Fitness Challenge 2009

Today 20 children from S2-4 opted to take part in this years fitness challenge at the Waterfront gym. The children were started in pairs and accompanied by an adult on a fairly gruelling fitness circuit. They have been training for today over the past term and performed very well on the day. We were delighted by how hard they worked, their times and by the number who were very keen to participate in what was an optional activity.The course was as follows:

1km run on the treadmill
1km cycle
500m row
50 box steps with weights
30 lateral pull-downs with a 20kg weight.

The children were observed by a teacher or gym staff member all the way round and timed.

Kyle won a months free membership of the gym for gaining the fastest time by any boy. Beth won the same for the girls and Alexander won a gym bag and water bottle as he came second with a time which was just a fraction slower than Kyle.

All participants will also receive a brick for their house.

Well done to all!

Mr J :)

BC Drama Success!!

On Friday morning, the Primary school were wonderfully entertained by the Broader Curriculum dramatists, who performed their play, The Thingumybob! The group did so well, they were asked by the Primary school to do it al again! The group have worked really hard, learning lines, improving performance and encouraging one another! congratulations to everyone- this has been a very popular option and we'll definitely do drama in BC again!

Elections Day!!

This morning, all pupils and staff too part in House Captain elections and Head Boy and HEad Girl elections! Mrs Speirs will announce the results very soon...

The S4 Modern Studies class and the S4/5 history class helped to organise a very efficient, smooth election day!

Congratulations!

Well done to everyone who took part in the S2 - 4 Fashion Showcase at the 10th Anniversary night on Monday 22nd June - thanks to both designers and models! It was a very well received event and lots of people commented on the high standard of work - someone even offered to buy Jessica's Swan Lake dress! 

Well done also to this years Anne Thomas prize winners. In the lower secondary the winner was Nico Medinelli for his Water Lillies painting in the style of Monet

(His was nearly as good as this!)

In the senior secondary the winner was Megan Nixon for some of her expressive art work.

Rebecca Collins also won the Malcolm Bryce Creativity Prize for all the different creative activities she has been involved in this year. In particular her design work was a key factor in winning this award.

An artistic outing...

Whilst on our trip to Paris, I decided to take the opportunity to do a little design research with the S2 art students. On the Wednesday afternoon Ailie, Rebecca, Lara, Beth, Jonathan and I (and Dr Rankin as our much needed translator!) set off on a hunt for "Les Grands Magasins" otherwise known as the designer shops. 

Two of the fashion designers we study during the art course are John Galliano and Issey Miyake both of whom have shops in Paris. Not only did we manage to successfully negotiate the metro (thanks to Dr R!) but we also found their shops and saw some examples of their work. It was interesting to see how Galliano used text in his designs as well as creatively displaying his work on a cycling theme!  In particular the staff at the Issey Miyake shop were very helpful and informative - they spent a lot of time explaining and illustrating the A-POC technology they use to create their clothes. We also saw examples of their successful "Pleats Please" technique.

Beth and Jonathan are 'reading' this Galliano dress which has been created from fabric printed with newspaper style letters that customers have written to the designer and his subsequent replies...



Galliano used bicycle wheels as display shelves for his accessories and a bike saddle and handlebars as the rails on which to hang his work!

The Issey Miyake staff were very friendly and helpful - in particular I found the visit here very interesting.



Finally, an added bonus to the trip was discovering a giant, pink Dior bunny at the side of the road on the way to the Galliano shop in the 'Galeries Lafayette'.... bizarre!

Elsa Schiaparelli

S2 art students have been undertaking some independent research on the lives and work of some interesting fashion designers. This forms part of their NAB for the Art and Design Studies unit of the art course as well as gives them ideas for their own work.

Today we began looking at the eccentric, avant garde, and very innovative designer from the 30's and 40's - Elsa Schiaparelli. She took a great deal of influence from Surrealist artists such as Dali and was a pioneer of new techniques and materials in her day. 

S2 enjoyed their introduction to her work even if they thought it was a bit bizarre! Here are some of the examples we looked at:

Performance!

S2 Dramatists gave a performance of the Narnia extract they have been working on to the rest of their class as well as pupils in S3/4 and S1. Despite the heavens opening and the rain trying to distract them in the middle of the performance (it can be very loud in the GP room where we were working), they managed to carry on regardless and all did very well. Here are some photos where you can see them setting up the stage, getting the sound effects ready and applying the make up as well as each of them in costume. 

The bin bags you can see the pupils sticking down in the first photo go underneath white sheets to create a snow-like look and crunching sound when you walk over them. The gruesome special effects are all down to Lara's excellent make up skills!

Mask making

S1 have been using experimenting with construction methods and using different media in art - they have been working with plastic, card, foam, tape, wire and mod roc to make masks for our design project. Scott, who has just joined the class, has been practising his observational drawing skills and has done a great drawing of a model ship. Here are some pictures of them all working:

P3/4 Sign language

For the 10th Anniversary night, we are performing the song "Can you hear me?" by Bob Chilcot. It is a song about a deaf child's experiences of the world and of communicating them to others. A small group will be singing the song and P3/4 girls will be signing it at the performance.

I have recorded the first verse with signing for the children to work on at home. I have recorded myself doing it with the opposite hand to what it should be so that the children just need to copy exactly what they see and do not need to reverse it themselves!

Here are the words to help you:

I look around me as I grow

I'd like to tell you all I know

I see life with all it's energy

The city streets, the rush of time

This is my world, it's where I like to be

So much to see, so much to find

I sometimes sit and wait a while

I see the sun, it makes me smile

Can you see it?

Can you see it too?

Can you see it?

Can you see it too?

I will record the remaining 2 verses in due course.

Good luck!

Street Child

S2 drama students have begun working on their 2nd extract for their Theatre Production Skills unit - it is from a play set in Victorian times called "Street Child".

Last week we were beginning to source suitable costumes for the characters - Lara is Ma who is very sick and near deaths door, Scott, Beth and Chloe are her 3 children and Alexander is the nasty landlord Mr Spink who is about to throw the poor family out into the street...

Au Revoir...

We had our last ever S3/4 drama class on Wednesday last week. They have all worked well over these last two years and each one has greatly improved their skills. After their successful, assessed performance of a modified version of "An Inspector Calls" last term, all that remains is the exam.... Good Luck!!