With the Housemistress Mrs Janet Velasco on maternity leave following the happy arrival of her twins, Cairnies is being looked after by the acting team of Mr Forshaw as Housemaster and Mrs Janine Erdal as Assistant Housemistress.
The Lower Sixth girls are a lively group both academically able and incredibly sporty. Would you believe it that against Fettes on 3rd November 22 of the Cairnies girls were playing hockey for the College. The 2nd XI has been known to field 7 Cairnies girls at one time and Sophie Illingworth and Hannah Preston hold regular 1st XI places. Still more sport later.
The first weekend back saw us all involved in a ‘Get to know you’ trip, ten-pin bowling in Dundee with Anita Rackovan our American Sports assistant who is a live-in tutor in the house and coaches many of the girls for Lacrosse and football. Since then, the girls have been involved in tutor outings, Chinese carry-out evenings, an in-house cinema night and Mrs Erdal organised a quad-biking trip. There was also a party to welcome back Mrs Velasco and her new family courtesy of Mrs Norton and Mrs Erdal.
The latest venture is a thanksgiving dinner celebration planned for 22nd November with a theme of red, white and blue. It will be that little bit different to yet another Christmas party. The girls have all taken part in their parent house entertainment evenings – Home House Music and the Lothian Girls Extravaganza where the full talents were on display from string ensemble pieces to a rousing ‘Down in the Jungle’. We have members of the Orchestra, members of bands, drummers (both rock and pipes-and-drums) and mainstays of the chapel choir. The girls regularly practise pianos, oboes and violins in their free time around the house.
On the sporting front we have regular swimmers Lisa Ritchie and Alison Pitts and others helping in swim meets as required and gaining Bronze Medals in the Tayside Championships. Three girls also took part in the recent school duathlon – Alison Pitts, Lisa Richtie and Alex Y. Alison incidentally is vice- captain of the girls’ football team with Rose Thompson joining her in the squad. Two girls have scored hockey hat tricks this term; Jessica Darnley against Queen Victoria and Sophie Illingworth against Dundee High School. Hannah Preston made the Midlands Squad for hockey and is in the U18 Scottish Squad for Lacrosse – fantastic achievements.
We also host the newer recreation activities of yoga and Pilates in Cairnies so all tastes are catered for.
Culturally there have been visits to the theatre, the opera and several of our girls are busy rehearsing for this term's school show ‘How to succeed in Business Without Really Trying’ including Briony McCarter, Vanessa Black and Rachel Curry. Charlotte Dracup, Rose Thompson and Briony have also been involved in Art Trips while Sophia Drysdale is our only Art Historian. Congratulations to Alice Watson and Pim Hannay both of whom are going on the Brooks Exchange to America so that means we’ll have two more American faces in Cairnies next term. No wonder we’re having a Thanksgiving! Alice Watson has also organised a collection of shoe boxes for charity…..
In between all this we have done some studying for those exciting AS courses. It has not all been social trips in the Moncrieff even though the frequency of buses up and down from and to Cairnies with elegantly attired or fancifully dressed young ladies sometimes seems to suggest it.
JRF
Acting HM Cairnies
