File - Gryffe High School

Gryffe High School
Old Bridge of Weir Road, Houston, PA6 7EB
Tel: 01505 690633 Fax: 01505 690888
e-mail: enquiries@gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk
web address: www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk
Head Teacher: Mr Colin H Johnson BSc
Date: 7/11/12
Dear Parents/Carers/Relatives/Pupils
Susie is in Space School (Texas)
I hope you enjoy reading about our school and the
significant achievements of our pupils in this edition
Susie Little, our head girl, is currently thoroughly enjoying
of our monthly newsletter.
Index
Page
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Susie is in Space School (Texas)
PTA Christmas Fayre
October was Global Diversity Month
Book Sale for Mary’s Meals
Henna Hand Art
National Dress Day
Rainbow Turtle Stall
‘The World about Us’ Geography
Competition
9
Eco-Committee News
10,11 S1 - ALL KITTED OUT FOR PE
12
S6 PSE Event – ‘Bite the Ballot’
13
Fireworks Talk – S1 and S2
14
PTA Ladies’ and Daughters’ Pamper Night
15
Angus Taylor S2 plays ‘Friedrich’
Memorial Unveiling in Paisley
16
Newcastle v Manchester United Trip
17
Macmillan Coffee Morning
Upcoming priorities/events
her trip to Houston in Texas!
Susie has kindly agreed to provide pictures and a full
mission report on her return and this should appear in
next month’s newsletter.
If you want a sneak preview of what Susie has been up to
at Space School, check out the following link where you
will find Mission blogs and pictures.
http://www.scottishspaceschool.org.uk/Houston2012/Pag
es/TheWeekInPictures.aspx
Our photograph is courtesy of the PAISLEY EXPRESS.
MAD EVENT FREE
Thursday 8 November
Doors Open at 7:00 pm
Performance at 8:00 pm
Exciting event showcasing music,
art, photography, film making,
fashion, jewellery, gymnastics
and environmental art www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk
Please remember and support:
Thursday 22 November 6:30 – 9:00 pm
www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk
October has been a busy month with many events and activities both in class and out of class to raise
awareness of Fairtrade and celebrate Global Diversity.
Our photographs and articles on the following pages highlight a few of the whole school events –
Book Sale for Mary’s Meals
Henna Hand Art
Rainbow Turtle Stall
National Dress Day and
‘The World about Us’ Geography Competition
Many departments ensured a Global Diversity theme and the following is only a FLAVOUR of what was
happening throughout the month.
English –
Researched authors from different countries
Geography –
Global Farming Systems
History –
Mining around the World
Art & Design –
Mexican, Chinese and African activities
Music –
Latin American ,Scottish and Indonesian music
RME –
Islamic beliefs
Health, Food & Technology –
Foods of the World project for Senior pupils as well as a cross
curricular project with Modern Languages on ‘Crepes’
Business & Computing –
International city brochure
Modern Studies –
SCIAF and diversity in USA
Mathematics –
‘Show Racism the Red Card’ and Egyptian Maths
Science –
Scientists around the World Project
Modern Languages –
La Francophonie and European Project
PE –
Swedish football, African Hockey and Dance
SfL –
Morocco and Marrakech focus
S1 Integrated Social Subjects –
Group work on Asylum Seekers
Drama –
News Mimes
Technical –
Global Bridge Design
PSE –
Citizenship Committee Presentations
The canteen joined in by providing Themed Food to go with some international music in the last week of
October.
Many thanks to ALL who supported this month.
www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk
Global Diversity - Book Sale in Aid of Mary’s Meals
After weeks of collecting donated books from S1
English classes, it was time for our book sale to go
ahead. 50p for a book and a handful of gums was
the deal, and pupils weren’t slow in taking up the
offer! Books were bought for themselves, and for
friends and family. A total of £62 was raised for
Mary’s Meals, who provide food for school
children in Malawi. Well done to all the S1 pupils
for donating the books and thanks to all who came
along on the day and made it such a great success.
Photographs – John Runcie S1, Jasmine Galvin S1,
Ian Malcolm S2
Article - Mrs C. Kerr, Librarian
www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk
Global Diversity – Henna Hand Art
On Friday 5 October and Friday 12 October, the S6s, along with Mrs
Smith, did Henna hand tattoos in the school library to raise money for the
Save The Children charity. Lots of students brought along a pound and a
consent form and they got their hand tattoo done. There were many
beautiful designs that you could have temporarily tattooed onto your
hand or arm.
An S2 student said, “At first, it felt a bit weird, but
after a while I got used to the paste on my skin. I am very pleased with my
beautiful design on my arm.”
Article – Jasmine Galvin S1
Photographs –
Jasmine Galvin S1
John Runcie S1
Shona Ferguson S1
Jennifer Lowson S5
www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk
Global Diversity – National Dress Day
On Friday 12 October pupils were encouraged to dress in National
Costume celebrating and recognising various cultures and countries
from all around the world. As you can see from our pictures, many
pupils took part and the variety of costume was amazing. Many staff
also dressed in National Costume and our picture shows the FULL
science staff going completely international with a splendid array of
National Dress.
Photographs – Jennifer Lowson S5
and Adeel Rasul, Andrew Grant and Shona Ferguson (all S1)
www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk
Global Diversity – Rainbow Turtle Stall
On Friday 26 October, pupils swarmed around the many and varied goods on sale when the Rainbow
Turtle shop (based in Paisley) set up a stall in the school library.
Rainbow Turtle was set up in Paisley in 2002 by a group concerned with the promotion and
development of Fairtrade. The objective was to raise public awareness of fair trade and encourage more
people to buy fairly traded products. The shop stocks a diverse range of goods including foodstuffs,
clothing, jewellery, crafts, cards, stationery, toys, gifts and leisure items and pupils enjoyed shopping
from a vast range of goods that had been brought along. Many thanks go to Liz Cotton who always helps
support Fairtrade within the school and who set up the stall with help from the Fairtrade Committee.
Moira Stark (Science Technician in the school) is the Rainbow Turtle Co-ordinator on the Committee and
is also a huge support helping the pupils.
Article – Media Team
Photographs – Jennifer Lowson S5
and Adeel Rasul, Andrew Grant and Shona Ferguson (all S1)
www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk
‘The World Around Us’ Photo Competition
During Global Diversity month pupils in Geography were given the opportunity to enter a photo
competition entitled ‘The world around us’. The theme was open to individual interpretation with a
requirement that entries had a sense of Geography at their heart and that all entries were the pupils
own work.
There were lots of fantastic photographs entered by pupils ranging from S1 – 4 each showing how
diverse the world is. The winning entry chosen by our Higher Geography pupils was ‘Loch Lubnaig’ by
Alison Hedley. 2nd place was ‘Hold on to our world’ by Eleanor Ward 4Wa and Gwen Gillham 4W.
In addition to our in school competition all of the photographs were also entered into a national
photograph competition run by the Scottish Association of Geography Teachers. John Runcie 1W was
successful in reaching the final 12 of the competition. His photograph ‘Ginger’ will appear in the SAGT
calendar 2013 under the month of April.
‘Loch Lubnaig’ Alison Hedley 2W
‘Hold on to our world’ Eleanor Ward 4Wa and
Gwen Gillham 4W
John Runcie S1 with his entry ‘Ginger’ receiving his
certificate & 2013 calendar
Article – Ms Iafrate
www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk
Eco-Committee News
The Eco committee were very pleased to have a visit from Emily Platt a countryside ranger from Clyde Muirshiel
Regional Park. Emily took a tour of the school grounds with some members of the committee and talked to the
group about choosing the best location for the proposed Gryffe High School Biodiversity Garden.
Emily provided information on managing the wild areas of the school grounds with the overall aim of increasing
biodiversity by encouraging plants and animals into the area. When complete, the garden would be an invaluable
resource for the Science department as well as enhancing our school and local environment
A lot of excellent ideas were discussed including the best
locations for bat and bird boxes, seeding a wildflower
garden and building an insect hotel.
All of the Eco-Committee activities and new developments
are posted on the Eco-committee bulletin board in the
School Concourse.
Photographs – Mr Gibb
Article – Mrs McAleavy
www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk
S1 - ALL KITTED OUT FOR PE
What some S1 Pupils have to say about PE
When I went to my first P.E. class I was really scared. Then I met my P.E. teacher and they made me feel a
lot better. S1 P.E. is a lot of fun and is good and healthy for you. We play lots of games like lacrosse, rugby,
netball and for the 3k fun run we trained by doing a lot of running. This year, the P.E. department has a
great new P.E. kit. The S1’s have only been offered the kit to see how well it goes. The new kit is
comfortable and easy to move in and looks very smart. I really like wearing it and taking part in all of the
exercise.
Article by Erika-Jane Martin S1
P.E. at Gryffe High School is great this year. The new S1’s have a new P.E. kit which is a white t-shirt with the
school logo on the chest. It looks great when everybody is wearing the same uniform and as of Monday the
1st of October the uniform has become mandatory for all S1’s. The P.E. department is currently doing
Lacrosse and netball. The S1’s have also done basketball and had a go on the machines in the fitness suite.
The fitness suite has exercise bikes, running machines and a few weight machines. The weight machines are
only really used by the S3’s and above, although as part of Activ8 this year, S1’s have had a go on
some of the weight machines.
S1 pupil Jasmine Galvin hopes that the P.E department will do more Lacrosse after the October break
because she really enjoyed it. Another S1 girl really enjoyed doing basketball and is now enjoying rugby!
Article - Shona Ferguson S1
www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk
After consultation with pupils and parents over the last year, this session sees the introduction of a new PE
kit for all S1 pupils. As you can see from the pictures, the kit consists of a newly designed white
top with school badge and pupils have some choice in the style of bottoms they wear in a black or navy
blue colour. Now produced, the S1 P.E. kit is fully enforced from Monday 1 October. There will be further
consultation during this session to decide how best to eventually implement this across the whole school.
Article - Mr O’Hare, Faculty Head Health and Wellbeing
Photographs – Jennifer Lowson S5
www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk
S6 PSE Event – ‘Bite the Ballot’
On Friday 26 October "Bite the Ballot" came to
Gryffe to speak to the sixth year pupils. "Bite the
Ballot" is an organisation set up to encourage
youth to vote and their speakers travel around
schools all over the country to speak to
teenagers. They are sponsored by the UK Cabinet
Office and they were assisted by staff from
Renfrewshire Council's Joint Valuation Board.
Their aim is to make politics more accessible to
youth, and as such their motto is
"Be the Difference".
The speakers started debates on Scottish
Independence and the Death Penalty, sparking
up people's interests before encouraging the
sixth years to register to vote. Around 60% of the
youth population do not vote, amounting to
4,000,000 people so the "Bite the Ballot"
movement aims to encourage young people to
have their say and vote.
The session finished with the S6 signing up for
registration
Article – Nina Macdonald S6
Photographs – Ian Malcolm S2
www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk
Fireworks Talk – S1 and S2
On Tuesday 30 of October 2 firemen and a policeman came to Gryffe High School to talk about being safe
with fireworks. This assembly was delivered to both S1 and S2.
At the beginning a short video clip was shown called “Wee Shaun” about a boy who sadly died because
his “friends” put a lit banger (small bomb) in a drawer. It exploded in Shaun’s face. This clip was played by
actors but was based on a true story. The clip contained some disturbing images but was there to prove a
very big point.
The policeman talked about the types of fireworks you can get and the dangers that fireworks can cause.
He showed some pictures of scars that people have had because of fireworks and then passed back over
to the firemen.
One fireman talked about a personal experience which was very sad. After that pupils were show some
more images of injuries that fireworks and sparklers have caused. They played a short clip of the news
showing a man who survived a firework exploding in his face. Although he could hardly talk, the man was
determined to announce that he was never going near a firework again.
To finish the talk the firemen showed a picture of a girls arm after being very badly burnt after using a
sparkler incorrectly to show that sparklers should never be regarded as harmless.
Information was also given about what would happen if you were under 16 and caught with fireworks.
Although some of the images were quite scary,
I am pretty certain on the 5th of November
EVERYONE will be VERY careful with fireworks.
Article - Shona Ferguson S1
Photographs – Jasmine Galvin S1
www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk
Gryffe High School PTA
Ladies’ and Daughters’ Pamper Night
On Friday 5 October, Gryffe High School’s PTA held a
ladies’ and daughters’ pamper night. With nearly one
hundred tickets sold, it was a fantastic and very
successful night. A few different stalls were set up for
the evening including shellac nails, jewellery, nail
painting, glitter tattoo’s, makeovers, cupcakes and lots
more... all at great prices ! PTA member Evelyn Quigg
said she was very pleased with the turnout at the
evening, commenting it was great that many teachers
showed up to support the school. One of the mothers
that attended the pamper night said “I really enjoyed
the pamper night, it was great to have my nails done
for once and everything was at a great price!” The
pamper night was overall a great night and everyone
seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves.
Sheila McHarg told the school Media team ‘The PTA
would like to thank all the ladies & younger ladies who
came along to our recent Pamper Night and made it
such a success. The evening was buzzing with
atmosphere and raised a fantastic sum of £900 profit
for school fund! Thanks to the hardworking team of
PTA members who organised the evening and thanks
also to the local business folks who took a table at the
event and generously donated the fantastic prizes for
our raffle . Looking forward to the Christmas Fayre on
Thursday 22 November – a date for your diaries!!’
Mr Holsgrove added ‘Although I was only involved in
the organisation of the PTA Pamper Evening (and the
clearing up), I have been assured it was a thoroughly
enjoyable night. On behalf of the school, I would once
again like to convey our thanks to all who organised
and all who supported the event.
Our next big event is the Christmas Fayre which takes
place in the school at 6.30pm on Thursday 22
November. We will have a huge variety of stalls selling
all sorts of products. A great chance to get along and
purchase some Christmas presents which are maybe
just a bit different to what you might find in the shops.’
£2/£1 for adult/child tickets (and a free mince pie and
coffee). Sounds like the bargain of the year! Tickets on
sale from the school now.
Article - Samantha Dunlop and Sophie Rotherforth S4
Photographs - Sophie Rotherforth S4
www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk
Angus Taylor S2
plays ‘Friedrich’ in the Pantheon’s
production of ‘The Sound of Music’
at the King’s Theatre, Glasgow
Angus is currently starring in this fantastic production which is playing from Tuesday 30 October to
Saturday 3 November. Angus burst on to the musical theatre scene when, in 2011 at age 11, he wowed
audiences at Bridge of Weir Primary with his portrayal of KoKo in their production of The Mikado.
He then joined the local theatre group PACE. His first performance for them was as a female character
in a spoof of Take Me Out and followed this with Baby’s father in Dirty Dancing.
Here at Gryffe High School, he played Scrooge in last year’s Christmas production and in summer, he
played a bouncer in Boogie Nights. At PACE, Angus had roles in the Lion King, playing a hilarious hyena
and a constable in a fantastic production of Les Miserables. He has just completed a ‘positive choices’
show which he performed at Glasgow City Chambers with PACE.
Angus has thoroughly enjoyed playing the role of Friedrich in The Sound of Music and loved being part
of the team. Look out for Angus in Jack and the Beanstalk at the Paisley Arts Centre this Christmas.
Memorial Unveiling in Paisley
Ian Doig and Susie Little, Head Boy and Head Girl, recently attended a Memorial Unveiling in Paisley to
commemorate all those soldiers who have fallen in war since the end of World War 11. In representing
Gryffe High School, they helped to lay wreaths at the Memorial and joined many veterans and local councils
to mark the unveiling of the new memorial, outside Renfrewshire House.
www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk
Article – Ian Doig
Newcastle v Manchester United Trip
On Sunday 7 October over 40 pupils and staff made a visit to
Newcastle and St James’ Park to watch the Premier League tie
between Newcastle FC and Manchester United.
During the coach journey down everyone took part in a quiz.
The winner was Josh Telfer 5W, 2nd place falling one mark
short was Mr Morris. Josh’s prize was a Newcastle United
home top which he got on arrival at the club shop.
For the remainder of the journey to Newcastle some of the
bus decided to make up a song to sing and sang it over and
over and over again when walking to the stadium, during the
match and on the bus on the way home – it has now stuck in
all of our memories.
It went like this... “Na na na na na na na na na na na Demba
Demba ba Demba ba Demba Demba ba aaa...”.
Unfortunately Demba ba didn’t manage to score in the game.
Nor did anyone else from Newcastle FC, they had a small
number of chances with Manchester United being the
dominant team. In the end the result was 3 – 0 with Evans,
Evra and Cleverley scoring.
The trip was a great success and we hope to visit another
stadium next year.
Article and Photographs - Ms Iafrate
Article and photographs – Ms Iafrate
www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk
Macmillan Coffee Morning
Communication
On Friday 28 September, the Gryffe High staff took
part in the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning to raise
money for Macmillan Cancer Support. This annual
event is a great way to raise money and raise
awareness for this fantastic charity.
Please feel free to contact us, via phone or email,
and suggest any ways in which we can make
improvements to our communication with parents.
Some of Mrs Webster’s S2 and S3 H,F&T pupils
baked delicious cakes for the event, including carrot
cake and caramel shortcake, as well as donating
money.
I would also request, since we hope to show pictures
of pupil activities on our website, that should you
prefer your child not to be filmed or photographed
then please contact the school office.
We would welcome helpful advice/opinion.
In a similar vein, we are trying to build a record of
our pupil’s achievements out of school. We have a
wealth of talented pupils and would like to give them
appropriate recognition wherever possible. Please
feel free to contact me (by phone, letter or email), in
order that I can be aware of any events or
competitions coming up – it gives me an opportunity
to talk to pupils as I take great pleasure in hearing of
their successes.
Mr Colin H Johnson
Head Teacher
Staff helped by bringing in their own home baking
which was thoroughly enjoyed and there were some
fantastic prizes to be won in the raffle. All of our
raffle prizes were generously donated by staff. Our
S6 pupils helped to sell some of the remaining cakes
at lunchtime which went down a treat!
We raised a fantastic total of £515 for Macmillan
and we know that all the money raised will make a
difference to cancer patients and their families.
Thanks to everyone for your support!
Photographs – Media Team
Article – Mrs S. Smith
Upcoming priorities/events:
NOVEMBER
Thurs 8
Fri 9
MAD Event 7:00pm
S4 Reports given to pupils
Mon 12
Tue 13
Thurs 15
National Anti-Bullying Week
Parent Council Meeting; 7:00 pm
S1 Interim Reports given to pupils
S1 Parents’ Meeting
Thurs 22
PTA Christmas Fayre
Mon 26
Thurs 29
Fri 30
Start of S4 Prelims
S6 Big Questions Conference
HOLIDAY
DECEMBER
Mon 3
Fri 7
Parent Council Meeting; 7:00 pm
S5/6 Main Report given to pupils
www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk
www.gryffehigh.renfrewshire.sch.uk