ahs newsletter 41

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Anderson High School Newsletter

Issue 41

March 2013

Junior Up Helly Aa

Party


Inside this issue: Vocational Pathways 3

Head Teacher’s Comments 3

AHS Netball team through to quarter finals of Scottish

4

AH Physics Trip to C.E.R.N 5

Maakin and Yaakin 6

Wild Shetland - Are you ready for a Challenge?

7

Most Borrowed Books 8

Happy Hands, Happy Head 9

Shetland Schools Art Exhibition

10

PE News 13

AH Biology Trip 14

Fresh Fruit Freebie 15

S3 Egg Timers made in CDT 16

Curriculum for Excellence 18

Student Representative Council 20

ASN News 22

“The Crow” 30

Languages News 32

Valentine’s Cake Sale 33

Green Galaxy Productions 33

AHS 150th Anniversary Gala 34

Music News 36

Young Ambassadors 38

Mind Your Head Calendars 39

Pupils Make their Voices Heard 39

Beanfeasts 2012 40

Term 3 Monday 07 January 2013 - Friday 29 March 2013 inclusive

Spring Holidays : Monday 01 April 2013 - Friday 12 April 2013 inclusive

Term 4 Monday 15 April 2013 - Friday 28 June 2013

IN-SERVICE CLOSURE: OCCASIONAL HOLIDAY CLOSURE: Monday 15 April 2013 Friday 24 May 2013 Monday 19 August 2013 Monday 27 May 2013 Tuesday 20 August 2013 Monday 28 October 2013 Tuesday 29 October 2013

School Term Dates for 2013/2014

Term 1 Monday 19 August 2013 - Friday 11 October 2013 inclusive

October Holidays: Monday 14 October 2013 - Friday 25 October 2013 inclusive

Term 2 Monday 28 October 2013 - Friday 20 December 2013 inclusive

Christmas Holidays: Monday 23 December 2013 - Friday 03 January 2014 inclusive

(Pupils return to school on Monday 06 January 2014).

Important Dates

Return date for pupils after the

summer holidays is Wednesday 21st

August 2013.

Health & Wellbeing 42

AHS Voar Redd Up 42

Health Week 2012 43

Maths News 44

Nuffield Science Bursaries 45

Valentine’s Disco 46

150 Years Open Weekend 47

AHS Parent Council News 48

Active Schools 49


S3 Class Visits: Curriculum for Excellence

Over the last few months, I have visited nearly 40 lessons to observe how the school is getting on with implementing Curriculum for Excellence. At the moment, teachers are working hard to develop new courses in line with government guidance. Teachers are developing courses in Anderson, and locally with teachers from other secondary departments. Some AHS colleagues are contributing to developments by attending national meetings.

The current S4 pupils will be the last year group to sit “Standard Grades.”

The current S3 will be the first cohort of pupils to be presented for the new “National” qualifications in May 2014. At the end of S3, all pupils will complete their Personal Profile with the support of their Pupil Support teacher, reviewing how things have been going. Every subject department is storing evidence of pupils’ progress in each subject area, with youngsters having the chance to reflect upon their own progress.

Please have a look at pages 18 and 19 to see what’s ahead for S1, S2 and S3.

I have been thoroughly impressed with the way teachers and pupils in S3 are working together. I am confident that pupils in S3 are having the best possible preparation for embarking on the new National qualifications in S4.

New AHS

If you log on to http://www.shetland.gov.uk/education/documents/AHSnewsletter.pdf you will be able to follow the progress of the new school project. With the opening of our new school estimated by August 2016, planning meetings are now taking place. AHS has representatives on the new AHS Project Board, Project Team and Stakeholders Group. Alex Fullerton (Chair of our Parent Council) and Sarah Taylor (Vice Chair) represent AHS parents on the Stakeholders Group too. I was invited to visit Eastwood Academy in East Renfrewshire, a “reference school” for the new AHS, in January. Eastwood will open in August 2013. The visit gave me a clear impression of how our project could take shape and I was really very impressed with what I saw.

Head Teacher’s Comments - Ms V Nicolson

S2 pupils are currently in the process of choosing subjects for S3 and this process will be complete by the Easter holidays. At the same time pupils are applying for Vocational Pathways courses. The courses are run through the Shetland College and the NAFC Marine Centre. The courses on offer this year are Construction Crafts, Early Education and Childcare, Hairdressing, Hospitality, Contemporary Arts and Sound Engineering (at Mareel) through the Shetland College. On offer at the NAFC Marine Centre are courses in Engineering, Aquaculture and Maritime Skills.

The courses take place every second Friday for the duration of S3 and S4 apart from Hairdressing which takes place on alternate Thursdays, but only for S3. Pupils continue with 8 subjects and the expectation is they have to catch up on work missed. The courses have been running very successfully for a number of years and have helped pupils make informed decisions about their future careers. Pupils who have successfully completed Vocational Pathways courses have regularly commented on how the courses

helped to give more relevance to what they study in school. The AHS, Schools Service and the Colleges are committed to keep working together to ensure the courses keep enhancing pupils’ educational experience. If you have any queries about Vocational Pathways please contact Patrick Robertson in the Pupil Support department.

Vocational Pathways - Mr P Robertson, PT Pupil Support


The Anderson High School netball team finished top in their group and played the second round game in the Scottish Schools competition at the beginning of February. Winning this game has secured them a place in the Quarter finals of the competition.

AHS 43, Strathallan 21

The game started off with end to end play as both teams took a little while to settle into play. The Strathallan GS was working strongly in the circle, rarely missing a shot when she got the opportunity to shoot. The AHS defenders Kim Johnson(GK), Iona Holmes (GD) and Lynsey Morrison (WD) worked well together to pick up loose balls and got the ball back up to shooters Alina Murray and Liza Fullerton through some fluent movement from Clare Farmer and Jenny Anderson. AHS found their form and the quarter ended 10-8 to the Anderson girls. AHS had found their flow in the second quarter with Alina Murray shooting confidently from around the circle. The Strathallan girls worked tirelessly in the defence to try to force AHS shooters out their comfort zone. This didn't hinder the shooters though as Clare Farmer (WA) and Jenny Anderson (C) worked strongly together to get the ball into them. The first half ended with AHS taking the lead at 24-12.

In the third quarter the Anderson girls began taking control of the court. Zoey Symington took to the court as Goal Shooter and proved to be a calm player in the attack – rarely missing a shot right from the outset. The Strathallan girls worked tirelessly together with some strong play through the centre court, forcing AHS to defend harder. The Strathallan GS scored some impressive long range shots, despite good pressure from Kim Johnson (GK) Anderson held onto their lead comfortably 33-15 with one quarter to go. The last quarter saw the Strathallan girls never give up and continue to play their best but this wasn't enough as the Anderson girls continued in their strong form with Heather Marshall taking to the court and linking well with Jenny Anderson (C). The Strathallan GA continued to work tirelessly to get the ball passed into the circle but Iona and Kim worked strongly together to insure this rarely happened and the game ended with a strong win to the Anderson girls. Credit had to be given to the Strathallan lasses as they never gave up throughout the whole game and showed good sportsmanship. Final score 43-21 to AHS.

AHS through to quarter finals of Scottish Schools Competition—Miss K Leask, PE Department

Photos by Kevin Jones

AHS goal shooter Liza Fullerton prepares to shoot

AHS team discuss tactics before 2nd quarter gets

underway

Back (from left): Alina Murray, Zoey Symington, Liza Fullerton, Kim Johnson, Iona Holmes, Lynsey Morrison Front: Heather Marshall, Sarah Williamson, Haley Tulloch, Jenny Anderson, Clare Farmer

Kim Johnson and Albyn goal shooter Poppy Clayton-Littler challenge for

the ball during a toss-up

Issue 41

During the long weekend in February, our physics class travelled to Geneva in the French speaking part of Switzerland to visit C.E.R.N and meet some of the physicists, engineers and other staff who work there. The trip has been very successful. What we saw there was inspiring and motivational and memories of the time we spent together as a class will be treasured. With the much appreciated help of Mr Thomason’s contact, Pauline Gagnon (who is a particle physicist at the facility), we were able to see much more of the site than is usually visited on school trips. At the antimatter factory, our guide took us down in to the tunnel where the antimatter is created. This was possible as the tunnel was not in use at that time and so we were not in danger from harmful radiation. At C.E.R.N, there are four main detectors around the circular particle accelerator. A.T.L.A.S and C.M.S are the two main detectors. Similar experiments are conducted at each, but different types of technology are used in order to test the validity of the analysis. We were able to visit the control room at A.T.L.A.S. Pauline herself is working with that particular detector at C.E.R.N. She talked us through the experiment; how measurements are made and how the data is analysed; also how individual scientists and the various areas of C.E.R.N communicate with one another. We visited the office where the World Wide Web was devised originally for the express purpose of allowing physicists to share data with one another. As computers have become completely vital to the field of physics and finding out more about the particles which

we are composed of, C.E.R.N has always had very strong ties with computing and has invested a lot in its improvement. On our first day at C.E.R.N, we went to a physics ‘master class’ where we were further informed of the particles created in the Large Hadron Collider and how the various detectors within A.T.L.A.S may be used to distinguish them from each other. We then used a computer program and had a go at finding some particles ourselves using data collected from collisions at A.T.L.A.S. On our second day at C.E.R.N, we visited the microcosm (a museum describing C.E.R.N’s journey to becoming what it is today), the Globe of Innovation and also listened to a lecture from another Physicist called Marco van Woerden. He accompanied us to the main control centre at C.E.R.N. Whilst in Switzerland, we also felt that it was important to experience some of the other aspects of local culture. We tried Swiss cheese fondue and also visited chocolatiers where we were able to try some of Switzerland’s famous chocolate. On our return journey we visited the Balmoral Hotel and had afternoon tea, in Edinburgh. Unfortunately, one of the original class of thirteen was unable to come on the trip with us; he was very much missed by the rest of the class.

Advanced Higher Physics Trip to C.E.R.N February 2013

In conjunction with events held in the school during UNICEF week, a new “Maakin and Yaakin” lunchtime activity has started up. During these sessions all pupils and staff are welcome to come along and learn how to knit a simple baby hat, or perhaps more complex garments. Knitting needles and wool are provided. All garments produced will be passed on to the local volunteers of the Malawi Project, who will hand deliver these to people who need them in Africa. Wednesday 13 February was the first Maakin and Yaakin session and it was very well attended with 24 pupils and staff turning up to have a go. This session will run every Wednesday and everybody is welcome to come along. Some pupils have dropped along on other days, just to get a couple more rows made. Not only is knitting a constructive pastime, it is also a great way to relax and socialise.

Any parents, grandparents, family or friends who would like to join in and knit something for the Malawi project would be most welcome to do so. Also, if anybody has any unwanted needles or double knitting wool, all donations would be most gratefully received. If you would like a copy of the patterns or if you have any wool or needles you could donate, please contact Caroline Simpson at the school.

Maakin and Yaakin - Mrs C Simpson, Biology Department



At the end of May, as S1 transfer into S2, we will be embarking on a major new challenge. Social Subjects have teamed up with departments around the school, Pete Richardson (SIC Outdoor Education Officer) and other agencies to deliver and support the John Muir Explorer Award as part of the S2 curriculum. This year-long project will involve 4 major outdoor learning experiences, classroom activities, involvement in the annual Voar Redd Up and much more. In this, the 175th Anniversary of John Muir’s birth and the Year of Natural Scotland, we have created a real opportunity for Anderson pupils to discover and explore our amazing environment. S2 will also be working hard to improve our surroundings and to share their ideas and experiences with the whole community. If your child is currently in S1 you will be receiving more information soon. There are lots of ways that family and friends can help to support and encourage the successful completion of the John Muir Explorer Award. Look out for updates in future newsletters. If you would like to know more please contact Mr Keith Turner, Department of Geography.

Wild Shetland - Are you ready for a Challenge? Mr K Turner, Geography Department

Kat and Tanya have calculated the most borrowed AHS library books of 2012. Here are some of the winners. How many have you read? Fiction

1. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins Definitely the biggest hit of the year, boosted by the success of the film. The Hunger Games has been read by pupils, girls and boys, from S1 to S6. The ‘dystopian’ genre box has become a very popular place for finding new books “if you liked The Hunger Games”.

2. The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien In December the library encouraged everyone to read The Hobbit before seeing the new film. We ran a book review competition with a great prize. Two tickets to see the film at Mareel! The tickets were won by Regan Williamson in S3.

3. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days by Jeff Kinney Dog Days is the 4th book in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series which follows the comic adventures of Greg Heffley. There are 7 books so far and the first 4 have been made into films.

Adult Fiction

1. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee In 2012 several ‘Books and Banter’ pupils read and discussed this book with Kat and Mrs Scollay. A must read for pupils, staff and parents.

2. The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks The Last Song is one of many Nicholas Sparks novels which have been borrowed by AHS staff and pupils this year. Specialising in “books to mak you greet” his other popular novels include The Notebook and Dear John.

3. Mercy by Jussi Adler‐Olsen Scandinavian crime drama is the most popular genre among the staff at AHS. Mercy is the first part in a trilogy by Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsen.

Non-Fiction Footballers dominate the most borrowed non-fiction titles this year. The league table looks like this:

1. Sol Campbell by Andy Croft 2. Pele: his life and times by Harry Harris 3. In joint third. Mourinho: Anatomy of a Winner by Patrick Barclay and Didier Drogba: the Autobiography Didier Drogba

The Most Borrowed Books from AHS Library - Miss K Brack, Librarian


Pictured is Mr Moncrieff, an avid reader of all the Scandinavian crime novels!


In the last week before the prelims Linda Wiseman, a massage therapist, came along the school for a lunchtime session to teach S5/S6 pupils how to do hand massages. Linda stayed on for period 6 when S6 pupils had the choice to “opt-in” for a session with Linda during their PSE period. Hand massage is a simple technique which only takes 10 mins to learn and is a lovely way of de-stressing. Pupils who attended last year’s session reported that they had practiced their new skill on their friends during revision for the prelims and final exams, so it was felt this would be a worthwhile event to run again.

Happy Hands, Happy Head - Mrs C Simpson, Biology Department

Feedback from pupils attending this session was all positive. One girl stated “I had no idea it would be so nice – I loved it!” Another stated “my hands felt so soft and smooth for ages after and it definitely relaxed me.” At such a busy time for senior pupils it is important that they take some time out to relax and refresh their brains. What better way than with a hand massage. The pupils and staff would like to thank Linda for her time and hope to see her back in school soon.

Picture Books The top three borrowed picture books of 2012 were:

1. That’s Not Funny by Jeanne Willis A very popular book about an extremely cheeky giraffe!

2. No Matter What by Debi Gliori One of Tanya’s favourite books.

3. Monstersaurus! By Claire Freedman A monster called Monty who loves inventing.

Pictured with the most popular books (from L-R) Kaylee-Ann Best, Anthony Nisbet, John Robert Jamieson and Ellie Lynch

We also stamped out a whole lot of past papers and study guides this year… the most popular of

2012 was the ‘Higher English Grade Booster’.

The recent Shetland Schools Art and Design Exhibition in Da Gadderie was hailed as a resounding success by one and all. As the biggest school in the County, Anderson High School played a major roll in supplying a large part of the fantastic work that was put on display over the Christmas period. Director of Children’s Services Helen Budge said she was really excited by the work on show at the museum. “It shows the extraordinary breadth of talent and imagination our pupils have,” she said. Of course, an event of this scale and complexity does not just appear as if by magic. All the hard work by our pupils, of all ages, takes many hours to produce. Then the Art & Design Department staff have the extremely difficult task of selecting a range of pupil’s work – from all year groups - to submit for the show. Art & Design staff in Anderson High School use inclusivity as the major criteria for selecting what work to submit to the show. All of the Art staff want to display all aspects and all

levels of the courses they teach, to help illustrate the breadth and depth of work pupils get the opportunity to experience within this department. The ASN Department students also have some of their artwork included in the Exhibition and that is included in the gargantuan task of mounting, framing and safely transporting all the work to the Shetland Museum. Feedback from pupils, parents and the general public has been extremely positive and the overall success of this second Shetland Schools exhibition has ensured that through all the hard work and long hours of extra effort by all Art & Design staff, this is set to become a regular tri-annual event on the Museum’s gallery calendar.

Shetland Schools Art Exhibition - Mr F Hogg, PT Art & Design


Higher Portrait by Sophie Tulloch 6B, Higher Still Lifes by Charlotte Verdcourt-Lawrence 6H and Helen Laurenson 6D


Since the Exhibition has closed, and to maximise the return for all the extra work, the Art & Design Department has organised to display a lot of the framed work around classrooms within the school. It was thought that the departments with the most traffic would allow the work to be seen and admired by as many staff and pupils as possible. The works are now on show in the English, Modern Languages and Mathematics departments for the next few months. Parents

please look out for them in these places when next in for a parent’s night! As a foot note to the Schools Exhibition, the show that followed on was an exhibition by 6 Art Graduates, five of whom benefited from all or part of their Art & Design education at Anderson High School in the last few years.

Higher Still Lifes by Andrea Gordon 5D and Leah Sandison 6A


Andrew Sutherland 6G final Higher Design Unit

Arlene Godden 5D final Intermediate 2 Design Unit

Irie Harvey 6G final Intermediate 2 Design Unit

Shetland Schools Art Exhibition (continued)


Following the school inspection by H.M.I.E. in January 2012, the P.E. department had a good practice visit from H.M.I.E. inspector, Mr Donnie Macleod. He followed up the school inspection by coming to see how we use I.C.T. in our day to day teaching. We showed him how we use Dartfish for visual feedback for pupils which involves filming pupils while performing and replaying the footage for analysis. Tools such as comparison/overlay were shown as well as live delay where we can film a performance and the software automatically replays it within a set time afterwards. We also showed him how we are now using iPads for teaching and learning. Pupils are now using an App called “Dartfish Express” which is a simplified version of the full software package we have. This allows us to be more mobile with our video analysis, instead of being restricted to the games hall which is where our software is used. There are a number of other Apps which are being used such as “Coachnote” where we can annotate a defensive system of play such as man to man defence in Basketball clearly.

Dartfish - Express

PE News - Mr K Smith, PE Department

External Funding We have once again been successful in gaining external funding for our core P.E. curriculum. Education Scotland were asking for bids from schools to help “Raise the Bar” within core P.E. We identified that we needed additional equipment for our fitness room in the shape of a Concept 2 rowing machine and another upright exercise bike. This would then give us 10 CV stations for use with classes and also extra-curricular groups. We also bid for another 2 iPads following the success of our use with one we purchased last year. Our total bid was for £2,905.00. We heard a fortnight ago that we had been successful in our bid which we were delighted with. This will give our core classes more opportunity to engage in video analysis while performing and also gives us more scope to be flexible in our approach to using I.C.T. in our teaching.

On December 5th, we Advanced Higher Biologists left on our annual trip to visit science facilities in Dundee and Edinburgh. The trip provides us with experiences similar to that of students from the mainland and gives us an insight into biology careers and courses available. We had to raise funds for the trip ourselves and played a part in its organisation. As well as visits to Dundee University, Edinburgh Zoo and Dynamic Earth, we were able to spend free time together – eating out at Pizza Express and Jimmy Chung’s, shopping and planning our Beanfeast sketch. The class worked as a unit to raise funds that were essential for the trip. Collectively, everyone involved in fundraising had a positive attitude towards the task. Fundraising activities involved bag-packing, bake sales and selling ice-cream at the AHS “It’s a Knockout!” event last summer. All of these activities were successful in raising funds and reducing the total cost of the trip. The class were also very grateful for funds donated towards the trip from the Zetland Educational Trust and the AHS School Fund. The class managed to reduce the total cost of the trip allowing an all-inclusive trip to go ahead. Without the collective effort of the class in raising funds for the trip, the trip would not have been possible. On Thursday 6th December we arrived in Dundee to take part in a Physiology lab at the University along with students from other surrounding schools. It was very interesting to be able to carry out experiments such as oxygen consumption using the high quality equipment which we had been learning about. After lunch at the University cafe we carried out another lab, this time working with DNA. We managed to clone some Ecoli DNA which was really cool. It was amazing how we managed to master some of the intricate techniques used in major laboratories, such as using micropipettes and experimenting with agarose gel. Have you ever seen a dissected human head? Well that’s another amazing thing the Advanced Higher Biology class managed to see. After having carried out labs in the morning we rushed over to the Wellcome Trust to visit the Forensic Lab. We were greeted by an incredibly enthusiastic and passionate doctor who gave a very interesting talk on how to identify bones to tell the type of animal they were from and perhaps even how that animal had died. We were then shown sections of the human body such as an actual slice of human head and foot to view all the muscles and tendons. As we moved along the line of dissected human and animal parts we were suddenly greeted by a horrendous smell. At the bottom of the desks sat a large box full of flesh eating beetles munching on rabbit carcases. One boy even fainted. The sight and smell proving too much for him. Flesh eating beetles are used to strip the flesh off dead bodies so they can be easily identified.

Advanced Higher Biology Trip (written by the A H Biology pupils)


We were then shown a collection of very rare foetal skulls ranging from 12 weeks to 32 weeks. It was fascinating to see how they grow and change as the brain develops. As you can probably gather from the things we saw this visit proved to be very interesting and we left in awe of all the forensic anthropological methods used in crime scene investigations. Friday had an early start to catch the train to Edinburgh. Soon after we arrived we headed off to the zoo. We were all very excited to see Yang-Guang and Tian Tian the giant pandas that had recently arrived there. They were so cute and it was amazing to see such a rare animal in real life. There was just enough time to have a look at some of the other animals at the zoo before we arrived at the primate section. There, we learned lots of interesting facts about primates before going to study their behaviour for ourselves. Edinburgh Zoo has a huge variety of primates- everything from squirrel monkeys to chimpanzees. We all chose to watch the chimpanzees and found how they convey different emotions which was absolutely fascinating. I think we were all amazed at just how human they seemed and were very sad to hear distressing stories of how some of the zoo’s chimps had been rescued from research labs. One chimp was even forced, many years ago, to take part in monkey’s tea parties for the entertainment of an audience and became addicted to smoking. We all learned a lot from our morning at the zoo and had a fantastic time. After a very brisk walk led by Mr Nield we arrived at Dynamic Earth. We began with an animated and interactive journey through time. The lift time machine took us back to when the world began and step by step we made it back to the present day. The massive ice berg amused us for a considerable time considering how used we are to the cold! We left at closing time for some much needed shopping, including the brilliant Fudge Kitchen. We got to spend the night at the Christmas Market, which was amazing, after a Christmas feast at Pizza Express.


Saturday consisted of more train catching from Edinburgh to Aberdeen and free time to shop and eat together before catching the boat home. The class all agreed they were motivated by the experience and had an enhanced understanding of life sciences available to them as a result of this trip.

We would like to thank all the Biology teachers for their help, especially Mr Nield and Mrs Simpson for accompanying us and Mrs Reid for making it possible. We had a brilliant time – all the early starts were definitely worth it! We hope next year’s Advanced Highers have as much fun as we did!

To highlight the importance of good nutrition for each individual’s overall health and wellbeing, fresh fruit was handed out to pupils at morning break on Thursday 13 December 2012.

Pupils from secondary 3G Music class used the facilities in the Home Economics department to prepare and portion out a variety of fresh fruits including melon, grapes, kiwi fruit and pineapple.

The Health & Wellbeing Group would like to thank Mr Paul Clelland and Tesco for the donation of the fresh fruit, the 3G Music class for their hard work preparing and distributing the fruit, and the Home Economics department for the use of their facilities.

Fresh Fruit Freebie - Miss A Rhodes, English Department


S3 Egg Timers made in CDT Department

This is an egg timer that we made during school it has

• LED aka bright light indicating when the egg is ready

• timer

It has settings varied from 4 minutes to 8 minutes. It all depends if you want your egg hard boiled or soft boiled.


This is how it looks when it’s finished!

The hardest thing to do was the soldering!


Curriculum for Excellence: What’s ahead?

Date Event

Thursday 30th May 2013

Pupils will get their S3 Report Cards to take home.

June 2013 At the end of S3, pupils will discuss their progress with their Pupil Support teachers and finalise their S3 Pupil Profile.

June 2013 – May 2014

In S4, pupils will be concentrating on their National courses. At the end of S4, most pupils will be presented either at National 4 level (comparable to General Level at Standard Grade just now) or at National 5 level (comparable to Credit Level at Standard Grade just now) in each subject. Some pupils will have other courses, including ASDAN qualifications, depending on their support needs and abilities.

May 2014 Your son/daughter will be presented for up to 8 National Courses/other tailored courses, at the end of S4.

From June 2014 Your child may choose to begin Highers, or take some more National courses, or attend local college, or a combination of these. Some will choose to enter employment.

Date Event

By April 2013 Pupils in S2 are making choices, from the 8 curricular areas.

May 2013 All S2 pupils will have had the opportunity to achieve all the “Experiences and Outcomes” to Level 3 or beyond.

By May 2013 S2 pupil progress will be monitored by Pupil Support teachers and will be discussed with pupils. Targets for the year ahead will be agreed.

Tuesday 28th May 2013

S2 pupils will move into S3 and follow up to eight courses of study, and individual tailored courses depending on abilities and interests. In S3, the experiences and outcomes across their curricular areas will be used to plan learning. Some pupils will be undertaking a vocational pathway.

June 2014

At the end of S3, Pupil Support teachers will review your child’s progress, when finalising their S3 Pupil Profile, allowing for changes to be made as appropriate.

June 2014 – May 2015

In S4, pupils will be concentrating on their National courses. At the end of S4, most pupils will be presented either at National 4 level (comparable to General Level at Standard Grade just now) or at National 5 level (comparable to Credit Level at Standard Grade just now) in each subject. Some pupils will have other courses, including ASDAN qualifications, depend-ing on their support needs and abilities.

May 2015 Your son/daughter will be presented for up to 8 National Courses/tailored courses at the end of S4.

From June 2015 Your child may choose to begin Highers, or take some more National courses, or attend local college, or a combination of these. Some will choose to enter employment.

What’s ahead for pupils in S3?



S1 (2012-13) S2 (2013-14) S3 (2014-15)

Pupils currently in S1 will continue to follow a Broad General Education to the end of S3. The Broad General Education is structured around a wide set of experiences and outcomes in all curricular areas. All young people are entitled to access all outcomes and experiences. At the end of S3, all pupils will complete their Personal Profile, reflecting upon their learning within the Broad General Education to identify their strengths and abilities. This should then be used to guide their choices for study in the senior phase.

June 2014 As they complete S2, pupils will have some choices to make about what they would like to study in S3. This will allow them to apply a degree of personalisation and choice whilst still progressing through the Broad General Education.

June 2015 When they complete S3, pupils will choose the National qualifications they would like to follow with a view to presentation at the end of S4 (May 2016). As part of its implementation of the Senior Phase of Curriculum for Excellence across all secondary school settings, Shetland Islands Council is currently considering how best to meet the Scottish Government’s expectations. A key feature of this work is consideration of how many options pupils in Shetland can access in S4. We will share information about this by June 2013.

From June 2016 Your child may choose to begin Highers, or take some further National 4/5 courses, or attend local college, or a combination of these. Some will choose to enter employment.

Date Event



Our Working Year

Since the start of the school year we have had a number of suggestions brought to our attention from students in various year groups.

The following are just some of our achievements so far.

We organised a Halloween disco for S1- S3 pupils. There was a fancy dress competition and Toxic Flames played a couple of their songs. It was great fun. We are looking forward to organising a Halloween disco again next year.

We have worked hard to get the AHS hoodies finished. There are two types of hoodies, an over the head one and a zipped one. The hoodies are now on sale and we hope a number of pupils (and maybe even staff) will buy one. After all, “they look way cool” and “they are so cosy”.


We have successfully managed to organise decorations for the S5 social area. It has been decided that the current S5 pupils will decorate boards with their handprints. These will then be put onto the walls. This is something that will happen every year, when the S5 have their induction day into Anderson.

The S5 and S6 pupils are hopefully going to get a larger homework diary for the next academic year. This should help them to manage their busy workload.

One of the girl’s toilets now has a sanitary products dispenser.

In November, the SRC raised money for Children in Need. We had a lunch time event – It’s a Knockout – where we had teams from every year group and a staff team too. Mr Smith from PE once again helped us out by commentating and entertaining the audience with his jokes. We also sold all of our Pudsey wristbands, which helped increase the total amount of money raised.

There are a few other things we are working on just now which will keep us busy over the next few months.

For example, we are currently working very hard to organise a number of events to raise money for Comic Relief in March. We hope to get a lot of pupils involved and collect as much money as possible.

The SRC would like to thank everyone who has supported

them in the last year and for all their suggestions.

Additional Support Needs Department News - Mrs N Sharp, PT ASN


It’s A Baby! ASN Department Christmas Play

In December, to a packed audience at the Quoys Baptist Church, Lerwick, the whole ASN Department upby performed the Christmas Nativity musical called ‘It’s a Baby!’

It was fantastic fun – everyone had a part to play and there were lots of songs to learn and perform.

One key role was that of the innkeeper brilliantly performed by Frazer Pottinger 3B. Following the musical a member of the audience said “What that young man needs is an agent!”

Mari Johnson 6C sang a beautiful solo in her role as ‘Mary’ and was looked after by ‘Joseph,’ acted by Paul Ditchburn 6D.

Ellie Lynch 1D and Katie Hunter 5A both sang beautiful ‘angel’ solos and were joined by other angels Molly Borriell-Barker 6D, Kiera Niven 6D and Jennifer Moss 3D.

Shannon Ratter sang the song of the Wisefolk and Ross Jamieson 5D and Angus Morrison 3E impressed us all with their brilliant ‘eastern dancing!’, joined by Dylan McDougall 2A, Sven Cassidy 3B and Louise Jackson 4B.

Narrators Asa Tulloch 4B and Varik Miller 1E did a splendid job in keeping us all informed of the storyline .

Other highlights included line dancing among the audience by the shepherds Craig Tilston 4A, John Robert Jamieson 5D, Andrew Niven 5D, Kaylee-Ann Best 1D, Tom Blackburn 2B, and Anthony Nisbet 2F.

“The best bit was taking part and holding the baby!” - Paul Ditchburn (Joseph)

“I played the part of the Innkeeper. I enjoyed playing the part and really enjoy acting. I would like to do acting when I leave school.” - Frazer Pottinger (Innkeeper) “I enjoyed it” -

Kaylee-Ann Best (Shepherd and Guest) “I was a narrator and I really enjoyed

it. I would like this job again if we do another play.” - Varik

“It was amazing” - Ellie Lynch (Angel)

Angel - Kiera Niven

Guest - Hunter Arthur

Narrator - Asa Tulloch Narrator - Varik Miller

Angels - Katie Hunter & Ellie Lynch

Dancing wise folk!

Innkeeper - Frazer Pottinger

Mary & Joseph - Mari Johnson & Paul Ditchburn

Singing Shepherds!

“Good. Very good!” - Angus Morrison

(Wiseman)


Pier Head Christmas Lunch

On a beautiful crisp day in December everyone from Jennifer Munro and Janette Morrison’s teams went to the Pier Head Restaurant in Voe for a Christmas dinner. We went for a long walk before lunch so it was great to sit down and have lovely big dinner and lots of fun together. After our meal we had a dance to the music playing from the radio before heading back to school to get our taxis home. We’ll definitely make a booking for next year!

Shannon Ratter, 5C writes………At Christmas, we went to the Pier

Head restaurant for a Christmas dinner. I had turkey along with stuffing, vegetables, gravy and cranberry. For pudding, I had Snowball Sundae. Everybody enjoyed themselves there.

The cooking was wonderful. I was very pleased with the service,

they get a score of 10/10 - Cheers!

Angus Morrison can’t wait to get his dinner!

Paul Ditchburn in a Santa hat.

Hunter Arthur with his whale of a fish! Jennifer Munro’s Team Janette Morrison’s Team

Anthony Nisbet, Craig Tilston & John Robert Jamieson enjoying their meal.

Shannon Ratter & Janette Morrison have a rest before pudding!

Anthony Nisbet tucking into his Christmas dinner.

Andrew Niven enjoying his pudding.

Hunter Arthur gave the meal a thumbs up!

ASN Department Christmas Dinner and Party

This year we had a Christmas dinner and party for the whole ASN Department upby. There were over 50 people including staff and pupils. Everyone helped with the preparation in some way - shopping for ingredients, making a seating plan, making puddings and setting tables.


Additional Support Needs Department News (continued)

Katie Hunter & Kiera Niven

Our super 6th Year peer supporters served everyone.

The staff made the dinners of Turkey and all the trimmings or fish and chips.

Kiera Niven was very impressed

with the crackers, “oooh crackers cool”.

Christmas Dinner

Everyone loved their lunches.

Jennifer Moss “mmm”

Ross Jamieson LOVED his fish, he cleared

the plate.


We had a surprise visitor “Santa came”, Hunter Arthur said.

After dinner we had a party with games and dancing, “I was dancing” said Katie Hunter. The games included pass the parcel and musical chairs “it was good” said Angus Morrison.

Tingwall Airport Trip

Hilary Conabeer’s team continue to enjoy educational trips out and about in the community.

Early February we visited Tingwall airport and apart from learning many interesting facts about ‘airport operations’ in the air traffic control centre and fire station they all had the opportunity to sit in an aircraft and imagine flying an airplane and have a practise at being a fire-fighter!!

“We should go again…” - Kaylee-Ann Best

“It was fun” - Ellie Lynch

Ellie Lynch operating the hose.

Hilary Conabeer’s Team - Tingwall Airport

Jennifer Moss - water hose fun!

Pilot - Hilary Conabeer

Pilot - Kaylee-Ann Best

“Am I in the wrong job?” - Hilary Conabeer (ASN Teacher)

Trips out in the Community

Jennifer Munro’s class have enjoyed lots of trips out in the community to places such as the Fire Station, the Coastguard Station, as well as going out for lots of walks. One of our favourite trips was to the Shetland Dairies. We had a great trip to the dairy and saw how the milk and butter is processed. Ross did a great impersonation of a cow “Mooooooo!”, and Kiera exclaimed “Wow!” when she saw the processing area with all the machinery. We are making a poster to promote Shetland Milk and our logo is “SHETLAND DAIRIES - BETTER THAN ALL THE UDDERS”. We are all looking forward to the prospect of chocolate milk possibly being manufactured!

When we’re out and about, Hunter says “We love going to Mareel for snack it is so relaxing upstairs”. Angus advises you to “try the chocolate brownies – they’re great!” Ross loved seeing how the popcorn maker works and led the team in a rendition of the “Hokey Cokey” on the stage in the auditorium.

Just before Christmas the whole team had a great visit to the old croft house that belongs to ASN auxiliary Barbara Tait, and enjoyed home bakes and Christmas music. Angus made hot chocolate for everyone and asked everyone “Do you want cinnamon and marshmallows on your hot chocolate?” Hunter hid up above the rooms. Paul, Katie and Kiera enjoyed singing and dancing to Christmas tunes as well as playing some games such as tiddlywinks together. Ross thought the Swedish tea bread was “lovely”.

Up Helly Aa

Galley shed

The week before Up Helly Aa we visited the galley shed and were able to climb inside the galley and see the torches getting prepared.



Ross Jamieson & Katie Hunter - Diary Visit

Ross Jamieson, Hunter Arthur & Paul Ditchburn - Mareel Trip

Angus Morrison - Bailey Hus

Ellie Lynch & Kaylee-Ann Best take a closer look at the Galley.

Procession

On the morning of Up Helly Aa one Mum said in the school diary ‘There are no words!’, so excited was her son that the day had eventually arrived. We love Up Helly Aa and it was even more special this year because Kenny Saunders who works in Hilary’s class was in the Jarl Squad.

On the morning of Up Helly Aa we all went down the street to see the procession and join in all the excitement and there were loads of people there that we didn’t know as they had come from all over the world to watch.


Craig Tilston, Andrew Niven & Kiera Niven watching the UHA DVD.

Hunter Arthur & Louise Jackson check out the Galley.

Jennifer Moss & Dylan McDougall meet Stevie Grant this years Guizer Jarl.

Kaylee-Ann Best, Tom Blackburn & Ellie Lynch inspecting the torches

Mari Johnson at the Galley Shed.

Dylan with a friendly Viking.

Anthony Nisbet, Craig Tilston, Molly Borriell-Barker & Ellie Lynch with Kenny.

Frazer Pottinger looks pleased that the UHA Squad have got such lovely weather.

Sven Cassidy enjoying UHA.

Jarl Squad visit

The best part this year was when the squad visited us and we surprised them by getting them up to dance the Boston Two Step and the Circassian Circle that we had been learning in PE with Mr Gifford. We had a brilliant time and can’t wait till next year!



Molly Borriell-Barker & Kaylee-Ann Best think ASN Auxiliary Kenny looks fantastic

in his squad uniform.

Everyone in the ASN Department were delighted to meet the Guizer Jarl and his Squad.

Craig Tilston and other pupils and staff enjoyed dancing with the Vikings.

Paul Ditchburnn and the Guizer Jarl enjoy a Boston Two Step.

Hunter Arthur would make a very fierce Viking.

The Guizer Jarl and his Squad sang Happy Birthday to Ellie Lynch.

Molly’s 18th Birthday

In November a pupil in the Department celebrated a very special birthday. Molly Borriell-Barker 6D turned 18 and on her actual birthday her class visited the Metrological Office, Lerwick. Molly helped launch the weather balloon… but not before everyone had written HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOLLY and signed their name!

The whole team agreed that Molly had the biggest birthday balloon imaginable!


ASDAN Current Affairs - Frazer Pottinger 3B and Varik Miller 1E

This ASDAN Towards Independence module aims to introduce pupils to the media and the different ways news can be communicated to others. Already, the pupils working on this module have shown an increased interest in current affairs. The module culminates in the pupils completing a challenge to either record their own news broadcast or create a newspaper.

“We have been learning about the news. We have listened and watched the news on the TV and radio and looked at newspapers. We were both surprised to find out that not every newspaper carried the same news stories. We are enjoying this module and are looking forward to hopefully getting to visit “The Shetland Times” to find out how they put their newspaper together.”

Task:

As part of a creative writing unit, S3 pupils were tasked with developing their own short stories with a focus on creating engaging charac-ters and including an effective ending.

The Crow

Raychelle watched Kurt from across the pitch. He stood straight and proud, eyeing every player that passed him. Shuffling every now and again for comfort. His black hair fell over his dark, marble eyes. A strong nose was placed perfectly on his face, just the right shape and size, as if God himself shaped it. There was something beautiful about Kurt. Something mysterious about the way he moved, the way he watched everybody as if he was trying to work out their entire life story. The facial expression was always concentrated as if he was pondering the meaning to life. Something mysterious and she couldn’t get over it. She could watch him all day, even if he stayed in the same position, moving only to make way for players kicking the ball offside. Kurt’s hair was a glossy mane Raychelle longed to touch. To trace her fingers along his features. To be held, in his strong, proud arms. She would be his.

She shook herself from her fantasy only to realise he’d caught her stare. She blushed, and turned her head away so fast you’d think she was watching an F1 race, or a one way tennis match. She was aware he was now watching her, and wasn’t quite sure how to act. She ‘subtly’ played with the bottom of her shirt, pulling it down to her knees, and letting it sweep back up her legs to be placed perfectly on her slender hips. She smiled, trying not to wince in the sun. Afraid to somewhat distort her face. Her beautiful dark hair glinted in the sunlight, and hung over her shoulders like ivy, flowing over a wall. A pair of green eyes were hidden under and array of eyeliners and mascara, gentle freckles, hidden with foundation, were being exposed to such light.

She had sub-consciously continued playing with her shirt, when she noticed a tall dark figure hovering above her.

“I wouldn’t play with your shirt like that,” came a deep voice. “It cracks the print, and it looks pretty new.”

Raychelle lifted her head to see who this unfamiliar voice belonged to. Kurt.

“So you like slipknot then?” He smiled warmly, welcoming a conversation.

Raychelle tried to stop her heart coming out of her mouth. “I love them”, she squeaked. She was sure that’s not what she normally sounds like, her voice had somewhat become like that of a mouse. “Always have, what about you?”

He now eyed her, like a bird of prey, taking pride in what it was he had caught... his eyes steady and hungry, waiting for her to make a move. “They’re great...” he said, “but I prefer Nirvana, and Metallica.. I relate to their songs.. you know?” He winked at her, and she may have just died for all she knew. Maybe, just maybe, that ball came and hit her so hard in the head that she was put into a deep coma... “Sorry,” he turned “I’m Kurt.” He extended a strong hand.

She took it and froze. He was cold, but warm at the same time. His soft touch pushed heat through her body. Skin, soft and delicate, screaming at her to touch it. She felt as if she could never let go, when she met his gentle gaze. She let out a sharp gasp.

Kurt laughed, “and yours?” That voice, it held a tell-tale ring, as if he knew anything, and everything. He was music. Raychelle would have given anything to keep a moment like this forever. It may not be much, but to her, it was all that mattered. All that ever would matter. Her and Kurt. She felt as if she was in another universe, flying, sailing over all the reality. Kurt really made her feel this way.

“Ra-Raychelle...”, she forced out “Raychelle Smith.. but my friends call me Ray.. “

“Like the rays of morning sunshine…so beautiful,” his soft gaze fell upon her.

She smiled shortly, trying not to gasp for what little air she felt surrounded her. “You never told me your last name..?” Her voice, now trembling , as if one word could kill everything. Slipping each sentence out with great care.

“The Crow” - Heather Newell-Isbister 3D


He looked at her , and smiled out the corner of his eye. His strong cheekbones outlining what was beautiful. “Well, maybe some words are best left unsaid,” he winked at her. “Come with me?”

Raychelle followed the slender figure up the cracked football stands, making her way up the steps, passing discarded paper cups, and crisp wrappers. “Stop..”, she paused, “ I’m not going up there..”

Kurt’s face then twisted with dislike, his brow creased, his eyes turned to stone. “Why not?” he pushed through his teeth.

Raychelle’s eyes grew wide, and in seeing her fear, and tried to lighten up his face “Ray, what’s wrong?” Raychelle tried a smile, forgiving him for his harshness.

“Surely you know about what happened here, no less than five years ago?”, he looked at her with a puzzled, and strangely cautious face. “Well, there was this family...”, she started , “and all the boys, would manage to capture a single girl’s heart.... he would take her up there...”

She looked further up that stand to the top of the seats, “ Right there, and well as for capturing her heart... well... he took it quite literally...” she bit her lip. “There was something truly weird about them though, apart from the whole murder thing…” she tried a light-hearted smile, “... the way to know to watch out for the family, their names...”

She paused again, now thinking..” Ah, yes, their names.. I think it was something to do with a bird, like Sterling, or Hawk or something… Certainly, like a bird. It was the key fact of the article I read.”

Kurt eyed Raychelle with beady eyes, waiting for her next move. “Like the bird..” he muttered, “but that was years ago, surely it’s okay now?” he asked, almost pleading, “besides, none of those boys are taking your heart..” he smiled at her softly. “You’re mine.”

He leaned in slowly, and softly pressed his lips to hers.

She fought to stop her legs give way, and tried to stay standing. She felt like a mouse, forever searching, but too scared and weak to find. He pulled away and traced his hand down her soft face, “Beautiful...” he smiled somewhat sadly, “So beautiful.”

Raychelle smiled and turned her head away. She looked down to the now empty football pitch, well worn and recovering from the day’s vigorous match. Lumps were torn out of the thin grass, field paint, wearing away so the lines were barely visible. The field was also, but rarely used for summer fairs, and car boot sales, so it was more than defiantly at the end of its days.

Up in the sky, the sun was slowly setting, covering the world in a gentle blanket of red and orange. It was her moment, her time to be truly happy. “Autumn.” She smiled, closing her eyes and inhaling, “I love autumn” she turned her face towards Kurt, who had been staring at her, taking in her every feature.

“Beautiful” he said again, as if sad that one day, her beauty would leave, and she would be left nothing, but old and grey. He lowered his eyes and stared at the horizon.

She blushed, and looked to the ground, “By the way,” she said, looking at him out the corner of her eyes, “You never told me your second name...” Raychelle smiled, lifting one side of her lip up, and raising her eyebrow delicately, subtly, her expression playful.

Kurt looked up, “Crow,” he slipped. “Like the bird...”


A Norwegian Club is being launched for Classes 3 to 6 in March 2013. A good range of staff and pupils are helping to run it. One of the main aims is to help welcome the tall ship Statsraad Lehmkuhl, which brings young people to Shetland in April and September every year. There is already an exchange of letters and email with the Norwegian pupils who are visiting Shetland on 19 April, and who come from schools in the Bergen area. Later the Norwegian Club will explore other aspects of Norwegian culture, for example:

• language

• music

• food

• history

• the Shetland Bus

• geography

• place-names The club will help to strengthen existing links between Shetland and Norway and to create new ones. It is expected that a Norwegian language course will be offered, along with Spanish, as a short-course option for S3 pupils in 2013-14.

Norwegian Club - Mr P Haviland, PT Modern Languages


Some pupils in S3 chose one aspect of our school they liked and produced a video in French. The aspects we chose were: the library, the S3/S4 social area, the hostel and 3 sports. These videos were sent to our new partner school in Sommieres, France. We watched videos created by our French partners and prepared some questions for them in English. We did the same but in French. We then discussed the videos face-to-face with our partners through the video conferencing room. The pupils enjoyed being in the Wow Room and being able to see our partners directly. We also have started exchanging letters with our partners. Here is what some of our pupils wrote about their video conferencing experience.

School Project with College Gaston Doumergues in Sommieres, South of France - Mrs V Coyne, Modern Languages Department

We thought it was cool because we could talk to them and understand them even though they are from a “different world”

They clap when you get something right!

We learned that there is a school radio.

You get to play games with them.

The technology isn’t very good and we don’t have a microphone so we should have a bake sale to get enough money to buy a microphone.

We learned more about a French school.

It was fun to get to speak to French pupils.

We should do another video conference because it make us more confident to speak French to people.

It’s ower weel.

It is good because it is more interesting than normal class work.

It is good because it is enjoyable.

We learned about where they live.

Learned about their school.

Computer software allowed us to connect with the French people.

It’s interesting to talk with French people our age.

We learned stuff about them, the French people.

We like it better than writing.

Love was in the air on Valentine’s Day this term when Club XL had a Valentine theme cake sale at break. It was the love of chocolate that dominated the sale though, with chocolate brownies, cake and mallow kebabs and a chocolate fountain.

With the best negotiating skills the Club XL members persuaded the Home Economics department to kindly allow a week of intensive baking sessions in the department. We were allowed to prepare, bake and store the various cakes. On the day we set up our stall and waited for the bell to ring but even before the bell the queues began to form. After twenty minutes of frantic selling we practically had nothing left. Our hard work was rewarded with £70 profit. We would like to thank everyone who helped us and the AHS pupils and staff who bought our Valentines products.

.

Valentine’s Cake Sale by Club XL


We are a Young Enterprise company called Green Galaxy Productions which is made up of several secondary six pupils from the Anderson High School. The Young Enterprise project requires us to form a company in our 6th Year at school and gain as much experience as possible in the world of business. Our company, Green Galaxy Productions, have made a children’s book called ‘Trowie & Me’. ‘Trowie And Me’ is a children's book that uses Shet-land folklore about a Trow and our aim was to make it a fun and enjoyable book for children to read with spaces for them to write in. Whilst developing the idea of producing a children’s book, we firmly believed in promote reading, and developing Green thinking through the story line.

During the Young Enterprise process, we decided who should hold various positions in the company. These positions include Managing Director, Secretary, Finance Director, Human Resources Director and Marketing Director. While doing our own tasks we have learned various things such as how to improve communication with each other, customers and with other companies for issues such as advertisement, printing and pricing. We have set up our own facebook page and website to try and publicise our book. Please have a look at our website - www.greengalaxyproductions.co.uk, or search for ‘Green Galaxy Productions’ on facebook in order to place an order!

Green Galaxy Productions - Young Enterprise Company - Ryan Leask

In 2012 Anderson High celebrated its 150th (sesquicentennial ) Anniversary. This event was marked by a number of events within the school and its community. The 'Jewel in the Crown' for the Music Department was hosting a Gala concert at the newly opened 'Mareel' on Saturday 29th September. Planning such an event proved to have its issues, not because there was little to choose from but, quite the opposite, who to include that could best represent the breadth of music which has come through the school. Many great players have had the opportunity to learn their trade through the instrumental and music service at the Anderson High. Fiddlers Bid, now an internationally acclaimed band, grew up in the Music Department. Sadly along with this recognition comes a busy schedule and therefore, much to their regret, the band was unable to attend this event. We decided to celebrate the current pupils and previous pupils and staff who have helped put Anderson High on the local, and Shetland on the national music map. Our MC for the night, Davie Gardner, introduced 90 students supported by staff performing a medley of a song and two tunes. The song, chosen by Principal Teacher Louise Wood called 'Rise Again', described how the generations fall but rise again and featured Joe Christie and Shona Fraser as soloists. This was followed by a mass instrumental of a march and reel. The march was written by previous Principal Teacher, Gordon Yeaman, called 'Dö Weel and Persevere' which is of course the School motto. The reel was written for the event and titled Arthur Anderson's Reel. This was a truly spectacular opening to the event and set the standard for what was to follow. Our next performer was Maggie Adamson. Maggie is known locally as a fiddler and is now twice winner of the coveted Glenfiddich Fiddle Championship which is the Scottish National competition. However she studies violin at the Royal Conservatoire of Music in Glasgow and on this occasion was accompanied by Nigel Hayward. It was enlightening and enthralling to hear her perform in the classical vein. Retired violin instructor, Alan Gifford, must be very proud of her achievements.

Troppo Funk treated us to a funk/jazz suite of pieces. The group are growing and maturing musically each time they perform and having now taken part in several local Jazz Club events including the Jazz Festival it is testament to their grounding in groups such as Shetland Youth Jazz that they now venture into a smaller line up, creating their own compositions and arrangements. The first section of the evening was concluded with a performance from Sarah Keay, Senior Young Musician of the Year. Sarah was accompanied by Pearl Bartai, wife of her instructor, Ferrie Bartai. Amongst Sarah's programme was 'The Swan' by Saint-Saens, a most moving and well known piece. After the first interval our entertainment kicked off again with one of the newer bands in the Isles, Väir. It would be fair comment to say that they are reminiscent of an early Hom Bru and not surprisingly as both Eric and Lewie Peterson are sons of Gary. Johnny Polson and Ryan Couper top up the line up of guitar, mandolin, banjo and more surprisingly for a Shetland band, vocals with only occasional fiddle. The band produces an energetic and well arranged music. Lewie also provided a few laughs when he commented that now it was the teachers turn to listen to them! The Haywards have been a musical force in Shetland for a considerable time and although both Nigel and Deirdre are now retired that has only opened the doors for new musical projects. Deirdre's most recent venture has been to form a small choir of ladies singing more popular songs in four parts as distinct from the repertoire of the Choral Society. 'Veev' are going from strength to strength performing many concerts in their own right. We were delighted they could be part of our celebrations. Fiddler Ross Couper, with his younger brother Ryan and the force that is Harris Playfair, then entertained us with the expected fast and florid sets. The three musicians showed their phenomenal sense of technique and control through these but stunned the audience with a most moving rendition of Billy Joel's 'And So it Goes'.

Anderson High School’s 150th Anniversary Gala Concert - Mrs L Wood, PT Music


The middle section of the evening was rounded off by 'The Harris Playfair Big Band'. The Big Band fuses traditional tunes with a jazz accompaniment under the guidance of Harris Playfair. The Big Band runs once a year for a few days of intensive rehearsal culminating with a performance usually at Fiddle Frenzy. The band members are the finest of Shetland's young talent who bring their own creativity to the band. One of the most popular sets form last year was a self penned set from band members, Haydn Hook, Joe Watt, Kirsten Hendry and finally 'The Raconteur' by Eamonn Watt. After a few words form Head Teacher, Valerie Nicolson, the final part of the evening was handed to one of Shetland's most popular and recently successful bands, Fullsceilidh

Spellamanslag. The band, as many do, morphed from informal sessions into something more serious and have now enjoyed performing at 'Na Trad Awards' and 'HebCelt' as well as several memorable Shetland Folk Festival appearances. They are now on the cusp of releasing their second album. This event reminded us all of the immense talent that Anderson High has enjoyed nurturing over the years and that as a staff how we have been honoured to play a part in this process.


Christmas Reflections Concert

Our Christmas concert this session had a new look. Working with the English Department and Mrs. Campbell, we combined music with readings to present mixture of seasonal music and readings. The readings covered a wide range of topics and types. Libby Fox read ‘I keep My Snowman in the Freezer’ - a comical poem; Kate Tyler and Diana Inkster read the famous Twas the Night before Christmas; Autumn Arcus provided us with some wise words from Confucius and Zuzanna Mikolojczak read Silent Night in Polish. Finally, Headteacher Valerie Nicolson gave us the Christmas story from Luke in the Shetland Dialect.

The Musical Items presented also covered a wide range of age, ability and music. The Senior Chamber Ensemble played Winter from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons to start things off, with S2 pupil Amy Laurenson the soloist on bassoon . This was followed by a medley from the musical Oliver. Another string group - 4 strings and a Bow played a Christmas Medley for us. Both of these groups are led by instructor Veronica Cooper who rehearses them at lunchtimes.

Linda Peterson also rehearses her groups at lunchtimes when she is at the Anderson and had no less than three woodwind ensembles. The Flutes (and one clarinet) played Infant Holy, The Clarinets – the First Nowell, and the Saxes - Come and Join the Celebration.

The Choir sang two numbers. Al Sholsha is a lovely song about peace and justice sung in Hebrew. Midwinter is a piece written by Bob Chilcot to the familiar poem by Christina Rosetti – In the Bleak Midwinter. This is a challenging choral piece and the young singers gave an excellent rendition. Helping with the choir was Cheryl Hughson. Cheryl is a student in her final year at Aberdeen University.

Jane Morton also teaches woodwind, and her wind ensemble gave us a very spirited performance of some well known Christmas tunes.

Another new item in this year’s concert was a performance of Loch Lomond by one of the S3 music classes. This featured Heather Newell-Isbister as the vocal soloist but included guitar, bass, fiddle and backing vocals. Again ably led by student teacher Cheryl Hughson, who had been teaching the class for the month of November and December.

The concert was rounded off by Tunester and No Strings Attached. Tunester gave us a jolly rendition of Sleigh Ride, with a surprise jingle bell part played by Mrs. Wood. Then No Strings Attached gave a rousing rendition of Jingle Bell Rock to send everyone on their way dancing!

It was a wonderful night and got everyone in the Christmas spirit. St Columba’s provided a beautiful place to play both acoustically and aesthetically and came complete with Christmas Tree. We were very grateful to Arthur Watt for all his help at the venue and to former pupil Ryan Cooper who came to help out on Double Bass and Guitar.

Every concert reflects the dedication and commitment of all the music staff who arrange music and rehearse groups in their own time in order to give pupils the opportunity to experience the sense of achievement and pleasure that comes from performing music with others. Keep an eye out for our Summer Concert, which will feature many of our senior musicians as soloists.

Music Department News - Mrs L Wood, PT Music


Staffing News:

This session we welcomed Mrs. Alison Leslie as a full time member of the teaching staff. Mrs. Leslie was working as a part time member of staff last year, so we are delighted that she has been able to fill the staffing gap. She brings with her a great deal of experience and expertise. This session we also have 12 visiting instructors of music: Margaret Scollay – fiddle, Veronica Cooper – strings and piano/keyboard, Jem Napier – piano, Russell Gair – drumkit, Peter Wood – accordion, Sioban Teckan –woodwind and piano, Linda Peterson – woodwind and piano, Jane Morton – woodwind, Eunice Henderson – fiddle, Kirsteen Straine – piano/keyboard Jane Gentle – brass, and Pauleen Wiseman – piano/keyboard.


Christmas Reflections Concert in St

Columba’s Church


In January the Anderson’s Young Sport Ambassadors (YA’s) attended a local conference at Islesburgh. The schools represented were Sandwick, Aith, AHS and Brae.

The YA’s role is to encourage others in their school to get active and have a healthier lifestyle. At the conference there was a talk by Amy Harper, an Island Games swimmer who is now on the Young Scottish Sports Panel. Amy gave an interesting talk on the influence of sport in her life and what she now hoped to achieve on this panel. During the day there were many different activities such as Team Building and an events planner.

Last term we organised a Teachers’ vs Pupils Beach Volleyball at lunchtime and with the information and ideas that we picked up at the conference we are now planning to have some more events in the school.

Young Ambassadors - Holly King 4F, Young Ambassador

Beach Volleyball event

Back row: (L-R) – Josie Wishart 3F , Eoin Leask, Zoey Symington 5C and Sean Graham 4E Front row: (L-R) – Holly King 4F, Dana Watt 3A, Aidan Jarmson 3F and Rheo Laurenson 4E


Last autumn, Stephen Anderson and I decided to make a calendar in aid to the charity Mind Your Head after I went to see a mini photographic exhibition & awareness on mental health, “See Me”, by Mind Your Head as part of Health Week 2012.

The first thing we did was to collect together some photographs we had taken through the year. In the main ASN Base, we reviewed the photos with Claire Nesfield, Andy Duffus and Nat Hall, and we chose the ones we really loved. Later on, during some of our Base time, I went on the computer to find a calendar template online and I tested the template by making my first calendar. I was happy about it. Although I did them all, I showed Stephen how to use the calendar template.

Before Christmas, and before we actually made the calendars, I went to Globus on my own and I asked for paper and binders. Globus kindly donated the stationary & equipment after I explained my project’s intention.

I made some 41 calendars with the help of Caroline Poulton and Andy Duffus and the school’s Art Department. The project was so successful we sold out the calendars and we donated the money to Mind Your Head.

After Christmas, Globus asked us to make more calendars for their company. Everybody was happy with the calendars.

Mind Your Head Calendars - Liam Buchanan 4A

Pupils at AHS have had several opportunities this term to meet some of our elected representatives and to make their voices heard. Most recently, Alistair Carmichael MP visited a group of S3 and S4 pupils in the modern studies department. He spoke about his varied work as a Member of Parliament and about some of the challenges he currently faces in his role as party whip, before taking a variety of questions from the floor. Afterwards, he spent some time with the Advanced Higher class discussing a range of issues relating to their studies in crime and law.

Earlier in the year, Tavish Scott MSP visited several S2 classes for a question and answer session, where he was asked questions on a number of local issues ranging from the new Anderson High School building to the

impact of retail giant Tesco on the local economy. Tavish was accompanied by former AHS pupil Nicole Mouat, one of two MSYPs for Shetland, who spoke about some of the campaigns she has been involved in both locally and through the Scottish Youth Parliament. Nicole, who is approaching the end of her second term as MSYP, encouraged pupils to get involved in politics by voting in the forthcoming Scottish Youth Parliament elections in March.

Pupils Make their Voices Heard - Mr C Mackenzie, PT RMPS/Modern Studies

Stephen Anderson 4C, Mrs Jenny Teale from Mind Your Head & Liam Buchanan 4A


Beanfeasts 2012

Photos by John Coutts

In early February the Health & Well-being group linked up with S1 Social Subjects to hold the UNICEF Day for Change. The focus of this year’s event was food and nutrition. This was an ideal opportunity to reinforce a healthy eating message while engaging with issues of international development and inequality (a key part of the S1 Social Subjects curriculum).

Classes 1A and 1D produced posters for the school explaining the work of UNICEF, the importance of lifting children out of poverty, and the role of food in combating poverty. Class 1D presented a series of tannoy messages throughout the week while Class 1A sold UNICEF quiz sheets to raise money for the Day for Change.

Friday 8th February was the official Day for Change and with the kind support of the Canteen Staff, free porridge was served at break time. Mr B Redman, Mr K Smith and Mr K Turner rolled up their sleeves and got busy in the canteen! Pupils were encouraged to make a donation to UNICEF in exchange for a bowl of steaming gruel!

Many thanks to everyone who supported the events; the school raised £113 for the UNICEF charity. The winners of the UNICEF quiz were Karen Lobban (1E) and Mr D Ferrier (Maths Department), who both received some Fair-trade chocolate as a treat!

Porridge being served for UNICEF day for change, focus on food.

Health & Well Being goes Global - Mr K Turner, Geography Department


In the spring of 2012 AHS Social Subjects took part in the Voar Redd Up for the first time. Three S1 classes did a great job of cleaning up the coastal areas around the school, as well as the school grounds themselves.

At the Shetland Environment Awards in November, 25 years of the Voar Redd Up received special recognition. Community groups from around Shetland were invited to the ceremony. Mr Turner (Geography Department) accompanied Tom Forteath and Debbie Henry (now 2E) to represent the school and the Lerwick area at the Awards, hosted by the Shetland Museum.

Voar Redd Up teams from around Shetland, including AHS, receive with the Award

AHS Voar Redd Up Team Represented at Shetland Environment Awards - Mr K Turner

Health Week 2012 took place in conjunction with Shetland Sports Week from Monday 1st to Friday 5th October. The focus this term was on Sport and Physical Activities. The intention was to encourage everyone to try something new! This was in part due to the number of sports pupils had seen whilst watching the London Olympics and Paralympics Games.

The rowing challenge took place on the school stage all week and provided a place for pupils to take part in healthy competition during the day and at lunchtimes. Monday also saw badminton in the Games Hall and table tennis in the Engineering Block.

On Day two of Health Week some pupils took part in a canoeing adventure and some also learned new mountain biking skills. The rowing challenge continued on the stage at break time and through lunch. There was also the opportunity to take part in sit-down volleyball in the Games Hall and a Yoga session in the Engineering block. The Library ran an Olympics Quiz for S1 – S4 at lunch time. During the afternoon, Health Week marked the 150th anni-versary of the school with all S2 pu-pils taking part in an insanity fitness session with Mr Smith.

On Wednesday some pupils were out on a canoeing adventure. Lunchtime remained busy with a number of activities including, a dance session in the Games Hall, boxfit circuits, dance mats. All S1 pupils were invited to a Super Mario & Sonic at the Olympics Wii Challenge in the Library.

Thursday saw the final group embarking on their canoeing adventure. The rowing challenge continued. Other activities included carpet bowls and the dance mats in the small gym.

S2 were invited to a Super Mario & Sonic at the Olympics Wii Challenge in the Library.

On the last day of Health Week pupils signed up for football coaching from the SFA in the morning and the rowing challenge continued on the stage.

Lunchtime activities included, trampolining in the games hall, this included an impressive display from Mr Walls in CDT.

Thanks to all pupils and staff involved for there support and enthusiasm during the week. We look forward to doing it again with Health Week 2013!

Mind Your Head Walk Week beginning 8th October, all S2 and S3 pupils took part in workshops offered by local charity Mind Your Head to raise awareness of mental health issues. This tied in with Scottish Mental Health Week and World Mental Health Day on 10th October,

The finale of the week was on Friday 12th October, the last day of term, all pupils in S1, S2 and S3 took part in the mini Mind Your Head walk/run. Pupils followed the now established and supervised route around the Knab area. The weather remained relatively kind, cold, breezy and dry! Many pupils managed to go around the route three or more times which was impressive but most just enjoyed being out in the fresh air for the afternoon.

The afternoon ended in the Games Hall with a short assembly with the Mind Your Head team, explaining the importance of Physical and Mental Wellbeing.

As the pupils went home a mighty rain shower passed over Lerwick! We were all glad it had the decency to stay away for the duration of the walk.

Health Week 2012 - Try Something New - Mr B Redman, Depute Head


Shetland Team Maths Challenge

This is the third session in which all secondary schools in Shetland have been able to compete against one another in a maths team competition. The event was due to be held in Whalsay in December but hit the only snowy day of that month and so was postponed to what turned out to be a most beautiful calm and bright day January, perfect for a trip to Whalsay. Our school had two teams entered for the competition and the team consisting of Louise Cluness, Lois Ross, Fyntan Shaw and Jack Tait came in first place ahead of the host team Whalsay. Our other team came in 4th position. We are delighted that local construction company DITT has donated the DITT Cup to be presented to the winning group of the Shetland Team Maths Challenge each year.

Peter Tait of DITT is pictured here presenting the cup to our winning team. This group will now head to Aberdeen University for the Regional Final of the competition for the North and North East of Scotland on 4th March. We wish them every success.

If you would like to see the type of problems the team have to solve, visit the UK Maths Trust web site at www.ukmt.org.uk/ and click on TEAM CHALLENGES.Senior Maths Challenge

UK Maths Challenges

Senior Maths Challenge

This is an individual competition in which pupils sit a 1 hour problem solving paper. Pupils in schools all over the UK sit the same questions and typically 60% of entrants gain a bronze, silver or gold certificate. Our pupils did well with almost 70% gaining a certificate. Struan Thomson did particularly well and gained entrance to a further round. Senior pupils who received certificates are pictured below:

Intermediate & Junior Maths Challenges

The Intermediate competition was sat by pupils in S3 and S4 in February and we are awaiting the results! The Junior Maths Challenge for pupils in S1 & S2 is scheduled for 25th April

Maths Competition News - Mr G Dorrat, PT Mathematics



Frances Chapman from STEM INSPIRE has linked with the AHS Biology Department to encourage pupils to participate in the Nuffield Foundation Science Bursaries. STEM inspire aims to inform the young people of Scotland of the opportunities available to them in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). STEM inspire aims to:

• Offer young people various opportunities to develop their skills (practical, organisational, problem-solving, communication and teamwork).

• Increase the number of young people with STEM qualifications. • Contribute towards the skilled workforce of the future.

STEM inspire is in contact with schools, universities, colleges, industry and professional organisations. Projects take place during the summer holidays, giving students an insight into the world of scientific research and development. Students in the first year of a post-16 Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) course are eligible to apply for a bursary of £80 per week to support them during their project. Placements are available across the UK, in universities, industry or research institutions. Demand for bursaries are high, and three AHS pupils were extremely lucky to gain placements in Shetland. The pupils worked with the following workplaces:- Amy Sandison SNH - Environmental Impact on Seal Behaviour Chloe Robertson SNH - The Effect of Human Activity on Seal Behaviour Claire Smith RSPB - Bird Predation Claire, Chloe and Amy would like to take this opportunity to say special THANKS to: Helen Moncrieff and Karen MacKelvie (RSPB), and Karen Hall (SNH) for all the support and encouragement they provided throughout their projects.

Nuffield Science Bursaries 2013 - Advanced Higher Biologists


Third Year Club XL organised a Valentines disco at Islesburgh on Friday 15th February. The pupil’s planned the entire event from the beginning and incorporated their entrepreneurial skills to maximise not only the fun but the financial management too. The group provided the DJ, the tuck shop, a photo booth, games and face painting to keep everyone busy and entertained. It was an

inter-generational project as the disco was marketed at primary aged children.

The night was an amazing success and a total of £230 was raised for Club XL funds. Everyone would like to thank Ryan and Aimee for all their support and hard work too.

Valentine Disco - Club XL


150 Years Open Weekend - 6th & 7th October 2012

Photos through the ages.

The Institute green blazers viewed by Valerie Nicolson, Head Teacher, and former pupil/former Head of Schools Alex Jamieson.

The school enjoyed welcoming large numbers of visitors over the weekend.

Mrs Tulloch and Mrs Simpson make Mr Cameron a cup

of tea.

Parent Council Members: Ms Catriona Barr Parent Representative Ms Lisa Crooks Parent Representative Mrs Joyce Davis Parent Representative Mr Alex Fullerton Chair, Parent Representative Mr John Handley Parent Representative Ms Lise Sinclair Parent Representative Ms Sarah Taylor Vice Chair, Parent Representative Mrs Patricia Wright Parent Representative Ms Donna Jack Parent Representative Mr John Fraser Parent Representative Ms Cathy Mann Parent Representative Mr Stuart Polson Parent Representative Mrs Frances Valente Parent Representative Miss Shona Taylor Staff Representative Mr George McGhee Halls of Residence Manager and co-opted member Mrs Louise Halcrow Clerk to Parent Council AHS Student reps invited to attend In addition, Ms Valerie Nicolson, Head Teacher, and local SIC Councillors Mr C Smith and Mr J Wills, also attend Parent Council meetings in a non voting capacity. Changes to the Curriculum:

The Parent Council has been advised about plans the Children’s Service is making to change the number of subjects pupils take from S4 within the new Curriculum for Excellence, and we wanted to hear parents’ views. We understand that planning is now underway on the option of up to 7 subjects from S4, and this would apply to children currently in S1 and younger. Older children are working under an interim arrangement that was agreed whilst the new curriculum was being introduced (which is up to 8 subjects). We have been promised that children in S1 will have clear information about their future in June 2013.

If you have any views on this please let any of the Parent Council members know, or come along to our next PC meeting to be held on Tuesday 19th March 2013.

You can contact us in person or by email:

Alex Fullerton, AHS Parent Council Chair - [email protected]

Sarah Taylor, Vice-chair - [email protected]

AHS Parent Council News


There have been several lunchtime activities on offer this term - football, fitness suite, basketball, table tennis, badminton and netball. Louise Jamieson, Active Schools Coordinator, is extremely grateful to the senior pupils and staff that have delivered these activities. This term has also been busy with after school activities. Ben Laurenson from Shetland Volleyball Club has been running volleyball on Wednesdays. Parkour is available on Mondays and run by Chris Grant (from Glasgow Parkour Coaching) who is working in Shetland at least until the end of March. John Gray from Shetland Cricket Association has offered some after-school cricket on Thursdays, and Miss Leask continues to run netball for the senior girls. Active Schools also secured some funding to run a new 'Girls Give it a Go!' programme for girls in S2. So far, 25 girls have signed up to take part in the opportunity to try new activities in a fun and social atmosphere. This term the group will take part in various indoor activities including street dance, climbing wall, archery, netball, basketball and racketball. Next term the focus will be on outdoor activities with the girls having an opportunity to try activities such as golf, mountain biking, orienteering, coasteering with Outdoor Education and geocaching. As a reward for good attendance, the girls will be offered a free beauty session where make-up artists and hairdressers will be on hand in the school to pamper them! Shetland's ‘Young Ambassadors’ project has been growing in strength throughout Shetland, and most schools including Anderson High were represented at a recent conference in Islesburgh. Young Ambassadors are tasked with promoting sport and opportunities within their school. Anderson High's Young Ambassadors successfully set up and ran a Staff v’s Pupils beach volleyball tournament before Christmas.

Active Schools - Ms L Jamieson, Active Schools Coordinator

STAY SAFE ON SCHOOL BUSES - ALWAYS FASTEN

YOUR SEATBELT (Parents please discuss with

your child at home)


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