A new gymnastic club for primary 7 pupils from Castleview. Miss Salter, PE teacher and assistant Emma Yuill, a former pupil, are encouraged by the “enthusiasm and talent at the new club” and aim to compete in this years BAA Youth games.
Tag Archives: Pupils
Dance Club a Success
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.
Edina Hibs Link
As part of the Active Schools Programme Castlebrae High School and Castleview Primary School have linked up with Edina Hibs Football Club.
The idea behind this partnership is to create a pathway for pupils to progress from school to club level football. Edina Hibs are an inclusive club and encourage parents to make contact with their lead coach at relevant youth age group. Pupils can then attend their weekly training sessions and take part in weekend matches.
Contact sheets can be obtained from
Alan Reid, Active Schools Co-Ordinator.
Well Done Bruce!
Bruce is a student in the Skills for Work Construction class. The class have just completed the first Plumbing Unit. In this unit the students get to work with modern plastic fittings and once completed they have to pressure test their work.
Skills for Work: Engineering
Well done to the S3 skills for work class. They have been working with The Rural and Urban Training Scheme for the last few weeks arranged through CDT. The class have enjoyed learning about motorbike maintenance and safety as well as developing the skills that will help them find enjoyable employment when they leave school.
Future Chef 2011
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!
Student Council 2010
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 !
Get a Job Day 2010
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.
Eco Club News
On the 7th of October, the Eco Club was very lucky to be visited by Abbey from Edinburgh & Lothians Greenspace Trust. Abbey organised for two rangers from Hunter Hall Park to talk to our pupils about shelter building and conservation within the park. Our pupils even made an excellent attempt at building their own shelter, indoors of course (due to our lovely Scottish weather!) and identifying leaves from a wide selection Abbey had collected from the park.
Castlebrae Eco Club is looking forward to being involved in more conservation activities and will hopefully be visiting Hunter Hall Park soon to get some hands on experience.
Cake Designer Demonstration
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.
