The final New York Information meeting of parents/carers and pupils will be held on Tuesday 25th September at 7pm in the street.  This purpose of this meeting will be to provide further information about the trip, clarify travel arrangements and complete relevant paperwork.  All pupils must bring their passports which we shall retain for safe keeping.  The Visa Waiver must be completed prior to this date and handed in to Mrs Selbie.

Congratulations to S4 rock band Vertigo who were performing last night, 16 September, at the GFT Youth Festival in Blythswood Hall at Renfield St Stephen’s in Glasgow city centre.  The band put on a fantastic performance and they all thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Congratulations to Alex in S3 who was invited to perform with Neilston and District Pipe Band at the International Bagpipe Festival in Strakonice,  Czech Republic.  The band were the only Scottish band performing at the event which took place 23-26 August.  Alex was asked to perform with the band by Pipe Major Iain MacDonald who also is Alex’s teacher at the Saturday Music Centre at Williamwood.

On Tuesday 25th August the band ‘The Tailormade’ worked with the S4 music students on songwriting workshops throughout the whole day.  The session gave an introduction to song writing, where students took part in three workshops focussing on lyric writing, hooks, melody and structure.  The pupils were engaged and got a real insight on how to plan and structure a song.  A number of National 5 students have decided to work on songwriting for their composing assignment after this exciting opportunity.  The feedback from pupils and parents was very encouraging ‘my daughter loved the song writing day and came home enthused about what the groups had achieved with the band.  What a great experience!’

The Senior Ensembles Showcase Concert for the West of Scotlands Schools takes place this Thursday at 7pm in the City Halls.  Many of our pupils are performing in either the Symphony Orchestra or the Concert Band and last years head boy Christopher Vettraino is performing Kalliwoda’s Concertino for oboe in F major, Op. 110.  Good luck to everyone involved.

It was great to have so many P7 pupils along at the Junior choir, Junior band and string ensemble rehearsals on Wednesday and Thursday.  We hope to see them all again when they return in August.

All pupils going on the New York trip in October must do the following by the end of this week:

• Bring in a copy of their passport
• Let Mrs Selbie know their rooming preference

S1 pupil Ben Dickinson has been awarded the Composition Prize at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Junior Department for his piece, ‘The Forest and the Ocean’, which was premiered by ‘Glasgow New Music Expedition’ as part of Plug Festival. Ben’s piece was adjudicated alongside 15 other works from composers up to the age of 18.  Well done Ben. This is an impressive achievement!

Click on this link to complete your Visa Waiver for America.  The information you require for this is:

Hotel/hostel information:

Broadway Hotel and Hostel, 230 West 101 Street, New York, NY 10025, United States

Flight information:

We are flying with British Airways

08 Oct 2018 leaving Heathrow (1310) arriving in JFK (1600)

11 Oct 2018 leaving JFK (1900) arriving Heathrow (0710) (landing on 12th Oct)

Below is the presentation that Chris Malone  gave last week at the Information Evening.

Williamwood HS New York Performing Arts 2018 presentation

Reminders for pupils:

Bring in your passport as soon as possible to get photocopied.

Bring back the sheet with your show preferences, remember to put your name on this.

Bring in a copy of the Visa Waiver.

The SQA music examinations take place this week on Wednesday 2 May.

Arrangements are:

National 5               9.00am in the Conference Room and Drama Studio 3.

Higher                     1.00pm in Music Studios 1, 3 and 4.

Advanced Higher  2.30pm in Music Studio 2.

Good luck everyone!