Mr Simon Clark recently joined the school and he will work in the Support for Learning Department.   Mr Clark is a qualified teacher of Mathematics and he previously worked in Our Lady’s High School in Cumbernauld.

Pictured here are almost 100 pupils who, along with staff, enjoyed a fantastic visit to Motherwell Civic Theatre on Thursday 20^th December.   The visit to the pantomime is now a firm favourite of pupils and this year’s trip was as usual a great success.   The traditional story of Aladdin was a thoroughly entertaining family show and was enjoyed immensely by the school party.   This year’s show was particularly good as there was a great deal of interaction with the audience which the pupils loved.

The Scottish FA Performance School of Football, established in only seven schools throughout Scotland including Braidhurst, is now looking towards selecting the second intake to start this August.   The initiative is primarily aimed at the development of future professional footballers and was started last August with twenty candidates from throughout North and south Lanarkshire.

The Scottish FA coach appointed to lead the programme is Gordon Craig and he has the task of developing the four year programme with the players based full time in the school.   Professional teams and other clubs will be advised of the series of trials which will take place in the school over the coming months.

The first cohort has thoroughly enjoyed the programme which is based upon skills development and they have all been fully integrated into the entire life of the school.   They receive football coaching each morning starting at 8.30 am until 10 am.   Sessions took place weekly prior to them starting in August and this allowed them to bond and become familiar with the demands of the programme.

During the Christmas period the seven elite performance coaches from throughout Scotland worked at Ravenscraig indoor facility to share ideas with the Braidhurst group selected as performers.

Braidhurst Breakfast club enjoyed a festive breakfast this week to celebrate the continued success of the club.   Over 90 young people attend on a weekly basis and benefit from not only enjoying a healthy breakfast but also the social support they receive from the many staff volunteers.   Linda McGurk, Partnership Officer said “I would like to thank all the staff volunteers for their continued support and wish everyone a happy and healthy Christmas”.

Braidhurst High Art Department pupils have been busy painting their decorative panels for display at the Christmas Dance and the Braidhurst Christmas Cracker Concert.   These should give a very cheery look to the assembly halls during the festive season.

The hall was packed with approximately 300 pupils and staff for the recent Christmas Dance held in the school hall.   The Cairnhill Ceilidh Bank again provided the music and proved extremely popular with everyone taking part throughout the evening.   The Physical Education Department again showed what expert tuition they provide as the pupils and staff showed their skill dancing Gay Gordons, Military Two-Step, Virginia Reel, Highland Schottische, Veleta Waltz, The Orcadian Strip the Willow, St Bernard’s Waltz, Canadian Barn Dance, Braidy Tango, Square Tango, Brittannia Two-Step, Dashing White Sergeant and all that before the interval.   During the break a splendid buffet was served and line dancing took place.  After the break the dancing continued with the Military Two-Step, Flying Scotsman, Pride of Erin Waltz, Highland Schottische, Braidy Tango (Prize Dance), Square Tango, Strip the Willow, Gay Gordons (Prize Dance), Brittannia Two-Step, Dashing White Sergeant and ending with a St Bernard’s Waltz.   The behaviour throughout the evening was absolutely exemplary with all the staff thoroughly enjoying the relaxed and friendly atmosphere.

One of Braidhurst’s 3rd year Art & Design pupils Gillian Scott has won the first prize in

the North Lanarkshire Road Safety Calendar Competition.

She was extremely pleased to have achieved this award out of over 1800 entries from
schools all over the authority. Her design will be seen on the calendar when it is delivered to schools.

Other pupils with awards were Nathan Adams with 2nd place in the age group and            Chantelle Nisbet with 3rd place in the age group.

Highly commended awards go to Derrick Boafour, Kiera Grant, Fatima Khan and Sara
McRae. In all, an excellent set of results from some very creative and hard working            pupils.

The pupils received their awards at a ceremony in the school, attended by North
Lanarkshire Council and school representatives