Weekly News

NEWSLETTER

Wednesday 23 June 2010

From the Headmaster

It really has been a terrific run of weeks up to the end of term with a real variety of different activities on the go.  The excellent summer weather has aided these considerably.  One of the highlights has been the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award at Bronze (S3) and Silver (S4) level where over 60 pupils have been able to train, plan and successfully undertake their own two and three day expeditions.  They have undertaken a rigorous set of training session over the winter led by outdoor instructors.  Following this they have had a hill day and practice expedition before the recent assessed expedition.

I am delighted to report that all pupils completed these expeditions, despite the significant challenges of distance, load and vertical ascent.  The pupils are now well on their way to gaining their full Awards which employers and universities put a good deal of store by.  The next challenge is to ensure the sport, skill and volunteering sections are completed and signed off.  It was excellent to present Silver Duke of Edinburgh’s Award certificates to Annie Carroll (S5) and Sophie Canty (S5) this week in assembly with another also going to Rachel Nimmo (S6).  The groups for next year’s DofE Awards are firming up well with roughly half of S3 and S4 next year engaged on this very worthwhile undertaking.  Any pupils still wishing to join may do so early next term and application forms are available through the school office or on the website.

Another excellent undertaking was the Royal Navy Engineering Challenge which involved ten of the Lomond Young Engineers at Faslane on Wednesday.  The pupils were split into mixed teams with other schools from as far away as Inverness, Oban and Dundee and had to solve various scenarios including bridge building and replacing an energy supply in emergency situations.  The projects were all assessed for teamwork, creativity and engineering integrity.  In the end Giles Calder and Tom Claxton (both from S4) were on two of the winning teams and all pupils acquitted themselves very well.  The Young Engineers meet weekly and are regularly engaged in competitions and challenges, led by Dr Tully.

A very strong team went up last week to Loch Earn to compete in the Brown Cup which is the setting for the Scottish Schools Sailing  Cup.  The team was composed of Anna Burnet (S6), Moray Clark (S6), Lorenzo Chiavarini (S5),  Kae Clark (S2), Iain Symon (S2), Calum Wilson (S3), Alistair Gray (S3), and Rory Kilgore (S3). As a group they sailed very well indeed and their cumulative experience as helms and crew is very significant.

Anna Burnet and Moray Clark sailed a perfect set of races coming first in all three races out of a field of 31 boats. Altogether the Lomond fleet were placed 1^st, 3^rd and 4^th which was more than enough to bring home the Brown Cup and take the Scottish Schools Sailing Cup. In addition Kae Clark did exceptionally well in her class to become Scottish Topper Champion 2010. We are very proud of all our sailors at Lomond and the time they invest is considerable meaning they often have to juggle very busy schedules to keep academic work and all the other facets of life going alongside their sailing commitments around the UK. 

Meanwhile the senior cricketers were playing at the Helensburgh Cricket Club Invitational 6’s Tournament. They did very well indeed eventually getting to the final and being narrowly beaten in the last over. Congratulations go to Oliver Curtis (FP), Jonathan Marmont, Niall Hope, Douglas Willoughby, Tim Mills and Alex Mosley, led by Mr Thomas.

It was an incredibly good day on Tuesday for the Senior Sports Day at Linwood. The whole senior school attended and all participated in a selection of events. The spirit was tremendous with all ability of athlete enjoying performing. The races and field events were very competitive, and indeed so much so that 12 school records were broken. This is much more than usual and very many congratulations to pupils who established either a personal best or broke a record. The full results are within the newsletter but the overall result was that Graham house was the winner. The Relay Cups for boys went to Bergius and for girls went to Graham.

We will be extremely sad to say goodbye to several long standing members of staff at the end of this term. Dr Russell has been working at Lomond School for 20 years in the English Department and has been a long standing champion of the written word. Her contributions have been many and varied but it is chiefly as an excellent teacher of English that most pupils will remember her. Mrs Brown has served for 21 years within the Primary School and is the quintessential school mistress who cares thoroughly and deeply about the children in her care and the standards of numeracy, literacy and manners they take forward to the Senior School. We lose a most effective Head of Transitus in Mrs Brown. Mrs Lyon has given an enormous 37 years of service to the Music Department and wider school, teaching pupils from 5 to 18 years with enthusiasm and great humour. I have never seen Mrs Lyon without a smile upon her face and her leadership of school music has been unparalleled. Finally, but not least, there is Miss McNaughton, our Catering Manager, who knows all the pupils well and goes the extra step of every mile with great vitality. We will all miss her sparkling touch and terrific food that has been such an enhancement to everyday life. We wish them all very well in retirement and hope that the next years will be very special ones ahead. We are also sad to see Mr Stephen Blake, Lab Technican, leaveing for a new post in July.

We must also shortly bid farewell to our S6 Leavers who leave the school with many fond memories. They have shown great cohesion and group spirit and it has been an absolute pleasure and honour to have worked with them this year. It is very sad to see such fine young men and women leaving, but it is for the best, and we know that they move onto a series of extremely sought after courses and very shortly exciting careers. A real highlight in my mind has been the ‘Back to the Eighties’ musical which stands out as a pinnacle of enjoyment and teamwork. There have been many, many other high points and all of the S6 are both together and individually great company. They really are a most talented year of individuals in music, art, drama, sport and academically. They have been extremely friendly and great ambassadors for their schools and families. What a lot of talent and potential they take with them and we look forward to seeing all again and keeping in touch with their successes and lives ahead.

 

Congratulations to …..

• Kitty Cugley and Fiona Cameron (S2) who came 3^rd out of 550 entries for their innovative poster for Biomimicry awarded by Aberdeen University Natural History Centre
• Annie Carroll who was awarded Player of the Year and Rachel Mansley – Most improved player at the recent Loch Lomond Hockey Club annual awards dinner.
• Charlie and HarryJohnston, Mackenzie, Lewis and Morgan Serpell and Charlotte Caskie who all brought home medals from the Scottish Schools’ Triathlon championships held at Stirling University on 6 June.

Warmest congratulations to all.

 

From the Depute

• Lost Property retrieval - Friday 25 June

Due to the large quantity of Lost Property and PE kit there will be a final chance before the end of term for parents and pupils to retrieve belongings.  St Bride’s Hall will be open from 10am-3pm on Friday 25 June.  Please note that any belongings not claimed will be given to either the school shop or charity.

• A reminder to parents and pupils that all personal belongings should be removed from around the school building before the end of classes on Monday 28 June at the latest please.
• A final plea for any remaining textbooks lying around at home to be returned to school by the end of this week.
• End of term arrangements:

Monday 28 June. Morning classes as normal.  Prizewinners will go down to the West Kirk for a rehearsal at 11am.  Closing assembly in the afternoon for S1-S6 will finish at approximately 3pm after which pupils will be dismissed from school.

Tuesday 29 June. No morning classes.  All pupils in T1-S6 should be in the West Kirk hall by 2.40pm.  Prizegiving starts at 3pm and will finish at approximately 4.15pm.

• SQA exam results

A reminder to S4-6 pupils that they should register on www.mysqa.info in order to receive their results by text or email on 4 August, the day before results will arrive in the post.  You must register before Thursday 15 July and activate your account by 23 July.  You need your SCN number and an email address to register.  You will then be sent an activation code.  If you registered for MySQA last year, there is no need to re-register, but you will need to check the address details, if these have changed.

Candidates will receive their results by post on 5 August.  These will be posted by the SQA directly to their home address. Following the publication of results senior staff and Mrs Barrett Bunnage, the careers officer, will be available in school on 5, 6, 9 and 10 August for  consultation if any pupils and parents wish to discuss university/college options or subject choices for S5/6 in the light of their results.  At this time please phone the school to make an appointment.

• AS Psychologyresults will be available on 19 August.
• GCSE Latinresults will be out on 24 August.

 

Primary News

Lunch w/c 28 June

Mon –     Chicken curry with rice and side salad, ice cream and strawberries. 

J5 Leavers’ Lunch- Chinese;

A selection of fresh fruit and vegetables are available daily.

• At the Transitus Assembly Mr Calder discussed ‘words’ and how they are extremely powerful. He told the story of the Trumpington Bible.
• At the Clarendon Assembly Mr Calder talked about stereotyping. He used Geoff Cross and Euan Murray (both Scottish rugby internationals) as obvious examples but also discussed a pilot called Doug Gregory.
• Thank youfor the baking that was handed in for the Nursery & Clarendon sports day. Please call in at the back door of Clarendon to collect the remaining boxes and plates before the end of term.
• The J4 production – Aesop’s Funtastic Fables takes place on Thursday 24^th June at 7.00pm in St Brides.Tickets are available free but obviously there are number limits for safety purposes. If you would like to apply for tickets please get in touch with Mrs Greig or Mrs Ferguson in Clarendon, it would be great to have a good audience for the cast each evening. The J4’s look forward to seeing you at the show, especially as the children hope to have their animations completed and intend to show these in public for the first time at the start of the evening as well.
• End of term:Clarendon and Nursery finish for the session on Monday 28 June. With Transitus coming in for Prizegiving on the afternoon of Tuesday 29June.

 

On behalf of all the staff in the Junior School I would like to wish all members of the Lomond family a safe, prosperous and highly enjoyable summer holiday. (G A Calder).

 

Nursery News

Thank you to all our parents for their support throughout the year, and a particular thanks to Helen Etchells, our PTA rep, for all that she has done to help develop a special rapport with our parents.

We would like wish our leavers every happiness as they embark on the next stage of their education.

 

CAREERS

Any careers books or resources borrowed from the Careers Adviser during the course of the year should be returned by the end of this week. They can be left on the chair outside the Careers Room (1st floor) or by using Mrs Barrett Bunnage's pigeon hole in the general office.

 

Pupils will be charged for books and resources not returned.

 

FIRST WORLD WAR BATTLEFIELDS OF NORTHERN FRANCE AND GERMANY

The History and English Departments are proposing a WW1 battlefields trip to Northern France and Belgium in April 2011. Current S2-S4 pupils should have a letter but if not please see the school website http://www.lomond-school.org/pupils/  in the section ‘extra curricular activities, trips music and drama’. Please note that all forms must be in by Friday at the latest.

 

S1 EURO SPACE CENTRE TRIP

It would appear that some pupils/parents did not get the information about the proposed trip to the Euro Space Centre next Easter (there is a link on the school web site) or that e-mails/reply slips failed to get through to Dr Tully.  Numbers must be finalised by FRIDAY this week. If you would like your child to take part on the trip could you down load the relevant form from the school website, complete and return it, together with the £100 deposit to Dr Tully by tomorrow. This is urgent, the cost of flights goes up daily and the travel firm can only hold a fixed number at a fixed price for a limited period.

Many thanks. Anne Tully. Head of Science.

 

 SUMMER SPORTS CAMPS AT LOMOND SPORTS HALL

Summer Sports Camps are for pupils from age 5-14 (P1-S3) and are run by SportEcosse.  These camps are run on a weekly basis. Please note that the first week will start on Wednesday 30 June not Monday 28 June as mentioned on the leaflet. Leaflets are available in the General Office and from the website http://www.sportecosse.co.uk

 

 PE

Congratulations to all the pupils who participated on Sports Day in the hot and sunny conditions at Linwood.  Over 12 individual records were broken and plenty of ‘personal best’ performances were achieved.  The Girls’ Relay Cup was won by Graham House with Bergius runners up, the Boys’ Relay Cup was won by Bergius with Colquhoun runners up.  Graham was the overall winner with Bergius second and Colquhoun third.

The Individual Championships were very closely contested but the overall winners were:

1^st Yr – Kirsten Bruce and James MacDonald       

2^nd Yr – Fiona Burnet and Harry Salisbury              

3^rd Yr – Charlotte Chambers and Callum MacDonald

Seniors – Anna Burnet and Giles Calder

Most Meritorious Girls award was presented to Fiona Burnet for breaking 3 records in the Javelin, 800m and 1500m and the Most Meritorious Boys’ award was presented to Andrew Barrie for thrashing the javelin record of 1986 from 31.84m to 37.84m.

 

Tennis Championships : All players must bring their tennis rackets and PE kit on Thursday and Friday of this week.  Please check PE board.

 

 

HAIRY HISTORY AT LOMOND – 3 DAYS TO GO! THE REMOVAL OF MR MINNIS’ BEARD Mr Minnis has worn a beard for 25 years – he has agreed to have this shaved off at the end of term BUT only if he raises a magnificent sum of money in sponsorship. This will be donated to CHAS. The event will take place on Friday 25 June at 1pm and 50p entry will be charged to watch the de-bearding.  If anyone would like to sponsor Mr Minnis forms are available at Reception and in the General Office.  (Cash is requested at the time of sponsoring).  Thank you in advance.

 

 

LOMOND SCHOOL PTA SECTION

 

 

HOCKEY SKORTS & TOPS

Please note that the hockey skorts and tops will not now be available until Tuesday 17 August at the School Shop. We apologise for any inconvenience.

 

LOMOND VOICE

The PTA Newsletter 'Lomond Voice' has been sent by email to all parents. If you require hard copy, this can be obtained from the school office on request.

 

PTA AND LOCH LOMOND GOLF CLUB

The PTA are pleased to announce that, following discussions with Loch Lomond Golf Club, a discount offer for parents and staff is now available at the Spa.  Please follow the link below for full details.  The Spa is a really lovely place to relax and we hope that many of you will be able to take advantage of this excellent offer.

 

ADVERTISEMENTS

Wednesday 23 June

The school is happy to advertise articles for sale for example sports equipment, musical instruments, items of furniture and other small items. The main intention is for the Lomond community to sell smaller items amongst themselves.  For these small ‘For Sale’ advertisements the charge is £2 per item per week.

Business Advertising

This is meant to be for small local businesses. Some goods and services cannot be included such as property transactions, financial services, tuition and childcare.  Charges are per week - £25 for a full page, £15 for ½ page and ¼ page is £10.  Small ads (1/8^th page or less) are charged at a rate of £5 per week.

Deadline: Tuesday 12 noon

                       

 

CAR FOR SALE

 

Hyundai i10 Classic

Stone Black, 6k miles,

5 Door hatchback,  

5-year / 100k miles  warranty,

Power assisted steering, ABS,

Electric front windows, Airbags (driver, front passenger, side), Central locking,

Air conditioning, Stereo Radio/CD player, MP3/iPOD connectivity,  50+mpg

As new – 59 reg.  

Owner is moving overseas in July.     

£5,600 ONO

Please call 07923472720 for details.

 

 

Seaside Special Holiday Club

Monday  to Friday  5-9 July

for children aged 5-12 .

 10.30am-12.30pm each day

in Bethesda Church in Colquhoun Street

&

from 2.30pm – 4pm

in Park Church, Charlotte Street.

If you would like further information please ring

676572 or 670157

           

For Sale

Jumpking 14 foot trampoline

Complete with manuals and instruction video. Good condition. £90.

01436 821707

 

Sport Camp