Category Archives: Languages and Literacy

BOOK WEEK SCOTLAND

The school library recently celebrated Book Week Scotland with a number of events including a series of S1 pupils Jamie Scallan and Briana McLeod interviewing staff about their reading habits and favourite books, the launch of our Reading Lunch club with staff and pupils gathering in the library to enjoy their food and a good book in golden silence, and finally a podcast was recorded with pupils, Eleanor Day (S5), David Blair (S3), Craig Young (S2) on the subject of “the book that has changed our lives.” The events were organised by school librarian Mrs Scott and were used to promote reading for pleasure amongst staff and pupils.

EUROPEAN DAY OF LANGUAGES

The Modern Languages Department recently celebrated the European Day of Languages with pupils taking part in a variety of activities as part of their celebrations.

S1 pupils engaged in an inter-house ‘Who Want to Be a Millionaire?’ competition in French, with the winners being Morven House who reached a million euros! S1 also made a wall mural of a sea of hands, each depicting a country with words of its language adorning the fingers.  In addition, they completed a quiz about famous European scientists made up by Biology teacher, Miss Watson.

S2 worked in pairs to create a poster of a European country of their choice They used iPads to research geographical, historical, cultural and culinary facts about the country, as well as some of the language. S3 and S4 pupils had great fun in the Home Economics Department making French pancakes according to a French recipe, and these tasted ‘delicieux’.

Other cross-curricular activities included an S2 French boules championship carried out in the PE Department by Mr Egan; an introduction to French mime delivered by Mrs Reilly in the Drama department; and Mrs Kinnaird of the English department organised a ’French words used in the English language’ group activity with her S1 class and excellent posters made by the pupils were displayed in the corridors.

In addition, the very brave Dr Gardner delivered a lesson in French to his National 5 Chemistry class and PT Science, Mr Campbell, taught a Biology lesson in French to his Higher class. Mrs Ballantyne incorporated German words and phrases into her teaching of the ‘World War 1’ topic with S2 and Mrs Hunter set her pupils a set of Maths challenges. They also played a board game involving translating sums from French to English.

In the IT Department, pupils played the online game ‘Kahoot’ in French and showed themselves to be extremely engaged, enthusiastic and competitive! Under the guidance of Miss Lennox, pupils with English as their second language produced guides to their country of birth and their mother tongue.

Pupils who attend the Hub played French and German games organised by Mrs Currie and were treated to a French breakfast! All pupils, as well as members of staff, across many curricular areas thoroughly enjoyed their experiences and have improved their knowledge of French, German and hopefully other languages in the process!

CONNECTIONS FESTIVAL

Braidhurst recently hosted their very first Connections Festival which celebrated Literacy and Health and Wellbeing over three days and involved every young person in S1 to S3. They participated in a range of events, including a series of fun and informative author sessions from novelists Alex Nye, Kirkland Ciccone, and Philip Caveney; selected pupils were participated in workshops which included taster sessions on: slam poetry, comic books, stand-up comedy, storytelling, healthy cookery, yoga, Brazilian drumming, music recording, mindfulness and meditation, football, dance, Internet Safety, Women’s Aid, reading with pets and Young Carers. It was an action-packed few days for pupils and was only made possible by the funding which was gratefully received from the Pupil Equity Fund.

READ TO SUCCEED LAUNCH

Ten lucky first year students from Braidhurst High School were recently invited along by North Lanarkshire Council to the launch of the Read to Succeed programme aiming to make reading for pleasure a priority.   The launch took place at Coatbridge High School and was attended by award-winning author Theresa Breslin.   All pupils attending received a free, signed book by the author as part of the Attainment Challenge and poignant extracts from Ms Breslin’s book Remembrance were read during the event.   Ms Breslin said “I was thrilled to be asked to launch North Lanarkshire Council’s Read to Succeed Project.   There was a wonderfully uplifting atmosphere in the school hall and it was a joy to meet students and staff so keen to get involved and take forward this exciting project.   Providing a wide variety of books and giving every single S1 pupil the opportunity to engage with an author, makes this project truly special.   Such reach and depth will create and sustain readers, improving aspirations and attainment”.   As part of Read to Succeed, Braidhurst will receive an author visit from Philip Caveney (aka Danny Weston).

STRASBOURG HERE WE COME

Former pupil Louise Coletta recently visited the Modern Languages Department in Braidhurst High School.   Louise studied French and German to Advanced Higher Level in the school and for the last two years, she has continued her studies at Glasgow University, adding Italian and Spanish to her repertoire of linguistic competencies.   She is extremely excited to be leaving next week to spend a year in Strasbourg, where she will teach English in a school there.   As Strasbourg is on the German border, Louise is looking forward to using her German language skills through exploring the country in her free time, as well as spending time getting to know Strasbourg itself.  Her teachers are delighted for Louise and very proud of her achievements so far.   Louise assured them that she will keep in touch and it is hoped that classes in Braidhurst can set up a correspondence with the pupils in Louise’s school.

Read to Succeed

As part of the Scottish Attainment Challenge North Lanarkshire Council is asking parents, teachers and librarians to support our Read to Succeed pledge for new S1 pupils. The aim of this project is to encourage children to read more by providing them with books they CAN read and books they WANT to read, as well as providing opportunities for this reading to take place.

To help us understand how pupils and parents feel about reading, you and your child are being asked to complete a short survey.
Please follow the link below, if you wish to take part;

https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/ReadToSucceed

READING CHAMPIONSHIP

The final rewards event for our S2 winners of the reader development programme, the ‘Reading Championship’ took place on Thursday 21st June. The pupils of 2R met in the library, for a movie and munchie box feast, where they enjoyed watching ‘The Greatest Showman’ before tucking into a delicious buffet of hot food and cakes prepared by the fantastic dinner ladies of the school canteen. All pupils thoroughly enjoyed the reward which recognised how seriously they had taken their personal reading throughout the school year.