Category Archives: School News

Rock Challenge

On Friday 14th June, along with eleven other schools from around Scotland, Arbroath High School performed at the annual Be Your Best Foundation Global Rock Challenge Scottish Final at the Caird Hall in Dundee. This global event is run all around the world, from Australia to Germany, with the aim of providing school pupils with the opportunity to experience the natural, adrenaline fuelled high from performing in a professional venue. The competition has an overall message of drug awareness and healthy lifestyle but it also manages to help to building creativity, independence and self esteem in young people around the country.

This was the second time the Scottish final had ever been held and Arbroath High School were attending as defending champions, having won the inaugural final with their piece ‘The Wolf’ in 2012. Nonetheless, this was still only their third year in the competition. As a relatively new team, they were excited to see if they could continue their success. They were competing against schools from across Scotland with teams from Highlands, Aberdeenshire, Angus, Dundee and Perth and Kinross all represented.

 Taking part in Rock Challenge takes a lot of time and effort from staff and pupils with everything from costumes to set and dancing created as a team effort. Their piece ‘Doomed’ was based on the story of the lost city of Atlantis and the costumes and set were built to represent an ancient Greek City being attacked by the elements before sinking to the bottom of the ocean.

 Fortunately, their efforts and hard work were deemed well worth it by the judges at the Caird Hall when they awarded ‘Doomed’ overall 2nd place, narrowly losing out on the top prize to Mackie Academy from Stonehaven. They were also commended with special awards for make-up, hair, performance skill, inclusion, press coverage and drug awareness. 3rd place went to Fraserburgh Academy, closely followed by Westhill Academy with Kinross High School in 5th.

 The Arbroath High School team now move on to preparing for next year and hope to add significantly to their number. They lose quite a few of the seniors this year as they move on to University and further employment so they hope to bring in some fresh new faces. They will be holding a dance school in Showcase the Street on 9th August for anyone aged 10-17 who may be thinking about joining the Rock Challenge team. It’s a great opportunity to meet some of the team and to see if it’s something you might enjoy. The classes are from 11am till 3.30pm and will cost £5. Anyone attending should bring a packed lunch.

 A huge number of people were involved in helping to make this such a huge success, but the team would like to express particular thanks to Buchan Embroidery in Peterhead for their continued sponsorship. They would also like to express their thanks to Angus Council, Northern Tool Gear, Asda, GSK Montrose, Pepo’s and Strathmore Vintage Vehicle Club for their financial support over the years.

Hospitality: Rewarding partnership excellence at Arbroath High School

Local Chef Garry Watson and Hospitality pupils from Arbroath High School recently picked up a Partnership in Excellence award at a prestigious event hosted by Angus Council.  Sophie Martin S4 and Rebecca Ramsay S3 attended the event held at the Carnoustie Golf Hotel with their Mentor Chef, Garry Watson from Gordon’s Restaurant in Inverkeillor.  The award recognises “a specific example of partnership working…, which has made a significant impact on the learning of young people and has made a lasting contribution to the life of the school”.  Garry has mentored pupils from the school during the last three years, increasing their skills and awareness of the Hospitality industry to prepare them for local and national cookery competitions. Both girls have won the local and regional rounds of Springboard UK’s, Future Chef Competition and have placed highly in the Scottish heats in Glasgow. He has made strong links with the school’s Home Economics department and has delivered workshops to whole year groups as well as Teachers and continues to support and give free advice in matters related to his profession. The partnership award was as a result of being in the short-list of five nominees from over 100 worthy applicants and Garry and the school are delighted to receive this recognition. Mrs Forbes, who works in the Home Economics Department at the school, commented “Garry has been a fantastic asset to the school and the time, effort and sponsorship he provides each year to the deserving pupil is immeasurable.”       

Arbroath High School –Collège Aristide Bruant School Exchange:

 

On the 5th of June a group of 12 pupils from Arbroath High School travelled to Albi in the South of France to meet their French ‘pen pals’. Our pupils started exchanging letters earlier in the year as part of their ongoing work within the Modern Languages department. However, this is the first time there has been an exchange of this kind organised by the school and it represents an exciting opportunity for the pupils involved.

The pupils stayed with the families of their respective ‘pen pals’. During the week they were given the chance to take part in a wide range of activities which related to the work of other departments in school, with sports like kayaking in the river Tarn, art appreciation through a visit to the Toulouse Lautrec museum, and further visits to the local cathedral, a coal museum, the Cap’ Découverte theme park and a museum dedicated to the famous explorer Lapérouse who appears in the S2 History course at AHS. The pupils also had a chance to spend a day in Toulouse at the Cité de l’Espace theme park.

One additional feature was the chance to attend a French school and follow the timetables of their ‘pen pals’. This proved to be an enlightening experience for many of our pupils – not the least significant part of which was in learning that the school day begins at eight am and does not end until five pm!

Most pupils involved have already commented that their French has improved a lot and that they are more confident in using the language. Overall it was a very positive experience and now we wait for next year and the return visit to be made by the French ‘pen pals.’

Music News

The Arbroath High School Young Musician of the Year Competition for 2013 was held in June and was won by percussionist, Niamh Hill, an S5 pupil. Niamh chose excerpts from ‘the Black and White Rag” by George Botsford, playing the overture using full drum kit and the main score on xylophone, and she was a popular choice amongst judges and audience for her overall play.

In addition, the National Brass Band of Scotland has once again turned to Arbroath High School as it recruits new members and it has provided an opportunity for another talented young musician. Percussionist Peter Ney, in S4, was recently selected to join this prestigious group and we wish him well in his musical endeavours.

French exchange with Albi 2013 Day 1

 Yesterday we left Edinburgh at 2.00 in the afternoon. We enjoyed the journey although it was quite long and tiring but we had fun and took lots of photos.

The airport at Toulouse had nice architecture and we noticed that the taps were different!

The weather was really warm, about 25 degrees. We were very nervous at meeting our pen pals. They had cards with our names, so they knew who we were. We spoke to them in French but it was quite daunting! We then returned to the school to meet everyone else and went to our penpals’ houses. We were shown round the houses and they were very polite. We noticed that the floors were tiled, there were shutters on the windows, lots of wood and some had even swimming pools! We tried to speak as much French as we could and hand signals helped!

The food in France was very different from the food back in Scotland. Some of us tried new foods such as“ Croque-monsieur”, French cakes, feta cheese ( Thalia is Greek), croissants etc…

France is very different to Scotland but we are having a great time.

The Glorious Twelve.

Engineering – National Competition

A team of five S2 pupils, (Rory Watson, Fraser Scott, Cameron Burns, Cameron Doran and Gregor Stevenson) have achieved tremendous success by entering a school competition “The Importance of Engineering to Scotland”. This competition was sent from Scottish Engineering to the Directors of Education asking for all S2 pupils throughout Scotland to take part. It was sponsored by The Weir Group with the full support of the Education Minister, Michael Russell MSP.

The competition required a written report to be submitted by 22nd March 2013 demonstrating various key elements, such as numeracy, literacy, cross curricular subjects, independent research and links with Dundee University and Angus College. The boys were successful with their written report and were one of six schools to reach the National final.

The team accompanied by Mrs Y Anderson took a trip to Glasgow where they presented their findings to the Offices of Scottish Engineering. The six member judging panel consisted of three members from Scottish Engineering and three from The Weir Group.

The boys and the school had to wait anxiously for another few days to find the final outcome from the panel. The boys were disappointed they did not receive one of the top three prizes. However, their effort in achieving the final stages is highly commendable and in doing so they won £500 for the school.

Arbroath High School would like to thank the four Seniors who assisted the boys with this project, (Rhys Cuthbert, Lauren Livingston, Sean Watt and Ross Craig) wishing them all success in their chosen career path. We would also like to show our appreciation to Jim Stewart, Jamie Henderson (Angus College) and Professor David Muir Wood (Dundee University) for all the support and advice throughout the project.

On2FEET

The On2Feet programme in Angus is designed to support pupils in fourth year at secondary school in Angus who are considering leaving school at the age of 16. The programme attempts to provide advice and support as they work towards a positive next step in their education and development.

The fifteen pupils that make up the On2FEET group at Arbroath High School have been working hard this session looking at interview skills, finding out how to apply to college and for jobs and have been trying to develop useful skills that will be needed in the workplace.  The group has had an opportunity to attend a Careers Fair in Aberdeen.  They have also participated in two interactive drama workshops at the Webster Theatre where they were helping the characters figure out how to get into the career they hoped for.  The pupils were able to help these characters perform well in interviews and this has helped change their own attitudes towards the working environment.  It also dealt with issues such as mental health, sexual health, alcohol abuse and the impact that negative attitudes have on family members and close friends.

We hope that we can find a positive destination for all of our On2Feet pupils as they move on from school in the next couple of months.

AHS News

Carla Ingram, a sixth year pupil at Arbroath High School, was the winner of a recent Creative Writing Competition. ‘Tartan Treasures’ – organized by Angus Council in conjunction with other national events to mark the Tartan Week celebrations. There were over one hundred entrants for this prestigious competition where pupils from all Angus secondary schools were given an opening paragraph and then invited to complete a short story based on the theme of a tartan rug. The short stories of 1000 words were then given to the judges, who included Angus Council librarians and professional authors. Carla received her prize certificate, a DVD of a professional story-teller reading out her work and a Kindle at a ceremony at the Angus Archive centre on Friday 29th March. Carla’s story will be published shortly in a number of local newspapers.

History Department – Lessons from Auschwitz

Last September, two S6 pupils were given the opportunity to take part in the Lessons from Auschwitz Project which is organised and run by the Holocaust Educational Trust. Kate Richards and Lauren Billingham, both studying Advanced Higher History, visited Auschwitz – the largest extermination camp built by the Nazis. They were given a guided tour of the camp for a whole day and returned that evening.

Now, building upon the insights gained through this visit, both Kate and Lauren have recently been visiting local Primary schools to share the key messages of the Holocaust and genocide. In the past month, the girls have given presentations to Primary 7 pupils in Carmyllie, Inverbrothock and Timmergreens primary schools and all have been extremely well-received by the staff and pupils there.

Both Kate and Lauren have had time to reflect on what they’ve learnt – both though the initial tip and the subsequent activities. Kate told one of her teachers that:

“It was a very worthwhile and memorable experience. From the Seminars and through visiting Auschwitz, I have learned not only the horrors of the Holocaust, but also how important it is to learn from history.”     

Lauren also commented that: “I feel extremely lucky to have been given the opportunity to participate in the Lessons from Auschwitz project. I would highly recommend this experience to everyone – it has been brilliant sharing my experience. It was a very emotional and touching experience”

Forthcoming Events

The Arbroath High School PTA is hosting a Prize Bingo Night on Wednesday 15th March in the school. Eyes down at 7pm and both pupils and parents can play from £2. This will include tea, coffee, juice and biscuits.

Arbroath High School will also be holding its annual ‘Showcase’ event on Tuesday 27th March at 7.00pm. Pupils from all of the different year groups will be manning stalls and giving presentations and performances to highlight their many and varied achievements during the past twelve months – both in and beyond school. All parents and friends of the school are welcome to attend this event. Admission is free.