Author Archives: Mrs Baird

Holocaust Memorial Day

27 January is the day for everyone to remember the millions of people killed in the Holocaust, Nazi Persecution and in subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Darfur. 27 January marks the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp.

On HMD we can honour the survivors of these regimes of hatred and challenge ourselves to use the lessons of their experience to inform our lives today.
HMD is a time when we seek to learn the lessons of the past and to recognise that genocide does not just take place on its own, it’s a steady process which can begin if discrimination, racism and hatred are not checked and prevented. We’re fortunate here in the UK; we are not at risk of genocide. However, discrimination has not ended, nor has the use of the language of hatred or exclusion. There is still much to do to create a safer future and HMD is an opportunity to start this process.

Theme: Keep the Memory Alive

Rules:
Pupils must be in S1- S3 at St.Ninian’s High School

All work must be original. Any examples of plagiarised work will result in automatic exclusion from the competition.

Characters must be fictional and based loosely on real events. The tone of the work must be sympathetic to the sensitive nature of the topic. The piece must also be, where applicable, historically accurate.

The work for this year should be in the format of a letter.
This can be to a newspaper to a friend, to a loved one or from a witness.
Letters can be formal or informal or even postcards. Maximum length 800 words

The closing date for all entries is 4pm Friday 12th Dec 2014 and the winners will be announced on Monday 5th January 2015.

All entries must be in an electronic format and created in word or publisher.

Entries should be sent to bairdd@st-ninians.e-renfrew.sch.uk

One entry per pupil.

Inspiration can be taken from www.hmd.org.uk/

The judges decision is final.

Book Week Scotland


Are you ready for all the fun and games starting next week?

You could:

follow the library on twitter @stninianslib and read a clue each day to find out where Hamish the cow has been on his holiday and you could win a copy of the BRAND NEW Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
If that is not your thing you could come along to our annual book sale in the forum. Hundreds of books to choose from and all £2 or less!
If competitions are much more your thing then you could take part in the Scot or Not competitions – a list of 20 things, places or people and you have to work out if they are Scottish or err Nottish! – Free to enter and entries to be handed in to the library by Friday 28th. DO NOT HELP YOUR TEACHER – let them try to work it out on their own.

If you are more of a fashion diva or a bookish type them combine both interests with a tartan book tammy making extravaganza. Just pop in to the library at any lunchtime 24-28 and Mrs Baird will show you how!.

As if that was not enough check out the Book Week Scotland web site for chances to vote for your favourite Scottish character, make a reading pledge or even and this would be lovely for you to write a love letter to your library – remember library not me ( I know that will be tough).
http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/book-week-scotland

Big or small, staff or pupil get involved – of I will send Hamish round and you don’t want him angry!

Fake it with Fakebook

    Looking for a creative way to portray information about historical or fictional characters?

Book review – BORING!
Power Point- YAWN!

Why not take a look at Fakebook where you create a false Facebook account for your subject.

Just as with the real Facebook you will have to know about your character – age, interests, friends, pictures and movies etc
The more research you do in the beginning the better your fake will be!

Click on the link to take you to Fakebook

If you need information on how to create your account click here.

Ideally you should open both pages and work between them.

So, be creative and be smart and Fake it!

Edinburgh and Cli-fi

A merry band of S2 pupils and the lovely Ms Beaton from English joined me on a trip to the Edinburgh International Book festival.
never one to miss an opportunity to reduce our carbon emissions we invited along our mirror class from Woodfarm to hop on our bus and come along as well.

Our trip was to see us meet up with two brilliant clifi authors – Kate Kelly, marine biologist and aothor of the clifi novel Red Rock, and Sarah Crosson Carnegie short-lister and author of the environmental novel Breathe.


Kate and Sarah both read us little nuggets from their books and told us about their inspirations for their books and thoughts on the environment.

The tagline for our project in East Renfrewshire is “Can books save the world?” After hearing the two authors I think we might have a tiny glimmer of hope.

Pupils then has the chance to ask the authors some questions and then the hour was over!
We assembled more neatly than the Avengers in the book signing tent where Kate and Sarah took the time to speak with our pupils on a one-to-one basis and sign books galore.

It was a great event and certainly gave us all a little more to think about as we move on in our project.

Helping or hindering?

To fertilise or not to fertilise that is the questionIf you are a scientist you may be looking at topics that deal with the environment.

And if you are studying National Four you will have to get your nose round one rather smelly topic – FERTILISER!

Rather than wandering aimlessly through a plethora of bad web sites why not take a look at the selection I have chosen for you below.
If you find a better one – brilliant! Let me know and I will add it to the list.

    WHAT DO YOU NEED TO KNOW?

Sustainability

Types of Fertiliser

Fertilisers and crop yeild

Chemical fertilisers

Benefits of fertilisers

Effects on nature

Belgium trip 2014

On Sunday 15th June 31 pupils and 4 staff (and a very nice bus driver) headed off for Belgium.
Our tour consisted of visiting various sites of interest relating to WW1 including; Ypres, Hill 62, Passchendaele, Flanders Fields Museum, Tyne Cot Cemetery, the Menin Gate and then a short stop in Brugge.

To visit places that we only read about in books or head about in films was both humbling and inspiring and must never be forgotten.

Have you forgotten yet?…

For the world’s events have rumbled on since those gagged days,
Like traffic checked while at the crossing of city-ways:
And the haunted gap in your mind has filled with thoughts that flow
Like clouds in the lit heaven of life; and you’re a man reprieved to go,
Taking your peaceful share of Time, with joy to spare.

But the past is just the same-and War’s a bloody game…
Have you forgotten yet?…
Look down, and swear by the slain of the War that you’ll never forget.

Do you remember the dark months you held the sector at Mametz–
The nights you watched and wired and dug and piled sandbags on parapets?
Do you remember the rats; and the stench
Of corpses rotting in front of the front-line trench-
And dawn coming, dirty-white, and chill with a hopeless rain?
Do you ever stop and ask, ‘Is it all going to happen again?’

Do you remember that hour of din before the attack–
And the anger, the blind compassion that seized and shook you then
As you peered at the doomed and haggard faces of your men?
Do you remember the stretcher-cases lurching back
With dying eyes and lolling heads—those ashen-grey
Masks of the lads who once were keen and kind and gay?

Have you forgotten yet?…
Look up, and swear by the green of the spring that you’ll never forget.

Aftermath, Siegfried Sassoon, 1919

Survey for Cli-Fi

Can books save the world?

If you are in Mrs. Lafferty’s class then please take this survey. If you are not then nice of you to visit but this survey is not for you!
Try to answer as fully as possible as this will help shape the rest of the year’s work.
If you are not sure of how to answer something then please ask Mrs. Baird,
thank-you for taking part!

Survey

Game On…


Are you looking for great resources about the Commonwealth Games?

Then look no more- try out these official sites -BEFORE you go a Googling!

Find out all about countries here

Find out about the history of the games and information about each sport here AND here

Find up-to-date information about the games here

Have you found any other brilliant sites?
Let me know and I will add them to this page!

Lari Don-Mindblinding author event


A huge thanks to all the pupils who took part in the three Lari Don events yesterday.
From breaking the rules of writing to bungee jumpee from volcanoes one thing you cannot say was that reading and writing is boring.

The biggest thanks of all must go to the amazing Lari who came all the way from sunny Edinburgh to spend an afternoon inspiring and encouraging us all.

Even though she is now furiously preparing for the big launch of MindBlind on Friday she still cares about us and has left a bundle of goodies for pupils.

To be able to get your hands on a goody for yourself all you have to do is fill in a quick questionnaire about the event.

Let us know!

Please note: Only those who attended one of the three events are able to take part at this time.