School hears about mission
ACN visit
Clair Sweeney from Aid to the Church in Need, (ACN), visited the S6 pupils and gave them a talk highlighting the struggles Christians all around the world face each day.
She explained ACN’s mission to protect Christians in countries where it is unsafe to practise their faith, writes Sarah McCready.
She also talked about the work they do from providing children with bibles in Pakistan to rebuilding destroyed homes in Iraq and this is only a small amount of work compared to everything they do in the 140 countries they work in.
She said: “It’s fantastic and I love the variety and all the exciting ideas they bring.”
She expressed how young people can attend the youth rally being held on October 7 and described it as a real highlight of the year after having such great numbers the year prior.
Clair expressed how central Prayer and Information is to their organisation and they encourage young people to pray for other Christians in need or tell anyone they can about the amazing work ACN does.
Awards ceremony
The school celebrated the annual senior awards ceremony in the school.
Pupils were recognised for a wide range of achievements, writes Eilidh Kinsman.
Head teacher Mrs Connelly said: “It was an excellent evening of real celebration of lots of different ranges of achievements. I think that’s what I really enjoy about St Aidan’s, we don’t just recognise academic attainment, which is very important and to be celebrated, but we recognise a lot of citizenship and leadership in the school and just dedication from young people.”
Music was provided by the school’s senior band and chamber choir, along with a beautiful clarinet solo by Anthony McKenna.
Charity football match
A charity football match was hosted by RE class S5 D and their teacher, Mr Bradley.
He said: “The match was the pupils idea, not mine, they instigated it. Most of the organisation was down to them and I just made sure that staff knew what was happening.”
The project is part of the S5 RE course, writes Nathaniel Gray.
Classes try to raise cash in an enterprising way to support a good cause. The footballers raised over £100 for the Talbot Centre which supports homeless men and women of Glasgow. Sean McKeever and Kieran McMahon, both S5, were enthusiastic participants in the match and in their analysis.
APD visit
The school welcomed visitors from APD India this September and discussed the organisation and what they do, as well as how their partnership with Scottish schools affects them.
APD have been working with the Scottish high schools for 16 years, writes Daphne Miller
On arrival the visitors met with the school captaincy team. The captaincy team and teachers involved in the project were gifted some traditional Bindis and Gandhi caps.
APD has a school in Bangalore which St Aidan’s pupils will be visiting in June next year but some of their other services include educating parents on disability, training teachers and a livelihood programme which teaches young adults how to live independently and gain skills such as cooking (hospitality), engineering, gardening and retail. They also have rehabilitation centres based across the state of Karnataka for those who have suffered from spinal cord injuries.