Download - St Margaret's Academy Winter Newsletter 2014
Winter 2014
St Margaret’s Academy
Winter Newsletter
www.stmargaretsacademy.org.uk
Newsletter written, designed and published by S6 pupils; Jessica D’alton, Morgan Cameron,
Jennifer Ricci, Emma Turner, Amie Morrow, Shaun McKnight, Shannon Whyte, Anna Hesel-
tine, Catherine Cooper, Heloise Buchannan, Claire Hynd, Aaron Johnstone, Daniel Steele,
Chloe Harte & Hayley Arnott.
SSVP Christmas Hampers
This year’s Christmas hamper appeal was run by the Maths department. Each class
was asked for food donations to help support some of the most vulnerable families
in our
community. As
usual, we had a
fantastic
response from
the pupils and
families of St
Margaret’s. In
total we were
able to create 50
hampers with a variety of dinners, snacks and Christmas treats. Thank you to
everyone who contributed, especially those parents who awoke to find items had
vanished from their cupboards!
In this
issue…
STEM
careers
event
Bibleworld
Children in
Need
School
Clubs
What a fantastic term we have had packed with high quality
learning and many activities involving the whole school
community. Our young people have been working hard at their
studies and showing a very focused attitude in their classwork.
Thank you to all of our staff for the tremendous contribution that
they make to supporting all of our pupils and to you, our parents,
in supporting the ethos and aims of the school. Have a lovely, peaceful Christmas
with your families. Mrs McGarty
For all the latest news visit
www.stmargaretsacademy.org.uk
Head Teacher’s Message
The Burns Ceilidh will take place on 30th
January 2015 at 7pm at St Margaret’s
Academy. Tickets will cost £20 per family,
or £7 per adult and £5 per child. These can
be purchased from Mr Swan (CDT) or the
school office.
Mary’s Meals Back Packs
40 Back packs were collected by
Mary’s Meals from St Margaret’s
Academy. This was organised by
the Smart Time classes and will
be sent to Malawi on 22 January
2015. Thanks to all who
supported the project.
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@StMargaretsAcad
House Captains Update
Thomas McKeon
Captain of Columba
Michael Keenan
Captain of Aidan
Vanessa Anucha
Captain of Teresa
Jessica D’alton
Captain of Sinclair
We meet every Friday during Smart
Time to discuss house affairs.
We’re working towards a more
community based ethos in Aidan
House. We are also in the process
of setting up an edmodo group!
We meet during
Smart Time on a
Friday. We are
currently trying to get juniors more
actively involved in the school
community and make them feel
more comfortable when talking to
seniors and senior management.
I have some good ideas about
making badges for Columba House
council. Columba wishes everyone
a Merry Christmas!
On Friday the 12th of
December the House
Council for Sinclair went round Sinclair
classes to introduce ourselves and become
familiar faces in the school. We hope this
makes the pupils of Sinclair House feel
more confident to come and talk to their
representatives! There is also an edmodo
group for Sinclair pupils to add – the code
is 5jnizn. It would be great if people could
join!
For all the latest news visit
www.stmargaretsacademy.org.uk
Other news...
Business Fayre
This year in Business Management we were given the opportunity to participate in the ‘tenner
challenge’. We presented our idea at the Christmas Fayre. Our product idea was our Christmas
Hampers, which included a hand decorated mug filled with mints and candy canes wrapped in
cellophane and ribbon. Our selling price was £3.50 and we also sold bags of sweets for £0.50. In
total we raised £55.20, which all went to charity. Through this we have learned many beneficial
business skills. -Uswa Ali, Anna Berry, Sanaa Elahi, Carla Doherty and Lauren Gill.
SSVP News
Our group has been working hard this term organising and running a Christmas
themed stall for a week. The candy canes were the biggest sellers and we raised
£78.81 in total which we donated to the homeless charity Shelter. Some of our group
also accompanied Mrs Platt’s Junior Choir for their annual carol singing visit to
Craigengar Park. The audience loved their performance and even joined in with the
singing! It is a busy time for the choir as they have been back out singing in the
local community a further two times. Firstly, for the staff Christmas lunch at West
Lothian College and then at St John’s Hospital.
STAY AWAY FROM the EDGE
• Towpaths, bridges and lock-sides can be particularly slippery
during the winter months and snow can conceal trip hazards such
as boat mooring rings close to the water’s edge.
• Frozen canals, whilst incredibly picturesque, can also be very dangerous and visitors should
never attempt to walk on the canal. The ice can be very thin in places, with freezing cold water
moving in currents beneath the surface.
• Pets should also never be followed out onto the ice. Animals are far more likely to make it back
onto dry land safely and owners only jeopardise both themselves and their pets by stepping onto
the ice.
Other news...
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Writing Around the Amnes–tree
In Social Subjects S1 and S2 pupils were taking part in the ‘Write for Rights’ project for Amnesty
International. We were to research an individual who had their human rights infringed and write a
message of support and solidarity to them. As it is Christmas we felt that Christmas cards would
be an appropriate way to send our support.
Everyone wrote a card and expressed their sadness at the plight of the individuals involved which
Mrs Wright posted to Amnesty International who then send our messages on. It was a really eye
opening experience and reminded us that some people face huge challenges at Christmas time.
While the case studies were really shocking we did hope that our messages might brighten the
victims’ spirits a little as it is important to know that people care about you and support you at this
time of year.
Ellis Bryant and Aidan Brady S2
Wicked Trip
A number of senior pupils had the amazing
opportunity to attend a showing of Wicked at the
Playhouse in Edinburgh. Miss Cardow from the
Music Department organised the outing which
allowed pupils to be inspired by this amazing
show. All the pupils on the trip had a wonderful
time. It was an experience not to be forgotten. St
Margaret’s Academy has a very well established
Expressive Arts Faculty and a number of our
former pupils are now involved in performing arts.
Pupils should keep an eye on newsletters and
bulletins for the next Expressive Arts Experience
that will be available soon.
Rural/Urban Landscape Trip
I went on a trip Mr Docherty led into
Glasgow open to all Nat 5s and Higher
students. We looked at urban changes
in the architecture and compared the
differences from different times in the
city’s history. We mostly stayed around
the city centre and visited Glasgow
Green. There was a lot of walking and
we spent lunch with a stop at the
Christmas Market. I enjoyed the trip a
lot and would like to do another one to
Edinburgh.
Children in Need
For all the latest news visit
www.stmargaretsacademy.org.uk
On the 21st of November, sixth year students
stormed the atrium in aid of Children in Need.
From pandas to pirates and babies to birds
students successfully dressed up to collect
money for such a worthy cause. All sixth year
students came together to perform and look
silly to raise an impressive £255.14!
STEM (Science, Technology,
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@StMargaretsAcad
CONSTRUCTION CHALLENGE
A selection of S2 pupils were chosen to take
part in a construction challenge at West
Lothian College. There were three different
challenges that pupils needed to complete,
each were very different and required skills
such as problem solving and construction.
To complete these challenges successfully
team work and effective communication were
extremely important. Lorna Bell, one of the
pupils who was chosen to take part said,
"I really enjoyed myself because it was a
different experience to anything I've ever
done before and everyone had a great time."
Due to the pupils success they have been invited to return to the next stage of the
challenge in Edinburgh.
HOUR OF CODE
This week in Computing Science, we took part in the ‘Hour of Code’. This is an international
activity which uses a set of tasks designed to challenge users to write computer programs.
Everyone is expected to write code for an hour, just as the title suggests. In S4, we studied two
different programming languages. These two programming languages were SQL and JavaScript.
We had to do various tasks including writing and editing code. SQL is a programming language
used for databases and tables while JavaScript focuses more on interactive aspects of webpages.
These were very enjoyable and challenging tasks which we benefited greatly from.
Joe Kelly & Aidan Rooney
For all the latest news visit
www.stmargaretsacademy.org.uk
Engineering & Mathematics)
STEM CAREERS EVENT
Twenty six members of the business and education communities came into school to run a careers
speed dating session with S4 pupils. Professionals from a variety of disciplines and companies
such as HSBC, Scottish Water and Glenmorangie were involved along with students and lecturers
from universities and colleges. Pupils got to have a chat with each professional to find out what it
was like in their working environment and how they got there through education and training.
This format is very different from other careers events as there was no recruitment taking place,
just a sharing of information. The aim of this event is to inspire pupils to begin careers in the
Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths sectors.
Maths Finance Week
S2 pupils took part in an RBS Money Sense Enterprise Activity in the Maths Department on the
8th of October in which they worked to create their own hypothetical catering company. They
had to budget and plan their event to ensure their company didn’t run at a loss. They were
acquainted with the different services available in most banks including practice in using a cash
withdrawal machine. ‘I enjoyed when we went on the computers and went into the digital bank
account’ – Aidan Donnelly
‘I enjoyed learning how to write a cheque’ – Ryan Kirkland
S3 students took part in playing the Money Minefield board game in which they went through a
virtual month where they had to pay rent, do weekly shops and receive money through lottery
wins and other incomes whilst still being in credit at the virtual months end. All S3 classes
played and enjoyed this game.
STEM (continued)
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Heriot-Watt Trip
Five S2 girls, Chloe Westgarth,
Eloise Kristmanns, Kirsten
Doherty, Erin Boyle and Eirinn
Vance-Robertson, spent the day
at Heriot Watt University as part
of Dragonfly - a Head Start
event to promote Science,
Technology and Engineering to
girls. The two workshops they
took part in were Chemical en-
gineering and Electrical engi-
neering. In the chemical workshop they made different batches of "slime" and com-
pared the properties. They then attempted to reproduce this slime on a larger scale,
which showed the difficulty that chemical engineers have when trying to reproduce
what synthetic chemists do in a small scale in a laboratory. In the afternoon in the
electronics labs everyone got the chance to learn to solder and after some practice,
made a festive electronic organ by soldering resistors, LEDs, capacitors, switches
and other components onto a
printed circuit board. Everyone was
successful and was able to play
either the pre-programmed festive
tunes or any tune they liked using
the tone switches. This event was a
really useful insight into the many
different types of work that use
STEM skills and also allowed our
pupils to meet undergraduate and
postgraduate science and
engineering students.
For all the latest news visit
www.stmargaretsacademy.org.uk
Other news...
STRICTLY DANCE @ ST MAGS
There has been a massive boom in dance at St Margaret’s Academy over the past few years.
Dance is now offered in the curriculum from S3 – S6 and there is an after school club on a
Thursday as well. The dance courses in school offer a variety of styles including Hiphop, Jazz,
Street, Contemporary and Ethnic.
The pupils build confidence performing as well as refining their technique in the different
styles. All pupils are also guided in the art of choreography and St Margaret’s pupils have been
identified as “excellent” in this field. It is a real strength within the school.
Recently pupils from S1 – S6 took part in the West Lothian Schools Annual Dance
Competition. There were teams entered from every school in West Lothian and the standard
was the highest it has ever been. St Margaret’s performances and costumes were both
amazing! The junior team consisting of Katia Mendes, Erin Smith, Connor Miller, Shanice
Forbes, Chelsea Holm, Nicole Tillbrook, and Morgan McLellan chose to choreograph a dance
based around the theme of the pixar movie “RIO”. It was an upbeat dance with a carnival vibe
to it! The senior team was made up of: Philomena Lynch, Sky Cullion, Molly McGinigle, Keri
Elise Gibson, Caitlin Stewart, Jennifer Edwards and they were accompanied by Fida Gul and
Connor McCallum. They choose to choreograph their dance based on “The Red Carpet,
Movie Premier”. Again it had a street jazz, hiphop vibe to it and was an extremely enjoyable
and also technical piece of work. Both teams were a huge hit with the audience and excelled in
their performances.
The dancers are now currently preparing for a showcase where they will perform dances on the
stage at our cluster primary schools. They are very excited about this project and are working
very hard!
S1 French Cinema Trip
On the 26th November 2014, 40 S1 pupils participated in an exciting
excursion to the Edinburgh Filmhouse. We went to watch an emotional and
dramatic French film called ‘Belle et Sébastien’ which was being shown as
part of the French Film Festival. The S1 pupils came back feeling happy and
relieved that they got to participate in this educational trip. They said it was a
great movie and they thoroughly enjoyed watching it. We hope that there is
another trip waiting for us as we have enjoyed this experience very much.
Written by Haadiyah and Leah
Email us at [email protected]
Other news...
TLC/Green Room Panto Trip
Many great traditions surround the wonderful festival that is Christmas and the one I enjoy
most is our annual trip out to see a festive film, a Christmas play or a pantomime! It is an
opportunity to reward our young people for all their hard work during the first term.
This year we decided again to organise a trip to the pantomime over in Howden Park Theatre
as it was such a success last year. This year it was Cinderella – with one or two twists and plot
additions! Cinderella’s famous Fairy Godmother turned out to be her Nanny Morag in
disguise; Cinderella and Buttons were cast down a Shale Mine by the Ugly Sisters but they
were saved by the King of the Trolls and helped to escape by other friendly Trolls. At the Ball,
Nanny Morag disguised Buttons as Prince Charming to ensure that he and Cinderella lived
happily ever after.
The added bonus this year was that three of St Margaret’s students were acting in the
pantomime and they were terrific, what a talented bunch! I can safely say a great time was had
by all.
Mrs Wilson
S4 Inspire conference
In November the third S4 Inspire conference took place. This event consisted of four workshops
which informed, motivated and helped prepare pupils for their upcoming prelim examinations.
The workshops were delivered by St. Margaret’s staff and consisted of the following:
Music – how music can help you study, relax and become inspired (Mrs Crookston)
Health and well-being – what to eat / drink in order to feel physically prepared (Ms Keenan)
Happiness – how being grateful enhances the wellbeing of us all (Mr Conway)
Celebrating mistakes! – overcoming emotion and barriers from challenges (Mr McIntyre)
The pupils responded very positively to the workshops and the feedback was very encouraging.
It is hoped that this uplifting event will help inspire our pupils to achieve their full potential.
Phone us at
(01506) 497104
School Clubs
Debating club
The Debating Club has experienced early success
this year, getting through to the next round of not
one but two competitions! Our Junior Debaters,
Caleb Heather and Valentino Jaconelli (S3), were
up against fierce competition in November opposing
the motion that ‘boxing should be banned’. Next we
had our Seniors, Jessica D’alton and Anna Heseltine
(S6) opposing the complex motion of ‘An ever
closer union offers the best future for the citizens of
Europe.’ Both teams performed exceptionally well
and shall be competing again in the New Year. All
members of the club have put a great deal of effort
into debating this year. We will keep you posted
with our progress!
Miss Nisbet
Young Enterprise
Young Enterprise is a group that equips young people
with the correct characteristics necessary in a multitude
of different business backgrounds and aims at promoting
business. Young Enterprise specifically does this
through offering the experience of organising, running
and directing events within the school. Most recently our
Young Enterprise Group is aiming to run a disco
themed event for either our first year or sixth year within
the coming months which we greatly look forward to.
All proceeds of any event run by the Saint Margaret’s
Young Enterprise group goes directly towards charity.
The Young Enterprise Group is open to all sixth years to
get involved with. If you are interested, Mr Fagan will
be able to provide more information. Young Enterprise
can be very good for your Personal Statement, College
Applications or even CV’s to prepare you for
opportunities after leaving school.
Ruksar Shabir
Film Club
Film club is an after school club. It is on every Monday from 15:40 to 16:40 with Mrs O’Neil.
At film club we get to watch lots of different films of our choice. After we finish the film we
discuss what we liked about the film and what we disliked, and how well we thought it was
produced. We watch a film over two Mondays and there is always popcorn! We also have a
website (interfilm.com) where we can write reviews on a film or suggest films to watch.
Recently we have watched “The Muppet’s Christmas Carol” and we are going to be watching
“Maleficent” when we return in the New Year. Some weeks we do different things. On the last
Monday we had a Christmas party and we played games and listened to music. In the future we
plan on going to the cinema or the panto for an outing. We resume film club on January 12th
2015 and hope to see some new faces!
Dance Club
Dance club is on a Thursday at 3.20 – 4.30 and we are always looking for new members. If you fancy
joining please see Mrs Downham in Pupil Support for a permission form.
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Remembrance Day
During Remembrance Friday many informative activities took place. One of these was presenting
our knowledge of our trip to the Battlefields in Belgium. This included; answering pupils ques-
tions, informing them about the trip and describing what we learned.
The pupils showed a great respect and maturity for the subject and displayed a keen interest for
the subjects we spoke about. We also had experts from West Lothian Historical Society come in
to talk to the pupils and show them all the memorabilia they had collected over the years. We
especially liked this as there were many photographs showing what the war was like and how it
affected people.
Overall the work shop helped pupils to learn about the importance of the First World War. They
thoroughly enjoyed talking to the experts and we hope to have them back in the years to come.
For all the latest news visit
www.stmargaretsacademy.org.uk
Bibleworld
First Year pupils and Primary 7 classes from the Cluster enjoyed the Bibleworld experience
when the interactive resource visited St Margaret’s Academy recently.
“I found the video shown in Bible World regarding the children getting Bibles very informative
and interesting”
Caitlin Reid – S1
“There was a museum zone
that I went to with my group.
They showed us how writing
had developed over the years.
There was one with wax and
another that was done with a
big sort of stamp. It was very
interesting and fun”
-Chelsea Holm - S1
Sports News
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Sports ambassadors
The schools Young Ambassadors
are currently focusing on a variety
of projects trying to reach and
engage with all year groups and a
range of sports. In particular, a
large focus of our efforts is going
towards starting a large scale
annual sporting event. The event
will be an inter-house competition and will be named 'The House Cup'. It is still in its very early
stages, however, we aim to deliver the project to you in the last month of term before summer
begins and after exams for the senior school. Also we aim to secure additional funding to
upgrade our schools sporting facilities. This is still in the process of being done and obviously
cannot be guaranteed. Other initiatives target raising awareness of Scottish Rugby and Female
football within the school.
Football update
Well done to our U16 team in reaching the last 16 of the Scottish Shield after a fantastic away
win against St. Aidan’s HS (Wishaw). The boys showed great character and spirit, in difficult
conditions, to come back from a
goal down to win 2-1. It was a
competitive match and
goalkeeper Jakub Welna had a
number of impressive saves.
Teni Akintola used his pace to
break through and score the
equaliser before Brandon Forrest
slotted home the winner to take
the boys through to the next
round. Moving into the New
Year, the boys are in a good
position in three competitions…
the treble is still on!
.
Prom fashion show
On the 21st of November the school held a Prom Fashion Show, and a dazzling
night was had by one and all! The evening was captured perfectly by our 6th year
photographers Hayley Murphy and Chloe Harte. A number of senior pupils and staff
strutted down the catwalk in beautiful gowns, kilts and suits to showcase the current
fashion attire. Local companies came along to represent and display their services.
Congratulations to everyone involved, you all looked excellent!
9th January - S2 Full report to parents
19th January - S4 Prelims begin
22nd January - S2 consultation evening
30th January - Parent Council Ceilidh
12th February - S5/6 Interim report to parents
13th-16th February - Holiday
19th Feb - S5/6 Prelims begin
12th March - S4 Consultation evening
27th March - S5/6 Interim reports to parents
2nd April - S1 Full report to parents
3rd April - Easter Holiday begins
Parent Council meetings are held on the 1st Monday of every month from 7pm.
Prom fashion show photos
Dates for the diary...