A massive congratulations to our S5 girls from Senior Graphic Communication who won the Heriot-Watt Design Smash Challenge 2015.  Competing against other schools from central Scotland the students were asked to propose a new use for existing buildings and land on a site in Edinburgh’s city centre that would address future needs.  Working excellently as a group the Drummond students developed and presented in just 2 hours an outstandingly creative and bold proposal that addressed homeless issues in the city – a rooftop farm spanning three city blocks that provided produce for domestic accommodation, kitchens and other public services in the buildings below, with the whole design offering sustainable accommodation, support, training and employment opportunities for homeless individuals.

Their work showed significant maturity and understanding of social issues within a community, and impressed the judging course tutors from Heriot-Watt University.  Huge congratulations to all the girls: Enkhjin Tugsjargal, Nikita Graham, Josie Swift, Alison Laing and Nisha Kaur.

Please find below a list of interesting articles/information our Parent Council think you may find of interest:

 
Can we close the poverty attainment gap in Scottish education?
http://www.teachingscotland.org.uk/education-in-scotland/scotlands-education-system/60-close-the-gap.aspx

The school car park will be closed on Friday 7th and Monday 10th August 2015 for essential maintenance. This notice applies to all school users.

We have great pleasure in informing you that Drummond Community High School has won this years’ Enterprising Maths in Lothian competition!

On Thursday, 11^th June, four Drummond students took part in the event, tackling a variety of mathematical puzzles and problems against 27 schools from across Edinburgh, East Lothian and Midlothian. The pupils performed magnificently, working superbly both individually and as part of a team, scoring very highly in every round. The puzzles included creating a poster, a whole-team competition, a speed competition, a relay competition, an on-the-spot calculation, individual rounds and a model boat-building task.

This is an enormous and historic achievement for the team. They have now qualified for the National finals due to take place in Glasgow in November.

The pupils involved were:

• Katherine Dempsie (S4)
• Mhairi Dickie (S3)
• Matthew Farrow (S4)
• Benjamin Sterratt (S3)

Everybody at Drummond is incredibly proud of these very talented individuals and wish to congratulate them again on their success. We wish them great luck for the finals later this year.

Online Magazine – tips on security settings and privacy. Designed specifically for parents.

http://vodafonedigitalparenting.co.uk/

UK Safer Internet Centre – Resources

http://www.saferinternet.org.uk/

Resources for parents and professionals working with children and young people

http://www.thinkuknow.co.uk

Partnership between Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) and Parent Zone offering tips for parents

http://parentinfo.org/

Resources and advice for parents as well as professionals working with children and young people. Resources such as interactive book for pre-school children (Called Digi Duck) as well videos for older children.

http://www.childnet.com/

Respectme are the leading Scottish Anti-bullying organisation. Their website gives advice for parents on bullying and links to other organisations that offer support and guidance on this subject.

The leading mobile phone service providers such as O2, Orange, BT, Vodafone etc each have their own security help pages online so check out their websites.

http://www.respectme.org.uk

The Digizen website provides information for educators, parents, carers, and young people. It is used to strengthen their awareness and understanding of what digital citizenship is and encourages users of technology to be and become responsible DIGItal citiZENS. It shares specific advice and resources on issues such as social networking and cyberbullying and how these relate to and affect their own and other people’s online experiences and behaviours.

http://www.digizen.org/

Find top tips for Internet safety; learn how to tell myths from facts when it comes to dangers in the online world, and read about the steps you can take to help protect your devices, information, and family online.

http://www.microsoft.com/about/corporatecitizenship/en-us/youthspark/youthsparkhub/programs/onlinesafety/resources/

Topic specific help and advice from Childline. Useful guidance for adults and children on bullying etc. Some parts of the site target issues for young people 12+

http://www.childline.org.uk/Explore/OnlineSafety/Pages/OnlineSafety.aspx

On 30th April 2015 nine Drummond pupils took part in the UKMT Junior Maths Challenge. The challenge is aimed at pupils in S1 and S2 in Scotland. Almost a quarter of a million pupils from across the UK sat the challenge, with roughly the top 6% receiving a gold certificate, the next 13% silver and the next 21% bronze. The top students qualify for the follow-on competitions, the Junior Mathematical Olympiad and the Junior Mathematical Kangaroo. The results for Drummond pupils were fantastic:

GOLD: Daniel Farrow (S1) and Benjamin Sterratt (S2)

SILVER: Mhairi Dickie (S2)

BRONZE: Swapnil Vyas (S2)

PARTICIPATION: Sean Burns (S1), Megan Fortune (S1), Daniel Bozek (S2), Adam Elbekhti (S2), Erin Youngs (S2)

Congratulations to them all!

Both Daniel and Benjamin also did well enough to qualify for the Kangaroo. An outstanding achievement! Everyone at Drummond wishes them the best of luck for this follow-up competition in June.

On Friday the 13th of March a group of S2 girls received a first place award winning a Street Dance Workshop at Dance Base. In reaching this fantastic achievement, the girls have developed many great qualities and skills. The group have shown a lot of talent through their choreography of the winning routine, they have worked cooperatively as a group throughout and they have shown a great deal of support to each other in their endeavour to succeed. The event celebrated dance styles from around the world and throughout the decades. It was a fantastic event that the girls thoroughly enjoyed and were over the moon to win their first place as well as the award for best costumes. Congratulations to all who participated and we hope you enjoy your award after the great deal of hard work and commitment you have shown throughout.

Drummond’s S4 duet were also awarded third place at the event. The duo choreographed a beautiful contemporary style dance that portrayed elements of nuclear war. The girl showed a great deal of creativity and commitment throughout, they not only choreographed the dance themselves but they have also taught themselves the contemporary style of dance. Again, it was a great achievement for the girls who thoroughly enjoyed both performing and observing a variety of dance styles at the event.

A truly inspiring event for all involved!

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