St Thomas Aquinas Winter Newsetter

Winter Newsletter February 2015

Second Year Art + Design Students work selected for new hospital site.

A small group of second year students have impressed the main contractors at Glasgow’s New Southern General Hospital, and have beaten off competition from other Glasgow schools to provide the design above on a huge hoarding in the ‘break out’ area at the hospital which is to be fully commisioned in the Spring.

Act justly, love mercy, walk humbly with your God �1

Les Menuires

Our first ski-trip in for a number of years returned safely last weekend after a fabulous week’s skiing in the French Alps.

Miss Campbell, Ms Farquhar and Mr McMahon were very impressed by the conduct of our students as were the Ski Instructors (not always the easiest people to impress!!). So much so that early plans for another trip in the winter of 2016 are already underway.

Holocaust Memorial

Holocaust Memorial Day, Tuesday 26th January. Keiran O’Neill and Sophie McNeil (senior students) in will deliver a presentation to their peers to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day following their visit to Auschwitz 1 and Auchwitz-Birkenau in September. They will be describing the events of the Holocaust, and why it is important to remember the events of the Holocaust even today, and will use their own first-hand experience and photographs from their visit to Poland during their presentation.

ST THOMAS AQUINAS RC SECONDARY


Just before Christmas another group of senior students with an interest in construction, engineering, surveying and project management had a fully guided tour of the site courtesy of our business partnership with ‘Doig + Smith’. The visit included the new operating theatres and patient areas with the HT even making it to the helipad!!

Higher Human Biology visit to National Museum of Scotland, EdinburghThe Higher Human Biology class recently visited the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh to participate in a Molecular Biology workshop. Students got hands-on experience of complex experiments which can’t be carried out in a school laboratory. The workshop specifically explored the evolution of an unusual trait in humans, where some people taste a particular chemical as being horribly bitter, while others can't taste it at all. The students were able to explore the link between their own ability to taste the chemical phenylthiocarbamide(PTC) and their TAS2R38 (bitter taste receptor) genotype. They carried out hands-on techniques including DNA isolation, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), restriction enzyme digests and gel electrophoresis, as well as activities to explain how PCR and restriction enzymes work. The students found the biology behind the workshop very interesting and thoroughly enjoyed the whole day trip, which also included a tour of the museum. The workshop provided the students with the equipment necessary to carry out high-tech experiments which were completely different to anything they have ever done before.


Positive Destinations

Over thirty companies from the banking sector, construction industries, surveying and project management, as well as the armed services and universities attended a packed ‘Positive Destinations’ event in the school. Some companies, like our business partners, Doig + Smith, and also our strong link with the banking sector, through Bank Santander, also conducted bespoke presentations to our students and parents, outlining opportunities and alternative pathways to careers in both industries. A number of students have already been in contact with companies seeking further information and applying directly for employment.



British Council - Connecting Classrooms

A group of Fourth Year students (Gemma Campbell; Reiss Stoops; Ross Oliphant; Ross McLean; Chris Bourke; Katie Hayes and Rosa Dumphy Young ) were delighted to take part in two events to commemorate the Christmas Day Truce which happened during World War 1. Students from Catalonia, Poland, Bosnia and Glasgow met at Celtic Park on Sunday 14th December to attend a match between Celtic and St. Mirren. Before the match, there was a reception for all the international students; the film which they had produced, when at a conference in Bosnia, was shown at half time. Gemma Campbell was especially delighted to be in attendance because she had been selected to narrate the film.

On the 16th of December, a formal Christmas lunch and Ceilidh was held in the Kerrydale Suite at Celtic Park. Students from each of the countries represented, delivered a presentation on what they had learned from their visit to Bosnia (Sarajevo) earlier in the year, and how learning about the First World War had impacted on their own lives. Again Gemma Campbell delivered an excellent presentation that had been prepared with Katie Hayes and Rosa Dumphy Young. She showed slides of the girls managing a stall promoting Glasgow, at an International Fair in the main square of Sarajevo. Everyone enjoyed seeing footage of the Big Dance Project which fused Scottish traditional dance with Catalan, Bosnian and Polish dance traditions!

Our students were excellent ambassadors for our school, meeting and greeting students of all ages and nationalities. They commented enthusiastically on becoming involved in International Education and saw the importance of establishing links with other schools in Europe so that their awareness of global issues is developed. Our Connecting Classrooms team

with their recently published

STEM - (Science Technology Engineering and Maths) - Sea Wall Challenge

Thirty Third Year students from the Design and Technology department enjoyed an exciting, engineering event on Thursday 22nd January. The event, offered by STEM (Education Scotland) and First Group, combined various aspects of the Broad General Education within one, unique and challenging project to support inter-disciplinary learning. Skills involved included: team working, problem solving and critical thinking. Both the STEM Ambassadors and First Group engineers were very impressed with our students and have already ‘signed up’ for further work in St Thomas Aquinas.



WOSPEG Quiz 2014 Champions!

A team of Fifth Year physics students recently won the prestigious West of Scotland Physics Education Group (WOSPEG) Quiz.

Team members Baran Karakus, Umut Karakus and Roman Smith beat off stiff opposition in the preliminary rounds (including Jordanhill College School) to reach the final, which took place in the Physics Department at Glasgow University in late November.

The boys confidently answered questions on physics, topical science and general knowledge, as well as undertaking a variety of problem-solving challenges effectively as a team. In the buzzer rounds, their rapid reactions speeds left the opposition powerless!

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@StThomasAqSec

Check our new web-site

http://www.st-thomasaquinas-sec.glasgow.sch.uk

Catholic Education Week Sunday

8 - 14February.

The theme this year is ‘Proclaiming the Joy of the Gospel’, this is based on a recent Apostolic Exhortation ‘Evangelii Gaudium’ (the Joy of the Gospel). A letter from Archbishop Tartaglia has been sent to all parishes to be read out at Masses on Sunday 8 February, a small section of which is included below:

Today I make a particular appeal. We need people to come forward to become

teachers in Catholic schools. We urge you to see the wonderful opportunities which a career in Teaching offers - to help others,

to develop their talents, to inspire them towards success, to guide them to know

and celebrate their faith in Jesus.

!

St. Thomas Aquinas Youth SVDP Group

The aim of this new group is to further develop the spiritual life in St. Thomas Aquinas. Since its creation, members have been proactive in raising the profile of St. Vincent de Paul within the school community. The group has organised an Own Clothes Day and Cupcake Sale to raise funds for SVDP Projects within the local community. In February the group will meet with Claire Carr, the Leader of the Youth SVDP in Glasgow and with members of the SVDP in Corpus Christi Parish Church to consider future local projects.

Breaking News

Wear Something RED

FRIDAY 6 FEBRUARY

Proceeds to British Heart Foundation and

St Thomas Aquinas Nicaragua Project 2016.



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St Thomas Aquinas Winter Newsetter