Saturday Electives Brochure

SATURDAY ELECTIVES

The Electives Programme has been designed to provide a breadth of opportunity that is rare to find in schools. We want you to find something which inspires, challenges, and extends your horizons. You will see from the courses in this booklet that some are closely linked to traditional subject areas, but that a good number are completely different from anything you may have encountered in school before. We urge you not to play it safe with your choices: given that most of you will make two or three choices for a term, you have the opportunity to mix things up to quite an extent. So, do not feel you have to choose something you already have experience in, or be guided by what your friends want to do: choose the options which really stand out to you and resolve to make the most of them over the duration of the course. You will have opportunities to change your electives, usually on a termly basis, so we’re confident you will have a range of excellent experiences over the academic year. Some of you will have other school commitments on a Saturday, but we anticipate that everyone will be able to get involved during at least one term. Finally, we want the elective programme to develop based on the interests of students and staff, so please do share your ideas with us.

Sign up using the links below.

Junior School (First to Third Form): Sign up here

Middle School (Fourth to Fifth Form): Sign up here

Senior School (Upper and Lower Sixth): Sign up here

Dr Cartwright and Dr Mechie Academic Leadership Team

Climbing

Climbing

Climbing

Sports desk sports desk sports desk

time for music time for music

time for music

visual expression visual expression

Maths resit support

merchisteam merchisteam intro to spanish

EAL intro to spanish science media

politics science media

e-sports

politics model making/gaming

chinese culture sat english

MMA MMA model un model un

ancient greek for beginners

ancient greek for beginners

Climbing

IV, Shell and V form vi form

Climbing

Climbing

Sports desk sports desk

intro to spanish

sports desk

intro to spanish robotics

science media science media physics extension

book group

kitchen chemistry

kitchen chemistry

merchisteam

merchisteam

visual expression

visual expression

Type of Elective

ANCIENT GREEK FOR BEGINNERS

Run by: Mr Hillier

Describing the ideal education, Winston Churchill wrote, “I would make them all learn English: and then I would let the clever ones learn Latin as an honour, and Greek as a treat.”

Learning Ancient Greek, perhaps even more so than Latin, requires curiosity, abstract thinking, and discipline. It’s an entirely new alphabet, but the roots of so many English words derive from Ancient Greek. Are you up for the challenge?

available to:

Middle School, Sixth Form

Type of Elective

BOOK GROUP

Run by: Mrs Gibb

This is an opportunity for book lovers to meet and discuss what we’ve been reading. There will not be a set book each week, but there may be particular, seasonal, shared texts: Burns poems, for example, or Summer Solstice Stories.

available to:

Junior School

Type of Elective

CHINESE CULTURE THROUGH TRADITIONAL BOARD GAMES

Run by: Mrs Chang

Games are a huge part of Chinese culture, and in these sessions we will learn about the culture by playing some of its most famous games. The games on offer are Chinese Chess, Mahjong, Checkers, Gobang and Go.

We will have a seasonal champion by the end of each term. Will it be you?

available to:

Junior School, Middle School, Sixth Form

Type of Elective

CLIMBING

Run by: Ms Atkinson

At the climbing elective you will have the opportunity to complete levels of the NICAS (national standardised climbing award scheme).

Qualified climbing instructors will safely guide you through level 1 and hopefully beyond, teaching you the skills to become a great climber. This elective is ideal if you are interested in getting into climbing but if you are already a keen climber you are very welcome too!

This elective will run for the whole morning. Choosing it, therefore, means that you will not take any other electives this term.

available to:

Junior School, Middle School, Sixth Form

Type of Elective

CONTENT CREATORS CLUB

Run by: Mr Dennis

Content creators club has two aims: to create video/audio content for the school, and to develop students’ skills in video/audio production and an awareness of marketing. This elective will run for the whole morning. Choosing it, therefore, means that you will not take any other electives this term.

available to:

Middle School, Sixth Form

Type of Elective

CONVERSATIONAL SPANISH

Run by: Miss Warke

Spanish is a rapidly growing global language with over 500 million native speakers across 20 countries, as well as being the first language of a large proportion of our International Merchiston Community. This elective, suitable for complete beginners or those with a basic knowledge of Spanish, will introduce you to practical language for travel while allowing you to discover and appreciate the diversity of Spanish-speaking cultures through music, film and food!

available to:

Junior School, Middle School, Sixth Form

Type of Elective

DIVIDE* AND CONQUER

Run by: Dr Steen

Other staff: Mrs Duncan, Ms Nash, Mr Garratt

*other maths techniques also required!

For students studying Maths in the VI Form, this elective will provide the opportunity to strengthen and apply in different contexts the skills being developed in class. As well as group activities and challenges, students will learn how to use Excel for data handling.

available to:

Sixth Form

Type of Elective

EAL

Based on Speaking (Listening,Vocabulary)

Conversation, discussion, debate - formal/informal Topics will include:

Scotland/scots language

UK Culture - traditions, the weather, being polite, royalty, universities

Current affairs (serious & light-hearted) Gender, human rights

News stories in UK and globally

Popular culture - Music, fashion, cinema and more

available to:

Junior School, Middle School, Sixth Form

Run by: Mrs Hardman

Type of Elective

E-SPORTS

Run by: Mr Lieberman

We have started an e-sports club in Laidlaw South and this has gathered interest from the boys, we have been supporting the boys with an end goal of competing in the many competitions. The Saturday Electives Programme is a great opportunity to expand this offering across the school! One massive bonus is that e-sports also qualifies as a DofE skill.

available to:

Middle School, Sixth Form

Type of Elective

GCSE MATHS RESIT

Run by: Dr Steen

This slot is available for those who need additional support in resitting their GCSE Maths qualification.

available to:

Sixth Form

Type of Elective

KITCHEN CHEMISTRY

Run by: Mr Greenwood

In this elective we will be looking at aspects of food science and the Chemistry behind the food we cook and eat. In the past we have researched, designed, made, marketed and eaten our own ice creams. We would look at this and similar products in future terms.

available to:

Junior School, Middle School, Sixth Form

Type of Elective

MERCHI MATHS: COMPETITION TRAINING AND INVESTIGATIONS

Run by: Dr Steen

Other staff: Mrs Duncan, Ms Nash, Mr Garratt

For keen maths students who enjoy a challenge, this elective provides the opportunity to apply your mathematical knowledge and skills to problems beyond what you may have seen in the classroom. Activities will include working together to prepare for competitions such as the UKMT Maths Challenge, as well as investigating areas such as mathematical origami, logic or codebreaking.

available to:

Middle School

Type of Elective

MERCHISTEAM

This elective crosses subject boundaries of DT (including 3D modelling) Computer Science (including coding and programming) and Art (including Photography/Image manipulation) to involve participants in various activities. Adding 'A' into the STEM acronym aims to foster aesthetic appreciation, innovation and creative, problem-solving activities.

available to:

Middle School, Sixth Form

Run by: Dr Nugent

Other staff: Ms Chapman

Type of Elective

MERCHISTON MEDIA ACADEMY (MMA)

Run by: Mr Thomson

The Merchiston Media Academy is an exciting opportunity to learn about all aspects of Audio Visual technologies. Pupils taking part in the MMA will learn a large range of technical skills, and be given opportunities to practise them for such things as:

Camera skills and live-streaming video for whole school services and events

Setting up and using a sound desk to mix audio for both live events and recording

How to set up microphones for presenters, bands, soloists, and choirs

Controlling theatre/stage/disco lighting using DMX

Supporting the AV requirements for socials, open days, parties, special events etc

MMA takes place over a double period, so choosing it would mean taking one further elective this term.

available to:

Middle School, Sixth Form

Type of Elective

MODEL UN

Participants are assigned a UN member state. They assume the role of that country’s diplomats. The delegations represent the views of ‘their’ country, reflecting that country’s views rather than their own personal opinions on an issue.

Each delegation will research their country’s position on a selected issue. The Chair, preferably a pupil, will ensure that each delegation will have the same speaking time to present its position to the General Assembly. Questions will then be prepared and delivered to other delegations, and formal answers read out in the next meeting.

Time will be given to any final negotiations behind the scenes. Then the Chair will finalise two resolutions, which will be put to a final vote. This will mark a formal end to the Model UN; thanks will be given as well as awards for any outstanding contributions. For speakers, presenting slowly and clearly to the group is a key skill. Their fellow delegates will act as advisors, taking notes and listening out for potential allies or areas of disagreement. While staff will provide some material to assist, the Chair will be responsible for the running of UN business.

available to:

Middle School, Sixth Form

Run by: Dr Flanagan

Type of Elective

PHYSICS EXTENSION CLASSES

Run by: Dr Mayoh

Other staff: Mr Dobbin

This activity looks to explore some of the exciting areas of physics beyond what is covered in the classroom. In previous courses we have looked at Relativity, Quantum Mechanics, advanced optics and Olympiad preparations.

available to:

Sixth Form

Type of Elective

ROBOTICS

Run by: Mr Mayoh

Other staff: Mr Dobbin

In Robotics you will be challenged to design , build, program and even drive a robot to solve different problems. If successful the robotics team will compete at national and international level with the completed robot. You will need to learn about mechanical engineering and apply knowledge from science, computing, electronics and maths to develop the robot.

available to:

Junior School, Middle School, Sixth Form

of Elective

SAT ENGLISH/ GCSE ENGLISH RESIT Type

Run by: Dr Anderson

For pupils considering applying to American universities, this course teaches the skills necessary for success on the English SAT.

This slot will also be used to offer academic support to pupils resitting their GCSE English Language course, as required.

available to:

Sixth Form

Type of Elective

SCIENCE IN THE MEDIA

Run by: Ms Williams

Other staff: Mr Jackson

This is an opportunity to explore what is happening in Science across various platforms and keep up-to-date with the everchanging world of Science. You will identify areas that interest you and, depending on level, select articles from renowned journals like New Scientist, or from various media. You will analyse, review and discuss these with your teacher and fellow students, and for some topics, conduct a debate. This elective will help you to develop critical thinking skills and prepare you for University applications and interviews.

available to:

Middle School, Sixth Form

Type of Elective

SPORTS DESK

Run by: Dr Mechie

Other staff: Ms Callan

We are privileged to have a huge range of elite level sport going on all around us at Merchiston, on Saturday mornings and throughout the week.

As part of the Sports Desk, you will become a part of the school’s coverage of this activity, by fulfilling one of a number of roles: reporting; writing; publishing; managing a live desk; podcasting. We will look at examples of the variety of ways in which elite sport is covered, and look to expand Merchiston offering in similar ways.

This elective will run for the whole morning. Choosing it, therefore, means that you will not take any other electives this term.

available to:

Junior School, Middle School, Sixth Form

Type of Elective

THE WEEK IN POLITICS

Run by: Mr Thomson

Other staff: Mrs McDiarmid

If you're interested in what's going on in the world today, then this is the elective for you. Teachers from the faculty of History & PPE will unpack some big events in the world this week. It will be based on current affairs, so we will focus primarily on Politics and Economics, but there will be a good dose of History in there, too, to fill in some context. You will enjoy it if you are curious about the world around you, and you want to find out why things are happening. We will share the focus between events in the UK and events of significance in the wider world, and we will look closely at what other people are saying about them, as well as giving you the opportunity to develop a voice of your own.

available to:

Junior School, Middle School, Sixth Form

Type of Elective

TIME FOR MUSIC

Run by: Mr Dennis

Other staff: Ms Robson

It’s a chance to practise, and for students to form bands. We currently have a band of 2 in sixth form, we’d love more.

available to:

Junor School, Middle School, Sixth Form

Type of Elective

TABLETOP GAMING/MODEL MAKING

For pupils who enjoy or are interested in making and painting miniatures for table top gaming.

1. Pupils assemble and paint a starter box for a Warhammer type game.

2. Pupils create terrain and gaming tables using household materials.

3. Pupils learn how to play games using the rule books provided.

4. Experienced players may bring their own collections of models to paint, build and play also.

available to:

Middle School, Sixth Form

Run by: Mr Buchanan

Type of Elective

TOASTMASTERS

A Toastmasters Club is an opportunity to practise public speaking skills on an issue of choice. We will look at some great historical speeches, discuss what was good about them and then you will research and write your own speech and deliver it to the rest of the group. You will receive a certificate at the end of the block. This would be particularly useful for boys in L6 who are wanting material for personal statements and references for next year. It could also be a skill for DofE.

available to:

Sixth Form

Run by: Mrs McDiarmid

Type of Elective

VISUAL EXPRESSION

Run by: Mr Cordingley

Working physically with a range of different drawing and painting mediums you will explore how some contemporary artists choose to express their ideas visually. In particular you will be working with inks, charcoal and paint. Each session will consist of a brief introduction to a particular expressive approach and then some observation work using the medium/s of choice of the artist under investigation.

available to:

Middle School, Sixth Form