Dear Parent/Guardian

As the year quickly draws to a close I would like to take this opportunity to give you some news of past events and achievements and highlight some future events.

Arrangements for the Last Day of this Term

This school term runs until Friday 21 December 2007 and will finish at lunchtime that day.  Three Carol Services will be held in the Assembly Hall during the morning.  School Lunches will be served after the third Service at 11.45 am approximately and the buses will be available thereafter.

Arrangements for the Start of Next Term

The new term will start for pupils on Monday 7 January 2008 at the normal time of 08.45 am for a 08.50 am start.

Fourth Year Prelim Examinations

The Standard Grade prelims will begin on Tuesday 8 January 2008.

Fifth and Sixth Year Prelim Examinations

The senior prelim examinations will begin on Monday 21 January 2008.

Parent Council

I am very pleased to inform parents that Lasswade High School Centre now has a very healthy Parent Council with 21 members.  Over the coming year the Council will endeavour to make itself known to all parents (Parents’ Forum) and work with the pupils and staff in the school to help inform the opportunities for the young people of the school.

Chair:               Keith Chapman

Treasurer:        Graeme Hutton

Secretary:       Laura Valentine

The ‘Christmas Cracker’ is Back!

Following a year off, it is time once more to pull the Lasswade High School Centre Christmas Cracker.  This year’s cracker of a show contains music, drama and dance, showcasing the talents of a host of pupils studying the expressive arts.

‘Another Christmas Cracker’ will burst into life on Wednesday 19 and Thursday 20 December 2007 (the last week of the school term) at 7.00 pm.  It will again be in the form of a cabaret style evening, with seating around festive tables in the Assembly Hall.  The running time will be around two hours and the emphasis will be on fun.  There will be sing-a-long finale to send you home happy - we guarantee to leave you wanting more!

Tickets will be on sale from Wednesday 5 December 2007 from the School Office during the school day and from the Sports Centre during evenings and weekends - priced at £5. full price and £3 for concessions.  The price includes refreshments (a glass of wine or soft drink, plus mince pies and shortbread) served at your table by Santa’s helpers.  Tables will be allocated on a first come-first served basis, so if you want your party to be able to sit together you better hurry along.

Homework

As in previous sessions, all pupils have been issued with a School Diary/Organiser for recording their homework, personal details and achievements.  This is a high quality product that contains useful information about the school, our Homework Policy, our clubs and activities.  It can be used as a Diary/Organiser for normal day-to-day use out of school as well.  These have been well used and appreciated by many students in the past so we have issued one Organiser to every pupil this year at no cost to them.  As each Organiser costs £2.00 I have to expect pupils to pay this amount for any replacement diary.  I would be most grateful if you would discuss the use of these diaries with your son/daughter and check his/her homework regularly during the session.

Staffing

Sadly, Mrs Christie, Support for Learning teacher, passed away in October.

Mr Warden, RMPS, will be leaving us to join James Gillespie’s High School as Principal Teacher of Guidance.

Litter

The Eco School Group is currently doing a fantastic job in developing strategies to recycle waste, conserve energy and reduce our carbon footprint.  However, one problem area still persists…litter!!!

Whilst it is the responsibility of individuals to dispose of their own litter, the message is proving difficult to ‘pick up’ and despite the good work of our janitors, litter is still evident around the school.

The Eco School Group have developed a proposal to encourage citizenship by tackling this litter problem.  From January 2008, each Friday P8 class (S1 – S3) will take a turn collecting the litter accumulated around our school community.  Pupils will be equipped with litter pickers, gloves and bags.

I hope this exercise will encourage our pupils to take pride in their environment.

Mathematics Master Classes

Two S2 pupils, Caitlin Robertson and Ross Fairgrieve were selected to represent Lasswade High School Centre at Edinburgh University Maths Master Classes.  For six Saturdays they attended workshops at the university on various aspects of maths and how it relates to everyday life.  They looked at code breaking, maths in nature and many more.

UK Senior Mathematical Challenge

S5/S6 pupils took part in the Annual Maths Challenge organized by Leeds University.  All the pupils who took part are either studying Advanced Higher or Higher Mathematics.  Craig Anderson, who is studying Advanced Higher, was the best in school.  The school received 3 Silver and 7 Bronze awards.  Well done to all the pupils who participated.

Proud to be a Scot!

The school celebrated ‘Proud to be a Scot’ by delivering a week of lessons on the topic and displaying information on the plasma screen in the Rotunda.  The Head Boy and Head Girl presented Assemblies on the subject.

Remembrance Service

A special Remembrance Service was held in the School Rotunda on Friday 9 November 2007 when Craig Scanlon played the bagpipes and the poem ‘For the Fallen’ was recited by Alex Sharp.  Rebecca Comrie sang ‘I Vow to Thee My Country’.  The Head Boy and Head Girl laid a wreath at the war memorial in the Rotunda.

Breast Cancer Awareness Week

It was with much pleasure on 29 November 2007 that the school was able to present a cheque for £1,500 to the Maggie Centre at the Western General Hospital (pictures on the website).

Children in Need

By having a non-uniform day, selling Pudsey Bear cakes and holding a ‘Sponge the Teacher’, the pupils raised £1,500 to be split between Children in Need and School Sports.

Uniform

Pupils should be reminded of the School Uniform Policy.  The school policy is:

plain black trousers (not jeans),

black shoes (not trainers),

white shirt and House tie.

Future Chef 2008

The school round of this competition took place recently.  Pupils were asked to produce a healthy supper dish which would appeal to teenagers.  This is a National competition organised by ‘Springboard UK’. 

The school winner is                          Amy Finlayson (3ME1)

2^nd place                                                  Dale Gilhooley (3SA1)

Runners up                                        Jessica McBurnie (3SL2)

                                                                     Sean Porter (3MK2)

The Lothians’ Heat was held on Friday 30 November in West Lothian College.  Amy made Crispy Chicken Towers and Oaty Fruit Cheesecake.  The judges complimented Amy on her high standard of cooking.

Swimming

Six of our pupils took part in the recent Edinburgh Schools Swimming Championships at the Commonwealth Pool.  Fiona Gray and Lisa Fraser won gold whilst David Rose and Sean Fraser both won silver medals.

Items for your Diary

Yours faithfully

Albert Jaster

Head Teacher