\Balfron High
Go4SET On December 5, pupils celebrated the Go4SET competition launch at UWS Paisley Campus with a day of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) themed challenges and activities. The Go4SET competition encourages S2 pupils to “go for it!” and pursue further education, apprenticeships or careers in science, engineering and technology, getting them out of the classroom and giving them first-hand experience of the workplace. For 10 weeks, 12-14 year-olds work in teams of six with an industry mentor on STEM-themed projects based around real-world problems that need solving, from environmental issues to finance and technology. Pupils from Balfron High, Bearsden Academy, Boclair Academy, Notre Dame High School, St. Ninian’s High School, Vale of Leven Academy, Gleniffer High School and Williamwood High School will compete for prizes including Best Teamwork and the Pupils’ Choice Award. The overall winners will go on to compete in the national final for their chance to be crowned Scottish national champions. The projects will be presented at a Celebration and Assessment Day on February 27, where the teams will display their innovative solutions to guests from industry, government and their families. The young people will also find their interpersonal skills challenged as they are interviewed by a panel of expert judges. The companies supporting this years’ competition are Aecom, Arup, Scotland Transerv, Texas Instruments, Micron, Chivas Brothers, the University of Glasgow and Baker Hicks. Go4SET is a national programme which is part of the Engineering Development Trust’s continuum of programmes aimed at stimulating young people’s interest in STEM at a key stage in their education. The S2 students from Balfron High who took part are: Lily-Belle Mohaupt, Munro Dunlop, Tom Duncan, Lucy Henderson, Millie Hadley-Stone, Sanshika Bhardwaj, Laura Brittain and Louise Carroll. Micro-Tyco During the month of November all S1 pupils participated in MicroTyco, a business development process. In groups of three or four, young people had to use an initial £1 to develop a business idea, sell their product or service and then reinvest their profits to develop new ideas and increase their returns. Ideas included car-washing, bake sales, shoe shines and raffles. Several groups managed to build on their original investment and create a very large return. At the end of the first week of December each class then gave a short presentation on their work and a panel of judges involving parents, senior students and staff had to decide which class had shown good business thinking and had learned the most from the whole experience. After listening to eight classes and then discussing the details amongst themselves, the judges decided that 1L3, Mr Campbell’s form class, was the winning team. However, the whole process was a great success and as a year group the pupils did themselves, the school and their communities proud generating £3082.96. This total is donated to the Wildhearts charity which organise and run the MicroTyco challenge. Wildhearts is a Scottish based charity which specialise in providing micro-loans for people in third world countries to help them escape poverty.
to perfect environmental shop quality and traffic surveys. We did lots of walking but also took the low-level train from Central Station to Exhibition and walked along “The Worm” to the SSE Hydro. Chris Knights S4
Reading School In our work to develop as a Reading School, all at McLaren have been working closely with pupils and discussing reading with them - as a hobby, as a discipline, for improvement, to relax, for enjoyment. Interestingly, one of the most common responses from pupils is that they have fallen out of the habit of regularly reading which has significantly impacted their confidence when reading. In response to this feedback from pupils the school has been working to inspire their return to reading and every month has been promoting new and exciting opportunities to read. The month of November marked the launch of the first 30-day reading challenge at McLaren - MHS.20.4.30 - a challenge to all members of the community (pupils, staff and parents) to read for 20 minutes every day for 30 days. The uptake and enthusiasm for the challenge was outstanding: 60 pupils from S1-S3 completed the challenge and many of them continued to read well beyond 20 minutes. Pupils will receive a merit, house points, a certificate and a chocolate treat before Christmas for entering and then there will be prize giving of novels and badges in assemblies in the New Year. During December, everyone has been enjoying a Novel Advent Calendar. Every day of Advent a pupil’s name is pulled at random from a hat and that pupil is given the gift of a novel which has been chosen for them from the selection donated to the school. Thnaks to all who have supported this project - as the school received so many donations, those not used during Advent will go to 20.4.30 winners. In January a number of school Book Swap Boxes will be created on every floor of the school. These boxes are designed for pupils to drop any books they have read and enjoyed and swap them for another book they haven’t yet read. Pupils are encouaged to visit the school library or to approach their English teachers
should they not have access to books, require guidance in terms of titles or simply if they’re unsure where to start. The school is developing a stock of dyslexic friendly titles to lend to pupils and hope to aid participation by ensuring everyone has access to reading materials including electronic and audio copies.
The uptake and enthusiasm for the reading challenge was outstanding