BACK TO SCHOOL SMILES | There were smiles all round at the Senior School as pupils and staff returned from the Christmas holidays, ready for an action-packed term. As you will see from the news articles below, it certainly has been an exciting, busy, and varied first month back!
Festive Fundraising
FESTIVE FUNDRAISING | Thank you to all who took part in our annual Christmas Jumper Day at the end of the Autumn Term. We are delighted to announce that staff and students raised an impressive £374.00 for Save the Children. Special thanks to the pupils who collected donations on the day, and to Freddie Clarke (Year 12) who counted the takings.
Dave Best Lacrosse
DAVE BEST LACROSSE | St Leonards was delighted to welcome experienced coach Dave Best to deliver a coaching session for our girls this month. Dave has been coaching in schools across the UK for over 23 years. Over 50 Senior School pupils enjoyed honing their skills, focusing on drills, marking and fitness, as well as some shorter attacking and defensive play scenarios. Dave's sessions were timed well, allowing practice before the Years 8-10 Inter-House Lacrosse tournament. It was a very enjoyable morning for all involved.
Inter-House Lacrosse
INTER-HOUSE LACROSSE | St Leonards has a long history of inter-house lacrosse matches. The very first lacrosse matches played at St Leonards, on 27 March 1890, were inter-house matches: Bishopshall East beat Queen's Terrace by 3 goals to 1, and Bishopshall East beat Daygirls by 2 goals to 0. This term, the victors were St Rule, with Bishopshall in second place, and Ollerenshaw in third place. Well done to all the girls who played!
Karate Black Belt
KARATE BLACK BELT | Following his recent grading, Liam Saintraint (Year 12) received a black belt in Karate. He will receive his Diploma from Japan in June 2020. This is an impressive achievement which has required a significant investment of time and energy over several years. Many congratulations, Liam!
Extended Essay Fair
EXTENDED ESSAY FAIR | Year 12 students have now started to think about selecting a topic for their Extended Essays, a core component of their IB Diploma. This is an independent, self-directed piece of research that culminates in a 4,000 word essay. It is an excellent opportunity for students to delve into a topic that is of particular interest to them. The students received a talk from Mr Seymour, Diploma Programme and CAS Coordinator, which introduced the project and then had the opportunity to visit stands in the School Hall to talk to staff from different departments.
IBO Recognition
IBO RECOGNITION | In last month's newsletter, St Leonards' involvement with the 'Third Generation Project', launched by the School of International Relations at the University of St Andrews, was discussed. This exciting, collaborative project was acknowledged by the International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO) in a recent news article. The IBO is the educational foundation which develops and maintains the Primary Years, Middle Years, Diploma, and Career programmes which are taught at St Leonards. We are immensely proud of our pupils for their engagement and involvement in this exciting project. To read the full article, please click on the following link: https://www.ibo.org/news/news-list/scottish-ib-world-school-takes-part-in-project-with-university-of-st-andrews/.
Russian New Year
RUSSIAN NEW YEAR | Russian students travelled to Fingask Castle earlier this month to celebrate Russian New Year, but with a Scottish twist! They enjoyed a delicious meal of haggis, neeps, and tatties before touring the beautiful grounds of the seventeenth-century castle. Many thanks to Ms Beck for organising this event, which is always a highlight of the Spring Term.
Boarding Activities
BOARDING ACTIVITIES | The boarders in St Rule, Bishopshall, and Ollerenshaw have had lots of fun this term. There has been an excellent selection of off-site weekend activities (including Go Karting, Edinburgh Shopping, and Ice Skating), as well as informal evening activities in the boarding houses
Rotary Photograph Competition
ROTARY PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION | A reminder that the deadline for the Rotary Photography Competition is Wednesday, 19 February 2020. This year's theme is Through My Eyes, and entries will be judged on technical merit, content, composition, imagination, and style. Entrants must submit a portfolio of three photographs based upon the theme, in colour or black and white, on photographic paper. The prints must be submitted individually and each print, including any mount, should be no larger than A4 size. To accompany the portfolio, each entrant must provide a brief sentence describing the relationship of each photograph to the theme. We look forward to seeing the submissions, and in particular how St Leonards pupils interpret this year's theme!
Music Awards
MUSIC AWARDS | Certificates for instrumental ABRSM and Trinity Guildhall music exams were presented by the Headmaster, Dr Carslaw, to pupils in a School Assembly earlier this term. Congratulations to the following pupils: Angus Graham - Grade 5 Piano (Merit); Charlotte MacFayden - Grade 7 Violin (Merit); Elisabeth Koenig - Grade 2 Piano (Pass); Jessica Cousins - Grade 2 Piano (Merit); David de Wolff - Grade 7 Violin (Merit); and Francesca Calder - Grade 4 Harp (Merit).
Bugs or Biscuits?
BUGS OR BISCUITS? | Mr Shiells led a fascinating Design lesson for Year 9 earlier this month. They considered the challenges involved in convincing people to make environmentally-friendly choices, especially with regards to the food that they eat. Did you know that insects are now being promoted as a sustainable, healthy, protein-rich snack? Some of the pupils tried the flavoured cricket snacks, and were surprisingly enthusiastic about them. They then looked at the role of packaging design and advertising in changing the minds of consumers. The photograph of the taste test panel tells us it was not a unanimous vote, but they seemed to enjoy trying some 'different grub'!
Off to the Fringe
OFF TO THE FRINGE | In November, the St Leonards Players performed At A Standstill in the School Hall, and it was a sell-out success. One audience member suggested that the production should go to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival... and the idea suddenly grew arms and legs, with parents offering to donate or help raise the necessary funds. For those of you who don't know, the Edinburgh Fringe is a world renowned Festival of the Arts which showcases an amazing collection of cultural and artistic performances every year in August, ranging from comedy to dance, and opera to theatre. We are thrilled to officially announce that St Leonards will be featuring at the Fringe in August 2020.
This is an extremely exciting project for all involved, and it is brilliant that St Leonards will be returning to the Fringe to perform an original piece. The last Fringe production performed by St Leonards students was Billy Liar, in 2012, which was a great success. All the cast have signed up for the run, and there is also a team of students working alongside me to organise the venture.
One very generous parent has already donated £1000 to the cause and, using some designated production budget and money raised from the performances in November, the current total stands at £2000. This is still £2000 short of the total amount needed to fund the Fringe production, so keep your eyes pealed for the fundraising activities that will be happening over the coming months around School.
Ms Nickie McQuade-Powell, Director of Drama
Pupil Council
PUPIL COUNCIL | Our Pupil Council met over lunch in the QML last week to discuss a variety of topics, ranging from the food served in Restaurant 1877 to school scarves. The Pupil Council is an excellent opportunity for all pupils, through their peer representatives, to voice their opinions on issues which affect them at school and to propose changes which would further improve their school experience. Many thanks to Mr Durward, Dr Jackson-Hutt, Mr Tonge, and Mr Knight for taking time out of their busy schedules to attend the latest meeting of the Pupil Council.
The Pupil Council is always happy to welcome new members. Please speak to your Head of Year if you are interested in joining the Pupil Council, or would like more information.
Hockey Highlights
HOCKEY HIGHLIGHTS | The St Leonards girls had an excellent set of wins against Madras College last week, whilst the boys had a good set of fixtures against Robert Gordon's College.
The boys' 1st XI played some excellent hockey, with the final score a convincing 3-1 to St Leonards.
Football Fun
FOOTBALL FUN | Our Senior Boys' Football team battled well in an away fixture against Gordonstoun last weekend, just losing out 2-1. Congratulations to Rudy Newton (Year 11) who scored the goal.
Chinese New Year
CHINESE NEW YEAR | Pupils and staff celebrated the Year of the Rat with dancing, singing, games, a raffle (with prizes ranging from panda chopsticks to perfume), and delicious food in Restaurant 1877. This is a highly anticipated event in the St Leonards' calendar, and was the culmination of over three month's preparation. Many thanks to Ms Wang, the Year 12 Chinese pupils who organised the event (Charlotte Ruan, Matt Zhang, Linda Lau, and Rania Lyu), and Harry Yu for taking these excellent photographs.
Below, Rania Lyu expresses her thanks to various different members of staff who helped ensure that the evening was a success:
"Many thanks to the staff, teachers, and pupils who supported our event. In particular, we would like to thank Dr Carslaw for giving us the opportunity to introduce our culture to the school; the Music and Drama departments for providing us with the stage; the Sports department for providing us with sound equipment; the IT department for the projector and projector screen; and the Restaurant 1877 staff for cooking the Chinese-style meal and for allowing us to use the Restaurant. Finally, we would like to thank our Chinese teacher, Ms Wang, who supports the event every year. Happy New Year!".
There was also a more informal celebration of Chinese New Year in Bishopshall - the girls cooked some of their favourite dishes, including spring rolls and dumplings!
Kung Fu and Counting
KUNG FU AND COUNTING | Year 12 students, accompanied by Deputy Head (Academic) Dawn Pemberton-Hislop, visited the 8th Fife (St Andrews) Beavers group earlier this month. The students taught the Beavers, the first and youngest section of the Scout Group, about Chinese traditions. This session was part of their My World Challenge Award, which encourages the Beavers to learn about the cultures and traditions of another country. The Beavers learned to count to ten in Mandarin, had their names written out in Chinese, and even tried out some Kung Fu movements. It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening for all involved, and it is hoped that this partnership between St Leonards and the Beavers will continue and expand over the coming months.
Burns Celebrations
BURNS CELEBRATIONS | Pupils at St Leonards celebrated the life and work of Robert Burns in a variety of different ways at the end of January. On Friday, 24 January, pupils were allowed to wear a 'touch of tartan' with their school uniform. There was certainly an impressive array of tartan trousers, kilts, and scarves!
There was also a Burns Assembly, which started with a beautiful performance on the harp of Calum's Road by Faith McKenzie-Page (Year 10). This was followed by a brief overview of the life and work of Robert Burns, and a recitation of Burns' Up In The Morning Early by Kit McCarthy (Year 13). Lauren Hastie (Year 12) then recited a poem by contemporary Scottish poet Jackie Kay.
These eloquent and expressive recitations set the scene for the launch of this year's Leveson Plate and Bowl Competition. The theme for this year's competition is 'Vision'. There will be two genre categories represented in the competition: poetry and prose fiction (short stories). Entrants can compete in one or both genres, and the three age categories are Years 8-9, Years 10-11, and Years 12-13. The deadline for submission is Wednesday, 26 February 2020.
The Assembly then closed with a vocal duet of Burns' poem A Red, Red Rose set to music. This was performed by Lucy Tabberer and Ella Vincent (both Year 12), and accompanied by Kit McCarthy.
Many thanks to Mr Iannone, Head of English, for coordinating such a varied and interesting Burns Assembly.
Finally, there was a Burns Ceilidh in the School Hall. There was a good turnout, and the pupils who attended had a great time and enjoyed the traditional dances, including the Dashing White Sergeant, The Gay Gordons, and Strip the Willow. Many thanks to Mr Baxter for organising the event.
SLM Blues
SLM BLUES | The SLM Blues have returned to action after the Christmas break but the winter weather led to the cancellation of our first fixture of 2020 against Robert Gordon's College. Since then, we have had two very close fixtures against Lathallan and Kirkcaldy. There is now a break either side of half term for hockey, and our upcoming matches are against Howe of Fife, High School of Dundee, Edinburgh Academy, and a return fixture against Lathallan. Our training sessions take place on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 4.30-5.30 pm. Please do come along if you are interested - you would be very welcome.
Mr Andrew Turnbull, PE Teacher and SLM Blues Coordinator
Fourth Final
FOURTH FINAL | Many congratulations to Francesca Calder (Year 11) who recently made the final of the British Schools Small-bore Rifle Association Junior Championship 2020, her fourth final of the current season. She scored an impressive 198/200 in the first round of the competition. This is a fantastic achievement, and we wish her all the best as she prepares to compete in the final.
Last Minute Opportunity
LAST MINUTE OPPORTUNITY | The Children Act is a 2017 drama directed by Richard Eyre, produced by Duncan Kenworthy, and written by Ian McEwan, based on his 2014 novel of the same name. It is an engaging film/book which explores interesting aspects of medical jurisprudence and ethics. There is a free (ticketed) screening of the film with a brief introduction and then a Q&A afterwards at The Byre Theatre on Tuesday, 4 February at 6.30 pm. It will be a thought-provoking and interesting evening, and we would particularly encourage pupils considering a future career in medicine to attend.