Over 100 S3 pupils took part in the annual Maths Challenge this week.   The challenge consisted of various team rounds, including tower building and an energetic relay round.   The extremely competitive year group fought it out and in the end Team 6, which included Aimee Harper, Sarah Leighton, Reece McAleer and Marc Ross were the delighted winners.

Having qualified from the Vex Robotics Regional competition team “Braidy Angeles” from Braidhurst High School Robotics Club and team MEH… from Airdrie Academy then took part in the UK finals in Birmingham held at the vast NEC exhibition complex. The robotics club is committed to delivering Scotland’s STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics) future. The club meets on a Wednesday  lunchtime and is supervised by Mr Hussain of the Science department ,the topics covered by the club so far include Logic circuits, robotics and computer software / hardware architecture.

The Vex challenge formed part of the “Big Bang Fair” is the World’s Largest and Fastest-Growing Robotics Competition for High Schools and Collages. More than 10,000 teams from 32 countries playing in over 750 tournaments compete to become the best globally. This was the first time that teams from Scotland took part in the National competition.

In the VEX Competitions, presented by the Robotics Education & Competition Foundation, teams of students are tasked with designing and building a robot to play against other teams from around the world in a game-based engineering challenge. Classroom STEM concepts are put to the test on the playing field as students learn lifelong skills in teamwork, leadership, communications, and more. Tournaments are held year-round at the regional, state, and national levels; local champions go on to compete against the best in the world at VEX Worlds each April.

This year Braidhurst High has further invested in teaching robotics by imbedding it in the curriculum by investing in four full classroom kits. This commitment will hopefully be rewarded in the future by the Club making to the World championships in the USA in the near future.

Braidhurst High School was host to the Scottish Youth Parliament Hustings for the constituency of Motherwell and Wishaw on Tuesday the 7^th of March.  The school staff were delighted to host this event, especially given that S6 pupil Barry Williams is again standing as a candidate.  All candidates involved gave a confident account of themselves, outlining their policies and why they want to represent the young people of Motherwell and Wishaw.  Characteristically, Braidhurst pupils were warm and welcoming to all candidates, giving their home representative a special, rousing cheer.  Candidates spoke to a capacity audience of pupils from S1-S6.  It was wonderful to see the pupils fully engaged and actively participating in the political process.  Barry Williams later summed up the event by saying that he was delighted by the turnout of Braidhurst pupils and that he was looking forward to the electorate storming the polls on Wednesday the 8^th March.

A group of second year science pupils from Braidhurst High School received certificates this week to mark their successful completion of the British Heart Foundation’s Heart Start programme. Pupils are now proficient in CPR, carrying out the recovery position, dealing with suspected heart attacks, choking and bleeding.  The pupils thoroughly enjoyed the course and appreciate how useful it may be in their lives.

Braidhurst have recently created a partnership with a North Lanarkshire endorsed project ‘Aiming Higher in Malawi’. Founded in 2004, this initiative aims to help transform the health and education of young children in Malawi. We, as a school, have the opportunity to link with a Malawian school and support them via the provision and sharing of materials and resources.

The programme is titled ‘Girls for Health’ and aims to raise the attendance and health of young girls in Malawi where at present, only 45% of girls attend secondary education. We would love to help this cause and contribute in any way we can. For example, we would consider employing an attendance officer to visit the local areas and encourage girls to attend. In addition to this, we will hopefully send a small number of senior pupils from the committee out to Malawi in June 2018 to visit the school and assess the impact we are making.

To do all of this, a ‘Malawi Committee’ has been established and will have their first meeting on Tuesday 21^st March, 12:40 in room 23. This is open to all pupils where they will have the opportunity to collate ideas and work collectively to arrange fundraising events. The committee will meet every week and fundraising events will occur every month between March and June. A new plan will be set for the next school year. All pupils will contribute ideas to raise money and awareness within the community as well as setting targets each term to ensure we reach our final sum.

We are looking for motivated individuals who are driven and have the desire to reach personal and group goals. At times, pupils will be expected to commit valuable time throughout weeknights and weekends to organise, participate and run fundraising events. A large proportion of the events will require individuals who can lead and take responsibility for themselves and others. It is a great opportunity for them to develop their communication and leadership skills. If your child wishes to join this committee, please contact Miss Young in the PE department.

A just giving page has been created to assist with fundraising and can be accessed at

www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/braidhurst-in-malawi

Click the link to download our info brochure Brochure PDF

Braidhurst High School VEX Robotics Club is meeting the Scottish Governments desire to expose developing young minds to the understanding of STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics).  It is hoped that this exposure to STEM concepts will nurture creative advancement in robotics and electronics, to learn skills in teamwork, leadership, communications, and more. Pictured with the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, are two of the clubs members. The First Minister was attending the, All Different But United Event, held at Holyrood Sports Centre on Saturday the 11^th of March. The community event is organized by the Raza Sadiq, the Chairperson and founder of the Active Life Club. It was a short but detailed master class in robotics delivered by the girls to the First Minister.  The Club are getting ready to compete in the UK National Championships on the 17^th of March, being staged at the NEC in Birmingham as part of the Big Bang Fair. The finals are an opportunity for the Scottish Design and Judges award winners to compete against other clubs who have also qualified.