CHS CHRISTMAS NEWSLETTER - Carnoustie High School · CHS CHRISTMAS NEWSLETTER December 2015 For...
Transcript of CHS CHRISTMAS NEWSLETTER - Carnoustie High School · CHS CHRISTMAS NEWSLETTER December 2015 For...
CHS CHRISTMAS NEWSLETTER
For Parents/Carers December 2015
The Christmas term is a keystone in the arch of the school year. Our senior pupils
complete a very large proportion of their SQA courses during this term, tackling unit
assessments and preparing for Prelims in late January. Our S3s begin the move
towards starting National level courses in Maths and English and then the course
choice process next term. And our new S1 pupils aren‟t quite so new anymore; they
have settled into the changed surroundings and are familiar with the rhythm of
learning in their new school.
Staff are working extremely hard to implement level seven of National Qualifications,
the new Advanced Higher, this is the final building block of our new curriculum
structure. But as the first cycle of Curriculum for Excellence moves towards its end we
turn our attention to improvement in S1-S3, the Broad General phase of our
curriculum. Consultation and discussion with pupils, parents and staff will lead to
adaption and change to the curriculum for all year groups and in particular the
current S2. Consultation will likely lead us to offer considerable scope for
personalisation and choice to our young people in their third year.
We have also continued to re-work our school vision and values and I was pleased to
welcome a group of interested parents to share their views on the priorities and
direction of our school. Combined with the views of pupils and staff our agreed
priorities are to have a school where our pupils will
Achieve the highest possible levels of attainment
Be ready for the world; confident, resilient, adaptable
Secure a sustained positive future
The full version of our 2020 Vision will be shared with you early in the New Year.
While curricular work will always take centre stage, we have had an exceptionally
busy term with other cultural, community and sporting activities too. Shakespeare in
Stratford, art in Glasgow, “silver surfers” being coached on using electronic devices,
Dynamic Earth and Parliament visits, Spanish visitors and French Twinning awards, we
have had sports teams representing our school in rugby, football, netball, golf,
swimming, fencing and giant heptathlon and with our ever busy musicians
contributing to school, community and Angus wide events and concerts you will
appreciate some of rich experience available at Carnoustie High School. I hope you
enjoy reading a bit more about some of the many activities our young people have
excelled in this past term.
I wish you a most restful holiday and a peaceful New Year.
Mr Donald A Currie
Headteacher
STEM Club
Members of the CHS Science
Technology Engineering Maths club
have been working together to
design and create a model eco-
classroom of the future. The team
(shown below) will present their work
at the annual GO4SET assessment
day at „Space‟ in Dundee on the 17th December where they will compete against
various schools around Angus and Dundee for a variety of prizes. The organisers of
the competition (Engineering Development Trust) allocated engineers from Carey‟s
Ltd to mentor the team. The mentors recently arranged an organised tour of the
Forfar Academy Building site. During the tour pupil‟s learned more about the eco-
features of the new school. They were delighted to hear that many of the eco-
features in their classroom of
the future were similar to those
on the site. Thanks also to Roisin
McGrory, Lori McDonald,
Charlotte Blackburn and Emily
Chatton for their support with
the STEM club. Good luck to the
team on the 17th!
The Go4Set Team
From Right to left: Maya O‟Connor, Ciaran
Kane, Kirsten Ireland, Freya Robbins, Glen
Byars, Imogen Crozier, Neve Walker
The Go4Set Team about to venture onto the Forfar
Academy building site.
From Right to left: Maya O‟Connor, Ciaran Kane,
Freya Robbins, Roisin McRory, Neve Walker,
Imogen Crozier, Kirsten Ireland, Glen Byars
We continue to be greatly encouraged by the consistent support of our parents
and pupils for the school uniform policy. The much smarter appearance of pupils
has drawn many positive comments from the wider community of Carnoustie
and surrounds and we are determined to maintain this high standard.
I therefore take this opportunity to reiterate our uniform policy. When in school, or
representing the school, pupils are expected to wear:
Plain black school skirt or trousers
White shirt/blouse which buttons up to the neck
Plain black v-neck sweater/cardigan
Plain black flat school shoes
School tie
Black school blazer
Embroidered blazers, v-necks and other items of schoolwear are available from
tesco at https://carnoustie-high.schoople.com/uniformeasy and academy
uniforms at http://www.academyuniformsltd.co.uk school ties and embroidered
school badges are available at the school office for £3.
Our first priority is the safety of our young people and we need the support of
those parents of our young people who transport themselves to school on two
wheels, or on four; either by bicycle or by car.
We share the concern of our local police that bikes brought to school must be
roadworthy. This means they have effective brakes, and in the dark winter
months, are fitted with lights. Parents have an absolute responsibility for their
children‟s safety as they get to and from school and this means ensuring that
bikes used to get to school are roadworthy. Some young people may be using
these bikes for the school journey without parental knowledge and we appeal to
you to ensure this potentially dangerous practice ceases.
Some of our S6 are in the most fortunate position to be able to drive themselves
to school, and we are happy to allow these pupils the use of the school car park.
Most are fully aware of the responsibility implicit in exercising this privilege and
drive in a considerate and safe manner. I am disappointed then, to intimate that
some of our young drivers do not, and we have had instances of cars being
driven too fast and without consideration for others. We are fortunate that, as
yet, there have been no accidents in the school car park. We would appreciate
the help of parents in re-emphasising the critical importance of safe driving and
reinforcing the message that all those behind the wheel of a car carry a weighty
responsibility for their own safety and the safety of others.
School Uniform
Pupil Road Safety
Staff from Glamis Castle, Pauline Cawdery and Linda Cumming, visited
Carnoustie High School on Monday 26th October to talk to the young people
about working in the tourism industry.
Mr McInally opened the event by illustrating with statistics the importance of
Tourism and Leisure, within the UK as a whole, but especially in Scotland and in
Angus in particular.
Pauline and Linda explained how best to write a CV and present oneself for a
job in Tourism. They suggested ways of gaining valuable experience in order to
strengthen one‟s job application, including working abroad. The castle guides
underlined the usefulness of language skills and Linda gave examples of how
speaking four languages had helped her in different posts throughout her varied
career. Simply being able to greet guests in their own language can make them
feel much more positive about their visit.
The young people in S3 in Carnoustie High now have a challenge to each
produce a poster to market Glamis Castle in one of the languages they are
learning. The forty best posters will win a visit to Glamis Castle. Modern
Languages and Expressive Arts teachers will help the pupils with this task.
For the fourth year running, the Modern
Languages Curriculum Group in
Carnoustie High School celebrated the
European Day of Languages with a
„Languages Week‟ (September 28th-
October 2nd) Pupils had the opportunity
to join learning lunches where they could
experience a taster of a language along
with a taster of food.
On Tuesday, Mrs Fraser and her
colleagues, assisted by senior prefects,
ran a British Sign Language café, where
pupils, in complete silence, ordered their food and drink by signing. On
Wednesday, Mrs Joss introduced the learners to the basics of German and they
tried out some German specialties. On Thursday, Ms Jiang had prepared senior
Mandarin pupils to deliver a performance for the Moon Festival, which
celebrates the September full moon. The event was led by School Captain,
Rebecca Cook. Kevin Shand in S5, very bravely sang a traditional Chinese song
and Fiona and Susan Muirhead, both in S6, recited a poem about the Moon
Goddess. The young audience then had a chance to try Chinese food and
practice their chopstick skills. During Modern Languages lesson, learners were
given the opportunity to experience other languages and cultures in games and
activities. The aim of the week was to allow the pupils to enjoy the diversity of
human communication and cultures and to encourage them to gain awareness
and confidence as active global citizens.
Glamis Castle developing employablity link with Carnoustie High School
European Day of Languages
Carnoustie High School received the
Young Ambassadors‟ Trophy from the
Carnoustie - Maule Twinning Association
on Friday 30th October, following a
unanimous decision by the committee
that Carnoustie High School was the
local school which had done the most to
further twinning links with the town of
Maule in France in the last year. Mr
Donald Currie, Head Teacher, accepted
the shield from Mr Max Fordyce and Mr
Roger Jeffrey of the Twinning Association.
Over the last year, the Modern
Languages Department in Carnoustie
High School established links with Mme
Veronique Ernoult, Coordinator of English Teaching in the secondary school
Collège le Mauldre in Maule. The result was that over 180 pupils and four
teachers took part in letter and information exchanges. The pupils were
motivated to write about their lives and very excited to receive their cards and
letters. Discussions between the schools on a two-way pupil visit are in the initial
stages.
On Monday 9th November 2015 a group of 16 Spanish pupils from Santander
came for the day to Carnoustie High School.
After an introductory ice breaker session, the pupils spent the day involved in
sports and academic activities both in Spanish and English with the Nat5 Spanish
Carnoustie pupils.
In the evening they all took part in a “wee Scottish soirée” at the Station Hotel,
where the Spanish folks were introduced to Scottish traditional music, Scottish
poetry, Highland dancing and a Ceilidh.
Young Ambassadors’ Trophy awarded to Carnoustie High School
Immersion Day Visit for the Salesianos pupils
I was a bit apprehensive at first
but then I really began to enjoy
the day and the experience.
I really enjoyed meeting
the Salesianos, learning
about their school and
making friends with
them.
The experience will be with me forever
as I made new friends. It was also really educational and
helped with our speaking and listening.
It was great fun socialising and
dancing with them. The Spanish people were really
nice.
Younger and older people are the two groups
most affected by marginalisation in our society.
We were lucky enough to have some visitors to
the Computing department in CHS. Senior
pupils invited members of the community to
visit our school, offering them our skills and
support with IT, e.g. mobile phones, iPads,
Internet, PCs and cameras.
We all had a great time working together and
some of us even learned new skills too! A big
thank you to the pupils that volunteered their
time to help out, we look forward to running
this again in the future.
CHRISTMAS CONCERT
The Music Department at Carnoustie High School will be holding their annual
Christmas concert on Thursday 17th December at 7pm. Tickets will be available to
buy on the evening priced £3 (£2 for concessions). There will be performances by
our instrumental groups and soloists from our Strings, Brass and Percussion sections,
songs performed by our Junior and Senior Vocal groups as well as our school's
signing group. Let our young and talented musicians help get you into the festive
spirit!
ANNUAL ART & DESIGN TRIP
Annual Art and Design trip to Hunterian Gallery - part of Glasgow University and
Gallery of Modern Art. 35 pupils and 4 staff left Carnoustie High at 8.30 am and
travelled through to Glasgow University where they participated in guided tours
around the reconstructed Charles Rennie Mackintosh building in small groups.
Those not on the tour engaged in various critical discussions of how and what to
look for in the work of the Scottish Colourists, Impressionists, Contemporary Scottish
artists, etc. to reinforce skills they have developed in Art and Design. This
opportunity to see first-hand the work of various artists really benefits them when
they came to sit their Art Studies written exam at the end of May, next year.
The Group then travelled into the city centre, where they walked down to and
visited the Gallery of Modern Art. There they visited the various different floors of
the Gallery where they engaged with at more contemporary instillations,
animations, prints, sculptures paintings, etc.
The group then split up into smaller groups and went for lunch, a spot of shopping
and back to the bus just in time, before the „forecasted‟ horrible weather actually
started, arriving back at Carnoustie just after 6pm.
Expressive Art News
Intergenerational Community Project
Last season‟s U15 Angus Champions, our S4 Football boys kicked-off the new
season with a bang!
They have been progressing well within the Scottish Schools Cup Competition. In
the first round they beat Glenwood High School in Glenrothes 7-0. Later in the
competition they beat Blairgowrie High School. It was a difficult match ending 3-
3 however the lads kept their heads cool and won 5-3 on penalties.
Good work lads—fingers crossed you get far. Mr Kozlowski
Since the start of the session in August, following events from Spring and Summer
terms, School of Rugby kicked-off again. Our award winning partnership with
Carnoustie High FPRFC see‟s players attend extra training early on Tuesday
mornings to boost their fitness and rugby skills.
The S1/S2 and U16 teams took part in a few regional and district school
tournaments. The majority of boys also play for Carnoustie High FPRFC so their
development continues outside the school walls.
We are pleased to announce that Carnoustie High School has registered to work
towards achieving status within the Rights-Respecting School Award. The purpose
of this scheme is to embed the principles of respect, equality, dignity, non-
discrimination and participation as outlined in the United Nation‟s Convention on
the Rights of the Child into the school culture and ethos. The scheme aims to
involve pupils more fully in key decisions that affect their learning and well-being.
We are confident that scheme will act to further strengthen the positive
relationships we already have within the school. Further information can be
found on the UNICEF website.
http://www.unicef.org.uk/rights-respecting-schools
Our Christmas Fayre in November was a great success with lots of vendors taking
tables to sell their wares, including our Expressive Arts department and our ASN
Enterprise Group in conjunction with our Technical Department. Many thanks to
everyone who supported the event by taking a table or coming along on the
night—it is greatly appreciated—we rasied £756.32 which will be divided between
the School Fund and Scottish Charity Air Ambulance.
S4 Football Team (Under 16’s)
School of Rugby
Christmas Fayre
Rights Respecting School
Thursday 7 January 2016 Spring Term Starts
Thursday 21 January 2016 S3 Parent Contact Evening
5.30pm—7.30pm
25 January—10 Feb 2016 Prelims
Fri 12 & Mon15 Feb 2016 Mid Term Break
Tuesday 16 February 2016 In Service Day—School closed
Tuesday 23 February 2016 S4 Parent Contact Evening 5.30pm-7.30pm
Wednesday 2 March 2016 S5/6 Parent Evening 5.30pm—7.30pm
28 March—8 April 2016 Spring Holiday—School closed
Monday 10 April 2016 Summer Term Starts
Monday 2 May 2016 Mid-term Holiday—School closed
4 May—3 June 2016 SQA Exams
Monday 30 May 2016 In Service Day—School closed
Friday 1 July 2016 Summer Term Ends
Tuesday 16 August 2016 Autumn Term commences
30 Sept—16 October 2016 Autumn Holiday
Monday 17 October 2016 Winter Term Starts
Mon 28 & Tue 29 Nov 2016 Inservice Days—school closed
Wed 30 November 2016 St Andrew's day holiday, schools closed
Wed 21 December 2016 Winter Term Ends
Important Dates for Your Diary