Winter 2011 - Newbattle Community High School

NEWBATTLE COMMUNITY HIGH SCHOOL 

Winter 2011 

Issue 17 

Newbattle News 

Return to school: Monday 9th January 2012 

Costa Rica 2011 

Contents 

Page 

Duke of Edinburgh Expedition 

Tall Ships 

2 

Costa Rica Continued 3 

Strawberry DNA Experience 

CDT 3D Printing 

German Café 

Business Enterprise 

Race For Life 2011 

Paris 2011 

Revision of School Dress Code 

4 

5 

6 

Gold Sports Ambassadors 7 

PE at Parliament 

A Bridge Too Far! 

8 

Music Matters 9 

Newbattle Sports & Clubs 10 

Forthcoming Events 11 

Comments From Senior Management 12 

A Team of senior pupils spent three 

weeks in Costa Rica in July 2011: S6 

pupil Sean Rogers-Jones tells their 

story. 

The Costa Rica 2011 expedition was 

exactly what we were told it would be - 

a trip of a lifetime, a life changing experience. 

The team was made up of ten 

students; Adam Lyon, Annie Hall, 

Craig Docking, Laura McLaren, Louise 

Wikinson, Nicole Currie, Ross 

Turnbull, Sarah Landells, Vicki Gibson 

and me and the extremely lucky 

teacher Miss Henry (at least we hope 

she thought she was lucky!) The last 

man on the team was the safety guy, 

our expedition leader (should have 

really been called expedition adviser) 

David Adamson. 

It took 18 months to get us there, with 

endless bag packing, sponsorships and 

tempting bake sales. There was also the 

car washing and the Battle of the Bands 

night. Getting to Costa Rica was a challenge 

in itself: if the fund-raising wasn’t 

challenge enough the long 26-hour day 

getting there was. It was worth it to 

wake up in Costa Rica Bag Packers’ 

hostel, our new home from home for 

the next three weeks. Acclimatising to 

the heat, trying to find something to 

(Continued on page 3) 

Our School of Ambition

Page 2 


A group of Newbattle pupils recently 

braved the craggy heights of the Cairngorms 

in a two day expedition as part 

of their Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) 

Bronze Award. 

The expedition required that the students 

used route cards, a map and a 

compass to hike for 10km to a suitable 

place to set up camp and then trek another 

10km the following day. Not only 

is this a great achievement in itself, but 

add a 12kg rucksack filled with camping 

equipment, food and water, and it becomes 

quite an endurance test. Of 

course there were no showers, toilets or 

microwaves; this was wild camping! 

‘We left school at the ridiculously early hour of 

half seven in the morning. I think it is safe to 

say that everybody, apart from the drivers 

(thankfully) were still half asleep. After a long 

journey in a minibus with a leaking roof we 

arrived in Aviemore. 

We unpacked the van and strapped our excessively 

heavy rucksacks to our backs making us 

look slightly turtle-like in my opinion. But, to 

be honest, I don’t think anybody over the 

course of the weekend was really caring about 

their appearance very much. It is after all, very 

hard to look attractive whilst wearing bulky 

In July 2011 two Newbattle pupils 

Amy Ronaldson and Jonathan Simpson 

took part in the international Tall 

Ships Race organised by Ocean Youth 

Trust Scotland. Jonathan said of his 

experience - ‘The tall ship race was the 

best experience of my life. It has 

changed my outlook on approaching 

new experiences and has helped me 

work better with others. I have learned 

how people from other countries 

work. I really think if you get an opportunity 

of something, go for it! It 

could be fun and an experience that 

you will never forget.’ 

Jonathan Simpson 6P 

Check out our website at www.newbattle.org.uk 

www.facebook.com/newbattlehigh 

Duke of Edinburgh Expedition 

Tall Ships 

walking boots, brightly coloured waterproof 

trousers and a waterproof jacket! 

Each of the groups confronted the challenge 

and made it successfully to camp before dark. 

Although one group took a major detour of 

about two miles, their determination to gain 

something from the past two years’ work 

pushed them on and they found their way to 

camp. 

Once the tents were up everybody tucked into a 

well deserved dinner with the added extra of a 

Your Newbattle Community High School... 

birthday sing song for Mrs Fegen and marshmallows 

and digestives. 

The next morning we all arose from our tents 

with very little energy and enthusiasm. We 

staggered through another day of walking and 

eventually the minibus came into sight. We 

had made it at last. Even though our feet were 

covered with blisters and our backs were aching, 

it was all worth it in the end!’ Andrea 

McGoldrick 4LL 

The Duke of Edinburgh is an award 

scheme which recognises the commitments 

pupils make to learning new 

skills and helping their local community 

through volunteer work. 

‘I really enjoyed doing the Duke of Edinburgh 

award as it gave me a sense of independence. It 

taught me how to navigate and be self sufficient’ 

Sarah Findlay 4DM 

DofE is not only a worthwhile experience 

for young people, it is also recognised 

nationally by schools, further education 

institutions and employers as a 

demonstration of a hard-working, dedicated 

and skilful individual. 

Miss C Miller English

Page 3 



Costa Rica ( Continued) 

(continued from page 1) 

eat, trying to find a bus stop, talking on 

the phone to someone who speaks little 

English and speaking very little Spanish 

all on day one, I think anyone would 

say it was a bit stressful. But after eating 

something and finding that bus stop, 

everything was great and would continue 

to get better over the next three 

days as we travelled to the location for 

the Mirador Trail. 

This trail was amazing: seeing a volcano 

in the distance and staying in a backcountry 

hut overnight with the house 

lodgers- spiders! Some of us didn’t 

mind them, but others did and it became 

quite an eventful night in the 

Cloud Forest. After Mirador we travelled 

to La Flor where we started our 

project work - painting one of the 

school’s class rooms and the outside of 

the Police Station. Both of these jobs 

were hard work but we were all having 

the time of our lives; it probably had 

something to do with the paint fumes 

or the E number filled jelly beans we 

were eating! 

La Flor was not just about the project 

work, it was also about living with local 

families. This experience was different 

for every person because we were split 

into groups of two and stayed with different 

families. This I have to say was 

fun, trying new foods and conversing in 

Spanish. After the fantastic goodbye 

from the village we went water rafting 

down the Reventazon River. It was wet, 

heart pumping, scary and above all fun 

- especially when Craig fell in. 

The final trek was the hardest, climbing 

the 3820m high mountain called Chirripo. 

No small task you might say. After 

the 14.5km walk to base camp we decided 

to leave at 3am to get to the top 

of Chirripo to see the sun rise. When 

the time came - 5.15am, the sun rose. It 

was indescribable. I don’t think that 

anyone there will ever forget that sight. 

Our School of Ambition 

When we got to the top it was cold and 

windy. Seeing both the Pacific and the 

Caribbean coasts from the top was just 

breath taking. 

Everyone got something different from 

this trip, from the smallest ideas to major 

personal growth. We grew in confidence 

and independence. It was indeed 

a trip of a lifetime. 

Sean Rogers-Jones 6M 

Values For Life 

Trust – to feel confident and secure by 

building relationships based on honesty 

and fairness 

Respect – to be considerate of the 

needs, wishes and feelings of others as 

well as your own worth 

Perseverance – continued determination 

to succeed and never give up in 

spite of difficulties 

Responsibility – making informed 

decisions and being accountable for your 

own actions 

Humour – maintain a positive outlook 

on life even in the face of adversity 

Focus – concentrate fully on the task 

in hand and avoid distractions

Page 4 




‘…Fully Licensed Strawberry DNA Extractors’ 

Last June I got the chance to go to 

Heriot-Watt University along with 

nineteen other S1 pupils. When we 

arrived the instructors were late! 

When they arrived at 10.15am. I wasn’t 

sure if I would enjoy this, but 

when we got to the lab, I was mesmerised. 

Sitting between Ethan Souness 

and James Melvin, the instructors 

started the introduction. We were 

extracting DNA from strawberries. 

I’d never done anything 

like this before. 

Firstly we had to prepare 

a DNA extraction 

solution. Ninety millilitres 

of water to three 

grams of salt, mixed in a 

beaker until dissolved. 

Then add ten millilitres 

of cheap washing-up 

liquid. 

We then had to put a 

strawberry in a plastic 

bag, close it and then 

mash the strawberry to a 

pulp for about two minutes. 

Then we added around thirty millilitres 

of the DNA extraction solution 

to the mashed up strawberries 

(picture, bottom right) and put the 

sealed bag in a bath of water 

(temperature at sixty degrees Celsius) 

for fifteen minutes. 

We went and had a snack. 

When we got back to the lab, we had 

to put the bags of strawberry goo in 

ice for five minutes; this helped break 

down the cell membranes from the 

nucleus. 

We then poured the strawberry goo 

into a coffee filter, getting rid of all 

the lumps. 

We poured around twenty millilitres 

of the strawberry liquid into a test 

tube. Then carefully we poured ten 

millilitres of isopropanol (alcohol rubbing 

solution), gradually, so that it 

just sat on top of the strawberry liquid. 

Then we were shown sort of web-like 

white strings in the test tube, which 

was DNA. We had to extract the 

DNA and put it in a smaller test tube. 

At the end we all got given a certificate. 

Mine said ‘This is to certify that 

Tommy Morton is a fully licensed 

strawberry DNA extractor’. It was 

12.30pm. Not a bad Saturday morning, 

I thought. 

Tommy A. Morton, 2BM 

CDT News - 3D Printing comes to Newbattle 

Last session, the CDT department 

took delivery of Midlothian schools’ 

first ever 3-D printer. This was 

funded partly by the Head Teacher, 

Mr Wilson. With Curriculum for Excellence 

now in full swing the CDT 

staff had the opportunity to bring in 

some cutting edge technology and did 

so through the introduction of a 

RAPMAN 3D printer which can create 

products from computer aided 

drawings. This will be used by all of 

the S2 pupils at Newbattle as well as 

some of the senior Product Design 

students. Already the printer has attracted 

the attention of a lot of pupils! 

The S2 pupils will be using the 3D 

printer to design and manufacture 

their very own USB drive case and 

once complete they will have a personalised 

pen drive for using at home. 

The photograph shows the RAP- 

MAN printer and a completed USB 

drive case. 

Your Newbattle Community High School...

Page 5 



German Cafe 

pupils and staff attended the 

event during period two and 

over break to munch lots of 

yummy cake! 

Thank you to EVERYONE 

who was involved! Danke 

schön! 

Shannon McLaughlin 3FP 

Catherine Allan 3IL 

On Thursday 23rd June, Mrs Syme’s 3rd 

year German class ran a German Café 

called ‘Deutsch Delights’. The café was a 

huge success and the class had a great 

time running it! They spent the couple of 

weeks before the café making posters, 

tickets, menus and decorations and practising 

their lines. The pupils welcomed 

and served their customers in German!! 

Lots of third and fourth year language 

This year’s Business Experience involved 

six teams of senior pupils battling against 

each other to be the team that came up 

with the best business idea, produced the 

best business plan and marketing strategy 

and impressed the judge the most, with 

their ‘Dragon’s Den’ type presentation. 

Throughout the two day event the teams 

listened to presentations from a range of 

business people whose presentations 

were designed to equip the teams with 

the necessary skills and knowledge 

needed to develop a business idea. 

In the true entrepreneurial spirit of the 

competition each of the teams came up 

with an innovative idea for a product or 

service. Zang Technologies with their 

IT solutions/repair service, Hot Feet 

Business Experience 

with their range of designer heated wellies, 

Jungle Shakes with a variety of 

healthy animal themed drinks, Welcome 

with a comprehensive and creative tourist 

welcome pack, Shmuzz with a quirky 

range of hats with integrated headphone 

technology and Impact with an inspirational 

phone cover that reacts on impact 

to protect a mobile phone. 


A key element to the success of the 

groups taking part was the use of teamwork 

throughout the competition. Their 

idea had to be fully researched and developed 

and their business plan, which involved 

a range of activities, fully completed 

by the deadline given. All members 

of the team had to make a contribution 

to the presentation to the bank manager 

and each team even had to record a 

radio jingle as part of their marketing 

campaign. 

The judge from the Royal Bank of Scotland 

commented that she was really impressed 

with the high standard of presentations 

from the competing teams, but 

two teams in particular made their mark. 

The winning team: Impact – Ally Forrester, 

Ashleigh Dubickas, Lianna Hamilton, 

Annie Hall, Rachel Morrison, Lindsey 

Thomson and Abbie Bell. 

The runners up Shmuzz – Chanisse 

Brown, Nicole Currie, Lisa Musenga, Jade 

Weir, Robyn McArthur and Stacey 

McCaig. 

A prize was also awarded for the best 

radio jingle which went to Jungle 

Shakes – Dale Drummond, Abbie Bryson, 

Nicola Malko, Rhonda Robertson 

and Nora Kvanvig. 

The two teams chosen for their innovative 

ideas will represent Newbattle in the 

Business Experience Regional Final on 

the 8 th November. 

Mrs Knox, Head of Business Education

Page 6 


Race for Life 2011 


On Sunday 19 th June, 19 staff and 19 

pupils represented Newbattle in this 

year's Race for Life, an annual charity 

event held at Holyrood Park to raise 

money for cancer charities. 

After a delayed start of 40 minutes, 

everyone completed the 5K challenge, 

some of the team running, some walking 

and all of them smiling throughout. 

The pupils were a credit to the school 

in their Team Newbattle t-shirts, as 

were the staff of course! 

The paparazzi were on hand in the 

form of Mr. Watkins and Mr Inverarity 

who came along to cheer us on. We 

had aimed to raise £1000 for Cancer 

Research but as a result of everyone’s 

generosity we managed to raise a grand 

total of £2004. 

A big thank you from the team for your 

support and we’re already looking forward 

to next year! 

Susan Bennett Team Newbattle, 

RfL, 2011 

One night, around 40 pupils and four 

staff from Newbattle spent 19 hours 

on the bus to go to Paris. When we got 

to the hotel, we were so tired and so 

hot that we went to a local park to chill 

out for a while. On the Tuesday we 

went to the Eiffel Tower. It was very 

tall but we only went up to the 2 nd level 

(that was high enough!). After that, we 

went to the Jardin d’Acclimation, a 

small theme park, where we had a lot 

of fun. In the evening we had a boat 

Paris 2011 

ride on the River Seine. It was magical 

when the Eiffel Tower sparkled in the 

dark. 

On the Wednesday we went to Euro 

Disney all day and that was amazing! 

The Thursday, we went to Notre 

Dame, the Louvre and Sacré Coeur. It 

was a lot of walking but it was worth it 

seeing the Mona Lisa and other famous 

paintings. 

Pupils from 2GP and 2KL 

Revisions to School Dress Code 

Following consultation with parents 

and pupils the school will have a revised 

dress code for session 2012-13. 

The main change to the current policy 

is that pupils from S1-S4 will be required 

to wear a white shirt with collar, 

a school tie and a plain black cardigan 

or jumper. A new S1-S4 school tie is 

being designed by pupils and will be 

made available to parents on time for 

the new session. 

If current S1-S4 pupils wish to wear a 

white shirt and plain black cardigan or 

jumper they can do so immediately. 

Our dress code of plain black trousers, 

jeans or skirt remains. Please note that 

the previous policy of accepting 

‘cottons’ or plain ‘trackies’ was revised 

two years ago and these articles of 

clothing are no longer accepted in 

school. 

Please help us to help your children 

look as smart as they can. 


Page 7 


Sarah Findlay 4DM 

and Gareth Fleming 

4IL were chosen as 

Newbattle High 

School’s Gold Sports 

Ambassadors. Both 

students were selected 

due to their 

commitment to sport 

and positive attitude 

towards new challenges. 

Sarah is a talented 

basketball 

player representing 

the school as well as being selected to 

play U14 Edinburgh and District basketball. 

Gareth has represented the 

school at rugby, football and athletics 

and is currently a county representative 

for East and Midlothian Football 

and Athletics (javelin and pole vault). 

Gareth and Sarah were given the opportunity 

to attend a National conference 

run by the Youth Sport Trust to 

launch the promotion of the Olympic 

and Paralympics games in 2012. The 

conference was attended by two 

Young Ambassadors from every 

Council in Scotland with Gareth and 

Sarah representing Midlothian. The 

conference opened with the Young 

Ambassadors being given the chance 

Ryan Somerville 6M for 

becoming the first ever 

player to score 100 goals 

for the school football 

team, and for making 100 

appearances. 


Gold Sports Ambassadors 

to see and have their photo taken 

with a 2012 Olympic Torch. The 

Torch has 8000 holes in its design to 

represent the 8000 people who will 

carry it around Britain to light the 

cauldron in London, next July. 

The Young Ambassadors were then 

split into host countries and mentored 

by a world class athlete. Newbattle’s 

Ambassadors were part of the 

Athens team mentored by World 

Champion Bobsleigh athlete, Nicola 

Minichello. In their workshops they 

discussed and planned ideas as well as 

creating a Cheerleading routine! 

Peter Cocking 5CM for 

receiving a Rotary Club 

award and making a 20 

minute presentation to the 

Rotary Club. 

Congratulations to... 

Russell Hogg 3EP, Gareth 

Fleming 4IL, Declan 

Dalgleish 3GP for being 

selected for the East & 

Midlothian under 15 

county football team. 

In the afternoon Gareth and Sarah 

were involved in a question and answer 

session with five 

times world champion 

rower Katherine 

Grainger and Commonwealth 

and European 

medallist Lee 

McConnell. This gave 

them an insight into 

the time, support and 

dedication required to 

reach your goals. 

Both Young Ambassadors 

will be actively 

promoting sport and 

participation throughout the year at 

Newbattle, in addition to raising the 

profile of the London 2012 Games. 

They plan to run assemblies, a Primary 

school event, and a mini Olympics/Paralympics 

games in order to 

encourage an active and healthy lifestyle. 

This is a key aim for the Legacy 

of the Games. They will also be selecting 

S3 Bronze Sport Ambassadors 

to help run events and further promote 

London 2012. 

Grant Nelson 2AM for being selected by Rangers FC to travel on tour to Russia. 

Mrs A. Alexander 

PE/Pupil Leadership 

Daniel Dempster 5DM 

for winning a scholarship 

to gain his glider pilot's 

licence and becoming one 

of the youngest sergeants 

in the UK cadets. 


Page 8 


Newbattle PE staff speak up in Parliament 


On Friday 26 th August after school 

finished, the whole PE staff rushed 

home to change and set off to Edinburgh 

to the Scottish Parliament for 

a General Teaching Council Debate 

being held in the main chamber. The 

debate was being held as part of the 

GTC Festival of Politics and was entitled 

‘Is Scottish education inspiring 

our pupils to reach for the sporting 

challenges?’ 

Newbattle PE staff joined other invited 

PE colleagues from all over 

Scotland as well Sports Development, 

Active schools, Disability Sport and 

sports media representatives in a full 

house. The panel included Mr Tony 

Finn (GTC Chief Executive), Mr 

Stewart Harris (Chief Executive of 

Sport Scotland) and Mr John Beattie 

(BBC Scotland and former Scotland 

Rugby player). The panel was chaired 

by Mrs Tricia Marwick, the Presiding 

Officer of the Scottish Parliament. 

The panel set out their ideas for or 

against the motion and then the debate 

was opened up to the floor. Mr 

Mr Bayne and Miss Blair have been 

hard at work recently on another exciting 

unit in CDT. The recent introduction 

of the S2 bridge building unit 

A Bridge Too Far! 

develops the pupil’s knowledge of 3D 

objects, which demonstrate strengthening, 

energy transfer and movement. 

The pupils get the chance to build as 

Baxter and Mr Foley posed questions 

to the panel although it was daunting 

speaking in such a venue. Mrs Alexander 

said that both Mr Baxter and 

Mr Foley used their ‘posh voices’. 

The debate finished after an hour 

with the agreement that some areas 

were doing so much to inspire and 

that some areas were not, but it was 

agreed all could still improve. After 

the debate the GTC had laid on a 

superb reception in the Lobby with 

food and beverages. This was the opportunity 

for the Newbattle PE staff 

to network and connect with many 

groups and associations to again bring 

more to the PE Curriculum at school. 

In fact the staff were networking so 

much we were the last to leave! An 

exciting and rewarding experience for 

all the PE staff at the Scottish Parliament 

. 

Mr Foley 

Head of PE 

many as nine different bridges! 

After some serious bridge building, 

the pupils are then split into 

groups and are allocated one of 

the nine bridges. Their challenge 

is to come up with a company 

name and present their bridge to 

their peers through a power 

point presentation. 

The evidence so far suggests there are 

some budding engineers at Newbattle 

High School! 


Page 9 



Music Matters 

The Music department has been very 

busy in the first half of this year. 

Bands and groups have been rehearsing 

at lunchtimes preparing for concerts 

and open nights. 

The Rhythm and Blues Orchestra is 

conducted by Mr A Knox and involves 

all of the brass, wind, violin 

and percussion pupils in the school. 

The band has, in previous years, been 

asked to perform at a variety of 

events such as the switching on of 

Mayfield lights, the Royal Highland 

Show and a tour of primary schools. 

The tour of primaries this year was a 

huge success with the band visiting 

three of the six feeder primaries for 

Newbattle. In each of their concerts 

the individual sections were featured 

and the primary pupils got to see how 

the instruments worked. The Jazz 

Band also had a spot in these concerts 

and were able to show off how 

versatile we are in the department. 

The Jazz Band will be playing at Dobbies 

on the 19 th December between 1 

and 3 pm. Please come along and 

support the group if you are free. 

Our Peak Performance class had a 

visit from former Newbattle pupil 

and West End star Ashleigh Gray. 

Ashleigh took the pupils, who are all 

singers, through a vocal warm-up and 

then did a master class with two of 

our senior pupils, Lianna Hamilton 

and Eireann MacIntyre. Both girls 

sang to Ashleigh and she worked with 

them on projecting their voice and 

improving their confidence and stage 

presence. All of the pupils involved 

learned a lot from the workshop and 

it has encouraged them to work 

harder at their singing and to be more 

confident. 

If your child is interested in playing 

an instrument or participating in a 

lunchtime group please see Miss 

Maynes or a member of the Music 

Department. The Vocal Group and 

Keyboard Club are open to all. 

Miss Nicola Maynes 

Head of Music and Drama 


Page 10 



Newbattle Sports and Clubs Programme 

Newbattle has a comprehensive programme of sports activities and clubs that youngsters and staff can get involved in. 

The aim is to promote Health and Wellbeing physically, mentally and socially. The current programme is listed below. 

MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY 

Lunchtime Lunchtime Lunchtime Lunchtime 

5 A Side Football League 




S1/S2/S3 

S1/S2/S3 

S1/S2/S3 

S1/S2/S3 

Astro 

Astro 

Astro 

Astro 

SFA Coaches 

SFA Coaches 

SFA Coaches 

SFA Coaches 

Graphic Novel Club 

The Library 

Mr McRobbie 

Basketball Shooting Clinic 

Games Hall 

Mr Foley 

1300-1330 

Table Tennis Club 

S1-6 

PE 

Mr Davidson 

Soccer Two-Football 

Boys & Girls S1-3 

Games Hall/Astro 

Amy Young/James Grubb 

Book Club S1--6 

Craft Club 

1245-1345 

Lunchtime Swim S1/2 

The Library 

Home Economics 

Pool 1250-1325 

Mr McRobbie 

Mrs Gracie 

Mr Anderson 

S1-3 Keyboards Club 

Music Department 

Ms Wilkie 

After School After School After School After School 

Basketball Club 

Boys & Girls S1--6 

Games Hall 

Mr Foley & Mrs Alexander 

1530-1700 

Dance Club 

S1/2 

Dance Studio 

1610-1700 

Mrs Fegen 

S1 – S4 Netball Club 

Games Hall 

Mrs Alexander 

1530-1700 

Skiing Club 

Staff Fitness 

Games Hall 

Mrs Fegen 

1530-1700 

Climbing Club 

Various locations 

1540-2000 

Mr Bayne 

Mr Anderson 

Hillend 

School Football Teams 

U13 Mr Baxter 

U14 Mr Napier 

U15 Mr Frame 

U16 Mr Davidson 

Seniors Mr Moore 

Games after school and 

Saturdays 

Hockey Club 

Astro Pitch 

1530-1640 

Maths Revision 

Mr Anderson 

1530-1630 

Maths Staff 

Rugby Club S1 –6 

Staff & Senior Pupils 

5 A Side Football 

For more 

Chemistry Revision 

1530-1630 

Mrs McKimmie/Miss 

Philp/Miss OBrien 

Rugby Pitch 

Mr Wilson/Mr Porteous 

SRU Coaches 

Astro 

1545-1730 

Mr Moore 

information 

contact 

Mr Foley PE 


Page 11 



Forthcoming Events 

7Th February 2012 

7-9pm 

Main Hall 

Newbattle CHS. 

Dance Showcase at Newbattle 

Dance Groups 

S1-S6 Afterschool Club 

S2/5/6 Peak Performance 

S3 National Progression Award 

S4 Dance Academy 

Family, friends 

and Newbattle 

supporters all 

welcome! 

Senior Coursing Evening 

& 

Careers Event 

23rd February 2012 

1830 to 2030 

Main Hall 

Newbattle Community High 

School 

Peak Performance Pupils Make an Exhibition of Themselves! 

S2 and S5 Peak Performance pupils 

are currently working on projects on a 

Wednesday afternoon. These projects 

will contribute to an end of year exhibition. 

We have previously had two 

1000 x 1000 exhibitions where all 

pupils in the school have contributed 

work from across subjects to celebrate 

the diverse and exciting range of work 

taking place across the school. 

The concept of the exhibition has 

been to include 1000 pieces of work 

from 1000 pupils and staff. This year’s 

exhibition will continue with this tradition, 

and represent as many of our 

pupils as possible. 

There will be a variety of pieces of 

work included that have been created 

in Peak Performance. In Home Economics 

they are working on a fabric 

hanging. CDT pupils are involved in 

two projects: designing a F1 racing car 

and individual woodwork pieces. 

Dance and Music pupils are creating 

performances that will create an exciting 

exhibition opening. Media are 

linking with Music and Drama to create 

music videos and a film. Art will 

also be premiering animated films. 

Both pupils and staff are looking forward 

to an exciting evening and exhibition. 

Business pupils will be taking 

on the important job of advertising, 

promoting and selling tickets for the 

opening evening on Thursday 31 st 

May 2011 and the viewing day on 

Friday 1 st June. Put the dates in your 

diary! 

Newbattle Community 

High School 

Winter Concert 

Wednesday 7th December 2011 

7.30pm 

Main Hall 

Tickets £4/£2 

Parent Council Meetings 

Wednesday 23rd November 2011 

Wednesday 18th January 2012 

Wednesday 22nd February 2012 

Wednesday 21st March 2012 

Wednesday 9th May 2012 

The meetings are held in the school library at 

Newbattle Community High School at 7pm 

All parents are welcome to attend. 

For further information please contact the school. 



Comments 

From 

Senior Management 

Term Ends Friday 23rd December 2011 

All Resume Monday 9th January 2012 

February Break Friday 10th February 2012 

Staff Resume Monday 20th February 2012 

Term Ends Friday 30th March 2012 

Newbattle Community 

High School 

What great things our pupils achieved 

last year! The young people of whom 

we are so proud worked well and 

worked hard, and they took advantage 

of the many opportunities that Newbattle 

gives them. The vast majority of our 

pupils also conducted themselves well 

throughout the year in their classes and 

around the school. When combined 

with the committed and talented staff 

who work at Newbattle, this was a recipe 

for major success. The proof was in 

the pudding. 

Pupils in S4 last year produced the best 

results in the history of the school. 

More pupils than ever passed five or 

more Credit or Intermediate 2 courses. 

In S5 the story was the same, with the 

highest ever number of pupils passing 

three or more Higher courses. Newbat- 

Holidays 

tle also had the best overall improvements 

in attainment of all the secondary 

schools in Midlothian. Exam results 

have got better and better each 

year for the past five years here, giving 

our school leavers a better chance of 

going into employment, college or university. 

The teachers are very proud of 

what their pupils have achieved and I 

am sure their parents and families are 

too. 

There is more to life and school than 

exam results though, and here our 

young people have excelled again. In 

the sports and arts pupils reached new 

heights, with teams achieving personal 

bests, winning competitions and producing 

shows which thoroughly impressed 

and entertained the community. 

Our pupils also grabbed opportunities 

to gain life experiences 

with groups travelling 

to Paris and Denmark 

64 Easthouses Road 

Dalkeith 

Midlothian 

EH22 4EW 

and two young people participating in a 

once in a lifetime experience as crew 

members on the Tall Ships Race. Lives 

were changed too as a result of the trip 

taken by senior pupils to Costa Rica 

where they gained so much personally 

whilst contributing to improving conditions 

for local people. These are only a 

few examples of what our pupils 

achieved. 

So it is with great confidence that we 

embark on a new year. The talent is 

here and the opportunities are here, so 

focus and perseverance are the vital 

ingredients that we require from our 

pupils. If we continue to work together 

with our children and young people at 

the centre we can look forward to them 

achieving even more next year. 

John Wilson 

Acting Head Teacher 

Newbattle Community High School 2012 Calendar 

An exciting selection of pupils’ work. 

Only £5 available from the school office. 

Get yours now! 

Telephone 0131 663 4191 

Fax 0131 654 2611 

Email newbattle_ hs@midlothian.gov.uk 

Website www.newbattle.org.uk 

Find home study resources, latest news, photos and more at www.newbattle.org.uk 

Get our latest news delivered 

to you automatically via 

Facebook or Twitter 


twitter.com/newbattlehigh 

See videos from 

Newbattle past and 

present on Youtube 

www.youtube.com/newbattlehigh 

Return to school Monday 9th January 2012

Winter 2011 - Newbattle Community High School

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?