November 2012 Newsletter

Preston Lodge High School 22 November 2012

November Newsletter

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Inside this issue:

Welcome

1

School Updates

2

Promoted Posts Update

3

Learning at PL

4

House Update

5

Remembrance Ceremony at Preston Lodge High School

Dear Parent/Carer Learning In and Out of School

6

Hospitality Academy

7

Sport Update

9

Dates for your Diary

10

School Session Dates 2013-2014

11

Army Cadet Force Advert

12

Welcome to our second newsletter of the year. As ever, it seems as if our return to school after the summer holiday has quickly moved into preparations for Christmas celebration! This is an exciting time of year, and many really positive things are happening across the school.

This newsletter contains a number of updates, but I would urge all families to take a particular look at our Learning page, where we give more detail of our approach to the “five Rs” at PL. Resilience, responsibility, resourcefulness, reflection and reasoning are the central characteristics we want to develop in all of our students and we are taking very active steps to do just that. Our school community will be hearing much more about these attributes over the coming years.

Do get in touch if you would like to discuss any aspect of our school development and I look forward to seeing many of you at one of our Christmas events in December.

Yours faithfully Gavin Clark Head Teacher

@PrestonLodgeHS

Stage 3 2009‐2012

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School Updates Remembrance Ceremony Our S6 Remembrance Ceremony took place on Monday 12 November and we were delighted to once again be joined by members of the Prestonpans Royal British Legion. This student-led ceremony was organised by our excellent Senior Team and involved readings, poetry and music as well as a short film prepared by Shona Bell.

Shona’s film formed the centrepiece of Remembrance Assemblies held for each year group the week before Remembrance Day and it can be seen by all families on our website www.prestonlodge.net.

Pipe Band Parental Committee I am pleased to report that we have recently established a very vibrant Parental Committee whose work will support our Pipe Band in their development over the coming years. Many thanks to all parents and carers who put themselves forward for this work, and anyone who would like to find out more should contact Lee Moore at bagpipetutoring@gmail.com Forthcoming Event

Picture on front cover.

Staffing update Not too many changes since our last newsletter, but one or two updates: We are delighted that in Languages we recruited Jean Archer to English for the remainder of this year and in Social Studies Stewart Weatherspoon took up his permanent RME post shortly after the October break.

In Technologies we say farewell to Jack Tennent and we are currently recruiting for his replacement.

We were delighted to secure the services of Claire Scott on a permanent contract as a member of our Health&Wellbeing team this week. Claire starts as a Home Economics teacher next month.

School Website Timetable rotation.

Our first trial run of a “floating Monday” on Thursday 25 October seemed to be very successful.

Although there were one or two minor glitches we encountered no major problems and now plan to continue our rotation of school days to ensure equal time coverage across all subjects. The remaining three days when all students will follow a Monday timetable take place on: Wednesday 9 January 2013 Tuesday 16 April 2013 Thursday 9 May 2013 On these days students will once again follow their normal Monday timetable.

After being out of action for months our school website is now back up and running. Please check it out at www.prestonlodge.net.

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Promoted Posts Update During East Lothian’s recent reorganisation of promoted posts in secondary schools the role of Principal Teachers as whole-school leaders and managers was developed. As a result, all PTs in East Lothian are now involved in delivering whole-school responsibilities.

Each PT at Preston Lodge High School is asked to lead and develop a school process, participate in a piece of work which engages students in in school developments and to lead a school event.

We have spent a great deal of time recently discussing particular remits with PTs and I am really pleased that we have been able to secure some very worthwhile developmental roles for our new team. These roles are still evolving and will adapt and change over the coming years. However, our initial structure is as follows: Principal Teacher Process

Student Engagement

Event(s)

Ainslie, Jan

Literacy (Shared)

Prefect Coordination

Burns Supper

Allan, Jeni

Interventions

S6 Coordination (Shared) Learner Feedback (Shared with Learning Coaches)

Talent Shows (non-music)

Bishop, Chris

School Events – Overview (Shared) Community Links (Arts Organisations)

Student Council

Christmas Concerts Talent Shows (Music)

Christie, Pauline

Health and Wellbeing (Shared)

S1-S6 Charities

S1 Health Day

Douglas, Liz

Numeracy

Home Study (shared) Buddy Systems/Mentoring (Shared)

Middle School Dance

Evans, Gareth

ICT

Home Study (shared) Buddy Systems/Mentoring (Shared)

Junior Dance

Fitzpartick, J/ Thain, N

Literacy

Hoban, Vera

School Events – Overview (Shared)

Student Display Group

Prize-giving Events PL Showcase (Whole School Project)

Lanyon, Clint

Recognising Wider Achievement

Activities Week

School Event Photography

S6 Co-ordination (Shared)

Senior Dance

McIntosh, Pam Nicoll, Liz

Health & Wellbeing

Hospitality Academy

Health & Wellbeing Events (S2 Careers Morning, Back to School Evening)

Oates, Pam

Reporting and Tracking

Front-of-House Students

5K Walk

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Learning at PL This month has been a busy time for S4 students as they undertake prelims and begin the push towards final examinations in May next year. In order to cope with the pressures that this brings and to fulfil their potential they are having to draw on key learner attributes that have been developed throughout their school and home life so far; resilience, responsibility, resourcefulness, reflection and reasoning.

These are PL’s “5 Rs”, and this term S1 have been focusing on identifying and developing these attributes in our Learn to Learn classes.

Resilience. We all have times when we find things difficult. Be it in school with a particular piece of work, in our social lives with relationships or in our working lives with deadlines and managing workload, we all often find that the temptation to stop trying is strong. Being resilient means that we don’t give up when the going gets tough and that even when things don’t go as we planned, we bounce back and find a way forward.

Responsibility. Supporting young people to become responsible citizens is one of the key purposes of education. Whether in a school situation, at work or in the community, we all have responsibilities. We have been emphasising the responsibility that we all have to others in the way we behave. We have a responsibility not only to be responsible learners for our own sake, but to ensure that by behaving in a certain way, we do not detract from the learning of those around us.

Resourcefulness. This is about finding different ways to get things done. It’s about using the resources around us, both material and human, in order to find solutions for problems and to complete tasks. It’s ok to get “stuck”. We often learn best from our mistakes. It is not ok to stay stuck. Being resourceful is about knowing how to get yourself unstuck!

Reflection. Learning is often a process of trial and error. Things do not always work first time and things do not always turn out as we intended. Reflection is about looking back at what we have done in order to learn from it. This could be to review the knowledge that we have gained, the skills and attributes we have developed or to evaluate the success of a particular task. What reflection should always do is provide strategies for further development and improvement so that we can progress in our learning.

Reasoning. Creativity, spontaneity and instinct are all part of life. At times, however, we need to think carefully before we jump in or begin a particular task, and first need to plan things out and think things through. By developing our reasoning skills, we can better cope with the demands of life both in and out of school.

We are encouraging our students, from S1 to S6, to develop these attributes and to acknowledge and recognise them in themselves and others. If we can all get the 5 Rs right, we will have skills for learning, skills for work and skills for life.

J Allan, PT Classroom Practice

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House Update

House Dodgeball took place on 7 and 8 November in the PE department and involved combined teams of S1/S2, S3/S4 and S5/S6 pupils duelling to dodgeball death. The event was incredibly well supported by the pupils of all three houses and we estimate around half the school were involved in either playing or supporting the competitors. Such was the extent of pupil involvement, we needed three PE halls to host the event.

In the S1/S2 competition, Gosford were triumphant after beating Seton in the final. The S3/4 event saw Seton victorious, whilst the Senior competition was won confidently by Grange. Given the extent of involvement and the spread of support, it was perhaps fitting that all three houses went away from the event with something to cheer about.

Well done to the competitors from Gosford, Grange and Seton and a big thank you once again to the House Captains for yet another new and exciting addition to the house calendar.

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opportunity for young people to participate in dialogue about the future of Scotland. The event was hosted by Gary Robertson and was held in the format of Question Time. It showcased a lively variety of views on independence. Amy said, " Going to the debate about independence was definitely worthwhile. I now feel able to make an informed decision in the 2014 referendum.'

Gayle Russell

CBBC Comic Relief Glee club A group of S2 - S4 pupils travelled to the BBC at Glasgow on Saturday 3 November to audition for CBBC Comic Relief Glee club. They auditioned as two seperate groups and both performed admirably. One group performed 'Gives You Hell'

by The All American Rejects and the other group performed 'Wings' by Little Mix. They will hear at the end of November if they are to be invited to the final 24 audition in London on 8th and 9th December. Filming will take place in the New Year for the televised section. This year, the group audition stage was filmed so that they could air some of the audition process in the aired programme so, regardless of the outcome, keep a look out for PL pupils!

Campbell McNeil

The latest House points update is: Gosford 285 points Seton 275 points Grange 235 points All to play for!

The House Team

Learning In and Out of School

Preston Lodge Glee Club

S2 Health&Wellbeing ‘Choosing Scotland’s Future’ Debate On Monday, 5th November, four intrepid volunteers from S5/6 headed to the BBC studios in Motherwell.

The pupils involved were Anna Devine, Andrew Ferguson, Marisa Kerr and Amy MacFarlane. They were excellent ambassadors for Preston Lodge, with Marisa's question being selected as a warm-up question. They participated in a debate for BBC1 Scotland, entitled Choosing Scotland's Future.

The programme was an

As part of their Health & Wellbeing course focusing on careers, three S2 classes recently took part in a question and answer session with ten members of Longniddry & District Rotary Club.

The Rotarians talked about their own experiences and the skills they required in their chosen careers and the students then had the opportunity to ask them questions.

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The local Rotary Club is a great support to us at Preston Lodge and I would like to thank the members who came along to talk to the S2 students.

Wendy Waldie

QMU rewards East Lothian pupils for top marks Pupils from six East Lothian secondary schools who achieved top marks in their Highers were celebrated at a special prize giving held recently at QMU. On Monday 12 November, eight pupils from East Lothian Schools who attained the best overall performance in Higher Health Food Technology and Higher Business Management, were praised and rewarded for their achievements. Our own Rebecca Muir and Megan Spence were the PL students picking up prizes. Five of the students who were able to attend the reception were presented with a prize together with a certificate of achievement. The awards were presented by Dr Majella Sweeney, Programme Leader for the BA(Honours) International Hospitality and Tourism Management and Dr Dave McGuire, Programme Leader for the BA (Honours) Business Management, both from the Division of Business, Enterprise and Management.

We would also like to encourage young people in East Lothian to reach their potential by continuing with their learning after leaving school, whether that be at college or university. Importantly, this prize giving encourages young people to come through the door of East Lothian’s university. It helps us develop a good relationship with the schools and the pupils.”

Liz Nicoll

Film Club News The film club (aka Seaside Productions) has recently started work on its sixth film and the third in its social history series – a documentary about Cockenzie Power Station. Aaron Paterson, S5, said, “This is a great opportunity to make a historical record for the community. As you may already know, the station is due to close at the end of March 2013. The Power Station has played such an enormous role in our community since it was built in 1964. It has provided employment and has dominated the landscape. We hope to launch the film in June 2013 at a special evening, as we did with our previous two documentaries, PL Homecoming and John Bellany: a Childhood by the Sea. “It’s great being part of this project,” said Lochlan Mack, S2, “because you get to use a lot of high-tech equipment.”

Watch this space for more information.

Louise Marr Film Club Co-ordinator

Award ceremony

Carol Brennan, Director of the Consumer Insight Centre at QMU, said: “The University wants to be at the very heart of the East Lothian community and we are delighted to support the local schools in this way. We hope that these prizes provide some welldeserved recognition for the hard work that the pupils have put into their study and help to motivate the younger students to do well in their Highers.”

East Lothian Young Chef Competition 2012

Dr Majella Sweeney said: “With our flagship in Sustainable Business, QMU is also very keen to support young people in the study of business management, hospitality and food related areas.

Five East Lothian schools competed on Friday 26 October for this coveted trophy. The brief was to use local fish and seasonal fruit. S4 students Abbie Spence and Jane Davidson showed their

Power Station image

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skills with a menu of fish pie with a twist, leek and parsnip mash and carrot bundles, followed by trio of desserts: bramble compote in a chocolate cup, white chocolate cream and mini doughnuts.

Despite showing great team work, they were pipped at the post by a team from Knox Academy.

Congratulations to our students for a fantastic effort.

Pamela Hogg

Construction Challenge Congratulations to the ten S2 students who participated and won their heat of the Construction Challenge at Telford College.

The students participated in a range of activities which developed their communication, problem solving and teambuilding skills. The group will now take part in the regional final at the Corn Exchange on Thursday 16 January. The participants were; Damian Kotula, Connor Bruce, Jack Leslie Brooke Ritchie, Aoife Crummy, Aaron Doidge, Kimberley McQuade, Becky Somers, Rachel Thomson, Scott Campbell.

Diane Scott Our Construction Challenge team

Hospitality Academy ‘Afternoon Tea’ August 2012 saw the start of the ‘East Lothian Hospitality & Tourism Academy’ at Preston Lodge High School. Fourteen S5 students have been selected to participate in the Academy, which involves one evening a week in their own school; plus Friday afternoons at either Jewel & Esk College or Queen Margaret University. We will also receive many opportunities to engage with the external Hospitality partners, through work placements & onsite visits adding to talks/ presentations from many currently employed in this vibrant Lothian industry.

We recently held our first event, which was a ‘Film-themed afternoon tea’, where we welcomed over 72 guests from the local community. We had entertainment from the school’s senior choir and from Ciara Harvie, a very talented young opera singer who recently competed in ‘Edinburgh’s Got Talent’. Our catering team designed and made a delicate selection of savoury and sweet options to enjoy. The school hall was transformed with a ‘red carpet’ and themed tables to create a very relaxed atmosphere.

We received very positive feedback after the event and our customers praised our catering skills and service. We were delighted with the support and look forward to running our next event.

Holly Harrison and Nicollette Blair East Lothian Hospitality and Tourism Academy

Final Preparations

S5/6 Halloween Party

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Hockey has started well with S1, S2/S3 and a Senior team playing on a weekly basis. The girls have started well with victories against some strong schools such as North Berwick and Ross High. The Preston Lodge U-14 Badminton team recently took girls now have six more games before the part in the Mid-East Lothian Quaich at Meadowmill.

Christmas break and they will hopefully continue The team played the other five East Lothian schools the good form. and finished second in the tournament to a strong North Berwick side. The U-19s won the Mid-East Football has also started well with an U-14, U-16 Lothian Quaich. They have now secured a place in and Senior boys team, as well as U-15 and U-18 girls teams. The U-15 girls played their first ever the national finals at Ravenscraig after Christmas. match together and for some girls their first ever Preston Lodge High School also represented Mid & game of football. They beat Lornshill Academy 5-2 East Lothian at the recent Scottish Schools in an exciting game and now progress to the next Badminton Senior Inter Area competition at Perth round of the Scottish Cup. on Saturday. All but one of the team are from Preston Lodge and it was great to see them winning There have been a lot of opportunities and good results taking place and this will hopefully continue. the event.

However this can only happen with the help of volunteers, who I would like to thank. There is a coaches meeting coming up shortly and if any new volunteers would like to help please get in touch at gbennion@elcschool.org.uk

Sport Update

Graeme Bennion

Music to Rugby Player’s Ears

Winners of the Scottish Schools Badminton Senior Inter Area Competition

PL pupils are not only fantastic rugby players but they are also finding different ways to entertain on the rugby pitch. Our very own Daniel Luby was part of the pre-match entertainment at the Scotland vs New Zealand match at Murrayfield, playing the drums. This is always a special experience but even more so as he was only yards away from the famous haka. Talking about the experience, Daniel said, 'I thought some of my teachers were scary but the haka was petrifying. It made the hairs on my neck stand. I felt really proud to be standing on front of 70,000 people. All the hard work and practice is worthwhile.'

PLHS Rugby has developed since a wobbly start back in August. All year groups have improved and the results are there to prove it. One highlight was certainly the senior 1st XV hammering Musselburgh Grammar 74 - 7 in the Scottish shield. The team played some spectacular flowing rugby but also Chris Thomas portrayed a determined, proud PL attitude which was too much for the Musselburgh boys to cope with. Another recent highlight was the school U-15 team dismantling George Watsons 50 - 0. This match included a hat trick for Jamie Fraser and a superb solo try from Jack Gordon.

Lets keep up the good work!

The U-16 and U-18 teams are now in the Brewin Dolphin Shield semi-final. The rugby teams also recently attended a Rugby 7s tournament along with an U-15 girls team. This was the girls first ever time playing together and they managed to win the tournament. Well done!

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Dates for Your Diary!

Monday 26 November

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Please note that these dates are subject to change

First Week of S3 Options Rota 2 S5/6 Parents’ Evening (4.30-6.30 pm)

Friday 30 November

S3 Early Warning to Parents

Wednesday 12 December

Senior Citizens’ Christmas Lunch

Thursday 13 December and Friday 14 December

Christmas Concert Rehearsals

Monday 17 December

Christmas Concert Rehearsals/Christmas Concert (pm)

Tuesday 18 December

S4 Reports send to parents/Christmas Concert (pm)

Wednesday 19 December

Senior Dance

Thursday 20 December

Talent Show/All Break

Monday 7 January

In-service Day 4-Staff Resume

Tuesday 8 January

Students Resume

Wednesday 9 January

Monday TT to be followed on this Wednesday

Thursday 24 January

Burns’ Supper

Monday 28 January

S5/6 Prelims start

Tuesday 29 January

S4 Parents’ Evening (4.30-6.30 pm)

Monday 4 February

S4 Int2 Prelims start

Friday 8 February

S4 Int2 and S5/6 Prelims end/All Break

Monday 18 February

Staff and Pupils Resume

Monday 25 February

S4/5 Options Meeting (Evening)

Tuesday 26 February

DTP Vaccinations

Friday 1 March

S3 Reports to Parents

Dates are subject to change

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