house points reaking news……… · 2019. 11. 12. · be achieved by 2030. they aim to make the...

Caring • Learning • Achieving www.gryffehigh.com

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: 2/11/16 Dear Parents/Carers/Relatives/Pupils I hope you enjoy this month’s newsletter.

Website

House Points Breaking News……… RED ALERT - Mackintosh AND Fleming move ahead of Wallace in the latest House Points totals. It is unprecedented that Wallace house is not in the top spot – could Burns still turn it all around?

Pupils..... remember to keep handing in the tokens.

Parents

... are you doing your bit?

... have you nominated your child?

... do you know of our achievements system? If not then please look under the ‘PUPIL ZONE’ tab on the school website ... have you tried our Responsibility of All Parent Challenge (page 2) ... do you know your child can receive a token for your efforts?

Index Page

1 House Points Breaking News

2 Parent Council; Responsibility of All;

Parents in Partnership

3 Broad General Education, S1 – S3, Vertical Learning Day

4,5 Gryffe High School PTA Quiz/Curry Night

6 World’s Largest Lesson; Eco Schools News 7 ADHD Awareness Month 8,9 Young Women Into STEM Event 10 Victim Support Scotland visit AH Modern

Studies; S5/S6 'Behind the News' Workshops; Emma Kelly fundraiser for MND

11 Elle at the Emmys; YPI Finals Day 12 Modern Languages Trip to the BBC-

Authors Live! 13 Youth Speaks Competition Success; Young

Enterprise News 14 Film Club News; Book to Movie; Film

Review of The Month 15 Reader and Writer of the month 16 Modern Languages Pupil of the Month;

European Day of Languages; 17 Learning in the ‘Great Outdoors’; Big Pink

Coffee morning 18 Gryffe High Cubed; Gryffe S1-S3 Girls

Football; Rowing News 19 Laird Trophy Inter-Schools Dinghy Race;

World Challenge 2017; Duke of Edinburgh Young Leaders attended the Scottish Parliament

20 PTA save the date; Gryffe High School Choir perform in Glasgow City Halls

Upcoming priorities/events

Follow us on Twitter @GryffeHighSch @Gryffe_Sports

mailto:[email protected]


Parent Council The Parent Council met on Monday 3 October and were given a presentation from the Pupil Management Group on a variety of current initiatives, followed by an update on the Duke of Edinburgh Award from Mr Taylor. Mr Johnson then gave presentations on: the detail emphasised at the beginning of term to all staff; The Vertical Learning morning on Tuesday 4 October; The Scottish Attainment Fund; Broad General Education Learning Diaries; School website/twitter/facebook; and finally detail on the October Newsletter to be published on Wednesday 5 October. The next Parent Council Meeting is on Monday 7 November, 7:00 pm start. Please feel welcome to come along and help us work collaboratively to enhance the experiences within Gryffe High School and the local community.

The ROAR focus for last week was LITERACY. Pupil Challenge • Write down three different types of writing you have been asked to complete in the last month – e.g. report in Science, leaflet in HFT, • Explain what you had to do for each task and in what subject you completed this. Pupils should take their ROAR Challenge to one of the RoA Team to receive their token.

Parent Challenge Tell us about a piece of writing you have to do for your job or personal life e.g. an invoice, a letter of complaint, a report on a colleague, details of a new product… Parents can send their ROAR Challenge in to school with their child or submit by email to [email protected] for the attention of Mrs Condy including your child’s name. Your child will receive a token for your efforts.

Come on parents help us show the importance of Literacy!

Parents in Partnership 2016

Over the course of the last seven weeks, ten S1 parents have gone 'back to school' for our Parents in Partnership Programme. The initiative was set up to provide parents with an enhanced understanding of the different subject areas which our pupils experience on a daily basis. Parents agreed that the programme was a resounding success due to the opportunity to meet the teachers on a more regular basis and find out about the different support which the school provides. We look forward to offering this programme once again in the future! On the final week, parents were taken out for a lunch at the River Inn as a thank you for their positive support and engagement within the programme. Once again we would like to thank everyone involved with the programme. Article - Mr C Anderson Project Leader of Employability and Parental Engagement


On Tuesday 4 October we held our second successful Vertical Learning Day with S1-S3 pupils. Vertical Learning allows pupils to learn together across a variety of ages and stages. All pupils participated in 4 lessons addressing whole school, national and global issues. Lessons included: Rights Respecting Schools – Refugee Crisis; HGIOS 4 – What makes an excellent school?; Digital Literacy – Stop, Go Animation; Responsibility of All – Enterprise Task: The

Apprentice. At this event we were joined by a number of parents and members of Renfrewshire Council Executive. Our feedback has been very positive and we believe that it was a very valuable, worthwhile and enjoyable learning experience for all involved. One parental return stated – “I thoroughly enjoyed my visit. I had forgotten how busy and noisy a school was, and how regimented it was...lesson timers, bells. It was tiring. Thank you so much.” Another said – “Enjoyed EVERY lesson. Enjoyed meeting teachers and appreciated being able to ask questions. What a lovely, fantastic school.” Another said – “I now appreciate how much is covered in an academic day, and this was only a morning!!! Relationships between staff and pupils was a delight to see.”

Broad General Education, S1 – S3, Vertical Learning Day

Broad General Education, S1 – S3, Vertical Learning Day


Gryffe High School PTA Quiz/Curry Night

On Friday 7 October the PTA and Pupil Management Committee joined forces to host a Quiz/Curry night at the River Inn. The evening was a great success with a sell out crowd of 195 people attending. The evening began with a delicious sit down curry buffet put on by the River Inn. Once everyone was fed and watered it was onto the quiz, which had been set by S6 Gryffe High School Pupils. And what a fantastic quiz! The pupils all took turns presenting the various sections of the quiz, with some of the questions being decidedly tricky!! Plus there was all the marking of score sheets in between rounds and collating of team scores – well done to all the pupils who did a fantastic job and worked well under pressure on the night! The winning team all received Amazon vouchers – a big well done to them. As for the rest of the evening – there were various games running throughout with lots of happy winners. I was pleased to see ‘Roll a £1 coin at the prize’ attracting lots of participants, especially when there was a bottle of whiskey up for grabs! Our chocolate themed tombola was also a massive hit and sold out before folk were even in and properly seated! For the raffle, we had lots of winners. They are as follows:-

Prize Donated by Winner

Dental Whitening Procedure worth £320 Brite Dentist in Houston Karen Finnie

Round of golf for 4 Old Course Ranfurly BoW Bob Grant

£30 voucher River Inn Aileen Rankin

Bare Minerals makeup Divah Beauty Salon, Houston Jackie McFadzean

Afternoon tea for Two Village Tea Rooms in Houston Mrs Milnes

Voucher Bernies in Bridge of Weir Mrs Docherty

Many congratulations to all our raffle winners and thank you to the local businesses that donated all our lovely prizes. Lastly, the 200 square theatre game generated an £80 cash prize for Kirsty Johnston, who donated half of this prize straight back to the PTA – Thank You very much to Kirsty for this generous gesture. And thank you to everyone who came along to the Quiz/Curry night and supported the school and the PTA. Thus far, our fundraising activities have managed to raise just over £29,000 for the improvement of the school theatre, with £20,000 being donated by Renfrewshire Council. As always, your generosity and support is much appreciated.


Gryffe High School PTA Quiz/Curry Night Many thanks to Mr Jason Andrews of the River Inn for providing the venue for our fund raising PTA event.


World’s Largest Lesson

Late September and the start of October saw all pupils in S1-4 take part in the World’s Largest Lesson. This is focussed on the UN Global Goals to be achieved by 2030. They aim to make the world a better place:

• End extreme poverty • Fight inequality and injustice • Fix climate change

Pupils participated in this series of lessons, firstly identifying problems which worry them about our world’s future: climate change, disease, war, inequality, discrimination, disasters, etc. and then thought about how all children across the globe do not get access to all of the Rights they are entitled to, as outlined in the UNCRC (The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child).

At Gryffe High we have taken the opportunity to look at these problems, and created a display to inform others of the issues, and where possible, make small changes to our lives that could have a big impact if everyone did the same. For example, walking to school one day a week or backing gender equality by signing up for Emma Watson’s He for She campaign (www.heforshe.org).

We believe that if we know what the problems are, talk about them, and make small changes then we can ‘become the generation that changed the world’. Article - Mrs J Davey RMPS on behalf of the Rights Respecting School Committee

Eco Schools News The Eco Committee have continued their strong start to this session with a productive October. The school’s paper recycling programme has gone from strength to strength with the S6 team led by Kimberley Cameron and Chloe Divers (both 6F) carrying out weekly collection duties. This has made a noticeable difference around the school and is much appreciated by staff.

In addition, our Eco notice board has undergone something of a revamp thanks to the hard work and organisation of Molly O’Brien (3F). Thanks to her dedication, this area is more of an ‘Eco Wall’ than merely a board! Information about the committee’s activities and our green flag certificate are now on proud display. This month has also seen the committee plan and create an energy monitoring rota which will involve pupils checking various areas of the school – the worst offending rooms will be detailed in our ‘wall of shame’ and the best examples of good practice will be awarded the prestigious ‘Captain Planet’ award - watch this space! Our webpage http://www.gryffehigh.com/eco-committee.html has also undergone a makeover thanks to Mr Deans and our Twitter page is also being continually updated. Follow us on @GryffeEco We are always looking for input from parents/carers so if you feel you can make a contribution please get in touch! Article - Mr J Clark on behalf of the Eco Schools Committee

http://www.heforshe.org/

http://www.gryffehigh.com/eco-committee.html

http://www.gryffehigh.com/eco-committee.html


A Shout Out from Support for Learning(SfL) ADHD Awareness Month

Support for Learning at Gryffe has had a busy past month with a focus on ADHD Awareness month. The team has had great fun organising various stalls and activities to raise recognition of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. There were year group assemblies from S1-S6 led by SFL Ambassadors to educate pupils about ADHD, who it affects and how it influences their behaviour. Many staff attended a CPD Session with guest speaker Geraldine Mynors of ADHD Parent Support West Glasgow. In the staffroom and library, there have been stalls erected that display information about ADHD which has helped people of all ages to engage in the awareness of mental health and educate themselves. Dotted around the school are ‘famous faces’ posters of well-known celebrities that have experienced the condition to show its extent and representation in other industries. These include chef Jamie Oliver, ‘Black Eyed Peas’ singer Will.i.am and ’22 Jump Street’ actor Channing Tatum. SfL had a stall dedicated to further understanding of mental health and learning difficulties at the recent Parents Evenings. It demonstrated the materials available to support pupils including pencil grips, coloured jotters, stylized easy grip pens and fidget balls. The stall also provided additional information regarding ADHD, how it is identified, treated and supported for in school. The resources on show came from the tool kits every department possesses to help every child learn effectively. All money raised by the SFL Department goes towards the upkeep of these tool kits to assist pupils in the school. There was also a lunchtime stall in the canteen where pupils can pay to guess the percentage of people affected by ADHD in Scotland for the chance to win a candy and chocolate prize. This has been very popular. In junior PSE classes, the pupils have been involved in activities that emphasise the symptoms of the disorder. This is achieved by placing them in challenging scenarios where the issues of those who experience ADHD become more pronounced. This has helped pupils to identify with and understand the life of someone with ADHD and has been very successful in increasing their knowledge of mental health.

Now watch out for Dyslexia Awareness in November! Article - Rebecca Gale S6, SfL Ambassador on behalf of everyone at SfL


Young Women Into STEM Event

A group of S3-S6 girls interested in pursuing a career within STEM attended an informative full day event at West College Scotland this month. The event was designed to promote the different career pathways open to female pupils within Renfrewshire and presented them with a range of workshops. The girls enjoyed the many activities on offer from joinery, bricklaying and decorating to inputs on working within conservation and engineering. Here is a selection of pictures of our pupils learning their new trade skills! Article - Mr C Anderson, Project Leader of Employability and Parental Engagement

STEM Event - S1 Pupils visit Thermo Fisher S1 pupils spent an enjoyable afternoon at Thermo Fisher labs in Inchinnan, extracting DNA from Strawberries and learning how cells grow. Here is what the pupils had to say about their visit – ‘The trip was very good. I enjoyed looking at the cells in the microscope. It was very interesting and I would recommend visiting again.’ - Sasha Kaloheris 1W ‘We had to extract DNA by squashing strawberries into a liquid and adding water and shampoo. I really enjoyed this trip and would like to go again next year.’ Miss D Turnock – Biology Department

STEM Event – Senior Biologists visit Vascutek

Five senior pupils were invited to experience the wonders of Vascutek industries in Inchinnan. Vascutek are world leaders in designing and supplying grafts to create a bypass for blood flow to treat aneurysms. The pupils visited the sewing room where they had the chance to try their hands at the intricate construction of the grafts. They were also given the opportunity to deliver a graft into a blood vessel of a "casualty" using the state of the art Anaconda device. Lastly, the pupils were allowed access to the custom graft facilities where engineers work alongside doctors to produce custom made devices to suit patients with specific physiology. It was a very inspiring trip with the pupils amazed that this life saving technology was being produced in Renfrewshire. Mrs L Taylor – Faculty Head Science

Science Technology Engineering Mathematics


Science Technology Engineering Mathematics


Victim Support Scotland visit AH Modern Studies

On Tuesday 11 October Advanced Higher Modern Studies enjoyed a visit from Mike Salkow from Victim Support Scotland. The Advanced Higher course focuses on crime and the law and Mike came to talk about the impact of crime on victims, witnesses and society as a whole. His lesson was action packed featuring many activities, for example, pupils were asked to draw images of victims, witnesses and offenders to uncover misconceptions about these groups. One on the most memorable parts of the lesson was a video of victims talking about their experiences. It was upsetting to see the long term impact crime can have on a whole community. Mike finished by talking about the support offered to victims and witnesses by VSS. This included a court familiarisation programme. We would like to thank Mike for giving up his time to share his expertise and help the class with both future essays and their dissertations. Article - Miss H Rowan, Modern Studies Department

S5/S6 'Behind tews' Workshops

Charity Fund raising Recently, my Auntie Sharon was diagnosed with MND. Sharon is one of the bravest, most amazing people on this planet and certainly does not deserve to be affected by this disease. For those that may not be aware, Motor Neurone Disease is a life shortening illness where the neurones of muscles begin to stop working causing muscles to stop working and start to waste – ultimately leading to full body paralysis and finally, the lungs shutting down. All funds raised for MND Scotland go to giving those with MND and their effected family and friends, a steady support throughout the illness and try to make life a little more bearable. Unfortunately, there is no cure or effective treatment for Motor Neurone Disease, but hopefully with enough funds and support, eventually one will come, which is why I decided to do a sponsored half marathon at the Great Scottish Run 2016. I’d like to thank the school for their support and would like to mention how privileged I feel to have a school that still support me, even though my time at Gryffe High School has ended. Knowing there is so much support is such a comfort for me and my auntie and also, knowing that people are willing to help raise funds for such a significant cause gives some hope for the future.

S5/S6 'Behind the News' Workshops A group of S5/S6 pupils are undertaking a 6 week programme of workshops aiming to provide an insight into careers relating to journalism and the media. The workshops are led by the journalist Euan MacLeod and take place each Wednesday after school. So far the team have looked into a range of journalistic styles and started to draft their own piece or article. Next week - Interview techniques! Article - Mr C Anderson Project Leader of Employability and Parental Engagement


Elle at the Emmys Is this another first for Gryffe? Former pupil, Elle Wilson thoroughly enjoyed her night at the star studded Emmy Awards in Los Angeles. Elle had another first for Gryffe when she was at school, as the first Space School Ambassador who made it all the way to Texas for a trip of a lifetime. As reported in the September edition of the newsletter, Elle is making a real name for herself as a Costume Designer and she received a nomination for her work as part of the team in Outlander (Episode ‘Not in Scotland Anymore’). This was in the category ‘Outstanding Costumes for a Period/Fantasy Series, Limited Series Or Movie – 2016’. Game of Thrones won but that did not stop Elle taking in the magic of the evening. We thought that you might like to see her at the Award Ceremony – well done again on such a fantastic achievement.

YPI Finals Day This is the third year that Gryffe High School pupils have participated in The Youth and Philanthropy Initiative programme where they are provided with the necessary skills and awareness of local charities in the Renfrewshire area. The winning group this session represented ‘Finding Your Feet’ as they believed it was most worthy of the £3000 grant from the Wood Foundation in Scotland, and presented their case to a panel of judges including Head Boy and previous YPI winner, Jamie Muir, Head Girl Jodie Costello and Head of the Charities Committee, Caitlin McCulloch. The winning group included Scott Blair, Sam Dickie, Euan Robertson, Elin Paton and Lauren Lindsay, all from Wallace House.

CONGRATULATIONS! Article - Mrs G Brand, PT Pupil Support Burns House Photographs – Rowan Seel S3


Modern Languages Trip to the BBC- Authors Live!

Librarian Mrs Kerr highlighted an excellent opportunity for our Modern Languages pupils and applied for places for us to attend a Live show at BBC Studios at Pacific Quay. Pupils from the Higher French and Higher Modern Studies classes were selected to be part of the audience during a recording of the BBC’s Authors Live session, featuring Belgian writer Bessora, who has won the Grand prix littéraire d’Afrique noire , and Sarah Ardezzone, who translated the novel from French into English. This session was of particular interest to our pupils in Modern Languages as they were able to see firsthand the work of a translator and the many steps that are taken to communicate the intent of the author. Sarah highlighted the fact that translation must reflect the personal voice of the character and convey emotion, which is something that only a human being can do. She emphasised the importance of cultural knowledge in translation and the ability to put yourself in the shoes of the writer and characters to be able to re-tell their story authentically. We all enjoyed the session and found Sarah’s translation tips very useful, especially the tip about avoiding the use of translation apps and websites. Have a look at the video and you will spot S3 pupil Jasmine Galvin asking a question around 38 minutes. http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/video/authors-live/bessora-and-sarah-ardizzone Article - Miss J Naismith, Acting Faculty Head (0.4) Music and Modern Languages and Mrs C Kerr, Librarian Photographs courtesy of the BBC

http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/video/authors-live/bessora-and-sarah-ardizzone


Youth Speaks Competition Success Congratulations to S3 pupils Jack Young, Mia Trollan, Marc Sermanni, Alex Lee, Laura Workman and Drew Surgenor who have qualified for The Association of Speakers Club's Grand Final of the 2016 Youth Speaks Competition, which will take place in the Normandy Hotel on Wednesday 23 November. In the Renfrewshire heat hosted by Gryffe, Jack, Mia and Marc won first place for their outstanding presentation on whether there should there be positive discrimination to try and redress the gender imbalance in government. Following the winning team's success, Alex, Laura and Drew secured second place for their highly engaging speech on introducing a new subject into the school curriculum. As always, the standard was high and of the nine teams from a range of schools in Renfrewshire that competed, both Gryffe teams were very deserving of their success. Article - Miss J Higgins, English Department

Young Enterprise News We are Gryffe High’s ‘Young Enterprise’ team, CLA Scents. We would like to make you aware of our activities this year which focus around our product - candles. Plain, scented, with holders, without – we have got it all covered.

We have teamed up with Braehead Clan whose Commercial Director, Andy McLaughlin has been providing us with excellent advice and support. In particular, Andy has helped us promote our company through the Clan website and we have been given a great opportunity to target its fans with our great candles by having a stall at the Clan game on 3 December. We also hope to have a presence at parents’ evenings and a stall at the Gryffe High School Christmas Fair! In the near future, we will be sending out letters and emails about our company and taking any orders for candles. Please make sure to look out for future communications about our company. In the meantime, if you have any enquiries about our company, feel free to contact us on

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]


Film Club News

The Gryffe Film Club in association with IntoFilm has now started for the 2016/17 term and membership is only growing! The club, comprised of S1-S3, meet every lunchtime on a Thursday with Mr Anderson in English to watch a selection of films covering a range of different genres. Pupils are encouraged to develop an interest in film as well as engage in conversation around the different themes which the movies explore. Pupils have voted for a range of films so far from the animation ‘Shrek’ to the inspiring ‘Les Miserables’. All pupils are invited to bring their lunch, meet new friends and enjoy a free cinematic experience all from the comfort of the classroom.

Book to Movie

As a reward for completing their genre based reading challenge in S2, new S3 pupils were treated to a trip to the cinema. The rule is that the movie we choose has to have been a book first and this time it was 'Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children'. This was a great movie, but we still think the book is always better!

Article - Mrs C Kerr, School Librarian

Film Review of The Month

‘Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children’ The movie we have selected to review is ‘Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children’. We picked this movie because we felt it had tension and drama which intrigued our imagination. The plot of the movie revolves around a boy named Jake who is attempting to solve a mystery which has baffled generations. His Grandfather once lived in a home called Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children in WW2. After he tells Jake stories regarding his time there, Jake and his father set out on a journey to Wales. Jake speaks out and is lead to the house by a group of children. The only difference is the children have been there forever. Afterwards, Jake and the children are on a mission to get out the loop which will only end when they set an end to the journey. We recommend this film for people aged over 12 years old as there is some mature content within it. Overall it was an enjoyable viewing experience. By S3 Pupils


The English Department has been working with the pupils across the BGE to promote personal reading through a range of reading programmes in 2016/17. The programmes have been tailored by our Librarian Mrs Kerr to engage and inspire our pupils to immerse themselves in a range of literature genres. Each month the English Department will nominate a Star Reader of The Month. This prestigious award is not just for pupils who can read the most difficult texts but those who persist with their reading when the going gets a little bit tough! The Writer of the Month award is given for the pupil who has shown their improving literacy skills within a piece of written work. This month’s winners were nominated from Mr Anderson and Miss Higgin’s classes:

S1 Winners

Reader of the Month Aidan McGinley Subomi Hodge

Writer of the Month Anna Green Olivia Telfer

S2 Winners

Reader of the Month Alex Christie David Brennan

Writer of the Month Sophie Osman Rachel Hopkins

S3 Winners

Reader of the Month Rowan Seel Lewis Da Silva

Writer of the Month Matthew Kennedy Jack Young


European Day of Languages

All of S1 recently attended an assembly to celebrate European Day of Languages. Pupils developed a greater understanding of the importance of languages as well as learning about the different skills that are developed through their learning of French and Spanish, such as literacy and communication.

Pupils took part in a European themed quiz with Mrs Bell and Miss Goldie, and watched an entertaining video that highlighted the unreliability of translation web sites. All of first year then demonstrated their knowledge of Spanish pronunciation when they practised their phonics with Mrs Bryan. Throughout the day, teachers had the opportunity to greet their class in another language and share their language skills with pupils. The enthusiastic response from pupils really showed their positive, resilient mindsets and laid the foundations for them to become responsible global citizens and successful language ambassadors. Article - Miss J Naismith, Acting Faculty Head (0.4) Music and Modern Languages

Modern Languages Pupil of the Month

The Modern Languages Department is celebrating after the successful launch of the ‘Pupil of the Month’ initiative. Pupils have been nominated by their Modern Language Teacher for demonstrating skills or qualities which are deemed to be ‘Excellent’ . This month’s focus has been ‘Outstanding Effort’ and the pupils listed have all been recognised by their teachers. Well done! These pupils received a praise card to take home, a gift pack and they were also put in a draw for the main prize… We call our winners Language Ambassadors as they help us to communicate the importance and benefits of learning languages. S1 – Jamie Ralston, Sophie Spence, Euan Mullan, Harris Ferguson and Sasha Kaloheris. S2 – Aaron Plater, Gregor Hewitt, Calum Milliken, Simran Kaur and Iain Milne. S3 – Duncan Armour, Jilly Harvie, Katie Wilson, Aaron Mills , Cameron Hunter, Elyse Hart and Alex Lee. S4 – Charlotte Stuart, Chris Feeney and Rachel Brodie. S5/6 – Amy Costello, Sarah Martin and Ross Laird. Article - Mrs A Bell, Modern Languages Department


Higher Geography River Fieldwork –

Learning in the ‘Great Outdoors’

S5/6 Geography classes had some great weather for their recent visit to Green Water; a tributary of the Gryffe river in Kilbarchan. The visit was an opportunity to put the theory learned in class to the test in a ‘real world’ setting, identifying changes along the river's course. Pupils learned how to sample appropriately and collect accurate data. They then worked collaboratively to take measurements at various stages along the river including: width, depth, velocity, gradient, bed load shape and size. They will now begin independent work to process, analyse and interpret the results collected. Article - Miss A Iafrate, Geography Department

Our librarian, Mrs Christine Kerr, organised a Big Pink Coffee morning for staff and managed to raise an amazing sum of over £400. Staff were encouraged to basically bake anything PINK and the response was so good that it was actually far too much for the staff to have with their morning coffee! That meant that there was some lovely baking for Senior pupils to organise a bakesale for pupils at lunchtime. The Science department organised a raffle and as there had been a very generous donation of a full size cake, the enterprising science staff (complete with a hammer) decided that an auction was in order! A great morning coffee and a lot of money raised for a very good cause. The Big Pink Coffee Morning proceeds go to Breast Cancer Care which is a UK wide charity providing care, information and support to people affected by breast cancer.


Gryffe High Cubed The school theatre was the venue on Friday 7 October, when the house captains hosted a house event at lunchtime. A team from each house took on the school’s own version of ‘The Cube’. Hosted by our own Phillip Schofield - Mr Deans, challengers took on the tasks modelled by members of the Senior Management Team, in an attempt to win tokens for their house. Challenges included the ‘After Eight Challenge’ and a ‘Netball Shootout’.

After a lunch full of laughs and competition, Fleming house emerged victorious followed by Wallace and Burns, with Mackintosh trailing behind at the rear. The winning team won 5 tokens each for Fleming house. Many thanks to everyone who came to the event, all challengers, the Senior Management Team and Mr Deans for hosting! Make sure to look out for other House events coming up! Article - The House Captains

Gryffe S1-S3 Girls Football Recently, the Gryffe Girls S1-S3 Girls Football Team participated in their first round of fixtures at Johnstone High School. The team which now has a large number of new S1 pupils, gave a solid account of themselves against significantly more experienced opposition, falling narrowly short against Johnstone and securing a credible draw against Linwood. This was impressive as the girls had only trained on one occasion prior to this round of fixtures and as such will be much more confident going into the next set this month. Training takes place after school every Monday, so if you want to get involved, come along!

Rowing News New to the extracurricular programme this session is the entry of Gryffe High School into the Scottish Schools Indoor Rowing League. Participants are required to row for a set time dependent on their age group and submit their best score on a monthly basis. Round 1 saw the Gryffe rowers placed 14th overall out of 25 schools from across the country. Individually, Molly Barry (S3) set the highest score for her age group, 1052m! This was an outstanding result! In Round 2, Gryffe moved up to overall 12th in Scotland. Molly has won the national round for S3 girls again and Euan Macdonald came 2nd in S2 boys. 20 representatives will compete at the forthcoming Scottish Schools Indoor Championships. The indoor league is open to everyone, whether you have experience of rowing or not. We are looking to extend the club to Castle Semple during the summer term, when pupils will be given the opportunity to try out their skills on the water! Anyone who is interested should see Miss Holmes in PE. Article - Miss H Holmes Project Leader Health and Wellbeing


S1 pupils take part in the Laird Trophy

Inter-Schools Dinghy Race On Saturday 8 October, four S1 pupils, namely Rachel Jamieson, Cate Meiklejohn, Calum Jamieson and Roc Hart took part in the the Laird Trophy at the CCC (Clyde Cruising Club) dinghy section, Bardowie Loch, Glasgow on behalf of Gryffe High School. This is an inter schools competition for High school pupils and is raced in the Club's fleet of RS Feva dinghies.

24 teams took part from schools across the Country including Tarbert and numerous Glasgow schools. This year the Trophy was won by sixth year pupils from Hermitage Academy in Helensburgh. The two teams from Gryffe were amongst the youngest sailors competing and although they did not bring home a trophy they gained valuable experience and look forward to taking part again next year.

A short update this month, at the nine month countdown! Fundraising efforts are continuing and some enterprising members of the World Challenge Mongolia 2017 Team gave up their day off school to make In-Service day staff a lovely lunch and raise funds for their trip. They organised a great menu including freshly made sandwiches and lots of delicious home baking, all well planned in advance. Look out next month for a full report on our Training Expedition to Aviemore which takes place mid November. Article - Mr A Findlay World Challenge Mongolia Team Leader

Duke of Edinburgh Young Leaders

Lauren Newlands, Tegan Arnott and Erin Campbell attended the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh on Wednesday 5 October as part of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Diamond Anniversary celebrations. All three Young Leaders attended a formal reception where they received their DofE Young Leader Award from The Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament, Mr Ken Macintosh. A Duke of Edinburgh update will be given in the next Newsletter on Wednesday 7 December.


Upcoming priorities/events NOVEMBER Tue 1 Learning & Caring Month

Dyslexia Awareness Month Wed 2 Newsletter uploaded on to website Thurs 3 Local Authority attainment visit Mon 7 Start of S4 Pastoral interviews;

Remembrance Assemblies Parent Council Meeting, 7:00pm start

Tue 8 UK Senior Maths Challenge Thurs 10 Start of Nat 5 Practical Prelims Fri 11 Remembrance Fund Raiser, wear

something red; Activities Week returns for S1 to S3

Mon 14 National Anti-Bullying Week Tue 15 S4 Reports issued to pupils Wed 16 Nat 5 Practical Prelims start Thurs 17 S4 Parents’ Meeting, 4:30pm start Fri 18 S5/6 Reports issued to pupils Mon 21 S6 Big Questions Conference; World Challenge Week Thurs 24 PTA Christmas Fair Fri 25 St Andrew’s Day – wear something

Tartan; Deposits to be paid for Activities Week, S1 to S3.

Mon 28 Start of Nat 5 Prelims Wed 30 St Andrew’s Day Holiday DECEMBER Thurs 1 Young Entreprise semi-finals in SOAR Fri 2 S3 PSE Event, substance misuse Mon 5 MyMerit Week 2; S3 Profiling classes; S5 Tracking Meetings

Parent Council Meeting, 7:00pm start

PTA Save the Date Our next event will be the Christmas Fair on Thursday 24 November, starting at 6:30pm in the school canteen area. We have a fantastic selection of stalls and home made crafts for sale. We will also be requiring donations of chocolate-themed and regular tombola items for the two tombola tables, as well as donations of drinks for our bottle stall, all of which should be handed into the school office as soon as possible. This will be another great evening with lots of festive cheer, so please come along and support the school. Follow us on facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/182401165463963 And online at the PTA/PTC website:

http://gryffehighschoolcouncil.org/events/

Please note that ‘easyfundraising’ opportunities are available on both Facebook and Parent Council/PTA websites. Just click on the relevant link to set up and help the school benefit from your online shopping.

On Sunday 30 October our Gryffe High School Choir joined some other school Choirs - accompanied by The Orchestra of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Musical Director Andrew Nunn - at Glasgow City Halls. An incredible performance. More detail will be in the given in the next Newsletter on Wednesday 7 December

https://www.facebook.com/groups/182401165463963

https://www.facebook.com/groups/182401165463963

http://gryffehighschoolcouncil.org/events/

house points reaking news……… · 2019. 11. 12. · be achieved by 2030. they aim to make the...

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