St Modan’s High School

Newsletter – June 2015

SCHOOL SHOW OZ More than 50 pupils took part in St Modan's annual School Show which, this year was

the classic ‘Oz’ with the inevitable ‘Kettle’s twist’, taking us all back to the 60’s and 70’s.

For 3 nights the school hall was packed with hundreds of friends and family who joined

Dorothy (Bethany Mackay) on her journey on the yellow brick road to see the Wonderful

Wizard of Oz. Audiences were treated to a colourful musical display of talent.

Well done to all who took part and to those who supported this event. As always the

school is hugely proud of the achievements of our young people and the many staff,

especially Miss Kettles (Director) and Miss Campbell (Assistant) who worked so hard to support each and every one of the

pupils. Thanks also to Tony Walker and our hugely dedicated members of the PTA for their support in raising money for

similar school activities in the future through sales of hot dogs and raffle tickets. Raffle winners have been notified by now

and should contact the school to collect prizes before the end of term.

ST MODAN’S PUPILS ‘DIG’ HISTORY! Our S3 and S4 pupils were given the chance to get their hands dirty and build up their experience of historical source work

at an archaeological dig. The site aimed to uncover a medieval road that would once have run close to the school building.

As part of their experience, pupils were able to map the area using surveying equipment and learn how to professionally

excavate a site. Our young Indiana Jones's also uncovered hoards of treasure with metal detectors (well not quite, but they

did find lots of pipes, wire and coke cans!). Many thanks to IFLI and AOC Archaeology for the opportunity

FESTIVAL OF CHEMISTRY On Wednesday 27th May, St Modan’s High School sent a team

of four budding young Scientists to the Salters’ Festival of

Chemistry at the University of Glasgow. St Modan’s was

competing in two different activities against tough competition

from fourteen other schools from across Scotland. The pupils

worked successfully as a team, using their problem solving and

laboratory skills to complete both chemical challenges. Our

pupils came in 1st place in the University Challenge where they

were required to work as a team to solve a number of different

chemical problems in the laboratory. Well done!

Photo: from left to right: Glenn Douglas, Olivia Mumford, Lewis Quinn & Erin Thomas (new S2)

STAFFING CHANGES NEXT SESSION Several staff moving on

We bid a fond farewell to a number of staff leaving St Modan’s and wish each and every one of them all the very best for

the future. Mrs Yvonne Campbell retires from Home Economics and Mrs Mary Yates and Mrs Morag Ferrier are both retiring

from the Autism Provision. After many years of hard work, dedication and commitment to serving the community of St

Modan’s all three have decided it’s time to move on and to embrace some new challenges beyond St Modan’s. We all say

a huge thank you to each of them and hope that they enjoys the exciting times which lie ahead.

Miss Zoe Cola (permanent - ASN) moves to a school much closer to home next year and Mrs Janis Findlay (ASN/Autism

Provision), Miss Veronica Hoy (English), Mrs Vicky Hambly (English), Miss Laura Brown (Business Education), Miss Lauren

Craig (Biology), Miss Frankie Coan (Mod Lang) and Mrs Magda Katzig (RE) leave St Modan’s to pursue their careers in schools

across the country. Huge thanks to them all for their support in recent times, some covering maternity leaves, vacancies

and temporary posts – We know that each of them will be sorely missed by the pupils, parents and staff and we wish them

all the very best for the future.

We bid farewell also to the following staff whose probationary year at St Modan’s sadly comes to an end and who will soon

take up posts in schools across the globe; Sarah Lees, Laura Muirhead, Lauren Nelson, Lyndsay Derrett, Joanne Sanderson,

Amy Bilsborough. We owe each of them an enormous debt of gratitude and thank them all for their huge contributions to

the St Modan’s community over the past session.

We are also delighted to welcome back Mrs Ceilidh Nathaniel, Ms Michelle McCaffrey, Miss Gillian Blair and Mrs Laura

Guthrie and look forward to welcoming a number of new permanent staff in August. We also welcome back Miss

Victoria Robertson and Mr Bob Raphael who were both probationers with us this session but have now secured a

permanent post at Modan’s next session. We also extend a very warm welcome to our new permanent staff; Andrew

Lang (ASN), Gary MacPherson (History/Modern Studies), Joanne Sinclair (Business Management) and Karin Duffy

(Autism Provision)

UK PIPE BAND CHAMPIONS! Several of our pupils travelled to Belfast earlier this month to take part in the annual United Kingdom Pipe Band

Championships. The Stirling & District Schools Pipe Band is made up of pupils from all over the Stirling Council under the

watchful eye of Mr Gibb (piping tutor) and Mr Ross (drum tutor). Following a fantastic season last year that saw

them travelling the length of the country collecting a haul of trophies, they were also commissioned to play at the Bruce

700 concert in the Stirling Albert Halls and then perform again in Glasgow Royal Concert Hall as part of Celtic Connections

in January. The continued hard work paid off this year in Belfast when they stormed into first making them the UK number

1 in the Novice/Juvenile section. Well done to all!

S5/6 - PIONEERS FOR THE NEW HIGHERS Congratulations and well done to our S5/6 pupils who were recently the first year group to sit the New National Higher

courses in a small number of subjects. I am delighted to report that, once again the National examinations produced very

few surprises and our pupils left exam halls with confidence. We wish all of our S4-6 pupils all the very best and hope that

they do well when the results come through the door in August.

A CURRICULUM FOR EXCELLENCE The final stage of implementation of the new national curriculum developments (CFE) is now upon us. From August 2015

all pupils sitting Highers and Advanced Higher Courses will follow the New Higher and Advanced Higher courses. This now

streamlines the suite of qualifications offered to young people across the country and offers young people better, more

challenging courses with greater relevance to life beyond school than ever before.

COMPUTING SCIENCE Gregor Forbes, Miguel Lameg, Dillon Brown,

Hunter Lowery and Sean Wilson recently

attended a Computing Science workshop at the

University of Stirling. They learned about the

global use and every-growing consumption of 'Big

Data' during a 1 hour lecture, developed mobile

apps using App Inventor and learned about Agent-Based Modelling using simulation software.

The pupils thoroughly enjoyed the event and, as always were a credit to the school.

MODERN LANGUAGES Paris 2015

S2 pupils left us for France on Monday 22nd June and are currently enjoying an unforgettable experience in Paris.

Please remember to check the school website and twitter account for regular updates and photos.

CARITAS AWARDS Six of our S6 pupils, Caitlin Diamond, Monica Driver, Maria Glencross, Marina

Naguib, Kirsty Somerville and Callum Wynd successfully completed the Caritas

Award for 2015 and on June 3rd attended the awards ceremony in the Clyde

Auditorium, joining over 900 other young people from schools all over Scotland.

This award recognises ‘faith-inspired action’ - work carried out in schools and

local communities as well as reflection on young people’s faith and Liturgy.

The very special Awards event was a mix of music, humour from well-known

comedian Des Clark and also time for reflection on the great work and

experiences of all the candidates over the course of the last year. There was also

a special message from Pope Francis, delivered by Papal Nuncio, His Most

Reverend Excellency Antonio Mennini, congratulating the candidates on their

achievements.

ART NEWS Tesco Bank Art Competition

Brian Robertson of S2 (new S2) once again achieved a Special Merit certificate in the Tesco Bank art Competition. This

competition is run in conjunction with the National Galleries in Edinburgh. There were over 7000 entries and approximately

50 prizes so Brian’s award was indeed a great achievement. This is the second year running Brian has received this

recognition for the quality of his artwork. This time Brian produced a fabulous painting on the theme of ‘Speed’. His work

was displayed in galleries across Scotland and attracted a lot of attention.

Brian now has another exciting achievement to his name. A member

of the public fell in love with the energy and happiness created by

Brian's lovely art work and offered to buy his "Dog taking a Man for

a Walk". Linda McClelland of the National Galleries explained that

many members of the public thoroughly enjoyed this piece of art and

often commented on the joy of this painting.

Brian has now sold this work to the interested party. The purchaser

is absolutely delighted with his new acquisition and has planned

where to hang this piece in his newly renovated home.

SCHOOL UNIFORM The very high standard maintained by the school with regards to uniform directly impacts on the positive learning

environment and aspirations of our young people and on this there is no compromise. From August, items of non-uniform

will be removed and where necessary parents will be contacted so that pupils can go home and change. Over the past few

weeks a small number of pupils arrived to school wearing garments which do not meet the high standards of our School

uniform – in particular leggings, trainers, short lycra skirts, black jeans and outdoor jackets other than the school one. We

need YOUR support to ensure this does not continue into the new session. Parents are asked to check uniforms before

children leave the home to ensure that full school uniform is worn. Your support is hugely appreciated in this regard. Please

contact the school in advance if uniform is likely to be an issue for your son/daughter when returning in August.

Please note that our Uniform Supplier is Scotcrest, Alva.

You can order uniforms in 3 easy ways:

1. Place your order through the website or 2. Phone your order to 01259 761827 (card payments will be taken at time of

order) or 3. Come along to our shop at: West Stirling Street, Alva FK12 5EN and take your garments from stock

THE AUTISM PROVISION HITS LONDON! A good time was had by all on our recent London trip. Students enjoyed a variety of activities including the Harry Potter

Experience, a tour around the museums, a cruise up the Thames, a trip on the London Eye, Lego Land and the highlight:

‘The Lion King’. Sixteen students went on the trip and very much enjoyed their metropolitan

experience. They were thrilled to view locations which were previously just an image on a screen.

Stephen and Savannah are shown having a bird’s eye view of London

The tea and coffee facilities were well used in the plush surroundings of The Quality Hotel in Wembley,

and The Hard Rock Café lived up to its reputation and made music while the Base Crew ate.

Our pupils said they would recommend The Natural History

Museum and the Queen’s Garden Party!

CAITLAN’S CHALLENGE One of our S6 leavers from the Autism Support Provision, Caitlan Evans set herself an amazing challenge in the run up to

her eighteenth birthday. In order to increase her confidence, Caitlan’s challenge of 2014 - 15 was to meet as many football

stars and famous personalities as possible, using the challenge to raise money for the following four charities:

The Oscar Knox Appeal (justgiving.com/oscarappeal)

The Eilidh Brown Memorial Fund (eilidhbrown.co.uk)

The Lola Commons Fund for SIMBA (simbacharity.org.uk)

Teenage Cancer Trust (teenagecancertrust.org).

Caitlan has met many famous people including Stevie McCrorie, the winner of ‘The Voice’. Her top 5 favourites are Darren

Fletcher, Peter Mullan, Joe Ledley, John Hartson, and Danny McGrain.

Pictures of these people with Caitlan have been posted on facebook,

Instagram and Weebly. Each personality meeting Caitlan made a

donation to one of the charities. She has been all over the UK to meet

people – a challenge in itself. Initially Caitlan hoped to raise £500 for the

four charities, but so far has raised well in excess of £5000.

Caitlan has been nominated for the STV Heroes Award (all votes

welcome until 30th June 2015: http://shows.stv.tv/real-

heroes/1321192-nominate-in-rbs-finding-scotlands-real-heroes-

2015/). Overcoming her challenges has motivated lots of people and donations continue to be most welcome.

You might recognise two of Caitlan’s Challenge followers.

PRIMARY MATHS CHALLENGE In early June, we held our first ever Primary Maths Challenge in St Modan’s.

Each of our partner primaries sent a team of 4 Primary 7 pupils to take part in

a variety of Mathematical team challenges. All pupils were a credit to their

schools and showed not only great Maths skills but amazing teamwork,

determination and confidence as they went about their challenges. After a

closely fought contest, St Patricks were the winners on the day.

Congratulations to them on their victory and a huge well done to all pupils

who took part.

SECONDARY MATHS CHALLENGE Congratulations to all our pupils who took part in this year’s Maths Challenge. 27 St Modan’s pupils received

awards or certificates in the competition. A special mention goes to the following…

Best in School Awards

Jack Bauchop (Senior), Martin Sanda (Intermediate), Thomas McGhee (Junior)

Best in Year Awards

Olly Ferguson (S1), Thomas McGhee (S2), Martin Sanda (S3), Aaron Merayo (S4), Jack Bauchop (S5), Ella Shilliday (S6)

YOUNG CARERS’ GROUP This year saw the introduction of our Young Carers’

Group in St Modan’s. The group has been a huge

success in its first year, meeting regularly to allow

young carers across the school to have a period of

respite where they can take part in a variety of

activities including relaxation, cooking, crafts etc. To

help celebrate Young Carers week in June, they made

sunflower ribbons and sold these within the school at

lunchtimes and the group finished the year in style,

enjoying a day trip to M and D’s theme park. Any pupil

who thinks they may be a Young Carer and would like more information on the group then please speak to Mrs

Gardner or Miss Keeley in school.

DANCE STARS ‘Dancestar’ from Stirling Dance Centre won 18 trophies overall recently at the Dance Champs competition in Paisley. Taking

part from St. Modan’s were Megan Ferguson, Katelinn Lyle, Ellie Kirk, Joanna Batista, Ellie McCabe, Cara Langton, Lia

Rogerson, Olivia Meldrum, Caitlin Allison and former pupil Chloe McGill.

We are very proud of them all due to the very high standard of competition and they were a credit to the school. Well done!

SPORTING SUCCESS Junior Games

Well done to the entire New S2 year group who were involved in Active Stirling's Junior Games earlier this month .The

pupils were a credit to the school in this whole day event of music, dance, culture and sporting activity in over twenty five

different events. Thanks also go to the senior pupils who assisted with the running of the event and who all made a fantastic

contribution to the success of the day.

Athletics

Katie’s a Scottish Champion!

Congratulations to Katie Sharkey, New S3, who recently competed in the Scottish Schools Athletics competition and won

Gold in Sprint Hurdles & 200m – Katie is now the Scottish Champion! Katie competed in terrible weather conditions in this

event on the 12th & 13th June and beat off the best young athletes in the country to claim Gold in both events. Katie's time

in winning the Hurdles narrowly missed the Scottish record by only 0.09 seconds! A fantastic achievement for Katie and

we look forward to following her continued progress in the year ahead.

LONDON TRIP 20 Pupils and 3 staff left on Monday for London where

they will see the sights, take part in workshops and

experience the West End Shows. Find out more about

their trip by following our Twitter Account

@StModansHS

DEVELOPING ST. MODAN'S YOUNG WORKFORCE ACE SMART

Well done to all pupils who participated in the ACE SMART programme. Pupils were involved in a number of Active activities

including ice skating and hill walking; Community activities such as building planters, gardening and painting benches and

Employability activities such as completing the First Aid and Health and Safety at Work certificates with Skillforce. The week

finished with The Hub Challenge, a day of team-building activities with Wise Up. A special well done to the winners of The

Hub Challenge - Simone Connelly, Caragh Kelly, Shannon Kennedy, Aydon Stirling and Blair McGlynn.

S3 Apprenticeship Appreciation Day

As part of Scottish Apprenticeship Week 2015, our

S3 pupils took part in an Apprenticeship

Appreciation Day on Wednesday 20th May.

Pupils participated in 3 sessions: Business

Networking, whereby pupils rotated around stations

to learn about apprenticeships from the perspective

of local businesses; Apprenticeship Workshops,

including career mapping, skills development and

challenging misconceptions surrounding apprenticeships; and

Apprenticeship Networking, where our current pupils had the opportunity

to speak with former pupils in apprenticeships about their experiences first

hand.

Overall it was a fantastic day with 100% of our pupils surveyed now understanding what an apprenticeship is and 60% of

those considering this as a future pathway. It was also great to see our former pupils and hear about their career successes.

Catering Competition

Well done to both teams of pupils who took part in Stirling Council’s High School Catering Business Innovation Project:

Team 1 - Sophie Dickson, Maciej Koniuszy, Paulina Maslanka, Megan McGill and James Shand

Team 2 - Bryony Cook, Iona Duff, Nina Hewitson, Wiktoria Jesionek and Emma Ross

Pupils were challenged by the Council’s Facilities Management team to create a new catering concept based on “Street

Food" and both teams were commended for their efforts. They also named their concept and created a logo.

A very special well done to Team 2 who finished in second place overall, with Stirling High School taking the top spot, which

is an excellent achievement. This was a tremendous experience for all who took part and each and every one of our

competitors learned a great deal and did us proud!

Welcome back S5/6!

The DYW team welcomed back the new S5 and S6 year groups in their respective conferences. Thanks to all pupils who

completed the Senior Details Forms. This information will help us to help you during the course of the next school year,

and in particular the FAST (Future Apprentices of ST Modan’s) Action group. The DYW team will be in touch soon to

formalise this group and help our young people prepare for their chosen pathway. Any pupils who did not complete a form

should see either Miss Kettles or Miss McDonald ASAP.

Women in Engineering

SDS Skills Investment Plan states that it is estimated that Scotland needs 2,500 new engineers every year. In 2013, of the

professionally registered engineers in employment in the UK, only 4.4% were female.

Tuesday 23rd June was National Women in Engineering Day and here, in St. Modan's, we celebrated this with a variety of

activities for many of our female pupils. S2 girls and S3/4 girls taking Chemistry and/or Physics took part in active workshops

such as: Knex Bridge Building Challenge, Apple Batteries and Steam Boats, Land Buggy Challenge and more. S5/6 pupils

also had the opportunity to speak to female engineers in an Engineering Career Networking Session.

Hopefully we will inspire our female pupils to consider engineering as a future career pathway!

Get Involved

If you would like to get involved with this initiative, or would like further information, then please contact Lesley Kettles

and Lindsay McDonald through

Email: stmodansdyw@stirling.gov.uk or

Twitter: follow us on @StMod_Opp

SQA EXAMINATIONS 2015 IMPORTANT NOTICE ABOUT SQA

SQA Results Day is Tuesday 4th August

Good luck to all of our SQA exam candidates. We wish them all the very best for August.

MySQA for Pupils

MySQA is a web service that offers you secure and unique access to your results.

Don’t wait for your results envelope to drop through the mailbox. SQA candidates should sign up by 5pm on Monday 13th

July. By doing so candidates are able to choose to have their results sent by e-mail or text on TUESDAY 5 AUGUST. Even if

candidates are away from home, they won’t have to wait or get someone else to open the results envelope for them. Find

out how to activate an SQA account at www.mysqa.info

Unexpected SQA results?

Following the publication of the SQA exam results any pupil who would like to discuss a possible change to his/her course

choice for next session must contact the school by telephone on the morning of Monday 10th August (10am to 12 Noon)

for advice from a senior member of staff. The introduction of ‘free-choice’ in senior school this session allowed 94% of

seniors to choose their first choice and strongest subjects for next session – consequently changes to course choice should

be minimal and will be agreed only in exceptional circumstances. Timetables are finalised during this final week of the

holiday and timetables printed so any changes must be agreed before then.

CHARITIES UPDATE Thanks to all who contributed so generously throughout the year to our many charity events and collections. The following

represents only some of the charities supported over the session. Thanks too to our Charities Committee and to the pupils

who worked so hard to support others in greater need than ourselves.

SCIAF Wee Box Campaign - £1184

Let the Children Live - £882.06

Mary’s Meals - £686.75

Nepal SCIAF Appeal - £856 (and rising!)

The school community also supported, amongst other charities; Women’s Aid, Carr-Gomm and Food Banks in Stirling, Clacks

and Falkirk. Thank you!

MORE NEWS! This newsletter represents only a small fraction of the activities going on in our school. If you would like to know more

please log on to our website at www.stmodans.co.uk and follow us on Twitter @StModansHS to receive almost daily

updates and information about our activities, successes and many pupil achievements.

DATES FOR THE DIARY

Day Date Event

Tuesday 4th August SQA Results

Monday 10th August Senior staff in school to take calls about Course Choice

Monday 17th August INSET Day – Teachers only

Tuesday 18th August Pupil return to school – 8.30am

We look forward to welcoming all our new S1 pupils in August (over 200 of them)

and bid farewell to all our School leavers – we wish you all well!

Have a great Summer. Happy holidays!