gryffe high school · fascinating and bloody history of the vikings. after reading from her book...

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www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk Gryffe High School Old Bridge of Weir Road, Houston, PA6 7EB Tel: 01505 690633 Fax: 01505 690888 e-mail: gryffehigh[email protected] web address: www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk Head Teacher: Mr Colin H Johnson BSc Date: 5/06/13 Dear Parents/Carers/Relatives/Pupils I hope you enjoy reading about the significant achievements of our pupils in this edition of our monthly newsletter. Just a few of our many pupil successes across so many fields – more detail within the newsletter. Index Page 1 Index; successes 2 Update; Parent Council 3 Author visit 4,5 Young Achievers 6 Outstanding success for Nian Liu in the Maths challenge 7,8 Primary Maths challenge 9,10 Eco Committee Update 11,12 Sports Leaders Graduation 13,14 Spotlight on athlete and former pupil Derek Hawkins 15 Netball - Scottish Cup Bronze Cup Winners 2012-2013 16 Alix and Maise represent Scotland in Swedish Basketball Festival 17-19 Activities Week 20 Horse riding success 21 Skiing success 22,23 Farewell to the ‘old’ sixth years 24 Upcoming priorities/events 25 GMT’s Community Performance on Wednesday 26 June 2013 26 PTA Raffle

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Page 1: Gryffe High School · fascinating and bloody history of the Vikings. After reading from her book she showed pupils her Viking artefacts, which included a Viking helmet and broadsword

www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk

Gryffe High School Old Bridge of Weir Road, Houston, PA6 7EB Tel: 01505 690633 Fax: 01505 690888 e-mail: [email protected] web address: www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk Head Teacher: Mr Colin H Johnson BSc

Date: 5/06/13 Dear Parents/Carers/Relatives/Pupils I hope you enjoy reading about the significant achievements of our pupils in this edition of our monthly newsletter.

Just a few of our many pupil successes across so many fields – more detail within the newsletter.

Index Page 1 Index; successes 2 Update; Parent Council 3 Author visit 4,5 Young Achievers 6 Outstanding success for Nian Liu in the

Maths challenge 7,8 Primary Maths challenge 9,10 Eco Committee Update 11,12 Sports Leaders Graduation 13,14 Spotlight on athlete and former pupil

Derek Hawkins 15 Netball - Scottish Cup Bronze Cup Winners

2012-2013 16 Alix and Maise represent Scotland in

Swedish Basketball Festival 17-19 Activities Week 20 Horse riding success 21 Skiing success 22,23 Farewell to the ‘old’ sixth years

24 Upcoming priorities/events 25 GMT’s Community Performance on

Wednesday 26 June 2013 26 PTA Raffle

Page 2: Gryffe High School · fascinating and bloody history of the Vikings. After reading from her book she showed pupils her Viking artefacts, which included a Viking helmet and broadsword

www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk

I would like to give you some detail of what has been happening over the past few weeks, out with the SQA examinations: Activities Week – details on pages 17-19 Thursday 23 May, In-Service Day –

Improvement Planning The day started with the following presentations:

• Improvement Planning • Curriculum Structures/Timetable • Staff Professional Review and Development

We devoted the remainder of the In-Service Day to working on Whole School and Departmental Improvement Planning, including Cluster Planning, as well preparations for our new S4 National Qualifications – National 5 and National 4. Our new timetable for S2-S4 pupils started on Tuesday 28 May. I am happy to state we have managed to maintain the wide range of courses on offer to our pupils, including our new S3 course structure where we have a wider choice of 9 courses when there used to be only 8 course choices. I enjoyed welcoming our new S5 pupils arriving back from their exam leave on Monday and into their S5 Conference, and look forward to our new S6 pupils returning tomorrow, Thursday 6 June, for their Conference. The next few weeks are very lively, with our P7 induction Days and our Eco Event, S1 Parents’ Open Day, the Awards Ceremony, our Community event (page 25) ... and finally summer!

Parent Council Meeting on Monday 3 June

As detailed in our calendar, we had our last Parent Council meeting for this session on Monday 3 June, agenda below: 1. Welcome, Sederunt and Apologies 2. Gryffe High School Improvement Plan 2. Chair’s Annual Report 3. PTA President’s Report incorporating Treasurer’s Report 4. Head Teacher’s Report 5. Election of Office Bearers 6. Chair and Head Teacher Open Question and Answer Session 7. Date of Next Meeting 8. Close of Meeting Gryffe High School Improvement Plan

Mrs Brown gave an Improvement Planning presentation to the Parent Council, a draft copy of which can be found on our school website under the ‘About us’ section. Please feel free to look at our draft plan and make comment by email and/or phone. Following further amendments, additions and suggestions from staff and Parent Council members we will publish the finalised plan on the school website at the end of the month.

Parent Council Meetings provide an opportunity to discuss educational issues and, through discussion, help focus on how Gryffe High School develops as a school community. We need more parents to play an active role in the development of the school. Meeting commitment is an hour and a half meeting approximately seven times across the session. The first meeting of the new session will be held on Monday, 26 August 2013 at 7:00 pm

Please come along and see what it is involved.

Page 3: Gryffe High School · fascinating and bloody history of the Vikings. After reading from her book she showed pupils her Viking artefacts, which included a Viking helmet and broadsword

www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk

Author Visit – former pupil Victoria Campbell Victoria Campbell, author of the popular teenage novel ‘Viking Gold’ came into the school to talk to the new S2 pupils about her book. Victoria is a former Gryffe High pupil who was a lawyer before following her dream of becoming a writer. She gave pupils and aspiring authors great writing tips and spoke about the fascinating and bloody history of the Vikings. After reading from her book she showed pupils her Viking artefacts, which included a Viking helmet and broadsword and explained how these would have been used in battle. I am delighted to say that Victoria has accepted our invitation to become Gryffe High School’s Reading Patron. She will be coming back into the school next session to hold creative writing workshops with the new S1s and to work with us on future reading and writing initiatives. Both pupils and staff found Victoria’s talk to be fascinating, fun and informative, and she in turn was very impressed by the pupils’ enthusiasm. Article – Mrs C Kerr (School Librarian) Photographs – Andrew Grant (new S2)

Page 4: Gryffe High School · fascinating and bloody history of the Vikings. After reading from her book she showed pupils her Viking artefacts, which included a Viking helmet and broadsword

www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk

Young Achievers Awards Ceremony – Glynhill Hotel

As part of Renfrewshire Council’s commitment to recognising the achievements and effort of all our young people, an annual Young Achiever’s Award Ceremony is held. The Young People are nominated by their schools for their efforts in either achieving a goal for themselves or more often giving a lot of support to help someone else. This award is for endeavour and initiative and it is not a prescribed list. We are delighted to report that Gryffe High was very well represented with thirty four of our pupils receiving awards. Many more pupils could have been selected but numbers are limited by Renfrewshire Council. As part of the school aims, Gryffe High encourages each pupil to reach their full potential in all aspects of education – academic, social, physical and aesthetic. As you can see from the list of pupils receiving awards from Gryffe, the achievements are a diverse list. Very well done to all of the Award Winners. Photograph by Miss McNeil

Page 5: Gryffe High School · fascinating and bloody history of the Vikings. After reading from her book she showed pupils her Viking artefacts, which included a Viking helmet and broadsword

www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk

Back Row – Left to Right B1 Ben Hortin

S6 Master Class Drama Leader

B2 Iain McLaughlin S4 Healthy Lifestyles - British Sailing Team success B3 Colin Jackson S3 Healthy Lifestyles - Basketball Internationalist B4 Adam Robertson S4 Healthy Lifestyles - Ski-ing Success B5 Michael Storey S4 Healthy Lifestyles - Basketball Internationalist B6 Mark Armstrong S4 Healthy Lifestyles - Basketball Internationalist B7 Jennifer Crawford S6 Healthy Lifestyles - Basketball Scotland B8 Erin Chambers S6 Contribution to Citizenship - Global Diversity B9 Scott Christian S6 Contribution to Citizenship - Lessons from Auschwitz B10 Susie Little

S6 Scottish Space School - Ambassador

Second Back Row – Left to Right

SB1 Stuart Gemmel S3 Personal Achievement - Army Cadets SB2 Kelly McGarvey S6 S6 Contribution to In-Class Support SB3 Chantelle Christian S6 Enterprise - Young Enterprise - Jeweltek SB4 Caitlin McCluskie S6 Contribution to Citizenship - Charities SB5 Emilie Johnstone S3 Healthy Lifestyles - Basketball Internationalist SB6 Erin Campbell S5 Healthy Lifestyles - Basketball Internationalist SB7 Jessica Canning S6 Contribution to Citizenship - Mission Trips to Bulgaria SB8 Meagan McDonald S5 Creative Arts - West of Scotland Schools Wind Band SB9 Jenna McFarlane S5 Creative Arts - West of Scotland Schools Wind Band SB10 Samantha Dunlop S3 Outstanding Contribution to the Media Team SB11 Clare Dewar S2 Healthy Lifestyles - Basketball Internationalist SB12 Stewart Adamson S4 Healthy Lifestyles - Basketball Internationalist SB13 Karyn Priestley S5 Master Class Drama Leader

Front Row – Left to Right

F1 Eve Campbell S4 Creative Arts - West of Scotland School Symphony Orchestra F2 Kirsty Carswell

S1 Drama, on behalf of class 1B

F3 Euan Trout

S3 Healthy Lifestyles - Scottish Athletics F4 Molly Mitchell S6 Creative Arts - West of Scotland Schools Wind Band F5 Bruce Wards S2 Creative Arts - Junior Young Musician F6 Emma Kelly

S3 Healthy Lifestyles - Scottish Athletics

F7 Kara McWilliams S6 Contribution to Citizenship - Lessons from Auschwitz F8 Fergus Young S2 Personal Achievement – Presentation to staff F9 Connor Thomson S1 Healthy Lifestyles - Scottish Tennis Squad

Front

L1 Cameron Brown S6 Contribution to Citizenship - Global Diversity L2 Jamie Telfer S6 Contribution to Citizenship - Scripture Union

Page 6: Gryffe High School · fascinating and bloody history of the Vikings. After reading from her book she showed pupils her Viking artefacts, which included a Viking helmet and broadsword

www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk

Outstanding Success for S3 Pupil in Intermediate Maths Challenge

Nian Liu, who is in S3, took part in the UK Intermediate Maths and achieved a Gold award and a Best in School Certificate.

Her score was so good that she was asked to take part in the follow on round of the competition, the Hamilton Olympiad.

Nian did very well in this too, gaining a Medal, a Certificate of Distinction and a prize of a Mathematics Book for being in the first 50 places in the whole of the UK. No pupil from Gryffe High school has ever been as successful in the Maths Challenge.

After the competition the organisers contacted the school to ask Nian to take part in a Maths Challenge Summer School at Leeds University with other successful participants from around the UK. Nian hopes to attend this and we look forward to hearing all about it after the summer holidays.

Well Done Nian on this excellent achievement!

Just to give you a taster for the standard of maths that Nian has achieved, here is a sample question extracted from the Hamilton Olympiad Specimen Paper taken from the UKMT website.

5. The diagram shows three

touching circles, whose radii are a , b and c ,and whose centres are at the vertices Q R and of a rectangle QRST.

The fourth vertex T of the rectangle lies on the circle with centre S.

Find the ratio a : b : c.

For the full solution, check out http://www.mathcomp.leeds.ac.uk/pdfs/Hamilton%202010.pdf The Maths Challenge entries are organised by Mrs Campbell in the Maths Department.

Check your answer - shown on page 23

Page 7: Gryffe High School · fascinating and bloody history of the Vikings. After reading from her book she showed pupils her Viking artefacts, which included a Viking helmet and broadsword

www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk

Primary Maths Challenge

Mr Findlay and Mrs Campbell invited 2 teams from each of the feeder primary schools up to Gryffe to take part in a Maths Challenge event on Wednesday 24 April.

The teams were very competitive, enjoying Speed, Group and Relay rounds. Bridge of Weir A Team were the eventual winners, receiving their prizes and certificates from Mr Hannah, PT Maths, before everyone had some refreshments and walked back to the Primaries. A good time was had by all.

Article and Photograph – Mrs M Campbell (Maths Department)

Page 8: Gryffe High School · fascinating and bloody history of the Vikings. After reading from her book she showed pupils her Viking artefacts, which included a Viking helmet and broadsword

www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk

Page 9: Gryffe High School · fascinating and bloody history of the Vikings. After reading from her book she showed pupils her Viking artefacts, which included a Viking helmet and broadsword

www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk

Eco Committee News - Activities Update May 2013

As we are now in Spring (although it is hard to tell from some of the recent weather), the Eco Committee would like to tell you about all of the exciting projects that are in the pipeline. On Friday 14 June, an Eco Event is scheduled to take place in the morning at Gryffe High School. This event will involve pupils from P7 of our associated Primary Schools and our own new S2 with our new S6 pupils acting as guides and helpers. The event will involve a number of active sessions and plans include the display of an electric car, a community clear up, biological sampling in the school grounds and the making, decorating (and seeding) of environmentally friendly plant pots- amongst other activities. In addition to the Eco event, we are now planning to have in place a weather station. This will provide us with accurate information of wind speed, light intensity, temperature, air humidity and precipitation. The information will be a great help to the pupils and staff of the Biology, Physics and Geography departments. At last, we are also able to say that we are moving forward with the plans for our Eco garden. The garden which will be in the school grounds is being designed to increase biodiversity, and provide a peaceful area for reflection. To help with the planning and creation of the garden we recently had a visit from Ewan Kane from Renfrewshire Council. It is hoped that the garden will have planting to provide year round colour and to attract a variety of insects such as honeybees, butterflies and other species which have been in decline. If you have an interest in joining the Eco committee for our academic session please see Mr Gibb in the Science Department. Interest is welcomed from all year groups. Mr G Gibb and Mrs M McAleavy Photographs – Media Team

Page 10: Gryffe High School · fascinating and bloody history of the Vikings. After reading from her book she showed pupils her Viking artefacts, which included a Viking helmet and broadsword

www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk

Page 11: Gryffe High School · fascinating and bloody history of the Vikings. After reading from her book she showed pupils her Viking artefacts, which included a Viking helmet and broadsword

www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk

Community Sports Leaders Graduation Class of 2013

Mr O’Hare and Mr Morris organised a fabulous evening to celebrate the hard work of the Sports Leaders. The evening was not a usual graduation ceremony where the audience sit and clap! Audience participation was key to the success of the evening with the Sports Leaders showing off their co-ordination skills. Dodgeball and ceilidh dancing were included in the activities lined up for the audience who going by our photographs seem to thoroughly enjoy themselves. The guests had been warned to wear sensible footwear! The leadership qualities required are

• The Ability to Coach • Responsibility • Maturity • The ability to adapt to different situations

Congratulations to the Sports Leaders on their hard work and valued contribution. Article – Media Team Photographs – Jennifer Lowson S5 and Mr G O’Hare

Page 12: Gryffe High School · fascinating and bloody history of the Vikings. After reading from her book she showed pupils her Viking artefacts, which included a Viking helmet and broadsword

www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk

Community Sports Leaders Graduation Class of 2013

Page 13: Gryffe High School · fascinating and bloody history of the Vikings. After reading from her book she showed pupils her Viking artefacts, which included a Viking helmet and broadsword

www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk

Spotlight on Athlete and Former Pupil Derek Hawkins

The Hawkins brothers Derek, Scott and Callum were always virtually impossible to beat when it came to running at Gryffe. The boys have built on their strengths and this month, we turn the spotlight on Derek who has turned his attention to intensive training to hopefully qualify for selection for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Derek was the first British Athlete to finish the London Marathon this year and we congratulate him on this fantastic achievement. He finished in a very impressive time of 2:16:51 and gained himself a place in the World Championships in Moscow in August. Derek who is a member of Kilbarchan AAC has indicated that he will concentrate on his training in Glasgow. Just prior to the London Marathon, Derek took time out of his busy schedule to kindly give the Media Team an exclusive insight into what he has been doing. Q. What year did you leave Gryffe High?

A. 2007

Q. What have you being doing in that time?

A. I was at university studying Physiology and Sport Science. Now I'm training pretty much full-time in the lead up to the 2013 London Marathon and hopefully up until the 2014 Commonwealth Games if selected.

Q. You have achieved a lot in sporting achievements - please tell us about the most memorable and what ones you feel are the most important.

A. I have 3 performances that stand out the most...

1) The Scottish U20 Cross Country Championships in 2009 - going into the race I hadn't won a race of any standard for 2 years and had been injured for large spells during that time. Despite showing no form that a medal was a possibility I managed to win the race beating a World U20 1500m finalist into 2nd place.

2) Representing the Great Britain Senior team at the World Cross Country Championships in 2011 - I'd been lucky enough to earn my first GB call up a few months earlier at the European U23 Championships but this was my first senior international and the first time at a World Championship. It was the toughest race I've ever done and a real eye opener with how much work I still had to do to be competitive on a world stage.

3) My marathon debut in 2012- In July last year I decided to make my debut at the marathon in the autumn as I felt it was my best chance at qualifying for the 2014 Commonwealth Games. In the lead up to the race I wasn't sure what i could run but was pretty confident I could run inside the qualifying time of 2hours 19minutes. The race couldn't have gone much better as I ran almost 5 minutes inside the time with 2hours 14minutes 4seconds which topped the Scottish Rankings for 2012 by 6 minutes and ranked me 2nd in the UK for the year. Although I achieved the qualifying time I need to achieve it again this year in order to be selected and hope to do this in London.

Q. How much time do you spend training in a typical week?

A. In my hardest training periods I tend to run 9-10 times per weeks hitting between 100-110miles a week.

Page 14: Gryffe High School · fascinating and bloody history of the Vikings. After reading from her book she showed pupils her Viking artefacts, which included a Viking helmet and broadsword

www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk

Q. At times it must be hard to maintain training, do you have any tips or advice to help others stay motivated?

A. The most important thing if you're trying to achieve something is to just stick at it. If you've set yourself a goal to get a personal best in a race or achieve a particular grade in an exam, very rarely does the preparation for it go 100% perfectly and can seem at times like it's not going to be possible. Getting the head down and trying to work through it when things aren't going so well will have more benefit in the long run.

Q. I believe that you come from a very sporting family, how much do you think this has influenced you?

A. Yes, my brother Callum won the European Youth Olympics 3000m in 2009 and my dad and other brother, Scott, have been Scottish champions and internationalists in the past. I would say it has had influenced me particularly my dad's involvement. It was him that encouraged me to join Kilbarchan AAC when I was in primary school which I have now been a member of for almost 13 years and it was him that coached me in the lead up to my marathon debut. Before the marathon he always had a say in my training anyway so a lot of my success before then has been as a result of his help.

Q. Finally, if you get the chance to relax, what would be your favourite way to spend time?

A. I try to socialise as much as possible with friends. However, this is proving to be quite difficult now with marathon training as most Sunday's I have a 24mile run to do!

Derek, we wish you the very best of luck in your selection for the 2014 Commonwealth Games. We will be following your progress and thank you for the interview! Article – Media Team with a lot of help from Derek Hawkins Photograph (showing Derek receiving one of his very many awards)

- Kindly Provided by Derek Hawkins

Page 15: Gryffe High School · fascinating and bloody history of the Vikings. After reading from her book she showed pupils her Viking artefacts, which included a Viking helmet and broadsword

www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk

Netball: Scottish Cup Final win for a second straight year!

Last year was a very successful time for our team, we won the S2 Netball Bronze Scottish Schools Cup, and this year we took on the challenge of aiming to retain the title for a second straight year...we succeeded! On Thursday 18 April we won the Bronze Scottish Schools Cup Final again coming out on top against Kilgraston School from Bridge of Earn, Perthshire. The qualifying rounds for the final this year were not easy, but we were determined to repeat our success. In the second and third rounds we went up against strong teams from Hutcheson’s Grammar and Forfar Academy and won both matches 12-7 and 23 – 20, respectively. The final was held at Ravenscraig Regional Sports facility in Motherwell. Last year we had to go to extra time to beat Carnoustie High, we did not want that to happen again. We got off to a good start in the game and were in the lead after the first quarter, however Kilgraston played tough and soon caught up. We fought hard to stay ahead and worked as a strong unit from defence through to attack. We got onto a roll in the last quarter - everyone played outstandingly, we ended with a fantastic goal in the final four seconds of the match, to win the cup 15 – 11. I’d like to thank everyone on the team, (from top right) Eilidh Fraser, Megan Hunter, Kirsten McGlennon, Katie Bogan, Eve McKenzie, Jessica Harrison, Bethany Allan, Katie Hall, Niamh Tynan, Katie Bone, Emma Kelly (who couldn’t be there) and of course our coach, Miss Iafrate for helping us to retain our title. Next year we move into the Open section of the cup, which is mixed year senior teams from S4-6. It will be tough playing against girls who have up to two years more experience (and match time) than ourselves but we are looking forward to the challenge. We will keep you updated on our progress. Article - Katie Hall 3Mt (Team Captain) Photographs - Miss Iafrate (Team Coach)

SCOTTISH SCHOOLS BRONZE CUP

WINNERS 2012 – 2013

GRYFFE HIGH 15 – 11 KILGRASTON

Page 16: Gryffe High School · fascinating and bloody history of the Vikings. After reading from her book she showed pupils her Viking artefacts, which included a Viking helmet and broadsword

www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk

S1 Pupils Alix and Maisie represent Scotland in Swedish Basketball Festival Alix Stewart and Maisie Huey represent Scotland in the Under 13 Basketball team. They recently travelled to Sweden to take part in the Goteberg Basketball Festival. Both girls had a fabulous trip to Sweden. Here is what they had to say:- Alix :- ‘My experience in Sweden was fantastic, to be representing Scotland in a foreign country was something I was looking forward to. Sweden itself was brilliant and to be playing basketball against countries such as Denmark, Norway, Germany and Sweden was just amazing! Sadly we got knocked out in the quarter finals but as a team we worked well and I hope to do it all again next year in the under 14 squad.’ Maisie:- ‘My experience in Sweden was great. I really enjoyed it and was proud to represent my country .We played well as a team. We played fast and were a strong defensive side. We beat a Danish team 73-2, but were unfortunate to be knocked out in the quarter finals. The trip was great and I loved every aspect of it! I would love to represent my country again next year.’ Very well done to both of you!! In the photograph with 4 players, Alix appears far right and Maisie is second right. Article – Media Team with a lot of help from Alix and Maisie Photographs – Courtesy of Basketball Scotland and Alix Stewart

Page 17: Gryffe High School · fascinating and bloody history of the Vikings. After reading from her book she showed pupils her Viking artefacts, which included a Viking helmet and broadsword

www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk

Activities 2013 Many successful trips were enjoyed by all S1 to S3 pupils again this year. Some of the Residential trips lasted almost a week and the Non-Residential trips lasted for 3 days. Residential Trips UK Residential Barcelona Paris Theme Park Mania

Non- Residential Trips Days Away Xtreme Sports Football Stadiums Golf Days Out High Octane Theatre Skills Nail Art Nae Limits Game Zone

Edinburgh Zoo

Page 18: Gryffe High School · fascinating and bloody history of the Vikings. After reading from her book she showed pupils her Viking artefacts, which included a Viking helmet and broadsword

www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk

High Octane M & D’s

Page 19: Gryffe High School · fascinating and bloody history of the Vikings. After reading from her book she showed pupils her Viking artefacts, which included a Viking helmet and broadsword

www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk

Theatre Skills

Theatre Skills

Page 20: Gryffe High School · fascinating and bloody history of the Vikings. After reading from her book she showed pupils her Viking artefacts, which included a Viking helmet and broadsword

www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk

Theatre Skills

Horse Riding Success Laura McNeil did 2 dressage tests on Herman and came 1st and 4th respectively. Then Eilidh McNeill had a double clear round on Tilly Tantrum in the 70cm class. Finally in the team showjumping Ellie O'Donnell was clear On Colourville Viva Las Vegas, as was Laura on Herman, Eilidh on Tilly Tantrum & Ellie on Hugo Boss. We made it to the final jump off and again Ellie went clear on Colourville Viva Las Vegas but we were just beaten on time. A fantastic 3rd place considering there were 15 teams. We are looking forward to competing again next year and hopefully taking the top spot again.

Gryffe High School

Page 21: Gryffe High School · fascinating and bloody history of the Vikings. After reading from her book she showed pupils her Viking artefacts, which included a Viking helmet and broadsword

www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk

2013 Scottish Schools Indoor Freestyle Championships MALE SKI RESULTS Bib Surname Forename School Run 1

Score Run 2 Score

Best Score

Rank

44 Jenkins Kyle Dunfermline High School

144 127 144 1

32 Carroll Douglas Inverness Royal Academy

123 135 135 2

60 Robertson Blair Gryfe High School 132 125 132 3

21 Robertson Jacob (on Ski)

Trinity High School 125 112 125 4

38 Fitzpatrick Jimmy Mearns Castle High School

118 121 121 5

50 Menzies Fraser Inverness Royal Academy

120 111 120 6

55

Well done Blair

Page 22: Gryffe High School · fascinating and bloody history of the Vikings. After reading from her book she showed pupils her Viking artefacts, which included a Viking helmet and broadsword

www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk

Time to Say Farewell to S6

It is always mixed emotions at this time of year when it is time to say farewell to the S6 pupils. As our photographs show, they put a great deal of effort into their costumes for the day (and that includes Mr O’Hare and Mr Breslin). The rain poured, but this did not dampen their enthusiasm for their trip to Millport or fade the vibrant colours of their costumes. They certainly boosted the profits of the Ritz Café and cycled round the island. A great day out was enjoyed by all and this was finished off with a lovely buffet in the canteen. Staff joined the celebrations and signed year books and shirts. It was a nice break away from the focus of forthcoming exams. We wish all of the S6 pupils every best wish for the future and success in their chosen courses and careers. Farewell! Article – Media Team Photographs – Mr S Blue

Page 23: Gryffe High School · fascinating and bloody history of the Vikings. After reading from her book she showed pupils her Viking artefacts, which included a Viking helmet and broadsword

www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk

Mr ‘Scooby’Breslin and ??

Page 24: Gryffe High School · fascinating and bloody history of the Vikings. After reading from her book she showed pupils her Viking artefacts, which included a Viking helmet and broadsword

www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk

Maths Challenge Answer a : b : c = 2 : 1 : 3 Upcoming priorities/events JUNE Mon 3 Parent Council AGM; 7:00pm start New S5 Induction Day Wed 5 Newsletter published on school

website Thurs 6 New S6 Induction Day Mon 10 P7 Parents’ Information Evening;

7:00pm start Tue 11 P7 Wed 12 P7 Induction Day 1 Thurs 13 P7 Induction Day 2

PTA Annual Raffle Fri 14 Eco Cluster Event Wed 19 Parents Open Day Fri 21 Non-uniform Day Mon 24 Awards Ceremony; 7:00 pm start Wed 26 Gryffe Musical Theatre performance

for the local community; 2:00 pm start

Thurs 27 Last day of session; 1:00 pm stop JULY Wed 3 Newsletter uploaded onto school

website Mr Colin Johnson Head Teacher

Updates: On Monday 3 June our Parent Council had a presentation from Mrs Brown, Depute Head Teacher for S1 & S6, on our school Improvement Planning process. Following discussion we will await any further suggested changes before submitting the plan to the local authority. The ‘Draft’ Improvement Plan can be found on the school website, under the ‘About Us’ heading, Please feel free to look through the plan, hopefully being impressed by the detail within, and email any suggested amendments/additions by Friday 14 June. I will respond to all emails in order to thank you for your time and effort. Next week we start our Primary Induction programme, four days of it, and then we gear up for our ‘Parents Open Day’ on Wednesday 19 June – This is an opportunity for parents to ‘go back to school for the day’ and, as a class, follow an S1 timetable for the day. I would ask you to please consider this as an opportunity to experience the changes in the delivery of lessons, and on our expectations of pupils. If you would be willing to participate in this open day then please call the school office and receive further details. I believe, by now, you will appreciate just how much is ‘going on’ within the school - a hive of energy with, as ever, a focus on Caring, Learning, Achieving. Many parents email me detail about the out of school achievements of their child, which I thoroughly enjoy reading. I would ask any parent/carer to please feel free to send me or email me detail of their child’s out of school achievements. I am in the process of organising a system to record all such achievements in order to acknowledge the efforts that frequently do not get the recognition that is deserved. Working together we can ensure our children get the very best opportunities to develop and achieve their full potential in all aspects of learning.

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www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk

Old Bridge of Weir Road, Houston, PA6 7EB Tel: 01505 690633 Fax: 01505 690888 e-mail: [email protected] web address: www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk Head Teacher: Mr Colin H Johnson BSc

GMT’s Community Performance on Wednesday 26 June 2013 Hello, This year, Gryffe High School launched ‘Gryffe Musical Theatre’, a chance for students to learn about Performing Arts in a practical setting. Through the year, pupils trained in all Performing Arts elements and have been able to bring it all together to create a performance of a very high quality. Before Easter, GMT put on 2 nights of “Newsical 100”, a celebration of the best musicals from the last decade, which received fantastic plaudits. Following on from this, both GMT and Gryffe High School would love to have the opportunity to invite members of the community who may not have seen or been able to see the show to an afternoon of entertainment. Not only will everyone have the opportunity to witness a phenomenal show, but they will also have a chance to socialise with one another and the cast members afterwards. We at GMT would like to invite one and all to the performance and hope that you would like to come and join in the fun. The event will take place on the Wednesday 26 of June between about 1:30pm and 3:30pm. The afternoon will start off with a performance of the show followed by refreshments. If you would like to come along or get more information, then please contact us by phone or email as detailed above. Yours Faithfully, Ben Hortin, GMT co-founder

Gryffe Musical Theatre

Page 26: Gryffe High School · fascinating and bloody history of the Vikings. After reading from her book she showed pupils her Viking artefacts, which included a Viking helmet and broadsword

www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk