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.