Highlights - Spring Term 2023 (Community)

Highlights Spring Term 2023

e m tor o c e c R l e e h t W fr o m The Spring Term has been a fruitful one across both the Junior and Senior School. Within these pages you’ll learn about marvellous musicians, sporting successes, amazing actors, philanthropic fundraising and much more.

Our commitment to sustainability across the whole School was recognised with our fifth Eco Schools Scotland Green Flag Award, a wonderful accolade.

The 3rd of February marked ‘100 Days Smarter’ for our Junior 1 children who celebrated 100 days in J1 at a special Sharing the Learning assembly with their families to showcase the skills they’d acquired during this time. Meanwhile, at the top end of the Junior School, Junior 6 had audiences in stitches during a two-night run of ‘Star Warts - The Umpire Strikes Back’!

Meanwhile, Junior 5 enjoyed their first three-night residential trip to York in mid-March as part of the ‘Vikings’ topic.

Following the January Prelims, pupils across the whole School were treated to a restorative and uplifting Health and Wellbeing Week, with the Senior School’s week expertly organised by School Nurse Mrs Jane Sim. Mrs Sim, who will retire at the end of this school year, certainly made her final Health and Wellbeing Week memorable. Thank you to Mrs Sim and our Senior 6 Health and Wellbeing Representatives, Kiera and Lucas, for a valuable week.

In just one day, Transitus rehearsed and performed an opera with Scottish Opera, whilst this term Sixth Formers continued to enjoy a number of insightful S6 lectures, including the annual Fraser Lecture, delivered by Dr Sabir Zazai OBE, Chief Executive of the Scottish Refugee Council. Senior pipers were successful at the Scottish Schools’ Pipe Band Championships and a number of young musicians and singers have been selected to be part of National Youth Choirs of Scotland (NYCOS) and the National Youth Orchestras of Scotland (NYOS). It has also been a further term of sporting success to celebrate, not least of which is S6 cricketer Maryam who represented Scotland at the inaugural ICC Women’s U19 T20 Cricket World Cup in Johannesburg in January.

And finally, I’m delighted to announce that we’ve been shortlisted in the UK-wide Admissions, Marketing and Communications in Independent School’s (AMCIS) IMPACT Awards in the Strategic Marketing category, a first for the School. The winner will be announced at an awards ceremony in May. I encourage you to read on to find out more about life at HSOG this Spring Term and I wish everyone a very happy, relaxing and restorative Easter holiday.

John O’Neill Rector Highlights

Spring Term 2023

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Contents School News

Pages 4-9

Health and Wellbeing Week

Pages 10-11

Sporting Success

Pages 12-15

Junior 6 Musical Production

Pages 16-17

Giving Back

Pages 18-19

HSOG Community

Pages 20-21

Our Term in Pictures

Pages 22-24

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Transitus Scottish Opera Performers

School News We have enjoyed a stellar Spring Term at HSOG, with plenty of memorable learning, a focus on Health and Wellbeing, sensational school trips and impressive achievements for musicians, actors and sports-stars alike. Read on!

Scottish Opera Performance Transitus pupils teamed up with Scottish Opera in early March for a special musical workshop and operatic performance.

As part of their Primary Schools Tour, members of Scottish Opera visited the Senior School to teach Transitus songs from their specially composed Gothic horror extravaganza, ‘The Curse of MacCabbra Opera House’!

Each Transitus class spent the morning learning a specific song from the show with the help of the experts from Scottish Opera.

They then had the opportunity to be involved in a special performance, staging their own all-singing, all-dancing 30 minute show for an appreciative audience in the Senior Assembly Hall.

All in a day’s work - Bravo, Transitus!

A pair of our Transitus Scottish Opera stars!

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Fraser Lecture

Eco Schools Award

Our Sixth Year cohort welcomed Dr Sabir Zazai OBE, Chief Executive of the Scottish Refugee Council, to the Senior School on Friday 10th February to deliver our annual Fraser Lecture.

The School received its fifth Eco Schools Scotland Green Flag Award during the Spring Term, in recognition of the positive effect that embedding sustainability across the curriculum and day-to-day school life has played at our Junior and Senior Schools.

We were honoured to hear from Dr Zazai as he spoke about fleeing war-torn Afghanistan as a young man to seek asylum in the United Kingdom, as well as discussing the challenges he faced once he called the UK home.

He took us on a journey through his life to where he has ended up today, as Chief Executive of the Scottish Refugee Council, as he helps to rebuild the lives of those in need.

His message emphasised the importance of endurance, resilience and hope in dark times as he called upon all in attendance to use their voices for positive change and reclaim society’s narrative around refugees.

What an inspiring afternoon for pupils and staff alike!

Some examples of the numerous ways in which the School has embedded sustainability across both campuses include the transformation of previously disused outdoor areas at Ledcameroch Road into outdoor learning areas; the planting of seeds and bulbs in Senior School courtyards to encourage bees and butterflies to the campus; the Junior School curriculum focussing on topics relating to our planet and how to protect it; and the incredible efforts of our pupil-led Junior and Senior School Eco Committees in introducing positive and sustainable change, including the use of compostable cutlery and containers in the Senior School Refectory and taking part in litter picks around their local communities.

Click here to find out more about the Green Flag Award & the School’s commitment to sustainability

Junior School Pupils with Eco Schools Green Flag

Annual Fraser Lecture with Dr Sabir Zazai OBE

Senior School Pupils with Eco Schools Certificate

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Musical Marvels!

It has been a memorable Spring Term for members of our Senior Music Department with two piping ensembles successful at the Scottish Schools’ Pipe Band Championships and a number of young musicians selected to perform with the National Youth Choirs and National Youth Orchestras of Scotland.

Pipe Bands do the Double!

Senior School pipers enjoyed a day to remember at the Scottish Schools’ Pipe Band Championships, taking place at the William McIlvanney Campus, Kilmarnock, on Sunday 12th March.

More than 120 schools from across Scotland competed across eight categories. Our musicians clearly hit the right note with judges, winning in both the Freestyle (Fusion) and Junior B categories.

This was not the first time that the School had tasted success at these championships, with previous victory in the Freestyle category in both 2015 and 2016.

Congratulations to our successful pipers, brass players, guitarists and percussionists:

Fusion Band - Freestyle Category Winners:

Pipe Band - Junior B Category Winners:

Archie, Sandy, Max (all S6), Callum, Scarlet (both S5), Mustafa, Zayd, Andrew, Rory, Sasha, Alexander (all S4), Jesse, Robbie (both S2) and Cairn (S1).

Archie, Eva, Alex (all S6), Mustafa, Zayd, Andrew, Max, Rory, Sasha (all S4), Matthew (S3), Evelyn, Finlay, Jesse, Robbie, Oscar (all S2), Suleman and Cairn (both S1).

HSOG Pupils Represent NYCOS & NYOS Six Senior pupils will be representing the National Youth Choirs of Scotland, while a further four musicians take up their place in National Youth Orchestras of Scotland for 2023.

Taking their place in the prestigious NYCOS Main Choir, comprising the most promising young singers in the country aged 16-25, were Kirsty (S6) and Scarlet (S5). Scarlet will also be part of the NYCOS Touring Choir, an impressive accolade!

Ollie, Theo (both S2) and Jacob (Transitus) were selected to be part of the National Youth Boys Choir of Scotland while Laura (S5) was chosen to represent the National Youth Girls Choir of Scotland for 2023.

Elsewhere, violinists, Rachel (S3), Claire (S2) and Caitlin (S1), as well as cellist, Jamie (S2), were selected for the NYOS Development Orchestra. This replaced the NYOS Junior and Senior Orchestras for 2023 and is for aspiring orchestral musicians aged 11-18, who have reached Grades 5-8 or equivalent. Good luck to all involved!

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Remembering Rabbie Junior 5 have been learning all about ‘The Bard’ throughout the Spring Term.

Pupils were introduced to Scotland’s national poet with a visit to the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum in Ayr, where they had a great time learning more about his fascinating life. They even enjoyed the chance to dress up in the 18th century Burns-era outfits!

Junior 5 shared their learning with the rest of the Junior School during a morning assembly, before having the opportunity to do the same for parents and other members of the High School community at a Burns’ Supper on Thursday 26th January.

This culmination of their learning topic saw guests dressed in kilts and cocktail dresses as they took in an unforgettable evening of songs, poems, musical recitals and dancing to celebrate the life of Rabbie Burns. Of course, no Burns Supper is complete without a delicious feast of hearty haggis, nutritious neeps and tasty tatties!

Well done to Junior 5 for organising every element of this tremendous evening - it was a true triumph that The Bard would have been proud of!

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Sharing the Learning Junior 1 pupils had a brilliant time with their parents in early February as they celebrated a sensational first hundred days of learning!

Our J1 cohort worked incredibly hard to prepare an assembly that showed off everything they had learnt during their first century of days at the High School, inviting parents to take part in activities so that they could share their newly acquired knowledge.

As you can see from the pictures above, they had a wonderful time, involving their parents as they explored the theme of ‘100 Days Smarter’. What a great way to kick of 2023 for both pupils and parents alike!

The Lords and Ladies of Junior 2 invited their families to visit the School for their ‘Sharing the Learning’ event in March!

This proved to be an incredible opportunity for our pupils to share what they had learned throughout their class topic on the subject of ‘Castles’.

Parents and grandparents enjoyed an informative presentation, as well as joining in with songs, games and a quiz. They loved having the chance to see the wonderful work the children have completed since January. Well done Junior 2!

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Grand Old Trip to York!

Junior 5 pupils had great fun as they took the joy of learning on the road for a four day residential trip to York as part of their ‘Vikings’ topic in March!

All pupils had a fantastic time as they enjoyed the opportunity to visit the sites of York, including the Jorvik Museum, a fascinating archaeological centre and the iconic York Minster.

A real highlight for the pupils was having the chance to become a Viking for the day, which even included their village being attacked

by Saxons!

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Health and Wellbeing Week Monday 6th - Friday 10th February 2023 Assembly with Dame Katherine Grainger

Junior School Yoga Sessions

Highlights

Spring Term 2023

Therapets Visit

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First Aid Workshops

Kindness Rocks!

S6 Walk of Champions

Senior Health and Wellbeing Reps, Kiera and Lucas (both S6), with School Nurse, Mrs Jane Sim, organising her final Health and Wellbeing Week before retirement!

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Sporting Success High School athletes have excelled throughout the term, with triumphs in hockey, cross country, athletics and swimming, amongst others. We also bring you an update on our Sixth Year cricketer, Maryam, as she shares her experience at the U19 T20 World Cup in South Africa.

Hockey Heroes!

Girls’ hockey sides enjoyed a trophy-laden spring, with a number of trophies won throughout a prosperous February and March.

The 2nd XI were victorious for the second year running at the West District Tournament, seeing off their opponents from Hutchesons’ Grammar School in the final and going the entire day without conceding a single goal!

Congratulations to the team - Eilidh (Captain), Lizzie (Vice Captain), Charlotte, Nicole, Amelia, Anna, Kirstie (all S6), Anya, Emma, Kate, Louise, Mhairi (all S5), Ruby, Annabel and Heather (all S4).

The Senior B team had a successful day as they won the West District Sevens B Tournament in late March with a victory in the final over The Glasgow Academy. The team were - Maryam, Anna, Kirstie (all S6), Anya, Alanna, Coryn (all S5), Evie, Annabel, Libby and Kirsty (all S4).

The 3rd Year A team put in an impressive performance as they won the West District Junior Tournament with an excellent 1-0 victory over Hutchesons’ Grammar School in the final. Well done to our victorious girls - Olivia (Captain), Ellie (Co-Vice Captain), Nicola (Co-Vice Captain), Emily, Jenni, Beth, Amelia, Freya, Mae, Alex, Yasmin, Christina, Anna, Niamh, Hannah and Amelia.

The 3rd XI were winners at the Hutchesons’ 3rd XI Tournament, defeating The Glasgow Academy, Kelvinside Academy and St Aloysius’ College in an impressive showing. The victorious team were - Katie (Captain), Amy, Samiyah (all S6), Carmen, Kate, Poppy, Carla, Sarah, Olivia, Harriet, Lottie (all S5), Alex, Catherine, Alice, Hannah, Marissa and Francesca (all S4).

The 1st XI achieved a 4-1 victory over St Columba’s School in the Plate Trophy Final of the BP Competition.

Congratulations to the team - Kirsty (Captain), Amy, Maryam, Holly, Maria, Eva, Olivia (all S6), Eleanor, Coryn, Lara, Georgia (all S5), Evie, Libby, Hazel, Orla and Kirsty (all S4).

Finally, the Transitus A team won the Plate Trophy at the George Watson’s Tournament. A fantastic effort, capped off by an impressive victory in the final over St George’s School. Well done team Transitus - Aryana, Daisy, Sophie, Cece, Grace, Bayley, Alessia, Sarah, Rebecca and Arielle.

2nd XI Girls’ Hockey Team Highlights

Spring Term 2023

Senior B Sevens Hockey Team 12

Medal Success at Scottish Schools’ Cross Country Team HSOG brought home the gold, with the girls’ U20 and boys’ U15 competitors victorious in each of their events at Hopetoun House.

Senior School athletes enjoyed a fruitful day at the Scottish Secondary Schools’ Cross Country Championships on Thursday 2nd March. The U20 girls’ team - Anna (Captain), Maria, Kirsty (all S6), Lara and Georgia (both S5) - and U15 boys’ side - Colin (Captain), Rory, Finlay, Conor and Adam (all S2) - ran superbly to win their respective races.

Elsewhere, the U15 girls’ team of Olivia (S3), Emily, Luisa, Anna, Rosie and Jessica (all S2) won bronze medals, while James (S3) ran impressively to win an individual silver medal in the boys’ U17 event.

Congratulations to all who competed on another excellent Scottish Schools’ showing!

3rd Year A Girls’ Hockey Team Highlights

Spring Term 2023

3rd XI Girls’ Hockey Team 13

Sixth Year Star Bowled Over by World Cup Experience In the Autumn Term edition of Highlights, we told you about Maryam (S6) representing Scotland at the inaugural ICC Women’s U19 T20 Cricket World Cup in Johannesburg.

Following the competition, Maryam took the time to share more about how she got on in South Africa - what she learned from the experience, the growth of women’s cricket and her hopes for the future.

Click here to read more

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Sporting Round-Up Congratulations to Amy (S6) and Orla (S4), who were selected to represent the Scotland Aspiring and Emerging hockey squads. Amy will travel to Belgium with the Aspiring squad during the Easter break to take on Germany, Spain and Belgium, before heading to Germany to face Europe’s top sides at the U18s EuroHockey Championships in July.

Meanwhile, Orla and the Emerging squad head south during the Easter holidays to take on Netherlands, Spain and hosts, England, before travelling to Spain to compete at the European 6 Nations competition in July.

On the rugby front, the S2 boys’ sevens rugby team - Colin (Captain), Rory, Arnold, Finlay, Finlay, Hector, Lucas, Conor, Max and Theo - won the Erskine Stewart’s Melville Schools Sevens Cup, courtesy of an exciting 38-28 final victory over St Leonards School. Further Plate trophies were won by the U18 rugby side at the Caritas Sevens event and the S1 team at the Merchiston Castle School Sevens. Meanwhile, Harry of Sixth Year was selected for the Glasgow U18 side, as well as a Scottish U18 training squad.

Four senior athletes won medals at the Scottish Schools Indoor Track and Field Championships, taking place at the Emirates Arena. James (S4) won gold in the Shot Put event, Jamie (S2) won silver and Ben (S3) won bronze in the U15 300m event, while Finlay (S2) was a bronze medalist in the Long Jump event.

Godfrey

Junior 5, Junior 6 and Transitus swimmers came together in January to achieve a total of 22 individual and 6 team medals at the Glasgow Primary Schools Swimming Championships, as well as placing first in both the boys’ and girls’ competitions at the Invitational Primary Gala at Scotstoun.

Furthermore, on the swimming front, congratulations to Kiera (S6) who won gold in the 17-19 years 100m Breaststroke and silver in the 200m Breaststroke at the Scottish Schools Time Trials last term.

Godfrey (S6) had a great weekend on the badminton courts in March, winning a silver medal in the Senior Boys’ event at the SSBU Secondary Schools’ Championships in Kilmarnock on the Saturday before finishing as runner up in the West of Scotland Senior Doubles competition the following day. Godfrey was also part of the HSOG senior badminton team who were runners up at the Gibb Memorial Secondary Quaich Tournament.

S2 Boys’ Rugby Team

And Finally...

We enjoyed some sensational downhill skiing at our annual Junior School Ski Gala.

Sixteen J4-J6 pupils took to the slopes at Bearsden Ski Club on Tuesday 28th February for a highly competitive evening of skiing action.

Congratulations go to Ellie and Charlie of Junior 6, who were our girls’ and boys’ competition winners.

The runners up were Harry (J5) and Ruby (J6), while William (J6) and Niamh (J4) finished in third place.

Well done to Lizard, who were the fastest ship!

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Junior 6 Musical Production In March, Junior 6 took us to a galaxy far, far away with their Musical Production, ‘Star Warts - The Umpire Strikes Back’! Boldly going where no musical has gone before, our heroes, including the very familiar Luke Warmwater, Toby Wonky Nosebleed, Zak Solo and Princess Nebula, went on an incredible journey to prevent the evil Umpire from realising his dark desire to conquer the universe!

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Giving Back Another busy term of fundraising activities has helped to raise more than £8,500 for important causes, whilst our senior pupils have been gearing up for their summer community service project visit to Zanzibar.

Fundraising Weeks Clyde and Bannerman Houses hosted their fundraising weeks in the Spring Term, with incredibly worthwhile causes at the heart of their charitable activities.

Clyde House raised £2,226 for Unite Against Cancer, the charity set up in memory of former pupil, Christopher Smith, who passed away in 2012.

From staff vs pupil hockey and rugby contests and the chance to soak a teacher, to the traditional cake and candy stall and Clyde House’s take on ‘I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here’ for the House Show, pupils had a brilliant week, helping to surpass Clyde House’s original fundraising target. Well done Clyde!

Bannerman House followed in late March, a fantastic way to bring the Spring Term to an end. At last count, they had raised the brilliant total of £2,381 for Scoliosis UK, a UK-wide patient support organisation for individuals with scoliosis and their families, with the aim of helping to reduce feelings of isolation, poor body image, inadequate care, needless pain and worry.

The Easter-themed week saw pupils embark on an epic Easter Egg Hunt around the school and guess the number of Easter eggs in a jar for an indulgent and delicious prize! As ever, our Bannerman Buskers performed in the corridors throughout the week, before a brilliant few days of fundraising culminated in an unforgettable ‘Battle of the Bands’.

Well done to all in Bannerman on an impressive fundraising week!

Bannerman Battle of the Bands

Clyde House ‘Soak a Teacher or Sixth Year’

Bannerman Cake N’ Candy

Highlights

Spring Term 2023

Clyde Cupcakes

Bannerman Soaking!

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Junior 1 pupils enjoyed a visit from Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity in January, hearing about the amazing work they do and learning more about how the £495.87 raised at the J1 Christmas Fair is being used.

HSOG Fundraise for Zanzibar This summer, a team of 36 pupils and 5 staff members will head to Kinuni School, Zanzibar, to complete a W.A.S.H. (Water and Sanitation and Hygiene) project, working in conjunction with the Tanzanian Government.

Kinuni School is a combined primary and secondary school of approximately 7,000 pupils. Classrooms are basic - there is a blackboard, children sit on the floor and lack the teaching materials we take for granted.

‘Team Zanzibar’ will be based in the primary school, building a much-needed toilet block for pupils and helping to set up a female menstruation programme that will help train teachers to make re-usable sanitary pads. This will help raise attendance and attainment amongst the girls who simply cannot afford sanitary products and so miss multiple days of schooling a month. In addition, the group will assist teachers in the delivery of lessons and engage in a variety of sporting activities.

In order to facilitate the project, Team Zanzibar have been busy fundraising for the last few months!

The Senior School wore their trainers to school for a day and donated old pairs to kick start our collection, so that the group can distribute much-needed shoes to the Kinuni pupils. They sold pancakes on Shrove Tuesday and ran a ‘guess the number of Easter eggs in a jar’ competition.

Combined with money raised at the Zanzibar quiz night and raffle, over £2,000 has now been raised towards the project.

All pupils are also undertaking personal fundraising towards the project, with money being added to funds raised for the Uganda 2020 trip which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Summer Term will see a continuation of our shoe appeal, focusing on shoes for children of primary school age (further details will be shared in due course). So, if you have any children’s trainers, jelly shoes, sandals or crocs which you were intending to throw out, let us give them a great home!

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HSOG Community The Duncan Frew Award 2023 gave S6 pupils the opportunity to develop their business ideas while being mentored by Duncan Frew, a Glasgow-based entrepreneur and former pupil of the School.

Over the last six months, three teams of S6 pupils have worked to find a gap in their chosen market, before developing a product, a brand and a sales strategy.

At the presentation evening, Duncan was joined by fellow judges, Cameron Yule (Amazon) and Tony Conetta (The DRG) to judge each of the pitches. All pupils performed superbly, but Liam’s (pictured) innovative smart medical alert system for festival goers, FesTag, saw him win the overall prize of a summer internship.

We were delighted to hear that Ian Reid (class of 1995) was recognised in the 2023 New Year Honours list.

Ian, who returned to the School last year to deliver the Easton Lecture to Sixth Year pupils, was awarded a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to sport. For four years, he served as Chief Executive of the organising committee for the 2022 Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham last summer.

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Our brand new online shop is open for business! We have a variety of items in stock from HSOG branded golf balls, to notebooks, tote bags, and more.

Please do have a browse - you might just find the perfect treat for yourself, or something which would make a brilliant gift for friends or family members!

A huge thank you to former pupil, James McNaught (Class of 2006), who delivered the first Business Breakfast of 2023 - Click here to read more.

Visit our HSOG Community website today: www.hsogcommunity.co.uk/shop

London Club Centenary Dinner

The High School of Glasgow Dinner

Former pupils from across the years came together to celebrate The HSOG London Club’s centenary at the Caledonian Club in London’s Belgravia on Friday 24th March.

There are still tickets available for our High School of Glasgow Dinner, taking place on Friday 5th May at Glasgow Golf Club from 6.30pm.

With Robin Easton and Colin Mair in attendance alongside current Rector, John O’Neill, the last 40 years’ worth of High School leadership was represented in the room! Guest Speaker and Class of 2007 former pupil, Jenny Drummond, addressed guests with highlights from her career in sports broadcast journalism and the experience of women in sports journalism. Jenny has insightfully covered a range of live sport including tennis, rugby, golf, football and more.

With a landmark anniversary approaching for the School in 2024, this will be an ideal opportunity to bring a number of our alumni and the wider community together as we look ahead to the School’s 900th anniversary celebrations.

Click to read more

Click here to book your tickets

Tickets for this event cost £50pp. Included with your ticket price will be a glass of fizz upon arrival, a 3-course dinner and entertainment. The dress code is formal attire, and partners are very welcome.

Annual Fund The Annual Fund is celebrating its tenth year this year, and has so far raised an incredible £113,000 this session, since its launch in September. We are truly humbled by the generosity of our HSOG Community, who continually support and transform the lives of many High School pupils, particularly our Bursary recipients.

We would really like to see this session’s Annual Fund reach £175,000 before it concludes in August, which would exceed the total raised last year. Collectively with your help, we can make this vision a reality!

A small monthly donation can go a long way, and participation really is key. If more people within our community could give even £5 or £10 a month this will make a huge difference and will help us to get closer to achieving our target.

The High School thrives because of the philanthropic support of community members like you. If you would like to find out further information about our Annual Fund, or are interested in making a donation, please visit our community website: www.hsogcommunity.co.uk/support/annual-fund.

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Our Term in Pictures We enjoyed another lively Spring Term at the School, as we head towards the sunny summer months!

As part of their topic on fitness, Junior 2 pupils used stethoscopes to listen to their heartbeats following PE exercises, learning all about what happens to our bodies when we physically exert ourselves through exercise.

Advanced Higher Modern Studies pupils visited the famous sights of London in January, helping to bring their study of politics to life.

Junior and Senior pupils came together in January to keep their local community litter-free, part of the School’s efforts towards the renewal of its Eco Schools Scotland Green Flag Award.

Fourth and Fifth Year pupils looked out their tartan attire for a night of energetic ceilidh dancing at the Senior School in early February!

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The Junior Scots Verse competition was a great success in early February, with J3-J6 pupils performing impressively for Judge, Mr David Vennard.

Congratulations to winner, Chloe (J6), runner up, Skylar (J4), and third placed Layla (J5).

Transitus had a brilliant time at their Valentine’s Dance in late February, taking place a little later than normal following the mid-term break.

Nineteen pupils from Transitus-S3 competed across two teams at FIRST Lego League international science and engineering competitions during the Spring Term, with both winning judges’ prizes!

The first heat at Edinburgh College in February saw our talented team of nine S1-S3 pupils study solar energy in their investigation on how to improve the production, storage and distribution of energy, as well as winning the judges’ award for best robot.

The second heat in March saw a further ten Transitus and S1 pupils compete at West Lothian College. Despite being the youngest in attendance, the team won the judges’ prize for the best sustainable project idea in recognition of their highly innovative ‘dog poo powered street lights’!

Although neither group made it through to the Scottish Finals, the judges were highly impressed with our young teams at both heats.

Congratulations to Mr Muir and his team of Lego legends!

Junior 1 pupils have continued to enjoy meeting up with their Junior 6 buddies for fantastic fortnightly Friday reading sessions!

Talented Sixth Year musicians performed for patients at Gartnavel Hospital in March as part of their Music and Wellbeing in the Community initiative.

Their beautiful renditions of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”, John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” and other hits helped to spread positivity and joy amongst all those in attendance.

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Professor Ricky Sharma, former School Captain from the Class of 1989, took time out of his busy schedule to talk with our Sixth Formers as part of the S6 Lecture Series. He delivered this year’s Mair Lecture, speaking on the fascinating topic of creating a world without fear of cancer. Here, he is pictured with our S6 cohort who are hoping to go on and study Medicine.

The Outdoor Education Committee have continued to work hard throughout the Spring Term maintaining the greenery at the front of the Junior School.

In March, all Junior Two pupils took part in the annual ‘Bicycle Rodeo’. They put their skills to the test by manoeuvring through a variety of obstacles and challenges, culminating in a few laps of our playground velodrome! The children demonstrated their ability to control their bikes and to cycle safely, always with an awareness of others. It was wonderful to see the children support and help one another throughout!

The Senior Spring Concert was a perfect way to bring the Spring Term to an end, featuring beautiful music from the Senior Concert Band, Senior String Orchestra, Jazz Band, String Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble, Chamber Choir, Pipe Band and Ceilidh Band.

Keep up to date with all the latest school news by following us on social media!

Junior hockey players travelled to Belfast in March to take on local Northern Irish counterparts, Pegasus and Mossley Ladies Hockey Clubs. Away from the hockey pitches, pupils took in the sites of Belfast and surrounding areas, including a visit to the world famous Titanic Museum and the chance to explore the UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Giant’s Causeway.