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Parent Council Winter Fair: 5th December 2015 S4 Parents Evening: 8th December 2015
S1 – S3 Dance 7 - 9.30pm: 16th December 2015 S4 – S6 Dance 7.30 - 10pm: 17th December 2015
Christmas Service/Events S1 & S2 Fundraising: 22nd December 2015
Last Day of Term: 22nd December 2015
Ard-sgoil Phort Righ Portree High School
Viewfield Road Portree
Isle of Skye
(01478) 614810
Portree.high @highland.gov.uk
Absences:
Portreehigh.absence @highland.gov.uk
“Let
Me
Trust”
Inside this issue:
Senior Maths Challenge Mountain Bike Racing
Aim Skye High Poetry
Shoe Box Appeal Colonel Jock Competition Money Mile
Debating Competition Winter Fair
Parliamentary Trip Key Steps
Connecting Classrooms Duke of Edinburgh Performance Night
Cross Country Extra-Curricular
Activities (Oct-Xmas)
SkyeLines
An t-samhain 2015
November 2015
This edition contains a variety of articles ranging from the Advanced Higher weekend at Lagganlia, to the English trip to the Scottish Parliament to learn about debating skills. It also includes our very special Performance Evening photographs and a report on our progress in this year’s North of Scotland Debating Competition. November also included a Lab Skills trip to Talisker, Remembrance Day activities, Brook Highland workshops for all of S3 and S5, an S3 trip to Aros for the very moving film Testament of Youth, RAF interview skills, the annual Money Mile, two parents’ evenings (S5/6 and S1) and the school Cross Country Championships. In addition we have photographs of our S2 – S4 Aim Skye High Winners who received their vouchers at our recent success assemblies. The S5 and S6 winners will be included in next month’s Skyelines. Our Annual Fund Raising Winter Fair is on Saturday 5th December and we urge as many of you as possible to attend. The Parent Council work very hard all year to support the school and this is their main fund raiser. Please come along to support the school – if you can’t come along on the day then please help out by donating baking or bottles for the bottle stall. The Parent Council have also organised a raffle – tickets are available from the school.
Miss C MacDonald, Headteacher
HOUSE PUPIL SUPPORT E-MAIL ADDRESS Blaven: Mrs C Waddell [email protected] Glamaig: Mrs S Cormack [email protected] Marsco: Mr N Burrows [email protected] Tianavaig: Mrs D MacLeod [email protected]
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Pupils at Portree High School recently participated in this year’s UKMT Senior Maths Challenge. Over 250,000 pupils from across the UK sat the Senior Maths Challenge with roughly the top 6% receiving a gold certificate, the next 13% silver and the next 21% bronze.
All pupils did very well but congratulations go to the following pupils who performed particularly well:
Ian McKenzie 6G - Best in School, Best in Year S6 and Silver Award. Lewis Threlfall 5G - Best in Year S5 and Silver Award.
Silver Awards also go to Helen Taylor 6G and Rosie MacLeod 6B. Bronze Awards go to Rhianan MacDonald 6M, Thomas Harley 5M, James Harley 5M and Mairead Smith 5G.
Well done to all who participated!
Pictured form left to right: Helen Taylor, Thomas Harley, Rosie MacLeod, Ian McKenzie, Lewis Threlfall, Mairead Smith,
James Harley and Rhianan MacDonald.
As I’m sure some of you know my name is Ronan White (2G2).
I’m a 13 year old downhill mountain bike racer who is sponsored by OrangeFox bikes.
I’ve been racing for about 8 months, and my first race was a Scottish Power ‘mini downhill’ near Innerleithen (Peebles).
Since then I have finished the season of minis, going on to SDAs (Scottish Downhill Assocation) and doing a few English and Welsh races too.
I finished the season 17th (after only doing 3 of the ranked races) in Scotland.
I really enjoy the races and it's what I want to do
for a lifestyle.
There is a college in Galashields, which I really want to go to, that has a BASE downhill course.
The Borders Academy of Sporting Excellence
(BASE) aims to provide learners with the environment to combine the acquisition of qualifications with high-level skill development in their chosen sport.
UKMT Senior Maths Challenge
Mountain Bike Racing
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Well done to the following pupils.
S2 Laura Crainet (Bronze), Jonathan MacLeod (Silver)
and Isla MacLeod (Gold).
S3 Elizabeth Blogg (Bronze), Chloe Urquhart (Gold)
and Muirne Sime (Silver)
S4 Ryan Pirie (Bronze), Daniel Beckey (Gold)
and Cailean Campbell (Silver)
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56 boxes were handed into
Blythswood Care in Portree for the Shoe Box Appeal 2015. Well
done to all.
A special thanks to 2M1 who made up 6 boxes and to 3G2 who
made up 4 boxes.
Young singers and musicians from across Skye and Lochalsh gathered in Portree recently for the annual Colonel Jock Memorial Festival. Most competitions were well subscribed. Pictured below are some of our pupils who entered the competition. Frieda McKiggan achieved the most points for a Skye entrant in the piping competition, coming second in the March and third in the Strathspey and Reel and Piobaireachd competitions for Grade A.
Pictured left to right: Katrina Martin (3T1), Frieda McKiggan (5G2),
Eoighainn Beaton (4G), Jonathan Beaton (2G1) and Sean Madigan (2G1).
Guilt
I am Innocent until proven guilty,
I am keeping secrets, I am in court,
I am a murderer. I am telling lies,
I am disappointed in myself,
I am full of regret, I am vandalising my soul.
I am doing crimes. I am sick to my stomach.
I am stealing hearts. By
Jean MacKinnon, Eilidh MacKinnon
and Kai Maberley-Dick
Below is a poem from one of our
S2 English class.
The pupils were given an emotion which they
had to write about.
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Money Mile
Congratulations to all the pupils who took part in the Money Mile.
£1,085.32 was raised.
The amount per pupil raised was as follows:
Blaven - £1.52 per pupil = (£189.00)
Glamaig - £2.97 per pupil = (£495.65)
Marsco - £2.05 per pupil = (£252.67)
Tianavaig - £1.07 per pupil = (£148.00)
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Over the past two months Edna Moran, Luke MacInnes, Cailean Campbell and myself Malin Lewis from S4 have taken
part in the North of Scotland Schools Debating Competition. It is a debating competition open to senior pupils across
North and East Scotland.
The debates were organised into three rounds with the following motions:
“This house believes that social media are the curse of modern society”
“This house would go to university”
“This house would axe the UK government foreign aid budget”
Each of us had to speak for 5 minutes and for each round we were given different roles at the table – we were told
whether we had to propose or oppose each of the motions in advance. We also had to ensure that what we said linked
up with the other members of our team, from other schools.
The other schools involved in our rounds of the competition were Fortrose Academy, Forres Academy, Charleston
Academy, Millburn Academy and Nairn Academy.
We all really enjoyed the competition, but it was quite hard work and we spent many lunchtimes preparing for it. We all
agree that it was very good for developing our speaking and debating skills which we might need for our upcoming solo
talks!
Overall we scored 9 points but sadly it was not enough to get us through to the finals which are being held in Aberdeen.
We plan to take part in it again next year and hope to get through to the finals!
Malin Lewis 4M
Our annual fund raiser Winter Fair which is organised by the Parent Council will be held in the school on Saturday 5th December 11am – 3pm. Money raised helps to pay for Aim Skye High Awards and for all the trips we do.
Please either come along or
Sell raffle tickets Donate baking
Donate money!
North of Scotland Schools Debating
Competition
The Poppy Appeal raised £77.42
The Rag Bag Collection raised £99.60
Collections
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On the morning of 12th November, we left for Edinburgh from Portree. We had a good journey in the car, chatting and listening to music. We had a couple of stops on the way and we arrived in Edinburgh in the afternoon. We checked into our hotel, just off the Edinburgh Royal Mile and then got free time to do what we liked. The six of us chose to go shopping on Princes Street and George Street, which was just about a 10 minutes’ walk away, where we spend most of the evening. We had dinner at Jamie Oliver’s Italian and on our way back to the hotel we picked up some sweet dough-balls from Pizza Express.
The next morning, we went for breakfast on The Royal Mile. We then checked out of the hotel and made our way down to the Scottish Parliament which was a short walk down The Royal Mile. From the outside, the parliament looked a really cool building and we were desperate to get inside. We went through security, and then had some of the refreshments that were provided for us. The first thing we did was go into the debating chamber. As we had a tour guide, we could go right down to the bottom (not just the public gallery) where we could look at the parliament mace, which was given by the Queen and the desks where the parliament members sit at during debates. It was interesting as they have an electronic voting system unlike Westminster and they also can press a
button to show the presiding officer if they wish to speak. We also spoke to an official reporter. They work in the booths at the side of the chamber, where they record what’s said in the debates, which is then published in the official report. After our parliament tour we returned to the conference rooms where we began one of our three Language in Parliament workshops: speech writing. In our speech writing workshop, a man who writes speeches for politicians gave us advice on writing speeches and essays. We watched videos of influential speeches and looked at what was good about them. We mainly focused on the beginning and ends of the speeches as they catch the audiences’ attention the most. This was especially useful for discursive essays and talks because a lot of what we studied included persuasive language; we picked up many tips which will hopefully add to our English folio essays. We had a small break and then moved on to our second workshop: the official report. Here, we learned more about how the official reporters turn what’s said in the debating chamber into the official report. As many of the politicians can hesitate or make mistakes in their speeches, these need to be edited. It often makes sense when they say some things, but it wouldn’t make sense when read. After this we had lunch, which was provided for us and we got to explore the building and look at the exhibitions. We had our last workshop which was about bills and legislation. We learnt about how laws were passed and how the language is used in bills. It is very important that the bills are laid out in a clear structure so anyone who reads it would understand the terms of the bill. It was quite interesting as most of us never considered that before. After our last workshop we were supposed to have a visit from an MSP for a question and answer session but unfortunately they had to cancel at last minute. So, we then headed home, in the horrible weather, stopping at Perth for dinner. Overall, we all had a fantastic time and we learnt lots about what goes on in the parliament and lots of tips to use in English! If we got to go again, I’d definitely recommend it because it was a really great trip and we learnt lots of things but having fun at the same time.
Mairead Smith 5G2
Edinburgh Parliamentary Trip
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• Key Steps is a programme of activities in a range of topic areas, such as Community Issues, Enterprise, Personal Finance, Health, Values and Internationalism. They are presented in the form of ‘Challenges’ and encourage pupils to develop their personal skills, as well as take responsibility for their own learning.
• All S1 and S2 pupils are taking part in Key Steps, and should all be able to achieve a Key Step Award by the
end of the year.
• In S1, pupils have a dedicated period a week, where they have complete two Key Areas of their choice, and do further challenges in small blocks throughout the year in topics such as Values and Environment.
• In S2, pupils are currently completing the Key Step challenges in International Studies, Financial Education
and Health.
• Within each topic, there are a wide variety of challenges that the pupils can choose to do, and these are completed as presentations or reports. Pupils need to complete an Action Plan for at least two of their challenges, followed by a review and an Overall Record of Achievement.
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In 2014, Portree High School was awarded the International Foundation Award from the British Council, due to the work we had been doing with the Hope and Faith Community School in a deprived area of Lusaka, Zambia. We were fortunate enough to receive a ‘connecting classrooms’ grant this year, which enabled Mr Tony Breen, Depute Head Teacher, to visit and work in the school over the October holidays, and Mr Pritchard Bwalya, Science Teacher, to return with him and work for 2 weeks in Portree. We were able to do a project linking our junior secondary classes together in both schools, through sharing experiences of each other’s cultures. In Portree, our S1 pupils made a documentary video ‘Skye Life’ which highlighted a number of pupils’ lives throughout the island, both in school and at home, involving a wide range of extra-curricular activities. Whilst Mr Breen was in Lusaka, a selection of pupils from the Hope & Faith School were able to record footage of life in the Ng’ombe compound, to enable a corresponding ‘Zambia Life’ video to be made. Mr Bwalya spent the time in school working with the S1 and 2 classes who are completing a
‘Key Steps’ vocational award, and given lessons about the developing world in the Social Subjects faculty. Both teachers have been involved in teaching Science in each other’s schools, with Mr Bwalya developing his practical science skills. This has been a useful learning experience, as two new science labs are currently being built in the Lusaka school, and will be completed by the New Year. The link started in 2005, when the Hope & Faith School was first opened by Mrs Rosemary Mumbi, a retired Head Teacher, who had links with Skye, and in 2010, a group of individuals in South Skye who had been supporting the school formally registered the group as the charity ‘Friends of Hope & Faith’. From a subsequent visit in 2013, a formal link was made between the two schools. The school continues to raise money to help support the pupils at the Hope & Faith School, with all the money raised by our pupils going directly towards the running costs of the school, daily meals for the pupils, building projects or sponsoring of orphaned children.
Mr Breen
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We started the first day of our expedition a couple of hours late, ready and raring to go. Our group went first, wanting to get started on the long walk ahead. Within a few hours, we’d made it to our camp, our spirits still high, looking forward to the hot meal that was cooking on the camping stove. And then, the midges set in. In two years of living on Skye I’d never seen it so bad. Tamsyn, a mountaineer leading our group who spent her life outdoors, had never seen them worse. We went to bed early that night, wanting more than anything to escape the clouds of bugs that were hovering round our camp.
Day 2 was the longest, 16km in total. And yet, if not for a couple of blisters, we wouldn’t have even thought it was that long. We camped outside a small abandoned hut that had tales of previous expeditions scratched into the walls inside, with a field of beehives next door. We spent our evening eating chocolate fondue and playing Frisbee, and eventually running from the midges that inevitably arrived. We all slept soundly that night, dreaming of getting home and finally having a shower. Day 3 came and went and, even though we had to stop and wait for a while at a bridge to keep to our plan, we walked quickly and finished the 10k walk in just a few hours. We ran to the minibus and collapsed down next to it, glad to have finally finished the trip. The midges were bad, the walk was long, and I ate so much pasta I never wanted to see it again. But the walk was great fun with Disney songs powering us on. We made new friends and fond moments, ate (arguably) good food, and spent more time together than we hoped to in a lifetime. Even though I was glad it was over when we finally arrived at the minibus, I’m looking forward to doing it all over again next year.
By Tom Harley 5M1
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Being in the Performance Night
The glare of the light, the whisper of music in the background and then we were all ready. It all began with the Pipe Band leading us into battle. Three hundred pairs of eyes bore into us. When will we be on? Although we were nervously standing backstage
there was still joy and excitement in our hearts.
All we needed to do next was please the crowd. It was a night of music, drama and inspiration for us all. There was piano, violin, a group or two, guitar and voice. Traditional and Modern. We hoped that there was
something for everyone.
Drama was also a big part of the evening as the actors of the school took to the stage to show us old, new and original scenes. And then with the Grand Finale it came to a resounding end, like the brief touch of a butterfly on
your face.
We had no idea that it would be such a success or that it would be bounced back into our minds by so many people. It was certainly a night to remember from backstage - something we will hold with us forever.
By Lucy MacDonald (6T) and Amelia King (6B)
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Well done to all who took part in our Cross Country Races.
S1 Girls - Charlotte Gordon (far right) and Runner Up Holly MacLean
S1 Boys - Joe Jones (left) and Runner Up Alistair Crowe
S2 Boys - Cameron Campbell and Runner Up Callum Musgrave S2 Girls - Emily Matheson (left) and Runner Up Isla MacLeod
S3 Boys - Conor Gilpin and Runner Up Andrew Whitehead S3 Girls - Elaine Deas and Runner Up Kirsty Watt
Senior Boys - Ben Nicolson (right) and Runner Up Sandy Laing
Senior Girls - Isla Campbell (left) and Runner Up Kirsty Watt
Cross Country
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