THS Social Subjects Faculty

Three of our S1 pupils have been selected as finalists in the “Design the Future You Choose” SDG T-Shirt Competition. Congratulations to Ninaa, Michelle and Jessica W!

The competition was highly competitive, with nearly 200 unique submissions that showcased impressive creativity and thoughtfulness. The girls’ designs stood out for their originality and meaningful representation of the SDGs.

The girls will attend an online awards ceremony on Friday 30th May 2025, during which the winners of each category will be announced.

We look forward to supporting the finalists and celebrating their achievements.

Our S3 pupils, Krystabel and Cyrus, showcased their remarkable talents this week in the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service Public Speaking Competition. Their informative speeches on the topic “If you owned a social media platform, what rules would you have for users and why?” truly impressed the audience and judges alike. The team won their heat and they have progressed to the next round in March.

Congratulations to Krystabel and Cyrus for their excellent performance. Well done!

On the 6^th of February, classes 1A1 and 1M1 visited the Bannockburn Visitor Centre as part of their History studies into the Scottish Wars of Independence. The pupils had an in-depth tour of the Visitor Centre, including an interactive experience where they saw parts of the battle unfold in front of them. They also took a walk to the Bruce monument and took part in a schiltron formation. They also got the chance to handle some replica weapons and armour, with some pupils being chosen to dress up as a knights, soldier and archer!

S3 Modern Studies classes were visited by Campus Officer PC Sarah this week. Her insightful session on the role and powers of the police helped enhance pupils’ understanding of their Crime and Law unit. PC Sarah’s first-hand knowledge about how 999 calls are handled and examples of crimes she has responded to made the topic relatable and informative.

Thanks for joining us and answering all our questions, PC Sarah!

A reflection from S6 pupils Kaitlyn and Jessica:

We were humbled to participate in the Lessons from Auschwitz Project, part of this project was a day visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau. In visiting Auschwitz-Birkenau we saw first-hand the atrocities committed during Hitlers Nazi regime.

Before we arrived, we were given the history of the town. We learned that Auschwitz-Birkenau was in a town with the name Oswiecim. It was only given its infamous name during the reign of the Nazis. On approach to the town, we visited a Jewish Cemetery where we saw many graves desecrated again this was during the Nazi regime when they constructed a road through the centre of the cemetery. Many bodies were left with no headstones or the incorrect headstones. even in the present day the cemetery has to remain under lock and key due to antisemitic attacks.

Walking through the gate into Auschwitz was a very somber experience as we understood that so many Jewish people had walked this path before they were murdered. The most visually horrifying things that we observed were the piles of shoes, hair, pots and pans and suitcases There was 7 tons of hair, over 100,000 adult shoes and 10,000 children’s shoes all found after the camp was liberated. The most upsetting for us was seeing the luggage as you could see people’s names inscribed on some of the suitcases. Also scratches on walls of gas chamber as it emphasised the sheer terror and agony of peoples last moments as they tried to escape the chamber.

In Birkenau, out of the 300 barracks built in the camp only 26 remain. Each barrack was only made to hold 400 people, but in reality the number was well over 600. Birkenau was built to house 125,000 prisoners. The train tracks that lead to the gas chamber were known as the Walk of Death, prisoners were either selected to work or sent to the gas chambers. It was mainly women and children who were sent to gas chambers. After we were shown round Birkenau, we took part in a memorial service which we think was important as we were remembering the individual lives lost, instead of remembering them as just a number.

On the 9^th of October, class 1K1 visited the Bannockburn Visitor Centre as part of their History studies into the Wars of Independence. The pupils had an in-depth tour of the Visitor Centre, including an interactive experience where they saw parts of the battle unfold in front of them. They also took a walk to the Bruce monument and took part in a schiltron formation. They also got the chance to handle some replica weapons and armour, with some pupils being chosen to dress up as a knights, soldier, and archer!

In August, our Advanced Higher Historians took a trip to the Mitchell Library in Glasgow for an academic writing workshop. The skills learned will aid them with their studies, particularly when writing their dissertation for the course.

S6 pupils Kaitlyn and Jessica submitted excellent essays on why we should remember the Holocaust to be selected for the Lessons From Auschwitz project ran by the Holocaust Educational Trust. 

Well done girls!