils (as well as Deputy Rector Sam Watson) played a series of numbers to entertain patients and staff as the hospital marked the UN event, which seeks to increase awareness about issues affecting older people and celebrate the contribution elderly people make to society.
Dr. Christina Beecroft, Consultant in Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine, said, “The visit of the pipe band was an amazing success, enjoyed by staff and patients alike. “So many colleagues spoke so highly of the pupils who came to play and many of our patients have commented on how well the pupils played and how much they enjoyed hearing the music.”
