GREENFAULDS CHRISTMAS CONCERT

Forget P.T. Barnum, on Wednesday 19th December it was the pupils of Greenfaulds Music and Drama departments who put on ‘The Greatest Show’ at our annual Christmas Concert. Mr Rodgers piped the performers to their places on stage, after which the audience were treated to a whole variety of acts; the Showchoir singing ‘Come Alive’ (featuring samba drums!); the Wind Band playing a Dixieland version of ‘The Bare Necessities’; Senior Ensemble led by our subject ambassadors were ‘Feeling Good’; the flute quintet took us on a ‘Sleigh Ride’; the saxophone quartet playing some cool yet classy tunes; the brass ensemble playing some classic Christmas ‘Frosty’ and ‘Rudolph’; both a Clarsach solo & Gaelic vocal solo; some interactive theatre from Drama pupils who performed ‘The 3 Wise Dudes’; the Trad Band playing a Celtic version of ‘A Million Dreams’; and to finish off, in keeping with the Greatest Show theme, the Band joined forces with the Showchoir to perform ‘This Is Me’; after which the other performers and audience joined in for a singalong of ‘All I Want for Christmas is You’. The show also featured the debut performance of ‘The Punishment Exercises’ – a.k.a. staff band – who performed a Celtic Rock medley ‘The Battle’ and our compere Mr Gardiner showed that he can sing as well as he can talk, leading the band in Slade’s iconic “Merry Christmas Everybody!”  Thanks to everyone, staff performers and audience, who came together to make the night such a success. See you all next year!!

DRAMA THEATRE TRIP – A CHRISTMAS CAROL

On Wednesday 12th December, a group of 25 S3 & 4 Drama pupils travelled to the Tramway Theatre in Glasgow to watch a production of ‘A Christmas Carol’. This was a truly imaginative piece of theatre, telling the traditional story of Ebeneezer Scrooge in a creative and exciting way. From the impressive set & costumes, to the energetic performances from the actors, accompanied by live music played by the actors themselves – our pupils were captivated from start to finish. In addition to enjoying the performance, pupils will hopefully have been inspired to apply some of the ideas and techniques in their own performances. They described it as “Amazing; Great; Good – REALLY good; Creepy (especially the ghost puppets); a visual spectacle”  –  or words to that effect!

HIGHER GEOGRAPHY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

All Higher Geography and Environmental Science pupils were given the opportunity to visit Glasgow University’s Earth Science Department for a Christmas lecture. This was an excellent opportunity to have a look around the university and meet some of the lecturers.

COMMUNITY CONCERT

Pupils from Greenfaulds High School contributed to a community concert held in St Maurice’s HS on Wednesday, 12th December. The Senior Ensemble, led by subject ambassadors, played Feeling Good and Come Fly with Me. They rehearse every Thursday after school and choose their own music. The ensemble are:

Joshua Barker – drum-kit     Andrew Russell – trombone

Yaheya Shafti – guitar     Jordan McNaught – bass guitar

Michael Taylor  – keyboard     Eilidh Connolly  – trumpet

Sam James – trumpet     Nicole Halpin – clarinet

Andrew Croal – flute     Jamie Buttenshaw – trombone

Sophie Mollan – saxophone     Libby Blair – saxophone

The sax quartet  (Libby Blair, Keira Smith, Sophie Liddell & Sophie Mollan) played ‘Subway’ and ‘Cha – Cha Sax’. Both acts also performed in the GHS Christmas concert.

S4 ACHIEVE AND CORE SKILLS

On Tuesday 4 December pupils from our S4 Achieve and Core Skills group were invited by Cumbernauld Living Landscapes to take part in a Parliamentary Reception at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh.

The event had been organised by the Central Scotland Green Network to show the projects that young people are taking part in to improve our greenspaces. The event gave an opportunity for our pupils to showcase and talk about some of the work they have been doing in the past few months in Ravenswood Nature Reserve. They were also given a guided tour of the chambers by an MSP!

The pupils had a fantastic day out visiting the smallest wildlife reserve that the Scottish Wildlife Trust own, spent some time in the Christmas Market in Princes Street Gardens to see the importance of green spaces and the ways in which they can be utilised. They then attended the evening reception before travelling home – exhausted.