Lasswade High School Summer Newsletter June 2016
Dream Believe Achieve
Welcome from Mr Hornell, Head Teacher
Welcome to our summer 2016 School Newsletter. I’m sure you’ll be thrilled with the range of articles and photographs that showcase the outstanding achievements of our students. Since April 2016 I’ve had have the privilege of having the best job in the world - Head Teacher of Lasswade High School. At the end of my first term as Head Teacher my impression of the school being full of outstanding students has been confirmed. My day-to-day conversations with students, their response to things I’ve asked them to do via school assemblies, their sporting achievements, their musical talent and presentation skills serve as clear evidence that Lasswade students are a credit to the school and their parents. We can truly be proud of them. Our Summer Newsletter gives you a flavour of the talent, hard work and enthusiasm of Lasswade students. As an experienced Head Teacher I know that one of my roles is to create a culture in the school where we demand the best from students every day and provide them with the opportunities to make progress with learning, improve their skill set and achieve their goals. I’ve found this is very much the culture in Lasswade and my intention is to maintain and improve it. The school newsletter serves as a historical record of our culture.
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I don’t generally like to single out one aspect of success. However our YPI event, highlighted on pages 8 & 9 of the newsletter, was my own personal highlight of my first term at Lasswade as Head Teacher. The students presented on a charity they had researched with the ‘prize’, £3000 to be donated to the charity highlighted in the ‘best’ presentation. What was clear was the time and effort all the students had put into their research. Their thoughtful, imaginative and professional presentations were an absolute treat to listen to. It was not easy to decide upon the winner, they were all brilliant. This publication confirms for me that I am privileged to be Head Teacher of Lasswade High School. Thank you to all staff and students for their contributors and to our magnificent Editor, Kat Brack. Her coordination of our newsletter is outstanding. Thank you, Kat, on behalf of all who read our newsletter. Finally, I relish the opportunity to lead such a large and dynamic school and look forward to working with all in our school community over the coming years to allow Lasswade students to excel.
We’ll read about it in future issues.
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2016 Prize Giving S1 Award for ‘General Excellence’ Eilidh Babbs, Úna Dale, Jennifer Dunwell, Jamie Ferguson, Jakub Haba, Kodi Hunter, Maisie Jack, Matthew Phillips, Nathanael Rogers, Emma Wilson S2 Award for ‘General Excellence’ Devon Boyle, Kate Fergusson, Matthew Gracie, Aliki Kavoussanaki, Chloe Lauder, Lauren McDermid, Grace Murdock, Nicholas Rietvelt, Emma Stoddart, Rosalin Storie, Amy Watters, Lawrie Wilson
S3 Award for ‘General Excellence’ Kiersten Aitchison, Anna Blair, Holly Brown, Sophie Bryce, Russell Chisholm, Sara Convie, Olivia Harris, Samuel Harris, Maia Hollins-Kirk, Max Kerr, Emily Moffat, Robbie Moody, Jack Ramage, Wojciech Szymanski, Ellie Veitch
The General Excellence prizes awarded in S1 - S3 are awarded to students who have shown excellent work, effort and attitude throughout the year. Teachers are asked to nominate 3 students each from their S1, S2 and S3 classes . S4 Department Awards Leia Ainscough Art & Design Catherine Allison Mandarin Georgia Cherrie Geography, Health & Food Technology Christopher Dickson Business Management Leisa Duncan Mathematics Louise Dunwell Physics, Spanish Romany Howarth Photography Louise Jones English Phoebe Traquair Chemistry, French Cameron O’Meara Computing Rhiannon Preston History, Modern Studies, Music Matt Rietvelt Physical Education Niamh Roarty Drama Michael Sargent German Ben Shanks Music Technology; Religious, Moral & Philosophical Studies Chantelle Turnbull Volunteering Abigail Watson Biology
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S5 Department Awards Megan Carlisle Art & Design, Fashion & Textile Technology Reece Carr Computing, Music Bryony Eunson Physics Rachel Fergusson Biology, Modern Studies Matthew Duffy German Jack Gilchrist Music Technology Susan Hirst Drama Sarah Judge English Eilidh Morris Physical Education Chloe Neville French Eilidh Selfridge Chemistry, Mathematics Becky Shanks History; Religious, Moral & Philosophical Studies Fraser Spratt Administration & IT Erin Timmons Geography, Health & Food Technology Bryony Walker Dance Michael Wood Volunteering Amy Wright Travel & Tourism
Departments Awards: departments are asked to nominate 1 student from each senior year group, S4 - S6, who has excelled academically. S6 Department Awards Lydia Bell Religious, Moral & Philosophical Studies Zsofia Blair Biology, Mathematics Kayleigh Dowling Administration & IT Kerr Forrest Physics Blair Jones Modern Studies Martin Jones Geography Megan Kerr Art & Design Erin McNeill Dance Kirsty Munro Business Management Jayne Murdock Chemistry, French Cameron Ogilvie Physical Education Jamie Riley English Naomi Summers History Cameron Watt Computing Jack Wood Music
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2016 Prize Giving YASS Students
Edinburgh College Students
Declan McNeil-Weir Jake Morris Emma Newjem
Kelly Fraser Robert Hall Caitlin Noonan
Royal Zoological Society for Scotland ‘Pambassadors’ Hannah Bertram, Georgia Curtis Hannah Darling, Rachel Dobbie, Amber Foster, Ruth Higginson, Rebecca Laing, Rebekah Lansley, Carys Ross, Catriona Sargent Citizenship and School Contribution Awards Calum MacKenzie, S5 Carys Ross, S6
James Wilson, S6
Headteacher’s Shield, Contribution to S5 Stuart Milne Award: Contribution to S6. Named after a former Lasswade and Edinburgh University Student who tragically died in Australia. It is awarded to the student who has made the greatest contribution during their sixth year. Service to School Award
Music and Drama Awards Erin Bowden, S5 Reece Carr, S5 Rebekah Lansley, S5 Hamish Misselbrook, S6 Ross Munro, S2 Jayne Murdock, S6 Eilidh Murray, S5 Cameron Watt, S6 Jack Wood, S6
Senior Vocalist of the Year Senior Musician of the Year Expressive/Preforming Arts Prize Alex Elrick MBE Award for Music Junior Musician of the Year Gertrude Kirk String Award Expressive/Preforming Arts Prize Alex Elrick MBE Award for Music Alex Elrick MBE Award for Music David Crisp Award for Excellence in Composition Craig Gerard Memorial for Excellence on Piano
Special Awards Eilidh Selfridge, S5
Jayne Murdock, S6
Megan Kerr, S6
S4 Dux, The Young Prize: named after a former headteacher, William Young (who retired in 1867). It was the original school Dux medal and is now awarded to the student with the best exam results in S4. The Marshall Memorial Medal: School Dux: the highest honour awarded by LHS. It is named for Robert Marshal who became headteacher in 1867. It has been awarded continuously since. Joyce Anderson Award for Art: Awarded to a senior student who has excelled in the art department. Named after a former Lasswade art teacher.
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Head Boy: Head Girl
Thomas Rietvelt Sarah Judge
Deputies: Calum MacKenzie, Bethany Campbell, Bryony Eunson and Amber Foster The selection process for the Head Team involves a staff vote, speeches in front of the S5 and S6 students followed by a vote from senior students. 8 candidates are then selected for interview, panelled by senior members of school staff.
New Student Head Team
The new Student Head Team has been appointed for the school year 2016/2017.
We wish all of our outgoing senior head team well as they move on to university. They each served Lasswade excellently, representing the school at various events and being involved in a range of activities including as RZSS and SCEN ambassadors, members of charities and events committees and as part of the South Africa committee, conference and visit.
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Sports Personality of the Year
Lasswade’s first ever Sports Personality of the Year: Kirsty Robertson
Thursday 28th April was a moment of history in Lasswade High School as a full capacity crowd witnessed Kirsty Robertson win the first ever Sports Personality of the Year award. Hosted by Forth 1 Radio DJ Mark Martin the event was a huge success as we awarded Players of the Year for the 2015/16 season and the Future Starz of 2016. Amy Wright then picked up the Student Volunteer of the Year award, Mr Dinwoodie won the Staff Volunteer of the Year award and Miss McNeill picked up Coach of the Year. Our U18 girls football team, who recently won the Senior Scottish Shield won the 2015/16 Team of the Year.
Our guests for the evening included Steve Frew, Gary Locke, Ian Barr and Keith Wright who presented the students with awards and gave accounts of their own sporting experiences.
There were also special performances on the night from the Higher Dance Group, the Lasswade High School Choir and from Bryony Walker. What an unbelievable night and great celebration of the sporting success in a jam packed year at Lasswade High School.
Student Volunteer of the Year: Amy Wright
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Team of the Year: U18s Girls Football
Staff Volunteer of the Year: Mr Dinwoodie
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Coach of the Year: Miss McNeill
‘Future Starz’ 2016
Youth Philanthropy Initiative This June Lasswade High School took part in the YPI project. The Youth and Philanthropy Initiative is an active citizenship programme that raises awareness amongst young people about philanthropy and their local community. All Lasswade students in S2 took part in the project as part of their Social Studies curriculum. In teams S2 students started by researching social issues in Midlothian. Ten local charities were invited to join us in school to meet and discuss their work, helping our students to identify which charities they felt most met the needs of our local community. Once students had identified the charity they wished to represent they went to work creating a presentation to compete for a ÂŁ3,000 YPI grant for their chosen local charity.
There were a number of judging rounds with all students presenting in front of their classes and then 7 teams going forward to present in our YPI School Final. The level of student engagement in the project was outstanding with a YPI representative commenting on the ‘extraordinary effort, creativity and passion’ our students demonstrated during their final presentations. The 7 finalist teams did a fantastic job, confidently presenting in front of a packed assembly hall full of their whole year group, judges and invited guests. They spoke on behalf of a range of local charities dealing with many important social issues such as mental health, those affected by the loss of a baby, the wellbeing of older people and people with mental and physical disabilities.
It was an extremely close final and the judges agreed that all of the finalists created imaginative presentations and spoke passionately about why their charity deserved the YPI grant.
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After deliberation from the judges the giant £3000 cheque was deservingly awarded to Jade Knowles and Amy Hope for their chosen charity, the PHAB Club. The girls went the extra mile and created an extremely engaging and emotive presentation for a very worthy charity. The aim of PHAB club and the impact it has on the local community was summed up excellently through a poem created by Amy and Jade:
PHAB Club support all age, They help them learn to engage, They show their members social skills, So they can enjoy all of life’s thrills, Although they can be difficult at times, PHAB club gives them the ropes to help them climb, There is a wide variety of social activities they can do, It helps them learn things they never knew, They give their members the power of love to share, This charity gives them happiness beyond compare, Volunteers definitely don’t gain a medal won with pride, It’s for that feeling deep inside, People are strange some want to help, some want to hide, However the PHAB club there is always someone by their side , Without this charity they couldn’t connect with the outside world, But with your help by voting us another disabled person can live their life again.
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The finalists and their chosen charities: Grace Murdock, Sophie Woolard, Georgia Stephen & Sarah McGee (The Royal Blind) Hazel George, Kate Fergusson, Caitlin Alexander & Cara McGaff (Stafford Centre) Georgia Boyd, Devon Boyle, Elle Wright & Emily Wight (SIMBA) Chloe Lauder, Lucy Sayers, Jack Kirkwood & Samuel Davis (Women’s Aid) Nicole Kennedy, Amy Scougall, Lauren Quinn, Emily Forrest & Louise Hamilton (Brightsparks) Calum Glen, Calum McKean, Robbie Neave & Lawrie Wilson (MELD) Amy Hope & Jade Knowles (PHAB) WINNER
Champions!
All the staff and students at Lasswade say a massive congratulations to both Lasswade girls’ teams after a record-breaking and momentous season.
Both Lasswade U15 and U18 teams are the Scottish Cup Champions! The senior girls had a perfect season, cumulating in a 3-2 win against Bathgate Academy in the Scottish Cup Final at Ainslie Park on Tuesday 3rd May. The junior girls quickly followed suit collecting their Scottish Shield on Friday 6th May after their 2-0 win against St John’s RC High School played at Station Park, Forfar. The U15 squad
The U18 squad
Kayla Ireland Kiera Laing Chloe Lauder Eilidh McEwan Morgan McMillan Rachel Molotnikov Niamh Murphy Sarah Robertson Taylor Ross Lucy Sayers Mia Smith Katie Thomson Emma Yorkston
Zoe Carmichael Aimee Dilworth Caitlin Lynch Gemma McOwen Eilidh Morris Charley Paterson Amber Scotland Natasha Selkirk Nicole Selkirk Bethany Simpson Megane Steel Lauren Watters Natalie Wilson Gaby Wright
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This brilliant action shot came from www.yfsphotos.co.uk/ p115982340, where you can see lots more excellent photos from the U15 match.
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When Phoebe met Nicola Last term Lasswade had the honour of welcoming First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, to the school building. Ms Sturgeon had chosen Lasswade as the venue for a political announcement and press conference. Two S4 students, Cameron O’Meara and Phoebe Traquair, were invited to attend the press conference and were allowed to ask one question each. More information and photos from this visit were included in the Spring 2016 Lasswade Newsletter which can be found on the school website.
Exclusively for the Summer Newsletter our ‘Reporter in the Field’, Phoebe Traquair, tells us how it felt to meet Scotland’s most important person...
Think of a room that’s reasonably big, mostly empty bar a handful of chairs and is relatively bland. Now add a dozen or so (fancy) cameras, a rather large collection of journalists in suits and an extreme amount of Scottish Government Manifesto and you have an accurate representation of what I was faced with on the morning of the 2nd of March. Cameron O’Meara and I were both lucky enough to be offered the opportunity to meet and ask Nicola Sturgeon a question at a conference held at Lasswade. The event, to put it simply, was for her to introduce a new Government policy about taxes. In order not to bore you all, I will not go into too much detail about the whole new initiative but it was a way of collecting more money to spend on education in Scotland and we would get the money to do so by taxing the people who lived in the biggest and most expensive houses in Scotland. Once the First Minister had gone over the new policy, there was a chance to ask questions. Now for a couple of 15 year olds in a room full of professional journalists, it was a pretty daunting procedure. However, we waited our turn and allowed the pros to do what they did best before we were allowed to have a go ourselves. When the time came, Cameron went first, asking her how these tax changes will benefit us as students. When Cameron was asking his question, I couldn’t help but notice all the cameras just turn on us – slightly nerve-wracking to put it briefly. Once Nicola Sturgeon gave her answer to Cameron’s question, I was to ask my question: a question on our Scottish Curriculum and where our unique qualifications would put us in the competitive job market. Again, I couldn’t help but be aware of the cameras that were fixed on Cameron and I, flashing and clicking away.
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But all in all, it was a fantastic experience and I was, and still am, very thankful for being given the opportunity to ask a question. Again, I come back to the point about the cameras. When Cameron and I asked our questions, the cameras seemed to be constantly clicking away and were rather noisy. Well, that was nothing in comparison to when our First Minister came up to us and shook our hands. She thanked and complimented us on our questions and asked us about our studies and what we would like to do in the future. At this stage, the photographers were surrounding us like we were some great new species, when really we were a couple of teenagers who were slightly out of our comfort zone. Then, Nicola Sturgeon left us, perhaps, in a slightly star-struck state, and went to talk to some other journalists before going on a tour around the school. At the same time as the conference, I was hosting a South African student, Nompilo, for a whole week. Out of the whole week of having Nompilo to stay, one thing that will really stick with me for a long time, is the excitement that Nompilo expressed on our way to the school, knowing that she was going to meet our First Minister. Because of Nompilo, I couldn’t help but think that we take with such an influential person for granted, so much so that some students just blatantly acknowledged the fact that Nicola Sturgeon was in the school. But as for Nompilo and the other South African visitors to our school, they were so excited to be meeting her and it really made me realise that this sort of thing is really not common for people like Nompilo, when it’s quite a normal procedure for the people of Scotland. I was so glad that Nicola Sturgeon took the time to welcome and talk to our foreign students, because not only will I remember the event, but I’m sure they will too.
Phoebe Traquair
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Conabor Award As we complete our second year of using our new merits and the CONABOR Award, we are looking forward to finishing off the session with House Assemblies for the winners of the awards this year.
GOLD AWARDS Olivia Muirhead 1MK5 Lauren Barclay 3MK2 Carys Smith 1MK5 Aimee Hoggan 3MK1 Kayleigh Cameron 2MK4 Todd Wightman 1MK3
SILVER AWARDS Charlotte Combe 1MK1 Rebecca Foster 1MK1 Rebecca Leslie 1MK2 Leah Campbell 1MK2 Dempsey McDonald 1MK3 Robyn Halliday 1MK3 Sanah Afzal 1MK4 Blair Allison 1MK4 Findlay McNulty 1MK5 Ria Colbridge 1MK5 Eilidh Phillips 1MK6 Rhiannon Quinn 1MK6 Ciaran Slater 2MK1 Jamie McKinney 2MK1 Innes Philp 2MK2 Declan Quinn 2MK2 Georgia Stephen 2MK3 Michael Jones 2MK3 Ellie McKenna 2MK4 Emma Paden 2MK4 Scott Thomson 2MK5 Hazel George 2MK5 Keir Robertson 3MK1 Jack Cameron 3MK1 Charlotte Bowe 3MK2 Emma Dickson 3MK2 Elise Fairnie 3MK3 Rachael Higginson 3MK3
Dean Somerville 1SA3 Mya Kidd 3SA2 Emma Wilson 1SA2 Kodi Hunter 1SA4 Andrew Worton 2SA2 Olivia Harris 3SA1
Ryan Wooton 1SA1 Josh Walker 1SA1 Eilidh Babbs 1SA2 Zak Stewart 1SA2 Abbie Gillon 1SA3 Teegan Sim 1SA3 Mhairi Telford 1SA4 Olivia Fraser 1SA4 Jamie Ferguson 1SA5 Lois Cormack 1SA5 Jamie Kerr 1SA6 Ellie Baxter 1SA6 Rachael Doig 2SA1 Devon Boyle 2SA1 Regan Doig 2SA2 Adam Aitken 2SA2 Chloe Lauder 2SA3 Louise Hamilton 2SA3 Sean Hancock 2SA4 Eilidh Ingham 2SA4 Lauren McDermid 2SA5 Megan Van Den Bosch 2SA5 Hannah Forsyth 3SA1 Cameron Merron 3SA1 Bella Szpunar 3SA2 Kayleigh Wilson 3SA2 Lucy Jack 3SA3 Owen Craig 3SA3 Katie Thomson 3SA4 Maia Hollins-Kirk 3SA4
Kirsty Paterson 3SL2 Cameron Thomson 3SL1 Aaron Kivlin 2SL1 Stephen Turnbull 2SL3 Sophie Cumming 1SL1 Calum McKean 2SL4
Abby McGlone 1SL1 Cleo Hamilton 1SL1 Ross Notman 1SL2 Megan Fourie 1SL2 Maisie Jack 1SL3 Connor Pell 1SL3 Hannah Darling 1SL4 Ellie Robertson 1SL4 Emma Stoddart 2SL1 Robert Hamilton 2SL1 Lauren Murie 2SL2 Nathan Hunt 2SL2 Emma Yorkston 2SL3 Ashley Gabayoyo 2SL3 Anna Brotherston 2SL4 Lawrie Wilson 2SL5 Jack Dudley 2SL5 Lauryn Hood 3SL1 Emma Affleck 3SL1 Jordan Kennedy 3SL2 Emily Moffat 3SL2 Ryan Stevenson 3SL3 Jessica Smales 3SL3
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BRONZE AWARDS
Fraser Turnbull 1MK1 Kirsten Maclure 1MK1 Angela Goodall 1MK2 Tiegan Campbell 1MK2 Farrah Drummond 1MK3 Lucy McDonald 1MK3 Caitlin Thomson 1MK4 Jamie Duffy 1MK4 Gemma McVicker 1MK5 Matthew Phillips 1MK5 Aliha Butt 1MK6 Ellie Spratt 1MK6 Kyle Skellett 2MK1 Lawrie Tice-Young 2MK1 Subhan Hussain 2MK2 Matthew Convie 2MK2 Grace Murdock 2MK3 Sophie Woolard 2MK3 Liam Finnie 2MK4 Kate Fergusson 2MK4 Cara McGaff 2MK5 Eve Alexander 2MK5 Luke Cosgrove 3MK1 Erin Livingston 3MK1 Emily Hutchison 3MK2 Chloe White 3MK2 Drummond Todd 3MK3 Stacey King 3MK3
Taylor Reid 1SA1 Keryn McIntosh 1SA1 Katie Inglis 1SA2 Alexander Drysdale 1SA2 Aaron Chapman 1SA3 Lauren MacDonald 1SA3 Sam Whittaker 1SA4 Charlotte Scott 1SA4 Una Dale 1SA5 Evan Colquhoun 1SA5 Nicole Boak 1SA6 Skye Gourlay 1SA6 Abbi Smyth 2SA1 Lauren Windsor 2SA1 Hannah Officer 2SA2 Emily Forrest 2SA2 Paul Shepherd 2SA3 Finlay Porteous 2SA3 Sophie McCafferty 2SA4 Lauren Noonan 2SA4 Samantha Laing 2SA5 Blair Angus 2SA5 Sophie Bryce 3SA1 Sam Fleming 3SA1 Danielle Knox 3SA2 Joshua Moffat 3SA2 Iqra Rashid 3SA3 Rebecca Thorburn 3SA3 Kathryn Davidson 3SA4 Amber Roe 3SA4
Lucy McKinven 1SL1 Emily Carson 1SL1 Mia Tracey 1SL2 Amy Davidson 1SL2 Ellie Milligan 1SL3 Marley Clark 1SL3 Eve Baillie 1SL4 Mhari-Ann Brosnan 1SL4 Keisha Peters 2SL1 Cerys Young 2SL1 Lauren Howard 2SL2 Calum Turnbull 2SL2 Lucy Scollon 2SL3 Casey Birchall 2SL3 Matthew Gracie 2SL4 Bayley Brock 2SL4 Fiona Dodds 2SL5 Olivia Millar 2SL5 Samuel Harris 3SL1 Chloe Summers 3SL1 Robbie Moodie 3SL2 Kai Witherspoon 3SL2 Abi Scotland 3SL3 Ross Thomson 3SL3
It is a pleasure to see the high numbers of merits that students are gaining for making such good effort in their day to day conduct and studies. We have also been working with staff to improve consistency and clarity. Photos of this years winners will follow in the next newsletter.
Our DREAM Values Determination Respect Conabor. Latin. Verb. I will try my utmost
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Effort Ambition Motivation
S6 Outdoor Learning Challenge At the end of the second term, S6 students took part in the Midlothian Outdoor Challenge. Navigating around the Vogrie Estate the teams completed a range of problem solving and team challenges. Teams are scored on aspects of teamwork and successful task completion with high challenge scores gaining an advantage in the final challenge. The challenges are designed to encourage diverse thinking, facilitate effective leadership and encourage group collaboration to solve problems. Curriculum links embedded in the challenges add to the mix of learning. All the teams showed amazing resilience and character and visible learning was evident throughout the event. Congratulations to all the competing teams from the Midlothian secondary schools at the 2016 S6 Outdoor Learning Challenge. There were some incredibly close scores in the challenge this year but Lasswade led the scores and also were successful in the final team challenge. The team were Hamish Misselbrook, Jake Morris, Blair Jones, Carys Ross, Rachel Dobbie, James Wilson and Catriona Sargent.
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RZSS ‘Beyond the Panda’ Sandie Robb, Senior Education Officer for the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS), came to school in her new “Panda Car”. She was visiting Lasswade to show us the new ‘Beyond the Panda’ resources for secondary schools. Whilst in Lasswade Sandie worked with the S3 Mandarin learners who were able to work with models of panda skulls and learn new Mandarin vocabulary. Students in Lasswade contributed to an educational video. “On the road with Beyond the Panda” which can be viewed online: www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdxcO0ohbZE
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Shanghai visitors In April Lasswade welcomed 4 members of staff from our partner school in Shanghai. Ms Zhu, Mr Tong, Ms Ying and Mr Sun were greeted by the Head Girl and deputies who had visited the Shanghai school in 2014. As well as meeting several student groups the visitors also met our new Headteacher, Mr Hornell, and exchanged gifts. Over a very short 3 day visit, the group managed to fit in a whole range of activities. Our Chinese colleagues enjoyed a day in Edinburgh visiting the castle and Holyrood House. It just so happened to be the occasion of the Queen’s birthday so they also received a celebration cupcake! Back in Lasswade Mr Tong and Mr Sun delivered a cooking lesson in Mrs Ross’ class. Mrs Ross, and the class, were extremely impressed with Mr Tong’s skills and enjoyed learning different cooking styles and recipes. On their final day the group visited the Kelpies in Helix Park, Falkirk. On their return to Shanghai, Mr Sun, delivered a presentation to his colleagues about his time in Lasswade High School, Bonnyrigg and Edinburgh.
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Zàijiàn Miss Hou Miss Hou, our Hanban Mandarin teacher, is heading home to China in July and we as a Modern Languages Department will miss her calm, fun and wonderful presence. Miss Hou has made a great impression on staff and students and we will be sad to see her go. Fortunately for staff and students on future China trips, Miss Hou will be able to welcome staff to the partner school. We enjoyed a staff lunch with a truly Mediterranean feel, with paté being a firm favourite with Miss Hou.
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Mandarin Speaking Competition The Mandarin Speaking Competition was held in Lasswade High School on Saturday 11th June. The event was attended by schools from across Scotland and the north of England. Deputy Consul General Zhang Limin visited the school to celebrate the competition. This was the Deputy Consul General’s second official visit to Lasswade High School, in April 2015 he opened our Midlothian Confucius Hub. The Lasswade team at the event were Louise Allan, Anna Blair, Lewis Hanley and Maia Hollins-Kirk who were exemplary ambassadors for the school and Mandarin language learning in Scotland. The competition was organised by Lasswade Mandarin Teachers, Ms Zhao and Ms Hou.
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STEM Challenge Article by Eilidh Phillips, S1 The STEM event that recently took place for S1s was a really fun and exciting experience. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. There were many fun activities throughout the morning for us to do. First of all we learned how to make tetrahedrons and make sculptures out of them using garden canes. This was a good way to learn skills that would be needed for an engineering job. Not only did it teach us the engineering skills but we also had to work as a team to build our sculptures.
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For the next activity we had to build a car that would run using recycled items such as plastic bottles, balloon and straws. This was a good problem solving activity and again we had to work as a team to finish our cars. The final activity was making robots, we were shown how to make them then each team built theirs. We then got to play with them for a while. The whole event was really exciting and we learned lots of new skills. Thank you to the ladies who came to our school to host this for us and we hope you’ll come again.
Fundraising for our South African friends
Earlier in the year Lasswade was proud to host a small group of students and staff visiting from the Umlazi township in South Africa. During this visit many lasting friendships were formed as Lasswade students learnt about life in South Africa and vice versa. Last month staff and students were saddened to hear the news of a devastating flood which had affected Umlazi and other surrounding areas. Many houses in the area were destroyed, including the home of Xolani, one of our visiting students. A group of Lasswade S1 students tell us what they have done to help Xolani and his family.
A few girls from 1SL4 all got together and decided to hold a bake sale to raise money for one of the students from South Africa, Xolani, whose house was washed away in a flood. We managed to raise ÂŁ300 to go towards a new house for Xolani. We were all very happy to take part in helping to fundraise and support in any way we could. We were pleased that so many people came along and bought our cakes. We wish Xolani all the best for the future. The fundraising team were Aimee Wightman, Rebecca Maxwell, Mhari-Ann Brosnan, Leah Barrett, Eve Baillie, Ellie Robertson and Abbie Macintyre.
Lasswade Modern Studies, Ms Kay, with students and staff visiting from South Africa. The South African group visited Lasswade and Selkirk High Schools.
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PSE Department News: Careers Work Placements Our new 4th year students are starting to think about their week of Work Placement which this year starts on Monday 14 November. Students are expected to complete a normal working week in their choice of placement. We have a database of around 160 opportunities, but with a year group of 260 students, we encourage (and need) students to look at other placements available through family and friends' contacts. It is important to make the most of this experience as part of our continuing work exploring future choices, so we steer pupils to select a placement that will give them an insight into possible career choices, but also develop their transferable core skills for work and their studies. Paperwork is available from their Guidance teacher for a Self Found Placement, as well as electronically on Edmodo. Details for login to the database will be handed out in August. Any queries should be directed to Miss Douglas.
Careers and Future Choices This is a big part of our work with young people at various times of the year through Personal and Social Education courses, exploring subject choice, skills and interests, different career options, possible routes to work and positive destinations (work, training programmes, Modern Apprenticeship, College & University). We are ably supported by our Careers Advisors from Skills Development Scotland who work with our classes and also conduct individual meetings with students throughout the year. More information on SDS is available on their website www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk. We also use www.myworldofwork.co.uk with the pupils to help build up a knowledge of their skills and interests – they are encouraged to create an account which will store their results and information. We are fortunate to be sent a lot of information on available jobs and training opportunities which we are keen to share with senior students and parents. As well as our noticeboards and bulletin in school, The website (www.lasswadehsc.mgfl.net) now has a Careers section where all such information is updated and shared all year round as and when it comes in.
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Philosophy for Children On Thursday 5th May James Nottingham a renowned educationalist in the area of Philosophy for Children (P4C) (http://www.jamesnottingham.co.uk/) visited Miss Conlan’s S3 Geography class. James specialises in using P4C to encourage deep thinking by students and taking them into the ‘Learning Pit’ which challenges their thinking and responses to questions. On this visit the questions focused on the topics which they had studied in S3 including Environmental Hazards and Worlds Apart (development). Students sat in a circle as the whole experience purely involves the development of listening, discussion and thinking skills. They were asked a variety of questions that linked to their S3 BGE course and encouraged them to think about their responses and those of others too and whether they agreed or disagreed and why. The session was also observed by colleagues from within the school and Midlothian Council to show-case P4C and the links to the Growth Mindset and the Learning Pit. Afterwards the students were asked about their experience and what they thought of sitting in a circle rather than at desks in groups or rows. Some of their responses included:
You can see everyone and make eye contact We get to know our class more People can help you out when you are explaining your answer
90% of the students involved thought that the type of questioning - mainly open questions encouraged them to think more as they said that you need to think more about the point you want to make therefore going into more detail. Another student said that as there is often an infinite number of answers you don’t feel like you could be wrong, therefore you are more confident in your answering and reasoning. A student who participated said it helped them to think more about the topic as there was always a counter argument to everything that was said and discussed so you didn’t just say one point and that was it.
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Lasswade Geography teacher, Miss Conlan with James Nottingham (centre) and Steve Rawlinson.
Many of the students reported enjoying the session as they said it was good to hear other people’s views on risk and danger when discussing environmental hazards and to share their own opinion too. A second student said it was really good as it meant that you didn’t just take what was being said, that you could question it and this encouraged everyone to get involved. This session of P4C in particular was beneficial as a revision tool which one student commented on as it reminded them of areas of topics from S3 that they had forgotten about.
As the session was within a Geography lesson, Steve Rawlinson, President of the Geographical Association also came to visit to observe the session and to investigate the continued benefits of P4C within secondary school Geography lessons and its links to the Learning Pit. He said ‘I thought the session was extremely interesting and gave everyone, both students and staff much to think about. In particular the fact that the techniques involved can be applied to all age ranges, and subjects, gives it a particular value and utility. I will be taking some thoughts about it back to the Association and the next meeting of our education board and conference planning group.’
The whole experience was highly rewarding both for staff and students and Miss Conlan is extremely proud of the way the class conducted themselves and took part in the discussion. They showed excellent listening skills and many of them showed confidence in their ability to express their opinions and back them up with knowledge from class. They were a credit to the school!
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Modern Foreign Languages News
Cross-curricular Display in the MFL Corridor Come and see our corridor where you can read interesting information in French, German, Spanish and Mandarin! In Modern Languages we love a little cross-curricular work and we have promoted our current corridor display to show off how we cross key CfE themes of: Art & Design, Geography, History, H.E., Literacy, Numeracy & PSE Come along to the corridor and test yourself - can you identify the theme in each poster? Also can you guess the mystery teacher through the French signs?
Lasswade High School Newsle
Euro Fußball Meisterschaft 2016
S3 German: Euro 2016 Teams
Frau McCardle’s new S4 Deutsch class have picked their teams out of a hat, which they will follow for the next few weeks of Euro 2016 fever!! Some of the students are happy to have picked out favourites “Deutschland” and “Frankreich” for the draw, whereas others were not as happy with their team... can you work out which possible outsider teams they picked?
La Cultura Española S3 Spanish: Interdisciplinary Projects To say “adios” and “hasta la vista” to their Spanish course, Doña McCardle set the S3 class the task of creating project posters on a theme of their choice linked in to Spain and learning Spanish. Students created posters with something of interest to everyone whilst showing off a variety of their interests. There were fantastic themes shown off in the posters; art, food, sport, celebrations, festivals, cities, culture and holiday help phrase booklets... No te preocupes, do not worry! Spanish language learning is still available for those wishing to “hablar español”... There will be a weekly lunchtime Spanish session offered from August/September 2016 for students wishing to continue with their language studies.
Please contact Miss McCardle for more details! Muchas gracias a todos y hasta luego!
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More Modern Foreign Languages News
Ma journée
S1 French: Daily Routine Fun
Developing literacy and numeracy skills in foreign language learning! Before the timetable change, Madame McCardle’s S1 French class worked on a project to write about their daily routine in French, using what they had been learning in class. This was not just in the form of paragraph after paragraph in their jotters, but took on a more creative style and class members used the project ideas to create real diary entries, diary booklets, comic strips, survey questions and interviews! This task showed off the French literacy and numeracy skills the students had developed in order to write at length on what they do at specific times of day, putting their daily routine in order in one of the formats and actually writing out the clock times in French. Bon travail 1G! Before saying “Au revoir” to their S1 course, the class proudly signed off their work. Well done class and all the best for S2. Pictured are Úna Dale, Lois Cormack, Olivia Fraser and Kodi Hunter showing off their own and the class’ fantastic efforts!
Lasswade High School Newsle
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En ville S2 French: About town After the success of their tourist leaflets and home area investigations, Madame McCardle’s S2 class took on the task of creating French signage to show what signs look like when you are out and about touring French towns and cities, or even driving on the other side of the road! The signs are going up around the Modern Language classrooms just to keep you going in the right direction and to remind you of some of the rules… What we really want to know is.... Où est la plage?
Community Project It has been another busy year in the Lasswade High School Community Project.
Constructions Skills This year we have established 2 groups, one in S3 and one in S4 who have been visiting the MTS Workshops in Loanhead to take part in a number of different construction based lessons. The S3 group have visited once a week and so far have been welding, cutting and shaping metal. The S4 students have attended two afternoons a week doing a mixture of wood and metal work and they have made steel hanging basket brackets and wooden planters.
Lasswade High School Newsle
Army Cadet Force The ACF is now firmly established at Lasswade and our first cohort of S4 students recently completed the Uniformed & Emergency Service qualification. In the 2016-17 session we will have a group running in both S3 and S4.
Stables Once a week a group of students have attended the stables with Mr Tait where they have helped with all parts of looking after horses and taken horse riding lessons.
School Garden The poor spring weather has meant it has been a slow start to the growing season in the school garden however the green shoots of various different fruits and vegetables are coming through and we hope to have a range of produce to harvest after the summer holidays. We have been indebted to our local volunteer, Dougie Stewart from Waverley Landscaping, who has provided invaluable assistance to our work. Look out for the results of our hard work in the autumn newsletter.
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Duke of Edinburgh’s Award
This term has been a busy one for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award programme, with qualifying expeditions, a presentation night and the launch of Bronze award for the new S3 and S4. The Duke of Edinburgh's Award is the world’s leading achievement award for young people and requires participants to work on a skill, a physical activity and to work as a volunteer for a number of months. In addition, participants have to train and practice for an outdoor expedition in which they are, as a group, entirely self-sufficient. Each activity, including the expedition, is independently assessed and culminates with participants delivering a presentation to parents and staff (which in itself is an assessed requirement of the award). As well as the activities, the award programme allows participants to learn and develop many personal attributes such as self-reliance, independence, responsibility, teamwork, organisation and planning skills. It is easy to see why the awards are so highly-regarded by employers, universities and colleges.
The joy of being in sight of the finishing point of day one is clear to see
Lasswade High School Newsle
Bronze Award 2015-16 Pupils now entering S5 were working hard towards their Bronze Award throughout this academic year. Participants had a demanding year juggling the requirements of their studies in their first exam year, their Duke of Edinburgh’s Award activities and all of the other extra-curricular clubs and groups they are part of. Participants benefitted greatly from the wide range of voluntary activities, physical activities and skills improvement they took on for their Bronze award. Following a practice expedition back in the autumn term, the group undertook their qualifying expedition during the first weekend in June in the Pentland Hills. This weekend was the hottest of the year so far and, whilst lovely for most of the people enjoying the wilds of the Pentlands that weekend, it was less than ideal for a group of participants carrying all of their kit for the weekend! The participants remained in great spirits throughout and showed real determination to meet their navigational and organisational requirements and the Award assessors were impressed by how well they’d done with all aspects of their expeditions.
Participants re-lived their expedition exploits during presentations given a couple of weeks later to staff and parents as part of the award requirements. As well as outlining the projects they were working on during their expeditions (ranging from litter survey and clearing to mood and emotion analysis and leadership roles), participants talked about what they’d been working on and achieved through the year working towards their award.
An uphill slog ahead for some of the participants on the recent qualifying expedition Bronze Award 2016-17 Before the trail from the previous bronze group had gone cold, the latest cohort of participants launched straight into their award programme for the year ahead with an outdoor introduction day at Dalkeith Country Park on 18th June. Here they got their first taste of what to expect during the outdoor expedition component of their award, from an introduction to navigation skills to camping and outdoor cooking skills. With their appetites for adventure primed, participants will be commencing on their volunteering, physical and skill activities over the coming weeks and months with a practice expedition to look forward to early in the new academic session. This year’s group is comprised of both S3 and S4 pupils which will make the group the last year to have to fit in their award with exam work in their fourth year.
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Midlothian Volunteer’s Week Volunteers and pupils from Lasswade High School featured prominently in Midlothian Volunteers’ Week. Celebrations of people carrying out valuable volunteer work in Midlothian culminated in an award ceremony at Newbattle Abbey College on 2nd June. Two pupils from Lasswade received an award for both their voluntary work in Midlothian and for achieving the Summit Saltire Award, the highest level achievable in The Saltire Award (a national youth volunteering awards scheme, backed by the Scottish Government, which began in April 2012): Leia Ainscough has been working as an Activities Volunteer with Rosewell Development Trust as well as a 1st Rosewell Rainbows and Brownies Young Leader. Leia has dedicated her Friday afternoons to the development and delivery of an Arts and Crafts group for adults with additional needs for over a year. Leia comes up with lots of good ideas and through both roles, her confidence has really increased. The children and adults she helps through her volunteering really enjoy her company and the local community are very lucky to have such a dedicated young person helping to develop and offer fun activities for people of all ages to access! Kirsty Robertson has given up her time to assist with a variety of projects from a young age. She initially started by helping her local Rainbows group and still continues to volunteer there every Friday evening, as well as additional weekend trips. She also volunteers with KIC Dance School, helping teach classes to children. Kirsty is the Lasswade High School Young Hub Leader, giving a voice to young people in the Lasswade and Bonnyrigg area. Finally, she has also volunteered to support children to learn how to ski. Kirsty has given over 200 hours to volunteering over the past 3 years. Awards were presented by former Lasswade pupil, Keiran Harvey, who is a Saltire Ambassador and member of the panel who decided on the awards. Ross Hutchison, volunteer with Lasswade’s Duke of Edinburgh’s Award groups was awarded the Active Volunteer Award for his work on the outdoor component of the DofE programme at Lasswade, following nominations from many of the staff and pupils that have been involved in the programme over the last few years. An ex pupil of Lasswade High School, Ross has given up a huge amount of his time to train and assist the groups and all of the participants in the DofE programme have benefitted from his sharing of knowledge, his enthusiasm and encouragement. L-R: Gavin Boyle, Teacher and DofE Leader at Lasswade, Kirsty Robertson, Leia Ainscough and Ross Hutchison, volunteer with Lasswade DofE groups.
Lasswade High School Newsle
IKEA Competition The annual Midlothian Schools IKEA Competition took place in May to showcase the excellent design, manufacture, graphics and practical work undertaken in secondary schools across the authority. Eleven Design & Technology students were chosen to represent Lasswade. Despite competing with over 50 Midlothian students, we were delighted that a number of Lasswade students achieved prize-winning rankings, including: National 5 Graphic Communication, 1st Place: National 5 Design & Manufacture, 2nd Place:
Jodie Millar Zainab Hussain
Higher Design & Manufacture, 1st Place: Higher Graphic Communication, 3rd Place
Douglas Jones Thomas Rietvelt
All winners received an IKEA goodie bag and a certificate celebrating their achievement. Zainab Hussain
Douglas Jones
Jodie Millar
The runners up include: National 5 Design & Manufacture: National 5 Graphic Communication: Higher Design & Manufacture: Higher Graphic Communication: Practical Prize:
Ewan Gilchrist & Michael Sargent Phoebe Traquair and Lucy Jones Stefan Johnston Stefan Johnston Marc Hughes & Nathan Avinou
A huge well done to all students who entered into the competition. Every student in the Design & Technology department has worked really hard this year and we were delighted to see so many students awarded for their efforts.
Marc Hghes
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Nathan Avinou
Children’s University In March Lasswade launched Children's University with S1 students. 36 students are signed up and they have been working hard to complete their learning passport. Children’s University is an award scheme for 5 - 14 year olds which rewards and encourages participation in positive learning activities. Lasswade, and its cluster primary schools, are working alongside Queen Margaret University, who are coordinating Children’s University for the east of Scotland. This is our first year of running the scheme and we are very much looking forward to having both an S1 and S2 group after the holidays.
Many of our incoming S1 students will have started CU at their primary school and we are delighted to be able to offer the programme so they can continue this at high school. Children's University Scotland have created a ‘Summer Activity Challenge’ which has a whole host of ideas for CU participants (and everyone else!) to keep learning and having fun in the holidays. There are 28 activities ranging from baking and crafts to gardening and science experiments. The full list is available here: http://www.strath.ac.uk/media/ps/sees/childrensuniversity/ CUS_Summer_Challenge_2016_FAV.pdf
“The Children’s University is an international critically-acclaimed charity which encourages all children aged 5 to 14 years to try new experiences, develop new interests and acquire new skills through participation in innovative and creative Learning Activities outside of the school day.” http://www.childrensuniversity.co.uk/home/about-us/introduction/
Lasswade High School Newsle
We have also been planting up huge tractor tyres that were generously donated to us by John Playfair Agricultural Contractor, with strawberry plants and wild flower seeds which are specifically grown to attract bees. We have also been donated some clay flower pots, one of which has been planted with a variety of herbs as suggested by our students and the other will be planted with petunias. We are hoping to fill our last tractor tyre with more flower plants that are beneficial to a whole range of insects and bees. Along the fence, within a section of the playground, we have planted sweet peas which we hope will grow up the fence and then we can tie them to netting to encourage them to spread up and out along the fence. As long as the weather continues to stay fine we hope to have the fenced area planted up and ready to welcome a variety of wildlife over the coming months. The John Muir Club with their individually designed and manufactured bird boxes.
An old tractor tyre planted with strawberries
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John Muir Award Club
This term we have been finishing our bird boxes which will be attached to trees in the wooded area west of the school building. We hope that many birds will enjoy the variety of bird boxes that were designed and created by Lewis, Ryan, Blair, Sam and Todd.
Robert Muchamore Author Event
“Which of your characters would you bring to life?” “Where do you get the inspiration for your storylines?” “What is the best thing about being an author?” “So...how much money have you made?”* These were just some of the questions students asked world-famous, multimillion selling author, Robert Muchamore, when they met him at the Corn Exchange at the start of June. 35 Lasswade students joined 400 teenagers from across Mid and East Lothian at an afternoon celebrating books, reading, writing and Arsenal Football Club with the Cherub, Rock Wars and Henderson Boys author.
*Robert Muchamore estimates he has earned about £7million writing the Cherub series! So, keep reading and writing everyone, who knows where you could end up! S1 student, Nathanael Rogers, tells us more about the event. On Tuesday 7th June we went to the Robert Muchamore author talk. It was really good. For people who knew the books, it was really good, and even for people who had never heard of him it was still really fun and interesting. For everyone there it was either a great chance to meet a new author or a change to see someone who you have heard of and whose books you have read. (I was in this second group).
We all got a free copy of his book, Rock War, to get signed and take home to keep. Overall, it was an awesome time to get stuck into some new books and have a chat.
Lasswade High School Newsle
Creative Writing Competition
In preparation for the Edinburgh International Book Festival Kat the School Librarian, ran a creative writing competition for S1– S3. The prize? A free day out at the book festival for the best 12 entries! 34 talented young writers in Lasswade submitted an entry. Kat then had the very tricky job of choosing the best 12. The stories were judged on creativity, originality, style and enjoyment. The winning 12 stories are: ‘Climax Closed’ by Alexandra Weir ‘The Crisis of Crystal Crimes’ by Connor Pell ‘Fallen’ by Eve Baillie ‘The Fantasy Five: The Quest of the Crystal Heart’ by Sam Harris ‘The Heart Thief’ by Chloe Summers ‘I didn’t want to do it’ by Maisie Jack ‘Live or Let Die’ by Caitlyn Dick ‘The Marble Picker’ by Megan Fourie ‘Mind Maps’ by Úna Dale ‘Mistakes’ by Holli Boyd ‘Nathan’ by Edward Ritchie ‘The School Kidnapping’ by Ross Notman
The winning group of writers will spend the day at Charlotte Square in Edinburgh on Monday 29th August. They will be attending two events from the Baillie Gifford Schools Programme, meet at least four authors and will have lots of browsing time in the big book festival shops.
6 runners up prizes were also awarded: these went to Mhari-Anne Brosnan, Rachael Doig, Declan Littlejohns, Lucy McKinven, Michael Summers and Mia Tracey. The Edinburgh International Book Festival takes place between 13 and 31 August. Why not plan a trip at the end of the summer holidays? Students and their families can browse the whole programme here: https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/
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Creative Writing Club Monday lunchtimes in the library
We made it to the last 8 of the Scottish Cup where we were knocked out by Our Lady’s and St Patrick’s in a thrilling game where we lost 3-2. During the game Lewis Walker scored a free-kick that Lionel Messi would’ve been proud of!
Player of the Year: Lewis Walker
It was an excellent run and I’m sure we can make it one step further next year.
We lost in the final of the League Cup to Ross High where the 2-0 scoreline didn’t reflect the game, but that’s football for you! They also narrowly beat us to the league title too.
Considering it’s our first year as a team we have done pretty well and should be proud of what we’ve achieved this season. Coach English would like to thank the parents for their excellent support at every game this year and Kevin Marr, Jack McNeill and Mr Dewar for helping with the running of the team.
Lasswade Football - S1 Boys
The S1 boys football team have had an excellent season and are extremely unlucky to not have any silverware to show for it!
Mr English also wants to extend a special thank you to all the boys who have played with the squad this season. You have given him some good memories of his first year at Lasswade! Rest up for the trials, boys - you a big season ahead! The squad at the League Cup Final
Lasswade High School Newsle
School Uniform Policy Full details of our updated school uniform policy, including frequently asked questions for parents, can be found on the school website. lasswadehsc.mgfl.net/uniform-policy/ A summary is included here:
Dressing for Excellence CHECKLIST ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
LHS School Blazer (compulsory for all students in S4—S6) LHS tie for S1—S3 LHS house tie for S4—S6 White school shirt or blouse Plain black school trousers or skirt/dress Plain black school jumper/cardigan Plain black shoes PE Kit—shorts/tracksuit, black/white T-shirt, sports training shoes
DRESS DOWN DAYS The last Friday of each month will be designated a Dress Down Day. Students can either wear normal school uniform or, by making a £1.00 contribution, can opt to dress down and wear smart/casual clothing to school. The monies collected with be split 1/3rd to the school fund (to benefit all our students) and the remaining 2/3rds to support a local, national or international charity identified by our students in conjunction with staff.
Donating old school uniform to the school The PSE Department keeps a stock of school uniform items for students to borrow and use when necessary. If students and families have unwanted items, for students of all ages, we would be very grateful for donations. This includes ties, blazers, shirts, jumpers and cardigans, trouser and skirts. Donations can be handed in at any time of year to the PSE department. Thank you for your generosity.
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S6 Prom 2016
On Friday 10th June, at the Roxburghe Hotel in Edinburgh, the S6 donned their gladrags for a last farewell as the ‘Class of 2016’. Earlier in the session the students had voted for a theme for the evening and had chosen ‘The Great Gatsby’. Black and gold balloons and sequins adorned the tables and together with the suits and ball gowns the Gatsby theme was complete. Add in a beautiful meal, a DJ, a photo booth and a surprise rendition of One Direction’s ‘History’ by the staff and we were set for a wonderful evening. It was a fantastic send off for the S6 and we wish them every success in their next ventures as they depart Lasswade High School.
Lasswade High School Newsletter, Summer
Parent Council Update
An update letter from the chair, Lindsey McGregor. The end of term is a hectic time for everyone but it’s also an ideal time to look back and see how the previous year has gone. It’s been a very busy year for the Parent Council. We were very involved as a group in the recruitment of our new head teacher, Mr Hornell. The interview process was vigorous and gruelling for the candidates. A member of the interview team from the Council came to our meeting to discuss the process and the candidates and to give advice. Over 30 parents attended that meeting and were able to ask questions. A very warm welcome to Mr Hornell! We have had 8 formal meetings which have been really well attended. We’ve never had less than 15 parents and the contributions from those attending have been fantastic. It’s been really encouraging to see so many new faces. If you can’t attend the meetings but want to see the agenda and minutes then you can contact the school office and ask to join the distribution list. If you would like to discuss an issue directly with me, my email address is at the foot of this news item. Our main achievement this year is to form 3 sub groups who meet during, and out with, the PC meeting. These groups work closely with members of staff to make sure that maximum benefit is provided. The three groups are communication, business links and fundraising. The communication group has worked with Depute Head, Mr Chisholm to produce FAQs for the new 1st year parents and has devised a survey which will go out to all parents shortly. A letter will also go out to all parents over the summer to give more information about the Parent Council and how they can get involved. The business links group is working closely with the school to provide work experience and information about careers to 3rd and 4th years. Over May a number of groups visited businesses to experience an office environment. If you would be interested in assisting with such opportunities then please contact me. Finally the fundraising group have spent the last year raising money through the Christmas Fair and refreshments. A massive thanks to all of you who support us at these events and who have made the following donations possible.
Lasswade High School Newsle
This academic year the following departments and projects have benefitted from your support – thank you!!
Paid for the School App for a term 2 visualizers for Art Department 8 Mannequins for the Art Department Prizes for the Expressive Arts evening Swimming caps for the Swim Team Literacy aids for s1 South African committee – contribution to South African Students’ visit. SPOTY prizes Parent Council and concert band banners Geography Department London trip - contribution Head team canoe trip – contribution Language department – Paris Trip contribution to a cultural activity Home Economics – Master Chef and Bake Off prizes and support (next term) Duke of Edinburgh’s Gold expedition- contribution to cost
It’s great to see so many different projects being supported. Watch out for a bingo night as well as the School Fair next year. A massive thanks to Lesley Sargent, Fiona Robertson, Anna Traquair, Marie Owen, John French and Ally Hollins Kirk for taking on the sub groups and to all the many parents who help. We said good bye to Lorna Wood and Lesley Darling who have been a driving force in the PC for many years. We will really miss their enthusiasm and help so any new recruits in the coming school year will be most welcome! Have a fantastic summer and hope to see you at our first meeting next year on 25 August. The Christmas Fair will be 24 November – contact me if you would like a stall. Lindsey M McGregor Chair Lindseymmcgregor@aol.com
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Lasswade High School Summer Newsletter 2016 The end!