COMPASSION DETERMINATION HONESTY SELF-BELIEF

RESILIENCE RESPECT

SUMMER NEWSLETTER 2018

A message from our Headteacher

I hope you find this newsletter not only informative, but also that you are pleased with the continued

efforts being made by staff and pupils alike to attain and achieve. The newsletter will reflect the

range of opportunities young people enjoy and their success. It will also reflect that the staff

continue to offer and deliver a range of opportunities to young people which are second to none.

The SQA exam diet for 2018 is complete and once again all of our young people have

demonstrated the capacities of curriculum for excellence, in the responsible, confident and

effective way they have conducted themselves throughout the exam period. Our SQA invigilators

congratulated the pupils for their exemplary behaviour, both the exam candidates and the junior

pupils who ensured their conduct was such that the conditions for sitting exams were excellent. For

those who sat SQA exams, time will tell if you have demonstrated that you are also successful

learners. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our team of invigilators who provide a

consistent level of excellence to Castle Douglas High School. When the results are released in

August there will be staff in school on Wednesday 8th August, from 10am – 2pm, to answer queries

and to help young people make decisions about their learning pathways should they feel their

subject choices have to change based on their results.

It is not often that a school wins a national competition, especially a competition where the number

of entries and the quality of those entries is so high. However, Castle Douglas High School pupils

have not only won the national final of the schools public speaking competition run by the Crown

Office and the Procurator Fiscal Service, but this year’s team have retained the trophy for the

second year running. 119 teams featuring 240 pupils from 72 schools across Scotland entered the

competition and in the final Tessa Hall (S3) and Jessica Quigley (S2) were declared the winners. My

congratulations to Tessa and Jessica I am sure the whole school community is very proud of your

achievement. Thank you also to Mr Butler and Mrs Robson who were excellent coaches and

mentors to the National winners.

On Wednesday 6th June the school sports took place and once again our young people

demonstrated excellent behaviour and attitude by competing fiercely on the day and by

supporting one another as spectators. The weather on the day was excellent for those of us

spectating but I am sure it was a little too hot for the competitors. However, competitors from

Solway house rose to the challenge and were rewarded with the accolade of champion house for

session 2017-18. Well done Solway house. Thank you to all staff for participating in the sports day

event in a range of duties and to our PE staff for organising this successful event.

The weekend of the 21st – 23rd June saw Castle Douglas High School drama group take over the

Fullerton Theatre to present us with three performances of ‘Daisy pulls it off’. If you managed to get

along to the theatre to see the show I am sure you will have been impressed not only by the

excellence of the performance but also by the dedication of the young people involved to achieve

such outstanding entertainment. Thank you to all the young people who gave of their time and

grasped this opportunity to showcase their talents. I also extend my thanks to Mr Butler and Mrs

Robson for leading this group and to the Fullerton Theatre for giving us the opportunity to make use

of their facilities.

Throughout the year our young people have taken part in a wide and varied range of opportunities

and are to be congratulated for their successes. Successes have been achieved in a wide range of

activities such as sailing, netball, football, rugby, on horseback, in music, drama, kayaking, dance,

cross country running, basketball, hockey, Duke of Edinburgh Award and in raising a substantial

amount of money to support our chosen charities. Schools are about learning and teaching but the

achievements of our young people demonstrates that Castle Douglas High School also supports the

development of the whole person and our young people must be congratulated for the way they

respond and take part in the opportunities available.

On 31st May we had a very successful broad general education (S1-S3) awards event. We were

fortunate to have a commonwealth gold medal winner and former pupil of Castle Douglas High

School, Mr. David McMath to present the awards. David spoke passionately about his time at Castle

Douglas and how he set himself on the path to being a gold medal winner. He talked about the

importance of setting achievable goals, of looking ahead to what you want to achieve and then

breaking down the pathway to that overarching goal into small chunks that you can work towards.

David talked about the importance of hard work, determination and the willingness to sacrifice short

term pleasure to ensure that you achieve your overall goal. His next target is an Olympic gold

medal and we wish him well on his pursuit of this goal and thank him for his contribution to our

awards event.

On the 26th of June, our Senior Awards Ceremony took place and once again congratulations to all

winners. Our guest speaker was Sam Gallagher who is estate manager for Dumfries and Galloway

branch of the National Trust. After telling us a bit about himself he then went onto talk about a future

partnership between the Threave Estate and Castle Douglas High School which all involved are very

excited about.

I would also like to pay tribute to Mr. John King who has very successfully chaired our parent council

over the last four sessions. Mr. King has been a great supporter of the school and has played an

important part in helping the school through a few difficult years. I wish Mr. King well as he takes his

leave from the position of chairperson and hope that he can look back on his time as chair of the

parent council with fond memories. I am sure Mr. King will continue to support the school and that

he would agree with me that it would be really good to see many more parents, with as many

different skills and knowledge as possible, willing to be involved in the parent council helping to steer

this school forward over the coming sessions.

We are now a few weeks into our new school timetable and it is going well. Classes now start at

9:00am and there is a noticeable reduction in the number of pupils who are coming late to school.

Please keep this standard up when the new sessions starts in August. The school has started a data

gathering process to help us to start a consultation about school uniform and this will continue into

the new session. However, at the moment there have been no changes made to the school policy

on uniform and we ask for your support to ensure that your child is leaving home in the morning

dressed appropriately for school.

Finally I would like to extend my personal thanks to all staff and parents of Castle Douglas High

School who have made me feel very welcome and have made it easier for me to step into the role

of Head Teacher. I am looking forward to continuing to work with you and your young people

aiming to achieve the vision that we have clearly stated in our vision and values statement that will

result in all of the young people achieving the highest goals.

I hope that you enjoy your summer and as always, if I can be of help in any way, please do not

hesitate to contact me.

James Smith

Information

Uniform Consultation

We are currently undergoing a Uniform Consultation and have at this point received over 300 returns

from staff, parents and pupils. The consultation is still ongoing and will not be completed until into the

new session so the expectation on return will still be white shirt / polo shirt, black trousers / skirt, black

shoes or trainers and a tie.

Although the consultation is still ongoing one change that we are happy to enforce now is the

introduction of black dress shorts. Shorts that would be worn in PE are not acceptable.

We ask for your support in ensuring that pupils attend school wearing uniform.

Tesco Bags of Help Scheme

The school has been fortunate enough to be included in the Tesco Bags of Help scheme during July

and August to support Breakfast Club.

We would be grateful if you could help us during the school holidays by asking for a token when you

are buying any items and placing it in our box.

Nails

Some members of staff have highlighted that the length of some pupils acrylic nails are causing issues

within the learning environment of school. Nails have been so long in some instances that pupils have

struggled to hold pencils and there are Health and Safety concerns in some practical areas. We ask

for your support in this matter to ensure that nails are kept to a safe and reasonable length.

Key Dates

Friday 29th June – School closes for the Summer holidays

Tuesday 7th August – SQA results are issued. SLT will be in school between 10am and 2pm.

Tuesday 21st August – Pupils return to school

S1-S3 BGE Awards Ceremony

The S1-S3 BGE awards were held on Thursday the 31st of May. Former pupil David McMath

returned to the school to present the awards having recently returned from the Commonwealth

Games where he won a gold medal. He spoke about the importance of hard work and setting

achievable targets which are reviewed on a regular basis. National public speaking champions

Tessa Hall and Jessica Quigley then performed their speech from the final and demonstrated

again why they were worthy winners. Well done to all.

In September we were both selected to represent the school in the COPFS public speaking

competition. In the first round took place in at Castle Douglas High School. Our topic was ‘Does the

media and fashion put too much pressure on young people?’ After an initial brainstorming process we

began to link up some ideas and also tried to come up with a different point of view from our

competitors.

We then progressed to Hamilton Court. The topic this time was ‘Has gender had its day?’ We were

both quite nervous going into this round but with help from last year’s winners Niamh and Ayaat

alongside Mr Butler we advanced into the semi-finals.

The semi-final took place in Livingston and we were competing against one school. The topic of ‘Every

child should be fed by the state.’ really got us thinking. Once we got into the topic it was very difficult

to contain our speech to the time we were allocated.

We were again successful and made it through to the National final which was held in Edinburgh High

Court. We knew this would be our toughest challenge yet but once again our coaches got right

behind us. After lots of rehearsals we were finally ready. Ironically, the scariest part of the process was

not the speaking it was waiting for the results after the final.

We are both thrilled to be known as the COPFS schools public speaking champions for 2018 but we

know that this would not have been possible without the help of Mr Butler and Mrs Robson. From

advice to driving us around the country your time is much appreciated. We would also like to thank

Ayaat and Niamh. They understood how we were feeling and were always on hand to make the

experience a bit easier for us. Jessica Quigley and Tessa Hall

A word from the COPFS Public Speaking Champions

S4-S6 Awards Ceremony

Our annual Senior Awards ceremony was held on Tuesday 26th June. The night was hosted by

departing Head of Houses Julia Ross and Fiona Thomson. A range of awards were given out and

the guest speaker was Sam Gallagher from the National Trust of Scotland. As well as

congratulating pupils on their academic achievement he also spoke about the importance of

‘purpose.’ Many in attendance have commented on how thought provoking his speech was and

as a school we again thank him for his contribution. The Stewarty Wind Band played four pieces at

the ceremony, two of which were in particular tribute to Colin Jackson. The ceremony was

brought to a conclusion by the introduction of the new S6 Head of Houses Alex Livingston, Monica

Ross and Isla Davies. Well done again to all prize winners.

Julia Ross being presented with the

David Mitchell award for Whole

School Achievement

Charles James being presented with

The Lockhart Rosebowl for

Achievement in S5

Natalie Lindley being presented with

The Donald Campbell Memorial Prize

for School Endeavour

Prize winners pose with their trophies

S4

Winners

S5

Winners

S6

Winners

All

Winners

Awards Ceremony Pictures

Meet the Stars of Daisy Pulls It Off

After the gruelling rehearsals and three nights of performing we caught up with Lucy Riding

and Caitlin Black who played the roles of Daisy and Trixie.

How do you feel now that it is over?

Lucy – I feel relieved that the show is over but

also very sad because I will miss the brilliant cast.

Caitlin – I’m relieved that all the hard work has

paid off in the end but I will miss working with

the cast members as I made lots of friends

during rehearsals and the process.

Are you anything like your character?

Lucy – I really like my character because she is

very honest and I think in terms of determination I

am very like Daisy.

Caitlin – Not really. Trixie is very chaotic and

‘mad’ whereas I’m a lot more quiet and

reserved. However, I do like to think I am as loyal

as Trixie.

Have you ever found yourself randomly

speaking in an English accent?

Caitlin – No- but I do sometimes catch myself

saying ‘Righto’ a lot.

What is your favourite memory?

Lucy – My favourite memory is when we started

to use the trunks because it really brought the

production together.

Caitlin – Most likely the opening nights – lots of

people brought food and I ate quite a lot!

What have you learned from the experience?

Lucy – I have learned so much from the experience. The biggest lesson I have taken from the whole

production is that hard work pays off.

Caitlin – I’ve learned that theatre productions may be extremely hard work, but that hard work

definitely pays off in the final product.

Do you have any advice for people reading this article?

Caitlin - If the chance arises for another school production next year I encourage everyone to get

involved as it is lots of fun!

Daisy Pulls It Off

Daisy Pulls It Off

It was a tremendous effort all

round---and I can totally

appreciate the amount of hard

work that went into putting it on!

Everyone involved should be very

proud of themselves! Mrs Riley

This was my first Castle Douglas High

School production and I was

astonished and delighted by it. The

characterisation and acting were

fabulous, the set looked great, and

the vision and direction were

inspired.

Jolly well done to everyone involved!

Mrs Gillies

My wife and I watched the show on Friday

evening and were completely astounded by all

aspects of the performance. How the

characters learned all of those lines, delivered

them flawlessly and had us laughing from start to

finish. The cliff-top rescue was some inspired

directing and the young actors maintained their

characters with their individual traits superbly. A

thoroughly entertaining evening for which the

young people involved should be very proud of

themselves. Mr Smith

" One of the best school shows I

have ever seen. CDHS pulls it off!"

Ms Todd

"Fantastic. Amazing. Lost for

words. Thoroughly enjoyed it and

a massive thumbs up to all

involved.’ Mr Cathro

Shannon visits Buckingham Palace

On Monday 21st May, Shannon Davies (S6) was fortunate to be given the opportunity along with

another 29 members of the National Youth Pipe Band of Scotland travelled down to London where

they performed in front of Prince Harry, Megan and other members of the Royal family at a

Buckingham Palace garden party to start the 70th birthday celebrations for Prince Charles. The

band left Glasgow and travelled down to Birmingham for an overnight stay before travelling onto

London on the Tuesday. They performed for the arrival of over 6000 guests then again during the

afternoon before enjoying a well-deserved afternoon tea. Afterwards, the band members lined up

to greet Prince Charles. Shannon was lucky enough to be one of 6 members chosen to be

introduced to him which she felt very privileged to have done.

In the summer Shannon is travelling with a small team from NYPBoS to Inverness to tutor youngsters at

a two day pipe band camp. This will help Shannon hopefully progress towards her goal of teaching

tenor drumming in schools.

As well as being part of the NYPBoS based in Glasgow where they meet once a month for practises,

Shannon plays the tenor drum with Grade 1 Glasgow Police Pipe Band and travels to Cathcart

twice a week for practises (three times in the run up to a major competition) This has been a big

achievement for her since she began learning with local band Kirkcudbright & District along with her

sister 10 years ago. In the autumn of 2016, she moved to Grade 3 Lochmaben Royal Burgh before

given the opportunity last August to move to Glasgow Police.

Library Corner

Class visits to Castle Douglas Library

School trips for S2 pupils to visit the Castle Douglas Library were arranged on a series of Friday

mornings between 11th and 25th May. On these visits the pupils experienced what the public library

has to offer in the Non-Fiction collections as part of their informative writing preparation. The pupils

were also given the opportunity to join the library prior to the visit.

We thank Mrs L Garbutt of Dumfries and Galloway Libraries who facilitated and led the sessions.

Public libraries play a central role in promoting literacy and study through access to collections and

services beyond the resources that may be available at school.

Health and Wellbeing Books

As part of an overall programme of responding to reported health and wellbeing issues amongst

young people, the library has created a dedicated Health and Wellbeing collection of fiction and

non-fiction books. This initial, small but carefully selected collection covers areas such as: General

Health; ADHD; Anxiety, worry and panic; Autism and Asperger syndrome; Body image and eating

disorders; Bullying; Confidence and self-esteem; Depression; Mood swings; OCD; Self-harm, Stress

and LGBT issues. The books provide a discreet and personal resource for those who wish to find out

more information about health and wellbeing issues. There is in addition the opportunity to build self-

esteem and understanding through identification with fiction characters. Through these books

young people will feel less isolated and lonely and will be able to access help and advice. The

books are available for loan from the school library by individuals, who may be referred to them as

part of pastoral or medical care within the school or by other relevant organisations.

We applied to Stewartry Health and Wellbeing Partnership Funding 2018 for funding as we needed

to expand our collection of books to adequately represent the areas listed for our local young

people. We were delighted to receive a grant of £200 for books from Stewartry Health and

Wellbeing Partnership and we will continue to build the collection and work together with relevant

organisations.

British Science Week Author Visit

A cross curricular approach to promoting reading and writing inspired an invitation to an author to

visit Castle Douglas High School during British Science Week 2018 in March. Author and former

science teacher Gill Arbuthnott was a natural choice as in addition to her works of fiction Gill also

writes non-fiction for children. Gill passionately believes that science is fascinating and that books

about science should be thrilling. This visit by a successful author brought books alive for Castle

Douglas pupils, with Gill explaining the creative process, her passion for writing, reading, stories and

science. The science aspect, in addition to promoting British Science Week and science

generally, encouraged reading for pupils who have a particular fascination with factual books or

stories drawing on scientific findings. The visit was made possible by Scottish Book Trust funding and

supported by Curly Tale Books, Wigtown.

Young Enterprise

This year’s Young Enterprise team, Set in Stone, began their journey in August. The team of

13 was expertly lead by Michael Syme with Mrs Blackburn as link teacher. Our business

mentor, Andrea Thomson, was also on hand to offer her advice and support.

Product development was soon underway and with the help of local blacksmith artist,

Adam Booth, a product range of quality homeware was designed and manufactured.

The team attended several markets on the run up to Christmas which was their most

successful selling period. Further product development took place in January with photo

holders and love hearts with rose gold finish being the main product just in time for

Valentine’s day. This product diversification also leads to the team securing a major order

with GG’s yard.

In order to help communicate their brand image the team enlisted the help of Kim Ayres,

a local photographer who met with them to discuss their vision. They revisited their link with

Adam Booth to use his forge for the location of the shoot. This proved to be very successful

it created a lot of publicity not only on social media but also through appearing in and on

the front cover of Dumfries & Galloway Life magazine.

The regional final was held in March with Set in Stone receiving awards for Best

Presentation and Best Report. However, they were just pipped to the post by 0.4 of a mark,

coming in overall second place.

A final profit of £300 will be donated to the food train.

The annual 5 Castles Schools Regatta, held on Friday 15th June was hosted once more this year by the Galloway Activity Centre on Loch Ken. It combines a Team Racing Regatta for experienced young

sailors with a separate opportunity for others to try a variety of different water-sports.

Sponsored by Common Thread Group and run jointly by Solway Yacht Club, Annandale Sailing Club

and GAC, secondary schools from all over SW Scotland and NW England are invited to send race teams

and, for others, "Tasters" who can enjoy taster sessions in sailing, kayaking, canoeing and more. Around

fifty young people joined the taster sessions.

Four racing teams of three boats each competed in the regatta. Sailing team racing is likened to chess;

where you put your "pieces", or in this case boats, relative to the opposition, is more important than

being first over the finish line. A 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, (scoring 9 pts) easily beats a 1st, 5th & 6th (scoring 12

pts). Holding up (within the Rules) a faster opposition boat to help your lower placed boat can make all

the difference. Lowest total score wins! A steady breeze was forecast from the South West, which

promised good racing, and the organisers scheduled each team to sail against each other team twice

in a league competition.

Rain threatened all day but thankfully never arrived. The wind, however, took some time to settle,

resulting in the need to move the racing marks more than once to achieve the best course. The first race

was run in light and changeable winds and saw Castle Douglas High School complete an early win over

Dalbeattie High School. As the day progressed, the wind direction steadied and its strength increased,

with the strongest gust recorded at 23 knots, or 26 miles per hour. This made for some exciting and

challenging racing. One competitor from Kirkcudbright Academy, who had only sailed a few times

before, received a special prize for determination; despite capsizing many times, he completed all his

races.

Racing between the other three teams was very close and up until the final race any one of them could

have won the regatta. In the end, with five wins out of six races, it was Castle Douglas High School that

topped the podium.

Overall Results:

Gold medal - Castle Douglas High School, 50 points

Silver medal - Dalbeattie High School, 55 points

Bronze medal - Lockerbie Academy, 60 points

Thank you to the Yachts and Yachting website and the Solway Yacht Club, Kippford for the use of their

article and pictures.

Emily Biggar, Anna Miller and Christopher Davidson

pose with their shield.

An action shot from the sailors.

Sports Day Results

Individual Results for Sports Champion

S1 Girls – Ruby Walsh-Kirk S1 Boys – Sam Tait

S2 Girls – Erin Purcell S2 Boys – Owen Hunter

S3 Girls – Amelia Craig S3 Boys – Cameron Wishart

Senior Girls- Senior Boys – Tommy McGrath

House Results

First Place:

Solway – 2240 points

Second Place:

Kelton – 2230 points

Third Place:

Threave – 1895 points

For the first time in many years Solway were crowned House Champions at the end of Sports Day. In

a revamped House system points have been awarded throughout the year for various

achievements and participation. Solway led going into Sports Day and were eventually crowned

champions in a very tense finish where it came down to the relay race results. Principal Teacher of

Health and Well Being Andy McNay said ‘The participation numbers very were high again this year

which is good to see and pupils gave it their all out there.’ Thanks again to all staff involved in the

organisation of Sports Day with particular thanks to the PE department.

The Best of Sports Day

Well done to everyone who took part!

Neck and Neck at the last hurdle The totals are being calculated

The race begins Sprint Finish

Team Talk The Break Is On

The Break Is On

The Best of Sports Day

Well done to everyone who took part!

Too Close To Call

The Prizes Up For Grabs Ready To Start

The Home Stretch

Trying To Get The Ball Under Control

The famous Sack Race