Author: Mr McFarlane

Christmas Outreach – Dalry Secondary Pupils Entertain at Carlingwark House and The Golden Day Centre, Castle Douglas

This year Dalry pupils wanted to go out into the community with their music and after a successful concert in November, returned to Carlingwark House with a new Christmas programme. Ten pupils from S3 and S4 played and sang Christmas songs and led a Christmas singalong , accompanied by the ladies and gentlemen of Carlingwark House on sleigh bells and shakers. Instruments they played included bass guitar, electric guitar, trombone, piano and ukulele.  The songs featured Christmas favourites and some modern versions of carols including ‘In Dulce Jubilo’ and ‘Away in a Manger’. Rory and James from S4 sang two duets- ‘Do you hear what I hear?’ and ‘One candle’. All the pupils did very well despite have arrived 40 minutes late as a lorry was being pulled out of a ditch on the main road from Dalry. All in a day’s work for a performer!

The following day, four pupils headed down to The Golden Day Centre in Castle Douglas to perform. Three of the four students are learning piano and were able to play a mixture of jazz, classical and Christmas music. In addition, they played violin and glockenspiel as well as singing solos and duets. James also sang some Scots songs – prompting an invitation to return around Burn’s Night to perform a mainly Scots selection.

All the students from Dalry School were delighted to be able to connect with these two wonderful community groups and give their best to entertain others.

Canteen Update

A new comfy seating area is now located in the canteen. This is the latest in a number of changes introduced by Gillian since taking over from Anne after the summer. Pupils can  now grab a coffee from the new coffee machine to go with their hot snacks from the “grab n’ go ” counter. Pupils and teachers can now also pay by cash if they wish to.

21212 Restaurant Visit

On Wednesday Mrs Farquhar and two of her S3 pupils visited 21212 Michelin starred restaurant in Edinburgh. The pupils had a great experience working in the prep kitchen alongside chef Fraser Cameron a former pupil of Dalry. Helping to prepare savoury meringues and a variety of different purées. The pupils also met head chef Paul Kitching who invited them to lunch in the restaurant. The pupils were treated to seven different courses of incredible cuisine. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity for the pupils to get an insight into what happens in a Michelin starred restaurant. Many thanks to Paul Kitching and his staff for this wonderful opportunity.

Christmas Fayre

Mrs Farquhar’s activities group has been busy making Christmas crafts since the October holidays to sell at Castle Douglas High School’s Christmas Fayre. Members of the group attended the event on Thursday the 3oth of November. There were lots of excellent craft stalls on display and the group raised £20 from their own sales as well as £45 for FoDS through raffle ticket sales.

Music trip to the Fullarton

 

Christmas came early to Dalry as the Music Dept. went off to the theatre on Friday 1st December. The performance was a  live screening of the National Theatre production of ‘Follies’ – a musical by Stephen Sondheim. It is less often performed than many other musicals as it has lots of songs and there is no real plot as such – just a setting with flashbacks to another time . The main focus is  all about relationships between people.
Castle Douglas High School were invited to join us and 19 of their S3- 6 music students did. The show started at 10.00 am and everybody got a chance to stock up on drinks, sweets and ice creams – to last throughout the show which was non -stop for over 2 hours. Imelda Staunton was one of the lead actresses and she was excellent in the role – singing, dancing and acting superbly.

Here’s what the pupils had to say about it:

‘loved every second of it – 5 stars definitely’

‘was really good- kept the tension throughout- good plot – cleverly done – worth seeing’

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