Caritas Students Represent the School.
Our senior students who are actively involved in the Caritas group within the community represented the school recently at the Annual Mass for deceased clergy in the Diocese of Motherwell in St. Ignatius Church.
Lauren McCulloch and Nicole Findon both read the intercessions. Students are pictured with Bishop Toal, Father Maguiness and Mgr. Conway.
Saint Ignatius Book Week Visit
Our first year drama students have been polishing up their reading and performance skills during class recently. The aim of this fun immersion in some classic children’s fiction such as “The Gruffalo” and “The Cat in the Hat” was pretty serious though. Groups of our new first year are returning to their old primary schools to read these great stories to small groups of primary two pupils.
The visits are part of the focus on great literature that Scottish Book Week promotes but are also a great opportunity for the first year students to return to old friends and faces from their primary years.
The confidence and skill that the students have demonstrated in their performances are a great testimony to the real effort that they are putting into their study of drama.
Thanks go out to school librarian, Marie McGough, who not only helped to coach the young people in their reading style, but accompanied the students back to their primary schools. The students pictured have returned to Saint Ignatius, their former primary school.
Peer Advocates Tackle Big Issues
Our S5 and S6 Peer Advocate group attended a workshop that examined the impact that drug use can have on young people.
The event was put together by Landed, a charity that “Provides and promotes education services for young people in North Lanarkshire.”
The senior pupils participated in a wide range of interactive activities and came away with a deeper insight of the impact that cannabis use can have on the lives of people in the community.
Saint Aidan’s Student is British Champ
Congratulations go out to fifth year student Haydon McAvoy British Taekwondo Champion in the 50 kilogramme division.
Scottish Parliament Workshop
On Friday, 24th November, 8 Higher English pupils accompanied by Principal Teacher of English, Miss Fiona McGrogan, visited the Scottish Parliament to learn how the language skills they are learning are applied in the world of politics.
After a tour of the debating chamber with groups from all over Scotland, the pupils took part in workshops on drafting legislation, persuasive speechmaking and accurate reporting of the proceedings of the parliament, all delivered by members of the Parliament staff.
Lots of lively and fun examples were provided to show how the placing of a comma or choice of a word could change the impact or meaning of what was said or written. At the end of the day, a Question and Answer session with a new MSP allowed pupils to learn about day to day life in the Parliament.
Boys Under-13 Football Results
The Under-thirteen boys football team are flush with success following a 3-1 victory over Cardinal Newman High School. The emphatic score line hides the fact that this was a closely fought win between two well-matched and highly competitive teams.
The first Saint Aidan’s strike came from Nicholas Wells, ably assisted by Michael Craig. Michael went on to score the next Saint Aidan’s goal, finishing off a great pass from Mark Henderson. Calum Moon put a seal on the victory with a superb solo effort to round off the day.
Sports Leaders First Aid Course
The group of sixth year students who are currently studying for the Sports Leadership Award were immersed in a full day first aid course on Thursday 23rd November.
The group gained a formal qualification in First Aid, a vital qualification for anyone who is professionally involved in Sport Leadership. The young people in the group clearly enjoyed the experience and benefitted from the practical, hands on nature of the workshops involved.
Library Book Fair
St Aidan’s High school library recently held a Scholastic book fair. S1 and S2 pupils visited the library during English periods to take part in the event. There was a wide selection of items on offer, with junior fiction, young adult fiction, puzzle books, and novelty stationery making up the bulk of the book fair.
S4 pupils Martha McGuire, Jack McClung, Rhianne Kelly, Chantelle Kean, Gabrielle Goldie and Emma McArdle manned the cash desk during the weeklong event.
Earlier in 2017, at the spring book fair, St Aidan’s library earned £170 worth of Scholastic rewards to spend on books. During the recent book fair a group of keen readers from S1 assisted the librarian in choosing £170 worth of books for the school library. These popular fiction titles are a welcome addition to the catalogue.
The recent autumn book fair proved a huge success with pupils and staff and earned the library £167 in Scholastic rewards. Rewards which we look forward to spending at the next Scholastic book fair.
