Dear Parent/Carer

Welcome to our Christmas Newsletter. Anyone who has visited the school recently will have noticed the incredibly Christmassy feel of our school foyer and office area. It really does lift the spirit on entering our building. Many thanks to Vera Hoban and our wonderful office staff for the way in which they have transformed the heart of our school this year.

Those same visitors will also undoubtedly notice S2 students manning our new reception desk. A great deal has been achieved in 2013 to better meet the needs of our young people, and I am delighted our young people themselves now have a more prominent role in welcoming visitors to the school.

Learning, achievement, respect, community and happiness all seem to come together in a very uplifting way at Preston Lodge over the Christmas period. I very much hope you have been able to participate in some of our Christmas events and I also hope that you have a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year. We all look forward to working with you in 2014.

Yours faithfully

Gavin Clark Head Teacher

Preston Lodge High School

18 December 2013

Page 1

Issue 3

Welcome 1

School Updates 2

Charities Committee 4

Learning In and Out of

School

5

Christmassy Facts 7

Columba 1400 8

Sports Update 9

Dates for your Diary 9

Christmas Concert photos 12

Inside this issue:

Stage 3 2009-2012

@PrestonLodgeHS

Christmas Newsletter

A beautiful cake produced by Morgan McKinlay (S4)

Christmas in the PL Office……….

Issue 3 Page 2

School Updates

Senior Citizens’ Christmas Concert.

Our annual Senior Citizens’ concert took place in the school last Thursday. Over a hundred senior citizens from across our community were entertained by a really strong selection of musical offerings. As usual, our Home Economics team provided fantastic hospitality and Santa also paid a visit bearing gifts. This really popular event was generously supported by Longniddry Parish Church and Andrew Gorrian, Prestonpans Royal British Legion.

This really was a lovely occasion and our guests had a great time. An event which truly reflects our aims and values created a lovely feeling in the hall. The oldest guest was 99½ and one couple visiting had been married for 74 years!

Persian Ladies

On behalf of the Persian Ladies a big thank you to all who bought our remembrance baubles and raffle tickets. We have raised £345 so far this year. A staff coffee morning for ‘Movember’ raised £148. More events are planned for 2014.

Viv Donaldson

Christmas Fayre

The S4 Personal Development class, assisted by the S3 Forest Schools Group, held a Christmas Fayre on Friday 13 December, selling hot dogs, Christmas crafts and woodland wreaths. This was a huge success, raising £100. Half of the proceeds will go to the Sick Kids Foundation Charity, whilst the rest of the money will be used towards the Forest Schools project.

Katherine Balsillie

Tucking into some great food….

Santas Merry Together

The Persian Ladies’ Christmas Tree

The Christmas Fayre

Page 3 Issue 3

Uniform

Many thanks once again to all families for their support in ensuring school uniform is maintained over the winter months. We have been really pleased with student uniform and we are currently working with the very small number of students who have taken a cold weather opportunity to wear some non-uniform items!

We firmly believe that school uniform is a key part of what we stand for, even though we have seen some rather dubious Christmas jumpers enter the building in recent days!

School transport issues

During the recent checks of school transport contracts, Andrew McLellan, Transport Services (ELC) has noticed an increase in the amount of pedestrians using the school transport drop off/pick-up point/turning circle as a short cut, walking through the transport. He has also noticed an increase in parents bringing their own private cars into the area and weaving through the vehicles and pupils.

We would ask all parents and non-school transport users to stay away from these areas 15 minutes before the bell and 15 minutes after to reduce the risk of a possible accident.

A Christmas use for the PL Tie

Issue 3 Page 4

Charities Committee The Charities Committee have been working hard to raise as much as they can for their selected charities. The two most recent fundraising events which have taken place are the Children in Need week and the Stand Up To Cancer concert.

The Children In Need week was an outstanding success and raised £880.73. Soak the Teacher was a popular event, in which many teachers and students volunteered and got pummelled by sponges. The children participating in penalty shoot-outs had a tough time facing up to goalie Calum Wilson. The Bake Sale was a scrumptious success, wiping out all our goodies, resulting in £157.50. The most successful event took place on the Friday when S6’s got their heads shaved (Chris Berg, Jason Wood and Cameron Bathgate), legs and armpits waxed and sat in a revolting bath full of beans, rice pudding and tuna (Erin Connachan and Erin Stewart).

The Stand Up To Cancer concert was a musical triumph for the S6 and the music department. It involved many acts such as vocal singing, instrumental and musical compositions. £354.62 was donated in this roof-raising experience. Many adults and children joined in, making quite a noise.

All in all, the Charities Committee have had a very successful term and a high turnout of students participating. They look forward to 2014 where they plan to continue with their high fundraising standards and are eager to see all students taking part in future events.

A Christmas Jumper Fundraising took place last Friday for Sick Kids Charity. All students were asked to wear a Christmas jumper, T Shirt or come dressed in something Christmassy. Approximately £600 was raised.

Liam Cullen

Page 5 Issue 3

Learning In and Out of

School East Lothian Hospitality and Tourism Academy

Congratulations to our Year 2 Hospitality and Tourism Academy Students who recently cooked a magnificent three course meal for some thirty East Lothian headteachers at EH15 restaurant.

The school was really proud of their achievement in providing a very impressive statement of skills and commitment. You can still catch them cooking up a storm at this Edinburgh college restaurant until mid-January next year.

Pipe Band Success

8 December was another successful day for the school’s band at Craigmount High School.

In the Under-15 Piping 4-Part March Competition Peter MacNeill finished first out of a field of 67. Ben Muir finished 3rd in the same event and Erin Ritchie qualified for the final 12.

In the Under-15 Drumming 4-Part March competition Blair Logan finished 6th out of a field of 53. Robert Kotula and Dylan Bell qualified for the final 12 in the same event.

In the Under-15 Tenor Drumming March Competition Emma MacDonald finished in 4th place out of 16.

In the Quartet Piping Competition Preston Lodge High School finished in 2nd Place out of 8 bands. Pipers Ben

Muir, Erin Ritchie and Lucy Thomson were led by school Pipe Major Dollar Millar putting in a tremendous performance. The event was won by George Heriot's School with Boghall and Bathgate finishing third.

We are all delighted with these results at what is now the biggest solo piping and drumming event for juveniles on the calendar.

Lee Moore

Ben Muir and Peter MacNeill

Ben Muir, Erin Ritchie, Dollar Miller, Lucy Thomson

Issue 3 Page 6

Rotary Young Chef Competition

The Area Round of the Rotary Young Chef Competition was held at Preston Lodge High School on Friday 22 November. Four schools were represented: Beeslack High, Dalkeith High, Knox Academy and Preston Lodge; with two students from each school competing.

Our very own Amy Sinclair came second with her two course meal of Chicken with Prosciutto, Spinach and Pinenuts, served with East Lothian Mash with Leeks and Glazed Carrots and Vanilla and Ginger Cheesecake served with Spiced Clementines. She will now go on to compete in the District round at West Lothian College on 1 February.

Good luck Amy!

Liz Nicoll

Christmas in Home Economics

All year groups have been busy preparing ‘Festive Delights’ for Christmas

S1 have been making traditional ‘truffles’, whereas S2 have gone a step further and are making three larger truffles as Christmas Characters, some as Rudolf, Santa’s tum, Christmas parcels or a pudding. All were superbly handled and would enhance any Christmas table!

S3 have been making Christmas cake sponges, which have been decorated beautifully with fondant iced baubles and icing trims. The Cake Baking options classes have been designing and making small rich fruit cakes which

they marzipaned, iced and decorated; many being used as gifts.

Finally, the seniors in the National 5 Cake Craft class have made slightly larger versions of the individually designed rich fruit cakes. They took care to ensure they had included a number of cake decorating techniques, and a variety of colours and designs which are appropriate for the theme of Christmas.

Staff were also involved in making beautiful Christmas cakes in an after-school class, run by Mrs Beattie. Competition was rife as staff worked hard to create a stunning Christmas cake to share with family and friends. Hopefully we will be able to share some of their finished cakes on the website soon!

Students have also been busy making a wonderful array of festive food to support the Senior Citizens’ Concert and Afternoon Tea, the School Christmas Concerts, our very popular Home Economics Staff Christmas Meal and the Seniors Christmas Dance. A very busy time indeed, but fantastic opportunities to let our students share their skills and expertise with a larger audience. They certainly work very hard to ensure a very high standard. Well done to all involved and enormous thanks.

Liz Nicoll

YE Enterprise

This year's Young Enterprise Company, Vintage, are a group of S6 students - Iain Crawford, Declan Luby, Andrew Ferguson, Robbie Baillie, Calum Wilson and Anna Cairns. We sell lovely and unique tea cup candles. They are the perfect gift for Christmas and are available at a range of school events. Get in touch with us through twitter - @PLVintage.

Amy Sinclair with her runners up certificate

Robbie Baillie, Iain Crawford, Declan Luby, Anna Cairns,

Andrew Ferguson and Calum Wilson

Page 7 Issue 3

CHRISTMASSY FACTS A Christmas Quiz, really: Can you spot which facts are true or false?

Reindeer are the only carnivorous deer

A survey in 1990 found that 25% of shopping centre Santas are allergic to mince pies

40% of the Finnish adult population admit to believing in Santa

The vast increase in pollution during the winter is usually blamed on an abundance of Christmas lights

With the wrapping paper unwrapped in the world on Christmas day you could cover all of Jupiter’s moons

Christmas baubles were originally cuboid

US president William McKinley invented the tradition of putting an angel on top of the Christmas tree – he was assassinated the next year

Christmas jumpers were first popularised when Gandhi mentioned them in a speech in 1933

The explosives in 14 Christmas crackers could destroy a bread bin

The specific heat capacity of a snowman is 2.108 kJ/kg-K

St Nicholas – the inspiration for Santa Claus – spent 20 years in prison for stealing a horse

Two out of five Christmas gifts are still unused a year later

A reindeer was born in Russia in 1950 with a bright scarlet nose. It was named Vlad. This missed commercial opportunity was noticed by a group of tourists in the early eighties

Boxing Day was so called because it was so common for family disputes over Christmas presents to occur on 26 December

‘Facts’ provided by Craig Munro, Chris Berg and Michael Hill (S6)

Page 8 Issue 3

Columba 1400

Over the last three weeks a group of 16 staff and students from Columba 1400 Academy 6 have been working together to organise Christmas Hampers for families in need in East Lothian. The hampers, containing a selection of foods, have now been assembled and are with the Childrens Wellbeing department for distribution to families. Look out for more from this Columba group soon!

Alex McCraw (S5)

Issue 3 Page 9

Sport Update

Our Football teams have continued their success with all teams playing and progressing in league and cup competitions.

The Senior Girls football team progressed into the next round of the Scottish Cup with a win against Crieff High School. They played Dalziel High School on Tuesday 10 December in Motherwell. This is the last 16 of the Scottish Cup and hopefully they will continue the success of the last three years and reach the quarter-finals.

The Senior Boys Football team have had a long unbeaten run with wins against Castlebrae, Holyrood, Drummond, Stewart’s Melville, Linlithgow and Newbattle. They were beaten by Musselburgh in the league but are still in contention in that league, as well as progressing in the Lothian’s Cup. Group matches in the East Lothian Cup take place after Christmas.

Hopefully we can continue the good results in the New Year and progress in two cup competitions.

The U-14 boys have had a stop-start season. They progressed in the Scottish Cup with a 3-1 win v Balerno. However, Lasswade knocked the team out in the next round, winning 6-5. Unfortunately, due to illness and players not being available we only had 12 on the day. The team have had recent matches v Newbattle with a 6-0 win and a 2-2 draw v Ross High. League matches will continue in the New Year and if any new players would like to come along please see Mr Bennion.

The U-13s team are still unbeaten with seven wins out of seven in the league and they also won 7-1 in the Scottish Cup v St Thomas. This was an excellent result in tough conditions which and they progress to the next round. The team are due to play James Gillespies in the New Year. Any new players are welcome to come along to training. Please see Mr Bennion if you are interested.

Some great rugby has been played recently, particularly from our S1 and S2 teams. The most recent highlight was an away trip to Lorreto. The boys turned up rather

Senior Girls Football Team

Our Senior Boys Football Team

Our U-14s Boys Team

S2 Rugby Team

nervously, anticipating a tough morning, however the PLHS S1's put in a tremendous performance to run home 77 - 7 winners! The S2/3 team also won in dramatic style. The match was nip and tuck all the way, and PL found themselves held back on their own try line for the last 10 minutes protecting a one try lead. The boys were tested out wide and close to rucks as Loretto bombarded the PL line, but the PL spirit was strong and the boys held out for a hugely satisfying victory.

With that amount of spirit and determination PLHS rugby is looking healthy going into the new year. Merry Christmas to all the PLHS rugby boys, but don't eat too much as we need you fit and ready when you come back!

Our S1 – S3 Basketball club have had a very positive start to the season with consistently high numbers at training sessions and a very impressive win against Newbattle High School for their first game of the season. The team are hoping to continue this success into the New Year and compete in more games. Training is on a Monday after school with new players always welcome to come down and give it a try! Well done so far guys! Anyone interested in participating should speak to Miss Thomson or Euan Cameron.

In Swimming pupils from Preston Lodge High School attended the Scottish Schools Swimming trials on Sunday 17 November. The pupils who represented Preston Lodge and the events they succeeded in are:

Declan Till - Age 13-14

Gold - 200m Individual Medley, 200m Butterfly

Silver - 100m Butterfly

Bronze - 100m Backstroke

Lucy Calderhead - Age 12 & under

Gold - 200m Freestyle

Silver - 100m Freestyle

400m Freestyle - open age groups - Silver

Jodie Valentine - Age 15

Gold - 200m Freestyle, 100m Backstroke

Silver - 100m Freestyle

400m Freestyle - open age groups - Bronze

Alistair Crichton

Gold - 100m Breaststroke. 100m Individual Medley

Pupils are currently awaiting to see if their times will gain them qualification into the Scottish Schools Competition in January. The schools are proud of the pupils and have our fingers crossed that they will qualify for the finals in January.

Congratulations to the Under 19 badminton team who won the Mid/East Lothian Schools Quaich and will now go on to participate in the Scottish Schools Quaich in Glasgow in March.

The team was; Shona Whillins, Sophie Chater, Laura Moos, Melissa Marsden, Elouise Morris, Sam Chater, Douglas Crawford, Alex Burnett and James Morgan.

Our Hockey teams have kicked off the season with lots of enthusiasm and a mixed bag of results. We have

Issue 3 Page 10

S1-3 Rugby Teams

Our Young Sports Ambassadors

Page 11 Issue 3

managed to field three teams most Saturdays: S1, S2/3 combined and S3/Seniors combined, with regular training after school on Monday. We have enjoyed successes against Firhill, Boroughmuir and Ross High, with close contests against other schools. However, we are always keen for new members to join – all welcome! We look forward to a promising second half of the season with some much anticipated close matches after Christmas.

Other clubs running at Preston Lodge Active Schools still have high numbers participating. New clubs have included Dance, Trampoline and Gymnastics. If you would like to know about any clubs please see Active Schools Coordinator Mr Bennion.

Thank you to all coaches and pupils who have been attending Active Schools Clubs this year. We look forward to seeing you in the New Year.

Have a Merry Christmas!

Graeme Bennion, Active Schools Coordinator.

S2/3 Hockey team

Dates for Your Diary! Please note that these dates are subject to change

Monday 6 January All Resume

Friday 17 January House Colour Day Charity Event, Senior Target

Setting/Tracking period 3 to Parents

Thursday 23 January AH Biology Trip, Burns Supper

Monday 27 January Senior Phase Prelims start

Friday 7 February Senior Phase Prelims end, All Break

Monday 17 February In-service 4

Tuesday 18 February Students resume

Wednesday 19 February S4/5 Options Meeting (evening)

Thursday 20 February Thursday is Monday timetable

Thursday 27 February Senior Phase Parents’ Evening 1

Friday 28 February S6 Sleepover Charity Event

Tuesday 4 March Senior Phase Parents’ Evening 2

Issue 3 Page 12 S

top

Pre

ss: Last n

igh

ts’ Ch

ristmas C

on

cert