Issue Seven| Summer 2016|

Celebrating Success In Beeslack Community High School

Page 2

Dear Parent/Carer

It’s the end of an extremely hectic school session and I can’t quite believe it’s the end of my first year as Headteacher of Beeslack Community High School. I have thoroughly enjoyed the year and am extremely proud of the young people and the staff and what we have achieved as a team this session. Our self-evaluation processes have guided us in identifying the many successes of the year but also the areas for improvement go-ing forward. Our official Standards and Quality Report will be published on the website in the new session and a summary of our improvement priorities for the year ahead will also be available to all our parents/carers and partner agencies. Looking ahead it’s going to be another busy school session! There are always mixed emotions at the end of a school session as we wish our S6 students well as they embark on life beyond school. We had a lovely Leaver’s Ceremony at the beginning of June and I am sure the pupils are looking forward to the Prom on Thursday. We also welcomed the new S1 pupils on the transition days at the beginning of June, they had a great few days and we are really looking forward to getting to know them better in August when they start with us officially. There are a number of staffing updates as we say farewell to some members of Staff on Friday. Mrs Kinane, Teacher of Biology, has decided to retire early after 31 years of service in Beeslack. Mrs Kinane has worked in Beeslack since it opened in 1984 and is one of the longest serving Teachers in the school. She will be greatly missed by pupils and colleagues and we wish her a long, happy and healthy retirement. Mrs McGlade, Teacher of History, has been appointed as Principal Teacher of Social Subjects at Bo’ness Academy. This is a well deserved promotion and I know that Mrs McGlade will be an asset to Bo’ness and their gain is very much our loss. Ms Sutherland, Teacher of History, will be leaving us for a year to take up a secondment opportunity in Midlothian Council working with pupils who have significant barriers to their learning, this is an area that Ms Sutherland is passionate about and I am sure this will be a great opportunity for her. Mr Johnson, PTC Technologies, is leaving us for a somewhat hotter climate as he has secured a post in Dubai. Although he has only been with us a short time he has lead some significant developments in the Technologies Faculty and has had a positive impact on pupils and the wider staff team. Mr Stuart, Teacher of RME, has completed his initial year as a Newly Qualified Teacher, we wish him well on the next step in his teaching career. Finally, Ms Howie (PE) and Dr Blair (Maths) will be leaving, as their fixed term contracts come to an end. We have a number of new members of staff joining our team in August. Eion Neill – Computing, Alan McGinley – PTC Technologies, Yvonne Finnie – Art and Design will all be starting with us and Megan Antoni (English) successfully secured the permanent post in the English department. We are appointing two History and Modern Studies posts and a Biology post this week and we will be advertising for a part-time post in Maths and a fixed term post in English at the start of the new session. Many of our pupils will be receiving their SQA exam results on 9 August, in the event of results not quite going to plan there are a variety of avenues of support available particularly in relation to University/College entry. For those pupils returning to school who wish to change course, all re-coursing will take place on the first Tuesday of term (23 August) where Guidance staff will be available to discuss and make any potential changes. Most importantly this newsletter is about celebrating the many successes of our pupils and giving you a glimpse of the variety of activities that have taken place in school this term. There will be a much fuller report from our suspended timetable activities in due course but we have shared some of the pictures we have received in the last few days. I hope you all have a relaxing and enjoyable summer break, school resumes for pupils on 22 August at 8.40 am and I look forward to

seeing everyone then.

L Black

Headteacher

Cover photos: Malawi Expedition 2016

Page 3

Read for the Future: S1 Reading Challenge

As part of their literacy classes, all our S1 pupils are challenged to “Read for the Future”. This involves reading and reporting on as many different books - both fiction and information - in the school library as they can, be-tween September and May each school year. This year’s S1, as always, have truly risen to their task, reporting back on almost a thousand books in a wide variety of ways. They have discussed their reading with others (both in school and at home) and produced lots of written reports: not just “traditional” book reports, but beautifully redesigned book covers, insightful char-acter interviews and fact files, clever comic re-creations and fun “Top Trumps” cards. As a result, S1 have earned 329 Worlds of Reading credit stickers (and their equivalent in House points.) 33 of these were the special “World of Movers and Shakers” sticker through which pupils learn about inspirational people who have changed our World. (Special thanks are due to the RME, Social Subjects and Art Depart-ments for their help with overseeing the reports for this World.) In total, 77 Bronze and 12 Silver Reader Certificates have been presented. In addition, the following pupils

achieved their Gold and Advanced Reader Certificates:

Gold Certificates

Dylan Hutchinson 1H1

Skye McLeod 1L1

Chloe Mitchell 1L1

Ben Eales 1L2

Alistair Rice 1L2

Dylan Wilson 1L2

Madeline Hulton 1S1

Jemma Gerstenberger 1S2 Advanced Reader Ribbons

Megan Wynne 1H2

Iona Cameron 1L1

Alexander Donaldson 1L1

Becky White 1S1 Amy Denholm 1S2

Page 4

Charity Fundraising In Beeslack A total of £1484.36 was raised on our three non-uniform days this session. £592.14 each to Clic Sargent and Stem4. The winners of the S3 RME Philanthropy project secured the remaining £300 for Beeslack All Stars ADC. Hollie Fullerton, Alexandra Mason and Katie Lynch from Hoy House gave an informative, imaginative and interactive presentation. The judges were impressed with their knowledge and commitment to their chosen charity. All finalists presented well and the judges commented on how much they had learned from our pupils.

Modern Languages News

Four of our S6 pupils organised their own trip to Munich in March to practise their language skills before their Advanced Higher Final Oral Exam. A great time was had by all! The Modern Languages dept. will heading off to France/Germany on our trip with 42 pupils from the new S4 and S5. Looking forward to a fun-filled week!

Page 5

Science News A team of four S1 students — Hannah Cathcart (1L2), Ruaridh McKenzie (1L1), Cale Flockhart (1L2) and Jemma Gerstenberger (1S2) represented Beeslack CHS at the South-East Scotland Salters' Festival of Chemistry at Heriot-Watt University on 1 June 2016. They worked very well on a set of forensic-style experiments and a temperature change challenge. They thoroughly enjoyed their day, which finished with a lecture including demonstrations with liquid nitrogen.

Saltire Summit Awards Congratulations to Rebecca Robertson S4/5. She was a worthy winner of the Saltire Summit award. Only 12 of these awards are given out on an annual basis. Rebecca has completed well over 200 hours volunteer-ing. The awards ceremony was held at Newbattle Abbey College.

Page 6

Please don’t feed the plants! Little Shop of Horrors … Frighteningly Good. The cast, crew and backstage helpers have worked extremely hard to bring this exciting show to fruition. The first night was sensational. The scene is Mushnik’s (Jonathon Irvine) failing florist shop, into which Seymour Krelborn (Elliot Comnene) introduces a strange and interesting plant called “Audrey II” – named after the love of his life and shop assistant Audrey (Sophie McMillan). The plant brings fortune to Mushnik and fame to Seymour – but at a cost. As it grows its appetite develops from drops of blood to entire people, spelling doom for the world. With the demise of Orin Scrivello, Audrey’s sadistic boyfriend (Gabriel Comnene), a love affair develops be-tween Seymour and Audrey. It ends in heroic tragedy. Commenting on this hilarious tale are three of the flashier denizens of Skid Row, Ronnette (Chloe Mowatt), Crystal (Eva Halliday) and Chiffon (Lauren Anderson). Book and Lyrics by Howard Ashman and Music by Alan Menken. Based on the film by

Roger Corman, Screenplay by Charles Griffith.

Page 7

School Uniform As we approach the start of the holidays it’s the time of year when we see all the retailers promoting offers on school uniform. In general the dress of the pupils in Beeslack is exemplary. However, there are a number of items of dress which we continue to struggle to address, primarily skinny jeans and leggings. Whilst it is difficult to win the battle with fashion, there are still ways in which our young people can dress in the latest styles whist still adhering to the school uniform policy. The school uniform is very straight forward for both girls and boys and a gentle reminder of our expectations is included below. The senior pupils have all been measured for their blazers and we are very much looking forward to seeing them return in August looking smart and ready for the busy session ahead. We hope that you will continue to support us in maintaining the high standards we have and discourage your child from wearing skinny jeans, leggings, hooded tops and clothing with logos etc and any other items not included in the uniform. School Uniform Details: White shirt/blouse; Black skirt/trousers; Plain black jumper/cardigan (no hooded tops); Black shoes (no trainers); School House tie or S6 tie; Blazers (S4-6). Garments associated with leisure wear should not be worn to school. Jewellery should be kept to a minimum and facial jewellery should not be worn. Many thanks for your support with this. L Black

S2 Hillwalking Adventures

From April to June, almost all of our S2 pupils opted to

take part in a day’s hillwalking in the Pentlands with

Midlothian Outdoor Learning team. By the end of each

day, they had developed map-reading skills and were

proficient at reading and navigating using six

figure grid references. This was tested out, when each

pupil took a turn in leading the group. Most thoroughly

enjoyed the experience and put their fitness to the test.

Page 8

PE News Our S2/3 Athletics Team (some S1 girls were also drafted in) finished 3rd in the recent Midlothian Athletics Championships (31st May Dalkeith School Campus) just ten points behind 1st and one be-hind 2nd. Every pupil performed so well on the day with some exceptional performances: WINNERS OF EVENTS S2 Boys Hurdles: Rhuairidh Mckenzie (13.53) S2 Boys 100m: Rhuairidh Mckenzie (12.47) S3 Girls 100m: Georgia Jones (12.66 NEW EVENT RECORD) S3 Girls 200m: Georgia Jones (26.44 NEW EVENT RECORD) S3 Girls 800m: Eilidh Brown (2:23.09) S3 Girls 4 x 100m Relay: Eilidh Trotter, Heather Mack, Eilidh Brown, Georgia Jones (55.72) Boys Long Jump: Darran Charles (4.85m NEW EVENT RECORD) We had a lot of 2nd and 3rd place finishes also. Special mention to Cameron Russell missing out on first place in the S3 Boys Hurdles by 0.06 seconds and Favour Fombo missing out on first place in the S2 Girls 200m by 0.02 seconds. Georgia Jones in S3 has secured a second cap for the Scottish Girls Hockey team, this time she was playing in Ireland and after a number of closely fought matches the competition ended in a draw. Well done Georgia and we look forward to hearing about your continued success in the Girls National Hockey team.

Page 9

S6 Awards Evening Our S6 Awards Evening took place on Tuesday 7 June. Not only was it a lovely evening celebrating the contribution to others that our departing S6 have made, but it was also an opportunity to celebrate their time with us at Beeslack. The Awards were given as follows: Community Quaich: Lewis Shillinglaw and Zule Munir Kathy Nisbet Brown Award for Excellence in the Arts: Stephen Christoforou and Kai Doring Donald Scarr Award – Supporting Others Gavin Andrews, Megan Baines, Joe Burke, Thomas Clouston, Gabriel Comnene, Jordan McKay and Aileigh Ormsby Peter Stewart Award – Supporting Others Niamh Candela and Lauren Cowan Furthermore, this year the winner of the S4 Evelyn Handley Award is Ailsa Homewood.

Congratulations to all of our winners for their sustained and valued contributions, which have impacted

positively on many people. Furthermore, as a year group they gave more than 3660 hours of their own

time. Truly astounding!

Page 10

Suspended Timetable A huge amount of effort has gone into organising the suspended timetable for the last week of term. There are a number of European trips to Paris, the Battlefields and Strasbourg allowing pupils to put into practice all their learning in Modern Languages and to see first hand the impact of what they have learned in History. The Malawi Expedition set off a week ago and as you can see from the photos on the cover of the Newsletter they are embracing the African experience and I’m sure developing skills for life, this is certainly an experience they will never forget! There are also a number of day trips scheduled including Alton Towers, Spooky Edinburgh, the Zoo to name but a few. These are great opportunities for pupils to celebrate the end of term and their achievements from throughout the session. Thanks must go to all the trip leaders, however, a huge thanks must go to Miss Mattocks and Mr Hepburn for organising all the trips and co-ordinating the arrangements for staff and pupils to ensure that the Suspended Timetable is a resounding success.

Page 11

Follow us on twitter @BeeslackHigh New website coming soon....watch this space!

Key Dates Tuesday 9 August: SQA Exam results Monday 22 August: School resumes at 8.40 am Tuesday 23 August: Senior Phase Re-coursing Wednesday 14 September: UCAS Parents’ Evening Thursday 15 September: Sponsored Walk Friday 16 and Monday 19 September: Holiday weekend