The BAnner - Bearsden Academy

Issue 6
May 2015
a
The BAnner
We’re in the money!!
Inside this issue
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8-9
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12-13
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Values & Charter
Headlines
Awards
Young Engineers
Poetry Competition
ICT Conference
Malaga Football Trip
Malawi Update
Values & Charter
S6 Leavers
Millie‘s Books
YASS reception
PTA Plant Sale
Debating
Congratulations
Calendar
Bearsden pupils
launch new £5 note
Issue 6
Bearsden Academy
Our Vision
Committed to excellence by working together to be all we can be.
Our Values
Supporting Rationale: Bearsden Academy is a vibrant learning community that strives to
respect the rights of our young people to fulfil their potential. To this end, we are committed to supporting and challenging all members of our school community to become successful learners, confident individuals, effective contributors and responsible citizens.
School Charter
Everyone
Pupils
Adults
You have the right to be
treated in a polite and sensitive manner.
You have the right to learn
and to allow others to learn.
You have the right to give
and receive positive and
constructive
feedback.
You have the right to be
treated fairly as an
individual.
You have the right to exercise your full potential.
You have the right to expect
classwork and homework to
be returned to the best of
pupils‘ ability
You have the right to expect
pupils to come appropriately
prepared for lessons.
You have the right to be
listened to.
You have the right to feel
safe.
You have the right to be
respected as a member of
the school community
Page 2
You have the right to expect teachers to be appropriately prepared for lessons.
You have the right to expect
positive behaviour from pupils.
Issue 6
HeadLines
As we pass the midpoint of this short summer term, this edition of our BAnner features yet
more pupil success stories. In addition, it details some of the fantastic opportunities for
pupils to learn new skills in all kinds of exciting contexts.
In March we were delighted when our young engineers were approached to test the new
polymer £5 notes issued by the Clydesdale Bank. Heather Reid from the Institute of Physics
came along to oversee the experiments. Pupils then repeated the experiments at the Science
centre for the official launch of the notes and found themselves in many of the national
newspapers as a result.
S2 and S3 Computing Studies pupils had the chance to attend the International Computing
Conference in Paris, while boys from S1, S2 and S3 football teams flew to Spain where they
trained with some of the Malaga coaches.
Poetry competition, Debating and Sporting successes are also listed in the pages of our newsletter.
We bade farewell to the Class of 2015 at the end of last month. They were an excellent
group of young people and most certainly demonstrated that they were successful learners,
effective contributors, responsible citizens and confident individuals. We wish them well as
they go on to further study or to employment and we look forward to meeting the group one
more time at the Prom early next month.
We will welcome back the new S5 and S6 at the start of June. Around the same time, we
will greet next session‘s S1 cohort, when our Primary 7 pupils visit the school on Thursday
4th and Friday 5th June. Thanks to a successful and comprehensive transition programme,
the P7 pupils are already very familiar with the school.
Next week we also have the excitement of a new timetable and the changes to the school
day. A reminder of the new timings is featured below.
As ever, June will be a busy month with concerts, awards ceremonies and many educational
trips and activities. We look forward to it and to the exciting opportunities for our young
people. My thanks, as ever, to the sterling support provided by staff and parents in ensuring
our young people have a productive, enjoyable and memorable school experience.
George Cooper
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MONDAY & WEDNESDAY
8.50 – 9.00
Registration
9.00 – 9.50
Period 1
9.50 – 10.40 Period 2
10.40 – 10.55 Interval
10.55 – 11.45 Period 3
11.45 – 12.35 Period 4
12.35 – 13.25 Period 5
13.25 – 14.15 Lunch
14.15 – 15.05 Period 6
15.05 – 15.55 Period 7
TUESDAY, THURSDAY & FRIDAY
8.50 – 9.00
Registration
9.00 – 9.50
Period 1
9.50 – 10.40 Period 2
10.40 – 10.55 Interval
10.55 – 11.45 Period 3
11.45 – 12.35 Period 4
12.35 – 13.25 Lunch
13.25 – 14.15 Period 5
14.15 – 15.05 Period 6
Issue 6
Awards
In June, we will be holding our annual Awards ceremonies – the Junior one on Tuesday 2nd
June and the Senior one on Tuesday 16th June. We are sometimes asked for the methods
used to select pupils for the various awards.
In S4, S5 and S6, the situation is relatively straightforward. The pupil who has the best
performance overall in each subject gains first prize. This is a book prize and the runners up
(between 1 and 5 depending on the number of pupils who study the subject) gain Certificates
of Merit. In S4, pupils gain awards at National 5 level, In S6 pupils gain awards at Higher or
National 5 level and in S6 pupils gain awards at Advanced Higher and Higher levels.
In S1 and S2, where all pupils study the same subjects, subject Departments nominate 15
pupils who have performed best academically in the course of the year. These results are collated and pupils who receive one or two nominations gain a Bronze certificate, those who
gain 3 or 4 nominations get a Silver certificate and those who gain more than 5 get a Gold
certificate. Silver and Gold certificates are given out at the Awards ceremony, Bronze
certificates are given out at Assembly. This year, we have moved S3 pupils on to a similar
system, with a sliding scale of nominations depending on the number of pupils in the
department.
In addition in S1 to S4, pupils who have gained the most merits throughout the year are
awarded Certificates of Achievement at the Awards ceremony. The Sports championship
trophies are awarded at the junior Awards and any significant achievements in sports or in
areas such as Music, Maths Challenge, engineering competitions are also recognised at both
events. A number of prizes are named in memory of former members of staff, e.g. the Tom
Forsyth Prize for Biology, the Norman McLeod memorial medals for School Captains.
While the Awards ceremonies give formal recognition to the outstanding performance of
some of our talented pupils, we endeavour to recognise the achievements of all pupils
throughout the year. This includes in Form classes and at PSE, at Assemblies and, of course,
in the Banner.
S6 prizewinners, June 2014
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Issue 6
Clydesdale Bank launches New Plastic £5 note with help from Young
Engineers club
On Monday 23rd March the Clydesdale Bank launched Britain‘s first polymer Banknote. The
Young Engineers club were given the opportunity to help with the launch by recreating some
of the experiments which the developers carried out to ensure that the new notes would be at
least 2.5 times more durable than the current paper notes.
In the days leading up to the
launch, Bank executives and film
crews descended on the school to
film the experiments, which were
devised and carried out by Fergus
Hempel, Daniel McLaren, Emily
Bell and Jennifer Harvey, and overseen by Heather Reid who is an
ambassador for the Young Engineers and Science Clubs in Scotland. The Tensile testing machine
was adapted to take banknotes, for
a tensile test, a pneumatic circuit
was designed to facilitate a rubbing
test, and the Chemistry department supplied the materials and equipment for an acetone exposure test.
The tests were then recreated at the
Glasgow Science Centre for the
official press launch, where BBC
and ITV reporters, recorded the
experiments, and carried out interviews with some of the participants.
Debbie Crosbie, acting CEO of
Clydesdale Bank, said: "Being
able to involve the next generation
of Scottish engineers with the
launch has been particularly pleasing. Hopefully some of the children present will go on to
play their part in developing future engineering and scientific innovations."
The four experimenters were presented with Commemorative first editions of the note which
celebrates the 125th anniversary of the opening of the Forth Bridge and it‘s designer and
builder, Sir William Arrol.
Mr Jilks would like to thank Ms Wassell and the Science
technicians, for their help in providing guidance and materials for the tests.
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Issue 6
Poetry by Heart
from Mr Proffitt
Congratulations to Amy McCall and David Loh, who represented Bearsden Academy at the
Glasgow regional heat for Poetry by Heart Scotland – a new national poetry recital
competition.
The competition has been running in England for some years, but has only just arrived in
Scotland. Entrants must memorise and recite two poems of their own choosing in front of a
panel of three judges, who score the performances on accuracy, expression, clarity and level
of difficulty. Both Amy and David performed extraordinarily well despite stiff competition
from Hutchesons' Grammar, The High School of Glasgow and Bishopbriggs Academy. Although neither made it through to the national final, both came away from the competition
having greatly enjoyed the experience and with their chosen poems etched indelibly on their
hearts to carry with them forever!
David delivered Edwin Morgan‘s love poem ‗Strawberries‘ <http://www.poetrybyheart.org.
uk /poems/strawberries/> and Helen Mackay‘s heart-rending war poem ‗Train‘
<http://www.poetrybyheart.org.uk/poems/train/>.
Amy chose to recite ‗How to Kill‘ <http://www.poetrybyheart.org.uk/poems/how-to-kill/>
– a powerful meditation on life, death and warfare by Keith Douglas – alongside the beautiful but unsettling ‗Picnic‘ <http://www.poetrybyheart.org.uk/poems/picnic/> by Rose
Macauley.
All four poems (and many others) can be
found at www.poetrybyheart.org.uk
<http://www.poetrybyheart.org.uk/>
Our warmest congratulations and thanks
to both pupils for representing the English
department, and the school, so eloquently!
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Issue 6
ICT Conference in Paris
On 28th February, twenty-one S2 and S3 Computing Science pupils and three members of
staff headed to France to attend an ICT conference called ICT Live. Coincidentally, the conference was in Disneyland Paris, which helped fill up the time before the conference!
We stayed at the Hotel Cheyenne, within walking distance of the Disneyland Parks, arriving
after a long day of train travel across the UK, under the English Channel and through Paris.
On our first day, we headed into the two Disneyland
parks and had fun on the rides and meeting the Disney characters. We dined together at a Tex-Mex
buffet, then some of us caught the evening parade in
the park, and others did some shopping. Those that
were still full of energy tired themselves out becoming champions of the arcade at the hotel (apart from
Callum, who spent some time riding on the train,
much to the disapproval of his embarrassed classmates).
The conference itself was about ICT in today's world, and featured talks from three technologists: Joe McEwan, a marketing director at Innocent smoothies, discussed the used of digital marketing; Clive Beale of Raspberry Pi talked about learning to create and program using
small, cheap Raspberry Pi computers, and the future of Computing Science; Kate Russell,
presenter of BBC Click and technologist, discussed her history with technology and why
Computing Science is important to everyone.
The audience consisted of pupils from dozens of schools across the UK, who asked interesting questions about the talks. Some Bearsden Academy pupils managed to get a few pictures
with the hosts and ask them some extremely geeky questions about online gaming!
After a very tiring three days we headed back to Glasgow with a plethora of merchandise
and memories.
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Issue 6
Malaga Football Trip
On Friday 1st May 40 Bearsden Academy pupils, from S1, S2 and S3, travelled to Malaga to
take part in this year‗s Football Development Trip. The trip provides pupils with an opportunity to play, train and improve their fitness, all under the instruction of some the best youth
team coaches from top Spanish clubs.
Over the course of the trip, pupils worked with Malaga C.F. coaches and took part in daily
training sessions, where they completed passing drills, shooting practice and game like situations all with the intention of developing their skills and playing the game the Spanish way.
Pupils also had the opportunity to have some relaxation time, and enjoy some of the facilities
that the five star Hotel had to offer. Both the outdoor and indoor pool were well used and
proved useful in helping players cool down after those tough training sessions. Some pupils
saw this as an opportunity to try and get their own back on the teachers, by pushing them in
to the pool. They tried... and failed!
Pupils visited Malaga C.F.‗s home ground, La Rosaleda, and got the opportunity to explore
the club shop and go on a behind the scenes tour of the stadium. They learned some of the
history behind the club, where many greats of the game, such as Isco, Joaquin and Manual
Pellegrini have all spent some of their careers. Pupils also got to meet some of the current
first team players, including Tissone, Samuel Castillejo, Amrabat and Kameni (the Goalkeeper), all of whom posed for many selfies.
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Issue 6
Pupils also attended the Malaga C.F. vs. Elche Spanish Liga BBVA game. Unfortunately,
the game ended in a 2-1 defeat but pupils enjoyed the game and got to watch some of the
players, that they had met earlier, showcase their talents and do what they do best on the
pitch.
When asked, pupils found it difficult to agree on the highlight of the trip. For some, it was
the Malaga C.F. fixture and stadium tour. Others preferred seeing the luxury sport cars and
spending an evening at the expensive Puerto Banus marina. However, everyone would agree
the exceptional training sessions, delivered by the Malaga C.F. coaches Alex, Dani and Rafa,
ensured all pupils could have fun and develop their abilities. The trip was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone that attended and I‗m sure all would love to take part in a similar experience again.
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Issue 6
Malawi Update
With only a few weeks to go until our own Malawi girls, accompanied by Mrs Singer and Miss Caldwell, head off to Africa, it was good to get an update on the situation at Ngumbe recently. Work has
now begun on the girls‘ hostel and there is great joy among the female pupils.
An extract from Lickson Mchepa, our Link person in Ngumbe
Greetings from Malawi,
We would like to update you on the progress of the second project, the girls’ hostel. The girls are
extremely delighted for being considered so that they can be at par with their male counterparts.
They feel justice has
been done.
As a boarding master, I am happy too and commend you for complimenting the government’ effort in
encouraging the girl child to remain in school through providing conducive environment for learning.
We are really looking forward to getting information back from our own team when they return in
the autumn term. In the meantime, we wish them
a safe journey and a productive trip.
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Issue 6
West of Scotland EYP
As surely as spring follows winter, once the Prelims are over it is time to start work on
preparation for the west of Scotland regional sessions of the European Youth Parliament.
As always this entails hours of effort after school and in evenings as well as the ability to
gather facts on and be able to debate topics as diverse as the freedom of the press or the best
way to campaign against FGM.
Our teams were allocated the Committees of LIBE and AFET and aided by EYP alumni
from as far back as 2010 (thanks Elliot) who very kindly give up their increasingly precious
free time to appear in school to give the new teams the benefit of their experience. The real
hard graft, however, is done as always by the most recent alumni, including some of those
who took part in Glasgow but didn‘t get down to Liverpool. Heartfelt thanks to them all.
The west of Scotland Regional
round was organised again this year
by Ali Sinan Amjad
(class of 2012) with
Max Cochrane and
Jessica Docherty
(class of 2014) as
judge and vice
president respectively. It is really
encouraging to see
former pupils remain involved in
these competitions.
One of the drawbacks of having two teams in the competition is the fact that it is unlikely
that both will go through to Nationals and so it proved. With excellent
performances from both teams, it
was AFET (Meekal Amjad, Rachel
Halliday, Hannah Gilchrist, Rebecca Gilchrist, Niamh Frame,
Alex Murray Reynolds, Sami Ross,
Laura Tounsi, Euan Wells) who
will progress to Liverpool while
LIBE (Vedant Bhargava, Catriona
Booth, Matthew Docherty, Ophira
Gottlieb, Sondos Ibrahim, David
Loh, Neesh Ram, Lara Suna,) can
certainly be proud of their efforts.
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Issue 6
S6 Leavers
It was the earliest Leavers‘ Day ever.
Friday April 24th. The final day of
school for the Class of 2015. After
four gloriously sunny days, it was dull
and grey but the high spirits of the
soon to be former pupils made up for
that.
After a final Assembly with Mr
Cassidy and collecting their hoodies,
they piled onto the buses and headed
for West of Scotland Rugby ground
for some final fun and games.
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Issue 6
The bouncy castle and other inflatables proved an exciting draw initially, with ever more bizarre ways of
descending. Mostly, however, it was
groups of pupils chatting and taking
photos. Lunch provided plenty to eat
for everyone and afterwards with rain
clouds looming, the group sat down
for a hotly contested general knowledge quiz. And then it was over. And
they drifted away. However, there‘s
still that limbo month of exams and
studying and concerts and awards
ceremonies and lots more before the
final farewell at the Prom on 8th June.
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Issue 6
S1 French Baby Book Project
Earlier in the year S1 pupils completed an interesting homework assignment. Each pupil
designed their own ―baby book‖ in French. They used the vocabulary they had learned
about rooms in the house and furniture, as well as prepositions like ―dans‖ (in) and
―sous‖ (under). They picked a cartoon character such as Winnie L‘Ourson or Peppa Pig and
designed a book based around trying to find their character.
The Modern Languages teachers were delighted with the professional books that the S1
pupils produced. Mrs McIntyre took them home to let her daughters Millie and Hannah,
read them. They loved them and they chose their favourite ones. The pupils who made the
best books in each class got a prize. Well done S1 French pupils.
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Issue 6
Young Applicants in Schools Scheme
On April 1st (not a joke) we attended the YASS reception in the Scottish Parliament. Rhona Gregory
and Iona Smith, two of the pupils who had studied
YASS modules attended along with Mrs MacKay,
who coordinates the programme in school. What exactly is YASS? It is the Young Applicants in Schools
Scheme, run by the Open University, which allows
S6 pupils to undertake an Open University module.
Rhona, who hopes to study nursing, chose to do the
module on ― . while Iona studied autism spectrum
disorders, which she is sure will help her in her future
studies in Psychology.
While the YASS
programme obviously gives pupils the opportunity to study subjects not readily available in school, it does demand
commitment to regular study. The reception at Holyrood
was in recognition of the work done by the programme
in expanding the horizons of school pupils and we were
able to meet with many of the MSPs involved including
Jackson Carlaw, Stewart Maxwell and our local MSP
and former pupil Fiona MacLeod , who never fails to
give Bearsden a special ―mention‖.
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Issue 6
PTA Plant sale
When we planned the plant sale back
the dark days of February, we imagined a lovely sunny spring day.
Well, the sun was shining for some
the time but it was interspersed with
squally showers and a howling gale.
in
of
Not that this deterred the clientele,
who turned up in encouraging numbers to buy plants in the windswept
courtyard and then defrost over a
cup of tea.
Following on from the success last
year, Primary school pupils were
again asked to design a poster to advertise the plant sale and we had an extremely difficult
task in choosing a winner. However,
Haley Chan from Baljaffray was
eventually declared the winner and
receives a £10 token for the Art
Store for her efforts, as well as the
pride in seeing her design all round
Bearsden.
At the end of the morning, we were
delighted to find a considerable increase in our takings from last year.
Thanks and well done to all concerned in organising this event.
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Issue 6
Congratulations to Thomas Wilson and Angus Morton who have had an excellent year‘s
Debating culminating in reaching the semi finals of the English Public Speaking Mace competition immediately prior to the Easter holidays. In the course of the year, they have had to
acquire relatively detailed knowledge about many diverse topics—the topic for the semis
being
―This house believes that the United States Government should ban parental optout for sex education in schools‖
I‘m not sure how many of us could manage to speak for 5 minutes on that particular topic!
In previous rounds they had debated
―This house would only imprison those convicted of serious violent crimes‖
―This house believes that all politicians should have to stand as independent, unaffiliated
candidates in elections‖
―This house believes that an ever
closer union offers the best future
for the citizens of Europe.‖
Having argued their way through
these motions, with a somewhat
cavalier attitude to preparation at
times, they well deserved their
place in the semis. It was also
good to meet up with former pupil, Elliot Porter, still active in debating and a judge in the other
semi final.
Well done, gentlemen, and every
success in your future public
speaking and debating. Don‘t stop
now!
PTA Prize draw
April
1st (£30)
2nd (£20)
3rd (£10)
Page 17
Ellie Monachan 3E
Louise Queen 6.2
Grace Bower 5.10
May
Jack Forrest 6.2
Daniel Hilditch 6.6
Sofia Capaldi 4C
Issue 6
Congratulations
Orienteering
Alice Wilson (S1) is the Under 14 British Sprint Orienteering Champion after winning the final for her age class held
at Aldershot in the south of England in the middle of May.
Alice won by 40 seconds (a considerable margin in sprint
orienteering) from her nearest rival. The race involved navigating at speed around Aldershot army barracks in two back
to back sprint races - one to qualify for the final and then the
final itself.
Gymnastics
As reported in the last Banner,
the gymnastics team of Chloe
Boyles, Erin Brown, Nikki Li
and Hannah Scott were gold
medal winners at East Dunbartonshire level and qualified for
the Scottish schools competition
Football
After hard fought campaigns, the Under 16 boys reached the play off stages of their competition and The Under 13s reached the final of the Castle cup, unfortunately losing out at that
stage. Well done to all teams and their hard working coaches.
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Issue 6
Tennis triumph
The boys tennis team recently defeated St Colomba‘s
(Greenock) 6-0 in their opening Junior Tennis Section. A couple of action shots from the game are
shown below.
The team consisted of Fraser
Edwards (S1), Scott Waterfield
(S4), Liam Gordon (S4), and
Euan Deveney (S1)
Last week, the boys were again
victorious, beating the High
School of Glasgow.
Queen’s Birthday salute.
Our former pupils get everywhere—even to the ramparts of Edinburgh
Castle. Sean Dick (class of 2011) took part in the 21 gun salute to honour
the Queen‘s birthday, back in April. Sean is a member of Strathclyde University‘s cadets who provide the salute on specific occasions.
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Issue 6
EVENTS CALENDAR
‗
JUNE
Monday 1st
Tuesday 2nd
Wednesday 3rd
Thursday 4th and Friday 5th
Thursday 4th June
Friday 5th - Friday 12th
Monday 8th
Wednesday 10th - Wednesday 24th
Sunday 14th –Monday 22nd
Tuesday 16th
Thursday 18th
Monday 22nd
Wednesday 24th
Thursday 25th
New timetable starts
Junior Awards Ceremony
P5/6 Induction Day
P7 Induction Days
P7 Parents’ meeting
Uniform evening
French Exchange
S6 Prom
Malawi Trip
USA trip
Senior Awards Ceremony
Summer Concert
Uniform evening
Activities
School Closes 1pm
The next meeting of the Parent Council is on Tuesday 2nd June
The next meeting of the Parent Teacher Association is on Monday 22nd June
Contact details:
Address : Stockiemuir Road, Bearsden, Glasgow G61 3SF
Phone number : 0141 955 2344
Fax number : 0141 942 5949
Pupil Absence Line: 0141 955 2345
Email : [email protected]
Web site : www.bearsdenacademy.e-dunbarton.sch.uk
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