The video clips below will give you a better picture of our Remembrance Service.
The first, lasting 2 minutes, gives a sense of the service and its impact. It was put together by our talented multimedia technician, Matthew Mathieson, and he has captured the spirit of the day with a very atmospheric account.
The second is a 7 minute video, put together by our RME teacher, Mr Maybury, and is the one we all watched during the service. It links Barrhead, old and new, to memories of the war.
I am not yet in the position of issuing a definite statement about the commencement of the work to build the new Barrhead High School. However we believe we are very close to that and already some preparatory works have been, and are being, carried out.
From tomorrow, we are expecting to lose significant areas of our carparking. As a consequence, we are putting arrangements in place to coordinate this and this will have knock-on effects on staff, pupils and parents.
In particular, we have asked all S6 pupils who bring cars to school to park outside the school grounds, as some staff will have to do as well.
We will also not be able to allow drop-off or pick-up of pupils by parents inside the school grounds. My advice would be to arrange this some distance away and ask your young person to walk the last few hundred metres. Please note that the area around the Johnny Kelly pavilion will be closed completely and will be a functioning building site as soon as work starts.
The area between the school and St John’s church would be the only immediately adjacent area available for pick-up and drop-off but it will become a busy parking area for school staff and pupils and for the construction staff and I would recommend parents make alternative plans.
If these arrangements will cause particular difficulties for individuals due to, for example, medical conditions, please contact the school to discuss the alternatives.
I recognise this will cause some inconvenience but I believe the long-term gains will far outweigh the short-term hassle. It is just great to know things are starting to move quickly on the new school and if we all work together, I am sure it will go smoothly.
Mr Sinclair
As you will be aware, we carried out an evacuation of the school today. This was in response to information received, although no specific threat was indicated. The evacuation was carried out very efficiently and pupils and staff followed our procedures well for a full evacuation to a designated area with a full building check. Although it turned out that there was no cause for concern, all procedures for evacuation and checking were carried out thoroughly and in conjunction with Police Scotland. The timing of this meant that pupils could not re-enter the school over lunchtime and Period 5 was then given over to lunch to allow pupils, particularly S1 (who do not leave the school at lunchtime) and those entitled to free meals, to be fed. Classes resumed as normal at Period 6 and school will be open as normal tomorrow.
My thanks to all pupils and staff for their cooperation and patience today.
Mr Sinclair
Parents, pupils and staff will all be aware of the continuing delay in the commencement of the building of the new Barrhead High School and we all share the frustration caused by this. I have been given the following information by the Council and we are all hoping the causes of this delay can be resolved very quickly.The Education Department and indeed the Council are most disappointed in the delay in establishing the new build replacement for Barrhead High School. The proposals that have been developed and shared with the school and wider community are exciting and will provide first class indoor and outdoor facilities.The delay is a consequence of changes to European accounting rules that affect a variety of public sector finance projects, including Barrhead High. It is completely outwith the Council’s control. We can’t say at this stage say what any delay would be. We remain firmly committed to providing a new Barrhead High and the details of the project have not changed. There are a whole host of projects affected by this reclassification of what constitutes public/private expenditure. It is simply a technical accounting issue, there is nothing we can do.
The reception with Nicola Sturgeon took place today (early morning our time) and she met with the East Renfrewshire group.
As indicated in the previous post, Euan had been selected to represent the group and he spoke very well on behalf of ERC and the North East hubs. He is dressed in kung fu gear as he was also performing later – hopefully we will get some pictures of that!
A group of East Renfrewshire pupils are currently visiting China, accompanied by our own Principal Teacher of Modern Language, Miss Catriona Ness. One of our pupils, Euan Stevenson (S6), is also part of the party.
They have linked up with the partner school and also had some time sightseeing and learning about the culture of the host country. This has included a visit to the Great wall.
Euan performed a tea ceremony at the partnership school; however this Sunday (tomorrow), Nicola Sturgeon is meeting with the group in Beijing and Euan has been selected to speak to her. He’ll be inviting her back to Barrhead for a cuppa next!
The BBC will be there too so look out for some mentions in the media!
We are looking forward to a full report on their return.
Over 100 pupils, parents and staff, and their families and friends, joined together today for a charity hill walk for Nepal. A bus left the school at 9.30 and more folk met us in Balmaha for the walk up Conic Hill. The weather could not have been better and we made quick progress up and had lunch on top before heading back down.
Pupils had expressed their concern over the last month as they heard the news coming through about the earthquakes in Nepal. This was made more real for them when Mrs Knowles (Maths teacher) spoke to them at assemblies of the 5 years she had spent in Kathmandu, the people she had met and the current situation. She showed us photos of the sherpa that took her to Everest Basecamp, his family and house and the recent effect on his village, which had been wiped out with only 1 house left standing.
The pupils decided that the most appropriate response was a charity hill walk with all money raised being sent to help the relief work. All money raised should be brought in to the School Office next week and if any other pupils, parents or staff wish to contribute, they are welcome to do so.
We enjoyed a great day but it is good to know that this will also bring benefit to people in real need.
A big thank you to all who participated.
Mr Sinclair
Following the success of National PSA Day last year, Unison has rolled out National Stars in Our Schools Day – recognising the work of all our support staff. Today the school thanked all the staff who work hard everyday making the school run smoothly and supporting young people.
All our support staff enjoyed a small token of our appreciation – for some of our heroes, it was an appropriately named chocolate treat!
The Pupil Support Assistants had a lovely morning break with cakes and tea/coffee made by Head Teacher, Mr Sinclair.
It was a good opportunity to make sure the staff were recognised for all their hard work and to show our appreciation.
THE MEN IN BLACK – Curry & Comedy Night – For Men Only!
Duncan McGregor, on behalf of the Parent Council, has organised an evening for men on Friday 20th June in the Masonic Hall.
Curry, games, raffle and talks from 3 well-known “men in black” will feature. See here for full details.
A good evening is promised!
Scottish National Swimming Championships – Dec 2013
Kirsty McGinley (S3) recently took part in the above swimming championships and had a fabulous weekend smashing PB’s in every event she entered.
Kisrty’s new times are as follows:
In the 400M Individual Medley, Kirsty came 17th out of 72 entries – a fabulous achievement considering Kirsty was swimming against the best young swimmers in Scotland and England.
