The School Today Letting Our Lives Speak

In this section we keep you up to date with life at the School today, featuring news and reports by and about our current pupils.

Letting Our Lives Speak: the Core Values of the High School

As Deputy Rector of this great school I am always conscious of the fact that I follow in the footsteps of those who have gone before me.

I vividly remember being interviewed as a young and naive Glaswegian History Teacher in 1989, the year other important barriers were torn down. I was welcomed to the School by the wonderful GC Stewart, himself an inspirational history teacher, he seemed to me to be the epitome of all that HSD (or DHS at the time) stood for. Formal, with a quiet confidence, he had the ability to discipline with just a look, staff and pupils alike, yet the overwhelming thing I recall was his warmth, his sense of what needed to be said and his timing. Little did I know that his words of reassurance and support as I walked with him to the interview room would be repeated on countless occasions and that 20 years later, as I ‘did GC’s job’ these values would emerge to articulate what it means to be part of the HSD Family. It is a difficult thing to try to encapsulate in a few words the rich tapestry that describes a school like ours. All agree that High School pupils are confident without being arrogant, competitive without being cutthroat, intellectual without being overbearing and privileged without ever losing a sense of how fortunate they are. These are the qualities that carry our FPs to every corner of the globe to have a positive impact in the lives of those around them. They are also the values that connect them to the School and, in particular, bind them to the friends that they made for life. It was vital to engage with all branches of the HSD Family to ensure that we could truly identify and pinpoint the standards and values which define us as a community. The next stage was to find a fitting and creative way to display and share our values and so, working with a HSD FP Stuart Wright, ‘The Hexagon’ was born! The final element was to return to our pupils and ask them to decide the icons that would represent the values. You will now find these in every classroom and office across the School as Claire Proudfoot, Deputy Head and FP, heads up the development part of the next stage of the process. I have received much positive feedback from across the community for which I have been most grateful. It was an immense pleasure and privilege to lead this process. Like the six iconic pillars of the Main Building, the Core Values stand for tradition, rigour, creativity and excellence in a modern context where the demands on young people of every age are considerable. These values shared and demonstrated by all members of our community will allow us to continue to develop exceptional young people ready to go out and change the world for the better. Honest, Kind, Creative, Resilient, Confident and Respectful. Not just a set of values but each one a challenge to our whole community every day to be better, looking for the good in those around us and celebrating success in all its forms; letting our lives speak! Along with these Core Values we are also developing a complementary programme of Active Reflection where our young people reflect on their learning and experiences. With a shared whole school focus on Resilience, we believe that this will empower all members of our community to embody our shared values. These are exciting times indeed! 10 years ago when I was a brand new member of the SLT, the new Rector gave his first address at In Service. I well remember the impact that his presentation had. He talked about rigour without roughness, excellence without elitism, confidence without arrogance and flexibility without feebleness. Essentially the very values that have emerged from our consultation! He talked about a historic school at the very heart of the City of Dundee with the potential to be sector leading. Ten years on our vision of an Integrated Curriculum is a reality and our pupils individually and collectively top the league tables in a myriad of different areas. They make us proud every day! They truly reflect the values that have emerged and set the standard for those who have yet to realise their potential whatever that may be. As we all face the inevitable challenges of life and learning, I would like to believe that these Core Values will bind us together and provide us with a touchstone for all that we do, say and achieve. Truly letting our lives speak both within and beyond The Pillars.

Lise Hudson Deputy Rector