Courage

Headmistress's Introduction

“What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?” Vincent van Gogh

Time and time again, I see children incredibly nervous to begin their time at St Leonards – they hide behind their parents, barely speak to me, and even find it too difficult to make eye contact. It is amazing, sometimes just months later, to see these same pupils flourish into confident public speakers, caring peer listeners, fantastic football players, and risk-taking learners.

I was reminded of the immense courage of the children here at St Leonards when I accompanied a group of pupils to the Perform in Perth Festival this week. This is an annual festival of music, speech, and dance which runs each year in March, with around 2,800 performers. There was a packed auditorium with nervous children, anxious parents, and a petrified Mrs Pennycook! I soon realised, though, that I had worried in vain. Every child who performed from St Leonards was exceptional, and should be so proud of their ability to stand up and speak in public with such conviction. The children’s ability to handle their nerves as they entered untrodden territory really was amazing. None of this would have been possible without the endless hours that Mr Oliver and Mrs Stewart put in – they prepare the children so well for their LAMDA exams and performances. All the children who performed at the Perform in Perth Festival this week were testament to their hard work and dedication, and really were a credit to the school.

At some point in their lives, every child will have an interview, every child will have to present a project in front of their class, and every child will have to speak in front of a group of people. That is why we need to equip our children with the skills to communicate effectively, the ability to work with others, and develop strategies to cope with nerves and new situations. LAMDA is certainly a fantastic way to help our children develop these skills. The confidence that it gives children is almost like a magic pill. LAMDA helps pupils to become more confident, aids speaking and listening, helps to expand vocabulary, and improves the powers of self-expression, memorisation, and information recall. The transformation is often unbelievable!

I would therefore challenge every child at St Leonards to think about how they could push themselves out of their comfort zones and develop their public speaking skills, be that by starting LAMDA lessons or indeed taking the initiative to prepare a presentation for their class on something that fascinates or is important to them. Taking risks and having the confidence to attempt new things is a key facet of the IB learner profile, and by stepping out of their comfort zone, the pupils really will reap great rewards As the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh said: “what would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?”.

Julianne Pennycook

Celebration Assembly

Many congratulations to the following pupils, who were awarded certificates in this week's Celebration Assembly!

Last, but by no means least, many congratulations to Sofia who was also awarded a Spirit of St Leonards certificate for showing a responsible and caring attitude when escorting Lower School pupils from the bus in the morning.

Puppet Performance

PUPPET PERFORMANCE | On Wednesday afternoon, Years 1-4 were treated to a wonderful performance of the traditional Scottish folk tale 'The Lighthouse Keeper and the Seal' by Fife-based Clydebuilt Puppet Theatre. The story is focused on a lighthouse keeper, Peter Mackimmon, who rescues a young seal pup that he finds washed ashore one day. His kindness is repaid later in the story when the seal turns out to be a selkie, a magical being capable of shedding her skin and taking on human form. One night, a fierce storm blows up at sea and a ship is thrown treacherously close to the rocks below Peter's lighthouse. The light goes out and Peter falls while trying to relight it. Thanks to the selkie, both Peter and the ship's crew are saved from harm.

As well as enjoying the story and Steve's fantastic performance, the children were inspired by the use of objects in the performance that had been found washed ashore along the Fife coast to create both the set and the puppets. For example, a blanket found on a local beach became the hair on Peter's head, whilst a plastic bottle and an old jacket became a fluidly moving seal.

Years 2-4 then enjoyed a special workshop on shadow puppetry techniques, with a strong emphasis on found and recycled objects. This aligned nicely with their recent work with puppets as part of their Units of Inquiry.

Year 2 couldn't resist the opportunity to show Leigh the puppets that they have made in class, and she kindly let them use her screen to experiment with a little shadow play. They came away truly inspired, and with lots of ideas of things that they would like to try out for themselves!

Superb Sport

SUPERB SPORT | There have been lots of sports fixtures in the Junior School this week. Below are some further details of each match. Many congratulations to all the pupils who represented St Leonards, and especially to the teams who emerged victorious!

Theatre Time

THEATRE TIME | A group of pupils from both the Junior and Senior Schools enjoyed a fantastic outing to see the award-winning musical The Lion King at the Edinburgh Playhouse last week. The production has gripped audiences for over twenty years at The Lyceum Theatre, London, and so it was fantastic for the children to be able to experience the stunning show with its puppets, wonderful music, and colourful costumes whilst it was on tour. The children loved the performance and their interval ice creams, and some even had a taste of boarding in St Rule afterwards. It was a fantastic evening - many thanks to Mrs Pennycook and Ms Dutch for organising it!

Read-A-Thon

READ-A-THON | As part of Book Week 2020, Miss Brannen organised the inaugural St Leonards Read-A-Thon Inter-House Competition. The competition ran for 7 days, and collectively the pupils amassed an incredible 38,095 minutes of reading. That is equivalent to 634 hours, or 26 days! Each class tracked their reading and set targets, and these were then added together to create the school-wide totals. The results are as follows:

1st place - Harris - 10,720 minutes

2nd place - Mull - 9,667 minutes

3rd place - Lewis - 9,058 minutes

4th place - Skye - 8,650 minutes

Very well done to all the children who read as part of Book Week - the results really are staggering. We hope that the Read-A-Thon has encouraged the pupils to read even more. Many thanks to Miss Brannen for organising the event, and to all of the parents who verified their children's reading!

We are also delighted to announce that last week's Character Parade raised £171.00 for Book Aid International. This money will go towards 85 books to help combat illiteracy around the world. Many thanks to all who contributed.

Learning in the Library

LEARNING IN THE LIBRARY | Year 4 had a fantastic private tour of Queen Mary's Library by Ms Tawse, our Librarian, earlier this week. We are extremely fortunate to have such relevant and interesting historical evidence on our school campus! They studied various different paintings and artefacts in order to make connections between the past and the present. The children have been collecting, analysing, and validating evidence from a wide variety of sources as part of their Unit of Inquiry into the life of Mary, Queen of Scots. Ms Tawse commended the children on their manners and focus throughout the visit - excellent work, Year 4!