Rector’s Welcome

Our wonderful buildings in the centre of a city on the cusp of something extraordinary are obviously the visual heart of the school, but it is the HSD Family who are all a vital part and who make the magic!

I am biased but I believe and have witnessed over the course of my career, a unique ‘product’ that is our HSD FPs! It is difficult to pinpoint but there is something about your ability to be confident without arrogance, hard working with high standards and a sense of belonging which keeps you connected to friends made for life. It is these values which perhaps now more than ever are the recipe needed for all young people and I am committed to ensuring that this tradition remains: the DNA that defines what we stand for and the values that we hold dear. The pages of this publication articulate these values in glorious technicolour and are inspiring and humbling to read.

I would like to thank all our FPs who have answered the call to share their stories. Thanks, are also due to Alex McGrory and, in particular, to Chloe Berridge who has carefully collated and curated the magazine again this year. I want to share a short reflection on what this extraordinary period of history has meant for your school and the opportunities that exist to ensure that DHS continues to offer an outstanding education, in the full sense of the word, as we face challenges on a local, national and global scale. I will never forget the sense of history that descended as I recorded my first ever video message to the school community closing the school before leaving my desk, and literally locking the front gates behind me on 23rd March 2020.

So began (and continues) an epic adventure. The challenges are immense. As professionals we have had to go back to basics and work it out day to day. The pandemic has been a matter of life and death for so many members of our community and we continue to have great uncertainty ahead. It is unsettling, challenging and yet also invigorating. Enormous opportunities lie ahead. As an historian, I am determined that we seize these and use our new shared perspective for good. Our learning from Covid is ongoing. We value our friendships, shared experiences, the anticipation of shared celebrations and rites of passage even more having had them curtailed.

Those who foresaw a brave new world where learning would be automated and teachers replaced have been encouraged to see a nuanced future, where the learning experience for all is an eclectic balance of the visceral experience of learning face-toface in the classroom, and independent learning which harnesses the power of technology as a force for good.

We have proof of the transformative power of our co-curriculum and the central importance of emotional intelligence. As you will be aware, Scottish Education is up for reform. I hope that this is grasped as an opportunity for real change where once again, Scotland takes its place at the forefront of an approach to learning which is genuinely aspirational and fit for purpose. We are determined to contribute to this dialogue. formed from the shared experiences of trips, camps, team sports, concerts, performances and escapades. Misbehaviour and pushing boundaries is still alive and well and remains an important part of learning. These experiences are central to the learning experience of DHS and are the essence, I believe, of what prepares our pupils for life.

I am committed to transforming our relationships with the city. I want us to be able to be a proud and active part of the regeneration of Dundee. I believe that this depends on us reaching out, offering our resource and benefitting from those with a different experience and expertise. We are Dundee High! We bear the City’s name. It is time to embrace how we are viewed and work for the common good. We have much to give and much to learn; partnerships are vital both within our community and out into the city.

I would like to say a few words in tribute to our former Rector Robert (Bob) Nimmo. Our thoughts and support of the whole school community have been, and remain, with Hilary his wife, and his children Robin, Stephen, Paul and Elise. The family were embedded in the school and Bob one of its most ardent supporters.

His death has been a period of reflection for me. Bob appointed me to my first teaching post in early 1990. In February 2020 Bob wrote a handwritten note congratulating me and lending his support and best wishes. It is a letter that has pride of place on my wall. In writing a tribute to Bob Nimmo, I leant very heavily on G.C. Stewart’s tribute written at the time of Bob’s retirement in 1997 for The Review magazine. As the legendary Deputy Rector, the tribute was wonderfully generous and showcased the extraordinary changes and improvements that Bob brought to the High School. I must confess that reading it was strangely prophetic. Bob’s vision for HSD chimes so closely with mine. I hope this is a sign of a synergy and continuity in ensuring that the old school is in safe hands. I stand on the shoulders of giants!

I want to end by extending my thanks to you all for continuing to support your school. You are essential to our ongoing success. How you speak about your school, your affection for Schola Clara and your perspective as to what the High School gave you are absolutely crucial to us.

As we grapple with the challenges ahead, I would like to ask for your support, in whatever form you can. The stories of our FPs, so many of them vibrantly articulated in this edition, their incredible successes, adventures and learning are a brilliant resource that we want to celebrate. This is the dynamite that can inspire our pupils to be all that they can be and embrace the amazing future ahead of them. This is more important than ever. You stand as a beacon to challenges overcome, lessons learnt and the importance of having the confidence to be yourselves. I would like to leave you with Bob Nimmo’s words as the ‘new’ Rector in 1977 “What the future presents may well be an academic question at present: what the present offers us is a thriving school. Let us rejoice and be glad in it”.

Mrs. Lise Hudson, Rector