P7 Welcome Days

On Wednesday 8th and Thursday 9th of June we were joined by over 200 P7 pupils from our six associated primaries as part of their visit to Our Lady’s High School.

This was a wonderful opportunity for all of our young people to experience first hand a typical S1 day in a busy high school. Pupils followed their S1 timetable visiting a wide range of subjects and also got the opportunity to meet lots of staff and pupils.

The visit ended with a a wonderful sports afternoon with pupils participating in Dance, Rugby, Basketball, Football and Handball. As the visit came to a close and the 200 or so pupils were gathered in the assembly hall, red-faced, exhausted and all smiles after the sports afternoon, it was clear to see what an enjoyable couple of days they had had.

P7 Enrolment Mass

P7 pupils gathered in Our Lady’s High on the evening of Wednesday 8 June and joined with family and friends to participate in our P7 Enrolment Mass.

The Mass was concelebrated by our school chaplain Father McKay and Father Campbell.

Parents, carers and pupils were also joined by staff from Our Lady’s High as well as the Head Teachers and P7 staff from our six primaries. The occasion was marked with each pupil receiving a certificate of enrolment welcoming them to the community of Our Lady’s High!

S1 and S2 in Art & Design

S1 and S2 pupils used a ‘graffito technique’ with oil pastels and paint selecting an image of a gorilla, leopard or tiger from the endangered species list.

After preparing the A4 paper with oil pastel, black paint mixed with soap, the pupils scratched into this prepared surface with cocktail sticks to reveal a bright and colourful version of the animal.  A great time was had by all the pupils!

S2 and S3 in Social Subjects

S2 had a fantastic trip to Dynamic Earth and the Scottish Parliament. They were given a tour of the parliament building by Miss Ruddy and visited the Debating Chamber.

In Dynamic Earth, they had a memorable trip on a time machine travelling through different climate regions. They also enjoyed a Dome Show about the new space station.

S3 learned about Malawi including some of the issues facing young people such as malaria and malnourishment. Each class was asked to design a campaign to sell 90kg rice.

The money raised from the sale of the rice will pay for a child in Malawi to be educated for a year. The winning class was 3s2.

S3 Pupils participated in a Developing Young Workforce day which focused on a variety of skills and tasks which will help prepare learners for the world of work.

They undertook activities such as creating a job specification and interviewing each other for particular jobs.

They also tested their leadership and teambuilding skills by completing a blind obstacle course and thought about their own skills when creating a 3D CV.

The pupils participated fully and embraced each task with enthusiasm. Well done to everyone involved.

S1 Science pupils had a wonderful time at Blair Drummond Safari and Adventure Park. Pupils had a fantastic day which included a bus tour through the park to view the different animal species, a boat trip around Chimp Island and a chance to watch the Sea Lion show.

S3 Biology pupils also visited the park and their trip included a guided walk by a member of the education team to learn about animal adaptations.

S2 had a day of educational board games, and were able to use their Numeracy and Literacy skills, as well as team-work and communication.

Some of the games many of the pupils had never played before. Great fun was had by all!

The S1 Deeper Learning tasks opened up with teams researching an individual Olympic year before gathering images of the medals, the flag, the country’s outline, the Olympic symbol for that year’s games and a phrase in the language of that country.

Pupils then used the images they had found to design a t-shirt for the Rio Games for their country’s team or supporters to wear. The pictures show their fantastic achievements and eye catching designs!

As part of Deeper Learning Week, S2 pupils were given a team challenge in the Technical Department, which involved designing and building a bridge to transport a car over a set span….using only one cardboard box, tape and most importantly teamwork!

Most were a great success and more importantly all the pupils enjoyed the activity and had lots of fun whilst developing their team building and creativity skills at the same time.

The Malawi Committee would like to say a huge ‘Thank You’ for all your support in terms of donations for the upcoming trip. We have received a fantastic collection of baby clothes and items which will be most welcomed at the maternity unit at the local community hospital. We are now shifting focus and are collecting the following items; pens, pencils, rubbers, sharpeners, jotters, rulers, coloured pens/pencils, balloons, bubbles, old football tops, small sports gear – tennis balls, table tennis bats/balls, badminton racquets/shuttlecocks, plastic mugs, flip flops and any unwanted electronics. These can be handed into the school office or directly to Mr Dickson, Mr Maxwell or Mrs Forrester.

A blog about the trip can be found by clicking this link: https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/nl/olhsmalawi16