2012-2013 Academy The Glasgow
The Glasgow Academy Chronicle 2012-2013 is an educational charity registered in Scotland. Charity Number SCO 15638. Charity in Scotland. Academy is an educational charity registered The Glasgow The Glasgow Academy
Autumn 2013 Number 333
Editor: Tom Carlin with Alan Whyte, Alison Campbell and Clare Blair
Front cover credit: Andy Buchanan From the Rector What a superb year we have had! Results in the 2013 SQA examinations were outstanding. We calculate that our young people came top three in the country in terms of Higher passes per pupil. At Higher we gained a remarkable 333 A grades, 46 more than ever before. 34 pupils achieved 5 or more grade A grades, and 63.3% of our entries were awarded grade A. We also had our second-highest pass rate (95.25%), despite presenting more children for more exams than ever before: our presentation rate is significantly higher than almost all other independent schools.
We had our best-ever results at Advanced Higher, with 58.8% of entries gaining A grades, 83% AB grades and 93.2% ABC grades. The Borneo Trip At Standard Grade we enjoyed our highest-ever Credit pass rate (95.8%) and our highest percentage of top grades in the last decade (75.7%). Our S3 gained our Our Senior footballers enjoyed their best-ever season, best-ever results in Standard Grade English (taken a year being unbeaten in the West of Scotland Independent early), including a 100% Credit pass rate. School League. Angus Neilson captained Scotland Rugby U16 and Lyle Hill's batting statistics appeared in Wisden. The class-leading opportunities and 'roundedness' of the A strong Hockey season saw us U16 Scottish finalists education we provide are evident in the remarkable range and winners of the West District P7, S1, S3, and 2nd XI of areas in which our pupils came top in the country. Our tournaments. Our P7s were unbeaten all season and won Young Enterprise company, Dolly Creations, represented all three of the tournaments they entered. Our girls also Scotland in the UK finals, having won Best presentation, won the High School tennis tournament for the seventh Best company report and Scottish Company of the Year. year in eight.
Our Maths and Chemistry teams represented Scotland at Outdoor Education goes from strength to strength, the UK Mathematics Trust and Royal Society of Chemistry engaging and exciting more and more pupils. 170 Top of the Bench competitions. pupils took part last session, in activities which included winter mountaineering, Nordic skiing and Eskimo rolling. We were the top-performing school in the Scottish Rowing The numbers doing the Duke of Edinburgh Award have Championships, with 18 rowers winning 16 titles. We increased dramatically: 81% of S3 are doing Bronze, 40 were also the top-performing school in the Scottish Indoor pupils are undertaking Silver and a remarkable 70 are Rowing Championships. Around 120 children rowed last working on Gold. session. Becky Neilson and India Somerside won our first British National Schools silver medal at Nottingham. They Entering the Glasgow Music Festival for the first time, went on to set a new British record and win Gold at the our Junior Boys' Choir and Senior Boys' Choir won their British Rowing Championships in the Junior 14 girls double classes. Our Junior Choir, the Senior Girls' Choir and the scull. Holly Wicklow also won her semi-final, setting a new Senior Choir came second. Growing numbers of pupils British record, which was broken only hours later. have performed in a variety of concerts and dramatic performances. The Senior School show, 'West Side Story', James Wilson and Ben Mazzucco became Scottish Prep performances and our vibrant and creative Art work Schools Squash Champions, and James Wilson was have been widely acclaimed. Scottish Junior Squash Champion, for the third time. Catriona Graves won the Scottish Cross-country We contribute to public benefit in many ways, not least Championship, represented Great Britain in Bulgaria at the with staff playing very significant roles in SQA examining European Hill Running Championships, and finished 6th and in national subject development bodies, and providing in the World Mountain Running Championship in Poland, development and support for teachers and children in other winning the World Mountain Running Championship title schools. Our staff and children work hard and effectively: with the British girls. I am very proud of all that they achieve.
Our CCF won the Scottish Military Skills competition again - We welcome experienced hand Graham Scott as our new Scotland's top prize for Army sections. Our Engineering Chairman of Governors and thank Gordon Jack and wife group won the Best Engineered Robot award and the Jan wholeheartedly for all their unstinting devotion over Sumo award at the Scottish Robotic Games. so many years to making our school as good as it can possibly be. They have been outstanding in supporting everyone in their endeavours sensitively and wisely - and they have been enormous fun. No school can have been better served.
PB Chronicle Chronicle 1 Excellence and Opportunities Meet our Internationalists
Lyle Hill Catriona Graves Jack Bain Cricket Scottish Schoolgirls U17 Team member Football Scotland U19 Scotland Cross-country Team and Trail Scotland Independent Race Team member Schools U18 Great Britain Hill Running
Zack Birnie Susan Al-Haddad Andrew Dickson Football Hockey Rowing Scotland Independent Scotland U16 & U18 Schoolgirls Scotland U18 Coxed Fours Schools U18 and Youth
Sebastian Glen Cameron Grant Cameron Turner Rowing Scotland U18 Quad Scotland U18 Quad Scotland U18 Coxed Fours
Angus Neilson Georgia Laurie Rugby Shooting Scotland U16 Scotland U12
2 Chronicle Chronicle 3 Excellence and Opportunities Top company in Scotland Top in the UK
Our Young and presenting Enterprise company, Dolly Creations, in Sydney represented Scotland in the UK finals, having won Best presentation, Best company report and Scottish Company of the Year. New British record holders
Becky Neilson and India Somerside set a new British record and won Gold at the British rowing Sharan Maiya represented the UK at the Championships in the World Education Games 2013 Awards Junior 14 girls double Presentation in the Sydney Opera scull. House. Record-breaking Top CCF - focus yet again!
Our CCF won the Scottish Military Skills competition again. Best mark in Scotland Lyle Hill achieved the top mark in the country in Advanced Higher Modern Studies - and won the Modern Studies Association Advanced Higher Zuhayr Siddiqui clocked up a record Modern Studies Trophy - the third time in recent eight Highers and an Advanced Higher, years that the History and Modern Studies all at A grade (plus grade 8 (violin), grade department has produced Scotland’s top mark at 7 (piano) and plenty of hockey, singing Higher or Advanced Higher. and drama) whilst still only 16 and in S5. Youngest wetbob wonder
Josh Armstrong won the Scottish Rowing Beginner Men’s title and the Beginner category at the GB sculling Festival at the National Watersports Centre in Nottingham. Josh was the youngest rower there, competing against university students, but won by a considerable margin.
2 Chronicle Chronicle 3 Charities and Community Involvement The total of charitable donations for this session is £26,701.
For the first time ever our S6 Young Enterprise Company, Dolly Creations, gained several awards including the top prize at the Young Enterprise Awards Ceremony - Scottish Company of the Year. From their profits, Dolly Creations donated £200 to the Emma Cameron Foundation, a Glasgow-based charity which supports children with cancer.
At TGA Milngavie pupils really were busy all session, with over twenty different events supporting eighteen different charities. This included pupils in P1 to P4 singing at an evening Carol Concert at Cairns Church in support of Bobath Scotland, a charity devoted to improving the quality of life for children with cerebral palsy. On a visit to the Bear Factory the pupils in Nursery/Kindergarten chose a bear to donate to Yorkhill Hospital. Red Nose Day was a real community event. Not only did the pupils buy red noses and wear something red, the parents entered into the fun with a Bake Off competition: in total £212 was raised for Comic Relief.
Whizz-Kidz, a UK-wide charity which provides disabled children with the essential wheelchairs and other mobility equipment they need to lead fun and active childhoods, was the main beneficiary of a great deal of hard work at Dairsie. Several events, including the Enterprise activities, resulted in a donation of £2013. The P3 Young Enterprise ‘Jog in The Park’ event raised the outstanding total of £2100 for Children in Need. P4 supported Comic Relief with a cheque for £250. The Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice and Cash for Kids were both supported with money raised by the Choir singing at The Avenue Shopping Centre in Newton Mearns. Donations in kind were made to Glasgow Lodging House Mission and Glasgow Caring Society.
At Kelvinbridge the pupils were just as involved and as enthusiastic. TGA Tartan Day and a Bring and Buy Sale generated almost £500, which was split equally between Erskine, Friends of the Beatson and Cancer Research. Parental donations at the Christmas Shows and Carol Service raised £1326, which was divided between Shelter, Resurge Africa and Emmaus Glasgow - a local charity which works with the homeless and socially excluded. The annual Children 1st Sale is undoubtedly the single biggest event, and the most popular too, with £2150 being generated. By no means least, the entire school contributed used stamps to Madame Laws for the Oxfam Christmas Stamp Appeal.
A large number of individuals showed initiative in organising a great many events in the Senior School. Possibly the most successful was Hattie Greig (S5) who encouraged no fewer than 64 Glasgow Academy pupils, parents and friends to don Santa outfits and take part in Glasgow’s ‘Santa Dash’, running for Friends of the Beatson. Once all the sponsorship money was collected, Hattie handed over a cheque for £3388. A new event this year was the introduction of The Valerie Thomson Baker of the Year Award, which was won by Yussef Hassan (S3). In the process the competition raised £210 for music therapy in hospitals.
During the summer holiday a group of six Senior School pupils and three members of staff travelled to Borneo to take part in a community project. Throughout last session they held numerous fundraising events and raised £1625, enough for them to buy two water tanks and associated equipment which they helped install in a village, before setting off for a four day trek through the jungle around the foothills of Mount Kinabalu: a full report on the trip is elsewhere in this issue.
4 Chronicle Chronicle 5 Approximately 200 pupils took part in the 24 hour sports marathon organised by Temple House and raised just short of £1100 for Westgap, which provides practical and emotional support to homeless people in the West End of Glasgow. The Morrison House ‘M Factor’ show raised £500 for sponsorship of a child in Ethiopia through the World Vision organisation. Arthur House collected £100 during Lent for SCIAF’s “Wee Blue Box” appeal. Amnesty International group raised £700 with a sponsored silence - there was a real buzz about the school with those involved wearing placards highlighting their plight!
Mrs Gilmour put all Duke of Edinburgh participants through the Heartstart training and raised £100 for the British Heart Foundation. CLIC Sargent and The Roald Dahl Foundation, which help children in Scotland who are ill with cancer, leukaemia and other blood disorders, epilepsy or acquired brain injury, were supported to the tune of £929 each by the English Department’s S1 Readathon event. The Slave Auction, Non-Uniform Day and Talent Show raised a combined total of £1750, which will be donated to The Make-A-Wish Foundation.
After hearing of vandalism to the property of the Preshal Trust, it was decided that the £206 raised at the Staff Quiz Night should be donated to them. Preshal – the Gaelic for ‘precious’ – is a Scottish charity, which seeks to tackle problems in Govan. Staff and friends organised a party night at Anniesland to raise money for the Schiehallion Ward of Yorkhill Sick Children’s Hospital, at which £770 was raised. Mr Wood raised £500 for Movember, the prostate cancer charity, by sporting several styles of beard and the Prep staff’s Macmillan Coffee Morning raised £85. The Chemistry Department are still collecting unwanted textbooks and other books throughout the year for Read International. The van load which we delivered to the Edinburgh University branch of the charity will be taken across to Tanzania this summer, ensuring that they are given worthy new homes.
AL Evans
4 Chronicle Chronicle 5 Chairman’s Report As I write this I can hardly believe it is just nine months It is a truly exciting project. In time the old Science since I took over from Gordon Jack as Chairman Labs will be converted to other uses, including PE/ of the Governors. I always knew Gordon would sport, drama and music. be a hard act to follow; he was a terrific Chairman and achieved so much in his eight years of tenure, A major investment such as this could not happen providing vision and leadership in his wonderful without the financial support of our community and relaxed and professional style. The school has been I am truly grateful for all the gifts and pledges which very fortunate in having Gordon at the helm, which is we have received to date totalling approximately why I feel a certain apprehension at taking on the role £800k. We have had a good start to our appeal as I am sure you will understand! Whilst undoubtedly and if you feel able to support this wonderful daunting I could have not asked for more support from project I can assure you that any contribution will all the Academy community, which I have appreciated be much appreciated. so much. The funding is in a mix of bank borrowings/ I believe the school is in excellent shape. We continue donations and every additional pound we can to make the most of the strong demand for places at raise now will reduce our borrowing requirement. the Academy and economies of scale by investing So we are certainly not standing still! Over the past in smaller class sizes and quality staffing. We’ve twelve months, as well as the normal upgrading become a little bigger to get smaller… we now have and maintenance of the school estate, we have more individual attention, more pastoral care, more installed new cricket nets at Anniesland and a new subjects to choose from, more sports and more great Olympic-standard water-based hockey pitch at internationalist sports coaches, more drama, more Windyedge. music…and generally more opportunity for each and every pupil, whatever his or her ability. This year’s But of course facilities, while important, are only exam results are quite excellent and congratulations part of the story. What really distinguishes the are due to all the teachers and pupils for their part in Academy is the quality of its staff and I would like this success. Well done! The school philosophy is all to pay tribute to our Rector, his Senior Leadership about continual improvement in everything that we do team, and all our teaching and non-teaching staff and this ethos is key to the way we operate. for the quite magnificent job they do to nurture and educate our children. My sincere thanks to you all. On the financial front we have been reducing our borrowings over the last two or three years and I am G Scott pleased to report that all the borrowing incurred in the construction of the prep school here at Kelvinbridge has now been repaid from our strong cash flows. So we are now ready to take the next step of our strategy of continuous improvement to the school estate. I am delighted to report that we signed the building contract for the iconic new Science and Technology building earlier in the summer. As most of you will know the tenements in Colebrooke Street were demolished over the summer; the actual demolition only took three days and was watched live on webcam: the webcam page was the most popular page on our website by quite a long way.
As I write this the site investigation is underway and we are aiming for construction to start towards the end of the year. As the Rector has said, “The building will transform the way we can deliver education and provide inspiring facilities for generations of pupils.” It will provide something for every pupil, not only in the latest science and food technology labs but in the state-of-the-art 175 seat auditorium which will have multi uses for all age groups. 6 Chronicle Chronicle 7 Senior School
6 Chronicle Chronicle 7 Gold Duke of Edinburgh
Five S5 pupils undertook The Academy’s first DofE Gold expedition by canoe. They were rather ambitious in choosing a 127km journey from Fort William to Inverness.
After spending a couple of hours on the bus to Fort William, we finally got to Neptune’s Staircase, pulled our canoes to the top, got onto the water and took our firststrokes. We paddled idly along the canal section, enjoying the views of Ben Nevis to our right, chatting to walkers and cyclists passing by. We finished that section of canal and, after a quick lunch, set out along the west-facing shore of Loch Lochy. By this point it was already mid-afternoon and we knew that we’d be paddling for a while yet. After a few hours of paddling the wind picked up and we decided to raft up and erect a sail. At this point it appeared that we’d mostly forgotten our sailing skills from our practice expedition, and we were soon at the mercy of the wind (although going at a good pace because of it). We duly crossed the loch because that’s what the wind decided and were then fighting the waves along the west-facing shore. We passed a few other DofE teams, had an interesting battle around the headland (lots of waves and a wee bit of water in the boat) but then, as the sun began to set, we found our campsite. All was well, tents put up and food shovelled into our stomachs.
We got most things right; we made our decisions as a team and boat arrangements all worked well. If we did it again we would make sure that everyone in the team knew how to put up each other’s tent, and use all stoves in the group.
We woke up, after paddling for thirteen hours the previous day, feeling refreshed after sleeping in until ten. Breakfast on the shore, with the scenic hills across from us, was very enjoyable. We swapped who was paddling with who on the Sunday, so people could talk to different partners to keep interested. We felt spurred on by the sense that the journey was coming to an end, and that we would have accomplished our goal. That night we were very pleased that we had made a large dent in the total distance, the tents were set up quickly and we ate all of our leftover food, so lightening the load. During Sunday we kept our spirits high and had a good laugh as we became closer as friends and moved towards completing our goal.
Overall, our expedition went very well.
Ross Swanson and James Mortimer
8 Chronicle Chronicle 9 Duke of Edinburgh In the academic session 2012-2013 the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award experienced great success at all levels. The school had its highest ever participation rate: 81% of S3 beginning their Bronze Awards and over seventy pupils started their Gold Awards. At Silver level pupils were, for the first time, given the opportunity to complete a cycling expedition and this proved an extremely popular choice. All this means The Glasgow Academy has become one of the leading DofE centres in Scotland.
The most exciting developments for the school’s DofE program this year were the introduction of the cycling expedition at Silver level and the introduction of canoeing expeditions at Gold level. On a chilly Sunday in February nineteen S4 pupils began their cycling adventures by learning to take a mountain bike apart and put it back together again. That same afternoon they took these bikes on a brisk 10km ride along the Kelvin Walkway, thrilled at the prospect of not carrying rucksacks for their expeditions. When it came to the practice expedition in June they did, however, realise that pulling a bicycle trailer of camping gear was just as challenging a task as hefting a rucksack around! The practice expedition fortuitously coincided with an extraordinarily hot start to the month and pupils were able to enjoy a sunny ride through Callander and Aberfoyle over the weekend. Sadly, for the qualifying expedition the weather was a little cooler, and wetter, but the Cairngorms did not disappoint in terms of stunning scenery. While Miss Wightwick was encouraging the rain- soaked Silver participants with Haribo sweets, Miss Goolden was co-ordinating a massive undertaking: eight Gold DofE groups were canoeing through the West of Scotland. On their qualifier expedition the Gold participants experienced some rather better weather, much to Mr Mackie’s delight as he soaked up the sun in Mull on a rest stop with his group.
2013-14 looks set to be even more successful than last session: we are again on track to having record numbers of pupils taking part; the Silver Award has seen a sharp increase in people signing up and Miss Goolden is already planning a huge number of Gold expeditions for the coming months. There is every indication that the commitment and huge progress our pupils are making with their Awards means that The Glasgow Academy could soon be the very top school in Scotland for taking part in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.
J Wightwick
8 Chronicle Chronicle 9 Climbing in Mallorca On 13th October 2012, roughly around ten in the morning, everyone in Liverpool Airport was treated to the sight of sixteen pupils, four teachers and three instructors trying to run through the airport as fast as they could, while simultaneously attempting to remain as a group. We must have been quite a sight, but luckily we all made it to our flight and off we headed to sunny Mallorca.
The next day, after a trip to the local market, we headed to a beautiful beach where we all tried some Deep Water Soloing, a type of climbing where you climb on cliffs over water, without a rope, so that when you fall in, you land safely in the water. This is very enjoyable, but just a bit scary too. Once we got a bit more confident we had a great time jumping off the rocks from as high as we dared, and then climbing back up out of the water.
We then spent the rest of the days climbing at beautiful sunny locations across the island, eating ice cream wherever we went, relaxing at the villa and swimming in our pool or in the sea. Some of the group were complete novices, whilst others were very experienced climbers; despite this there was always something for everyone to do and learn. Those who were newer to climbing went from being complete newcomers to being confident outdoor climbers in just a few days, and others furthered their skills.
Everyone took something away from the trip, whether it was specific climbing skills, a great week spent with friends, abit more of a tan, or a mix of all three!
James Mortimer
10 Chronicle Chronicle 11 Climbing in Mallorca Stac Pollaidh
Over a long weekend in September a small team headed very far north for a mini expedition. During the long September weekend last year we went on a trip canoeing in the mountainous area of Suilven and it certainly was adventurous, mostly for the right reasons! This time round we decided to go on a canoe journey around Stac Pollaidh. We arrived very late on Friday evening and camped wild, down by the sea. After an amazing stargazing session the night before, we awoke to a beautiful morning and a view out to sea.
On Sunday we woke up on our little island in the middle of Loch Sionasaig. We could see Stac Pollaidh, which we’d climbed the evening before, in one direction, and Suilven in the other. The camp slowly woke up and we started our breakfast of tea and crepes with Nutella, toffee sauce and bananas on them! We then packed up camp and loaded up our canoes and set off. We soon came across a waterfall, which meant unloading our canoes and having Miss Goolden and Nikki walk them down the waterfall. Unfortunately for us, our boat flooded, which resulted in an escaped barrel and roll mat! After all three canoes were down we set off to regain our belongings! Miss Goolden had gone on ahead in the hope she would get there before us and have the minibus ready. A few portages, and us walking the canoes down the river, later, we finally loaded them up for the last time. After paddling across the final bay we only had to help reverse the minibus down an uneven and steep track before loading up started.
Finally everything was packed up and we drove even further north to Reiff. Here, after a quick lunch of hot dogs, we set off to climb some of the impressive walls on the sea front. Climbing up these smooth cliffs with the angry swell of the sea crashing at the bottom was definitely an interesting and unforgettable experience.
That evening we watched the sun set over the Outer Hebrides then ate our meal of - much requested - pesto pasta! Our lazy selves then realised we couldn’t face pitching another tent, so we elected to sleep in the minibus, whilst Miss Goolden and Nikki walked out to the rock slab they would be sleeping on.
Overall, it was an amazing weekend.
Rachel Forbes
10 Chronicle Chronicle 11 Winter Mountaineering: ‘footprints in the snow’
Numb fingers, blistered feet and exhausted limbs. I had never felt so dreadful in my whole life. I was climbing a Munro in freezing conditions with snow violently attacking my face like tiny daggers. Outwardly, this was certainly not the most appealing way to spend my weekend.
It was bitterly cold, minus three degrees to be precise, with a wind-chill of minus ten. My feet were covered in blisters, my body was excruciatingly sore and I felt like I was being wrapped in a blanket of nails. I was numb. We had to try and keep warm by using a survival bag, which is just a piece of material you sit under. It worked very well and gradually my body started to heat up. It felt amazing; I wish I could have stayed there all day. It was as I was sitting in this bright orange bag that I decided I would stop moaning for the sake of the group, and complete this trek as soon as possible.
My new positive attitude gave me a completely different view of the mountains: instead of seeing nothing but an icy challenge, I now saw the beauty of the snow and felt truly privileged to be climbing this peak. Indeed, everyone seemed to be happier after our stop for lunch; we even started singing as we climbed. I looked around and realised how lucky I was to have been given the chance to do something this amazing with a group of lovely people who were all so down to earth.
As my group approached the top, I felt ecstatic. The smiles on our faces were huge and our feelings were indescribable: we felt on top of the world, not just the mountain. All the pain was instantly forgotten, I looked back at what we had just completed and thought to myself, ‘You did it, you didn’t quit!’ I think that is the most important thing I learnt from the whole experience: never give up.
Hannah Watt Scottish Winter Climbing
We turned right up the path towards the North Face of Ben Nevis, planning to climb a route called Green Gully. After some steeper walking, we saw that nobody was on our desired route and so we kitted up - harness, helmet and crampons - and on we trod. We progressed up until we were sitting at one belay, then we heard the shout that all climbers hate to hear: “Below!” We heard this shout and then a deep, dull thud, not the smash of a small chunk of ice, the thud of something big. We braced ourselves and tucked in as close to the rock as we could and, thankfully, the block managed to avoid us.
People often say that Scottish winter climbing is the type of climbing in which you need to fight the most for each metre, usually because of the snow blowing at you fromall directions. Conditions that day, however, were perfect. The sky was blue and the wind was as calm as it will ever get on the North Face of Ben Nevis. We got to the top and then ran back down to the car park after a truly great day’s winter climbing.
James Mortimer
12 Chronicle Chronicle 13 Nordic Skiing and Ice Climbing in Norway
Fear and excitement are two emotions that may at first appear contradictory, yet when allied to adventure they become complementary: one drags behind it the other, like a small child and doll. These feelings gripped me on our trip to Norway, where we tried Nordic skiing for the first time.
A wave of excitement swirled between the members of our team as we ploughed onwards. The swish of the soft snow beneath my blades was all I could hear as I glided over the rippling sastrugi in a grinding rhythm, always marching onwards. I felt isolated, but not afraid, naïvely making the assumption that I could cope by myself. We had been travelling non-stop for over four hours now and during that time I had gradually drifted to the front of the pack and then on ahead. When I stopped and looked back into the icy haze, all I could make out were the ghostly silhouettes of eerie figures clumsily, slowly, relentlessly struggling towards me through the elements.
In this powerful wilderness man is not welcome; fear is the barrier that guards the untouched natural beauty of this land. There was no sense of time out here; everything was still, as if it were shocked by a cold lingering fear, encased by fog. We spent hours travelling across lakes that had frosted over to form endless expanses of vast wintry deserts. We had to get a move on. The reassuring hut was beckoning.
Head torches were lit, creating a chain of bobbing specks of light amongst an aggressive ocean of icy water. We were stranded amongst thrashing waves of forceful gusts. As we waded deep into the thick, seething night, we lost all sense of time and direction; we would regroup every so often to wax our skis and to check everyone was warm and not too depleted.
Then, out of the gloom appeared a small wooden cabin, so buried by snow that we almost missed it. We bundled ourselves over the threshold and were met by that familiar, warm, secure feeling that you find from escaping a gale and entering the safe wooden walls of a bothy. So drawn were some of the members of our party that they immediately collapsed onto stools and remained there, riveted, surrounded by downy clothing and allowing the heat of the fire to steadily thaw their frozen souls. Gradually, a jovial hum arose as people set to work chopping wood for the fire, collecting snow to melt, cooking food over the warm stove and unpacking bags - all happily engrossed in their own tasks again, filled with excitement for what lay ahead tomorrow.
Timothy Miller
12 Chronicle Chronicle 13 Mountaineering: on Buachaille Etive Mor This weekend was supposed to be a Greenland training and selection trip to Skye, but plans change as reliably as the weather does. So, off to Glencoe for a damp and beautiful Sunday outing with Clemmie, James and Timmy. We clambered up North Ridge on Buachaille Etive Mor in what felt like glorious weather - that’s what happens when the forecast promises impending doom and you get a moment of respite, a view and a dash of sunshine.
After a couple of hours of joyful scrambling through dreich and dour weather we reached a tough wee ledge, sitting solemnly and hospitably below the cloud line. The swelling clouds hung above our helmets, providing a dreary, churning blanket and reminding us that there was a constant threat of chilling rain. It was time to yank our harnesses on and rope up, snatching a quick bite to eat as we did so. Then we were ready. All tied separately along the rope, we followed one after another, a snake slithering up Buachaille Etive Mor’s north face. Following cracks and faults in the steep rock, we made steady progress upwards. Now and then showers of rain fell down upon us, creeping its way down our upstretched arms and freezing our fingersto the point we could no longer feel the features of the rock. This slowed our progress painfully but we continued up the wet, cold rock until the ground beneath us started to lie back a little and we were able to walk. For a while longer we clambered, until we reached the summit. Here the clouds had parted to leave us with a misty yet, as always, impressive view over Rannoch Moor. After celebrating, eating and packing up our gear we descended via a steep, grassy gully which eventually led to the path, then the bus, then home.
Where else would you want to be on a dreich Sunday morning?
Timothy Miller
14 Chronicle Chronicle 15 The Scottish Tooling Series Round 1 – Ice Factor, Kinlochleven
For James Mortimer, Andrew Halliday and I it was our first time dry tooling – using axes and crampons on normal climbing holds and rock. We met at school in the early hours of the morning for the two-hour journey up to Kinlochleven. Once we’d arrived and got our warm clothes on, we entered the giant freezer. Here we got off to a terrible start with only Miss Goolden managing to climb the first route (to be fair, it was a hard one). However, after we started to get the hang of it we improved quickly and I managed to top both the other two ice climbs. Once we were finished there we moved onto the dry tooling section, which was very different again. Because you had the handles of the axe to hold onto, instead of small hand holds, it required less strength than climbing, but because only the tips of the axes were holding you onto the wall you never knew when you were going to pop off. In the end all three of us managed to squeeze into the finals; so far James was in third position, just behind Andrew in second and then me, first. When it came to my turn in the finals I got about a third of the way up the climb before I made a very stupid move and came off. James then went on to take first place, with me second and Andrew third. Miss Goolden also climbed to an impressive third in the women’s finals. After a full day of climbing we headed back on down to Glasgow, excited for the weekend when round two of the series would be held in The Glasgow Climbing Centre.
Round 2 – The Glasgow Climbing Centre
Thankfully, in contrast to the previous week the start time was 3 o’clock, which allowed us a lie in. There were a lot of clever twists incorporated into the climbs; one climb had to be done in the pitch dark with a head torch, imitating an early alpine start. Another included shimmying up a tall pipe as part of the route. Still another included clambering over two giant tractor tyres. I managed to get to the top of the majority of the routes, with the tyre climb and an overhanging boulder problem being the only two I didn’t get any points for. I think having already tried dry tooling made a big difference to how I climbed, as I knew a few more tricks and hence managed to more than double my previous score. By the end of the qualifiers I was sitting in first place and Andrew was second. I won a helmet, and, having wanted one for a while, was delighted with this prize.
Timothy Miller 14 Chronicle Chronicle 15 London Music Trip
The tour is often the highlight of the Music department’s year; 2012 was no exception. Following the Commemoration Service at St Mungo’s Cathedral, 40 very excited P7 to S2 pupils boarded their tour bus and headed south towards London.
Following a brief overnight stay outside Coventry, we visited Stratford-upon-Avon. This historic market town is a popular tourist attraction as it is the birthplace of William Shakespeare. During our time here many pupils and staff took walks along the picturesque River Avon and tours of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, the home of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Once back on the bus, it was time to head to London, where we would be visiting one of the first major attractions on this tour: The Warner Bros. Harry Potter Studios. As you can imagine, many of the pupils were thoroughly amazed at the sights they saw here, from the spectacular dining hall at Hogwarts to the shops of Dragon Alley. When we were all Pottered-out, it was time to head for the city centre and our hotel for the next few days.
We performed three fantastic concerts in London; our first was at a retirement home in Hyde Park, where we gave an intimate performance to some of the guests. Our second concert was at St Paul’s, Covent Garden. This was an amazing opportunity for our pupils to perform in one of London’s premier city centre recital venues, and it was lovely that some of the parents were able to attend this concert. Our final concert was to a packed church in nearby Petersfield. People clearly flocked to this concert after hearing one of our P7 pipers, Rory White, playing to the people in the square before the concert! The residents of Petersfield were delighted by the performance of the pupils and justly gave them a deserved standing ovation.
Along with the tour of the Harry Potter sets, the pupils saw many of the sights in the capital, either from the pods of the London Eye or on the guided walking tour before dinner led by one of our singing teachers! We were fortunate enough to see ‘Shrek! The Musical’ while visiting the West End, and even had time for a spot of ten-pin bowling (though the staff seemed more competitive than the pupils!). Our tour culminated with another overnight stay in Coventry before a well-earned day at Alton Towers. Thankfully, as our half term week was before that of England and Wales, we had the majority of the park to ourselves!
Our sincere thanks go to the staff for their assistance on this trip - without them it would not have been possible, or half as much fun!
T Mills
16 Chronicle Chronicle 17 Nepal
In July 2012, a group of 12 pupils took to the skies in search of new horizons. Project Nepal was underway and a very excited group were ready for new experiences. After a day’s travel, everyone was exhausted and ready for bed, but it was only 9am on arrival and the humidity was almost unbearable. Nonetheless, we found our hotel in Kathmandu and settled in quickly. We spent the first day exploring the local area and enjoyed an excellent dinner with a show: culture right from the start!
This trip was not just about having fun and visiting a far off country; it was about immersing ourselves in the culture and helping the local community. Our main aim was to help a local school by paying for a new water pump and decorating the classrooms and playground. When we arrived at the school, we were also asked to level the playground. This meant breaking out the spades and moving around three tonnes of earth by hand - no mean feat in the searing sun and intense humidity. Over the following four days we managed to move the earth, paint the perimeter fence and create two incredible murals, thanks to our art scholars; one inside their resource room and another on the wall outside.
Our experiences did not end there as we visited many temples in Kathmandu and experienced the local shopping; a few pupils really enjoyed bartering for items in shops! We also visited a care home for HIV-infected children and their parents, and one for orphaned or abandoned children. This opened our eyes to the poverty in Nepal and we realised how lucky we are in our own lives.
After these life-changing experiences, we took to the buses for an eight- hour drive to Kathmandu Valley where we spent the last few days. We enjoyed elephant trekking through a forest and bathed in the river with the elephants that afternoon. We also trekked through the forest, spotting the local wildlife as we went.
The entire experience will stay with us forever and I know that it has changed many of our views on modern day living.
R MacLeod
16 Chronicle Chronicle 17 Ski Trip to Heavenly, USA
The very thought of an 11-hour flight across the Atlantic would cause most to turn tail and run straight back for their beds, never mind the promise of horrendous jet lag threatening to mess further with our nocturnal teenage sleeping patterns. But a measly 11-hour flight simply wouldn’t be enough without the added 5-hour bus journey, starting in a not-so-sunny San Francisco, and finishing in the absolute darkness that had shrouded Lake Tahoe by the time we arrived. As the pupils taking part in the California ski trip this year would find out however, the torment of travel was an entirely worthwhile endeavour for the great week of skiing that was to follow.
The Heavenly ski resort offered some of the most beautiful and unique vistas I have ever seen. Looking west over to California, you could see Lake Tahoe laid out before you. By contrast, looking east, one looked out over the Nevada Desert, a baffling but amazing sight to see while standing on a mountain of snow. In particular, the chairlift that takes skiers back down from the mountain has an incredible view that covers the whole of Lake Tahoe and the mountainous terrain that surrounds it.
The ski runs themselves provided a challenging and enjoyable experience for every level of skier. The top ski groups were relentlessly charging through tree runs and traversing mogul fields while the beginners got to grips with skiing in an amazing environment on more relaxed runs. Our final day of skiing gave us some of the deepest powder snow many of us had ever seen, which presented us with both an entirely novel challenge and a whole new level of hilarity.
Outside of the fantastic skiing, we took part in a variety of activities to relax after a tough day on the piste. These activities included bowling, ice-skating and buffet dining at a nearby casino; fortunately no gambling was allowed and our financial security was assured for at least a few more days of the trip. However, our second last day of the trip took us back to San Francisco for a full day of shopping, where financial security definitely wasn’t taken into consideration.
Having nearly robbed San Francisco of its stock of apparel, we rode the colourful trams back and spent our final proper night of the trip on Pier 39 of San Francisco Bay. This tourist-orientated area offered yet another chance for those not already severely in debt to spend all their money on more clothes. It was also the venue of the famous ‘Bubba Gump Shrimp’ where we would all have our last dinner together.
The next morning we had breakfast at Hard Rock Café and then took the ferry across the Bay to Alcatraz. This island prison held some of America’s worst felons and the audio-guided tour was fascinating. Following a hilly walk to Lombard Street (the “crookedest” street in the world) we began the long journey home. After such an exhausting and fun-filled week, most had no trouble sleeping the whole way back and with such an amazing trip fresh in our minds, the journey home was no problem at all.
Jack Lang
18 Chronicle Chronicle 19 Italy Classics Trip
In the wee small hours of Thursday 28th March 2013, a group of 33 eager Classics pupils set out on an expedition of discovery to Rome, the eternal city, the still beating heart of the Western world for well over a millennium.
It was a long and tiring journey but as the coach wove through the ancient streets of Rome, along the paths once travelled by the wagons of immigrant refugees from the Trojan war, marched along by the mighty armies of Julius Caesar, paraded through by the golden chariots of the emperors of the known world, stormed by the barbarian hordes of Goths, Vandals and Huns; strolled along by DaVinci, discovered as if for the first time, by the English Romantic poets; and triumphed over by the victorious forces of Garibaldi, we knew that we were truly in a unique city.
Our coach finally brought us to the Hotel Portamaggiore, ringed by the still considerable ruins of ancient aqueducts and city walls, which would be our base for three days. On the first day we had a cinematic introduction to the city and its history at the Time Elevator. It gave us our first glimpse of the wonders we would experience firsthand in the next few days.
On Friday we visited the mighty Colosseum in the morning: greatest and most famous of the monuments of ancient Rome. Here the gladiators and wild beasts fought and died in spectacular shows for the delight of the Roman masses. In the afternoon we toured the heart of the ancient city, the Forum Romanum; though so many of its buildings lie in ruins, the scale of them is truly breath-taking. Just looking at the three triumphal arches there, built centuries apart and on an ever grander scale, put in to perspective just how long and how mightily Rome ruled the world. In the later afternoon we travelled to see the catacombs on the outskirts of the old city: tunnels stretching for over 30km underground where the first Christians in this city of over a million souls buried their dead. In the evening we took the chance to share the vibrant atmosphere of the Spanish Steps and the Via dei Condotti with the young and fashionable Romans of today.
On Saturday we turned our attention to medieval and renaissance Rome, visiting the Vatican City, the Sistine Chapel, Piazza Navona, and the Trevi Fountain, along with the almost perfectly preserved circular ancient temple, the Pantheon, constructed in the reign of the emperor Hadrian.
On Easter Sunday we left Rome for the Bay of Naples to visit the coastal lands both destroyed and immortalised by the eruption of Vesuvius in AD79. Our base for these further adventures was the beautiful coastal town of Sorrento. En route from Rome, however, we stopped off at Cumae, the site where Aeneas entered the underworld in Virgil’s ‘Aeneid’ (which is read by S4 Latin pupils). On Monday, we ascended to the crater of the awesome volcano Vesuvius itself and in the afternoon we experienced firsthand the haunting remains of Pompeii, city of Caecilius and his family, which we have read about and studied in S1 and S2 Latin.
It was a tired, but very satisfied party which set off homeward, once again in the early hours, in need of some relaxation on their return, but carrying with them the memories of an amazing adventure.
A McKellar
S1 Latin: Seven S1 Latin pupils won prizes and certificates of commendation from Glasgow University for the national Gilbert Murray Essay writing competition in May. From left to right: Zainab Munir, Kay Mackenzie, Hope Hill, Jenny Olney, Evie Brown, Veronica Haughey, Yasha Shuvalov.
S5 Latin: Elodie Lieberman received a certificate of commendation for her essay on the magical qualities of ancient literature from St John’s College, Oxford in their annual national essay competition.
18 Chronicle Chronicle 19 Lakeside
Lakeside was the lauded event, the jewel of the sixth year experience we had been sold. Yet, it was with grim anticipation that the vast majority of the sixth year travelled down to what can only be described as a sodden Lake District. Expectations were low, the prospect of ‘team-building exercises’ and the great outdoors - rain-soaked as they were - failed to charm the cynical hearts of this weathered year group.
However, this was simply the weariness and lack of enthusiasm that we teenagers seem to manage to bring to almost every situation and that negativity was quickly dispelled. After all it was difficult - with our friends around, the weather picking up and the undeniably fun activities - to maintain such a solemn disposition.
There arose an atmosphere both infectious and lively and even the least competitive of individuals could not help but get involved in the House competitions, albeit simply under the mantra of ‘anyone but Morrison’. This competition for supremacy reached cataclysmic heights during the raft-building exercise: the ferocity was such that Arthur House’s raft completely disintegrated, leaving its bewildered passengers floating adrift in the icy waters of the lake and clinging desperately to the wreckage of their once mighty vessel. Parallels with Titanic are a must.
From the zip-wire to the climbing, from the fun to the friendship, Lakeside was a brilliant experience. Not a week to enjoy then forget about, a week to bring us closer together, a week to kick-start the best year of school yet.
Dylan Bruce
20 Chronicle Chronicle 21 Borneo Biology Trip
In July 2013, sixteen pupils and three staff ventured off to the island of Borneo. After a long flight we finally arrived in the capital, Kota Kinabalu, and were hit straight away by the overwhelming humidity and the excruciating heat. We then got on a coach and headed for our accommodation, which was in long houses. These long houses were made out of bamboo and were elevated off the ground. To our surprise they were rather pleasant and happened to be one of the best places we stayed on the trip. We stayed here for three days, during which time we took part in a community project situated in a nearby village. Here we helped four families by building water tanks - bought from the money we had raised - which allowed them to have a supply of clean water. At night we were greeted by some of the locals who showed us some of the ancient cultural dances and allowed us to take part in them. We also had a karaoke night which was all but too entertaining in that for one night only we got to see Mr Menzies take on the role of Freddie Mercury.
After the long houses we headed further into the jungle to start our three day trek. These three days became a great experience for a lot of us as we were able to see some interesting wildlife and have the chance to sleep in a hammock. Although it was a tough few days it was a worthwhile experience and we all enjoyed it immensely, despite many of us suffering from leech bites, a common occurrence of jungle life.
On the final week of our trip we headed back into Kota Kinabalu, where we stayed in a hostel just off the port. Here we were able to see what city life in Borneo was like and we were able to experience it first-hand by attending the night markets which were situated right under our accommodation. During the last week we also visited the Don Bosco orphanage which looks after eighty-one orphaned children aged from five to eighteen. We donated toys to the children and took part in more cultural dancing. We then went on a boat trip down small rivers, where we were able to see lots of proboscis monkeys, buffalo and many more animals. To round off the trip we visited an orang-utan sanctuary where we had the chance to see the orang-utans being fed. We also visited an island just off the coast. Here we were able to have a relaxing day snorkelling, lying on the beach, playing football with some tourists and most of all getting sun burnt, despite the lashings of sun cream we dutifully applied!
We left early the next morning and headed for the airport. After a short flight we arrived in Singapore where we had a ten hour wait till our next flight. In this time we were able to walk about Singapore’s amazing airport and we even got the chance to go for a swim on the roof of the airport!
Many thanks to Mr Menzies, Mr Shields and Mrs Brown for organising the trip. It really was a once in a lifetime experience and everyone will have many wonderful and lasting memories of our visit to Borneo.
Innes Hopkins and Alessandro Mazzucco
20 Chronicle Chronicle 21 Your Future Marseille in Europe French Conference, Exchange Paris For four days in early February, after a hard couple of weeks of Prelims, four S5 pupils visited Paris with Mrs Blair and Mrs McCready from the Modern Languages Department. The main feature of the trip was the Your Future in Europe conference on the third day, an event well-publicised throughout the UK, which consisted of a day listening to various speakers, including Evan Davis from the BBC and Shami Chakrabarti, Director of Liberty. These two speakers, Shami in particular, provoked a great deal of debate, covering quite a few controversial points. Another interesting speech was given by a man who came to promote the international language course scheme, Erasmus. This scheme allows university students to take a year out to study at a foreign university – for free. This idea was a big hit among all of us and we intend to look further into it.
Aside from the conference, we managed to cram many cultural experiences into our four-day trip, not to mention travelling Arriving in Marseille, we were introduced to the blue hundreds of miles on the Métro! The Château at Fontainebleau beauty of the Mediterranean Sea and the basking showed us an extraordinarily decadent lifestyle from days gone heat. A few layers of clothing were hastily removed, by, and excursions to various art museums such as l’Orangerie due to our sudden jump from a Glaswegian Sunday and le Musée d’Orsay and, of course, the Louvre, were enjoyed morning to the full heat of a Provençal summer. by all. The French food was generally lovely and on the second A quick dip in the sea later and we were soon feeling much evening, we went to one of the many crêperies in the city, where better and decided to head on out to discover Marseille. The we all enjoyed the famous delicacy. With everything from the narrow streets and beautiful terraced villas showed us a architecture and the art, to the slice of the Parisian life we pleasant and distinctive city that has both a rich heritage and experienced, the trip was of great value and along with it, great a vibrant culture. fun too. Numerous stops at the patisseries we stumbled upon aided E McCready the sightseeing experience and, with the helping hands of Mme Holland and Mr Diverty, we were able to negotiate ourselves around the city. Visiting the Notre Dame de la Garde offered us the spiritual essence of Marseille and with the help of the 86-year-old tour lady, Mlle Avery, we marvelled at the gold-adorned ceilings.
Undoubtedly some tears were shed at the airport as we said goodbye to our friendly hosts, all of whom had embraced us and made us feel like one of their own. Thanks must go to our French counterparts, Mme Vitalis and all of her class, for their hospitality and knowledge. Special thanks too, must also to be given to Mr Diverty and Mme Holland, whose French certainly helped us out of a few sticky situations in the cafes around Marseille. I would love to return to the city again to visit the patisseries and purchase some croissants….and brioche…..ooh the éclairs were very good too!...is that panier on offer?…and did I mention the gateau au chocolat?
Euan Campbell
22 Chronicle Chronicle 23 Paris Trip
On Thursday 2nd May, 51 pupils and 8 members of staff went straight from CDG Airport to Château de Versailles. After lunch all pupils participated in a guided tour. They learned interesting facts about the French Monarchy and the general feeling was one of pity for Louis XIV because he had to eat a cold dinner every night, by himself, in front of 200 people! Afterwards, we re-enacted the French Revolution in the grounds of Versailles.
The pupils thoroughly enjoyed the ascent of the Eiffel Tower and the boat trip on Friday. They also enthused about shopping on the Champs Elysées and in Le Marais, the area surrounding the National Modern Art Museum. Pupils were able to express a definite opinion about Modern art, after their visit to the Georges Pompidou Centre in the evening!
We took in the Sacré Coeur and Montmartre on Saturday. As usual, the pupils enjoyed the experience of shopping and having their caricature drawn by French artists if they wished. It is fair to say that pupils were impressed with the Mona Lisa during their visit to Le Louvre. They also had the opportunity to enjoy the architecture of Notre Dame and walk along the banks of the Seine.
There is no doubt that Euro Disney was the highlight of the trip, and the visit there was very relaxed and enjoyed by all. We rounded off the trip with a quiz about our exploits in the evening and the pupils had a wonderful time.
C Blair
22 Chronicle Chronicle 23 Danish Exchange At the start of the session Katie McKernan, Finlay Their visit to Scotland was, we hope, just as Johnstone, Cameron Turner, Kimberley Somerside, enjoyable as our trip to Denmark. The weather Kirsty McDonald, Brodie Hunter, Rachel Stewart was generally average - by that we mean raining - and ourselves were chosen to represent the school but that did not hinder any enjoyment, in fact, it too on our exchange with Herlufsholm School in was a cultural experience for them. On the Friday, Denmark. It was an honour and a totally different we visited Glasgow University or ‘Hogwarts’ as experience for all of us in the group; as we flew out they referred to it. Glasgow being a destination of Edinburgh we were all very excited. of many Herlufsholm leavers, we’re sure they appreciated it. Later in the week we travelled When we arrived, our exchange students met us at over to Edinburgh, a city that many of them were Copenhagen Airport and took us to the school. We inexplicably eager to see. After visiting Edinburgh were heading 50 miles south of Copenhagen to what University and Princes Street/Harvey Nichols, we turned out to be a glamorous, ancient school, which naively went to the Edinburgh Dungeons. Having reminded us all of Hogwarts. The buildings were never experienced it before we can now safely hundreds of years old and it had the most amazing state: that place is utterly terrifying! The day look, completely different from The Academy, set in after that, it was an emotional farewell, ending a its own grounds surrounded by acres of bright green thoroughly enjoyable exchange. grass. Three of our exchange partners were day pupils whilst the rest stayed in the boarding school. If you are reading this wondering whether to go or Boarding was a tremendous experience; we found not, our advice is like Nike’s: ‘Just Do it’. It is an ourselves sharing a room with about twenty other opportunity that does not come around twice, one Danish students that we had never met; however, that you learn a lot from, not just about another they were all very pleasant to us. culture, but also about life in a boarding school within that country. It was a truly magnificent We had a very busy week in which we were very experience wherein a foreign way of life was much involved with many different activities going discovered and we have all established strong and on, including the school sports day. Our cultural loyal new friendships. education included a day trip to Copenhagen, where we went on a boat trip along the canal Fergus Neilson and Fraser Wright and witnessed many iconic scenes, including the famous Little Mermaid statue, but the girls were desperate to go shopping…so we trailed behind! The highlight was, perhaps, a visit to the Tivoli Gardens, which is well known as one of the greatest amusement parks in the world. There was even one ride where you could see Sweden from the top! It didn’t have the best rollercoaster ride for those of us blessed with excessive height however. Despite the completely different environment we felt comfortable and at home, enjoying it so much that we genuinely didn’t want to leave.
24 Chronicle Chronicle 25 Raasay In September 2012 almost all S2 pupils enjoyed a wonderful four-day residential trip on the beautiful Isle of Raasay. The year group was split into two and pupils attended the trip in their Houses. During their stay, pupils experienced a wide range of new and exciting outdoor activities such as sailing, rock climbing, coasteering, and kayaking. The pupils also had the chance to conquer their fears and do an exhilarating pier jump - this was the highlight for many on the trip. We were also very lucky this year as the weather remained dry for the majority of our stay!
As well as thoroughly enjoying themselves, pupils worked closely together as part of a group, developed their interpersonal skills and increased their confidence. I think that most pupils (and staff) surprised themselves on the trip and realised that they were capable of conquering their fears and doing something that they perhaps didn’t think they could.
Raasay has become one of the highlights of the year for me: the variety of activities, quality of instruction offered from Raasay House and the beautiful surroundings make this trip one which is enjoyed by everyone.
It is not long now until the 2013 Raasay venture and this time we are all especially looking forward to returning to Raasay House as it has recently been renovated.
Here are a few memories from Raasay 2012…
J Cuthbert
24 Chronicle Chronicle 25 West Side Story
The buzz that surrounded the announcement that The Glasgow Academy would stage ‘West Side Story’ was a clear sign that this year’s show was going to be huge - both in terms of the enjoyment and the challenge. The challenge was the accents, the singing and the dancing especially; however, what made it hugely enjoyable this year was the amount of dedication that every pupil and teacher put into the show! Everyone pulled through the tough and tiring rehearsals - with the occasional sports injury here and there - and found themselves enjoying each moment. For many, a total of ten hours a week was spent, in order to make the show the best The Academy had ever put on. When opening night came, all the hard work paid off with the audience laughing, applauding, and even crying; but just not on opening night, no: it happened every night, right through until the final curtain. Everyone gave it their all, giving a pitch perfect performance each and every time. I would like to thank everyone who made it so memorable for those of us who now leave The Academy shows behind!
Eilidh Murdoch
26 Chronicle Chronicle 27 26 Chronicle Chronicle 27 The Rose Henderson Essay Prize Lipstick
It was around early evening when the lipstick arrived. Crates and crates of the stuff, red as fresh blood, piled in numerous boxes around the camp, scattered like jigsaw pieces on concrete. Nothing could contrast more with this place than those packed boxes, in their brightness and vitality. The walls were grey, peeling like wrinkled skin; six foot high and topped with layer upon layer of jagged barbed wire knife-blade sharp, they encircled the camp with the brute force of a thousand bodyguards. Each building was regulation grey, exactly the same as the one before it, lined up in rigid rows like soldiers on parade. All that the eye could see for miles around was grey. Grey clothes. The grey sheen of guns. Grey people. It was as if a flock of jovial red birds had unexpectedly descended upon a sea of filthy pigeons, miserable in their squalor.
“From the British Red Cross,” the creatures read. You She couldn’t dwell on the body of a child, tears of hate couldn’t really describe them as people anymore. All of and remorse filling her eyes, because before long there the life and hope had been extracted from them, pulled would be another. And another. These days she would away, weaned from them like sunshine being filtered walk by the corpses unaffected, void of emotion, not away by a wall of clouds. They flitted from grey building because she didn’t care but because she couldn’t. to grey building, eyes glassy and lifeless, as if ghosts already; no substance. All identity had been stripped She remembered the day she had arrived. Guns, so from them when they arrived - their names forgotten, all many guns; nobody who arrived was armed yet they possessions pillaged, a number scorched into their skin were herded like miserable sheep by the soldiers, like a welt. What had once been many people was now pushed and shoved around like livestock. All her one entity, all the terrified eyes becoming one, all the jewelry was ransacked, her necklace torn from her shrunken skulls identical. Nobody understood or even neck, her earrings forced from her ears. She fingered cared what the crates were for. Weren’t crates of food, the puckered scars on her earlobes. They had ripped or clothes, or anything else, more important? It was too her hair from her, too, the hair that everybody said was late for petty gifts, or trivial little presents. What was the beautiful. Long, wavy and black as a raven’s feather, use of red lips on a dying face? people used to say, and they stole it. The wild animals in uniform. It didn’t matter though. Nothing mattered Among the crowd was a woman, maybe thirty years anymore. Hair grew, didn’t it? She didn’t need to look old. She had had a name, once, before her identity was beautiful because there was nobody here that would stolen and replaced by a string of numbers. Yasmin. It care if she did. She had joined the hundreds of women meant flower. How ironic, she often thought to herself, and girls, mothers and daughters, all with their hair that she now looked like a wilting one, the colour from sheared carelessly to almost nothing, with what was left her cheeks long faded, her eyes soulless and dead. sticking up in melancholy tufts. The pile of hair lay on the These days she walked with no intention of actually floor like a ragged sleeping beast. Everyone had come getting anywhere, feeling like she had to force through in looking different, but now they were all identical. She a sea of skeletons wherever she went. There was no didn’t want to look at the mothers with their daughters, one at the camp that she could talk to, no one she could to see them holding each other close, because her own even consider being her friend. People pushed by her, child had been separated from her when she arrived. shoved her, all manners flung to the side. She looked Her little boy, her baby. She never saw him again. and felt invisible, as if melting away into nothingness, slowly but surely. That night, some people took the lipstick anyway. Women who still remembered what hope was. The She remembered the Great War, and all of its awful ones who still had bigger ideas, bigger dreams. Walking retributions. Remembered people jeering and shouting silently from building to building, the desolation was in the street. Calling her hideous names that stuck to her still painted across people’s faces as clearly as day, like glue. She remembered the train, the one that had but now these women had scarlet lips. They still had taken her away, the one that was so full of people, so to wear the regulation clothes, bleak and scratchy on crammed with mothers and fathers and grandparents the skin, but the lipstick made them look almost human and children that some didn’t make the journey. The again. A red stain from home. A flash of colour in all the first time she had ever seen death, right in front of her drab grey. People were no longer simply numbers. For eyes. Now, though, it was commonplace. It happened a second, they were back to being individuals again. all the time, everywhere she went; there was no escape Dotted across the hideous landscape were pairs of from the rivers of death, the fallen angels. bright red lips. A protest against death.
28 Chronicle Chronicle 29 She took the lipstick in her hand, the brightness and She’d only ever been to one such dance, but in its beauty of it almost unreal. She half expected it to be memory she held, like a gold locket, the warm euphoric pulled off of her; after all, everything else she held close feeling of falling in love. It was through bittersweet long since had been taken from her. There was no tears that she hummed - as slowly as she could - the mirror but it didn’t matter, because she knew she didn’t music for a waltz, her first waltz, and held her arms out look beautiful anymore. It would just be painful to see tentatively in the air for a partner whom she’d never the sharp edges piercing through the way she looked see again. Although it looked as though she were mad, now, distorting her features sickeningly like some sort she never once felt alone. Through the blur of tears she of trick. The lipstick felt soft, a rare gentleness, as could almost see his face, and his eyes were as bright she stroked it along her lips. She let herself delve into as she always remembered. The lipstick took her back deep, sleepy memories of sitting by her mother in her to life, to normality, to happiness and - most importantly bedroom as a child, knees crossed like a little lady on - the man and the boy she adored. the eiderdown, watching her mother put on lipstick. How she had wanted to try the magical Woman War Almost seventy years on, a girl with hair as black as a Paint that she’d seen so many times before on movie raven’s feather is getting ready to go out. She blinks stars, so effortlessly beautiful. She remembered her into the mirror, hair swinging, realising something is mother’s smiling eyes and the scent of lavender water, missing. Something very important... To give her hope. sickly-sweet. With a single swipe she is done: bright red lipstick.
As she rubbed the lipstick in, she felt the dingy little Anna Rickards room transform into a ballroom, saw her pale cold feet fitted with the finest of dancing shoes. Her scratchy, ugly uniform of death lengthened and softened into silk like a waterfall, and the slicing cold of the room turned to the stuffy, noisy warmth of a party.
Anna Rickards
28 Chronicle Chronicle 29 Creative Arts
30 Chronicle Chronicle 31 Creative Arts
30 Chronicle Chronicle 31 Creative Arts
32 Chronicle Chronicle 33 Creative Arts
32 Chronicle Chronicle 33 We Need to Talk About… Nothing
Ladies and gentlemen, art lovers, art critics, art connoisseurs, I welcome you to my exhibition. You are truly blessed to be here: not just to be on this planet as a living representation of complex evolution but also to be in the presence of such ingenious artwork. What you are about to witness is the opening of my newest collection. This exhibition will prove to be the most inspirational of all time, igniting imaginations globally. It is a five-piece collection and, if my calculations are correct, each image should sell for several billion dollars. The first piece is Christina Macpherson, S6 the most intricate in detail and the last is the most thought-provoking in content, depicting an image that really ought to be discussed.
The first piece is entitled “Benzene Ring”. It portrays a Now don’t you see? Nothing is everywhere. It is everything. benzene ring, in all its glory, with its six carbon atoms Being something of a prodigy, I noticed this at a young arranged in a hexagonal structure trapping a misty pool age, whilst partaking in one of the greatest games known of delocalised electrons within it. Its aesthetic beauty is to mankind. The game is called the “What for? Game”. almost as pleasing as its philosophical beauty. For, what Allow me to give you an example. would life be if it weren’t for the magnificent benzene ring? Indeed, what would art be if it weren’t for the benzene The victim of this game might say: “I am going out to the ring? But this, ladies and gentlemen, is not enough. For, shops just now.” what would the benzene ring be if it weren’t for the carbon And the player of the game would say: “What for?” atom? The victim replies: “To buy some milk.” The player says: “What for?” This very question was the inspiration for the second piece The victim says: “For pouring on your cereal in the of my collection, which is entitled “Carbon Atom”. It depicts morning.” a carbon atom. For what would art, life and the universe And the player says: “What for?” be if it weren’t for the carbon atom? However, this is still The victim says: “For providing you with calcium, during entirely unsatisfactory as a defining unit of existence. This the most important meal of your day.” dissatisfaction caused me to stumble upon my idea for The player says: “What for?” piece number three of my collection, “The Proton”, which The victim responds: “For your health.” in turn acted as my inspiration for piece number four, “The And the player says: “What for?” Quark”. The victim says: “For allowing you to live a long life.” The player says: “What for?” But still, I understand that you are all wondering about the The victim says: “To give you more time to fulfil all of your mysterious final piece of my collection – the piece that dreams.” you all came to see. What about piece five? What building The player says: “What for?” blocks are arranged to form the quark? Well, ladies and The victim says: “To make you happy.” gentlemen, the final piece of my collection is perhaps the The player says: “What for?” most experimental piece of artwork that has ever been And the victim of the game can only reply: “For nothing.” unveiled to the public. It is entitled “Nothing” and it depicts absolutely nothing – only the most fundamental “thing” This game is proof that nothing does lie at the heart of on this planet and in this galaxy. Nothing is an underlying everything. It is like some God, some hero, some higher feature of everything and ultimately answers almost every power or some revered figure, for which we do everything. question about existence. It also answers questions about To think that I have managed to capture such a significant a whole host of other things. and complex character in a single piece of artwork – the final piece of the collection you are about to witness. No If I asked Bruno Mars what she has on you, he would wonder it is estimated to be worth so much. reply: “Ain’t got nothing on you.” If I asked the members of Starship what was going to stop us now, they would If nothing is so important, then surely we ought to discuss say: “Nothing is gonna stop us now.” And if I asked the it, whatever “it” is. Since we need to talk about something, founders of Adidas what impossible was, they would then we ought to talk about “Nothing.” respond: “Impossible is nothing.” Clemmie Mitchell
34 Chronicle Chronicle 35 Connecting Teachers - Flooding day This event took place at The Glasgow Academy on Thursday 20th June, financed by the Royal Academy of Engineering through the Connecting Teachers Project. Many of the resources were provided by The Glasgow Academy and the support from Christine Hunter, Rosie Goolden, Molly Millar (S6 pupil), Laura McMillan (S6 pupil), Alan Whyte, the janitors and three STEM Ambassadors saw the day meet with huge success. Each school brought six S1/S2 pupils, the participants being:
- The Glasgow Academy - Whitehill - St. Mungo’s - King’s Park - Johnstone - Marr College
Cameron Rome (S1), Juliet Philip (S2), Emma Alexander (S2), Jenny Olney (S1), Taylor Bradley (S1) and Chloe Thornton (S2) took part for The Glasgow Academy and they had to make and test sandbags, using a variety of materials in paddling pools, and then build shelters, which were tested with the janitors’ leaf blaster. The teams then split in two and did sessions on hypothermia or incident management, energy from plant oils or renewable sources and water filtration or purification. Lunch was from Tesco and the afternoon was spent soldering together and using old Morse Code equipment in order to access the satellite phone, whilst dealing with other challenges like a burst sewage pipe, an injured team member, a flat battery in the phone and a potential cholera epidemic.
The pupils from Johnstone were the winning team, but all pupils seemed to have a good day and Rebecca Sowden will continue to support these schools, through the Royal Academy of Engineering, in running their own survival days next summer.
Dr Sowden S1 Big History On Monday 24th June, all S1 pupils took part in a collapsed timetable day based on the Big History Project (http://www.bighistoryproject.com/Home). It is hoped that this will become an annual event and the first ten billion years were covered. The pupils took part in sessions on the Big Bang (Hazel McMillan); other origin stories (Simon Wood); scale and fractals (Roddy MacLeod); telescopes, line spectra and the Doppler Effect (Róisín Loughran); nuclear fusion (Susan MacGregor) and plate tectonics (Rebecca Sowden). Pupils then glued explanations on a timeline of what they considered to be the most significant event in the formation of the Solar System.
It is hoped that in the summer of 2014 these pupils, now S2, will take part in a similar day covering life and civilisation, then in S3 in a final day covering interconnection and the future. This would allow cross-curricular learning to be embedded at The Glasgow Academy and a majority of Senior teachers to be involved in its delivery.
Dr Sowden S1-2 Games Lab The S1 and S2 Games Lab has met every Friday lunchtime in ICT1. It has been very busy, particularly with S1 pupils; at times there has been an overflow of pupils into ICT2. Pupils have enjoyed using Kodo, a visual programming environment created by Microsoft which can be used on either PCs or Xbox to develop games of their own. The competition to create the best game was fierce.
Later on in the year, many pupils used their time in the Games Lab to expand their knowledge and extend their own programs made in Logo or Scratch. Many pupils have also enjoyed exploring the online graphics package Sumo Paint.
This year’s S1 have been very enthusiastic; if they maintain this next year in S2, those who don’t come early enough will find it difficult to find a space!
M McGranaghan
34 Chronicle Chronicle 35 Big Bang Scotland A busy year of Thales Engineering Club projects culminated on Friday 14th June, with a visit to the Big Bang Scotland event at the SECC Glasgow. Six of our pupils, Alastair McLeod (S1), Dhruv Shah (S1), Euan McGuigan (S1), Muhammad Khan (S1), Filip Petrov (S2) and David Ta-Hsin Wu (S4), had the chance to display and discuss their projects, a rampaging chariot, a boat and an underwater rover, while also competing in STEM Engineering Challenges (Alastair, Dhruv and Euan). Unfortunately this year we didn’t manage to win any prizes but the judges were impressed by our pupils’ knowledge and ability to talk about their own projects. The boys did go home with some inspiring ideas and advice from the judges and other exhibitors, so let’s see what our budding engineers can come up with next year.
C Hunter Engineering Club Thales Visit Engineering Club pupils were meant to visit Thales on Thursday 28th March, but this trip fell through due to David Cameron’s surprise visit. Mark Andrew and Paul Yarr, from Thales, run Engineering Club for The Glasgow Academy and they and Alan Rae arranged for the pupils to visit on Thursday 23rd May instead. Ten pupils were able to attend what was a fantastic day. They were given a general introduction to the company before being taken on a tour of some of the company’s highlights. The morning ended with a delicious lunch and talks on the apprentice and graduate routes into the company.
I’m afraid the high security meant that we couldn’t take photos, as no electrical devices were allowed, but the pupils’ comments below are quite telling.
Muhammad Khan, S1: “The trip to Thales is one I will never forget. Everything about it was fantastic.”
Euan McGuigan, S1: “Thales left me with a new career choice.”
Alastair McLeod, S1: “I really enjoyed the trip and only wish it had lasted longer.”
Adam Stockman, S1: “I really enjoyed the trip to Thales Glasgow. It was very informative. I would really like to get an apprenticeship like Ross. Thales is a great company.”
Angus Murray-Nicolson, S4: “I thoroughly enjoyed myself today on the trip to the company: from start to end it was non-stop information. “
Blair Nugent, S4: “This trip has made me interested in becoming an engineer in the private sector rather than in the Army. It has given me something to contemplate. Thank you very much for having us.”
Dr Sowden Scottish Robotic Games
On Saturday 8th June Filip Petrov (S2), Muhammad Khan (S1) and David Ta-Hsin Wu (S4) attended the Scottish Robotic Games at Selex ES in Edinburgh. Filip had attended the 2012 Games with Ramu (our first robot) and since then he has been working on a new robot, Clint. Clint was based on Kaos 2, who defeated Ramu in the Sumo in 2012. However, Filip’s design was invincible and the photo shows Clint driving Kaos 2 off the Sumo ring, which feat saw Filip win the Sumo Award. Muhammad and Clint also made it to the semi-finals of the football and the team won the award for the Best Engineered Robot. This was due to its low profile, four wheel drive capabilities, hinged lid, safety switches and the fact that the chassis was a single piece of aluminium. Clint was one of the few robots not to be hospitalised during the Games. Paul Yarr and Mark Andrew, the engineers who have been working with the team and buying the parts for the new robot, were delighted with the boys, especially as Selex ES are their main competitor at Thales!
Dr Sowden
Top of the Bench is a competition run by the Royal Society of Chemistry for school pupils. This year’s team, Ben Morris (S2), Alex de Koning (S3), Sharan Maiya (S3) and David Ta-Hsin Wu (S4), worked extremely hard with Dr Stewart and won the regional competition in Glasgow on Thursday 22nd November. We were then invited to the national competition in Loughborough on Saturday 20th April. The team did well at this event, coming twelfth, and were especially strong in the practical aspect of the competition.
Dr Sowden
36 Chronicle Chronicle 37 It has been another fun-filled year for the S1-S3 MADness club. As always it’s been a chance to socialise, play games and meet new people. This year we have looked at many of Jesus’ parables from the New Testament. We have also enjoyed several visits from the Independent Schools SU worker, Adrienne Cartwright, who has taught us more about the world we live in and how to be thankful for God’s MADness many blessings. We have learned valuable lessons and will leave the club as better people. There is always a warm, welcoming atmosphere and a chance to have a laugh at some outrageously funny games. Overall, we’ve had a brilliant year and we hope to carry on this positive streak next year by encouraging new people to come and join in the fun.
Joanna Philip Maths Challenge The Large National Finals Hadron The trip to London for the UKMT Team Maths Challenge National Finals was good fun, though we had to get up extremely early to go to the airport! We learned a lot about how important teamwork is, relying on this to do well in the poster competition. Collider We also got the chance to explore a new place, and make new friends. We enjoyed the challenge of the unusual, interesting problems. However, despite our best efforts, we were unable to win against the extremely talented opposition. However, we did manage to come in the top 3.75% of the UK! It was a very enjoyable day and we hope to participate in this event again next year. Roadshow
Ruiyang He, Kyle Chan, Rick Mukhopadhyay and Muhammad Khan
On the afternoon of Thursday 7th February Christine Hunter and Allan Stirling accompanied eight pupils and two of the engineers, Mark Andrew and Paul Yarr, who run the school’s Thales Engineering Club, TGA Bake Off to the Large Hadron Collider Roadshow at the Scottish Parliament. Jasmine Li, S3: During June the children in P7-S6 and staff were invited to bring in their best baking “Upon entry, the first exhibit we noticed was a doorway standing in the from home. This was a very special event, primarily in order to celebrate the life of Mrs middle of the hall. A sign informed us that it was, in fact, a sensor which Valerie Thomson our former Home Economics teacher, and it was heartening to see could detect cosmic particles travelling through the person standing in the standard of, and passion for, home baking within our community. The lucky judges the archway. Soon, we had a mini-contest to see who could attract the (Ms C Dolan, Mrs A Young, The Rector, Mr T Brooke, Max Aitchison, Molly Millar and Mr most radiation!” Kenneth Thomson, husband of the late Valerie Thomson) gathered in External Relations for a morning of sampling judging. The standard was incredibly high with an enormous Kyle Chan, S2: variety of baked goods, making judging very difficult. “The Large Hadron Collider Roadshow trip was amazing. When we arrived I was disappointed there was only a model of the Collider, not After very full stomachs the following were crowned winners: the real thing, but as it’s 27km around, and five storeys high, it’s hardly surprising!” Senior School: 1st place (winner of The Valerie Thomson Baker of the Year Award) Yussef Hassan, S3 (a 50cm, four layer, chocolate and summer fruit pavlova). Iain Scott, S2: “Part of the collider has such a high magnetic field that it could rip an Prep School: 1st place - Natasha Raison for her raspberry cheesecake. earring out of the ear!”
We managed to raise £210 for a charity, chosen by Mr Kenneth Thomson, that will enable Rick Mukhopadhyay, S1: music therapy within a hospital environment. The Valerie Thomson Award will now be an “We were taught about the Higgs-Boson/God particle. This topic annual event, presented at Colours Assembly. induced a lot of discussion and left us thinking about what happened a trillionth of a second after the Big Bang. All in all, it was a great day and everyone learnt a lot about Particle Physics. C Dolan C Hunter
36 Chronicle Chronicle 37 Modern Languages Evening On 9th October 2012, The Modern Languages Department presented an evening which allowed pupils to display their skills in Modern Languages. It also explained how language diversified, with the help of a sketch about the Tower of Babel. The pupils presented three plays, two in French and one in Spanish. Kirsty Gordon gave the story behind the colours of the French flag and everyone sang the French National Anthem. The evening was interspersed with songs from S1 in French and Spanish. S2 sang in German, not to mention the conversations in Arabic. The plays had visual explanations, drawn by Molly Millar and Katie Allan, to provide a comical translation of the scripts. Almost 60 pupils from S1 to S6 had prepared for 2 months for the event and it was a great success. It was a light-hearted evening enjoyed by both parents and performers.
C Blair
Festival of Chemistry On Tuesday 21st May Judy Arbuckle, Jamie Brennan, Iain Fletcher and Emma Murray accompanied Mrs Hunter to the Salters’ Festival of Chemistry at Glasgow University. The pupils were chosen because of their outstanding performance in the S1 Chemistry exam and excellent ability in the lab. The pupils were an asset to the school and received one of the prizes on offer.
Judy Arbuckle: “The Salters’ Festival of Chemistry was a good outing and a great learning experience. I enjoyed how the tasks were put in a problem solving way, so it made you think.”
Jamie Brennan: “I have really enjoyed the Salters’ Chemistry Festival today, as it was full of activities. All of the activities required teamwork and cooperation. We managed to do well enough to win second place in the morning challenge.”
Iain Fletcher: “I found the festival great fun and enjoyable. It really tested your knowledge of Chemistry and how well you worked as a team. It was very interesting.”
Emma Murray: “It was a great, fun day out and I’m so glad we won second place. I learned a lot.”
Dr Sowden
38 Chronicle Chronicle 39 Young Enterprise At The Young Enterprise Scottish Finals at the Thistle Hotel, Glasgow, on 18th June, The Academy’s S6 Young Enterprise company ‘Dolly Creations’ were the stars of the show. The prerequisite of reaching this stage in the competition was winning Best Overall Company at The Glasgow Area Board Finals held at the end of March.
At The Thistle Hotel, their day started at 8.30am and finished at 11.45pm! The pupils had to set up a Trade Stand at which some of the judges questioned them for ten minutes. Then followed a formal interview with a full panel of judges.
Next, Ayesha Hassan, the Managing Director, had a one-to-one interview with a representative from The Institute of Directors.
In the afternoon, along with another seventeen schools from as far afield as Shetland and the Borders, the team of Ayesha Hassan, Max Aitchison, Clemmie Mitchell, Dylan Bruce and Catriona McKimmie performed their Presentation and PowerPoint.
The evening was the Awards Dinner. Dolly Creations were runners-up in the Best Trade Stand category and runners- up in the Best Product category. However, they won the following awards:
1. BEST PRESENTATION 2. BEST COMPANY REPORT and… 3. THE SCOTTISH COMPANY OF THE YEAR!
The team then had to perform their presentation again at the Awards Dinner in front of an audience of three hundred people, including such prestigious entrepreneurs as Sir Tom Farmer. They received so many compliments and accolades from distinguished guests. They simply had a ball!
This meant that the team had now to go to London at the beginning of July to represent Scotland in the UK Finals! There were thirteen companies competing in The UK Company of the Year Awards, representing Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales, nine areas of England and Gibraltar! The competition proved very stiff, and Dolly Creations unfortunately did not manage to come away with any prizes. However, the team of five did themselves and The Academy extremely proud, and to have made it down to the last thirteen schools in the country out of over two thousand is a truly remarkable and outstanding achievement in itself.
A Drummond
38 Chronicle Chronicle 39 Eco Group
Glasgow Academy’s Eco Group continues to blossom and has had another busy and successful year. We began it deciding as a group to look at three key areas: biodiversity, school grounds and recycling – all very important areas to be considered.
To raise awareness of biodiversity, we began by arranging a Biodiversity Photography Competition. There were various categories and winners had their images put up on the school website and entered into the ‘Pods’ National Competition. This was a successful competition with many artistic photos being entered across the years.
We looked at how the school use their grounds by asking pupils to finish the sentence ‘TGA belongs to me...’ It was understood that they were used for a diverse range of reasons, but in particular for the many clubs and societies on offer at The Academy. We also looked at the biodiversity of the school grounds by hosting a bird watch which consequently won the school a prize and the 1st and 2nd years the opportunity to experience a lecture from a member of the RSPB. We also looked at increasing the biodiversity of the grounds by planting trees out at the sports grounds at Anniesland and releasing our very own painted lady butterflies in our new butterfly house featuring in the Rector’s garden.
Finally we looked at the issue of recycling. We raised awareness by participating in Switch Off Fortnight and Waste Week, which looked respectively at reducing the school’s use of power and the amount of waste it produces. These weeks consisted of many fun activities that pupils could participate in. Activities included face painting, planting seeds, quizzes and competitions within the Houses. These allowed the whole school to be involved which meant that everyone was made aware of these important issues.
Consequently, looking at these three keys, renewing our Eco Code and our regular environmental reviews have put us on track for renewing our Green Flag status in December 2013, which is very exciting!
By way of conclusion I would just like to thank Mrs Brown and all the Eco Group members for their continued support and hard work. I wish the new leader every success with the renewal of the Green Flag.
Iona Gordon
40 Chronicle Chronicle 41 Senior Money Week Money Week was held 4th-8th February throughout the Senior School. As usual, a whole host of events took place in many different departments.
We enjoyed presentations from parents on subjects such as accounting and investing in stock markets. Investigations into the crippling costs of some medical treatments were carried out in the Biology department. Red cabbage indicator was researched on an industrial scale in Chemistry, while pupils were learning about how Greek coins were made in Classics. Play dough was even used to replicate the process with some moulds! The cost of computer components was explored in Computing Studies, leading to a discussion on whether budgets in such an environment should be fixed or flexible.
S1 were given the task of running an island and considering its mid-term viability, while S2 were tendering for a dinner contract. Through such a wide variety of activities, pupils have received an insight into the necessity for financial capability and responsibility, especially in the current economic climate.
R Macleod
40 Chronicle Chronicle 41 PTA Chairperson’s Report As another school year draws to a close and it is time to write my PTA Chair’s report for 2012-2013, I cannot believe how quickly the year has flown!
It has been another busy year for the PTA. I would like to thank all of the PTA committee members - parents and staff - for their fantastic enthusiasm and hard work throughout the year. I would also like to thank all of those who, although not officially on the committee, give so much of their time and energy to assist at PTA events.
The school year began with our New Parents’ Evening. This is proving to be a popular event, where new parents can meet each other and members of staff in relaxed, informal surroundings.
After our trial opening in May, the PTA Uniform Shop officially opened in October. It opens the first Tuesday in every month during term time and provides a truly valuable service to parents. It has been such a success this year that we move to larger premises next term! We continue to hold large sales in January and June, which are always busy. A huge thank you to Alex Fabvre-Meltser and her team of tireless volunteers, who run the shop and sales so efficiently.
In November, we held our first Christmas Fayre in the Cargill Hall. To get us in a festive mood, Mr Marshall arranged for some wonderful musical entertainment as parents browsed our stalls and enjoyed mulled wine and mince pies. The children were kept busy bouncing on the bouncy castle (efficiently policed by Mrs Kirkhope and The Rector!), decorating cookies, having their faces painted and playing Beat the Goalie (thanks to Neil Simpson and his team for braving the bitter cold!) to name but a few events! Thanks also to Sandy Mathewson for helping so ably at the bar, looking ever so fetching in his Santa hat – complete with pigtails!
The PTA ran the Cauliflower Card Scheme again this year and we thoroughly enjoyed seeing the children’s wonderful designs. We were also delighted to support the Christmas parties for Kindergarten, P1, P2 and P3 again. Santa flew in to each party to wish every child a Merry Christmas!
February saw The Grand Central Hotel being invaded once more by over 200 very glamorous Academy ladies! We dined and chatted magnificently and this year some even danced, as a short disco was laid on as a surprise! Thank you Melanie Mowat for singing so beautifully.
In March, glow sticks again illuminated the Prep School Hall, as we organised the discos for P4 & 5 and P6 & 7. These continue to be extremely popular, although, on occasion, it seemed that there were more children at the tuck shop than on the dance floor!
Although the PTA has several purposes, we do need to raise the funds which allow us to support the school and our aim is to do this in ways which include as many children and their families as possible. The PTA needs the support of all parents, whether as members of the committee, occasional helpers or as supporters of our events. The PTA is grateful to all the parents who support our events, whether by attending them or by donating items or sponsorship to help us defray our costs. The money that is raised goes straight back in to the school for the benefit of our children.
The PTA aims to give donations to all aspects of school life and this year we are delighted to have donated almost £13,000 to various departments, including the Electronics Club, the Pipe Band and the Prep School Media Club (full details may be found on the website).
Last year Glasgow’s Planning Committee unanimously approved plans for a state-of-the-art Science and Technology Building, the creation of which will ensure The Glasgow Academy’s position at the forefront of independent education in Scotland. The building will house 15 science laboratories (including 3 specially dedicated to Advanced Higher work), a food technology department and a multi-purpose 175 seat auditorium.
The PTA and the External Relations Department set up a special committee to organise a fundraising Ball at the Glasgow Hilton on Saturday 22nd June: all proceeds will go to the building fund. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Emma Fitzpatrick, Mark Taylor, Neil Drover, Lindsey Cockburn, Janice McCaffer and Susanna Schraag for all their incredible efforts – it would have been impossible without you!
42 Chronicle Chronicle 43 It was a fabulous night! After being greeted at the entrance to the Hilton by some of our wonderful Glasgow Academy pipers, over 300 guests enjoyed a champagne reception and delicious dinner while being entertained by the legendary Willie Allen. After dinner, they danced the night away to music provided by The Gangsters of Groove: the dance floor was jam-packed all night! Thank you to all of our guests and sponsors for their support. We raised over £60,000 on the night – an amazing result!
I would also like to say a special thank you to Fiona Calder and the Media Project Team for providing us with a fun and informative film explaining the benefits of the new building. Finally, a huge thank you to those fifth and sixth years who gave up their Saturday night to help with the raffle, silent auction and auction.
PTA committee meetings are held throughout the year, with dates advertised on the website and on the school calendar. We aim to keep the PTA pages on the school website up to date and minutes from the PTA committee meetings are now available online. We welcome any views and comments from parents either in person or via the website.
Finally, I should like to thank the Rector and Mr Brooke for their support and guidance and the PTA members for their support over the past year. Thanks also to all staff in the Administration Centre, Catering, External Relations and the Janitors, who provide support to the PTA throughout the year.
I look forward to seeing many of you as we have two major events coming up – The Fashion Show and The Highland Games!
Happy holidays!
Sandie Watt Chairperson
42 Chronicle Chronicle 43 Glasgow Academy CCF As you will see from the reports which follow, the CCF is still flourishing at The Academy. This is due to the enthusiasm of the pupils and staff and I would wish to thank the staff for their dedication and effort. Captain Gilmour has now retired from the CCF and I would like to take this opportunity to thank her for her input to Army Section Training, camps, First Aid and Shooting over the years. Lt Col GRM Anderson RN Section After the Recruits Training weekend, the section spent an instructive day at sea on board the fleet tender ‘Omagh’. As well as boat handling they were instructed in navigation, fire fighting and Rule of the Road. In November the Section took part in the Milngavie Remembrance Parade. Links between the Academy and the RN Unit at Glasgow University continue to strengthen as the Section spent time on board HMS Pursuer; visits were also made to HMS Neptune and the submarine HMS Victorious. Summer Field Day was spent flying with the RN from HMS Gannet as well as undergoing field craft at Craigengillan. The summer sees cadets on camps at HMS Bristol, HMS Raleigh and RNAS Yeovilton. The new academic year is already in the planning with numerous joint opportunities being undertaken with Kelvinside Academy.
The section has continued to deliver the CCF RN Syllabus on a weekly basis and parades have by and large been well-attended. There is a hard core of very keen third years on which to build in the future.
Lt Cdr RMI Williams
44 Chronicle Chronicle 45 Army Section This has been a very strong year for The Glasgow Academy CCF Army Section; recruiting numbers continued to be high and this year’s Senior Cadets have, arguably, been our strongest group yet.
Anne Gilmour, after 20 years, has stepped down from her post as Head of Army and we would all like to thank her for her efforts and commitment. We have been able to recruit four new female officers; one coming from Morrison’s, two newly commissioned who have already attended their basic course. One has attended the Target Rifle Coaching course and one the First Aid Instructor course.
The annual recruit weekend at Garelochhead was a huge success, with the younger cadets receiving basic training over the weekend. The Senior cadets were then bussed out on the Sunday to take part in a further 24 hours of training, which doubled up as our annual first term Field Day. The same weekend saw our Military Skills team win the Scottish CCFs competition, with the team winning 8 out of 15 events and coming in the top 3 for 14! Indeed, the team could have gone home on the Saturday night, not taken part on the Sunday and still won overall, such was the size of their lead.
Attendance on Thursdays remains high and the training is now run by our Senior cadets, under the supervision of RSM Murdoch. They have been fantastic this year and made our jobs very easy - we owe them a great deal of thanks, especially RSM Murdoch, who impresses everyone who comes into contact with him; he really is a credit to the school.
We sent four pupils on the Senior Cadet Instructors Course; all 4 passed with flying colours and one, Victoria Johnstone, walked away with the Top Cadet Award.
Summer Camp this year, for the first time, was at Wathgill. We took sixty-five cadets with us to what proved to be a superb camp, both from the organisation and training points-of-view. A particular highlight was the day trip to Adrenalin where the cadets (and some staff) took part in high wire courses, crate stacking and the Krypton Factor assault course!
Targets for next year will be to defend our Scottish CCF Military Skills Trophy and enter the British CCF First Aid Competition for the first time, as well as the British CCF Leadership Competition at Wellbeck College.
WO2 Duff, our SSI, also deserves a huge amount of credit for the smooth running of field days, camps and general training.
Lt A Mathewson
44 Chronicle Chronicle 45 RAF Section Since September 2012, there have been safety issues with the RAF’s training aircraft, the Grob Tutor, and as a result the entire fleet has been grounded for a large part ofthe session.
As a result no cadets have had any air experience flying, not just here, but throughout the country. This has been compounded by on-going development work at RAF Kirknewton, home to 661 Volunteer Gliding School, where the runway is being completely replaced.
On our summer term Field Day, in idyllic conditions, the RAF joined the RN section for a visit to HMS Gannet, Prestwick, where all the cadets had the opportunity to experience the thrill of a flight in an RN Search and Rescue Sea King helicopter. After constructing their bivouac, cadets visited the new observatory in the Galloway Forest Dark Sky Park where they observed the rings of Saturn and other planetary objects through state-of-the art telescopes and imaging equipment. Having survived a night in the wild, the training was adventurous in nature and also involved archery and rafting.
Summer Camp
This July we visited RAF Boulmer in Northumberland. RAF Boulmer is home to central command of the ASACS (Air Surveillance and Control System in laymen terms) which is responsible for the quick reaction alert force which polices our skies 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Boulmer was responsible for air safety during the 2012 Olympic Games and will also be watching Glasgow’s dreary skies for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
We were joined for the week by cadets of Hampton School and The Lady Eleanor Holles School from London who have a joint CCF. They brought their cockney charm to the camp - as well as a few arguments over how to pronounce vowels.
For all the Harry Potter enthusiasts, there was a visit to Alnwick Castle which was the set for Hogwarts School in the Harry Potter franchise. Wands were purchased during the tour, along with broomsticks, all courtesy of a monk - who may or may not have been a tour guide. War Simulation games really brought out the inner-dictator of one too many cadets at the camp and ensured a stressful few hours as planes (simulated of course) were shot down over the Irish Sea. A day trip to RAF Spadeadam, just south of Carlisle, saw us encountering foam tanks, East German military relics and Afghan villages in the middle of a forest, in an effort to create different scenarios for training pilots before their postings to a variety of theatres of operation. Visiting 202 Squadron, some lucky cadets were chosen to take a flight in a Sea King helicopter and participate in drills such as being hoisted up and abseiled down while in flight.
A slight detour to Lindisfarne (a.k.a. ‘The Woman in Black’ causeway) on the way home rounded off a memorable week.
Cdt Euan Campbell
46 Chronicle Chronicle 47 Bisley 2013 For several years now those shooting at Bisley have been very grateful for the Shooting Team gazebo, kindly donated by the PTA, which has kept both team and equipment dry before our turn to venture onto the firing point. However, this was not the case in July of this year; everyone was thankful for the respite the gazebo gave from the sun, with temperatures peaking at well over 30 degrees on most days and not a drop of rain in sight!
Before heading south we normally spend a lot of time during third term in quality practice at the Scottish Ranges at Dechmont, Castlelaw and, on occasion, at Barrybuddon. As in 2012, Range availability was limited. However, we did make best use of the time we spent at Dechmont and Castlelaw, honing skills on the powerful full-bore rifles and benefiting, as usual, from the invaluable tuition of our experienced coach, Allan Mabon. The team members were therefore keen to embark upon the three days of solid practice on Century Range, interspersed with the chance to win some minor awards before the main competitions of Ashburton Day on the Thursday.
This year our team of twelve consisted of many who had previously shot at Bisley and they willingly assisted with the younger members who can initially find the huge Bisley Complex a somewhat daunting experience. All were involved at some point during the day in record keeping. Calum Omand, Elijah Rae Earl and Megan Auld also proved to be indispensible as coaches and scores were certainly boosted by their guidance.
Particular mention should be given here to Scott Webster and Cameron Murdoch who both won a coveted Bisley Spoon in Wednesday’s Victoria Tankard Competition.
On the Tuesday evening the cadets have the opportunity to try out the more relaxed discipline of clay shooting and all really enjoy the evening. In previous years several of our team have scored very well and on occasion won prizes, beating cadets from schools who are more familiar with this alternative style of shooting. We all watched in stunned silence as Blair Nugent not only hit, but completely shattered clay after clay…until number 20 escaped him! We were delighted when he collected both cup and gold medal at the Prize Giving on Thursday for this outstanding performance.
All credit must be given to everyone in this year’s team who ably carried out their weapon handling skills on a daily basis and returned some fine scores, including many v-bulls. Individual performance gradually improved over the three days. Many were delighted to record personal bests and above all, confidence was high as Thursday approached all too quickly!
Ashburton Day, the culmination of the week, is an even busier day when everyone has to be very organised and focused. It’s a team effort involving eight cadets each shooting the three distances of 300m, 600m and finishing at 500m, while the remaining four cadets also each shoot the three distances but for a separate competition. The total scores amassed form the team aggregate. The Ashburton eight were very pleased to be placed 24th in Britain and runners-up in The London Scottish for which they each received a Bisley medal. The School’s four, which included many of our younger shooters, were very happy to come 14th in Britain.
At the end of the day each school chooses its best shot to take part in the prestigious Spenser Mellish Competition which is self coached. Megan Auld surpassed herself by only dropping 4 shots and we were all delighted when her excellent score made her 10th in Britain. Well done, Megan! On the Thursday evening we were treated to dinner by the London Branch of the Academicals. We are all grateful not only for this welcome tradition but also to those who visited us on the ranges to offer their support and encouragement throughout the week.
At the culmination of the dinner several in-house awards were made as follows: Best shot of the week - Megan Auld Highest Aggregate - Cameron Murdoch Highest number of v-bulls - Michael Masters Most improved shot - Chloe Wilson Spenser Mellish - Megan Auld Clays - Blair Nugent Calum Omand and Elijah Rae Earl were thanked for all they had done as Captain and Vice-Captain and were very pleased to accept the mantle again for the coming year. Chloe Wilson was also thanked for all her hard work as joint Vice-Captain. We hope she will continue shooting throughout her university years.
This year’s dinner was a bitter-sweet occasion for myself, marking my retirement from shooting after so many happy years. I would like to record my sincere thanks to WO2 Duff for all his help, support and good company in recent years. Lt Smith, who will be taking over from me, joined us at Bisley this year and I would like to thank her for all her invaluable help there. I do hope that she enjoys her time as i/c shooting and most of all that she has as much fun as I have undoubtedly had.
EA Gilmour 46 Chronicle Chronicle 47 Senior School Hockey Review of the Season I looked forward with great excitement at the prospect of my first hockey season at The Glasgow Academy. We started off at pre- season training in August with a group of intrigued children and staff wondering what lay ahead. I am sure the pupils were a little nervous but they certainly demonstrated that they were keen to learn and were soon accustomed to the daily routine, and also the standards and expectations that a member of the School’s Hockey Club was expected to meet. I have been delighted with the response from all the pupils and through several tough fitness and technical sessions I firmly believe that all the girls have a clear understanding of the ethos that all the staff have been working hard to instil throughout the Hockey Club and beyond.
We have had a very successful season, winning the S1 and S3 West District Tournaments, as runners-up in the Scottish Schools U16 Tournament and remaining unbeaten at P7 level. The P7 A team not only lifted our own hockey tournament trophy, for the first time for 7 years, but also the much sought after George Watson’s and the Jordanhill Trophies as well. The Seniors have also had a very good year, culminating with the 1st XI winning the BP Plate Competition and the 2nd XI winning the West District 7s Tournament.
All in all it has been an excellent start and I have been encouraged with the progress we have made this year. We will continue to work hard to maintain and hopefully even improve on this year’s results. Well done to everyone involved in what has been a very impressive season for the school’s Hockey Club. I would like to thank all the staff, players, coaches, umpires, groundsmen and tea ladies for all their hard work throughout the season: it is very much appreciated.
R Simpson An Overview of 2012 - 2013
The 2012–2013 season has been a season of change and great successes across the years. The P7s have made their mark on all Scottish schools by winning the George Watson’s Tournament, Jordanhill Tournament and The Glasgow Academy Tournament. This is a talented year group that will hopefully bring many more pieces of silverware home to The Academy. Another year group that are full of potential are the S1s. They had many successes that culminated in them winning the annual West District Tournament. However, this was not the only group to have success as the S3s were also West District winners. This entitled an U16 group, consisting of S2-4s to progress to the Scottish Schools U16 Finals. The event was concluded with a very tense final against local rivals, The High School of Glasgow, but the team unfortunately just missed out on being Scottish Champions due to a last minute penalty corner goal. Despite this, the girls should be hugely proud of their achievements.
Senior teams have also been hugely successful. The 1st XI went on to win the BP Plate against Kelvinside Academy with the winning goal in the final seconds of the game. This was a memorable last 1st XI Saturday morning game for many of the S6s involved, and defines working hard to the final whistle.
Success was also found in the spring season of Sevens. The 1st XI competed in all the tournaments they participated in and were runners-up in the Hutchesons’ Sevens, semi-finalists in The High School of Glasgow Sevens and runners-up in the West District A Sevens. The B Sevens team also were very successful and won their respective West District Tournament.
However, success has to be earned. Across the years, fitness has been a key area that has been worked on. Lunchtime sessions, as well as early morning sessions for the Senior section, have helped the teams become fitter and given us the opportunity to compete more competitively. We also worked on our tactical game, looking at a ‘zoning formation’ that gives the opposition little opportunity to pick their passes.
The Seniors have even had the opportunity to look at the psychological side of the game as Glasgow University students were invited to work with the group over a period of time. We began to understand how to mentally prepare for a game, focus ourselves during the action and how to meaningfully reflect on both our individual and team performances.
The highlight for many of the girls was having the opportunity to speak to Olympic medallist and ex-Academy pupil, Laura Bartlett. Her achievements in hockey have been inspirational, and demonstrate that representing Great Britain at the Olympics is possible if you work hard. Hopefully, young, talented Academy players will be inspired and the next stream of internationalists will be discovered.
Overall, the Hockey Club has had a truly successful season and this has provided the foundation for many more to come.
Iona Gordon
48 Chronicle Chronicle 49 1st XI
Every member of this year’s 1st XI has shown dedication and determination in every match and training session. I think that every girl realised that to improve performance, the concentration and intensity of training must equal that of our desired match play. Although at the time fitness training may not have been everyone’s idea of fun, it did improve our game and I am sure that every player was grateful for this. Innovatively, our training sessions included coaching from psychology students from The University of Glasgow briefing us on the mental aspects of our game. This was very helpful.
Playing alongside Niamh MacFarlane this year, you would never have known it was her first year at the Academy, settling in quickly and proving to be a very strong and determined player in the central area of the pitch. Susan Al-Haddad made many outstanding saves and has really shown off her goalkeeping skills throughout this year. She has been picked to play for the Scotland Under 16 team as a result, which is a massive achievement - Congrats and best of luck! Alison Beattie has brought a lot to the team as well this year. She is a very consistent striker.
It has also been great working alongside my vice-captain Iona Gordon who has been such a great help and a key and passionate player. Lucy McCall has an extremely high level of fitness and skill and made good use of this in every match. Kirsty Wilson and Chloë Mechan are both very determined players and their speed allows them to create dangerous situations in the attacking half. Fiona Griffin, Hannah Hood, Sophie Thornton and Bethany Gallagher make up a very effective defensive unit, who were able to get themselves out of tense situations in our defending area. Robyn Belch, Emily Whyte, Heather Kilpatrick and Rachel Buist have all adjusted very well to senior hockey and should be great members of the team in 5th and 6th year.
It has been a successful year despite the many matches cancelled due to the weather. Highlights included being runners up in both the Hutchesons’ 7’s and the West District 7’s tournaments. In one of our final matches we won 3-0 against George Heriot’s; this was a great match which showed just how much improvement had been made in terms of our overall performance. Winning the BP Plate allowed us to end the season on a high. The BP Plate final was a very tense and exciting match. We had the majority of the possession throughout the match and it highlighted just how far we had come as a team, keeping possession and making short simple passes to move up the pitch and create goal scoring opportunities. With much anxiety showed by both the players and the support, we scored our well-deserved goal to win the match within seconds of the final whistle, winning 1-0, to round off a great season. The team would really like to thank Miss Simpson, Miss Brierley and all the coaching staff for putting up with us and for all their commitment, encouragement and time.
Abigail Stevenson Hockey Tournament Results 2012-2013
Girls’ Tournament Result Teams 1st XI BP Cup Matches Plate winners 1st XI West District Tournament Knocked out in section 1st XI West District Indoor Tournament Runners-up 1st XI West District 7s Runners-up 2nd XI West District 7s Winners 3A West District 3rd year Tournament Winners U16 Scottish Schoolgirls' Finals Runners-up 2A Hutchesons' Tournament Runners-up 1A West District 1st year Tournament Winners P7A The Glasgow Academy Tournament Winners P7A The George Watson's Tournament Winners P7A The Jordanhill tournament Winners
48 Chronicle Chronicle 49 2nd XI 3rd XI
This year of hockey has been extremely successful for the 2nd XI The end of the season came quickly this year - not only because of the team. We have had many highs throughout the season. The team has appalling set of weather conditions we were dealt, but because it was achieved lots of victorious matches, winning against schools including my last as a member of The Academy. But what a last season it was, Wellington, Mary Erskine’s and Beaconhurst, with scores reaching up and I am proud to have captained the team in both our victories and to 6-0. our (few!) defeats.
The 2nd XI have played three tournaments this year, the first being With a frontline of some speedy and forward-thinking strikers such the West District Tournament. Although we did not reach the semi- as Sammie Dickson, Anya Morrison and Taylor Henry, we managed finals, we did do very well in managing not to lose any matches in a total of thirty goals in ten matches. Our defence was spurred on by our section. The second tournament we played was the George the hilarious and endearingly reluctant Eilish McGregor, who I hope Heriot’s Sevens Tournament. Here, even though it was one of our last will continue goalkeeping in her sixth year. And we were, of course, matches, the efforts of the team did not falter. With one girl down, we held together by a tireless midfield comprised of Laura Gallacher, Zoë played with six players in a Sevens tournament! The West District B Boothby and Mhairi McMorrin. Sevens Tournament squad was very positive, the team won overall and it was great to finish the season on such a successful high. The Overall, it was an excellent season; our crowning glory was perhaps hard work and effort that everyone has put in over the past year must our win - on grass - against Heriot’s, but I have enjoyed every minute be commended. Each member of the team has worked tremendously of every match. Having strengthened as players, I’m now confident diligently, putting in the extra hours committing themselves to additional to leave them to fend for themselves in the absence of their proud practices. The current S4s have been a great addition and the team captain! has become a strong unit. It has been great to see the improvements in every individual throughout the season. I feel honoured to have Maia Gentle, Pamela Sandford and Rebecca Goldie been nominated as captain; it has been such a pleasure to work with such great players. I feel extremely privileged to have spent my last year of hockey with such a fantastic team.
Natasha Duda Ballymena Tour 2013
New connections were made as for the first time, the 1st XI, 3rd year A and 2nd year A hockey teams travelled to Northern Ireland and the small town of Ballymena. It was a new destination for The Academy and we were all very excited about playing the Irish! We faced tough opposition, and achieved a mixture of results, but it was a great chance to experience playing against skilled and talented players - demonstrating to us just what was required to reach the next level. The weekend was intense, with three games in three days, but it allowed us to play lots of hockey, which is never a bad thing! We had a really positive experience with the host school, and hopefully, this connection will be one that will flourish for many years to come.
Iona Gordon
50 Chronicle Chronicle PB 3rd Year A 3rd Year B
This season, some of the hockey from the S3 A team has been The past year has certainly been a special one for the B team, as it outstanding. Every single player has raised the bar from last year in was our last season as a team. We’ve had our ups and downs, but terms of fitness and skills. The knowledge that this would be the last altogether it has been a fantastic year of hockey. We had intensive year that we all played together spurred us on even more. We have all training sessions where we learned lots of new skills and focused on trained very hard throughout the season to create the strongest teams tackle-backs, domino five and driving the base line. We have also that we could; some Saturdays we have had the A, B and C teams all spent time working on hit outs, and short corners. Each skill has taken out playing. a lot of time and effort to get right, and each member of our team has shown determination to put them into practice on the pitch. One of the highlights of the year was the West District Tournament. Having had a largely successful year, the A team went into the Our most challenging games this year by far were the ones we played competition raring to go. Commitment, teamwork and determination on grass. As we are not used to playing this surface, it was certainly saw us progress to the final without conceding a single goal. We then a learning curve for most of us, but such opportunities have definitely faced one of our fiercest rivals - The High School of Glasgow. When improved our overall game play. One such match that we are all proud the whistle blew at full time, it was a draw. We then overcame our of was against Marr College, where we drew 1-1. This was a fantastic nerves to win on penalties. This fantastic success saw the school achievement for all of us, a game where the team spirit really shone qualify for the U16 Scottish Championships. Seven of the sixteen through. players selected for the team were from S3, with the remaining players from S2 and the 1st XI. We battled all day, in snow, hail and freezing Much better, from our point of view, were our games on astro, where we temperatures, and finished runners-up. The level of hockey played had many successful results. One of the best was against St Aloysius’, was exceptional. where we put many of our new skills into action.
A huge thank you goes to Mr Ralph, our coach, who put us through our We would like to thank Mr Ralph and all of the other hockey coaches paces each week, helped us to improve to the best of our ability and for all of their time and dedication to making us better players, and as made this season extremely enjoyable for all of us. I am immensely for the fitness, although it seemed awful at the time, it definitely paid off! proud of every player and wish each and every one of them the very best of luck as they progress into Senior hockey. Karin Shaw
Alex Rankin
2nd Year A 2nd Year B With the arrival of the new Director of Sport, we didn’t know what to This year’s S2 B team has played in some great matches, although expect. We were told in first year that second year hockey was a whole overall it was a challenging year for us because S2 hockey is quite different ball game. It was. The S2 girls were all so excited to find out different to the game in S1. At the start of S2 there were some ups what Miss Simpson was going to be like. We had heard that she was a and downs, but as the year went on we got much better. Even though double Olympian and we couldn’t wait to start training with her. we lost some of our games we still kept working hard and always gave 100%. We did have some weaknesses, which we needed to We faced many different obstacles and became a lot fitter over the work on, like spreading out and communicating to each other during season. We enjoyed every game, even though we had some horrible the matches, but eventually these were resolved with the help of our weather. coaches.
In February we went to Ireland for a hockey tour. It was such an We were very lucky to have Olivia Yeneka as our goalie. We were experience to be able to play to Ballymena School. Everyone was very all very proud of her because she only started hockey in S1 and she friendly and the tour teams had a lot of fun, even though it rained a lot. got into the A team straight away as a result of all her hard work and commitment. Then in S2 she thought she would try out for goalie and, The 2A squad were very persistent, determined to have a good year surprise surprise, she was really good. She practically never let a ball and make the most of our opportunities. We worked hard until the in the goal and would always tell the defenders where to stand on the end and finished with our heads held high after a great success in pitch, which was really good for us. the highlight of our season – coming runners-up in the Hutchesons’ Hockey Tournament. We were also very lucky this year to have a great new Director of Sport, who has made a huge impact on us. She has been teaching us new Overall it was an amazing year and we are all looking forward to our things and keeping our fitness level high. We hope to win many more future hockey years to come. matches next season, as it will be the last year that we will play as a unit. Olivia Yeneka and Chloe Thornton Katy Ferguson
PB Chronicle Chronicle 51 1st Year A 1st Year B
Overall the S1 A hockey team have enjoyed a successful year. We The S1 B hockey team has improved throughout the hockey season, have won games, but unfortunately we have also lost some too. As a working hard on our fitness and skills. This team works well on the unit we have grown stronger, and learned from our mistakes to improve pitch, and has produced a number of strong performances throughout our game. The A team finished the year on a high by winning the West the season as a result. District Tournament. The whole team was overjoyed and so proud of our achievement. Areas to develop for next season would be our tackling and push-passing, which would develop our overall standard and lift our Our fitness level has definitely improved over this year, even if we have match performances to an even higher level. not always enjoyed doing horse shoes and diamonds! We do know it is for our benefit though. Our skill and footwork have also developed, Competition has been fierce throughout the season, with lots of people through working with different equipment to make this happen. moving up from the C’s as they have raised their game. We think that A big thank you to all our coaches: Miss Simpson, Miss MacNeill and all the players have improved greatly throughout the season however, Mr Marshall, but especially to Miss Bannerman! We are all looking and we look forward to next season. forward to next year and are excited about what lies ahead! Fiona Short and Thea Morton Amie McIntyre and Rosie Hutcheon
Hockey Results 2012-2013
Girls' Hockey Played Won Lost Drawn 1st XI 12 8 3 1 2nd XI 11 8 1 2 3rd XI 10 7 3 0 4th XI 7 5 2 0 3rd year A 13 7 6 0 3rd year B 11 4 5 2 3rd year C 2 0 2 0 2nd year A 14 6 6 2 2nd year B 11 4 7 0 2nd year C 2 0 2 0 1st year A 11 4 6 1 1st year B 9 3 6 0 1st year C 3 1 1 1 P7 A 10 10 0 0 P7 B 11 9 2 0 P7 C 5 3 1 1 P7 D 1 0 1 0 Boys' 1st XI 13 4 9 0 Boys' 2nd XI 8 1 4 3
52 Chronicle Chronicle 53 Boys’ Hockey 1st XI
We went into this season not really knowing what to expect. With half of the team brand new to the 1st XI, we needed a while to bed in and become an effective unit. This was evident in our first game against The High School of Dundee where weran the opposition close but eventually lost 2-1 due to them being a better drilled team than us. After a few weeks of practising and playing with each other as a team, we had high hopes for our game against The High School however. These hopes were justified as we completely outplayed The High School and ran out resounding winners with a 4-1 victory. The confidence we gained from this victory was carried through to our next match against Hutchesons’ Grammar. Until a number of our key players had to be substituted as a result of injuries, we competed in all areas of the pitch, but eventually lost 5-2. After this defeat we had two victories on the bounce against The High School again and Beaconhurst. However, our confidence was hit greatly by 3 successive and heavy defeats against George Watson’s, Gordonstoun in the Cup and Stewart’s Melville. We were sadly just outplayed by three much better teams who all have the advantage of starting hockey at a younger age.
This was the point in the season where the weather took its grasp on the pitches with few games being played from the start of December through to the beginning of February. Once the snow had all gone and the ice thawed, our first match back was a second game of the season against Hutchesons’ Grammar. The game wasn’t as tight as the match earlier in the season and they secured a comfortable 5-0 victory.
After two more defeats against Edinburgh Academy and Beaconhurst, we finished off the season in good form. In both the Hutchesons’ Sevens Tournament and our own tournament, we came runners-up, which is the first time in many years that this has happened. Sandwiched in between these two tournaments was a great 5-1 victory over Stewart’s Melville to end the season on a high.
The whole team played very well throughout the season. With Lyle Hill in goal; William Brooke, Cameron Burt, Alan Baxter, Andrew Sinclair, Chris Haughey and Scott Webster in defence; Olly Mennie, Alex Hunt, Robin McCall, Zuhayr Siddiqui, Adam Gillespie and Euan Ramsay in midfield and Leon Hay and Lewis Kennovin up front, we improved greatly as a team throughout the season and became much more of a unit. Many thanks to Mr Ralph, Mr Campbell, Mr Macintyre, Mr Williams and Mr Menzies for coaching us and taking us to matches throughout the season and I wish all the boys playing next year the best of luck.
William Brooke 2nd XI
The first thing to say about this season is that, over the course of it, the team went from strength to strength. In the team, we had 4th years who had only played a matter of hours of hockey prior to the first game against The High School of Dundee - yet we earned a well-deserved draw. This was made possible by the sheer effort that we all put in. We also had many experienced players in our team, including Anthony Pace, Euan Buyers, Finlay Johnstone, Greg Blackburn and Peter Ritchie. They brought a strong injection of quality into the squad and this, alongside the determination of other members of the team, led us to a spectacular victory against rivals Edinburgh Academy at home. Our determination could not be faulted and our powerful midfield was a force to be reckoned with; this teamed up with the pace on offer in attack could occasionally be lethal. Our defence has great potential and worked tirelessly with great discipline to prevent many potentially dangerous attacks. For the amount of experience behind them, the goalkeepers (Raj Dhillon and Jamie McDonald) were brilliant and verging on unbeatable at points; whatever team they play in next season will be the better for it. All of these factors combined allowed us to put up a very convincing fight against tough teams such as Beaconhurst. Despite playing in challenging conditions throughout the year I cannot commend enough the commitment of the boys who turned up to play in all weathers. I wish this team the very best of luck for next season; I hope it’s a great one.
Fraser Wright
52 Chronicle Chronicle 53 Senior School Rugby 1st XV However, it was not just the 6th years that were proving their worth at this difficult time. Young Euan McKirdy was top try scorer, scoring an unbelievable fifteen tries thr oughout the year. He stood up and showed a new level of maturity, performing brilliantly every Saturday. Robert Clarkson also coped with this new pressure well, always keeping the team morale up. He took on his new-found role as being the loudest man on the pitch as a challenge! The season may have looked to have started poorly but we did show signs of brilliance with a great solo effort from Jack Bain, who scored four tries in one game, something that has never been done before.
One thing The Glasgow Academy has never been known for is sizable bodies in the scrum, but these boots were filled brilliantly by Ross Swanson who provided a great outlet in attack from the back row, with his strong upper body and sprint speed.
On the topic of speed, it feels fitting to mention our back three This season’s pre-season training programme was well consisting of Jake Graham, Cameron Small and Jack Bain. attended by all Senior School teams and we started the Now to the naked eye they do not seem like your typical rugby season well with an encouraging set of results against George players as they are not the biggest but they did switch on and Heriot’s. The 1st XV suffered a huge number of injuries before really focused on becoming the key strengths in our team. The the Christmas break, meaning that a number of boys were defence and attack of these three were the main reason we prematurely exposed to the demands of that level of rugby. As did so well. players returned from injury the results improved with a string of excellent performances culminating in a richly deserved victory Jake Graham really did flourish as a rugby player this year, away to Dollar Academy. Eight pupils represented Glasgow with endless hours in the gym and equally endless hours on at U16, U17 and U18 levels, with Angus Neilson leading his the rugby pitch, which gave him the opportunity to represent country at U16 level this season. The S3 team again continued Glasgow at U17. to impress, and have continued to produce excellent results at both A and B team levels. The Prep School continues to This led to his selection for the Scotland U17 training camp; produce very competitive teams in P6 and P7 and the excellent unfortunately, he just missed out on the final squad. Another preparation work done at this level will mean these year groups player who impressed all this year with his spectacular will progress to more success as they move through the performances was Angus Neilson, who duly earned himself school. Congratulations must go the P7 A team who won the St the captaincy of Scotland’s U16 team. Ross Swanson, Euan Columba’s Tournament. McKirdy, Robert Clarkson and Cameron Murdoch all got into the Glasgow U17 squad, as well as our Vice-Captain Ciaran This season has built well on the foundations laid last year and Whyte, who represented the U18 Glasgow squad. Ciaran I have been delighted to see and hear the belief that many of was also our top point scorer with 120 points, even though he our school teams now possess, particularly when facing the missed three months of the campaign due to a knee injury. traditionally tougher fixtures. I’m sure this will continue in the future and I wish the staff and pupils every success. Many The Glasgow Academy boys showed true determination thanks must go the teaching and coaching staff, ground staff throughout this difficult period of time, never bowing out and and catering department for all of their support throughout the always putting in 100%. season. An excellent run at the end of the season with an almost full SG Weston complement of starting XV players saw us manage to turn the season into a positive one, winning more games than we lost. What a rollercoaster season it was for The Glasgow Academy, With our leader Robertson back, we took the last few games experiencing the highs and lows of school rugby. A great, hard by storm. A brilliant TGA comeback against Dollar Academy fought first win against Heriot’s looked to stand The Academy in saw us snatch a late win with a last-minute try and conversion. great stead. However, riddled with injuries the team struggled through the middle of the season. At one point we had ten Sadly the sixth years will never play in the same school team of our starting XV injured on the side lines, we were falling again. Boys who have been together since their first training like dominoes, and this surely cost us a few easy wins. With day in Prep 5 are off to pitches new. We may not be the biggest our captain Michael Robertson out injured early on in the school in terms of height and weight but we never gave up campaign, with a dislocated shoulder that required surgery, we from day one. We worked tremendously hard in training to lacked leadership. However, a certain keen CCF WO1 duly perfect our rugby. Many thanks to our coaches, Mr Weston and brought his leadership skills onto the rugby pitch, becoming the Former-British-Lion Mr Wright; we really could not have done it stand-in captain on a Saturday morning and doing a splendid without you. Best of luck to next year’s team and we hope they job. Another boy who put his hand up during this period without have a very successful season, just as successful as this one. our beloved captain was none other than Michael Masters, who put in some brilliant performances, rarely missing a tackle. Michael Robertson
54 Chronicle Chronicle 55 2nd XV U16 XV I have thoroughly enjoyed my time captaining the 2nd XV this year. This season the U16s have enjoyed some memorable performance In spite of a somewhat disappointing win/loss ratio, I can say with and victories but at the same time, we suffered losses that were hard to confidence that there is not a single player on the team that didn’t take. We started the season well, scoring a combined total of 90 points improve significantly as an individual rugby player over the course in our first two games against strong teams from Heriot’s and our local of the season. However, more importantly, we all learned valuable rivals The High School. In the following weeks we beat Bell Baxter lessons in what it means to be in a team and gained new traits that are 22-10, one of our best performances of the season, and narrowly absolutely essential in a competitive sport such as rugby. edged out The High School of Dundee by a point.
We had a difficult start but improved with every match and I believe Soon after in the Scottish Cup we were drawn away to Dollar Academy. that our last game against Dollar Academy stands as testament In front of a large crowd of mainly Dollar supporters, we were leading to this development. We played rugby with the determination and by 10 points before half time. Dollar then scored two quick tries before co-operation that would be expected of the 1st XV and in my opinion and after the break before going on to win 34-27. This was very this focus made us the better team on the pitch, though sadly the match disappointing for us as we competed well throughout the game and a was lost due to factors outside of our control. couple of moments of lost concentration cost us in the end. However, it was a fantastic effort by everyone and there were many positives to Overall, I am proud to have led and played with the 2nd XV and I hope take, including the score line, as we lost to the same team by 50 points that they will continue to play rugby with both the sportsman’s attitude the year before. and the competitive drive that they demonstrated this year. Over thirty players played for us this season and there were many Jack Lang brilliant performances throughout the season. In the forwards there were some standout performances from Louis O’Boyle, Liam Hay, Gillan Coats, Stefano Sidonio, Ben Taylor, Aidan Gallacher, Angus Neilson, Sebastian Glen, Cailean Maciver, Umar Majid, Tom Speedie and Sandro Mazzucco, who all put in the hard yards to deliver fast ball for the backs. With this fast ball the backs scored some good tries, consistent performances coming from Fraser Cannon, Campbell McCready, Andrew Craig, Cameron Watson, Cameron Russell, Calum Fordyce, Hamish Campbell and Harry Matthews.
Despite the depth in the squad, due to injuries and players turning sixteen and moving up to the firsts, our season tailed off with a number of losses, although we ended on a high with a good win against Carrick Academy. We would like to thank all the coaching staff who helped us throughout the season including Mr Kirby, Mr Wood and Mr McAslan. We’re all looking forward to next season already.
Andrew Simmers
Rugby Results 2012-2013 Played Won Lost Drawn 1st XV 19 9 9 1 2nd XV 8 0 8 0 U16 A XV 14 5 9 0 U16 B XV 4 3 1 0 3rd year A 14 9 5 0 3rd year B 10 9 1 0 2nd year A 17 4 13 0 2nd year B 12 2 10 0 2nd year C 16 9 6 1 1st year A 13 6 7 0 1st year B 6 3 2 1 1st year C 14 9 5 0 P7 A 13 7 4 2 P7 B 13 8 3 2 P6 A 15 9 5 1 P6 B 15 10 5 0 P6 C 9 0 6 3
54 Chronicle Chronicle 55 Ballymena 2013
It had been a while since The Glasgow Academy 1st XV last went on a tour, but during the February week this year, we travelled to Northern Ireland. Fresh off the plane at Belfast airport spirits were high and the squad headed to find our hotel, travelling in a neon orange minibus…and loving it. Upon arrival we were met with smiles and hellos in a true Irish fashion, some people even thought we were a professional side! The lads were paired up and sent off to settle into their rooms before we headed to Ballymena Academy for some lunch and to scout the enemy. After some soup, sandwiches and socialising we headed back to our hotel to talk tactics for our first game of the tour. Kick-off was looming and the boys were taking on all key nutrients to fuel their bodies for a very tough game. With a squad who included many fringe players, an outstanding performance was put in. Superb skills and determination, on a pitch that could only be described as a bog, saw The Glasgow Academy snatch a victory with Ciaran Whyte running in a 60 metre try after some brilliant team play and Jake Graham scoring a sensational individual try resulting in a final score of 19-10. A Man of The Match performance from Michael Masters also contributed to the win: he made countless try-saving tackles.
The team morale was high and on the same night we left to watch the Ulster v Ospreys game at Ravenhill, an experience with an outstanding atmosphere we shall not forget. After another short ride on the neon orange team bus we arrived back at our hotel, sore and tired. The following day was seen as a rest day, where we could enjoy each other’s company and rest up for our last game the following afternoon. A cooked breakfast was much deserved and from here we headed into Ballymena town centre…where we stumbled upon a McDonald’s. Well, it was our rest day! Full of food we travelled to the local rugby club to watch Scotland take on Italy, and win. A quiz night at the 1st XI girls’ hotel followed, where spirits were high. The next day we were up early ready to play our final game of the tour, looking to end it with another win. Our final game was played against Ballymena Rugby Club, on a pitch even wetter than the first one! A huge shift was put in by everyone involved in the harshest of conditions, each side taking the lead several times throughout the game. A short range try from Euan McKirdy and a barnstorming run from Robert Clarkson saw us take the lead. Ballymena came back again to regain the lead once more. However, some more fast feet and sublime steps saw Jake Graham race into the corner for his second try of the tour. With what seemed the game in the bag and only a few minutes remaining, The Glasgow Academy entered Ballymena’s 22 to finish the game once and for all. However, a dramatic turn of events took place and a loose pass was intercepted and a 70 metre dash saw Ballymena Rugby Club snatch the victory. Even with this loss, the boys were proud of each other and not one single head was down. After some great hospitality from the Rugby Club and the boys we had just played against, we headed for the airport. It was a fantastic weekend of rugby, socialising and camaraderie and our thanks go to coaches Mr Weston, Mr Wright and Mr McCaskey.
Michael Robertson
56 Chronicle Chronicle 57 3rd year A 2nd year A 2012-2013 has been a frustrating season for the 2nd year A team. There have been serious injuries to key players and a number of matches were cancelled. We focused in training on improving our basic skills, including rucking, tackling and passing and then taking these in to match situations. Each week we showed improvement in a particular area but we just could not link all these basic skills together to close out games. All of this meant we just never really seemed to reach our full potential.
The season got off to a great start with a convincing win over George Heriot’s at Anniesland. With growing confidence we then faced The High School but narrowly lost despite a spirited performance. This triggered a run of bad results and we lost the next five games. Most of these could have gone either way though, and the scores were close. That said, we continue to find it hard against the Edinburgh schools although at least this season we scored some points against George Watson’s!
Despite this bad run we have been scoring some great tries from both backs and forwards - especially through the strong running of David Noble at outside centre. As the season progressed we continued to try hard and we eventually secured a hard fought victory against St Columba’s in Kilmacolm before Christmas. Despite their strong back division we ran in a number of tries winning by 32-4. We hoped to use this as a springboard for improved performances in the New Year. Unfortunately the start of the year saw fixtures being called off and injuries which resulted in us being unable to use this momentum and the results took a while to improve. As the We started off the season well with some convincing victories against weather picked up however, so did our form and good team performances George Heriot’s and The High School of Glasgow. We had some great were rewarded with large wins against Marr College and then Jordanhill. tries this season too, throughout all our games, coming from both the The season ended with a difficult game against Morrison’s Academy at backs and forwards. There was almost a great one coming in our first Crieff, resulting in our heaviest defeat of the season. On a more positive game when Ross McCrea ran the length of the pitch and just failed to note, four members of the team were selected to attend the SRU Pathway score as he forgot to place the ball down before being tackled into touch! Assessment Centre at Hamilton Rugby Club during the Easter holidays.
There were a few changes of position among the team and some new players As we reflect on the season, there are some positives that the team can joined us. Overall then, there was a lot of competition for places. One of our take. In particular, the team’s hard work in training paid off and there was a new additions, Alasdair Fordyce, scored three tries in his first game against big improvement in the basic skills. Next season we need to maintain these Bell Baxter. We also had a very successful tour to Northumbria, winning skills whilst ensuring we sustain our intensity and concentration for the full both our games against Tynedale and Blaydon. A lot of the team’s tries were match. On behalf of the team, I would like to give special thanks to Mr Bull down to the new moves we learned this year, demonstrating our improved who stuck with us throughout the season, and to Mr Weston and Mr Wright technical skills, teamwork and communication. This has also prepared us for for all their help. U16 games next year. We’d like to thank our coaches this year, Mr Wood and Mr McNaught, for the advice they’ve given us and all the improvements Angus Frood they have made to the team.
Harry Bland and Daniel Frame 2nd year B 3rd year B The 2nd year B rugby team had a disappointing season this year, after The 3rd year B team has had a great start with a 19-9 home win against George Heriot’s. an astounding season, in which we have progressed This, along with an excellent win against Edinburgh Academy, highlighted dramatically. We started what the team could have achieved with more consistency. Apart from a the year on a high by only very close defeat after a very competitive match against Dollar Academy conceding seven points however, the team really failed to perform to its full potential. Following the in three games, where we Christmas break we were able to produce more consistent performances beat George Heriot’s 43-0, in training where all of the players applied themselves fully to each task. The High school of Glasgow Unfortunately we were unable to convert this to match situations on a 67-0, and Stewart’s Melville Saturday morning, which will be a focus for the team next season. The team 61-7. This really gave us would like to thank our coach Mr Manson, Mr Bull, Mr Wright, Mr Weston a good foundation to build and Mr Coskry for all their support and advice throughout the season. We on and we became more will hopefully do them justice next year. comfortable with trying new tactics like running moves Jamie Percival and advanced kicking skills during matches. The B team’s improvement over the season has meant that training with the A team has been very competitive every week and a number of players were rewarded with an opportunity to represent the A team and go on tour to Northumbria. The 3rd year B team is one of the most successful teams in the school, as we only lost one of our matches; we scored 512 points, and only conceded 113. This is a spectacular result and I was proud to be their captain. Of course I’m hoping for just such another successful season next year too!
Christopher Anderson
56 Chronicle Chronicle 57 1st year A Northumbria This year the rugby season seems to have passed in a flash, with a The tour was very successful this year, with TGA winning both of our season full of highs and lows. We started with a great week of pre- games against Northern English opponents. We played Blaydon season training, with upwards of 15 boys attending each day throughout RFC and Tyndale RFC, who gave us two very entertaining and great the week, all of whom worked very hard on improving their fitness and games of rugby. rugby skills. The season, however, did not start that well with a heavy defeat to George Heriot’s School in the first match. A better performance Our first game against Blaydon was a high scoring game for us, and result, however, was to follow against The High School of Glasgow. although we might have thought differently when we conceded a very We continued the season with some good performances in victory and early try in the first five minutes. We stuck to the task, however, and defeat, with a final record of played 14, won eight, lost five and drawn battled on like the warriors we are! Nick Sutherland had a very good one match, but each time taking lessons from the game and giving game, with his superb tackling, nailing anything that was in his path. ourselves things to improve on in training. On our tour of Northumbria Our quick running and skilful ball handling enabled us to score seven we defeated Blaydon in our first match, but on the second day a very unanswered tries so the final score in the game was 35-5. After a tired squad were defeated by a very strong Tynedale team. There were hard game, we spent the afternoon socialising with the opposition and too many outstanding performances to single out any one player, but it watched the Blaydon 1st XV. was a pleasure to captain the team this season, I am thoroughly looking forward to another exciting season in S2. Thanks must go to Mr Gillies The second game against Tyndale was a real test of character as they and Mr Curle for leading us in training and on Saturday mornings, as were physically much bigger than us. The team was led out by Lewis I feel we have improved massively both individually and as a team. Gilkison in his last appearance in an Academy jersey and we set off in our usual attacking style which resulted in two early tries. The Robert McNaught opposition then began to use their weight advantage scoring several tries. We raised the intensity of our tackling: no quarter was given on either side. Somehow we managed to score another two tries to lead 20-19 and with minutes to go Daniel Frame converted a penalty to secure victory 23-19. A very tired but satisfied tour party returned to Glasgow.
I would like to thank the two clubs for their hospitality, along with Mr Wood and Mr McNaught for making the tour most enjoyable. I would also like to thank the families and friends who were able to make the lengthy trip and support us.
Cameron Horn 1st year B The 1st year B team had a relatively good start, winning against The High School but losing against George Heriot’s and Stewart’s Melville. As the season progressed we started winning more and more of our games, with an overall tally of 6 wins out of 12 games. Both the backs and forwards were scoring tries in games; in fact nearly every person on the team was able to score. Calum Stevens played a big role as a good kicker and one of the top try scorers. The team had many new arrivals, including Oliver and Andrew Smith, who soon became vital cogs in the starting XV. As the season progressed, so did the team. There was a lot of competition amongst the backs, with everyone wanting to stand out as a good player and impress our excellent coach, Mr Curle. The forwards too, were very committed and tried as hard as they could in all the games. Both backs and forwards learned new skills and techniques to improve our overall performance. As a team we would like to thank our coaches, Mr Curle and Mr Gillies, for turning us into the team we are today. We look forward to continuing to progress next season.
Troy Kincaid
58 Chronicle Chronicle 59 Senior School Cricket 1st XI 1st XI
While the summer of 2013 may have been a glorious one with record My thanks go to Lyle Hill who not only captained the side well but also temperatures, it certainly gave no hint of this at the start of the cricket season organised players and handled responsibilities well. Lyle has worked hard at in April. Our first game against Strathallan school was abandoned due to rain. his cricket throughout his years at The Glasgow Academy and it is pleasing For the second match we travelled to Dundee High on a cold, wet day, where that he now intends to play cricket while studying at Cambridge. I am grateful our boys found bowling and fielding with a wet ball challenging. Although we too, to our Deputy Rector, Mr Williams, and to Mr McCaskey for organising and fought hard through Ben Mazzucco’s excellent unbeaten 66, we were short staffing our winter nets. Finally, my thanks to our Master in Charge of Cricket, by 22 runs. Next up, with the cold wind blowing, it felt like being in the middle Mr Wood, who leaves us at the end of this summer. of Siberia at Old Anniesland, where we played our next match against The High School. Although The High School were restricted to 109 for 8 wickets V.Hariharan in 30 overs, it was no surprise that at break time both the teams were in no hurry to go out and instead enjoyed the hot pasta and pizza served by The High School caterer! It certainly was an exciting game with fortunes swinging both ways; finally, Glasgow Academy won with 3 wickets in hand after 29.4 overs. Cameron Russell and Fehzan Irfan saw us through. The other main contributors in this match were Kerr Moir with 27 and skipper Lyle Hill with 22 with the bat and 3 wickets for 17 runs with the ball.
Matches against Hutchesons’ Grammar school and Wellington School were easy wins. Hutchesons’ were 123 for 9 in 30 overs with Lewis Kennovin taking 3 wickets for 22 runs. Glasgow Academy scored 126 for 3 in 14.3 overs with Lyle Hill scoring 66 and Cameron Horn 36. Wellington were all out for 45 in 18.3 overs with Mark Forbes, 4 for 9 runs, and Lewis Kennovin, 3 for 4 runs, the leading wicket takers. Glasgow Academy scored 46 without loss in 4 overs. Kerr Moir with his new style of off spin bowling took 5 wickets for 27 runs against the XL Club, when rain stopped play after the opposition club were 131 for 7 wickets in 33 overs and the match had to be called off. Chris Rae with the ball, Zuhayr Siddiqui, Usman and Fehzan Irfan with the bat and Cameron Burt behind the stumps all contributed well towards a successful season where we had 11 scheduled matches of which we played 6, won 3 matches, lost 1 and drew 2.
We drew the match against a strong MCC XI. You may recall that last year MCC awarded our boys the MCC Spirit of Cricket Cap for the way our boys conducted themselves in the match. Bowling O M R W
This year we went one step further - when an MCC batter backed up at the L. Hill 14 - 63 3 non-striker’s end, the ball was hit by the striker hard and with no intention to run the non-striker tried to put his bat over the crease. However, as the C. Russell 35 3 129 6 ball travelled back very quickly to the bowler, Cameron Russell, it touched his hand and hit the stumps at the bowler’s end with the non-striker a bit slow L. Kennovin 25.3 2 125 7 and short of his crease. Cameron, on instinct, appealed and I, as umpire, had to give the batter out. However, very quickly realising that the batter (a K. Moir 23 - 82 7 probationer) was on 97, Cameron withdrew the appeal and along with William Brooke, the Captain, invited the batter to continue. Cameron’s version was M. Forbes 15 - 33 7 the batter had not cheated and it is just unfortunate to get out this way - this was very well appreciated by one and all. At the end of the match the MCC C. Rae 20 1 65 2 Captain, Accie Douglas Lockhart, spoke some encouraging words to our boys and appreciated Cameron’s gesture. Cameron was given the MCC Spirit of C. Horn 15 - 103 2 Cricket Cap. It certainly is admirable to see our young lads think and practise fair play! B. Mazzucco 7 - 57 2 O - Overs M – Maidens R- Runs TGA 1st Xl 2013 - Batting and W - Wickets Bowling Averages Matches M I R H N.O Average B. Mazzucco 5 3 132 6 9 * 1 66.00 L. Hill 4 4 124 66 1 41.33 C. Russell 6 4 32 13* 3 32.00 U. Irfan 6 3 44 37 1 18.5 C. Horn 6 5 65 36 1 16.25 K. Moir 5 3 30 27 - 10.00 Z. Siddiqui 5 3 18 10* 1 9.00 W. Brooke 4 3 10 9 - 3.33 C. Burt 6 4 12 7 - 3.00 F. Irfan 5 2 21 12* 2 ------*denotes not out 58 Chronicle Chronicle 59 Khan 0-12, Ruairidh Russell 1-29 and John Oliver an impressive 3-10, including 2 wickets with his last 2 2nd XI balls. Lomond scored 89 for 7, leaving us 90 to win. Lomond’s opening bowlers were fast and accurate The season began on a damp, cold Saturday morning and we struggled to 20 for 4 in the 6th over. Lomond down at Helensburgh against Lomond 1st XI. Electing were ecstatic and quite dismissive of our chances at to bat after winning the toss, Lomond started slowly, this point. Enter Fehzan and John Oliver! Fehzan pegged back by some fierce, but far from accurate, chose the poorer balls and hit them hard, John played bowling by Robert Sandford and Sohaib Ahmed. Our sensibly and with patience. The score quickly picked fielding was sharp and the wet outfield meant few up and the Lomond bowlers didn’t have an answer to boundaries would be scored. In the 5th and 6th overs, the two stubborn and aggressive batsmen. Fehzan, both openers fell with the score on 22, but their 3rd despite splitting the toe of his bat, raced to 50 and batsman took control, helped out by number 4, putting John just kept the other end secure, hitting any bad on 40 runs, before wickets started falling and we skittled ball and putting the field under pressure with good them out for 84. We took 6 catches, with Dawood safe running. With 3 overs remaining, we needed 1 Sher, 3 for 14, Robert Sandford 3 for 23, Mark Forbes to win; Fehzan watched 3 accurate balls through to 2 for 12 and Sohaib Ahmed 2 for 13, with their last 7 the wicketkeeper, before lofting the 4th ball back over batsmen scoring only 5 runs between them. However, the bowler’s head for 4 and an outstanding 6 wicket we conceded 25 extras, a figure that would come back victory! Fehzan finished on 61 not out and John on to haunt us! Needing 85 to win, we lost 2 quick wickets 18 not out. The small crowd were thrilled and it was a before Mark Forbes (27) and Leon Hay (10) started fitting end to an excellent game of school cricket and, taking the game to Lomond. Unfortunately, both took indeed, our season. one chance too many and once we lost them, despite a quick flourish from Sohaib Ahmed (11), we were all out My thanks to all those who played this season and for 65, with the extras we conceded being the only real to Mr Williams and Mr Wood, for ensuring we had difference between the sides. a team on the pitch. I thoroughly enjoyed this short season and am looking forward to next year with great Our next match saw The High School come to New interest! Anniesland on the artificial wicket. We unfortunately only had 8 players and The High School decided to T Menzies put us in, expecting to easily bowl out the 8 men; how wrong they were. Despite some “mental disintegration techniques” from the opposition, declaring themselves to be the “best school in Glasgow”, Mark Forbes (36) and Leon Hay (24) attacked the bowling, pushing the Belfast 2013 score on excellently before Leon fell in the 9th over, with the score on 60. Michael Robertson (16) and Euan For the tenth year in succession, mid-June saw Ramsay (8) assisted Mark to keep the score ticking Messrs Hariharan, and McCaskey, accompanied by over and, aided by 34 extras from The High School, Wood and Wright ‘enjoying’ a cooked breakfast en we were all out for 119. Needing 120 to win, The High route to Larne with twelve First Year boys and twelve School were kept very much in check by some excellent Second Year boys. bowling and fielding from the 8 men. We didn’t manage to get them all out, but at the end of their 20 overs, The This trip, though only two days and one night in High School were 104 for 6 - a victory by 15 runs! It duration, has become a fixture of the lower school’s only goes to prove, you only need 8 Academy boys to cricket season and we have been very lucky to have beat “the best school in Glasgow”! two such friendly and accommodating schools as Wallace High and Friends’ School in Lisburn. The Our next match proved to be the last for the season. It was a games on the Monday afternoon/evening saw a re-match with Lomond 1st XI, this time at a sunny and victory for our very strong Second Year team, while dry School Ground. This time, we played with 3 S2 the First Years lost narrowly. The Tuesday morning/ boys to bolster the senior players and the 1st XI very afternoon games saw a repeat of these outcomes. kindly gave us Fehzan Irfan, as they had 12. Lomond elected to bat and our bowlers kept a very tight line, Regardless of results, the boys had a very enjoyable restricting Lomond to around 4 runs an over. Their time in almost perfect weather, and, as ever, enjoyed number 4 batsmen, however, chose the balls to hit and meeting up with their Northern Irish opposition. he raced to 45, before being clean bowled by Innes Hopkins, who ably stood in as captain. The 3 S2 boys AJ McCaskey also bowled very well, each completing 4 overs; Arman 60 Chronicle Chronicle 61 1st year A
This year the S1 A team enjoyed a brilliant summer. All the games were accompanied by lovely weather and played in a great spirit. Our first fixture was against The High School of Dundee which we won convincingly; we then also beat Wellington in our second match with some wonderful batting. Our third match was a very closely contested affair against Hutchesons’, which we ended up narrowly losing. Finally, our fourth match was against the mighty Stewart’s Melville. After batting first we had only managed sixty-three runs off twenty overs. Amazingly, however, we almost managed to defend the indefensible with a sharp catch close in and an over that produced three wickets. The opposition just crawled past our total with two wickets to Cricket Results 2012-2013 spare! All in all, everyone loved both the cricket and the sun - special thanks go to Mr Hariharan, Mr Played Won Lost Drawn Kirby and Mr Fairlie-Clarke for their inspirational leadership and level-headed umpiring. 1st Xl 6 3 1 2 2nd XI 3 2 1 - Rick Mukhopadhyay 3rd Year A 3 2 1 - 2nd Year A 1 1 -- 2nd Year B 5 5 -- 1st Year A 2 1 1 - 1st Year B 3 1 2 - 2nd year A P7 A 2 - 2 - P7 B 4 3 1 - The S2 A team enjoyed an undefeated year, P6 A 3 1 2 - winning the three local matches that they played in, P6 B 3 - 3 - and two very challenging games against Wallace P6 C 2 1 1 - High School and Friends’ School whilst on tour in Belfast. With strong batsmen in the side such as John Oliver, Ruairidh Russell, Jamie Percival, and Arman Khan, as well as incredible strength and depth in the bowling (almost every member of the team took wickets this year!), the side has a lot of firepower, and is certainly a group of players to keep an eye on in the future. A number of the team were selected for the U15 side and performed well across the three matches that they played in. Congratulations also to John Oliver who represented the 1st XI against the MCC - a rare achievement for an S2! Special mention goes to Ruairidh Russell for captaining the squad in the most professional manner, leading from the front with his actions on and off the field, and ensuring a fair and consistent rotation of his batsmen and bowlers.
G Wood
60 Chronicle Chronicle 61 Tennis
Tennis at The Academy is entering an exciting phase. We have so many pupils wanting to participate in inter-school fixtures that it is almost impossible for other schools to offer equal numbers. When we have been unable to secure Saturday morning fixtures, practices have been held and these were particularly enjoyed by our Prep School pupils. Such is the demand for tennis in the Prep School that we have moved the Monday after school Tennis Club from Colebrooke Street to Windyedge to provide more space for our budding players. We seem to have a crop of very strong Prep players and this is hugely encouraging for the years ahead.
We played three huge, inter-school fixtures this year against Dollar Academy, Morrison’s Academy and The High School of Glasgow. Results were mixed but we did record particularly strong victories at the P6 age group and our Senior Girls’ 1st VI played impressive matches to whitewash Dollar.
The House Tennis Championships have become enthusiastically supported events with 80 Senior School pupils participating this year. Fraser House won the overall Championship; the results of the individual tournaments were as follows:
Senior Boys The Glasgow Academy Lawn Tennis Championship Trophy presented by J W Hardy Cameron Mackie (winner), Ben Mazzucco (runner-up)
Senior Girls The Westbourne Gardens School Tennis Cup presented by Fiona Muir Rosa Spinney (winner), Bethany Gallagher (runner-up)
Junior Boys The Glasgow Academy Junior Boys’ Tennis Salver Alasdair Forrest (winner), Angus Frood (runner-up)
Junior Girls The Westbourne School for Girls’ Junior Tennis Salver Alex Fletcher (winner), Morna Sinclair (runner-up)
P7 Boys The Glasgow Academy P7 Boys’ Tennis Trophy Greg McCaffer (winner), Ben Sanders (runner-up)
P7 Girls The Glasgow Academy P7 Girls’ Tennis Trophy Emma Forrest (winner), Fiona Allan (runner-up)
Six of our girls competed in the annual High School of Glasgow Tennis Tournament and I am delighted to report that The Academy won this trophy for the seventh time in eight years. This was an outstanding achievement and to collect the trophy again, we had to beat The High School of Glasgow, Hutchesons’, Jordanhill, St Columba’s, Wellington, Lomond and Craigholme. Congratulations to the team of:
Over 15: Abigail Stevenson (S6) & Rosa Spinney (S4) Under 15: Morna Sinclair (S2) & Emma Webster (S3) Under 13: Emma Forrest (P7) & Katie Ritchie (P6)
62 Chronicle Chronicle 63 Many of you may remember articles appearing in last year’s Chronicle and also in Newslines, highlighting the centenary of the JW Hardy Trophy which is awarded to the winner of the Senior Boys’ Championship. Following our celebrations which involved past winners, former pupil Mr George Ritchie (1954 & 1956) made a kind donation to the tennis programme. Miss Bannerman and Mr Weston, after much deliberation, decided to introduce a Mixed Doubles Invitational Tournament for our Senior players. The Academy, The High School of Glasgow, Hutchesons’ and Dollar Academy enjoyed a terrific afternoon of tennis and we were delighted that in its inaugural year, Mr Ritchie was able to present our pupils with the trophy. We hope that in years to come, Mr Ritchie may well present one of his grandchildren with this! Congratulations to our Senior Mixed Doubles team of:
Abigail Stevenson & Cameron Mackie Bethany Gallagher & Ben Mazzucco Rosa Spinney & Blair Webster Alex Mennie & Jake Graham
Thank you to all of you who have made the tennis season such a successful one. This includes not just our pupils, but their parents too, who transport them to and from practices and matches or spectate during matches. The groundsmen, led by Mr Robert Cheape, have once again ensured our courts are always in pristine condition. I would like to thank all coaching staff and in particular, Mr Scott Weston, who has helped deliver the tennis programme over the past few years. In addition to being a very talented player and coach, Mr Weston’s enthusiasm, commitment and sense of humour will be missed enormously when he leaves The Academy in June to take up the post of Director of Sport at Morrison’s Academy.
NL Bannerman
62 Chronicle Chronicle 63 Rowing
It has been another very successful year for The Glasgow Academy Rowing Team, with over one hundred pupils taking part in the sport and more winners this year than ever before. Highlights of the season include two British Champions and British record holders, eighteen Scottish Schools’ or Scottish Champions and Four Scottish Internationalists.
Training started in August and the school raced in various long distance races during the winter, winning nine races with three 2nd and three 3rd places.
At the Scottish Indoor Championships in January we had seven medal winners, including golds for Amie McIntyre, Tim Chan, Holly Wicklow and Sebastian Glen.
Throughout the main season Academy crews competed at various regattas, winning no fewer than thirty events in a full range of boats and classifications.
At the Scottish Championships in June eighteen Academy athletes won sixteen Scottish Schools’ and Scottish Championships titles, making the Academy the most successful school in Scotland at these Championships for the first time. Another highlight was competition down south. At the National Schools’ Regatta in Nottingham Becky Neilson and India Somerside won silver in the Girls J14 2x, losing to St Neots by 3 seconds. By their own admission they lost gold rather than winning silver. At the National Championships they reversed this decision, beating St Neots by 0.66 seconds and breaking the British record. This was a magnificent achievement from two of our best athletes. Mention should also be made of Holly Wicklow, who dominated her semi- final and broke the British record in the fastest qualifying time. Unfortunately, a poor start in the final left her behind the field and she finished in fourth place.
Four Academy athletes were selected to represent Scotland at the Home International Championships: Sebastian Glen, Andrew Dickson, Cameron Turner and Cameron Grant.
My thanks go to Rufus Sullivan and Kimberley Somerside for all their work and assistance in running the rowing programme this year, and to Ruth Cranston and Ross Urquhart for their coaching help. We go forward into the new year with most of our squad intact and a number of notable new additions. This will hopefully lead to continued success for Academy rowers in 2014.
I Somerside
Scottish Open and Schools’ Champions
Becky Neilson, India Somerside, Holly Wicklow, Kirsty Cousin, Alex Rankin, Claire Fitzpatrick, Josh Armstrong, Cameron Turner, Sebastian Glen, Andrew Dickson, Cameron Grant, Karima Hassan, Kirsten MacKinnon, Rachael Barber, Sam Abernethy, Callum Urquhart, Cameron Ritchie, Kimberley Somerside and Katie Thornton
Other Event Winners
Adam Kidd, Katie McCabe, Nina Ewing, Felicia Ma, Aikta Salwan and Alysha Gray
Rowing Medals 2013-14
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Clyde Scullers’ Head 2
Inverness Head 2 2
Glasgow Head 2 1
Clyde Head 2 1
Scottish Indoors 4 2 3
Western Head 3
Clydesdale Regatta 3 2
Strathclyde Park 2 5 4
Castle Semple 6
National Schools’ 1
Scottish Championships 18 2 1
British Championship 1
64 Chronicle Chronicle 65 Athletics
The season started with the Scottish Schools’ Indoor Athletics Championships, which were held in the new Emirates Arena. We had a number of athletes who achieved the qualification standard and many qualified through their heats to make the finals in their respective events. Of particular note, Robbie Barr unleashed a fantastic finishing kick off the final bend to sneak the silver medal in the U16 Boys’ 400m. Calum Wray also managed to finish in a podium position, finishing 3rd and taking the bronze medal in the Sprint Hurdles. Anya Morrison and Catriona Graves were both in the final of the Senior Girls’ 1500m, where they finished 6th and 7th respectively, while Erin Crichton sailed over the bar to finish 6th in a closely contested High Jump competition.
In the Scottish Schools’ Outdoor Competition we had 34 qualifiers who made the journey through to Grangemouth, where athletes battled it out over two long days. Near perfect weather conditions were conducive to running fast, throwing far and jumping well, and our athletes took full advantage and performed well. It was the younger of the Wray Brothers, Cameron, who came out on top this time, winning the U14 Boys’ Sprint Hurdles, and showing that the talent for hurdling clearly runs in the family. Ben Chan leapt onto the podium with his last round effort in the Triple Jump, finishing in 3rd place overall. Harry and Guy Matthews also showed that they have athletics genes, both finishing just outside the medals in the U17 Sprint Hurdles and U15 Discus respectively. Ross Montgomerie had a busy weekend, coming through heats, semi-finals and a final in both the 100m and 200m, finishing in 6th and 5th place. Robbie Barr and Jamie Robinson contested the U17 and Senior 400m events, and both finished 5th in the final. Anya Morrison battled through two rounds of the 1500m in intense heat to finish 8th overall. All of the athletes who participated in this event should be commended on achieving a qualification standard, as this alone is no mean feat.
Next on the athletics calendar was the Glasgow Schools’ Finals, which were held slightly later this year due to disruption at Scotstoun Stadium. With a very large contingent of athletes participating in this event, we were delighted to return from finals day with 35 individual medals and a placing in four of the team events. Our S3 Boys were particularly strong; with Ben Chan winning three medals (Triple Jump gold, 200m silver, Relay gold) and Robbie Barr (400m silver, Relay gold) and Calum Wray (Sprint Hurdles gold, Relay gold) both placing twice, the boys amassed enough points to lift the team title. The S2 Boys just missed out to finish second, with Ross Montgomerie (200m), and David Noble (Shot) both bringing home individual gold. Our S3 and Senior Girls both finished in 3rd place overall, led home by Erin Crichton (High Jump gold), Anya Morrison (800m gold), Catriona Graves (1500m silver), Isabella Greenock (Discus silver), Alex Rankin (1500m silver), Robyn Belch (Long Jump silver) and Jennifer McNaught (200m silver).
L MacNeill
64 Chronicle Chronicle 65 Basketball
This year’s S1-S2 Basketball Team have made excellent progress and it is the first time that we have had a team from the school competing at this age group. We have been training regularly on Wednesday and Friday lunchtimes and the boys have been enjoying learning new skills and developing their understanding of the game. Throughout the months of May and June, Jon Faulds, a Scotland U16 internationalist, led a number of coaching sessions with the boys. This was an excellent opportunity for the boys to learn from a very good player who is only a few years older than them. The boys particularly enjoyed this experience and it is something that we hope to repeat in future years.
We started off matches this year with an U14 Tournament in February. The High School brought a team and we fielded two Glasgow Academy teams. We have also played a number of other friendlies against local schools such as St Aloysius’, Knightswood, Hillhead and St Roch’s.
The boys improved a lot through playing these matches, particularly against Knightswood where they came back from one point down at half time to win the game 31-18 - a fantastic achievement.
Next year we look forward to competing in the Glasgow School’s Under 14 League. The boys have been fantastic this year and I look forward to seeing them progress and enjoy even more matches next year! I would like to thank Mr MacLeod for helping out at basketball club this year and all the parents who have been coming along to support the boys at their games.
A few words from the boys:
Ryan McCourt , S1: “Basketball has been a brilliant experience for me. I am looking forward to another fantastic year of basketball in S2 and am hoping I can develop my skills much more.”
Calum Stevens, S1: “Miss Cuthbert and Mr MacLeod have been greatly supportive and encouraging and we are grateful for their continuing interest and coaching. We have all developed impressive new skills and improved our general technique - with just a few more inches of height, we will surely soon be scoring many slam-dunks!”
Sam Roberts, S2: “It would be great to get some more second and third year players into the team, to give us a better physical advantage, although the younger players at the club are doing a great job for the school already.”
J Cuthbert
66 Chronicle Chronicle 67 Cross-country
The Glasgow Schools’ Secondary Cross-country clashed with the Scottish National Championships, which were the following day, and so we lost some of our top club athletes. Despite this, we still returned from Nether Pollok with an array of medals to show for our efforts. Robbie Barr was our top individual performer, winning the silver medal in the S3 Boys’ race. The S1 Boys, who have trained religiously over the winter months, were rewarded for their hard work with the team title. They were led home by Scott Briggs who finished a creditable 5th, with Jamie Brennan hot on his heels in 6th place. The S4 Boys came home with silver medals, while both the S4 Girls and Senior Boys both won team bronze.
Three runners took part in the Scottish Schools Cross-country in Irvine, with Catriona Graves taking the individual title in the U17 Girls’ race. Having already won the National title, Catriona’s form this winter resulted in her being selected to represent Scotland at the Schools’ International Cross-country Championships and the London Mini-Marathon. Our other competitors at Irvine were Anya Morrison and Catriona Allan, who both ran strong races and finished well up the field.
The winter also brings the Scottish Schools’ Indoor Championships. We had seventeen athletes who achieved the extremely high entry standards for this event and returned with two medals and a host of personal best performances. Robbie Barr displayed a good racing head to win silver in the U16 Boys’ 400m while Calum Wray fought to the line to win bronze in the U16 Boys’ Hurdles. Anya Morrison and Catriona Graves also finished 4th and 5th in the O16 Girls’ 1500m.
Overall, 2012-2013 has been a very successful cross-country season for The Glasgow Academy.
L MacNeill
66 Chronicle Chronicle 67 Football
The Senior Football Squad continued to build on the successes of last year. They were unbeaten in the West of Scotland S1-5 Development Trip to Independent League, finishing second and, in doing so, qualifying for the quarter-finals of the Scottish Independent Schools’ Cup. This included The Glasgow Academy’s Barcelona biggest-ever score in a competitive senior match, an 11-2 victory against Hamilton College. The team progressed In October 2012, twenty-one footballers were through the quarter-finals, beating Dollar Academy on accompanied by Mr Brunton, Mr Shields and Mr Farrelly, penalties after drawing 3-3. Cameron Murdoch saved as we visited Barcelona in the North-East of Spain for five three of the penalties in the shoot-out and Luke Bain, under days. Some of the time each day was spent improving great pressure, coolly converted the winner. We were well our skills with the help of several coaches from RCD beaten by George Heriot’s School, the eventual winners Espanyol. of the cup, in the semi-final at Riccarton, in probably our poorest performance of the season. We stayed in a university residence just a short distance away from the Camp Nou stadium. The accommodation Central to the team’s successes have been the team was great in every aspect: the rooms were good, the spirit and hard work ethic. There were many impressive food was nice and there were activities for us to do in performers throughout the year, including the goalkeeper, order to stay entertained in the evening. With this and the Cameron Murdoch, and Rory Georgeson and Alasdair excellent weather, we were set for a fantastic trip. Fordyce in defence; however, three players really stood out this year - Jack Bain, Zack Birnie and Alastair McDonald. As well as amazing tours of the Camp Nou, the stadium of Barcelona, and the Cornellà-El Prat, the stadium of Jack Bain captained the team and led by example. He Espanyol, we had the opportunity to watch an entertaining scored in all but one of our games with a total of 16 out of match involving Barcelona B and Sporting Gijón in the the 29 goals; the highest number of goals scored by the smaller version of the Camp Nou, the Miniestadi. We Senior team in a season and the highest number scored also visited the famous cathedral, la Sagrada Família by one player in a season. Jack also was selected for the and some other tourist sites like Las Ramblas and the Scottish Independent Schools’ squad, scoring 5 goals in Barcelona Marina. the warm-up matches, and playing in the annual Scotland vs England match in May, which Scotland narrowly lost 3-2. We played two matches against local opposition. In the Jack was also voted this year’s Players’ Player of the Year. younger boys’ match, the team captained by the fantastic Zack Birnie had an outstanding year playing as sweeper, John McDonald, fought out a well-deserved 5-5 draw, commanding in defence and midfield. Like Jack, he was with goals coming from Thomas Barnett, Murray Drover, also an important part of the Scottish international squad Miles Ballantyne and Matthew Moore. The U17 team, and played from the start in midfield against England. captained by myself, played well against a very technically Alastair McDonald played a pivotal role in midfield in a gifted side and were unlucky to lose the game 4-3, with number of different roles. He often had the disruptive goals coming from Matthew Moore, Ryan Morgan and task of man marking the opposition’s best player, which Jack Lyons. Our efforts were highly commended by he did successfully on a number of occasions. He was everyone who watched the match. also a significant asset as an attacking midfielder, in dead ball situations and in driving the team forward through his The trip was hugely enjoyable for all the boys and staff commitment and desire to win. Alastair was unanimously alike and we look forward to further trips to Spain in the voted as the Coaches’ Player of the Year. future. Thanks go to Mr Brunton for organising it.
Congratulations to all members of the squad and to Jack, Luke Bain Zack and Alastair in particular.
JM Shields
68 Chronicle Chronicle 69 Golf
It’s been a year of success and preparing for the future with the golf team at The Academy. Playing off a 1 handicap, James Wilson captained the side well, setting the standards for others to aspire to and finishing 3rd in the Glasgow Schools’ Championships (gross 74). Alongside Adam Gillespie and Angus Neilson, he also led the side to the semi-finals of the ISGA Regional Tournament with James and Angus losing out in thrilling games on the final hole at Dollar. James now heads to Stirling University on a golf Scholarship.
The team won fixtures against The High School at Killermont GC and Hutchesons’ at Pollok GC, but trophy winning performances came from Katie Prentice (P7) in the U13 St Leonard’s Tournament at St Andrews and Alexandra Mennie in the Glasgow Schools’ Girls’ Championships at Milngavie GC. With any luck, Alexandra will progress into the Scottish training squad next year.
Beyond the trophies and the tournaments, there was a very competitive interschool S1-S3 event over the summer term, with Matthew Stevens, Kerr Webster, Andrew Kitson, Calum Stevens and Will Prentice all in with a chance of victory!
Later in June, twelve golfers headed off on the school’s three day tour, playing in St Andrews and at Elie GC and Crail GC and this rounded off the year in fine style with some classic links golf. Furthermore, with golf being offered as a weekly activity next year, and with The Academy’s first-ever entry into the prestigious HMC Foursomes Tournament, the future looks bright for the large and ever-growing number of golfers who play at school.
Finally, my thanks go not only to all those who have played for the side this year, but also to Mr McNaught, who, like his tee shots, has kept the school side on the straight and narrow over the year and provided many opportunities for them to play on the finest courses in Glasgow and beyond.
A Williams
68 Chronicle Chronicle 69 James overcame Ben’s superb racket skills with a combination of speed and precision hitting, to win a match played in the best traditions of The Glasgow Academy. Squash James has now won nine School Championships, several national titles, European Championships and many It has been a very exciting year for squash at The international caps and this, along with his impeccable Academy with lots of new players being introduced to court behaviour, has set the bar very high for the players the game. James McNaught, Robert McNaught, Fergus that follow. Ben leaves a legacy of terrific racket skills and Horne, Ewan MacAndie (all S1), Ruairidh Russell (S2) rarely seen invention that many players should aspire to. and Duncan Kilpatrick (P6) took part in the Scotland Cameron, William, Duncan, Finlay and Ewan take note! Future Stars Tournament and all performed well, showing a high level of athleticism and technical ability The undoubted highlight of the year was the school team in their first-ever competition. Ewan MacAndie and winning the first Scottish Schools’ Squash Championship Robert McNaught played very well to finish second and at Gordonstoun, where James and Ben played squash of third respectively. Steven Simmers, Nick Sutherland the highest quality to win the title. and Freddy Der (S3) have shown great promise and will perhaps even challenge ‘veteran’ classmates None of this would be possible without the enthusiastic Cameron Ritchie and William Prentice in the future. support of Miss Simpson and the PE Department, and especially Mr Andrew Evans whose commitment is as The School Championships were as ever hotly contested, ever unwavering. Thanks are due to you all. Finlay Neilson (P7) retaining his Prep School title, being too strong for the hard-working Duncan Kilpatrick (P6). The J Kirby Junior School final was played between a much improved Cameron Ritchie and William Prentice. Both players have applied themselves this year and it showed in a closely fought final, William just having too many shots, even for a very determined Cameron, to win in three games. The Senior School final was the latest in a long line of dramatic matches involving James Wilson and Ben Mazzucco. The school has been very fortunate over the past few years to have two international class players to demonstrate how the game can be played at the highest level.
Scottish Schools’ Competition at Gordonstoun The weekend of the 20th and 21st of April saw the The second game followed a similar pattern with Patrick inaugural Scottish Schools’ Squash Competition held at having no answer to the variety of shots James was Gordonstoun School. The event saw the top 12 teams conjuring up. James allowed the pace of the third game from all over Scotland invited to participate. Glasgow to drop and Patrick took full advantage of having more Academy, Stewart’s Melville College, Gordonstoun and time on the ball by hitting some excellent winners from Edinburgh Academy were the seeded teams, with the other desperate positions. James then reverted to hitting an 8 playing off to see who would play the seeded teams, excellent length mixed with some hard hit volleys to win in the quarter-finals. The very strong Academy team of the match 3-0. This was followed by the most exciting James Wilson, Douglas McMillan and Ben Mazzucco match of competition, the No 3 players Ben Mazzucco and cruised through to the final with victories over Kinross Scottish international Harry Anderson served up a thrilling Academy and Aberdeen Grammar. The final took place on finale. Ben ran out the eventual winner 3-1. Sunday afternoon in front of a packed and knowledgeable gallery at the newly opened George Welsh sports centre. Glasgow Academy took the overall title and were presented with the Round Square Cup, being crowned the Scottish First on court were the No 2 ranked players Douglas and Schools’ Squash Champions of 2013. Thanks are due to Mark, with Douglas displaying a range of shots that had Mr John Kirby and Mr Andrew Evans who gave up their Mark scrambling around the court. Mark put in a lot of weekend to take the boys up to Gordonstoun School. effort but Douglas, playing winners from all around the court, ran out a comfortable winner 3-0. Next up were J Kirby the top seeds James and Patrick. The match started at a ferocious pace with James dominating the T with crisp volleys and skilfully disguised drop shots, moving Patrick to all four corners of the court. Patrick displayed what a superb athlete he is by retrieving from almost impossible situations for the scant reward of only one point in the first game.
70 Chronicle Chronicle 71 Senior School Swimming Gala 2013
The 114th Senior Swimming Gala was held on Monday 4th February at Drumchapel Pool, with Professor M Siddiqui presenting the prizes. The house staff assembled some very competitive swimming teams and the pupils rose to the challenge of vying for the Inter-House Swimming Trophy. The Girls’ Championship was a very exciting affair with Lucy McCall winning all three of her races to retain the title, whilst Laura Gallacher was second, edging Zoë Boothby into third place. In the Boys’ Championship, Zuhayr Siddiqui improved one place from last year to win the title with three wins in his races, narrowly edging out Mark Forbes who was second and Sebastian Glen third.
New records on the night came from - Iain Fletcher S1 Boys’ Freestyle 13.3s improving Cameron Small’s record from 2008. Holly Wicklow S2 Girls’ Backcrawl 16.9s beating Lucy Richens’ record from 2006. Sarah Campbell Senior Girls’ Breaststroke 19.2s improved Amy Punshon’s record from 2006. Andrew Dickson set 2 records, the first in the Senior Boys’ Freestyle 13.4s beating Jamie Swanson’s record from 2008 and the second in the Senior Boys’ Breaststroke 17.1s beating Stuart Campbell’s record from 2012. Zuhayr Siddiqui fulfilled his Champion status with 2 records, the first in the Championship Butterfly with 13.4s beating John Archibald’s record from 2008 and the second being the Championship Breaststroke 17.1s, also beating John Archibald’s record from 2007.
Morrison returned to their recent swimming successes by winning the Inter-House Swimming Trophy.
SW McAslan
House Results Sheet
Arthur Fraser Morrison Temple
S1 Girls 1 3 2 4 S1 Boys 1 2 4 3 S2 Girls 2 3 4 1 S2 Boys 1 3 4 2 S3 Girls 1 2 4 3 S3 Boys 1 2 4 3 Championship Girls 1.5 4 1.5 3 Championship Boys 2 4 3 1 Senior Girls 1 3.5 2 3.5 Senior Boys 2 3 4 1 Total 13.5 29.5 32.5 24.5 Place 4th 2nd 1st 3rd
Glasgow Schools' Results
The Glasgow Academy has had another successful year in swimming. The standard of swimming in matches and competitions has been very high, and selection for places on the swimming team has been extremely competitive with over forty pupils having represented the school over the course of the year.
In the Glasgow Schools’ Swimming Championships pupils from The Glasgow Academy performed very well, winning 8 medals from the event, including 3 golds, 1 silver and 4 bronzes, as well as setting a new Championship best performance time in the U13 Boys’ Relay.
This year we also had 3 promising young swimmers qualify for the Scottish Schools’ Swimming Championships. Jack Wicklow was seeded 4th going into the competition and swam a personal best in the 50m Breaststroke to win the silver medal. Iain Fletcher was seeded outside the top 10 in both the 100m and 200m Butterfly events, but swam strongly, finishing 3rd for a bronze medal and 4th respectively. Holly Wicklow entered her Breaststroke final as 12th fastest but swam a massive personal best to finish just outside the medals in 5th place, just 20 milliseconds behind the bronze medal winner.
Congratulations to all those who have represented the School this year.
G Wood
70 Chronicle Chronicle 71 Sports Day Fortunately, our Sports Day was blessed with good conditions and we enjoyed another full programme of events. The 146th Sports Day was an excellent afternoon and we are grateful to Mr M Aitchison for presenting our prizes. Fraser wrestled the London Branch Trophy from Morrison; the only question is whether the competition is keener between the competitors, or the House staff! There was a definite theme of double winners in the Senior age group this year; Anya Morrison won the 400m and 800m, Eilidh Murdoch won the 100m Hurdles and High Jump, Jamie Robinson the 100m and 200m, Max Aitchison the 800m and 1500m, Leon Hay the110m Hurdles and High Jump and Ciaran Whyte the Triple Jump and Shot Putt. Many congratulations to them all. Last year’s new trophies were presented and have quickly become an established part of Sports Day. I would like to repeat my appeal of last year in saying that there are still four Senior girls’ events that do not have a trophy, so if you wish to make a donation, or have an old trophy that you wish to donate, we could certainly have it adapted. Finally, my thanks to the staff and coaches who made the afternoon work smoothly, Mrs FitzGerald for her efficient organisation, and of course, the extremely able ground staff, led by Mr Cheape.
SW McAslan London Branch Trophy Activity Arthur Fraser Morrison Temple Girls S1 2 4 1 3 GirlsS2 3 4 2 1 Girls S3 1 4 3 2 Girls Senior 1 3 4 2 Boys S1 1 2 3 4 Boys S2 1 3 4 2 Boys S3 4 1 2 3 Boys Senior 2 3 4 1 Totals 15 24 23 18
Senior Girls Winners 100m Taylor Henry The Sheila Crawford Bowl 200m Jenni McNaught Upper Vth Trophy 400m Anya Morrison GAPTA Trophy 800m Anya Morrison Pat Johnston Trophy 1500m Catriona Graves 100m Hurdles Eilidh Murdoch Susan Watson Trophy High Jump Eilidh Murdoch Sheena MacDonald Cup Long Jump Robyn Belch The Sheila Crawford Cup Triple Jump Stephanie Massie Shot Putt Erin Charters The Bilsland Bowl Discus Rachel Buist Javelin Ashley Sarafilovic GAPTA Trophy Cricket Ball Rosa Spinney Tug of War Morrison The Lang Trophy for Throws was awarded to Rachel Buist 4 x 100m Relay Temple GAPTA Quaich
Senior Boys Winners
100m Jamie Robinson Laird Cup 200m Jamie Robinson Mackay Shield 400m Jack Bain Fraser Bowl 800m Max Aitchison Walker Quaich 1500m Max Aitchison Campbell Cup 110m Hurdles Leon Hay Waddell Challenge Trophy Long Jump Lindsay Parkinson Murray Challenge Cup High Jump Leon Hay Murray Cup Triple Jump Ciaran Whyte J Coleman Smith Cup Shot Putt Ciaran Whyte Muir Cup Discus Michael Robertson Academy Cup Javelin Euan McKirdy Challenge Shield Cricket Ball Lyle Hill Challenge trophy 4 x 100m Relay Fraser Laird and Gentles Cup 4 x 200m Relay Temple Kenburn Cup Tug of War Morrison McDonald Cup
72 Chronicle Chronicle 73 S3 Girls Winners 100m Isabella Greenock Moira Thomas Trophy for Sprints 200m Erin Crichton 400m Alex Rankin 800m Iona Robinson Lorna A Murray Trophy 1500m Alex Rankin 80m Hurdles Rachael Cannon Middle School Trophy Long Jump Rachael Cannon Janis Rogen High Jump Erin Crichton Westbourne Cup Shot Putt Laura McCabe Discus Isabella Greenock Javelin India Somerside 4 x 100m Relay Fraser The Carruthers Cup for Throws was awarded to India Somerside
S3 Boys Winners S1 Girls Winners
100m James Clark 100m Evie Brown 200m James Clark 200m Mary Lynch 400m Guy Matthews 400m Nina Boothby 800m Robbie Barr 800m Nina Boothby 1500m Robbie Barr 1500m Emma Hunter 100m Hurdles Murray Drover 75m Hurdles Judith Arbuckle Long Jump Ben Chan Long Jump Lucy Roberts High Jump Ilias Muckli High Jump Veronica Haughey Triple Jump Cameron Russell Shot Putt Nina Boothby Shot Putt Yussef Hassan Discus Taylor Bradley Discus Guy Matthews Javelin Alicia McAllister Javelin Marius Saunders 4 x 100m Relay Temple 4 x 100m Relay Arthur
S2 Girls Winners S1 Boys Winners
100m Catriona Cuthbert 100m Lewis Walker 200m Catriona Cuthbert 200m Lewis Walker 400m Holly Wicklow 400m Oliver Smith 800m Iona Robinson 800m Lewis McLean 1500m Christine Allan 1500m Oscar Hedgecoe 75m Hurdles Eve Graham 80m Hurdles Cameron Wray Long Jump Jennifer MacGregor Long Jump George Munro High Jump Eve Graham High Jump Cameron Wray Shot Putt Morna Sinclair Triple Jump Scott Briggs Discus Jennifer Gillespie Shot Putt Andrew Munro Javelin Juliet Philip Discus Zander Grant 4 x 100m Relay Arthur Javelin Jamie Brennan 4 x 100m Relay Temple S2 Boys Winners
100m Ross Montgomerie 200m Ross Montgomerie 400m Jack McLean 800m Ruairidh Russell 1500m Ruairidh Russell 80m Hurdles Jack McCready Long Jump Gordon Stackhouse High Jump Jack McLean Triple Jump Jack McLean Shot Putt David Noble Discus Jack McLean Javelin Angus Barbour 4 x 100m Relay Morrison
72 Chronicle Chronicle 73 Senior School Music
I think every time I write this report I say that each year becomes more busy - this is certainly true of this year. At the beginning of the Christmas term we are already looking ahead towards Christmas, but getting ready for other events which come first. The Senior Choir always works hard to get the music ready for the Commemoration Service and this year was no exception. We have been pushing up the standard of performance from this group and it was evident from the way that they tackled ‘Let all the world in every corner sing’ by Vaughan Williams that this was the case - what a fine performance of a challenging piece of music. The introit for the service (‘I will sing with the spirit’ by John Rutter) was sung to an equally high standard. After the service those pupils on the music tour left for London for another exciting and very busy trip.
On the same day as the Commemoration Service we hold our annual House Singing Competition, and what a closely fought one it was this time. For the first time in the eight-year history of this competition we had joint winners, Morrison and Temple. Fraser came third and Arthur fourth. All four Houses performed very well and our thanks must go to the House singing captains and the House staff, as well as the pupils who formed a band for each House: well done!
The Christmas term is always incredibly busy and our Senior musicians are involved in many events. A huge amount of time during this term is spent on the School Show - this year ‘West Side Story’ taxed everyone to their limits, especially the pupils involved in the orchestra. The music for this show is very difficult and my congratulations go to those who played alongside the professional musicians, producing music that was accurate and precise, which made the whole experience of this musical totally fantastic. Those pupils who joined our music tutors for this production were Andrew Dickson and Fiona Dalling (drum kit and percussion), Seri Oh (flute), Sharan Maiya (alto saxophone) and Gillan Coats (cello).
The Christmas Concert was a very full programme of music this time, with lively performances from everyone. The number of pupils involved in rock and pop music in school is increasing, as is the standard of their playing. I was delighted to have the Rock Club open this concert by performing ‘Superstition’ by Stevie Wonder. These pupils are working hard and are using our new amplifiers and other equipment to the full. I was pleased to be able to include the Junior Choir in this concert and it was great to have them join the Seniors for the last item, ‘When the saints’.
The spring term of this year saw five of the choirs entering the Glasgow Music Festival for the first time in the school’s history. This was quite a challenge for the groups and they worked very hard for it. The Senior Choir, the Senior Girls’ Choir and the Junior Choir all achieved second places. The new Junior Boys’ Choir and the Senior Boys’ Choir both came first in their classes. The Senior Boys scored 90 out of 100 for one of their pieces, a score unheard of in the festival. Congratulations to all who took part. Also in the spring term there were Prep and Senior concerts, and the pupils again performed to a high standard for these.
During the summer term there were the Senior School competitions and our first-ever Rock Club Concert, as well as the Leavers’ Recital. My thanks to everyone who works so hard towards music in school, especially the music staff, administrator, tutors and, of course, the pupils.
MB Marshall
74 Chronicle Chronicle 75 Theatre Choir The Theatre Choir worked hard to prepare for their performance at Princes Square just before Christmas and raised over £300 for Quarriers. Many people commented on how well they sang. This was great preparation for the Christmas concert which was on in the school the same evening. At the concert they sang ‘Halo’ by Beyonce and ‘Christmas in the Ghetto’, which we are hoping to record this year. Theatre Choir is all about having fun and I have enjoyed working with all the pupils who have participated.
A McColl Music Competitions This year’s music competitions consisted of two evenings of music played and sung to a very high standard. Instruments played in the instrumental competitions ranged from drum kit through saxophone to violin. The Elizabeth V Mackay Award (S1-3) was won by Callum Taylor (saxophone), with performances from Skye Mackinnon (violin), Sharan Maiya (saxophone) and Alasdair Forrest (saxophone) being highly commended. The Sinclair Memorial Salver (S4-6) was won by Philip Cai (piano), with Andrew Dickson (drum kit) and Karima Hassan (piano) being highly commended. This competition, particularly, contained some truly outstanding performances. Our adjudicator this time was Mr Derek Norval, Director of Music at Douglas Academy.
The singing competition also contained many outstanding performances. The Nina Morrison Cup (S1-3) was won by Rachel Shannon, with Becky Neilson and Fraser Morris being highly commended. The Seona Cameron Cup (S4-6) was won by William Brooke, with Sianna Campbell, Katya Morrison and Tommaso Porta receiving highly commended certificates. Mr Timothy Dean adjudicated the singing competitions - he is Head of Opera at the Conservatoire and Chorus Director for the RSNO Chorus. Congratulations to everyone who took part.
MB Marshall Pipes and Drums The past year has seen many challenges and achievements in the development of the skills and experience of the Pipe Band members, and leads them to an exciting new phase for the future.
Learning to perform on the pipes and drums requires much determination and effort. Firstly, mastering the fundamental (and difficult) techniques demanded by these instruments is a long process, and requires great patience from the students. Secondly, there is the need to memorise all of the music studied during training, as all of the techniques which have been learned are included in all of the musical pieces to be played - with no ‘music stand’ to refer to in performance! Thirdly, pipers and drummers must then transfer those skills from practice instruments to the actual instruments themselves, which, again, requires patience and determination, and learning more new technical skills in handling and marching with the instruments.
The final part of this journey is for all of the pipers and drummers to learn to play as one, presenting the music in a cohesive and confident manner, in different rhythms and tempi, with harmonic accompaniment.
There are a number of learners who have made the effort, shown determination to succeed, risen to all of the challenges presented by this type of music, and will be seen performing within the ranks of the Pipes and Drums during the next term. Their progress has been such that planning is underway to have the Pipe Band participate in Pipe Band contests, including the World Pipe Band Championships in August 2014.
J Wark
74 Chronicle Chronicle 75 Senior School Houses Morrison Once again Morrison have claimed what is rightfully ours and we are the deserving winners of the House Trophy 2012-2013! The fierce competition was very close last year but in the end the other Houses were no match for Morrison.
Morrison started the year with a bang by winning the House Singing Competition with our stunning rendition of “Hot n’ Cold” by Katy Perry. In typical Morrisonian style, we then went on to win a number of House Events including the Swimming Gala. Despite our best efforts on Sports Day we were unfortunately placed second; however, this did not dishearten us as we rallied together to make one last huge effort for House Rowing and it paid off as we were worthily crowned House Champions!
Not only are we House Champions, we also had time to host our annual charity event, The M Factor, which as usual was a success and the money has gone to Engadezer Getachew whom we have sponsored for four years now.
We were led to victory by our enthusiastic and dedicated House Captains, Hannah Hood and Michael Masters, who were accompanied by a stellar sixth year team who were instrumental in our success, not to mention the motivating force of Ms Fulton and our new ambitious Head of House Miss MacNeill. With another excellent sixth year team this year I am confident that we will triumph yet again and the magnificent House Trophy will remain in the mighty hands of Morrison!
Laura Khnichich
Arthur Once again the Arthurian legends rose to the occasion in defending their third House Championship in six years. In the end, after a nail-biting and unprecedented count-back procedure, we lost out to Morrison with whom we had tied on points; clearly it is not just the DRS system in the Ashes Series that has provided major sporting talking-points this summer!
The level of participation remains gratifyingly high among all of our year groups and the new First Year will undoubtedly be suitably enthused in our efforts to wrest back the title.
Many thanks to all who took part so enthusiastically; but extra special ones to Lyle Hill, Kirsty McDonald, Caitlin Barrett, and the inimitable Rufus Sullivan.
AJ McCaskey and PM Ruddock
76 Chronicle Chronicle 77 Senior School Houses
Temple The year began with some very enthusiastic Basketball from the S1s, many of whom have continued to play successfully for the school team, coached by Miss Cuthbert. We had excellent turnouts for other lunchtime sports such as football and hockey and particular mention must be made of our Senior Basketball team, who remain a team to be reckoned with.
The Singing Competition was prepared for under the expert direction of Finlay Clark and joint victory was ours with a slick rendition of ‘Gives You Hell’. Well done to our excellent musicians: Josh Thorburn, Finlay Johnstone, Chris Anderson and Matthew Munro. The Debating Competition is a very popular event, in which we were represented this year by Fiona Dalling and Dylan Bruce. Fiona’s careful, confident eloquence and Dylan’s shrewd but devastating rebuttals impressed the judges, but they just missed out on reaching the finals, returning to the podium to secure 3rd place.
Our Drama production this year was written, directed and produced by Matthew Doran. His clever and concise version of ‘Cluedo’ involved boys and girls from S1 and S2 and also achieved top spot. Members of Temple House continue to play major parts in school productions and contribute to musical events; special mention must go to Finlay Clark, Josh Thorburn, Fiona Dalling, Matthew Doran, Morven Brown, Chris Anderson, Scott Duffield, Alastair McLeod, Emily Rawlins-Graham, Kyle Chan and many more. Finlay and Josh were also the winners of this year’s M-Factor - it’s not often we’re treated to accomplished banjo playing at The Academy!
The Swimming and Cross-country Competitions were well-attended events, with Hamish Campbell, Calum Wray, Nina Boothby, Jennifer McNaught, Sarah Campbell, Emily Smith, Zoë Boothby, Sam Abernethy, Miles Ballantyne, Jack Bain and many others contributing their time and effort. We won the Skiing Competition, with Jamie Robinson coming 2nd overall. Finlay Clark, Fergus Neilson and Iona Robinson’s performances secured the overall win.
Cameron Mackie and Ben Mazzucco have led Temple House to 1st and 2nd place in the Tennis Competition for the last few years, and they again fought the final between them this year. Cameron was victorious and we thank them both for their sporting contributions over the years. Bethany Gallagher won the Senior Girls’ Competition again, so congratulations to her also.
In the Summer term the 12-hour Rowing Competition was closely fought, with a massive effort from Finlay Watson, Harry Matthews, Taylor Sime, Kerr Moir, Angus Neilson, Becky Neilson, Hannah Watt, Morven Brown and Caitlin Bell. Sports Day events were eagerly contested, with Jamie Robinson continuing to excel across the board, Jack Bain retaining his 400m title and Nina Boothby, Becky Neilson and many others achieving personal goals.
KR Graham and IA Mackie
Fraser The 2012-2013 session has been a great one for Fraser House and the result of the House Championship, where we finished in 4th place, really doesn’t reflect the efforts of all Fraserites throughout the course of the year. The changes to the House points system meant the final result this year was a very close run thing indeed, with Fraser finishing on 12 points to the winning House’s 13 points. Therefore, despite our 4th place finish, there was really just one point in it.
The first major competition of the year saw the House performing ‘This Love’, by Maroon 5 and, while it may have ‘taken its toll’ we finished 2nd, improving on our joint 3rd place last year. We also finished 2nd in House Chess later in the Autumn term and, in a similar fashion, were runners-up in the House Debating competition. Max Aitchison and Christina Wilson did a sterling job in order to reach the final.
We kept this 2nd place streak going at the House Swimming Gala. There were some excellent individual performances, with Laura Gallacher and Mark Forbes finishing 2nd in the Senior Championships and Megan Auld and Max Aitchison coming 4th and joint 4th respectively. In the Cross-country, we also placed 2nd overall, with Veronica Haughey, Jodie Judd, Alex Rankin, Lewis McLean, Ruairidh Russell and Jamie Percival all to the fore. Amid a high standard of competition, the annual House Drama competition saw us gain our best result so far in this contest. Rounding off the Spring term, we finished 2nd in House Skiing, with Jack Sleight coming first in the whole competition. A big thank you to our four fastest skiers: Jack Sleight, Andrew Smith, Oliver Smith and Owen Hynes, for contributing to a very good time indeed.
The final term of the session brought even more success in the House Tennis Competition. We finished 1st overall and were absolutely delighted to be represented in the finals by Morna Sinclair (Junior Girls’ runner-up), Alasdair Forrest (Junior Boys’ winner) and Rosa Spinney (Senior Girls’ winner). Our finest moment of the year, however, no doubt came at Sports Day, when in glorious sunshine, and amid lots of great racing and enthusiastic cheering on, we won!
The restructuring of the House Championship into five categories (Sport, Music, Drama, Outdoor Education and Leadership) saw Fraser walk away with the trophy for the last of these, gaining 11 points overall compared to the next best placed House on six. We are extremely proud of this achievement, which reflects the vast number of leadership roles taken on by Fraserites over the duration of the session.
A big thank you goes out to our Captains and Vice-Captains, and to all those who have helped to organise and run events this year. William Brooke, Abigail Stevenson, Wenrui Sun and Kimberley Somerside rose to the challenge this year and have truly been fantastic, setting a high standard for the new guard coming through, to try to live up to. The only way is up for Fraser House!
FC Calder and PA Richmond
76 Chronicle Chronicle 77 Senior School Prize-giving
SENIOR 1
Nina BOOTHBY Sports SENIOR 2 Jamie BRENNAN French Scott BRIGGS Sports Emma ALEXANDER Biology, Chemistry, English, Latin Timothy CHAN Art & Design, Mathematics Caelan BAINS Physics Iain FLETCHER Computing Science Angus FROOD Sports Speaking with Style Fraser GORDON Chemistry, Mathematics Science Larissa MACALONEY Art & Design Veronica HAUGHEY English Hugo McGREGOR Speaking with Style Endeavour Prize Greg MACMILLAN Arabic Ruiyang HE Geography, Mathematics Adam MENNIE Design & Manufacture Muhammad KHAN History, Mathematics Ruth MILLER Chemistry Kay MACKENZIE English, Modern Studies David NOBLE History Alastair McLEOD Drama, Music Jamie PERCIVAL Music Rick MUKHOPADHYAY Mathematics, Science Sam ROBERTS Computing Science Zainab MUNIR Spanish Ruairidh RUSSELL Geography Jennifer OLNEY Latin Rachel SHANNON English, French Lucy ROBERTS Science The Nina Morrison Cup for Singing Chloe THORNTON Modern Studies Holly WICKLOW Physics, Spanish, Sports Endeavour Prize SENIOR 3
Katie BRENNAN Modern Studies Hannah CAMPBELL Geography Lauren FERGUSON Art & Design, French Éirinn FITZGERALD Latin SENIOR 4 Alexandra FLETCHER Spanish Alasdair FORREST Biology, Chemistry, English, Susan AL-HADDAD Sports Mathematics, Physics Megan AULD Art & Design, Biology, Craft & Cameron HORN Sports Design, English, Mathematics Jasmine LI Art & Design, Computing Science, Robyn BELCH Modern Studies English Philip CAI Computing Studies, Mathematics Sharan MAIYA Computing Science, Mathematics, The Sinclair Salver for Instrumental Speaking with Style Music Simon McALPINE-SCOTT Physics Sarah CAMPBELL Hospitality Laura McCABE History Gillan COATS Physics Euan McLEOD Design & Manufacturing Andrew HALLIDAY Music Katie MORROW Drama Jake HORNE Accounting & Finance Joanna NEILSON Hospitality Adam KIDD Latin Seri OH Accounting Heather KILPATRICK Chemistry, English, History, Joanna PHILIP Biology Spanish Alex RANKIN Drama, Sports Shaina MAHAL Biology, English, French, Cameron RITCHIE Spanish Geography, History, Mathematics Abdullah SATTAR Arabic Katya MORRISON Drama Karin SHAW Geography Louise MURPHY Chemistry Steven SIMMERS Physical Education Weiyi PENG Art & Design Matthew STEVENS Music Cameron RUSSELL Sports Callum TAYLOR The Elizabeth V McKay Salver for Andrew SIMMERS Physical Education, Physics Instrumental Music David WU Computing Studies Katie THORNTON English Calum WRAY French
78 Chronicle Chronicle 79 SENIOR 5 SENIOR 6 Naomi CAIRNS Music Zoë BOOTHBY English, History, Mathematics Katherine ALLAN Classical Studies Raj DHILLON Physical Education William BROOKE Music Eve DUNLOP Modern Studies The Rector’s Prize for Service Catriona GRAVES Geography The Seona Cameron Cup for Hattie GREIG Geography Singing Karima HASSAN Art & Design Mary CHAN The Thomson Stuart Prize for Christopher HAUGHEY Modern Studies Business Management The Canada Prize for Geography Iona GORDON The Ian Jeffery Travel Linnea HAY Drama Scholarship Elodie LIEBERMAN English Fiona GRIFFIN Physical Education Simona MARCHETTI Spanish Ayesha HASSAN The Eric McNaught Quaich for Lucy McCALL Sports Initiative The Da Costa Cup for Art Lyle HILL Politics Angus NEILSON Chemistry Christina LIAO Design & Make The Gentles Prize for History Cameron MACKIE The Russell Prize for Anna RICKARDS French Mathematics The Rose Henderson Essay Prize Ben MAZZUCCO The Scougall Cup for the Best Zuhayr SIDDIQUI Biology, Computing Science, French, All-Round Sportsman Music, Physics, Sports Alastair McDONALD Economics Ross SWANSON Product Design Oliver MENNIE The Frank Coutts Cup for Sophie THORNTON The Thomson Stuart Prize for Accounting Service to the Pipe Band Yue WU Biology, Chemistry, English, Latin, Cameron MURDOCH Stevenson Prize for Services to Mathematics, Physics the CCF The Alstead Award for Service to the Community Peter RITCHIE Accounting Abigail STEVENSON The Westbourne Cup for the Best All-Round Sportswoman Rufus SULLIVAN The Remploy Prize for Citizenship
ADVANCED HIGHER PRIZES and SPECIAL PRIZES
Maia GENTLE French Max AITCHISON The David Hope Taylor Prize for Kate JACKSON English, Spanish English Christina MACPHERSON The McNaught Rosebowl for Art & Modern Studies Design The London Academical Prize for Catriona McKIMMIE Geography, Latin History Heather McKIMMIE The Blair Bowl for Modern Languages The Fraser Cup Head Boy Guanlan MAO Mathematics The Henderson Prize for Services to The Iain MacLeod Prize for Literature the School Eilidh MURDOCH Drama The Indian Trophy Jack SLEIGHT Chemistry The Temple Scholarship Andrew THORPE Physics Clemmie MITCHELL Speaking with Style Ciaran WHYTE Physical Education Chemistry Wenrui SUN The Ian Jeffery Memorial Prize for Mathematics Biology Physics The Mowat Scholarship The James W Jope Shield for Public Speaking The Attrill Cup Head Girl The Henderson Prize for Services to the School The Indian Trophy The McLaurin Cup for Dux The War Memorial Scholarship
78 Chronicle Chronicle 79 Senior School Appointments
Head Boy: Max Aitchison SWIMMING Football Niamh MacFarlane Rugby Head Girl: Clemmie Mitchell Captain: Zuhayr Siddiqui Jack Bain Chloë Mechan Jack Bain Deputies: Iona Gordon Zack Birnie Abigail Stevenson Robert Clarkson Eleanor Jamieson COLOURS Rory Georgeson Sophie Thornton Jack Feeney Cameron Murdoch Alistair McDonald Emily Whyte Emilio Giovanazzi Jack Sleight Athletics Cameron Murdoch Kirsty Wilson Jake Graham Max Aitchison Michael Robertson Jack Lang CAPTAINS OF GAMES Catriona Graves Music Andrew MacLachlan Gavel Club William Brooke William Mann RUGBY Climbing Clemmie Mitchell Zoë Boothby Michael Masters Captain: Michael Robertson Timothy Miller Fiona Dalling Naomi Cairns Ben Mazzucco Vice-Captains: Ciaran Whyte Rufus Sullivan Andrew Dickson Euan McKirdy Andrew MacLachlan Cricket Emma Frater Kerr Moir William Brooke Golf Kirsty Gordon Cameron Murdoch GIRLS’ HOCKEY Cameron Burt James Wilson Hannah Hood Angus Neilson Captain: Abigail Stevenson Mark Forbes Christina Macpherson Fergus Neilson Vice-Captain: Iona Gordon Lyle Hill Boys’ Hockey Rufus Sullivan Michael Robertson Cameron Horn Alan Baxter Cameron Small BOYS’ HOCKEY Fehzan Irfan William Brooke Music and Drama Ross Swanson Captain: William Brooke Usmaan Irfan Cameron Burt Matthew Doran Ciaran Whyte Vice-Captain: Lyle Hill Lewis Kennovin Adam Gillespie Linnea Hay Ben Mazzucco Christopher Haughey Eilidh Murdoch Shooting ATHLETICS Kerr Moir Leon Hay Tommaso Porta Calum Omand Boys’ Captain: Max Aitchison Christopher Rae Lyle Hill Zuhayr Siddiqui Chloe Wilson Girls’ Captain: Hannah Hood Cameron Russell Alexander Hunt Kimberley Somerside Zuhayr Siddiqui Lewis Kennovin Tennis TENNIS Robin McCall Pipes and Drums Alison Beattie Boys’ Captain: Ben Mazzucco Cross-country Oliver Mennie David Elder Bethany Gallagher Girls’ Captain: Abigail Stevenson Catriona Graves Euan Ramsay Michael Elliott Jake Graham Zuhayr Siddiqui Calum Fordyce Cameron Mackie CRICKET Debating Andrew Sinclair Robbie Halliday Lucy McCall Captain: Lyle Hill Clemmie Mitchell Scott Webster Robin McCall Rosa Spinney Vice-Captain: William Brooke Oliver Mennie Ben Mazzucco Drama Girls’ Hockey Angus Neilson Abigail Stevenson ROWING Finlay Clark Susan Al-Haddad Taylor Syme Captains: Eleanor Jamieson Ben Gray Alison Beattie Kimberley Somerside Eleanor Jamieson Robyn Belch Rowing Vice-Captain: Cameron Turner Natasha Duda Andrew Dickson Eco-Schools Bethany Gallagher Sebastian Glen SHOOTING Iona Gordon Maia Gentle Rebecca Neilson Small Bore Captain: Chloe Wilson Iona Gordon India Somerside Vice-Captains: Christopher Haughey Fiona Griffin Cameron Turner Full Bore Captain: Calum Omand Hannah Hood Vice-Captains: Chloe Wilson Heather Kilpatrick Elijah Rae Earl Lucy McCall
80 Chronicle Chronicle 81 Staff Tributes
Shona McKnight qualified from Jordanhill College, Glasgow, in 1970, as a primary teacher and taught, first, in Cambuslang Primary and then in Barrhead. She later completed a Postgraduate in Secondary teaching in Dunfermline College and taught at Duncanrig Secondary School, East Kilbride where she was Assistant Head of PE.
Shona has had a long association with The Glasgow Academy, being married to Graeme, an Academy boy, and sending their sons, Richard and Stuart to the school from P1. She was very involved in the work of the Parents’ Association and saw the introduction of girls to the Academy in 1991.
Shona started teaching PE at Dairsie House School in 1985. In 1991 she took over a job share and continued to teach PE in the mornings but also P2 in the afternoons. Shona was aware of the changing needs of parents, and was instrumental in helping to set up the After School Care facility within Dairsie in 1999. In 2000 Shona took over as Head Teacher. She realised the importance and benefit of ICT on the curriculum and our first computer suite was established. She also adapted to the necessary changes to implement curricular changes in the form of 5 to 14 in 1992 and oversaw the introduction of the Curriculum for Excellence.
When Dairsie merged with The Glasgow Academy in 2005, Shona pioneered the changes with great forethought and skill, reassuring staff and parents during the transition. She initiated Eco awareness within Dairsie and this resulted in the school achieving the first green flag for the Academy.
Shona’s love of sport and physical education was infectious. She prioritised Health and Wellbeing throughout every stage in the school from Nursery to P4. The children thrived through her inspiring PE lessons that were always fun. During lunchtimes, she encouraged the children to sporting achievement by arranging Judo lessons and she often coached the Dairsie football teams. The highlight of the year was the superb Sports Day that was organised by Shona and took place at Weirs Playing Field in June.
Shona’s success and the success of Dairsie were inseparable. She showed concern and compassion to the children and their families. She had a very down to earth approach and took each day as it came. She was motivating and always made herself available to listen and offer practical support to the staff, parents and children. As head teacher, she faced each challenge with wisdom and enthusiasm.
What next for Shona? Shona would like to travel and develop her interest in drawing and painting. She enjoys swimming, golf and curling and loves watching all sports, in particular supporting rugby and tennis. She is looking forward to reading, completing more Suduko puzzles, meeting friends and spending more time with her grandchildren.
We wish Shona good health and happiness for a very long and enjoyable retirement.
Thank you, Mrs McKnight, for all the fun and friendship you brought to so many over the years.
Anne McDonald, who retired this year, has been a long-standing member of Atholl Preparatory School. When she was appointed in 1988, Mrs Sally Windebank, the Headteacher at the time, suggested that Anne should cover her class for two afternoons each week. However, on her first teaching day, Mrs Windebank informed her that she would be at Atholl for a very long time and that has certainly been the case.
Initially, Anne taught Preparatory 4 in a portacabin, which was located in the grounds of the school. Her remit was to teach Mathematics and Mental Arithmetic. How she must reminisce on those halcyon days of ‘8-a-day’!
Atholl was a very different place twenty-five years ago. There was no staffroom, no hall,no Mandarin classes and certainly no Curriculum for Excellence. Every week, whatever the weather, teachers walked the children round to Cairns Church Hall for P.E. lessons. When the school was badly flooded, due to a burst water tank, everyone was taught in portacabins, while Prep 4 was marched back round to the church hall.
The Christmas Nativity play, a stalwart of Atholl School, was performed in one of the classrooms and a sliding, partitioned door opened to allow parents to sit on tiny, wooden chairs and enjoy the performance. Mrs McDonald, who produced the show for many years, commented on how wonderful it is now for the children to perform on a stage in their own school hall.
Another highlight was the Christmas Crèche, when the pupils came into school on a Saturday morning. Staff joined them and, along with the children, everyone decorated the building, while the parents had the opportunity to finish their Christmas shopping!
Miss Jean McMorran, the current Head of TGA Milngavie, arrived at the school seven years ago and it was Mrs McDonald who was able to show her the ropes and tell all the stories of the school’s long history. When old photographs were taken down from the loft space, there was plenty of hilarity, as the staff noted all Anne’s changes of hair style through the years.
80 Chronicle Chronicle 81 Staff Tributes
Mrs McDonald will be sorely missed. She ran a tight ship and she commanded a great deal of respect from her pupils and friendship from the staff. When Miss McMorran conducted mock teaching interviews with some S6, one was quick to say that it was Mrs McDonald who had inspired her to apply for a place in teacher training.
Anne said, ‘I have very happy memories of the school and I can’t believe how quickly 25 years have passed. Atholl is a special place to teach and I have loved working with wonderful children and dedicated, enthusiastic staff.’
Margaret Whyte is retiring after 22 years at Dairsie. She initially worked in our Under 5s department and then part time in P1, finally becoming a full member of staff in 2000. Before having her family, she taught in P2 and P3 in a primary school in Govanhill. At Dairsie, Margaret took over P1 from our previous Head Teacher, Janet Penman, and she had several successful years nurturing our 5 year olds before moving to P2.
Margaret is a very experienced Early Years teacher: she is conscientious, caring and has always worked hard with the children in her care, giving them a very good foundation in their learning. Not one to push herself forward, nevertheless she has made a very effective contribution and she has fully participated in Dairsie life across the board. She has always been willing to assist in all school clubs and functions, from the Running Club to the PTA. A keen gardener, she offered to take on the huge commitment and challenge of organising the children’s efforts for Eco Schools and has been very successful in guiding the children towards 2 Green Flag awards. As a bonus the children (and staff) have enjoyed the fruits of the children’s labours!
We say a huge and grateful thanks for her support and dedication to the school over the years and wish her a long and happy retirement, enjoying her growing number of grandchildren and her other interests.
Linda Greig has decided to retire this year after 21 successful years at Dairsie. She was originally appointed as the teacher of Dairsie’s afternoon Kindergarten: a role she carried out for 2 years. She moved to a job share in P4 and finally she became a full-time member of staff in 1999. Linda originally taught in various stages at a Paisley school for 6 years before leaving to have her family. She was a play leader for several years prior to starting at Dairsie. In the following years at Dairsie she taught in P4 and P3. She has a great sense of fun and is an excellent teacher: very competent, organised and popular with both parents and children. She believes in fairness in all things and she has made a huge contribution to Dairsie life. She was always willing to take on responsibility and over the years has been involved in various clubs and events in the school, from Enterprise to Running Club and assisting with the Eco group. She ran the P4 stall at the PTA fair, the school ceilidh and helped raise huge sums of money for various charities that P4 and P3 Enterprise had chosen over the years. You could always be sure that if something needed doing Linda was a willing pair of hands.
For all she has done for the school, we owe Linda a huge debt of gratitude and sincerely thank her for all she has contributed both inside and outside the classroom. There are many children who have cause to be grateful to her for her input in their education. We wish her a long, happy and healthy retirement pursuing her many interests.
Julie Peteranna was the first member of staff to join the After School Team in June 2004. We are indebted to Julie for her hard work and commitment to building up the After School Care service. She was very much part of the team bringing ideas together and creating an exciting environment for all the children who attend the service, the biggest task of the year being organising the Summer Holiday Club: 40+ days of outings, lunches, activities for children and staff rotas. There have been nine great years of fun for all. Julie has a vast amount of energy and nothing is ever too much trouble for her. She is always willing to help children, support parents, guide staff and assist colleagues.
Julie’s greatest strength is the relationships she developed with children and their parents. They will all miss her, as will staff and colleagues. The Governors’ Annual Dinner will not be the same without Julie: neither will Cool Kid’s Club. Julie is a very popular member of staff and her skills were appreciated throughout the school. The Nursery children will miss Julie. They joined Julie for physical education sessions each week, playing parachute games, developing early hockey skills and enjoying throwing and catching activities, where they all had lots of fun. For the Prep School she joined the trip to Lochranza over a number of years. For Senior School she organised the Duke of Edinburgh students who chose to complete their Service Award at After School Care. She was also the Assessor for the S6 students taking the Early Education and Childcare course. The West Central Forum also valued Julie’s commitment to organising twilight training events in the school.
Julie progressed to being the ASC Co-Ordinator, taking on more responsibility for Cook Kids’ Club. This included meeting with parents, visiting Milngavie and Dairsie After School Care services and bringing the After School teams closer. Along with a lot more
82 Chronicle Chronicle 83 Staff Tributes
administrative work, Julie successfully completed an SVQ Level 4 in Early Education and Childcare, Assessing Units for SQA and the most successful qualification to date, a B.A. in Childhood Practice from the University of Glasgow.
Julie and her fiancé, Charlie, are moving to Australia, where a fantastic future together awaits them. Whatever Julie decides to do in the sun, we all wish her great success.
After graduating from Jordanhill, Sandra Middleton spent many years as a class teacher, before becoming part of the local authorities’ specialist support for learning services in 1990. Fifteen years later, and by now a principal teacher, she decided to embark on a new challenge. In January 2005, Sandra joined The Academy as the support for learning teacher for the Prep School at Kelvinbridge.
As numbers increased, the department expanded to include pupils from The Glasgow Academy Milngavie, and Dairsie. During this time, support became more wide-ranging to take account of barriers to children’s learning, whether short or long term. This also prompted a need for additional staff training and development, which Sandra carried out in her usual thorough manner. The building of the new Prep School allowed links with Senior School support for learning to be strengthened, and enabled whole-school staff in-service training to be jointly planned and implemented. Towards the end of her time at The Academy, there was an expansion of support for learning staff, and Sandra became Prep School Head of Department.
Sandra’s holistic approach towards children’s learning was driven by her belief that happy, confident pupils make successful learners and adults (even before Curriculum for Excellence!) and many families benefited from her professional expertise as well as her supportive empathy.
She enjoyed her involvement in all aspects of The Glasgow Academy Choral Society, particularly the relaxed atmosphere of the group. One of the highlights of her time at The Academy was accompanying the P7 and S1 pupils on their 2010 music tour to Scarborough and York. She was delighted to see the children grow from the experience, and it brought back many happy memories of her own childhood as a chorister.
During Sandra’s time at The Academy, many new initiatives were put in place, allowing for a smooth transition to her successor. Sandra is now embarking on a new chapter of her life. Retirement will allow her to pursue new interests, such as Tai-Chi and additional support needs advocacy for parents, as well as spend more time with her son and daughter-in-law in Australia. Sandra will be missed at The Academy and we wish her enjoyment and every success in whatever she does.
Scott Weston joined the Academy in August 2008 having previously coached tennis and rugby with us while doing his year-long postgrad in P.E. at Jordanhill. Even with this advantage, it was immediately very obvious that Scott had an excellent rapport with the pupils: he possesses the enviable skill of being able to combine plenty of banter with always commanding respect.
In rugby he has taught a range of teams and has led the 1st XV to many notable successes over the past two seasons. He became Master i/c rugby and has put in place an excellent development plan for pupils and coaching staff alike running throughout the Prep and Senior Schools, always managing with a calm air of authority. Scott’s easy interaction with the dedicated band of parents who turn up so faithfully to all games has also made him a popular figure.
As well as rugby, Scott was, for three years, Master i/c cricket, during which time it was greatly to his credit that he resurrected the Staff v Boys game; this is a game Scott particularly enjoyed as it allowed him to practise so many of his tennis shots. Cricket also gave him the opportunity, while on tour to Belfast, to see in the flesh his all-time Partick Thistle hero. Scott almost choked on his Ulster fry in the University Halls refectory as he over-excitedly explained that there was a Jags ‘legend’ standing in a group of players attending an IFA elite coaching course at the same venue. He was such a legend that his name not only escapes me now but did so about ten minutes after Scott announced it.
Scott is one of those talented people who can turn their hand to all sports and play them to a high level; accordingly he also proved a very valuable contributor to the Academy’s tennis coaching programme.
Scott leaves us to become Director of Sport at Morrison’s Academy; he will make another Academy connection as he joins Mrs Jenny Lee who spent some years in our own PE Dept. His new morning commute into the Perthshire hills will be very different from negotiating the traffic into Glasgow.
Scott will be much missed by his many friends on the staff at the Academy, as well as every one of the many boys and girls who benefited from his advice and chat. We wish Scott and Fi, and young Anna and Scott’s mini-me, Archie, all the very best for the future.
82 Chronicle Chronicle 83 Staff Tributes
Mary Odam joined us to teach French at Dairsie and TGA Milngavie in 2008. Mary made French fun and relevant, with much emphasis on talking and listening and lots of active learning. She took great pleasure in the ability of very young children to learn and to retain knowledge, and she was delighted by how they greeted her using French in the playground or corridor. She was always ready to turn her hand to anything and loved the children’s enthusiasm as she delivered a broad range of French activities, which included use of interactive whiteboards and lots of new Web resources. We wish Mary a very happy retirement.
Neil Millar has been a gifted, passionate and inspirational founding Head of Drama. He devoted vast amounts of time and energy to helping individuals be the very best they could be, and his outstanding exam results and high quality productions brought pleasure to many. He enabled children to achieve exceptional things, such as 90% A grades at Higher (and nothing less than a B), and 96% Credit 1s at Standard Grade (and nothing less than a 2). Neil really cared about children and projected vigorously his belief in the transformational power of drama: he was committed absolutely to building confidence, self-esteem, teamwork and general achievement. No wonder numbers taking Drama grew so rapidly and no wonder other schools were keen to learn from Neil.
Neil’s shows were invariably visually exciting and well rehearsed. He will be especially remembered for ‘Les Miserables’, which reduced audiences to tears, and ‘West Side Story’, which delighted in its enormously creative and energetic combination of dance, music and drama. The passion of ‘Antigone’ on the Prep roof terrace also lingers in the mind.
Neil joined us in 2009 and rapidly developed a wide range of partnerships, making full use of his connections with a range of organisations and individuals in the world of acting. His humour, diplomacy, professionalism and work for SQA at all levels made him a highly valued colleague. He leaves to develop his career by running a bigger department. They are fortunate indeed to have him, but his final gift toThe Academy was to ensure that his successor was the best at what he and Neil do. Thank you, Neil.
Gregor Wood joined The Academy in August 2011 and it was immediately apparent that he had a natural talent for the game of rugby, a sport in which he had represented Scotland at U21 level. His promising playing career was, however, cut short by injury and it was because of this that he turned his focus fully on mastering the art of coaching the game. Although having only been with us for two years, Gregor has made a huge impact on the skills of individual players, and his tireless work with the talented S3 A team has ensured that they enter the U16 arena a much more cohesive unit.
Gregor has also been Master i/c cricket for the past two years and his devotion to the post and to the learning of the game has made life very easy for all concerned with the sport. He has also clearly spent a good deal of time perfecting his no-run-up 95mph sling ball!
A proud Royal High School and Edinburgh boy, Gregor will certainly not miss the M8 each morning and afternoon; history does not record how fiancée Aislinn feels about having him around the house for at least an extra two hours every day, however.
Gregor leaves us to take up the post of Director of Sport at Fettes College Prep, a role in which he will undoubtedly prove an excellent role model. We wish him and Aislinn all the very best in their exciting future together.
Dr Alister Stewart and Miss Susan MacGregor joined the Chemistry department in August 2011. They are gifted teachers who became fully immersed in our community before leaving to pursue new life challenges of medical and corrosion engineering careers respectively. Dr Stewart ran the highly successful Chemistry research group and the Chemistry Top of the Bench team, inspiring the highest of standards and intellectual rigour. Miss MacGregor’s warmth and ability to bring out the best in all of her pupils greatly enhanced their successes and learning experiences. She was also active in the CCF, and fully committed to the Duke of Edinburgh’s Bronze Award scheme.
84 Chronicle Chronicle 85 New Staff
Phil Smith I join the Academy after spending four years in a Pupil Support unit in Fife. Prior to this I spent ten years within the SRU, working up from a Development Officer to both Academy Manager, then Professional Backs Coach with Edinburgh Rugby. One of the highlights of my time there was bringing through players such as Mike Blair, Simon Taylor, Rory Lawson and Nick De Luca, with my final act being the signing of Greig Laidlaw who is now Edinburgh Captain and playing regularly for Scotland. Another major highlight was working alongside Todd Blackadder, the former All Black captain; he was an inspirational leader who taught me that humility is a trait that should be in all rugby players, whether it be in defeat or – even more importantly - victory.
I am currently Head coach at Heriot’s Rugby, having previously coached them to Scottish Cup success. Previous coaching positions I have held have been at National U16, U18 and U20 level, which brought great enjoyment in being given the opportunity to work with the best young players in the country - something I hope will benefit all the boys atThe Academy.
Garry Waltham I join The Academy as Head of Drama after eight years at Stonelaw High School. During this period, I was responsible for some of the largest uptake numbers in Scotland at Intermediate, Higher and Advanced Higher level. I also directed three highly successful school shows, ‘We Will Rock You’, ‘Back To The 80s’ and ‘Rent’. I was a Subject Champion within South Lanarkshire Council and led local authority CPD and development on Higher Drama. I am also an SQA Examiner and Visiting Assessor from Intermediate to Higher level. I studied Theatre and Sociology at the University of Glasgow, before graduating with Distinction from my PGCE teacher training at Strathclyde University. Unsurprisingly for a Drama Teacher, I am passionate about the academic and creative value of theatre and have performed with numerous companies in venues such as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Pavilion Theatre and the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. As well as Acting, I am also an experienced Director and Stage Manager. Between 2001 and 2006, I was Artistic Director of Theatre 96, a small production company who toured performances across the west of Scotland and operated in profit throughout our five-year existence. Aside from my wife, my other great love is football and, in particular, Partick Thistle. I am really looking forward to the challenge of building upon the excellent reputation The Academy’s Drama Department has earned and the strong tradition that also exists of staging highly professional work.
Dr Jennifer Annand I am delighted to be joining The Glasgow Academy as a teacher of Biology. I studied Medical Biochemistry at the University of Glasgow, during which time I completed an industrial placement with the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. I then moved to the University of Dundee to study for a PhD in Biochemistry. After my postgraduate studies I worked at the Glasgow Science Centre as part of the education team. During my PDGE at the University of Strathclyde, I spent one of my student teacher placements at TGA. I am very excited to be returning and look forward to getting involved in all aspects of The Academy.
Rhona Black I was born and educated in Glasgow and am delighted to join the staff at The Glasgow Academy Kindergarten after twenty-three years of teaching in Hamilton. I have accompanied the PE department on their European skiing trips and ran the ‘Seasons for Growth’ education group with a colleague for two consecutive sessions in the Junior School. I have recently completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Child Protection at the University of the West of Scotland. I enjoy reading, shopping, theatre, cinema, visiting museums and galleries and dinner parties.
84 Chronicle Chronicle 85 New Staff
Claudia Francois I came to Scotland for a year ten years ago! My love of languages led me to teach people about French language and culture, which I really enjoy doing here in Glasgow. I am now very happy to be able to share my native language and culture with the children at The Academy.
Abigail Gingele I attended the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology where I obtained a first class Master’s degree in Chemistry with German. For one year of my studies I studied at Freiburg University In Germany where I learnt the German language. This inspired me to return to Germany after graduation. I spent three exciting years working in the pharmaceutical industry in Germany and contributed to the development of therapies for Parkinson’s disease, smoking addiction and hay fever. When I returned to England, I gained experience in private tuition which made me realise that teaching was my passion. After completing my PGCE at the University of Leeds, I taught at Huntington School, York, where I became Subject Leader of Chemistry. I have recently relocated to Glasgow and I am really excited to be working at TGA. In my spare time I enjoy swimming, tennis and portrait painting.
Andrew Jackson After leaving The Glasgow Academy as a pupil thirteen years ago, returning as a Prep School teacher has so far been a surreal but thoroughly enjoyable experience. I completed my schooling in 2000, at which point I had the opportunity to move to Pietersberg, South Africa to teach a Primary 1 class at PEPPS School in Polokwane. Although my decision to travel to South Africa was very much rugby related, my experiences of the country, people and most significantly of the school were truly remarkable and my interest in teaching had begun. I returned to study Law at the University of the West of England, Bristol but my thoughts quickly turned to a career in teaching and after finishing my degree I moved back to Glasgow to complete my PGDE at Strathclyde University. After 5 years teaching at Oxgang Primary School in Kirkintilloch, the opportunity to return to The Academy was one I could not miss.
I am a keen sportsman and a passionate rugby player. Having joined Glasgow Academicals RFC after leaving school, I moved to Glasgow Hawks for three seasons after completing my law degree before returning to play and now captain Glasgow Accies. I hope to use some of my experience to help coach the Sunday mini-rugby and prep school teams to even greater success!
Dr Calver Main I arrive at The Glasgow Academy from Merchiston Castle School, where I taught Chemistry and Biology. I am currently involved in the Shooting team and pursuing my commission in the Army to be part of The Academy’s inspiring CCF. I am now into my fourth year of teaching Chemistry, having project managed Ariel Excel for Procter and Gamble before beginning my teaching career. Although I have resided and worked in various places, I am no stranger to Glasgow; after leaving Gordonstoun School, I completed my Masters degree and PhD at the University of Glasgow and my PGDE at Jordanhill.
Matthew Manson I initially joined The Academy three years ago, employed as a part-time Sports Coach in Rugby and Tennis. I am delighted to have now joined The Academy as a permanent Teacher of Physical Education. I have previously worked at Jordanhill School as a Sports Co-ordinator and Head of Rugby. One of my best memories of my time at Jordanhill was being part of a World Challenge Expedition to Tanzania climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. After completing a Postgraduate Diploma in Physical Education I have taught in various schools, including Our Lady and Saint Patrick’s, Dumbarton and Hermitage Academy, Helensburgh. Outside of school I like to stay active and enjoy participating in most sports. I enjoy coaching children of all ages in a variety of activities. I look forward to being part of a successful school with a strong sporting identity.
86 Chronicle Chronicle 87 New Staff
Helen McNaught Educated at St. Aloysius’ College, I have a BSc (Hons) in Sport, Recreation and Physical Education combined with Psychology from the University of Liverpool. I have spent time coaching in New Jersey, USA and at King’s College, Auckland in New Zealand. I attended the University of Strathclyde to achieve my PGDE in Physical Education.
I currently represent Clydesdale Western Hockey Club having previously captained my University’s 1st XI team and received representative honours for Lancashire County. I have spent the last five years teaching at Hutchesons’ Grammar School. I coach the Scottish U16 West District Performance squad. I have also been a Team Manager representing Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Schools’ Athletics Association.
I have recently started to play the guitar and have a blue belt in kickboxing.
Ian Munro I was born in Glasgow and attended Hutchesons’ Grammar School where I enjoyed my studies, was actively involved in a range of sports and held posts of responsibility including Vice-Captain of the school. My first sporting love is Athletics and I have competed at all levels, with the twin highlights of winning a silver medal in the British Championships at 800 metres and being a Scottish champion at 800 metres. I even had the honour of representing GB.
I chose to study Law at Glasgow University where I managed to obtain my LLB. I then worked in several offices before making the decision to move to teaching. I have always enjoyed working with young people and during my first teaching practice, I felt quite at home, and was confidentthat I had made the right decision to complete my PGDE. Last year I embraced the challenges of teaching P3 pupils in Maryhill, and like to believe that I made a difference to the lives of the children there.
In my free time, I continue to train and keep fit. I am the chairperson of Glasgow City Athletics Club and sit on the committee for the Glasgow Athletics Association. I hope that my own experiences can help to develop the sporting endeavours of the pupils at the school.
Lauren Murphy I am delighted to be teaching History and Modern Studies at The Glasgow Academy, having been a student teacher at the school in 2010. Since then I have taught at Peebles High School and Kirkwall Grammar School. I am enjoying contributing to Eco Schools.
Fiona Ramsay I first experienced teaching as an English Language Assistant in Vilanova I la Geltru, a seaside town near Barcelona. This was part of my Hispanic Studies and German degree at Glasgow University. After my year in Spain, I spent six months studying at Albert-Ludwigs University in Freiburg, Germany before completing my degree at Glasgow. Following my undergraduate course I decided to embark upon a PGDE at Strathclyde University, after which I had a fantastic year teaching a Primary 4 class in an international school in Asturias, a region in Northern Spain. Upon returning to Scotland I worked at The Glasgow Academy on a temporary basis for six months so it is great to be back. My interests are varied and include drama, writing and children’s literacies, music and sport. I am really looking forward to getting back into things at the school and I look forward to meeting everyone over the coming months.
Ruth Richards I am delighted to be joining The Glasgow Academy from Pangbourne College where I enjoyed four years as Head of Drama and Co-ordinator of Theory of Knowledge. My passion for Drama began as a young child and it was an interest I pursued alongside my academic studies. I gained a Masters degree in Drama and Theatre Studies at the University of Kent and went on to complete my Postgraduate studies at The Central School of Speech and Drama. I am excited about the multidisciplinary nature of Drama and combining Art, Music and Media within performances to create interdisciplinary work. I look forward to encouraging the depth of talent at The Academy and getting involved wherever I can.
86 Chronicle Chronicle 87 Prep School
88 Chronicle Chronicle 89 From the Deputy Head
All of our pupils have had the opportunity to experience success this which the boys should be very proud of. At P7 B and C level for rugby, session and have done so in many different ways. Academically, hockey and cricket, there have been many successes and the P6 rugby we have continued to drive Literacy and Numeracy and it has been teams scored some notable wins against Dollar and Stewart’s Melville. The pleasing to see all pupils working hard in class throughout the year P7 A cricket lost only one game and they and the P6 A team were runners- and during their assessments. Events and initiatives such as World up in this season’s respective tournaments. The P6 football team won their Book Day, author visits, paired reading, the Poetry Competition, the tournament handsomely and their star, Aisha Saini, will play abroad in the P7 Maths Morning, Maths setting and entrance to a variety of Maths summer. Megan Allan, Annabel Ballantyne, Emma Forrest, Esme Fry and competitions have continued to contribute towards further raising Freya Hill deserve special mention as they are the Scottish Cross-country attainment in these areas. Some of these competitions included the Champions. We have also seen individual success in cross-country, Glasgow University Maths Challenge where Katie Prentice won a triathlon, swimming, golf, badminton and tennis. We were delighted to silver medal and bronze awards were collected by Freya Hill, Jasmine receive a visit from Laura Bartlett, a former Academy pupil. She brought her Lee, Kyle Sockalingum and Ben Sanders. At the UK Junior Maths Olympic medal with her and the pupils thoroughly enjoyed learning about the Challenge, Sambhav Chadha, Shoumita Bardhan and Ben Sanders life of an athlete at the 2012 Olympic Games. went for gold and won and Aisha Rasul collected a silver award! Modern Languages has had tremendous success too. Madame Our work around global citizenship and international schools has Laws and her pupil ambassadors won a European Day of Languages continued, since receiving our Intermediate International School award competition and £500 of vouchers through an innovative approach to in the summer of last session. We continue to work with the Nehru World language, and following that, Madame Laws entered, was shortlisted School in New Delhi and welcomed four members of staff from the and then - having travelled to Birmingham - won the National Primary school in May 2013. Mr Mathewson and Miss Dick will make the return Language Classroom Award for French and £1000 of resources. journey in July 2013, to learn about their school routines, managerial structure, assessment tools, resources, curriculum and aspects of Assemblies that pupils have presented to their peers have been their Health and Wellbeing programme. The Eco Committee have extremely informative and have showcased the knowledge and also continued their link with the Steinbach Elementary School near skills that they have learned in class across the curriculum. We Winnipeg, Canada. In June, they were involved in a video conference learned about the Romans from P3, the right to be healthy from the with their counterparts in Canada and thoroughly enjoyed interacting with Kindergarten, Chinese New Year from P7.5 and the Nursery children like-minded students. We were represented well at the Euro Quiz finals and about Healthy Eating from the Pupil Council. In January P7 took in the Scottish Parliament in May by Fraser Craig, Morgan Dalton, Lucy part in a Study Skills Workshop to learn strategies for studying, which McCorkindale and Molly Scales, having comfortably won the regional final helped them during the second half of P7 and will certainly be useful earlier in the year. Although we didn’t win the final prize, the children were as they move in to the Senior School. P6 have enhanced their science outstanding and a credit to the school. skills through their Windpower Workshop and thoroughly enjoyed their journey back in time to Victorian Scotland during their visit to Scotland Each of our three sites has an Eco Committee and they have all worked Street School Museum. to develop a more sustainable and environmentally friendly world for our pupils. Some of the work carried out this year has included making bird Pupils and staff across all three sites have worked extremely hard feeders for the playground, running a Fairtrade stall, promoting Fairtrade within the Health and Wellbeing curriculum to learn about their rights and recycling at assembly, helping with the paper recycling, studying the and responsibilities in line with the United Nations Convention on local birds and wildlife, growing plants from seed and P5 also completed a the Rights of the Child. Frances Bestley, an assessor from UNICEF, nature walk along the River Kelvin. The plants were sold and the committee visited the school in May and was delighted with the work that has members used the profits of over £100 to buy farm animals for families in been undertaken. She was happy to award us with the Level 1 Rights Africa, a wonderful achievement. Respecting Schools Award. This truly is a whole school award across all three sites, involving pupils and staff from Nursery to P7 and all our We have supported many other charities including UNICEF, Children 1st, staff and pupils at Cool Kids too. I am delighted that we can now call Comic Relief, Erskine, Barnardos, Emmaus Glasgow, Chas, WhizzKids and The Glasgow Academy Prep School a Rights Respecting one. Resurge Africa, raising a total of £6081.16 across the session. Two of our enterprising P6 girls, Lucy McCorkindale and Molly Scales, designed, wrote From playing the recorder to being a member of the Pipe Band, our and printed a recipe book. They gave the profits to Friends of the Beatson musicians have shone throughout the year. For the first time, members and we were delighted to welcome Mr Kilpatrick to our assembly to accept of the Prep School Choirs visited the Glasgow Music Festival and we the cheque from the girls. were delighted that our Boys’ Choir came first in their class, with the P6/7 Mixed Choir taking second place in theirs. The winner of our P6 Although time moves quickly, we have certainly managed to squeeze a lot Music Competition was Andrew Glen on drums and William Massie in! The children and staff have worked extremely hard this year and the claimed the P7 Prize for a fantastic performance on the piano. In support that we receive from parents is invaluable. We will begin the new assembly, we have been fortunate to have hosted many of our talented session with, as ever, high aspirations for our pupils, and we look forward to groups such as the Flutes, Saxophones and Senior Boys’ Choir. The the exciting times that lie ahead in session 2013-2014. musical talent within the Prep School was certainly evident at our Prep School Concerts and Soloists’ Evening. The Music Tour to London, H Kirkhope involving many P7 pupils, was a great success and enjoyed by all too.
The two Prep Shows of the year, ‘On This Day’ and ‘The Pirates of the Currybean’ were extremely well attended and enjoyed by all who watched and took part. We have been fortunate to have watched many other special performances this year, including the P1 Nativity where the angels sang sweetly and the sheep followed their shepherds, and a P2 journey through India where Gandhi and a Bollywood dance were the highlights.
A group of P6 children auditioned to be in a production of Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and this will be performed in October 2013.
As ever, our sports teams have worked extremely hard this session. It was a pleasure to watch the P7 A hockey team win our own tournament at Windyedge, before going on to triumph at the George Watson’s and Jordanhill Tournaments within days. They also completed their first ever tour, visiting Dollar and Kilgraston. The fourth rugby tour of Northumbria was very successful and resulted in two wins out of two,
88 Chronicle Chronicle 89 World Book Week
Art Competition Winners This year, Mrs Lynch’s P7 Art and Design class entered an Art House Competition, set by Parliament’s Education Service. The competition is designed to engage primary school children with Parliament and democracy and encourage participants to create a work of art on the theme, ‘Parliament and Me’. Pupils entered the People category after they were introduced to a famous piece of art work called ‘Lord Falconer of Thoroton’ (oil on canvas by Michael Taylor). This painting shows Lord Falconer sitting in his office with a number of personal objects around him, visually representing his personality. Pupils used this portrait painting as inspiration for their own piece of artwork. They brought in a variety of objects to represent their hobbies and future aspirations and they then carefully used oil pastels to record their self-portraits.
Over 300 pieces of art were submitted from all over Great Britain. Joe Lewis’s outstanding self- portrait won the People category and Rachel Campbell was shortlisted as a finalist. This is a fantastic artistic achievement from a couple of very talented Glasgow Academy pupils. Joe was invited to Parliament to view his artwork in a special celebration exhibition. His piece was particularly admired by the Rt Hon Lord Foulkes of Cumnock, who remarked on his excellent consideration of composition, use of colour and “real artistic talent”.
Well done, Joe and Rachel!
S Lynch
90 Chronicle Chronicle 91 Prep School Music
Like the Senior School, there are more and more Prep School events happening and the standard of performance is rising. We have had many concerts and performances over the year, the highlight of which has to be the Glasgow Music Festival. The Junior Choir and newly-formed Prep 6 & 7 Boys’ Choir came second and first respectively in their classes. This is a great achievement, particularly for the boys who only started rehearsing a few weeks before. The younger pupils’ enthusiasm for their music is infectious.
In the summer term the Prep School presented an excellent concert. There were approximately 150 pupils in this concert and over 300 in the audience. During this event we heard the winner of the Prep 6 and 7 music competitions perform - Andrew Glen on the drums and William Massie on the piano. Every year we have these competitions the standard of performance increases.
MB Marshall Prep 4 Choir
This year we had over 30 pupils attending weekly lunchtime rehearsals. The pupils worked enthusiastically at learning the songs we covered, which included, ‘Hall Of Fame’, ‘Good Time’ and ‘Welcome Him To The World’. I was delighted with the way they performed at the Christmas, Spring and Summer Concerts and I am sure they will have all benefited from the experience. Their performance at the Summer Concert was particularly impressive and as a result, they were asked to sing again at the end-of-term assembly in front of the Senior School.
A McColl Prep 5 Choir The Prep 5 Choir has been working extremely hard this year during rehearsals. Over 35 members of Prep 5 came to join up this year, rehearsing each Wednesday lunchtime for 30 minutes. Our first performance was during the Prep School Music Evening in November, where we sang ‘The Song of the Clyde’ to a packed Cargill Hall. After a lot of hard work and rehearsal, the choir managed to pull off this feat, singing all four verses from memory, including the tricky patter verse at the very end! Our March Concert saw us performing ‘Oh Shenandoah’, a traditional American folk song about the Missouri. This performance included a few solo groups singing the first and last verses. We ended the year by singing ‘Kelvingrove’ during the Concert in June. Despite the busy time of year and only a few rehearsals, the choir members performed well to a packed Cargill Hall once more. I have been really impressed by the commitment and hard work shown by the members of the Prep 5 Choir this year, and hope that they continue with this hard-working attitude if they are in any of the choirs available to them in Prep 6 next year. Thank you for all your hard work!
During May, all members of Prep 5 took part in a vocal workshop with our singing teachers Ruth Dean and Jonathan Hawkins. During two sessions, the pupils worked through lots of vocal technique and learned some songs together as a group. This gave them the opportunity to see what they could actually achieve with their voices and see how much fun singing can actually be as well. Some pupils were so taken with the day that they are signing up for singing lessons next year. Well done to all involved.
T Mills 90 Chronicle Chronicle 91 Rights Respecting Schools In May 2013 The Glasgow Academy Prep School became a UNICEF Level 1 Rights Respecting School! You may be wondering what this means and what it has involved, so below is some information compiled by some P3 and P4 pupils which will explain how we achieved this.
Matthew Cockburn, Sachin Misra-Sharp and Angus McCorkindale, P4.1: “We have been learning about rights through UNICEF’s Rights Respecting Schools initiative. Rights are something that all children around the world should have and are contained in a leaflet called the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child or the UNCRC. In our class, Sachin is our Rights Respecting representative (every class has one). Sachin goes to lots of meetings. During the meetings, the children write minutes and Sachin tells us about the things that they have discussed when he comes back to class.”
Vanessa Prescott and Keisha Hughes, P4.1: “Every class made a Rights Respecting Charter with their teacher. This helped children to learn about their rights in relation to the school and playground. Here at The Glasgow Academy, we get the right to an education, to clean water, healthy food, fresh air, to relax and play and many more!”
Carly Thomson, Abbie Gourlay, Ferosa MacKenzie, P4.1: “We have been making Rights Respecting games. These were made for Prep 2 so we could teach them about their rights.”
Bradley Baker and Christie McBurnie, P4.1: “We have lots of assemblies about rights and responsibilities, so we learn loads!”
Jacob Graham and Jack McBride, P3.2: “In Prep 3, we have learned about rights and about the responsibilities we have in relation to them. We enjoyed a fiction story called ‘Emily’s Legs’ and we learned how to respect other people’s rights.”
Luke MacKenzie, Daniel Burdon, Ben Henderson and Eilidh Harrison, P3.2: “We have been learning about the four categories of rights by playing the corners game. The categories are: Survival, Development, Protection and Participation.”
Christian Booth, MP4; Joseph Provan, MP3; Sophie Hannigan, MP2: “The best part of RRS is the role play we do during assemblies. We like to play different people to act out the Rights.”
Sophie Thomson, MP4: “I like to work with the little ones, especially the Nursery/Kindergarten. I help them to decide what is right and what is wrong.”
Milly Macfarlane, DP3: “The Rights Respecting Schools Committee made a suggestion box so that all the children at Dairsie could have the right to be heard.”
We will now begin working towards the Level 2 award and look forward to working with staff, pupils, parents, the Senior School and the local community over the coming months, in our quest to achieve this.
H Kirkhope
92 Chronicle Chronicle 93 Global Citizenship
This session, one of our key aims was to develop global citizenship throughout the school and, in doing so, learn more about our own country and the wider world. In the Prep School, we currently link with two schools, one in India and one in Canada.
Our pupils have all been involved in activities and projects which have helped us to achieve this. These include the P1 ‘Our City’ project, the P2 ‘India’ project, letters to India, traditional Scottish story writing and factual written pieces about Scotland.
This year, with the support of the British Council, we have continued to work closely with The Nehru World School in New Delhi, India. We were delighted to welcome Mr Arunabh Singh, Director of Innovations, along with Sudhir Rana, Rakhi Kapoor and Jyoti Kumar to The Academy in May. Staff and pupils across all three of our sites warmly welcomed our guests into their classrooms. They helped them to learn about the Scottish curriculum and our teaching and learning strategies. Our guests were particularly interested in learning about and seeing our use of Bloom’s Taxonomy, Big Writing, our pupils’ artistic creations and our Learning Stories in Nursery and Kindergarten. Mr Mathewson and Miss Dick enjoyed a great return visit to The Nehru World School, Delhi in July 2013.
Pupils and staff ensured that our guests left Scotland with lasting memories of The Academy and our beautiful country. Several culture boxes, Scottish story books and an A-Z of Scotland were created by our pupils and the Indian staff shared these with their colleagues and pupils on their return to their home country. We were delighted to receive Indian books and crafts which have been placed in our ‘India’ topic box.
Pupils have also shared their knowledge of Scotland and the wider world with their peers during assembly. P7.5 and pupils from the Nursery worked together to learn about Chinese New Year, P6.4 taught us all about Saint Andrew and P5.3 shared Scottish poetry and traditions in their assembly about Robert Burns. Pupils from P2 completed their Indian topic with an elaborate journey through India in an assembly which staff, parents, our Indian visitors and pupils all thoroughly enjoyed.
In session 2013-2014 we aim to develop a link with a new school in China. This will enable us to develop further our knowledge and understanding of the world around us, whilst learning from their best practice in teaching and learning.
H Kirkhope
92 Chronicle Chronicle 93 Pirates of the Curry Bean
Perhaps the name of Craig Hawes does not figure significantly in a musical theatre pantheon which includes such luminaries as Andrew Lloyd Webber, Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein and Lionel Bart. However, his shows are no less memorable when performed by the pupils of the Prep School Theatre Club. This was the latest of several of his offerings which the school has chosen to perform and, as with its predecessors, it lived up to the expectations of the two full house audiences which filled the Cargill Hall last Easter.
As the title suggests this was a nautical yarn, a curious mixture of ‘Peter Pan’, ‘Treasure Island’ and ‘Road to Bali’ - liberally littered with recognisable characters from these tales and other headliners created by CS Forester and Patrick O’Brian. It included a Bristolian public house, a map, a ship’s cat, parrots, monkeys and better Cockney accents then Dick van Dyke could ever have hoped to achieve.
Asking my class to review the show, the overriding impression created, in their opinion, was made so by the costumes, once again conjured up by the nimble fingers of Mrs McLellan. They added the colour, the spectacle to the show (surely she must have an army of Gloucester mice helping her in some way!) and the way in which she puts life into her imagination is nothing short of a miracle.
Mrs McLellan was part of a much larger team, of course, led by the show’s producers Mrs David, Miss Kirkwood and Mr Simpson. Their hard work coaching, cajoling and choreographing the pupils was handsomely repaid. Lighting and other special effects were again in the safe hands of Mr Anderson and other members of staff stumped up to their allotted task to produce yet another success.
And so to the cast, of which there were seventy-nine. Fifty had speaking parts while a healthy chorus of twenty-nine provided the backing vocals, the crowd scene and the talent from which future productions will be gleaned. The main characters were particularly strong: the Periwinkle Family dominated by mum, Alessia Martinolli; the crew of the ‘Crunchy Frog’, led by the unforgettable Andrew Tan as Admiral Hornhoncker; the stowaways Slack and Scuttle played by Lucy Thornton and Charlotte Fleming and the pirates themselves, led with unquenchable zeal by Fayz Siddiqui’s Captain Redbeard. The natives of Lumbago really put their backs into the performance, the street sellers were true to their calling, the monkeys mischievous and the rats…well…ratty!
Puns there were aplenty; the songs were catchy and reminded me of the Last Night of the Proms mixed with a collection of British sea shanties. The choreography was crisp, the scenery spectacular and the music ably led by Mr Marshall. This was very much a fun show - fun to rehearse and fun to perform. The enjoyment of the pupils on stage was infectious and the audiences certainly caught the bug. The combination of the pupils singing, dancing and acting, the efforts of the directing and subsidiary staff and the writing of Craig Hawes all came together admirably to provide something that was wholesome, beneficial and a reflection of that indefinable spirit which is part of the Prep School.
R Williams
94 Chronicle Chronicle 95 Money Week 2013 As a Scots comedian once said, “The Scots have an infallible cure for sea-sickness. They lean over the side of the ship with a pound coin in their teeth.”
Like a fairy-tale curse, poor money skills can cause issues for our children, their children and their children’s children. Good money sense, on the other hand, prevents them from making major mistakes and will have a positive impact on their quality of life as adults.
In The Glasgow Academy, we want our Preparatory School pupils to be money-smart. We do this through our yearly Money Week event, where all the sessions are practical, interactive and involve the school community.
The younger classes walk to the local shops to spend their money while P4 at Kelvinbridge ran its own Stationery Shop, which was a sell-out, thanks to the generosity and enthusiasm of its customers. Pupils learned about sourcing items and adding profit. Any money raised was given to charity.
The P4s then had the opportunity to spend their own money at the Kelvinbridge site’s Children First Sale, which raised over £2000 for charity. Apparently, those counting the money had no idea it could weigh so much! We joke about Scots being thrifty but did you know that they donate more to charity than any other region in the UK? ‘Spending, Saving, Giving’ is our mantra and the children should learn to budget their pocket money with this in mind.
While working incredibly hard with many adults, including Mrs Enid Reid, on their Dragons’ Den activity this year, the P7s were also keen to give a commendation sticker to Mr Andrew Waddell to put in his own diary!
The P6s were busy too. They were having difficulty cashing Mr Gavin Halliday’s £1,000,000 cheque, while working their way through a demanding and technical year group project.
We thank the first timer helpers, Mr Craig Macfarlane, Mr Peter Chalmers, Mr Brian Jack and Mrs Bett, for giving us so much of their time and expertise. I know one of them is still a little shaky after his time in Nursery/ Kindergarten, which included a very long conversation about chocolate cake!
To the old timers, or should I say, those with considerable Money Week experience, we were again impressed with Mrs Watson’s ‘Get Smart About Money’, and, from The Institute of Chartered Bankers, Mr Courtney enthused the pupils with a ‘Loads of money’ quiz about tins of beans!
There is not enough space here to mention the range of activities which took place but here are some examples: Chinese Supermarket, Pirate Treasure, Jack and the Beanstalk, Roman Trading, Developing Countries Trading Trainers, Euro Money Games, Fairtrade, Katie Morag’s Post Office, Holidays to Egypt, Monopoly and Bureau de Change.
We do not rest on our laurels with a conventional Money Week. Staff, parents and friends of the school continue to create fresh, new ideas to keep our pupils financially aware.
JA McMorran
94 Chronicle Chronicle 95 Prep 1
Prep 1.3’s Big Faces
Afrin Ahmed - Prep 1.3
Oscar Johnston - Prep 1.3 Ffion Mann - Prep 1.2
Molly-Mia Millard - Prep 1.1 Heather McLeod - Prep 1.2 Sharanyaa Shashidharan - Prep 1.2
Alfred Cheong - Prep 1.2 Rory McMillan - Prep 1.1
96 Chronicle Chronicle 97 Prep 1
Prep 1.3 on World Book Day Baking in Prep 1.3 Prep 1.3 as scuba divers
Prep 1.1 painting bonfires Prep 1.2 improving their vocabulary Prep 1.2 are busy building
Prep 1.3’s Listening Lab Prep 1.2
Active Mental Maths in Prep 1.1
Snappy number six in Prep 1.1
Prep 1.1 enjoying World Book Day Prep 1.2 making models
96 Chronicle Chronicle 97 Prep 2
Beth Allan - Prep 2.3 Annalize de Wet - Prep 2.2
Nathan Paterson - Prep 2.3 Cherry Younger - Prep 2.1 Sam Howard - Prep 2.2
Ruaridh Murdoch - Prep 2.2 Jessica Cockburn - Prep 2.1
Charles Treharne - Prep 2.1 Indigo Van Der Hoeven - Prep 2.3 Karan Shah - Prep 2.3
98 Chronicle Chronicle 99 Prep 2
Prep 2.3 on World Book Day Prep 2.3
Making posters in Prep 2.2 Measuring with plant stems Paired numeracy with P6
Prep 2.2
En garde!
Learning to compost Teaching P1 about dinosaurs
Prep 2.1 Prep 2.3 get wet
98 Chronicle Chronicle 99 Prep 3
Danithmee Aluthduwehewage - Prep 3.3 Callum Nelson - Prep 3.1
Noah Sarvesvaran - Prep 3.2
Ella Adams - Prep 3.3
Ross McCaffer - Prep 3.1 Kael Sood - Prep 3.3
Ben Henderson - Prep 3.2
Eve Whitton - Prep 3.1 Rachel Brown - Prep 3.2
100 Chronicle Chronicle PB Prep 3
Adventuring at Lochwinnoch Investigating electricity
Prep 3.1 creating posters Money Week in Prep 3.3 Mr McKellar taught us Latin about Spain
Prep 3.1 handling snakes Prep 3.1 learning basketball in PE
Prep 3.1 Prep 3.2 before the Christmas Show
Prep 3.2 doing kung fu punctuation Prep 3.3
PB Chronicle Chronicle 101 Prep 4
Ferosa Mackenzie - Prep 4.1 Jayden Gill - Prep 4.1 Keisha Hughes - Prep 4.1
Rebecca Roper - Lucy Wong - Prep 4.3 Prep 4.2 Sachin Misra-Sharp - Prep 4.1 Lucas Pierotti - Prep 4.2
Vanessa Prescott - Prep 4.1 Ferosa Mackenzie - Prep 4.1
Christopher Scott - Prep 4.2 Matilda Brown - Prep 4.3 102 Chronicle Chronicle 103 Prep 4
Look at our castles!
We did it!
Prep 4.3 at the jousting Prep 4.3 inspecting each other’s castles Prep 4.3 at the Medieval Banquet
Prep 4.3 working on volume Prep 4.3 Prep 4.2 investigating liquids
Rights Respecting Schools in Prep 4.2 Working it through together
Prep 4.2 in World Book Week Prep 4.1 in the Middle Ages
102 Chronicle Chronicle 103 Prep 5
Darcie McCann - Prep 5.3
Jamie Wishart - Prep 5.1
Alexander Hunter - Alexandra McQueen Prep 5.2 Prep 5.4 Ross Logan - Prep 5.4
Ruby Younger - Prep 5.2
Kenneth Fraser - Prep 5.1
Lindsay Mackie - Prep 5.2
Rory Harris - Prep 5.4 Connor Hegarty - Prep 5.3 Rosie McNaught - Prep 5.3
104 Chronicle Chronicle 105 Prep 5
Stories from the roof
Prep 5.4 showing off their Space boardgames Fairtrade Fortnight
Prep 5.3 Christmas in the year 3000
Prep 5.2 designing Tudor clothing
P5 Testing egg capsules on Space Day
Prep 5.1 at Falkland Palace
Prep 5.2 dressed as famous Prep 5.2 Tudors and Stuarts
Prep 5.1 playing their own Eco-posters in Prep 5.4 sheltering board games Prep 5.1 making outdoor art Prep 5.1 beneath a giant
Prep 5.3 on the Falkland Estate Prep 5 down at the River Kelvin 104 Chronicle Chronicle 105 Prep 6
Lucy Thornton - Prep 6.1
The Euroquiz team at the Scottish Parliament
Topping up the ink
Prep 6.2 investigating wind power
Meghan Ray - Prep 6.4 Hari Bradley - Prep 6.1
Prep 6.1 making pizza
Jack McGechie - Prep 6.3 Alexander Hardiman - Prep 6.2 These are all the rage in Milan
Anne Lawson - Prep.6.1
Daisy Morris, Charlotte Sharp, Seona Crawford - Prep 6.2 Zoo Lab visit Prep 6 Erin MacKenzie, Lauren O’Neil - Prep 6.2 106 Chronicle Chronicle 107 Abernethy
106 Chronicle Chronicle 107 P7 Evacuation Day
Excitement filled the air as the P7s made their way into school, only to be evacuated shortly after arrival. It was no ordinary school day. We all brought in WWII evacuee costumes so we could further get into character; after we had changed we really did look like wartime children!
This eventful day started in the hall where we were chosen by our new families. Anticipation radiated from us as we sat, motionless, on the hard wooden floor. The teachers’ steps resounded through the hall as they walked up and down line after line of nervous faces, picking out those deemed worthy for their various tasks. As WWII children were told to strive to be as helpful and useful as possible they often had to take on jobs in their new village, and we were no exception! After being picked for our new situations we were told what was expected of us - we were now factory workers, housemaids or farm labourers. Of course, a few poor evacuees who were perceived to be useless for any of those tasks, were left in the cold, dark hall until later in the morning, when they would be sent to another village.
After this ordeal we were sent back to our classes to try out some WWII activities, which included making and decorating our own gas masks, taking a WWII test on identifying plane silhouettes with Mr Carlin (this was really tricky!), completing a rationing exam with Miss Kirkwood and helping out in our new homes with Mrs Gilmour. I enjoyed each of these activities; however, I think everyone agreed that modern-day school was much less trying!
Overall, I found the Evacuation Day to be highly stimulating. I had great fun and learnt many new things about evacuee children. I now definitely sympathise with them more as just one day of evacuation was so hard! If the main point of Evacuation Day was to have fun learning about the lives of children during the war then it definitely fulfilled its goal.
Nina Graham Julia Donaldson Writing Prize Winner Trepidation
Rain has many uses. Holly and beech trees, like those around me, need it to live and grow. It washes away tracks, obscures footprints and makes trails harder to follow – which is a good thing right now. A dark, looming figure is rapidly advancing on me. I cannot see for helpless tears blur my vision. Surely I am doomed.
Waking with a start, I survey my surroundings in exasperation. I am still here. A small sigh escapes my tightly closed lips. Looking down at my paper-white wrist I can see brightly coloured threads, interlocking in an extremely intricate pattern. Surgical, sterilised air fills my battered lungs with every small breath I take. Nervously, I pick at the dirty yellow foam spilling from the ripped nylon chair I am gingerly sitting on. The receptionist smiles, her bright red lipstick giving way to a set of obviously whitened teeth. I despise her. I despise everyone, everything in this cursed building! Yet as much as I enjoy thinking that lethargic thought, I know it cannot be true. Moreover, the people in this edifice are helping my sister, I must remember that.
A melodic voice trills through the room. “They’re ready for you now.” If only that vacuous receptionist knew that each of those words pierced me like a shining dagger! Almost robotic in my actions, I slowly lift myself from the chair and put one foot in front of the other until I am face to face with a spotless wooden structure. Bringing my small fist upwards, I shyly tap on the door three times.
Receiving no answer I slowly push the door open. My raven-black hair obscures much of my face, so I gently pull it back into a long ponytail. Then, I see her. Apparently lifeless, my sister lies on one of the twin metallic operating tables that occupy the room. As fast as a speeding bullet I dart over to her side. Tears I had not noticed begin to fall on her chalky-white face and sky-blue lips. She could be sleeping, were it not for the absence of the gentle rise and fall of her chest. Ireful, I turn to wail at the startled doctor, “You could have saved her. You could have asked me to donate blood!”
Voices hum in the background as I stare down at the deceased corpse of my recently departed sister. I knew I could not have donated blood – mine was type O whereas hers was type A negative, a rare variety that nobody was willing to donate. Yet despite my obvious depression, I knew that she would be happier this way. Pain had wracked her body, day and night, and sleep was no relief.
Needles and scalpels taunt me as I stare into the nervous doctor’s eyes. He must think me demented but at this moment in time I do not care. Picking up a knife I slash off the friendship bracelet my sister had made me, ripping my own pale skin in the process. Blood spurts everywhere for I’ve accidentally nicked an artery in the process. Numb with melancholy, I cannot feel anything. Hands arrest me as I drop the bright bracelet into my sister’s unmoving hand. It flutters down, as if caught in some unseen breeze. All good things come to an end, my sister’s life was just one of them.
Nina Graham 108 Chronicle Chronicle 109 108 Chronicle Chronicle 109 Lochranza Poem
L ovely little lambs were blissfully bleating over the hills, O utside our centre was a freely flowing river, C ows were roaming round Lochranza, H oping that it didn’t rain! R abbits hopped happily through the wind, A s the birds flew freely high above them, N o one was allowed to go near the sheep in case they were to jump into the sea! Z zz was the sound that we made as we slept soundly in our beds, A s we waited for another magical day to begin on Arran!
Erin McIntyre - Prep 7.1
110 Chronicle Chronicle 111 P7 Suffragette Morning VOTES FOR WOMEN!
It was one bleak, dismal November morning when all the Prep 7s were transported back to the time of the Suffragettes. The Suffragettes were those women who actively fought for their right to vote. Suffragette Morning took place in the Cargill Hall. All the parents streamed in and settled down to watch our spectacular show…
We were all dressed in Edwardian clothes: the girls in long trailing skirts, frilly high neck blouses and straw bonnets, while the boys wore old- fashioned suits along with black top hats. Each class did a different sketch about the Suffragettes; ours was the extreme act of the Suffragettes in slashing a painting in an art gallery. However, soon we came to the Manchester Hustings of 1905. The five selected pupils played roles as Suffragettes as they argued for the vote, while our teachers played the roles of famous political figures such as Herbert Asquith, the Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Edward Grey, arguing against the motion.
Soon the cry of war rang out and all the men were sent away to the treacherous trenches and the bloodthirsty battlefields of the First World War. Nevertheless, the women back home stood their ground and served the country in the factories and businesses; they took up all the men’s jobs and this was quite an experience for them. Furthermore, the Suffragettes ceased their militant actions and contributed to the war effort.
After the Great War women were recognised as heroes and granted the vote for running the country while the men were away. We all cheered when it was announced!
Proudly we marched back to our classes, displaying our banners and chanting famous quotations such as ‘Deeds not Words’. Everywhere there were bursts of white, green and violet - the colours of the Suffragettes. The banners held slogans like ‘Votes for Women’ and ‘Votes not Property’.
Suffragette Morning was a tremendous success - it felt truly wonderful being part of this exciting event!
Shoumita Bardhan
110 Chronicle Chronicle 111 Prep Prom
112 Chronicle Chronicle 113 Prep School Hockey Prep 7
The Prep 7 hockey season at The Glasgow Academy this year has been an exceptionally victorious one. We have all worked hard at Games sessions each week, which has helped us with our matches on Saturdays. We have worked on a variety of skills, our fitness and our game strategies.
The A team has convincingly won every Saturday fixture. Our first game of the season resulted in a 7-0 win against Dollar. One result which we are all particularly proud of is the 6-0 win again George Watson’s College. The A team have also been very successful in tournaments this season. The first tournament we competed in was the Jordanhill Tournament. We won our section and went on to face St Columba’s in the semi-final, beating them in running penalties. The final against Craigholme also came down to running penalties which gave our goalie lots of practice. Our second tournament was our own, hosted at Windyedge. Again we won our section, the quarter-final against Jordanhill and the semi-final against The High School of Glasgow. We met George Watson’s College in the final and managed to score a last minute goal which resulting in us winning the cup. The final tournament for the A team was the George Watson’s College Tournament at Peffermill. It was an exciting experience for us to play at such a great venue. Having won our section, we beat George Heriot’s in the semi-final. We went on to face George Watson’s College again in the final and beat them 2-1. This was the first time that The Glasgow Academy had won this tournament.
The B team have also had a very successful season. They have had eight wins and only two defeats. They participated in our tournament where they progressed to play for the cup; however, they were narrowly beaten by George Watson’s College in running penalties. The C team played five Saturday matches and won three of these.
None of these triumphs would have been possible without the help of Miss Brackenridge, Miss Simpson, Miss Campbell, Miss Dick, Mr Ralph and Mr Grant.
Annabel Ballantyne, Emma Brown and Kirsten Cannon
Prep 6
Overall P6 have loved the hockey season! It was fun, exciting and enjoyable. We learned lots of new skills such as the Indian dribble, push passes, long touches, stick keepie-ups and V-drags. We also learned to work as a team and most importantly to have lots of fun.
We all agree that we have improved as players since the start of P6 hockey. All of the P6 girls enjoyed the House matches the best as it was fun and we could learn to work in our Houses. Some of our favourite drills were dribbling up to a cone then push passing, passing with a partner and Indian dribbling to the D then shooting into the goal.
Mrs Fitzgerald always makes us do a couple of laps then we all have to do some stretches, which is good because sometimes if we don’t stretch we can injure ourselves and we don’t want to do that because we would miss hockey!
Thank you so much to all the hockey coaches that have helped us and taught us how to play the game better.
Yemisi Edgar and Aisha Saini
P6 Carol Hamilton Hockey Tournament
On Monday 19th November our P6 girls played the annual matches versus The High School of Glasgow for the Carol Hamilton trophy. As ever the matches were played in a great competitive spirit with all the girls in P6 playing. We split into four mixed ability teams, with all the teams playing four matches each. The weather stayed dry and the crowds gathered as the afternoon’s hockey got underway. The Academy teams started off very well with all four winning their first match, and this was the way the afternoon was to carry on for these enthusiastic young players. In the end, after 16 rounds of games, The Academy won by 40 points to 27. Very well done to the captains who all lead and supported their teams throughout the afternoon.
R Simpson
112 Chronicle Chronicle 113 Prep School Rugby
Prep 7 A Edinburgh. A particularly notable win was Prep 6 C This year the P7 A team have had an amazing against The High School. Maybe we did This year the P6 C rugby team got off to time, going from strength to strength. It all lose a few matches over the season, but an encouraging start with a match against started off with a good win against Heriot’s hopefully we have learned a lot from them. George Heriot’s - we just lost 9-8. Then we and then we followed that up with a very A big thanks to Mr Simpson and Mr Bull for played Stewart’s Melville, who were very good victory against our old rivals, The all their support and encouragement and for competitive and thumped us 12-0. After High School of Glasgow. After that we had making the rugby games so much fun, even that we knew we had to improve, so we a tough game against Stewart’s Melville, when it was freezing cold. decided to work on our passing and tackling, which we lost by one try, but we regrouped and slowly got better. Our practising paid and got a fantastic win over Hutchesons’. Harry Adams off during our next match against Belmont We then had some tough games against House where we put up a tough fight and Edinburgh Academy and George Watson’s, drew 5-5. Edinburgh Academy were our which we lost, but after that we got back to Prep 6 A next opponents; despite the heavy rain winning ways against St Aloysius’. Before The season got off to a cracking start with an we were doing so well in the first half, but our last game against Dollar, which we won exciting game against George Heriot’s; we eventually lost 5-6. In the spring term the by 3 tries in a season’s-best performance, won 6-1. We couldn’t quite believe it! Our weather started to get the better of us and we enjoyed another three wins and only one team spirit was flying high after that match we were beaten twice. Our last match was loss. We also had a good fourth place finish and it felt like we were invincible - in theory against George Watson’s and they had huge in the Stewart’s Melville Tournament, in anyway, although not necessarily in reality players! We tried to make this match our which the hosts scored against us in the last - throughout the rest of the twelve matches very best performance and drew 6-6. I think play of the game after some heroic defence that we played. With the help of our amazing the P6 C team has improved throughout the from the team. We had one tournament left, coach, Mr Fairlie-Clarke, we had team work year and that wouldn’t have been possible however: the St Columba’s one, in which we like you’ve never seen before and some without our amazing coaches, Mr Kirby and won in the last play of extra time against The of the best tackling and passing, and as a Mr Weston. High School. None of this would have been result, we continued to have a really great possible without Mr Mathewson, whose season. We enjoyed every match to the Andrew Tan enthusiasm and knowledge really helped us full; Friday afternoons saw us pulsing with along the way. excitement and anticipation for the following morning. Sometimes we’d unfortunately Finlay Neilson learn of a cancellation due to the weather, but more often than not it was the thrill and butterflies of meeting as a team pre-match. Prep 7 B Yes, we have all hugely loved our first year This year the P7 B team has had a successful of proper rugby matches. year. After P6 rugby we were well prepared for the new season, with some fresh faces in We kept a thriller in store for the penultimate the team who learned quickly. This certainly match of the season against Stewart’s helped us to win our first match of the year Melville. We had another of those ‘have we against George Heriot’s, 7-4. Our form from really done this?’ moments for having been that match didn’t last long, however; a 4-4 beaten by them in our first encounter, we draw with The High School and a 7-0 defeat roared back with a stunning 9-1 victory. by Stewart’s Melville definitely taught us our weak points. The whole team put a lot of The whole team would like to give a heartfelt effort into training and it was well rewarded thank you to our tenacious coach, Mr Fairlie- with a 13-0 win over Hutchesons’. Following Clarke, who has continually pushed us on all that great result we went to play The High the way to the try line throughout the whole School of Dundee’s A team - we played season. extremely well but eventually lost 11-6. In the next four games we managed to score Max Hedgecoe 33 tries and only conceded 6.
This great run of form was built on forwards Prep 6 B dominating the rucks, making it easy for the ‘Together everyone achieves more’: that was backs to perfect their two trademark moves: what the 2012/13 season was all about for ‘sealion’ and ‘switch’. We finished the year the P6 B team. It was a mixed start to the strongly with a 4-4 draw with Edinburgh season with George Heriot’s and Stewart’s Academy, followed by two great wins against Melville proving challenging opponents, but Dollar Academy and The High School. In our fantastic performance against The High addition, we were very close to getting a School, leading to a 12-3 win, gave us the draw against Morrison’s Academy’s A team, confidence to take things up a level. Three in the end losing 6-5. As the team have strong wins in November followed, cementing gained confidence over the year we must our team spirit, which was to prove one of give credit to Mr Carlin, Mr Mathewson, Mr the keys to our success. 2013 is when we Gillies and Mr Simpson, our team of expert really showed what we were made of: five coaches, who have given us great advice wins in a row, peaking in an 11-0 win over and encouragement to take forward. Stewart’s Melville at home. What a feeling this gave us! It’s been a brilliant first season Christopher Holdstock that has left the whole team hungry for more. On behalf of the whole team I would like to thank our coach, Mr Milne, for his constant Prep 7 C encouragement and support. Thanks also to We have had a fantastic season in the P7 Mr Fairlie-Clarke, Mr Wood and Mr Kirby, for C rugby team. We have all trained hard all your tips at training. and improved a lot since the start of the year. We have had some fantastic games James Hamilton against many other schools in Glasgow and
114 Chronicle Chronicle 115 Northumbria After an enjoyable tour to Northumbria last year we met at the school eagerly anticipating another trip to the North of England.
Three hours on the bus later we arrived at our Hostel, where we were allocated our rooms before having dinner and an early night (!) in preparation for our first match. Morning came and we arrived at Blaydon’s clubhouse to find that the pitches were unplayable! However, Blaydon had a plan B and we eventually got underway and played some outstanding running rugby to comfortably defeat a team that were much bigger than us - final score 8-0.
After a lot of fun in the Hostel on Saturday night we travelled to Tynedale RFC on Sunday morning. It was freezing cold but we were up for it and played a very physical and tough match, winning 7-3. It felt much harder than the score looks!
Our hosts were excellent: Blaydon were entertaining like they always are and Tynedale is a fantastic club. We would like to thank Mr Mathewson, Mr Carlin and all the teachers for looking after us and giving us such an enjoyable tour.
George Gourlay
114 Chronicle Chronicle 115 Prep School Cricket Prep 7 ‘A’ The P7 A team has been enthusiastic and skilful throughout the season – everyone contributed in either batting or bowling and we enjoyed a great summer, although the weather wasn’t always on our side. Our first match was against The High School of Dundee and we won that quite easily, next came Hutchesons’ and again, we chalked up a victory. After that, however, we lost the fixtures against George Watson’s and Kelvinside to the weather. Our last game was against Stewart’s Melville and despite a very reachable target of 58 runs in 8 overs, we didn’t quite manage it.
This year the P7 A team participated in the Crawford Cup. Our first match was a win against Kelvinside and next came Dollar Academy – a close encounter that we won narrowly. These wins saw us into the final against the mighty Stewart’s Melville but yet again they beat us, although not by a big margin. I would like to thank Mr Hariharan and Mr Mathewson for coaching us through the season and all my teammates for their positivity.
Ross Heginbottom
Prep 7 ‘B’ There are a lot of fantastic players in the P7 B team. We only had six fixtures to display our talents this year however, as three were cancelled due to the weather. Our most impressive result was actually a defeat against Stewart’s Melville, albeit only by four runs. Our bowling and batting were both strong but our fielding just let us down in the end.
We also lost against The High School of Glasgow but took the victory against Hutchesons’, a result that many of us were particularly happy with. I would like to thank Mr Simpson, Mr Carlin and Mr Mathewson for their excellent advice and our parents for their support and guidance. We look forward to the coming session in S1.
Eshan Randev
Prep 6 ‘A’ The P6 A team had a great start to the season by beating Wellington by over seventy runs. Unfortunately the next two games were cancelled due to the weather. Our next matches against Stewart’s Melville and Hutchesons’ ended in defeats. We batted and bowled well, but need to work on our concentration levels when fielding to avoid giving away cheap runs. In the Cricket Scotland West Heats we reached the final by beating Kilmacolm and The High School of Glasgow but, once again, we were defeated by a big-hitting Hutchesons’ team. This team always showed enthusiasm and I have loved captaining the boys. I would also like to say a big thank you to all the cricket coaches.
Jack McCamley-Wilding
Prep 6 ‘B’ The boys that played this year in the P6 B team showed exceptional enthusiasm and drive towards winning their games. Unfortunately the poor weather meant that some games had to be cancelled, which was a shame as we were all really keen to play. We played Saturday fixtures against Wellington and Stewart’s Melville, both of which we narrowly lost. However, we managed to come through successfully against our old rivals Hutchesons’ at Clydesdale Cricket Club.
I would like to thank our coaches, Mr Hariharan, Mr Simpson, Mr Milne and Mr Carlin. They were very patient with us and encouraging to those who had not played cricket before. We have learnt a lot about the game in a very short amount of time and that is due to the coaching staff. The progress we have made since Easter will stand us in good stead for next year’s cricket season.
Harry Macfarlane 116 Chronicle Chronicle 117 Prep School Athletics
Our Prep athletic teams have had another highly successful year, returning from their events with a mass of silverware to show for their efforts. Selecting our team for the Glasgow Schools was as difficult as ever, as we are restricted to only entering one athlete per event. On heats day we won both the Girls’ and Boys’ overall trophies and, in doing so, the following athletes attained individual medals in their respective events:
Gold: Annabel Ballantyne (600m), Scott Sprang (600m), Jack Wicklow (80m), Emma Forrest (Cricket Ball), P7 Boys (Relay), P7 Girls (Relay)
Silver: Daruish Bavarsad (600m), Stuart Briggs (80m), Ross Heginbottom (Cricket Ball), Fraser McDonald (Standing Long Jump), Fraser McDonald (Standing Long Jump), Eilish Day (Standing Long Jump), P6 Boys (Relay)
Bronze: Eve Denholm (80m), Harry Macfarlane (Cricket Ball), Katie Ritchie (Cricket Ball), P6 Girls (Relay)
With a large contingent qualifying for finals night, we arrived at Scotstoun on Wednesday 5th June with high hopes. The weather was perfect and the atmosphere was electric, as the best athletes from across Glasgow came together to battle for top honours. Both the Girls’ and Boys’ teams finished third overall on the night, in two tightly contested team competitions, and the following athletes made it to the podium in their individual events:
Emma Forrest (Gold, Cricket Ball) Annabel Ballantyne (Silver, 600m) Scott Sprang (Bronze, 600m) Prep 7 Boys (Silver, Relay) Prep 7 Girls (Bronze, Relay) Prep 6 Girls (Bronze, Relay)
The Henderson Challenge
On Friday 31st May we held our annual Henderson Challenge. This year Jordanhill School, Craigholme School, Kelvinside Academy and The High School of Glasgow were all invited. After a competitive and fun afternoon, with over 400 pupils taking part in both track and field events, the final results were as follows:
Boys Winners: The High School of Glasgow Runners-up: The Glasgow Academy
Girls Winners: The High School of Glasgow Runners-up: The Glasgow Academy
L MacNeill
116 Chronicle Chronicle 117 Prep Inter-House Cross-country The Prep School Cross-country was held on the Kelvin Walkway on Friday 14th December. As usual, there was a mix of keen competition between those hoping to do well and be placed, those who pushed themselves to help their house and those who have enjoyed the fun run aspect of the race. Although the race is new to the Prep 5 pupils, most seemed excited by the prospect of a competitive run along the Walkway.
J Barr
Inter-House Cross-country Prep School Boys
PREP 5 POS NAME H 1 James Wishart A 2 Lorenzo Giovanazzi M 3 Samuel Ballantyne T
PREP 6 POS NAME H 1 Max Hedgecoe M 2 Daruish Bavarsad A 3 Ross Christie A
PREP 7 POS NAME H 1 Finlay Neilson T 2 Scott Sprang T 3 Fraser McDonald M
Inter-House Cross-country Prep School Girls
PREP 5 POS NAME H 1 Abbey Orr M 2 Blythe Wray T 3 Rachel Lochhead F
PREP 6 POS NAME H 1 Katie Ritchie F 2 Lauren O’Neil F 3 Aisha Saini T
PREP 7 POS NAME H 1 Annabel Ballantyne T 2 Freya Hill F 3 Megan Allan M
Overall House Results
P5 P6 P7 Total Place Arthur 5 4 3 12 4th Fraser 5 8 6 19 1st Morrison 2 6 6 14 3rd Temple 8 2 5 15 2nd
118 Chronicle Chronicle 119 Prep Cross-country Club
The Prep Cross-country season started with the Garscube Harriers Races at Mugdock Park where The Glasgow Academy did incredibly well, winning team titles in the P5 Girls’, P5 Boys’ and P7 Girls’ races. There were also individual medals for Jamie Wishart and Max Hedgecoe (gold), Abbey Orr and Stuart Briggs (silver) and Lauren O’Neil (bronze).
We then headed to Grangemouth for the Scottish Schools’ Road Relays where the P6 Girls finished in 3rd place, with Annabel Ballantyne producing the run of the day to take us from 12th to 2nd on the last leg. Our P7 Boys, who had finished 14th the previous year, proved that their training had paid off as they finished in 2nd place this year. The team was made up of Scott Sprang, Blair Inglis and Fraser McDonald. The P6 Girls finished a very creditable 8th and our P6 Boys, in a very close race, finished just 10 seconds outside the medals in 7th place.
At the Glasgow Schools’ Cross-country we produced a fantastic set of results, with all of our pupils returning to the school with medals. The P7 Girls won team gold, with Annabel Ballantyne and Emma Forrest in 2nd and 3rd places respectively. The P7 Boys’ team were 2nd, with Fraser McDonald just pipping Scott Sprang for a 1-2 double. The P6 Boys were also the 1st team home in their age group and the P6 Girls finished 2nd overall.
The final event of the season was the Scottish Schools’ Cross-country which took place in Kirkcaldy. This brings together schools from all over the country which means that two races are run for each age group. The standard, as ever, was high and all of our athletes rose to the occasion and fought for the team. The P7 Girls showed that they were back to their best by winning the National Team title, with Annabel Ballantyne, Emma Forrest, Megan Allan, Esme Fry and Freya Hill making up the team. The P7 Boys matched their finish in the road relays earlier in the year to win team silver medals, with Scott Sprang, Blair Inglis, Jack Wicklow, Fraser McDonald and Adam Orr.
L MacNeill
118 Chronicle Chronicle 119 Prep School Swimming
The Prep Swimming Gala was held at Drumchapel Pool on Monday 4th February; Dr A Wicklow presented the Girls’ Swimming Cup in memory of Adrienne Louise Chawner to Morrison, and the Boys’ Prep School Swimming Cup to Temple. The Prep Gala is a very large event designed to involve as many swimmers as possible in house and class races, as well as the championship competition swum over 50m. Congratulations to Heather Harden, our Girls’ Champion swimmer, and to Jack Wicklow, our Boys’ Champion swimmer. One new record was set by –
Jack Wicklow P7 Championship Breaststroke 50m 42.2s
Once again the atmosphere and competition between the houses was intense and spectators were very appreciative of some excellent races.
SW McAslan
Girls’ Inter-House Swimming Gala Cup in memory of Adrienne Louise Chawner Arthur Fraser Morrison Temple Prep 5 Girls 3.5 2 3.5 1 P6 Girls 1 3 4 2 Trans Girls 2 4 3 1 Totals 6.5 9 10.5 4 Boys’ Inter-House Swimming Gala Cup Arthur Fraser Morrison Temple Prep 5 Boys 2.5 1 2.5 4 P6 Boys 2.5 1 2.5 4 Trans Boys 2 1 3 4 Totals 7 3 8 12
Our Prep 6 and 7 winners were - Open Girls’ Butterfly 25m Lisa Gallacher 19.3 secs P7 Girls’ Championship Freestyle 50m Emma Brown 34.2 secs Open Boys’ Butterfly 25m Jack Wicklow 16.4 secs P7 Girls’ Freestyle 25m Alessia Martinolli 17.9 secs P7 Boys’ Championship Freestyle 50m Jack Wicklow 32.3 secs P6 Girls’ Freestyle 25m Charlotte Cockburn 18.2 secs P7 Boys’ Freestyle 25m Ryan Laing 18.5 secs P7 Girls’ Championship Breaststroke 50m Emma Forrest 48.9 secs P6 Boys’ Freestyle 25m Duncan Doherty 16.7 secs P7 Girls’ Breaststroke 25m Catriona Andrews 24.1 secs P7 Boys’ Championship Breaststroke 50m Jack Wicklow 42.2 secs P6 Girls’ Breaststroke 25m Emily McIntyre 24.3 secs NR P7 Girls’ Championship Back crawl 50m Heather Harden 45.1 secs P7 Boys’ Breaststroke 25m Alexander Burrows 26.7 secs P7 Girls’ Back crawl 25m Megan Allan 21.6 secs P6 Boys’ Breaststroke 25m Max Hedgecoe 23.9 secs P6 Girls’ Back crawl 25m Emily McIntyre 21.6 secs
P7 Boys’ Championship Back crawl 50m Jack Wicklow 39.7 secs P7 Girls’ Champion Heather Harden P7 Boys’ Back crawl 25m Jonathan Shaw 22.8 secs P6 Boys’ Back crawl 25m Duncan Doherty 20.4 secs P7 Girls’ Relay Fraser P6 Girls’ Relay Morrison P7 Boys’ Champion Jack Wicklow P7 Boys’ Relay Temple P6 Boys’ Relay Temple
120 Chronicle Chronicle 121 Prep School Prize-winners
CLASS PRIZES CLASS PRIZES
DP4 Jessica Smith P6.3 Craig McKee Rosie McFadzean Max Watson Finlay Whitton Molly Scales MP4 Nicola Fletcher Peter Shields P6.4 Eilish Day Ellis McLaggan Meghan Ray P4.1 Matthew Cockburn Ava Bell Angus McCorkindale Christie McBurnie Stan Clark P7.1 Shoumita Bardhan Language Shoumita Bardhan Environmental Studies P4.2 Brooklyn Moyo Ben Sanders Environmental Studies Sophie McMillan Lisa Khorishko Rennie Shoumita Bardhan French
P4.3 Basil Syed P7.2 Estelle Macaloney Oliver Cooper Harmony Hill Language Harmony Hill Environmental Studies P5.1 Kenneth Fraser Harmony Hill French James Smith Rachel Lochhead P7.3 Emma Brown Language P5.2 Ruby Younger Rebecca Short Environmental Studies Louisa Herbert Jasmine Lee French Honey Morris
P5.3 Kiran Maharaj P7.4 Kira Logie Language Blythe Wray Joanna Fraser Environmental Studies Stuart Andrews Farah Maryan French P5.4 Lewis Massie Bilaal Anwar P7.5 Jack Wicklow Language Charlie McCready Jack Wicklow Environmental Studies P6.1 Sophia Gomez Jack Wicklow French Andrew Hay Kirsty Kitson Music Prizes P6.2 Lucas Anderson Alexander Hardiman P7 William Massie Daisy Morris P6 Andrew Glen
SPECIAL PRIZES P.E. Prize: Boys Jack Wicklow Finlay Neilson Poetry Speaking P.E. Prize: Girls Emma Forrest P4 Lisa Khorishko Rennie Annabel Ballantyne P5 Blythe Wray Open Girls’ Butterfly 25m Lisa Gallacher 19.3 secs P6 Molly Scales Art Prize Joe Lewis P7 Girls’ Championship Freestyle 50m Emma Brown 34.2 secs P7 Ian McNaught P7 Girls’ Freestyle 25m Alessia Martinolli 17.9 secs Rachel Campbell P6 Girls’ Freestyle 25m Charlotte Cockburn 18.2 secs FRAME CUP P7 Girls’ Championship Breaststroke 50m Emma Forrest 48.9 secs The Julia Donaldson Writing Prize P7 Girls’ Breaststroke 25m Catriona Andrews 24.1 secs For Inter-House Competition Morrison P6 Girls’ Breaststroke 25m Emily McIntyre 24.3 secs Nina Graham P7 Girls’ Championship Back crawl 50m Heather Harden 45.1 secs THE DUX Shoumita Bardhan P7 Girls’ Back crawl 25m Megan Allan 21.6 secs Creative Writing Prizes P6 Girls’ Back crawl 25m Emily McIntyre 21.6 secs Shoumita Bardhan Fiona Allan P7 Girls’ Champion Heather Harden Alice Crighton Stephanie Gray P7 Girls’ Relay Fraser P6 Girls’ Relay Morrison P7 Mathematics Prizes P7 Boys’ Relay Temple P6 Boys’ Relay Temple Rachel Campbell Kenneth Harvey Shoumita Bardhan Logan Martin Harmony Hill Sambhav Chadha
Director of Music’s Prize for Performance Fayz Siddiqui 120 Chronicle Chronicle 121 Kelvinbridge Nursery
June
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November February
December January December
122 Chronicle Chronicle 123 Kindergarten Class of 2012-2013
Throughout the year the Kindergarten We like to play in construction and children have had lots of fun playing in work together to create fantastic the playroom. Here are some pictures models. of different activities that they have enjoyed doing.
We like to get out and about to visit local shops like Roots and Fruits, The Botanic Gardens and Kelvingrove Park, where we meet lots of interesting people.
Baking in September, we made blueberry muffins for snack. The In November we raised money for children enjoyed measuring out the Children in Need by having a Bake ingredients and exploring the science Sale. The children iced fairy cakes of baking. and sold them to the staff and children in the Prep School.
In February we visited the Prep School Children 1st Sale and chose some new books and resources for the playroom.
In March we were learning about road safety whilst out on walks in the local area - making sure that we use the correct crossings for children. We also participated in World Book Week! In April we played in the garden, now that the weather was getting better.
Science investigations in May, using the water tray and magnets! We recycled our rubbish as part of our Eco policy!
In June we enjoyed a visit to the Sealife Centre at Lomond Shores, Thomas Clancy was a winner in the Tesco Art Competition and we planted sunflowers with the P7s in our Kindergarten garden. 122 Chronicle Chronicle 123 124 Chronicle Chronicle 125 MILNGAVIE*MIlNGAVIE* I M L ‘RISE AND SHINE’ I N Charlie, aged six, came to school with a pile of his homemade address cards, complete with his own email: L ‘I’m starting a business,’ he said. ‘I’ll draw lots of pictures and sell them. Then I’ll give the money to charity.’ Holly, aged seven, brought in a selection of posters she had prepared at home. G ‘I made these at the weekend. They are to put around the school, so that everyone remembers to bring in tins for Glasgow N City Mission. I don’t want anyone to forget.’ A G There are many benefits from being a school which is small in scale. Relationships are strong and, as can been seen from the comments above, pupils make confident decisions, whilst showing initiative. They develop a strong social conscience V A and raise substantial funds for charity. One little girl from MP1 collected a staggering £180 during Readathon Week and, to make it even more astonishing, she had only started to read at the beginning of the Academic year. I V When asked to identify the best things about the school, our children repeatedly say that learning here is fun. It is not only E because of our woodland location but our staff know all the children so well. This year, when we organised events like Burns I Day, Grandparents’ Day and Celebration of the Year, everyone came together to sing songs and watch their children shine on stage. With our number of pupils, everyone has the opportunity to shine. * E
During the PTA Disco, BBQ, Ceilidh and Christmas Fête, parents and grandparents pooled their resources and expertise, M in order to provide our children with the best possible experiences, we cooked biscuits, stamped temporary tattoos, face * painted, made reindeer food and designed Santa signs. I M The pupils created unique gifts for friends and family, using clay and porcelain pens. Through our activities during Money Week, the children learned how to manage their pocket money using three key areas: ‘Saving, Spending and Giving’, whilst l valuing the importance of Fairtrade. Although still under the age of eight, our children are huge supporters of Eco activities I within the school, concentrating this year on Litter, Health and Wellbeing and Transport. N l The Transport topic blended seamlessly with our Enterprise Group’s work on Road Safety where the Prep 4 children were trained as Junior Road Safety Officers and the group talked to Kelvinbridge pupils about the importance of Road Safety G N issues. No one could hide during any events, as the School Council representatives busily videoed everyone using their PTA-donated flip cameras. A G We were delighted with the Milngavie Nursery/Kindergarten’s excellent report from The Care Commission. It validated what V we already knew about our Pre 5 setting, where the practice is outstanding. Nursery/Kindergarten staff always ask the A children what topics they would like to study and where they would like to go on school trips. The latter caused issues with our budget when the youngsters suggested day visits to Africa and Dubai! Their ideas would certainly make challenging risk I assessments for Dr Kerr! V E Our Mandarin lessons continue to inspire and our Critical Thinking afternoons are a huge success with the pupils. Judo offers I ‘the gentle way’ and our Beetle Drive revived a long lost art form in Prep 1. The Scottish Dancing Group doubled in size and boys are now involved, as long as they can dance with other boys! Under the watchful eye of Dr Kolberg, the garden areas *M I E around the school have a more established feel. Rights Respecting Schools is now firmly part of the curriculum. Recipe books, hand painted cards and pupil decorated tea-towels flew off our shelves. The Healthy Tuck Shop now includes Fairtrade items and the workshops for our parents and grandparents on curricular areas have provided much positive feedback. *
Repeatedly, prospective parents have said that they cannot believe the diverse range of activities we offer and looking back M through the diary at the end of the year, neither can I. L I JA McMorran N L G N A G V A I V E I * E
MILNGAVIE*MIlNGAVIE* 124 Chronicle Chronicle 125 MILNGAVIE*MIlNGAVIE* I M L I N L G N A G V A I V E I * E M * I M l I N l G N A G V A I V E I *M I E * M L I N L G N A G V A I V E I * E
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MILNGAVIE*MIlNGAVIE* 126 Chronicle Chronicle 127 MILNGAVIE*MIlNGAVIE* I M L I N L G N A G V A I V E I * E M * I M l I N l G N A G V A I V E I *M I E * M I L L N N G G A A V V I I E E *
MILNGAVIE*MIlNGAVIE* 128 Chronicle Chronicle 129 MILNGAVIE*MIlNGAVIE* I M L I N L G N A G V A I V E I * E M * I M l I N l G Eco-Schools Report N The renewal of our Eco-Schools Green Flag status in February and the receipt of a second flag delighted our young eco warriors who had A G worked very hard to achieve this most prestigious award. The pupils continue to be enthusiastic about the Eco-Schools programme and are growing up with positive attitudes towards caring for their environment, the world and the people who need their support. V A Litter is a compulsory topic and one which the pupils take seriously. The Eco Committee conducts litter surveys once a term and TGA Milngavie has received a certificate from East Dunbartonshire I Council in recognition of its efforts to maintain a relatively litter-free school. Some of our families V took part in our campaign to support Keep Scotland Beautiful by clearing litter from Bearsden Train Station, Cairn Wood, Sand Park, Auchengillan Outdoor Centre and Kessington Park. This E involvement encourages the children to think about the impact of litter, to take a pride in their I environment and to reinforce the importance of throwing litter away properly. *M I Other significant topics the children have been E focusing on this session include Energy, Water, Transport and Health and Wellbeing. The Eco
Committee is the driving force behind the activities; * however, many were completed at the Eco Club when every child from MP1 to MP4 participated, via curriculum links through class projects and on
excursions, such as the joint venture across the three sites to Whitelee Wind Farm. The Enterprise M Committee is contributing to the Eco-Schools programme as it endeavours to gain Fairtrade status and in its participation in the Junior Road Safety Officer Scheme. The Rights Respecting Schools L and School Council committee members have also contributed. I
Most of the pupils have become accustomed to switching lights off to save energy and turning off taps to save water; if anyone is seen not N doing so, another child is likely to remind them. The message to save energy and water has hit home and the pupils are keen to help with L this in school. Parents have also commented that their children come home telling them to do the same. The older pupils are becoming more conscious of environmental issues globally and the impact their actions can have. G N The pupils and their families continue to give generously to various charities, instilling in the children the importance of helping others. They learn that fundraising can be a lot of fun for everyone. The planning for a fundraising activity, as MP2 discovered, can also be enjoyable too. A They had to create posters and leaflets for the children to take home to advertise their Fun Friday activity in aid of the RNLI. G
Our annual Eco Action Day is something the children look forward to and what an exciting day we had on 22nd May! In the morning, the V children competed in a variety of mini Olympic Games at the West of Scotland ground in Milngavie. This was followed by an afternoon of A fun with making paper aeroplanes, designing cycling helmets, creating a plate of healthy food and compiling a graph of their favourite mini Olympic Games. I V The skills the pupils learn as members of a committee are wide and varied. Many they would not learn otherwise, such as taking minutes, having decisions acted upon and seeing their impact, team building and working with children of different ages. The experience of taking part E in a committee encourages the pupils to join other committees in the future, develops confidence and self-esteem, and enables the pupils to I use transferable skills. * My gratitude goes to all the children and staff who contribute so much time and effort to sustaining our world. E
S Davies MILNGAVIE*MIlNGAVIE* 128 Chronicle Chronicle 129 MILNGAVIE*MIlNGAVIE* I M L I N L G N A G V A I V E I * E M * I M l I N l G Fairtrade at The Glasgow Academy Milngavie N At The Glasgow Academy Milngavie, we have been focusing on raising pupil awareness about Fairtrade this session, setting up a school steering group and contacting the PTA to help with this initiative. A number of activities have occurred throughout the session. A G
In November, pupils learned about the first Fairtrade chocolate bar to be sold in the UK and then had the opportunity to try out some of this V brand’s Fairtrade chocolate for themselves! A
During Fairtrade Fortnight, pupils participated in a morning dedicated to this topic, completing a variety of activities: acrostic poems, designing I chocolate bars, making logos from pasta, following a treasure hunt and designing Fairtrade packaging. The Milngavie Nursery/ Kindergarten V also made their own paintings in school and created a Fairtrade recipe book for parents. Miss MacNeill organised fair/unfair games to be played at PE to complement the work done in classes. Brenda Rennox, from Traidcraft, also completed the Fairtrade Day by speaking to E pupils about Fairtrade bananas. I
In the summer term, Milngavie P4 pupils organised a Fairtrade Coffee Morning for those who attend the local Fraser Centre. They acted as *M I waiters and waitresses, as well as highlighting the importance of this global issue. E
S Nyadu * M L I N L G N A G V A I V E I * E
MILNGAVIE*MIlNGAVIE* 130 Chronicle Chronicle 131 DAIRSIE*DAIRSIE*DAIrsie d e Dairsie Days a i We have reached the end of another year and the children’s life at Dairsie has continued to be busy, challenging and i fun. s r One of our big achievements this year was our hard-working Eco Committee, aided by Mrs Whyte, Mrs Greig and r
Mrs Ballantyne, who were accredited with our second green flag. Well done! They proudly held a raising-of-the-flag s ceremony which the whole school attended. i i P4’s chosen charity this year is Whiz Kidz and they have been very enterprising thinking up ideas for fund raising for this very worthy cause, raising money to a give children who need them, electric wheelchairs. Their first project was their e Christmas Delights which they had made and then sold to the rest of the school. d Then, during Money Week, they organised a very successful Bring and Buy * sale. In the summer term they joined forces with the Eco Group to run a Dairsie * Daft Eco Day. We all had to be daft and green and a day full of various activities d was organised for the whole school to take part in. It was great fun - from the e playground challenge (dodging the rain!) to painting bird boxes and, of course, a the annual soaking of P4! i i P3’s enterprise efforts were once again very successful. They organised ‘Jog in the Park’ for Children in Need and s
they created and sold yummy chocolate goodies at a stall at P4’s Bring and Buy sale. P2 have held their healthy tuck r shops and, of course, what would we do without our P1 posties at Christmas delivering the Christmas mail? r s Other charities we have supported include Comic Relief, when P4 organised a Funny Fashion show complete with
i a red carpet catwalk in the hall. It was hilarious; everyone had made a huge effort, not least Ms Gillan! Book Aid i International was supported too after our Book Fair. We have donated ‘in kind’ to the Glasgow Lodging House Mission with food at Harvest Time and the Glasgow Caring Society with Christmas presents. a e
World Book Week was great fun and all activities were based around books and stories. The children dressed up as a d character from a book, and bringing their book into Assembly, each child told us about their character - an advantage * of a being a small school! Later in the morning, each class took part in drama workshops based round a book. * Kindergarten were entertained by a mystery storyteller while the rest of the school were laughing and enjoying Gerry d Durkin: a real storyteller! Shared Reading was also on the day’s programme. e a We held our annual Burns Poetry competition in January. Our judge this year was Simon Cooms who is a five times i
great-grandchild of Robert Burns. He thought the standard was very high and was impressed that all the children had i learned their poems. He had a difficult job choosing the winners. s r Money Week was another eventful week with all classes involved in working with money, spending money (which we
r are good at!), and finding out about money both our own and foreign currencies. We also had parents who generously s volunteered their time and came into school to speak to the children about money matters. i i a e d * * d e a i i s r r s i i a e d DAIRSIE*DAIRSIE*DAIrsie 130 Chronicle Chronicle 131 DAIRSIE*DAIRSIE*DAIrsie d e In fact we have had many parents coming in to talk to the classes about their a jobs, their experiences, as mystery storytellers and even auditing P4 Enterprise’s i books! Mr Lee, one of our school governors, also generously volunteered to i come into school regularly and we are very s
grateful to him for all the variety of things he r did for and created with our children. Indeed
r a heartfelt thanks to all parents who so kindly s gave up their time to work with the children. i Music and singing thrives at Dairsie under Mr Paterson. The Christmas Nativity i ‘Christmas Presence’ was judged to be the best yet. At Prize-giving the ambitious a ‘Joseph’ was deemed a triumph. The choir entered The Glasgow Music Festival e for the first time - the youngest and smallest choir in their section. They sang their d hearts out and were a very worthy third, two points behind the winners. We were very proud. The choir also sang at * The Avenue, Newton Mearns, supporting various charities at Christmas and of course were part of the entertainment *
we put on for our Grandparents’ Afternoon. Three children were learning the clarinet and several more the piano at d lunchtime, and of course all P4 children learn the recorder. e a Lunchtimes are very busy with the variety of clubs on offer. Sportswise, the children can take part in Judo, Running Club and the lunchtime Football League and they do - all are very popular. No chance of being bored! Then there are i the Eco Committee meetings where they plan their next activity. Finally there are our Rights Respecting Committee i meetings, a new venture this year across the whole Prep School. Our committee took part in s a presentation to the RRS adjudicators as the school applied for and achieved its first level r accreditation. Well done! r s Outdoor Learning plays an important part in our Under 5’s curriculum despite the weather! i
Suitably suited and booted they have worked and played outdoors whenever possible. i
a There were many successful trips - all connected with the children’s wide and varied topic work. Outings to Windlees Wind Farm, Amazonia, the Dinosaurs at Kelvingrove, the Transport e Museum and the Tall Ship to name but a few were on the agenda. In-house workshops included d Generation Science, Drama and Zoolab. * * We had a glorious and successful day for Dairsie Sports in June - it was so good not to have to d worry about the weather. Great fun was had by all. e a This is just a sample of what fills Dairsie’s eventful school year. Despite working very hard in class, the children have
i a fun and very productive time here - all of which enhances their learning. i
S McKnight s r r s i i a e d * * d e a i i s r r s i i a e d DAIRSIE*DAIRSIE*DAIrsie 132 Chronicle Chronicle 133 DAIRSIE*DAIRSIE*DAIrsie d e a i i s r r s i i a e d * * d e a i i s r r s i i a e d * * d e a i i s r r s i i a e d * * d e a i i s r r s i i a e d DAIRSIE*DAIRSIE*DAIrsie 132 Chronicle Chronicle 133 DAIRSIE*DAIRSIE*DAIrsie d Dinosaurs e a The dinosaurs moan and grumble through the night
i The T-Rex king of all i The Diplodocus as big as a tree The Stegosaurus with spikes and spots s r
And last of all the scattering ones as fast as a cheetah r they run s i Calum Craig - DP2 i a e d * * d e a i i s r r s i i a e d * * d e a i i s r r s i i a e d * * d e a i i s r r s i i a e d DAIRSIE*DAIRSIE*DAIrsie 134 Chronicle Chronicle 135 DAIRSIE*DAIRSIE*DAIrsie d e a i i s r r s i i a e d * * d e a i i s r r s i i a e d * * d e a i i s r r s i i a e d * * d e a i i s r r s i i a e d DAIRSIE*DAIRSIE*DAIrsie 134 Chronicle Chronicle 135 DAIRSIE*DAIRSIE*DAIrsie d e Winner of the Dairsie Munro Quaich for Creative Writing a i i
s Hitting an Iceberg r I was in the Arctic finding out how the Inuits live. I came on a lovely boat called the ‘Lola Rose’. Today we r hit a storm. I was not a very keen traveller so I was really scared. It didn’t help that we were in iceberg s territory! I tried to stay awake that night. I said to myself, “Stay awake, stay awake”. Finally I gave up and i plonked out on the bed. i Whilst I was asleep we hit an iceberg. No one realised until we were far away from it. Then the captain a
noticed the ship had stopped altogether and we were sinking. The captain shouted out on the loudspeakers, e “Everyone get on the lifeboats now!”
d The ship was tilting and tilting and tilting. I woke up and fell out of my bed. The door swung open. Suddenly * I skidded across the floor and fell off the ship. No one noticed me! Now I was fighting for my life. Struggling
* to swim I finally got to land. I was choking on water. I felt unconscious then I fainted. I woke up staring into the face of an Inuit. I was confused. d She said, “My name is Jodie.” e I said, “Hi, my name is Rosie…eh…eh…why am I here?” a “You fainted so I took you here,” she said softly. i “Thanks,” I said gratefully. i “I cooked you breakfast,” Jodie exclaimed. s
A few weeks passed and I found out Jodie had a dog called Jessica. We were having great adventures r together. I wanted to stay here forever. When I woke up the next day people in helicopters came to take
r me home, but I didn’t want to go. I fought and fought them, but it was no use. Jodie said to me I had to go. s I did what she said: I went home. I was happy to see my family but I missed Jodie. Just before I was going to burst out and cry Jodie slammed i open the door and I was the happiest girl ever. Jodie was going to stay with us forever thanks to the iceberg. i a Rosie McFadzean - DP4 e d * * d e a i i s r r s i i a e d * * d e a i i s r r s i i a e d DAIRSIE*DAIRSIE*DAIrsie 136 Chronicle Chronicle PB PB Chronicle Chronicle 137 138 Chronicle Chronicle 139 138 Chronicle Chronicle 139 140 Chronicle Chronicle 141 140 Chronicle Chronicle 141 142 Chronicle Chronicle 143 142 Chronicle Chronicle 143 144 Chronicle Chronicle PB