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JuneJune 19 19 Issue:Issue: 7 7 The Buckie High Blether The Buckie High Blether A newsletter covering the events of Buckie Community High School Welcome to the 7th edition of the Buckie High Blether. Our school newsletter will keep you informed of events, news and activities from Buckie High School. The newsletter has been put together by Buckie High pupils, who will be responsible for its production throughout the year. Enjoy! Rector’s Reflection have had a very varied path and demonstrate that there is no wrong path “As the end of another school year fast from or through school. We aspire for our approaches it is important to use things like young people to do well in the things they this newsletter to look back at the many want to do well at, and to give them opportunities that set them up of for the amazing things achieved by our young people this year. In doing so we must remember varied lives that most of them will have. For those young people who will be adding SQA that every child is different and we must guard against the risk of trying to squash qualifications to their journey this summer, them into pigeonholes that allow us to good luck for results day and remember that measure their achievements. We don’t have however well they have gone – these ‘academic’ or ‘vocational’ young people, we shouldn’t define you and are only one of many twists in a long and - I hope - have over 700 young people who each have their own strengths, talents, weaknesses and interesting and fulfilling journey.” barriers to overcome. Some will demonstrate this by getting 5 Highers and progress Neil Johnson, Rector directly to university and glittering post- graduate careers. Some will continue to build Keep in Mind a portfolio of amazing pieces of creative artwork – becoming fulfilled and contented Author and Mental members of the North East’s thriving artistic Health expert Nicola community. Some will have overcome Morgan speaking at barriers that many of us find it difficult to Buckie High School understand in order to put together a as part of the Moray package of experiences and qualifications Minds Mental that set them up for an apprenticeship or Health project employment that they will enjoy and do well involving S3 pupils at. All will continue to learn and for most across Moray. that will mean many changes in direction Full story inside. over the next few decades – when you read about really successful entrepreneurs, most June 19 Issue: 7 The Buckie High Blether Mental Health Week Deia McAllister and John Stewart investigating the information display put together by Buckie High School S3 Mental Health Ambassadors, to promote Children’s Mental Health Week in February 2019. The Mental Health Ambassadors are part of a Moray-wide Moray Minds project in High schools targeting S3 pupils and Mental Health. Drop in to Buckie High The Primary 7 Drop-In sessions organised by CLD and Youth Worker Barbara Leitch were a huge success this March. Over 3 consecutive Monday evenings 150 P7 pupils visited Buckie High to take part in different activities and events in the school, including break-out games in the Library with librarian Mr Leitch. June 19 Issue: 7 The Buckie High Blether Before Buckie High Interviews with members of staff at Buckie High. Mr. Johnson has had a lot of travel experience in his lifetime, being born in Germany and growing up in countries such as Australia, America, China and Cyprus. And furthermore, working in countries including the Netherlands and Finland. He has also visited most places in Europe, South America, North America and a couple of countries in Africa. He began his teaching career in the year 2001 and has been teaching for 17 years – during 7 of which, he has been the head teacher of Buckie. Before becoming a teacher he was a research scientist where he researched in the field of fish immunology as a parasitologist. He would discover information on how fish fight infection and had an interest in parasites that infect the kidneys of fish. This information would be extremely useful to fish farms and hold a financial importance as there are many farms in Scotland that harvest fish such as salmon and trout. His work was mainly focused on trout and he would spend most of his time in a laboratory studying them. During this time, he also taught at the university where he did his research. The teaching side of being a research scientist was a key reason why Mr. Johnson went into his current job. After being a laboratory scientist for a while, he realised that he was spending most of the day just moving liquids from one tube to another and, according to Mr. Johnson, “It’s a bit dull once you’ve done it for a while”, and he was enjoying the educating side of his more than researching. However, teaching only took up about 20% of his job - so he wanted to expand into a more teaching-focussed career. He had the options of college teacher or school teacher and after experiencing both, he enjoyed working at a school more. During his time being head teacher at Buckie High School he states that his biggest achievement at the school is that over the past 5 years the school has only been closed twice for staffing issues and him and the staff are keeping things going as smoothly as they can in the school despite the fact that it has been difficult recently in terms of recruiting staff. The greatest achievement as a school collectively, according to Mr. Johnson, is the exam results of approximately 700 pupils that come in every year. He believes that all exam results are positive whether it’s five As at higher or one National 4, if the pupils have worked hard to achieve that then that’s the best results. During his spare time, Mr. Johnson spends most of his time looking after his two children going to rock pools, playing football and other activities. He also enjoys reading in his spare time and usually has three books constantly on the go, he states that he likes to read anything but usually he’s reading one work-related book, a biographical type book and a novel and he chops and changes between them. Jazz is his favourite genre of music, his favourite film is The Shawshank Redemption and his favourite colour is orange. After answering the question, “what’s your favourite colour”, Mr. Johnson proceeded to tell us that this is because it reminds him of big events that would occur in Holland. When he lived in Holland there was a day in Spring called ‘Queen’s Day’ where 70% of the population of Holland would go to Amsterdam for a huge party, all the bars would be outside, people came out into the streets to sell anything and every person you meet would be wearing orange as it’s the colour of the royal family. Describing himself in three words Mr. Johnson said: ‘Reliable, Hungry, and Relaxed’. June 19 Issue: 7 The Buckie High Blether Working Wood The National 5 Woodwork class including Kyle D, Jodi G, Charlie H, Owen M, Emillia M, Connor P, Kieran R, Kieran S, Ben S, Ben W, and Alens Z were given the opportunity to make some wooden picnic benches from recycled wood offered from Chivas Regal. The pupils (with a little guidance) had to select a bench design and then come up with a cutting/parts list. They then worked as teams to make the two benches. One bench has been presented to Chivas to sit in the staff courtyard at their Longmorn distillery near Elgin. The other has been placed in the memorial garden at Buckie High School to be used by staff and pupils. All the pupils involved had a great time making the benches and lots of effort and“He’s enthusiasm behind you!” were - putS3s input by on all. Successful It was fantastic Pantos! to work with a local companyOn the 12 andth and be 13 ableth of to February, give something the S3 Dramaback as classes well as put make on asomething show for allthat to willattend. be enjoyedInspired by by lots the of Roald people. Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes, they performed three shows: Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Little Pigs, and Jack and The Beanstalk. The productions were split across two days, two of the productions were performed on the Tuesday and the final production was performed on Wednesday. The productions props and sets were made and designed by the students themselves. Each production was part of an internal assessment carried out by the teacher. The production’s were a success and ran smoothly both nights, being applauded by parents and teachers alike. Mrs Craib, who directed all the productions, says “All pupils now have a better understanding of productions, the work that goes into these productions behind the scenes and how important every area is to a production.” June 19 Issue: 7 The Buckie High Blether Defibrillator Training For S6 Pupils Shannon Milton In 2016, 16-year-old Keiran Mckandie from Elgin was involved in an accident with a car while cycling and did not survive. This has devastated his family and changed their lives. They knew their lives would never be the same. In Keiran’s honour and to allow him to continue to contribute positively to society, Keiran’s parents, Sandra and Gordon Mckandie, established Keiran’s Legacy to begin raising awareness of defibrillators and committed themselves to ensure that every secondary school in Moray were provided with these life-saving devices.

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