High School Family

The Old Girls’ Club

On the 16th March, the Old Girls held their AGM, right at the start of these strange times. Little did I know as the newly elected President the impact that this virus would have on us and our wider community. Disappointingly, it has meant that many of our plans and ambitions have been put on hold, however this has not prevented us from meeting and moving forward.

Since lockdown, the Old Girls have embraced new tech and have conducted their last two Committee Meetings virtually. These allowed us to devise plans for the Thrift Shop. As our main source of fundraising we were keen to find a way to continue operating, whilst also supporting the needs of families to access this service. We are very grateful for the hard work of Elspeth Allison, who liaised closely with the School, and particularly Mrs. Braid, who has successfully delivered a great service on our behalf. We are very much looking forward to returning to update our stock and our process as we currently review digital payment systems.

As a Committee we continue to raise funds to support projects put forward by the School for our young people. We are hoping to engage soon to explore what projects the children would benefit from most and seek ways to financially support them.

The Old Boys’ Club Dinner Convenor, Colin Dargie. I was incredibly proud to take over as President of the Old Boys’ Club from Pete Grewar, who had led the Club so well over the previous year. My only position of standing before this had been as a Committee Member of the mighty Glencarse Bowling Club, so to say that I was proud was an understatement! We headed into 2020 full of optimism and vigour for our forthcoming events and social gatherings. The Curling was arranged for the end of March at Forfar Ice Rink, but sadly we were unable to take part due to the outbreak of Covid-19. The remaining events were unfortunately then cancelled for the remainder of the year, but as a Committee we have successfully managed to hold our meetings via Zoom (when the President finally worked out how to allow people to join the meeting!) The Old Boys’ Committee is in strong shape and we are poised and looking forward to heading into 2021 with a full programme of events. Our Curling match is scheduled for the end of March 2021, followed by the Golf in May and the Angling in June.

The Committee is always looking for new members and as a current parent I know there are many mums out there who would be a great addition to our Club. The positions are not onerous, and it would be beneficial to have some current parents to support these fundraising initiatives. We would love to hear from you. Please get in touch via the school or directly at ashleypetrie@ hotmail.co.uk

With regards to our other endeavours we wait to hear what will be possible. We would love to think that by next year we can support Sports’ Day and the Leavers BBQ, and maybe even get to grace the Caird Hall stage once again. Time will tell!

Ashley Petrie, President

The Old Boys' Club

The Old Boys held a very successful London Dinner in November 2019, kindly organised by Richard Armit. This marked the first year where we visited a different venue – the RAF Club in Piccadilly. A wonderful weekend in London was had by all, with new acquaintances made and old friendships renewed. We headed two weeks later to the Invercarse Hotel for the 89th annual Dundee Dinner. Another great night of fun and fellowship was enjoyed by all. The dinner was most ably organised by our new Dundee Dinner Convenor, Colin Dargie.

I was incredibly proud to take over as President of the Old Boys’ Club from Pete Grewar, who had led the Club so well over the previous year. My only position of standing before this had been as a Committee Member of the mighty Glencarse Bowling Club, so to say that I was proud was an understatement!

We headed into 2020 full of optimism and vigour for our forthcoming events and social gatherings. The Curling was arranged for the end of March at Forfar Ice Rink, but sadly we were unable to take part due to the outbreak of Covid-19. The remaining events were unfortunately then cancelled for the remainder of the year, but as a Committee we have successfully managed to hold our meetings via Zoom (when the President finally worked out how to allow people to join the meeting!)

I have been asked to remain in post as the President of the Old Boys’ Club for 2021, something I am extremely proud to do. As a Committee we are extremely proud of the great work carried out by the School, especially throughout this challenging year, and we look forward to returning to something resembling normality as soon as possible.

Struan Baptie, President

Friends of the High School of Dundee

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times….it was the oddest of times.” Odd times, certainly, when authorities are offering speed awareness courses on Zoom!

Good times, too, however, when spending all this extra time with my wife enables me to find out – in detail – everything I’ve been doing wrong for the last fifty years! Only joking, of course, but these odd times have certainly had far-reaching effects on some of the activities we used to take for granted. Meetings, at first suspended, are now taking place as a matter of course, on Zoom, Teams or other online platforms, becoming the “new normal”.

Unfortunately, events scheduled in the Friends’ calendar had to be suspended this year, with the Cabaret Evening in April and the annual Drive for Dough golf tournament in August sadly falling victim to pandemic restrictions. We did manage a very enjoyable and successful Quiz Night in the Fort Hotel in January, but it looks like that’s going to be it for this year.

As soon as we can, we’ll be back on track and we are hopeful of a return to normalcy in 2021. The Quiz Night is booked for 20th January 2021 and we aim to follow this with the Cabaret Evening, featuring the fabulous Vintage Girls, in the spring. Drive for Dough is scheduled for August and there is the intention of holding other events throughout the year, so keep an eye out for further announcements, circumstances permitting of course.

There have been obvious financial effects on the Friends this year, but these have extended to other areas of the School’s activity, with large impacts on personal and corporate income. As a consequence, pressure on provision of short-term temporary bursaries has increased and the Friends’ Committee, with the School’s agreement, has decided that funds previously allocated to, and held for, the MAC project, will be redirected towards short-term bursary funding.

The Committee of the Friends remains inspired by the great work carried out by the School and we trust the decision regarding funds will be acceptable to those who have generously supported the work of the Friends over the past few years. We look forward to a post-Covid return to something resembling normality, and to your support when opportunities permit.

Oh, and we now also have a dedicated e-mail address which you can contact the Friends on directly if you want to get in touch! You can reach us at: friendsofhsd@gmail.com.

Ken Andrew, Chairman Association

The Former Pupils' Association

I think it’s fair to say that the last twelve months have been extraordinary in the sense that it has certainly been unlike any other, but we hope you have found comfort by keeping connected with your old school.

This time last year we were preparing for our Mulled Wine & Mince Pie Reception after the annual Carol Service and this year we had booked our London Carol Service too. Just prior to lockdown we were lucky to still be able to host another Dark Dundee tour after our first event last November proved so popular. And at the very start of March, we also travelled to London to meet with a group of Former Pupils for the Churchill War Rooms tour.

These small-scale events have provided a wonderful way to reconnect with old school chums and we very much hope to reschedule other events planned for the forthcoming year once it is safe to do so. In the meantime, we want to find other ways to stay connected and re-establish old friendships so please do take the time to fill in our Keeping in Touch Form [www.highschoolofdundee.org.uk/hsd-family/keep-in-touch/ keeping-in-touch-gdpr-form] if you haven’t already done so and we will keep you up to date with all of our news.

Ex-Staff Association

We’d love to hear from you

As retiring staff, we want you to stay connected and feel part of the HSD community when you leave the School. You will receive a very warm welcome at school events, and it is nice to keep in touch with former colleagues over a coffee once in a while. Please follow this link to complete a short form to join our Ex-Staff Association: bit.ly/3m0oY11.

Please drop us a line at alumni@highschoolofdundee.org.uk with any ideas for events in your local area; photos from your school days or other ways to bring our school community closer together. We’d love to hear from you.

Alex McGrory, Head of External Relations and Development