Category: A Look Ahead

Strathclyde University Language ambassadors!!

St.Aidan’s Modern Languages department received a visit from three students from Strathclyde University. The students all study languages and came to discuss with second and fourth year pupils the benefits of languages and also university life.

The ambassadors talked about their personal experience of languages and when deciding what they wanted to do in the future they decided to go for languages as they were a good foundation for any career they became interested in for the future as its considered an ‘added bonus’ by most employers.

However, for pupils who didn’t feel the academic pathway to languages was right for them the ambassadors reminded them that there was other more practical ways of learning a language e.g. taking up a job in a foreign country.

The ambassadors prompted the second and fourth year students to participate in the talk and went on to discuss the differences between university and high school life (contact hours, work load etc.) and then also told the pupils about their experiences spending a year in a foreign country as part of their studies and how different it was compared to living in Scotland.

Speaking to one of the ambassadors – Paul Farrell-  he commented on why he decided to study a language “At first it was kind of an accident, it was only after I started studying the course that I realised how much I enjoy it. For anyone who’s going into it I’d just say it’s very practical and interesting.” Paul also commented on why it was important to share their experience of languages with the younger pupils “I think especially here there’s not a lot of awareness about foreign languages, a bit of an attitude about it. I’ve had people say to me they’re not keen on learning a language because “everyone speaks English.” I don’t think that’s a great attitude, I think some people are scared of learning languages because they may find it difficult or a waste of time. I’ve personally found that not to be the case, it’s been the best thing I’ve ever done for myself. I’m here to get people to be more aware of it and more relaxed about it. I think it would do us the world of good.”

A Melancholy Monday

The first day back this term for St. Aidan’s caritas class was a rather sad one. Their beloved Caritas teacher – and head of department- Mrs Barton was leaving. Mrs Barton has been in St. Aidan’s high school religious education department for 23/25? years but has taken up a new position as … in Edinburgh . The pupils said farewell on Monday by putting together a party with the of assistant school chaplain, father Kieran. There was many a hug going round,  but the school and pupils wish Mrs Barton all the best in her future endeavours.

Mrs Heinz commented on Mrs Barton work within the school ” Mrs Barton has enriched the life of every pupil in the school, through curriculum and pastoral events and by organising special mission and retreat times. Over the last twenty years. We will all really miss her generous, caring ways.”

In other news, St. Ignatius long term parish priest of 9 years – Father Gerry Maguiness- is taking up a new position as General Secretary of the bishops conference. Father Gerry has been a very involved member of the schools religious education department for many years.

 

Book Series Review- The Raven Cycle- Maggie Stiefvater

When I first bought this book it was really just to tick boxes for a deal considering the synopsis doesn’t exactly sell it to me ( I’ll let you check that out in your own time its too long to paste in here).

I read it on a camping trip and was hooked from day one, I’ll tell you why.

Maggie Stiefvater has a wonderful way of using character development, so much so that you can easily fall in love with every character and relationship. These books in particular make you want to find a really close mismatched group of friends and go a walk in a ~magical~ forest to discover dead welsh kings , go a drive late at night in a bright orange 63′ Camaro, street racing, visit large stately homes or go travelling for a year.

Basically the way this friendship group -Blue, Gansey, Ronan, Adam and Noah- evolves over the next four books is what kept me obsessed with this series.

One character in particular is my favourite to read about. Ronan Lynch, the rebellious teen who inherited a lot of money off his dad when he was brutally murdered for essentially selling magical objects on the black market. Ronan hates school and only turns up to see his friends once in a while, other than that he spends most of his time harnessing his dreamer powers at his family estate or mulling over the fact that he is in love with his best friend- Adam Parrish. He shows these emotions by rescuing Adam from his abusive dad, paying his rent etc.

The second book in the series- Dream Thieves- focuses quite heavily on these aspects of Ronan and how he copes with his traumatic childhood and poor relationship with his brother. We shortly meet Ronans enemy- Kavinsky- in this book, as in the end- after an explosive ‘battle’- he dies. We see a weird relationship form as the boys bond over their love for street racing and their shared ability to create objects in their dreams. Kavinsky is an angsty, confused teen who has had a similarly bad childhood  and also faces some feelings towards Ronan which he squashes in a cruel way in order to not lose his ‘status’.

The third book- Blue Lily’ Lily Blue- is my least favourite. It’s relatively slow and the characters spend most of the time in caves looking for the dead welsh king and Blue’s lost mother. What I do like about this book is that we find out more about Gansey’s anxiety and how it affects him. He takes a panic attack at school and ends up finding comfort in his new friend Henry Cheng who teaches him how to deal with his anxiety and face his fears. The team also make a massive discovery about Gansey towards the end of the book but I wont spoil it too much. This book also develops one of the main relationship in the series (Gansey and Blue).

The final book-Raven king- is a satisfying end to the series however only in the last few chapters does it get exciting. The book follows the ‘unmaker’ the villain of the series which only appears in physical form in this book. The villain poses a threat to Ronan’s dreaming abilities and also the magical forest. It plans to completely wipe out all of society and start afresh, itself as the overlord. I’d be completely spoiling the whole plot and sub-plot if I told you what happened in these last few chapters, so i’m just going to hope I managed to sell this series to you and you decide to give it a chance and not judge a book by its blurb.

 

P.S- if you like Ronan’s story the most then Maggie has just recently released the first of the three books in the Dreamer trilogy- a series centred purely around Ronan. The book is called ‘ Call down The Hawk’

 

 

Another Month, More Music

It’s November, therefore no Christmas songs from me yet- well except the tunes forced into my brain through band-. This past month I’ve become addicted to ABBA, Queens Of The Stone Age and early 2000’s hits. Quite varied I’d say.

  1.  I Can Talk- Two Door Cinema Club. An oldie but a goodie, after seeing them in concert at the beginning of October (which was excellent might I add). TDCC is just one of those bands where you can easily dance to any of their songs and this one certainly fits that criteria. I Can Talk 
  2. American Boy- Estelle and Kanye West. I’m pretty sure every Gen Z and Millennial can agree with me. This.Is.A.Bop. I think  I know all the words and that’s perhaps one of my proudest achievements. American Boy
  3. Falling For U-Peachy! and mxmtoon. Tik Tok is addictive and also sometimes a good way to find new songs. Such as this one. A bit of a change up this is a slow chilled out song. Falling For U
  4. Does your Mother Know- ABBA. Dancing Queen is the theme of St. Aidan’s Sixth year but this one is probably my favourite ABBA song of all time. Does Your Mother Know
  5. No One Knows- Queens of the Stone Age. I first discovered this song playing Band Hero on my DS Lite about 8 years ago and have only now grown to appreciate it in my teenage years. Give it a listen if you haven’t heard it before and prefer a bit more rock. No One Knows

BONUS SONG!!!

It Gets Better-Rex Orange County. Out of all the songs on his new album-Pony- this one (or Pluto Projector) has got to be my fave. Probably one of the more upbeat tunes on the album but I highly recommend any of his songs. I’m soo excited to go see him in concert next week! It Gets Better

First Years Transition From Primary to Secondary School

The beginning of the school year in August welcomes many new faces of S1 students at St Aidan’s. Over the past few weeks, the pupils have been settling into their new classes, meeting their teachers, and getting to know each other. However, transitions can be hard for people especially children going into a new environment.

We asked a group of first-year students their perspective on how their transition from primary to secondary school has been. Here are some of their thoughts.

 

Bethany Chalmers thinks that one of the best things about first year so far is that “you’re allowed to finish earlier at 2:55 on some days” Some first years found it difficult with the longer hours but are adjusting to having to be quicker to get home so they get to their training on time.

When Lucy Smith was also asked what the best thing about first year was so far, she answered, “The subjects. PE is my favourite subject and I like the trampolining,” Johnny Pell agreed and added that, “I liked it at primary but its better here,”

Sophie Marshall commented that one of the best things about first year is that “you’re allowed to use your phone, in primary school, you weren’t allowed to use them at all, you can also text your friends if you’re lost”.

Getting lost can be easy in a big school especially one you’re not used to. However, the peer advocate class, a group of 6th-year pupils, have been helping. When asked how they helped the first years said “The school gave us 6th years to take us around our classes. We got to know the basics of getting around the school. It took the pressure off them for being late” High school can be a scary place especially when you don’t know where you’re going. All the first years agreed it helped them and put them at ease.

Teigan O’Donnell mentioned that a big change from primary to secondary school is “being split from your friends in some classes” However as Ciaran McGuire said one of the best things about first year is “getting to meet new people,” One of the ways they are able to do this is through clubs and activities in school.

St Aidan’s does its best to offer a wide range of activities and clubs. It can help pupils meet new people and give them somewhere to go. The school library is also a popular choice for the first years. Ciaran McGuire said “I like coming to the library and just relaxing. I like the computers and the couches,” When asked about the activities Johnny Pell said “I go to the basketball. I like the PE clubs.”

The group of six stated that teachers such as Mr. McCrory, Miss Mohammed, Mrs. Large, and Mr. Wedlock have been helpful. The first years are also able to ask their peer advocates assigned to their classes any questions they have.

The six of them also expressed their excitement to make their way further up the school to get study periods, going on study leave, and going out of the school for lunch. They also look forward to taking part in more practical subjects such as hairdressing and currently are “looking forward to finishing our hangers in tech”.  Science is also a favourite due to the experiments which allows them to learn hands-on and understand things better.

Mrs Fagan, the head of S1 commented she’s “looking forward to finding out all about them, when children first come into first year they don’t know what they’re good at, so we encourage them to go to extracurricular clubs such as sports, art, music or drama because it helps them find out what they’re good at which boosts their confidence and self-esteem and it makes them a much stronger individual”

St Aidan’s does its best to make the transition as smooth as possible for new first years. The most important thing is that they settle in so they can enjoy high school. We asked if they thought they were finally settled in and they said “Yes. It’s basically primary school but harder. It isn’t a massive change,” As a school, we are glad they’re settling in and look forward to the first years beginning their journey through secondary school and wish them all the best of luck.

 

Extraordinary Exam Results 2019!

As the new school year begins and we welcome old and new pupils back after a long summer break,  St.Aidan’s takes a look back at the wide variety of SQA achievements from last terms exam season. The school is extremely proud of all students who gained qualifications in a range of academic and vocational subjects including Construction, Make up artistry, Hairdressing etc. From National 3 through to Advanced Higher.

Some students in National five and Higher attained top grades in all their subjects, Which is an amazing achievement!

Pictured are the three students who achieved 5 Higher A’s. Kate Hughes, Emily Lebida and Claudia Kawik

Also Pictured are the 5 Students who Achieved 7 A’s in their first exams last term! Aaron Patterson, Ella McKendrick, Caitlin O’Neill, Megan Buggy and Diarmuid Starrs.

We as a school look forward to a new year of success stories inside and outside of the school environment!

My Review Of The REACH And Accelerate Law Programmes

During June I spent two very different weeks at two very different universities,  University Of Strathclyde and the University Of Glasgow. I attended the accelerate law challenge at Strathclyde University and the REACH Law programme at Glasgow University.

Through these programmes I was able to experience  mock court trials, visit the sheriff court, participate in a practice LNAT test,  listen to lectures about what the university has to offer and hear about current and former students experiences at the universities and what career path they followed with their law degree whilst also taking part in many different work shops.

I enjoyed both programmes but I felt we worked a lot more independently at Strathclyde and formed a better connection with the current law students as they were our mentors for the week. Glasgow focused a lot more on the academic side of things and the requirements for applying to Glasgow University in the future. At the end of both weeks I had made great friends, explored more of the universities and the surrounding area of Glasgow and I also further cemented my interest in pursuing a Law degree.  I would really recommend applying to both programmes as they benefit you in many ways.

Exciting News!

Hey everyone!

Exciting news coming out of the JMAC camp this week. There’s a new team in town!

Keep an eye on our social media, and the blog to see what the new team are up to!

Session 2018-2019 was a huge success for the JMAC team, and we hope that the 2019-2020 team will continue to build on this.

As always, the JMAC team will continue to work to bring you top quality news reporting from within St Aidan’s High!

So, from the 2018-2019 team, all the best, and good luck!

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