Christmas Update Newsletter 2022

Mentors for Violence Prevention

Mentors for Violence prevention ‘turned the school orange’ on Friday, 25 November as part of the International 16 days of activism to end violence to women and girls.

Advanced Higher History Trip to The Stewart Melville College The Scottish Wars of Independence History Conference

The Advanced Higher History class attended the Scottish Wars of Independence at Stewart Melville College in Edinburgh on 17 December 2022. There were 3 speakers – all expert historians speaking about different areas of the Scottish Wars – Bill Glennie, Fiona Watson and Professor Matthew Strickland. The first topic was Balliol, which was relevant to our school work as in class we had almost finished the topic of King john Balliol's reign. We learned of the trading port in Flanders and learned of Edwards interference in the Scottish economy by forcing him to declare that no port was to trade with Flanders. One of our students, Angela Brown, spoke with Mr Glennie and published historian Fiona Watson and was able to talk about Alexander III and the governance of his kingdom mainly regarding the economics. They also discussed researching methods and the historical debate around William Wallace as a hero and how his legend overshadows others who worked with him to achieve his victories. During the conference, Fiona Watson spoke about William Wallace and the battles he engaged in to get Scottish freedom and she spoke about his foreign diplomacy to solidify Scotland as a free nation too. Professor Strickland spoke about Robert the Bruce and his clever military tactics such as jamming carts into gates and having men jump out of it to take back the Scottish castles from Edward at the edge of Scotland's complete subjugation. While we hadn't done Robert the Bruce topic yet in class the talk gave us an interesting foresight which has helped us to understand the topic more. Written by Angela Brown (S6)

Advanced Higher History Trip to Bannockburn

Advanced Higher History went on a school trip to the Bannockburn visitor centre. As an introduction to the Battle our guide, Kirsty, told us about the years leading up to Bannockburn and quizzed us on our pre-existing knowledge. She gave us maps of the battle field and told us to come up with our own battle plan, which was very different from its reality. Then we watched an animated video about why the battle happened. There were four screens which showed us how the weapons were used in action, we were told the crossbow was the deadliest. We were then told about the events on the days of the battle and Bruce’s military strategies. Another video showed us the aftermath of the battle. Then we went outside where we were shown the rotunda and the statue of Bruce. Kirsty then gave us the opportunity to learn how the soldiers used their spears to form a schiltron formation. After that we had a closer look at the weaponry used by both the Scots and English. It was funny when some of us got dressed up and tried on chainmail, which was very heavy. We learned lots from the trip and we are now looking forward learning more in class.

Written by Georgia Ward (S6)

Lessons From Auschwitz

Oświęcim is a town which was inhabited by 7,000 Jews, with a total population of 12,000 pre-war. This contrasts to today’s figures of approximately 40,000 citizens with no Jews. This is where our trip began, where we learnt about how a town’s once close-knit community was decimated by the Nazis’ persecution of the Jews. From there we were taken to Auschwitz I. While there, we were given an insight into how many were affected by the Holocaust. We saw displays full of hair, clothes, and other personal items that belonged to the men, women and children of the holocaust. We then travelled to Auschwitz-Birkenau; there we bore witness to the extreme scale of the Nazis’ operation. We partook in a candle lighting ceremony, in commemoration of the victims of the Holocaust. One of these victims was the grandfather of a Rabbi, who was kind enough to share his grandparent’s story with us.

The experience was harrowing. It was deeply saddening to learn of all the victims, especially the children. Seeing their belongings, hearing the individual stories allows you to humanize them and see them as something other than a number. We believe that this knowledge is vital for everyone to have as it opens your eyes to the true suffering the Jews went through all throughout Europe and the rest of the world. Learning about the history of the Holocaust can insure that nothing like this will ever happen again.

By: Eilidh Batchelor & Ross Murphy

Morrisons Collaborative Christmas Tree

If you are near Morrisons in Kirkcaldy please pop in and check out Balwearie's (very tall) collaborative ceramic Christmas tree, which is going on display after school today for our local community inside the store. It is based on the '12 days of Christmas' - with 78 hanging ceramic pieces designed, made, painted and varnished by our BGE and BRAG pupils. They are all really excited to see this on display in a busy supermarket

Thanks to Mrs Johnstone, Mr Williamson and Mr Giove for working with us to build its wooden pallet shaped tree stand to hang them all on.

Raytheon Technologies 2022 Quadcopter challenge

Following months of designing, testing and flying, a team of 4 students from Balwearie High School headed down to Royal Air Force College Cranwell to take part in this year’s Quadcopter challenge.

Guided by Raytheon Technologies STEM Ambassadors, students from across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland were asked to use their engineering skills to design a four bladed, remotely piloted air system known as a quadcopter.

The competition, designed to encourage students to take up STEM, saw 92 teams compete for the coveted title.

Team ERA 1723, from Balwearie High School came fourth in the UK competition and received the highest scoring points out of all the teams from Scotland. The team was composed of Poppy Mitchell, Jason Peacock, Adam Christie, and Mairi Campbell.

This year the students had to consider the environment and put sustainability at the fore front of their minds. They were tasked with designing and prototyping a quadcopter that could solve a current sustainability crisis. Team ERA 1723 focussed on the protection of animals from poaching and came up with a quadcopter design that was both practical and creative.

Hosted in a base steeped in over 100 years of Royal Air Force history, the challenge culminated in a day of competition where young people from all over the country presented their quadcopters and responded to tasks set to them by a judging panel.

“I am incredibly proud of what Poppy, Jason, Adam and Mairi have managed to achieve. The team has worked so hard over the past few months and invested countless hours both during and after school working on their design. It is so inspiring to see their dedication and creativity shine through, coming fourth out of ninety-two teams from across the UK is a huge achievement and very well deserved.” Eric Williamson, teacher at Balwearie High School

Mini Enterprise

S3 Business Management classes completed an enterprise project throughout December. The classes were split into groups of 3/4 pupils and was group was given a loan of £10 to purchase raw materials and resources to make a Christmas product. Each group came up with a different idea for a product and these were sold on Thursday, 15 December at a small Christmas Fair in the Lower Crush Hall. Some of the products on sale included handmade gonks, candy cane sleighs, hot chocolate reindeer and Santa sweet bags.

Each group made back their £10 and repaid their loan and the classes made a profit of over £100 which will be donated up the food bank after the Christmas break. All pupils demonstrated creativity, collaboration and enterprise skills throughout this project! Well done to all involved.

Pupil Support Update

The Department hosted a Nightmare Before Christmas event for staff in November. Pupils spent time making decorations including shrunken apple heads and created an atmospheric soundscape. They learnt about special effects makeup and practised applying bruises and made latex scars. Plenty of jump scares were had by all as a spooky tale was told to our guests while they enjoyed some baking.

Pupils have been exploring the local woodlands and learning about the history of the area. We have completed the Wizard's Walk and observed the seasonal changes at the Datie Mill Plantation. In term 3, we plan to make a longer journey by navigating the "Auchtertool Walk" past Balwearie Castle.

Our baking has taken some inspiration from TikTok recipes this term with pupils making banana and choc chip cookie pies and blueberry muffins. We've also used seasonal fruit to make a delicious crumble. Healthy Breakfasts have continued with pupils learning multiple ways with eggs and deciding whether fried, poached or scrambled was their favourite.

Pupils are currently making Christmas Crafts using salt dough and marbling. We are hosting a coffee afternoon in the last week of term to share our work with other departments and demonstrate pupils' enterprise skills with the sale of Reindeer Dust and Hot Chocolate Reindeer Cones.

ESOL pupils have been meeting each week to share recipes and create a display with information about their families' culture. We have cooked Peirogi from Poland, Banitsa from Bulgaria and Papanasi from Romania and thoroughly enjoyed sharing the spoils!