Braidhurst High school staff and pupils enjoyed a fun packed afternoon entitled ‘Braidhurst’s got Talent’.   Pupils from all year groups competed against each other; with Morven pupils winning best house act and S6 pupil Hannah Allan winning best solo performance for her version of “when I was your man”.   The event raised £500 from ticket sales for Children in Need.   In addition to this, pupils donated over 700 tins and packets for the school’s annual Christmas charity parcels.   School staff have been overwhelmed by pupil generosity and their desire to help the needy in our community.   Any food items not used for the Christmas parcels will be donated to the local food bank.

Braidhurst hosted the annual Talent Show on Friday 14^th December in aid of Children in Need.   The inter-house event was won very narrowly by Morven House with a fantastic ‘Musical Megamix’ featuring a large number of pupils singing and dancing.   The Elaine C Smith trophy awarded annually to the overall individual winner went to sixth year pupil Hannah Allan who played and sang “When I was your man” by Bruno Mars.   Other notable items included Erin Watters singing ‘All of me’ by John legend, Kaitlyn Sneddon singing ‘Let it go’ from the film Frozen, Samantha Kennan and Melissa Rodgers performing a tune from Titanic on Sax and clarinet and Tegan Martin singing ‘Video Games’ by Lana del Rey.   The hall was packed with a very appreciative audience who all contributed towards the Children in Need cause.   Near the end, ‘The Teachers’ rocked the school with Ms Mullen on lead vocals for “You’ve Got the Love” and “Folsom Prison Blues”.

Parents of pupils in fifth and sixth years should have received an invitation to discuss pupil progress at the meeting with teaching staff on Tuesday 2^nd December starting at 4 pm.

A group of 26 S4 and S6 physics students took part in a lecture on space at Our Lady’s High School.    They were joined by other physics students from around the Motherwell area and were entertained by guest speaker, Professor Martin Hendry of the University of Glasgow.   The students listened to how the Universe was created and how cosmology has evolved over the last hundred years to where we are today in our understanding of space.   The talk was particularly aimed at students who will be following the new CfE Higher Physics course and the current Advanced Higher course as an understanding of cosmology is part of both.

N5 Music Technology pupils visited Reeltime Studios recently to gain valuable experience in the recording studio.   As part of their course, pupils have to be confident in capturing audio using a variety of microphone techniques and polar pattern.   During this session they learned about choosing the appropriate microphone/source to record drumkit, acoustic guitar, electric guitar and bass guitar including a variety of recording techniques.   Pupils thoroughly enjoyed working in a real studio, working with engineer and getting ‘hands on’ experience.   Once pupils had recorded instruments they used their mixing skills to create a finished track!   This is a new course being offered this year in Braidhurst High School to provide pupils with a broader range of skills and open up new doors in sound engineering and more!

Braidhurst High held a special remembrance service on Tuesday 11^th November when Mr David Ramage one of the school chaplains led proceedings.   After a poignant introduction by Mr Ramage the pupils viewed a very powerful film depicting scenes from World War 1.   Jamie Leslie then read a poem entitled ‘Diners’ followed by a prayer from the Rector Mr Hannan.   Holly Worton then read a poem called ‘In Memoriam’ followed by a reading by Marc Armitage.   Further poetry by Gillian Scott ‘Now Poppies Grow’ and ‘So Little Gain’ by Kirsten Cameron proceeded a prayer for peace by Senior Depute Mrs Kathryn Clarke.   Mr Ramage then delivered a talk on ‘sacrifice’ which was followed by the symbolic laying down of individual poppies by senior pupils and a closing prayer by Mr Ramage.

A group of 20 pupils studying German from National 5 to Advanced Higher level at Braidhurst High School visited the Glasgow Film Theatre last week.   Accompanied by Modern Languages teacher Miss Dawn Lennox and the German assistant Imke Reitenbach, they viewed the critically acclaimed German film ‘Der Ganz Groβe Traum’ (Lessons of a Dream).   The film told the story of an English teacher, Konrad Koch, who brought soccer from England to Germany in the late 19^th Century by teaching it to his class.   The real life Konrad Koch, a teacher in Braunschweig, wrote down the first German version of the rules of football and arguably organised the first ever match of football in Germany between pupils from his school and other schools.

All Braidhurst pupils found the film highly entertaining and enjoyed having the opportunity to practise their German listening skills.   Furthermore, pupils saw the relevance of the film to their school life, as Braidhurst High School is a Sports’ Comprehensive as well as a Football Academy.