staff update Dec 2016

STAFF INFORMATION

UPDATE

School Priorities 2016/17

• Improvement in attainment & achievement for all in both BGE & Senior Phase
• Improvement in the responsibilities of all – better outcomes for young people in

literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing
• Improvement in employability skills and sustained, positive school leaver

destinations for all young people
• Engage in self-evaluation practices in more robust ways to secure improve-

ment

Ø Improve attainment and achievement for all

The Geography Higher and S5 Nat 5 pupils enjoyed an eventful field trip to several lo-
cations in Glasgow recently.• In the morning they gathered information on land use, envi-
ronmental quality, traffic and pedestrians in the CBD, inner city and suburbs.• This data
will enable them to make comparisons between urban zones for their assignments. In
the afternoon the pupils went to Dalmarnock and met Dr Julie Clark from Glasgow Uni-
versity who has been involved in documenting the changes and effects in the East End
before and after the Commonwealth Games.• Dr Clark gave a talk about the recent
transformations and a tour highlighting the new housing and the transport alterations.
Chris Leslie, a Bafta award winning filmmaker, known for the Disappearing Glasgow
project, filmed the event. •This field trip gave the pupils excellent first-hand information
which will help them with their coursework.

Deaf Awareness Training
Marsie Stuart of the charity ‘Sign and Be Heard’ came in to Calderglen High School to
work with 30 senior pupils.• The afternoon had been organised by Depute Odette Frazer to
heighten deaf awareness and prepare the pupils for an active and informed role in the
workplace or in higher education.
Marsie worked with the pupils sharing information about British Sign Language and
highlighting the benefits to society of an equal and inclusive community. The pupils
learned the BSL fingerspelling alphabet and by the end of the session they were able to
offer their names to one other.
The sixth year pupils were very enthusiastic about the afternoon and following this
introduction to BSL, many are keen to develop their knowledge by accessing further
training.

November 21st – U18s Football News!

Streetdance
Well done to 3C3 pupil, Katie Sherry, who has qualified for the world Streetdance
Championships in Glasgow in the summer next year. Only the top 5 in each age group
have been selected so this is a great achievement!

Canicross Update on Jada Amoah [S4]
Jada has picked up a Silver medal at the European Cani-Cross Championships in Nor-
folk as part of team GB. The championship saw athletes from 19 different countries take
part in various dry land sled dog sports. She ran a PB on the first day over a 5 km
course, which put her into second place and managed to hold on to secure a Silver med-
al on the final day. She is now working towards qualifying for the GB team next year and
taking part in the World Championships in Poland – we wish her the best of luck!

New Partnership
Thanks to Mhairi Healy we have managed to secure a partnership with Martin Lauchlan,
manager at East Kilbride Football Club. Martin will be working with us to develop a
Masterclass on journalism. He has also delivered talks to S4 pupils about work ethic and
resilience.

Christmas Fayre 2016
Many thanks to all staff who worked tirelessly to make the Christmas Fayre such a suc-
cessful event. As well as raising money for school funds this event allows us to link very
well with our community and showcase what we do as well as encourage the involve-
ment of our community. A special thanks to the School Fund Committee whose efforts
for this event are exceptional. A healthy £800 will be added to school funds as a direct
result of the Christmas Fayre. Well done to all who organised, helped out, participated
and attended! Some good memories captured!

St Andrew’s Day Celebrations
Pupils and staff at Calderglen High and Sanderson High really got into the Spirit of St
Andrew’s day this year. Staff members donned their tartan and pupils were treated to St
Andrew’s and Greek menus in the school canteen, in order to honour our patron saint’s
adopted country. During lunch, pupils were treated to a range of Scottish music and we
even had a choir recital to Sanderson pupils, from the Gaelic annexe of Mount Cameron
Primary School. The day was a huge success and judging by the queues in the school
canteen, the food was very popular! Thanks to all who arranged this event and
particularly to Marie McKinnon & Allison McDonald!

The Great Calderglen Bake Offs
As part of the S5 Enterprise and Employability course, pupils held “The Great Calderglen
Bake Off” one for pupils and one for staff to raise funds for Kilbryde Hospice and the
SSPCA. All pupils spent a great deal of time planning for the event which involved liaising
with staff and the charities to ensure the smooth running on the day. Despite some initial
nerves, the event was a great success and was thoroughly enjoyed by pupils and staff
alike – the pupils raised over £200 from both events. The Enterprise and Employability
class would like to thank all pupils and staff members who baked a cake for the event; the
standard was extremely high! Thanks also to the judges who had an extremely difficult job
selecting the winners and to all staff who came to support the pupils.
Time to start thinking of your recipes for next year!

The pupils’ choice Award
– for the Bake-Off

Most Professional Award

Staff News

Teacher Award!
Congratulations to Miss Williamson in the Faculty of Geography and Modern Studies
who has won a ‘Scottish Association of Geography Teachers Award 2016 Highly Com-
mended’ for her book: CFE Higher Geography Course notes. We are very proud of her.
•Isn’t it wonderful to know that the book we use to teach our Higher pupils is of such ex-
ceptional quality?

Acting Pupil Support Manager
Congratulations to Elaine Aitchison who was successful in being appointed to cover the
Acting Pupil Support Manager post in Struthers House during Heather Miller’s absence.

Welcome Back!
Lindsay Purdon Boyle has returned to us this week after her maternity leave – we wel-
come her back warmly and hope her wee ones are not missing her too much!

Donna MacDonald has also returned to us at the end of October after her travels in the
USA – again a big warm Gaelic welcome to Donna!

Congratulations to Grant Fullerton who has just secured a permanent English post In
Shawlands Academy. We wish Grant well and thank him for his contribution to Calder-
glen High School.

Baby News
Please find attached a photo of Gaelic teacher Lindsey Charnley’s new baby boy Tómas
Charnley born Oct 19th weighing just under 9lb

New Executive Director

Great news for all in education and particularly for us in Calderglen High as
former and well respected Head Teacher, Tony McDaid, currently Head of
Education (Curriculum and Quality Improvement) within Education
Resources has been appointed as the new Executive Director with effect
from 1 January 2017. Tony will take over from Jim Gilhooly who retires next
week. We wish Tony all the very best and know that he will continue to
serve education in South Lanarkshire extremely well.

Christmas Doors Competition!

Who is going to rise to the challenge of winning this coveted
trophy? Some really interesting decorations appearing around

Dates for your Diary S4 Formal Exam Period
Christmas Concert in Claremont Parish Church
Monday 5th – Thursday 15th December School Closes 2.30pm
Tuesday 20th December Ski Trip to Austria
Thursday 22nd December School Returns
Friday 6th – 13th January 2017
Monday 9th January 2017