S6 pupils at Braidhurst High School enjoyed a road safety workshop aimed at becoming good drivers.

The Good Egg Guide for New Drivers is aimed at 17-25 year olds and gives safety advice and tips on passing the test, purchasing a car, insurance and how to avoid losing your licence.

The good egg team have been visiting schools across North Lanarkshire delivering the workshops and is joined by their new face of the campaign talented racing driver Christie Doran who hails from Falkirk.   Christie has raced in the Scottish BMW Cup.   However the 18 year old has a serious message to put out to our new generation of young drivers.   The Good Egg website has great information for new drivers and their parents.

The 18 year old track star loves life in the fast lane, but race ace Christie, who roars to speeds of up to 140 mph on the track, knows exactly when to kill her speed, too;

“Speed is great on the track but not on the road.   In the UK around 400 people a year are killed in crashes where someone exceeds the speed limit or drives too fast for the conditions.   I know people my age who have already had bad crashes.

There is a time and a place – and it is not on our roads.   I am delighted to be involved with The Good Egg as I wanted to help highlight devastating consequences when drivers my age get it wrong on the roads.   However, we also want to show that there is a positive side to young drivers.   Most are sensible.   They are the role models”.

On Tuesday 18^th November a group of S2-S4 girls were selected to represent Braidhurst at a 7 a-side girl’s football tournament hosted by Claderhead High School.   The girls won all three games in their group stage comfortably and without losing a goal.   This resulted in them meeting Cumbernauld in the final.

Cumbernauld took an early lead in this game.   However, the Braidhurst girls were able to find another level to their game to get a quick equaliser.   The game looked set to go to penalties until Sara McWhirter stepped up to score the winning goal 2 minutes from time.   The final whistle blew to confirm Braidhurst as the tournament winners.

Well done to all of the girls involved.

Braidhurst pupils have always enjoyed success in sporting activities both in school and out.   Recently two girls from the school participated in the SWF Scottish cup final with their team, Glasgow City.   Jemma Marriott, who recently captained the under 15 Scotland squad in matches against Germany, played an important role in the under 15’s Scottish cup final.   Glasgow City played Celtic at Toryglen.   The game was very close with chances for both teams to score.   However, Celtic managed to take advantage and turned chances into goals, as they won the game 2-0.

Glasgow city had also managed to reach the final of the under 17s competition and Amy Anderson was part of the squad.   Glasgow City played Rangers in the final at Toryglen.   Amy came on as a substitute early in the first half and had a very positive impact on the game.   The game was very close and would come down to a single goal to decide the winners.   Rangers were able to score and won the match by the narrowest of margins.

Well done to Amy and Jemma who played in the matches.   They, along with team mates, have worked very hard throughout the season to reach the final of the Scottish cup and were very unlucky in the end.   The school would like to wish both girls all the best in future matches.

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.