In an update to last week’s post we now have some pupils who are part of the Accelerated Reader Millionaires Club.  Congratulations go to: Cian Woodsend  who has read 1,577828 words, closely followed by Benedict Elliott with 1,546,807 and hot on their heels  is George Green with 1,278,836 words read.  All of the youngsters in S1 and S2 should have books that they are reading as part of the Accelerated Reader scheme, so do ask them what they are reading at the moment and recommend some of your favourite reads to them, too.

The KWN Team from two years ago (“It Gets Better” accessed here) went to the Stonewall conference in Edinburgh last Friday accompanied by Mr Flood and Ms Adam.  They gave a presentation to the delegates about their work and participated in a question and answer session.  The organisers were extremely impressed with them and Mr Flood and Ms Adam were extremely proud of their advocacy and maturity.  The new KWN Team have just finished their training and are setting about picking a topic for their film – I look forward to telling you more about it in the near future.

The Higher RMPS class visited the Buddhist Temple in Eskdalemuir for an overnight trip last week.  They had an opportunity to tour the Temple, see daily prayers, walk in the peace garden, try some meditation as well as relaxing in the Tibetan tearooms.  It was an enjoyable and educational experience and all pupils were a credit to the school.   

On Wednesday night, three of our senior pupils took part in their first debating competition.  Liska Crofts, Iona Lee and Ailish Kelly were pipped at the post by pupils from Boroughmuir High School, but Iona was awarded the prize for “Best Individual Speaker”.  It takes a lot of nerve and preparation to compete at debating, so hearty congratulations to them and I echo Mrs Fairbairn’s sentiments from her  email to me, “I’m so proud of them!”

Last night Ms Whitfield and her team took 20 excited pupils to see “Iron” at the Traverse Theatre.  The pupils were excited to see how the cast would translate this modern thriller to the stage.  They were a credit to the school and I would like to extend my thanks to the parents who were waiting to pick up their children when they returned at 11.15pm!

You will have noticed that a questionnaire has gone out to pupils regarding the dress code consultation and thanks go to Finlay Munro and Mr McSwan for organising that.  I shall be posting questionnaires for parents and staff either later today or on Monday.  The surveys will be open until the 26th November, so please have your say.

The S6 have been adding to their fundraising efforts today by collecting for Children In Need.  The costumes that they wore were amazing and I am sure we’ll manage to post some photos soon, along with the grand total of money raised.

I am planning to be in school between 5pm and 7pm on Thursday 22nd November on a first-come-first-served basis for any parent or carer who wishes to come in and have a word.  Please pop in if there is anything that you wish to ask or comment upon – just take a seat on the green seating to the right of the main entrance.

Enjoy your weekend!