The S1 boys participated in a Round-Robin football tournament taking place at Coltness High, with four other schools from the region vying for a place in the National stage of the Cashback 7-aside tournament.   The boys played a total of five matches, winning four and drawing one.   Alistair Small bagged a fantastic hat-trick against Coltness High, whilst Paul Reid scored an excellent long range effort.   The boys played some excellent football and more importantly, displayed a great attitude and conduct throughout the afternoon.

Easter School takes place each morning during the Easter holiday period aimed at preparation of pupils in fourth to sixth years for the forthcoming SQA examinations.   Details of the programme have been issued to pupils.

Mr David Ramage led the Easter Service to a packed hall of pupils and staff for what was a very moving event.   Following introductory music “This is the Day” played by Principal Teacher of Performing Arts Ms Kimberly Donnelly Mr Ramage then set the scene for his theme ‘Silence of The Lamb’.   Gemma Crawford and Hannah Allan then sang “All Heaven Declares”.   Mr Ramage used a number of video inserts whilst drama inputs included Sarah Orr performing “the return to the stable” and Ewan Lees with “Peter”.   The choir performed “A New Commandment” and Mr Clark and Sam Bell sang “At the foot of the cross”.   Mr Ramage delivered a very powerful message on his theme of ‘Silence of The Lamb’ with the Rector Mr Derrick Hannan saying the closing prayer.   The pupil behaviour throughout was exemplary and a witness to the quality of the various inputs.

Braidhurst High School was recently selected to be part of the Inspiring Young Women conference, the brainchild of Presiding Officer, Tricia Marwick MSP.   This event was aimed at boosting the self-confidence of young women across Scotland.   Four of our talented S5 pupils were selected as candidates to represent the school at this prestigious country wide event.   The girls took part in a range of workshops and discussions with inspirational women, ranging from the leader of Scottish Conservatives, Ruth Davidson to Amal Azzudin, one of the Glasgow Girls who fought the Home Office to have her friend’s deportation overturned.   The girls involved were all in awe of the speakers and their achievements, Rebeca McLaren said, “The politicians were so passionate, everything that they said was from the heart.   This empowered me because hearing that these successful women had had self-doubt at some stage made me feel less conscious about my own doubts.   I know that I too can be successful in my life”.   This was echoed by Caitlin Watson, “Hearing women speak about their achievements and experiences made me think about things in a different way.   I can now see that there are positives around me and I can build upon these.   I know that I have to believe in myself”.

Sixth year pupil Ewan Lees travelled to London on Tuesday 10^th March to attend an awards ceremony and exhibition at the Menier Gallery for the ESRC’s Changing World competition.   Ewan was highly commended in the Hobbies and Interests category for his photo ‘Death of the Toy’.   It was a great day for Ewan, who says that he learned a great deal from studying the other entries and was very proud to accept his certificate and see his work amongst other great works in a gallery.   He would like to go on record to thank the school for entering him into the competition.

A small group of S5 girls were invited along to the BBC studios last Thursday to be a part of the audience for a live question and answer session with a panel of successful British female athletes.   The girls participated in a morning workshop where they discussed and created possible questions for the panel.   This was followed by the question and answer session which was broadcast live on the BBC website where two of our pupils were selected to ask the panel a question.

The panel consisted of:-

Beth Tweddle – Britain’s most successful gymnast

Hannah Miley – Double Commonwealth games gold medallist

Gemma Faye – Britain’s all time most capped football player

The girls thoroughly enjoyed the experience with some of them managing to capture the moment with a photograph with the athletes.   The show is available to view on BBC iPlayer until Saturday at noon.

Easter Service will take place in the school assembly hall on Thursday 2 April with Mr David Ramage, one of the school chaplains, leading the worship.   Input from pupils in music and drama will be included.