Project Runway at Glasgow Kelvin College

Julie Campbell, Darcy Friel, Aqsa Javid, Robyn O’Hare and Elle Smith (S3) attended a two-day Fashion worskhop at two different studio spaces as part of Glasgow Kelvin College. Pupils were also involved in a Creative Industries presentation where there were interactive stalls from each creative department where pupils could find out about course opportunities as well as taking part in different interactive stations which included:

· Fashion Customisation Station
· Music Sound Production Workshops
· Jewellery – Sand Casting Workshop.
· Photography – Digital Photography Workshop, Dark Room Workshop
· Art Screen Printing Workshop
· TV Green Screen Demo

The two day workshop culminated in a Fashion Show featuring previous years fashion students work from Kelvin College and it ended with the garments created by our pupils on the day.

Christmas Concert

On the evening of Tuesday 3 December over 60 pupils from the Music and Drama departments were involved in our annual Christmas Concert. The evening was very well attended by staff, pupils, family and friends, and our talented pupils put on an outstanding performance leaving us all in the festive spirit! Our thanks goes to everybody involved in preparing and on the evening itself. A massive “well done!” to all performers!

Literacy Week 11-15 November

The English and Literacy department in conjunction with the library, organised a number of activities to raise awareness of Literacy and to promote reading for enjoyment.

‘Read a book week’ – across the school, pupils were encouraged to read a book of their own choosing and staff read alongside them putting their ‘What I’m Reading’ posters on their doors. Staff sent in their #shelfie: pictures too and we had pupils trying to guess which teacher they belonged to.

We had lunchtime activities for S1 and S2 pupils: ‘Story Time in the Library’ and a book quiz. Both were well attended and staff got involved too, reading extracts from their favourite stories and joining in with the book quiz teams.

We had folktale storyteller Daiva Ivanhauskaitewill in to share her intriguing stories with S2 and we had some energetic ‘book relay-racing’ for S1s in the library!

S4 parents/carers were asked, ‘What’s your favourite book of all-time?’ at the Parents’ Meeting and we displayed the results in the library – there were quite a few classics in there!

There was lots going on across many departments in the school: from storytelling in RE to illustrating favourite stories in Art and learning about and writing reviews in Business Education. Maths were busy too with S1 classes using skimming and scanning skills to find information.

Employability Events

On Thursday 7 November a group of S4-5 pupils attended the ‘Skills Scotland Glasgow 2019′ event at the SEC Centre, Glasgow. It brought young people face-to- face with employers, training providers, colleges, universities and professional bodies. The free event helps young people transition into the world of further study, work or training by identifying their ideal career pathway. The pupils thoroughly enjoyed the event and now feel that they are more prepared to pursue their chosen career pathway.

There will be a Careers Insight Event in the school for S4-6 pupils on Friday the 29 November and parents are welcome to attend with their child as long as they return the tear off slip to Mr. Maxwell or Miss Ruddy.

Parental Communication

We are beginning to use a new communication tool called Groupcall. This allows the school to use texts, emails and an app called Xpressions to aid communication with parents.

Parents can easily download the free Xpressions app to their mobile phone to begin receiving updates. We intend to use the app to communicate any school information during extreme winter weather.

Our Lady’s will also send information by email to parents. We have already sent prelim timetables and Saturday study day information to S4 and S5 parents. Please contact the school office to update any email addresses.

Christmas Concert

Pupils from the music and drama departments have been working hard preparing for their performances at our annual Christmas Concert. There will be a variety of acts and lots of talent on show. Please come along and support our pupils on the night.

Date: Tuesday 3rd December

Time: 7pm (doors open 6.30pm)
Ticket cost: £3.

Available from any music teacher.

Hope to see you there for a bit of festive fun!

Musicians wanted

Father McKay is appealing for musicians to join the music group at 11am Mass in St. Joseph’s Church. Anyone is welcome regardless of age or ability.  If you are interested please text and leave your name: 07580114701

S1 Halloween Disco

The S1 Halloween Disco took place on Wednesday 30 October. A huge thank you to the S6 girls who came along and helped organise the music and scary decorations !

Digi Explorers Event

On the 8 October our S3 computing science class visited Easter Road Stadium for a Digi Explorers event. We learned about codes like Morse Code and made own torches with an LED light, 2 plastic covers, a piece of foam and a battery. We then moved on to working with small spherical robots named Ozobots. We learned all about how the Ozobot responds to colour as if it was a code giving it an instruction.  We then proceeded to make our own maps consisting of codes to help move the Ozbots including increasing its speed, doing turns and some cool tricks too. Ozobots need special pens to be able to read the code.

After our lunch break we moved upstairs and were told all about how technology has changed the world and we were given the challenge to think of a product that would further technology.  We also had to make a prototype of our invention as well. One group made glasses and another made a toaster. After we made our products we presented them to another group telling them the name of the product and a little bit about it. The final activity was a Q & A session with some people who had jobs in Computing Science. They told us all about what their jobs were like and the different types of jobs available in the Computing Industry. It was a great trip and a very worthwhile experience and everyone who went on the trip gave very positive feedback.

Dragons’ Lair Enterprise Challenge

All S3 Business pupils were given the chance to take part in NLC’s Dragons’ Lair Enterprise Challenge.  In groups pupils developed a new product idea which they then presented to their class.  The best 2 ideas for all of S3 were then put forward to the regional NLC round. The 2 teams picked were Energy – Aimee Lee Duncan and Emily Orifij – who designed a portable bluetooth charger for mobile phones and Jacobin Garments – Jake Fiddler – who came up with the idea of a personalised school uniform service.

Both teams attended a workshop with 18 other school across NLC in October where they met representatives from NLC, Business Gateway and local business owners who helped them develop their idea.

After the workshop both teams had to create and submit a business plan which outlined how they would set up and run their business.  Once submitted, their business plan was judged by the Dragon’s with the best 5 teams getting through to the NLC final in November.

Unfortunately team Energy did not make it through to the final, but we are delighted to say that Jake has made it through and will make his final presentation to the Dragons’ on Tuesday 12 November 2019 – wish him luck!