Glenalmond College Weekly News Update

GCSE A* Success

Fifth Form mathematics pupils were celebrating last week, following the publication of the grades for the GCSE examination they sat back in November. All twelve of the pupils who sat the examination achieved the top A* grade. It is the mathematics department's policy to accelerate the brightest pupils and to enter them for their GCSE early in November of the Fifth Form. This is the second year running that every pupil entered early has achieved the A* grade, and we are delighted with their success. The pupils are now studying the early sections of the AS maths course.

Outstanding Musical Achievement

Heather Campbell (Upper Sixth, Lothian) has been awarded her ATCL (Associate of Trinity College, London) for violin performance. This magnificent achievement gives Heather letters after her name and entitles her to wear academic dress! The ATCL examination requires the performance of an extended recital, with all music in the programme of a standard well in excess of Grade 8. Very many congratulations to Heather on this outstanding feat.

Music Scholars' Performances

Last weekend, Glenalmond Music Scholars represented Coll in performances at St Ninian's Cathedral, Perth (Saturday lunchtime) and St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh (Sunday evening). The standard of performance was uniformly high, bringing great credit to the music department and to Glenalmond. Musicians from the Third Form to the Upper Sixth played and sang with terrific commitment and enthusiasm, combining to form a small vocal ensemble for the concluding item in the programme. Many thanks and congratulations to Emma Acton (voice), Patrick Baldwin (voice), Robert Baldwin (horn), Robyn Bell (violin), Heather Campbell (violin), Josh Gibson (viola), Emily Harrison (voice), Catriona Houston (voice), Catriona Loudon (oboe), Sandy McCleery (horn/voice) and Nathan West (viola).

Glenalmond Debating Quartet Progress to Semi-Finals of National Competition

Who needs business trips to London, Paris or New York? In the last week the Glenalmond Senior Debating Team have found themselves competing in The Donald Dewar Memorial Debating Tournament in Aberdeen and Auchterarder. On 26th January, Marcus Buist and Simon Boendermaker (both P) debated in Perthshire whilst five days later Fern Whitelaw (H) and Cameron Montgomery (M) argued in Robert Gordon's College and on both evenings Glenalmond opposed the motion that 'this House would allow TV cameras in all Scottish courtrooms'.

On both occasions, there were four teams competing and only one would go through to the semi-final. The strongest arguments that these Sixth Formers put forward were that victims should remain protected from the eyes of the whole world and that 'we don't want any more superficial TV presented by Ant and Dec'. Buist and Boendermaker did very well in sprinkling humour into a relatively dry subject whilst Whitelaw and Montgomery debated with calmness and thoughtfulness.

The draw for the next round is yet to be made, but if there is an all Glenalmond debate, then the two pairs will doubtless perform like over-charged cannons.

Junior Schools Debating Competition

While our pupils were competing for national debating glory, seven prep schools came to Glenalmond at the weekend for the main fixture in their debating calendar. A total of 19 teams debated the motions "This House believes charity starts at home" and "This House believes that sport is given too much importance in our society".

Two Craigclowan teams, one from Cargilfield and one from Dollar Academy made it through to the final, where they addressed the motion "This House would vote for Scottish Independence". After a sparkling and determined debate, the Craigclowan C team won the event, taking away with them the coveted Glenalmond Cup.

Sports News

Athlete Development Programme

Glenalmond's talented athletes, who take part in the Athlete Development Programme, had a detailed and interesting talk from Ian White, Director of Run4it. He explained the considerations necessary when choosing kit, and the importance of a good fit in preventing injuries as well as promoting performance. Ian White will be returning to Glenalmond in the summer to talk to our athletes about gait analysis and running technique.

Football

Glenalmond College and Gordonstoun School "celebrated" a football first at McDiarmid Park, Perth when a 10 goal thriller heralded the start of the SISFA league season. Gordonstoun were indeed worthy winners as their experience and sharpness showed but Glenalmond were by no means disgraced and seasoned observers of Glenalmond football saw many encouraging signs. Naïve defending and inexperience were the main reasons for an unflattering 7-3 score! The hospitality at St Johnstone was, as ever, excellent and the warmth of the Premier Suite was enjoyed by parents, players and staff alike. The Glenalmond coaching team led by Bing Wang has much cause for satisfaction and optimism. The team will face St. Leonard's at the weekend duly "blooded" by this valuable match experience. Another bonus of the occasion was the opportunity to meet new St. Johnstone manager Steve Lomas who was with his new signing from Tottenham. Glenalmond football can only benefit from its links with McDiarmid Park.

Climbing

Last Sunday a group of Third Formers, along with an Upper Sixth pupil and an OG, visited Ratho indoor climbing centre, to tackle both the climbing wall and the aerial assault.

Girls Skiing

In the British Schoolgirls Championships which took place in France, the Glenalmond girls were a credit to the school. Ours was the only team of completely unregistered racers to make it to the quarter-finals; a great achievement from a field of 51 teams.

Forthcoming Events

All of the forthcoming events for our pupils are listed in the School Calendar, in the About Glenalmond section of this website. The events listed below are open to parents and the public to attend. If you are coming along to an event at the school, please go to Reception at the Front Arch on arrival.

Cairnies Charity Tea Party, 2.30pm on Sunday 26 February.

Choral Society Concert, 7.00pm on Sunday 4 March, Dunblane Cathedral.

Lunchtime social for parents, 12.00pm on Friday 9 March at Opus One Restaurant, Perth

Notices and Information

Friday 10 February: Fifth Form Futurewise presentation and parents' meeting.

Friday 9 March: Presentation of options to Third Form parents, and Second and Third Form parents' meeting.

Latest News

Brooks Exchange

Two Glenalmond pupils, Natasha Wainwright and Angus Littleford, have travelled to Brooks School in North Andover, Massachusetts to spend a month in our "sister school". When they return, we will welcome two Brooks' pupils to Glenalmond for a month.

Senior Maths Challenge

In November our pupils gained Glenalmond's largest ever number of gold medals in the Senior Maths Challenge. There was a total of 5 gold medals, 5 silver medals and 7 bronze medals gained altogether. Summer 2011 also saw the best ever GCSE Mathematics results with 61% gaining an A or A* grade and 88% gaining a B grade or better.

Wicked Young Writer

Out of 3,500 entrants, Glenalmond Fourth Former Cat Loudon (L) was short listed in the final 20 in her age group in the Wicked Young Writers Competition. She travelled to London's Apollo Victoria Theatre where she met Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall; Michael Morpurgo, author of 'War Horse' and Rachel Tucker from BBC 1's 'I'd do Anything' who is now starring as Elphaba in 'Wicked' in the West End.

Opera Club

Last Thursday the Opera Club saw The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland's new production of Prokofiev's "Betrothal in a Monastery". This proved to be a colourful, exuberant and entertaining performance.

Piping for Burns

Two pipers from Glenalmond College visited Pitcairn Primary School to help with their celebration of Burns' birthday last week. Tom Galbraith and Archie Farquharson (both G), who are both in the Glenalmond College Pipe Band, went to the school, dressed in full formal pipe band regalia, to talk to the pupils about piping, how to learn to play the bagpipes, where the uniform originates and how the instruments work. The primary pupils were very enthusiastic, asking a steady stream of varied questions, and showing particular interest in the uniforms and the construction of the pipes. The day ended with the two Glenalmond pipers piping out the younger pupils as they left school, making for a very memorable day for both the Pitcairn Primary and Glenalmond pupils.

Methven Scouts Quadruple

Methven Scout Group has just reached the 100 members mark. This means that the Scout Group had doubled its membership in just 4 years! This is no mean feat and in the view of the pack leaders has much to do with all the support that they have received from Glenalmond school over that period of time. Methven Cubs usually meet at Glenalmond, using the school's sports hall, gymnasium and other facilities.

Sports News

Junior Girls' Run

The Junior Girls' January Run took place, with 41 girls competing. The event was won by Olivia Strang Steel (H) in 16.24 minutes, with Mollie Maclean and Poppy Robertson (both H) tying for second place.

Boys' Hockey

Glenalmond College 1st XI vs. Robert Gordon´s College 1st XI

The 1st XI headed to Robert Gordon´s, knowing precisely the way the match was going to be played. They had spoken about tactics, patterns of play and structure in both defence and attack. Stirling Fenton (R) captained the Glenalmond side and they went into half time with a 2-1 lead over Robert Gordon´s. In the second half the momentum swung towards the Glenalmond side, with very few mistakes made in all areas of the field. The 1st XI players were still eager to raise the scoreboard and 2 more goals were achieved. All in all a very good performance by the 1st XI team.

Final score: Glenalmond College XI 5-1 Robert Gordon´s College XI

Forthcoming Events

All of the forthcoming events for our pupils are listed in the School Calendar, in the About Glenalmond section of this website. The events listed below are open to parents and the public to attend. If you are coming along to an event at the school, please go to Reception at the Front Arch on arrival.

Musical Performances

Saturday 4 February, 11.30am.

Music scholars perform at St Ninian's Cathedral, Perth.

Sunday 5 February, 6.00pm.

Music scholars perform at St Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh.

Junior Schools Debating Day

The Glenalmond Junior and Prep Schools Debating Day on Sunday 5 February will take commence at 10am in the Conference Room.

Notices and Information

Friday 10 February

Fifth Form Futurewise presentation and parents' meeting.

Latest News

Demography in Geography

Glenalmond's Lower Sixth Geographers attended the Royal Scottish Geographical Society's January lecture at the Perth Concert Hall last Tuesday. The lecture, on Demographics, was delivered by Fred Pearce.

Debating

The Glenalmond Senior Debating Team have been fortunate enough to have had two pairs entered into The Donald Dewar Memorial Debating Tournament this year and both partnerships have successfully made it through to the second round. In each debate, Glenalmond has proposed the motion that 'this house believes that the right to privacy is more important than the freedom of the press'.

In the depths of December Marcus Buist and Simon Boendermaker (who made it all the way to the final last year) managed to overcome two of Dollar Academy's debaters by displaying confidence and injecting a touch of humour into proceedings.

More recently, Fern Whitelaw and Cameron Montgomery have debated in Dundee against Strathallan and both of them performed very well. Mention of Milly Dowler, Ryan Giggs, J K Rowling and Princess Diana, as well as discussions on what really is newsworthy, has engaged the audience on both occasions. Add to this the fact that a real-life local press photographer was in attendance at one of the floor debates and it is not difficult to understand why the competition has been so worthwhile thus far.

We eagerly await competing in the second round in the next couple of weeks. 

Oxbridge Presentation

Oxbridge entry is much on the mind of Glenalmond pupils and staff at the moment. Along with news that five Glenalmond pupils have received Oxbridge offers this year, we were fortunate enough to have a visit from the Schools Liaison officer from Selwyn College, Cambridge, who came to talk to the William Bright Society members in the Fourth, Fifth and Lower Sixth Forms.

Lab in a Lorry

A mobile science lab visited Glenalmond on Tuesday 24 January - the Lab in a Lorry. All of our Second and Third

Formers took part in a number of experiments in this mobile lab, covering subjects such as sound, light and energy. Scientists were on hand to explain the experiments and help the pupils to understand the findings. We also welcomed children from Kinnoull Primary School in Perth, who came along for a science session in the lab.

Sports News

Boys' Hockey vs Strathallan and Gordonstoun

In an away match against Strathallan, our U15A team won 4-2. The match was well contested, with good skill levels exhibited by many players. Gordon Porter (P) led from the front and scored two excellent goals. Hamish Rathborne (P) also added to the score line. In midfield we struggled at times to exert control and rotated a number of players to try and get a more balanced structure to the team. A good result, which also gave us a few areas to work upon for our next match.

The U15B team lost 4-0 to Strathallan but for their first outing they played extremely well. We had a number of players who were new to hockey and they really stepped up to the mark and committed fully to the game. A good start to the season with plenty to work on.

The U14B's got their season off to a solid start with a 1-0 win in the Perthshire derby. The score line belies the consistent pressure that Glenalmond applied during the match and the boys can look forward positively to their next match . There were some fine individual performances from captain Ivan Craig (P) and goal hero Barreto (G) but man of the match goes to George Bruce (S) whose calm and consistent delivery shaped Glenalmond's best phases.

Our boys also had successful home matches against Gordonstoun. The 2^nd XI, led by Craig Meikle (P), had a fantastic start to the season with a 6-1 victory. Some clinical finishing by David Gaffney (P) in the first half gave the home team good advantage and with a more focused defensive performance in the second half Glenalmond eased to victory.

The U.15 'A' team recorded a convincing 9-0 win over the same opponents. The goals came from Paul Ritch (G) who scored four, Dougal Forsyth (P) three and Tom Stodart (P) two. This was a good performance, although Gordonstoun certainly created some useful scoring opportunities in the first half.

Lacrosse

Matches against Loretto on 21 January resulted in three wins, two draws and two losses for the Glenalmond teams.

The 1^st XII won 11-5 in a challenging away match. The 2^nd XII had a new lineup of girls from last match but the same spirit. We started with an aggressive attitude scoring three goals by half time, making the score 3 - 2. With a new goalie and new teammates we were playing well. We entered the second half with less gusto but brought it back and would have won if there was more time. It was an exciting, rewarding match ending in a draw 6 - 6. The 3^rd XII scored a very impressive 9-1 win.

The U15A XII continued their impressive start to the season with a well deserved victory over Loretto. Despite the adverse weather conditions, both teams started the match with great determination and there were blistering runs from one end of the field to the other. The final score was a great reflection of how well the U15' A's are playing as a squad. The U15B team had to play on our slightly smaller training pitch and only played fifteen minutes each way. Both teams started well and despite the bumpy and extremely muddy ground, managed to play some good lacrosse, with the result a 3-3 draw.

The U14 teams were less successful, with a 3-8 loss for the A team and a 3-6 loss for the Bs. However, both teams are showing improvement, playing with great determination and coming together well as a team.

Forthcoming Events

All of the forthcoming events for our pupils are listed in the School Calendar, in the About Glenalmond section of this website. The events listed below are open to parents and the public to attend. If you are coming along to an event at the school, please go to Reception at the Front Arch on arrival.

Musical Performances

Saturday 4 February, 11.30am. Music scholars perform at St Ninian's Cathedral, Perth.

Sunday 5 February, 6.00pm. Music scholars perform at St Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh.

Debating Day

The Glenalmond Junior and Prep Schools Debating Day on Sunday 5 February will commence at 10am in the Conference Room.

Notices and Information

Friday 27 January: Fourth Form careers presentation and parents' meeting.

Friday 10 February: Fifth Form Futurewise presentation and parents' meeting.

Latest News

Mission Possible - New Faces for New Lives

Dr Keith Thomson (OG) came to the school to talk to the Sixth Form and members of the William Bright Society about the work he and his team carry out on board the Mercy Ships off the coast of Africa.

 
Dr Thomson  (L) with the Warden

Camp Fires Burning

Camp fires, 'smores' and much fun brought some forty juniors of Goodacre's and Home houses together as they enjoyed a hugely successful Saturday night activity in Cairnies wood. Mr Nicholls has spent considerable time and energy building two very large semi-permanent open tents with surrounding fixtures for the benefit of all the school and it was a wonderful opportunity to try them out.

Reid's Interiors Hit the Press

The current issue of "Homes and Interiors Scotland" magazine features an article about the recent refurbishment of the junior and senior common rooms in Reid's House. We already knew that the boys were very pleased with their new common rooms, but it was exciting to see that the designs, produced by parent and interior designer Gilly Corkery, have won the approval of the wider interior design world.

 
The Reid's History Wall

Reid's Junior Common Room Pop-Art Portrait Wall

Sports News

Lacrosse

The season got off to a good start for the Glenalmond girls, with the 1^st team winning their away match against Fettes. The 2^nd and 3^rd teams and U15 team matched this success, with the U15B and U14 teams suffering losses.

Inter-House Hockey

The Junior Inter-House Hockey Tournament at the weekend was won by Patchell's. In the course of the competition they beat Skrines 6-0, Reids 6-1, Matheson's 6-0 and Goodacres 3-0. Of particular note was Gordon Porter who led from the front scoring 10 goals during the afternoon.

Forthcoming Events

All of the forthcoming events for our pupils are listed in the School Calendar, in the About Glenalmond section of this website. The events listed below are open to parents and the public to attend. If you are coming along to an event at the school, please go to Reception at the Front Arch on arrival.

Musical Performances

Saturday 4 February, 11.30am. Music scholars perform at St Ninian's Cathedral, Perth.

Sunday 5 February, 6.00pm. Music scholars perform at St Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh.

Debating Day

The Glenalmond Junior and Prep Schools Debating Day on Sunday 5 February will take commence at 10am in the Conference Room.

 From the 2011 Junior Debates

Cairnies Tea Party

Advance notice of the Cairnies Tea Party, to raise money for charity, on Sunday 26 February.