Dept template

Welcome to the March issue of the Parental Newsletter. This is an extremely busy time of year as we look forward to the SQA examinations but you will find in the Newsletter numerous examples of the successes which have been achieved in Woodmill in the past month.

For all pupils in S4, S5 and S6 and for many in S3, the next few weeks are a vital time as we approach the SQA examinations. Pupils will have paper copies of their timetables available to them shortly and all departments will be working hard to assist pupils with the final revision programme. Can I remind you that timetables, plus revision information, can be accessed on the SQA’s website at www.sqa.org.uk or through the ‘SQA’ link on Woodmill’s own website.

A number of revision sites were listed in the last newsletter. In addition, pupils will be made aware of the various revision opportunities being made available to them in school. I would urge as many as possible to take advantage of these opportunities.

Pupils in S4, S5 and S6 will be set target grades for the SQA examinations. The school will write home during the Easter holidays to share these with parents and carers. Please discuss these targets with your son / daughter and encourage them to do all they can to meet them. The targets will represent realistic, if challenging, goals for pupils to aim at.

The standard of dress in S4 – S6 was very high during the prelim examinations. I expect pupils to adhere to the school’s uniform dress code during the period of the exams. This is very much a working time and dress should be appropriate to the occasion.

The last few weeks has seen further significant successes in the life of Woodmill. Our S3 and S5 pupils have starred in their acclaimed theatrical production in association with the National Theatre of Scotland; the Interact Club has been recognised with an award; two of our pupils have interviewed Alex Salmond as part of a project which will be uploaded to the BBC website; one of our S5 is involved in a work experience placement with Jim Tolson MSP in the Scottish Parliament for four days; Jim Tolson himself will be in school on 2 April to present Silver and Bronze awards to our Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme pupils and our netball and football teams are achieving success at national and regional level. Red Nose Day activities saw a record amount raised in the school, the ‘Footnotes’ dance show reached its usual high standard and the Music Department’s ‘Spring Fling’ and the seniors’ Charity Dance Evening are still to come.

The level of achievement in the school at the moment is impressively high: our pupils, supported by staff, are demonstrating regularly that they can achieve success at the very highest levels and can more than hold their own with the best in Scotland. Woodmill’s reputation for ‘punching above its weight’ is well deserved and we have seen numerous examples this session.

My thanks to all parents and carers who responded. Probably because we have continued with last year’s innovation of posting the questionnaire, we have again received a very high number of returns.

We will be administering our usual pupil questionnaires to a representative sample of each year group before the end of term. These results will also be published in May’s Parental Newsletter.

The last week of term will see a very full programme of activities designed to push the total for our three designated charities well past the £3000.00 mark.

If all the above leaves you slightly gasping for breath then you will also appreciate the demands of the term and why it has been so exhausting for so many staff and pupils. Successful though the school has been, all of us will be looking forward to a little respite during the Easter holidays.

The continuing achievement of such high standards in Woodmill also reflects well on the support and commitment of you, our parents and carers, and you should share the pride that staff feel in the success of our young people.

The staff join me in wishing all Woodmill families a very good Easter and our special good wishes go to all examination candidates.

Mrs Aerts retires from her post as guidance teacher and member of the French department at the end of this term. Mrs Aerts has served in Woodmill for 38 years and, over the course of that time, has made a noteworthy contribution to the life of the school. Generations of youngsters have cause to thank her for her support and guidance during that period.

Interviews for the post of Principal Teacher of Design Technology will be held on 31 March and interviews for two Principal Teacher of Guidance posts will be held on 2 April. Interviews for the post of acting Principal Teacher of Guidance will be held on 3 April. The outcome of these interviews will be announced in May's Newsletter.

Class 3D2 have been busy both in the classroom and outdoors. Our enterprise this term has been to design and make Mothers Day Cards. They have sold well so all our hard work has been worth it! Outdoors we have given ourselves the challenge of creating an environmental area outside our classroom. Our first task was to clear the raised beds of overgrown weeds and grass. Next we visited Dobbies Garden Centre to look at and find out about plants. Once we have finished preparing the soil - more digging and hard work – we will be ready to do some planting.

Class 3D1 have visited the Scottish Deer Centre, Vane Farm and the SSPCA Wildlife Rescue Centre as part of their Scotland project.

Room 4 (2D2) of the ASN went to Stirling Castle, our project is on Scottish Kings and Queens.

The ASN celebrated Robert Burns 250th anniversary by having a Scottish week from 19-23 January. In our art sessions we made thistles and Celtic stones. We also had to learn Scottish Poems. Friday 23 was our Tartan Day and the Burns Supper. We also had a tug-of-war competition. On Thursday 5 March, the ASN participated in bring £1 to work day. The theme was 80’s. The £60 we raised was given to CHAS. On Friday 13 March, the ASN participated with Red Nose Day. The theme was Superheroes. We had lots of fun. We raised a grand total of £153.19. Erin Johnson 5D1

Tesco is running the annual ‘computers for schools’ scheme until 7th June. The computing department is collecting vouchers and at the end of the promotion will exchange them for computer equipment. One voucher can be collected for every £10 spent at their stores. If you have any vouchers could you please pass them on to Mr Wylie, Mr Cattigan, Mr Weir or reception.
Many thanks.

The Computing Club meets every Tuesday lunchtime at 12.15 where pupils work on problem solving games from the Internet. The club is supervised by staff and a prefect. For more information pupils should contact Mr Wylie or come along any Tuesday lunchtime. Photos of pupils at the club are shown below.

To help pupils prepare, there will be an Open Dress Rehearsal for parents/friends on Monday 30 March in the Drama Studio. Times to be confirmed and tickets will be limited. They are performing extracts from the play version of Willy Russell’s “Blood Brothers”.

The Higher class are having a similar evening on Tuesday 31 March in preparation for their acting exam on 2 April. They will be presenting extracts from Scottish Contemporary Theatre including the plays “Men Should Weep” and “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie”.

FLEXIBLE CURRICULUM

Congratulations to the S4 students who successfully completed their First Aid Certificates. The course took place at Adam Smith College.

The Maths department have been very busy this term competing in National and International competitions.

In February our top S3 and S4 pupils took part in the UK Intermediate Maths Challenge. Pupils were given an hour to answer as many challenging puzzles and problems as they can. We were very pleased with this year’s results as 17 pupils received certificates. Helen Jackson in S4 achieved the best in school prize.

Some of our keen S2 pupils were also given the opportunity to enter this competition and to our delight 5 pupils achieved success.

Name	Year	Certificate
Helen Jackson	S4	Silver and Best in School
Craig MacCallum	S4	Silver
Rebecca Reed	S4	Silver
Amy Robertson	S4	Silver
Christopher Curry	S4	Bronze
Alasdair Burnett	S4	Bronze
Rebecca Clowes	S4	Bronze
Scott Duncan	S4	Bronze
Jamie Guyan	S4	Bronze
Daniel Thornton	S3	Silver
Sean Roberston	S3	Silver
Jordan Coll	S3	Silver
Eamon Dorris	S3	Silver
Niall Piggot	S3	Bronze
Vicky Sparling	S3	Bronze
Teri Wishart	S3	Bronze
Amy Springhall	S3	Bronze
Hannah Fleming	S2	Silver
Chris Bogie	S2	Bronze
Owen Forrest	S2	Bronze
Jordan Rashid	S2	Bronze
Anna Hurst	S2	Bronze

Murray McCallum (1C2), Eilidh Reid (1G4), Jordan Rashid (2W4) and Owen Forrest (2W6) competed against schools from throughout Scotland in the Regional Final of the UKMT Team Maths Challenge. This took place on Monday the 2nd of March at Edinburgh University. This was a very challenging day and congratulations to the team for an excellent performance which resulted in us finishing in 11th place.

Wednesday the 5th of March was World Maths Day and our S1, S2 and S3 pupils got the opportunity to challenge pupils all over the world to mental maths races. This was a very exciting competition and altogether we answered 43918 questions. Well done to everyone who participated and congratulations to Alan Millar (1W6), Craig Stephens (2C2), Jordan Rashid (2W4) and Jonathan Cameron (3C4) who will receive certificates and prizes for their outstanding effort.

On Thursday 12th March S4 credit and S5/S6 Higher pupils took part in Mathematiques Sans Frontieres. In conjunction with the Modern Language department teams of pupils worked over lunchtime to answer 13 demanding puzzles, one of which was given in a foreign language. We should find out our results after the Easter holidays.

The winner of February’s puzzle was Owen Cummins (1W5). Here is the puzzle for April.

An S3 Modern Studies class had been learning about the problems facing some African countries and decided that they wanted to help Comic Relief to raise lots of cash to help send as many pupils to school as they could. This right is often taken for granted in this country and the S3 class felt that they wanted others to be as lucky as them. They set about planning and undertaking a range of activities on Friday 13th March which included; dressing in red, selling official Red Noses, selling cakes (which had been baked by an S3 Health and Food Technology class, as well as lots being donated by seniors in the school -THANKS), spraying pupils’ hair red, creating and selling ‘Hunt the Nose on the teachers’ sheets (congratulations to Emma Smith 2G3 for winning this!), painting faces and painting nails.

The ASN department also undertook a range of activities, which included; selling official Red Noses, selling cakes and receiving donations when they dressed up as Superheroes for the day.

Well done and thank you to everyone who helped make the day such a marvellous success. This is an amazing result.

During the completion of the ‘Living in a Democracy’ topic, one of the Standard Grade Modern Studies classes decided that they would form a pressure group to try and make changes to their school environment.

After some time researching various issues, the group created a report, a petition (the group gathered over 500 signatures from their peers) and a presentation with some shocking pictures of the toilet facilities in the school. They presented their findings to a School Council meeting, which was attended by Parents and Local Councillors. They also invited Councillor Douglas Chapman to the class to present their campaign issues and demands to him.

They are a hard working and dedicated class who are experiencing the ups and downs that come from participating in the UK’s democratic process. However, this has not disheartened them and they plan to continue to put pressure on Fife Council until they achieve their goal of improved toilet facilities.

The department has been extremely busy this month with S4, 5 and 6 pupils undertaking their music Practical exams performing for the SQA visiting examiner on 16 and 17 March. Each pupil performed on two different instruments and styles ranging from heavy metal and Britpop on bass guitars to musical numbers and operatic arias for singers. In total the examiner heard 144 pieces of music! Good results are expected in August and all music staff are to be congratulated on their work in preparing the candidates.

Several S5 pupils were also involved in the NTS production the previous week (see page 15 in this bulletin), for which they received numerous accolades on their musicianship.

The final performance this term will be on Wednesday 25 March at 7.30 in the school hall. The ‘Spring Fling’ has a theme this year and each of the main groups will do some Folk or World music in their programme. Scottish Ceilidh music and songs will feature alongside Irish music, American folk music and African songs from the choir.

Soloists will demonstrate their hard work and give performances in piano, flute and voice.

Tickets are selling well and this will bring a very busy term to its musical conclusion.

1st Year – the ‘B’ and ‘C’ teams had excellent matches against St Columba’s ‘A’, 13-5. Men of the Match were Katie McBay and Danielle Guidice. The ‘C’ team then played St Columba’s ‘B’, and lost 3-5 in a very close game. Men of the Match were Lauren Anthony and Louise Cox.
The next match was an ‘A’ team fixture against Beath, which was won with a convincing 7-2 score. Man of the Match, Sarah Gibson.
We then played Lochgelly. The ‘A’ team played Lochgelly 2nd years and won 7-5. Men of the Match, Eilidh Reid and Holly Muir. Our ‘B’ team then played Lochgelly 1st year and got beaten 3-5 against a very tall side. Men of the Match were Danielle Guidice and Lauren Anthony.

2nd Year – The ‘A’ team played Queen Anne and recorded a 9-9 draw. Men of the Match, Aime Allan and Laura Bowman. A combined ‘A’ and ‘B’ team played Beath and won 12-1. Men of the Match, Aime Allan and Sophie Balsillie.

3rd Year – The ‘A’ team played Queen Anne and had a strong win. Girl of the Game was Chloe Reilly. They then played in the ¼ final of the Scottish Plate. This was away to Clydebank H.S. The game was a very high standard, with both sides making silly mistakes under pressure. Special mention must go to Tiffany Concannon, who came back on court after injury, and played brilliantly against the Glasgow district Goal Attack. Girls of the Game were Tiffany, and Lauren Queen. They now play St Andrews (Coatbridge) on 30 March.
Next they played Madras in a Fife league match, which they won 25-0. Girls of the Game, Rachel Watson and Aimee Anderson.
The ‘B’ team played Beath in a nail biting game. The match was won, 11-10, by a long-range shot, 5 seconds from full-time, by Kerry Keilloh. Girls of the Game, Kerry and Gemma Lane. The ‘B’ team also played against St Andrews H.S. senior team. This game was for experience, and the girls played very well against an older team. The final score was a loss of 10-14. Girls of the Game, Gemma Lane and Siobhan Hall.

Seniors – The ‘A’ team had a gripping match against Buckhaven, in a very physical game. They played outstandingly to win 26-19. Men of the Match, Zoe Sharp and Lynn Cowan. They then played a friendly against Queen Anne and won comfortably. Man of the Match, Claire Sneddon. Next was a Scottish cup game against the winners in 2006, Bishopbriggs. The whole team played fantastically. Special mention must go to Zoe Sharp and Kirsty Thomson who never stopped trying against a 6 feet 2 inches-tall shooter, who rebounded every missed shot without having to jump. The final score was 47-38 to Bishopbriggs, but the very young Woodmill side (4th and 5th year) did superbly. Man of the Match, Claire Sneddon. Unfortunately they had to play Beath the next day in the Fife league decider, and were unable physically and mentally to maintain the level of play they had shown the previous day, losing 27-9. Man of the Match was Zoe Cuthbert.
The ‘B’ team also played Beath, recording a narrow loss. Men of the Match, Laura Groves and Ashley Walker. The ‘B’ team then played Madras ‘A’ and although they lost 10-14 they put up a strong fight. Man of the Match, Ruth Henderson.

Ailidh Brown and Erin Brown represented Woodmill High School in the Scottish National Finals at Tollcross in Glasgow.

Swimming in the 15-16 years age group, 14 year olds Ailidh Brown swam the 100 metre breast stroke in a time of 1.24.82 and the 200 Individual Medley in a time of 2.41.41 and was placed 13th and 15th respectively.

In the 12 years and under age group, 11 year old Erin Brown won the silver medal for the 50 metre breast stroke in a time of 41.77 seconds, narrowly missing out on the gold by 0.66 of a second.

Footnotes Dance Company participated in a week of dance events from 16th –24th March.

The technical rehearsal for the dance show went on throughout the day and into the evening on the 16th March.

Performance on Tuesday 17th March: Yet again the dance company performed to a full house. The performance was varied and of a high quality thanks to a year of dedication and hard work from the dancers. Even with the unwelcome interruption of a fire alarm, everyone commented on what an enjoyable evening it had been. Fuzzy Feet, the primary aged section from the feeder primary schools, and the adult section of dancers who were once in Footnotes when they attended Woodmill, joined Footnotes in the performance. Special guests were from St Andrew’s High School in Kirkcaldy who performed two very different dances.

Visit from Telford College dance students on Wednesday 18th March: Woodmill pupils were treated to 3 workshops taught by the Telford dance students. Dancers from Footnotes participated in two of the workshops and the girls only standard grade PE group enjoyed the third workshop. In the afternoon all the participants enjoyed a very high quality performance by the students.

Fife Schools Dance Festival on Thursday 19th March and public performance on 23rd March: Three dancers from the school show were presented at the Dance Festival. All the dances and the quality of the performance from the pupils were highly praised.

This week has left everyone keen to get started on new work in preparation for the next performance.

The S3 students took part in a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The production titled “You tell us what was – we tell you what is” developed over a six week period and involved performers, lighting designers, stage managers, designers, and musicians. Our students were working alongside professional stage managers, lighting and sound engineers from the National Theatre of Scotland.

The whole of S3 were involved in the audition process which was in the form of workshops and question and answer sessions. The year group explored what it means to them to be 14 and their hopes and fears for the future. This exploration formed the foundations for the production.

The directors, Ben Harrison and Jemima Levick, two of Scotland’s most prominent and contemporary directors, were delighted with the honesty, creativity and enthusiasm of the S3 students. Fleur Darkin, a leading choreographer based in London, worked on the dance sections and commented on the ability and energy of the performers.

After rehearsals in the school the production team and company moved to the venue which was the site of Pilmuir factory. The factory provided an amazing backdrop for the production and its comment on current industrial decline. The factory was such an exciting venue, yet it was cold and the students had to depend on both physical and mental stamina to produce the standard of work required of them. In all areas, not just the performing, the students excelled themselves. They impressed me further each day as they became more and more professional and proficient. The comments from the audience were very positive; the slot on STV news also boosted the students on the evening of Wednesday’s performance when they were very tired.

The company finished with an after-show party in “Tiffany’s” bar in the Carnegie Hall where the students enjoyed a buffet and a huge cake made by the “Attfife” team – who were major sponsors of the project.

Thanks go to all of the staff who assisted with this project, in particular the S3 staff who had to suspend their teaching over the six week period and to Ms Forrester and Miss Jeffries who kept the department going and coped with all the upheaval.

Thanks also to all the staff who managed to get a ticket to come along and see the students perform.

Below is an extract from an article published in The Times Educational Supplement Scotland:

“Audiences are being advised to wrap up for a free theatre event involving 56 secondary pupils from Dunfermline. You Tell Us What Was, We Tell You What Is is being staged next week at Pilmuir Works, a disused textile factory near the centre of town.

Dozens of 14-year-olds from Woodmill High have spent the past five weeks working with the National Theatre of Scotland Learn team on the creation of the site-specific event which combines drama, dance and music. The youngsters include 25 performers, seven musicians, four writers and a design, technical and stage management crew of 20, who are producing You Tell Us What Was, We Tell You What Is with the guidance of professionals.

The show, which will be staged five times during its three-day run, “explores the reality of being a 14-year-old in Scotland today”. It features input from former employees of Pilmuir Works, who have contributed stories about their time at the factory, which closed in 2005.

Lalania Tremmel, Head of Drama at Woodmill High, has been co-ordinating the project with art and music colleagues Jackie Powton and Claire White. ‘This has been the best experience for the kids and they are loving it’, she said. ‘They’ve found the creative process challenging and are exhausted, because they’ve been working with the choreographer on their movement and dance. But the benefits in terms of personal growth and learning new skills will last forever.’”

“After everybody knew their groups we had sessions with Molly before we started acting and producing the script. We were just doing team building games, improvisation games and name games just to bring us closer together as a group. We then had to wait about a month and we were meeting the other directors, Ben and Jemima. We then just started by doing improvisation games. We looked at the venue that we were going to be working in, the Dunlop factory (Pilmuir Works). They brought tyres and lockers that had been left in the factory, that we had also found when we had a cold visit to the factory. We talked about how we were going to use the tyres and lockers.
The next week that we were in, there was a filmmaker in. We were doing improvisation and also using desks and chairs.” Aimie Anderson 3G3

“The workshop for the NTS started in December. This was for Molly, Ben and Jemima to get to know us. The last day before the Christmas holidays was when we all got to know which role in the show we got i.e. performer, designer or stage management. I was really nervous when I was reading the list that had been picked for the performers. Getting to the end of the list I got really nervous but that went away as I read the last name on the list – I was thrilled!”
Kieren Guthrie 3W5

INTERACT CLUB

Rotary International in Britain and Ireland has an annual Young Citizen Award Scheme. This year one of the awards has been won by Woodmill’s Interact Club. The award is co-sponsored by BBC News. The Interact Club will receive a trophy, individual certificates and £500.00. BBC News will film the Club members in school and will also cover the award ceremony in Edinburgh on 25 April. This ceremony will form part of the RIBI Conference at the Corn Exchange, Edinburgh at which Interact members will be speaking and where they will receive their awards from the BBC’s Konnie Huq.

Registration class 5G3 are to be commended for their sponsorship of a child in Haiti. The money collected covers his clothing, education, food and accommodation.

Well done to all those involved in the Red Nose Day activities. In the main school we all raised a massive £855.50. Well Done!

We are very proud to announce our first Silver Awards in the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme. On Thursday 2 April 2009, the successful participants will be presented with their certificates by Jim Tolson MSP, Liberal Democrat Deputy Spokesperson for Local Government and Transport, at a ceremony in the school starting at 7.30 pm.

The four pupils: Calum Robinson, Stuart Baynham, Callum Moran and Philip Curry all completed a demanding series of activities testing their physical endurance, planning skills, commitment to service to others; culminating in an outward-bound type expedition.

In addition, a further nine S4 pupils will be receiving their Bronze award: Alasdair Burnett, Lynn Cowan, Chris Curry, Lauren Gray, Emily Gonnella, Claire Hamilton, Heather Hepburn, Rebecca Reid and Michael Wood.

Thirteen younger pupils will be receiving their First Aid certificates as part of their journey to Bronze.

I want to commend the achievement of the pupils. The Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme has gone from strength to strength in Woodmill and participation in the school is at an all time high. Woodmill has a strong belief in the value of extra-curricular education and these pupils exemplify what is best in the school.

The success of the scheme in Woodmill means that twenty-four pupils have attained Bronze in the past three years in addition to the four Silver awards. Thirteen more pupils are on their way to achieving Bronze and the further challenge for the school is to support our pupils towards Gold.

Tribute is due to Karen Fotheringham of the RME department, the leader of the school’s Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme. Her dedication, supported by other school staff, reflects well on the energy and drive of staff in Woodmill and is responsible for the increased participation and success. We are also grateful to Jim Tolson for giving of his time to help recognise our pupils’ successes and for his continuing support of the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme in Woodmill.

CAREERS SCOTLAND HIGHER EDUCARION CONVENTION
ADVANCE NOTICE - SEPTEMBER 2009

The annual Higher Education Convention for S5 and S6 pupils will be held in the Rothes Halls on Wednesday 16 September.