New staff, as always, joined the school at the start of term including Mr Alexander in English, Ms Currie and Mr McGee in mathematics, Mr O’Toole in computing, Mrs Falconer in science, Mr Clarke and Ms Young in PE and Ms Duncan in music.

School photographs were taken by a professional firm during the first week of term.   Pupils in first and third years had individual photographs taken with group photographs in fifth and sixth years.   Family group photographs were also taken in what proved to be a very busy day for the firm Instant Images.   Parents were delighted last year with the service provided and the school is confident that the quality will be equally impressive this year.

Braidhurst welcomed new first year pupils from approximately forty primary schools on the first day of term.   Many come from out with the catchment area through placing requests to join the school through the Scottish FA football schemes operating in Braidhurst.   They were absolutely perfect in terms of full school uniform and quickly settled into their new routines in secondary.

Results in the recent SQA examinations were the best ever in the school with pupils performing well in line with expectations.   The number of Higher Grade passes at Grade A, B and C showed a marked improvement from even previous best years.   The Rector Mr Derrick Hannan said, “I am delighted for the pupils and parents that this year again shows a rise in attainment in all year groups.   It is also a delighted for the pupils and parents that this year again shows a rise in attainment in all year groups.   It is also a delight for staff to get the reward for all their hard work in thoroughly preparing the pupils for the examinations”.

The third year Geography students of Braidhurst High School had a rare treat on their recent trip to Culzean Castle and Country Park; the sun came out.   Pupils enjoyed a glorious day in the park grounds doing research as part of their National 4 and 5 assignments.   The morning was spent assessing the environmental quality of the park and surveying other visitors who were making the most of the lovely weather.   After a quick lunch the pupils then went on a coastal walk.   They completed field sketches and used their knowledge they had learned in class to work out why Culzean’s coastline looks the way it does.   Staff at the park praised the pupils’ enthusiasm and were impressed by their willingness to explore the coastal caves and rock pools.   After a packed day there was time for a quick ice lolly before heading back to school.

The annual Braidhurst Athletics Championship took place in the month of May.   The heats and field events were completed on day 1 and the finals took place on day 2.   The competition was very close yet again and there were many fierce battles which made it very hard to predict a winner.   The winners of the following age groups were:-

S1 girl – Jemma Marriott

S2 girl – Amber Waldron

S3 girl – Kaitlin Reford

S1 boy – Kieran McGrath

S2 boy – Jack Simpson

S3 boy – Dylan Falconer

Third year Art pupils at Braidhurst have been asked to make a set of Malaysian ‘Lion Heads’ to acknowledge the Queen’s Baton Relay which will take place in Strathclyde Park on Monday 23^rd June.

They have been working hard to complete the functional models, which will be used by dancers in a salute to the range of teams who will be appearing at the celebrations.   There will be teams from North Lanarkshire, Scotland, Malaysia and The Cook Islands and the pupils have designed lions headed to reflect each of the teams identities.

All of the staff and pupils in the Art Department at Braidhurst are extremely pleased to be chosen to have the honour of undertaking this prestigious project.