HOLY CROSS HIGH SCHOOL

DEPUTE FIRST MINISTER VISITS

HOLY CROSS HIGH SCHOOL

SESSION 2018/2019 – ISSUE 01 AUGUST 2018

Ciaran Reilly, Katy Cluckie, Madeleine McRoberts and Gerard O’Hanlon with Mr John Swinney and Mr Reilly

On Wednesday 30th May, The Depute First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills,

Mr John Swinney visited Holy Cross High School. This was a great honour for the school and Mr Swinney

delighted our young people, parents and staff by spending – not only the morning – but the best part of the

afternoon, visiting various parts of the school and chatting with all those involved.

On arrival, Mr Swinney was welcomed by our school captains and vice captains, Madeleine McRoberts and

Gerard O’Hanlon, and Katy Cluckie and Ciaran Reilly.

The captains and vice-captains were Mr Swinney’ s guides for the day.

First stop was the Physical Education Department where Faculty Head, Mr Grant Ross introduced Mr Swinney

to some of our sporting stars; and explained why Holy Cross High School was one of the first schools to be

awarded with the SportsScotland Gold Schools Award for the second time.

From there it was to the ‘Sit with Us’ Room where our Anti Bullying Ambassadors are based. Nathan Shevlin

of S4 was on hand to re-introduce Mr Swinney to the workings of the group. Recently at The Scottish

Parliament, Nathan had delivered an excellent presentation on behalf of the group. Mr Swinney had met with

the group – including Mrs Marsh of our Technical Department who co-ordinates the work of the group – and

had congratulated them on their “excellent practice”.

Finally, following a meeting with some of our staff, and the presentation of a beautiful cake from our S3 Health

& Food Technology class, Mr Swinney enjoyed the semi-formal surroundings of The Kickstart Group’s

Afternoon Tea. Mr Swinney chatted with group members, staff and many of the parents who had been invited

to the annual celebration of the work of the group – led by Mrs Watters, Mrs Burns, Mrs Scott and many

others. At the end of a fantastic visit, Mr Swinney had this to say, before returning to The Scottish Parliament:

“Thank you for arranging such a fascinating and stimulating visit to Holy Cross High School. It was very helpful to see the excellent practices, aspiration and ethos within the school and to have the chance to take part in such valuable conversations. You have much to be proud of in the school”.

Mr Swinney, Head of Education Mr Stewart Nicholson and Mr Reilly with The Sit with Us Group

On Thursday 7th June at The Clyde Auditorium in Glasgow, The Caritas Awards Ceremony took place. Once

again, the young people from Holy Cross High School were out in force to receive their Caritas medals and

certificates, cheered on by a huge number of their parents and family members.

The Caritas Awards is such a prestigious award for young people in Sixth Year to achieve and certainly not

easy to obtain.

The receiving of the Award during the fantastic ceremony, and the photographs taken on the day, are such a

celebration for all involved.

This is the final, formal event in which our young people in sixth year will represent Holy Cross High School

and wear their uniform. As such, it can be quite and emotional event for us all.

The photographs below, give a flavour of a fantastic day and an opportunity for parents, family, staff – and

indeed over 3000 people in the Clyde Auditorium to congratulate all of the Caritas Award Winners – in

particular this very special group of young people from Holy Cross High School!

CARITAS AWARDS 2018

Parents, family members with some of our Caritas Award Winners prior to the ceremony taking place.

Our young people with their medals and certificates

Parents, family members share the celebrations with our Award Winners

Our Lower School Awards Ceremony took place on Tuesday 26th June and, once again, was an outstanding

evening of celebration for our young people, parents, family and staff.

Our Guest of Honour this year was Mrs Barbara Coupar, Director of The Scottish Catholic Education Service.

Barbara delivered an excellent speech aimed directly at our young people and based on her own journey of

faith. The message to our young people was to put your faith and trust in God and ask God to help you

choose your path in life.

As such the turnout of guests, parents, family and staff was superb and indeed was commented on by many of

our guest who included; Mr Steward Nicholson, Head of Education for South Lanarkshire Council and in

charge of the Hamilton Schools; Councillor Danny McLaughlin and Councillor Stephanie Callaghan.

Many of our Primary Head Teachers and their teaching colleagues and our Parent Council Members including

the Chair and Vice Chair, Mrs Denise McGhee and Mrs Lisa Pearson respectively.

Our young people were, of course, the stars of the show, receiving a host of awards ranging from Academic

Excellence, High Endeavour, Sporting Achievements and Community Involvement.

A new award was introduced fort the first time this year The Anne Scott Memorial Award

in memory of Mrs Janis Scott’s daughter who sadly passed away earlier in this school session.

Mrs Scott is of course a well-respected and well-loved member of staff at Holy Cross High School and the

presentation of the award to the recipient – Erin Loney – was a special and emotional moment, not only for

Mrs Scott, but for us all.

Many thanks to all the parents/family member who came along and made this such a special evening; and

Well Done to all our Award Winners.

LOWER SCHOOL AWARDS CEREMONY

Erin Loney receiving the Anne

Scott Memorial Award

Rachel Agnew who came 1st for French Beginners at the recent Word Wizard Competition with took place

at the Scottish Parliament

Some of our young people receiving their Awards

In June, 50 of our senior Geography students spent an unforgettable week in Iceland. Some of the highlights

of the trip including climbing Eldfell, a now dormant volcano and conquering Solheimajokull glacier using our

ice axes and crampons. The group also got the opportunity to visit Reykjavik, tour the many waterfalls and

geysers that make up the Golden Circle and take a dip in the geothermal pools at the Secret Lagoon.

A great time was had by all and our young people were, as ever a credit to themselves and the school.

Look out for information coming soon for Iceland 2020!

ICELAND TRIP 2018

Tour of the Lava Centre to learn about Iceland’s volcanic past and present

Conquering a Glacier

A wet and windy trip to see Gulfoss with our guide Guy who kept our interest with fascinating

anecdotes about everything and anything!

A walk between two continents in Thingveller National Park

On Thursday 7th June the induction day for our new S6 students took place in the Banqueting Hall in The

County Buildings at South Lanarkshire.

This was a day of team building activities for our young people organised and co-ordinated by Year Head, Mrs

Rea and planned by our Pupil Support Team.

Inspirational Guest Speaker was the Head Teacher of St John Ogilvie High School, Mr Eddie Morrison.

Mr Morrison, in his own entertaining style told our sixth year students to “put themselves out there” and make

sure they get the best out of this very special year in their Holy Cross High School Career.

As many of you will know, Mr Morrison retired at the end of June after 11 years of outstanding service to the

school community of St John Ogilvie High School.

We wish him well in his retirement.

A great day for our new S6 students who I am certain will continue to make a tremendous contribution to Holy

Cross High School in their 6th year.

Watch this space!

On Monday 25th June, Mrs Gribbin and a team of staff and young people staged our seventh Fashion Show in

aid of Mary’s Meals.

The aim of The Frist Fashion Show in 2011 was to raise money to contribute to the cost of a kitchen for the

children attending school and receiving their daily meal from Mary’s Meals in Kola in Malawi. The cost of the

kitchen was approximately £7,500. Eight years on the total sum raised by Holy Cross High School Community

for Mary’s Meals is a staggering £28,821.05

The support from parents/carers, family and friends for the Fashion Show this year was, once again,

absolutely outstanding.

Our young people gave the event their full support – modelling, lighting, make-up, presenting, contributing

clothes, performing – no task too big or small – everyone played their part.

May I thank Mrs Gribbin for co-ordinating the event; and thank our staff, young people, parents, friends and

family for their tremendous support.

Well done to all.

On the 20th June the music department held their picnic themed Summer Concert. In preparation for this event the ensembles rehearsed from January every week putting in a lot of hard work. The groups involved were; String Orchestra, Junior Band, Senior Band, Choir, Soul Band, Clarinet Ensemble, Saxophone Quartet and Junior Vocal Ensemble. This concert was a great opportunity to showcase the fantastic talent Holy Cross has to offer. The evening was a great success with scones and various other light refreshments being enjoyed by the audience whilst listening to the wide variety of music provided. A very well done to all involved!

S6 INDUCTION DAY

FASHION SHOW

SUMMER CONCERT ‘A PICNIC & A PERFORMANCE

This year a group a pupils took part in the annual Enterprising Maths challenge and competed against all other schools in South Lanarkshire. Congratulations to the following to Maria Niewczas (S4), Barbara Jarzabek (S4), Sophie Garner (S3) and Taylor Radigan (S3) who finished 3rd in the South Lanarkshire Enterprising Maths Challenge and qualified for the National Challenge later in the year. Fantastic achievement! Thank you to the three S6 pupils, Clare McLaughlin, Anna King and Laura Fitzpatrick for giving up their time and helping at the event. It was very much appreciated!

This year Holy Cross had over 40 young people representing the school at the South Lanarkshire County Sports Championships. On Tuesday 5th June it was a glorious and successful day for the heats. Holy Cross had over 30 pupils qualify to the finals day the following week. The young people did themselves proud and Holy Cross even secured 8 medals! Josh McPartlin – Gold – S1 High Jump Ihinosen Ibhanesebhor – Silver – S1 100m Connor Allan – Silver – S2 800m Andrew Kennedy – Silver – S3 Shot Putt Aliyah Saleem – Bronze – Open Discus Michaela Dwyer - Bronze – Open 100m Sophie Dwyer – Bronze – S3 100m Lily Sommerville – Bronze – S1 High Jump

Congratulations and well done to all of the young people involved for representing Holy Cross High

School so well.

ENTERPRISING MATHS CHALLENGE SUCCESS

COUNTY SPORTS CHAMPIONSHIPS SUCCESS

Well done to all staff and pupils – we managed to raise OVER £15,000 this year for various charities over the course of the year!

CHARITY FUNDS RAISED BY HOLYCROSS HIGH SCHOOL THIS YEAR 2017/18

NAME AMOUNT

St Andrew's Hospice (S6 Fun Run and Tinto Hill walk) £3,902.80

Wear It Pink Day £3,003.55

Food Parcels for Christmas £1,941.00

SCIAF £4,241.22

CHAS £227.00

SAMH £218.00

INNOCENTS £1,130.00

MARY'S MEALS £341.69

YORKHILL CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL AND KICKSTART £737.00

£15,742.26

CHARITY NEWS

On Thursday 28th June, Mrs Marie Watters, who for the vast majority of her career in Holy Cross High School,

has been Principal Teacher of Support for Learning, decided to retire.

Most recently, Marie has been PT Pupil Support for Learning for part of the week and a job sharing Depute

Head Teacher on a Friday – sharing that element of her post with Mrs Douglas.

Mrs Watters has been a truly outstanding member of staff in Holy Cross High School. As Principal Teacher of

Support for Learning she has done a fantastic job – being the voice and driving force behind the most

vulnerable young people in our school and making sure all of those young people with an Additional Support

Need, received the additional help and support that they were not only entitled to, but deserved.

Mrs Watters also was in charge of a great team of support staff – all of whom do a power of work across the

school – and always doing it for the young people in their care.

There is absolutely no doubt we are going to mis her and may I take this opportunity to thank Marie for all the

work she has done on behalf of the young people of Holy Cross High School.

We wish her well in her retirement.

Other members of staff who are moving on from Holy Cross High School at the end of this session are as

follows:

Mr Brian Smith (Faculty Head Science)

Mr Paul Weaver (Maths)

Mrs Merissa Cheshire (Music)

Mr Greg Miller (Modern Languages)

Ms Laura Sommerville (Active Sports Co-ordinator)

May I thank all of them for all their contributions to Holy Cross High School and wish them every success in

the future.

Mrs C Fagan : Head Teacher (Acting)

Mrs Angela Duffy : Acting DHT from PT Pupil Support

Mrs Fiona Trainer : PT Support for Learning

Mrs Elaine Hands : Acting Faculty Head of Science (Monday – Thursday)

We wish the above named members of staff every success in their new posts.

STAFFING NEWS

Mrs Marie Watters

STAFF MOVING ON FROM HOLY CROSS HIGH SCHOOL

Staffing Changes

Our uniform suppliers LogoXpres have been in the school, measuring all young people who require to renew

their school blazers for next session.

May I remind parents that although LogoXpres measured our young people for items of uniform, parents must

visit the LogoXpress Website to place an order. The Website address is:

www.logoxpres-schoolwear.co.uk

May I thank all of our parents/carers for their tremendous support of our uniform which is:

S1 – S4 S5/S6

School Blazer

White Shirt

School Tie

Black School Trousers

Black School Skirt (appropriate length please)

Black Shoes

Braided School Blazer

White Shirt

Senior School Tie

Black School Trousers

Tartan Skirt (appropriate length please)

Black Shoes

May I emphasise to parent/carers the following items are not acceptable as part of the uniform of Holy Cross

High School:

Black Jeans, Trainers.

Thank you for your co-operation and support.

The next meeting of our Parent Council takes place in the school on: Tuesday 11th September at 7.00 pm This is the first meeting of our new school session and as such the Parent Council AGM will take place at 7.00 pm, with the first meeting to follow. New members are welcome.

SCHOOL UNIFORM

HOLY CROSS HIGH SCHOOL PARENT COUNCIL

Tuesday 14th August INSET Day 1 (Pupil Holiday)

Wednesday 15th August INSET Day 2 (Pupil Holiday)

Thursday 16th August School re-opens for young people at 8.45 am

Friday 17th August Blackpool Trip (4th, 5th & 6th year)

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Should you wish to contact the school ……………… By phone: 01698 543450 email: office@holycross.s-lanark.sch.uk

Or

Comment in the space below and ask your child to return it to the school office.

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