Year In View: Heads & Deputies

Year in View: Heads and Deputies

Looking forward to the school session 2019/2020 we, the Heads and Deputies, are extremely excited at the prospects that lie ahead for us. This session marks many key events in the school calendar, including the transfer of rectorship from Dr. John Halliday to Mrs. Lise Hudson.

Dr. Halliday has been an amazing asset to the School and has pushed it forward into the modern generation to enhance the education at the High School of Dundee. However, we are extremely excited to welcome Mrs. Hudson into her new position and we all look forward to working with her at the start of the new year; we know fantastic things lie ahead. September saw an extremely successful Open Morning where the School exhibited many of its exceptional departments to prospective parents and pupils. Pupils, as ever, were intrinsic to the smooth and successful running of the morning, along with the phenomenal input from the teaching staff. Showcased were the School’s outstanding musical talents with performances from the excellent Pipe Band, Chamber Orchestra and Brass Band as well as an interactive display run by the P.E. department, which was undoubtedly enjoyed by all. The School has recently involved itself with the Diana Award, a fantastic organisation whose aim is to inspire positive change in the lives of young people, providing students with antibullying training, striving to make our school a more inclusive and supportive place to study. This training really enhanced our understanding of what bullying truly means and how we can best combat the problems. We look to widen the ambassador group spreading our newfound knowledge to other members of the community. As senior pupils of the School, we are very lucky to be able to take part in this year’s school musical production of Grease. Musicals at the High School of Dundee are always a great way to showcase

the fantastic musical, dance, and dramatic talents of the pupils. This performance will be packed with well-known songs and iconic characters. The teachers put an incredible amount of effort into the school musicals and there’s no way we could do it without their expertise. We know it will be so much fun to be a part of and are excited to see the final production. This last year saw phenomenal academic successes with SQA examination results maintaining their impressive level of excellence. This includes one pupil gaining top or joint top in Scotland in five of their National 5 examinations. As well as the excellent academia, last year saw our U16s rugby team making their way to the final of the Scottish Cup. The whole school came together at Murrayfield to support the boys and, although we didn’t prevail, it was a tremendous game and we are sure that this season will see similar successes in any of our wide variety of sporting teams. As the sixth-year pupils look forward to their adventures beyond school life, our unique curriculum has been tailored to help us make that exciting yet daunting transition. Offered to us are enrichment periods that provide not only useful skills but also a break from our busy studies. A favourite of the pupils, student cookery, sees us making healthy and delicious meals that can be easily made, thus providing invaluable skills that we will be sure to use. Run by the outstanding Health & Food Technology department, student cookery never fails to create a fun environment, enjoyed by all. Also on offer is first aid and social enterprise. These are hugely popular, and students learn skills such as teamwork and the enterprise team always think of an excellent idea that can involve the whole school. Through the greater degree of flexibility, F6 are given the chance to grasp the countless opportunities provided by the School for our final year.

Head Boy & Head Girl: Lewis Byers & Ailsa Miller Deputy Head Boy & Deputy Head Girl: Fraser Coupar & Eilean Mauritzen