Lasswade high school winter newsletter 2015 by colin Mitchell

Lasswade High School Winter Newsletter December 2015

DREAM, BELIEVE, ACHIEVE @ LASSWADE

Message from the Headmaster, Mr A Williamson It is with great pleasure that I introduce the latest fantastic festive Newsletter from Lasswade High School. We have experienced another amazing term in the school and the newsletter allows us an opportunity to celebrate a snapshot of the wider achievement of our staff and students. I would like to highlight the work of the Music Department and the school’s Music Instructors in producing last week’s incredible Christmas Concert and this week’s terrific Christmas Panto, Cinderella. As you may know, Midlothian’s Percussion Ensemble won the Scottish Youth Bands Championship and particular praise needs to be given to the Lasswade students involved and Barbara-Jane Waddell, our valued Percussion Instrumentalist, for her dedicated work and support central to this national recognition. However, the less said about the staff’s version of The Twelve Days of Christmas and my own attempts at joining the Social Studies ‘Boy Band’ the better. That stated, of course, the female staff were as talented as ever! Congratulations to the Art & Design Department who organised an inaugural ‘Expressive Arts Evening’ in partnership with the Parent Council, Home Economics, English, Design & Technology and Music. This was a brilliant evening with an incredible turnout from students and partners supporting the creative and innovative work on show from our talented students. We were honoured to have Susheila Jamieson involved who presented prizes. Susheila was our ‘artist in residence’ responsible for leading our students with the DREAM sculpture. We are hoping to have our DREAM sculpture unveiled at the front of the school in the new term. Charity work is ongoing and a lot of attention has been centred around our latest efforts to support ‘Journey for Change’ . The South Africa Committee has planned to bring several South African staff and students to Lasswade High School in February 2016 in a repeat of last session’s success. Due to generous donations at our most recent non-uniform day and Parent Council donation we have reached a sufficient sum to guarantee that the exchange will happen though further support is required and all ideas for more funding support are welcomed. Well done also to the Charity Committee who collected for Children in Need. Our staff ‘Superhero’ Fancy Dress Parade led to a packed Assembly Hall raising money for the good cause with lots of positive Twitter comment! We received a positive Christmas message from our new partner school in Tianjin and we have been working with Heriot Watt and the University of Edinburgh to further strengthen our links with partner primary schools and support Mandarin learning in Lasswade High School. As you will read the Hong Kong Raleigh Wilson Trail Challenge was an incredible success for our staff & students (although I have to admit to feeling fatigued even reading about it ...) and more recently several groups of students from Lasswade presented impressively at the Scottish Chinese Education Network (SCEN) summit celebrating the variety of China related activities on-going in Lasswade High School. Lasswade High School Newsletter, December 2015

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As always, our sporting teams and sporting activities continue to thrive. The Senior Boys Football Team are making outstanding progress in the Scottish Cup and we wish them all the best in their up and coming games - will it be more silverware for Lasswade? Lasswade’s School of Rugby recently welcomed two of Edinburgh’s rugby stars, including a Scottish World Cup Internationalist, for a training session and question and answer activity where inevitably our boys queried the pain of the Australia game! There has also been tremendous individual & team swimming success and as well as the winners our congratulations are also extended to all participants in the Lasswade swim team for their tremendous efforts. We look forward to more success in the pool in 2016. There were huge levels of participation in relation to our school’s Active Girls’ Day and we are looking forward to hearing more about the incredible progress being made by the Student Sports Council as they take forward other initiatives in the new school year. I would also like to take this opportunity to highlight the efforts of staff and students from the History Department in relation to this year’s Remembrance events with our students’ commitment to, and participation in, the Assemblies and the tribute paid this session to the incredible story of “Piper Laidlaw”. Earlier this year our outstanding Nursery was inspected by the Care Inspectorate and we are very proud of the exceptional high quality of care delivered to our youngest learners under the fantastic leadership of our Nursery Manager, Angela Sinnet. We look forward to the new year where SQA prelims take centre stage for our Senior Phase learners at the end of which is the annual Burns Supper. Later in the school year we also have our suspended timetable in which many of our students will be off on foreign excursions organised by staff. There will also be a whole host of in school, local and day activities organised - details of these will be with students and families soon. The Lasswade Centre prides itself on its support of the community, from ages 3-18 through our teaching and learning in Lasswade High School to the valued adult nightclass programme ‘Serving the Community’. The sense of community in Lasswade is very strong which is nice thought for Christmas at the outset of our school Winter Newsletter. On behalf of the Senior Leadership Team, ‘Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to staff students, parents and our community partners.’ Enjoy…

Mr A Williamson, Headmaster Lasswade High School Newsletter, December 2015

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South Africa Committee: Journey for Change November and December have been very busy fundraising months for the committee and we'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their support. Our St Andrew's Night Ceilidh got off to a great start with guests being given a warm and very special welcome by James Wilson on the bagpipes. Thanks to Niamh and James from this year's committee, and Jack and Claire from last year, for their warm and moving speeches.

A special thank you to the very talented school ceilidh band and our wonderful caller and soloist Maeve McCrorie. Maeve's calm, clear, and very patient calling, kept us all on the right step and restored order to some chaotic and 'freestyle' dancing! The excellent musicianship of the ceilidh band was commented on by everyone attending and was complimented by beautiful solo performances by Hamish and Maeve. Thanks also to Teigan, Megan and Louise for helping with the sale of tickets. Many of our first year's took part in our sponsored mile and we'd like to thank our PE teachers for their help with this. Our 7 aside football tournament is well underway and produced a shock result as having battled through snow, sleet and hail Miss McNeil secured victory for the Rosa Park's team. Thanks also to those spectators who got drenched and to our wicked goal saving mums! We would like to express our sincere thanks to the Parent Council. We have been very moved by their encouraging kind words and are very grateful for their very generous donation. Lasswade High School Newsletter, December 2015

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As in our last update, we are delighted to recognise the efforts of individual students. A special thank you to Ben Dinse-Harrower who raised £125 doing various sponsored events with the support of his family, and to Harris Spratt for doing much more than he was asked in his sponsored mile. Another special congratulations and thanks to Cleo Hamilton and Rebecca Stewart from 1SL1 who raised the magnificent sum of over £180. Finally we'd like to thank all the students and teachers of Lasswade High School who took part in our South Africa uniform free day on Friday. Our collective efforts have made Journey to Change a whole school and community project. Our friends in Umlazi send their grateful thanks. We can't wait to welcome them to Scotland. Uniform Free Day Article by Mhairi Bruce, S6 On Friday 4 December the South Africa Committee held a dress down to raise money for Journey to Change. Journey to Change is a student run committee. The committee aims to create links between students in South Africa and Scotland and tackle many issues facing young people around the world such as gender discrimination. After the success of the committee last year bringing over 8 students from a school in Umlazi the committee this year will follow in their footsteps by inviting four students from another school in Umlazi to visit Lasswade High School. On behalf of the committee I’d like to thank all students and staff for their continuous support. Through the uniform free day alone we raised £1,050. This brings us much closer to our goal and we have now been able to book the flights for four South African students who will be visiting us in February 2016. Umlazi Information from Encyclopaedia Britannica

Umlazi, urban area, southeastern KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa. It lies along the south bank of the Mlazi (Umlazi) River and adjoins the city of Durban on the southwest. The present site of Umlazi was occupied by American missionaries in 1836, but it became an Anglican mission reserve in 1856. Umlazi was officially opened to black residents in 1965 (most of whom formerly resided in Durban) and acquired town status in 1973. In the early 21st century Umlazi became part of the eThekwini Municipal Area. Local industries in Umlazi produce beverages, wearing apparel, leather goods, sawn wood and wood products, paper, rubber goods, and plastic products. A branch campus of the University of Zululand is located at Umlazi.

Lasswade High School Newsletter, December 2015

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Iceland In November, sixty S2/3 students accompanied by six staff members embarked on an expedition to Iceland. The trip was run by the Geography department and aimed to introduce students to the geographical and historical wonders of the country.

After a quick flight, late dinner and a few hours sleep the group began their adventures. Day one started with glacier walking. Everyone was fitted with crampons and given an ice axe and off we went to stamp our way over the glacier and into the ice tunnels. After a couple of fantastic falls, mostly from the teachers, we continued on our journey. Next stop was the Reynisfjara black beach were we saw volcanic pillars, black sand from the volcano and huge waves which crashed into the shoreline. Our first day also included visiting two waterfalls, Seljalandsfoss and Sk贸gafoss, where we put our waterproof clothing to the test! After dinner we took a late night tour into the wilderness to see the Northern Lights. Unfortunately, on this occasion, it was not meant to be.

Lasswade High School Newsletter, December 2015

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Day two began with a visit to the Hellisheidi Geothermal Power Station where students learned about the engineering and production of geothermal energy. We continued onto Kerio to take in the sights of a huge volcanic crater and then onto to a geothermal field where we witnessed geysers erupting into the skies. Our final stops were the Gullfoss waterfall and a walk through Thingvellir National Park. As we ambled back to the hotel that night we looked up to see a strip of green across the sky - the Northern Lights!

Day three started with a walking tour of Reykjavik with our two fantastic tour guides. In the afternoon we took to the open waters for our whale watching experience, an unforgettable part of the trip, although maybe not for the right reasons - sick bags at the ready! Our last day was an opportunity to buy souvenirs and take in the last sights of the city. We then packed up our belongings and headed for the Blue Lagoons. Here we indulged in the warm geothermal spa which is one of National Geographic's 25 wonders of the world. Feeling refreshed and relaxed we headed to the airport to begin our journey home. As expected, our students were an absolute credit to themselves.

Each and every one represented our school excellently and contributed to a fantastic and unforgettable trip. Lasswade High School Newsletter, December 2015

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Raleigh Wilson Challenge Trail, Hong Kong The Selection Run After applying for the experience, our first challenge was the selection run with thirty five hopefuls. This was a tough 15km run through the hills and valleys surrounding Crieff. It was a test not only to see if we were fit enough to complete the run in Hong Kong, but also to find twenty people who gelled together to make a good team, members who would motivate one another throughout. The run was made more challenging because it had been raining for several days beforehand, so the path was soaking and woodland earth became mud up to our knees at times. Once we had completed this run we thought there would be no way the Hong Kong run was going to be any harder ... but we were wrong! The Run in Hong Kong The Raleigh Wilson Trail Challenge is a 78km relay race from the south of the island of Hong Kong towards the mainland New Territories in the north. The race was split up into six different legs involving running through very different parts of Hong Kong and seeing what excitement they had to offer. Our team of twenty students and five staff were split into two teams to add a bit of competition and spice to the challenge. Despite this â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;spiceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, everyone involved in both teams were hugely supportive of each other and there was very much a feeling of us all being in it together. During leg 1, a team member from Perthshire was unwell which set their team back slightly from the competition. Their team ground out the next few legs though, and the last couple of legs became very tight between the two teams to take second and third places in the whole challenge. After 12 hours and 30 minutes the first team had crossed the finish line in a very respectable second place. Team two finished less than ten minutes later in third overall, no mean feat considering we had the only two school teams in the corporate run challenge. It was some of the toughest running any of the group had ever experienced, through city streets, forest and scrub land and back country paths lined by monkeys. A physical challenge never to be forgotten! Lasswade High School Newsletter, December 2015

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Other Experiences After the race, which was held on the first weekend, we visited a number of schools in Hong Kong and took part in Chinese calligraphy, watched a lion dance, cooked and ate Chinese dumplings - to name but a few of the many activities. In return we taught the Cantonese students some Scottish Country Dancing (which most of us were learning as we went along to be honest!) We also went to visit Hong Kiongâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s highly trained Fire Service Diving Squad where a select few got to take part in a training exercise with the divers. We visited a drug rehabilitation centre and spoke with some young people who had got themselves into difficulties in their lives, which was a very touching experience. All of the boys that we met were very determined to put things right and create a positive future for themselves. A Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinic within a hospital invited us to have a tour around its facilities to see how traditional medicine compares to the western methods. It was very interesting to find out about the use of acupuncture and herbal remedies to cure a wide variety of ailments. On the final night we were invited to the exclusive Hong Kong Yacht Club to present and network with Hong Kongâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rich and famous. This allowed us to tell them about our experience, make connections for our own futures and also to encourage them to support the repeat running of our trip to provide others with a similar experience. Food The food was definitely a different experience! A huge variety of foods were on offer to us, from the thoroughly delicious to rather ... interesting! We were treated to fabulously prepared duck, pork, chicken, beef and vegetable dishes but were also encouraged to try chicken feet and heads as examples of the traditional foods. This was a bit off-putting for some of us at first but eventually we were not afraid to dig-in and try new things. By the end of the trip, there was no doubt that everyone had eaten something that they had not thought was going to be possible but this all added to the whole experience. If anyone in younger years gets the chance to go on this trip in the future, I would highly recommend that you jump at the opportunity. It is a life-changing trip to see how different Hong Kong life is to here. We have made friends across the five schools who were represented from Scotland as well as connections and friends from the other side of the world. It was unforgettable, and thanks to everyone who made it possible! Lasswade High School Newsletter, December 2015

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SCEN Summit, Heriot Watt University The SCEN (Scotland China Education Network) Youth summit took place at Heriot Watt University on Friday 27 November. This annual event is an opportunity for schools with China links to get together and swap experiences. Lasswade were given the prestigious first presentation slot, where S6 students Carys Ross and Rachel Dobbie gave an update of our work this year as we move into our 123rd year working with China. Maia Hollins-Kirk (S3) introduced each slide in mandarin. The summit also allowed our students to meet up with friends they had travelled to China with. S3 student Louise Allan shares her experience of the day: â&#x20AC;&#x153;SCEN aims to promote the teaching of Chinese language and culture in Scottish schools. Some students from Lasswade had the privilege to attend the fourth annual SCEN summit at Heriot-Watt University, including Miss Zhang's S3 Mandarin Class and a selection of senior students. Maia Hollins-Kirk impressively displayed her skills in Mandarin dialect, while Carys and Rachel shared their China experiences. As well as having a gourmet buffet supplied, the conference included an assortment of varied speakers, all with their own experiences to share. The event emphasised the immense amount of opportunities, in both an employment aspect and living aspect, that came with learning Mandarin.â&#x20AC;?

The students invited to the SCEN Summit have all been involved in Mandarin learning and trips to China. Chengdu/Shanghai 2014 visit group: Georgia Curtis, Hannah Darling, Rachel Dobbie, Rebecca Laing, Rebekah Lansley, Carys Ross and Catriona Sargent CISS Immersion Course Beijing/Tianjin 2015 attendees: Zsofia Blair, Lauren Finlayson, Blair Jones, Rachael Lamb, Jayne Murdock and Cameron Watt The Raleigh Wilson Trail 2015 team: Nathan Avinou, Fraser Clark, Josh Harrison And Max Roarty S3/4 Mandarin Learners: Louise Allen, Anna Blair, Lewis Hanley, Samuel Harris, Maia Hollins-Kirk, Emily Hutchison, Erin McKeesick, Amber Roe, Abi Scotland, Jessica Smales, Katie Thomson and Liam Wringe Lasswade High School Newsletter, December 2015

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SCEN Ambassadorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Forum, Edinburgh Zoo In October senior students from Lasswade spoke at the SCEN Ambassadorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Forum at Edinburgh Zoo. The students, who have all travelled to China, were part of a group of speakers that included John Somers, the First Secretary for Scottish Affairs at the UK Embassy in Beijing, Kitty Chilcott, the YASS Project Officer at the Open University and Dr Fraser Quinn from the Eric Liddell Centre. The students spoke about the summer trip to Beijing and Tianjin and gave an update on the work going on at Lasswade involving the teaching of Mandarin and Chinese culture. Lasswade were the only school chosen to speak and received warm praise from Judith McClure, convener of SCEN. Pictured from left to right: Ruth Higginson, Rebecca Laing, Amber Foster, Jayne Murdock and Rachael Lamb

Primary Confucius Hub Hawthornden Primary hosted the bid for Midlothian Council to have a second 'Confucius Hub' based in a primary. Representatives from Confucius Institute Scotland joined Midlothian Headteachers (including Mr Williamson) and Midlothian Council's 1+2 Modern languages co-ordinator to present the bid for the new Primary Hub to be based in the Lasswade catchment. Positive feedback was received in relation to the bid and the Confucius Hub room in Hawthorden was looking amazing for the visit. The guests were greeted in Mandarin by Primary 7 students. Good news for transition into Lasswade High School.

Lasswade High School Newsletter, December 2015

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Expressive Arts Evening: Thursday 3 December On Thursday 3 December our first exhibition of students’ work from Art & Design, Fashion & Textiles and Design and Technology took place. The Head Boy and Girl opened the exhibition and introduced our guest speaker, artist Susheila Jamieson to an audience of 400 people; a great turnout considering the weather conditions. The school band played to entertain the visitors as they enjoyed the work on display and had a mince pie. Awards were given to celebrate and recognise students’ achievements and there was a People’s Prize voted for by the public. Visitors were asked to put a green dot beside their favourite piece of art or design. The People’s Prize went to Aimee Duffy for her still life painting. We would like to thank the Parent Council, staff and parents for supporting the event...and of course the students whose talented work was on display . All these brilliant photos were taken by Mr Poots

Lasswade High School Newsletter, December 2015

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Lasswade High School Newsletter, December 2015

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DREAM Poetry Award As part of the inaugural Expressive Arts Evening at Lasswade High School, several classes took part in a DREAM poetry competition - all students from S1 to the Advanced Higher English students submitted entries. As you will no doubt rightly assume, the competition was based on taking any aspect of the school DREAM values and putting the ideas to poetry. The competition produced an astonishing array of talented work, many of the poems being displayed on the evening from a variety of year groups. The school called upon the expertise of former Depute Headteacher, Ms Aileen Ward, to judge the poems. Ms Ward had played a key role in working with student councils and classes in the formation of the schools Vision statement and the School Values. When the students moved into the new building Ms Ward set up a whole school co-operative learning exercise where students looked at the inspirational values displayed by current and historical figures allowing the students to decide on the values highlighted in the poetry. The Headmaster donated a Kindle for the top prize and the school librarian provided book tokens for the runners up. The winners were as follows: 1st place: Runners Up: Merits:

Holli Boyd 1MK1 Louise Hamilton 2SA3, Conor Wright 1SA3 Ethan Hermiston 1SL4, Nicole Kennedy 2SA2

The school would like to thank Miss Ward for judging the poetry and also thanks to Miss McLeod in the English Department for co-ordinating the competition.

Lasswade High School Newsletter, December 2015

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Dream Poetry by Holli Boyd 1MK1 Dreams are targets you aspire to achieve. To achieve requires confidence which comes when you believe. Determination is the drive to success. Always be sure to try your best. Religiously follow the path to your dreams, and you can never go wrong. Respect others as much as yourself, and reach for the stars all day long. Engross yourself in learning, explore the world around you, and be enthusiastic and exuberant in all that you do. Devote as much effort as you can to each journey you embark on and you yourself will be rewarded in the long run. Adhere to your ambitions; they won’t work unless you do. Wisdom is gained when you’ve accomplished them, so do your utmost to make them come true. Miraculous things you deemed impossible are right within your sights, all that’s required is a little motivation to help you reach new heights.

Dream Poetry by Conor Wight 1SA3 Dream by Louise Hamilton 2SA3 Dreams simply can’t come true Without determination too Determination is to never stop trying Even if it gets quite tiring! Respect will come along the way If you regard peoples’ feelings and give them their say Effort brings the dream alive You must work hard and never skive Ambition drives your dream along You must run to get your dream whether the distance short or long Motivation is what keeps you going The star in your mind that won’t stop glowing Chase your dreams and don’t let them go For dreams fly high and grow and grow.

The start of this poem begins with determination, The biggest power of all which is used all across the nation. Slowly we move on, now it’s all about respect, Believe in other people, then your feelings are correct. Now we’re on to effort which should really come with ease, Effort is to work hard until you fall onto your knees. Closer to the end we move on to ambition, To do well in Lasswade should always be your mission. The end of this poem and motivation is theme, Inspire other people so they can pursue their dreams. DREAM

Lasswade High School Newsletter, October 2015

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Christmas Panto: Cinderella As always, the Christmas Panto was a tremendous success highlighting the impressive talents of many students across the school. The audience were captivated as they followed Sara Convie’s Cinderella go from rags in the Earl Grey’s house to diamond slippers at King Donald of Dalkeith’s Ball. Sara’s performance was first class and there were more than a few tears shed during her heart rending version of ‘Somewhere over the Rainbow’. Cinderella was perfectly matched with her true love, Prince Donald, flawlessly played by Ewan Gilchrist. Cinderella and Prince Donald were supported by an exquisite cast. Getting the biggest cheers of the night the evil (and hilarious) Baroness Grey, the every hopeful Buttons and the magical Fairy Godmother. Susan Hirst (Baroness), Jack Ramage (Buttons) and Eilidh Murray (Fairy Godmother) all gave a seamless, professional performances making the cast cry, laugh, hiss and boo for the entire panto. Cinderella’s evil step sisters and Prince Donald’s tartan clad clan were the perfect supporting cast - including Lasswade’s much loved musical theatre experts, Hamish Misselbrook, Erin Bowden and Rebekah Lansley. Eldest step sister Rebekah was ably joined by younger, and equally evil sisters, Shannon Henderson, Maia Hollins-Kirk, Amy Wright and Emma Dickson. Prince Donald’s many siblings Megan Nicol, Jessica Smales, Grace Murdock, Emily Hutchison and Conor Wright provided a lot of laughs. Adding to the professionalism of the show was the chorus of singers and the troupe of dancers. The dance pieces were choreographed by Sharon Jones from Kic Dance. Music, sound effects and lighting were also delivered by students. The perfectly timed effects were managed by Aaron Marshall and Ryan Paterson. Lasswade’s musicians are no stranger to a perfect show and that is definitely what they delivered each panto with their selection of pop hits and Christmas favourites. Lasswade High School Newsletter, December 2015

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These photos were taken during the special performance for CONABOR Award merit winning S1 and S2 students on Wednesday 16 December.

Lasswade High School Newsletter, December 2015

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The Duke of Edinburghâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Award

Bronze Award December's DofE celebrations were kicked off by the presentation of Bronze Award certificates to participants by Mr Williamson. This followed successful completion of all of the elements of the award by the group over the last year or so. The participants discussed their achievements in the volunteering element of the award in which they gained so much from a wide range of community projects, charities and causes. The physical activities and skills that the participants worked on and improved were similarly diverse and, again, proved to be really beneficial to participants. There was much discussion about the expeditions involved in the award which, for many, were the most challenging but rewarding part of the award Congratulating the participants on their achievement, Mr Williamson stated that all the students had achieved a very worthwhile award that has benefited them and the communities they have volunteered with and encouraged participants to go for further success in aiming for Silver Award.

Lasswade High School Newsletter, December 2015

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Silver Award December saw S6 students complete their journey towards achieving their Silver Duke of Edinburgh’s Award by giving a presentation of their work and their expedition to parents, relatives and staff. The group gave an informative, enjoyable presentation outlining the work they have been doing for each section of their award; volunteering, learning skills and working on physical activities as well as their three day expedition which took place in October. During their expedition participants have to complete a project and this group chose to investigate how their mood was affected by factors such as time of day, how much they had to climb, before and after food etc and the students presented some great information on their findings. This group was, in fact, the first group ever from Lasswade to work towards and achieve Silver Award and we look forward to more groups following in their footsteps in the coming years.

Duke of Edinburgh Staff News It’s not just the students who have been working hard – DofE leaders Mr Boyle and Miss McDonald have been working towards qualifications and passed a 3 day assessment course in October in Cumbria to gain the Hill and Moorland Leader qualification, following initial training in the Cairngorms last Autumn and a total of 40 recorded days in a range of upland areas. These qualifications further increases the capacity of the DofE groups at Lasswade High School. Lasswade High School Newsletter, December 2015

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European Languages Day Flag Competition

Last term the Modern Foreign Languages Department held a European Union flag and “hello” competition for S1 to celebrate European Languages Day on 26 September. This term we caught up with the winners to give them their prizes; a very professional French dictionary to use for their language learning and an EU country fact file document sent directly from the European Commission office in Edinburgh. It was great to see our S1 Lasswade students, Olivia Muirhead, Kyle Muirhead and Richard Simpson receive the prizes for their efforts and see smiles all round from our language learners!

La Musique Française et un Film Français “Alors on danse” by Stromae, a French electro-pop artist has been a firm favourite with Madame McCardle’s S2 class during French songs, music videos and lyrics study lessons. The boys have been “boogying” and “bopping” in their seats, and the girls have been foot tapping and hand jiving along to the French beats. It would seem that the students have become as good critics of French music, that they could do Cheryl and Simon’s job on a Saturday night.

Next up is a French film study on “Les Choristes” which is about a group of downtrodden boys who are stuck in a reform school in the 1940’s and come together to sing beautifully in a boys’ choir. We may just be forming our own French choir in class…. with backing dancers! Lasswade High School Newsletter, December 2015

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“My time in Scotland” by Herr Trohs Hi there! I am René Trohs and have been a part of the Modern Foreign Languages department since the end of September. I will – as a requirement of my teacher training in Germany - spend half a year abroad as a teaching assistant for the German language. When I left Germany and crossed the channel, all kinds of thoughts were going through my head. Apart from the very obvious and immediate matter of housing, I thought about my professional life at Lasswade High School. I asked myself: Will school life be very different from what I’m used to in Germany? Will there be some similarities to the German school system? And what will the school itself be like? I solved the housing problem faster than I expected and was looking forward to my first day at a Scottish school. Upon arriving Mr Poots gave me a tour of the school and introduced me to everyone. He made me feel very welcome and I was impressed by the modern school building with computers and Smart Boards in every room. Seeing everyone wear a school uniform and coming to work all suited up took a bit of getting used to, because the dress code is far less formal at German schools. The Scottish curriculum follows similar paths, but the devil lies in the details. Registration, for example, was completely different from what I was used to. Back home, you would take the register in the first period and just be done with it for the day. I was quite surprised to see registration coming up at the beginning of each period, but I think it’s not a bad idea to do it this way. Apart from details like that, the content of the German lessons seems to be similar to the foreign language lessons in Germany. So far, I have been enjoying living in Edinburgh as well as working at Lasswade High school tremendously.

Visit to the Goethe-Institut, Glasgow Article by Paula Gótz and Billie Bentel, both S6 On Friday 13 November our German class went to Glasgow to the GoetheInstitut. When we arrived there was a little welcome speech and we were told about many advantages that you have when you are learning German. After that we were divided into four groups and went to different stations. The first one was about German tongue twisters, the second was a game about traditions in some of the larger cities in Germany. After these two sessions we had our lunch in the Goethe -Institut. The afternoon sessions were about German culture and popular German music. We really enjoyed the whole day and everyone found it very interesting to learn more about Germany and German culture. Lasswade High School Newsletter, December 2015

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Author Visit: Kirkland Ciccone On Thursday 19 November two S3 English classes visited the library to meet Scottish author Kirkland Ciccone. Kirkland Ciccone has a fast growing reputation as one of Scotlandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most entertaining, engaging and inspiring authors - we were not disappointed! He had the fifty seven students, two teachers and the librarian captivated as he spoke about his childhood in Cumbernauld and the inspirational library visits which shaped his vision and talent as a performer and author today. Kirkland has had a packed schedule visiting schools across Scotland with the launch of his third novel, North of Porter. As a special treat each of the students who attended the event were given a copy of the book - which the publisher had printed over night and delivered personally to the library that morning.

As you can see from the photos the scene was reminiscent of a music concert as students waited with anticipation to meet the author and get their book signed. One student review sums up the mood of the event: â&#x20AC;&#x153;I really enjoyed the talk because it was interesting and funny. I looked around when he was talking and everyone was either smiling or laughing.â&#x20AC;?

Lasswade High School Newsletter, December 2015

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Book Week Scotland: The Big Quiz Book Week Scotland is a national annual event celebrating books and reading in libraries, schools, bookshops and community centres. To celebrate Book Week Scotland in Lasswade, School Librarian, Kat Brack, organised ‘The Big Quiz’ which took place in the Assembly Hall on Monday 30 November. During November each S1 and S2 English class competed in a Book Week Scotland Quiz heat during their library time; the winning team from each class was then invited to take part in ‘The Big Quiz’. Twenty five teams battled it out on the day - which included a team from Burnbrae P7 and three staff and senior student teams. As you can see from the picture below some of the questions required some serious thinking from Mr McKay, it was worth it though - his team only answered one question wrong in the whole quiz!

‘The Big Quiz’ was won by an S1 team of only two students - Alix Hamill and Maisie Jack fought of all the competition with an amazing performance. Alix and Maisie were awarded with a national book voucher each. As well as the students who took part in the quiz many other students supported Kat by being a massive help on the day - three very efficient S6 students counted up all the scores and several S2 students controlled the iPad to reveal the questions and did all the work collecting the answers at the end of each round. It was a fantastic afternoon!

Lasswade High School Newsletter, October 2015

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Kids Lit Quiz: East of Scotland heat On Thursday 29 October eight S1 students took part in the East of Scotland heat of the Kids Lit Quiz. The Kids Lit Quiz is an international event - testing the book knowledge of young people in what is recognised as the most difficult literature quiz for young people in the world! Two teams of four students entered the competition which took place at Liberton High School. All of the students had a brilliant time at the event which also included a pop up book shop and visits from four Scottish authors. The eight excellent quizzers were: Eilidh Babbs, Miaa Chaston, Ũna Dale, Megan Fourie, Jakub Haba, Connie Martin, Georgia Ross and Rachel Shanks.

PSE: S1 Small Group Work Between the October and Christmas holidays all S1 classes take part in ‘Small Group Work’ - a seven week unit of work where the class breaks into two halves and students take part in a variety of lessons to promote team work, personal development, critical thinking and social skills. Students undertake challenges such as newspaper tower building, ‘Going to the Moon’ and the constant favourite, ‘The Great Egg Drop’.

Lasswade High School Newsletter, December 2015

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Enterprising Maths On 17 November, Lasswade High School was represented in the National finals of the Enterprising Maths Competition. Zainab Hussain, Jack Ramage, Ben Shanks and Holly Brown travelled to Glasgow as winners of the Midlothian qualifying event. The event, held in the Glasgow Science Centre, was sponsored by Institute of Actuarial Studies and the Scottish Mathematical Council. Sixty two other teams from across Scotland were invited to compete and after four rounds of Maths Puzzles, timed games, 3-D construction jigsaws and a relay they finished the event in a very admirable 27th place. The team was pleased with their final place and look forward to competing again next year. Well done Lasswade High School Enterprising Mathematics finalists 2015!

St Andrew’s Day Debating Tournament Article by Sonny Neil, S6 On the 30 November the Lasswade debating team participated in their first debating tournament against other schools. The event – ran by the English Speaking Union in partnership with the Scottish Parliament and Education Scotland – was both interesting and enjoyable. Despite lacking any prior experience, the Lasswade team had a strong opening performance and even managed to earn 1st place in one of the early rounds. While the team was unable to progress into the final round, the event itself was an invaluable way of gaining insight and experience in a suitable setting – either by directly participating in the debates or by observing the performances of others. Overall the debates themselves were enjoyable from an observer’s standpoint and are sure to bolster both the skills and confidence of the team as a whole. Lasswade High School Newsletter, December 2015

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Lasswade Cooking Club This year the Home Economics department re-launched cookery club with a new Bake Off theme. The club has been extremely popular among students and has been very successful. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a fantastic opportunity for students to practice and learn new skills as well as making new friends.

Students have made items such as traybakes, cookies, pastry and cheesecake. We recently had a two week showstopper activity where the students had to make a cake with a Christmas/Winter theme. We would like to say a huge well done to everyone who took part as there were so many fantastic cakes. The amount of effort the students put into their decorations was excellent. Congratulations to our two winners Emma Wilson and Kirsten Maclure! After the New Year cookery club will be changing our Bake Off theme to Masterchef, which we are really looking forward to.

Concert Band It's been another busy term for the Lasswade Concert Band. The band performed at the Primary 7 Open Evening in November, and have been practising their Christmas tunes and performing at the Christmas Fair and the end of term school concert. The band also performed during the Expressive Arts Showcase Evening while guests looked at students work from Art and Design, Design and Technology and Fashion and Textiles. As always the students performed to the highest standard at all of their concerts and show just how many talented young musicians we have here at Lasswade! The Concert Band and Jazz Band have been fundraising for some new music, as well as their trip to Belgium in June. The students were bagpacking at Sainsbury's Straiton in November and managed to raise an amazing ÂŁ650!!! The students were fantastic on the day and a huge well done to them for this achievement!

Lasswade High School Newsletter, December 2015

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Inter-Faith Assemblies Assemblies this term have included a multi-faith based dynamic led by one of our sixth year students, Kirsty Munro, who pitched her S6 Leadership Project by challenging the School Leadership Team to allow access to assemblies from a number of different religions over and above the input of our highly-valued School Chaplaincy Team. As part of Kirstyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s initiative we have heard from Bhuddist guests and are hoping to hear from Islamic, Humanist and Secular speakers as well as continuing to recognise the place of our School Chaplains. Kirsty tells us a little bit more about the project so far... In June I came up with an initiative that would hopefully benefit students and teachers in our school and it was based on the fact that Christian speakers are often invited to assemblies at our school but we do not invite speakers from any other religion. I thought it would be more inclusive and interesting for students to hear speakers from a wider variety of religions. Mr Williamson really liked my idea and agreed that I could organise three weeks of assemblies and invite representatives of other religions speak to us. I got in contact with the Edinburgh Interfaith Association, who say: â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;We believe that showing students the cultures and communities they have read about in textbooks consist of living-breathing people who live around them is essential in making their engagement with their studies more comprehensive.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; They helped me arrange for two Buddhist men from Edinburgh to speak at our assemblies. From 8th-11th December, Allan and Bryan gave speeches to the S2, S3, S4 and S5&6 morning assemblies. Their talks were intriguing, telling us about their religion - which is so different to anything the majority of the audience had ever experienced before. They related Buddhism to some of the issues that have been occurring around the world which students will have seen in the news recently, and brought it back to the idea that being kind to the people around us is the best way to solve our problems. They also taught us that Buddhism is all about living in the present and about the idea of karma, one of the main Buddhist concepts, that actions are important yet there are always consequences. They included anecdotes and stories which were insightful while entertaining for the students. Overall, it was a great opportunity for the students in our school to hear from the Buddhist community and understand what they had to say. I am looking forward to organising the next assemblies, when we will hopefully welcome a representative of Islam to speak to our school.

Lasswade High School Newsletter, December 2015

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#refugeeswelcome In the week before the October break 1MK3 and 1MK6 collaborated in an effort to collect items for Mr Shanks to take to the refugee camp known as "the jungle" in Calais. Students brought in small items that we take for granted but would be luxuries to refugees who have fled Syria and other war torn countries. Toys, colouring pencils and lots of hats, gloves and socks were all donated. Mr Shanks spoke to both classes on his return and answered questions about his experience.

What was the refugee camp like? It was a shock, we were driving along what seemed like a quiet country road and then all of sudden we were in another world, there were dirt tracks with homemade shelters, bags of rubbish and loads of people. Who did you give our donations to? We began handing out some stuff to a Syrian family and then before long we were surrounded by about fifty people from all over the world. How did they react to getting donations? The people were incredibly polite, they waited patiently and thanked us for everything we gave them. One man in particular was over the moon at receiving a nice warm of pair of socks because he was only wearing sandals. What surprised you about your experience? Everyone spoke very good English and spoke very positively about Britain. We were also surprised to find that a number of the refugees we spoke to wanted to stay in France but that the best place for them to go was Calais. The positivity was overwhelming and it was very humbling. I was very proud of my tutor class 1MK3 and Mrs Crawford's 1MK6 for their donations, being so generous and helping other people live happier lives.

Lasswade High School Newsletter, December 2015

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Remembrance Article by Rachel Dobbie, S6 For this year's Remembrance Assembly the History department commemorated the 100 year anniversary of the Battle of Loos; using fourth, fifth and sixth year students to write, record and create a short video clip to present to the rest of the school. We explained the significance of the battle and the traumatic impact it had on Scotland with 30,000 Scots taking part in the battle and of the 21,000 killed over 7000 were Scottish. We also told the heroic story of Piper Daniel Laidlaw. The assemblies were very poignant and extremely effective in portraying the importance of remembering the First World War. Head Boy, Blair Jones and Head Girl, Carys Ross represented Lasswade at the annual remembrance service held on Sunday 8 November at the war memorial in King George V Park, Bonnyrigg. Several other students attended with the Scouts, Boys Brigade, Brownies and the Brass Band. Blair and Carys were laying a wreath on behalf of the students of Lasswade High School to the memory of the men and women who had died in service.

Amnesty International Youth Group Article written by the Lasswade Amnesty International Youth Group Amnesty International campaigns for human rights equality across the world. We at the Lasswade Amnesty International Youth Group try to do the same by informing the school community about global human rights issues. These past few months we have been busy focusing on issue of the arms trade, particularly focused on highlighting the dangers caused by the sale of arms that are used for torture in Saudi Arabia. To raise awareness of this within the school we spoke at assembly and held a stall at lunchtime during that week. At the stall we talked to students of all ages, handed out leaflets and held a written petition. We had an amazing response from students towards this petition and gathered a total of 197 signatures. We hope to maintain the awareness of human rights within the school and would like to thank everyone who signed our petition. Lasswade High School Newsletter, December 2015

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Lasswade ‘Take Me Out’ Article by Emma Laing, S6 On Monday 16 November, the S6 Events Committee hosted their own version of ITV's "Take Me Out." The show involved S5 and S6 students as well as teachers. After three rounds, many successful dates, a raffle and lots of refreshments sold, the events team managed to raise a grand total of £950 to go towards prom! On behalf of the events team, Mrs Crawford and Miss McLay would like to thank everyone involved in making the event a great success. Next in the calendar is the S6 and staff Burn's Supper on the 28 January.

Charities Committee News Article by Catriona Sargent, S6 So far the S6 Charities Committee have had a rewarding year. After a successful heroes catwalk which raised a fantastic £400 for Children in Need we moved our focus to raising funds for the local British Red Cross. This charity supports socially isolated individuals in our community. They were our chosen charity for our fundraising activities at the Lasswade Christmas Fair and we were proud to donate £65.86 to such a great cause. In November the charities committee also organised the distribution of poppies to staff and students in school to raise money for the Scottish Poppy Appeal. Now the committee is looking forward to starting different projects in the new year and encouraging our school to keep getting involved in our future escapades. One of our popular Christmas Fair activities was ‘Pin the nose on Rudolph’. Pictured from left to right are Catriona Sargent, Hannah Darling, Kat Brack (School Librarian), Cami Beveridge and Jorji Laing. Lasswade High School Newsletter, December 2015

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Children in Need Article by Catriona Sargent, S6 On 13 November the S6 Charities Committee held a heroes catwalk in order to raise money for Children in Need. We saw a variety of different costumes and are so grateful for all the teachers who came along to share their super heroes with us. From Sonic the Hedgehog to Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt to an adored dad all the costumes were fantastic and contributed towards the ÂŁ400 we managed to raise!

Lasswade High School Newsletter, December 2015

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Science Club Since our last newsletter update for Science Club we have been a very busy bunch, and the club is more popular than ever. Here are some of the thoughts from our Scientists: From Ross M. ‘Science club is great, there are so many opportunities to do different experiments and activities that you don’t always get to do in class.’ Ross N. ‘Science club is a brilliant opportunity, especially if you have hardly anything to do at lunch times.’ Nathanael R. ‘Fuuuuuuuuuuuuun!!!’ We have been enjoying all sorts of weird and wonderful activities including: Scientists conducting a dissolving experiment to make our own sparklers for Guy Fawkes!

We used a special material called a ‘colloid’ to make Halloween Slime!

We investigated DNA sequencing and used this to write DNA codes for different features in animals

Then we put our model making skills to the test to create our own mini versions of Arthur’s seat. Once we had completed our models we had some fizzy volcano fun! More new and exciting activities coming up after Christmas so watch this space. Lasswade High School Newsletter, December 2015

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N5 History: Back to WW1 in Home Economics This November as part of a yearly cross curricular link started last year, N5 History students trialled WW1 food recipes as part of their research into the impact of the Great War. Students attempted to bake a 'Chocolate Tattie pudding' - a wartime staple which used potatoes and cocoa in place of sugar to stretch out the rations! The class were secretly delighted with the results! Big thanks to Mrs Ross for taking time out to run the event.

Higher History Cinema Trip Sixty students from the Higher History classes visited the Filmhouse Cinema in November to watch a special screening of the award winning film 'Suffragette'. It was a valuable study aid highlighting the struggle for Women's Suffrage - a topic they have to write an essay on! Head Boy Blair Jones said the film was â&#x20AC;&#x153;Outstanding and a must see for all with an interest. Thanks to Mr Murray for organising.â&#x20AC;?

Lasswade High School Newsletter, December 2015

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Midlothian Percussion Ensemble The Midlothian Percussion Ensemble received a Gold Award & 1st place at the Scottish Brass Band Association's Percussion Ensemble Competition on Saturday 21 November, and are the current SBBA Scottish Percussion Ensemble Champions! The ensemble were awarded a certificate, the Percussion Competition Trophy, a framed Commemorative Banner and every member also received a medal. The Midlothian Training Percussion Ensemble also received a Gold Award & 2nd place at the Scottish Brass Band Association's Percussion Ensemble Competition. They were awarded a certificate. This is a fantastic achievement for the ensemble as it was only their second performance since they formed in September 2015. All of the students involved in both ensembles played fantastically and were excellent ambassadors for their school as well as the Midlothian Instrumental Music Service. Midlothian Percussion Ensemble: Gold Award Winners & Scottish Champions Andrew Murphy / Euan Mackay / Fraser Lyall Midlothian Training Percussion Ensemble : 2015 Gold Award Winners Adam Murdock / Jack Whittaker / Anna Blair / Sarah Robertson / Innes Philp / Holly Brown

Lasswade Fiddle Group The Lasswade High School Fiddle Group were asked to perform at the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Celebrate Midlothianâ&#x20AC;? Awards Ceremony on Thursday 26 November. They performed extremely well and many people commented on their excellent performance, the high standard of their playing and how it complimented the mood of the entire evening.

Lasswade High School Newsletter, December 2015

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SQA Star Awards Ceremony On Friday 20 November, the annual SQA Star Awards took place at the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh. This ceremony celebrates the exam success of students from all over Scotland. After being selected by a small panel of judges, who listened to various ensembles from all across Scotland before selecting the final 4 performers, the Lasswade High School Jazz Band were invited to close the event.

The event was a huge success and the band thoroughly enjoyed their experience. A clip of their performance has been included in video of the evenings entertainment. https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=dHObMvFW0UM&feature=youtu.be

Seniors create Primary 1 Nativity This year, two of the school’s senior musicians, Jack Wood and Hamish Misselbrook, partnered with Sanderons Wynd Primary School in Tranent to create a new Nativity for the school’s Primary 1s. The show, a different take on the Nativity story, was created in collaboration with the Primary 1 teachers at the school, and features seven original pieces composed by Jack and Hamish. As well as writing the music for the show, Jack and Hamish – along with two other musicians from the school, Cameron Watt and Andrew Murphy – performed for the Nativity’s two shows on Tuesday 8 December. Lasswade High School Newsletter, December 2015

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Manchester City 2 : Liverpool 4 Article by Sam McKenzie and Sam Whittaker, S1 On Saturday 21 November a packed bus left the school at half past ten in the morning to go and watch Liverpool play Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester. It was a long way to go so we got ourselves comfy and the journey began. We watched some movies on the way and stopped off for burgers to break up the journey but as we entered Manchester the excitement on the bus really started to build.

When we reached the stadium we were shocked at its size. Thousands of seats, hundreds of food and shopping opportunities and we had front row seats! The game was a cracker and within 30 minutes Liverpool were 3-0 up! Nobody could believe it and Mr McQueen was smiling from ear to ear. The game ended Liverpool 4 - Manchester City 2. It wasn't what anyone expected but what a game! Thank you to all the teachers who organised the trip - we all had a great time!

Lasswade High School Newsletter, December 2015

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Active Girls Day 2015 Lasswade Community Sport Hub supports girls to get active at Lasswade High School! Active Girls is a national programme to increase girls’ and young womens’ participation in PE, sport and physical activity.

On Friday 30 November over sixty girls from S1-S6 at Lasswade High School took part in Active Girls Day activities including; dance, swimming, football, trampolining, Tone Zone, smoothie making and make-up tuition. Active Girls Day was supported by City of Edinburgh Trampoline Club and Midlothian Swimming Club, both members of the Lasswade Community Sport Hub. Girls were able to try out taster sessions in new sports and the Student Sports Council did a great job organising and coordinating the day. Active Schools have since seen an increase in girl’s participation at clubs offering taster sessions on the day! Well done to all who were involved.

Lasswade High School Newsletter, December 2015

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Lasswade Rugby Lasswade rugby has an extremely successful first half of the season. Overall in the SRU purple conference Lasswade finished second by one point behind league winners Trinity. This is a huge achievement and is the outcome of all the hard work from players, coaches and supporters.

The U15s finished with three strong wins against Dunbar, Linlithgow and Knox Academy. Recently both the S1 and S2 teams won against Royal High. The U18s won the Veitch memorial 10â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tournament shield at Murrayfield in a great performance in difficult conditions. A highlight of the recent weeks was the S1 development teams win against Firhill 4 ties to 3. A testament to all the hard work they have been putting in. The season continues after Christmas with the first games against George Watsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s College. A huge thank you to everyone who has been involved with Lasswade Rugby.

Lasswade High School Newsletter, December 2015

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Lasswade Rugby: Girls Girls rugby at Lasswade High School has been going from strength to strength in the first part of the academic year. High numbers attending training coupled with equally high levels of enthusiasm have created a great atmosphere on a Monday after school. Although their opening game resulted in a narrow loss to Lismore RFC, there were some extremely encouraging signs for future fixtures and the girls are hoping for a lot more games in the New Year. Well done to those involved so far and come give girls rugby a try in January!

Rugby Qualifications and Training Left: U16â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s being presented with the Borders College SCQF Level 1 Qualification in Sports Performance (Rugby). They were presented with their certificates by Matt Scott and Allan Dell from Edinburgh Rugby. Below: S1â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s at their blitz day with two Edinburgh professionals, Matt Scott and Allan Dell. The two players came into school and took the boys for a session on decision making in attack.

Lasswade High School Newsletter, December 2015

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Football: S1 Boys

The S1 football team have continued their excellent form this season, having won every game since the start of September. This has included some impressive wins in the league and progression into Round 4 of the Scottish Cup. The run started with an excellent 5-0 victory at home against Queensferry High. We were then drawn against our rivals Ross High in the next round. In what was a fantastic effort we managed to gain revenge on Ross High in a thrilling 2-1 victory, with goals from Cameron Eaton and Lewis Walker. It was a fantastic effort from the boys and they have done the school proud. We have also had a training session with Box Soccer where the boys had to endure some horrific weather conditions on top of an intense training session. During the training session you average around 1000 touches of the ball which will significantly increase your technical ability! The training session was well received and the squad enjoyed the session. Keep up the good work boys!

Lasswade High School Newsletter, December 2015

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Football: S2 Boys The S2 boys football team have had a mixed season thus far. We suffered a comprehensive defeat to a very good Ross High School side early in the season. However, the boys have had some good wins including victories against North Berwick, Preston Lodge and Musselburgh. The performance against Musselburgh was exceptional and was probably the best they have performed as a team since they arrived at Lasswade High School. Their attitude, team work and performance were rewarded with a comprehensive 13-4 victory on what was a wet, wild and windy evening in Musselburgh. Special mention to Arran Laidlaw who scored 7 goals in the match! In the Scottish Cup, the boys came up against Broughton High School and despite an excellent performance just missed out to what was a good Broughton side. The boys look forward to building upon their recent league form to try and push up the league table and perform well in the League Cup, of which we are the defending champions. We still have fixtures against Preston Lodge and Knox Academy to play before Christmas so plenty of points to play for! Come on the Lasswade! #trophytime

Football: S3 Boys Knowledgeable spectators of the beautiful game have flocked to the Lothian Schools Under 15s games at Lasswade to see the exciting brand of football being served up by the current S3 boys. A strong start to the season has resulted in the team fighting it out at the top of the league for the coveted League trophy. Goals have arrived from all over the pitch with defenders Blair Short, Declan Paterson and Blake Dyer also scoring. Go to man Tyler O'Neill currently leads the goal scoring chart with 8 goals so far, closely followed by fellow striker Ben Lewis and midfielder Luke Cormack. The team have beaten other teams comfortably, with notable results including a recent 9-0 win over Firhill and an 8-0 win in the Scottish Shield over Berwickshire High. A change of system this year has seen some notable tactical successes. Jake Grandison has put the shift in in defence this year alongside JJ Neil and in goal 'De Shea' Dowie. So far the recent 3-1 away victory over rivals Royal High stands out for best performance of the season yet. It is tough to think of what you could have to make a more exiting game of football. End to end football, goals, scrambles in the goalmouth, crossbars rattling. A great game to watch and play in and the boys did the school proud with their attitude and commitment. Keep up the good work. Lasswade High School Newsletter, December 2015

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Football: Senior Boys Article by James Wilson, S6 This yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s senior football team could not have had a more spectacular start to the season, with 20 goals scored and 0 conceded in the opening three games. This early form suggested that this team could have a serious chance of challenging for the league title aswell as progressing far in the cup competitions. In the 4th game of the season Lasswade played host to local rivals Newbattle and came out on top with a 6-1 victory, further enhancing our reputation as one of the teams to watch in the league. This resounding victory was followed up by our first disappointment of the season, as we threw away a 2-0 lead in the dying minutes to draw away at Boroughmuir. We have now turned our attention to the cup competitions, as we played our opening games in both the Scottish and Lothians Cups in consecutive weeks. Despite two sub-standard performances we managed to win both ties through the lottery of a penalty-shootout. Special praise must go to goalkeeper Jack McNeill who had a huge part to play in these victories. Impressively, the Seniors remain unbeaten after seven games played with 3 trophies still to play for.

Football: Girls U15s and U14s Article by Caitlin Lynch and Natalie Wilson After an outstanding start to the year it is looking like there is a good chance for the girls football teams to win some silverware! We have a few crucial fixtures coming up after the holidays so make sure to follow the Twitter for updates! @LHSCfootball The U18s so far have been very successful, winning numerous cup fixtures and friendlies. They are now progressing in to the third round of the Scottish cup after beating James Young HS an outstanding 10-0. The U15s have also been very successful in a number of 7s tournaments and with a very young team, are also progressing in the Scottish cup. Lasswade High School Newsletter, December 2015

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Lasswade Swimming Huge congratulations to all the swimmers who competed at the Edinburgh and Midlothian Swimming Championships. The Lasswade team had outstanding results including a gold medal performance from Matt Rietvelt in the 100m freestyle.

Lasswade also achieved 5 silver medals and 5 bronze medals across a variety of different age groups and events. The medals winners were Matt Rietvelt, Ellie Neil, Katie Golder, Jamie Ferguson and Rebecca Laing. All athletes performed to a very high standard and the girls relay team finished a very credible fourth position. As a results of their outstanding achievement, a number of students have been nominated to represent Lasswade High School and Midlothian Council in the Scottish Schools Championships in Glasgow at the beginning of next year. A great performance, well done.

Lasswade High School Newsletter, December 2015

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Dance Leadership Fifteen Lasswade students achieved their Level 4 Dance Leadership Award during the October break. The tutors taking the course said, "these dancers are very enthusiastic and portray excellent leadership skills". This course is funded by KIC Dance Fund and Youth Scotland in partnership with Lasswade High School. This partnership has now supported over 250 dancers and we hope to continue giving others this fantastic opportunity.

Lasswade Netball It has been a great start to the year for the Lasswade Netball Club. Over fofty girls come and train every Wednesday and we have four teams playing in the Scottish Schools Cup. The girls are dedicated and should be proud of their efforts. Despite many having never played netball before, they have remained positive even when beaten and their fighting spirit has made their coaches very proud! Keep working hard ladies. Lasswade High School Newsletter, December 2015

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Lasswade Athletics

The Lasswade High School athletics team competed at the Scottish Schools Athletics Competition Secondary Road Race Championships at the Helix Park in Falkirk on Thursday 12 November.

We had ten students who competed across a number of age categories and events against schools from across Scotland. The Lasswade team was represented by Ellie Robertson, Abbey McGlone, Ellie Baxter, Ellie Shuttleworth, Rebecca McGregor, Carolyn Cameron, Hannah Officer, Fraser Judge, Matt Rietvelt and Luke Kennedy. A special mention to S6 student Fraser Judge who completed the 1.5 mile race in 16th position, and Carolyn Cameron in S5 who finished a very credible 21 st position, in the national competition.

The SSAA Rotary International Indoor Track and Field Event is up next for our athletes at the beginning of next year. A great start to the athletics season, well done.

City of Edinburgh Trampoline Club City of Edinburgh Trampoline Club is based at the Lasswade Centre, with a number of classes running throughout the week. The club offers recreational and competitive level trampolining and DMT to all ages and levels. There are currently a number of students from Lasswade High School and the surrounding primary schools who attend regular classes and compete at a high level on the Scottish circuit. For more information on the Club, please contact us by email at secretary@cityofedinburghtrampolineclub.co.uk Lasswade High School Newsletter, December 2015

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Lasswade Parent Council News It has been another busy term for the Parent Council. Of most note was the amazing attendance and support for the Christmas Fair. We had a record number of stall holders and visitors to the event. A huge thank you to all of you who attended and handed in prizes for the tombola. I would also like to thank all the wonderful Parent Council members who help at these events and particularly to Lorna Wood who organised it. We greatly enjoyed working with the Art Department to help organise the Expressive Arts evening. It was a showcase of such impressive Lasswade talent. The Parent Council provided prizes to the many worthy winners. Our meetings continue to be well attended and we are working with the website team to ensure the minutes and agendas are easily accessible to all of those who might be interested. Please come along if you are interested in working with us or simply want to listen to what is going on. If you would like to contact the chair please email to lindseymmcgregor@aol.com

Important dates for next term

Students return to school on Wednesday 6th January.

Parents’ Evenings   

S1: S2: S3:

Tuesday 10 May 2016 Thursday 4 February 2016 Tuesday 8 March 2016

Parents’ evenings run from 5.00 - 7.00pm. Lasswade High School Newsletter, December 2015

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The end! Lasswade High School Winter Newsletter 2015

Lasswade High School Newsletter, December 2015

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