\St Modan’s

\Stirling High

Mathletes Stirling High School’s Senior Maths Team had a fantastic day out at the University of the West of Scotland on Thursday November 10. Elliott Lawrence, Daniel Norman, Adam Thomson and Harvey Pizey were a credit to their school. They competed against other schools from across Scotland in this Regional Round. In the first round the team worked together to solve ten group questions in 40 minutes. This was followed by a gruelling Numbercross Puzzle. One pair was given all the down clues and the other the across clues. No communication was allowed between each pair. The last and final round was a quick fire relay. The answer to one pair’s questions was the starting number for the other pair’s questions. Four rounds, eight minutes each. When all the scores were totalled The High School of Glasgow came out on top followed by Glasgow Academy and St Aloysius College. Numbers The Maths Department of Stirling High School recently hosted the Stirling qualifiers for The Scottish Maths Council’s enterprising maths competition. Each school brought a team of two third and two four years. At the end of the first round McLaren, Dunblane and St Modans were in joint first place. Bannockburn High performed well in the second round. In the final round the teams had half an hour for a relay round consisting of 20 problem solving maths questions. The teams worked in pairs; as one pair finished their question they relayed the next question to the other pair in their team. As we approached the end of the competition, the excitement was palpable and we had several teams running to deliver answers to the markers and questions to their team-mates. Stirling High’s team excelled in this round. The top two teams are through to the final of this competition in the Science Centre this week. St Modans were narrowly pipped to the post by McLaren High School and Dunblane High. Children in Need 2016 The annual Children in Need event is taking place this Friday, November 18. Pupils and staff can take part and pay £1 towards this worthy charity by participating in a non-uniform day, No football colours. We look forward to raising lots of money on the day. Winter Fete Our Parent Council, staff and pupils are running a Winter Fete this Saturday, November 19, from 11am-3pm in Stirling High School. Please contact our parent council on geo2may@sky.com for more info. Junk Kouture Fashion Show The show is just around the corner. To get the hottest seats in town buy your tickets from SHS Art Dept. or the School Office. Tickets are now on sale, price £5. Reminder to all pupils taking part in Junk Kouture Club it is on every lunchtime and Thursday after School. Fashion Show takes place on Wednesday December 7 at 7pm. Dates for the Diary November 24-25, Staff Development Days, school closed to pupils; December 6, S4 Parents’ Evening, 4.30-7pm; December 7, S1 Christmas Panto at Macrobert; December 8, Senior Dance; December 13, S1/2 Christmas Dance; December 14, S3/4 Christmas Dance; December 16, S2 Full Reports issued via school bag mail; December 21, last day or term. contest which tested their times tables and much more. The pupils had to compete in three different rounds, mixing practical work with more abstract ideas before four teams made it through to the national final. Prior to the competition, pupils from S3 and S4 were encouraged to attend several training sessions held at Friday lunchtime before the four pupils were selected for the team. All pupils in senior school have an opportunity to try out for the junior, intermediate or senior teams with practices every week. Training for next year’s intermediate team will begin in May immediately following the junior team competition in April. Junior Duathlon Entries are open for Beaconhurst’s community Junior Duathlon which takes place at Stirling University on Friday, November 25. The race, which involves a run followed by a bike ride and a second run, is being held on an in-service day for Stirling schools and is open to youngsters aged eight to 18. It takes place on grass playing fields which are suitable for mountain bikes and entry is via the Entry Central website. There are five different age categories for the races and the first competition for eight-year-olds starts at 10am with registration and transition set up opening at 8.30am. Following the races, results will be announced and medals presented in Beaconhurst’s Cameron Hall at around 12.30pm. Soup and sandwiches, which are included in the race fee, will also be served then. The event costs £8 for Triathlon Scotland members and £10 for non-members and entries can be made on the Entry Central website at www.entrycentral.com/festival/556 Christmas Fair All are welcome to come along to the Beaconhurst Christmas Fair on Saturday, November 19. Organised by the PTA, the fair features a host of stalls as well as a raffle and refreshments and takes place in the school’s Dining Hall and Sports Hall from 10am to 2pm. Funds raised will be used to develop the school’s expressive arts initiatives including plans to upgrade the Cameron Hall so it can be used for theatre productions. Badminton Congratulations to our medal winners at Stirling Badminton Championships – Hannah Opgaard (S5) and Stanley MacDonald (S5) winning a Gold in the mixed doubles, Emma Cowan (S5) and Ellie Kane (S5) winning Gold in the girls doubles, Silver medals to Mia Wallace (S2) and Lisa Sharp (S2) (doubles) and to Mia Wallace in the singles. Parental Survey We are revisiting our school’s vision, values and aims and would like to include the views of our parents and carers. We would be grateful if parents and carers could visit the link and complete the short survey https://www.surveymonkey. co.uk/r/Vision-Parents. Football Well done to the U13 football team on their 6-1 victory against St Aidans High School in the Scottish Schools FA Shield this week. Another impressive performance from the boys which has secured them a place in the second round. Goal scorers were Cameron Conway (2), Leyton Connell (2), Ben Nodes and Marc Kilgannon. Special mention to S6 coach Sarah Berrie. Future Dates Thursday November 24, Inset Day; Friday November 25, Inset Day; Monday November 28, S4 Assessment Block.

\Dollar Academy

Science On November 3 Dollar Academy hosted the Royal Institution of Great Britain’s (Ri) exciting family science show “Explosive Food”. An afternoon showing was held for Dollar Academy’s Junior pupils, as well as Primary 6 and 7 pupils from Tillicoultry and Menstrie Primary Schools, and Primary 5, 6 and 7 pupils from Coalsnaughton Primary. In total, over 300 primary-aged pupils from these Clackmannanshire schools attended the afternoon showing and were amazed by what they saw. Finally, a well-attended evening show took place in the school’s Assembly Hall. It was open to budding scientists of all ages in the wider comthe munity. Free to attend, the packedout audience were very excited and pleased to have the opportunity to attend such a fantastic event in Dollar. Local families with primary and secondary school-age children had been invited, as well as local groups such as the Beavers and Brownies, Cubs and Scouts. All attendees were then also given the opportunity to look around Dollar Academy’s treStrathdevon,