newsletter june 2008 - Craigmount High School

CRAIGMOUNT HIGH SCHOOL 

PARENTS’ NEWSLETTER 

JUNE 2008 

WELCOME TO OUR NEW FIRST 

YEAR 

This week, our new first year come from 

their primary schools to visit us. We 

wish them well and look forward to 

them becoming part of the Craigmount 

community. 

EVENING OF CELEBRATION 

Wednesday 11 June saw the annual 

Evening of Celebration take place in the 

school. Many students were rewarded 

publicly for their achievements. The 

keynote speaker, Margo MacDonald 

MSP, entertained the audience and had 

wise words to pass on to the students. 

The entertainment was provided by 

various ensembles and once again a 

superb evening was enjoyed by all. 

STAFFING NEWS 

This summer we have a number of 

significant retirals. Mr Keith Wood 

DHT, Mrs Pat Lamont DHT, Mr Martin 

Bryden PT History, Mr Ian Somerville 

PT Physical Education, Ms Helen Tait, 

Senior Technician all leave us. These 

members of our staff have given decades 

of service to Scottish Education and to 

Craigmount. I fear that we will lose a 

great deal of expertise but we will build 

on the legacy of achievement they have 

left us. 

In order to give our colleagues an 

appropriate send-off classes will finish at 

2.30pm on Thursday 26 th June. 

Arrangements will be made for any 

www.craigmount.edin.sch.uk 

student who wishes to stay in school 

until 3.30pm. 

Also leaving us this summer are Mrs Jen 

Robertson (Music), Mrs Janet McColl 

(Senior Clerical) and our probationer 

teachers Ms Katherine Lothian, Ms Rona 

Matheson and Ms Anna Rothwell. We 

wish them all well! Congratulations to 

Ms Annette Maloney who has secured a 

full time permanent post in Craigmount. 

DRESS CODE 

The appearance of students can be a 

significant sign to others of ethos and 

atmosphere in the school. By wearing 

school uniform there is a greater sense of 

equality among students. The uniform 

gives a clear sense of identity with the 

school and it makes security in the 

building easier to maintain. 

All students should wear: 

• a white or navy blue school 

poloshirt AND a navy blue school 

sweatshirt OR 

• a white or black shirt with a 

school tie 

• black or navy self-coloured 

trousers or skirt. (As a guide trousers 

should be darker in colour than the 

school sweatshirt 

Craigmount sweatshirts (£16) and 

poloshirts (£11) will be available from 

the school during the holiday. They 

will be on sale from 9am to 1pm from 

Monday to Thursday. 

The following are not acceptable: 

• jeans 

• light coloured trousers 

• trousers with any form of logo, 

stripes etc 

• clothing which is deemed 

inappropriate for school 

• any garments which may present 

a safety hazard e.g. crop tops, sleeveless 

tops, baggy trousers and any item made 

Please remember the Craigmount Absence Line – 0131 338 4763 

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of highly flammable material. Students 

failing to comply will not be permitted 

to do practical work 

• any items of jewellery which 

may present a health and safety hazard 

to the student or to other students 

• chains hanging from clothing 

• caps 

• football tops or other garments 

worn at PE are not allowed to be worn in 

other parts of the school 

Though not a school rule, the preferred 

attire for S5 and S6 students is shirt and 

tie. There is no rule on footwear, but 

black shoes are preferred to white 

trainers, as this enables us to ensure that 

footwear used on the street is not worn 

in Physical Education. 

Please note that S5/6 students who 

arrive at school not in school uniform 

are likely to be sent home to change. 

PARENT COUNCIL 

The Parent Council are holding a car 

boot sale on Saturday 6 th September 

2008 10am to 1pm within Craigmount 

High School Car Park. Spaces, at a cost 

of £5, can be booked by contacting 

Lorna Murray on telephone number 

0131 339 6823 x 264, or 

lorna.murray@craigmount.edin.sch.uk 

All monies raised will be used to 

support extra curricular 

activities/resources for students at our 

school. Please support our venture by 

either booking a space, or attending on 

the day! 

CLIMBING AT RATHO 

Erin Thomson (209) writes; 

By ten o’clock we were looking out over 

the Edinburgh International Climbing 

Arena (EICA) at Ratho, a fifteen minute 

drive from Craigmount. For some people 

this was their first time climbing at 

Ratho. Everybody was excited and a bit 

nervous. 


We had four instructors who took us to 

get our equipment; shoes, a harness and 

a helmet. The shoes were really tight, a 

bit like ballet shoes. Later we split up 

into small groups of six. 

During the morning, we climbed the 

walls and the boulders. At least two 

people have to belay (keep the rope 

secure and keep them safe) while 

someone is climbing. For climbers of all 

abilities, there are walls from thirty feet 

to one hundred feet, so you can progress 

throughout the day. Looking at the 

‘Skyride’ from the arena, a few of us 

were a bit apprehensive! 

After lunch, it was time for the Abseil 

and the Skyride. This is definitely the 

scariest part of the day. We abseiled 

inside then we climbed off the banister 

then let ourselves down a rope. For the 

Skyride, we got stronger harnesses, 

which are attached to a rail. You just 

jump off the top of the centre (one 

hundred feet), and the rail takes you onto 

the aerial assault course. It’s not that 

scary, it’s really exciting and I think it’s 

the best activity at Ratho. 

We are really lucky to have EICA. It is 

the biggest climbing arena in the world. 

I would definitely recommend it. 

MODERN STUDIES NEWS 

Over the last term the department has 

been involved in a variety of activities. 

A highly motivated group of S2 students 

took part in the nationwide BBC schools 

report 2008. You can view their video 

presentation on the home page of the 

Craigmount High School website 

www.craigmount.edin.sch.uk. 

The groups report was commended and 

they won an award for their efforts. 

Standard Grade students again took part 

in the Lothian and Borders Police essay 

writing competition. This year’s theme 

was how young people can help the 

police force. Two Craigmount students, 


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Ian Williamson and Zoe Smith won 

prizes. 

Intermediate 2 Modern Studies students 

enjoyed understanding the Brazil unit 

better with an organised trip to the Brazil 

restaurant, Brazilian Sensation. The 

highlight for many being the fruit 

flavoured ice-cream. 

Intermediate 2 Media Students attended 

a screening of the Last King of Scotland 

as well as a media studies workshop on 

advertising, film classification and 

censorship. 

All Higher students took part in a very 

successful neighbourhood revision 

conference with fellow students from 

Royal High, Forrester’s and St. 

Augustines. Presentations from Child 

Poverty Action, Margaret Smith MSP 

and John Barratt MP as well Paul 

Heward from the Defence Academy of 

the United Kingdom helped enrich their 

understanding of curricular areas. 

GIRLS’ TECHNOLOGICAL 

SKILLS BRIDGE THE GAP 

Craigmount’s CDT department entered 3 

teams of students to compete against 7 

other Lothian schools in the Rotary 

Technology Tournament on 7 th March. 

The teams sacrificed their Friday 

afternoon to pit their bridge design and 

construction skills against some 

impressive competition at the all-day 

event held at The Royal High School. 

The Advanced Team comprised Niall 

Laing, Ross Laing, Mark Lovatt and 

Nick Harrigan, who created a lifting 

structure along the lines of London’s 

Tower Bridge. Craig Thomson, Jamie 

Fraser, Liam Smith and Blair Stuart 

formed the Intermediate Team with a 

bold attempt at a long lifting span that 

didn’t quite achieve the load test. 

It was the all girls team of Anna Wilson, 

Kelly Gunter, Laura Cleary and Ellie 

Blair that stole the limelight with a 

comprehensive design folio and unique 


arch bridge that so impressed the judges. 

The girls came home with 1 st Prize and a 

fine cut glass trophy. 

MATHEMATICAL CHALLENGE 

SUCCESS 

This year 110 pupils volunteered to enter 

the UK Junior Mathematical Challenge 

(S1 and S2) and 74 pupils volunteered to 

enter the UK Intermediate Mathematical 

Challenge (S3 and S4). 

The UKJMC and UKIMC encourage 

mathematical reasoning, precision of 

thought, and fluency in using basic 

mathematical techniques to solve nonstandard 

problems….. The problems are 

designed to make pupils think, and 

sometimes smile. 

Certificates are awarded to the highest 

scoring 40% of candidates. (6% Gold, 

13% Silver, 21% Bronze). We are 

delighted that 88 pupils achieved awards 

including; 

UKJMC 

SILVER (S1) Callum Mclean, Andrew 

Bell, Emma Bird, Robert Joffe, Tomasz 

Stevens, Helmi Fraser, Kyle Weir 

GOLD (S2) Cameron Ross (Best in 

School), Srikar Ganachari, Kirsty Gaul, 

Samuel Ramsey, Anna Wilson, Caitlin 

McMillan, Moray Smith 

SILVER (S2) Shona McDonald, Euan 

Brockie, Lizzie Welham, Adam Scott, 

Curtis Farrer, Ellen Atkinson, Sadaf 

Sohrabi, Gordon Hunter, Scott Lindsay, 

Sarah Roxburgh, Sam Serrels, 

Alexandria Rutherford, Charlotte Fraser, 

Jack Cameron, Jessica Browne, Joshua 

Taylor, Stuart Lindsay 

UKIMC 

GOLD (S3) Adam Brand (Best in 

School), Neil Christy, Joe Burnett 

SILVER (S3) Josh Brown. Emma 

McDougall, Mark Somerville, Gavin 


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Todd, Arran Macquarie, Hayden Gray, 

Jack Taylor, Iona Frost 

SILVER (S4) Amy Burdon, Alice 

Main, Fiona Holm, Anita Evens, 

Rebecca Ravie. 

Well done to all winners! 

MULTICULTURAL CRAIGMOUNT 

Mr Jim Aitken, from our English 

Department, recently published a book 

on the multicultural composition of 

Craigmount High. Our school has an 

increasing number of students and staff 

who have come from abroad, or have 

parents who were born outside the UK. 

The book ' Jock Campbell's Bairns' 

reveals the results of 24 student 

interviews and 11 staff interviews; there 

are also poems from students and essays 

on language, Fairtrade, the Comenius 

project and the Curriculum for 

Excellence. 

There was a launch night on 4th June to 

a packed crowd in the staff-room. Some 

of our student poets including Iona 

Laing (S4) and Michaella Finnigan (S6) 

read out their poems. The Craigmount 

Ceilidh Collective played some 

wonderful Scottish pieces and three of 

our Muslim students - Laith Khweir 

(S5), Sophia Bashir (S6) and Farooq 

Javed (S6) - read a memorable script 

about being Scottish Muslims. David 

Wright (S6) ended the evening on the 

bagpipes with The Massacre of Glencoe. 

A great evening was had by all who 

attended and the evening itself was 

compered by the author. 

CASHLESS CATERING CARDS 

Students can only purchase food and 

drinks within Craigmount using their 

cashless catering cards. The machines 

for putting money onto their cashless 

catering cards do not accept paper notes. 

Coins between the value of 10 pence and 


£2 are required. It would be greatly 

appreciated if you could ensure that your 

child has sufficient coins when leaving 

for school. 

MUSIC TOUR TO THE 

NETHERLANDS 21 ST - 27 TH JUNE 

A party of 98 students and 12 staff will 

be travelling to the Netherlands next 

week. The party will be giving three 

concerts when they are there; in Delft 

Market Place, in the bandstand in 

Valkenburg and at Broekhin College in 

Roermund. They will also enjoy a day at 

De Efteling Theme Park and visit a 

chocolate factory in Bruges! Bon 

voyage! 

PUPILS MEET DOLPHINS AND 

WHALES 

Eleven Craigmount pupils rose to the 

challenge of crewing Alba Explorer, a 

22m round-the-world racing yacht, on a 

one week west coast sailing expedition 

during Alternative Timetable Week. 

Alisha Barnett, Jackson Brand, Annabel 

Chau, Ronan Docherty, May Duncan, 

Thomas Gates, Matthew Gibbens, 

Caroline King, Ewan Simpson, Jordan 

Smith and Jamie Snape travelled by 

mini-bus to Oban where we caught a 

small ferry across to Kerrera. Following 

winch drills and safety briefings, kitted 


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out in foul weather gear and lifejackets, 

we set sail in moderate winds for the 

Firth of Lorne for some tacking drills 

and man overboard practice, before 

calling into Dunstaffnage. 

Tuesday morning found us scooting 

along the south side of Mull, with 

spinnaker set, to anchor off Erraid in the 

weak evening sunshine. Jackson braved 

the chilly waters, with a dive from the 

dinghy, to lead the shore party onto a 

cow-littered beach. Later, with very 

light winds, we motored our way past 

the holy island of Iona, and in darkness, 

crept into Ulva to anchor at midnight. A 

brisk morning hill climb was followed 

by an amazing visit to the puffin 

peppered island of Lunga, where sadly, 

the drizzle set in, and remained for our 

sail through the night to arrive at 7am in 

Castle Bay on Barra. The crew enjoyed a 

few hours catch-up on sleep whilst we 

waited for the ferry to arrive and depart, 

so that Alba Explorer could take its 

place alongside the pier. The lure of Mr 

Arbuckle and party (who were on Eigg) 

had us sailing another night passage, this 

time to Eigg, accompanied by two 

graceful Minke whales, a pod of cheeky 

bottle nosed dolphins and a stunning 

sunset. Friday was a day for beach 

games and barbeque in the baking heat 

of Loch Cean Traigh before a cunning 

pirate attack on our sister ship and a 

reluctant run down the Sound of Mull 

back to home. 

We sailed a total of 201 miles. Six 

students earned the Royal Yachting 

Association Competent Crew certificate 

and five the Start Yachting certificate. 

CRAIGMOUNT SPORTS CLUB 

Bob Laurie (Active Schools 

Coordinator) writes; 

Here we are at the end of another 

sporting year in which there have been 

so many highlights it is difficult to single 

out one activity: 


• The Gymnastics Team won the 

Scottish Championships at levels 1 & 2 

for the second year in a row. 

• The mixed Senior team won the 

Benmore Outdoor Adventure 

competition. 

• The 2 nd year Netball team won the 

Scottish Cup – best final I have 

witnessed!! 

• The U16 Boys Football Team won 

the League Championship. 

• The Senior Boys Football Team won 

the League Championship and League 

Cup - the first time the double has been 

achieved by any of our Senior teams. 

Teams and individuals have been 

entered for many other competitions this 

year without winning trophies. However, 

success can also be measured by the 

enjoyment of just participating, and our 

students were certainly given every 

opportunity to take part in the extensive 

range of twenty two sporting activities 

on offer after school and at weekends. 

Next year there could even be more – 

watch this space! What other school in 

Edinburgh provides such an extensive 

and varied programme? 

S3-FARM VISIT 

On Monday 26 th May a group of third 

year students left for a day in East 

Lothian to learn about farming. The trip 

was well timed as we had only recently 

finished a unit on farming and recent 

changes on farms. Throughout our visit 

we all noticed many features and ideas 

we had been learning about such as the 

removal of hedgerows and 

mechanisation. In the morning we 

visited East Mains Farm which is an 

arable farm. This means it specializes in 

growing crops but Farmer Morton also 

keeps a few chickens and lambs. Some 

of the students even helped to collect the 

freshly laid eggs. After lunch we 

travelled into the Lammermuir Hills to 


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see a livestock farm. We learned all 

about the treatment of the sheep and 

cows and the changes which have and 

are still taking place on the farm. 

During the day we noticed many of the 

different features we were taught about 

in school and learned more about them. 

Later, after our day out at the farms we 

returned back to school. 

FREE SCHOOL MEALS AND 

ASSISTANCE WITH UNIFORM 

Are you in receipt of Income Support 

and/or income based Jobseeker’s 

Allowance? If so you are entitled to 

claim free school meals for your child 

and assistance with school wear. Even if 

you do not wish to take up your 

entitlement it is of great help to the 

school if you apply, as many grants are 

given to the school on the basis of the 

number of students claiming these 

benefits. 

ABSENCE CALL 

You will be aware that Craigmount High 

School implemented, during the first 

quarter of 2007, an automatic 

communication system that contacts you 

directly should your child be marked 

absent at registration. This ensures that 

the reason for the absence is known as 

soon as possible and also alerts you if 

your child is not in school when he/she 

should be. It would help us if you could 

let us know, as soon as possible, if your 

child will be absent from school for 

whatever reason. We have set up a 24 

hour answering machine for this purpose 

on 0131 338 4763. 

We have recently extended this service 

in order to let you know if your child is 

late in arriving at school. We do not 

require a reason for their lateness but 

would appreciate it if you could 

acknowledge that you have received the 

message. If we send a text to your 


mobile phone we require you to reply by 

text. If we phone your landline we need 

you to press the number zero at the end 

of the message in order to confirm 

receipt of the call. The system will 

automatically generate follow-up calls if 

we do not receive an acknowledgement. 

EDUCATIONAL MAINTENANCE 

ALLOWANCES 

In August, some of our new S5 and S6 

may be eligible for an Educational 

Maintenance Allowance. This is an 

award of up to £30 per week (with other 

bonuses) to help young people from less 

well-off backgrounds stay in education. 

Further details can be obtained from the 

Student Support staff in school. 

A CLASSROOM FOR AFRICA 

Please note, that to acknowledge the 

efforts of students in following the 

school Dress Code, I can confirm that 

Friday 27 th June is a ‘Uniform Optional’ 

day. A collection (suggested donation 

£1) will be taken in aid of our campaign 

to raise enough money to provide a 

classroom in a developing country. 

SQA EXAM RESULTS 

You will be interested to know that the 

SQA exam results are due out on 

Tuesday 5 th August. Good luck to our 

students who are waiting for that large 

white envelope! Results are also 

available on Tuesday 5 th August by text 

and/or email to those who have 

registered as detailed in the leaflet ‘Why 

Wait?’ which was issued to all senior 

students. 

AND FINALLY… 

I hope you all have a sunny summer. 

Good luck to all our SQA candidates! 

Dr John Campbell 

Headteacher 


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DATES FOR NEXT SESSION 

For your information, I have attached below dates for next session as issued by the 

City of Edinburgh Council. A full Calendar of Events will be sent to you via student 

post in August. The information below should help parents to avoid booking holidays 

in term time. 

School term dates 2008/2009 

Autumn term 

Monday 18 August 2008* - Staff resume 

Tuesday 19 August 2008* - Staff only 

Wednesday 20 August 2008 - Pupils resume 

Monday 15 September 2008 - Autumn holiday, Schools closed 

Tuesday 16 September 2008 - All resume 

Friday 17 October 2008 - Mid-term, All break 

Monday 27 October 2008* - Staff resume 

Tuesday 28 October 2008 - Pupils resume 

Friday 19 December 2008 - Term ends 

Spring term 

Monday 5 January 2009 - All resume 

Friday 13 February 2009 - Mid-term, All Break 

Monday 23 February 2009* - Staff resume 

Tuesday 24 February 2009 - Pupils resume 

Friday 3 April 2009 - Term ends 

Friday 10 April 2009 - Good Friday 

Monday 13 April 2009 - Easter Monday 

Monday 20 April 2009 - Spring Holiday 

Summer term 

Tuesday 21 April 2009 - All resume 

Monday 4 May 2009 - May Day, Schools closed 

Monday 18 May 2009 - Victoria Day, Schools closed 

Tuesday 19 May 2009* - Staff resume 

Wednesday 20 May 2009 - Pupils resume 

Thursday 2 July 2009 - Term ends 

* Five In-service days for all schools. 

The start date for school session 2009/2010 has been provisionally identified as 19 

August 2009. 


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newsletter june 2008 - Craigmount High School

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