Earlston High School

Last Thursday, the sixth year got into the festive spirit with their Christmas lunch. This is the first time we have made a special effort to enjoy a Christmas meal together and it was great fun. The cracker jokes were typically bad, but the chat was lively and set the mood for the Christmas dance the following evening. A huge thanks to the kitchen staff for a great meal.

This year the S4 ASDAN ENTERPRISE CHALLENGE was to produce a recipe book. We started planning back in June and sent emails to staff and local producers asking for their favourite recipes. The response was amazing and after a massive typing, editing and collating job involving students and many staff we produced a fantastic recipe book. Since then the demand has been overwhelming!

Students have been involved in marketing the book at various events in school and the local community. They make excellent Christmas presents! The Asdan group decided that the proceeds should be divided between their two chosen charities.

Borders General Hospital Children's Ward and The Anthony Nolan Trust .

Each charity has been presented with a cheque for £500.

We are indebted to Konica Minolta, McNaughton Supplies and Lyreco for absorbing the total costs of producing the recipe book allowing us to present these sustantial cheques to our charities. This challenge has been an invaluable experience in team work allowing an insight into running a profitable, efficient and successful business. The challenge covers all the core elements of ACE. It is a great achievement and they are incredibly proud to have raised over £1000 for local charities!

The ASDAN group has done amazing work this year, not only during school but by coming in after school too, to sell. In the phoptograph, Anthon Nolan was represented by Allan Johnston., and also present was Lesley Horsburgh, senior ward nurse at the BGH.

The Modern Studies department was visited by the Secretary of State for Scotland, Michael Moore MP last on Friday 10 th December. Michael Moore MP was in to speak with the Higher Modern Studies class about UK politics. He was honest and open but as a politician, he was coy about certain issues.

After a brief introduction, where Mr Moore spoke about his role and political history, he dived straight into a barrage of intelligent questions from the Higher pupils. Issues raised included the Scotland Bill, the way Britain is governed, extradition of suspected spies and of course…tuition fees.

Having voted on the issue of tuition fees less than 24 hours before visiting EHS, the issue was bound to be raised by concerned pupils. Mr Moore stated very good reasons for his vote although it was a difficult task to convince the slightly sceptical Higher audience.

He was also very open in his views on Government. Mr Moore felt that each country in the UK should have its own government but that major issues should continue to be dealt with by Westminster.

The Rt Honourable MP kindly took time out of his busy schedule to give this interesting and insightful talk and it was much appreciated by all of the Higher pupils. Upon leaving the building, Michael Moore MP expressed his delight to Mr Burrell about the quality of questions he was subjected to.

By Eion, Andrew, Mark & Kay.

In a world reduced to a marketplace, further education seems a financial gamble. Less remunerative subjects are struggling to maintain their profiles and articulate their relevance at this riotous time of fees and debt.

Some fear for The Arts and Humanities, others for Languages and Music. The Classics, one might think, have pretty much had it. These subjects, which do so much to illuminate existence and add such valuable dimensions to people’s lives, often seem not to register on worthy bureaucratic scales of usefulness and relevance.

Yet the twenty young people of Earlston High School’s Latin Club, by appearing one lunchtime a week for a year, have either passed the Cambridge Latin Course Stage 4 attainment test or, it is confidently believed, will shortly do so.

A modest achievement one might think. And modest it would be if these young people were compelled to attend by a bearded Victorian with a cane and a savage expression. Yet, naturally, the club is voluntary: the pupils, featuring boys and girls in equal numbers and representing all age-groups, choose to decline some nouns in Latin instead of spilling about in the High Street with their mates for an hour.

Perhaps their commitment derives from a wish to understand the Latin they encounter in English and in mottos and epitaphs and so on. May be they sense that learning a little Latin will help them become more articulate in English or more secure in their understanding of French, Italian, or Spanish.

Or do they desire to be put in touch with the civilisation that has helped make society and its institutions what they are today? May be they come because they feel that knowing a little Latin would help render the world a slightly less mysterious place. Or are they after the subtle confidence simply ‘knowing stuff’ can give? Do they value the cognitive discipline Latin encourages? Is it possible they enjoy it?

It is not clear how learning Latin will contribute to their pensions, although these young Latinists, who have committed themselves to enriching their minds, will very likely stand out in the scramble for university places. After all, it is rare and marvellous when education is valued as an end in itself. It is also rather poignant that these young people seem to value a principle of enlightenment their distracted, tax-tormented elders sometimes seem in danger of forgetting.

The S1 and U15 rugby teams enjoyed success winning their matches against Berwickshire High School on Saturday 20 November. The first years scored 24 points against BHS. The U15 team score was 45 points EHS to 19 points to BHS.

As if rugby on Saturday morning was not enough, many of the boys went up to Murrayfield to support the Scotland team in their match against South Africa that afternoon.. 50 pupils from S1-4 made the journey up to Murrayfield in the hope of seeing Scotland pull off similar success to their own. The day continued to be a good one, with Scotland recording a shock 21-17 victory over World Champions South Africa. The boys provided plenty of vocal support and for some it was the first time they had visited the national stadium to see Scotland win against such formidable opponents.

The S6 charity committee certainly know how to organise successful fund raising events and last week’s Fashion Show was testament to their hard work and excellent organisation. It was a huge task to involve local shops as well as a variety of models, who were senior pupils and of course some brave teachers. Then they sorted fittings at each of the shops, organised collection of the garments, held rehearsals and put on a fabulous show.

The evening started with casual wear from Finlay Grant and Sara Thomson in Melrose. The students did an excellent job showcasing the clothing and entertaining the audience with their ‘cool’ moves on the catwalk. More formal wear came from Suzi Hamilton, The Kilt Shop, Joanna Ayling, Collections By and Eden. The girls looked stunning in a whole host of styles and colours. They were escorted on the catwalk by dashing young men dressed in their formal kilt outfits.

As well as amazing clothes, the shoes and accessories finished off the outfits in style. Cobblers of Melrose and the Scarf Shop provided these to complement the clothing. Abbey Hair Design helped with the hairstyling and gave everyone that professional look to model the outfits.

It was a hugely successful evening and raised £1,258.41 for the charities committee’s nominated charities, which for this year are: Breakthrough for Breast Cancer, Arthurshiel Rescue Centre and Action Aid. Thank you again to the local shops who helped us with the event and to all the models and behind the scenes workers. What will this committee do next?

1st XI    1 - 0
S3         0 - 3
S2         5 - 0
S1         0 - 0

The S4 drama class performed last week, a scripted play, The Grey Angel written by Stephanie Miller. The issues identified were ones of bullying and prison reformation. The target audience was S1 and S2 assembly as part of the anti-bullying week. Outstanding performances were given by the entire class who captured the mood and atmosphere of a nineteenth century Newgate jail. Authentic theatre arts were used such as; Set (provided by Border Studios), Costumes that showed period and style, Lighting which captured the mood beautifully and dialogue enhanced with appropriate sound. Responsive junior classes were captivated by sheer professionalism and high standard of the production. Mr. Thomson PT Expressive Arts who directed the play was hugely delighted with the end product and the commitment and talent of everyone involved.

The Parent Council Sub Group’s annual Talent show was another great evening’s entertainment. The hall was at full capacity to welcome on stage fifteen different acts. Opening the show was last year’s winner Christopher, who set the standard for the evening—superb! Then the competition began and the evening entertainingly compered by the skilful and dynamic duo of Kyle and Liam.

We had singing soloists, bands, dancers and even a stand up comedienne. The choice of music also varied with traditional Scots pieces, hits from West End musicals, rock ‘n’ roll and the King Himself—Elvis. Thank you to Mr Woodcock, Principal Teacher of Technologies, for concluding the acts as Elvis and opening the voting. Every member of the audience voted for three of their favourite acts.

The runners up were Rock band, Countenance Fallen and dancer Stephanie. The winner of Earlston’s Got Talent 2010 was first year pupil Ella, who captured the audience as Annie singing ‘Tomorrow’.

Lucy competed as part of the Scottish Schools Team Trials representing Earlston High School and she won two gold medals (180 metres Breaststroke and 200 metres Breaststroke) and Bronze in the 100 metres Freestyle.

Well done boys on an outstanding win 98 – 0 against Knox Academy last Friday afternoon. We have every confidence that you will be just as successful against Boroughmuir.

Congratulations to Lorna who has been selected by a panel of top SHU coaches to attend the U16 Scottish Training Squad after a fantastic performance at the Inter-District Tournament up at Peffermill last weekend. We wish her all the best in her training!

In the Scottish Borders Public speaking competition, held at the end of October in the Council Chambers in Newtown St Boswells, the judges were looking for clarity, engagement, persuasiveness and passion. The prizes went to a very formidable Peebles team but congratulations also to the Earlston team who provided these qualities in abundance.

Iona, as the Chairperson, handled proceedings with charm and authority; Julia spoke convincingly and in impressive depth on the 'plurality of reality'; as the 'Vote of Thanks', Elliot showed charisma and wit.

It was an excellent evening and all who attended left with the conviction that the future is in pretty good hands.

Last Thursday and Friday were in-set days for teachers at EHS. So on Thursday we joined together with the teachers from our feeder primary schools to continue the work developing Curriculum for Excellence. The morning allowed us to challenge our thinking and be inspired by the work of colleagues to ensure we continue to provide a first class learning experience for all students.

In the afternoon, we worked as a secondary school in a series of workshops led by the EHS Literacy group. Curriculum for Excellence reminds us that literacy, numeracy and health and well being are strands which permeate all subjects. Hence regardless of a teacher’s specialist subject, they have a responsibility to develop skills in the three areas. The afternoon allowed us to share our ideas. Friday, day two, was a cross-schools day when departments met to with colleagues from the other SBC secondary schools.

Tomorrow (Thursday 18 th) fourth and fifth year pupils and their parents are invited to an information evening, which starts at 7pm in the assembly hall. The focus for the evening is planning for next session and supporting students in their decision making.

There will be several short presentations. Firstly, a guide to qualifications needed for university and college courses. Then representatives from Borders College will present the various opportunities available at the college and how some of these can allow progression to Higher Education. Our Careers Adviser will also be on hand as well as some of our former students, who have taken different routes after fourth or fifth year. They will be offering their advice to our current students.

After months of fundraising and preparation, Earlston High School's Senior Hockey Tour to Noordwijk in Holland finally got underway on Friday the 8th of October. Looking very smart in our Kukri tour kit we boarded the tour bus and made our way to Newcastle to catch the ferry. With Steven at the wheel we were in safe hands and the short journey flew by with loads of great tunes and endless banter. Staying overnight on the ferry was an enjoyable experience, with many of us participating in the disco- a feat harder than normal due to the swaying of the boat!

We arrived in Amsterdam the following morning and headed straight to Walibi World - one of Holland's biggest theme parks. We spent an exhilarating four hours there, ‘Team Mental’ leading the way on the daring rides, while others preferred the ‘calmer’ water rides, some of us getting more drenched than others! After this we travelled to the sea-side town of Noordwijk to check in at Hotel Zorn which was to be our accommodation for three nights. We received a warm welcome and throughout our stay the staff looked after us very well, serving us with delicious food for our breakfast and dinners.

The following day we visited the farm 'Clara Maria', a family-run business which specialises in clog and cheese making. Boer Kees, Farmer Kees, was the fifth generation of his family to run the farm! We found the experience great fun, as both Boer Kees and his wife had a good sense of humour and were great speakers. Claire, a fourth year student who's birthday it was, was given the privilege of making her very own clog and received free gifts as mementos of her time there.

Sunday afternoon was spent playing hockey at Barendrecht Hockey Club. Despite valiant efforts from the girls, both the 1 st X1 and the 2 nd X1 lost their games. Outstanding performance came from a number of players during these two matches but the 1 stX1 player of the match was awarded to Erin for her feisty tackling which stopped the opposition from scoring a number of goals. Nicola was honoured with this award from the 2nd X1 for her relentless determination to try and clear the ball out of defence. Spirits were high as we headed back to the Hotel for dinner and then dressed up and headed to the local bowling alley. The Chavs, Farmer Gyles and his sheep, Zebras and 118 won the fancy dress but the effort by everyone was acknowledged by the locals, staff and the other girls. The bowling itself was a hoot with an array of bowling techniques on display, some more successful than others!

While in Amsterdam we visited Anne Frank's House and The Van Gogh Museum, both of which were very interesting. Many of the girls found Anne's experience very moving and really enjoyed the chance to visit the house. After some sightseeing to take in the local culture we hit the shops for a few hours of retail therapy before heading off to one of the local clubs to play our second hockey fixture against GHC Rapide. The 1 st X1 put in a very gutsy performance and were held to a nil-nil draw by the home team. All the girls played with tremendous heart and spirit and the coaches awarded Vice Captain Nikki player of the match for her outstanding attacking play. Despite a great deal of effort and enthusiasm the 2 nd X1 lost their game. Goalkeeper Alice was awarded player of the match for some of her amazing saves to prevent the home side from scoring even more goals.

The return ferry proved another enjoyable trip in itself. The girls took to the dance floor in style and busted some moves much to the delight of the live band that were performing. After disembarking the ferry and singing ourselves hoarse for the entire journey home we all safely returned to our parents on Wednesday the 13th of October at lunchtime.

All of this would not have been possible had it not been for Mrs Lawrence and her team of dedicated staff – Miss Buchan, Mrs Hogg, Miss Pate and Miss Knox - who accompanied us on this memorable trip and we thank them greatly for all their hard work. The memories will stay with us forever! As well as teachers the girls would also like to extend their thanks to Sykes, Galashiels and the Earlston High School Extra-Curricular Fund for their kind donations. Your generosity was very much appreciated by everyone involved with the tour.

As many probably know, EHS holds an annual art exhibit to show the achievements of the Higher and Advanced Higher Art pupils of the year before. This year was no exception, though it was held a little later than usual.

Every piece of work was more than worthy of its place in the exhibit, and all the young artists should be proud of themselves, showing a wealth of the artistic talent Earlston prides itself on.

The Advanced Higher work particularly stood out – Eilidh's work seeming quite popular - showing what Higher and Advanced Higher pupils can, and will, achieve when their time comes next year. Those who visited the exhibition were extremely impressed with the skill and talent shown by last year’s senior art pupils.

I was proud to see such impressive work from fellow pupils, and extremely proud that the work of myself and my brother Adam (pictured) had been popular with many of the younger pupils, being picked the favourites of one of the 1 st year classes.

All in all it was a great turn out of work, everyone whose artwork was shown should be equally proud of themselves and what they achieved, and next year’s exhibition is sure to be as good, if not better.

In the week before the holidays, our fourth years embraced their week of work experience. Many enjoyed this week to try new and exciting jobs, a sharp contrast from their school timetable. Every fourth year was placed in the world of work across the Borders and Scotland. We are very grateful to the huge range of employers and business establishments who support our work experience programme. It is the best form of careers and life skills education possible and we have all returned to school full of enthusiasm to do well in our prelims.

During my own work experience week, I was placed at a Golf Club on the outskirts of Edinburgh. My opportunities included time at the reception and also observing the everyday running of the office behind the scenes.

I spent time helping out on the computer, keying information into the database. I also had the chance to develop my social skills, confidence and practical abilities by trying my hand at waitressing in the restaurant.

I have benefited from my time there as I have been in a working environment, interacting with the public and working with adults. I enjoyed the experience and even had time to improve my swing and hit a few balls!

We will open our doors again on Wednesday 10 November from 5.30 until 7.00pm. The evening is a chance for anyone to visit the school and have a tour of the building. Staff and senior pupils will be on hand to answer any queries and we hope parents and members of the community will take this opportunity to see where we spend the majority of our day.

Thursday 4 November is our EHS Talent Night, when acts from a variety of year groups will perform in front of esteemed judges and, of course, the audience of voters. Tickets are available from the Support for Learning department.

On Thursday 30 th September, the First Years, Sixth Years and a handful of parents all gathered in the Assembly hall for our annual “Special Assembly.” This assembly presents an opportunity not only for the First Years to be formally introduced to the Sixth Years, but also to recognise and celebrate the success of our heads of school and Dux medallists. Our head team made their public speaking debut with speeches revealing the role of Sixth Year in the school, along with the privileges and responsibilities as well as the academic opportunities on offer here at Earlston.

Our recently retired – and much missed – member of the senior management team Mr McLean returned to present the head team with certificates, and present the Dux awards to the eleven pupils who gained an outstanding result of five A grades – or more - in their Higher exams. Congratulations to Dux Medallists for 2010: Kate, Andrew, Andrew, Dom, Sarahl, Kyle, Rogan, Kathleen, Ian, David and Leyla.

The afternoon concluded with the presentation of badges to First Year Class Representatives, followed by a series of photographs and tea and cake for guests, Dux medallists and the head team.

Overall, it was a highly successful afternoon, providing an essential chance for the first years to see where they could be in five years time and what they can achieve during their time here at Earlston.

This week, all of the school’s S4’s have been actively involved in work experience. Each S4 pupil gets the chance to experience a different working environment altogether from school. These job experiences range from sports coaching to working in offices, and they find out what a nine till five job is really like (or possibly even an earlier start!) This week influences many pupils towards the direction of studying they wish to pursue in the future. We look forward to hearing about the experiences they’ve had and the range of placements- tune into next week to get the inside details.

On Friday 24 th September, Earlston High School hosted the annual regional Head Team conference – an opportunity for all the heads of school from across the Borders to meet and share ideas.

Following the arrival of representatives from all eight high schools in the Borders, each head team gave a presentation on their school and the role of sixth years within this. These presentations revealed the varied nature in the operation of our schools – from common rooms with trap doors and bouncy castles, to cake and cookies with the rectors, to the joys of constructing prefect rotas. A buffet lunch and a short tour of the school later, everyone split into groups composed of students from different school to discuss how to effectively tackle a number of problems that may arise over the coming year, and to complete the surprisingly challenging “Borders Quiz.”

Overall, the day was most definitely a success, and all participants learned not only a great deal about the running of other schools, but also about the skills that will be essential over the next year as well as the dates of the all important Christmas Dances.

The Yearbook Committee have earned a fantastic £520 from their fundraiser on the 24 th. Everyone in 6th Year was invited to one of the committee member’s house, Ali, for a big get-together in Melrose – with some 5 th Years and old members of the school who would have been in 6 th Year this year.

It was a great way to catch up with people you hadn’t seen in a while, meet a few new people from the year below (or above if you were in 5 th Year) and an opportunity to speak to people you might not have had much interaction with before from your year.

The night was a great success with everyone having a good time and plenty of money being raised. Thanks to the Yearbook Committee and Ali for a good night and a lot of fun for everyone involved.

It is late afternoon and, as the sun sets over the bleak and desolate moors, the coach slowly weaves its way homewards. All on board are now quiet, except the few rowdy boys who sit at the back.

As a rule, all school trips seem the same – dull boring and extremely long – but today has been an exception.

As part of the Standard Grade English course, the wonderful work of William Shakespeare is covered. To many, his plays are cleverly constructed and have such depth – but for many fourth years they seem like complete and utter nonsense. Four courageous teachers dared to take a bunch of these high – spirited fourth years across the border to Newcastle to try and change their views and see if they could learn to love Shakespeare.

So, at 11 am sharp we set off under the command of General Weston – sorry, Mrs Weston - and, by the time the coach door opened, some two hours later, we were glad to see the theatre.

Once gathered, this rowdy rabble ascended the theatre steps. After climbing hundreds of stairs, we reached the gallery and uncovered just how far up we were. The stairs we had to climb to reach our seats were so steep and perilous, it may have been easier going up on our hands and knees.

Despite this, the performance was a spectacle of modern theatre. Its contrasts of modern and ancient ideas moulded in such a way that they seemed one single page.

On behalf of the all the fourth years who went today, I would like to thank Mrs Weston, Miss Wood, Mr Bryson and Miss McDougal for their bravery in taking us lot to the theatre.

Big congratulations to the newly elected Earlston senior hockey captains. On Monday, the senior hockey teams voted on who they thought were best to represent the team as captain. The first XI chose Holly as their captain, and Nikki as their vice-captain. The second eleven elected Leyla and Isabel as their captain and vice-captain respectively; and the fourth year players voted Rebecca as their representative.

Again, congratulations to out hockey captains, and let’s hope for many future successes under their leadership.

This year’s Sixth Year Charities Committee have successfully begun fundraising for their three well chosen charities – Arthur Shiels Animal Rescue Centre, Breakthrough Breast Cancer and Action Aid – through providing invaluable teas, coffee and cakes at High School Musical performance before the summer. At present, they have raised an impressive amount: approximately £800.

In order to continue raising funds throughout the year, they have already planned a series of events, the next of which will be a sponsored dog walk. The date of this is to be confirmed, but the general public are welcome to come along on the day and simply need to pay a small donation to participate. So bring along your dog, or “borrow” one from Arthur Shiels, and join us for the 5 mile circuit in Newtown St Boswells, with the added bonus of hot drinks and traybake after the walk. Other forthcoming events include: a fashion show, a “wear pink” day in aid of Breast Cancer Breakthrough, a sponsored leg wax (which is always amusing!) and sales of refreshments at parents’ evenings. Last Thursday they were selling their traybakes and coffee to parents at the S1 Study Skills evening.

The Charities Committee would like to thank both the school community and the wider community for the support they have received so far, and would also like to extend their thanks to the local businesses who kindly donated raffle prizes for the raffle at the school show.

The Duke of Edinburgh Bronze award gave 28 lucky 3rd years a chance to experience something out of their normal daily routine and learn key skills like leadership, communication and teamwork which will be infinitely useful both in school and out.

It was a great chance for us to get out and about the countryside of Kelso, in which we learnt many new things, including orienteering with a compass and a map. (Some of us picked it up quicker than others!) We undertook a two mile walk to Roxburgh, using only sign posts and our maps to guide us. As well learning how to orienteer, we were taught many other skills, such as putting up tents and using signs to help us when we are out exploring. Many of these skills will come in useful when we go off in our expedition in summer 2011. We also learnt how to cook food on a portable stove, which went remarkably well, give or take a few spillages! The food we cooked was rather nice, and we felt relieved that we wouldn't be starving on our weekend away! The Duke of Edinburgh course, which is made up of an expedition, a service, a skill and a sport, was explained to us. The Duke of Edinburgh scheme has three levels, which are in order of difficulty; from bronze, to silver then gold.

We were all reasonably tired at the end of the two days, but we definitely enjoyed it, and learnt lots of new skills, that without the Duke of Edinburgh course, we would not have such a good knowledge. We'd like to thank all of the teachers and instructors that helped us along these two days, and now we can't wait for the rest of the course!

On the 15 th, Earlston High School opened its doors to 180 party-ready pupils for the ‘End of summer’ disco organised by the 6 th year dance committee. With tickets priced at £2.50 and door entry at £3.00; the Dance committee was left a tidy profit of £460, which will be either donated to the charities committee or be used to help fund the upcoming Christmas dance.

The immense success of the first EHS dance committee event foretells great things to come from this committee. The committee chairperson is Ali, whose leadership ensured the team worked effectively together to organise a superb evening. Everything was successful thanks to their precision organisation – even Kyle’s sophisticated system of collecting tickets!! You really had to be there to appreciate the intricacies of the system!

The team’s music was selected by DJ Steve and it blasted from the speakers. There was hardly a moment that didn’t have a full dance floor, which is quite a feat considering the size of the assembly hall. Mrs Morton, who assists the Dance committee, did an amazing ‘Macarena’ just to show the young ones how it is done! Various mini competitions ran throughout the evening: best couple, best dressed, best dancers and the usual elimination dance. Their next event is the Hallowe’en Disco on Thursday 28 October.

Stepping up from primary school to high school is an intimidating prospect. You go from being a big fish in a small pond to being one of the smallest fishes in a much bigger pond.

In attempt to make this huge jump seem a bit less daunting, each new first year is given a sixth year ‘buddy’; someone to introduce the new pupils to the ways of high school, and to provide guidance and insight, allowing the new student to make the best of their time at high school. Before, S1 pupils only had teachers they could talk to, but now they have someone close to their own age, who they can relate to.

All in all, the buddy system has been a great success, and no doubt a benefit to younger pupils.

Our S1 pupils are settling in nicely and it’s time to really focus on those studies with the help of some study skills workshops. On Thursday 23 September, the organisation Tree of Knowledge will work with all first years to help them understand how they can improve their learning by learning how to learn! On their two day visit to the high school way back in June, all S1 completed a learning styles questionnaire to help identify those styles which most suit them – are they a visual learner or a logical learner for example? Tree of Knowledge build on these ideas and help them consider strategies they can use to make the most of their studying.

In the evening, S1 parents are invited to enjoy the TOK experience and find out more about the workshops.

One of the new additions to the staff, Mr Burrell, who teaches Modern Studies, has brought a new and different extra-curricular activity to the school – the Model United Nations Club. This gives pupils from all age groups the opportunity to participate in debates concerning important international issues from the point of view of various countries, thus increasing young peoples’ awareness of such issues and also improving their public speaking and ability to structure arguments.

In addition to fortnightly internal debates, the club plans to send a small group of pupils to a conference in November, as well as a larger Model United Nations conference at George Watson’s college in Edinburgh, involving pupils from schools all over Scotland. At these events, the teams will debate issues similar to those debated in school, representing the perspective of a particular country. Furthermore, Mr Burrell also hopes to hold conference here at Earlston High School, during the course of the coming year. So if you want to do something worthwhile and different with your lunchtime, come and give it a go.

Jade and her horse Knighthawk were recently selected to represent Scotland at the British Young Riders Dressage Scheme. She attended and participated in the Under 25 Championships at Sheepgate, in the Advanced Medium dressage team. Jade said she was thrilled to be selected, and described the five day event as a “brilliant experience.”

Scottish Borders Council is carrying out a public consultation on school session dates for the years 2011-2012, 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 and would be very interested in your views on the options set out in the consultation document, which is available on line at www.scotborders.gov.uk/consultations. If you would prefer to receive a hard copy of the document, please request one from your local contact centre or library, or by telephone on 01835 826814.

The consultation closes on Friday 22 nd October 2010 and all responses must be received by that date.

Responses can be submitted by email to: ellinfo@scotborders.gov.uk or by post to: School Holiday Consultation, Education & Lifelong Learning, Scottish Borders Council, Council Headquarters, Newtown St Boswells TD6 0SA.

EHS 1 ST XI 3 - HHS 1 ST XI 3
EHS 2 ND XI 0 - HHS 2 ND XI 2
EHS S3 1 - HHS S3 4
EHS S2 5 - HHS S2 1
EHS S1 ‘A’ 1 - HHS S1 2
EHS S1 ‘B’ 0 - HHS S1 6

Well done to all the girls who took part and a big thank you to all the staff for helping with the coaching and umpiring.

Anna Craigen (Borders Forest Trust Education Officer) presented six S4 pupils with their John Muir Awards on Tuesday. The award recognises the students’ work in local community woodlands. They were involved in conservation projects while enjoying many practical activities organised and supervised by Anna. The Award is recognised world wide and is an excellent addition to their CVs. The pupils entertained Anna to tea/coffee and yummy cakes in the Support for Learning Department on Tuesday afternoon!

This year I took part as a Highland dancer in the famous Edinburgh Military Tattoo which was celebrating its diamond jubilee year. Highland dancing originated centuries ago when soldiers performed it as a test of strength and agility so it was fitting that two men from the Army School of Bagpiping and Drumming started our dancing display with spotlights focused on them. Then the New Zealand dancers entered performing a Strathspey and Reel of Tulloch in the traditional Highland kilt and jacket.

I was one of the “Kinloch Anderson” dancers who followed taking the limelight on the Esplanade, dazzling in our silver leotards and kilts backed by contemporary music called the “Ceilidh dance,” superbly choreographed by Billy Forsyth. Military men returned to perform an extract from the traditional “Broadswords”.

Apart from dancing to an audience of nine thousand every night, the appeal of the Tattoo for me is meeting new people and watching the various acts. My highlights were the New Zealand Army Band introducing humour into their programme which included the Haka, Swan Lake, and Pirates of the Caribbean; the Massed Pipes and Drums; the Imps Motorcycle Display Team; and the Royal Jordanian Armed Forces with their precise and impressive choreographed routines.

I can honestly say I have had the most thrilling time over the past month, and experiences shared with people I will never forget.

Last Thursday saw the 6th Years of EHS participating in an activity afternoon set up by the army. The stations consisted of: an inflatable assault course (arguably the most popular, but definitely consisting of the most ‘tactial foul-play’); a mock up of a downed helicopter where you had to retrieve a barrel of ‘fuel’ sitting on top of another barrel from ‘quicksand’ with only two ropes and quick thinking; a puzzle where you had to transfer numbered tires from post to post (3 posts in total) without putting higher numbers on top of lower ones to get all 5 on the first pole; a station called ‘The Pain’ by the instructors which consisted of mental challenge such as a trick quiz and sudoku and finally a mock minefield in which you had to transfer your team to the other side using only 3 planks of wood and metal boxes making sure not to touch the ground with the planks or any of your teammates!

Each team was a committee, so we in the press team were keen to show our skills at each of the challenges. The afternoon gave us the chance to work together and learn more about each other’s skills and strengths so we can utilise them in our committee work. Ian took the leadership role in the quiz and we managed to answer all the quirky questions correctly by putting our heads together and working as one. Luckily Alistair had some prior knowledge about the helicopter and barrel challenge so we tackled the task well.

All in all, it was good fun and a great way to learn about each other and work together. Now all we have to do is transfer those skills to our committee work!

Eighty senior students visited Kelso’s showground for the annual Higher Education Convention on Thursday 2nd September. Organised by Skills Development Scotland, the convention attracts universities and colleges from all over Scotland. They each have a stand and representatives are on hand to answer questions. LEAPS – Lothians Equal Access programme for Schools – is also represented and students are given advice to help them prepare their university applications. Those students who are eligible for support from LEAPS are given mock interviews, the first set of which were at the convention.

This event, together with the Uni-Life information evening on the same day, has given students a great start to the application process and many of them have already begun their on-line application through Apply at www.ucas.com. The Uni- Life evening was very well attended by students and their parents. It is an annual event organised by the Parent Council Subgroup. As well as having a presentation by Edinburgh University, former students and their parents talked about their experiences of university.

It almost is a full circle this week as many of last term’s sixth years are heading off to begin a new chapter at university or college. The majority will be living away from home and although some have some nerves, there’s great excitement too. We wish all our former students the very best of luck as they embark on a new journey in their learning.

Ex-Earlston High School student Jack Lowden has landed the lead role “Cammy,” in the National Theatre of Scotland’s production of “Black Watch” this September. The twenty year-old student, is now currently in his third year at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.

Black Watch, set in the period of World War one, is based on the novel “ King of the Khyber Rifles ,” by Talbot Mundy . As a member of the British Army, Captain Donald King goes on a mission to India to rescue British Soldiers held prisoners, just as the war breaks out.

The Black Watch will play at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, Glasgow from 15 th September to 9 th of October 2010. The advanced English, drama and higher English classes are getting the chance to see the show in September, and there will also be a drama workshop offered by the National Theatre of Scotland for keen performers in the school.

Jack will be touring the UK, with two months of performances in the West End in London, in the Barbican Theatre from December to January. After this, he will set off to perform in America in places such as New York until the end of May. We wish him all the very best of luck.

As well as Jack, other ex-student stars from Earlston have been in the lime light in this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival: Vicki Manderson, Simon Donaldson, Jessica Leary and Elizabeth MacLean, showing off their exceptional talents.

It’s this time of year again! School show auditions are to be held this week for next years coming show: Hairspray. Senior choir will be performing music from the hit television series “Glee” at the Christmas concert. Get your singing voice ready- hurry up Gleeks!

On returning to Earlston High School after the summer, the corridors are not only full of slightly dazed looking new first year faces, but also some slightly dazed looking new teachers. Due to various changes, retirements and moves, this year a number of new members of staff have joined us, who we would like to welcome to the school and offer to them our best wishes.

Mrs Farnish, Miss Hogg, Miss Arrol (Maths) ; Miss Coleman, Miss McDougall (English); Mr Towill (Biology); Mr Burrell (Modern Studies); Mr Runciman, Miss Pate (PE)

The old Earlston High School tradition of vibrantly coloured jumpers for sixth year students has been brought back due to a popular demand from students. The decision was taken after sixth year pupils voted for coloured jumpers as opposed to the blue tie worn by the previous year. The higher visibility of sixth year students, in their light blue jumpers, has proved immensely elegant for students as well as useful to younger years to help distinguish the senior pupils, for help in the school.

At the end of term, EHS said goodbye to a number of teachers, one of which was Depute Headteacher, Mr David McLean. Three of us from the S6 press committee spent some time with Mr McLean on his last day and asked him a few questions about EHS, his time here and how he felt about leaving.

We asked him how he felt about leaving the school, to which he said he felt a “great sadness as [he comes] to the end of both [his] career and time at EHS.” Mr McLean started teaching 38 years ago in 1972 and 17 of those years have been spent at Earlston High School. He said that it’s been a long road which has changed him as a person for the better.

“History is still my first love” he told us and he recalled how he used his own drawing skills to interest the pupils and share his enthusiasm for History with them.

Despite his sadness at leaving, Mr McLean assures us he feels it’s time for him, personally, as things such as the new school project have come to a close and he is pleased to see how well everything is going. Mr McLean reminded us that “EHS is special, some staff and teachers may not realise this and perhaps take it for granted, but it is – it has that extra something that doesn’t come from our sports results, exam results and school rankings but us as people. We – you - have to work to keep it special.” And by telling us seniors that we “have to have the courage, some might say, to stand up for the school’s values and encourage other pupils to do so.” He informed us that he’s had a happy 17 years with the school, and if he had to say one piece of advice it would be “to be fair, always – to yourself and others.”

Once the interview came to a close, he left us with a final statement that we felt had to be shared:

“Value what we have here – look after yourselves.”

Congratulations go to our newly elected Heads of School. The team was voted for by their year group and staff at the end of term and are very excited about the year ahead. Head Boy is Andrew and Head Girl is Kate. To support them in their roles are Andrew as Depute Head Boy and Jessica as Depute Head Girl.

Already the four of them have been busy working alongside other sixth years to ensure the new first years find their way around this mammoth building. A large number of the seniors have also volunteered to act as a ‘buddy’ and have been visiting register classes to meet with their first year buddies.

Letters were issued last week to invite senior students and their parents to an information evening regarding university applications and uni-life. The Parent Council Sub Group organise the evening and it has become an annual event to help students and their parents understand what is involved in applying and going to university.

The evening is Thursday 2 September and the programme of speakers starts with an introduction from Mrs Morton at 7 o’clock. A representative from Edinburgh University will give some advice on how to apply and select courses and universities. After a coffee break, former pupils will share their experience of university and we are delighted to welcome them back to EHS. The audience will also have the chance to hear from parents of students about their experience.

This event links well to the UCAS assembly for sixth years on Friday 27 August, when Mrs McDonald will kick start the school’s UCAS programme and explain the school’s role in supporting students with their applications. It also ties in with the Higher Education Conference organised by Skills Development Scotland, which is held in Kelso on 2 September. All seniors intending to apply to Higher Education this year will attend the event.

Characters from fiction and history competed for survival at lunchtime on Tuesday. Plunging to the earth in a hot air balloon which was capable of carrying only one individual, the great figures of the world locked horns: who could convince us that they alone were worthy of survival?

Would it be Muhammad or Tinkerbell, John Muir or Sherlock Holmes? Would Lance Armstrong live to cycle again? Was this a stunt too far for Danny MacGaskill? Would Marie Curie convince us of her worth? Would it be oblivion for Margaret Thatcher, a quick end for Osama bin Laden or would the subtle Tortoise survive? Was it time for Martin Luther King to fly? Had the Mongolfier brothers had their day? Would Spongebob Squarepants go splat?

Ladies and gentleman, the debate would decide that not one of the above was deemed worthy. No, the only survivor of the Great Balloon Debate, the individual who surpassed all others, the figure whose contribution to humanity was voted most valuable, was none other than Thomas Billam’s Mr T.

Congratulations and thanks to all pupils and staff who took part in this. It was good fun and good practice too for the more demanding Even Greater Balloon Debate in November, when wondrous prizes will be at stake.

Students from S3 and S4 Hospitality were treated to a demonstration by a Quality Meat Scotland chef on the 16 June. Trevor prepared two dishes. The first was a ‘surf and turf’ dish: slow cooked teriyaki pork belly with lightly spiced prawns, pepperonata and sautéed new potatoes. The second dish was duo of scotch lamb: lamb neck centred with haggis and slow cooked breast, with petit pomme four and roast Mediterranean vegetables.

After this demonstration, the students were asked about steak and how they would usually like a stak cooked. They were then blindfolded and given some steak cooked differently form theuir usual choice. Those who selected ‘well done’, tasted the ‘rare’ and it was interesting that they couldn’t actually see the meat they all preferred the new taste!

The HE department would like to thank Quality Meat Scotland for a great demonstration.

As the summer approaches, the time has come to say farewell to last year’s press committee and to introduce this year’s. First of all, we would like to introduce our chairman Christy, who is helping to lead us through this coming year. Then there are the eight making up the rest of the motley crew. Starting from the back left: Ian, Tom, Jessica, Christy, Kate, Elliot, Jack and Euan.

In addition to the fervour surrounding the school show, the pupils of Earlston High school enjoyed an afternoon of seeking revenge upon outgoing teachers with copious volumes of water as part of the school’s annual Mangu mess day. Esteemed biology teacher Mr Smart organised the event with support from willing staff that were prepared to have a water-saturated sponge launched mercilessly toward their person, along with other teachers, less inclined to be soaked, and sixth year helpers. Alongside the water-filled shenanigans, ‘beat the goalie’ and other skill games took the interest of students as well as a cake and candy stall.

The day was complemented with lovely weather, much to the delight of the waterlogged teachers and trigger-happy students.

In all, the day was hailed as a ‘brilliant day’ raised £208 which will be donated to the Ghanaian town of Mangu as part of the ‘Friends of Mangu charity to help build Mangu junior secondary school.

Friday 10 June was our celebration evening for those pupils who are leaving school this summer. The assembly hall was packed with proud parents and guests as each leaver stepped onto the stage to be presented with their Record of Achievement by former Headteacher, Mr Norman Roxburgh. Each student received their folder and a traditional, graduation style, scroll certificate. Whilst the student received the award from Mr Roxburgh, Miss Strong told the audience about the individual’s hopes for the future.

Many students are hoping to continue their education at college or university. Head Girl, Elspeth, is off to Dundee University to study medicine; Head Boy, Robert, is going to study product design engineering at Glasgow School of Art or Glasgow university; Rory, Depute Head Boy, is another budding engineer and he’s off to the university of Aberdeen and Jan, Depute Head Girl, is hoping for a career as a primary teacher after studying at Dundee university. Some students are all set to begin their quest to become lawyers, vets, gamekeepers, police officers, journalists, professional artists, actors and even teachers! We have students hoping to study Maths, Geography, English, RME and PE – all of whom are thinking about teaching as a career path.

Not everyone is off to study straight away and an ever increasing number of students are taking a ‘gap year’ either to work to help them finance their studies or to help out with various projects around the world. Here’s what some of them will be doing: Eilidh is travelling to Cambodia to teach English and Art to under-privileged children. Hannah has a post with Africa and Asia Venture to teach in a primary school in Kenya; Gillian is off to South Africa to work with Project Trust and Jack's gap year is in Senegal, teaching children music, drama and English. Nick will be sports coaching in Kenya and Angus will be teaching English in Zanzibar before starting his course in English and Theatre Studies at Glasgow University.

Elspeth, Robert and Rory gave their final speech of the year to update the audience on a variety of school events. Each speech was tremendous and a real testament to how the Heads of School have grown in confidence and skill. Mrs McDonald presented them with an engraved glass paperweight as a memento and thank you for all their hard work this year. The evening concluded with an energetic and enjoyable ceilidh.

So it’s a new chapter for the leavers and everyone at EHS wishes them all the very best.

This year’s S6 charity committee has worked tirelessly in support of three charities: Friends of Mangu, Help the Heroes and Palliative Care. At last week’s Leavers’ Evening, representatives from the charities each accepted a cheque for £1,300. The chairperson of the committee, Rebekah, also received Service to School Award for her endless enthusiasm and leadership of the committee.

On Wednesday 23 rd June, Earlston High School had a Health Day for all S2 pupils. The activities we participated in varied from Yoga to drug talks.

Yoga was considered the best activity of the day and many children found out that the Yoga instructor also happened to take their parents for Yoga as well! The favourite balance had to be the tree stance!

What we thought of the day:

There was a truly amazing experience especially when we reached the top of the mountain with nettle stings all up our legs, which we saw as a sign of triumph!

Judo was also a success for the lucky 2 classes that got to go even though it meant having a very bad back in the morning. Andrew looked as though he thoroughly enjoyed throwing Calum around!

In the drug talk we learned a few surprising facts.

Overall the day was fun for all and was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. We thank those who cam along and who organised the day.

Hope everyone enjoyed it as much as we did.

It will be great to mark the end of our first year in this spectacular new building with the school show – Disney’s High School Musical. There will be four performances and tickets are on sale to pupils and the general public. They are available from the school office. The first performance is the dress rehearsal and tickets are available for this Sunday afternoon performance at the reduced price of £6. The evening performances start at 7.00pm and will run on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday 28-30 th June. Tickets for the evening shows are £8 adult and £7 concessions. There are still plenty of tickets available for each performance.

We are looking for record numbers in the audience this year as the new hall has far more seating than our old hall. Hopefully this will encourage members of the local community to come along and see a spectacular show.

The show’s principals are from fifth and sixth year, although there is a cast of about sixty pupils from years 2-6.

Congratulations to Greg in S3 for his recent success in a national trial event – The Bob Macgregor Memorial Trial. The event was recently held over two days at Killin, Perthshire and Greg finished second overall. This is tremendous achievement and Greg trains hard on his trial bike most weekends and evenings. His summer is spent travelling all of the country to participate in the various trial events.

Mrs Burnside’s first year classes have been busy sketching self portraits since they started their Art and Design lessons in August. Their first attempts were in pencil and then after some teaching they did a second pencil sketch to see how their skills had improved.

Rebecca explained, ‘We later experimented by drawing a ‘funny face’ then completed the work with a colour drawing of ourselves. We photocopied our best sketch and used it as a template for cutting materials to create a fabric picture.’

Their final work is on display in the Art corridor in the form of two attractive and creative wall hangings. The banners have tartan backgrounds and are divided into squares, with each one showing the faces of the individuals in the class – all in fabric.

A brilliantly successful day for everyone involved in The Berwickshire High School Cricket Sixes Competition ended with Earlston A racing around in triumph having defeated the Berwickshire Select in an unprecedented 11-a-side play-off.

Six teams contested this event and hardly an over past without an impressive moment, whether of timing, strength, courage, guile or sportsmanship, reminding everyone of the special qualities this neglected sport can inspire.

The preliminary rounds were remarkable for the fearless commitment of The Berwickshire High S2 players, Gavin showing promising style. In addition, BHS player Ian was explosive at the crease and Joanne, also BHS, batted with effortless timing. In reply for Earlston, Jonny batted with cool ferocity, the bowling of Dom was consistently artful, and Sharief was deadly in the field.

Three teams –Earlston A, Berwickshire High A and the Earlston/Berwickshire Select- rose to the top having lost only one of their five matches. Due to their formidable run-rates, Earlston A and The Berwickshire team contested the 11-a-side final, each team enriched by players from their respective schools. The tense final was a fitting end to an excellent day.

The Berwickshire High School Cricket Sixes Competition featured a wide range of pupils, a lot of sun, some very civilised sandwiches and much intelligent and dynamic cricket. Many thanks to Colin Gracey of BHS and Neil Cameron of Cricket Scotland for organising this event which, along with Earlston’s Sixes competition and the forthcoming11-a-side fixture between these schools, suggest that school cricket is catching on a bit in the Borders.

Congratulations to our girl’s senior tennis team: Jessica, Lauren, Ailsa and Rebecca for winning in the third round of the schools Scottish Cup last week. Having beaten Kelso and Berwick High Schools previously, they were now moving onto competition outwith the Borders.

The girls’ opposition were from Lomond School, who had travelled from Helensburgh. There were close matches with many high tempo and enjoyable rallies. The format of the round is that there are four players in a team with ages ranging from years S1 to S6. Each player plays one singles and a doubles, with each match consisting of two tie break sets, and a championship tie-break if one set all.

Earlston did exceptionally well, by winning five matches out of six. Despite it being a blisteringly hot day with no shade on court, the players enjoyed the matches, and it looked liked they had worked hard as they came off court looking like lobsters but feeling champs! The visiting team enjoyed the trip with compliments coming thick and fast for both the sporting way we ran the tie and on our new High School’s picturesque and modern facility. The team now head to a tough quarter finals against Mary Erskine’s from Edinburgh - a first for Earlston High School’s tennis achievements so well done to the girls.

We are indebted to Cobblers of Melrose, the shoe shop in the Square, for displaying our students’ work in their window. Some of you may have already noticed the colourful and exotic display of shoes, which started its two week run on Tuesday 1 June.

There are about twenty shoes on display – all part of the course work required of Standard Grade Art and Design.

The design brief was to create a shoe based on an insect, bird, animal or reptile. The students completed market research, a development sheet and then produced an actual shoe. Mrs Burnside, the class teacher, visited Cobblers on Tuesday with some of the students to see the display and thank Cobblers for their support.

Recently some of us went on our S2 excursion to Ardeche, France. We left the school at 7:30am, and had along bus journey (complete with the antics of our hilarious bus drivers) and a ferry ride. When we finally arrived we went straight out canoeing. We spent two days canoeing the Ardeche gorge and then split into groups to take part in mountain biking, high ropes, climbing and the dark and scary caving!

We had another day canoeing and a full day shopping trip in Avignon. Each night there was a disco and exciting (and funny!) challenges. On the last day we had a massive water fight, which all participated in – especially the teachers! Overall it was a great trip which was thoroughly enjoyed by all!

Wooplaw is a community woodland of which Earlston High School are members. The Biology department has been using this area for the past 15 years with great success to carry out practical abilities work with Standard Grade fourth year classes.

This year, the whole of fourth year was taken out over two days to perform different sampling techniques required to pass the Standard Grade course. Both days were in the most part dry and the pupils and staff alike had a very enjoyable day out due to the pupils’ mature attitudes and the dedication of all the staff and of course the very nice BBQ helped.

Congratulations to Rebecca Ridout and Lorna Dagg who have been selected for Under 15 South Hockey Squad. The girls have been attending regular training sessions and we wish them all the very best as they head up to Peffermill on Sunday to compete against the other districts in the Inter-District Tournament.

Mr Henderson’s enthusiasm for football has prompted him to organise various football events over the next two weeks to raise money for CLIC Sargent. This is a children’s cancer care charity which provides children and their families with clinical, practical and emotional support. The charity was formed in 2005 after a successful merger between CLIC and Sargent Cancer Care for Children.

The first event in the Earlston High School World Cup begins tomorrow (Thursday 3 June) with 12 teams entered into the competition. The group stage matches will be played on the Astroturf at lunchtime. The teams are all linked to various countries and tomorrow Honduras, Ivory Coast and Spain are all on the pitch! Hopefully it’ll be a good day weather-wise and the viewing deck will be full of spectators cheering on their teams

Next Friday lunchtime, alongside the pupils’ semi-finals and final, will be the staff match. Eleven members of staff will challenge the pupils in a game worth watching!

As well as performing in our own School Show (Disney’s High School Musical), a number of pupils have been working with theatre groups in performances of Billy Elliott. Fifth years Liam and Kyle Blain worked with Lothian Youth Arts and Musicals Company to perform in six shows of the popular musical at the Churchill Theatre in Edinburgh. The twins are now preparing the Company’s piece for the Scottish Showcase of Billy Elliot at the Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh on the 8 th June, when various scenes will be performed by different theatre groups. Kyle and Liam are also part of the LYAMC’s production of ‘Fame’ to be performed at The Playhouse in July. They have little time to themselves these days as our school show rehearsals are in full swing for the 27-30 June.

Some of the school’s dancers from the Manor School of Ballet are also involved in Billy Elliot productions. Jennifer Bond, Rebecca Fraser and Alexis Green have been rehearsing for four months for their performances at The Festival Theatre on the 4 th and 5 th June. Their performances will raise money for children across Scotland as part of Radio Forth’s Cash 4 Kids charity.

On the 15th of May, a group of 40 Third Years, accompanied by four teachers, set off on a tiring journey to Belgium, on a trip to explore the battlefields of the First World War. After a night's bus journey, a ferry and a visit to Northern France's equivalent of the Gyle, we arrived in the charming town of Lo, which was to be our home for the next few days. That night, after a wild goose chase to find a playing field (led by goose chasers Mr McKeand & Mr Kidd), we enjoyed a much sought-after rest in our hotel.

The next day we visited the Tyne Cot British cemetery, which was truly moving. Before you is a sea of white gravestones, far too many of which read "A Soldier of the Great War - Known Unto God". Behind the graves is a huge wall, covered in the names of those who have no known grave. Next we went to the Hill 62 museum. This gave us a chance to experience trenches as they would have been during the war (though I doubt that the underground passages were full of high school pupils screaming in the dark).

Finally, we made two visits to the city of Ieper ( Ypres). The first time we were able have a look around and visit the "In Flanders Fields" museum. On our second visit, we attended the poignant and moving Last Post Ceremony. Held in the Menin Gate, a large building which had walls covered with the names of the dead, it was a brief service in which the Last Post was played, followed by a silence.

The next day we travelled into France, to Vimy Ridge, which consisted of reconstructed trenches and a memorial to the Canadian soldiers who died in the war. We then continued on to a museum dedicated to the South African soldiers who fought in the war. Next, a visit to Thiepval, a large arched structure, similar to the Menin Gate and dedicated to the British and Commonwealth soldiers who were missing after the Battle of the Somme. We finished the day as we began, with a visit to a Canadian memorial, dedicated to the soldiers of Newfoundland who lost their lives at Beaumont Hamel .

On our final day, we woke early for our journey to Parc Astérix, a theme park based on the Asterix series of books. Several soakings and rollercoasters later it was time to leave Parc Astérix, which had provided a light-hearted end to our week, and set off home.

I would also like to take this opportunity, on behalf of the group, to thank our teachers: Mr Newies, Mr McKeand, Miss Wood and Mr Kidd for putting up with us. Finally, I would like to thank our bus driver John, who got us wherever we needed to go and was always on time, regardless of how many French van drivers punched the bus!

On Monday 11 May we left on our 19 hour journey to Paris for our S2 excursion. We had a fun packed week in Paris which included the following: a very cold trip to the top of the Eiffel Tower, where the views were magnificent; a visit to Notre Dame; a boat trip down the Seine and a shopping trip on the Champs Elysees, where we saw the Arc de Triomphe.

After a hair raising coach ride round the crazy roundabout, we headed off to Aquaboulevard Water Park, which was great fun! Our last day was Disneyland and our favourite ride was Space Mountain.

A big shout out to the coach driver, who put up with our lateness and who had a wicked sense of humour – what a legend! We all had a fantastic week and would love to go back!

Time is fast approaching the two visit days for those primary seven pupils due to start at EHS after the summer. The two visit days are Wednesday 16 and Thursday 17 June. This week Guidance teachers have been visiting our cluster primaries to meet the youngsters and issue the information packs. Along with the prospectus, there’s information on the school catering system and this year to encourage the pupils to try to school refectory, there’s an opportunity to enjoy a complimentary meal deal. The recent HMIe inspection report is also included in the pack.

The two day visit will also kick start the Travel transition project, which was so successful last year. The pack also contains order forms for school ties and jumpers. Parents of p7 pupils coming to EHS are invited to the school on the evening of Wednesday 16 June for a tour of the school and a chance to meet their child’s Guidance teacher. If there are any queries about the transition from primary to Earlston High, please do not hesitate to contact us at school.

28 active and daring teenagers went to Colomendy Park in beautiful North Wales as part of the S2 excursion week. During our stay at the Kingswood adventure camp we were faced with a variety of different challenges from water activities, like kayaking and raft building, to abseiling and the ‘Leap of Faith’. We also experienced the ‘3G Swing’ which was exhilarating.

The food was better than we expected: there was a wide range of foods as well as chips every day. Every evening during our stay, the teachers handed out ‘hero bands’ to pupils who had done something exceptional.

For me, the highlights of the week were the ‘Leap of Faith’ and the ‘3G Swing’. The trip was a huge success and enjoyable for everyone.

Callum Airlie and his brother Drew are well known for their success sailing Optimists. They are now moving onto a new class of boat and already are busy with a variety of events, many of which are GBR team selection events.

Last month, the boys competed in the Youth Nationals in Weymouth and despite a very high standard of competition they managed to achieve 28 th place overall. Their best race was a 9 th place – in winds from Force 6 gusting 7 to Force 3. They successfully won the Clydesdale Bank Cup as 1 st Scottish Boys.

The very next weekend following their success in Weymouth, they were in Pwllheli for the first of the Optimist Selection Trials. 2010 is the last year Callum will compete in this class and success in the trials would secure a place in the GB Team for the European Championships.

After a hard fought 13 race series (7 in Weymouth and 6 in Pwllheli), he earned his place to race as part of the GB Team in Poland at the beginning of July. He is now looking forward to the European Training Camp at the Olympic venue of WPNSA in Weymouth, as preparation for the European Championships.

Mrs Weston, one of our English teachers, has ‘gone live’ in a Cook book which is part of the Learning and Teaching Scotland website. Mrs Weston has been using Glow, Scotland’s unique educational intranet, with her third and fifth year English classes and her Cook book is about this experience. A Cook Book despite its name has nothing to do with food or cooking! It’s a videoclip where Mrs Weston explains her use of Glow. It can be found here: http://cookbooks.glowscotland.org.uk/blog/category/local-authorities/scottish-borders/

We had a number of Where’s Wally characters in school courtesy of the sixth years celebrating their last day at Earlston High. The girls, including Elspeth our Head Girl, had great fun challenging us to spot them in the crowd as part of the Where’s Wally tradition.

All sixth years had joined in the spirit of the day and we had a colourful array of costumes and characters. The ‘Morph’ men – still unidentifiable – played the prank of sitting in classes which were not their own, and which caused some harmless fun and gave us some laughs. Then the smurfs paraded the place in their ‘blueness’, we had superheroes, commando action girls, The Mask and a very dubious looking nun.

In Social Education, Miss Strong treated everyone to juice and a chocolate do-nut and we took loads of photos to remember the last day. In the afternoon, we headed off to the pitches to have a barbeque – thanks to Mr Renwick and Mr Clarke for their culinary skills – as well as fun on the bouncy castle and water slide. How old are we?

It was a great way to conclude our time at EHS and it was good to have some fun before the real work of the exams. We are now looking forward to the next get together – our Leavers’ Evening on Friday 11 June.

Seeing as we are missing our seniors at the moment, the S1 Pupil Council stepped in with a fund raiser for Teenager Cancer Awareness. Friday 14 May was a national Rock Your Shades day in support of Teenage Cancer Trust. The first years took on the responsibility for organising the day and were delighted to see everyone wearing their cool shades and trendy shorts.

In the UK, every day six young people are told they have cancer, which is the number one cause of non-accidental death in teenagers and young adults. The Teenage Cancer Trust relies entirely on voluntary donations and aims to raise £60,000 to support the facilities in hospitals for young people. With the money raised from Rock Your Shades, the Trust is hoping to provide a recreation spaces where young people on treatment can support each other and socialise.

At school on Friday, donations were collected by the Council members at registration and they then counted up all the money. Watch this space next week for the total raised. Thank you to everyone who took part and to the S1 Pupil Council for taking the initiative to organise the fund raising.

12 local youngsters from across the Scottish Borders were honoured recently at a special presentation for successfully completing the nine-week ‘Onside’ programme run by Heart of Midlothian Education and Community Trust and Scottish Borders Council (SBC).

The scheme which is the first programme of its kind between SBC and Hearts FC, gave a selected group of young people the chance to become better citizens through a range of activities designed to build their confidence and help them understand the consequences of their behaviour.

The course was based at the Hearts Football Academy every Wednesday with some elements held locally under the guidance of SBC’s SFA Development Officer.

Activities ranged from practical coaching sessions and fitness tests to an interactive cooking session and motivational talks from former players. Participants also completed the Scottish Football Association’s (SFA) Early Touches coaching certificate and will be invited to a forthcoming game as guests.

Executive Member for Sport, Culture and Community Education Councillor Graham Garvie said: “This is an inspirational initiative and I am delighted that the youngsters involved have really grasped the opportunity to better themselves for the future. I would like to thank Hearts for their commitment to the project and I really hope we can continue to offer it to other youngsters in the Borders.”

To celebrate the completion of the programme - a football game between the ‘Onside’ participants and staff took place at the Hearts Academy. The game included former players including Garry McKay (ex Hearts) and Mickey Weir (ex Hibs) who both gave the participants a motivational talk at the start of the programme.

The sixth years are preparing to mark their last day in school on Monday 10 th May. The Heads of School have organised a fun filled afternoon to celebrate the last day of their school career. (More on that next week)

Today though is their last Friday and in Social Education they have been reflecting on their year. In subject classes too the students have been evaluating their courses and completing those last minute sets of notes to prepare for their exams.

In Advanced Higher History, the students openly admit that they will miss the banter of the class and the ‘Newiesims’ – wee snippets of advice and sayings from their teacher Mr M Newies. ‘Tremendous’ and ‘seriously’ are words they will link to their History class whenever they hear them. They’ll also miss the political chats and are looking forward to today’s comments on yesterday’s the General Election. In between learning all about South Africa, focusing on the era of 1910-1984, they have had some fun playing wee pranks on their unsuspecting teacher. It is a good job Mr Newies has a good sense of humour and has enjoyed their company this year as much as they have enjoyed being in the class.

Three of the sixteen students studying Advanced Higher this year are going onto develop their interest in History at university. Melissa is hoping to study at Glasgow; Amy at St Andrews and Jenny is combining her love of History with that of Politics at Stirling University.

Best wishes and good luck to all our fifth and sixth years who will start their exams on Tuesday 11 May. The induction day for new fifth and sixth years is on Wednesday 9 th June.

Thursday 13 May is an information for parents of primary 7 pupils who will be coming to Earlston in August. The evening starts at 7pm and is one of two opportunities new parents will have to visit the school before the summer.

This first evening is essentially to give those parents who are new to EHS an insight into the transition programme, how the school supports its students and how we are moving forward with Curriculum for Excellence.

The second evening is a chance to meet their child’s Guidance teacher and have a tour of the school. This is on Wednesday 16 June, which is the first day of the p7 visit, when the pupils will have the chance to meet their classmates and teachers.

At the end of last term we had the final of a new kind of racing in Earlston High School. The Nurburgring Team Challenge is a giant video-game relay race where teams of four race four laps of the Nurburgring track.

Eight teams entered the event in two heats. In each heat two teams made it through to the grand final, which was held on Tuesday the 30 th in the Assembly hall on the big projection screen. Racing were Top Gear, The Unbeatables, The Champs and The Staff Squad.

The race was exciting from the start, with Jimmy racing two amazing laps for The Champs, followed by Phil and Travis who raced the other two laps. The Staff Squad raced well but not as well as The Champs, with Mr Kidd racing the first lap, followed by Mr Chisholm, Mr Henderson and finally Mr Montgomery. Mr Montgomery thought that he would catch Jimmy, but he had no chance with Jimmy’s lead of over 29 seconds.

The Champs took the victory and the first Nurburgring Team Challenge title. It was a good time for all, and we’re looking forward to the next Challenge.

Jimmy (for The Champs)

The charities committee has been a busy group of sixth years this session and their final event was the S6 Talent Show held on Thursday 22 April.

The show opened with an amazing escapologist – Head Boy Robert. His daring feat, ‘Escaping from Hands’, thrilled the audience. Bob, of course, reminded everyone not to try anything similar at home, such was the danger!! Hannah and Rebekah introduced each act with skill and provided wee snippets of entertainment themselves, although the jokes were pretty dire at times – groan, groan.

Every act was a splendid display of talent and provided the audience with a superb mix of entertainment. Jack, Scott and Elspeth were terrific together in their performance of ‘Hallelujah’ but took to the stage again later in the show as soloists in equally compelling performances. Olivia and Rebekah also delighted everyone when they performed solo to sing ‘I Dreamed a Dream’ and ‘Time to Say Goodbye’ respectively.

We enjoyed instrumental performances too. Kyle showed his skill as a pianist and Patrick played the old favourite and traditional piece ‘My Grandfather’s clock’ on the euphonium.

The evening concluded with an unforgettable dance number and then all the acts took to the stage for a final song – ‘Highway to Hell’. Vocalists Daniel and Sophie led everyone in the rock number, which concluded a superbly entertaining evening from a very talented group of students. Congratulations to the charities committee and well done.

On Tuesday, Rob Moffat – head coach of Edinburgh Rugby – and a former PE teacher at Earlston High, came back to school to deliver a coaching session to the juniors. The session lasted two hours and the boys were exhausted at the end, but still had smiling faces and great enthusiasm. The boys were joined in the coaching clinic by Kelso High school, which gave them a chance to train with new players.

The coaching session was part of a package awarded to the school for achieving Gold Standard status in school rugby. The package also included training gear and sports wear. Rob handed over the plague to Ewan and Mark from the S1 team to recognise the award.

Last week we started the summer term minus some staff and pupils as they were stuck abroad, unable to get home due to the volcanic ash and cancelled flights. Five members of the teaching staff were unable to return from their Easter holiday although, in the last few days, luckily some of these have managed home. However, we do have two staff in America and one in New Zealand so are having to wait just a wee bit longer before we see them in EHS. Hopefully they’ll be back safe and sound by the time you are reading this.

Sixteen pupils from a variety of year groups are also having an extended ‘holiday’, although they might not view it as that. Luckily just a few of these are preparing for examinations and hopefully they’ll have taken their revision packs away with them! Some departments use GLOW, the website or Scholar for revision materials so if the stranded students have access to the internet, they could keep working on their subjects whilst away from school.

Having thought that the season would never finish this year, especially with all the weather problems, it was great to finally end it all with a hard fought win in a national competition. Congratulations to the Under 15 team of third years. The match was held on Tuesday 20 April.

Linlithgow scored the opening try in the second minute of play against our team who looked rather nervous and jaded from the ill effects of sitting S3 exams in English, Physics and Craft & Design in one day. Little did our opponents know that this was only

going to make us angry ("and you don't really want to see us when we're angry!"). So after all our players bodies turned green and their strips were ripped to tatters, Russell "The Bus", Connor, Cameron, Calum and Murray went about bursting through the West Lothian boys using deft off-loads from the tackle to set up tries for Fraser, Andrew and Fraser (although the latter still had to beat 4 opponents to score his). Richard converted two of these tries.

The match was played in the shadow of Murrayfield Stadium on the 4G all weather pitch. This artificial surface made it a unique experience for both teams. Although it has synthetic grass, the subsurface is rubbery and it does feel that you could jump over opponents instead of running around them. James used this to spectacular advantage following a kick and chase. His kick landed over the heads of the opponents and as he chased it forward it took an outrageous bounce back towards him, landing, plop into his arms. Whilst the opposition twisted and turned once more to see where the ball had gone, James was well on his way to scoring try number 4 before half time. Half time score - Earlston 24 Linlithgow 7.

The second half was a little less dramatic, but with still with some moments of excitement with EHS scoring one try and Linlithgow two. Connor ran round 3 orcs for our second half try to cap a fine performance from inside centre. The coveted honour of Man of the Match went to captain Richard for another talisman like display from stand off. Richard has been a great ambassador for school rugby this year, and he deserved it immensely. However, one Earlston pupil played by far his best game of the season and what a time to do it - a national final at Murrayfield (well the back pitches!). On the return journey home, all the players and myself agreed that Calum was simply outstanding. He received a massive cheer and was a proud young lad. Indeed we were all proud and elated by our win. Well done guys and a huge thanks to all our supporters, especially those who travelled up to Murrayfield to encourage us in our quest.

Thank you to Mr Rowlands and Mrs H Runciman for the excellent photographs of some of the action.

The week of the 15 th March was our HMIe Inspection. Our last HMIe inspection was in 2000, so lots of things have changed since then and we are keen to see how we are doing ten years on. We find out in when the report is published in May.

Nine HMIe inspectors visited EHS and spoke to numerous groups and individuals: pupils, parents, staff, partner agencies and members of the local community. The core business of any school is Learning and Teaching and so sixty lessons were observed. Many of these were in the four focus departments – Chemistry and S1-2 Science, Maths, English and Craft, Design and Technology. However, it was very much about the whole school and just about every classroom was visited at some point.

HMIe also look at a whole host of material from the website and letters to reports and examples of pupil work. They gather views using questionnaires, completed by parents, teachers, support staff and pupils. There was also a whole variety of meetings for them to ensure they had as clear and accurate a picture of EHS as possible.

The results of their findings will be published on the 18 th May and a copy of the inspection report will go to every parent. It will also be available on the HMIe website.

Yes! It was that time of year again! Girls AND boys had been practising for months on end, to show off their skills at this year’s dance festival. This year was an especially eclectic showcase of dancing - the programme boasting highland, jazz, Irish, hip-hop, and contemporary dancing.

One of the highlights of the evening was definitely the highland piece performed by Jessica (S5) and Miss Buchan. Their lively sailor styled dance was outstanding and performed with precision timing. Miss Buchan and the rest of the PE staff definitely gave a memorable performance when the showed us the original moves of Beyonce’s ‘Single Ladies’ dance, with a special mention going out to Mr Kidd who obviously led the group exceptionally well. They were however called off the stage by Claire McCulloch, who then took over with her dance group, who took to the stage with an uncanny performance.

An unusual entry was that of Mr Foggin’s 1st year science class, including the man himself. After practising hard at lunch times they produced a very imaginative dance showing the definition of solids, liquids and gases. ‘Solids’ were represented by the song ‘Ice Ice Baby’, whilst liquids was ‘Riverside’ and gases ‘Bonkers’. Hopefully Mr Foggin’s entertaining entry has spurred on teachers to enter their own departments in the dance festival. The night came to an end as Rebecca and Catriona performed a contemporary piece to Beyonce’s Halo and finished with the Senior Dance group’s dance to Beyonce’s ‘Smash Into You’. Another contemporary piece which was very powerful and had a mixture of S4-S6 students, led by Kayley, Jan and Jennifer.

We were also invited to the Borders’ schools’ dance festival on Friday 19 th, which showcased dances from the majority of the Borders’ schools. Dances from Earlston included the Senior’s ‘Smash Into You’, the 3 rd year boys’ ‘Time For Some Action’, the fast hip-hop dance by S4-S6 girls ‘Church’, and Jessica's highland dancing of her own chorography. It was a day thoroughly enjoyed by all.

By Elspeth and Catriona

Well done to the 6 groups (27 students) that completed their Duke of Edinburgh practice expedition (Bronze level) at the weekend. Let’s hope that the Baltic conditions are replaced by warmer conditions when the assessment expedition takes place in July!

Many thanks to Miss Drummond-Thomson, Mr Simson and a special mention to the Chef de Haute cuisine Monsieur Dodds.

Good luck to the students who will embark on their Silver expedition this coming Thursday. This time it is three days walking with two nights camping. Thank you again to staff who support the student s and devote their weekends to the expedition. Fingers crossed for some decent weather.

Congratulations to the S2 boys who retained the title of South of Scotland schools sevens champions. They progressed through the group stage by winning all their matches and won a hard fought final against Kelso.

The first match was against Gala Academy which we won 10-5. We scored the first try of the game, with Gala pegging us back just into the second half. With the last possession of the game John scored a try to seal a huge first win.

The second and third matches were against Peebles HS (score15-5) and Jedburgh Grammar (score 25-5). The win against Jed put us at the top of the group and qualified us for the final against Kelso.

In this final match, we went two tries up in the first half through Ben and John. Outstanding defence stopped Kelso pulling back a try before half time, although they did pull a try back in the second half. EHS held on to win 10-5 and retain the cup they won in first year.

The boys have had an outstanding year, only losing one match and the team for the sevens was: Alexander, Craig, James, Ben, George, John, Aidan, Murdo, Harry and Ben.

On Monday, we had our celebrating success assembly for first years, although we also congratulated our kitchen staff for their continued success this year. Way back in September, the kitchen staff won the SBC Kitchen of the Month award and the ladies were presented with bouquets at the S5 assembly. This time, they have achieved even more and on Monday were presented with their Kitchen of the Year Award. SBC’s catering manager presented the team with an attractive rose bowl and commemorative glass trophy. They all received gift vouchers and were delighted to receive the award. The first years cheered loudly as each member of staff collected their gift.

The assembly was also an opportunity to present our cheque for £775.75 to the British Heart Foundation. The total raised from our Wear Red Day, which was part of the charity’s national campaign to raise awareness about heart disease.

On Monday 8 th March, the Advanced Higher English class was privileged to have in our company the award-winning Dundonian poet, Mark Thomson, who inspired us with his poetic interpretation based on the influence of his life’s experiences.

Thomson’s collection of poems “Bard Fae Thi Buildin Site” does more than just paint a simple picture of hardship in the housing schemes of Dundee. He reflects on the uncomfortable but not uncommon subject matters of drugs, alcohol and violence, whilst remaining loyal to themes of family, friends, home and Scotland. So many of these themes are pertinent to our lives, so we all felt that we could really relate to his subject matter, conveyed through his awe-striking performance poetry (once we could comprehend his braw Dundonian accent!).

Part of our Advanced Higher English coursework involves the exploration of the poetic genre, so we found this experience in the reading room of our school library, to be highly beneficial to our subject. Initially, we were merely delighted to have the time out of class to escape from the traumas of analysing and re-analysing John Donne poetry, but quickly we realised how lucky we were to have been given such an opportunity to listen to Thomson’s talent for performing. If there’s one thing we would like to pass onto you, our readers, it is Mark Thomson’s inspirational words – “Dinna be feart tae write doon the first thing that comes intae yer heed. Ye dinna ken, it might be published wan day!”

Olivia, on behalf of the Advanced Higher English class

The assembly hall was full of excitement on Wednesday 10 March, courtesy of David Graham’s Natural High presentation. David was on a whirlwind tour of the Borders secondary schools and we were lucky enough to enjoy his presentation at Wednesday’s S1 assembly.

The audience was in full swing, dancing, clapping and singing to the lyrics of David’s own composition, ‘Natural High’. He also had some of the pupils on stage competing in football and dance competitions. The lucky winners received goodies such as the CD of David’s song, radios, personal organisers and sports bags.

David’s message was loud and clear and he wanted everyone to understand that drug taking only led to fake highs which are short-lived. He tested our knowledge in The Risk Factor game to show us that alcohol was actually the drug which caused the most deaths in a year. Some of the audience were quite shocked by this and it certainly gave them something to think about.

Natural High is all about using our own talents and experiences to get a real buzz and feel happy. In one of the competitions, pupils had to think about the presentation’s message and come up with a catchy slogan. Heather's caption was ‘Don't take drugs, they will waste you away. Get your natural high today!’ Niall entered the competition with ‘Don't take drugs they can kill you after a while, but a natural high can make you smile.’ The winning caption came from Megan, whose rhyming slogan said, ‘If you use drugs, you'll just want more. Then you won't be able to soar.’ Well done, Megan.

The presentation was absolutely brilliant and that was the view of everyone at the assembly.

It’s been a busy week this week as the PE department linked their lessons to sport relief as well as selling the red-striped Sport relief socks! Thursday lunchtime was particularly busy and we were invited to run, walk or crawl a mile (some did all three!).

It was a good atmosphere out on the astro turf in the warm sunshine. Thanks those pupils who watched from the viewing deck and encouraged the participants to complete the challenge. Donations are coming in and Mr Kidd will announce the final amount next week, - once he’s sold all his socks!

This week, all first year pupils (including myself) were involved in an enterprise workshop delivered by Mind Vision. Our task was to work in teams and use our communication skills to build a fortress from pieces. It sounded quite straight forward until Gerry explained the rules! Part of being enterprising is to rise to a challenge and develop a ‘can do’ attitude, so we should have known that the task wasn’t going to be easy.

Hidden behind a huge screen was the model fortress, which we had to use to help us piece together our own model. Still sounding easy – not when you know there were over two hundred pieces and only one team member at a time could go to look at the sample. We couldn’t make notes or draw diagrams, but had to use our memory to transfer what we had seen from the model to our own team challenge. Then just to add another twist to the challenge, we were against the clock. That’s where the ‘freaky’ bit comes in because we were running about frantically from the model to our team table.

It was all good fun though and really made us think about how together we could build the fortress – a task which seemed impossible at first. We realised we ‘can do’ things if we put our minds to it and have a go.

On Friday 26 February, we all wore red to raise awareness and funds for the British Heart Foundation. The event has so far raised £700, although the Health Committee is still counting! Thank you to everyone who supported the event and we hope to hand over the cheque to a representative from BHF at the first year assembly later this month.

Last month, Mrs Weston’s S1 English class were involved in a ‘Glow Meet’ with author Catherine Forde. The class had been reading her novel, ‘Fat Boy Swim’ and by using GLOW were able to see Ms Forde on the projector screen and ask her questions. It was a great success and gave pupils the chance to ‘virtually’ meet the writer and have a live discussion.

Yesterday was another chance to ‘meet’ an author using GLOW, but this time it was Michael Rosen. Again the writer was live on the screen and the pupils were able to ask questions about his work. GLOW is Scotland’s educational intranet and just as our pupils were involved, so were other pupils across Scotland. It gave EHS the chance to hear the writer respond to live questions from other schools as well as our own.

Wednesday 3 March was World Maths Day and, by using the internet, pupils were able to compete against others in a Maths Challenge. The Maths department made full use of the Computing Studies rooms and first and second year classes went along to try their luck.

The Maths questions were calculations, but there was no time to get out the calculator – it all had to be ‘mental’! There were different levels of question and each challenge had a set of twenty questions. The best part though was that you were competing against players from around the world.

This morning, the second years were playing individuals from a host of different countries. Each player had about four others to compete against and everyone in the class had different people. You were told each player’s first name, their school and their country. During one challenge, EHS was competing with pupils from Sweden, Gibraltar, South Africa, Australia, Finland and Germany! There were also pupils from across Great Britain – James from Cumnock Academy, Sean from Conyers Secondary and many more mathematicians battling it out to win the challenge of World Maths Day.

YES or Young Enterprise Scotland is a long established organisation which encourages young people to develop their business and entrepreneurial skills.

Working with a business adviser from the community, our YES company has been active in preparing the launch of their product. They identified our status as a new school building, and the opportunity of an official opening, as a potential to attract customers for their product. After extensive market research and having scrutinised a variety of sample products, the company is now selling EHS mugs and bags.

Two members of the company promoted their product at the recent S2 Parents’ Evening and those of you who missed that opportunity to support the company will have another chance at the S3 Parents’ Evening, which is on Wednesday 17 March.

As mentioned, in a previous EHS article, on Friday the 5 th March the pupils and teachers celebrated Ghana Day. Now an annual event within Earlston High, Ghana Day helps us to raise funds, which contribute towards a village in Ghana – Mangu.

The day was a huge success! It was embraced by all, with several people making a great effort to dress-up. Pirates, cowboys/cowgirls and another group of boys who had the inventive idea of dressing as ‘Pirates on Holiday’ could all be seen around the school. A Johnny Depp impersonation swaggered round the corridors! The girls were sorely fooled by his persona. It was hard not to mistake him for the man himself! As well as fancy dress other students made a real effort to wear the Ghana colours – we merged together in a rainbow or Reds, Yellows and Greens.

Along came lunch time and the activities were quick to begin. Walking into the assembly hall, you were instantly bombarded by the noise of drums, face painting fun and other tribal ‘goings on’. Everyone was eager to rivet a rhythmic beat on the tradition tribal drums. Although the noise may have drowned out the sound of your thoughts, it was pleasant to see people with huge smiles on their faces, enjoying themselves - another reason for the organising of the event. Mr Smart (Head of Biology) was thrilled with the day and its success. He said, “I would like to thank those who helped setting up the event as well as those who turned up and participated so enthusiastically”. Mr Smart also invited one of his close friends to join the celebrations. Sam comes from Ghana and passed on his skills in drumming to the pupils. Sam’s drumming is now a regular feature of our Ghana Day and we all look forward to his visit. Mr Smart further added that Sam was “fantastic as usual” and with his help a great number of pupils were encouraged to participate in the lunchtime activities. Sam’s arrival and short stay at the school was also appreciated as it was a prime opportunity for us to ask questions about the country and gain better insight into the differences in the way of life. On the day a total of £ 140 was raised from the activities. The next event is fondly anticipated: Mangu Mess Day – but we’ll have to hope some the better weather for that one.

Congratulations to Alexandra K and Alexandra M, both in fifth year, who recently achieved their black belts in judo. This is a great achievement and the girls had to fight in a variety of high level competitions in their quest to join the elite group of judo black belts. As well as gaining points by winning fights, the girls had to pass an examination which involved demonstrating complex moves and combination skills.

The girls, affectionately known as ‘the Alis’, are best friends even though they have had to compete against each other at times. Both started judo at the age of eight after a taster session in school led by Sportif Judo. They then became members of the Sportif judo club and continue to train hard each week.

Ali M’s favourite throw is an Uchi-Mata and Ali K likes the throw – Makikomi- which Euan Burton, a Bronze Medallist at the World Championships in 2007, uses frequently. Well done girls!

SINCE 1961, the British Heart Foundation (BHF) has strived to prevent premature deaths due to heart disease. The foundation partakes in a number of different procedures which in turn help prevent the disease from maturing, and therefore encourage a better well-being for those who suffer and have to live with heart problems.

Every February the BHF introduce a campaign in order to celebrate their progress and continue raising awareness concerning the problem. This year they aim to raise a large some of money to go towards research into the disease and to help fund those living with the problem. They also promote healthy eating and exercise in order to try and reduce the increasing rate of heart disease which is now becoming a significant problem.

On Friday the 26 th of February Earlston High had a ‘Wear Red Day’ in order to raise money for the Charity. Pupils were able to wear an item of red clothing, be it a t-shirt, jumper or wig in order to emphasise that heart disease is an ongoing problem and it is up to us to look after ourselves and support those who are suffering. Each student who participated in the charity event donated a £1 towards the cause. The grand total is not known yet as money is still being collected and counted! The refectory also took part breaking barriers by putting on a display of red food for the students to indulge in; it was an exciting fayre and inspired some variation from the usual menu. The BHF is a worthy cause and the school is proud to have been a part of its annual awareness programme and has worked hard to raise money for the charity.

YEARLY, Earlston High School celebrates its relationship with a small developing village called Mangu in Ghana. Mr Smart (Head of the Biology Department) has always had a fond place in his heart for Mangu and over the past few years he has embraced the opportunity to send senior students to the country in order to experience the way of life, culture and to help them with work that may need to be done. This year there has been a great amount of interest and pupils have been eager to be a part of this once in a lifetime opportunity as part of their Gap year before university.

Although the relationship with Mangu does not stop at sending over eager students, as throughout the year a number of events are held in order to raise money for the area. Ghana Day is almost a tradition within the school and this year it will be held on Friday 5 th March. A number of things will be happening including a non-uniform day, entertainment throughout lunch with various competitions, African style drumming and other activities.

Also, beginning on Monday 1 st March is a bracelet making workshop which will be on every lunch time until Ghana Day for pupils to express their artistic flair. We hope that this year will be as successful as previous years and that a great amount of money is raised to help Mangu - that has becoming a great friend of Earlston High.

Congratulations to Lucy Henderson-Morris and Kerry Sandilands who won silver medals as members of the Gala Harriers Under 15 Girls Team at the Scottish Cross Country Championships on Saturday. Lucy finished in 13th place and Kerry in 22nd. Well done to both girls.

Congratulations also to a rink from Earlston High School have won the qualifying tournament to represent Scottish Borders at the Scottish Schools Championship to be held at Murrayfield 19th - 21st March.

The rink was: Cameron Pate (skip), Lesley Kerr (third),Thomas Fleming (second), Beth Patterson (lead),Hayleigh Wilson (lead).

Good luck to the rink for the competition and well done for being successful in the qualifying rounds.

On Wednesday, Mrs Weston’s 1S and 1V had the opportunity to “meet” with the author Catherine Forde via the internet through GLOW – the Scottish Schools’ Intranet.

Through this technology, schools from all over the country would be logging in at 12 noon, where Catherine would answer our questions. Despite various technological hitches we finally joined the meet at 12.20 and started chatting to Catherine, via webcam, alongside the other schools.

We were delighted that our questions were all met with enthusiasm by the writer. Having read her novel “Fat Boy Swim” we were keen to discover whether one of the characters has an Irish accent (she doesn’t – but almost definitely had Irish parents), whether there would be a sequel (possibly) and what Catherine Forde would recommend we read next (too many to mention – we have a list).

It was a first for Earlston High School and will hopefully be succeeded many further virtual meets for us. Barak Obama next, perhaps?

On Tuesday (26th Jan) we had two Maths Club Specials. The Intermediate 2 event was a particularly high scoring affair with the dogged, determined and ever-smiling Juliet coming out on top. One point behind was Jacob whose competitive edge pulled him through into second place. These aforementioned two had to be good to fend off the challenge of the tenacious Jill, Rowan and Lauren who shared third place.

The Higher event featured Mr Pritchard's relay round which added a bit of fun and just a little perspiration. Winner was the very composed Kyle with the very consistent David and the enthusiastic and cheerful Sarah sharing second place.

Many thanks from the Maths Department for being such a fun bunch and good luck to all our senior students with all of their exams.

EHS S2/S1 3 - EyHS S2/S1 0

EHS S1 2 - EyHS S1 0

Yes it’s that time of year again!!! Our first Dance Festival in the new school will take place on Wednesday 10th and Thursday 11th March 2010. Pupils from all secondary year groups are invited to collect an application form from the PE Department. The closing date for entries is Friday 26th February 2010.

The festival runs for two evening and tickets will be on sale in early March. There is always a mix of dance styles with groups and individuals taking part. Pop the date in your diary!

The Careers Adviser Susan Meldrum is holding a drop in session in the interview room opposite the office at lunchtimes on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1.30 to 2.00pm. This is an ideal opportunity for second years to have a chat with Susan as they consider their subject choices for next year. Pupils just need to ‘drop in’ at any point if they have any questions about careers, jobs or subject choices.

The S2 Parent Information Evening on Tuesday was very well attended and thank you to those parents who braved the cold weather to join us. Miss Strong gave an outline of the different courses and examination levels available. This was useful as the majority of the audience had followed ‘O’ and ‘Higher’ Grade courses at school so the terms Standard Grades and Intermediates were new.

After some general tips for parents on how to support their sons/daughters in the choice of course process, Gavin from the Tree of Knowledge organisation gave a very interesting and entertaining presentation. Tree of Knowledge workshops were part of the S2 pupils’ day earlier and Gavin guided them through fun activities which gave them food for thought.

Congratulations to Rachel and Kate for their performance in the Law Society of Scotland's Donald Dewar competition second round debate in Edinburgh.

Although they were not the team selected for the third round, they won their debate despite the awkwardness of their task- to argue against the reduction in CO2 emissions. The motion they were opposing was: 'This House supports material unilateral reductions in the EU's carbon emissions by 2020".

The school’s debating club continues to go from strength to strength and new members are always welcome.

Advanced Higher Modern Studies students at Earlston High School had the pleasure of hosting local MSP Jeremy Purves (Lib Dems), and UK Independence Party Scottish secretary Peter Adams. The occasion was a debate put together by political organisation Civitas, and organised by Mr. Harris, head of the school's Modern Studies department. At Earlston High, Advanced Higher students study the European Union, and so that formed the topic for the debate.

Mr. Purves spoke on the benefits of membership of the European Union, and Mr. Adams spoke of the necessity of the UK coming out of the European Union. Arguments were convincing on both sides!

During the last part of the session, students Jenni, Kayley, Ed, and Olivia, had the chance to put questions to their guests. The whole afternoon was designed to help the department's students with their 5000 word dissertations!

Congratulations to Phoebe and Elliot (S3) on their debating performance against senior opposition in the English Speaking Union national debating competition in Edinburgh on Monday night.

They were proposing the motion that 'a life sentence should mean a life in prison', and they argued strongly for the importance of clarity in law, for the law to accommodate more fairly different degrees of murder/manslaughter eg assisted suicide, and also that punishment should act as a deterrent. They argued with great flourish and precision. They won their debate and will certainly strike alarm in the hearts of future opponents.

On Thursday 22 January, the refectory was decked with tartan for the annual Senior Burns’ Supper. The dress code was relatively casual although everyone did have a splash of tartan, and some guests did enjoy the chance to wear their kilts.

Organised each year by the Parent Council Sub Group, like all their events, it was a great evening. Mr Scott Renwick, one of our PE staff, led the proceedings in his role as chairperson and introduced us to the top table: guest speakers Jim Telfer and Cammy Rudkin, Elspeth and Robert, our Head Girl and Boy and Angus.

Jessica, from S5, then started the evening’s entertainment. Jessica is well known for her superb highland dancing. Last year she performed at the Edinburgh Tattoo and again delighted us with her dance skills. Accompanied by Liam and Kyle, on the pipes and drum, Jessica performed the Highland Laddie and Barracks Johnnie. It was a great start to the evening.

Before the traditional fare of broth, then haggis, neeps and tatties, Depute Head Boy, Rory, said the Selkirk Grace. Kyle piped in the haggis for it to be addressed by S6 student Angus. Angus used his drama skills to perform a superb and entertaining address. Last summer Angus played the role of Captain Von Trapp in the school’s production of ‘The Sound of Music’ and hopes to study acting and the theatre next year.

Mrs Morton’s hospitality students served the guests and did a great job – there weren’t even any spillages or any smashed plates!

Whilst we enjoyed coffee, shortbread and yummy tablet we listened intently to one of our guest speakers. Mr Jim Telfer gave a superb tribute to Robert Burns, his life and works with the Immortal Memory. In his speech there were many links between Burns, the Borders and even Earlston itself, which was interesting to hear and Mr Telfer gave us a real insight into the man behind the words.

Following the Immortal Memory, Kyle and Liam sang Ye Banks and Braes which led into Mr Cameron Rudkin’s recital of Tam O’Shanter. Mr Rudkin is a favourite at EHS Burns’ Suppers and it was good to see him back delivering his usual lively and energetic rendition of ‘Tam’. Mr Rudkin’s jokes are always good too!

Next up was Robert, Head Boy, to give the traditional Toast to the Lassies. Robert gave us both the gossip on EHS ladies and advice on how to charm them. Like Angus, Robert is no stranger to the stage and is known for his wit and humour. Guests enjoyed a very informative and entertaining toast and joined Robert in raising their glass to the lassies. Equally witty was the reply from the lassies, delivered by Head Girl Elspeth. She had a few tales to tell too and kept us amused with her take on the gents.

To conclude a superb evening, Depute Head Girl Jan thanked everyone for organising and supporting the event. We then closed a great night with Auld Lang Syne.

EHS 1st X1 0 - FHS 1st X1 3

EHS S2 0 - EyHS S2 6

EHS S1 4 - EyHS S1 0

Well done to all the girls who took part.

As you read this, take a moment to think of those poor souls in fifth and sixth year who are sweating in the assembly hall as they turn over the prelim paper and begin their exam. Hopefully, they’ll see those familiar topics and questions and will manage to stay calm to show their knowledge.

The invigilators also have a hard seven days ahead of them, especially as we adapted the prelim timetable to shorten study leave and keep students in classes for as long as possible. Any one day might see a number of subjects being assessed, not to mention the different levels within a subject. Luckily the invigilators are all experienced in organising the papers and ensuring everyone has the right one. We’ve never had the situation described in Bernard MacLaverty’s short story ‘The Miraculous Candidate’ when the student is given the wrong paper. (A good read by the way!)

A huge thank you must go to the many teachers who gave up their lunchtimes, non-contact periods and after school time to offer study support to the seniors. Good luck to the seniors!

One of our sixth year pupils, Gillian, is setting off in August 2010 for a life changing experience to South Africa as a volunteer with Project Trust.

In being chosen for this amazing opportunity, Gillian had to journey to the island of Coll to undergo an intense selection course. This included teaching experience, team building and outdoor activities. Enduring an anxious wait for the decision, she finally found out in December that she would be travelling to South Africa. She will embark on a 12 month volunteer programme working with underprivileged children with Project Trust a registered gap year charity.

Before setting off in the summer she is required to fundraise around £4850 for project trust. To achieve this goal she has been successful in bag packing and in organising a quiz night. Future events include a ceilidh and a guided walk - contact Gillian for further details on ggpaterson@hotmail.co.uk.

Gillian is taking part in this gap year experience as she has a passion to help others who are less fortunate than herself. She hopes that by doing this she will gain maturity and a better understanding of different cultures and communities outside her comfort zone. She will then hopefully take up her place at university studying Pharmacy. We wish her the very best of luck!

Two sixth year pupils, Olivia and Sarah (me!), are embarking on a three week adrenaline filled adventure in the hostile depths of Chile – South America July 2010. Although it may be perceived as a holiday for those who embrace the concept of death defying stunts - it is not! The trip’s main concept is to help those who live in severe poverty. Venturers from all over the Scottish Borders will also help orphaned children and participate in a number of other activities which in turn will benefit the lives of others within the continent.

For this once in a lifetime chance the costs of the trip have to be fundraised and with the expedition becoming ever closer, events and schemes need to be organised. We have decided to participate in a sponsored silence as a way to raise the well needed cash. We are currently uncertain of the time limit from which they wish to punish, but Olivia suggested three days may be achievable! For me this seems rather ambitious especially considering my reputation in the “talking department”. A date is also not fixed yet as the S5/6 prelims are fast approaching, whether this idea would be useful in times of examination is a question we are considering.

The task to outsiders looks almost impossible and those who are kind enough to sponsor us may be entering the one of the safest investments ever. Watch this space to see how Olivia and I manage with this almost unachievable task or will we fail miserably…?

Last Friday, 32 Higher Biology students visited the Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh. Their focus was plant adaptation, which is one of the topics in unit two of the Higher course. It was good preparation for their forthcoming prelim on the 9 th February.

Half of the day was participating in workshops delivered by staff at the Botanic Gardens. The students conducted experiments to look at transpiration (water loss through leaves) using potomers and atometers.

The second half was a guided tour of the Gardens and exhibits. This also involved looking at xerophytes and hydrophytes. Xerophytes are plants which live in areas where there is limited water available such as deserts. Hydrophytes are the opposite: water plants such as water lilies.

Students also got a glimpse of the new entrance building and its exhibits, which have recently been added to the Botanic Gardens. The fun of visiting the gardens though is all over as it is down to some hard study to ensure everyone is ready to do their best in the prelim.

Study leave for seniors starts on Wednesday 3 February. There is a wealth of support available to seniors as many teachers are offering help sessions at lunchtimes and after school. It is fantastic to see the students attending these ‘extra’ lessons and shows their commitment to doing well. Good luck to all S5 and S6 students in their prelims.

Last week the Advanced Higher English students paid tribute to Ms Bryden. This week, we pay an equal tribute to one of our Geography teachers who left last week to take up a new post at Dingwall Academy. We are already missing Miss Morgan, who has been a member of staff here at EHS for four years. Pupils taught by her commented on her ‘calm approach’ and ability to motivate everyone and enjoy their work.

Miss Morgan’s leadership of environmental issues across the school has brought huge benefits to our community. She led the school’s Eco Group (aptly named Go-Green) and encouraged us to be environmentally friendly. Dingwall’s gain is most definitely our loss. We wish her well in her new post and look forward to her visiting us, along with Ms Bryden, in February so we can congratulate them formally and enjoy some celebrations.

On Monday 18 January, Mrs McDonald kick started the choice of course programme for second years. The assembly gave them an introduction to the whole choice process and lots of advice to consider when selecting their certificate courses to study in third and fourth year. The top tips were to ask, ask and then ask again to ensure you know what each course entails. Then to think hard about your strengths and consider which subjects are best suited to you.

Parents of S2 pupils are invited to attend the information evening on Tuesday 2 February, when Mrs McDonald will present the programme to parents. The second half of the evening will be an introduction to the work of Tree of Knowledge, the organisation who will be working with the second years on the 2 and 3 February. The theme of their activities is decision making so parents will have a flavour of the pupil workshops.

To assist with the choice of course, the S2 reports will be issued before the February holiday and pupils will be interviewed by their Guidance teacher. As well as this, on Wednesday 24 February, parents will have a chance to discuss their child’s learning with class teachers in the annual S2 parents’ evening. We hope to welcome lots of parents to both evenings – the information evening and the parents’ evening.

Great night’s entertainment last night. Here’s a glimpse of Angus addressing the haggis and some of us enjoying the traditional fare. Our intrepid reporters will be gathering more news for next week.

It was a brilliant start to the year for students all over the UK as it began to snow and the majority of both primary and secondary schools were closed. For Earlston High School, the pupils got an extra four days holiday and they used it to their advantage, making the most of the unusual British weather by sledging and skiing down the hills of Lauder and Melrose.

Alex, a fifth year student, took a break from studying for his prelims by skiing down the ‘quarry’, making the pastime look completely effortless in the process. Likewise, Paul (after making it to Melrose from Newtown – not easy due to increasingly dangerous weather conditions) enjoyed testing out his snowboarding skills on a ramp that they had made, both of them managing to land on their feet!

In Lauder, people enjoyed racing down the Chesters on sledges, snowboards, skis and, believe it or not, inflatable boats, using anything they could to get down the hill as fast as they could. Lauder was put on the map as well as this was all shown on BBC Scotland and also the ITV news to illustrate just how bad the Borders weather was.

The temperature over the period of heavy snow reached a low of -20C in many places, making the roads a very dangerous place to be as experts advised us to stay out of our cars unless it was absolutely necessary.

However, this is all about to end as the ‘Big Freeze’ is set to relent as pupils go back to school after near on three weeks of non-stop snowball fights and sledging. Back to work guys, prelims are on their way!

Congratulations to Kerry and Paul who have both been selected to represent the East of Scotland at the Inter District Cross Country Championships at Holyrood Park on 9th January 2010. Both athletes running for Gala Harriers were placed 9th in the East District Championships at Livingston. Kerry led home the Gala U'15 girls team to the silver medal.

We did hope to give this to our English teacher, Ms Bryden, before she left Earlston on Monday to start a new chapter in her life with her husband up in Oban. However, with school being cancelled due to the terrible weather conditions, we were unable to say goodbye. Therefore, to explain to you as our readers what Ms Bryden meant to us all and how much she will be missed, we will allow you to read our letter that she never received…

Firstly, we can all say without hesitation that you will be sorely missed, not only as a teacher but also as a mentor and a friend. You have taught us about the English language, educated us in literature and articulation and have also driven us to achieve in your subject. It would be a great crime however, to suggest that that was all you have taught us in the short space of time that we have been in your company. Let’s not forget that you have educated us in the world of cakes and taught us that indulgence comes at no price where Advanced Higher English is concerned!

Not only have you taught us to learn, but from that taught us to teach and delight in doing so. You have undoubtedly taught Sophie the word “anachronism”, cracked open Olivia’s shell of coyness, often enjoyed being the red flag to Angus’ bull of hatred towards the poetry of Carol Ann Duffy and taught Melissa and Ryan that accents - be it Scottish or Transylvanian - are not that hard to emanate, but can prove excellent moments of hilarity. Speaking of accents, Fergus has taught us all that a Yorkshire accent can often be confused with that of a Glaswegian! Amy has been extremely down-to-earth, even though she fits into her niche pompous and posh character whenever drama is concerned! Jenny has taught us that, despite bad literary credit attached, to be a fan of the Twilight Saga is not something to be entirely ashamed of (albeit better to keep quiet about it anyway, for literary credibility’s sake). Not forgetting the “rubber-chicken” dance that left us all in stitches and taught us to shed all self-consciousness in company of our newly developed circle of friends (the primary school Advanced Higher English visit), courtesy of Rebekah and Hannah.

You have given us cake, intensified our personalities and educated us in English, but have also have brought us all together as friends and provided us with an almighty shoulder to cry on when things are going badly. You have shown us that a little light procrastination is healthy and is great refuge for a hard working class! Let’s not forget also that you have taught us about romance and shown us the magic of being in love, opening your heart and sharing your stories with us.

We want you to continue to be an excellent mentor to other students, to continue "cake day" wherever you may be and to keep up your free-spirited, kind-hearted and hardworking presence. We wish you all the very best of happy endings that we never read about in class, and we will never forget you Ms Bryden.

All our love,

The Advanced Higher English class

Earlston is alive again with preparations well underway for the annual Burns’ Supper on Thursday 21 st January 2010. It is a night which, from experience, can be deemed memorable, enjoyable, exciting and a right good laugh. From the delectably Scottish meal of haggis, neeps and tatties, to the musical interlude provided by senior students, there is no room for improvement. The traditional toast to the lassies will be from our Head Boy, Robert Turner. No doubt this will be as charming and witty as he is, and will effortlessly combine some of the silly things 6 th year girls do with an appraisal of their talents. Our Head Girl, Elspeth Murray, will provide an eloquent reply toast in a similar yet individual fashion, possibly incorporating some traditional Burns’; however both speeches have been kept under wraps until the night. The traditional and patriotic Selkirk Grace will be recited by Deputy Head Boy, Rory Byers, and the sincere and heartfelt vote of thanks will be done by Deputy Head Girl, Jan Baird. This year the toast to the haggis will be performed by arguably one of our most well-spoken and confident 6 th years – Angus Yellowlees. With his extensive acting experience, this is a toast – and all in all an evening you will not want to miss. Tickets on sale to seniors and parents from school.