LHS
Summer Newsletter
June 2017
Message from Mr Hornell It is with great pleasure that I introduce another fantastic Summer Newsletter. We have experienced another amazing term in the school and the newsletter allows us to celebrate a snapshot of the wider achievement of our staff and students. I do not generally like to single out one aspect of success though I would like to highlight the work of the Performing Arts Department, and the school’s Music Instructors, in producing last week’s incredible ‘School of Rock’ Concert. As usual, the concert was a sell out and it was great to see many family and friends in the audience enjoying the show. Another notable event was the brilliant work presented by our many talented young people in relation to this year’s YPI. Also celebrated this term were the magnificent sporting achievements of our young people at the Sports Personality of the Year Award. The month of June marked the many achievements of our Junior school students at the prize giving ceremony and we look forward to recognising and rewarding our Senior students at their prize giving in September. Further successes were recognised in the IKEA Design Competition and other students have been working hard towards the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. You can read about all these exciting events, and many more worthy achievements, further on in the newsletter. Next session we will be launching a joint venture with Columba 1400, a programme aimed at developing the leadership skills of some of our young people. More detail about this exciting opportunity follows in the newsletter. We are also delighted to announce our S6 Senior Leadership Team for 2017/18. Congratulations to newly appointed Head Boy and Girl, Daniel Crabbe and Teigan and deputies, Declan Cummings, Rebecca McGregor, Rhiannon Preston, Matt Rietvelt. As we approach the end of the session, I would like to thank all parents for supporting their children and supporting our efforts in Lasswade High School. We are especially fortunate to have so many active, enterprising and supportive parents leading our Parent Council. I am also looking forward to warmly welcoming our new cohort of S1 students who will join us in August. Let’s hope that the sun returns and stays with us over the Summer holiday before we hurl back into another exciting term at Lasswade High School. Wishing all our readers a happy and relaxing summer holiday from the Senior Leadership Team…
Mr Hornell
The Youth Philanthropy Initiative (YPI) Scotland is an active citizenship programme that encourages young people to learn more about their local community, charities and philanthropy. Each year all new S3 students in Lasswade take part in a group project where they have to research, engage with and present on a local charity. Each team of students work together to identify their chosen charity and then produce a presentation to highlight why their charity should be awarded the YPI Grant, a £3000 award. Throughout the YPI project students have the change to meet with many local charities and their staff. Every student team met with their chosen charity, some visited their premises and other students even chose to volunteer. After class presentations the YPI final was held to decide upon the winning charity. This year the charities represented in the final were Health in Mind, MYPAS, Midlothian Foodbank, SiMBA, Hosanna House and Children's Pilgrimage Trust. Final presentations were judged by Mr Hornell and YPI coordinator George Smuga joined by Tracey Bird and Donna Nelson from the Parent Council. The 2017 winners were Health in Mind who were represented by Úna Dale, Phoebe Housley-Smith, Annabella Glen and Jodie Gourlay. The £3000 grant will be used within the Orchard Centre in Bonnyrigg.
Health in Mind campaigners: Phoebe Housley-Smith, Úna Dale, Jodie Gourlay and Annabella Glen pictured with the cheque and Mr Hornell
A national rugby captain, a national footballer, a Commonwealth Gold medalist, two Olympic medalists and a Forth One Radio DJ. This could only mean one thing…Lasswade’s Sports Personality of the Year Award 2017. Joined by a sellout crowd of students, their families and Lasswade staff our invited guests helped us to celebrate the impressive sporting achievements of our young people during the 2016/17 term. At this brilliant event the winner of the title award, Sports Personality of the Year, is announced alongside Volunteer of the Year, Team of the Year, Coach of the Year and Player of the Year in gymnastics, football, netball and rugby.
Pictured are the four Sports Personality of the Year finalists; rugby player Olivia Harris, basketball player Zak Stewart, rugby player Ethan McVicker and karate black belt, Cameron Duff. As well as excelling in their primary sport each of our nominees play a variety of sports in Lasswade and beyond. You can find out more about each of the finalists in this campaign video. https://youtu.be/F68YV3_KiUg As part of the evening the audience were treated to a special performance by the school choir and by our talented young dancers.
A massive thank you to our special guests: captain of the women’s Scottish Rugby team Lisa Martin, Judo Commonwealth Gold medalist Euan Burton, Judo Olympic Silver medalist Gemma Burton and Hearts and Scotland Under 21 footballer John Soutar. We were delighted to welcome back Radio Forth One presenter, and former Lasswade student, Mark Martin to host the event.
Basketball demonstration from Zak
The four finalists joined by the special guests.
2017 Winners Sports Personality of the Year Olivia Harris Student Volunteer of the Year Carolyn Cameron Staff Volunteer of the Year
Miss McKay
Coach of the Year
Keith Angus
Team of the Year
Gold - U15 Football, Silver - Gymnastics, Bronze - U13 Football
Future Starz
Daniel Bryen, Hannah Darling, Cameron Duff, Jamie Ferguson, Olivia Harris, Jamie Higgs, Natalie Jones, Niall Kemp, Charlotte McDougall, Ethan McVicker, Abbie Malinowski, Jodi Millar, Lauren Murie, JJ Neil, Zak Stewart, Kelly Wynne
Player of the Year nominations - Football
Boys - U13, Lucas McGarry. U14, Harris Spratt. U15, Sean Hancock. U16, Daniel Lennie. U18, Luke Kennedy Girls - U15, Emma Yorkston. U18, Gaby Wright
Player of the Year nominations - Rugby
Boys - U13, Finn Hollins-Kirk. U14, Cameron Catterall. U15, Michael Jones. U16, Daniel Sutherland. U18, Harry Smith. Girls - Olivia Harris
Player of the Year nominations - Netball
U14, Abbie Notman. U16, Cara McGaff
Player of the Year - Hockey
Maia Hollins-Kirk
Player of the Year - American Jonathan Nicolson Football Player of the Year Gymnastics
Zoe Adams
Player of the Year - Dance
Chloe Watt
Player of the Year Swimming
Natalie Jones
2017 winner Olivia Harris with Lisa Martin, John Soutar, Gemma Burton and Euan Burton.
This year’s end of term School Show was School of Rock - an explosive, loud and energetic show that was performed on Wednesday 21st and Thursday 22nd June. Well done to everyone involved!
Starring‌ Ewan Gilchrist as Dewey Finn/Mr Schneebly Rebekah Lansley as Rosalie Mullens Amy Wright as Patty Jack Ramage as (the real) Ned Schneebly
The Horace Green School Class Summer Tomika Zack Freddy Katie Lauren Billie Shonelle Marcy Sophie Madison Mason James Security Security Musician Musician Musician Musician Musician
Maisie Jack Anja French Dean Livingstone Conor Wight Macy McKenzie Grace Murdock Elle Pearson Ellie Cummings Teoni Halliday Eilidh Babbs Jessica Smales Samantha Gough Caleb Murdock Georgia Clark Mia Tracey Sarah McDonald Bethan Cormack Lori Donald Erin Wilson Melissa Veitch
Parents/Teachers of Horace Green Mrs Mooneyham Mrs Hathaway Mr Williams-Spencer Mrs Hamilton & Miss Brown Mrs Sanford & Mrs Sheinkopf Mrs Turner Mrs Ward Mrs Travis Mrs Smith Ms Bingham & Jess Sanderson Mr Noble Mr Janes Mr Wagner
Maia Hollins-Kirk Larissa Bruns Ben Shanks Erin Bowden Megan Nicol Amy Hope Leah Rankin Chloe Bryson Caitlyn Dick Gemma McOwen Thomas Shanks Connor Pell Adam Steedman
Band Keyboards Guitars Bass Guitar Drums
Lighting/Sound
Jack Wood Reece Carr Hamish Misselbrook Cameron Watt Bryden Wren Andrew Murphy
Mr Alexander Mr Brown TJ Connell Iain Levett Aaron Marshall Ryan Paterson
Backstage Alix Hamill Marley Clark
Rachel Shanks
Director Miss Paul Choreographer Sharon Jones
Special Thanks TJ Connell, Molly Duffield, Jack Wood, Hamish Misselbrook and Hannah Brownlee
Junior Prize Giving The Junior Prize Giving Ceremony was held in the school atrium on Monday 19th June.
S1 Awards Conabor Gold Award Niamh Cooney, Heather Crabbe, James Easton, Georgia Ford, Aisling Free, Duncan Gordon, Isla Gordon, Grace Harris, Finn Hollins-Kirk, Iram Hussain, Caleb Murdock, Declan Murray, Roan Murray, Jamie Napier, Daniel Pomeroy, Melissa Veitch, Zoe Watson Curriculum for Excellence—Four Capacities Awards Successful Learner - Bethan Cormack, Eilidh Mitchell, Dane Moffat, Caleb Murdock Confident Individual - Duncan Brodie, Matthew Hanlon, Adam Mendey Responsible Citizen - Adam Montgomery, Sophie Thompson, Jamie Napier Effective Contributor - Julia Bell, Anja French, Niall Kemp, Roan Murray Department Awards Aamna Amir (Art) Jack Birrell (Design) Georgia Ford (Design) Iram Hussain (English) Robbie McDermid (Maths, Design) Sarah McDonald (Music) Eilidh Mitchell (Science) Caleb Murdock (Music) Roan Murray (Maths) Jamie Napier (Home Ec, English)
Emily Barnes (Modern Studies) Bethan Cormack (Art, French, Music) Aisling Free (French) Verity Kinch (Geography) Eilidh McDonald (English) Freya Mackenzie (Art) Aiden Mulligan (History) Declan Murray (Maths) Callum Myers (Home Ec, English) Megan Smith (Home Ec, French)
Mathematics Challenge Sliver Award Josh Brown, Iram Hussain, Benjamin Mapstone, David Rusev Sports Awards Daniel Bryen (Badminton), Natalie Jones (Swimming), Niall Kemp (Football) Kelly Wynne (Gymnastics)
S2 Awards Conabor Gold Award Eilidh Babbs, Paige Denholm, Robyn Halliday, Maisie Jack, Josh Jones, Iona Livingston, Kyle Muirhead, Mark Russell, Richard Simpson, Emily Trowell-Gillon, Leona Welsh Curriculum for Excellence—Four Capacities Awards Successful Learner - Eilidh Babbs, Jamie Higgs, Stuart Holley, Iona Livingstone Confident Individual - Aliha Butt, Taine Lunn, Harris Spratt, Conor Wight Responsible Citizen - Finnie Crawford, Rosie Dyer, Miaa John, Rhiannon Quinn, Bobby Wilson, Jack Wilson Effective Contributor - Jodie Gourlay, Connor Pell, Kurt Robertson, Dean Somerville Department Awards Courtney Alexander (Design) Amy Archibald (Computing) Eve Baillie (Art) Charlie Campbell (Business) Bethany Darling (Business) Finlay Duraj (Business) Marco Galeotti (Home Ec) Annabella Glen (French) Phoebe Housley-Smith (Design) Iona Livingstone (Mandarin) Lucy McDonald (Maths) Rhiannon Quinn (Design) Rachel Shanks (Modern Studies, Maths) Harris Spratt (Home Ec) Emily Trowell-Gillon (English)
Blair Allison (Music) Eilidh Babbs (English, Music, Science) Aliha Butt (Mandarin) Ăšna Dale (English) Jennifer Dunwell (Home Ec) Finlay Doig (Art) Aaron Gillon (History) Stuart Holley (Mandarin) Maisie Jack (English) Kirsten Maclure (Art) Matthew Phillips (Computing, French) Nathanael Rogers (French) Aidan Smith (Maths) Mia Tracey (Geography) Alexandra Weir (Computing)
Mathematics Challenge Gold Award Matthew Phillips, Rhiannon Quinn, Emma Wilson Sports Awards Hannah Darling (Golf), Jamie Ferguson (Swimming), Jamie Higgs (Badminton), Abbie Malinowski (Athletics), Zak Stewart (Basketball)
S3 Awards Conabor Gold Award Devon Boyle, Sophie Fowler, Lauren Howard, Lauren McDermid, Olivia Millar, Ross Newton, Emma Stoddart, Megan Van Den Bosch, Lauren Windsor, Cerys Young Curriculum for Excellence—Four Capacities Awards Successful Learner - Devon Boyle, Aliki Kavoussanaki, Nicholas Rietvelt, Ciaran Slater Confident Individual - Jami-Ul Amin, Kyle Burns, Rachael Doig, Scott Thomson Responsible Citizen - James Allan, Eilidh Maguire, Fraser Phaup, Karoline-Jayne Sime, Calum Turnbull Effective Contributor—Jack Masson, Jonathan Nicolson, Keisha Peters, Josh Sanders Department Awards Lauren Benn (Art, Design, Mandarin) Devon Boyle (English) Gemma Dewar (Home Ec) Caitlyn Dick (Drama) Rachael Doig (German) Izzy Drysdale (Art) Kate Fergusson (Chemistry) Emily Forrest (Computing) Louise Hamilton (English) Amy Hope (Drama) Subhan Hussain (Business, Computing, Design, Maths) Aliki Kavoussanaki (French) Jade Knowles (Business, French) Chloe Lauder (Maths, Mandarin, Physics) Lauren McDermid (Business) Matthew Mackenzie (Computing) Jamie McKinney (Geography) Grace Murdock (French, Music) Lauren Murie (Modern Studies, English) Amber Rankin (Home Ec) Lucy Scollon (Home Ec) Ellie Scott (Design) Kyle Skellett (Mandarin) Ciaran Slater (History) Abbie Watt (Art) Lauren Windsor (Home Ec) Hamzah Yasin (Maths, English) Sports Awards Charlotte McDougall (Football), Lauren Murie (Mini Trampolining)
Mandarin: Edinburgh Castle Project Lasswade High School has a link with Edinburgh Castle as a business partner through the Midlothian Confucius Hub. Each year Mandarin learners at the school get the chance to work on a project to use their Mandarin skills in a course connected to the castle. This year the castle linked the school with Global Treasure Apps (http://globaltreasureapp.com/). In the first part of the project, Sylvie Silk, learning officer from Historic Environment Scotland, and Francis O’Neil from Global Treasure Apps visited the school to brief the students. The students identified themes for their proposed trails: animals, weapons, stonework, statues and hidden gems. The students were split into six groups of six. After working on some initial questions, using guide books supplied from the castle. The group leaders and members of each group visited the castle with Depute Mr Mitchell and Mandarin teacher Jun Yan to take some initial photographs. The school group was accompanied by staff from Global Treasure Apps who helped them identify other suitable questions. The group leaders and the other members from each group returned to the castle the following week with Mandarin teachers Wei Jiang and Jun Yan. The students completed their photographs and their notes on locations.
The students have had two further visits from Francis O’Neil who has helped them turn their questions and photographs into trails on the website. The next step will be to translate the trails into mandarin for both learners and native speakers. On 30th May, Sylvie Silk, Francis O’Neil, Colin Mitchell and Meryl James, professional development officer from CISS (Confucius Institute for Scotland’s Schools) issued the commemorative certificate to the students who participated in the Edinburgh Castle Project.
UKAPCE 15TH Mandarin Reading Competition The UK Association for the Promotion of Chinese Education（UKAPCE）15th Mandarin Reading Competition was held in Lasswade on Saturday June 10, 2017. Over 200 students and parents from 9 different schools attended the competition. At the beginning of the competition, UKAPCE President Mr Ng and Mr Zhang, Chinese Consul gave warm welcome speeches. They both hoped more and more students in Scotland learn Chinese culture and wished this year's Mandarin reading competition a great success. The students from Lasswade got excellent results. Catherine Allison was awarded the first prize for the speech ‘学习语言重要性 (The importance of learning foreign language). Kyle Skellett was awarded the second prize for the speech‘我的生活 (my life). The prizes were presented by UKAPCE President Mr Ng and Mr Zhang Chinese Consul.
Launch of Confucius Classroom Hub in Hawthornden Primary 19th June saw the very successful launch of the Confucius Classroom Hub at Hawthornden Primary School.
Hawthornden Head Teacher Mr Lavery was joined at the launch by Deputy Consul General of the Chinese Consulate in Edinburgh Mr Limin Zhang, foreign director Ms Fan Lin and Chinese director Ms Li Tian of CISS and Lasswade depute Mr Mitchell. Hawthornden students performed a Chinese traditional dragon dance which started off a for a morning of celebration, enthusiasm and the sharing of Chinese and Scottish cultures. P6 pupils sang Colour Song in mandarin while P7 pupils sang the Chinese song Looking for Friends. Some pupils from P7 performed a fan dance. Two P3 pupils told a story to the guests in both mandarin and English. In the final part of the ceremony LHS S3 students performed Taichi Fan. The students' wonderful performance left a deep impression on the visitors. The event culminated in the handing over of a plaque to commemorate the launch and cement the links between our two countries. As an independent hub Hawthornden is now looking forward to giving more Midlothian youngsters the opportunity to learn about the
SCEN Ambassadors Conference A conference for SCEN (Scottish China Education Network) Ambassadors was held in Lasswade on Friday 9 June, 2017. The conference was hosted by S4 students Lewis Hanley and Maia Hollins-Kirk who were joined by Lasswade depute Mr Mitchell and SCEN Founder Ambassador, Rosemary Mitchell. Over 60 representatives from different school and universities attended the conference including Judith McKerrecher, professional development officer from CISS (Confucius Institute for Scotland’s Schools). At the conference, Mr Hornell gave a warm welcome to all participants.
The representatives gave their speeches - Rosemary Mitchell with Lewis Hanley and Maia Hollins-Kirk summarised “what are SCEN ambassadors achieving and where next”. Judith McKerrecher talked about “the view from the Confucius institute for Scotland’s schools” and Stephen Lee expressed “the support with finding a partner school in China and developing a productive relationship”. In addition, some student representatives shared their thoughts about learning Mandarin and more about Chinese culture. To conclude, Mr Mitchell and the Lasswade students reviewed a year in the life of a Hub school.
Lasswade High School is delighted to be launching a joint leadership development programme for current S2, 3 & 4 students in conjunction with Columba 1400. The programme is aimed at developing the leadership skills, confidence and communication of a group of students, through focusing on the core values of Columba 1400: Awareness, Focus, Creativity, Integrity, Perseverance and Service.
Columba 1400 is an organisation that supports the development of students, builds partnerships between schools with different backgrounds and enhances relationships between schools and their local communities through community projects. The participants on this project will consist of 15 students and 5 staff. A coordinated series of events, running from August to the end of September, will inform students, staff and parents of the programme's aspirations and will prepare participants for the residential, development and action phases of the project. The main focus of the residential phase will be developing the leadership and communication skills of our students. The group will take part in a course located in Staffin, Skye from Sunday 1st October to Friday 6th October. At an appropriate stage after the completion of the weeks programme, all the students and staff will be expected to implement a community-based project. The project will focus on the positive contribution that they can make to the local area. Through this action phase the programme will continue to develop them as young leaders and ambassadors for Lasswade High School within our community. We are currently in the process of selecting the 15 students who will be involved in this partnership. We believe this is a great opportunity for students and that positive partnerships can be forged that will bring benefit to the school and our wider community.
Graphic Novel Club Graphic Novel Club has two exciting pieces of news. On Wednesday 28th June travelled to Kelvingrove Art Gallery in Glasgow to see an exhibition of Frank Quitely’s work called ‘The Art of Comics’. We had a totally brilliant day. Last week we were presented with a cheque for £100 from the school fund to purchase new graphic novels for the library. This was received after the group wrote a letter to Mr Hornell letting him about all the benefits of comics and how much enjoyment and learning you can get from comics.
Edinburgh International Book Festival There are 3 trips going to the Edinburgh International Book Festival in August.
Advanced Higher English are attending the American Civil Rights group ‘The Last Poets’ 10 S2 students will be enjoying a whole day at the festival with two events with Theresa Breslin and Cathy MacPhail 11 S2 - S4 students have won a trip to see ‘Master of Horror’ Darren Shan after our recent Zombie Creative Competition
For the zombie competition students were invited to create something on the theme of zombies. Entries varied from art work and short stories to short films and brain cakes! The winning students are: S2s Niamh Cruickshank, Lori Donald, Jack Millar, Eilidh Mitchell, Cerys Pritchard and David Rusev; S3s Sophie Milligan, Charlotte Scott, Mhairi Telford and S4s Caitlyn Dick and Rachael Doig.
The Midlothian Schools IKEA Design Competition 2017 The annual Midlothian Schools IKEA Competition took place in May to showcase the excellent design, manufacture, graphics and practical work undertaken in secondary schools across the authority. The awards received entries from six Midlothian schools across seven categories with a final 75 entries being shortlisted for the coveted awards. The event, held in IKEA Edinburgh, attracted over 200 guests, including guest of honour Kirsty McFaul, senior education officer for Education Scotland. Lasswade students were awarded prizes across all the categories. A huge well done to all the students entered into the competition. They've all worked so hard this year and really deserve the recognition for all their efforts.
National 5 Design and Manufacture
1st: Lewis Hanley 3rd: Katie Thomson
Higher Design and Manufacture
3rd: Adam Murdock Runner up: Megan Thomson
National 5 Graphic Communication
3rd: Abby Steedman Runner up: Max Kerr
Higher Graphic Communication
2nd: Jerin Mathew 3rd: Douglas Jones
Practical Prize
2nd: Lewis O’Donnell Runner up: Craig Stevenson
S3 Design and Manufacture
3rd: Lucy Sayers Runner up: Subhan Hussain
BBC L.A.B. Green Screen Workshop This May, Lasswade received another visit from the BBC L.A.B. Team following the great success of BBC News School Report Day in May!
The challenge for the students picked to take part in this workshop was to imagine what life will be like for them in 50 years time. They then developed their skills in script writing, filming, recording sound, directing, drawing, collating images and editing for the eventual green screen production on their ideas. Some of the fantastic ideas that the students came up with ranged from what kind of power we’ll be using to how global warming will have affected the planet. We are still waiting on the results of the videos so please watch this space. They’ll be published on the school website and on the bulletin once they are ready.
Well done to all those involved! The team: Caleb Murdock Samantha Gough Rhiannon Quinn Shannon McGuire Jamie Cairns Shoaib Mahmood Finlay Macdonald Charlie Traquair Kerr Farquhar Ellie Laing
Duke of Edinburgh’s Award News This year has seen a total of 25 S3 and S4 students working towards their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh’s Award at Lasswade High School. The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is the worlds leading achievement award for young people and is highlyregarded by universities, colleges and employers. Lasswade have run a successful DofE programme for many years now. Students have been working hard on the various requirements of their award programme through this session, working on a hugely varied programme of volunteering activities, physical activities and improving skills. These have helped students not only meet the requirements of their award but have also taught them valuable transferrable life skills and values such as commitment, time management, interpersonal skills, confidence and self-motivation. Their activities have also allowed students to make valued contributions to the local community and many students have chosen to continue their volunteering activities beyond the requirements of their award.
Many people associate the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award with outdoor expeditions but, in fact, these form a relatively small component of the award compared to the volunteering, physical and skills components. That said, the expeditions require a significant investment in training and students have been attending training sessions after school for them to learn the skills to complete their expeditions successfully. Training sessions have covered a range of different skills (which, in addition to those learned in the other 3 parts of the award, are valuable transferrable life skills) – topics covered included: first aid skills, with students trained to Heart Start level, navigation and map reading, expedition planning, nutrition and cooking in the outdoors and safety procedures. Training was also completed outside the classroom through the year with an outdoor induction day last June at Dalkeith Country Park and practice expeditions in October for S4 and April for S3. Training and preparation culminated in students’ qualifying expeditions recently in June in the nearby Pentland hills where students were required to plan and complete a 2 day expedition with an overnight camp entirely self-sufficiently. Despite a mixture of challenging weather conditions, where torrential rain gave way to scorching heat quickly followed by more rain throughout the weekend, students completed their expeditions successfully. The final requirement of the award, for students to give a presentation about their award activities and expeditions took place in late June when students delivered informative and entertaining presentations about their activities to an audience of their parents and carers, school staff and volunteers involved with delivering the award.
Isle of Skye Trip In June a small group of students had the opportunity to go to the Isle of Skye and find out more about Gaelic culture. This adventure included: Gaelic language classes, learning to step dance, drama workshops and finding out how to submit a film to Film G (Gaelic Film Awards). As well as time in the classroom they also managed to travel around the island and see some of the beautiful sights of Skye. A highlight for all was crossing rivers and trekking up to see the infamous Fairy Pools. An amazing time was had by all!
Community Project School Garden It has been another busy year in the school garden with a wide variety of fruit, vegetables and flowers being grown. The Spring was spent preparing the soil and greenhouse, painting the shed and fences, and we were able for the first time to use our own compost.
Hopefully after the summer we will have lots of produce to put to good use. A big thank you once again to Dougie Stewart from Waverley Landscaping for all his help.
Lasswade Vocational Programme
During the 2016-17 session the Community Project has also been involved in running a Pilot Scheme in conjunction with PAVE called the Lasswade Vocational Programme. Students have combined their studies with work experience and a number of activities such as cooking, volunteering, canoeing and climbing amongst many others.
Skills for learning, skills for life at Lasswade As part of the Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce initiative in Lasswade we are working to ensure that we equip our students with the key skills they need to excel within the workplace. It is important that our learners are able to make clear connections between both their subject based learning and key employability skills they are developing. Using research carried out by Midlothian Council we have established the fundamental employability skills that employers are looking for. By combining these with our own DREAM values we have developed a Lasswade skills for learning and for life vision for our school. The skills have been grouped under 4 key headings, Communication, Critical Thinking, Collaboration and Creativity, known as the 4C’s. The accompanying poster shows the icons associated with each of the 4C’s and includes a breakdown of the keys skills within it. The 4C’s will be embedded in Lasswade teaching practice throughout our school, with an initial focus on the S1 curriculum. It is important to note that these skills are already being taught across the school, our aim is to highlight the skills that are developed in everyday learning. The 4C's will be integral to the learning and teaching process. Teachers will refer to this in lessons and posters will be displayed throughout the school to reinforce the message. This is an exciting time for both students and staff and we look forward to using the 4C'S to further develop and enhance our learners skills for learning and for life in school and beyond.
The 4C’s - Skills for learning, Skills for Life at Lasswade Communication
Collaboration
Conversation skills Understanding the different ways that we speak to peers, teachers and adults
Working with others Working with others to achieve a common goal or complete a task
Written work Communicating views and ideas using a clear structure that justifies your thinking
Making a contribution Actively contributing towards set goals within a group or individual task
Body language Using open and approachable body language when speaking to others and understanding the impact of it
Listening Having the ability to listen effectively to others
Technology Being able to use multiple forms of technology to communicate with others
Leadership skills Taking ownership of a task by making thoughtful and calculated decisions to effectively organise and allocate resources
Customer service Understanding the needs and wants of others and delivering helpful, high quality service
Deadlines Structuring, breaking down and prioritising tasks to ensure that deadlines are met
Critical Thinking
Creativity
Analysis and Evaluating Looking systematically at information and breaking it down to make reasoned justified conclusions
Enterprise Drawing on knowledge and skills across subject areas to explore new ideas and come up with new and imaginative solutions to problems
Problem Solving Finding solutions to difficult or complex issues
Thinking outside the box Viewing problems from different perspectives and taking an open minded approach to find creative solutions.
Organisation The ability to plan effectively and manage resources to complete set tasks
Initiative Being able to assess what needs to be done and getting it done Making independent decisions Having the confidence to express and justify opinions
Resourcefulness Taking ownership of learning and being motivated to explore and challenge assumptions New specialist skills Valuing opportunities to develop and learn new skills
Business engagement at Lasswade As part of our strategy to better prepare students for the world for the world of work, staff at Lasswade High School have been working to establish closer and more productive links with local employers. Throughout the winter term we had the pleasure of welcoming guest speakers, from a variety of backgrounds, to talk to S3 students about career pathways. The purpose of which was to inspire and motivate students to dream, believe and achieve. In February we organised a Business Breakfast which brought together Midlothian’s education professionals and local employers with a view to establishing more effective partnerships. A number of exciting partnerships between the school and employers have been initiated and we look forward to building on these links and developing new ones in the years ahead. In the spring term STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) employers worked with our S1 students to highlight careers in related industries as well as challenging learners to build robots and a working wind turbine.
More recently S3 and S4 students attended a two-day programme of workshops designed to provide young people with opportunities to enhance their skills for work. The sessions were all organised and delivered by local employers. Most workshops addressed different aspects of the recruitment process such as CV writing, interview skills and job applications, while other sessions focused on developing particular skills/qualities desirable to employers. At various times during the academic year students have benefitted from working directly with employers including; STV, Lloyds Banking Group, Royal Bank of Scotland, and Ernst and Young. As we move into the 2017-2018 session we will continue to explore opportunities where we can work with employers to ensure that our learners are fully prepared for the world of work.
S6 Leadership Team We are very excited to announce our S6 Senior Leadership Team for 2017/18. Daniel Crabbe and Teigan Hunter have been appointed as this year’s Head Boy and Head Girl. They will be ably joined by a team of deputies; Declan Cummings, Rebecca McGregor, Rhiannon Preston, Matt Rietvelt. The new leadership team have been through a rigorous selection process which includes an application form, a presentation to all teachers during in-service day, a staff vote and individual interviews. Each of the candidates showed their commitment to the school and their motivation to contribute to positive change. Many thanks to our outgoing S6 team who throughout 2016/17 worked in partnership with the House Captains and focused on improving and re-launching our house point system. Thomas Rietvelt and Sarah Judge as Head Boy and Girl represented the school by welcoming many official visitors, leading the school Remembrance service, coordinating Christmas assemblies and delivering speeches at our Burns Supper. The Senior Team is one of a number of ways that students can get involved in the life of the school. S6 students also have the chance to become House Captains, student mentors and committee members organising charities, yearbook and the school website.
London Trip
We have recently had a wonderful time in London on a Social Studies trip. The week included visiting a variety of locations including Windsor Castle, houses of Parliament and the Natural History Museum. Our West End show this year was Disney’s Aladdin which was amazing and we still don’t know how they had a flying carpet! The ArcelorMittal Orbit brought a few screams to our ears as students and staff slid down the world’s highest and longest tunnel slide! The views across London, here and on the London Eye showed us just how spectacular London’s skyline is. Throughout the whole week the students were a credit to themselves and the school and everyone had a thoroughly good time!
Childcare qualifications ‘Tots to Teens’ Lasswade High School and Nursery are celebrating a successful 3rd year of the Tots to Teens course. Tots to Teens is a childcare course offered to students in S4. 15 successful candidates completed a qualification in Childcare and Education this year and the new cohort of learners joined the course in June. The Lasswade Nursery team have proven they don’t only provide high quality childcare for parents using the service but they can use their experience and skills to provide training opportunities to students involved in the Tots to Teens programme.
“The Tots to Teens course was set up originally to give students an insight into a career in childcare. Due to the success of this programme in the past 3 years, students have not only obtained qualifications in this field of work but they have also obtained jobs within the private sector and other students have decided to further their education by enrolling on childcare courses delivered by Edinburgh College. I would highly recommend this subject to students thinking off a career in childcare”. Nursery Manager, Angela Sinnet
New Course - Higher Politics As part of the school’s commitment to curriculum development, the Social Studies Faculty are delighted to announce the introduction of Higher Politics in the Senior Phase. At a time of Referenda, General Elections and Donald Trump, there has never been a more apt time to study politics. The aims of the course are to equip young people with a deep knowledge of politics and current affairs as well as equip them with important skills such as analysis, evaluation, comparing sources, debating skills and building an argument through the writing of essays. In terms of the course structure, there are three units in Higher Politics. Unit One is called ‘Political Ideology’ and this is where students will critically analyse some important theorists such as Karl Marx and John Locke. Furthermore, students will also undertake a comparative study of political ideologies including Socialism and Conservatism. In Unit Two, ‘Political Systems’, students will analyse the political systems of the UK and the USA and will examine areas such as powers of the President and Prime Minister, role of the legislative in scrutinising the Executive and the role of the judiciaries in each respective country. Finally, in Unit Three, students will study ‘Political Parties and Elections’ which examines the campaign methods of various political parties in the UK and voting behaviour where students investigate what makes people vote the way they do. This is an incredibly important and fascinating course in terms of current political upheaval and changes locally, nationally and internationally. If you have any further questions then please see Mr McKay in Social Studies.
Parent Council This term as been another busy term for the Parent Council. As you may have seen from Facebook we have established a 200 Club but with only 40 numbers sold so far we have a long way to go! The information and application form links are here. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0BwjMrcoJme6rRnV1SjlzdktJcXM The new website cost the Parent Council £3000 so we have spent almost all of our cash! The 200 club will give us a regular pot of income which is essential to support the school. We really hope you can help. It's £24 per year and minimum prize of £15. We made £190 at the school show in donations for refreshments and the summer hamper. Our balance going forward for next year is £1080 - £500 of which comes from 200 club profit.
Dates for your diary Parent Council meetings. Start at 7pm in the Lasswade Centre Conference Room Bingo Night Christmas Fair
29/8/17 28/9/17 7/11/17 18/1/18 6/3/18 26/4/18 12/6/18 22/9/17 23/11/17
To hear more from the Parent Council please follow the School Facebook page as we post regularly. https://www.facebook.com/Lasswade-High-School-182738961870065/
Lindsey McGregor Chair LHS Parent Council Lindseymmcgregor@aol.com
Swimming On the 7th June 2017, two teams from Lasswade attended the Brodie’s Scottish Schools Team Championships at the Royal Commonwealth Pool, Edinburgh. The event saw teams from all over the country competing in age group relays, with around 600 swimmers competing on the day.
The boys relay team competed in both the S1/2 boys 4x50m Freestyle and medley relays achieving a 13th place in the Freestyle event and a 6th place in the medley event. Well done to Jamie Golder, Fraser Burgess, Jamie Ferguson, Calum Evans and Roan Murray who made up the teams and all achieved PB’s on the day. The S1/2 girl’s team which was made up of Iona Wilson, Ellie Robertson, Ria Colbridge and Natalie Jones who competed in the Girls S1/2 4x50m freestyle and medley relays. The girls were outstanding on the day all achieving PB’s and placing 2nd in both the freestyle and medley events, narrowly missing 1st place. Well done to all the swimmers who represented the school, they performed brilliantly and were excellent ambassadors for Lasswade
Ski Team The Ski team have had their most successful year ever with 3 Bronze medals in various events. They competed in 5 races this year and faced very tough opposition in a recent Scottish Schools Dual Slalom event when they faced the all male team of Watson’s A in their first race and were knocked out by Heriot’s A. Both teams contained boys who Ski for the National team. Kayleigh Cameron won the Midlothian U16 girl trophy and ‘most improved’ which is a fantastic result. We have had two new members join for the last race - Bruce and Olivia and we hope to create a novice team or a B team for next year. Please see Ms Scott-Larson for more details. Race training is on a Wednesday night with a bus organised by Active Schools taking students to and from Hillend.
Girls Football This season the girls football didn't go as well as we had hoped. After the success of winning the both Scottish Cups last year it was disappointing for both teams to be put out early in the competition. The U18's came up a very strong Graeme High School and the U15's an excellent Cults Academy. All the girls played extremely well and gave all for their team mates. In the upcoming season we look to get back to winning ways with some very talented U15's players moving into the senior team.
Gymnastics A group of Lasswade students attended the Scottish School’s Gymfest at Bell’s Sport Centre Perth, on 13th May 2017. They performed a choreographed group routine which included a mix of gymnastics, dance and sports acrobatics. The students performed brilliantly and were a credit to the school. They also got the opportunity to watch a range of team performances including Spartans GC who were Britain’s Got Talent semi finalists 2016.
S1 Boys Football The S1 boys football team have had quite a remarkable season! In terms of the league, the boys won all but one of their league games which meant they had to play a league decider against Ross High at Pinkie, Musselburgh. This was a highly competitive match but unfortunately the boys just lost out on league glory. However, the boys are determined and motivated to ensure we win the league next year! We reached the semi final of the Scottish Cup. The match was very cagey and tight and as the final whistle blew it was 0-0. As a result, the match went to penalties where we just lost out to Lourdes High School, Glasgow. The highlight of our football year though came in the League Cup final where we successfully defeated Ross High 3-1 on a glorious day on the pitches of Easthouses Lily. The boys scored 3 goals within the first 5 minutes of the match which put us out of sight of an excellent Ross High side. The boys are positive and are looking forward to representing their school at all levels and hopefully having similar success. Well done S1 boys! It was an absolute pleasure and delight!
S3 Boys Football Update from SPOTY 2017 ‘Coach of the Year’, Keith Angus What a year and what a team! One of our best games as a team this year was when we beat Newbattle high 4-0 in the Mid & East Lothian cup final, this was the highlight of the year for me and for my players. We now have a team that can’t wait to play for the school and they are all so focused, we have such a great team spirit, they do whatever I ask of them and never once has a player or parent questioned my decisions. No pressure is on them and they play with a smile on their face. The lads never answer me back and the amount of trust and respect we have for each other is there to be seen.
Junior Netball The Junior Netball Team has had quite a year. We were happy to see our old S1 members return and excited to see so many new members join. The girls have trained hard and all their hard work has paid off. They have played friendlies with nearby teams and have had some great wins during competitions. Well done girls!
Rugby Season 2016/17 has been an incredibly busy year with a long list of highlights and achievements. Lasswade finished 2nd place in the Scottish Rugby purple conference. We have a great group of u18’s developing who are resilient, tough and a great group of players. The u16’s got to the final of the Gala 7’s and won the Edinburgh 7’s and the East Lothian Plate. The S2’s won the Edinburgh 7’s and overall Lasswade won the Edinburgh schools 7’s series for S1-u18’s. This is a huge achievement for the programme. This season we had our first ever tour taking 40 S2’s and u15’s down to Leicester. We played against very strong local opposition and were immersed in the Leicester Tigers environment. The hard word and commitment of the players, coaches, parents and supporters, make the rugby programme so successful. Lasswade Rugby is in a very strong place and it will be very exciting to see it continue to progress and be taken to the next level next season. Have a great summer holiday and we will see you all back in season 2017/18.
Rugby Awards Below is a list of all the awards from our end of season BBQ with special guest, Scottish Internationalist and Edinburgh Professional Stuart McInally. Lasswade Rugby Award (values of the School and Club) Evan Hunter (S2) Girls Player of the year Olivia Harris (S4) 7’s Player of the year Josh McDonald (S4) S1 Coaches Player- Finn Hollins-Kirk Players player- Kiern Hally Most Improved- Elliot Jones S2 Coaches Player- Jack Armitage Players player- Liam Duffy Most Improved- Jack Lannan S3 Coaches Player- Michael Jones Players player- Jonathan Kay Most Improved- Jacob Jenkinson U16’s Coaches Player- Daniel Sutherland Players player- Arran Metcalfe Most Improved- JJ Neil U18’s Coaches Player- Cammy Cummings Players player- Harry Smith Most Improved- Chad Nisbet
The End
Have a brilliant summer