Christmas Newsletter 2018

www.stjosephscollege.co.uk

Christmas Newsletter 2018

ST. JOSEPH’S COLLEGE

A Message from the Head Teacher Christmas is almost here again! As I write we are looking forward to the PFA Carol Service having had great fun at the Christmas lunches and Ceilidh’s last week—a great way to end what as always has been a busy term. After the October break we welcomed Mrs F Reilly to the post of Principal Teacher Curriculum (PE and HE) and following the Christmas break we will be joined by Mr R McKay as Principal Teacher Social Subjects.

We wish them both well in their new posts.

An outstanding feature of this term outwith the hard work in the classroom has been much fundraising . Between the Poppy Appeal, the Wee and Big Sleep Outs, the Christmas Market and the workout for Lepra, the school community has raised over £10,000 within 8 weeks. A phenomenal amount in a short space of time! On behalf of the Charities Committee and the young people who will benefit I would like to thank you all for your amazing generosity.

As you will see from the newsletter, pupils have been very successful in a number of other extracurricular areas and I hope you will enjoy hearing of their achievements.

Wish every best wish for a peaceful Christmas and a bright New Year.

Mrs Jones

Monday 7th January: School reopens 8.50 a.m.

Tuesday 8th January: Parent Council Meeting 7 p.m.

Wednesday 9th January: S2 Full Reports to Parents Thursday 10th January: S3 Parents’ Evening 4.30-6.30 p.m.

Monday 14th January: S4-S6 Prelims begin Friday 24th January: S4-S6 Prelims end; Friday Live!

Saturday 25th January: Ski Trip departs Mon 28th —Thurs 31st Jan: S1 Maths Challenge Saturday 2nd February: Ski Trip returns Thursday 7th February: UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge Monday 11th February: S4 Full Reports to Parents Wednesday 13th February: S4 Parents’ Evening 4.40-6.30 p.m.

Monday 18th February: S5/6 Full Reports to Parents Tuesday 19th February: S5/6 Parents’ Evening 4.40-6.30 p.m.

Thursday 21st February: Pupil Holiday; Staff INSET Friday 22nd February: Pupil Holiday; Staff INSET Friday 1st March: Friday Live!

Monday 4th March: S2 Energy Quest Day Wednesday 6th March: PFA Meeting 7 p.m.

Friday 8th March: British Science Week begins Tuesday 12th March: Parent Council Meeting 7 p.m.

Wednesday 13th March: Science Fair 6.30-8.30 p.m.

Friday 22nd March: Salters’ Chemistry Challenge Monday 1st April: S3 Profile Booklets issued to pupils/parents Friday 5th April: Easter Services; School closes

St. Joseph’s Christmas Market 2018

Message from School Chaplain This year of 2018 has been a very special one for me. It has been the year of my Silver Jubilee as a priest. It has been marked in many different ways, as a family, as a parish, as a diocese and most recently as the guest of the Scots’ College in Rome, with others celebrating Jubilees. It has been an opportunity to look back over the last 25 years and think about the people and places that I have served as priest. It is also an occasion to contemplate the future and what lies ahead. As we arrive at Christmas time we are given a similar opportunity. We thank God for being in our lives and acknowledging Him at work in us. It is a time to look forward and pledge and commit ourselves to serving Him more and better. I wish everyone who reads this Newsletter a Happy and Holy Christmas Season and prosperous New Year.

Fr Gerald Donnelly

On the 23 November 2018 a group our S3 pupils competed in, and won, the Dumfries and Galloway College Schools Competition. This annual competition, which took place at Dumfries and Galloway College, featured S3 pupils from across region taking part in a series of challenges across a number of the College’s curricular areas. The competition gave pupils an opportunity to engage with staff at the College, view the facilities and gain an understanding of the types of courses offered there. St Joseph’s College was represented by twenty six pupils taking part in a variety of activities including designing ceramic tiles around a theme, plumbing, construction, photography, and electrical engineering. The team was full of enthusiasm and displayed excellent team work and communication skills.

The competition provided pupils with an amazing opportunity to tackle tasks which challenged their creativity. While the performance of all participating pupils was fantastic, special mention needs to be made of two teams in particular. Harry Jackson and Megan Douglas were the overall winners of their activity Computer Programming.

This activity challenged the pair to design and programme a computer game in which the player had to recapture animals that had escaped from the zoo. Daniel Carroll, Fraser Langan, Caitlin Purdie and Sophie Ritchie were the overall winners of the activity Literacy Alive, which challenged the group to choose a children’s story and using their imagination make it come alive with the use of creative props.

Congratulations to all of our participants who were recommended by their class teachers to take part in the event, they represented the school in a mature and dignified way. They were supportive of each other and did the school proud! The school is also grateful to the College and sponsors particularly Loreburn Housing for the prize money of £800 which accompanied the trophy. Pupils are currently deciding what they will spend the money on to enhance the school for pupils.

St. Joseph’s Remembers 2018

Our Remembrance Day assemblies were led by Mr. Jones and took place in the St. Joseph’s College Chapel which is a registered war memorial, recognising the sacrifice made by former pupils. The Roll of Honour for World War I comprises the names, rank and regiment of the 57 that died in that war. Our thanks go to the musicians that performed at these assemblies.

St. Joseph’s College Christmas Newsletter 2018

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Notre séjour à l'Hermitage en France As participants in the Marist Leadership programme, seven S4 pupils were fortunate enough to get the chance to travel to France. We left school at 6 a.m. on Thursday 4th October and arrived at L’Hermitage, where we were staying, just outside St. Étienne at 6 p.m. Upon arrival, we chatted with the Dundee pupils over hot drinks and biscuits and about an hour later we had dinner. This was followed by an introduction to all of the other schools and then getting to know each other in the evening social room.

After a long day of travelling on we had yet more travelling to look forward to the next day! We began the day with guided tours of L’Hermitage, where we learned a little about Marcellin Champagnat, the founder of the Marist Brothers and the values he believed in. We visited the chapel in which Marcellin’s remains are held and where stained glass windows detail the highlights of Marcellin’s life. We also visited the room in which Marcellin stayed, which now contains abstract African art. Next, we ate lunch and then took the bus to La Valla and La Rosey to learn more about Marcellin Champagnat. We concluded the day back at L’Hermitage with dinner and some social time.

Saturday was busy and also my favourite day. In the morning each school presented their plans for the future projects as part of the Marist Leadership programme in their school. Our plan is to renovate the Marcellin Champagnat statue in our school grounds. Afterwards we ate lunch, followed by several leadership and teamwork activities in which each team member had the chance to be the leader for one activity. This was evaluated by the rest of the team and the activity coordinators. The teams were a mixture of people from various schools. There were three all-boys schools from Ireland, St. John’s from Dundee and our school. I found the activities really fun and they helped us to learn a lot about ourselves. After the activities we took part in a reflection of the trip as a whole. We then had a short amount of time to get ready and travelled to a restaurant in St. Etienne called ‘Le Chaudron Vert’, where we all ate burgers and chips followed by ice cream profiteroles. On Sunday we travelled home, beginning the journey with the St. John’s pupils, initially to Lyon airport and from there we flew to Brussels. We had a free time in Brussels, where we all ate lunch and some of us indulged in buying some Belgian chocolate.

From Brussels, we flew to Edinburgh and then on to Dumfries. Overall, a fantastic experience none of us will forget.

Erin Howat

Secondary Schools Sports Performance of the Year 2018 Congratulations to St. Joseph’s College team of Finlay Kennedy, Nevin Harmjanz, Scott Hyslop and Jack Carrick.

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Female Sports Personality of the Year 2018 Past pupil Katy Brown with her mum and proud PE teacher , Mrs Read.

St. Joseph’s College Christmas Newsletter 2018

Peter Pan Moat Brae Trust In November a number of St. Joseph’s pupils took part in the Dumfries and Galloway Schools Ensemble, where we joined with pupils from other schools across the region to perform at the Staged! event. We played an original piece of music ‘Peter Pan Moat Brae composed by Patrick Dupuy; this piece was definitely a challenge and lasted over 12 minutes! We all enjoyed working together as a team during rehearsals to perfect our final performance. One of our greatest challenges was not only playing together with one another but as we were accompanying the Dumfries School of Dance we couldn’t make any mistakes.

On the performance night, we were the first of four music, drama and dance groups to perform so we were under a lot of pressure to open the night.

Thankfully our performance went well and was greatly received by our audience, including a very special guest, Joanna Lumley who is a Patron of the Peter Pan Moat Brae Trust. A great night was had by all and both musicians and dancers were really proud of themselves for bringing the performance together in a relatively short space of time. A huge thanks has to go to Mrs Somerville for everything she does for the band.

Kara, Eilish and Eve from Dumfries School of Dance

Hannah Mortlock and Ross Burns

Dreams for the Future Festival Following a visit to Moat Brae when in primary school, some of our pupils were inspired by their teacher, Mrs. Kerr, to continue their involvement with the Peter Pan Moat Brae Trust. Pictured above is Peter Pan (Louise Jones) and Wendy (Emilia Chierici Black) with Tinkerbell and Joanna Lumley at the new National Centre for Children’s Literature and Storytelling, Moat Brae. Emilia is also pictured with Dame Barbara Kelly (Chairperson of the Moat Brae Trust) receiving her prize for the Standard Letter Writing competition. At the Staged! Event, Emilia together with Owen Kennedy (S1) performed in a production of J.M. Barrie’s first play ‘Bandelero the Bandit’ together with the Theatre Royal Junior Guild players.

St. Joseph’s College Christmas Newsletter 2018

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Fifteen pupils took part in Sleep in the Park in Edinburgh on Saturday 8th December. The students enjoyed a concert with numerous acts before settling down to sleep in Princes Street Gardens. The group said it was really cold and therefore they didn't get much sleep. However, the event has raised awareness of what they have and they don't understand how homeless people cope every night! They are all pleased they participated in the event and raised funds to help end homelessness in Scotland. The seniors raised a total of £1350.00. A huge congratulations to all who took part and raised this amazing amount for a great cause.

On Friday 23 November, St Joseph's Equestrian Club attended the Austin Friars Inter-School Show Jumping Competition at Blackdyke Riding Centre, Carlisle. This was a great opportunity for us to represent our school and also allowed us to interact with other competitors from various schools in Dumfries and Galloway and Cumbria. As a result of our excellent teamwork we were able to bring back a 6th place in the 75cm Team Event. Not only did we place well as a team, but also did well individually with Charlotte obtaining a 1st prize for fastest double clear round of the day. We were also able to obtain video evidence of our performance to use for our National P.E exam. Overall it was a lovely day and a great experience.

Report by Skye Marshall and Charlotte Macgregor S4

Successful Sisters Back in May this year Madelaine Archibald and her 128 show jumping pony Lucy (My Little Sweetheart) were successful in winning a Horse of the Year Show qualifier, jumping the only treble clear of the class to take the win and secure their place at the prestigious event held in Birmingham NEC . They jumped a super round with just one pole down, which unfortunately meant no placing this time, but an amazing experience for them both. They have had a very successful year together winning the National Gold League title for 128 show jumping ponies at the start of the year and have just regained the title for the second time, quite an achievement on a National level. They have competed and been placed at various events this year including Bolesworth International, the Royal Highland Show and the Royal International Horse Show at Hickstead, they will end this year having gained qualifications for London Olympia Horse Show at Christmas and Liverpool International Horse Show over New Year along with big sister Philippa (S3).

Philippa also competed recently in the Land Rover Blair Castle International Horse Trials in the Open Working Hunter Pony Championships for Scotland. She won her class being the only combination to jump clear. In addition to her horse riding success, Philippa had been recalled for secondary trials for the Regional Netball Squad. After a training and selection session she was successful in being selected for the Under 15s Regional Netball Team representing St Joseph’s College and Dumfries & Galloway. Congratulations to both girls.

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St. Joseph’s College Christmas Newsletter 2018

Clean Up Before Christmas Campaign Our S1-S3 pupils participated in the authority campaign ‘Clean Up Before Christmas’ (which ran from the 19 th – 26th of November) in order to help make the community look more presentable by picking up rubbish from the surrounding area. Mr B. Brown’s class, completing the John Muir Award, conducted a litter pick in the morning and Miss Morrison lead another litter pick around St. Michael’s Church and the school at lunchtime. Andrew Hay, a Community Safety Enforcement Officer, and Lorraine Wilson, the Town Centre Ambassador assisted by helping to supervise, providing litter pickers and ‘high-vis’ vests.

Pupils enjoyed the experience with Shannon Smith (S1) commenting, ‘It was good to go out and help the community’ and Adam Todd (S1) adding, ‘It was good getting to clean up the environment around the school’.

2018 St. Andrew’s Day Debating Competition On Monday 3rd December, two of our S6 pupils competed in the St Andrew’s Day Debating Tournament. The tournament, held annually at The Scottish Parliament for the past twelve years, sees pupils compete in a day-long event, with three preliminary rounds and a Grand Final in the Debating Chamber of the Parliament.

This year, for the first time, pupils were paired with a pupil from a different school to the one they attend. Each team was mentored by university students. A number of pupils were also involved in chairing and timekeeping for the debates, sitting on the judging panels, and contributing to the floor debates.

Our resident debaters, Dorian Eedle and Maddie Martin (with Miss McCaughey– English teacher) had an early rise at 5.30am to catch the train to Edinburgh in time for the competition starting. The day started off well for the pupils as they were served a breakfast buffet upon their arrival. Afterwards, the pupils were paired with their co-debater. For Dorian, this was a pupil from Loretta School in Musselburgh, East Lothian.

Maddie was taking on the role of a judge in this competition; it was a new experience for her but one which she greatly enjoyed. One of the biggest challenges for Maddie was coming to a consensus with the other judges as to the merits of each of the debater’s speeches. Maddie said, “ I have really enjoyed seeing all of the debaters from the different schools and I’ve been really impressed at how confident they are; I think I would like to get more involved in debating after this experience.”

Dorian enjoyed the experience of being mentored by University students; he is hoping to leave school after S6 and study Law, so for him this experience enabled him to try his hand at arguing his case with other likeminded individuals.

Both pupils did very well, and although Dorian and his team mate did not make it through to the final round, we did get to spend time in the Debating Chamber of the Scottish Parliament and have a private tour of the building. Well done to both pupils and I hope they maintain their enthusiasm for debating when they leave for pastures new.

St. Joseph’s College Christmas Newsletter 2018

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On Thursday 29th November, students from St. Joseph’s College performed at the Dumfries Burgh Rotary Young Musician of the Year competition. The National Young Musician Competition is a wellestablished and successful competition promoted by Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland. It is a four stage national competition designed to support and encourage the development of musical talent.

Harry McGowan, James Knox, Caitlin Taylor and Joseph RaffertyMcGlynn performed two pieces of music which were well received by the audience. A detailed critique was given with James Knox receiving first place in the Instrumental Section playing saxophone and Harry McGowan runner-up on pipes. James will go on to compete at the zone final at Annan Academy. Congratulations to you both and we wish James well with his performance in February.

Well done to our pupils who took part in the NYCoS Dumfries Christmas concert.

Louise Jones, Lucy Carruthers , Abbie Edgar, Caitlin Purdie, Emily Stewart and Tia Laurie (insert).

A group of pupils recently visited the Dumfries Day Centre to entertain the ladies and gentlemen who attend the organisation. Eleven pupils from S3 and S6 played a variety of different pieces of music and of course some Christmas Carols. The group were made very welcome and the audience enjoyed the afternoon singing along with the songs. They were tapping and clapping along with Finlay who played two sets on the small pipes. Hannah, Ross, Euan and Laura accompanied the carols with Caitlin, Emily and Abi singing and Meghan performing on guitar.

The afternoon ended with juice and an opportunity for our pupils to spend time chatting with the older people. Abbie and Alana performed a couple of ABBA songs which were enjoyed by everyone. A big thank you to Dumfries Day Centre for inviting us to play and we will visit again in February to give our SQA pupils an opportunity to perform to a super audience before their exam.

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St. Joseph’s College Christmas Newsletter 2018

Over one hundred S1-S3 pupils from Saint Joseph’s College took part in the ‘Wee Sleep Out’ on the night of 9 th November to raise awareness and money for homelessness in Scotland. A phenomenal total of £3124.50 was collected by our students. The event was organised at a national level by Social Bite, the Scottish homeless charity and on the evening almost 5000 young people from schools around Scotland participated.

The school Charities Committee organised the event. On the evening there was a programme of activities and reflection to see the evening through. Pupils played games, had a soup supper and reflected on the issue of homeless at a special event in the College Chapel. The pupils were supported by a team of S6 pupils and staff from the school.

When ‘lights out’ arrived at just after midnight, pupils had to make the choice of either sleeping in the school’s gymnasiums or outside behind the school. Incredibly, given the driving wind and rain, over 60 pupils took on the challenge of sleeping outdoors. In the morning, pupils were treated to a warm breakfast before making their way home, no doubt many of them to bed to catch up on missed sleep.

Event organiser and leader of the Charities Committee, Mrs. Flint said, “The Wee Sleep Out was a huge success and we were overwhelmed with the number of pupils who took part. The students showed excellent determination and resilience with many of them keen to sleep outdoors, regardless of the weather. The reflection in the Chapel increased their awareness of just how many people including children their age and younger are homeless and are dealing with these challenging situations every day. The Scottish Charity Social Bite who organised this event are keen to build Homeless villages throughout Scotland and the money that the pupils raised will go towards making this. A huge well done to all involved.”

St. Joseph’s College Christmas Newsletter 2018

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St. Joseph’s College Christmas Newsletter 2018

S3 ARTISTS

Lauren Kerr

Abigail Fyall

Rhiannon Davers

Emily Stewart St. Joseph’s College Christmas Newsletter 2018

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S3 ARTISTS

Tammi Stuart Lucy Jin

Mia Wilson

Mae Cranmer

Chloe Bill Page 11

St. Joseph’s College Christmas Newsletter 2018

Fright Night 2018

St. Joseph’s College Christmas Newsletter 2018

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St. Joseph’s College Christmas Newsletter 2018

Christmas market

St. Joseph’s College Christmas Newsletter 2018

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Thank you for hosting the event – Copeland Walker Art had a great night, not only with sales but the lovely welcome, delicious food and entertainment! It was a super effort and well done on the amount raised!

We would certainly be more than happy to come back next year and will indeed save the date!

Kind regards, Laura

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St. Joseph’s College Christmas Newsletter 2018

Monthly Maths Challenge

A high number of our S1 pupils have been taking part in the maths ambassadors monthly maths challenge. These are papers of twenty five questions in which they are encouraged to discuss and research the problems in order to solve them.

This is helping pupils to deepen their learning and make connections between topics. On the whole pupils are encouraged to concentrate on the first fifteen questions as no marks are deducted from their score for a wrong answer, later questions involve negative marking. This challenge is open to all pupils in S1 and S2 so if you child would like to participate they should see one of the maths ambassadors in T6 during lunchtime on a Tuesday or Mrs Stoppard. Twenty eight of our S1 pupils achieved a bronze, silver or gold award in our first monthly maths challenge. Well done to everyone involved including Mrs. Stoppard for organising it.

Senior UKMT Team Challenge Anania Sanchana, Zoe Graham, Emma Grierson and James Knox represented the school at a regional final for the UKMT team challenge. The challenges promote mathematical dexterity, teamwork and communication skills. On the day the pupils participated in three different challenges: a group challenge where they solved ten questions together, a cross number challenge where they separated into pairs to solve the across and the down clues, many of which were dependant on others answers, finally they had to work on a four speed rounds. Our pupils adapted to each different round and performed very well.

UKMT Individual Challenge The United Kingdom Mathematical Trust (UKMT) senior individual challenge took place on 6th November. It is a multiple choice paper of 25 questions which are designed to stimulate and intrigue competitors interest in maths and its application.

What a fabulous set of results and well done to all the pupils that participated.

Silver James Knox Damien McCrone Anania Sanchana

St. Joseph’s College Christmas Newsletter 2018

S6 Bronze Lindsay Crawford Erin O’Neill Ross Burns Zoe Graham Michael Maggiori Hamish Bremner Hannah Mortlock

S5 Bronze Emma Grierson Connor Bryan Archie Rowe Neil Gillon Beatrice Svirplyte

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Practical Woodworking The National 5 Practical Woodwork class went on a trip to BSW Timber. The trip was organised by Developing the Young Workforce. We arrived at the sawmill and went to the conference room where we began with a meeting. We learned about what we would see walking around and the safety rules that we must follow. We also put on the ‘hi-vis’ vests to wear when onsite as well as earplugs to protect our ears. We then set off around the site. We didn’t know what to expect as from the outside you can’t really tell what is going on. We learned about the different types of wood and their characteristics and then moved to the control room from where each point in the production line processing the wood is controlled. Next we were led down to the machinery with the ear plugs in to protect our ears from the noise. Our tour of the machines took us past the 3D scanning of the wood and then cutting out. Finally, we were shown where the loaders would bring the wood out to be stacked to air dry. We all had a fun time learning about how the wood is processed and how it is cut to maximise the amount of useable wood. We thank the DYW team for organising this trip and BSW Timber for letting us take a tour around their sawmill.

Daniel Capstick

Swimming Success

Thirteen St Joseph's College pupils competed at the Regional Schools' Swimming Championships in November at Annan Swimming Pool. There were some excellent swims: 29 medals were won in total. Nine pupils have made the initial consideration times for the Scottish National Swimming Championships and will hear at a later date if they have qualified. Well done to all the pupils who competed!

The following pupils achieved consideration times: Niamh Green, Tyler Barnard, Lexi Anderson, Abi Fyall, Lindsay Cameron,Isla Fyall, Evie Hitchell, Aimee Harkness, Daniel Wilson

Finn Richardson Finn Richardson competed in three events at the Scottish Disability Sport National Championships and reached the final for all three of his events. He was delighted with his first place and a gold medal for 25m Breast Stroke.

Congratulations Finn.

U14 Football St Joseph's College U14 football team bowed out of the Scottish Cup in the fourth round to a strong Boclair Academy team.

Having won convincingly in the third round against Hamilton College, the boys were drawn away to the current Scottish Cup holders whose team consisted of boys playing for professional clubs, including Rangers and Celtic. The U14 team's work rate and team spirit was excellent throughout both games. The boys will turn their attention to the D&G schools' league next term!

Stop Press!

Jamie Thompson of S6 was successful at the international final trial. This is an outstanding achievement and the pinnacle of schools football. He will represent Scotland in the under 18 Home Nations tournament in 2019. He will also play Australia in an international friendly match.

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St. Joseph’s College Christmas Newsletter 2018

5th Annual STEM Speed-dating Event Success!

On the 27th November, the 5th annual STEM speed-dating event was held at St Joseph’s College. This is was an exciting afternoon, where over 50 STEM ambassadors came together and were able to share their experiences and give information about their careers to S4 and S6 students. It was also an opportunity for visitors to see the newly refurbished St. Joseph’s College.

It was clear to see that everyone was very enthusiastic about this event and all the pupils had an open-mind when it came to learning about possible careers within the STEM field. One student from S4, Daniel Capstick said, “I enjoyed it a lot and I think it is a great idea. It helped me gain more information on some of the things I was interested in and allowed me to think and consider other options I had not thought of.”

Another pupil from S6, Kesara Rathnayake, shared his opinion on the event. “I like it because it allows students who are just starting to understand their role in life, to explore their curiosity by asking questions from a person who has already achieved their ambition.” Pupils found their discussions with STEM Ambassadors very beneficial not only to find out about career options but to also learn about the obstacles they will need to overcome in order to reach their goals.

It was also very obvious that the ambassadors were very enthusiastic. They were delighted to share the benefits of their experiences and explain specific aspects to the students. They were also very much of the opinion that their presentations could inspire the next generation. Rachel St. Joseph’s College Christmas Newsletter 2018

Milligan, a biomedical scientist with NHS Dumfries &Galloway is an ex-pupil and spoke of her pleasure at being able to give something back. Ms Lynn Allan, a Post- Doctoral Research assistant, shared with me her outlook on this event. “It is really encouraging and good for promoting jobs that are unknown.” Ms Lucy Anderson shared a similar opinion when saying, “It is great to inspire and give more information about what is on offer along with different possible career routes.”

Many visitors also commented on how courteous and wellprepared the St. Joseph’s pupils were.

In today’ society it is a well-known fact that there is a high demand for more women in STEM- related posts. However, Jennifer Greaves, a registered dietitian informed me that in her place of work only “3 out of 50” employees were male and she had in fact “never worked with a male.” Also, Gordon Loughran, lead pharmacist for social and community health stated that he is “regularly the only male working alongside females.” Clearly, the overall opinion of the ambassadors was that, while there are some areas of imbalance, an enthusiasm for sciences, technologies, engineering and maths should be generated amongst the whole community. There are many routes in to STEM careers and the diverse range of volunteering professionals at the event allowed our pupils to inquire about apprenticeships, college/university courses as well as vocational routes. A very successful afternoon and we are grateful to all our visitors for generously offering their time.

Hannah Ali (S5)

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A huge thank you to all our STEM Professionals!

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Name of Stem Ambassador Sam Saadat Ranjit Thomas Jennifer Greaves Jonny Clark Christina Gilles Kenny Bowie Lynn Allan Sean Jakobsen Chris Brown Ryan Mc Cubbin Rachel Milligan Lesley McCally Meghan Hamer Ross Gibson Eilidh McIntyre Katie Clark Matt Titcombe Wendy MacLeod Amanda Hawkins Fiona Murchie Lucy Anderson Jim Dillett Muniraju (Muni) Thalakunte Benjamin Clark Peter McDonald Lauryn Steel Robbie McCreath Callum Hepburn Bryn Short James MacGregor Debbie Parke John Kennedy Iain McLellan Mr. McCaughey Jessica Hickman Gordon Loughran Dr Alan Walker Natalie Leck Emma Baruah Jason Mc Millian Adele Welsh Julie-anne Irving Emma Cochrane Neville McEwen

Job Title Biomedical Scientist Consultant Haematologist Registered Dietitian Strathclyde Chemistry Clinic Consultant Strathclyde Chemistry Clinic Consultant Head of Planning & Design Marine Biologist Software Engineer Risk Analyst Assistant Branch Manager Medical Laboratory Assistant (ex-pupil too!)

Clinical Tutor / Specialist Radiographer PhD Student Structural Engineer Reliability Engineer Pharmacist Website Developer Senior Planner, Local Development Plan Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon Speech &Language Therapist NQT Chemistry Teacher Europe Run Infrastructure & Application Portfolio Manager Consultant Physician & Nephrologist Strathclyde Chemistry Clinic Consultant Strathclyde Chemistry Clinic Consultant Civil Engineer Project Engineer Craft Apprentice First Year PhD student COPD Group Process Manager Operations Manager/Fishery Biologist Chartered Landscape Architect Lecturer in Chemistry Retired engineer Occupational Therapist Lead Pharmacist - Community health & Social Care Lecturer in Mathematics Health Physicist Project Officer Test Specialist Online banking Practice Manager Dental hygienist & therapist Project Structural Engineer Site Energy, Safety and Environmental Leader

Lynne O'Hare

Senior Business Development Manager

Max McCall Kara Gibson Martin Candlish Martin Scott Dr. Isobel Fletcher Laurence Wilson John Wilson

Team Leader Building Standards Trainee Clinical Psychologist Software Engineer Software Engineer Chemical Engineer Planner / Architect Planning Consultant

Company / organisation Antrim Hospital NHS D&G NHS D&G Strathclyde University Strathclyde University Scottish Power Energy Networks University of Stirling JP Morgan Chase Deloitte Cumberland Building Society NHS D&G NHS D&G Strathclyde University Asher Associates Dupont Teijin Films Boots Operation Mobilisation Dumfries and Galloway Council NHS D&G NHS D&G South Lanarkshire Council IBM NHS Strathclyde University Strathclyde University Finite Engineering Scottish Power Energy Networks Scottish Power Energy Networks UWS Johnson Matthey, Annan Nith Catchment Fishery Trust LandLab University West of Scotland NHS D & G NHS D&G University of West of Scotland Babcock International Solway Firth Partnership Santander Church Court Dental Practice Church Court Dental Practice Blackett-Ord Conservation Ltd Dupont Teijin Films Advanced Forming Research Centre (Strathclyde University) Dumfries and Galloway Council NHS D&G apd Ltd. apd Ltd. Heriot Watt University LTW Planning Land Lab Ltd.

St. Joseph’s College Christmas Newsletter 2018

Our Scottish Engineering Award participants are well on their way to submitting their entries. On 23rd November, many of them took part in our STEM speed-dating event, interviewing professional engineers to seek inspiration for their own designs. This was a daunting task for some of our younger pupils, however the confidence and courtesy they displayed while asking very sensible questions was exemplary.

Prior to Christmas, Mr. J Dillett of IBM will be making a return visit to the school to have a final meeting with the group. This will also allow pupils to find out more about the role of a professional engineer and possible career opportunities for the future.

We are very grateful to Mr. Dillett, who will have a busy time looking over the following designs:          

Robyn Anderson S3 – solar powered washing machine Theo Burns S1 – collapsible portabin Innes Crawford S3 – reduced emission vehicle Ellie Little S6 – kinetic energy battery recharger Calum McLauchlan S1 – study buddy glasses/ earphones Ciaran Petrie S1 – automated window cleaner Amy Rust S6 – sensor streetlights Jensen Smith S1 – portable bin Aidan Strawbridge S4 – portable bike charger Zoe Graham S6 – bike helmet capable of assessing head injuries.

St. Joseph’s College Christmas Newsletter 2018

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Potato Update The Rural skills students planted potatoes in late September and, despite some of the freezing temperatures and a few particularly frosty mornings, quite a large number of plants have grown from the 28 tubers that were planted. The group have continued to water and weed the planters and have also undertaken some frost preventive treatments which have allowed the plants to make good progress – as you can see from the photograph. We are hopeful that they can be harvested in the next few weeks providing us with a batch of new potatoes in time for the staff Christmas lunch!

Fisheries Visit This year the Rural skills class have again been signed up to the ‘Fishing for the Future’ project which is run by the Nith Catchment Fisheries Trust. Pupils visited the Salmon Hatchery at Blackwood Estate near Auldgirth. During the visit pupils learned about the life cycle of the Atlantic Salmon; how the catchment itself is involved in conserving salmon species in the River Nith and much more about the salmon industry.

They witnessed the spawning procedure being carried out at the salmon hatchery – where approximately 5000 eggs produced by one female salmon were fertilised by the ‘milk’ of a male salmon. The eggs were then collected ready to be incubated. Every year we receive eggs to keep in a fish tank in the classroom, allowing us to monitor the development of the fish. Next year is the ‘International Year of the Salmon’.

The Nith Catchment Fisheries are holding a poster competition in honour of this and our Rural Skills pupils will be entering. This excursion helped pupils to gather useful information for inclusion in their poster entries. We would like to wish all pupils good luck!

The Science Club continues to grow in numbers with pupils attending the club every second Wednesday to carry out exciting science experiments that are out with the S1 curriculum. So far the pupils have enjoyed taking part in practicals such as flame writing, making methanol rockets, looking at the different colours produced when certain metals are burned and making homemade lava lamps. The club helps pupils to develop their practical skills and appreciate the health and safety considerations in a lab. Pupils have also carried out some themed science activities such as the ‘puking pumpkins’ experiment on Halloween. This week we were making homemade slime. As you can see pupils loved it. Here are a few quotes from our members: “Explosions, fire, rockets and slime, join science club now” - Bernardas “Science club is amazing, it is one of the best parts of my week” - Jessica “The science club is amazing and we do all sorts of fun experiments. I especially liked the bottle rockets.” Theo Page 21

St. Joseph’s College Christmas Newsletter 2018

Liz Osborne from the charity organisation Lepra returned to St. Joseph’s for her annual fundraising activity. She presented at the S1 assembly, informing the pupils about the devastating impact of leprosy and encouraged them to fundraise for the charity workout to take place a week later. A very impressive figure of £1695.62 was raised to combat this terrible disease around the world. Well done S1!

During this term, Mrs Stoppard and Mrs Hayes S5 classes were collecting for the annual Shoe Box appeal. This year we collected a staggering thirty four boxes which will be distributed overseas to those who would not otherwise receive a gift this Christmas. Through this activity pupils took time to reflect on the impact these gifts make. We would like to send a massive thank you to all who contributed to these boxes and wish you a very Merry Christmas.

Mark Booker came to introduce one of our S6 RE classes to their Religion and Belief unit. As a class they will be promoting and helping to educate younger pupils learn about different types of poverty suffered around the world and the different ways which SCIAF have and continue to help people survive and thrive by giving them opportunities to change their lives and the lives of others. The class have since been working in teams to create engaging materials which will be presented to pupils in their RE classes in term 3. They will also be organising many different fundraising events to support SCIAF's work after Christmas

Poppy Appeal The main reasons we buy poppies are to remember the Fallen, and for the future of the living, particularly providing financial assistance to ex-servicemen and women as well as their dependents.

A huge thank you to our Senior volunteer collectors, who faithfully went round classes selling the poppies. The response from pupils and staff was overwhelming.

All of the boxes of poppies were sold and the collecting cans were filled.

Thank you to everyone involved.

St. Joseph’s College Christmas Newsletter 2018

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Diocesan Retreat

We are very proud to have recently hosted a senior Diocesan overnight retreat. This involved nearly 60 pupils from around the Galloway Diocese joining together in St Joseph's College.

The event was led by NET Ministries Scotland and included testimonies of Faith, dramas, prayer and reflection. The team, staff and all the pupils stayed over in the College where good use was made of the excellent PE facilities and the fantastic food was provided by our wonderful catering staff. The pupils all felt this was a special experience to be part of particularly with a visit from Bishop Nolan on the first evening where he joined us for dinner and activities. A big thank you goes to Bishop Nolan for his support, to NET Ministries for all their hard work and dedication and to the Diocese of Galloway for providing financial support which helped the event happen.

On Tuesday 27th November, Mrs Hayes and eight S3 girls went to Glasgow University to participate in a course all about teaching in Catholic schools. The course was amazing! Such a great experience and so many opportunities to consider for the future. Some students from Glasgow University that are studying to become teachers attended. They had already started some placements and took the time to discuss with us and pupils from other schools about the requirements of becoming a Catholic teacher. They also talked about their personal experiences of the university course and why they chose Catholic teaching. We had some activities all about why catholic schools are good for Scotland. One of the activities was to take the tune of a song and reword it so it would talk about Catholic schools. After the discussions and activities, a lovely lunch was enjoyed with fruit and sandwiches. At the end, we all left with new friends, new memories and an eye for the future.

Advent Appeal Pupils and staff have been very busy donating items for our annual Advent Appeal. Traditionally, this is a time when we like think about others in our community who may need a little help or even a little extra cheer at this time of year. The S5 pupils have managed to gather a huge amount of donations and these will be delivered as parcels in the last few day before our holidays. Mrs Hayes and Mrs Stoppard's RE classes would like to say a big THANK YOU for all the donations they have received.

PFA 100 Club Winners Month October

November

December

Number 2 85 80 77 36 71 64 1 13

Name Mrs Graham Mrs A Dias Mr Meek Mrs Anderson Mr Murphy Mrs Gillespie Dr Muniraju Mr Gillespie Mr McMinn

Prize £20 £10 £5 £20 £10 £5 £20 £10 £5

Should you wish to join the 100 Club please contact the School Office.

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St. Joseph’s College Christmas Newsletter 2018

Primary Six and Seven from Saint Andrew’s Primary School have been attending Saint Joseph’s each week for a period of French. Primary Seven have been focusing on “les animaux” and have produced some wonderful work on this topic. They have created some weird and creative animals along with descriptions in French.

Primary Six have been looking at “c’est perso” which includes being able to describe their appearance and their personality.

The work Primary Six and Seven have produced is on display in the modern languages corridor.

It has been a busy term at Saint Teresa’s primary as well! P1 - 3 have been learning about seasons and the weather. The upper school have also been learning how to describe themselves as well as coming to Saint Joseph’s to make some fabulous treats with the Home Economics department where pupils had to follow a recipe in French.

St. Andrew’s and St. Teresa’s Visits The Home Economics department has been busy with primary school pupils this term. We have had visits from St Andrew’s P6 and St Teresa’s P4-P7. Pupils really enjoyed making the Toffee Apple Cupcakes to promote local and seasonal foods.

St. Joseph’s College Christmas Newsletter 2018

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Advanced Higher, Higher and National 5 French classes recently went to the cinema to watch ‘De Toutes nos Forces’ or ‘The Finisher’. The film is about a young boy who dreams of adventure but cannot leave his wheelchair.

He challenges his father to participate in the Ironman triathlon. The challenge brings the family closer together in the most unexpected way.

The classes loved this heart warming film and we recommend that you go see it either in French or English.

Here is what two pupils had to say:

Je viens de regarder un film qui m’a plu beaucoup. Le film s’appelle « De Toutes nos Forces ». Ce qui j’ai trouvé important c’est que j’ai appris beaucoup à propos des difficultés de la vie d’un garçon handicapé. J’ai cru que le film était triste mais aussi chaleureux. Le film montre la vie de Julien qui veut participer dans le triathlon, il nous montre la détermination. Je recommanderais ce film et les autres films français car c’est une bonne manière pour améliorer notre connaissance de la langue.

Jack Thorley S5

Récemment, grâce au département français et l’école, nous avons eu la chance de voir un film français, au cinéma de Robert Burns, « De Toutes nos Forces » qui s’appelle « The Finishers » en anglais. C’est un film chaleureux qui suit l’histoire d’un père et son fils handicapé. Le film explore la relation de ces deux personnages pendant le concours de « Ironman ». Le film m’a aidé beaucoup avec ma connaissance de la culture française et maintenant j’apprécie les films francophones.

Neil Gillon S5

Huis Clos Written by Jean-Paul Sartre, existentialist and Marxist, in 1944, Huis Clos is a play that details the now-torturous existences of characters Estelle, Inès and Garcin as they are forced to remain in a room together for eternity as a result of being sent to Hell, where they realise that it is not physical punishment but rather that « L’enfer, c’est les autres. » Themes of desire, sexual power games, judgement and personal freedom are explored through the play’s three characters and the play itself is a vehicle for Sartre’s existentialist views. He said that, ‘’L’homme est condamné à être libre parce qu’une fois jeté dans le monde il est responsable de tout ce qu’il fait’. His view was that we are born free and that we are responsable for our own actions. Our actions, however, are never truly our own, and personal freedom is never truly possible, because of the presence of others and the impact they have in our lives.

We are, therefore, condemned to fail in our freedom.

Estelle’s amorous nature causes tension between the characters for she wants Garcin, who does not want her, yet she persists in her pursuit of him, « Garcin, regarde-moi, prends -moi dans tes bras » to no avail. Similarly, Inès desires Estelle, but her feelings are not reciprocated. This is made clear in Scene 5 of the play, which we acted out, where the underlying tension is finally brought to light, which results in the climax.

Acting as these characters – Dorian as Garcin, Bethany as Estelle and Amy as Inès – allowed us to better understand the complex characters, themes and the play as a whole. In the end, the characters realise the futility of trying to escape and come to accept their punishment; Garcin concludes, « Eh bien, continuons. ». As for us, we continue, too, as we yet have to write a 1,500 word essay on the play and prepare to talk about it in our speaking assessment with a visiting examiner.

Bethany Clingan, Dorian Eedle and Amy Stewart Special thanks must go to Daniel Mather and Navid Ali for the photography.

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St. Joseph’s College Christmas Newsletter 2018

St. Joseph’s College Christmas Newsletter 2018

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Stop Press! Solway Skating

Congratulations to Solway Skating Club’s Megan Douglas (S3), Lucrezia De Gregorio (S2) , Louise Jones (S2) and Iona Watson (S1) who have just returned victorious from the Wales Synchronised Skating Competition 2018 in Cardiff. Representing all four Solway Synchro Skating teams the Comets, Lightening, Eclipse and Stars, they returned with three gold medals and a silver.

They are now looking forward to competing in the British Championships in Nottingham next month. Congratulations are also due to the coaches and to Kit Officer/Team Manager Mrs. McCubbin who ensures that the girls are all turned out immaculately. Well done!

Rhiannon’s Work Experience What: Work Experience Placement

Where: St Andrew’s School Nursery

Role: Nursery Assistant

A typical Wednesday morning at the nursery: 8:45am- good morning song and register, 10:00am- snacks and play 10:30am- It is ‘Woodland Wednesdays’ so all the children go to the woods behind the nursery. They create shapes with sticks, stones, leaves and pine cones to learn about 2D and 3D shapes. I have loved working with the children and teachers and everyone is friendly and welcoming. The children were well behaved and I enjoyed joining in with all the activities such as baking, playdough, water, sand and using numbers. It could get very messy in the classroom!

This placement has been a great experience because it has allowed me to see how children learn through play and how they socialise with each other. Many thanks to all the nursery staff for giving me this opportunity.

Rhiannon Dollery

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St. Joseph’s College Christmas Newsletter 2018

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St. Joseph’s College Christmas Newsletter 2018

Over 250 pupils each night had great fun. Sincere thanks to the ceilidh band Whigmaleerie who kindly donated their fee to the local Blood Bike appeal.

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St. Joseph’s College Christmas Newsletter 2018

Auditions for the main roles in our eagerly anticipated school show have recently been completed. We had over 50 pupils audition —a fantastic turnout! All auditions were extremely well prepared and performed to such a high standard that the job of casting the show was very difficult. The casting lists were displayed and there was much excitement in the department. We have a show cast of over 40 pupils, not including our principal characters. It is not too late to sign up if you would like to be part of the on-stage cast—please see Mrs Somerville or Miss Edmonds to add your name.

From January, rehearsals will continue on a Monday after-school from 3:30pm— 5pm for principal characters only; Tuesday from 7pm-8:30pm on stage; and on a Friday lunchtime in F2. We would like to encourage all year groups to come along and take part so that this year’s show is a big success like its predecessors!

We would like to introduce you to our principal characters: Joseph as Corey Snr

Jamie, Harry and Callum as Kirk, Cory Jnr and Alf

Kaz, Cameron, Sam and Hamish as Lionel, Billy, Huey and Michael

Abi as Ms Brannigan

Matthew as Mr Cocker

Alana, Naomi, Abbie and Laura as Kim, Cyndi, Tiffany and Mel

Taryn, Maddie and Rachel as Debbie, Eileen and Laura

Rory as Feargal

Finlay as Mr Myagi

Those interested in production roles such as lighting, sound, set and costume should keep an eye on the pupil bulletin around January for their call. We look forward to continuing with rehearsals after the Christmas break.

St. Joseph’s College Christmas Newsletter 2018

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