Campus
Connections
Issue 7; December 2016
Introduction
Welcome to our final edition of Campus Connections for 2016. In this
edition you will find information about what we have been working
on as a school and community, the achievements of our pupils and
opportunities to join us as we showcase the work of our pupils
through our annual Concert and Art Exhibition.
As this year draws to a close, on behalf of all staff and pupils, I would
like to wish you a Happy Christmas and an enjoyable New Year.
To enhance the circulation of Campus Connections, we have merged
some of our electronic parent circulation lists. If you do not wish to
receive this communication by email, please send an email to
[email protected]
Sarah Brown
Headteacher /Campus Leader
Kinross High School Christmas Card 2016
Artwork Designed by Ailsa Bennet S2
Updates
Staff
We are delighted to welcome Mrs Price (PT Guidance) back to Kinross High School. Mrs Price is currently
working part-time to support pupils in Lomond House.
Mrs Marjoribanks is returning this month following her maternity leave.
In the New Year we are looking forward to being joined by Mrs Livingstone as permanent teacher of
English. Mrs Livingstone is an experienced teacher currently working at Bell Baxter High School.
The following staff received awards for their long and continuous employment in public service:
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Mrs Brown 20 years’ service
Miss Breen 20 years’ service
Mrs Winter 20 years’ service
School Improvement
School Improvement Plan
Thank you for your feedback on the recent parent questionnaire and feedback from Parents nights. The
following are some of the actions we have taken as a result of your feedback:
You Said
Uniform standards
could improve
The standards of
learning and teaching
can be inconsistent in
We Did
 Clarified the standards expected with staff, who will
speak to members of their tutor support group if there
are any issues.
 Further reviewed the senior phase reporting system
to include three reports and collated targets.
the school
You need more
information about
your child’s learning
 Continued our self-evaluation visits to departments
as per our school schedule. This term this has
included Maths and Pupil Support.
Undertaken classroom observations in other subjects.
School Calendar
Campus Opening Hours
Dates for October / November
24/12/15
25/12/15
26/12/15
27/12/15
28/12/15
29/12/15
30/12/15
31/12/15
01/01/16
02/01/16
03/01/16
15/12/16
19/12/16
21/12/16
22/12/16
23/12/16
09/01/17
12/01/17
16/01/17
23/01/17
25/01/17
26/01/17
S3/4 School Dance
S1/2 School Dance
KHS Christmas Concert
S5/6 School Dance
Last day of Winter Term – 12pm Finish
Spring Term Starts
S5/6 Prelims Start
Parent Council Meeting 7.00 pm
S4 - Second Tracking Report Issued
Last day of S5/6 Prelims
S4 Parents' Evening
A full calendar is available at
http://kinrosshighschool.org.uk/news-andevents/calendar/
8am to 5pm (Library closed)
Closed
Closed
10am to 5pm (Library closed)
10am to 5pm
10am to 5pm
10am to 5pm (Library closed)
Closed
Closed
Closed
Usual hours (Library closed)
More information on festive opening times can
be found on the notice boards within the
Campus.
How Parents/Carers Can Support the School
A small number of our pupils are arriving late to school. While we understand that there can be one off
exceptional circumstances that cause lateness, some pupils are late on a regular basis. Parents are asked
to ensure that young people leave home so that they are in school at the time of our first bell at 8.40am.
Campus Events
Antiques, Vintage, Retro and Collectors Fair
Saturday 17th December 2016
Saturday 21st January 2017
9.30am – 3.30pm
Daisy Foundation Birthing Classes
Monday evenings
Buying, selling and valuations! Entry £1
These progressive women only classes, available
from 14 weeks pregnant are delivered over a
6 week course covering a combination
of: Antenatal and Active Birth Education,
Breathing Techniques, Relaxation and Birth
Hypnosis and Yoga Based Movement.
Classes are ongoing. To join a new class contact
[email protected]
Christmas Bookbug with Malcolm & Allan
Wednesday 21st December 2016
A musical Christmas Bookbug session with guest
musicians from 2pm onwards at Loch Leven
Community Library. Suitable for all pre-school
children and parents/carers. Booking not
required.
Kinross High School S3 Creative Art Exhibition
Tues 20th – Thurs 22nd December 2016
9.30am – 3.30pm
Kinross Hub The Carers Café - January
Please note there will be no
Carers Café in January
Exhibition of pupil’s work. Please drop in and have a look!
Kinross High School Concert
Wednesday 21st December 2016
Buying, selling and valuations! Entry £1
7pm
A school winter celebration with Christmas music.
Tickets available from the School Office or
Parentpay. £6 or £4 concessions.
Refreshments available for £2 per person
French Story Telling in the Library
First Saturday of each month
11.30am - 12pm
French themed story-time for 4-8 year olds
KHS Charity Christmas Quiz Night
Friday 16th December 2016
7pm - 10pm.
Fun evening for all the family in support of
Medecins Sans Frontieres and Team Jak.
Tickets are £5 per person including
refreshments or £25 for a team of 6.
There will be a raffle on the night with some
great prizes. Entry form available from reception
WeightWatchers
Wednesday Evenings 6.30pm
Come along to your local meeting here at the
Campus in the Activity Meeting Space.
For more information please contact Sandra Griffin
on [email protected] or 0345 677 7788.
More information on Campus events can be found within the Campus on the Notice Board or plasma screens.
Please also see the Campus page of the Kinross Newsletter or go to the
Campus Facebook page - Loch Leven Community Campus Events.
Any enquiries please contact Gerry McGregor at [email protected] or 01577 867200
Active Schools
The aim of Active Schools is for all children and young people to get and stay active. It is a national
initiative that has been supported by the Scottish Government.
Active Schools staff link schools and communities by working together with schools, parents and
communities to develop and support volunteer led, sustainable physical activity and sport
opportunities that take place outwith school hours, both within the school and wider community.
A number of KHS pupils volunteer to take part in this initiative with our qualified Sports & Dance
leaders and Young Ambassadors gaining leadership experience by running a variety of clubs in KHS and
local primary schools:
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Run, Jump Throw Club at Kinross Primary School with P5 pupils - Amy Broadhurst and Iona
Crawford
A dance club for S1 girls - Neve Chambers
Boccia - Amy Broadhurst
Girls football - Demi Paton
Netball - Ruth Ritchie, Holly Parsons & Dana Higgins
Dodgeball run by Young Ambassadors Amy Broadhurst, Hannah Dow & Lewis MacPherson
Milnathort Lunch time Club - Community Sport Leader pupils
Matthew Collie attended the school sport coaching project in the October holidays and is now a
UKCC Level 1 qualified basketball coach and is coaching the KHS basketball team.
11 S2-S6 pupils are now qualified Netball Leaders - Rebecca Rough, Molly Richley, Tamsin
Fleming, Ruth Ritchie, Holly Parsons, Aimee Thomas, Dana Higgins, Coco Ramponi, Maya
Fraser, Bryony Pettinger and Ola Stanton.
Cath Devanny, Active Schools Coordinator (Kinross High and Primary Cluster) would like to say a big
thank you also to all the parents and clubs who are helping run the sports clubs at Kinross High
School:- Dave Munro & Jamie Booth from Kinross Volleyball Club; Mr Borthwick, Mr Revel & Mr Bell
from Kinross Rugby club; SJ and Lucy from Salle Ossian Fencing Club; Kinross Curling Club and parents
Elaine Stappleton, Christine Higgins and Kim Kilgour who are taking netball teams for KHS and other
primary schools on a weekly basis.
Thank you to the teachers that give our up their own time to create opportunities for pupils to take
part in school sport and get more active. Mr Leslie, Miss Imlay, Mr Dolan, Mr Blyth, Mr MacKay,
Mrs Doran, Mr Rietvelt, Mr Tweddle and Mr Fraser.
School News
Chemistry Careers
S3 Chemistry students recently visited Dundee Science Centre for a Chemistry careers event run especially
for them. In addition to the exciting demonstration lectures and chance to do practical experiments on
innovative materials, pupils were also given the chance to find out how Chemistry could be useful in later
life. Using a ‘quick-fire’ format, pupils moved around 10 people who use Chemistry in their career and
were able to ask questions about what they did. A really exciting opportunity.
School News (cont.)
Auschwitz Trip
The Holocaust Educational Trust is an organisation which aims to educate young people from every
background about the Holocaust and the important lessons to be learned for today. As part of this, they
organise a ‘Lessons from Auschwitz’ project which is open to 16-18 year old students. Two students from
participating schools visit the former Nazi concentration and death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau as well as
attend half-day seminars before and after the visit. The pupils are then asked to disseminate what they
have learned to their peers and wider community.
This year, KHS applied for a place on the course for 2 students and Rebecca Bisset & Kellen Fraser were
selected to attend. They had to submit 200 words on why they wanted to go and how they would plan to
share the experience when they came back. This is their experience of the project:‘On the 8th November, we had the opportunity to visit Auschwitz-Birkenau for the day with a program run
by the Holocaust Educational Trust. Our journey began the week before at the Orientation Seminar with a
talk from Eva Clarke, a Holocaust survivor. We met the other 200 pupils going and got some background
information on pre-war Jewish life in Europe and the Holocaust.
After arriving in Poland, we headed to a small town called Oswiecim where there was a Jewish cemetery
which had to be restored after the War. We visited Auschwitz I, which has been adapted to become a
museum on life in the camp which contained many artefacts found in the camp after its liberation. After a
guided tour round the exhibitions, we went to Auschwitz II, Birkenau. The scale of Birkenau was shocking
and the atmosphere chilling. Our guide took us on an informative and eye-opening tour which culminated
in a memorial sermon led by Rabbi Shaw, an English Rabbi who had ancestors that were affected by the
Holocaust. He told us of recent hate attacks in Britain to show that prejudice is still present in today’s
society and how we must stand up to it.
We now plan to share our experience with the rest of the school by creating an exhibition in the Campus
Library in the last few weeks of January to coincide with Holocaust Memorial Day. We hope that this
attracts people from across the community’.
Rebecca Bisset & Kellen Fraser
School News (cont.)
Open Doors Event
As part of our Raising Attainment for All strategy, we held an open door event on 15 November to offer
parents an insight into the experiences S4, 5 and 6 pupils encounter each day at Kinross High School. The
aim was to give detail of approaches used to support pupils preparing for prelims and SQA exams in the
coming session, with a view to giving practical advice on how parents could further support their child from
home. Within the framework of three taster sessions, we covered:
 How parents can support children in studying for prelims/ exams
 The mentoring programme
 Tracking, Monitoring and Reporting
 Digital support
Nursery Science
Three year olds from Rosemount Nursery recently visited our Science Department to
become ‘Trained Scientists’. This involved them doing simple (and very safe) experiments to check that
they knew how to use their senses. At the end they got to see some bangs, flashes and colour changes –
however the favourite demonstration was definitely the giant bubbles!
Pupil Achievement
Football
Robbie Deas was selected to play for Scotland in the Under 17 UEFA Qualifying Round held in Portugal
from 13 September to 21 September. Scotland won their group by winning all three games against Malta,
Wales and Portugal without conceding a goal and have progressed to the elite round which will be held in
early spring. Robbie played in all 3 matches and scored a goal against Malta.
Waterpolo
Rory Nesbitt was selected to play for Scotland in the BWMF (Be Water My Friend) Cup (Under 15) which
was held in Lloret de Mar from 29 August to 2 September 2015.
Pupil Achievement (cont.)
Science Club
The Science Club continue to meet on a
Tuesday at lunchtime under the careful
eye of Miss Foote. For Halloween, they
produced fake blood (pictured).
They are now working on the BP STEM
challenge until Christmas where they
will enter projects and hopefully win
some prizes. After Christmas, the club
will be building cranes and designing
projects for CREST awards.
World Challenge - Team 2
On the 19th & 20th November we went camping at Broomlee Centre, West Linton. It was a great
teambuilding experience where we got to meet our World Challenge leader and go on two different walks;
one was much harder than the other!! We also learned how to pitch tents, cook on trangia stoves and
about health and safety when we are in Madagascar next year. Overall it was a fantastic experience and
our team feel a lot more prepared and excited for the real expedition.
FutureChef
Congratulations to all the competitors who
took part in the FutureChef competition.
Emma Niven from Loch Leven’s Larder and
Andrew Scott from Heaven Scent visited KHS
on Friday, 4 November to help judge the
competition alongside our very own Mr Bain.
The FutureChef Competition is a national
competition and is open to students aged 12
to 16. The competitors prepared a dish
working within a budget and the judges had a
very difficult time deciding on a winner as the
standard was very high.
Well done to Freya Conway (S1) who was 1st, Coco Ramponi (S2) who came 2nd and Caitlin Quinn (S2)
who came 3rd. Freya and Coco will go onto represent the school at the next heat in Perth College at
the end of November. Freya also won a 1-1 session with the Chef’s at Loch Leven’s Larder, spending
time behind the scenes.
Badminton
Calum Flockhart was offered the opportunity to travel to Hungary with a small group from Glasgow School
of Sport to compete in the ‘U15 Nation to Nation’ badminton competition. This is a great opportunity to
play against other players.
Pupil Achievement (cont.)
Basketball
S1 and S2 girls represented KHS at the Baden Basketball
Tournament, a Perth & Kinross Schools basketball event, held
in Perth on 6 October. The team of Anna Smith (S2),
Rachael Davis (S2), Kirstin Fotheringhame(S2), Nicole Doherty
(S1), Rebecca Jackson (S1), Rachel Todd (S1), were captained by
Ella Doherty (S2). The team played well on the day, winning
all their games and came home with the winner’s trophy,
the Douglas Bader Cup. The girls were a credit to KHS,
behaved impeccably and were very sporting and courteous
toward their opponents. Mr Rietvelt provided fantastic
coaching on the day and had a really positive, supportive
attitude while the girls were both on and off court.
Gold Duke Of Edinburgh’s Award
Congratulations to our Gold Duke Of Edinburgh’s Award Participants who completed their assessment
expeditions in September. Two groups comprising Eilidh Wallace, Ailsa Brown, Claire Shanks,
Hannah McCormick, Chrissie Robertson, Georgia White, Euan Duthie, Lewis Cox, Craig Lewis, Sean Cowe,
Cameron Banks, Scott Wilson and Malcolm Sturgeon traipsed their way across Scotland from Ardgy near
Bonnar Bridge in the East to Ullapool in the West, while the third group comprising Sean Keegan,
Ben Cormack, Fraser Barbour, Murray Ballantyne, Robbie Mackessack, Daniel Munro and Rebecca Douglas
walked their way around Arran through challenging weather and difficult terrain! Well done to all!
Pupil Achievement (cont.)
International Scholars
Congratulations to Rosie Cormack (S6) who was selected to represent the school at the European
Parliament in Strasbourg. This opportunity is provided in partnership with Rotary.
Congratulations to Ailsa Brown (S6) who has been selected by the Confucius Institute for a Chinese
Language Scholarship. Ailsa will spend the next academic year studying Mandarin in Tianjin, China.
Fencing
Rhys Barbour in S3 represented Kinross High School at the Scottish Secondary Schools Individual Fencing
Championships on Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th November 2016. He successfully defended his Scottish
Secondary Schools U-14 Boys Foil
Championship title taking home the
trophy. In addition to winning gold
in the Foil competition, he also won
silver in the U14 Boys Sabre and
bronze in the U14 Boys Epee
weapon events.
Rhys also received the 2016 Scottish
Secondary Schools U-14 “Master at
Arms” trophy and title and is
pictured at the far right with his
trophy alongside the other “Master
at Arms” winners.
Congratulations to Rhys!
Kinross High School Student Wins National Prize
Francesca Fiorentini was recognised in an award ceremony in Armourers’ Hall in London for the Armourers
and Brasiers Sixth Form prize.
During her final year at Kinross High School,
Francesca completed a project looking at the
properties of novel materials during her time
in Chemistry. This project was judged to be so
good that she was asked down to the
national final, where she gave a presentation
on ‘Phosgene’ to Oxbridge professors. The
quality of this presentation was such that she
was awarded second place in the U.K.
winning £750 for herself and £500 for Kinross
High School. This was the second time in two
years that a Kinross High School pupil has
been recognised in such a manner.
Francesca was delighted to be awarded the
prize saying that this was one of many
opportunities that she had been presented
with at Kinross High School.