School Ski Trip

On the 24th January 2014, 31 S2 and S3's and 4 members of staff will be heading to the French Alps.
Pupils will spend 6 days in Risoul skiing and snowboarding.

More details to follow shortly.

Christmas Shoeboxes

This week at lunchtimes a team of keen helpers have been sorting and packing Christmas Shoeboxes to send to Eastern Europe through the Blythswood Appeal.  It has been so encouraging to see the enthusiasm of pupils and supervising staff.  We will do a final count of the boxes next week but we have 50 ready now!

 

 

Young Ambassadors for Sport

Emma Nicolson 5L1 and Jack Philp 5L2 attended the East Regional Young Ambassadors for sport conference which was hosted by Sport Scotland. The Conference included inspirational talks from Paralympic and Olympics athletes, workshops on their role as an ambassador, good practice examples from other schools and how we can use the Commonwealth Games 2014 to inspire the next generation of pupils. The conference was a very valuable leadership experience and we are very proud of our Young Ambassadors.  

S2 Fair Trade “Snack Attack” – Design Challenge 2013

All S2 pupils took part in this year’s ‘Traidcraft Snack Attack Challenge’. They divided into enterprise groups and went on to create a healthy, fair trade snack in Health & Food Technology before designing appropriate packaging and marketing campaigns in Art & Design. There were some very interesting inventions but the winners of the CCHS competition were Samantha Ovenstone, Eilidh MacFarlane and Ciara Simms. Their “Cubix” product (fruity, crispy cubes) was chosen to represent the school and was delivered to Traidcraft headquarters in London. The product, although commended, did not beat the stiff competition to become a national winner. Well done to all of S2 for their creativity and hard work on this year’s A&D and HFT fair trade challenge!

Scholastic Book Fair in the Learning Resource Centre April 22nd to April 26th

£402 worth of books were sold at the book fair held in Currie Community High School! 40% commission meant that Currie Community High School received £160 worth of free books. Pupils helped out and made sure that the fair ran smoothly! There was a great buzz about the LRC with lots of book – related conversations going on. Thank you to all the parents and pupils who supported this and made this fantastic result possible.
Mrs Marriott Learning Resource Centre Co-ordinator.

New Lanark Trip

On 3rd May, S2 pupils have an opportunity to visit the New Lanark Experience, where they will discover the fascinating history of the impressive cotton mill village of New Lanark and the life and times of mill manager and social pioneer Robert Owen in the award-winning New Lanark Visitor Centre. S2 pupils are currently designing their own cotton mill village in class, and will then demonstrate their understanding of cotton mills by preparing questions which they would have asked Robert Owen in an interview. Attending this trip will therefore enhance pupils’ understanding of this topic, and will ‘bring history to life’. Consent forms have been issued to all S2 history pupils.

Scholastic Book Fair at Currie Community High School!

The Scholastic book fair will be in the Learning Resource Centre from Monday 22nd of April until Friday 26th of April. Bring in your pocket money and choose from a fantastic selection of 200 titles, stationery and posters! Every book sold earns commission for the school and we get free books back for the school. Every pupil buying a book will also be entered into a competition to win book tokens. Come to the LRC during break and lunch and have a look at all the lovely books and join in the fun!

Treasure Hunts in Roley's Wood

The S3 xl class were out in the woods last week setting up Easter egg treasure hunts for eachother. One group made a fantastic treasure map with a key, another gave a very detailed set of instructions to find the hidden red eggs.

We were all most impressed by Connor Quinn's group who used rhyming couplets in their quest, with eggs hidden in a large clump of snowdrops to under the bridge - pretty amazing to have made up in 15 minutes!

"In the field of white
Hides the egg of red light

Next to blackened plastic lies
That which contains an animal which flies

Under the second dense tree
Hides red egg No. Three

Now where trolls of legend live
Is our final gift to give"

Transition Event – Rights Respecting Schools

On 11 April a group of 20 third year pupils accompanied Mrs Mackenzie to Juniper Green Primary School for the afternoon to attend an inspiring afternoon event. The Primary 7 pupils and teachers from our cluster primaries met together and took part in activities on the theme of Rights and Respect. The pupils from the different schools played a game of human bingo during the welcome time while enjoying juice and biscuits. The pupils were guided into mixed groups with the High School pupils helping and supporting the Primary 7 pupils to play some games and discuss issues of human rights in the context of a school. The informal atmosphere gave the primary pupils an opportunity to ask questions and air their fears about coming up to High School.

The afternoon was enjoyed by all and the High School volunteers gave ideas on how the activities could be improved for next time. We look forward to meeting the Primary 7 pupils again soon.

Earth Hour 2013 at Edinburgh Castle

Pupils from our Eco Committee helped WWF Scotland launch Earth Hour 2013 at Edinburgh Castle. We also held our own 'lights off' event at school.

All photos (c) Callum Bennetts - Maverick Photo Agency.

News from Chogoria HS

We have recently heard some news about two of the pupils that we have sponsored at Chogoria High School. Betty Kendi Maina who finished school in November last year did very well in her school leaving certificate exams. She was one of the top pupils of the year and gained A passes in English, Maths, Biology, Chemistry, Religious Education, Agriculture and B in Physics and Kiswahili. We will hear in due course what she hopes to do next. Giselle Iradukunda who left school in 2011 is now doing a BA in Sociology at Nairobi University. Our support over the years at Chogoria High school has allowed them to achieve their full potential and the possibility of a good career.

Prince’s Trust S4 xl Group

JJ and 4XL

On Friday 15th March we had invited a representative from ‘Help for Heroes’ to come into school, so we could hand over a cheque for the money we had raised. We were very fortunate because not only did Kim Wardner (Regional Co-ordinator Scotland) come to visit us, but she was accompanied by JJ Chalmers, a Royal Marine Reservist. JJ was injured in a bomb blast in Afghanistan and received injuries which were life-changing.

We were entranced while JJ talked to us about his experience. It made our fund-raising, for ‘Help for Heroes’, seem so much more real as we heard from JJ, who has experienced help and benefit from the charity.

Mrs MacKinnon and some teachers also came along to hear JJ and Kim. We proudly handed over our cheque for £150.00, which was raised mainly through our whiteboard cleaning efforts, but also from our stall at the Christmas Fair. Then we served refreshments and were able to talk with JJ and Kim and ask questions.

We were so pleased to have JJ and Kim visit us and feel honoured to have met them.

Advanced Higher Art & Design – Contemporary Art Installations

During the February break, three of our talented artists Ragda Elhag, Becca Tarrant and Sarah Broadhurst took a day out of their holiday and study time to create some site specific installation art at Old St. Paul’s Church in the City Centre. The workshop was led by contemporary artist, Juliana Capes and organised by the Fruitmarket Gallery. The students spent time in the gallery viewing the exhibition before making their own large scale installations using ‘unexpected media’, paper and found objects in and around the church. This was an interesting ‘Space Exploration’ experience helped develop confidence and creativity and was particularly useful for those intending to study Art & Design at university level.

S1 One Planet Badge Design Competition

All S1 pupils were asked to design a badge which illustrated and raised awareness of Global Citizenship, as part of their Art & Design homework. We received many excellent designs and found it very difficult to choose a winner! On the judging panel were Mrs McKinnon, Dr Nind, Mrs Steel and some of our discerning Advanced Higher Art & Design students. Runners up were Sarah Brown, Peter Sawkins, Nicola Crowe, Jenni Baillie, Rebecca Drever, Jack Gold, Charlotte Brock, Abigail Odetayo, Craig Haggart, Mairi Mitchell, Jenny Park, Asha Mullen, Zelal Amir, Nasra Masoud and Katie Wicksted; well done! Lauren Flint of 1K2 won the competition with her bold and effective design. Her image was then printed and turned into 200 badges with the help of S4s Christine Combe and Claire Twist. Thanks to Dean Park Primary for the use of their Badgemaker! The badges were sold to pupils and staff at One Planet Market Stall by Eco Committee members. The proceeds went towards the fees of pupils at Chogoria High School. Thanks to all involved!

More badminton success...

Well done to Alistair Gordon and Jackson Higgins who won the Scottish Schools Senior Boys Badminton Doubles and have brought back a trophy.

4XL help heroes

On Friday 15^th March during P4, S4 xl group handed a cheque over to ‘Help for Heroes’, their chosen charity. They have raised this money through their whiteboard cleaning and their stall at the Christmas Fair.

Kim Wardner (Regional Co-ordinator/Help for Heroes) and JJ Chalmers who is one of ‘Help for Heroes Band of Brothers’, both came in to receive the cheque and talked with the pupils in the xl group about ‘Help for Heroes’ and what their donation would help the charity achieve.

Athletics

Congratulations to both Robbie Nairn of S4 and Zoe Bates of S3, both of whom have been selected to attend national training sessions with the Scottish Schools’ Athletics Association this coming month. Robbie has also been asked to attend training sessions as part of the Scotland under-16 Rugby Squad. Well done indeed.

Friends of the Royal Scottish Academy Art Award 2013

Hannah Nugent has won one of the top 3 National Awards in the Friends of the Royal Scottish Academy Art Award 2012/13. Her work will be exhibited at the RSA on Princes Street from 22/3/13 – 16/4/13. The final prize giving ceremony will be on 27/3/13 so we will hear which particular prize she has been awarded after that but this is an exceptional achievement regardless.

Go4SET

Our Go4SET - Technologies team of S2 pupils have won first prize in this prestigious competition. The pupils are Lucy McGuire, Lewys Richards, Kirsty Smith, David Kong, James Cochrane and Kai Horsburgh. Mr Haddow and Ms Peaston put a huge effort into supporting the pupils and we are all very grateful to them. The pupils themselves have done very well indeed and earned first prize, which includes a trophy, £250 and a place in the Scottish final in Glasgow in June.

The other S2 team – PE – also achieved CREST silver awards and deserve our congratulations. This team comprised Ross Castle, Ross Connolly, Fiona Hercus, Morven McIntyre, Iona McDonald and Peter Stewart. We would also like to thank Miss Smith and Mr Davidson for all their work with this team.

Intermediate Maths Challenge 2013

We are very pleased to announce that David Kong S2 and Zhiwei Li of S1 both received Gold Certificates and progressed to the next round of this year’s Intermediate Maths challenge. Both boys earned very high marks and will compete in the next stages of the competition on the 21st of March.

My Placement at Currie Community High School

By Rebecca Rittirsch

From November 2012 till February 2013 I did a voluntary placement as a German language assistant at Currie Community High School. My tasks where varied and very creative and exciting. I had a good balance between working as a teacher’s assistant in the class rooms and development work in the staff room.

I really enjoyed every day in the classes because each lesson with the pupils was a new and beautiful challenge for me. I usually taught pupils in small groups with different types of materials (worksheets, little white boards and also the board of the classroom). Very often we practiced speaking with role plays and conversations and I always helped them to improve their pronunciation. It was a great experience to see how the pupils got on with me. They accepted me as a proper member of the staff and were always friendly and motivated to work with me.

I also really appreciated my wonderful workmates. No matter how many questions I had or if there was any problem, I always found open ears and got good advice from them. They trusted in my language and also in my teaching skills. They always supported me in every way and made me feel very welcome. I’ve never had colleagues like that before. It was a pleasure to work with them and being a part of their team. If I had the possibility of another placement at Currie Community High School, I would do it immediately.

All in all I can say that this placement helped me a lot with choosing a career for my future. I’ve grown so much during my work in this school. I am more self confident now and I also became a stronger personality during my time in Edinburgh. My language skills definitely have improved and also my skills to work and to deal with people.

I really would recommend Currie Community High School to every student who wants to become a teacher or just to get wonderful work experience with a wide variety of people in a fantastic team.

I send all my best wishes for the future to my great colleagues of the language department and also to my lovely German classes - I had a fantastic time with all of you! Thank you a lot for everything!

One Planet Week

From 4-8 March, we celebrated a whole-school ‘One Planet Week’, looking at many aspects of Global Citizenship. There were relevant learning experiences across many departments and a fantastic ‘One Planet Marketplace’ in the Assembly hall on Thursday lunchtime.

Pupils learnt about International Women’s Day (8 March) in RME, learnt how to reduce food waste and make tasty Bubble & Squeak out of leftovers from home in Health & Food Technology and wrote letters in Modern Languages to pupils in our partner school in Chogoria, Kenya. S1 pupils in Art designed a ‘One World’ badge, and Lauren Flint’s winning design was made into badges and sold to raise money for the pupils we sponsor in Chogoria. The school canteen did themed dishes from a different country each day of the week, and all S1 and S2 pupils had an assembly from the Refugee Survival Trust about the life of refugees and asylum seekers in Scotland.

 

 

The lunchtime marketplace was really buzzing, with stalls and activities from pupil groups and external organisations. On stage, pupils performed drama skits relating to human rights, and the school choir did a fantastic rendition of Gary Barlow’s ‘Rule the World’. 

 

The Amnesty International group organised a fun quiz on the right to education and a giant visual petition for the ‘Enough Food for Everyone IF’ campaign. Hospitality pupils served tasters of food from around the world, and others organised games based on geographical knowledge of countries. Joe Hind from the Soil Association had a stall raising awareness of our Food for Life project in the canteen and attracted lots of attention dressed as a huge carrot (it’s a seasonal vegetable!). Other organisations providing stalls and activities included LGBT Youth and Transition Edinburgh Pentlands. 

 

Many pupils and staff participated in the CCHS ‘Fair Trade Bake Off’ as part of our Fair Trade Fortnight festivities. Judges were wowed by the inventiveness and artistic nature of many of the entries. Sophia Purcell in S4 won first prize with her extraordinary chocolate cake, and Mrs Mulvey won the wooden spoon prize for the least edible entry! All the cakes were then sold to raise money for Comic Relief. The Fair Trade group also ran a tombola, a human slot machine and their normal weekly tuckshop.

A huge thanks to all the pupils and staff involved in making One Planet Week such a success.

Go4SET Success!

School teams from Edinburgh and the Lothians attended Heriot-Watt University on Thursday 28th February to compete in the Go4SET Celebration and Assessment Day (CAD) awards. At the event, the judges selected Currie Community High School Team 1as the winner of the Best Overall Project Award for their outstanding research on how the school could reduce their energy usage and save money. They were presented with a trophy and a cheque for £250 by Martin Grey, Scottish Communications Manager at Viridor who sponsored the CAD event. The team will now go forward to compete in the Go4SET Scottish Final which will be held in Glasgow City Chambers in May.

The Go4SET Energy in your School project began at the launch event in November 2012 and the Currie had two teams of six second year pupils involved.
Team 1 comprised David Kong, Lucy McGuire, Lewys Richards, Kirsty Smith, James Cochrane and Kai Horsburgh and was mentored by Mr Haddow, Miss Peaston and Angus Reid of Heineken.
Team 2 comprised Iona McDonald, Peter Stewart, Morven McIntyre, Fiona Hercus, Ross Connelly and Ross Castle and was mentored by Miss Smith, Mr Davidson and Jeremy Grant of Arup.
Both teams gained silver CREST awards which is an outstanding achievement for 2nd year pupils.

At the event the students demonstrated their individual projects and models to a group of assessors and discussed their projects with guests attending the event. Currie High School Team 1 were supported by Heineken and their mentor Angus Reid commented. “The team showed tremendous organisation and creativity in successful completion of the project. Heineken is proud to support the Go4SET programme".

The other award winners at the event were Balerno High School supported by BP who won the Best Team Work Award and a cheque for £150 and Boroughmuir High School supported by Wood Mackenzie who won the Students Choice Award and a cheque for £100. Currie pupil David Kong also won a prize for his depiction of an engineer.

SSPCA Christmas Appeal for Pet food and Bedding

SSPCA donations from CurrieCHS

Towards the end of the Christmas term many staff and pupils at CCHS donated pet food and bedding to support our local SSPCA in Balerno. Day by day, tins, boxes, pouches and bags of all sorts of any pet food along with dog and cat beds, newspapers, blankets and towels were handed in to Ms McMaster in the music dept who delivered all donations to the SSPCA on the last day of term. They were extremely grateful. The SSPCA deal with many unwanted, injured, abused, abandoned and neglected animals each year and as they receive no government funding rely on public support to make their fantastic work possible. A HUGE thank you to everyone who donated!

Not bad at badminton!

There was further sporting success for Currie at the weekend – this time on the badminton court in the Edinburgh Schools Badminton Association Championsips. On Friday night Jackson Higgins (S6) and Alistair Gordon (S5) won the U19 Boys Doubles whilst David Kong (S2) and Peter Sawkins (S1) were runners up in the U14 Boys Doubles – both pairs have been selected to represent Edinburgh Schools in the Scottish Schools Badminton Union Championships in Perth on Saturday 9 March.

David and Peter were in action again yesterday  in the U14 Boys singles, both finishing in the top 8 and again being selected to represent Edinburgh Schools at the SSBU Championships in Perth on Saturday 9 March.

Currie swim success in the National Finals

On Saturday 26th, 3 members of the Currie swim team represented the school at the National finals of the Schools swimming competition in East Kilbride. Looking very smart in their new team kit of Currie T Shirts and swim hats; Cameron Finlayson, Caitlin Hamilton and Ciara Simms each competed against the top 12 swimmers in their category from dozens of schools across the country.

All of the swimmers did themselves and the school proud and Cameron Finlayson won Bronze medals in both of his races, the 100m and 200m Butterfly. This is a tremendous result as most of the swimmers in his category were a year older- so watch out next year for Gold!

The next major championship for the swimmers is the Scottish National Age Group Championships which will be held at the Commonwealth Pool here in Edinburgh just after Easter. The swimmers are all training hard to meet the extremely high qualifying standards to enter this competition and we will let you know how they are getting on.

Currie Swim Team is a force to be reckoned with!