Listening to children

A friend recently posted this 'picture' on her wall on facebook.

At times it's hard as either a parent or teacher to take the time to listen to all that the children want to tell us but maybe we need to make the time so that when the big stuff is happening we get to know quickly so we can help.

The Chinese Dream

I attended the ‘China Debate 2013’ this afternoon at Heriot Watt University. Stephen Perry’s opening address was wonderful – informative, wise and beautifully crafted, it was a privilege to hear someone speak with such authority and clarity.

Also speaking today was Mr Li Ruiyou, Consul General of the People’s Republic of China. Impressively, he spoke without notes for around 15 minutes. He drew on much of what was covered in Xi Jinping’s inaugural address as president. Specific mention was made of ‘The Chinese Dream’. It is clear that China is on the rise as an economy and of course comparisons with the American dream are as valid as they were mischievous.

China’s strategy for growth over the next few years will be based on 4 key words:

•     Slower
•    Faster 
•      Lower and
•      Higher

‘Slower’ refers to a slower economic growth but with a greater emphasis on quality.

‘Faster’ is an intention to speed up the improvements in the quality of life for all Chinese.

‘Lower’ refers to what will be concerted efforts to reduce pollution.

‘Higher’ is concerned with a desire to increase the utilisation of technology and for the country to be more innovative.

Well done to SCEN (Scotland China Education Network) for organising such an enjoyable event.

More successes ...

Earlier today both of our boys' basketball teams became Scottish Champions for their age groups and tonight Rachel Gray (S6) won the Merchants award (£500) for initiative by a school pupil. We entered Rachel as a means of recognising her superhuman efforts in setting up our School pipe band.

What a day for Gillespie's!

Gymnastics success

Three girls from Gillespie's did extremely well at the Scottish Schools' Gymnastics finals on Sunday 17 March. 

Amy Heron, Caitlin Hayes and Amy Chambers won the team bronze. To cap a great day Amy Heron also won GOLD in the individual event, beating over 50 gymnasts from around Scotland to become the 2013 champion!

It's always lovely to hear of our pupils' successes!

Diverscity - celebrating Gillespie's diversity

I'm just home after attending another wonderful 'Diverscity' show at Gillespies. Around 200 pupils have worked tirelessly over the past few weeks to produce one of our main events of the year. Over the past two evenings our pupils sang, played and danced their hearts out to packed houses.

Diversecity is a student–led production which has been performed in its current format at James Gillespie’s High School every year for fourteen years. Originally a whole day event of ethnic and regional art workshops under the banner of

DIVERSE CITY

The event seamlessly developed into an exciting performing arts production. It is now a vibrant mix of song, dance, drama and media performances with a few surprises thrown in!

All the money raised goes towards supporting learners at Zwelibanzi and Dloko High Schools.

Voting rights for 16 and 17 year olds

It was great to welcome Nicola Sturgeon (Deputy First Minister) this morning to Gillespie's to talk to our pupils about extending voting rights to 16/17 year olds for next year's referendum on Scottish independence. This event gave the minister opportunity to engage directly with a range of pupils who are considering what the future of Scotland should be. Our pupils were magnificent and raised some really important and thought provoking issues with the minister. In the next few months schools will have an important role in supporting pupils in becoming engaged and informed citizens so that they are well placed in making their minds up about what to vote for.

Basketball success

Well done to two of our Basketball Teams who have progressed through to the Scottish finals on 20 March.

Under 14 Boys Scottish Cup Final
James Gillespie's High School v Stewarton Academy Tip off; 12.15pm Grangemouth Sports Complex Wednesday 20 March

Open Boys Scottish Cup Final
James Gillespie's High School v Arbroath Academy Tip off; 4pm Grangemouth Sports Complex Wednesday 20 March

To have one team in a final is great but to have two is just fantastic. Well done to everyone associated with our Basketball. A number of pupil supporters will have the opportunity to travel with the teams on the day of the finals to cheer them on!

Pipe Band Success

Warmest congratulation to the JGHS Pipe Band for their magnificent efforts at the Scottish Schools Pipe Band Championships on Sunday 10 March. JGHS deservedly won the prize for the band that best encapsulated the spirit of piping. Particular thanks to Rachel Gray (S6) for her efforts who, as our Pipe Major, has  contributed hugely in taking the band to this level of performance in such a short time. Rachel's speech at the prizegiving ceremony, on behalf of all the 49 schools taking part, was an inspiration to all the performers taking part.

In the coming months the band will continue to practise hard and we will intensify efforts to raise the money needed to kit the members out in full Highland Dress.

Friday Update

On Friday mornings I meet with leaders across the school to share updates on various current issues. This is then emailed to all staff. Here are the highlights from today's meeting.

1. Thanks to everyone for their efforts at this week’s S2 parents’ nights. The feedback from parents was outstandingly positive and complimentary of the continuing professionalism and dedication of staff.
2. Senior recoursing – thanks to all who met the return deadline for re-coursing recommendations to be made. Community teams will consider these and communicate further with staff.
3. S4 attainment – please refer to strategies in paper issued last week. We need a final push to ensure that all pupils are as prepared as they can be for their exams in May/June.
4. Computer audit – returns to Janis Croll by Wednesday of next week.
5. Ministerial visit - Nicola Sturgeon and (possibly) Alex Salmond will be visiting on Tuesday morning to meet with a selection of pupils to discuss the extension of voting rights to 16 and 17 year olds.
6. We need a few more staff helpers for Diversity next Thursday and Friday. Please Contact Mrs O’Brien as soon as possible.
7. Our African guests arrive on Monday and will be with us for one week. (4 pupils and 2 teachers)
8. Congratulations to both the U14 and senior basketball teams who are now through to their respective Scottish cup finals.
9. Congratulations to Ariane Branigan (S2) who is among the winners this year in the annual Pushkin creative writing competition. This is the 5^th year running that a JGHS pupil has won this prestigious award. Ariane’s prize is a week’s residential writing course in Moineag Mhor - a beautiful country retreat in the majestic Highlands of Scotland.
10. All newsletter items to Sara Brown by Monday please.
11. Please avoid sending emails on Fridays; speak to colleagues instead. (This will be my only email today!)

Another busy day

After a break from writing my blog I thought I would begin by sharing the main activities I was involved in today. Unusually, most of the day was taken up with meetings.

My school day began with a quick scan through the email inbox and having responded to a number of the 84 emails that awaited me I then prepared for our customary 845 senior team briefing. This meeting gives us an opportunity to share what our priorities are for the day and for us to ensure that each of us is aware of what others are planning on achieving.

At 930 I met with Grace Vickers our (new) Quality improvement officer to discuss some of the information that Edinburgh Council asks us to provide each session at this time of year. The least enjoyable part of my job involves completing forms and various statistical returns for others. A brief visit to our school assembly to see some of our pupils engaging with potential employers, colleges and universities was great. So gratifying so see our youngsters taking advantage of the opportunity to make contact with prospective employers etc. 

At 1100 I met with Messrs McCallum (DHT)  and Anderson (Business Manager) to discuss staffing requirements for next session. Our planning is a bit more complex this year as we need to employ around 5 extra teaching staff during the next three years whilst the school is being rebuilt.

My next meeting at midday was with Ms Halliday and two Government representatives. This meeting gave us the opportunity to plan for a ministerial visit scheduled for the morning of Tuesday 12 March. I am delighted that pupils at Gillespie's have been given the opportunity to discuss the right to vote for 16/17 year olds with a senior politician. I think its great that younger pupils will soon have the right to vote. Whilst I was showing our visitors around the school I was pleased to hear how impressed they were with the exemplary behaviour and conduct of our pupils.

After a few discussions with pupils and colleagues around the school I travelled to our Council HQ to meet with a team of Investors in People reviewers. Having achieved Gold standard in 'Investors in People' some years ago the council is obliged to undertake reassessment every two years. I enjoyed my detailed discussion with the panel and took the opportunity to highlight the many benefits of working in the City of Edinburgh.

A brisk walk back to school through the meadows got me there at 530 in time to meet with a small group of parents and Rachel Gray (S6 pupil and our Pipe Major) to discuss progress on our fundraising efforts for the JGHS pipe band. Pleasingly we have made progress but we still have a further £10,000 to raise. We are hoping to attract further sponsorship in the coming months.

Prior to setting off for home I managed to speak with a few of our S2 parents who were at the school to meet with teachers. S2 pupils are currently selecting the 8 subjects which they will study in S3 and S4. Those I spoke with were very pleased with the progress reports they had received.

Reflections on 2012

As my first year at Gillespie’s draws to a close I would like to take this opportunity to reflect on what has been a most enjoyable, successful and busy year. On taking up office in January I was immediately struck by the strong sense of community and unity of purpose that prevails in the school. Pupils and staff are proud of the school and enjoy working together. Parents are engaged in the life of the school and they are quick to support when their child needs that little bit of extra encouragement to do his/her best.  This united approach will ensure that our school will continue to grow and develop and overcome the challenges that lie in store.

The challenges overcome this year include the implementation of management restructuring and the continuing successful implementation of Curriculum for Excellence.  The teamwork and unity of purpose I referred to earlier contributed significantly to us successfully completing the management restructuring before the summer holiday and ensuring the change of timetable in early June went ahead as scheduled. In June of this year our new S3 were the first to embark on the new Curriculum for Excellence courses that will lead to National 4 and 5 certificates. I am delighted at the progress they are making and am confident that they will be successful in the new exams in the summer of 2014. Our new Curriculum and Pupil Support Leaders have settled in well to their new roles and are working hard to ensure that our school continues to grow and thrive.

Towards the end of the summer we learned that our examination results were, once again, among the best in Scotland.  From what I have witnessed as I visit classrooms across the school and talk to pupils, staff and parents, I am confident that next year’s results will be equally as good, if not better. We will achieve this by continuing to work hard and having the highest expectations of each other.

After the summer we bade farewell to a number of long serving staff and welcomed several new staff to our wider team. As we prepare pupils for a world that continues to change it is essential that we continuously challenge, review and adapt the service that we provide. Throughout the year we have benefitted from the new perspectives and innovative ideas brought to the school by the new staff that have joined us.

Throughout 2012 we have continued to work towards making the necessary arrangements for the building of our new school, which is scheduled to begin on 1 July 2013, with an anticipated completion date towards the end of 2015. We are excited at the prospect of a brand new building with ‘state of the art’ facilities being available to us.

As we prepare to go to press, pupils in S4 are in the midst of their prelims and pupils in S5 and S6 are getting ready for their prelims which begin in the latter half of January.  We wish them every success in these exams.

As a busy and productive term draws to a close we are all looking forward to a restful break over Christmas with our families.  I would like to take this opportunity to thank all staff, pupils and parents for your continued hard work, support and endeavours throughout 2012 and I wish everyone a very happy Christmas and a prosperous and successful new year. (Bliadhna mhath ùr agus Nollaig chridheil dhuibh uile).

Donald J Macdonald (Headteacher)

The Importance Of Being Earnest

On the evening of Friday 7 December the students of James Gillespie's staged this wonderful Oscar Wilde play. First performed on 14 February 1895 at St James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personae in order to escape burdensome social obligations.

This will be the last play performed on the school stage before it is demolished as part of the new school build. The entire production was organised and executed by students with help from Messrs Hardie and Zulleman from our Dram department.

I was hugely impressed at how professional the entire show was. The voices were clear, the costumes superb and the acting was first class. The 250+ audience enjoyed a superb evening in the company of confident assured senior students, who, should they choose to, have a wonderful future ahead of them on the stage.

Show the world what's important to you

On Wednesday night of this week I was one of around 100+ invited guests at the annual John Byrne awards to witness Cat Macdonald and Leanne Bell from Gillespie's being declared the winners for 2012. I felt so proud!
  
The John Byrne award offers S6 students a stimulus, and then challenges them to communicate the values it inspires in them through a painting, a poem, a play - or any other creative medium of their choosing. This year’s stimulus was The Proclaimers’ song, ‘Letter from America’. In the year of the US election, this stimulus was intended to encourage the students to reflect on the relationship between Scotland and America, encompassing historical themes of displacement and present challenges to identity.

This is the third year of this competition and Gillespies have enjoyed success each year having been commended for their entries in both 2011 and 2010, so it was fantasic to go one better this year. Their winning entry was comprised of a painting by Leanne which depicted a range of characters from various sectors of our diverse Scottish society. Cat complemented this by writing a futuristic political play which, skilfully and insighfully for one so young, weaved these characters together in a way that brought out some of the social injustices and inequalities that occur in Scotland.

Of the winning prize of £7000, £5000 will be used for a community based project (to be decided by Cat and Leanne) and the remaining £2000 will be used by both girls to further their own education.

An added bonus on the night for me was seeing Liberton High School (my previous school) doing so well. Liberton, represented by by Catriona Carter, Kellie Hunter and Laura Fox, was the only school with two entries in the final 8 teams.

Gaining the university place of choice..

On Tuesday and Wednesday this week, I was delighted to welcome Dr Helen Wright back to Gillespie's.

Dr Wright was born in Scotland, educated at James Gillespie's High School and went on to Oxford to study Modern and Medieval Languages. After training as a teacher, she experienced a rapid rise in the education world, teaching at co-educational and boys’ schools and was appointed to the headship of her first girls’ school, Heathfield in Ascot, at the age of just 30, making her one of the youngest ever appointed public school heads.Currently, Dr Wright is Head of St Mary’s Calne in Wiltshire, which she has led for nearly a decade. She will shortly be moving to Australia to head Ascham School in Sydney, one of the country’s top girls’ schools, from January 2013.

On Tuesday morning Dr Wright gave an address to around 50 of our S5 and S6 students on 'How to maximise your chances of gaining a place at the university of your choice'.

In the course of her presentation and follow up Q and A session the following key points came through.

• We should all be ambitious
• Choose the best university and not just any university
• Hard work is required to be successful and generates choices
• Be prepared to take risks
• Read widely and explore your thoughts in  a critical forum
• When completing application forms pay attention to detail. (No spelling or grammatical mistakes).
•  Life is a long term project - look to the future
• Aim to be a global citizen
• Remember your wider responsibility and purpose
• Be resilient and relentlessly optimistic
• Gap years must be productive. Some courses, e.g. Maths do not like you to defer entry
• Drop out rates are higher for students who stay at home
• Learning must challenge - don't always play safe
• Universities want more women to study maths and engineering; Maths is one of the best core subjects
• Be prepared to take a loan out to finance your education - think of this as an investment

After the presentation to our senior students Dr Wright was taken on a tour of the school by two of our senior girls. After the tour I had the opportunity to spend an absorbing, informative and stimulating 2 hours with her discussing various educational matters.We talked at length about leadership, values in education, moral leadership, developing our staff, boarding versus day schools and single sex education.  Although the types of school we both lead are quite different it became very clear that we had so much in common. For example, both of our schools are high performing with a culture of high expectations. In both of our schools we enjoy the support of parents. We agreed that the support and engagement of parents is key if our pupils are to achieve their potential.

On Wednesday Dr Wright returned and delivered a presentation to an audience of invited staff from various local schools on 'Inspiring Leadership for the 21 Century'. This was very well received and gave all of us some food for thought as we return to our various schools.

We wish Dr Wright and her family every success and happiness in her new post in Sydney and look forward to welcoming her to Gillespie's again in the not too distant future.

 

St Andrew's day fun

I am delighted that today's St Andrew's day activities raised £447. Huge credit is due to our superb S6 students who worked so hard at making the day such a success.

All the money raised will go towards supporting less well off pupils in going on school excursions.

The photograph of the 100+ tartan clad hardy souls who gathered in the school playground at 10am will appear in the next few days.

Visit from Former Pupil

I recently had the pleasure to welcome John Macleod back to Gillespies. John graduated from JGHS in the 80s and has subsequently become a successful and well known journalist. (John won Scottish Journalist of the Year in 1991). I was intrigued to hear of John's experiences and particularly so the many happy memories he shared with me.

Some days after his visit John wrote to me and shared his reflections on his alma mater. (John kindly agreed for me to add this to my blog).

It was a very moving experience to be back on the premises again after so many years and I was quite emotional afterwards: I am no longer young, and I was very conscious not just of how many staff from my day are now dead but, sadly, several of my own classmates. The school yesterday struck me - despite what are now evidently 'tired' and rather inadequate buildings - as in many ways a far happier environment than it was in the early 1980s. 

That was of course a time of rapid social change in Scotland generally and less than a decade since the sudden conversion from a girls-only Corporation grammar to a co-ed comprehensive, which must have been very traumatic for staff at the time. It was also then socially very divided - there was real poverty in many parts of the catchment-area - and pastoral education, as we would call it now, was very token: we had one period of generally toe-curling, single-sex Social Education a week and you certainly wouldn't have confided in any teacher about problems at home. 

The change in atmosphere is palpable and the glimpse I had yesterday into that gymnastics class (and others) showed a very different and much healthier state of affairs. I was struck generally by the bearing and behaviour of pupils - they seem much more poised, and quieter - and the only jolt I got at all was the real difficulty at times in distinguishing who was teacher and who a senior pupil - children do seem more sophisticated now, and staff dress much less formally.

 As you can see from my own (1983-84) class photograph, uniform was not mandatory in my time, but it was officially 'encouraged' and we were expected to wear it for such photographs and for performance in such events as the annual Carol Concert - in this instance you can see there was quite a bit of stage-management to disguise those who didn't have a blazer.

St Andrew's day at JGHS

On Friday 30 November we will mark our patron saint's day by doing a number of things.

• All staff and pupils are invited to wear tartan to school. (There will be prizes!)
• During period 1 a special message will be read out to all classes to explain who St Andrew was.
• There will be face painting and henna makeovers at break time in the school library.
• Various items of baking (made by S6) will be available for sale in the foyer. 
• Our school pipe band will give an open air performance
• At 10am a group photograph will be taken in the Warrender playground to capture everyone wearing tartan
• S6 pupils from the events committee will visit classrooms throughout the morning to spare change.

All the proceeds from the day will go into the Excursion Grant fund which is used to ensure that all pupils are able to afford to participate in school trips.

Thanks to the S6 events committee (especially Jay and Lewis) for making all of the arrangements.

Carol Concert 2012

On the evening of Tuesday 18 December James Gillespie's HS and associated primary schools are staging our Christmas Carol Concert at the Usher Hall. There will be a wide range of music played and enjoyed during the evening including classical repertoire and ensembles, a FP choir (please contact the school if you are an FP and you would like to be involved!) traditional Scottish music - such as the marvellous school pipe band, clarsach ensemble, accordions and Gaelic choir- as well as some rock and pop, and this wonderful evening is set to end with an impressive 400-strong choir finale! Tickets can be reserved online at the Usher Hal box office.

An event not to be missed!

Achievements at the mod

Congratulations to all JGHS pupils who performed at the recent National Mod in Dunoon.  The following JGHS pupils achieved bronze, silver or gold awards in a variety of competitions. 

• Finlay Cunniffe S4: Silver Award in the Advanced Clarsach solo class

• Sean MacPherson S5: Bronze Award in the Advanced Clarsach solo class

• Simon and Cameron MacDonald S4/S1: Gold Award in the Clarsach Duets over 14yrs

• Romy Byron and Martha Cunniffe S1: Silver Award in the Clarsach Duets under 14yrs
• Jenny Macdonald (S1) and Tuesday Rose McDonough (S1) : Bronze award in the clarsach duets under 14 yrs
• Tuesday Rose McDonough (S1): silver award in clarsach with self accompaniment
• Ann Mackenzie and Catriona Macgregor (both S3) : bronze award in clarsach duets over 13 years
• Finlay Lawson: silver award for intermediate 1 solo clarsach
• Ceitidh McLuskey:  bronze award for intermediate 1 solo clarsach 

Parent Council Meeting

All parents are invited to come along to our Parent Council meeting on Tuesday 19 November at 7pm. I will be sharing updates with parents on:

• New Build Plans
• Consultation on School values
• Curriculum for excellence
• School attainment for session 11/12
• What we are going to do to improve further this session

Please come along and have a say in how the school is run!

Wine Tasting at Gillespies

Thank you to our Events Committee for organising a really enjoyable wine tasting on Thursday evening. It was a great opportunity for staff to meet parents over a glass of wine whilst being entertained and educated by Michael from Peter Green - a local retailer of fine wines. A discount is available on some excellent wines if you visit Peter Green's soon. Make sure you tell them you have a link with Gillespie's!

Mandarin at Gillespies

On Monday 12 November I attended the first Scottish China Education Network (SCEN) China Youth Summit at Gleneagles with Cat Macdonald and Leanne Bell, two of our S6 students. Both Cat and Leanne are two of our seniors who have opted to study Mandarin as part of their sixth year. As their S6 leadership project they have chosen to develop   Chinese Studies at Gillespie's.This is their account of the day.

Although we were a little nervous to be speaking in front of so many people – we later learned there were over two hundred delegates! – we were reassured by listening to the students who spoke first. Fortunately, it turned out that presenting was not so bad after all. We told the audience about our own personal connections to China, and explained the difficulties we had faced in studying Chinese at high school. When we mentioned the problem of finding a teacher, there were many rueful nods among the students in the crowd!

We heard so many interesting stories from other high schools. One presentation was given by students from Crieff High School and Morrison’s Academy, who had travelled together to Hong Kong to run the Wilson Trail, a gruelling and mostly uphill trek across Hong Kong. This trip was organised and partly funded by a former pupil from Morrison’s Academy who is now a successful businessman based in Hong Kong. The students had all loved their trip, and it was fantastic to hear them talking about their new found enthusiasm for learning Chinese.

Of course, Gleneagles Hotel provided an excellent spread at lunchtime, which was lovely. Leanne and I took the chance to get to know some of the students from other schools that were attending the conference. We even met a Scottish student with the same tastes in Chinese music as us! As well as other students, we also talked with the convener of Young Chinese Professionals, who had some good advice for us.

A particular highlight for me personally was the opportunity to meet Lord Wilson, former governor of Hong Kong. He was a very well-respected figure in China, and it was fascinating to hear his insights into the current and future importance of the country. We talked to him about our experiences in China, and he was interested to hear about our plans for introducing Mandarin in our school in the future.

Both Leanne and I really loved attending the conference, and we really learned a lot from listening to various people speaking. We came away with many useful contacts for the future, as well as a list of new ideas to further our goal of introducing Mandarin at Gillespie’s. 

During the conference both Cat and Leanne were rewarded for their efforts in promoting Chinese Studies by being appointed as SCEN ambassadors. Both girls intend to continue with their Mandarin studies when they begin at university in Autumn 2013.

S1 Halloween party

We had a superb halloween party tonight for pupils in S1. Thank you to all the S6 pupils and Guidance staff who teamed up to make it such a fun and entertaining night. My favourite moment of the evening was when a 'scary' S6 pupil leaped out from a darkened recess in Warrender  and screeched in my ear to frighten me. The screech that followed when he switched on his lantern and realised it was me was even louder!

Rumours are rife as to whether our legendary 'Green Lady' joined the festivities. Now that all the children are safely tucked up in bed and it's all quiet again in Bruntsfield House I hope she gets a chance to play the piano in peace and have a restful night.

Sgoinneil

Warmest congratulations to all our pupils who did so well at the National Mod in Dunoon last week. They were outstanding and did us proud! Nach math a rinn iad uile!

Profile of the ideal pupil

According to the 30 pupils in our junior pupil council the ideal pupil would have the following qualities and characteristics:

• Independent
• Organised
• Confident
• Respectful
• Has perfect attendance and is punctual
• Attentive
• Contributes to each class
• Well behaved
• Responsible
• Honest
• Dresses appropriately
• Balances school and social life
• Works to the best of his/her ability
• Participates in Extra curricular
• Asks questions and
• Looks after others