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!

Numeracy League

Every month first and second year pupils take part in the numeracy league. This is where they are given 50 numeracy based questions and they try and answer as many as they can in the space of a period. The average score or each house is the collated and the house with the highest average wins.

For the month of October:-

The winning house for S1 is … St Columba!!

The winning house for S2 is … St John Ogilvie!!

Stay tuned for the winners of next month’s numeracy league!

Higher Drama visit the Tron Theatre

Higher Drama pupils made their annual trip to the theatre to help them prepare for their SQA exam. They attended The Tron Theatre in Glasgow to see ‘The Alchemist’. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed watching the performance and then had the opportunity to take part in a workshop exploring the characters and storyline. A fantastic time was had by all.

Road Safety Competition

S1 and S3 pupils in Art & Design have been working on their Road Safety posters highlighting the importance of how to stay safe when crossing the road. A number of S1 and S3 pupil work pieces have been entered into the NLC competition. We wish our young people well in this competition.

S6 MVP Training

A number of S6 pupils have been trained as MVP mentors and they will be delivering workshops to S2 pupils around the themes of bullying and gender-based violence. These sessions will be running in November and January and each S2 class will take part in 4 different workshops. The S6 MVP mentors are looking forward to using their training to benefit others. Photos to follow !