Dear
PLer,
We loved Wear Pink Day, with staff and students decked out in pink, and a good amount of money (still being counted!) has been raised for local families facing immediate challenges.
Well done to our pink prize-winners, and thank you to everyone who made it such a cheery day!
Diverse learning is the theme of this week’s PLus. Whether it be exploring Edinburgh’s Black History, enjoying a tea party, walking the John Muir Way, reading to P1s, helping at local Sports Days or even doing a bit of gardening, there are so many ways in which learning can take place.
I hope everyone has a lovely weekend.
Gavin Clark, Headteacher
Preston Lodge is a community of learning. We value achievement, happiness and respect. 12 May 2023
Preston Lodge is a community of learning. We value achievement, happiness and respect. 12 May 2023
Students’ Coronation Tea Parties
As well as last week’s Coronation Tea Party for older members of our community all S1 classes hosted their own tea party, inviting one or two teachers of their choice to come along.
This meant that all week long lovely things were
Preston Lodge is a community of learning. We value achievement, happiness and respect. 12 May 2023
S3 History Trip
It was wonderful to finally get the first stage of our East Lothian Black History project underway with an Edinburgh Black History Tour! Our project will enable students to investigate the black history of East Lothian, unpicking the erasure of the region's participation in the slave trade, colonialism, the lives and legacies of those affected, and acknowledging how these legacies continue to this day.
The funding, received from the Scottish Library & Information Council as part of their School Library Improvement Fund, will go towards hosting workshops with Lisa Williams (author, poet, academic, and founder of the Edinburgh Caribbean Association and Edinburgh Black History Tours), Research Skills workshops, Author Events, a student-produced podcast and website detailing the project, and a 'decolonise the library' project by students, to ensure a diverse selection of books are available, while casting a critical view on the existing works of white (usually male) writers, who have dominated publishing for such a long time.
More updates in future editions of PLus!
Derek France, School Librarian
Below are some brilliant reflections on the day from the pupils involved, as you can tell they clearly absorbed a lot of history on the trip:
On Tuesday the 19th of May, 19 S3 History students took an interesting and informative trip into Edinburgh to meet - who took us on a walking tour of Edinburgh to
We met Lisa at St. Andrews Square to start off the tour, the first stop being the Melville Monument. This prominent statue is of a man called Henry Dundas, who in the 1770’s used his political power to legislate delays to the abolition of the slave trade in the British Empire. He is said to be responsible for an additional 630,000 African people being sent to the British colonies as slaves. Fairly recently there has been an extra plaque added to the Melville monument explaining the true history of Henry Dundas and the Melville Monument.
Preston Lodge is a community of learning. We value achievement, happiness and respect. 12 May 2023
Our second stop was Dundas House, the now Royal Bank of Scotland building, which is just off St. Andrews Square. This house was built and owned by Henry Dundas’ cousin, Sir Lawrence Dundas, who was a Scottish politician, landowner and slave owner. Sir Lawrence Dundas owned two sugar plantations in the Caribbean, one in Dominica called Castle Bruce and the other in Granada named Douglaston Estate - both obviously Scottish names. The profits from slavery on these plantations will have helped fund the building of Dundas House.
Shockingly, when slavery was abolished in 1838, Sir Lawrence Dundas’ grandson, Lawrence Dundas, was awarded over £8,000 in compensation which is now the equivalent of around £600,000. Unfortunately there was no mention of his involvement in the slave trade in the RBS history leaflet, which was disappointing.
Subsequently, we walked along George Street and discussed a couple of the buildings which were also associated with the Atlantic Slave Trade. For example, in 1846, the Assembly Rooms was the site of a speech made by the famous ex-slave Frederick Douglass who lived in Edinburgh in 1846-7 while he made a speaking tour of Britain. Speaking to a packed crowd, he told them about his life born into slavery and of slavery in America and campaigned for change.
After this we walked along to the graveyard at the end of Princes Street beside St Cuthbert's Church. Here we spoke about some people who were still enslaved after slavery being abolished and how some of them had managed to escape. These few were buried in this graveyard, and Lisa Williams
Finally, we headed up to the Royal Mile to the Edinburgh Tollbooth Jail where we spoke about an enslaved boy in Edinburgh who was illegally enslaved and went to the authorities, which was uncommon. The case was won, and runaway slaves were then protected under Scots law if they wanted to leave service or attempts made to remove them from Scotland to the slave system in the Caribbean. This was one of the first cases of an enslaved African coming forward, let alone winning in court.
After a surprising and fascinating morning we headed for some lunch then back to school. We all enjoyed this trip and are very grateful to Lisa for hosting such an interesting, inspiring day out.
John Muir Way – ExPLorers: A school fundraiser
“In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks” John Muir
Fantastic effort Emma, Chloe, Joshua, Grace and Cameron, our S6 students who have completed 25 miles of the John Muir Way in two sections. Starting in Dunbar walking to North Berwick and then North Berwick to Longniddry, camping out in between and putting their DoE skills to good use ...
Well done, great effort everyone!
A few snapshots of their walk, joined - of course - by PLum in his PL tartan kilt and house t-shirt.
House points collected: Gosford 100 and Seton 150!
Come on Grange, you are way behind!
Find out more here: John Muir ExPLorers: A school fundraiser | Localgiving
Thank you to everyone who has taken part so far and those who have pledged to walk over the coming weeks and months.
We would be grateful if could help share our link with your friends, family and network to help us reach our John Muir ExPLorers: A school fundraiser | Localgiving
Please don’t forget to follow us on social media and tag us in your photos if you are taking part. @PL_LF @PrestonlodgeHS #ExPLorers #johnmuirway.
Thank you so much to everyone for their donations so far we couldn’t do this without your support.
Julie Lowe Head of Development Preston Lodge Learning FoundationPreston Lodge is a community of learning. We value achievement, happiness and respect. 05 May 2023
S3 Gardening
Over the past few weeks our School of Outdoor Improvement S3 group have been working on improving the large central garden (as well as keeping our small 'Guidance' garden tidy, too).
They were quick to point out that a number of picnic benches were broken, so duly set about repairing those. Last week we replaced two broken legs, and today was spent sanding down one of the tables so that it could be re-oiled and brought 'back to life' again. Eilidh Buckley’s memorial bench was also sanded down and re-oiled and now looks splendid. Others also spent time building a small fence and trying to tidy up a shaded area that was often just a hub for rubbish and weeds.
The group learned new skills, using postcrete and tools, and are making tidying up this space. It's a massive job, and one that will surely keep enthusiastic gardeners busy over the coming months/years.
Straggly climbers have also been given something to climb up.
All work in progress, but the S3 pupils really seem up to the job.
Bravo!
Campbell McNeil, School of Outdoor ImprovementPreston Lodge is a community of learning. We value achievement, happiness and respect. 12 May 2023
St Gabriel's Sports Day
On Wednesday morning fifteen of our S3 pupils walked to St Gabriel's R C Primary School to assist with their whole school Sports Day.
The S3 pupils were allocated to different stations, and helped the P1 -7s through different races & activities, including basketball shooting, welly boot throwing, target practice, obstacle courses, hockey dribbling and football goal scoring.
A huge thank you to the S3s who helped - Eilidh Anderson, Sophie Carracher, Lily Chater, Mylie Hunter, Sienna Law, Olivia Sutherland, Ellie Wright, James Findlay, Tom Robertson, Struan Forrest, George Tait, Jack Strachan, Daniel Scott, Jai Thomson & acted very maturely and came across as very friendly to the primary pupils. A credit to PL!
PLHS Girls Rugby
Our girls rugby team has been developing very well over the last few months and have managed to grow in numbers since we began in January. The girls team is still open to anyone from S1-S6 and all are welcome to come along and give rugby a try!
You do not need any previous experience and we will not be doing any contact until after the summer holidays. We are looking forward to our first Rugby Festival at Leith Academy in two weeks time!
Girls Rugby runs every Thursday from 3:30pm -4:30pm. Feel free to come down to the PE Department if you have any questions!
Iain Kay, PE
Preston Lodge is a community of learning. We value achievement, happiness and respect. 12 May 2023
Library News
Pupil Librarians
Longniddry Primary welcomed back a few of their former pupils, now PL Pupil Librarians, last Friday to read stories to their Primary 1-3 classes. Niamh Aldis (1Se2), Emily Fairfull (1Gr3), Evie Mason (1Se2) and Robbie Stevenson (1Go2) read a selection of picture books to a rapt audience, and answered many questions about the books, reading, high school, and toy collections!
Preston Lodge is a community of learning. We value achievement, happiness and respect. 12 May 2023
PL Page Turners
The PL Page Turners created poems and short stories by taking the first line from each of the Carnegie shortlisted novels and combining them with their own ideas and words some of which took a dark turn! Extracts from a few below. . .
Fear. That’s what everyone feels at five o’clock. As the captain arrived everyone was on edge. When new people join we tell them fear arrives at five o’clock. They all ask, why? But no one answers. As the clock strikes five everyone drops to the floor, but some were too late. He was here. He went down onto all fours and grabbed everyone who was too slow. He dragged them down into his bunker, and all we could hear was the screaming. The next day arrived with the smell of blood and slowly rotting bodies.
“What was that?” said one of the newcomers, voice trembling.
There’s a body at my feet again.
Mam says that it’s best to write like this now, as they live in darkness.
There’s a body at my doorstep again
I must have slaughtered another man again
I really wish I didn’t kill again
Because now I’ve got to run from the police again
If I told you when I was born, I’d kill a man with a glance, would you want to hear the rest?
There it was, a body laying at my feet again. Did I really just kill that man with one glance?
Thunder shook the water which rocked the boat as I arrived at the pier. I ran away before the waves could damage me. I ran hoping no one would see me. I was really hoping the waves would take the body away.
Preston Lodge is a community of learning. We value achievement, happiness and respect. 12 May 2023
Student & Staff Book Group
I’m very happy to have launched a “two-meeting” student and staff book group, thanks to the Scottish Book Trust! We’re helping with their Teen Reading Research Project on conversations between learning professionals and students on reading beyond set texts. By taking part, all participants will receive a book to read and discuss, the library will receive a small amount of funding to refresh our stock, and the Scottish Book Trust will provide a fully funded author visit to celebrate the library!
We had our book selection meeting on Tuesday 2 May (thanks to Miss Clark for the picture!) and voted to read The Starlight Watchmaker by Lauren James. We meet to discuss the book on Tuesday 23rd May. Happy reading!
The Starlight Watchmaker by Lauren James - Wealthy students from across the galaxy come to learn at the prestigious academy where Hugo toils as a watchmaker. But he is one of the lucky ones. Many androids like him are jobless and homeless. Someone like Dorian could never understand their struggle - or so Hugo thinks when the pompous duke comes banging at his door. But when Dorian's broken time-travel watch leads them to discover a sinister scheme, the pair must reconcile their differences if they are to find the culprit in time. A wildly imaginative sci-fi adventure from YA star Lauren James, particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant or dyslexic readers aged 13+
All books are published by Barrington Stoke, a small, independent and awardwinning children’s publisher who, for 25 years, have been pioneering superreadable, dyslexia-friendly fiction for children and young people.
Book of the Week
The Monkey Who Fell From The Future by Ross Welford
The year is 2425. Centuries after a catastrophic meteor collision, nature has retaken the earth. In a small town in what was once England, young Ocean Mooney and the monkey-owning Duke Smiff have just dug up a 400 year-old tablet computer.
Meanwhile, in the present day, Thomas Reeve and his genius cousin Kylie create the Time Tablet - a device which they hope will allow them to communicate with the future.
But when the Time Tablet malfunctions live on television, Thomas and Kylie are sucked into the year 2425 - and have only 24 hours to return home, and save the future of humanity.
Preston Lodge is a community of learning. We value achievement, happiness and respect. 12 May 2023
Teach the Teacher
This week it was Ms Frost’s turn to take us through a History lesson. She chose to run a witchcraft trial, based on real events in 1591. She wrote a script for the trial and we each had parts – including the witches on trial (with Ms Richmond being the main witch – Agnes Sampson), the people giving evidence and the judge. It was a real hoot, with everyone getting into char-
Preston Lodge is a community of learning. We value achievement, happiness and respect. 12 May 2023
