S2 Bridge Building

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S2 pupils had an inter house bridge building competition. This event provides an opportunity for pupils to gain an insight into practical engineering and construction. There are lots of pictures on Flickr.

S2 Bridge Building

The challenge is to design and build a wooden bridge to span 1000mm which will carry the maximum load for minimum cost.

S2 Bridge Building

There were 3 prizes, the best bridge design, best team work and the most cost effective solution. Maree were the winners in all 3 categories, well done!

S2 Bridge Building

Thanks to Angela Rae our STEM ambassador for helping out on the day.

Architecture Work Placement

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S5 pupil Kai Pickering recently undertook a work placement at 360 Architecture.

Architecture Work Placement

On week beginning 9th April, I completed a work placement at an architectural firm called 360 Architecture, at one of their offices in Inverness.   This opportunity gave me an insight into how a busy and vibrant architectural practice operated and also if this is something I would like to pursue as a future career.

I was given a fictional brief to work on throughout my week to work through and complete in the way they would normally do it.  I found it to be quite fun and exciting. They showed me what was required when dealing with a client wanting a residential building designed specifically for their needs. I was asked to research different styles of specifications, creating a few ideas, developing a design and eventually modelling it and putting in materials then rendering the model. Throughout this placement I was being assisted by Ayoola, who had recently just graduated from university.

If anyone is interested in Architecture I would highly recommend looking for a work placement as it gives a very good idea of what it is like to be working. I would also recommend 360 Architecture as an option for this as all the staff are very kind and helpful.

We need TWO school leaders!

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 Our pupils know what makes our school a good place to be – and they also know what they look for in a school leader. We need TWO school leaders and are currently advertising for both a Headteacher and Depute Headteacher. 

Our school is small, built on excellent relationships, takes many opportunities, has hard working staff & pupils and is in an incredible part of the Scottish Highlands.

Please share our video so we can reach the best candidates and bring them to our school. We have pupils, staff and a local community waiting to welcome you!

For more information about Gairloch High School: www.gairlochhigh.org.uk

For more information about the posts:

 

S1 Modern Studies

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The ‘ £1000,000 question ‘ display – S1 Modern Studies

In Modern Studies, pupils  in S1 have been learning how local councils work and how they help to support local people. Pupils were given an imaginary £1000,000 of tax money and their challenge was to propose a sustainable project that would improve the lives of the people in their local community and was also environmentally friendly.

S1 Modern Studies

Our pupils proved to be very inventive, they also did a great job to present their proposals.  Finn Simpson’s idea to improve Tournaig was voted by the class as the best project, while Shonagh MacKenzie’s and Ashley Quinn’s projects in Gairloch and the overside were runners-up.

A lovely exhibition of all the great project-ideas is now on at Gairloch library and you are welcome to visit  and see them in detail.

Keeping young people safe & happy online

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We play a part in teaching our young people to stay safe and enjoy the time they spend online – especially when they’re gaming or using social media. We know that parents and carers feel strongly about this too – but it’s difficult to keep up when you use the internet differently to most 14 year olds!

Here are a couple of really useful websites which will help you approach discussing online safety with your child, learn about the sites, games & technology they’re using and teach them how to report abuse and ensure they’re safe and happy.

Net Aware – by the NSPCC has reviews, written by parents, about the major social media platforms including Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube and some online games. Some of the best advice surrounds helping you and your child understand the privacy settings on these platforms. https://www.net-aware.org.uk/networks/?order=title

The UK Safer Internet Centre has some great tips on having a conversation with your child about Internet Safety. https://www.saferinternet.org.uk/advice-…/parents-and-carers

With a page dedicated specifically to online gaming (amongst others!) the Internet Matters site gives clear messages and points to other useful resources. https://www.internetmatters.org/advice/online-gaming/

Highland Small Schools’ Football

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Our S4-6 Boys’ and our S2/3 Boys’ teams travelled to Drumnadrochit on Thursday 22nd March for the finals, having qualified earlier in the session.

Highland Small Schools' Football 2018 The senior team lost 2-1 in their semi-final (Hector MacLennan was the scorer) and 1-0 in the third place play-off. Both games were close and the boys should be proud of their play.

Highland Small Schools' Football 2018

The younger team won their semi-final 2-1 (with two goals from Corey MacLennan) and narrowly lost the final 1-0 to Dornoch. They are pictured with their runner-up medals.

Thanks to Ann Fraser for driving the mini-bus and supporting the team and to Mr Cumming for organising the event.

Highland Rowing Festival

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Over the last few months Gairloch has been competing in the Highland Indoor Rowing League.  We have been doing very well at this with nearly every year group competing.  The final round of the league was the Highland festival today (22nd March) for which we took 23 pupils.

Highland Rowing Festival 2018

Great results all round:
  • S1 Girls – Katie Mackenzie 1st/Ashley Quinn 2nd=/Amber Crawford 9th/Helen Urquhart 10th/Shonagh Mackenzie & Izzy MacDonald 11th=.
  • S1 Boys – Lewis Hildrey 1st/Ruaridh Beaton 2nd/Calum Mackenzie 3rd/Julian Davies 4th/Jay Abdelrhman 5th.
  • S2 Girls – Ellie Watson & Kirsty MacDonald 1st=.
  • S3 Girls – Abi Crawford 1st/Lucy Hildrey 3rd/Maisie Baptist 4th/Charlotte Brady 6th/Kyrene Tallach 7th.
  • S3 Boys – Kienan Hewitson 1st/Adam Lloyd 2nd.
  • S5 Girls – Amber Drummond 1st/Arlene Morrison 3rd/Morven Maclean 4th
  • S1-3 Relays S1-3 mixed Relay – 1st Abi Crawford/Lucy Hildrey/Maisie Baptist & Kienan Hewitson (all S3). 2nd Ashley Quinn/Ruaridh Beaton/Lewis Hildrey & Katie Mackenzie (All S1).
  • 3rd Adam Lloyd/Charlotte Brady/Kyrene Tallach (S3) & Ellie Watson (S2). Clean sweep for Gairloch!
  • S4-6 mixed Relay – 2nd Amber Drummond/ Arlene Morrison/ Morven Maclean(S5) & Adam Lloyd (S3!)

Highland Rowing Festival 2018

Gairloch High School Parent Council Meeting Tuesday, 13th February 2018

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Present

Vanessa Quinn – Chair, Julie Brady – Treasurer, Isobel MacKenzie – Acting Head Teacher
Eilidh MacDonald – Head Girl, Angela Tattersall, Debbie Townsend, Gerry Baptist, Lorna Nelson, Sarah Wright, Belinda Brindle, Grahame Mitchell, Angela Rae, Lucy Cairney, Pam Urquhart, Mairi Stephen, Ingela Davis, Fiona Mackenzie, Chris Hildrey, Hazel Mackenzie,

Apologies:

Kirsty Copland – Secretary, Stuart Smith, Maureen Cumming, Alison Rushbrooke

Agenda
1. Review of previous minutes
2. Matters arising from previous meeting (VQ)
3. Head Teacher’s Report (IM)
4. School nurse (PM)
5. Choices S2 (AR)
6. Appointment Head Teacher
7. Management of Schools – update (AR)
8. Fundraising
9. Any other business
10. Dates of next meeting 8th May 2018

Gift Your Gear

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Gairloch High School has been successfully running the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme at Bronze, Silver and Gold level for many years.  Expeditions have been undertaken in sea kayaks, on mountain bikes and on foot.  We have enabled pupils to ‘bag’ Munros and provided alternatives for those unable to complete a ‘full on’ expedition.  Across Highland, Gairloch has more pupils completing their Duke of Edinburgh’s Award than any other school.

In addition to this, we provide S1 pupils with a residential week in the Cairngorms in May every year which includes a range of outdoor activities.  S1 pupils also take part in our SMART course where they experience many different activities throughout the year including climbing and mountain-biking.  S5/6 pupils can opt to take the Outdoor Education course which includes climbing, mountain-biking and hill-walking.

We have a small amount of spare kit (including tents) which is loaned to pupils on an ‘as needed’ basis.  Outdoor kit can be expensive and we have always managed to provide kit for pupils who need it.

This year for the first time we received a large box of great quality outdoor clothing from Gift Your Gear.  The kit will help us to ensure that all our pupils can continue to make the most of the wonderful outdoor environment that surrounds our school.

Gift Your Gear is a UK based initiative, founded by Sarah Howcroft in 2012 to provide donated outdoor clothing and equipment to UK community organisations, youth groups and charities working with young people in the outdoors.

Gift Your Gear encourages people to donate unwanted outdoor clothing and equipment they no longer want or need.

Rohan shops are currently collecting for Gift Your Gear from 1st March to 1st April 2018 in return for a 15% discount on new kit.  Everyone’s a winner!