Issue 2

Dear Parent/Carer

Welcome to our second newsletter of the year. Time has really flown – it feels like only a few weeks ago we were all sitting in the sunshine and now, as I write this introduction, I am staring out at lashing rain and windswept trees rapidly losing their leaves….autumn is well and truly here! This month’s newsletter contains a number of articles regarding school developments as well as a fond farewell to Ian Main, a member of our school community for 32 years. Over the coming months and years, we are going to be taking steps to develop the school newsletter into an even more vibrant expression of the strength of our school community. Do look out for the changes that will take place and by all means get in touch with me if you would like to discuss the role of our school newsletter. I hope you and your family had a good October break and the very best of luck to all of our S4 students in the forthcoming preliminary examinations. Yours sincerely

Gavin Clark Head Teacher

Preston Lodge High School 10 November 2011

Page 1

Welcome 1

School Updates 2

S6 Charities Event 3

Iain Main 4

Battlefield Trip 5

Learning In and Out of School

7

Health and Wellbeing Update

9

Sports Update 10

House Update 11

Columba 1400 12

Dates for your diary 13

Inside this issue:

Stage 3 2009‐2012

Old Man of Storr, Skye—photography by Clint Lanyon during his visit to Columba 1400

November Newsletter

@PrestonLodgeHS

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School Updates

S5 Prefects We are delighted that over fifty of our S5 students have signed up to be prefects for the remainder of this session. They have now started their duties and are already demonstrating a real commitment to the aims and values of the school. All of our S5 and S6 prefects will shortly be trained in conflict resolution, which will give them a greater capacity to solve low-level issues amongst younger students.

Staffing Update This month we said farewell to Lindsay McGaw in RME who begins a maternity leave and we welcome into school Catriona McAleece as her temporary replacement. Jenny Bonnar in Art takes up a post at St George’s School at the start of December. Many thanks for all your efforts during your time with us, Jenny. We are delighted that Graeme Bennion, our Active Schools Co-ordinator has now returned to work after an extended absence following knee surgery. Many thanks to Adam Martin who filled in for Graeme over recent months. Many thanks also to Chris Thomas who is now back in the PE Department, having completed a successful stint as a Guidance replacement for Dylan Bell. Welcome back, too, Dylan!

Library Books We are still working very hard to retrieve books borrowed from the Library last year by students who have now left school. If you are the parent/carer of a child who has left school and who may have library books, could you please encourage them to return those books? We will shortly issue bills to families where items have not been returned.

PL Tartan The competition to design a tartan for the new Preston Lodge High School Pipe Band kilt was won by Tarryn Wood and Rebecca Foley both 1Go2. The decision was a tough one with many great designs. A big well done to all those who participated. We will share the winning design with all families in the next edition.

Columba 1400 Our first group of students and staff have now attended Columba 1400 Leadership Academy 1. Over five days in October the group participated in a very intensive programme at the Columba 1400 centre in the village of Staffin on the Isle of Skye. The programme was a very powerful piece of personal development for all of those who participated and the group are currently considering their next steps. There are a number of very positive ideas that have been generated and a key part of the Columban experience is for the group to decide what they wish to do with the new insight they have achieved into themselves and their school community. Leadership academy 1 participants were; Students; Liam Fleming, Dillon Arthur, Harry McArthur, Chloe Carson, Bethyn Spence, Amy Macfarlane, Thomas Johnston, Karman Brown Staff; Philip Dorrian, Pauline Christie, Katie Young, Clint Lanyon, Julia Robertson, Mhairi Walker, Viv Donaldson, Jacqui Nanson A photograph of the group appears on page 12. Leadership Academy 2 takes place at the end of November and further information will, of course, be forthcoming regarding the next steps our school takes with the programme.

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S6 Charities Event Friday 28 October saw our S6 pupils organise a fancy dress event for charity along a Hallowe’en theme. Pupils were encouraged to dress up for the day and donate £1 to charity at the same time – the excitement of Hallowe’en was channelled into a good cause! Rachel Connachan was the driving force behind this event and deserves a lot of credit for her enthusiasm and will to make this work. Ably assisted by a range of S6 pupils and the House Team, significant numbers of pupils participated. The following awards were made:

House with the highest percentage of dressed up pupils 1st Grange 2nd Seton 3rd Gosford

Class with the highest percentage of dressed up pupils 6 Grange 2

Bonus House points for the number of ‘Best Dressed in Class’ winners 1st Grange 2nd Seton 3rd Grange Traditionally, this event has always been Seton’s strong suit (ably led by Mrs Red-ertson) and Grange have usually given it a body swerve…but Rachel’s enthusiasm obviously rubbed off on her House Mates as Grange swept the boards! J Binnie

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Iain Main Iain Main has been a stalwart of the Preston Lodge community since arriving at our school in 1979. It is therefore with some sadness that we bid him farewell as he retires to a life in the sun! Iain has spent the last two years on a career break supporting his growing extended family in Spain. Iain had to make a difficult decision about his next steps and he chose to retire at a point in his life where he feels he can still offer a great deal of time and support to his grandchildren. Iain has filled a large number of roles in the school. He has been a PE Teacher, Senior Teacher, APT, PT Guidance, AHT and, latterly, a DHT! In all of those roles, he was a constant support for the young people, staff and families of Preston Lodge High School and he will be remembered with much affection. Iain was also a Union representative in the school, and, as such, provided significant support to staff who needed additional help in sometimes complicated circumstances. It is as a Guidance Teacher that Iain will perhaps be best remembered. Iain’s knowledge of this community was quite extraordinary and he was able to use that knowledge to offer very significant support to a large number of families. Many of them will, I am sure, be sorry to hear that Iain is leaving us. One just had to watch Iain engaging with a young person to see an example of how adults can make a real difference to young people’s lives. We wish Iain well, and I am confident that we will see his sun-tanned face in and about these parts over future years! Many thanks for all your work in the Preston Lodge community, Iain. We will miss you. Gavin Clark

Car Park We have recently been experiencing some problems with students walking through our staff and visitors car park. This problem has been exacerbated by students using bicycles and scooters in the same area. I would ask all families to remind their young people to stay out of this area for safety reasons. It is essential that no students put themselves at risk by walking through this busy traffic area. Students Feeling Unwell A reminder to all families that students must report to the office if they are feeling unwell. We have recently had a number of cases where students have simply gone home, and we have then only found out about this some time later! For health and safety reasons it is essential that we know where our students are at all times.

PL Staff are rock solid!

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Battlefield Trip In June the 1st Battalion of the Preston Lodge Pals were called to arms and departed Prestonpans, to the sound of the pipes, bound for the WW1 battlefields of France and Belgium. On arriving in Belgium we enjoyed free time exploring Bruges, before heading to Ypres. Tired after a long journey, we headed for dinner and then an early night. “The Pool of Peace” was an early stop on Day 2, in addition to Messines Church. This stop caused both excitement and thoughtful silence in equal measure, due to the individuals associated with it. We will say no more on this special place so as not to spoil the surprise and impact for future Preston Lodge Pals battalions. If you get the chance to go, you will understand why! The pupils then climbed to the top of the bell tower to gain an unrivalled view of the Ypres Salient. Next stop was Sanctuary Wood on Hill 62. After WWI, a farmer returned to reclaim his land. A section of his original wood and the trenches in it were cleared of debris and casualties but the farmer left part of the British trench system as he found it. This site is now one of the few places on the Ypres Salient battlefields where an original trench layout can be seen. Day 3 took us into two more countries as we headed to the Somme in France. We were intrigued by the fact we were actually stepping on Canadian soil that day when we visited Newfoundland Park. Our pipers led us round Newfoundland, making the experience all the more moving. However, this brief sortie into Canada was just a warm up for our afternoon. Thiepval Memorial is a monumental place in every respect. A memorial to the missing soldiers of the Somme, it stands proud above the landscape and brought home to us the vast numbers of lives that were lost and never accounted for. 73,357 soldiers are remembered here - 73,357 men without a grave who were never found. Such was the horror of WWI. Day 4 saw us complete the story of the Battle for Ypres and we enjoyed a stirring march at Passchendaele, led by our fantastic pipes and drums. We headed to Tyne Cot Cemetery and the resting place of 11,954 Commonwealth soldiers. Only birdsong could be heard in the background. In the afternoon, pupils and staff enjoyed free time in Ypres and had a chance to shop for souvenirs, chocolate and chips!

That evening, the climax of our tour was the pipes and drums of Preston Lodge performing in the Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate. Canadian government officials were present and we wanted to do ourselves and our community proud. That certainly was the case. Eilidh Alexander played Flowers of the Forest and had every person in the vicinity mesmerised. Preston Lodge pupils very much did their community proud. In our own ceremony Cameron Black and Michael King were chosen to place the wreath at the Menin Gate, whilst Dale Denholm carried in the Messines candle. Bronwyn O’Neill undertook the reading with maturity. On Day 5 we headed back to Blighty. A long journey ahead, but we were not wearied enough to stop singing! An impromptu awards ceremony kept officers and soldiers alike entertained. Some slept (Pipe Major Moore) and others simply sat quietly thinking about a fantastic week. A reunion was held on 3 October when the 1st Pals’ Battalion fell in for one last time. We looked back at film footage of the trip and still photos of the things we saw and experienced. It was wonderful being part of the Pals one final time… Anyone interested in taking part in Battlefields 2012 should see Ms Armstrong, Mrs Binnie or Mr Kelly for more details. J Binnie

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Learning In and Out of School S5 Outdoor Challenge Three Friday’s ago, at North Berwick Law, Preston Lodge retained the S5 Outdoor Education Challenge. For the third year in a row PL were victorious in this physically demanding and mentally challenging event. Teams from all over the county took part in orienteering, hood-winked rock climbing, radio controlled construction and many more problem solving activities. One of the warmest October days on record made the day extra enjoyable for all who took part. The picture shows proud teachers Brian Frost and Gordon Kidd with the winning PL team, who were: Kirsty Edwards, Amy Kerr, Laura Turnbull, Rebecca Muir, Finlay Richardson and Adam Vince

Gordon Kidd

Coca-Cola Real Business Design Challenge 2011 This Challenge tests pupils abilities in a range of are-as such as numeracy, design, teamwork and literacy. This year, Team Preston Craft, made up of Arooj Alim, Tara Cusack, Robyn Davidson, Shannon Harker, Erin Ketchion, Bethyn Spence and Finch Taylor, were challenged to design a new healthy fruit juice drink which had to be focused around a country of their choosing that is competing in the 2012 Olympics. The team chose Jamaica and, with some guidance from Miss Nisbet, they completed their project by firstly allocating set roles for each team member. The team then completed various tasks such as a

cost and profit projec-tion, a sustainability sheet, a mission and values statement and a PowerPoint project outlining the market research they completed, the mix of juices they chose and their final design for the juice bottle. Their finished project was then sent to Coca-Cola Headquarters in London to be judged against all other entries from Scotland and the team were very pleased to find out that they have reached the final which will take place at the end of November at Stirling University. Well done Team Preston Craft! Sarah Nisbet

Masai Warriors We were in the privileged position of hosting performing Masai Warriors in school on 21 September. This opportunity came about as part of the ‘Going Global’ programme now in its second year of supporting Global Citizenship education. The visit touched on Expressive Arts, Geography and Languages. The Osiligi Warriors performed songs, danced and jumped! There was lots of audience interaction, a Q&A session, a powerpoint presentation and a short video. Pictured are some S1 pupils with the Warrior Troop. Clint Lanyon

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East Lothian Food Festival Congratulations to S4 students Abbey Douglas and Shelby Dalgleish who won the East Lothian Food Festival competition, held in Preston Lodge recently. The girls cooked a meal of sage crumbed pork loin served with roasted vine tomatoes, sweet potato & parsnip mash and cream dressed baby leeks. This was followed by a trio of desserts using Yester dairies produce, including vanilla & ginger torte, cream filled brandy snaps and roasted rhubarb. The competition generated a very high standard from the five teams involved which the judges commended them on. The winning team will enjoy a Gala dinner early in November at the Food and Drinks Awards Evening. M Beattie

One World Evening Longniddry Church On Friday 7th October, Preston Lodge Music Department participated in the One World Evening at Longniddry Parish Church. This event raises awareness of the plight of inhabitants of developing countries, and highlights the charity work done by the congregation and the community of Longniddry. High profile speakers included MP Anas Sarwar, Professor Roger Leakey, and Wendy Young of Christian Aid. Fiona O’Donnell, MP for East Lothian, compèred the evening with Reverend Robin Hill. Pupils from Campie Primary School, Musselburgh delivered a presentation on their Scotland-Thailand Partnership, and Finlay Richardson of Preston Lodge gave a presentation on his Ecuador trip. Preston Lodge musicians performed throughout the evening. There were items from the Big Band, and the junior and senior choirs. Thanks go to Robin Hill for organising this event for the second year. It provides pupils and staff with a different and valuable experience, while contributing to this worthy cause. A big thank you to the Cooperative for sponsoring this event.

Preston Lodge Big Band and the One World Evening

Health & Wellbeing Update Our Health & Wellbeing (HWB) group have been busy planning for the year ahead. Staff representatives from across the school are identifying and taking forward what is a ‘Responsibility of All’ within Health and Wellbeing, and is a new curricular area within Curriculum for Excellence. Many schools are tackling this in different ways, and at PL we are taking a very proactive approach. Our HWB course for S1/S2 pupils involves teams of staff from PE, HE & SE delivering content which allows pupils to make the connections between subjects and how they relate to their own individual needs. There are also many activities planned (get the dates in your diary!), including: A Back to School Evening on Wednesday 21 March which involves S3 pupils delivering sessions to the parents of current pupils and interested parents from our cluster primaries. See and hear ‘first hand’ how Curriculum for Excellence and HWB look at Preston Lodge! S1 Health Day – Tuesday 15 May. All S1 pupils will be involved in Health & Wellbeing activities from both internal & external providers. Staff will offer sessions from their personal expertise, including martial arts, drumming, nail treatments, masterchef, and more. External partners include the Royal Highland Education Trust, Quality Meat Scotland and Boot Camp, to name but a few. S2 – Planning for Choices & Changes morning on Friday 1 June. An opportunity to engage with businesses, employers/employees and further education providers to identify career paths/employment opportunities. Any parents who are willing to participate in this, please get in touch with Liz Nicoll (HE dept) to discuss your specialist area and how you could become involved. Our Annual 5k Walk will also take place on Friday 25 May. An opportunity for staff and pupils to be involved with our whole school community. Not to be missed. Not to forget Staff Health & Wellbeing. We will have an exciting programme on offer for all staff during the summer term. Through our HWB group we are actively engaged

with all our cluster primaries. At present Home Economics are offering a number of practical food opportunities for primary pupils. P3/S3 pupils are involved in a practical food activity within PL on a weekly basis, when S3 pupils support the younger pupil with their knowledge and skills. A terrific way to develop the leadership, care and organisational skills of our pupils, and a great way to encourage the younger pupils to try cooking at home. All in all, there is a lot going on in Preston Lodge to develop Health and Wellbeing. Look out for it next time your are in the building! Liz Nicoll

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Sports Update A number of new extra-curricular activities are on offer at Preston Lodge. After the October Holidays, the following new clubs have started: Trampolining – Thursday’s After School with Mrs Dalgleish Basketball – Tuesday’s After School with Mr Martin Archery – Wednesday’s After School with Mrs Christie There may also be an opportunity to start up a Dance Class. To sign up for any of these clubs, or to receive any more information about them, please see the Active Schools Notice Board, or speak to your Sports Co-ordinator – Mr Bennion The following pupils have recently completed their Junior Sports Leaders Award: Sasha Tulloch, Ava Spence, Clara Owen, Daniel Kirkham, Emma Hannratty, Grant Barber, Simon Barber, Amber Branley, Kirsty Edwards, Laura Gibbons. The successful pupils will now be using their well-earned certificates in after school clubs throughout Preston Lodge and the surrounding Primary Schools. Well Done to all!! All Football, Rugby and Hockey fixtures are now underway with Scottish Cup and League games being played almost every week. We need all players to attend all training sessions to make sure we have the best possible results in all of these competitions: Rugby (S1-3) – Mon and Wed @ 3.45pm Football (S1-2) - Mon @ 3.45pm Football (S3) – Tues @ 3.45pm Hockey (S1-6) – Mon at 3.45pm All pupils should keep their eye on the Active Schools Notice Board for upcoming fixtures and information. Our Under 16’s football team played Dalkeith High School on a cold Wednesday night in October, and put on a terrific performance winning the Game 6-2. Well Done Boys! Special mention must go to Patrick McLaren who produced a “Man of the Match” performance in both attitude and performance! The boys then played Newbattle High School on 29

October in the Scottish Cup. Unfortunately they were beaten 5-2.

A special mention to the Girls Under 15 squad who lost in the Scottish Cup recently to Boroughmuir. Their attitude before, during and after the game was so terrific, the opposition coach emailed the school to congratulate the girls on their sportsmanship. This is a great way to represent Preston Lodge and created a very positive impression of our school. Well Done! Our Seniors Under 18 Rugby team made it through to the last 32 of the Brewin Dolphin Scottish Cup. In a high profile match against Earlston High School, the SRU and IRM (International Rugby Board) were involved. The referee was a Rwandan being trained for the next World Cup! The boys played really well, but lost the tie 35-12. Teamer.net The school has recently set up a new interactive system that enables pupils to receive text messages about upcoming games and training directly to their mobile phone. All pupils involved in clubs should look to sign up to this system, to ensure that an entire team is notified of changes and meet times for games. See our Active Schools Coordinator for more information. The following pupils have been selected to join the Performance Athletes in Schools Programme, which allows them to train with high class development coaches as part of their school week; Sam Chater and Douglas Crawford – Badminton. Well Done and good luck for the coming year. At present, a number of Preston Lodge pupils are undergoing trials for various East Lothian Squads. The results of these trials and names of successful pupils will appear the next issue of the newsletter.

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House Update I’m a Panner – Get Me Out of Here!

Grange Captain Kathryn Berg’s expression (left), as she tries to down one of our many delicacies during “I’m a Panner Get Me Out of Here!” on the last Thursday before the holidays, very much says it all! Our inter-house bush tucker trial caught the imagination of a great number of pupils and we estimate that over a third of the school attended this event. This is a fantastic endorse-ment of the hard work put in by the House Captains and House Committee team and much hilarity was enjoyed by all. Not everyone coped with the rigours of the snails, beasties and jellied

creations. Thomas Stevenson of Grange “struggled a little” at certain points in the proceedings! To say this was a messy affair would be an understatement. Thankfully, copious amounts of paper roll were on hand to clean up the aftermath! And it wasn’t all used for cleaning up gunk… Staff star performers were Mrs Pike who did everything with her usual gusto for Seton, Mr Orr (who wondered what on earth he had let himself in for when his Gosford team covered him in Andrex – other brands of toilet roll available folks) and Mr Tracey pretty much being a one man moule machine for Grange. The latter deserves a special mention for stomaching a dozen garlic snails in one go to ensure house points for his struggling blues. At the end of proceedings Seton won the eating. Gosford and Grange were better supported and were acknowledged with points for this too. I’m a Panner Eating Points Seton 70 Gosford 45 Grange 30 I’m a Panner Supporting Points (door entry numbers) Seton 5 Gosford 15 Grange 10 Totals Seton 75 Gosford 60 Grange 40 J Binnie

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To see our online calendar go to the School Calendar tab on www.prestonlodge.net

Dates for Your Diary!

Thursday 10 November S1 Parents’ Evening

Monday 14 November S4 Prelims start

Tuesday 15 November S2 HPV Vaccinations

Monday 28 November S5/6 Parents’ Evening

Friday 2 December S3 Early Warning to parents S4 Prelims End

Friday 9 December S5/6 Target Setting and Tracking Period 2 report send to Parents

Monday 19 December Christmas Concert

Tuesday 20 December Christmas Concert

Wednesday 21 December Senior Dance

Thursday 22 December All Break

Tuesday 10 January Pupils Resume

Monday 16 January S2 Exams start

Friday 20 January S4 Reports to Parents

Tuesday 24 January S4 Parents’ Evening

Thursday 26 January Burns’ Supper

Friday 27 January S2 Exams End

Monday 30 January S5/6 Prelims start (Main Diet)

Monday 6 February S4 Intermediate 2 Prelims Start

Thursday 9 February S2 Options Meeting

Friday 10 February S5/6 Prelims End, S4 Intermediate 2 Prelims End, All Break

Monday 20 February All Resume

Wednesday 22 February S3 Parents’ Evening

Monday 27 February S4/5 Options Evening

Monday 27 February S4/5 Options Evening

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Tuesday 28 February S3 DTP Injections

Thursday 8 March S2 Reports to Parents

Monday 12 March S2 HPV Vaccinations

Wednesday 14 March S2 Parents’ Evening

Monday 19 March S2 Final Options Forms In

Wednesday 21 March S3 Back to School Evening 6.30 pm-9.00 pm

Thursday 22 March Sports Personality Evening

Friday 23 March S5/6 Reports to Parents

Monday 26 March S4/5/6 Prelims start (Minor Diet)

Friday 30 March S4/5/6 Prelims end (Minor Diet), All Break

Tuesday 17 April All Resume

Tuesday 24 April S4 Exam Leave starts

Wednesday 2 May First Day of S5/6 Exam Leave

Monday 7 May May Day Holiday

Wednesday 9 May Pupils Resume

Tuesday 15 May S1 Health Day

Thursday 24 May S3 Sports Day

Friday 25 May S1 Reports to Parents, 5K Walk

Tuesday 29 May S1 Sports Day

Thursday 31 May S2 Sports Day, Whole School Project

Friday 1 June S2 Health Day, Exam Leave for all ends

Monday 4 June Golden Jubilee Holiday

Tuesday 5 June All Resume, New Timetable, S5/6 Coursing

Tuesday 12 June S5/6 Induction, East Lothian Sports

Wednesday 13 June S5/6 Induction

Tuesday 19 June Prizegiving

Wednesday 20 June P7 Visit

Thursday 21 June P7 Visit, P7 Parents’ Evening

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Friday 22 June S3 Reports to Parents

P7 Visit

Monday 25 June—Friday 29 June Activities Week (Foreign and UK)

Friday 29 June All Break