The Crime & Safety Day for the new S3 will be held during the morning today . This will involve tutor classes moving round a series of stations where they will have the opportunity to hear from the following partners:
Police Scotland
Fire Service
Prison Service
Youth Action
West Lothian Drug & Alcohol Service
Medics Against Violence
There will also be two scenario stations outside with the Fire service rescue dogs and the Police Drugs detection dogs.
Trainers ready? Sunscreen ready?
Today is the day of the school sponsored walk, when most of the staff and students spend all morning taking part in a gentle stroll through the surrounding area. There will be two loops to the walk this year: one around the Murieston area and one around Polbeth. It’s due to be a warm and sunny day, so hopefully everyone will have a great walk!
Today all the third year Physics classes will be in the Library taking part in the Mitsubishi Heat Pump Challenge, Pump it Up. The challenge encourages students to think about technology and engineering, and to be inventive whilst developing alternative uses for heat pumps.
Today is Remembrance Day. Remembrance is always marked on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. When it falls on a school day, we have a wreath-laying ceremony at the memorial board to the right of the main door to the school. Have a look at the board – it’s an important part of the history of our school.
Welcome to Juliette who joins the Library Team this week. Her first tasks will be finding out how everything works behind the scenes, and learning how to issue and return books – not as easy as it looks, so please be patient if Juliette is on the desk when you need your book stamped out!
Welcome back, or Welcome if you are starting at West Calder High School today. This is the Library Blog, where the Library Team talk about what’s happening in the Library, or around the school, or just about anything else we find interesting and want to share! Mostly, we talk about books, and more books, and films of books, and books that should be films but aren’t… We share book reviews, and book videos, and film reviews (anyone is welcome to do a review for the blog, just ask) and we tell you when we have new books in the library, or when our favourite books are nominated for book awards. We let you know when long-awaited sequels are released, and every week there is a featured Book of the Week, that is also highlighted on the library noticeboard.
The Library Team is made up of Mrs Vennall, who is the School Librarian; two Team Leaders, Fern and Beth who are both in S5 and volunteers from other years.
Before the Easter holidays, the S3s were put in groups and were tasked with creating an object using a heat pump. All the groups came up with fantastic ideas and on Monday last week, the groups who wanted a chance to get to the final presented their final ideas. The three groups came up with the brilliant ideas and the group “Kitchen Appliances” got through to the final with their idea of an oven. The final will be held at Howden Park Centre in Livingston on 13th June. I wish the team good luck and enjoy yourselves!
Heat pump diagram from Energy Saving Trust
Get your trainers on!
The last Friday of our Health and Well-being Week is always marked by the school sponsored walk, when most of the staff and students spend all morning taking part in a gentle stroll through the surrounding area. There will be two loops to the walk this year: one around the Murieston area and one around Polbeth. Hopefully the weather will stay dry and everyone will have a great walk.
Today is the day when the Rapid Reward trips take place. Those lucky people who have worked hard and tried their best all year will be having a great day out at M&Ds or playing ten pin bowling and fantasy golf or skating and swimming at the Time Capsule. Enjoy your day out!
Tree of Knowledge are working with the first year in the library all day today. They are doing a programme called Successville which is all about working together and learning successfully.
The Tree of Knowledge website says this about the course:
SUCCESSVILLE is a fun, educational experience. This course focuses on recognising and celebrating both individual and team achievements, and highlights the importance of good working relationships and effective team work. Pupils will learn just how effective their contribution is in their school and the impact it has on their community. This course will give them a sense of personal achievement and satisfaction helping them to build resilience and confidence whilst leaving them feeling motivated to learn.