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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.com Head Teacher: Mr Colin H Johnson BSc

Date: 13/01/16 Dear Parents/Carers/Relatives/Pupils We wish one and all the very best in this New Year, and hope you enjoy looking back at our pupils achievements in late November and December.

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House News The S6 House Captains have been working hard with the Guidance Team keeping tabs on the accumulation of House Points from the Token and Certificate System. Here is the current picture from the count just taken on 17th December 2015.

Well done to all pupils on their achievements and well deserved token awards. Congratulations to Wallace House but could the picture all change in 2016?

Index Page

1 House News; Achievements 2 Parent Council update; PTA Christmas Fayre 3 Eryn is selected for Euroscola;

2015 Youth Speech Competition; Euan speaks at the Scottish Parliament

4 Modern Studies go to the High Court 5 S5 pupils Jamie and Zara take on EU Roles 6 Hour of Code 7 Swaziland Fairtrade Producer Visit;

Big Questions Conference 8 Eco News; Operation Christmas Child 9 Creating the Future - Ada Lovelace Event 10 S3 Pupil Ruadhri attends Mathematics

Masterclasses; Hunger Games Cinema Treat 11 Gryffe Valley Rotary Club Young Chef success

S2 Volcanoes 12 ROAR Challenge 13 Rights Respecting School News;

Young Enterprise; Former pupil success 14 St Andrew’s Day Celebrations; Social Dancing 15 Literacy and Numeracy S1 Christmas Party;

Gladiator Games 16 S1 Christmas Dance; Pupils Sing Carols for

Charity at Braehead 17 S6 Snowball 18 The Christmas Community Show 19 Christmas Concert Cracker 20 Scottish Space School 2016 opportunity Upcoming priorities/events

Recognition of Achievements Please try and keep us up to date with your child’s out of school achievements in order that we can give recognition to these achievements. The Achievements Nomination Form can be found under the Pupil Zone tab on the school website.

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Parent Council Meeting on Monday 7 December

The meeting started with some pupils of the Pupil Management Group giving presentations: Euan Trout - Charities Committee; Andrew Ritchie - Work of the Pupil Council; Craig Fleming - Community Issues This was followed by a presentation from Miss Rowan, Humanities Faculty, on the Citizenship activities within Gryffe. The last brief presentation was from myself on our Curriculum, and initial proposals for possible change to the structure of the Senior Phase Curriculum across all Renfrewshire Secondary Schools. In our existing Senior Phase structure:

S4 pupils follow 7 subject courses, 4 periods each


S6 structure is more flexible, with the ‘norm’ being pupils follow 4 subject courses, 6 periods each

I spoke of a different structure that is only at the very early stages of discussion:


S5 pupils follow 5 subject courses, 5 periods each, and then an opportunity of further options or wider experience options

S6 follow 3 or 4 subject courses, 5 periods each, and then an opportunity of further options or wider experience options

This will be discussed further at a Parent Council Meeting in either February or April. The next Parent Council Meeting, on Monday 11 January 2016, will have presentations on: Pupil Management Group Update; Language Baccalaureate, by Eryn Heywood S6; School Theatre Update, by ; I can do anything, P7 Transition Day, by Mrs

Brown and Mr Findlay; New format on Inspections/HGIOS4 by myself

Please feel free to come along to the meeting, 7:00 pm start, and get a feel of the work of the school

Fun at PTA Christmas Fayre

Sheila McHarg who is the Treasurer of the PTA said, ‘On behalf of the PTA I would like to thank the parents and pupils who supported our Annual Christmas Fayre on Thursday 26 November. There was a festive atmosphere with Christmas music from the school choir and lots of unique gifts to buy. Hopefully next year, you will join us again for some Christmas retail therapy and fun stalls.

Thanks go to the external vendors who provided a great variety of seasonal items. The fantastic sum of £1300 was raised and will be greatly appreciated by the Gryffe High school staff to continue to provide the best possible educational opportunities and resources for our children.

The members of the PTA worked hard to set up, man the stalls and clear away after the event and thanks must go to all of them.

Our next event is a Pamper evening for Mums and Daughters which will be held on Friday 4 March 2016. This is the weekend of Mothers Day and therefore a perfect opportunity to come along with friends and family and either pamper yourself or treat someone special. Details will be available on the website soon and I hope to see lots of ladies of all ages on this evening.’

Depute Head Mr Peter Holsgrove added his thanks to the PTA for their tremendous efforts for this event and their work throughout the year. He also thanked Steven Thompson for once again taking time out of his busy schedule as a striker for St. Mirren. Thanks also go to the many sponsors who supplied Raffle Prizes on the night.


Euan speaks at the Scottish Parliament St. Andrew’s Day Debate

On Monday 30th November, Euan Huey (of S4) took part in the English Speaking Union's 'St Andrew's Day Debates' at The Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. The event involved a variety of school pupils as well as university students who debated over a variety of topics- some more challenging that others. Euan -and Ms Donnelly- found the entire experience to be one of great value. Thanks to both for their hard work and sacrifice of the Monday of a long weekend in order to participate in this prestigious and worthwhile event! Article - Miss J Higgins, English Department

Eryn is selected for Euroscola

‘This year, I applied for the Euroscola programme and I recently found out that I was successful in getting a place for the 2016 trip to Strasbourg. I will have amazing opportunities such as witnessing EU parliamentary debates and be able to become an MEP for the day. I am extremely excited and cannot wait to take part in this wonderful experience which is an ideal opportunity to improve my linguistic skills. It will be immensely valuable in numerous other ways.’ Article - Eryn Heywood S6

2015 Youth Speech Competition On the 26th November the 2015 Youth Speech Competition was held in the Normandy hotel. Bethany Craig, Brodie Carmichael and Hannah Maclean, all S3 – although they did not win, they delivered a competent presentation on the topic of 'Should all school leavers be engaged in six months of national service?' Article - Miss J Higgins – English Department


Modern Studies go to the High Court On Saturday 28 November fourteen of our Modern Studies pupils took part in the Citizenship Foundation’s Bar Mock Trial Competition at the High Court in Glasgow. They took on the roles of witnesses and lawyers to compete against schools from around the country. Our pupils spent months preparing two court cases for the competition. By the time the competition came around they knew the cases inside out and were equipped with some challenging questions for the opposition. It was a great opportunity for our pupils to develop their public speaking, teamwork and critical thinking skills. It also helped to further their Modern studies knowledge of Crime and Law which forms part of our National 5 and Advanced Higher course (running next year). Finally our pupils learned more about law, for example they learned how to question a friendly witness and how this compares to a cross examination. The pupils put on a fantastic performance. What the Higher Modern Studies class had to say: Ross Laird – “It was a very interesting experience.” Caitlin McCulloch - “ It furthered my understanding of our crime and law topic from S4” Rebecca Thomson – “It helped me to develop my teamwork and public speaking skills. It was a thoroughly enjoyable day.” Alison Hedley – “This was a fantastic experience which helped me understand the law and how the courtroom works” Rebecca Gale “The trip to court was very enjoyable and our group had a great positive atmosphere (despite Miss Rowan’s fretting!)” Jamie Muir - “The experience felt so real. I look forward to hopefully taking part next year.” Article - Miss H Rowan, Humanities Faculty


S5 pupils Jamie and Zara take on EU Roles in London

On the 26th of November, S5 pupils from Gryffe High met up with students from 26 other schools across England and Scotland convened in the Grand Locarno suite of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London. The purpose of the event was to put forward proposals and debate on how to advance the European Union's Digital Single Market and its Circular Economy during a mock meeting of the Council of the European Union. Each school had to represent a different party – representing the EU Member States, the European Commission and the Council General Secretariat. Gryffe High represented the EU Member State of Bulgaria. Our team consisted of Zara Craig (5F) and Jamie Muir (5Wa) who researched policies, wrote proposals and debates on the Circular Economy and Digital Single Market respectively. In her welcoming remarks Baroness Neville-Rolfe, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and Minister for Intellectual Property, said: “Issues like the Digital Single Market are key to competitiveness and impact us all. I am certain that today’s debate offers a flavour of what kind of work the EU entails and how relevant it is for real life. Listening carefully, establishing trust, negotiating with a view to seek compromise and the use of languages are essential skills for jobs and beyond”. Also welcoming the students, Jacqueline Minor, Head of the European Commission Representation in the UK, remarked that "the topics discussed today may contribute to an informed decision by those students who will vote in the forthcoming EU referendum, whilst the debating and drafting skills acquired will serve all the students throughout their lives".

Ruth Sinclair-Jones, Director of the Erasmus+ UK National Agency at the British Council, added that “This provides young people with a taste of international politics, tackling real-life issues. The British Council hopes that this activity helps these young people becoming global citizens.” The event provided an insight into how EU Member States work with each other and the European Commission in order to debate and shape policy that has an impact throughout the European Union. Students presented ‘their’ country’s standpoint and made alliances with other Member States during working groups, before casting their final votes on the proposals in the closing plenary session. Reflecting on the day, Jamie Muir 5Wa said: “The day was an amazing experience and the debate really exceeded my initial expectations. It was a great opportunity to gain insight into how EU Member States engage and negotiate to reach decisions. I learned a lot about the positions of the various countries whilst developing and improving on many skills including communication. I feel very lucky to have been able to take part and hope that other pupils from Gryffe are given the same opportunity in the future”. Miss Iafrate said: “The Mock Council helped our students to get a better idea of how real life challenges are solved through EU decisions, and also contributed to developing the skills needed to excel in their exams and for the future” Article - Miss A Iafrate, Humanities Faculty


On Thursday 10 December, as part of Computer Science Education Week, S1 and S3 pupils took part in the Social Studies 'Hour Of Code' Challenge. ‘Hour of Code’ is an initiative giving an introduction to computer science, designed to demystify code and show that anybody can learn the basics. After completing the online coding tutorials using Minecraft, S1 pupils created virtual hill forts (also using Minecraft) to demonstrate their knowledge of the Gaels – linking to their current topic. S3 also upon completion of the tutorials created settlements with defences to protect against flooding – linking to their current topic in Geography. It was great to see how much pupils learned during the task, how motivated they clearly were and how well they collaborated. Pupils with prior knowledge of Minecraft and coding were also teaching their peers. ‘Well Done’ to Lewis Munro (S3), Jamie Love and Jamie Munro (both S1) who completed the tutorials in record time! Feedback from 1B: ‘I had not done coding before. Minecraft was really fun and helped us learn about how to code and program games’ ‘I enjoyed how you had to work out what order to put the blocks in to pass the level. I also enjoyed doing the challenge in a pair as my partner had a different way of doing it.’

All pupils who participated in ‘Hour of Code’ received certificates for their achievement. This was also recorded in pupils’ record achievements section in their homework diaries and can be added to the online achievement profile 'My Merit' (for information see pages 24-25 of the homework diary).

Article - Miss A Iafrate, Humanities Faculty


Swaziland Fairtrade Producer Visit

On the 26th of November Gryffe were invited by Rainbow Turtle to meet two Fairtrade producers from Swaziland. Eve Grant (S3), Catherine Abdullah (S1) and Jennifer Boyd (S1) were selected to represent the Citizenship committee at this event. The producers were from the company Eswatini Kitchen who produce a wide range of products including marmalades, sauces and chutneys. The company has been running for 21 years and provides well paid employment to many people, particularly women, in Swaziland. Our pupils sold many of their products on our Fairtrade curry night in October so this was a fantastic opportunity to meet some of the farmers they had been supporting. The girls were able to ask the producers lots of questions about education, health, trade and employment in Swaziland. They also got an opportunity to taste their products including a VERY HOT sauce. Eve has suggested a sauce tasting challenge for teachers next year!

The question and answer question was recorded by Rainbow Turtle and will soon be available to listen to on the schools website. Well done to Eve, Catherine and Jennifer who were fantastic ambassadors for Gryffe and thank you to Rainbow Turtle for providing us with this fantastic opportunity. Article - Miss H Rowan on behalf of the Citizenship Committee

Big Questions Conference

The RMPS ‘Big Questions’ Conference was a great success. The panel featured two guests from the Sikh community, a Christian minister, a Christian chemistry teacher, a professor of Medicine, an Embryologist and two members of the Humanist society. This generated great discussion based around a number of questions proposed by the Higher class on topics within their course. Many issues were explored, from the origins of life to organ donation. This was a valuable experience and the RMPS department would like to thank everyone involved.

Article - Miss C Maguire, Humanities Faculty


Eco News for January 2016 As always, the month of December has seen the committee continue their positive work around the school while still identifying new areas of improvement. We are continuing to monitor both the amount of energy used by the school and the proportion of this generated by our solar panels. As detailed in last month newsletter, Eco Committee members have been monitoring different areas of the school and taking note of the classrooms that are wasting the most energy- and our first ‘wall of shame’ will be a focus in next month’s newsletter. At the moment, the classrooms in the science corridor seem to be the rooms with most to improve while the English dept classrooms are the most energy efficient. There has also been real positive progress within our recycling provision with the school purchasing several new recycling bins. These are located in the school canteen and pupils should now be putting cans, plastic bottles, food waste and general waste in the appropriate bin- if all pupils follow these guidelines then Gryffe will be making a significant improvement in terms of helping reduce waste within Renfrewshire. Information on this and other Eco Committee activities can be found on the school website and on our school notice board located in the Pupil Support corridor. Article - Mr J Clark on behalf of the Eco Committee

Operation Christmas Child

Our annual collection of shoeboxes for Operation Christmas child took place throughout November. Pupils were encouraged to bring in Christmas gifts for those less fortunate around the world this year, particularly refugees. We asked pupils to include toothpaste, a toothbrush and soap in order to meet the children’s right to good health. We also asked for each box to contain a toy so that we could help to meet the children’s right to rest and play. Pupils were given house points for all boxes handed in. In total 129 boxes were collected. Sophie Cairns in S6 handed in an incredible 12 boxes. Well done Sophie! The house which donated the most shoeboxes was Wallace, with Fleming close behind. We also held shoe day on Friday 20 November. Staff and S6 pupils were encouraged to wear non-uniform shoes for the day for a donation of £1 to raise money for sending the shoeboxes abroad. It costs £3 to send each shoebox. Many pupils opted for slippers while others enjoyed wearing trainers for the day. Article - Miss H Rowan on behalf of the Citizenship Committee


Creating the Future - Maths Lectures - Ada Lovelace Event On the 16th of December, a number of pupils went to University West of Scotland (UWS) Paisley Campus for the Ada Lovelace Commemorative Event. This was a great experience and we learned a lot about computing, programming and technologies. The day started off with some lectures. We had a lady speaking about future technology: in 2035, Microsoft will apparently release a train that can get you from Glasgow to London in a matter of minutes, and even Personal Robots! We then had another woman speaking about her "Journey into Computing" and how jobs in technology lack women. The event was only for female S1-S5s, but there were a few boys there, despite the requirements. After that, we were herded into a room where refreshments and drinks were provided. We were sorted into different groups and after we had finished eating, shown to our different workshops. I loved my workshop. I learned how to program a little device called a Raspberry Pi, using a code called Python. I also learned how to program the computer to draw out images. The funny thing was, I thought it was going to be really hard, but coding is surprisingly easy and fun, too!! Then, we headed back to the lecture room to get the results of a competition we took part in. You had to design an invention that would help humanity, or the environment. We split into two groups to take part in this, and entered two designs. The person who was running it came by to collect the posters two days before the event. We both came joined-second! We were very happy, and won £100 of tokens to be shared amongst the creators of the poster! It was a fantastic day, and I would go again, if given the chance. It has really opened my eyes up to the world of computer-science, and I would definitely consider it as a job option later on. It really inspired me. Article - Esme James S1

‘Creating the Future’ is an event for S1-S6 female school students focusing on science, technology, engineering and maths. Inspired by the achievements of Ada Lovelace - who is regarded as the world’s first computer programmer - this fun and interactive event aims to showcase the exciting world of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) and how these areas play an exciting role in our future. The event will also aim to inspire girls to think about their future careers and study opportunities in STEM.


S3 Pupil Ruadhri attends

Mathematics Masterclasses ‘Over the course of six weekends across November and December, I attended maths classes at Glasgow University. In these classes, I learned about different fields of mathematics and how they can be applied in both everyday life situations, and also in different aspects of science. Each week, we had a guest speaker come to the university to give a lecture in their specialised fields. Each of the lecturers had a PhD in the branch of mathematics that they were speaking about. They were from universities across Scotland, not just Glasgow University. I really enjoyed the talks and was very interested in all of the lectures. My favourite lecture was call “Riddles, Logic and Secret Codes”. This talk was about how you can use logic and probability to solve difficult problems. It also involved looking at a paragraph or strip of jumbled up letters and numbers. We had to decipher the code by figuring out the cipher to solve it. This consisted mainly of trial and error. During this talk, we learned about variable change and how the probability of an event can change due to other related events. The lecturer was very interesting. She also did a degree at MIT! Overall I found the experience extremely interesting and enjoyable. I enjoyed learning about how maths can be used in science and engineering. I also learned about new types of problems and how to solve them. I would definitely recommend them to any S3 that has a particular interest in maths and science.’ Article - Ruadhri McDougall S3

Hunger Games Cinema Treat

On Friday 11 December, over 60 pupils from S2, S3 and S4 went to the Showcase Cinema to see the final, and last movie in the Hunger Games series - Mockingjay 2. This was an end of term reward for pupils who worked hard to complete their library reading programmes: Read for Gold and The Genre Challenge. Everyone really enjoyed the movie but the consensus at the end was that the movie is never as good as the book! Article - Mrs C Kerr, Librarian Photographs by Mrs K Anderson, Principal Teacher English


Young Chef 2015 Success

A special congratulations to S2 pupil Emily Svensson who came FIRST in the Regional heat of the Young Chef Competition held at St Columba's School, Kilmacolm on Thursday 3 December.

Congratulations also to S3 pupil Katie Reid who came a very close SECOND.

Competitors were required to plan, cost, cook and present two healthy dishes. An amazing achievement for both girls as quoted by Gryffe Valley Rotary Club "Well done to all who took part and cooked to such a high standard that it was a tough night for the judges to choose a winner."

All competitors received certificates and fabulous prizes kindly donated by Gibb Stuart's and Zyliss.

Emily now qualifies to go forward to compete in the District finals at South Lanarkshire College, East Kilbride with contestants from schools throughout the West of Scotland.

Well done to both girls. We wish you well Emily!! Article - Mrs R Thomson, HWB Faculty

Photographs used with kind permission of Gryffe Valley Rotary Club

S2 Volcanoes As part of their topic on ‘Extreme Earth’, S2 have been learning about volcanoes. In groups, pupils had to construct a 3D volcano to demonstrate their understanding of how and where a volcano is created and how they erupt. After models were built, it was time to create ‘eruptions’, with S6 pupils first demonstrating how not to create an eruption using mentos and coke. They then assisted groups with their own ‘explosions’, using a variety of ingredients including bicarbonate of soda, vinegar, food colouring and washing up liquid. After eruptions, pupils annotated their models to show what each part of the volcano structure was called and how it worked. S2 produced some of the best collections of model volcanoes that we ever seen. A special ‘Thank You’ to the S6 pupils - Sophie Cairns, Euan Shiels and Megan Hunter - who supported S2 Social Studies classes during the task. Article - Miss A Iafrate, Humanities Faculty


Scottish Book Week Extreme Reading Initiative

– ROAR Challenge

For Scottish Book Week, an Extreme Reading initiative was run across the school to promote literacy and also engage pupils in the use of technology. Pupils were required to show how much they enjoyed reading their books by uploading pictures showing themselves reading in unusual places. Book reports were filled in and submitted to Mr Anderson so that pupils could pass on their recommendations to their peers and gain house points for their efforts.

Both staff and pupils came up with creative and strange places to take their pictures showing that at Gryffe we really enjoy furthering our literacy skills!

Article - Mr C Anderson, English Department


Rights Respecting School News RRSA and Write for Rights. As part of Human Rights day on the 10th of December, all S3 took part in Amnesty International’s project, ‘Write for Rights’ as part of their current Morality topic in RMPS. Pupils explored various case studies of individuals from all over the world who have had their basic human rights violated. Pupils then selected a case of their choice and were given the opportunity to write to the individual with a message of understanding and support. Some pupils have opted to send the letters and these will be posted to Amnesty International before the 31st of December. The Rights Respecting Schools Award committee hope to organise more of these events in the future. Article - Miss C Maguire, Humanities Faculty

Amy Cobb - Former Pupil You may be interested to know that former Gryffe pupil, Amy Cobb, is currently dancing in the Scottish Ballet production of Cinderella www.scottishballet.co.uk/cinderella. Amy left Gryffe in the summer of 2013. Earlier that year she had successfully auditioned for one of only twelve places at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland's Modern Ballet degree course. She is now in her final year and was selected by Scottish Ballet's Artistic Director, Christopher Hampson to perform in the company's winter season production.

The Young Enterprise Team recently competed in the Semifinals at Soar Braehead. It was a very fulfilling experience for all of us there as we finally got the opportunity to meet our competition. The evening ended with an Awards Ceremony, with The Gryffe Team winning a trophy for being runner up in the ‘Best Stall’ category. This year the Enterprise Team are promoting recycling and using 'spare' parts to create and sell clocks. Overall, it was a great night for all of us involved. Kate McFarlane S6 on behalf of the team.


St Andrew’s Day Celebrations

Over the course of the last week in November, Gryffe High School celebrated St Andrew’s Day by offering various activities for pupils to get involved in. Throughout the week there was a ‘Famous Scottish Faces’ competition which required pupils to identify 20 famous Scots - from Gerard Butler to John Logie Baird! On Thursday, pupils took part in a ceilidh practising their Gay Gordons and Military Two-Step ahead of social dance in PE, the S1 Christmas Dance and the Senior Snow Ball Later in the month. This was an enjoyable afternoon for pupils and teachers alike! On Friday, there was a non-uniform day in which pupils were encouraged to wear something tartan to promote the Scottish theme. A variety of delicious Scottish foods were on offer at lunchtime such as stovies, mince and tatties and Tunnocks tea cakes. To round off the week, Friday Lunchtime also saw the return of Gryffe’s annual Highland Games. Thousands (100’s) of pupils travelled from all corners of the globe (Houston) to participate in the highly anticipated games. Pupils had the opportunity to try their hand at tossing the caber, hurling a haggis or running the kiltie dash among other events. The winners in each event received tokens for their house for achievements. An enjoyable event to top off a successful week of St Andrew’s celebrations. An impressive total of £375 was raised from the activities and events. All money raised went to Erskine Hospital. A huge thank you to Matthew Hill from 2B who brought along his bagpipes and provided us with music and entertainment throughout the week, and the S6 girls who set up a face-painting stall which also contributed to the funds raised! Article - Miss N Still, Mr W Insch, Miss M Liddell, Miss C Maguire, Miss A Kerr and Mr R Tangney

Social Dancing Gryffe Style! It has long been a Christmas tradition in Gryffe that Social Dancing is incorporated into PE lessons. This year the S1 pupils showed off their dancing skills at their S1 Dance held in the school. This was organised by the Guidance Team and S6 House Captains. Our photograph (taken by Mr Gerard O’ Hare who is Faculty Head of Health and Wellbeing) shows the S5 pupils enjoying a full Orcadian Strip the Willow. Article - Mr G O’ Hare Faculty Head Health and Wellbeing


Literacy and Numeracy S1 Christmas Party

A merry time was had by all the first year pupils at the first ever Literacy & Numeracy club Christmas party. Pupils got into the festive spirit by cranking up the Christmas tunes, munching on gingerbread men and taking on Miss Lawson (Literacy) & Mrs Condy (Numeracy) in their festive quizzes! Mr Johnson was introduced to the Big Friendly Giant ......everyday is a school day after all! A big thank you to all the S1 pupils who participated in the L&N club this year. Miss Lawson, Mrs Condy and Mr Deans are looking forward to welcoming the pupils back after the New Year and continuing in their quest to improve Literacy and Numeracy in 2016 and beyond! Article - Mr C Deans on behalf of the Literacy and Numeracy Club Photographs – Rowan Seel S2

Gladiator Games This year's Gladiator Games saw record spectators cheering on the teams at the side, and revamped competitions with the dreaded gauntlet run for the participants to tackle against the Gladiators. Exciting finishes all round as 2 out of 3 of the games went to a sudden death eliminator with the following winners on the days: S1 - 1F (Fleming), S2 - 2B (Burns), S3 - 3W (Wallace) Article - Mr G O’Hare FH Health and Wellbeing


Pupils Sing Carols for Charity at Braehead

On Monday 14 December, the school choir represented Gryffe by going to Braehead to sing some Christmas Carols. This was organised by and in aid of the Ronald McDonald House Charity, who provide free 'home away from home' accommodation for families with children in hospital. We sang a wide variety of different songs, from ‘Silent Night’ to ‘Fairytale of New York’. The audience seemed to enjoy the classics, such as ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’ and we even had some audience participation. Our performance was accompanied by various students on the piano, and featured some percussion instruments - and even some kazoos! At the end of the day, we got a free McDonald’s, which was much appreciated by all members of the choir.

It was a very enjoyable experience, and certainly got the choir in the Christmas mood! The choir would like to thank anyone who made a donation or came along to support us. We would also like to extend a special thanks to M&C Coaches (Johnstone) who kindly donated transport for this event. Article - Molly Speir and Charlotte Stuart S3

S1 enjoy their Christmas Dance S1 had a fantastic Christmas Dance in the beautifully decorated Christmas themed school canteen. This was organised by the S6 House Captains and the Guidance Team. They were entertained by a LIVE band composed of very talented S5 and S6 pupils and of course a special host Mr Deans who kept everything in order. The S1 pupils were able to show off their Social Dancing Skills that they have been busy learning in PE. There was a lot on offer, including House games and activities, tuck shop and even the opportunity to have Individual Photos taken.

A big thanks to all staff who came along to support the dance. Your help is much appreciated by the Guidance team, house captains and the S1's really enjoyed staff participation.

Thanks to Mr Deans and the PE staff who provided some excellent entertainment and got the party started!

The Guidance Team Photographs by Zoe Gargulak S6


S6 Snowball Event

‘On Wednesday 16 December the school canteen was transformed from its usual boring canteen self to a glamorous winter wonderland. The Snowball committee had put in an exceeding amount of effort, time and hard work into organising the Snowball for the sixth years, safe to say they did an insanely good job. This being the first year of having the event in the school, pupils, teachers and parents were all apprehensive of how the night would go. The night was incredible. Arriving into the canteen down the red carpet it was hard to even recognise the school; chocolate fountain, candy floss, slush puppy machine, DJ, mood lights, amazing décor, brilliant atmosphere. It was a night to remember, it being our last few months together as a year it was the perfect night to enjoy each others company as well as get on the dance floor- with some exceptional dancers. It was a great success thanks to the snowball committee, staff and wonderful class of 2016.’ Head Girl Katie Bone and some other S6 Pupils!

Mr Johnson added – ‘'The sixth year pupils had a fantastic night which included dance, karaoke, a chocolate fountain, slush machine and a mountain of food. The canteen looked incredible after its makeover – a venue fit for the best of events.

The pupils seemed to thoroughly enjoy the occasion and I am delighted to state that it was a most pleasurable evening. Thank you to the many staff, 23 in total, who came along to support the event and to all S6 pupils in attendance.... it was a joy to watch them enjoying themselves.'


The Christmas Community Show

On the 10th of December, we invited pupils from St. Fillan’s Primary School into the school for a very special musical performance, showcasing the talents of our pupils in the Gryffe Theatre Group and school Choir. The show opened with a sparkling performance from the Gryffe Theatre Group, an extracurricular club that began in August. They performed a short excerpt from the hit musical ‘Wicked’ and sang a number of musical favourites such as “What is this feeling?” and “Revolting Children”.

This performance was then followed by the amazing school Choir who sang exciting renditions of “I can’t help falling in love” and “On My Way”. The performance was concluded by a festive sing-a-long during which we handed out instruments and song sheets to the audience to encourage them to sing classics such as “Merry Christmas Everyone” and “Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer”. The guests then enjoyed a cup of tea with the cast of the show.

We would like to thank everyone who helped make the show a success. Our pupils worked very hard and gave up their free time to rehearse - we are very proud of them. Article - Miss Z McFadyen, Learning Development and Employability Graduate Intern

We would also like to thank St. Fillan’s Primary, as well as family and friends of the performers, for coming along and supporting our pupils.

Christmas Concert Cracker


Christmas Concert Cracker Over 100 talented pupils provided a great evening of entertainment at the Christmas Concert in the school theatre. The programme provided a real range of music and drama. The Jazz Band started the first half, followed by the String Group and Choir. The music was note perfect and most enjoyable and relaxing and clearly had involved many, many hours of practice. The beat changed with the S5/6 Rock Ensemble who sounded like they were ready to perform in the Hydro – very talented! The S1 Drama Group performed ‘The Christmas Dinner’. This was highly entertaining, providing a ‘true to life’ drama of the trauma of cooking a Christmas Dinner to suit all members of the family including ‘Granny’! ‘Now in my day…….’ The audience enjoyed a chat with refreshments and festive mince pies. The second half included another fabulous performance by the choir. ‘The Night Before Christmas’ was then very fluently and competently read in three languages. The evening finished with the Concert Band playing very accomplished pieces including a tremendous performance of ‘Lord of the Rings’. Mr Laird (Conductor and Comedian!) led the band and fully participating audience in the traditional rendition of ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’. Mr Johnson thanked the numerous members of staff involved in bringing the concert together and spoke of his pride in the high standard of performance of the pupils. His particular thanks went to Miss Tate who is Acting Faculty Head of Music and Modern Languages and brought the concert together. Very well done to everyone involved! Reviewed (and thoroughly enjoyed by) Mrs P. McGeough – Science Faculty


Upcoming priorities/events JANUARY Thurs 7 School Re-opens Start of S5 Pastoral Interviews

Mon 11 Start of Holocaust Assemblies;

Parent Council Meeting, 7:00 pm start Wed 13 Newsletter uploaded on to website Thurs 14 Young Musician Competition,

7:00 pm start Mon 18 Start of Higher/Adv Higher Prelims Wed 20 P7 v S1 Challenge, 3:00 pm Mon 25 S4 Progression Week Tue 26 S4 Reports issued to pupils

Parents’ Internet Safety Information Evening, 7:00 pm start

Wed 27 End of Higher/Adv Higher Prelims S1 & S3 Reports issued to pupils Thurs 28 S4 Parents’ Meeting, 4:30 pm start FEBRUARY Mon 1 S4 into S5, S5 into S6 Options Evening’ 7:00 pm start Wed 3 Newsletter uploaded on to website Thurs 4 S4 Options Interview Day Mon 8 Money Week Start of SCIAF/Fairtrade/RRSA Assemblies Thurs 11 S4 Option Forms returned Fri 12 IN-SERVICE DAY Mon 15 HOLIDAY Tues 16 HOLIDAY Wed 17 School Re-opens, prompt 8:50 am start House Week S5 Progression Week Fri 19 Wear House Colours Day

Mr Colin Johnson Head Teacher

Scottish Space School 2016 Are you in S5?– then it could be you – read on! Gryffe High has had FOUR pupils who have achieved a place at Space School in NASA HOUSTON TEXAS so it is possible! Mark Price enjoyed a place at Space School at University of Strathclyde in June of this year.………SO check out http://www.scottishspaceschool.org.uk/Pages/Home.aspx and apply! Closing Date for applications is 31st January 2016 See Mrs McGeough (Space School Link Teacher) as soon as possible!

S6 pupils support ‘Wear your Christmas Jumper Day

http://www.scottishspaceschool.org.uk/Pages/Home.aspx

http://www.scottishspaceschool.org.uk/Pages/Home.aspx

gryffe high schoolthe gryffe high school staff to continue to provide the best possible educational...

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