Community Events – JMAC- The Blog Experience

Operating Theatre Live

Recently, fourth year pupils Mark Grant and Rose Miller from St. Aidan’s High school participated in Operating Theatre Live at Falkirk high school. the programme- aimed at pupils looking to study any fields of medicine- involves dissecting real organs and learning from medical professionals themselves.

Rose commented on why the event would benefit her “The event would give me a boost into hopefully securing a place to study Veterinary medicine at uni in the near future and I really love helping animals and find it really rewarding when I am able to make them better”.

Rose and Mark went into detail of what the day involved ” we measured out and administered anaesthetic to a figurine and also were given the opportunity to dissect a pig, examine the brain and also examine the respiratory system”.

Mark’s favourite moment was examining the heart whereas Rose enjoyed dissecting the pigs head. Mark- who hopes to study medicine- commented on why he wants to become a doctor ” I find it really interesting and I just love helping people”

Review : Everyman Cinema

I’m not a fan of drastic change. I would much rather go with the safe, well known option, like the Vue cinemas. I would take the Vue cinema over the Showcase or Cineworld any day but recently I came across a hip, modern, luxury take on your average cinema trip, the Everyman Cinema. Prices are relatively high for the income of your average 17 year old but if you’re feeling fancy you do get a great service for your money (especially if you are a pensioner). The cinema consists of three small screens with around 60 sofas replacing the standard cinema seats. your snacks or food – as its attached to a small cafe- are brought to your seat by a member of staff – on slate trays and the likes, totally instagrammable if that’s your cup of tea. Once everyone is fed and watered a member of staff comes in and gives a brief overview of the movie and you are left to enjoy only the highest rated movies in comfort and style.

Overall, due to the price of food and the ticket itself I wouldn’t go out of my way to make it my go- to cinema destination but as a treat or for a special occasion it definitely works.

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.”

Greggs : The Vegan Adventure

As an employee and consumer of one of Britain’s biggest fast food/ bakery chain. I feel it is only right to discuss Gregg’s latest move to include more vegan options within their menu. Last year they made headlines with their introduction of the vegan sausage roll. It claims to be composed of 96 layers of puff pastry – just like the traditional sausage rolls – and Gregg’s own bespoke Quorn recipe.

Gregg’s has shown commitment to a high standard of baking and selling procedure of all products, especially vegan products. It has been said that the vegan sausage roll tastes better cold but in my ‘professional’ opinion it tastes decent either way. If you are questioning the accuracy of the sausage roll taste let me also inform you that it tastes not dissimilar to stuffing.

The success of this vegan delicacy has been put down by many – including the BBC- to the uptake of ‘veganuary’ – the roll was released on the 3rd of January 2019. The vegan sausage roll resulted in a 13.5% increase in sales and a £7 million bonus to be distributed amongst 25,000 staff.

Hoping to continue this streak of success Gregg’s has again expanded their vegan range by adding a vegan glazed doughnut, vegan soup and the vegan steak bake.

However, The bake labelled as a ‘steak bake’ has caused some controversy. Many think it should be labelled something more general like the ‘vegan bake’ as the word steak is essentially too ‘ meaty’ and doesn’t convey the true vegan properties of the bake – but sausage roll is OK? The bake has been so successful Gregg’s designed an exclusive ‘PR’ style box and even had to take the bake off of smaller shops to meet the demands within busy city centres.

The Vegan steak bake – taste wise – is the same as a ‘healthier?’ crispy pancake. If that’s you cup of tea a vegan steak bake will be a clear choice for your next Gregg’s order.

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.

Christmas Concert 2K19

With the end of the year coming quickly, it’s time for St. Aidan’s Annual Christmas Concert. On Monday 16th, all the school’s musicians and vocalists gathered together to showcase their talents with a selection of festive songs. They also performed for a second time on the Tuesday afternoon for the annual pensioners concert. The Assembly Hall was transformed into a winter wonderland to accompany the performances to bring the Christmas spirit to the community.

Throughout the night, we seen performances by the Junior, Senior, Samba and Swing bands joined by the schools’ choir and solo vocal pieces by Katie McCrum. It was a bittersweet night as for many of the bands’ star players this would be their last Christmas Concert as a pupil of St. Aidan’s.

Reading Aloud

St Aidan’s pupils got back in touch with their roots and visited the primary schools. The younger years got a chance to revisit their old schools to read aloud to the primary 2’s. A handful of pupils were taken to each one of St. Aidan’s feeder schools by the school librarian Miss McGough.
St Aidan’s encourages its pupils to read both fact and fiction and the younger years were excited to visit their old primary and help the new students enjoy reading as well. Both the primary 2’s and St. Aidan’s pupils enjoyed the experience and would do it again.

Tin Tuesday

“We want to make everyone feel included at Christmas, we send them a Christmas card to wish them a merry Christmas”

The RE department in St. Aidan’s have started it create Christmas parcels for local parishes filled with tins, sweets, and essentials. Pupils have also been donating money. With the help of all the WPS classes, Caritas pupils, and the school as a whole they aim to send 100 parcels to local community.
Mrs Hynes said “We need to remind ourselves Christmas is about receiving presents but also about giving. The parcel give everyone the opportunity to give something. We’ve had some people bring in bags of shopping.”
Caritas student Hollie Conlin said “We want to make everyone feel included at Christmas, we send them a Christmas card to wish them a merry Christmas” This thought is shared throughout the school and the students are getting ready to deliver the parcel.

Scottish Mathematical Challenge 2019

This year our school was fortunate enough to have four super smart students – James Walsh, Rian Duncan, Gavin McKeown and Valentina Joseph – take on the Scottish Mathematical challenge. The pupils from S3 and S4 participated in the middle division placing 42nd overall.

The mathematical challenge was set up in 1966-67 by the chairman of the Scottish Mathematical Council at the time- professor E.M Patterson- who wanted maths to be a source of interest and pleasurable achievement.

The pupils were led to battle by maths teacher Mr Barr. He comments “there was a massive improvement from last year, the four pupils performed brilliantly and worked really well together”

Mr Barr also commented on what the day consisted of ” It’s a national competition across all of Scotland which consists of problem solving maths questions, we finished 20 places higher than last year”

Top 5 Best Things About Halloween

October is here and spooky month is upon us!! And that means Halloween, truly one of the best holidays. And here only the top 5 best things about Halloween though there are many.

Decorations

Let’s be real, when a house puts out a single bowl of sweets with a sign saying ‘take one’ disappointment doesn’t begin to describe that house. Pumpkins litter people’s doorsteps with carvings from the classic pumpkin face, to witches hats, to intricate designs, to pumpkins throwing up their guts. Get creative.

And then there’s the inside. Houses begin to put up fake cobwebs, hanging ghosts, and skeletons. A parties cool and all but a Halloween party with skeletons, frozen hands as ice, hanging ghosts, and fake dead body outlines are the best.

Trick or treating

Okay maybe it’s a ‘kid thing’ but it’s also amazing. Dressing up, going up to strangers houses, asking for sweets and getting them! For free! As someone who grew up with 2 brother’s close in age we were set for weeks. Imagine a pile of sweets, nuts, fake tattoos, and even sometimes a juice spread across your living room. For free! Some people even home baked treats for the trick or treaters.

And there’s the jokes. Oh the jokes. Although I’m ‘too old’ to trick or treat answering the door and hearing the jokes is spooktacular. Who doesn’t love a dumb Halloween pun? And sometimes they get creative with their jokes

If this spooky season you’re too old to go trick or treating find a brother or sister or even a cousin to take round! It’s worth it. It’s one of the perks of having a two year old brother.

Pets in costumes

This had to be its own category. Pets can be cute. Cats, dogs, even snakes can all have there moments. But on Halloween?

What better thing is there than when you answer the door on Halloween and it isn’t a bratty kid but a bratty kid and a dog? And that dog is a pumpkin! I don’t even need to say anything else.

The aesthetic

Halloween is an aesthetic. Fall colours, Halloween parties, spooky movies. Plus since its autumn you have the bonus of fall. You can watch scary movies with a blanket and hot chocolate since its October and who cares?

Recently October has become its own aesthetic. Orange, pumpkin spice, Halloween makeup. Instagram floods with ‘scary’ makeup. Carving pumpkins is becoming a trend. Every country has its own little extra like Americas candy corns just to make it even better. The Halloween aesthetic is own of the best.

Costumes

Best for last, am I right? Pet costumes aside it’s the human costumes that are the best. You can do your own thing, a family costume, a couple costume, a group costume, or even where a shirt saying ‘this is my costume’, though that is a let-down let’s be honest.

And costumes cater for all types. Minimal effort people draw six lines on their face and call themselves a cat and spooktacular people bust out the latex and fake blood and look like they got lost on their way to the hospital. Costumes aren’t even just scary any more. Punny costumes, political costumes, cute costumes, and much more. Some people are using body paint to morph themselves into something not even human.

Who doesn’t want to be someone else for a day? Okay maybe not completely but still. Halloween gives you that (kind of). You can at least dress like whoever you want and act like them with little to no judgement.

So get your costume, get your trick or treat bags ready. It’s Halloween this Thursday and the Victoria Park Halloween party is tonight, it’s not a drill. Its spooky time