Winter Fair - 'outstanding' and 'fantastic'

The hour before the Winter Fair was hectic to say the least. Tables migrated towards the centre of the Void en masse, and signs were assembled within minutes. At the Fairtrade stall, which won best display, chocolate was set in quaint rows, looking homely yet planned at the same time. Hustled underneath the main staircase was Santa’s Grotto, where the pupils won the best costumes. The stall was manned by the elves, with Santa nowhere to be seen. Classic Christmas tunes were belted from the sound system, masking the growing crescendo of excited chirps. The two Youth Enterprise groups - Norden and Orkanna - were setting up shop in the break bar, serving fruit squash and hot chocolate respectively.

In the Games Hall a square bouncy castle had been assembled, with two podiums sticking upwards, on which two gladiators were soon to do battle.

Santa arrived shortly before the event began, in a sleigh pulled by a bedraggled reindeer. He was pushed into the lift with gusto, being greeted eagerly by the announcer.

The pupils arrived soon afterwards, pouring into the Void like the rising tide and converging upon the stalls with hunger in their eyes. Earlier in the day, pupils had been given the option of paying with house points instead of money, and so currency flowed freely in both coins and house points. Within a few minutes, the Void was swamped with babbling children, playing Lucky Dip and Pin The Hair On The Holder, which involved pinning different hairstyles on Math teacher Ian Holder's head while blindfolded. No surprise that this stall was deemed the most creative!

Rides were given in Santa’s sleigh for £1. Gemma Harcus, a Sixth Year pupil described it as, “Fantastic.” Santa himself, unmasked as Craig MacLennan, said, “The best part about the fair was the atmosphere and the smiles on everyone’s faces.”

The chair of Norden, Branwen Bourn, stated, “It was a great opportunity to showcase our brand and to develop more interest in our colouring book, which managed to get 72 pre-orders. We are thankful for the opportunity, and had so much fun!” Both Norden and Orkanna - which is developing an app devoted to what’s going on in Orkney - sold out of their stock, as both were in high demand.

The winter fair was organised by Mr Chris Johnson (Maths) and Mr Skip Sommerville (Computing), who spent many evenings planning and preparing the event, and who both agree that support from the admin staff and the four independent judges from the kitchen staff was invaluable.

Theophilus Ogbhembhe, teacher of RMPS and head of the Fairtrade Committee, emphasised the importance of buying Fairtrade products, which give a fairer wage to their farmers, saying: “The FT stand was intended mainly to continue to raise awareness, and to support farmers and workers who grow most of the food we eat so that they can put food on their own tables.”

Mark Colston, Deputy Head, summed the fair up by stating: “I think this is an outstanding example of what can be achieved when a school community - the pupils, teachers and support staff - pull together to create a wonderful experience for all at Christmas. Further to this it was an excellent example of pupil leadership that provided much needed funds to local charities.”

Head Teacher Neil Ewing said, "I thought today's event was a great success. The pupils and staff put a huge amount of effort into the organisation of it and there was a really good atmosphere in the school."

Harry Hegarty, S6

Head Teacher to leave

Mr Gordon McDonald, who was appointed as Head Teacher in May, is to leave his post at the end of term. Mr Neil Ewing will continue as Acting Head. The process of recruiting a new Head Teacher will begin in January.

KGS through after penalty drama

Congratulations to the KGS Under 15 football team who have won through to the Fourth Round of the Scottish Under 15 Shield. The game finished 1-1 at full time with KGS eliminating Alford Academy 4-3 on penalties. The boys have a home tie in the next round against Harlaw Academy. Thank you to everyone who came and supported us - we hope to see you again next time.

Learning Through Work

Yesterday's 'Learning Through Work' event brought Orkney College and employers, including  OPITO/Talisman, Orkney Builders, CITB, The Picky Centre and Tesco, into KGS to give pupils the opportunity to investigate and discuss their options for the future.

More new staff arrive

Congratulations to Aline Lidwell, who was appointed to the temporary Geography post, and to Ibolya Sandor, who was appointed to the temporary Teacher of Curriculum Support post, following interviews yesterday. Starting dates tbc.

Fundraising success for Children in Need

It has been a record-breaking week at Kirkwall Grammar School with students and staff coming together to raise an outstanding total of £4374.86 for Children in Need, smashing the previous record by over £700.
 
A vast array of events were held throughout the week, including a 9-hour football match, bake sales, games, sales of Pudsey ears and bands, a show which included Pie the Teacher, Leg Waxing and KGS’s very own version of the popular ITV dating show “Take Me Out”, which saw S6’s finest young men attempting to impress the ladies to win the date of a lifetime (to Flotta!)
 
Head of the Charities Committee, Branwen Bourn, said “I think we had a few events which were a bit different and created a great atmosphere in school which encouraged people to give more. We’re really proud to have made such a big contribution to Orkney’s total.”
 
Perhaps the week’s greatest success was the “Small Change Challenge”, where House groups battled it out to get the heaviest bucket of change. Competition was fierce with Dingieshowe coming out the eventual winner with 85.9kg in change. In total the buckets weighed in at 445.4kg – the weight of a small polar bear - raising over £1600 altogether.
 
The week finished with staff and students dressing up as characters from children’s stories and fairy tales. Link teacher for charities, Mr Colin Nisbet, summed things up by saying he was “over the moon with the efforts of the S6 Charities Committee and everyone who contributed to such an amazing total.”

Welcome, bienvenida, bienvenue

Congratulations also to Rosalia Garcia Ortiz, who was appointed to the post of Modern Languages teacher on Friday. Her starting date is still to be confirmed.

New staff

Congratulations to Jodie Latham and Lyn Wilson, who will be joining the KGS teaching staff following successful interviews yesterday.  Jodie will be joining the Maths Department and Lyn will be our new Modern Studies teacher.

New appointments

KGS has two new temporary Guidance PTs. Mr Colin Nisbet will be heading Inganess and Waulkmill and Mrs Raksha Woods will take over from Mrs Balcombe in Scapa.

In addition, Miss Diane Currie will continue in PE and Ms Annette Kirkpatrick has joined Curriculum Support on a permanent basis.

Getting into character

On 21 September, the space outside the Drama department jumped back in time. An entire class of pupils in Victorian dress took tea - cucumber sandwiches, cakes, and bread and butter. They are performing "The Importance Of Being Earnest" for their Drama exam this year, and many of them are going to see  the play whilst on the Drama trip next week. Each student had to choose a character and put together a costume, and they sat in small groups, chatting in upper class accents and sipping orange juice from teacups. One student, dressed in a blue and red striped suit, said the exercise was "rather freeing". Mrs Dearness, Principal Teacher of Drama, said she hoped the task would help students get into character. It certainly seemed to be working.

Students celebrate science as Festival comes to KGS

Over the past two weeks, the collective IQ of Orkney and Kirkwall Grammar School has been raised a few points. KGS has been lucky enough to have scientists in daily, covering a huge range of topics, from an exhibition on particle physics by Professor Alan Walker and colleagues, to a presentation on Disgusting Digestion for S1 and S2 pupils.

The great thing about the Science Festival this year is that there really has been something for everyone – the majority of science students have been involved in talks and workshops, and even the Geography and Art departments have been involved, with visits from the Geobus and talks on “Light and Colour in Art” (Prof Roy Burdon) and “Colours to Dye for” (Prof Sue Stocklmayer and Dr Mark Ellison). The Science Festival has made science more accessible to everyone.

As a science student myself, I have attended several events. I particularly enjoyed the exhibition on particle physics – there was the opportunity to run a computer simulation of the Large Hadron Collider, which was exciting. However, I got in a bit over my head when I asked a question and ended up being told about gluons and antimatter. Another talk, “From Grayling to Greyhound”, given by Dr Jeremy Burns, provided some very interesting insights into evolution. It turns out that the process of evolving from a fish to a horse can be explained with some maths, a map of Bristol, and a football, among a few other things.

For a lot of students, the Science Festival has opened their eyes to a career in science, or for some students furthered their passion. Macsen Johnstone, a Fourth Year student, said: “I am very interested in science, and hope to have a career in physics or some area of science. I went to “Colours to Dye for”. I liked that it was quite practical and it was good to see demonstrations and get involved. Seeing people with a career in science and seeing their enthusiasm makes me want a career in science even more.”

A Sixth Year student, Josephine De Geer, said “Studying two sciences this year I have been fortunate enough to take part in many activities the Science Festival has to offer. I particularly enjoyed “Dissect the Beat” as it incorporated both music and science. One thing that stands out about the Science Festival is the way it has managed to make science accessible, fun, and relevant to everyone.”

Dr Erland Johnston, a Chemistry teacher at KGS, who has been responsible for much of the organisation of these events, says that because science plays such a big role in today's society it is important to get young people inspired. He likes to think that the Science Festival has helped students to see new opportunities.

All in all, the events put on have been fantastic. There have been far too many interesting and engaging activites going on to mention everything. It has been a real privilege to meet and be taught by so many people who are experts in their field. From first years to Advanced Higher students, and even a few North Isles students, there has been something for everyone at the 2015 Orkney International Science Festival. My only complaint is that I didn't get to see the talk on Disgusting Digestion.

Rhiannon Walters

Distinguished Japanese visitors

Vice Consul Kengo Sawai (to the right of the picture) and Japan Foundation Deputy Director Tomoki Akazawa accompanied staff and pupils from the Kamaishi Super Science High School in Japan, along with MSP Liam McArthur, on a visit to KGS today. Their visit was in response to efforts by Depute Head Mark Colston to promote Japanese language and culture in Orkney schools. After our guests were piped in by S6 pupil James Nicolson, the Japanese students gave a presentation to S3 pupils about their experiences in the 2011 tsunami. KGS pupils then gave presentations and took part in joint workshops on renewable energy with the Japanese pupils. Following a tour of the school and a lunch with members of staff (and music from Haadirgaan), Mr Sawai and Mr Akazawa also took in our Japanese Language and Culture short course led by Ms Julie Ferguson.

Fjara miss out at UK final

Fjara's hopes of following up their triumphant night at the Scottish final in Glasgow with further success in London were dashed. However, all those involved in and with the company can be rightly proud of their efforts. They represented KGS, Orkney and Scotland superbly. Former TV Dragon Piers Linney described the teams as "amazing" and there is no doubt that all of the students who made up Fjara will have gained a great deal to carry forward into the future.