Category Archives: Achievement

Achievement, Concerts, Demonstrations, In the Community, music

School Concert

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Unfortunately, due to the weather conditions, we had to cancel our musical night due to take place on Wednesday 15th December, however we did manage to put on a performance on Monday 20th December at 2pm.

It was a great success and showcase for the talent that we have within the student population at Castlebrae. It was great to see that some parents/carers managed to attend however I am aware that many were unable to attend the re-arranged event due to work commitments. I would like to thank all the performers and our music teacher Mr McLaren for their fantastic efforts in putting on a very impressive show. Hopefully this will be the first of many such nights.

Achievement, Dancing, External Agencies

Dance Club a Success

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Dance Fusion is offered in all four feeder primary schools, Niddrie Mill, St. Francis, Newcraighall, Castleview and also at Castlebrae Community High School at least one hour per week. Dance Fusion is on offer for two hours every Saturday morning and it has over a hundred members. There have also been two Dance Fusion concerts this year. One at Christmas and one in the summer term with over one hundred local pupils enjoying a dance programme.

Achievement, Competitions, Hospitality, Pupils

Future Chef 2011

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Four of our S3/4 Hospitality students are taking part in FutureChef this year. They have chosen recipes and are working after school to practice and tweak them ready for the school heat which took place in October.

At this stage in the competition they have to produce a main course for two people on a budget of £4 and they have to prepare and serve it in an hour.

The recipes they are working on are as follows: Mustardy Pork and Apples, Crispy Italian Chicken with Polenta, Vegetable and Butter Bean Hotpot and Roast Rack of Lamb with Potato and Cauliflower Dauphinoise. The winner of the School heat will go forward to compete against other Edinburgh schools in the next round. We wish them all well!

Achievement, Guidance, Life Skills, Pupils, Student Council, Student Voice

Student Council 2010

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The start of the new school year saw Castlebrae’s Student Council re-convene with three new additions from S1 after voting took place in their class. They, along with the other members in S2—S6, meet every three weeks ensuring that the students at Castlebrae have a say in the decision making of the school.

The student council have learned about chairing meetings, drawing up an agenda and taking minutes as well as the correct etiquette for meetings. These sessions have given the members the tools and confidence to enable  effective meetings to take place which will involve discussion and decision making on various issues involving the school and wider community.

The school has also used members to get involved in the teachers own working groups to allow the students to voice their opinion on various whole school matters. Last year, two members regularly attended the positive behaviour group and it is hoped that more teachers meetings will involve a contribution from the Student Council.

It has to be emphasized that the Student Council is not just about the sixteen members who attend the meetings. They are representing their own tutor group which means that everyone in the school has a right to voice their  opinion on school matters. If any pupil has an issue which they want to raise, they should approach their representative who will then put it on the agenda as an item to be discussed at the next meeting. There is also a Student Council notice board in the school which will have the minutes of each meeting for all students to view.

Remember School improvement is far more likely to happen if Students are involved !

Achievement, External Agencies, Guidance, Life Skills, Local Business, Pupils, Skills for Work

Get a Job Day 2010

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Current S4 pupils had the opportunity to take part in the annual enterprise event ’Get a Job’ day.

The event, co-ordinated by Guidance staff at Castlebrae and Community Connections, offers young people the opportunity to go through the process of applying and interviewing for employment before they leave school.

The pupils choose their favoured career with their Guidance teacher, Community Connections then try to match these professions with a local employer who visits the school, supports them in their application process and then offers students a mock interview at their place of work.

Many business partners continue to return year after year to support the event and pupils at Castlebrae as they enjoy their   experiences at the school and working with the pupils.

This years local business partners included the Army, Castlerock Edinvar, Ford Motor Company, Bannatynes Gym, Medusa Hairdressing, Fort Kinnaird Shopping Centre, Harvey Nichols, Zen Lifestyle, North Edinburgh Childcare and Sodexo.

Achievement, Awards, Demonstrations, Hospitality, Pupils

Cake Designer Demonstration

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Four of our Hospitality (Creative Cake Production) students went to see a demonstration by Paul Bradford of Truly Scrumptious Cakes and were fascinated by the way he put together his Witch Handbag for Halloween. They say it takes an expert to make the things look easy and that is certainly what he did!

Paul has been interested in cake decorating since he was at primary school and now has his own business. He lists amongst his customers members of the Royal Family and Celebrities and is regularly invited to Italy to demonstrate his skills.

The girls enjoyed their evening and are now hoping that we can get Paul into school to run a workshop for the class.

Achievement, Awards, CDT, Competitions, Eco Schools, Pupils

GO4SET – ‘Go for Science, Engineering and Technology’

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This year the GO4SET competition is based on designing a new school classroom. The students are expected to design a new classroom that takes in to account all the recycling, energy use and use of waste, as well as the architectural design of the space. The CDT department are working with 2C and hope to come up with some ideas that can be put in place within Castlebrae this year.

Achievement, Pupils, Uncategorized

‘Bread and Roses’

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On Thursday 23rd September, five of our senior students were invited by Scotland’s Justice Minister, Mr Kenny MacAskill, to attend the Filmhouse Festival ‘Take One Action’. Take One Action is the UK’s first film festival dedicated to active global citizenship offering young people a variety of opportunities to explore Responsible Citizenship, a whole school component of Curriculum of Excellence.

The five students, Ashleigh Shephard, Stephanie MacDonald, Jamie Clunie, Jordan Bradford and Natasha Meechan were met at the Filmhouse by Mr MacAskill before the screening of ‘Bread and Roses’, a film which told the story of immigrant janitors in Los Angeles struggling to improve their working conditions by forming a union. The students were introduced to the films famous screenwriter, Paul Laverty, who is a personal friend of Mr MacAskill. The evening concluded with a question and answer session with Paul and Elaine Carswell, a union activist.

The students were excellent ambassadors for the school and, although the timing of the question and answer session was too late in the evening for them to ask any questions, they were all impressed by the film and the talk Paul and Elaine gave at the end of the screening.

“The film has made us think about immigration and poverty. It gave us a view of what it was really like for immigrants in the USA and made us consider what it is like for immigrants here”, Stephanie said.

Jamie added, “It also made us realize that it should be the right of everyone to have good working conditions”.

Mr MacAskill received a photograph of the evening from the students to thank him for giving this opportunity to the school and has mentioned that he will keep in touch regarding any future events that might be of interest to our students’ education citizenship.