St Thomas of Aquin’s High School

Celebrating the achievement s of the St Thomas of Aquin’s

High School Community

2011-2013

St Thomas of Aquin’s High School helping to create ......

 SUCCESSFUL LEARNERS

 CONFIDENT INDIVIDUALS

 RESPONSIBLE CITIZENS

 EFFECTIVE CONTRIBUTORS This booklet is updated in August of each year

St Thomas of Aquin’s High School Wider Achievement Summary – 2011-2014 d://cmarshall/widerachievementsummary 0 John Achievements in Art & Design Byrne Award Winners John Byrne Award 2011

Congratulations to Julie Anne Fernandez, Alex Mainnie, Holly Semple, Matilda Whitby, Aidan Cifelli, Gregory Dommett, Matthew Durkin, Luke Paxton and Aaron Wright, Maria Iannone, Louise Jackson, Zaynab Noor and Deepika Sharma who were the proud winners of the John Byrne Award 2011.

From their winnings of £7000, £5000 has to be spent on a local charity and following much research the group have donated their winnings to help fund an Art Therapy unit at Fort Teviot in the Edinburgh Sick Kids Hospital. The remaining £2000, to be spent on personal development subsidised a cultural trip to London were they were given a guided tour of the Tate Modern Gallery.

The three original canvanses can be viewed in the Conference Room and have been part of a British wide exhibition.

Knowledge by Julieanne Fernandez, Alex Mainnie, Holly Semple, and Matilda Whitby

Acrylic on Canvas (80x100cm)

The elderly man was chosen when thinking of the values in our society. It seems older generation are sometimes dismissed despite being rich in both knowledge and understanding. We felt that through experience there is much to be learnt from past generations, in an academic and social sense. We feel the contribution people make through experiences they have lived through, enriches us as a society.

Knowledge

Culture by Aidan Cifelli, Gregory Dommett, Mathew Durkin, Luke Paxton and Arron Wright.

Acrylic on Canvas (80x100cm)

In our artwork, we study how a person can be wealthy not only through material possessions, but also in a much deeper way – culturally rich. The sitter is wearing a pair of headphones, to explore this theme. In our painting we have tried to show that through advances in technology we can access other cultures by listening to a diverse range of music, view imagery and read text from other countries. It makes us more understanding of our world and closer to the people we share it with.

Culture

Nature by Maria Iannone, Louise Jackson, Zaynab Noor and Deepika Sharma.

Acrylic on Canvas (80x100cm)

Nature can be found at the heart of every culture and religion. Each flower and plant is visually different in colour and texture to another, but fundamentally each require the same elements to grow. This is true of people themselves as each person is unique, but we need the same things in order to develop. As a group we wanted to represent the beauty, importance and fragility of nature in today’s worlds all of which can so easily be overlooked.

Nature

St Thomas of Aquin’s High School Wider Achievement Summary – 2011-2014 d://cmarshall/widerachievementsummary 1 Our Nations Sons - Street Art

Miss Ewan and the Art Department collaborated with Irish artist Joe Caslin who delivered a presentation to the Higher Art class and invited them to get involved in his street art project. Edinburgh City Council financed the project which allowed pupil portraits to be pasted on council property including King George IV bridge and Warriston’s Close steps. The ‘Tyros’ were senior pupils Luke Paxton, Jonathan Duffy, Andreas Christodoulidis, Declan Walls, Keir Hughes, Euan Begg, Kieran Lyons and Matthew Durkin.

S6 pupils are pictured in front of Keir Hugh’s portrait

Photography Project

Miss Ewan and Miss Wilson from the Art Department were asked to participate in a photography project with a local museum. The Sixth Year pupils studied the theme ‘Fashion’ and then developed an A2 print.

Higher Art Work

Again, our art pieces/folios for SQA assessment continues to produce excellent results. Art pieces are on regular display around the department/school, but a few examples are illustrated below.

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Justin Fernandez, S4 Dominika Mulak, S4

Joanna Strachan, S6

Wiktoria Mulak(S6) & Olivia Stokes (S6) Kit Andrew, S6

St Thomas of Aquin’s High School Wider Achievement Summary – 2011-2014 d://cmarshall/widerachievementsummary 2

John Byrne Award 2012

Our pupils continued to excel in the annual John Byrne Award Ceremony and reached the Grand Final again. The stimulus on 2013 was The Proclaimers hit ‘Letter from America’ and the art work is on display in the Conference Room and on the staircase leading up to the second floor.

Paolozzi Prize 2013

The City of Edinburgh has sponsored a memorial to Eduardo Paolozzi, the Edinburgh born artist which was held in the National Gallery in April 2013. Senior pupils were encouraged to submit artwork under 3 categories which are:  Talent & Creativity  Innovation  Overcoming Barriers

The three submissions from Kit, Olivia and Wiktoria are illustrated below:

Paolozzi Prize Commended 2013 Innovation – Olivia Stokes Paolozzi Prize Winner 2013 Talent and Creativity – Kit Andrew Paolozzi Prize Entrant 2013 Wiktoria Mulak

St Thomas of Aquin’s High School Wider Achievement Summary – 2011-2014 d://cmarshall/widerachievementsummary 3 Achievement in Amasanyu (Africa Interest Group)

The Amasanyu Group continue to meet weekly and are still developing resources for our partner schools in Uganda and organising craft scales in both the school and other venues throughout Edinburgh. These goods are produced by women’s groups in Kampala.

Some examples of the sterling work undertaken by our Amasanyu Group include:

Ecumenical Service

Senior pupils from the Amasanyu Group continue to celebrate and promote their work beyond St Thomas’. Six pupils, Ellen Renton, Ciara Wilson, Katie Mitchell, Clare McDevitt, Courtney Ferguson and Sarah Monan attended an ecumenical service at St Augustine’s Church and answered questions from the congregation.

Past Paper Book Sale

The Amasanyu regularly sell old past paper books with the monies raised going to our link schools in Uganda.

Staff Car Wash

The Senior Council organised a staff car wash with the proceeds being donated to the Amasanyu funds. The combined total raised was £98.63.

Welcoming our Ugandan Visitors to St Thomas of Aquin’s

At the start of December 2012 we welcomed two guests from Uganda to our school, Hilda and Olivia. Olivia is the head-teacher of the Railway Primary school in Kampala and the founder of the Hope and Glory Foundation and Hilda works as a tutor and mentor for the Hope and Glory Foundation.

Over the past 5 years St. Thomas’ has had growing links with the Railway Primary School; each year since 2007 staff from St Thomas’ have visited the school and in 2010 and 2013, our pupils visited Uganda. Additionally, our Fair Trade group has supported pupils at the school and provided pencil cases for all of their P1 children and Amasanyu have provided resources for all year groups. Our PE department have also provided the school football team with its strip.

St Thomas of Aquin’s High School Wider Achievement Summary – 2011-2014 d://cmarshall/widerachievementsummary 4 Hope and Glory Foundation

Hope and Glory was set up to support orphaned girls who once leaving the Railway Primary, could not afford to continue with a secondary education. Each year the foundation provides training in vocational and life skills to a group of the most vulnerable girls.

Olivia and Hilda had a busy week with the following planned activities taking place:  Year Group Assemblies  Strategic Planning Meetings  Visit(s) to our associated primary schools  Selling African crafts at Waverley Court  Visiting Greyfriars Church and Community Project

On Friday 7 December 2012, our Amasanyu Group led in earnest by Liam Stout and Wiktoria Mulak held a very successful African themed Ceilidh in the school from 7.00 – 10.00pm. All money raised was donated to the Hope and Glory Foundation.

Uganda Visit – June 2013

Eight members of the Amasanyu Group and two members of staff travelled out to Uganda in June 2013. They visited and took educational resources to the Railway Primary School in Kampala and the Budongo and Nyabeya primary schools near the Budongo Forest. Our pupils also had the opportunity to spend time with the school children, to learn about their lives both in and out of school and have a little taste of standing up in front of a class of up to 120 pupils. Our pupils who visited Uganda in June 2013 were Beth Cunnigham, Helena Hardman Moore, Sophie Paxton, Lisa Wilson, Moreen Randall, Michael Binnie, Rhona Lilley, Kathleen O’Dwyer

The group took the proceeds of sales of crafts to the Hope and Glory Foundation and the Budongo woman’s group, as well as purchasing new crafts to bring back to Scotland.

Further information on Amasanyu’s activities can be found at http://www.amasanyu.org

Some memories from Uganda, June 2013

St Thomas of Aquin’s High School Wider Achievement Summary – 2011-2014 d://cmarshall/widerachievementsummary 5 Achievements in Biology

Mr Bagnall supervised his Advanced Higher Biology class and a few interested seniors to Stirling University to listen to a presentation on chimpanzee behaviour in Budongo Forest, Uganda. This theme is of direct benefit to many of our pupils and staff who have strong links with several schools in Kampala, Uganda.

Open your Mind Roadshow – Wednesday 19 September

Edinburgh University Neuroscience delivered a science roadshow for S3 and S4 pupils on Wednesday 19 September 2012.

St Thomas of Aquin’s High School Wider Achievement Summary – 2011-2014 d://cmarshall/widerachievementsummary 6 Achievements in Business Education/Young Enterprise

State Street Bank, October 2011 & 2012

In 2011 and 2012 Mrs Turner and Miss Carnegie have taken their S3 Business Management classes to visit State Street in 2011 and 2012. Classes were asked to carry out a number of business related challenges and feedback from pupils was very positive.

Stock Market Challenge, November 2011

On 17 November 2011, five S3 pupils from the Business Education class (Connor Bathgate, Brodie Beveridge, Jack Saunders, Jake Diamond and William Ross) took part in the Stock Market Challenge sponsored by Standard Life. They bought and sold shares and foreign exchange on a live trading floor just like brokers do on trading floors and on-line all over the world. The challenge was a great opportunity for pupils to learn how to work as a team, make decisions under pressure, take calculated risks and experience the excitement of the trading floor!

Young Enterprise Scotland (YES)

Mrs Turner, Ms Davidson and Ms Henderson re-established the Young Enterprise Group last year and we had 2 companies (Belle Bijoux and Seven) who set up last year. All pupils involved gained invaluable experience dealing with money, members of the public as well as improving teamwork skills. One of the companies ‘Belle Bijoux’ not only won best financial director (Kevin Tiglao, S6) from the 23 companies in the Regional Finals, but they also received the award for third best human resource director (Bori Godley). These awards are huge accomplishments for this initial year and we look forward to building on this fantastic success. Bori Godley also achieved a Distinction in the Young Enterprise Exam, which is accredited by Strathclyde University.

In 2012, our Young Enterprise Scotland (YES) group D’Crepico were runners up at the Young Enterprise Fair. In total, 35 companies entered the competition. The S5 Young Enterprise Team participated in the YES Lothian Award Ceremony on March 19 2012.

Our Young Enterprise Group managed to secure a stall at the Stockbridge Market on Sunday 21 October 2012 from 10 am – 5 pm. They sold handmade theme basket/party bags. The pupils involved were Mariah Tissera J Kirsty Adomako, Anna McNairney, Megan Hollingsworth, Laura Rodriguez, Alistair Letch and Stephan Dolan.

Visit to the German Market

Each year the Business Education Department take a group of pupils to the German Market. The aim of the trip is to allow pupils to research and collect information on the operations and impact of the German Market. Each pupil creates a questionnaire to ask the operators of the stall Business related questions.

St Thomas of Aquin’s High School Wider Achievement Summary – 2011-2014 d://cmarshall/widerachievementsummary 7 Business Management Partnership – Social Enterprise

The S3 Business Management classes took part in a trip to the Grassmarket Project in May. As part of the new National Qualifications, pupils had been learning in class about the work of Social Enterprises and this trip gave them the opportunity to see a Social Enterprise in action.

The pupils received a talk on what a Social Enterprise is, the work that the Grassmarket Project does and took part in a tour of the excellent facilities at the Project. The pupils were able to see at first hand the fantastic work the Grassmarket Project does to support the most vulnerable people in our society as well as gaining a better understanding of the work of a social enterprise.

S2 Gary O’Donnell Trade Fayre

On Thursday 11 October 2012 Mrs Turner and Miss Carnegie co-ordinated the first Gary O’Donnell Memorial Trade Fayre. All S2 Business Education classes organise an enterprising activity and they sell their crafts to other pupils in the school. Pupils bid in for an initial ‘start up’ fund and any profits made are donated to nominated charities. A grand total of £402.00 was raised in 2012 which was a fantastic effort from everyone involved.

Stalls included Beat the Goalie, Create your own Cupcake, making and selling Healthy Smoothies and Fruit Kebabs. The Trade Fair is now an annual event in memory of Gary. This event will run each year.

Gary O’Donnell Memorial 2012

S2 Trade Fair

Young Enterprise National Event – Tuesday 16 April 2013

We received an invitation from Youth Enterprise to send a group of students to a huge enterprise event in Glasgow on Tuesday 16 April. Mrs Turner took 5 senior students, Mariah Tissera, Kirsty Adomako Stephen Dolan, Megan Hollingsworth and Alastair Letch to the event which was aimed at young people aged 16 and over.

Young Enterprise National Event – Tuesday 19 March 2013

Miss Carnegie attended the Young Enterprise area board finals on Tuesday 19 March which saw 25 excellent teams present on their experience of Young Enterprise over 2012-2013. The St Thomas’ team D’Ceprico did themselves, and the school, proud with an excellent presentation and they were rewarded with second place in this category, being just pipped to the post by Balerno High who were very deserving overall winners of Best Company. The pupils who participated were:

Mariah Tissera Kirsty Adomako Stephen Dolan Megan Hollingsworth Alastair Letch

St Thomas of Aquin’s High School Wider Achievement Summary – 2011-2014 d://cmarshall/widerachievementsummary 8 Achievements in Chemistry

The Chemistry Department participated in the Saltire Festival of Chemistry in May 2012. James Rennie, Euan Pinto-Galloway, Emily Harkin and Flana Barreto (all S1) took part in various challenges including mixing different chemicals, carrying out forensic tests and performing a demonstration to the adjudicators.

Fantastic Plastic Workshop

Mr Green and Mrs Dick escorted 40 Fourth Year pupils to see the “Fantastic Plastic Roadshow” at Napier University on the morning of Wednesday 5 September 2012.

RSC Christmas Lecture

Mr Green took a number of senior pupils to the Annual Christmas Lecture at Edinburgh University on Wednesday 12 December 2012.

Achievements in Drama

The Drama Department took a group of S6 pupils to the Theatre Experience Day which is run by the main theatres in Edinburgh on Thursday 22 September.

Both Rhuaridh Smith (S5) and Megan Donnachie (S3) starred in national advertisements. Rhuaridh participating in the Kits for School advert and Megan in the Royal Bank of Scotland adverts.

Jakub Garbowski (S4) and Carris Matthews (S4) were selected to take part in a film production about the use of Maths in real work situations. The production is overseen by local production company ‘Screen Education Edinburgh’.

Visits by the Drama Department

The Drama Department took their Higher class to see a production of ‘Guid Sisters’ at the Lyceum Theatre on Wednesday 3 October 2012.

‘The Sash’ visit took place in May 2013 and the pupils were highly commended for their excellence behaviour.

St Thomas of Aquin’s High School Wider Achievement Summary – 2011-2014 d://cmarshall/widerachievementsummary 9 Achievements in Eco Group

Juice Bar – Reusing Plastic Bottles In conjunction with the Fairtrade and Health and Wellbeing Groups, The EcoGroup ran a Juice Bar to encourage pupils to re-use plastic bottles. If pupils provided a plastic bottle, the Eco Group refilled these with fair- trade orange juice, lemonade or ethical squashes for a small donation.

Earth Hour Period 3 on Friday 30th March was designated as our Earth Hour. We switched off our lights and smartboards and were able to save 50% of the energy usually used at this time!

Saltire Awards – litter picks, audits and recycling Every First year pupil at St Thomas’ agreed to volunteer two hours of their time for EcoSchools! They complete a classroom litter audit, take part in a litter audit of the Meadows and have been participating in the regular recycling of paper at the school (see below).

In partnership with ‘Rapport’ all S1 pupils took part in the ‘Bin It’ interactive workshop on Wednesday 8 May 2013 which focussed on responsibilities associated with recycling.

Recycling Rota We have now put in place a regular recycling rota where S1 pupils in each form class take turns in collecting and emptying the paper recycling. Form classes are reminded of the rota on the school plasma notices.

Curriculum Audit The junior members of the Eco Group have completed a curriculum audit which highlights where environmental issues are investigated as part of the normal school curriculum.

Energy Monitoring The EcoGroup continue to monitor classrooms at lunchtime to use friendly stickers to remind teachers and students to switch off lights and smartboards when not in use.

St Thomas of Aquin’s High School Wider Achievement Summary – 2011-2014 d://cmarshall/widerachievementsummary 10 We are a Green Flag School!

On Thursday 27 September, Ms Henderson and her Eco volunteers hosted the Validation Visit with members of the Eco Scotland Team and we were awarded a Green Flag with only 2 small recommendations given to us, which is a very impressive outcome. The Eco Team provided a very comprehensive report of this visit in the next school newsletter. Greg McHugh presented the Green Flag at our Senior Award Ceremony in 2012 and it has been placed in the main foyer entrance. Miss Quigley and Mr Linden are now leading the ECO Team and we look forward to many more creative projects in the coming sessions. The Eco Green Flag Team members were: Aaron Blaikie Kayleigh Brown Gianna Cecchetti Sophie Drury Jade Finlayson Alice Francis-Freeman Susannah Horton Millie Jeyes Andrew Murphy Megan Thomas Anya Vitaliev Lauren Whitaker Ivan Yergiev Kirsty Lilley Dominika Mulak Wiktoria Mulak Jonathan Robertson Liam Stout

Eco Film Festival Ms Henderson and the Eco group held St Thomas’ first Eco Film Festival on Wednesday 19 December 2012. Pupils were given the challenge to produce a 3 minute film using iMovie. These films were a mixture of short films, mini- documentaries, animations, music videos or artistic expressions. The film festival was Eco Friendly as the cinema and sound system were powered by people peddling on bikes. There was also an Eco category in the film festival which encouraged pupils to make a film on an environmental topic of their choice. The imagination and creativity on show was a clear inspiration to all and showcased the originality and raw talent that is on regular display here in St Thomas of Aquin’s High School. CEC Annual Film Awards 2013

Miss Henderson, Miss Quigley and Miss Marshall escorted a group of pupils to attend the City of Edinburgh Annual Film Awards which were held at the Filmhouse Theatre on Monday 24 June 2013.

 Eryk Rusin (S5) won Best Film for his production of ‘Credo’  Mr Linden’s Biology class (S5) won ‘Jury’s Selection Award’ for their production of Enrique Inglesias’ ‘Hero’.

Both videos can be viewed on the school website (Achievement section)

Special praise for both films came from Ken Hay, CEO of the Edinburgh International Film Festival who stated that the film ‘Hero’ was his ‘personal favourite’ and ‘very inspirational’. Kerri Rolland, senior production manager from Red Kite animation Ltd sent an e-mail to the school praising Eryk’s short film ‘Credo’. She wrote ‘I was really impressed with the winning film Credo. As soon as I saw it, I hoped that it would win. I thought it was a really strong film, with good characterisation and technique (considering budget and time restraints!) and I fully understand how much time, thought and creativity went into its production – I hope the team who worked on it are proud of their hard work and are extremely happy with their win – it’s very much deserved.’

St Thomas of Aquin’s High School Wider Achievement Summary – 2011-2014 d://cmarshall/widerachievementsummary 11 Achievements in English & Literacy

Creative Writing Workshop

Mrs Cunningham escorted her Advanced Higher English class to Edinburgh University to participate in a creative writing workshop on Friday 9 September.

Edinburgh International Book Festival – Author Visits, August 2011 and 2012

The English department had three visits to the International Book Festival this summer. S3 pupils got the opportunity to see award-winning authors Keith Gray and Julie Bertagna, and humorous author Steve Cole. An enthusiastic S2 class were fortunate to see the acclaimed author Malorie Blackman.

Both the Library and English department attended numerous book festival events during the Edinburgh Festival involving the following classes:  Mrs Cunningham’s S3 class on Monday 22 August  Miss McClelland’s S1 class on Friday 26 August  Ms Laverick’s class on Monday 29 August

World Book Day, March 2012 – dress up as your favourite character

The school took an enthusiastic approach to World Book Day thanks to the inspiring assemblies led by the Advanced Higher English class. In 2012, pupils were encouraged to dress up as a character from a book and donate £1 to help buy library books for schools in Uganda.

Presentations and Performances

The English Department have enhanced their Curriculum through visits to:

 The Ladykillers – Advanced Higher English  The 39 Steps – Third Year  The Mousetrap – Third Year  Haunting Julia – Higher classes  Woman in Black – Higher classes  The Great Gatsby – Higher classes  Arthur Conan Doyle Society Advanced Higher – Class Act, Advanced Higher English Workshop

Class Act – Advanced Higher

Throughout November and December 2012, Mrs Cunningham and Ms Brown have taken their Advanced Higher classes to the Traverse Theatre to participate in a number of workshops and sessions related to creative writing. These session were run by professionals and pupils had the final outcome of seeing their work performed by professional actors at the Lyceum. The pupils involved in the Class Act programme were Lloyd Anderson Mungo Carswell, Andreas Christodoulidis, Larissa Duncan, Bori Godley, Fraser Johnston, Lily Martin, Patrick McCafferty, Louise Meiklejohn Wiktoria Mulak, Moreen Randall, Ellen Renton, Megan Rudden and Lauren Tomassi.

St Thomas of Aquin’s High School Wider Achievement Summary – 2011-2014 d://cmarshall/widerachievementsummary 12 National Reading Hour 2013

On Friday 30 November 2012, all pupils participated in a ‘Read In’ which celebrated National Reading Hour. All pupils were asked to read a theme related to the subject they were in. Mrs Nealon took a small number of S1 and S2 pupils to the National Museum.

Mini Trials Event – English Department

Mrs Watt co-ordinated the 2012 ‘Mini Trial’ Event which took place on Saturday 6 October 2012 at the Sheriff Court. A number of senior pupils took roles in two court cases against other Edinburgh schools and argued their cases very successfully. Our pupils were a true credit to the school and received very impressive feedback from the organisers.

Beth Cunningham (S5) summarised the groups’ experience.

“On October 6 a group of S5 and S6 pupils got the amazing opportunity to take part in the Mini Trial Event. Not only did we get the chance to see real courts and the cells beneath them, we got to act out examples of court cases that actually took place, aided by real lawyers and judged by real judiciaries.

There were two cases: the first was an assault charge and our pupils Fiona Murray, Dominika Mulak, Stephen Dolan, Anna McNairney, Sara Buzuk and Daryl Tiglao were presenting; the second trial was based on a real life drug issue and was defended by Sophie Paxton, Helena Hardman Moore, Cameron Cunnea and Lisa Wilson.

Evidence on both cases was extremely hard to work with, and defeat seemed likely. But although it ‘technically’ was not a competition, and ‘everyone was a winner’, we actually won! On both cases! This was a slightly nerve-wracking and completely amazing experience, and one which I doubt anyone had done anything like before. A bog thank you to the Law Society, Mrs Watt for not just organising the whole event, but for her knowledge and guidance, without which, there’s no doubt we would be completely lost.”

St Thomas of Aquin’s High School Wider Achievement Summary – 2011-2014 d://cmarshall/widerachievementsummary 13 Achievement in Enrichment (S1 and S2)

Litter Pick and Audit involving all First Year Pupils

For six weeks during the Enrichment Programme, our First Year pupils participate in the following:

 Litter picking to improve the local area and reduce the amount of litter. Many positive comments came from various members of the public including ‘Friends of the Meadows’.  Carrying out a litter audit and discovering that paper and plastic made up the majority of materials thrown away.  Collecting the paper recycling from classrooms every week. A rota was constructed for each House Group.

S1 Recipe Book

The S1 Philanthropy Group made a recipe book to raise funds for the British Heart Foundation. The book contains favourite recipes from the pupils, staff and parents and costs £2.00. The book was sold at the Primary 7 and S1 Parental Information Evenings in May/June and raised £96.00.

Excursions and visitors in S1 Enrichment

 Optical Illusions – visiting Camera Obscura  Youth Philanthropy – making and selling products with money going to a nominated charity  CSI St Tam’s  Historical Tours of Edinburgh  Eco Scotland & Rapport Productions  Saltire Award

SCIAF Group – Second Year

A group of second year pupils assisted in the SCIAF Appeal by making hand crafted Christmas Cards. All proceeds went to the annual SCIAF Campaign. This initiative was led by Miss Geraldine Kelly, Guidance Teacher

St Thomas of Aquin’s High School Wider Achievement Summary – 2011-2014 d://cmarshall/widerachievementsummary 14 Mini Olympics – Second Year

Our Second Year celebrated their S2 successes in a ‘Health & Wellbeing’ Olympic Games event which involved pupil participation in a number of activities. The Inter House Competition allowed S2 pupils to showcase their interpersonal and team working skills in a range of sporting activities including basketball, gymnastics and football. House Banners were produced, identifying the skills and qualities each House achieved by their participation.

St Margaret’s House

St Kentigern’s House

St Andrew’s House

St Thomas of Aquin’s High School Wider Achievement Summary – 2011-2014 d://cmarshall/widerachievementsummary 15 Achievement in Fair Trade

The Fairtrade Group led by Mrs Teasdale and Mr Herbison continues to do sterling work, promoting both fundraising activities and ethical Fairtrade practices within our school. Our Fairtrade status was renewed in March 2013.

As a result of their fantastic fundraising attempts, 6 young people from Kampala, Uganda are supplied with uniform, shoes and a nutritional lunch each school day. The Group hold weekly meetings every Monday at 1:20pm.

Some activities which have been promoted by the Fair Trade group are:

 Christmas Stall  Fairtrade Fortnight which highlights numerous Fairtrade activities and promotes goods  Sending 240 filled pencil cases to the Railway Primary School with personalised messages  Book and Plant Sale on Wednesday 15 May 2013  Collection Jar ‘Pennnies for Africa’ which is taken around Form Classes

Mrs Teasdale has also received a total of £550 in donations from various sources and set herself a target of £1000 to give as a donation towards resources for the school in June 2013.

Our Fair Trade Members (at the current time of print) are: Austin Flynn Alice Saville Lorna Stevenson Ivan Yergiyev Moreen Randall

St Thomas of Aquin’s High School Wider Achievement Summary – 2011-2014 d://cmarshall/widerachievementsummary 16 Achievements in Geography

The Geography Department took their Advanced Higher class on a 3 day trip to the Kindrogan Field Studies Centre in Perthshire in September 2011 and have their Higher classes on a one day field trip to Aviemore and the Cairngorms on Thursday 27 October 2011.

On the 5 November 2012, Higher Geography pupils headed up to the Cairngorms National Park. After an informative journey (admiring glacial features en-route) they arrived in Aviemore to investigate land uses and the environmental quality in the town. In the afternoon they enjoyed a walk around Loch an Eialean examining ;and use conflicts within the National Park. In the evening the pupils enjoyed a nightwalk.

S2 China Unit

S2 pupils in the Social Subjects Faculty have been working on an Interdisciplinary Project ‘China’. Pupils have the opportunity to learn about the history, geography, political and business systems in China through a variety of Active Learning opportunities including Tai Chi, seaweed tasting and interactive games. This is a pilot project and both pupils and staff have enjoyed the opportunity to work in this collaborative way. All work was displayed in the mezzanine for the whole school to view.

S3 Geography Trip

On 30 May 2013, over 50 pupils from the Geography Department took part in a fieldwork day throughout Edinburgh. The aim was to conduct fieldwork and collect data which will be used as part of their National 4 and 5 assessments. The weather was fantastic and the pupils, as always, were a credit to the school.

St Thomas of Aquin’s High School Wider Achievement Summary – 2011-2014 d://cmarshall/widerachievementsummary 17 Achievement in History & Modern Studies

‘King and Queen for a Day’

Four of our Second Year pupils who won last year’s ‘Castle Project’ visited Stirling Castle on Wednesday 7 September. The pupils, Beth Howard, Monica Robb, Maili Raven-Adams, John Harvey Perri Hutchings and Morven Roy were given a specially devised tour and explored areas not generally open to the public. The pupils received fabulous hospitality and generally lived like Kings and Queens for the length of their visit.

In History, our S3 pupils have embarked on an exciting inter disciplinary project with the Drama Department which focuses on Edinburgh at the time of the Burke and Hare murders. Pupils analysed historical sources to use as the foundation of an upcoming theatre production. To continue this association, the History Department run their Burke and Hare History Drama Club every Thursday. Due to monies donated, one of their first planned activities is a historical walking tour of the Grassmarket, lead by local historian John Baxter.

National Library Visit – English and History Departments

Mrs Hunter and Mr Rooney from the History and English Departments escorted their S4 pupils to the National Library on Tuesday 27 November 2012. Both teachers hope that the National Library will exhibit pupils’ work based on ‘Trench Satire’ produced in WW1.

Higher History Lecture

Throughout 2012, the History Department have taken their Higher pupils on a number of lectures held in the University of Edinburgh and Edinburgh Castle which directly relate to the Higher History Curriculum.

Anne Frank Trust

Miss Whiffen from the History Department became lead teacher for the Anne Frank Trust who supplied resources and training for 22 of our second year pupils to become trained guides who would deliver an interactive presentation of Anne’s life. The S1/S2 pupils who were trained as guides all did a brilliant job and approached the tasks with maturity, responsibility and enthusiasm at all stages of the programme. The parents, staff, pupils and members of the Anne Frank Trust of Scotland who visited the exhibition have all given extremely positive feedback, and the pupils should be commended.

The following six pupils had their names drawn to go on to the Anne Frank Ambassadors Programme. The training for this took place at the University of Edinburgh over 22 & 23 May 2013.

Rebecca Patrick James Rennie Melissa Grieco Neave Keenan Neil Colvin Anna Andrew

St Thomas of Aquin’s High School Wider Achievement Summary – 2011-2014 d://cmarshall/widerachievementsummary 18 Meeting with the Cabinet Secretary, May 2013

Pupils from our S3 Modern Studies class were invited to attend a Scottish Government Cabinet Meeting who were discussing the first reading of the ‘Extension of the Franchise’. The pupils who were accompanied by Mrs Nicholson visited Bute House and witnessed a cabinet meeting and addressed questions to the First Minister. The event was broadcast in both the television and local/national newspapers.

St Thomas of Aquin’s High School Wider Achievement Summary – 2011-2014 d://cmarshall/widerachievementsummary 19 Achievement in Home Economics

On 29 May 2012, the Home Economics Department welcomed Colin Foster, a chef lecturer from Jewel and Esk College.

Colin took time out of his busy schedule and spent the day in the department demonstrating his baking techniques to our S2 and S3 pupils while making Paris Buns. The pupils participated as a group and our team leaders were soon identified. Colin’s input and support to the Home Economics Department was greatly appreciated by pupils and staff.

Working in partnership with the Marriot Hotel

Mrs Winders from the Home Economics Department has secured a partnership deal with the Marriot Hotel based in the adjoining Quartermile site. She hopes to secure programmes such as extending work experience opportunities, providing tours of the establishment which could benefit a few departments, career discussions to senior pupils and demonstrations in both St Thomas’ and the Marriot Hotel’s kitchens.

Cake Decorating

Mrs Winders ran the first certificated Cake Decorating class in session 2012-2013 and the classes were thoroughly enjoyed by all senior pupils. All pupils involved managed to achieve an A grade. Some examples of the pupils’ work is shown below.

St Thomas of Aquin’s High School Wider Achievement Summary – 2011-2014 d://cmarshall/widerachievementsummary 20 Bistro during Activity Week

S2 Hospitality Classes

Our S2 Home Economics pupils have been working on a cross-curricular expressive project, linking work in Art, CDT and Home Economics. They have been working on making their Cup Cake Mobile. Well done to all as there were some fantastic designs and creations, especially in the HE Class.

National Healthy Eating Week, June 2013

National Healthy Eating Week took place from 3 - 7 June 2013, and the school were actively engaged in a number of activities to promote healthy eating. Our S2 pupils wanted to raise awareness of healthy eating patterns with the whole school community and came up with the idea of running a ‘Healthy Snack’ event on Wednesday 5 June during morning break. Pupils made a number of healthy snacks which were sampled by others including Healthy Oat Cakes, Breakfast Bars, Fresh Fruit Platters, Fruit Smoothies and Yoghurt Cake.

Preparations are shown in the photographs below.

S3 Hospitality Class

Our S3 pupils have been working and promoting the Seasonal Salad Bar in our Food Court. They wanted to continue with a healthy theme so they carried out a survey to investigate what factors encourage people to eat healthy and what types of foods people enjoy in their salad. The key findings were:  cut down on saturated fat and sugar  eat more fish  eat less salt  don’t skip breakfast  don’t get thirsty  get active and be a healthy weight  eat lots of fruit and vegetables.

Wider Achievement

As part of the schools Wider Achievement Programme all pupils in our S3 and Senior Hospitality Classes sat and successfully passed their Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland (Rehis) exam. Presentation of this certificate took place at our Annual Awards Ceremony in October. Well done and congratulations to all pupils!

St Thomas of Aquin’s High School Wider Achievement Summary – 2011-2014 d://cmarshall/widerachievementsummary 21 Achievements in the Library

Between 2011 and 2013 our pupils have been involved in a number of literary events.

Edinburgh International Book Festival, August 2011

The Library in conjunction with the English department had three visits to the International Book Festival this summer. S3 pupils got the opportunity to see award-winning authors Keith Gray and Julie Bertagna, and humorous author Steve Cole. An enthusiastic S2 class were fortunate to see the acclaimed author Malorie Blackman.

Both the Library and English department attended numerous book festival events during the Edinburgh Festival involving the following classes:  Mrs Cunningham’s S3 class on Monday 22 August  Miss McClelland’s S1 class on Friday 26 August  Ms Laverick’s class on Monday 29 August

Scottish Book Trust – on-line events

We also participated in Scottish Book Trust’s on-line events – ‘Creative Writing with David Almond’ and ‘Murderous Maths’ with Kjartan Poskitt – the latter fitted in nicely with library activities for Number Week in December 2011.

Celebrating Literacy Events

There were events to mark Roald Dahl Day in September and National Poetry Day in October. Congratulations to Owen Harvey (A5) who won a £10 voucher in the poetry competition. The library has also celebrated ‘Burns’ Night and the 200th birthday of Charles Dickens on 23 April when Mrs Nealon had 25 copies of Stephen King’s ‘Misery’ to give away to senior pupils.

Book Groups involving pupils and staff

Our S1-S3 Book Group started shadowing the Scottish Book Trust’s Children’s Books. They also attended the ceremony for the Scottish Children’s Book Awards at the Lyceum Theatre and were delighted to see Sophie Drury’s book review form part of the opening presentation.

The Senior Book Group, reading ‘Books into Films’ focussed on ‘We Need to Talk About Kevin’ and they discussed the book and the recent film release with Media students from Queen Margaret University.

Our Staff Book Group have discussed Mohsin Hamid’s ‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist’ and Charles Dickens’ ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ at their meetings.

St Thomas of Aquin’s High School Wider Achievement Summary – 2011-2014 d://cmarshall/widerachievementsummary 22 Teen Titles

As usual, our pupils were well-represented in the review magazine ‘Teen Titles’ and several pupils also submitted entries on the Radio 2/Chris Evans short story competition ‘500 Words’, for which Mrs Nealon was a first round judge.

World Book Day, March 2011

World Book Day in March 2011 was marked by a photographic competition with the prize of a £10 book token going to Louise Linklater.

Interdisciplinary Learning

In Session 2011-2013, the Library has worked closely with other departments to promote a variety of events including:

 International Literacy Day  European Day of Languages  Dyslexia Awareness Week  Established a Friday homework club for EAL pupils  International Women’s Day  Fairtrade Fortnight  World Poetry Day  Holocaust Memorial Day & Anne Frank Trust

European Languages Day

Following the success of the 2011 event our Librarian Magda Wojnar and the Modern Language Department organised a number of events to celebrate European Languages Day which fell on Thursday 27 September 2012. The Library was opened to all staff and S1 – S6 pupils to view pupil displays and sample many different heritage languages spoken by our senior pupils. Photographs can be viewed at the back of this booklet.

World Book Day 2012

As part of the activities to celebrate World Book Day on Thursday 7 March, small groups of S1/2 pupils ‘travelled’ round the school, taking part in a literary treasure trail, where they found clues from posters in corridors .

Upcoming Events 2013-2014

Upcoming events include the opportunity for some S2 pupils to meet Cat Clarke, an award winning author of books for teenagers; a ‘literary walking tour’ of the Royal Mile during Activities Week in June; trips for S2/S3 pupils to Edinburgh International Book Festival to see authors John Marsden, Sophie McKenzie and physicist James Kakalios.

St Thomas of Aquin’s High School Wider Achievement Summary – 2011-2014 d://cmarshall/widerachievementsummary 23 Achievements in Mathematics

Enterprising Maths Competitions 2011 and 2012

Four pupils, Dominika Mulak (S4), Unes Kirmani (S4), Brendan Mullan (S3) and Sean Stout (S3) took part in this Enterprising wide Maths Competition on Thursday 29 September 2011.

On 13 June 2012, Chloe Ellis, Phoebe O’Carroll Moran, Onnagh Thin and Sarah Wilson (S3 pupils) and Ruth Dolan, Emily Harkin, Lachlan Morrison and James Rennie (S2 pupils) participated in the Enterprising Maths Competition and as mixed teams, came 4th and 8th (out of 30 teams) in the Lothian Enterprising Maths Competition.

UK Junior Mathematical Challenge 2011, 2012 & 2013

2011 Best in School 2012 Best in School 2013 Best in School

Chloe Ellis S1 Stephen Holligan S1 James Rennie

Katharine Braby S2

2012 Best in Year 2013 Best in Year Katharine Braby S2 James Rennie

2013 Gold James Rennie Lorna Stevenson

2013 Silver Hannah Sasaki Fiona Denvir Maeve McIntyre Molly Keenan Susannah Horton Emily Harkin Peter Donnelly Stephen Holligan Patrick McGroarty Matthew Deponio Lachlan Morrison

2013 Bronze Adele Pacitti Marcus Corrigan Michael Duffy Shobita Rajkumar Mark Kostryckyj Canice Murray Lauren Thomson Konrad Morawiecki Ruth Dolan Stephen Messer

2012 Gold Katharine Braby S2 Chloe Ellis S2 Rachel Nicholson S2 Oonagh Thin S2

2012 Silver Matthew Deponio S1 Stephen Holligan S1 Adele Pacitti S1 Andrew Gray S2 Niamh Jarvis S2 Alasdair Mitchell S2 Alex Potter S2 Duncan Shand S2 Sarah Wilson S2

2012 Bronze Fiona Denvir S1 Peter Donnelly S1 Emily Harkin S1 Molly Keenan S1` Kark Kostryckj S1 Emma Kennedy S1 Lachlan Morrison S1 James Rennie S1 Hannah Sasaai S1 Lauren Thomson S1 Claire Wong S1 Ela Bladoch S2 Flora Bryce Gardyne S2 Daniel Craigie S2 Kalina Cyzkowska S2 Lewis Gormley S2 Charlotte Lazarowicz S2 Matthew McNairney S2 Phoebe O’Carroll Moran S2 Steven Peat S2 Mali Raven Adams S2

St Thomas of Aquin’s High School Wider Achievement Summary – 2011-2014 d://cmarshall/widerachievementsummary 24 2011 Gold Chloe Ellis S1 Lewis Gormley S1 Rachel Nicholson S1

2011 Silver Alasdair Mitchell S1 Carrie Park S1 Ronan Rafferty S2 Samuel Hayward S2 Diogo Lopes S2 Magnus Kramers S2 Theresa Wong S2 Brendan Mullen S2 Conor Mackie S2 Inde Gloag Donaldson S2

2011 Bronze Andrew Gray S1 Charlotte Lazarowicz S1 Joe Donald S1 Sarah Wilson S1 Kirstie Lynch S1

UK Mathematical Trust European Kangaroo Challenge

Certificate of Merit 2011 Stuart Stevenson S4

Certificate of Participation 2011 Rosie Miller S4

Scottish Mathematical Challenge

Gold 2013 Silver 2013 Bronze 2013 Helena Hardman Moore S5 Jessica Healtie S5 Sinead Thin S1 Erin Heatlie S1 Sian Phillips S1

Gold 2011 Silver 2011 Bronze 2011 Helena Hardman Moore S3 Jessica Heatlie S3 Billie McKinlay S2

UK Intermediate Mathematical Challenge 2011, 2012 & 2013

2013 Best in School 2013 Best in Year 2012 Best in School Mark Jarvis Mark Jarvis Unes Kirmani S4

2013 Gold 2012 Gold 2011 Gold Helena Hardman Moore Unes Kirmani Stuart Stevenson S4 Mark Jarvis Robbie Campbell-Hewson Rosie Miller S4 Ronan Mullan Sophie Paxton

2013 Silver 2012 Silver 2011 Silver Jessica Heatlie S5 Dominika Mulak S4 Dale Gilmour Jeannie McKey Rhona Lilley Tim Ciubotaru Ronan Mullan Kirsty Lilley Orla McCorry Connor Mackie Leon Siebke Ballin Emily Robson Magnus Kramers Helena Hardman Moore Dominika Mulak Botao Zhou Peter Rennie Paula Doherty Jacob Kennedy Magnus Kramers James Seale Botao Zhou Andrew Lazarowicz Paula Doherty Unes Kirmani Sophie Paxton

St Thomas of Aquin’s High School Wider Achievement Summary – 2011-2014 d://cmarshall/widerachievementsummary 25 2013 Bronze Sean Stout Olivia Lyall Lucy Allan Sam Mallace Mhairi McIvor Sebastian Prazak Conor Mackie Jake Diamond Inde Gloag-Donaldson

2012 Bronze Fiona Murray S4 Liam Braby S4 Jacob Kennedy S4 Lisa Wilson S4 Sarah Harkin S4 Melissa Laurie S4 Anna McNairney S4 Michael Binnie S4 Mhairi McIvor S3 Brendan Mullan S3 Sean Stout S3 Mark Jarvis S3 Inde Gloag Donaldson S3

2011 Bronze Darryl Tiglao S4 Gregor Moodie S4 Kirsty Galbraith S4 Moreen Randall S4 Robbie Hand S4 Liam Stout S4 Tannera Reid S4 Ellen Renton S4 Fiona Murray S3 Yuliana Golovacheva S3 Ruaridh Farquharson S3 Antoine Asmar S3 Liam Braby S3 Anna McNairney S3 Lisa Wilson S3

UK Intermediate Mathematical Challenge - Third Year

2013 Best in Year (S3) Sarah Wilson

2013 Gold (S3) 2013 Silver (S3) 2012 Bronze (S3) Sarah Wilson Daniel Craigie Anthony O’Neill Alex Potter Lewis Gormley Katharine Braby Phoebe O’Carroll Moran Kalina Czyzykowska Perri Hutchings Muireann McDermott

S1 Mathematical Challenge

S1 Best in Year Silver Bronze Alex Nicolson Alex Nicolson Ivan Yergiyev Michael Gray Aaron Blaikie Sian Phillips Michael Joyce Roman Deprez Sinead Thin Jonathan Hasson Jude Diab Iain McIntyre Zack Murray Joe Jarvis Anna Flynn Jack Mainnie Peter Lazarowicz Anna Kuryluk

S2 Maths University Masterclass

Congratulations to Claire Wong, James Rennie and Lachlan Morrison who took part in the S2 University Masterclasses in 2012-2013.

Scottish Book Trust on-line event

The Scottish Book Trust organised an on-line event at the beginning of December 2011 with the author Kjartan Poskit who writes the Murderous Maths books. Forty of our S1/2 pupils took a part by watching the event in the Library.

St Thomas of Aquin’s High School Wider Achievement Summary – 2011-2014 d://cmarshall/widerachievementsummary 26 Achievements in Modern Languages

Semana Santa Procession, March 2012 and March 2013

Semana Santa commemorates the great solemn processions held throughout Spain and Latin America during Holy Week. The hooded figures are in fact “Penitents”, covering their faces in shame!!!! .

The ceremony begins with a short ceremony in the Oratory from where the procession leaves. The procession takes place in silence except for some traditional music. The custom is for class teachers to open their doors as the procession passes to allow pupils to see….and maybe even say a prayer! .

The beautiful Semana Santa posters (2012) was designed by Perri Hutchings, Anthony O’Neil, Charlotte Lazarowicz and James Monan

Images from our 3rd Semana Santa Procession ~ 28 March 2012

St Thomas of Aquin’s High School Wider Achievement Summary – 2011-2014 d://cmarshall/widerachievementsummary 27 European Language Day, September 2012

Our librarian Magda Wojnar and the Modern Language Department organised a number of events to celebrate European Languages Day which fell on Monday 26 September 2012.

On Thursday 29 September, the Library was opened to all staff and S1 – S3 pupils to view pupil displays and sample 14 different heritage languages spoken by many of our senior pupils. The languages on offer were Bosnian, Cantonese, French, Greek, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Lithuanian, Polish, Romanian, Slovenian, Spanish and Tagalog.

Annual Spanish Omelette Competition

Miss Dugan and the Modern Language Department ran their annual Spanish tortilla competition with three S2 classes in September each year. Teachers were invited to sample the tasty tortillas during lunch time on Monday 12 September 2012.

Rencontres Théatrales

On Thursday 1st March, a group of fifteen S1 pupils went to Broughton High School to take part in the ‘Rencontres Théatrales’ drama competition organised by The French Institute. Our S1 group presented a play called “C’est les vacances” written by our French assistant Clémence. St Thomas’ won the prize for best “Mise enscène” and were a real credit to the school. The pupils involved were: Ruth Dolan, Lydia Dowling-Clarke, Molly Keenan, Maeve McIntyre, Shobita Rajkumar, James Rennie, Alice Saville, Hannah Sasaki, Umair Shahid, Lucy Sked, Lauren Stephenson, Robyn Thomson, Iona Turner, Anya Vitaliev, Orla Williamson.

On Wednesday 13 March 2013, a group of S1 pupils participated in the French play competition.

Ruta Quetzal Competition, December 2011

Ellen Renton, S5, along with one other competitor from Scotland, secured a place in the final 20 in this UK wide competition for outstanding senior Spanish pupils. She travelled to London for the final on Friday 2th December. The event was attended by the Spanish Ambassador and other dignitaries from the Spanish Government’s Consejería de Educación.

After a very challenging series of tests on both language and culture, Ellen finished in 9th place, a really tremendous achievement.

St Thomas of Aquin’s High School Wider Achievement Summary – 2011-2014 d://cmarshall/widerachievementsummary 28 Links with our Corsican partner school

Miss Tierney has established a link with a secondary school in Corsica and her second year class regularly communicate with their French counterparts via video conference. They have set up a joint project which has resulted in our pupils taking photographs of sites and monuments around the Royal Mile and then wrote ‘cryptic’ clues in French. They hope to continue the video conference link for many years to come.

Higher French Workshop

On the 29th November 2011, a group of 8 pupils studying Higher French went to the French Institute to take part in an evening workshop, which was open to all high schools in Edinburgh. The workshop was on the topic of the “World of Work” and included a viewing of the film “Resources Humaines” with a follow-up discussion in French.

S1 Modern Languages Cinema Trip

On Friday 9 November, Madame Berthelot and Mrs Frazer from the Modern Language Department took their S3 pupils to see a French film on Tuesday 27 November. A good time was had by all!

Advanced Higher French live radio show – April 2013

On Tuesday 16 April 2013, seven pupils from the AH French class and our French assistant Tony, from the Ile de la Réunion, took part in a live radio show. Thanks to new technology and from the comfort of our classroom, pupils were able to confidently express their views. The link is listed below if you would like to listen to the radio show. .http://www.radiocampustours.com/2013/04/direct-emission-speciale-depuis-lecosse/

Scotland Goes Global

Congratulations to Daryl Tiglao (S6) and Cameron Cunnea (S5) who were invited to attend the ‘Scotland Goes Global’ celebratory reception at the Scottish Parliament on Wednesday 5 June 2013. This event promoted study-abroad orientated opportunities for Scottish pupils across Europe. The boys were a credit to the school and are photographed below with Christian Allard, Scotland’s first French MSP.

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