Parents` Newsletter June 2016

Volume 5, Issue 7
June 2016
Rotary UK and Ireland
Young Photographer
of the Year 2016
Lanark Grammar School
Wallace pupil Megan McCulloch with Maggie Clark as she congratulates her on her great success on
behalf of the Rotary Club of Lanark.
After hundreds of young
people took part from
across Great Britain and
Ireland, we are delighted to
announce the three winners of this year’s Rotary
Young Photographer competition.
This year’s theme was ‘Our
World Is Beautiful’, which
inspired the entrants to
find inspiration from the
world around them. There
were a whole variety of
high quality submissions,
which were split into junior, intermediate and senior categories based on the
competitor’s age. Each entrant was judged on their
technical merit; content
and composition; and imagination and style.
The senior category was
won by 16-year-old Megan
McCulloch from Lanark
Grammar School. She was
sponsored by the Rotary
Club of Lanark, and like
Charlotte in the junior category, caught another
breathtaking picture of the
Scottish landscape. Megan
said the contrast in colours
and textures in the landscape was a big inspiration
for her photograph, which
shows a lighthouse standing proudly on the cliffside.
The three winners progressed through local, district and regional heats and
were selected from 57 national finalists by a panel of
judges. The panel for this
year’s competition included
professionals and photography experts from the
fields of journalism, education and business, all of
whom were amazed by the
standard of the entrants.
The Rotary Young Photographer competition is open
to any young person in full
time education between
the ages of 7 – 17. The
theme for next year’s competition is ‘Reflection’. If
you are interested in taking
part, visit our club finder to
get in touch with your local
club who may be hosting a
competition.
Excerpt from:
http://www.rotarygbi.org/yo
ung-photographer-2016/
Inside this issue:
Young Photographer
1
Engineering Challenge
2
Gilbert Murray
2
News from the Head Teacher
3
Spelling Bee
4
Tinto Climb
4
Football Cup Winners
5
Fleetwood Team GB
6
St Mirren Visit
6
Sports Days
7
Italy Trip
8
Marta Martin
9
Important Dates
9
Engineering Challenge 2016
A number of secondary schools
throughout Scotland were chosen
to spearhead an
initiative to help
raise the profile of
Engineering within schools. Lanark
Grammar was one of these schools.
The school were asked to develop
fallen quite dramatically over the
past few years. It is hoped that the
various activities undertaken by
these pilot schools will help to reverse this trend. If it does accomplish this objective, then the intention is to roll out similar initiatives
over the whole of the U.K.
The first phase of the competition
involved pupils working in their sci-
with “fake” money to spend.
The winning team was then put forward to take part in the
“Engineering Challenge Final” which
took place in the drama studio in
May. Each S1 class competed
against each other in a Knex Bridge
Building Challenge. The aim was to
build a bridge at least 2m wide
which could hold the largest mass.
The winning teams for the Final Engineering Challenge 2016 were as follows
In first place Dorina Toth, Natasha Easton
and Olivia Ferguson from 1P7.
In second place Christopher Barrett, Elodie
Moore and Zachary Cross from 1P3.
In third place Alyth McInnes, Rebecca
Brownlie, Ellie Davidson and Jessica Robson from 1P8.
some activities which might help
encourage pupils to consider Engineering as a career when they
eventually leave school. It would
seem the number of pupils opting
for Engineering-based courses at
U.K universities and colleges has
ence class in groups of 3 or 4 to
build the tallest working lighthouse
possible.
The whole venture is relevant not
They were given a fictional budget
of £20000 to spend on various
building materials. Each team had
an accompanying information sheet
only to Engineering but also to such
developments in education as Enterprise, Citizenship and Curriculum
for Excellence.
M Rabie
Gilbert Murray Essay Writing Competition
Two S6 Students were successful in gaining a Certificate of Excellence for their submissions in the
Gilbert Murray Essay Competition organised by the Classical Association of Scotland and judged at
Glasgow University.
Rachael Murray and Zach McGinnies beat off stiff competition in this prestigious competition from The Glasgow
Academy, The High School of Glasgow, Hamilton College, Albyn School, St Columba’s , St George’s School for
Girls among others to be awarded their certificate. Only 8 certificates were awarded to S5/S6 Students in Scotland. We wish Rachael and Zach well and congratulate them both on this magnificent achievement. Rachael is
studying Classics and English at St Andrews University next year and Zach will be studying Classics and English at
Edinburgh University.
S Harrison
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News from the Head Teacher
I would like to wish all of who students who are leaving school a
very positive set of examination
results which enables them to follow their desired options whether
this is in training, employment,
college or university. I hope that
your commitment to your studies,
and to the broader experiences
gained through school and community involvement, has enabled you
all to achieve your goals.
Head Teacher Mr Mark Sherry
End of session
Once again we have reached the
end of another very successful session for the school illustrated
through the diverse achievements
of our pupils and the support
offered to them by parents and extended families and our staff.
For students in our senior phase,
Tuesday August 9 2016 will be a
very important day as they receive
their SQA results which, it is to be
hoped, will bring positive news.
Students who wish to change their
senior phase options in the light of
the SQA results should come to
school between 1:00-3:00 pm on
Friday 12 August 2016 to discuss
their plans with a member of the
senior management team. This will
enable option choice changes which
are required to be made before students return to school on Monday
15 August 2016.
Page 3
Finally, I hope that all members of
our school community have a very
enjoyable
summer break
and, for those
pupils who are
returning to
school, we
shall welcome
you back on Monday 15 August
2016 at our usual time of 8:45 am.
Staff retirements
This session has seen
quite a number of staff
retire from the school
and we wish them all
well in this new period of their
lives. The following members of
staff have retired:
Mr Clark of our Mathematics department;
Mrs Fisher from Additional Support Needs;
Ms Laughland from our History
department; and
Mrs Goldie, our school librarian
In their unique and individual
ways, all of the above staff have
made an excellent contribution to
our school and we wish them all a
very long, happy and healthy retirement.
School Uniform
The support which receive from
parents/carers about school uniform is greatly appreciated by all
staff. The vast majority of our pupils fully support school uniform
and take pride in our unique identity. As you may be purchasing
school wear for your daughter/son
over the coming weeks, the following reminder on uniform may be
helpful
School uniform consists of the following:
white shirt; school tie; black jumper
or cardigan; black trousers or skirt;
black shoes; and blazer.
Our school blazer can be purchased
from ALJ Workwear in Lanark, or
other providers if you so desire. In
adverse weather an outer piece of
clothing can be worn with the blazer underneath.
All pupils will have access to a personal, secure locker where they
may keep an outer jacket, books
and equipment.
All parents are asked to note that
the following clothing is not acceptable for schoolwear:
clothing or scarves which feature
football favours or slogans;
tracksuits;
denim clothing (jeans or jackets);
leggings;
baseball caps of any description;
shorts; and
sheer blouses
Where pupils arrive at school without appropriate uniform they will
be provided with a tie and/or a
blazer to wear for the day.
Braxfield’s Spelling Bee Brilliance
On Wednesday the 1st of
June a team from
Braxfield won the annual
Lanark Grammar School
S1 Inter-House Spelling
Bee. They finally beat
Jerviswood’s reign of two
years in a row!
During the month of May
all S1 students had a
chance to practise their
spelling and try out for
their class team. Students
practised spelling in their
English class and at home.
Some students even had
a class Mini Bee in order to identify
the top four spellers who would
represent their house in the heats.
After a very close run heat, four
teams made it to the final; two
teams representing Hyndford, one
from Wallace and one from
Braxfield. The first Hyndford team
consisted of Emily Anderson, Sam
Barton, Craig Fisher and Ben Humble. In the second Hyndford team
was Taylor Sim, Emma Patrick,
Coreena Stewart and Thomas
McLellan. The Wallace representatives were Jessica Robson, Holly
Tkalcic, Ryan Adair and Ben Wilson.
The winning Braxfield team was
made up of Erin Stewart, Christopher MacMillan, Kyle McGinnies
and Lois Jones- O’Keeffe.
The teams who made it to the final
had to compete in the Spelling Playoff and the Quick-Fire rounds. The
Spelling Play-off was a tough round
of challenging words. Some students were shocked that they were
asked to spell words that they’d
never even heard of! ( Even some of
the staff present looked a bit puzzled!)
The Quick-Fire
round was a bit
easier than the
Spelling-Play Off.
This was where
teams worked together to spell as
many words as possible in three
minutes. Students
felt there was less
pressure in this
round because they
were playing tactically and simply
passed if they didn’t know how to spell the word.
At the end of round one, Braxfield
were slightly ahead. By the end of
round two, Braxfield were the clear
winners by twelve points. It was a
really exciting finish to the Spelling
Bee.
Overall, the Spelling Bee was a
great success. The students were
able to showcase their spelling abilities. The students felt that it was a
great way to encourage pupils to
work harder on their spelling.
H MacKenzie
The Tinto Climb
With trepidation; noses pressed against the windows of the bus, S1 pupils stared at the top
of Tinto. Well at least as much as was visible through the slate-grey clouds. They were disembarking at the foot of the hill to begin a journey that, although arduous, would help alleviate the suffering of others. Staff from the St. Andrews Hospice directed us to the registration point, where groups steadily began to make their way up the dirt track to the top. Although the conditions were not favourable, S1 ploughed on regardless. A procession of dark shapes could be seen
gently snaking its way over the ridges, with occasional shouts of joy and laughter carried on the wind. The morning
drew colder and wind speeds peaked at the top, almost toppling our adventure back down to earth, but as medals
were secured on blustery shoulders at the bottom, cheeks glowed with the satisfaction of achievement ( and a little
bit of wind chill ! ).
So far the total collected stands at over £1,000, with the majority still to hand their money in. I will post the final
tally once it is all in.
Can I thank all participants, from pupils to staff for their efforts and making it a memorable day.
N Boyce
Page 4
Scottish FA Schools League Cup Winners
Lanark Grammar
School’s seven-a-side
football stars won
the Scottish FA National Learning Disabilities School League
Cup at Toryglen in
Glasgow recently.
The Grammar boys –
aged from S1 to S6 –
defeated Glasgow
outfit Abercorn 2-1 in
the final thanks to
goals by Cameron
Pollock and Nathan
Fleetwood.
A proud Mr Gardiner with the squad including Mark Morris, Chad Taylor, Ryan Gillan, Callum Wishart, Nathan
Fleetwood, Liam Daly, Shawn Cottam, Macoist Fordyce, Cameron Pollock and Cameron Steer.
“This is the first time a Lanark
Grammar team has won a Scottish
Cup since the 1950s,” said Team
Manager and Lanark Grammar
School PE teacher Mr Johnny Gardiner.
“It is great recognition for
the players’ efforts and I’m
overjoyed for them.
“They were brilliant during
the qualifying campaign and
then brilliant again during
the finals.
“They had lost in the semifinals last year so it is tremendous that they managed to win it on this occasion.”
Lanark Grammar had qualified for
the final stages by finishing as top
South Lanarkshire team in their regional qualifying section, when
games were played at Ravenscraig
Sports Facility.
But they made a less than brilliant
start to the finals and only ended up
qualifying as the third placed team
in their section.
Page 5
Although they beat Bucksburn 2-1,
Lanark lost 3-2 to Mary Russell and
3-0 against Carrongrange.
But the return of star defender
Cameron Steer – the team captain
who missed
these initial
three matches
after suffering a
migraine – for
the knockout
stage was key in
them improving
significantly as
the event went
on.
Mr Gardiner
said: “Cameron
returning meant I could restore him
to the defence and move Cameron
Pollock back into his preferred midfield position and play Nathan Fleetwood up front again.”
Lanark duly beat Balwearie 8-0 in
the quarter-finals and May Russell 2
-1 in the semi-finals to reach the
showpiece against Abercorn where
they were ultimately triumphant.
The stunning performances of Lanark Grammar in winning the national crown have led to four of their
players – Pollock, Fleetwood, Steer
and Chad Taylor – being selected
for trials with the Scottish under-19
disability squad.
That team’s manager David
McCardle was the man who presented Lanark Grammar with the
trophy at Toryglen.
The trial will take place later this
year.
Football for Lanark pupils with ASN
– conditions include dyslexia, ADHD
and autism – has been run at the
school for the past three years.
Ten youngsters are in the Lanark
seven-a-side squad as it goes from
strength to strength.
Johnny also thanks Tricia Millar for
all her support with the ASN youngsters and all the parents who come
along to every game the boys play.
J Gardiner & Lanark Gazette
Team GB for Nathan Fleetwood
UKSA announce Great Britain
Team aiming for success at the
Inas European Athletics Championships
The UK Sports Association for
People with Learning Disability
(UKSA) is pleased to announce
the six athletes who will represent Great Britain at the Inas European Athletics Championships
in Ankara, Turkey, 28 th June to
3rd July 2016, an event sanctioned by the IPC.
Preparing for tough competition
at one of Inas Europe’s top events
and making their international debut for Great Britain are Reece
Palmer (County Durham), Nathan
Fleetwood (Lanark, Lanarkshire)
and Paul Davidson (Inverness), who
will be joined by Daniel Pass
(Birkenhead, Wirral), Owen Miller
(Dunfermline, Fife) and Declan
Manning (Bungay, Suffolk).
The GB Team will be led by Jane
Coia (Team Manager), supported by
Deputy Team Manager/Coach,
Tommy Patterson and GB Coach,
John Kinder.
takes notice in this Paralympic
year. British sport needs to give
these athletes the recognition
they
deserve
and
have
earned. Investment in learning
disability sport at this level is at
an all-time low, despite legacy
promises. This needs to change
to preserve the future of talented
athletes with learning disability in
performance sport.”
Nathan at the Scottish National Championships in
February with an American athlete.
Fifteen year old Nathan Fleetwood
commented “It’s exciting and I’ll
give it my best. I’m aiming for top 3
or a gold medal”.
Tracey McCillen, Chief Executive,
UK Sports Association said
“Congratulations go to the athletes
and staff selected to represent GB
at the Championships. We are confident we have a good mix of experience, enthusiasm and talent to do
Britain proud.”
“Inas events are an important part
of the performance pathway, and I
hope that British sport sits up and
10 countries are expected to
compete at the Inas European
Athletics Championships.
The Great Britain Team is selected
and managed by UKSA with the support of its four Home Country members, Scottish Disability Sport, Disability Sport Northern Ireland, Welsh
Sports Association for People with
Learning Disability and Mencap
Sport in England.
Lanark Grammar pupil Nathan will
represent Great Britain in the 100m
hopefully the 4 x 100m relay which
has still to be confirmed.
Issued by the UK Sports Association for People with Learning Disability (UKSA)
The Under 13s LGS football team have enjoyed a good season putting in some very good performances and narrowly missing out on a place in the Lanarkshire Cup Semi- finals. To end the season
they enjoyed a trip to St. Mirren Football Club at The Paisley 2021 Stadium on Wednesday 1 st June.
The boys had the opportunity to tour the stadium which is also the official home of the Scotland
Under 21s team. They saw the home and away dressing rooms, media area, boardroom, hospitality suites and new supporters lounge as well as going pitch side.
Following the tour the team were put through their paces in the form of an Academy Level training session by the
Football Development Officer Ross Paterson and Junior Academy Coach Ryan Tait in the SMISA JD Airdome at the
stadium. The boys undertook a short warm up which included brain training and cognitive exercises in relation to
awareness on a football pitch before engaging in passing and shooting drills which were developed to replicate
game situations. They then finished with a 7 v 7 match in the dome.
The team thoroughly enjoyed the trip and hopefully benefited from the Academy session. I would like to thank all
the boys for their commitment, performances and positive attitude to school football throughout the year.
S Macfarlane
Page 6
Sport Superstars 2016
School Sports 2016
This year, we had over 150 S1-3 pupils participating in the
school sports. Luckily for us, the John Cumming Stadium had
received Mrs Sanders’ order for a sunny day! Yay! Pupils participated in a total of 6 different events, 3 track and 3 field.
These events allowed competitors to accumulate points
throughout the duration of the day from 1st place all the way through to
10th place. With our exceptionally talented Mrs McEwan with her
‘spreadsheet know-how’ and with assistance from Mrs Mackenzie, the
winners of each event were calculated alongside the overall winner of
Lanark Grammar’s School Sports 2016! Without further ado, the results
are as follows:
Only joking! The winners will be revealed at the Celebrating Sporting Success assembly during the last week of term. Well done to everyone who
participated, as ever, your behaviour and effort was fantastic!
County Sports 2016
As a result of such strong performances in the school
sports, 45 pupils from S1-3 represented Lanark
Grammar School at the County Sports. The initial day
gives pupils an opportunity to compete for a place in
the finals which is held the following week and our
incredibly talented bunch managed to qualify for a
total of 40 events. Finals day did not disappoint with
Lanark securing 21 medals in total! This really is an
incredible achievement as there is such strong competition from South Lanarkshire’s 19 competing
schools. Below is the list of medal winners, a huge
well done to you all!
L Rankine
Liam Grant
GOLD
Long jump
Leon Kelly
BRONZE
Shot putt
Jessica Robson
GOLD
1200m
Andrew Barrett
BRONZE
800m
Erin Snow
GOLD
1500m
Niamh Anderson
BRONZE
200m
Ellie Davidson
SILVER
High jump
Finlay Patrick
BRONZE
1500m
Olivia Ferguson
SILVER
600m
Zara Higgins
BRONZE
800m
Cameron Snell
SILVER
Long jump
Eve Joyce
SILVER
100m
Zara Higgins
SILVER
High jump
Christina Eadie
SILVER
Shot putt
Christina Eadie
SILVER
100m
James McClafferty
SILVER
100m
Holly Rolls
BRONZE
Shot putt
Page 7
S3 GIRLS RELAY
Amy MacLarty
Niamh Anderson
Eve Joyce
Zara Higgins
GOLD
Italy 2016
28 pupils and students from S2-S6
travelled to the Bay of Naples, Italy
during the Spring Break.
Day 1 involved travelling to Liverpool Airport to catch the flight to
Naples with a late
arrival at the Hotel Oriente in Vico
Ecquense. A lavish meal was put
on for the whole
group , which was
much appreciated
after service station lunch and
snacks at the airport. All first time
fliers coped well.
Day 2 After a good
night’s sleep, it was up early for a
7.30 breakfast and off to visit the
Acropolis at Cuma, home of the Sibyl, the priestess of Apollo. It was
here that the legendary Trojan hero, Aeneas, landed his fleet and engaged the Sibyl as his guide to the
Underworld. Next it was off to the
entrance to the Underworld, the
Solfatara volcano and the smell of
rotten eggs/sulphur. We engaged
Chiro as our guide and his
knowledge of the Fiery Fields and
the volcanic area was excellent and
his Latin was even better as he recounted Pliny’s eyewitness account
of the eruption of Vesuvius. Last
Page 8
stop of the day was at Puzzuoli and
the third largest Flavian Amphitheatre. For many this was the highlight
of the day as we explored the underground rooms/cells under the
arena where animals and gladiators
would have been held before the
shows. Tired and smelly( sulphur
fumes), we returned to the hotel for
a well earned shower and a pizza
party dinner.
Day 3 saw the group trek up to the
summit of Mount
Vesuvius and spectacular views of the
Bay of Naples and of
course the inside of
the vast crater of
this sleeping volcano. After risk assessing the ONE
toilet with no water
on the volcano, the
decision was made
that our next stop
was toilet, lunch then onto Herculaneum. Here the group explored the
excavations of the town in groups
filing in the worksheets. Many highlights to this day but for some it was
seeing the excavated skeletons in
the boathouses bringing the reality
of the devastating 79AD eruption
right up close and personal by seeing victims lying where they per-
ished. On the way back to the hotel
the group paid a visit to the Villa
Arianna, a huge country house and
well preserved.
Day 4 Everybody got a “wee rest”
on the coach trip down the
Almalfi Coast to the ancient
Greek settled of Paestum.
Three magnificent Greek
temples from the 5th century
BC dominate the Roman
town. After a visit to the museum at Paestum, it was back
up the coast to Sorrento for a
late lunch and time for leisure
and shopping in glorious sunshine.
Day 5. The full day was spent
at Pompeii exploring all aspects of Roman life from the 1st
century AD:- shops, laundries, private houses, temples, theatres, amphitheatres, bath houses, tombs,
the forum and of course the famous
plaster casts of the victims caught
up in the eruption of Vesuvius. Last
night in Italy was Tartan Night and
the group really excelled themselves.
Day 6 Travel home, back to the rain,
complete diaries and a catch up on
sleep on the way back to Lanark.
After six days of excellent Italian
food, the coach heaved with talk of
KFC, MacDonald’s and Burger King
and the coach driver duly obliged
with a stop at a service station on
the way back from Liverpool. Then
students could be heard asking
their parents to get a Chinese take
away for their return! All in all this
was an excellent trip with students
soaking in the culture, the sun and
the ambiance .
S Harrison
Marta Martin
A young person who joined our
fourth year at Lanark Grammar this
session from Madrid, Spain, is coming to the end of her year in Scotland and will shortly return home.
Marta came to Lanark in June 2016
to live with a family friend to learn
more about Scottish culture and to
improve her English language skills.
Despite the language difference,
Marta has undertaken subjects at
National 5 this year in English,
Maths, Biology, Chemistry and
French, in addition to Higher Spanish which she undertook with staff
in the Languages faculty. What a
challenging S4 timetable for anyone never mind a non-English
speaker!!
Marta coped incredibly well and
developed her already excellent
English language abilities. Marta
studied both National 5 English and
National 5 English as a Second Language this year. She embraced life
in the Scottish classroom and always got fully involved. She joined
in with every lesson and read aloud
from “Romeo and Juliet”, something even native speakers would
find difficult. She worked her way
through Scottish poetry and broadsheet newspaper articles and really
developed skills to be proud of.
More than this, Marta was able to
bring a little of her own culture into
the English classroom, informing
the class of how early school started in Spain if ever they were too
“tired” to start close reading work
during period 1 and writing a fantastic folio piece on Spanish Bullfighting. Marta worked tirelessly to
bring her English up to National 5
level and was always selfmotivated and keen to improve – a
mindset that creates success.
Marta has been a delightful young
lady and always had a huge smile
on her face. She had such an engaging personality and this allowed
her to quickly establish a wide circle of friends and they are all sad to
see her return to Spain.
We were fortunate to have shared
the last year with you Marta and
we hope we will all see you again
in the not too distant future.
Adiós, pero no de despedida.
Staff and Pupils of Lanark Grammar
School
Important Dates
Please find below, information about important dates in the school calendar. I hope that you find it helpful.
Senior Prizegiving
Tuesday 21 June
End of Term
Friday 24 June @ 1.00pm
New Academic Session begins
Monday 15 August @ 8.45am
Kirklands Road
Lanark
ML11 9AJ
Phone: 01555 667520
Head Teacher : Mr. Mark Sherry
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