DecemberDecember 18 18 Issue:Issue: 6 6

The Buckie High Blether

The Buckie High

Blether A newsletter covering the events of Buckie Community High School

Welcome to the 6th edition of the Buckie High Blether, our school newsletter to keep you informed of events, news and activities from . The newsletter has been put together by Buckie High pupils, who will be responsible for its

production throughout the year. Enjoy!

Rector’s Reflection

As we approach the end of another year I hope this Newsletter will help folks to reflect

on the many positive things that are done by the young people at Buckie High. With the press and media increasingly being dominated by negative stories and political fallings-out it is important for us adults to try and set a more positive tone for the young people we are responsible for. For many of the young people in the Senior Phase we are about to embark on a process of course choice Finlay and Arwen won the St Andrews Day and pathway-planning that will help to Inter-house Quiz for Lennox. determine where they go when they leave school. We need to focus them on the work being done by schools and local employers to open up opportunities for young people – and make them aware of the wide range of careers and opportunities that are available

in and around Buckie - and across . The first step in this process for many will be Prelims – getting a mark during Prelims that accurately reflects how well they are going to do in May makes it much more likely that the correct choices will be made in February. More importantly it is telling

students what they need to do to get better in end of course exams. Enjoy the break, take time to rela x , and set aside time to get on top SED department proudly wearing their of revision for those important Prelims! festive jumpers for Christmas Jumper Day

December 18 Issue: 6

The Buckie High Blether

Spooky Stories for Halloween

Scary and spooky stories were the order of the day at Buckie High Library on 31st October as English class 1SC shared their spooky stories! With the class sat round the cauldron, 8 pupils took it in turns to tell their tale to the class. There were

tales of mystery, murder, ghouls and strange goings on. There was also a jury listening to the pupils who decided on the overall best scary story. After some deliberation they announced their decision, with Drew Robertson as the best overall, and Lucus Farquhar as runner up. Librarian Mr Leitch was very impressed with all the stories adding “They were great and showed what a talented class they are.” December 18 Issue: 6

The Buckie High Blether

A Visiting Earle

Pupils from Buckie High were joined by their counterparts from Keith Grammar School on Tuesday 6th November for a talk from author Phil Earle. The visit, organised by Librarian Mr Leitch and the Scottish Book Trust, gave pupils from both school s the opportunity to find out more about Phil’s work, his books,

writing process and ask him questions. The session was very interactive with Phil reminding pupils that they are all readers as they all read lots of different things in the course of their day. Phil told the group that he didn’t enjoy

reading novels till he discovered Graphic Novels at the age of 15 – along with Frazzles and Mars Bars. He also worked with the group to create a story using pupil’s ideas to show them how easy and fun it can be. After the session Phil joined the

pupils for break so they could ask him questions and sign books. “The pupils questions and interaction were great!” said Phil after the event, “and I really enjoyed talking to them.” Mr Leitch hailed the visit as a great success and hoped to be able to run more joint author events throughout the year.

December 18 Issue: 6

The Buckie High Blether

Cullen Geography trip

On the 2nd of November the Higher Geography class made up of S5s, took a trip to Cullen beach to examine and collect information on the beach’s landscape and waves to use for the assignment in school. Data was collected for topics such as wave frequency, wave height, long-shore drift, slope angle and rock analysis. This is all to help with the coastal assignment in class which will make up 27 percent of the exam. The trip took around 2 hours on a Friday and the pupils that went were Jaimie Phimister, Sarah Dawson, Mitchell Adam, Jake Newlands, Amber Smith, Hannah Anderson and Alicia Gray. The 7 pupils were split into two groups of 4, including the teacher Mrs Smith. The two groups went to different areas of the large beach and recorded the data that was needed. The pupils all worked together very well, efficiently collecting data from all aspects of the beach and using the time wisely. Later on the two groups compared their data in class and filled in the empty spaces of information that they needed. Personally, I enjoyed the experience as it was educational, fun to do and I enjoyed working with my team.

This newsletter is produced by Buckie High School pupils and Mr Leitch, as part of the wider

achievement programme:

Jamie-Leigh Cumming, Alicia Gray, Megan Hay, Shannon Milton, James Park, Conor Thain

December 18 Issue: 6

The Buckie High Blether

Young Musician of the Year

Young Musician of the Year took place on Wednesday the 28th of November, on a night jam- packed full of talent. A diverse bunch of students showcased their musical ability to an

incredibly high standard, from Vocalists to a fabulous array of Violinists and even a performance on the Cello - Buckie High had it all. It was clear the judging panel had a very difficult decision to make, so Buckie High’s own vocal group had the task of keeping the audience entertained whilst the judges debated, and they did a spectacular job in doing so. They were followed by Isla Smith who played the violin brilliantly. We would like to say a huge well done to everyone who participated and we are all certainly excited to see what next year’s show brings, as this one will be hard to surpass. The night’s winners were as follows:

Junior Instrumentalist: Senior Instrumentalist: Neve Paterson Amy Condron

Junior Vocalist: Deia Senior Vocalist and overall McAllister winner: Khara Lovelace

December 18 Issue: 6

The Buckie High Blether

Safe Drive Stay Alive- The perspective of the pupils.

On the 21st of November, Wednesday morning all S5 pupils at Buckie High got into buses and travelled to ’s Beach Ballroom to witness an informative show about young people driving safely. Not only was it the 5th years from Buckie High School, but all 5th year pupils from across Moray

Entering the Beach Ballroom through the swarms of pupils, all from different areas, I could already hear the loud pop music blaring. My school and I walked into the ballroom, sat in the front section of the thousands of seats that had been set up for this particular event. All the while the music had gotten louder, there was party lights flashing all over the room - making it feel like we were at a rave. And there was a man with a microphone encouraging everyone to get up and start dancing - with mixed success. After about 15 minutes the party ended and the music stopped. It all went quiet and dark in the ballroom as the main event was about to begin.

It began with a video, projected onto the two screens at the front and smaller screens around the room, they were high up so that everyone could see them from all areas in the room. An upbeat video began to play about a true story involving four teenagers that lived in the Aberdeen area, unfortunately the story took a dark turn as the four teens were in a car, speeding along a country road and crashed. The girl in the passenger seat fell out the car, the driver had gone unconscious, the girl in the back seat had been propelled forward and was now lying, unconscious in the passenger foot space, and the boy that was sitting in the back had a tree go through the window and into his leg, he was barely conscious. As the story progressed different members of the emergency services came out onto the stage that was set up between the two projection screens. Each member corresponded to the order they appeared in the video and they were all real people who were called to help with this terrible crash.

It began with a traffic police man, then a paramedic, a fireman, and finally a doctor. Each one told their own perspective on the story and all had the same message by the end of their speeches. Safe drive, Stay alive. The story was very powerful to listen to. I heard pupils in tears, and one person actually fainted. But we all understood that it had to be told to get the thought implanted into our minds to drive safely.

After the story was told, crash victims began to come on stage and speak about their experiences. The first speaker out of two was an adult man speaking about his aspiration of having a career in Football and having that all taken away from him due to a car crash. He went on to talk about the accident and how he had his whole career in front of him. I believe that this was extremely effective for all the young people listening as we all have our futures in front of us, with ambitions and aspirations. Hearing this man speak about his accident and how this changed his life forever will stick with us when we all learn to drive.

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The Buckie High Blether

The second and final person to speak was a mother who had lost a son in a car crash; the speech was very emotional, with pictures of the son on the projection screens. It was clear what the mother’s intentions were, to make sure that we will try and not bring pain to our parents as she felt when her son passed away.

Overall I feel that the entire thing was very full on but powerful, they were not afraid to get the message into our head using emotional topics and people who have experienced real incidents. I’m sure that every pupil who comes out of the beach ballroom after seeing the safe drive stay alive event will have the people and their words in the back of their minds as we grow through our young lives and learn how to drive.

Lari Don Visit to Buckie High

Lari Don, the author of the “Fabled Beasts” series, “Mind Blind”, the “First Aid for Fairies” series and many picture books visited Buckie High School on Tuesday the 23rd of October. The First Year pupils took part in her workshop assisted by many teachers and a couple of Senior pupils.The workshop consisted of readings her favourite books. This got everyone hooked as she always left her chapters on a cliff hanger. We were waiting on the edge of our seats for the next line. Lari Don also talked about storytelling. She told us a gripping story of a Viking and a Swan, which completely twisted what we would expect. She also engaged the whole hall in a discussion to talk about how stories are created and why a hero could go on a journey. There was also an opportunity to ask questions. We found out that her favourite character is Yan, a centaur from “First Aid for Fairies” and she is working on her latest book at the moment. It was a worthwhile experience for all who attended and I would highly recommend her books. I believe there is something for everyone.

Lari Don was born in Chile and went to primary schools in Tain, Innerleithen and before going to Speyside High School in . She then became involved in student politics at Glasgow University and was the Scottish National Party‘s Press Officer for many years followed by working at BBC Radio as a researcher and producer. Now Lari writes short stories that have been published in various magazines and she won the Canongate Prize in 2001. She currently lives in , writes books fulltime for all ages and visits schools to talk about her work. She started writing her first children’s book while she had her own children and completed it when her youngest child started nursery.

By Willow Daymond and Shannon Milton

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The Buckie High Blether

Book Design

Before Lari Don’s talk Mr Leitch presented certificates for the Best Book Jacket competition. Pupils were asked to submit entries to this during their last weeks in primary school, with a panel of judges selecting a winner from each school and then an overall winner. The certificates for this were handed out by Lari Don, who also announced the overall winner who was S1 pupil Carly Hutchison, former Cluny Primary School pupil. All shortlisted pupils received a certificate of congratulations with the overall winner receiving a book token. The quality of entries this year was brilliant and the judges had a very difficult time selecting the shortlist and the overall winner. The judges decided all elements of Carly’s design worked really well, making you want to know more about the story. The competition asked pupils to produce a cover with illustrations, book blurb and

an opening line to the book.

Buckie Christmas Fair

This took place on Saturday 24th November. The Fair featured a number of local craft stalls and many pupil groups running in the school including the Enterprise Groups, Steps to Work group, Youth Achievement group, Quines Club and Year of the Young Person’s Committee who helped facilitate the day with CLD worker Barbra Leitch. December 18 Issue: 6

The Buckie High Blether

Photos from the Buckie High Craft Fair, including our Enterprise Group students, Quines Club and Year of the Young Person pupils.

December 18 Issue: 6

The Buckie High Blether

WW1 Presentation

The World War One play has been going on for the last six years at Buckie High School. It is now 2018 which means that this year was the last year for undertakingn this performance as it is now a century since the end of World War One. The three departments involved were English, Music and Modern Languages. There were two performances on Tuesday the 8th of November. One during school time for students to come along and see and one at night time for the parents. A lot of the pupils taking part in this event were scared and nervous but they took part anyway and showed everyone what they could do as a group. There were some complications with the evening performance but some of our pupils stepped in and saved the day!. The departments involved would like to thank all of them for their team spirit.

Staff are considering creating a different kind of project possibly for World War Two because it will be 2019 and the war started in 1939 meaning it will be 80 years since WW2. They will be taking a different approach to this project as one of the things they would like to do is interview the people who still remember the Second World War as there will still be some left from that generation. It will still contain songs, videos and perhaps poetry and various things in between. The final format still has to be agreed.

International Games Week

Buckie High School celebrated International Games Week (4th – 10th November) with the library offering a range of board games for pupils come along and try at lunch times. These included old favourites like Connect Four and Continuo, to newer games like Chickyboom and In A Bind. Pupils flocked to the library to have a go at these, with Connect Four proving incredibly popular. Librarian Mr Leitch and Science Teachers Dr Goulding and Miss Lovelock ran the lunchtime sessions with library helpers assisting. Due to the popularity of the games, more games lunchtimes are being planned at Buckie High as well as a Connect Four championship! Dr Goulding also runs the Magic The Gathering card game group which meets every Wednesday lunchtime in the library. December 18 Issue: 6

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Buckie High School Art Exhibition

During the month of October 2018, students from Buckie High School had the honour of having their own personal work in Art, Photography, Creative Industries and many more showcased in Elgin library. The exhibition opened from 3rd of November to the 15th of November allowed public access from all over Moray to view Buckie High and many other school’s work. As a whole, the entire experience allowed the public to see the kind of work and large amount of creativity from the young people of Buckie and many other schools in the surrounding areas. This shows the kind of work that is done in Buckie High’s Art Department in many different aspects and medias.

Mrs Matthews Head of the Art department in Buckie High School said that the exhibition showcased a large amount of variety from many schools in Moray and will then encourage people to visit libraries.

December 18 Issue: 6

The Buckie High Blether

Holocaust Survivor

On the 4th of December 2018, S2 and S6 pupils attended a talk by Holocaust Survivor Joanna Millan. Guidance Teacher Miss Mackintosh, who organised this event, said “This year’s Holocaust survivor was Joanna Millan, this is the 4th time she has visited Buckie High School. Again it was an excellent experience, everyone in Second Year and Sixth Year heard her testimony. In second year we have been working on it in PSE, everyone has some homework to do which, hopefully, will produce a display for Memorial Day in January.” Reflecting on the event, S6 student James Park said “I was very interesting has made me question what I thought I knew about the Holocaust.”

A Dash O Doric

Alistair Heather came down from the Elphinstone Institute in Aberdeen to work with some English classes on a Scots Language unit. He works at Aberdeen University and his project is in linguistics particularly in Doric. When he arrived at Buckie High he worked with two classes. Mr Smith’s 2nd Year class and Miss Brett’s 3rd Year class. During his time here he worked with classes on the Doric language. He is producing a film on the Doric language and wants to include the students work. Both classes have done written work about Buckie including what events happen in Buckie and what are the aspects of Buckie culture. He will later transfer this information to both the movie he is making and an article that will appear in the Aberdeen University newspaper called the Gaudie. His project on the Doric language will include the students writing and speaking in Scots and this will be published in the Gaudie newspaper. After the New Year he will be returning to film and interview students and teachers regarding what we do in Buckie High School about Doric. In the English department we do a Scottish Language course for 3rd Years and may be adding a Doric language unit into it. This is adding much excitement to the English Department and Alistair Heather will be at the forefront of this trying to drive it in Scotland.

The new school term starts on Monday 7th of January 2019.

December 18 Issue: 6

The Buckie High Blether

Auschwitz Visit

In October, two sixth year pupils, Willow Daymond and Tarla Ramage took part in the Lessons from Auschwitz Project. This involved two seminars in Edinburgh, to learn about the Holocaust in depth. Then a one day visit to the Polish town of Oświęcim and two of the Auschwitz concentration camps. When they returned the two students held an open evening to the public to showcase the knowledge they had gained. Their evening included a talk, photo book and personal testimony display. The town of Oświęcim was a hub of Jewish life and culture before the Holocaust, now the square has lost a huge part of its culture and ‘The Great Synagogue’ that once stood in the town is now no more than a patch of grass with a few trees. There are no ruins or sign nothing to tell you of the great building that had once stood there. While visiting the two camps the students had the honour of hearing a Rabbi talk at a remembrance ceremony. The talk focused on the contemporary relevance of the Holocaust and the idea that every single one of us needs to work together to stop vicious acts such as anti-Semitism from happening. Both students agree that it was such a worthwhile opportunity to visit Auschwitz in person it gave them a greater understanding of the Holocaust and why it is relevant to today. It is not an experience that they are ever going to forget.

“When I was there I didn’t feel any singular strong emotion. Not sadness, nor emptiness not guilt. After a day or so something started to edge its way through. This was made very clear after our second seminar. Anger. That’s what I am left with anger, and an urge to do something.” - Willow Daymond

December 18 Issue: 6

The Buckie High Blether

The History of Halloween

Halloween was firstly known as Samhain, originating in Celtic Ireland around 2,000 years ago. Samhain is date between summer and winter and is when the wall between our world and the spirit world is at its weakest, allowing spirits of both relatives and spirits of evil to pass through. The ghosts of families were welcomed into the celebration whilst evil spirits were warded off and banished. One way of being able to ward off the evil spirits was to dress as one, this made sure that you wouldn’t be noticed as a human and would essentially guarantee your safety from the evil spirits. Some traditions of Samhain included:

- Making bonfires - Casting bones of slaughtered livestock into fire - Making food for both the living and the dead (although since the food could not be eaten by the dead, it was given to the less well off.)

- Extinguishing house fireplaces or candles and relighting them with fire from the bonfire.

Samhain was then adopted by Christians and changed to All Hallow’s or All Saints. The tradition of wearing costumes was kept in their version. During the time of famine in Ireland around the 1840’s, a lot of Irish people emigrated to America, where their traditions carried over and were celebrated. Nowadays Halloween is seen as a time to trick or treat, to scare your friends and watch

horror movies to your heart’s content, but be aware, those evil spirits are still out there, waiting, watching till your back is turned and…BOO!

Sources : https://www.newgrange.com/samhain.htm