Our Lady’s and Braidhurst High
Reece McFadden Visit
As part of S1 Literacy Group’s work on the drama text “Fight Club”, the pupils received a visit from Commonwealth medal winner and former pupil, Reece McFadden. He spoke to the pupils at length about how he became involved in the sport, his experiences of training and the dedication needed to take you to the top. He then taught the pupils how to train with the use of boxing gloves and pads - they learned a lot from him and were all pretty exhausted by the time the visit came to an end. Dementia Friends: Report by Niamh McDevitt
During sixth year, we have been given the opportunity to take part in various clubs and projects. The “Dementia Friends” project allowed us to get involved with the Motherwell FC Community Trust and was set up to help break the barrier between the older and younger generations in our local community. My peers and I completed a workshop with a dementia expert to help build our knowledge on the condition and train us for the sessions ahead.
We split into groups and decided on appropriate times for us to meet with our ‘Dementia Friend’ and had our first session with them in Ravens Court. The idea behind this project is mainly to brighten their day by chatting and interacting with them alongside creating a memory book for them to cherish. We completed various activities to help jog their memories about their lives when they were our age and we had a lot of fun hearing their stories. I believe I speak on behalf of the other pupils who take part when I say that it is really beneficial experience. Not only are we making our older friends feel part of something special, we ourselves also feel good about giving back to our local community. I would thoroughly recommend taking part in this worthwhile and life affirming opportunity to anyone. BBC School Report
BBC School Report provides an opportunity for pupils between 11-16 to experience a day in a newsroom, creating and reporting on the news. Groups can choose to report on the events of the day as they occur, build their own reports on a theme, or a mixture of both. Our Lady’s BBC School Report 2017 focused on the Transplant Games which are taking place in North Lanarkshire from July 27-30.
In advance of School Report Day on March 16, pupils spent every Friday lunchtime in the Library selecting issues to investigate, improving their knowledge of organ transplants and making contact with relevant organisations and individuals who might be able to help them.
As the day drew closer, pupils also volunteered time after school to learn about and practise sending requests for information, interview techniques, creating surveys and writing reports. Senior pupils involved worked on a storyboard for a video report.
One group of pupils set up an interview with heart transplant recipient, Mr Brian Gorman, who described his life before and after his operation. Mr Gorman explained that he did not know whose heart he had received but that he sent an update every five years to the donor’s family through the hospital to say thank you.
Another group interviewed the Chair of the North Lanarkshire games, Councillor Jim McCabe, who explained the reasons why North Lanarkshire was so keen to host the event as personal friends who had died because the wait for the transplant had been just too long for their bodies to cope.
Pupils were also keen to investigate attitudes to and knowledge of organ transplantation in school and created a survey for staff and pupils.
On the day, pupils completed more surveys and also asked staff if they would like to share their reasons for carrying a donor card. The group created bullet points from all of their sources of information which became part of our School Report Ideas Wall. They collated the responses of the survey and designed posters to illustrate their data, which were combined with the storyboard and bullet points to create our video report. They wrote reports on all of their investigations. Throughout the day, pupils took photos of their colleagues and tweeted what they were up to. They even sent a photo of the dreich day outside to BBC Weather Watchers!
The pupils were fantastic, and remained positive throughout, even when Mr Kerr and Mrs Macfadyen were tearing their hair out. The school thanks everyone in OLHS for their support, to Mr Gorman and Councillor McCabe for taking the time to go along to the school, and to everyone who responded to their e-mails and requests for help. Scottish Youth Parliament Elections:
Orla McDevitt and Nathan Donnelly were elected as your Motherwell and Wishaw Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament! Congratulations to the candidates, particularly OLHS pupil Orla. The school are so proud of Orla’s success. The school would also like to thank all of the young people who voted and the staff who helped throughout this process. #pollitolhs North Lanarkshire Secondary Schools Cross Country Championships
Five pupils travelled to Airdrie Leisure Centre on Thursday to participate in the North Lanarkshire Secondary Schools Cross Country Championships. All