A group of fifth year Braidhurst pupils were recently invited to attend an open evening at the Beatson Institute for Cancer Research in Glasgow. The pupils were able to enjoy four fascinating lectures on the important cancer research work taking place at the Institute. They were then taken on a tour of the impressive laboratories in the building, where they were able to converse with a number of different scientists about various aspects of cell biology and see first hand the techniques being used in the facility. Pupils all agree it had been an intense but highly rewarding night.

All second year pupils studying French were given the opportunity to study German recently. As German is an extremely important language in the Europe of today, especially in the fields of engineering, Science and Business, it is promoted with great success in Braidhurst High School. Pupils are given the opportunity to study the French and German Curriculum for Excellence from the new National 4 and National 5 levels, to National 6 level, which will replace Higher.

During their ‘taster’ lessons, pupils had a ‘Kaffee und Kuchen’ session, where they were able to sample German cakes such as Schwarzwalderkirschtorte (Black Forest Gateau), Erdbeerkuchen (strawberry cake) and Sachertorte (chocolate cake), washed down with Kaffee (coffee), Tee (tea) or Orangensaft (orange juice). Classes all agreed that these were ‘lecker’ (tasty) and certainly helped them absorb the language more easily. Guten Appetit!

The Modern Languages Department held its annual Easter Egg competition this week and the entries, as usual, reflected great flair and initiative on the part of the pupils. With the help of the Art Department, pupils decorated their eggs on a European theme. Entries this year were as impressive and ingenious as ever and included Sponge Bob Square Pants et sa maison, ‘un petit francais au beret noir’ and ‘des lapins en route’. The eggs were judged by Senior Depute Mrs Kathryn Clarke, who declared the overall winners of the competition to be Shaz Afzah with ‘La tour Eiffel’, Danni Blair with ‘La Guillotine’ and Rachel Ross with ‘der kleine Hai’. Class 1L were also given extra house points for submitting the most entries.

All pupils are to be congratulated on their efforts, which just get better and better every year!

Motherwell FC recently signed yet another pupil from Braidhurst High when first year pupil Tom Leighton joined the club as a pro-youth player. Tom attended Kirkton Primary in Carluke prior to successfully applying to join the Scottish FA School of Football group based in Braidhurst. Tom recently said, “The training and facilities are just perfect. My coach at school Paul Burns is a very good coach. At Braidhurst the education comes first and every teacher tries to make sure you are achieving to your maximum. Joining Braidhurst has been one of the greatest things that has ever happened to me and I was simply overjoyed to sign pro-youth with Motherwell.

Over 100 S3 pupils took part in the annual Maths Challenge this week. The challenge consisted of various team rounds, including a tower building and an energetic relay round. The extremely competitive year group fought it out and in the end Team 4, which included David Antunes, Neave Brownlie, Bryony Nicholls and Joshua Payne were the delighted Winners.