Volume 3: September 2021
School Newsletter What's new in this issue: Invitation to our Celebration of Achievement School Holidays School Canteen Information Practical Woodwork Rights Respecting Schools Cardross Community Gardens S2 Science Pupil Book Club Sailmaker Advanced Higher English Former Pupil Story Skills Development Scotland School Improvement European Day of Language Buddy Fun Run Maths Supported Study Developing Effective Study Skills Buddy Meeting Leadership Academy Eco News
SCHOOL HOLIDAYS – 2021/22 Here is the list of school holidays for this academic year. Pleas click on the subscribe link to store the calendar on a digital device. These dates are also available via the school website on the homepage.
Argyll and Bute Council’s Community Services Committee has agreed the school holiday dates for 2021-2022.
Click to Subscribe
Monday 11- 25 October 2021 October Holiday Monday 29 November 2021 - Teacher In-service Day Thursday 23 December - 6 January 2022 Christmas Holiday Monday 7 - 11 February 2022 – February Holiday Monday 14 February 2022 – Teacher In-service Day Monday 4 - 19th April 2022 Easter Holiday Friday 27 May 2022 – Teacher In-service Day Friday 1 July 2022 - Close for Summer
School Canteen Menu & Price List
By Mrs Hammill
The School Canteen have released the menu for this academic session which operates on a 4 week rotation. Next week we will be working from week 3 of the rotation. Please access the menu using the link below: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1VuLnF_q1x3cPDIO2u3U84DChFhkRh9FZ/edit? usp=sharing&ouid=117320682077528879985&rtpof=true&sd=true Please click on the following link to see the new canteen price lists. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-AwJud2P0bev8LOPoxaGifQh3FSChzhf/edit? usp=sharing&ouid=117320682077528879985&rtpof=true&sd=true
Hermitage Academy School Newsletter Volume 3: September 2021
Practical Woodwork By Miss Marshall
Great work from S5/6 Practical Woodwork to complete their first project - the chalkboard. Excellent mortise and tenon joints without any gaps by Ciaran Patterson & Chris Meikle!
Rights Respecting Schools By Miss Marshall
This year the Rights Respecting School group are #GoingForGold! With our Gold accreditation visit scheduled for January, our young people have been busy recording a video displaying their understanding of children's rights and how we as a school support our young people to explore their rights in a variety of ways. We look forward to keeping you informed about our journey to Gold. Video: https://twitter.com/MissMarshallCDT/statu s/1437423789449568256/video/1 or Scan QR Code to vide video
Hermitage Academy School Newsletter Volume 3: September 2021
Cardross Community Garden By Sara Craise (S1)
Cardross Community Organic Garden needs your help! Please drop by anytime during the undernoted times to discuss the creation of a Community Garden for the people of Cardross, everyone is welcome. Sat 25th Sept 2021, 12-2pm-Cardross Church Hall Sun 26 Sept 2021, 1-5 pm Geilston Hall LET'S GROW A GARDEN
S2 Science
By Miss Fraser
2CX have been producing a salt by adding an alkali to an acid. They really enjoyed it and all got good results from their experiment.
Hermitage Academy School Newsletter Volume 3: September 2021
Pupil Book Club By Mrs MacGillivray
The Pupil Book Group is back up and running. We like to spend Thursday lunch times reading, chatting and recommending books we have enjoyed. We have even been lucky enough to get a few signed copies of, local author, Robin Scott-Elliot's novels. Here is Heidi racing through 'Hide and Seek' which she is loving!
Sailmaker
By Mrs MacGillivray
We have been reading the play 'Sailmaker' in English. Pupils are learning about the characters, themes, structure, setting and plot and Holly, Kirsty and Issy made a brilliant start on our revision display. Brilliant work, girls.
Hermitage Academy School Newsletter Volume 3: September 2021
Advanced Higher English By Mrs Shearer Advanced Higher English Virtual Poetry Workshop - Never Such Innocence Eleven of our Advanced Higher English pupils took part in a virtual poetry writing workshop ran by the charity Never Such Innocence. Pupils were led through the workshop and the process of finding creative inspiration, getting first ideas down on paper and editing/improving on their work. The charity focuses on giving young people a voice on conflict through the medium of poetry, and has a particular focus on supporting those with family in the armed forces. https://www.neversuchinnocence.com/
Hermitage Academy School Newsletter Volume 3: September 2021
Former Pupil: Reuben Joseph Community News
Rueben Joseph grew up in Helensburgh, and followed his elder sister into an early interest in singing and performance, appearing in school shows and with the Glasgow Apollo Players. At 18, he won a place to study theatre at Langside College, now part of Clyde College, and graduated in 2018 straight into a flourishing career with a range of companies in Scotland and beyond. He appeared in the Citizens’ Theatre’s acclaimed 2018 version of A Christmas Carol, toured the United States with the legendary TEAM company in their National Theatre of Scotland co-production Anything That Gives Off Light, and was part of the superb ensemble company brought together by ThickSkin and the Traverse for the 2019 Scotsman Fringe First-winning show How Not To Drown, about a refugee journey from Kosovo. He also appeared in the recent NTS/Dundee Rep production of The Cheviot, The Stag And The Black, Black Oil, directed by Joe Douglas; and his recent lockdown assignments include the National Theatre of Scotland’s Ghosts, an audio production exploring the history of Scotland’s links with slavery via a walk through a Merchant City peopled by the ghosts of the many black people whose history in the city has, until now, gone largely unrecognised. “I think when I first left college I was still suffering a bit from impostor syndrome,” says Joseph, who is one of Scotland’s growing generation of young actors of colour. “I was somehow always expecting to be found out. But working with Joe Douglas on The Cheviot really helped me to overcome that. He’s a very supportive director, and he really helped me to build up confidence, and use all my performing skills in a show I really loved. I also loved touring America with Anything That Gives Off Light, and being part of creating the very first production off How Not To Drown. “I think I’ve been beyond lucky to be able to continue working throughout most of the pandemic,” says Joseph, who has just finished a London run in Turbine Theatre’s #50 Days, a grime musical about the execution of King Charles I in which he played the doomed king. “But last year, when Covid first hit, I went back to live in Helensburgh, and recorded this EP entirely in my Mum's garage. “As a singer and songwriter I’m still at the stage of trying to imitate people I really admire, like Etta James and Alabama Shakes. But I think this song does reflect the invisible battles many people are fighting during this time. These days, when people ask each other ‘how are you’, they seem to do it earnestly, because we know that so many people are having a hard time. And I hope this song, Feel Better, captures a bit of that.” https://www.scotsman.com/whats-on/arts-and-entertainment/the-scotsman-sessions-248-reubenjoseph-3260736? __twitter_impression=true&fbclid=IwAR05eb2gsNyGW6W3y7n05Qw7fDajLWASXMT1etbeuODTa8PFQ BvIRLDrpfw
Hermitage Academy School Newsletter Volume 3: September 2021
Introduction to Skills Development Scotland (SDS) By Ann O'May Want to know more about SDS career information, advice and guidance support for your young person throughout their time at school? Join our careers advisers Lesley and Gordon to hear about SDS, the role of SDS careers advisers in schools and information to support career planning. The online session will also introduce our careers web service My World of Work, which has a dedicated area for parents and carers. Parents and carers can register for our session here. https://s1parentsandcarers.eventbrite.co.uk
Hermitage Academy School Newsletter Volume 3: September 2021
School Improvement By Mr Munro
We are delighted to share with you that following our Stakeholder Collaborative Meeting and through Volume 1: August 2021 followed up conversations that we have now made the final changes to our School Improvement Plan. We now have the final version of 'Our One Page Plan' which shares our priorities and key action points with our families and our community. I would like to express my sincere thanks to the Pupil Captaincy Team for the incredible amount of work that has gone into this process. I would like to also thank the Rights Respecting School Working Group for supporting this process as it will help them on their journey to achieving a Gold Award. We are now in the final process of transforming 'Our One Page Plan' into an interactive document that will allow us to share our improved approach to Improvement Planning with our community. Both the School Improvement Plan and 'Our One Page Plan' will be launched in our next news letter.
European Day of Languages By Mrs Doherty
Happy European Day of Languages! https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hWUvWedxgpZF5Gx6sH0kwc0gME-WMxfB/view?usp=sharing Muchas gracias, The Modern Languages Department
Hermitage Academy School Newsletter Volume 3: September 2021
S1 and S6 Buddy Fun Run By Mrs Harvey
S1 & S6 Buddy Fun Run The S1 & S6 Buddy Fancy Dress Fun Run will take place on Thursday 7th of October during period 5&6. S1 enjoyed a virtual assembly this week finding out more about what the Fun Run entails. All of the staff at Hermitage Academy are very much looking forward to seeing the wild and wonderful creative costumes our S1s and S6s come up with. A letter will be sent out at the end of next week detailing the plan for the day. Let's hope for sunshine!
Maths Supported Study Mrs Orr
Maths Supported Study for S4 to S6 is held every Wednesday and Friday lunchtime in room D120. Come along to get support with assessment revision, homework or any specific topics you are finding challenging.
Developing Effective Study Skills Mrs Harvey
S3-S5 have been enjoying Health & Wellbeing lessons supporting them to develop Growth Mindset. “In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment.” ( Dweck, 2015) Pupils are also exploring a variety of ways to develop their study skills to support them as they progress through the school year. Good study skills can increase your confidence, competence, and self-esteem. They can also reduce anxiety about assessments and deadlines. By developing effective study skills, we hope our young people may be able to cut down on the numbers of hours spent studying, leaving more time for other activities and hobbies.
Hermitage Academy School Newsletter Volume 3: September 2021
Buddy Meeting By Mrs Kennedy
Our new S1 have had the opportunity over the last couple of weeks to meet with their S6 Buddy. There was much excitement all round with both the S1 and S6 young people thoroughly enjoying the experience. S6 were a real credit to the school taking on their role with such enthusiasm and maturity. It was heart-warming to witness our senior and junior young people interacting so positively towards each other. Well done!
Leadership Academy
By Mr Munro and Mrs Harvey A meeting was held this week for all of our S6 who have applied for the Leadership Academy. Mrs Harvey will have a further meeting next week as we continue to support our young people to take an active and lead role this year. We would like more S6 to apply for our Leadership Academy using the following link. Please take the opportunity to read through the following presentation and this will provide further information on what you can get involved in as part of this process. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lEFbZH4FPImupO1F78D7W2yCbLavDUqB/view?usp=sharing All pupils who are interested in applying for the leadership academy can do so via the following link: https://forms.gle/3NFVn9MzK5tbnJL16
Hermitage Academy School Newsletter Volume 3: September 2021
Eco Schools News By Mrs McLeod
Eco-Schools We are already having fun while learning about and taking action to prevent climate change, all the while working towards achieving our first Green Flag award and Plastic Free Schools status. Although the Eco-Committee will be steering our actions, all pupils and staff are encouraged to participate so please do encourage your young person to get involved. With COP26 arriving in Glasgow in November, there are so many Eco events, opportunities and competitions around at the moment, so keep your eyes peeled!
Eco Committee The Eco-Committee showed their support of Plastic Free Helensburgh during their 1st committee meeting by signing a pledge to: • work to remove at least 3 items of single-use plastic from our daily activities • commit to include our stance on single-use plastic in our communications • raise awareness of and support plastic-free initiatives in the community During our second committee meeting, we chose which topics to undertake for our Green Flag journey: Litter & Waste, Climate Action and Global Citizenship. We also chose Sustainable Development Goal 4 as our overarching goal: Life Below Water. Each member then chose which topic to concentrate on and we split into 3 groups to start working on our Action Plans for the year.
S6 Recyclers The S6 Recyclers have now started emptying the recycling bins in the classrooms on a weekly basis and less waste is going to landfill, so a huge thanks to all our volunteers!
Plastic Free Schools As part of our work on tackling litter and waste, we will be working on gaining Plastic Free Schools status, as awarded by Surfers Against Sewage. Two S2 Maths classes and members of the Eco-Committee will start their monthly litter picks around the school during the week beginning 27th September and the S2 Maths classes will use the litter to produce data on litter in our school. We will use this data in 3 ways: 1) to run anti-litter campaigns 2) to write to government 3) to write to the worst-offending companies Some S1 classes will also shortly be using the Plastic Free Schools resources to learn about the pros and cons of plastic in their Science lessons.
Hermitage Academy School Newsletter Volume 3: September 2021
Bike to School Bike to School Week Next week is Bike to School Week! It’s good for your physical health, it’s good for your mental health and it’s good for the environment. How many days next week can you cycle or scoot to school? Let Sustrans know your family is cycling or scooting to school to be in with the chance of winning a Frog bike. Visit www.sustrans.org.uk/biketoschoolweek/pledge
Young Climate Warriors Young Climate Warriors This week’s Young Climate Warriors challenge is Recycling. Can you make sure everyone in your household recycles as much as possible? Remember, the challenge is added to the Eco-Schools 2020-21 Google Classroom (ask your registration teacher for the class code). It's completely voluntary but you can earn house points and help the environment by submitting evidence of having completed them.
Climate Action Workshop Climate Action Workshop run by Keep Scotland Beautiful Some of our Eco-Committee attended the virtual workshop on Climate Action on Tue 14th Sept. There were 3 topics: Fast Fashion, Energy and Food. For each we learned about the topic, the effects of the topic on the earth and what action we can take to lessen these effects. At the end of the workshop, our pupils were brimming with ideas they would like to put into action during the course of the year and they were told to bring these to the next committee meeting.
Climate Champions Intervention Climate Champions Invention Challenge by CRIN Pupils aged 6-15 are being challenged to use their imaginations to come up with ideas for inventions that will help protect our planet and its biodiversity! The organisers, CRIN (Child Rights International Network) will show the ideas to as many people as possible who have the power to change things, and encourage adults to listen to pupils’ amazing ideas. A selection of the most creative and inspirational entries will be brought to life by expert illustrators and 3D graphic artists and shown at the UN Human Rights Council and other important events, as well as being shown on the CRIN website. (https://climatechampions.littleinventors.org/) Closing date is midnight on 11th October 2021. Please see Miss Marshall in Technical for more information and entry forms and return the forms to her for submission.
Hermitage Academy School Newsletter Volume 3 September 2021
Climate Challenge Climate Challenge: 1.5 Degrees Films Climate Challenge: 1.5 Degrees Films (https://filmaccess.scot/climate-challenge-1-5-degrees-films/) invites people to make 90-second films to share their thoughts and ideas about climate change and how it is affecting us as individuals, our surroundings, families and communities. The early deadline for film submissions is midnight on 24th October 2021. All eligible films submitted to the Challenge will be made available for viewing on Film Access Scotland’s website, providing a platform for sharing views on climate change. Submissions from young people aged between 16 and 25 years will automatically be entered into Film Access Scotland’s Youth Film Festival in November 2021. Films submitted by filmmakers based in Scotland may also be screened at fringe events in Glasgow in and around COP26 and at events to celebrate the Challenge planned after COP26. There will be commendations and prizes for filmmakers based in Scotland. For further information, please see Mrs McLeod on a Tue or Thu lunchtime in A119 (opposite the library).
Autumn Community Litter Pick Autumn Community Litter Pick We held a very successful litter pick of the woods behind and beside the school after school on Thursday 23rd September. 8 pupils and 5 members of staff collected and sorted 13 bags/ 32.92 kg of litter and photographed the evidence. We logged our actions as part of Surfers Against Sewage’s Million Mile Clean. Well done to everyone involved, your actions have made a big difference: you helped clean our community and took part in some citizen science at the same time!
Hermitage Academy School Newsletter Volume 3: September 2021