Friday 16 August

It was lovely to welcome all pupils back on Wednesday. I’m hoping all had a restful break over the summer and are now ready and raring to go for the new session.

1. All pupils have been issued with a paper copy of the personal details (email addresses, emergency contact details etc.)  we have on record. It is essential that these forms are updated and returned to us asap. Returns with ‘no changes needed’ written clearly on the form will confirm that the form has reached you.
2. Yesterday evening, 20 S3s attended a performance of Tchaikovsky's opera "Eugene Onegin" at the Festival Theatre. The trip was the second part of an outreach project delivered in partnership with the Edinburgh International Festival and followed an opera workshop that was delivered in school before the summer. This was a fantastic opportunity for our youngsters to engage with the biggest arts festival on the planet and to experience performances from some of the world's leading musicians!
3. Well done to:
1. Lucy Beeston (S2), who won a gold medal at the Aalborg international  youth games in tennis singles in Denmark this month and a bronze medal in the doubles. She also won the East of Scotland qualifiers of ‘Road to Wimbledon’ and is competing at Wimbledon this week in the county finals with players from all over the UK.
2. Rhys Edwards (S2), who competed in the European Youth Tour in Assen, Netherlands.  Over six days of racing Rhys finished 21st overall out of 80 riders in the under 14 category taking the last spot on the podium.
3. Kirsty Johnson (S3) who, at the British Cycling UK Youth Track Championships at Newport Velodrome last week, broke the Scottish record for Under 16 girls 500m.  At just under 38 seconds she took nearly a second off a record that has stood since 2007.
4. Daniel Philp (S2) and Jasmine Tarsia (S3) who, on 8th August, performed for and met the Queen at her holiday home, Balmoral Castle.  The performance was the conclusion of a four day course held at Gordon Barracks in Aberdeen with the Cadet Forces Pipes and Drums. 
5. Ali Shippey (S2), who, later this month, will attend an international Water Polo competition in Spain with the Caledonia Water Polo Cadet Team. Ali is the only player selected from his club, Warrender Water Polo, and the squad is drawn from across Scotland including boys from Aberdeen, Stirling and Renfrew.
4. Social events for parents and pupils: Parents are setting up a new group, to work with but separate to the Parent Council, to organise more social events for parents, carers and pupils and hopefully also raise a bit more money for our school.  If you have ideas and can help build our school community please come along to our first meeting on Monday 2nd Sept at the school library in the Malala Building @ 7pm.  Everyone is warmly welcomed.
5. I’m pleased that we are making good progress towards having the additional (temporary) 6 classrooms ready for pupils. I expect classes to moving in over the next 2 weeks.

And finally, I would like to wish everyone a lovely weekend.

Donald j Macdonald

Headteacher