Issue 3 Dear Parent/Carer

Welcome to our Christmas newsletter. It is always a real pleasure to be part of the Preston Lodge community at this time of year and 2011 is no different – there are, as usual an extraordinarily wide range of Christmas activities taking place across the school and in our wider community. 2011 has been a great year for Preston Lodge. We have taking very active steps to improve classroom practice through a formal partnership with Cramlington Learning Village, we have started an exciting programme of leadership development with Columba 1400 and we found out at the start of December that the number of our young people achieving positive destinations (education, employment or training) upon leaving school is at its highest point ever. In fact, Preston Lodge attained the highest positive destination rates in East Lothian 2010-11 improving on our destination rates by an impressive 6% increase on last year. This is a fantastic achievement for our young people and demonstrates the impact of the work we have all done over the past months and that we are making strides towards helping them achieve their potential in life. We should all feel proud to be part of such a vibrant community. I know I am. This year’s Christmas activities will be a little different for me personally because I am currently on paternity leave! Hamish Clark has given me more reason than usual to reflect on the importance of family and loved ones this Christmas. I very much hope that all members of our school community have a wonderful festive season and a very Happy New Year. We look forward to working with you in 2012. Yours faithfully Gavin Clark Head Teacher

Preston Lodge High School

16 December 2011

Page 1

Welcome 1

School Updates 2

Learning In and Out of School

7

Columba 1400 8

Enterprise Events 9

Sport Update 10

Columba 1400 group photograph

12

Dates for your Diary 13

Hoodie Order Form 15

House T Shirt Order Form

16

Inside this issue:

Stage 3 2009‐2012

@PrestonLodgeHS

Decem

ber New

sletter

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School Updates

Christmas Fair The annual Christmas Fair will be held before and during the interval of the Christmas concerts on Monday 19th and Tuesday 20th December. It will be held in the S6 common room. There will be a variety of stalls selling new items such as jewellery, scarves and handbags and also some goods handmade by our students including homebaking, Christmas decorations and hand-made jewellery. Please feel free to pop in for a last minute gift or to treat yourself! Staff Changes This month we say a fond farewell to Bill Torrance and Neville Wilson. Bill has been teaching at Preston Lodge High school for 35 years and Neville has been teaching here for 10 years too! In our New Year Newsletter we will bid them a more detailed farewell, but for now we wish you well, Bill and Neville and we will very much miss you both. We also wish Mhairi Beattie in Home Economics, well as she goes on maternity leave in the New Year. Wendy Waldie will be filling her part of the timetable during her absence. In Chemistry, we are delighted to report that Peter Robertson has secured a permanent con-tract at Preston Lodge High School, and in Drama we are pleased to announce that we have also appointed Campbell MacNeil on a permanent contract. In both cases, these appointments will give some improved stability to learning and teaching. We are also pleased that Jack Tennant will be joining us on a permanent contract in Computing next Summer. In the meantime, we are about to appoint a temporary member of staff and a future newsletter will update you on the outcome of that process. Eilidh Proudfoot returns to Guidance in January on a part-time basis until the Summer. Until Easter, we are lucky to have Louise Dalgliesh continuing two days a week sharing this post with Eilidh.

Neville Wilson At the end of Term Christmas 2011 the art department celebrates the retirement of Neville Wilson. I say celebrate because it marks a very real milestone in Mr Wilson’s life and represents an opportunity for him to devote more time to his own artistic life and career as a painter, photographer and printmaker. As always at this time we take stock and move from depending on the skills and tal-ents that Mr Wilson has placed at our disposal to appreciating them. It would however be wrong to say that ‘you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone’, because alas we know exactly what we are losing and that the gap we have to fill is a large one. Mr Wilson post graduate student of the Royal Academy in London bought a region and range of technical skills to the teaching of drawing, painting, photography, linoprinting, etching, computer graphics and 3D design, product design, illustration, broadening and expanding pupil choice and experiences in the art and design department and perhaps more significantly encouraged his pupils to pursue and achieve not just success but extremely high standards of work in all of their disciplines. His work with Advanced Higher and portfolio students was a key element in their presenta-tions and successful entry into college. Neville’s enthusiasm for his subject and support for the pupils of Preston Lodge High School led him to make available his own printing presses and enlargers, photographic equipment, lighting equipment to allow his pupils to achieve the highest technical standards and compete with the best. He was and continues to be generous with his own personal time—running classes af-ter school and supporting exam preparations and holiday revision sessions. An enourmous commitment to the young people of this community and we take this opportunity to say thank you. On a personal note we in the art department will miss his advice, his enthusiasm, his unfailing personal support and friendship; his gift for recall and his sublime and often surreal sense of humour! We wish him well in this the next phase of a very creative life. J Cramb

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Bill Torrance Bill is one of our longest serving members of staff. !n 1976 Bill, Brian Frost and Lessel Middler first appeared in Preston Lodge High School as eager fresh faced youngsters. Bill made a fantastic contribution to the Biology department leading fieldtrips to Scotch Kershop with Dave Armstrong the Principal Teacher of Biology at the time. Bill was a stalwart in the kitchen as Bill and Brian did all the cooking because Dave’s culinary skills were severely lacking. Bill demonstrated his commitment to young people through his organisation of hillwalking trips for the Duke Of Edinburgh Award with Ken Rotherham and David Habgood. Bill is a man of many talents and continued his professional development by moving on to joint teaching of science and computing before finally moving over to computing 23 years ago. Bill built the computing department single handedly- literally, built from scratch, wire by wire. He demonstrated vision, dogged persistence and a canny knack of getting freebies ‘donated’ to the school. It all started with the BBC Basics delivered in the back of the minibus. Bill then installed the network himself probably one of the first networks in East Lothian. It has gone from strength to strength from Bill’s valiant efforts.

Bill’s experience has been varied. He volunteered on the School Council for 10 years. He taught motor cycling – drove a motor bike to school for years. In fact Bill just passed his car driving test about 7 years ago! He was the EIS Union rep for several years.

Bill’s contribution to our school community has been vast and much appreciated. We wish Bill well and look forward to hearing about his next exciting adventures.

House Update The House Competition this year has been as vibrant and dynamic as we can remember in recent times and most of this is down to the enthusiasm and drive of the House Captains. Following hard on the heels of the previously reported House Football, “I’m a Panner Get Me Out of Here” and the Fancy Dress contest coinciding with Hallowe’en, the Seniors involved with the House Competition have organised a number of excellent events to appeal to a range of interests. First up was the well-received House Rugby Competition organised by our captains with assistance from egg-chasing-daft Mr Thomas. Held at lunchtime on November 10th, the competition was contested by the Senior boys from each house. The hot favourites going into the contest were Grange and it was to prove to be the case on merit as they won their ties with something to spare. Seton and Gosford then competed for second place - with the Reds coming out on top. The competition was watched by a large number of pupils from all three houses and everyone very much enjoyed the occasion. The contest was undertaken in the right spirit and sportsmanship was the order of the day. Well done to all involved. Children In Need provided more inter-house high jinks as everyone got into the spirit of a fantastic week of events buying a square, selling cakes, throwing sponges at the teachers, grand prix trials and a Dress Up Day where a rave was held raised the grand total of £932.63 was all organised by the Charity Team and Mrs Christie. The House Captains thought there should be House Points to be won for making a contribution on the day…and they were not to be disappointed. Seton, led by f-a-b-u-l-o-u-s Cruella Deville and her many spotted dalmation friends, were also treated to having Amy Winehouse as Head of House. Gosford went to town with yellow face paint using their traditional house colour to good effect in mimicking Pudsey. They are still recovering however (as we all are!) from their Head of House, Mr Stewart, undergoing a transition to become an archetypal S4 female pupil. We will

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carry the scars for years to come…Meanwhile, Grange House mobilised to become Blues Brothers for the morning. Led from the front by their captains, an amazing 189 members of staff and pupils in Grange came to school with a semblance of Jake and Elwood. They also managed to use their initiative to ensure everybody was treated to a Grange Blues Experience with the soundtrack from the film piped into the school foyer to greet people and the school website becoming a Blues Zone for the day. Special Mention House Awards Mrs Donaldson and her Seton puppies Mrs Robertson aka Amy Winehouse (Seton) Mr Stewart aka S4 Schoolgirl (Gosford) Ms Binks and her 188 Blues Brothers (Grange) Mrs Pow for crossing the divide in the spirit of the event as a Blues Brother Dalmation (Grange) Other notable achievements in recent weeks that have won House Points include: • Dean Apicella (Seton) winning gold medals

at both the Scottish and European Kick Boxing championships. Well done, Dean!

• Scott Robertson (Gosford) Alistair Crichton, Danny Kirkham and Neil Wyllie (all Seton) enjoying medal winning success at the recent East Lothian Swimming Trials

• Ciara Harvie (Grange) winning a Biology Cell Model construction competition

• Ben Stewart (Gosford) for his kindness when dressed as a panda!

• 1Gr1 (Grange) for their success in the Health and Wellbeing Olympics

• Morgan Foulner (Seton) for citizenship during swimming excursions

• S5 East Lothian Outdoor Champions (Amy Kerr, Kirsty Edwards, Laura Turnbull, Rebecca Muir, Findlay Richardson and Adam Vince – all three houses)

• Most Dressed Register Class” for the last two fancy dress days - 6 Grange 2

• Owen Smith (Seton) for his enterprising fund raising in the community

Further house points will be available before Christmas when the school concert and talent shows take place. It is hoped that the first event of 2012 will be a “Guitar Hero meets Dance Mat” Competition on the first Thursday in January.

Staff Christmas Cookery Class Staff Christmas Cake class started on Monday 5th December. There are 14 staff signed up to participate in the class on Monday nights. Looking forward to seeing some masterpieces created in time for Christmas.

Preston Lodge Tartan In the last edition we said that we would share the winning tartan with all members of our school community. We have now worked out that this will not work very well in a black and white newsletter! A copy of

the Preston Lodge Tartan is printed and you can see it in colour on our school website.

Pipe Band Update Parents and carers may have read in the local press recently about some changes that are tak-ing place with the school’s pipe band. Although this is only the third year of the Preston Lodge’s Pipe Band revival, we are already in a position where we need to take clear and decisive action in order to secure the best possible tuition across the school and the cluster. Accordingly, the East Lothian Pipes and Drums Trust has reconfigured their support for piping in this cluster and we are now entering a new phase where Lee Moore will become the Pipe Major for the cluster’s piping and drumming. A further change is that we are currently investigating the possibility of our pipe band becoming a competing band. We are working in conjunction with all of the cluster’s existing pipe bands to ensure that this in no way diminishes our student’s interactions with their organisations. I am confident that our pipe band now has an even brighter future ahead of it. Once their new kilts and outfits have arrived, we really look forward to seeing our pipers competing on a level playing field with other schools and bands across Scotland.

House Competition Heritage The House Committee have continued to develop their remit this year, thanks in the main

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to our excellent set of House Captains. House Team teachers are delighted with the commitment and creativity of this year’s S6 captains and the benefits to the whole school are increasingly evident. One target for us this year is to establish a sense of heritage to underpin the House Competition. At a House Meeting late last session, it was agreed we would seek to secure a House board to display details of the winning houses. Our aim is to produce a “roll of honour” showing the successes achieved by Gosford, Grange and Seton as far back into the mists of time as possible. Mr Thomas recently asked staff if they could help with this quest and, to our delight, Mr Clark offered access to the official school log books going back to 1925. These were a god send and allowed us to quickly ratify who won what appears to be the first ever House Competition in 1938 all the way through to the House Competition of 1962. Unfortunately, beyond this point, the school appears to have stopped logging the house champions in the old official school logs and that is where the trail goes cold for us. If there are any parents, grandparents or other community members who have evidence of House Competition Winners after 1963 we would be grateful for your help. It may be that you have an old local press cutting, a newsletter, photos or similar that could aid us in trying to fill in the gaps between the 60s (when we moved into the new building) and the early Noughties. We obviously have concrete evidence of winners in recent years. As a point of interest, we are tallying an “All Time Winners” table – just for a bit of fun – effectively hoping to determine who the “Real Madrid” of Preston Lodge House Competitions is! From the official school records we have accessed to date the totals between 1938 and 1962 stand Grange 13 wins, Seton 8 wins and Gosford 5 wins. If you have any information that would help the House Team in their efforts to establish the House Competition for the purposes of having a complete roll of honour, please get in touch with Mr Thomas or Mrs Binnie. We look forward to hearing from former Gosford, Grange and Setonites!

Movember madness at PL! During November each year, ‘Movember’ is responsible for the sprouting of moustaches on thousands of men’s faces in the UK and around

the world. The aim of which is to raise vital funds and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer and other cancers that affect men. On November 1st, men around the world make sure they have a clean-shaven face and then for the rest of the month, these selfless and generous men (known as Mo Bros), groom, trim and wax their way into the annals of fine moustachery. For the third year in a row the brave male members of staff at Preston Lodge High School grew tasteful moustaches help raise cash and awareness. In previous years money was raised by 'guess the tash' picture sheets and last years popular 'tash walk'. This year the men of Preston Lodge sold stick on moustaches to the pupils to make them Mini Mo's, the female members of staff to make them Mo Sistas and the male members who were either unable to grow or were scared of their own top lip (No Mo's). This year so far well over £100 has been raised but equally as important the PL Mo Bros have effec-tively become walking, talking billboards for the 30 days of November and through their actions and words they have raised awareness by prompting private and public conversation around the often ignored issue of men’s health. Remember, remember the Mo's of Movember!

UKMT Senior Maths Challenge On 8th November a group of our top Higher and Advanced Higher mathematicians sat the UKMT senior maths challenge. The top score achieved was a silver award, which went to Cameron McSorley 5Se3. Well done Cameron! 5 other students also achieved bronze awards. These went to Daniel Holmes 6Se1, Ruairidh Boyd 5Go2, Ben Heron 5Go2, Brodie Sandilands 5Se3 and Lewis Scott 5Se2. Congratulations to all of you. R Hull

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Learning In and Out of School Rotary Young Chef Competition The Preston Lodge school heat of the Rotary Young Chef competition was held on Tuesday 29th November when the 10 finalists competed for the top spot. The standard was exceptionally high, as noted by the judge - Derek Johnstone from Greywalls Hotel, Gullane. All pupils competed with great effort and enthusiasm. The winner was Emma Sturrock – 5SE1 with run-ner up - Katie Paterson – 2GR2. Emma will now be mentored by Derek in preparation for the district final at the end of January. Emma's recipe was stuffed chicken with basil, garlic and mozzarella, served with roasted vine tomatoes and new boiled potatoes. Congratulations to all who made the final!

Cockenzie/PrestonLodge practical food project P4/5 pupils from Cockenzie benefited from some 'hands on' experience of preparing apples, supported by S3 Hospitality pupils and Mrs Nicoll. The pupils found the task quite tricky, but understood the importance of practising at home. They worked in their own classrooms to help recognise the organisation required to carry out some practical food skills. They then cooked the apples on an induction hob, thinking about safety and then storage for use the following week. Each of the four classes had involvement over two weeks. The second week, they used the apples to make 'Danish apple layer desserts', using a variety of ingredients they needed to weigh and

measure. They then discussed the 'Eat Well Plate' to identify the food groups their simple dessert represented. Everyone enjoyed the experience and were keen to do more. The S3 pupils were very enthusiastic about their involvement – One said, ‘Miss, can we do that every week? It is great working with the primary pupils. We can show them so much.’

Preston Lodge Pipe Band play at opening of Scottish National Portrait Gallery. Preston Lodge Pipe Band were invited to play at the official opening of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh on Thursday 1 December. The SNPG closed its doors 3 years ago for a £17.6 million facelift and was officially opened by Scottish artist and playwright, John Byrne. The Preston Lodge Pipe Band were invited to give the occasion a truly Scottish feel by entertaining what turned out to be a surprisingly large crowd for a cold December morning on Queen’s Street. We are very proud of the students who participated for the quality of their musicianship and general presentation on the day. Lee Moore

Outdoor Challenge On an unseasonably mild November day Preston Lodge's newest students showed they had what it takes to win the gruelling S1 Outdoor Challenge. Organised by East Lothian Council's Outdoor Education Department, the full day event included orienteering, rope work, knot tying, map memory, viewpoint navigation and a "brew-up" challenge using storm-kettles. The fire lighting challenge using the storm-kettles proved to be the decisive element for PL as they were the only team from

Young Chef Competition students with Derek Johnstone

Pipe Band at Scottish National Portrait Gallery Opening

the county's schools to get their fires going and successfully boil the water in order to get well earned cups of hot chocolate for their team. The delightful and well managed Pressmenan Woods, near Stenton, was the setting for this PL victory...a victory that comes just a month after the S5 secured a win in their year group event. The photo shows the winning team: Mairi Heron, Rebecca Buchan, Lochlan Mack, Lauren Clark, Molly Cameron and Chloe Tucker. The proud teachers stealing some of the lime-light in the photo are Brian Frost and Gordon Kidd who help organise these events. B Frost

Columba 1400 The second Columba 1400 Leadership Academy took place at the beginning of December in the Isle of Skye. The team of eight students and eight staff included Students; Carolyn Bell, Chloe Carroll, Kirsty Edwards, Jamie Halvorson, Erin Ketchion, Laura O’Brien, Lewis Smith and Hannah Stirling. Staff; Yvonne Binks, Liz Douglas, Gareth Evans, Jenny Ewan, Rachel Hull, Ian Sellwood, Jacqui Thomson and Catriona Welsh. It was an exciting and challenging five days for all the participants. Through a range of physical and mental

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challenges they took time to look at themselves and our school community. They explored how they can work together and individually to help our community be the best it can be. There were a lot of laughs and time for thought. Everyone learned a great deal from each other. It was a powerful and inspiring experience and everyone came back keen to make their difference in the community. There are many ideas for the way ahead and the group will be working with the previous Leadership Academy graduates from October to take these forward. A key message was that we are all capable of leadership and we all can make a difference, even in the small things we do. We look forward to the new year and the planned leadership academies over the next two years.

Coca-Cola Real Business Design Challenge Final 22nd November 2011 Well done to Team Preston Craft; Arooj Alim 3Gr1, Tara Cusack 3Se1, Robyn Davidson 3Se3, Shannon Harker 3Go1, Erin Ketchion 3Gr1, Bethyn Spence 3Go1 and Finch Taylor 3Go2 who did the school and their teachers, Miss Nisbet and Miss Armstrong, proud at the recent Design Challenge Final at the Business Managment Centre at Stirling University. They were set a design brief to develop a recycling campaign, which was to encourage people in the local area to recycle more and litter less in the run up to next summer's Olympic and Paralympic Games. They had to prepare a 4 minute powerpoint presentation, record a radio advert, prepare a billboard poster and make up a media plan for their campaign which included

finance and budgeting. The team did extremely well in the short time given and worked well under pressure. The final task was to present their campaign and the work they had carried out to well over 100 people, including fellow pupils, teachers and around 20 event organisers. Unfortunately, the team narrowly missed out on a trip to London to attend the national final but should be highly commended for their effort, attitude and impeccable behaviour throughout the past few months and should feel very proud of their placing in the top 10 out of 160 schools in Scotland. Great work girls! S Nisbet and L Armstrong

Enterprise Event Young Enterprise This year's entrepreneurs are selling house bands and are organising a cinema afternoon in January. Many thanks to Moray Watson, a consultant who acts as advisor for the group.

Stock Market Challenge A group of S3 students visited Pollock Halls, Edinburgh University to compete against 24 other Lothian Schools in an interactive Stock Market Challenge. Students were initially given a sum of money to invest in shares and euro’s. Throughout the day they were given the opportunity to buy and sell depending on the market conditions. Working as a team developed their decision making, teamwork and problem solving skills.

Construction Challenge Congratulations to the 10 S2 students who participated and won their heat of the Construction Challenge at Telford College. The students participated in a range of activities which developed their communication, problem solving and teambuilding skills. The group will take part in the regional final at the Corn Exchange on Thursday 19 January. D Scott

Jenna Stevens – Charity Walk A sponsored walk on behalf of the Sick Kids Hospital in Edinburgh was held on 30th October, 2011. A total of 17 pupils from Preston Lodge were involved in undertaking this event - the brainchild of Jenna Stevens (6Gr1). The walkers left the main entrance of the school at 11 am in the morning and headed down the coast to

Longniddry via the dual carriageway paths. Stopping for a break about 12.30pm, the re-freshed walkers then carried on down Dean Road, through the woods and along past the campsite, finishing their exertions at the CO-OP in Port Seton. This self-initiated walk raised a total of £610.50 for the Rheumatology Depart-ment at the Sick Kids hospital. This wonderful feat was recognised by a wider audience when the local newspapers came in to take a photograph of many of those involved presenting their cheque. Pupils who deserve acknowledgement for being a part of this philanthropic venture are: Kathryn Berg, Paul Dixon, Cameron Black, Jenna Stevens, Jennifer Tait, Steph Harkes, Katie White, Emma Swinton, Morgan MacColl, Hannah Goodman, Kate Wilson, Neil Wyllie, Ashild Nordbotten, Bea Buendia, Anna Marie Tolk, Amanda Rygg and Ronan Hare. Jenna Stevens, Grange House Captain

S3 Hospitality links S3 Hospitality pupils from Preston Lodge visited their link primary school to deliver presentations on kitchen equipment, food preparation techniques and cookery processes. The pupils have worked hard to create the presentations and were delighted to be given the opportunity to deliver them directly to the younger P3 pupils they have been working with on a weekly basis. The S3 pupils have really engaged with this project and look forward to continuing in the New Year. There are plans to develop a Cluster project supporting National Farmhouse Breakfast week at the end of January. Watch this space!!!

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Sport Update The football clubs at Preston Lodge High School have continued their success with the Senior Boys club and the U-16’s doing well in the League and Lothian’s Cup competition. Following an early defeat by the previous years winner in the Scottish Cup the Senior team have gone on to be unbeaten in the league as well as the Lothian Cup. They have become stronger with every match and hope to continue this into the New Year to keep their unbeaten run going. The U-16 boys are also competing in the Lothian’s School League and the Lothian Cup. A highlight of the year so far is a 4-1 win over George Heriot to progress to the last 16 of the competition. The U-16’s are growing in strength and confidence. The school also have two girls teams which train on a Wednesday after school. The Junior team (S1-3) have unfortunately been beaten in the Scottish Cup. There has been a high attendance at training despite not having any league games. The New Year will bring several competitions to attend and with a strong team they should do well. The senior girls team have progressed extremely well this year. They have had success in 2 Scottish Cup games away from home against St Aiden’s High School, Wishaw (last year’s semi-finalists) and Dalziel High School, Motherwell (last years winners). There were some excellent performances from the girls. It is a great achievement seeing the girls school team reach the farthest they ever have in this competition. The schools badminton team has continued their annual success. The U-14s and U-19s played in the regional qualifiers for the Scottish Schools Quaich. They had a tough task playing against teams from East-Midlothian. The U-14s tournament was first. They had competitive matches against Beeslack, Knox, Dunbar and Musselburgh. It came down to the last match against North Berwick. Both teams were undefeated, but Preston Lodge ended up winning 4-1 to win the tournament and qualify for the Scottish Schools Finals. The U-19s team were very strong and went into the competition to retain the title for the 5th year running. The team won their first four matches and the game went to a decider against Knox Academy. A 4-1 win sent the team through to the

Scottish Schools Finals and made Preston Lodge Double Badminton Champions. The S1, S2 and 3 hockey teams have progressed this year playing many competitive matches on a Saturday. The boost in numbers has helped and the teams and always looking to recruit new players. With only one more match before the Christmas break the teams will be looking to continue their success into the New Year and keep positive results going. There have been new clubs starting through the Active Schools Co-ordinator, Graeme Bennion. The extra curricular timetable can be found on the school website if you are seeking any clubs for your child to attend after school. There has been a great start to the year for Preston Lodge HS rugby. We have recruited over 20 new players while established players have been training hard. The school 1st XV were involved in the Scottish Schools Plate. They enjoyed a successful campaign with a highlight being a 5- 55 win over a much fancied Portobello High School. Another highlight was certainly the contest at home against Earlston High School. An estimated 300 pupils, parents and staff turned out to watch the boys in an enthralling contest. Unfortunately they lost but the atmosphere and school spirit was fantastic. The players and supporters were a credit to the school.

At the time of writing the U16 school team are preparing for the final of the Scottish Schools Regional Bowl versus Hawick High School after beating Dunbar Grammar in the semi final. The school wishes the boys the best, hopefully they

PLHS v Dunbar Grammar

can bring back some silverware from the Borders which would be no mean test. School rugby at Preston Lodge is very strong, we run S1, S2 and S3 teams with regular Saturday morning fixtures. These teams train on Mondays and Wednesdays straight after school till 5pm. We also run U16 and U18 teams in the national cup competitions.

New players are always welcome so come along and be a part of one big Preston Lodge successful rugby team. Graeme Bennion

Shaun Cunningham 3SE1 was crowned Under 15’s Scottish Boxing Champion at the Scottish Boxing Championships at Meadowbank in October. The East Lothian Schools Swimming Trials, were held on Tuesday 22nd November in Mercat Gate Swimming Pool. Preston Lodge was represented by a small team of four boys: Alistair Crichton, Danny Kirkham, Scott Robertson and Neil Wyllie. Restricted to two events each, our boys brought home 7 medals - 3 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze and a fourth place. The real excitement came in the relay event, 4 x 50 Freestyle. Preston Lodge were the winners in a time of 1.50.67, 10 seconds ahead of North Berwick in second place and 13 ahead of bronze medallists, Loretto. The boys now have to wait until all other Scottish Regions have completed their trials to see if they are within the twelve fastest times in the country in order to make it through to the finals. These will be held in East Kilbride at the end of January 2012 for individual events. The date for the relays has still to be confirmed, but is usually held towards the end of the school year. Well done boys, and fingers crossed for qualification in the National Finals. Jacqui Thomson

Preston Lodge High School pupil Dean Apicella (S4) competed in the Kickboxing ISKA European championships. The championships were held at the Palazzo Del Turismo in Lido de jesolo province of Venice Italy from the 25th-29th October. The completion was open to all within the EU and with many countries attending the competition standard was very high. Dean was ranked in two different competitions which were set by weight. These were: -51 kilo semi contact points fighting -51 kilo continuous fighting Dean has competed in many National competi-tions, but this was the most high profile competi-tion he had attended. After some excellent perfor-mances he took gold in both sections to become double ISKA European champion. This was an outstanding performance considering these two titles were won only ten days after he had become Double WKA Scottish Open Champion. This event was held in Ravenscraig sports centre in Motherwell. Dean fought in two sections -50 kilo (junior) semi contact points fighting -50 kilo (senior) semi contact points fighting Well Done Dean. A great achievement.

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

Dates for Your Diary!

Monday 19 December Christmas Concert

Tuesday 20 December Christmas Concert

Wednesday 21 December Senior Dance

Thursday 22 December All Break

Tuesday 10 January Pupils Resume

Monday 16 January S2 Exams start

Friday 20 January S4 Reports to Parents

Tuesday 24 January S4 Parents’ Evening

Thursday 26 January Burns’ Supper

Friday 27 January S2 Exams End

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

Monday 6 February S4 Intermediate 2 Prelims Start

Thursday 9 February S2 Options Meeting

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

Monday 20 February All Resume

Wednesday 22 February S3 Parents’ Evening

Monday 27 February S4/5 Options Evening

Monday 27 February S4/5 Options Evening

Tuesday 28 February S3 DTP Injections

Thursday 8 March S2 Reports to Parents

Monday 12 March S2 HPV Vaccinations

Wednesday 14 March S2 Parents’ Evening

Monday 19 March S2 Final Options Forms In

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

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Thursday 22 March Sports Personality Evening

Friday 23 March S5/6 Reports to Parents

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

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

Tuesday 17 April All Resume

Tuesday 24 April S4 Exam Leave starts

Wednesday 2 May First Day of S5/6 Exam Leave

Monday 7 May May Day Holiday

Wednesday 9 May Pupils Resume

Tuesday 15 May S1 Health Day

Thursday 24 May S3 Sports Day

Friday 25 May S1 Reports to Parents, 5K Walk

Tuesday 29 May S1 Sports Day

Thursday 31 May S2 Sports Day, Whole School Project

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

Monday 4 June Golden Jubilee Holiday

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

Tuesday 12 June S5/6 Induction, East Lothian Sports

Wednesday 13 June S5/6 Induction

Tuesday 19 June Prizegiving

Wednesday 20 June P7 Visit

Thursday 21 June P7 Visit, P7 Parents’ Evening

Friday 22 June S3 Reports to Parents

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

Friday 29 June All Break

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