“Education is the single most powerful weapon against poverty.”     

During my five week stay in the village of Naroosura in Kenya this statement was drawn to my attention on many occasions. While helping to build a classroom for a small school in Kanunka (a neighbouring village) we were given the opportunity to interact with the school children; both teaching them and dancing and singing with them during their breaks. The children have so little in terms of material goods compared to us in the U.K. but in my opinion have so much more. They are happier and value what they have; people and education in particular. They are able to live the simple life that I often wish I had.

At the end of break one day I noticed Setian, one of the young girls from the ‘baby class’ standing still, not joining her classmates in the usual dash back to their desks. She was very upset and I realised that in the excitement of playing during break she had dropped her pencil. Despite its ridiculously small size I managed to find it in amongst the dirt on the ground. The look on Setian’s face when I returned it to her is something I will never forget. She smiled up at me in thanks before running back to her class. As each child treasures their own tatty pencil, and the teacher has none spare, returning without hers would have meant she would have been unable to participate fully in the next lesson. This little incident reminded me of all the times throughout my school years when a pencil was purposely snapped in half; or the tip was broken so class time could be wasted sharpening it at the bin; or simply just thrown out because it was ‘too small’ to be used comfortably. I love that something so important can be taken from such a simple event: we should not waste a moment of the education that we are so blessed to have.

The time I spent building for, and working with, the children in Kenya has been the best use of my time so far. They appreciated us sharing our knowledge, teaching them our songs and dances and attempting to learn theirs more than I could have imagined. The classroom we helped build will allow for more children to be educated and knowing that I have provided even just a few children with a small part of the education that they treasure means so much to me. I touched their lives and in turn they touched mine.

Frances Lowrie (Graduate 2013)

As many of you will know, this year’s school show is Oliver. In fact, you will see Frankie O’Donnell (S2), who has been given the role of Oliver, writing here too. My role here is to let everyone know what’s happening in the rehearsals each month.

The first two rehearsals were held in a music room, learning some of the songs, so I won’t go into detail about them. In the third rehearsal, we started setting scenes out. The scene we did then was the Food, Glorious Food! scene. Rehearsals were well into way when BBC cameras starting arriving. Everyone was a little nervous, especially when the Music Department’s Mr McKinnon chose my table to be interviewed. 

You might have seen us on Reporting Scotland a few days ago. They had been investigating an American survey which said that Scottish people were losing their accents as TV was affecting us and changing them.  We managed to prove the survey wrong, as we came to the conclusion that most of our accents had not been affected.

The fourth and final rehearsal I will share with you was extremely fun. We learned more of the Food, Glorious Food! scene and what was particularly thrilling was the main moment, in which our very own Frankie O’Donnell, as Oliver, says the doomed words ‘Please sir, I want some more!’. The reactions of Mr. Bumble, Widow Corny and the warders are certainly something to look forward to. Singing and also making the facial expressions to show mood is quite fun, especially when the threatening and frightening Mr. Bumble walks over – everyone must cower in terror!

Already, there’s an overall sense of pride spreading throughout the cast and crew. There’s nothing like singing a song or doing a scene together successfully, knowing that you all put something into it. There is this inner feeling that you are making something that really means something. Something amazing.

Hannah O’Donnell (2a1)

Without a doubt, our trip to Rome must have been the highlight of my year so far. From the minute we landed until the minute we waved goodbye to the Eternal city, the group barely had time to draw breath. Our accommodation, Hotel dei Mille, was situated in a central location from which the metro and the bus station were only minutes away. Our jam packed schedule ensured that we saw nearly all sights and partook in the many opportunities Rome had to offer and I found that being able to discover an unfamiliar city with both my friends and chaplain priest made the experience particularly unforgettable.

Throughout the week, we saw many amazing sights, both religious and historical. On the first day we celebrated mass at Santa Maria Maggiore, which was a spiritual start to the week. At night, we ate in the family-run restaurant for the first time before heading to the famous Trevi Fountain. I must admit, the food was different to what we might eat normally but I thoroughly enjoyed our time in the restaurant, and genuinely appreciated their hospitality. Before leaving for Rome, we had been made aware of the late nights and early mornings but admittedly I did not fully appreciate how much of a challenge this would be. Rising at half 6 in the morning of the papal mass seemed unbearable at the time, but as soon as I saw the vast number of people crowded round St Peter’s Square I realised just how essential it was to make full use of the time we had. Seeing Pope Francis was, for me, the highlight of the trip. Not only was I affected by his blessing and gospel reading, but I found that being united with so many other people in faith deepened my own understanding of religion and strengthened my relationship with God. 

Aside from the Vatican and the view from the Dome over St Peter’s, I was more than impressed by the Coliseum.  Even with its missing sections you can imagine the spectacle it must have been at the time of the Roman Empire and thought that overall, it had a certain class that hasn’t been lost to time. Although we celebrated mass on several occasions – including the feast day of St Ninian our patron – in several unique and sacred places I found our time in the interior chapel in the Pantheon the most inspiring.  Being allowed in a chapel that not even the majority of the Romans have seen inside of was undeniably a privilege; one in which I would not have experienced if not with St Ninian’s. The other sights we visited included St Peter’s Cathedral in Frascati, the Vatican museum, the Catacombs of St Callisto, the Spanish steps and many others, all of which were architecturally unbelievable and of great interest.  Although the trip was fundamentally based on our religion, we were given the chance to relax, to explore and to shop by ourselves on a few occasions. Although there were, of course, various shops in which we could buy holy souvenirs or presents, there were also plenty of Italian ‘high street’ stores such as ‘Kiko’, which proved to be a favourite for many of the girls.

Overall, my trip to Rome was one of the best, most fulfilling faith and enjoyable experiences of my life not only because of the actual city itself, but the people I travelled with, both staff and pupils.

Hannah Gillan (6a9)

During my recent trip to Thailand we stayed in a very remote area situated closely to the border with Burma. With many people illegally crossing the border into Thailand, these immigrants were not recognised as Thai citizens and lacked basic rights.

The children we met while here often had left their families behind in order to access education and hopefully escape the depravation they were subjected to. However, conditions are very basic and without their parents, daily life is very hard. Witnessing the brutal reality for these people opened my eyes to how lucky we are to have things we take for granted, such as running water and electricity.

Not only was I thrilled to be given the opportunity to experience life as a local but they to were appreciative that we had come to help them and were eager to learn about our culture. When I first arrived to discover the hole in the ground that was to become our toilet, the bucket with murky water which was our shower and the mat on the floor which was our bed for five weeks, I couldn’t help but question what I had let myself in for.

However, by the end of the project I was actually sad to leave such a simple way of life, one where technology was not the centre of everyone’s daily routine but instead pulling together as a community is the key to happiness. Seeing the smiles on the faces of the children just because we had spent time with them was extremely rewarding and I hope I made a difference to their lives, as much as they made a difference to mine.

Chloe Stuart (Graduate 2013)