Head Teacher Blog
As we approach Christmas and the holidays at a rate of knots, it nice to sometimes slow down and reflect on the school year so far.
This is my final blog in my role of Acting Head as I am very pleased to confirm that Mrs Park will be returning in January. I would like to thank all pupils, staff, parents and carers for your support and patience throughout the last 3 months. I have enjoyed my ‘new’ role but it is important to recognise that this is largely down to the support from you all and many staff from out with the school. I will return to my role as Depute for S5/6 and would like to thank Mr Adler for keeping the seat ‘warm’ as it were. I thought at this time it would be appropriate to share some highlights from the school calendar since August.
Clearly this only captures a very small snapshot of what goes on in the school. We try to recognise as many achievements out of school as we do in school. Therefore, can I encourage everyone to share successes with the school either directly or via our twitter accounts?
Can I sign off by wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and peaceful New Year. In many ways next term is the crucial term of the school year in preparing for the summer exams. However, it is very important to enjoy some downtime along the way…so don’t feel too guilty over the holiday if you watch ‘Home Alone ‘for the 22nd time.
Space School
This year’s Space School in Houston is now open for applications through the Science Dept. Below is an account of this year’s successful applicant, Evie Clark
The Scottish Space School is an outreach programme run by the department of Engineering at Strathclyde University. Every summer 100 successful S5 school pupils attend a week-long residential summer school with them. The programme for the week is made up of a mix of lectures, labs, and workshops on a space theme and is delivered by academics and researchers from the Faculty of Engineering, as well as visiting NASA representatives.
Following the week, 10 of the students are chosen for a once in a lifetime visit to Houston, Texas. This summer, Evie Clark was one of the lucky 10 chosen and she has written a small report on her experiences.
Towards the end of October, I was lucky enough to take part in Scottish Space School’s Learning Journey to Houston and spend 9 days there. I was one of ten pupils chosen from all over Scotland to attend the trip and had the most amazing time. Over the week, I had the chance to meet NASA employees, astronauts and pilots as well as visit NASA, Space Centre Houston, the Houston Air Show and much more.
The highlight for me had to be having the opportunity to visit NASA’s Johnson Space Centre and have a behind the scenes tour. We got to watch astronauts training in the Neutral Buoyancy Lab, to stand on the floor of the Mission Control Centre alongside the people managing the International Space Station and to visit the Space Vehicle Mock-Up Facility where we had the chance to stand inside scale replicas of the Space Station Modules and have an insight into the work NASA is currently doing.
For me, visiting Houston wasn’t just an exciting and fun trip with friends. It was beyond eye opening and showed me everything I could achieve if I put my mind to it and all the places a career in engineering could take me.
School Christmas card designers
Many congratulations and thanks to Lucy Scott S1, Beth Hughes S3, Emily Watt S3 and Morven Nulty S4 who are our successful winners in this year’s Christmas card design competition. Special mention to Lucy who’s design also won a NLC competition. The 4 cards are now winging their way around NLC as our official school Christmas cards for 2018.
Merry Christmas from everyone at Greenfaulds High School
Nollaig Chridheil bho a h-uile duine aig Greenfaulds
Dates for the diary
December 13th S5/6 Parents Evening 4:15-6:45
December 17th Junior Ceilidh
December 18th Senior Ceilidh
December 20th Christmas Charity day
December 21st School closes 2:30pm
January 7th School reopens 8:55am
January 14th Prelims start for S4/5/6
