Police Youth Volunteers

During recent months several of our pupils have been trained to become Police Scotland Youth Volunteers. The youngsters concerned have been fantastic. They have in the past few weeks helped out at the following events:

• The Royal Highland Show
• Edinburgh Marathon
• One Direction concert
• Queen's baton relay

Later this year they will be helping out at the Commonwealth Games and the Ryder cup!
Well done to all those concerned and particular thanks to PC Mark Sutherland (our Community Police Officer) for his patience, determination and encouragement with all those involved.

More of the Police activities involving Youth Volunteers can be accessed from here.

Summer newsletter

Please follow this link to access our summer newsletter.

Yes or No?

On Monday afternoon of this week around 700 senior pupils from both James Gillespie's and Boroughmuir High Schools took part in a joint debate on the issues our pupils considered to be of most interest in the lead in to the vote on 18 September. Guest speakers for the afternoon event in Central Hall, Edinburgh were Kezia Dugdale (Better together) and Sarah Beattie Smith (Yes). The 90-minute session saw Ms Dugdale, a Lothian Labour MSP, speaking up for the anti-independence Better Together campaign and Sarah Beattie-Smith, co-convener of the Edinburgh Greens, arguing for a Yes vote. Professor Charlie Jeffrey, (Vice Principal for Public Policy and Impact at the University of Edinburgh), our chairman for the afternoon, set the tone superbly for the event.

The event was a great example of how to run a debate and engage with young people. As I commented on in my vote of thanks, I was particularly impressed at how carefully and respectfully both speakers listened to others' points of view. We need much more of this in the weeks ahead.

This report in the Evening News is worth a read.

130 Anniversary for Children 1st

On Thursday 12 June around 170 of our S1 pupils and staff joined staff from Children 1st in marking their 130 anniversary by having an impromptu dance in Edinburgh city centre.

The video of the event is on you tube and can be accessed from this link. It was great fun and the sun shone for us as hundred of bemused tourists soaked up the enetertainment!

Guitar master class

In the past year we have seem a quite remarkable growth in the numbers taking up guitar at our school. To further inspire our pupils Ms Millar has arranged for Giulio Tampalini - widely regarded as one of Europe’s foremost classical guitar performers and educators - to give a master class to around 20 of our pupils.

We are delighted  that Louise Chan won 1^st prize in the Talent and Creativity category in the Paolozzi (*) Prize for Art in this year's competition. Well done Louise!,


(*) Sir Eduardo Paolozzi (1924-2005) was a ground-breaking, Edinburgh-born artist renowned for his sculptures, prints, paintings and tapestries. His most famous works include the coloured mosaic in London’s Tottenham Court Road underground station and the iconic foot sculpture located at the top of Edinburgh’s Leith Walk.

Tips for new session

As part of yesterday's meeting with our heads of department I asked each to write down one tip for our new S3 pupils as they embark on their new courses. Here is what they said: 

Here is what they said:

1.       Be organised
2.       Listen
3.       Make use of the supports on offer (x2)
4.       Keep to deadlines set by teachers
5.       Do your best
6.       Be on time (x2)
7.       Get involved in the wider life of the school
8.       Work hard
9.       Attend all classes (x3)
10.   After every lesson consolidate your learning by spending 10-15 minutes reviewing the work covered
11.   Don’t leave things until the last minute
12.   Maintain a balance between working hard and keeping healthy