Summer 2013 draft 14 pub - Newbattle Community High School

NEWBATTLE COMMUNITY HIGH SCHOOL 

Summer 2013 

Issue 20 

Newbattle News 

The site of the new Newbattle Community 

High School has been confirmed 

as the complex opposite the 

current building. Extensive consultation 

is now underway to seek the 

views of pupils, parents/carers, staff 

and the wider community to establish 

what facilities should be included in 

the new campus. 

A wide range of workshops and 

meetings involving the school and the 

community are beginning to establish 

what type of school should be built. 

Importantly pupils and staff want to 

retain the strong sense of community 

at the school. Early thoughts have 

centred on delivering: 

Classrooms that are interesting, colourful, 

light, inspirational and fun 

Wi-Fi areas, enclosed study spaces 

and relaxed quiet spaces for different 

age groups to hang out or study 

New School for Newbattle 

Social areas where people can go to 

chill out and relax 

An eating area which is open 

planned with comfy seats in clusters 

Spacious seating spaces in a number 

of different places with a cool appearance 

Outside areas where we can eat and 

sit with friends 

Members of the community would 

like to ensure that the new school is 

welcoming and approachable to all 

members of the community. It 

should be a beacon for people of all 

ages, an inspirational building with a 

range of excellent facilities which will 

inspire the next generation, creating a 

real sense of community and attracting 

people and investment to the area. 

A consistent theme was that the new 

school should not leave communities 

without local services and resources. 

Pupils return to school: Wednesday 21st August 2013 

When asked what the school should 

provide participants were clear that 

they wanted world class facilities 

which would encourage life-long 

learning in the widest possible sense. 

The wish list included: 

A competition standard swimming 

pool with diving and spectator facilities 

High quality learning facilities including: 

broadcast studios, computer 

suites, Art and Music departments. 

Flexible, affordable and accessible 

spaces for whole community use – 

available in evenings and weekends 

A performance hall with a stage 

where events/cinema and dances can 

be held 

First-class sport and leisure facilities 

including a fitness suite 

Good transport/ parking facilities 

Colin Taylor (Headteacher) commented; 

‘The consultation process 

has shown that our local communities 

are passionate about their 

area and want the very best educational, 

social and leisure facilities 

for our children and other residents. 

We need to harness this 

enthusiasm and energy to make 

sure that our towns and villages 

have easy access to services whilst 

delivering an educational provision 

that we can be truly proud of.’ 

Newbattle deserves the very best. 

Let’s make sure we deliver just that, 

we owe it to our community to deliver! 

Our School of Ambition

Page 2 


Sky Sports Living for Sport 

www.facebook.com/newbattlehigh 

Newbattle Community High 

School has four Sky Sports 

Living for Sport projects this 

year, two of which are girls 

only and have been set up to 

increase participation, activity, 

confidence and self esteem 

and is aimed at the ages 

14/15 when girls tend to 

switch off from PE. 

They have been tremendously 

successful and are now working 

with Primary School pupils 

who are about to make 

the transition to High School, 

using sport as a medium. 

Girls dance to excellence 

This has involved twelve girls who have 

worked closely together since August to 

learn Dance themselves, with the help 

of their PE Teacher. They have also 

planned and organised to get as many 

young girls (aged 12/13) as possible 

into dance sessions and dance club. 

Lead teacher Bob Foley commented : 

‘They have done an amazing job 

working with a large number of 

young dancers to put on the Dance 

Showcase in front of 300 parents and 

friends. It was superb.’ 

Girls basketball to excellence 

The second group is made up of 16 

Girls aged 15/16 who had never played 

basketball for their school before. Lead 

teacher Bob Foley got together with 

colleague Mrs Alexander and Community 

Police officer Lynne Cochrane, to 

get the girls involved. 

The girls trained every Monday without 

fail. In November they played in the 

Scottish Cup and competed in the Senior 

Girl’s East of Scotland League finishing 

third. They are now training towards 

a summer tour of the Borders 

and North East England in June. They 

have also helped to coach younger pupils 

to continue the legacy. 

Mr Foley was full of praise for both 

groups and the initiative by commenting: 

‘These are two outstanding Sky 

Sports Living for Sport groups that I 

am proud to have in the school. Our 

pupils now ask to be a Sky Sports 

Living for Sport group. It’s a superb 

structure and so appealing to pupils.’ 

Parental Liaison Officer – Kevin McGuire 

Kevin McGuire has been Midlothian’s 

liaison officer for Parent Councils for 

several years. So that we may improve 

the service to parents, Kevin’s role is 

being widened and now he will also act as 

Parental Liaison Officer for Midlothian 

Council. 

Parents are still strongly encouraged to 

contact their school first if they have 

questions, concerns, or wish to compliment 

staff on the service they provide. 

We recognise however that parents may 

also at times wish to contact someone in 

the Education Department for further 

advice. Kevin will be the first point of 

contact within Fairfield House should 

parents wish that type of contact. 

Kevin’s role will be to resolve issues 

where possible and to consult with or 

refer to schools or other managers where 

appropriate. 

Our desire is to ensure that parents are 

supported and given access to the information 

they require. 

Parents may contact Kevin, whose contact 

details are as follows: 

Tel: 0131 271 3732 

Email: kevin.mcguire@midlothian.gov.uk 

Your Newbattle Community High School...

Page 3 


Check out our website at www.newbattle.org.uk 

Newbattle Maths Department Lead the Way 

now and you will see pupils enjoying 

their learning and talking about Maths 

with each other and their classmates. 

Pupils are active in their learning; they 

contribute and show their understanding 

using mini-white boards and 

dry wipe pens. Teachers take time to 

address the problems pupils have before 

moving onto the next steps in 

learning. Pupils are often involved in 

activities that require them to work 

together, discussing Maths and helping 

each other out. 

Over the last few years pupils’ maths 

results at Newbattle have improved 

significantly. One major factor that 

has contributed to this is our unique 

course that we designed from scratch, 

with particular emphasis on the key 

skills of Number and Algebra. This 

course has attracted the attention of 

other maths teachers from across 

Scotland. Our methods and ideas 

have been published in the Scottish 

Maths Council’s Journal, and Newbattle 

maths staff have been asked to 

present our ideas at national conferences 

for the past three years, receiving 

excellent feedback from colleagues 

across Scotland. Schools from 

East Lothian, Fife and the Highlands 

are adopting our approaches. 

When the Maths Department 

began to write their new 

courses for Curriculum for 

Excellence they thought about 

what was really important to 

succeed in Maths. Their answer 

was an understanding of num- 

‘The changes in the classroom focus 

on helping pupils understand 

the concepts and ideas rather than 

ber and algebra. The department set old style ‘rote’ learning of sums’ 

out to write a detailed progression of says Mark Davidson, Head of Maths. 

the key things that a pupil should be ‘Conversations and discussion 

able to do in these areas. This has about ways to answer a question 

become known as NUNP (Newbattle are encouraged. Whether you are a 

Understanding Number Programme) high flyer and hope to do Maths at 

and NUAP (Newbattle Understanding 

Algebra Programme). The prodent 

in Maths and need to develop 

University or you are not so configramme 

helps pupils slowly build an your basic skills we believe that 

understanding, not moving on until everyone should have the chance 

an idea has been mastered. 

to improve their understanding.’ 

A maths class in Newbattle would ‘At the end of the day it is about 

look very different to what many parents 

and carers might remember of and see its importance in life. The 

helping pupils enjoy mathematics 

their own maths lessons: gone are NUNP and NUAP are very simple 

constant textbooks, boring lessons, in ideas, helping pupils understand 

Maths, that’s why teachers 

grumpy teachers and lots of sums! 

Walk into a maths class at Newbattle from other schools like it. The 

more schools 

that try our 

methods the 

better, in my 

opinion.’ 

Mr Davidson, 

Head of Maths 


Page 4 



Last term at the library book club we 

were looking at all things Zombie 

related. These pesky ghouls seem to 

be everywhere at the moment. They 

are on the television, in the cinema, in 

comics and 

are all over 

children’s 

and teenage 

fiction. 

The book 

we have 

been reading 

is the 

first in a 

spooky new 

Letts Print! 

In Graphic Communication our class 

has been learning about promotional 

graphics and different types of industrial 

printing techniques. 

Miss Blair organised a class trip to 

Charles Letts & Co at Thornybank 

Industrial Estate for us to experience 

the design and production process of 

a diary. 

There are different departments of 

the Letts workshop. The first department 

we came to was where graphic 

designers design the diaries on Mac 

computers using desktop publishing 

software. Our tour guide informed 

us that you get all different types of 

diaries and that we could design our 

own and personalise them as we wish. 

We also got a tour of the factory 

where the diaries are printed and 

finalised ready to be sold in WH 

Smith, Boots etc. 

Library Book Club 

series by superstar author Darren 

Shan called Zom-B. This creepy series 

follows teenager B dealing with 

issues of racism and domestic abuse 

as well as the arrival of a very unwelcome 

hoard of the undead. 

The series has proven to be very 

popular with pupils. Some of the 

group work around this book included 

debates on what two items 

you would take with you to survive 

(no one opted for the unlimited tins 

of Spam option!) as well as deciding 

which department of the school 

would be best for waiting for rescue. 

Diaries are printed on large sheets of 

paper, where the dates are spread 

around the sheet and it makes no 

sense initially! But then the diary 

gets put together in the correct order 

by a machine. As we went round the 

workshop we got to an area where 

the paper gets cut to the right size. 

They use a massive guillotine that can 

cut through 1000s of pieces of paper 

at a time. The blade was extremely 

sharp! 

We learned about different processes 

of printing (such as lithography and 

gravure) while we were at Letts. The 

tour guide said that one of the machines 

they were using to finalise the 

diaries produces around 1600 an hour 

– that’s 26 or 27 diaries a minute!! 

We all enjoyed the trip to Letts and 

even got a complimentary 

diary each! 

Craig Reid 3FP. 

The book club runs on Wednesday 

lunchtimes. To take part pupils need 

to sign up with Mr McRobbie in advance. 

New members are always welcome. 

Zom-B is available in the school library 

for issue along with the following 

ghoulish titles: 

The Enemy by Charlie Higson 

Undead by Kirsty McKay 

Undead Ed by David Grimstone 

Robin Hood Vs the Plague Undead 

by James Black 

Mr McRobbie 

Librarian 


Page 5 


In the February 

holidays, some of 

Newbattle’s pupils 

embarked on a trip 

to the resort of 

Arinsal, Andorra. 

The only downside 

to such an amazing 

trip was the thirty 

two hour bus journey; 

just to get 

there! However, 

the mood was 

lightened with the 

joyful spirits of the 

Newbattle pupils, 

who set the tone 

for what was going to be an unforgettable 

experience, to be shared by a 

school from Bristol. 

After the endless bus journey through 

Scotland, England and France, we 

eventually reached the snowy mountains 

of Andorra. The unimaginable 

scenery was magnificent. Once we 

reached the hotel and unpacked, we 

got kitted out before settling into the 

hotel and rested for our activities to 

begin the next morning. 

Each morning we walked 200m to the 

gondola, which took us straight to the 

slopes, where we were put into our 


Andorra 2013 

different skiing and snowboarding 

groups. The resort offered a wide 

variety of runs, tailored to different 

ability levels. After skiing and snowboarding 

from ten until one, lunch 

was upon us. With a wide variety of 

brilliant food, there was something 

for everyone to enjoy. Afterwards we 

were back on the slopes from two 

until four. Then we took the gondola 

back to the village and walked down 

to the hotel. 

Every night, we participated in evening 

activities. These activities consisted 

of: sledging, ice-skating, swimming, 

bowling and going to a pizza 

restaurant. These activities were 

picked specifically by the pupils and 

were included in the cost of the trip. 

They provided time for pupils to 

switch off and relax. 

On the Wednesday, the windy conditions 

made the slopes unsafe. However, 

this lost instruction time was 

made up on the Friday. On the Friday, 

some groups took another gondola 

to the resort of Pal. The resort 

was filled with more black runs, testing 

boarders and skiers of all abilities. 

Finally on the Friday, the pupils got 

back on the bus to return home to 

rainy Scotland. The experience will 

forever be ingrained in the minds of 

the pupils who took part. A big thank 

you to the teachers who made the trip 

possible Mr Thomson, Mr Baur, Miss 

Wyse and Mrs Watson! 

Gareth Fleming 5BL 


Page 6 



In December 2012 a group of 

S3 Business students took part 

in a challenge set by Coca-Cola 

to create, design and develop a 

healthy juice drink. Coca-Cola 

chose our team named ‘Fit-in’ 

as a regional finalist for their 

Business Challenge and invited 

the group to attend the regional 

finals in Stirling in January this 

year. 

On the day of the challenge the 

group set off from Newbattle at 

7:30am, full of excitement and 

intrigue at what the day would hold. 

The event got off to a quick start with 

all groups being welcomed and the 

events of the day being set out. 

The challenge of the day was based 

around the Special Olympics, each 

group had to come up with ideas to 

advertise and promote or to fundraise 

for the event. 

The groups were allocated a Business 

advisor from Coca-Cola who guided 

them through their challenge. ‘Fit- in’ 

The Coca-Cola Real Business Challenge 2012 

took to the challenge with fantastic 

enthusiasm. They worked well with 

their business advisor, taking on board 

his advice. 

All of ‘Fit-in’s’ hard work paid off 

when they created and presented a 

fantastic power point presentation to a 

conference room of over 100 people. 

They also played the radio advert that 

they wrote and recorded themselves. 

Congratulations to all of the members 

of ‘Fit-in’ for working so hard and 

being fantastic ambassadors for Newbattle 

Community High School! Well 

done! 

‘Fit-in’ group members: Brian Taylor, 

Sean Bruce, Mark Falls, Jamie 

Purves, Samantha Calder, James 

McNeish, David More and Calum 

Fowler. 

Miss Hyland 

Basketball Club 2012/2013 

This has been a great year for the Basketball 

club. We have a new coach — 

PC Cochrane our community Police 

Officer —who is an accomplished 

player and is already making a difference 

with the teams. 

The senior Girls’ team, which now has 

16 regular players who train on a Monday 

night, has played in the Scottish 

Cup and finishing 3 rd in the East of 

Scotland League. They are set to go on 

tour in East Lothian and the Borders 

during the last week of June. We are 

hoping they all stay together for next 

year when they will be an awesome 

force! 

The S2 Boys team has played well all 

year under the coaching of Dionne 

Telfer and Andrea McGoldrick and has 

had games against Gracemount and 

Penicuik as well as Dalkeith. 

We now have an S2/3 Girls squad who 

are already fighting for places in the 

senior girls’ team and showing real talent 

for the game. 

The senior boys this year have trained 

together but have not competed against 

other schools due to work and school 

exams. This will change next year. 

The senior girls’ team took a trip to the 

Glasgow Emirates stadium to see the 

National Basketball finals which 

showed all involved the model performances 

that could be achieved. Mr 

Foley greatly enjoyed the half time entertainment! 

We have had a great year and look forward 

to welcoming all to Basketball 

next session, come along and enjoy the 

best team sport on offer at Newbattle. 

Mr Foley/Mrs Alexander/ 

PC Cochrane 


Page 7 



Since Christmas, the Music Department 

has been busy with practical 

exams and performances both in the 

local community and throughout 

Scotland. 

We have had a large number of our 

pupils participating in regional ensembles 

and they held a Spring Concert 

Series at the school to showcase the 

talent across Midlothian. One of the 

groups, the Percussion Ensemble, 

also took part in the Music for Youth 

Second year pupils went along to ‘Lab 

in a Lorry’ for two days in April. Lab 

in a Lorry is a scientific lab that has 

been set up inside a lorry which travels 

all around the UK giving pupils 

the chance to experience the fun of 

science. We spent an hour in the 

lorry, and got to take part in two interesting 

experiments. My group 

Music Matters 

Regional Festival in Perth. Stewart 

Duncan, an S3 pupil at Newbattle, is 

part of that group and they have successfully 

got through to the national 

finals. We wish them all the best. If 

they are successful in this next round 

they have the opportunity to perform 

at the Albert Hall in London. 

One of our S2 pupils, Jack-James 

Bennett had the opportunity to go to 

Paris with Dalkeith Pipe Band to play 

at the France – Scotland rugby match. 

Lab in a Lorry 

learned how sound affects a 

ping pong ball in a wine 

glass. We also learned about 

camera lenses from many 

years ago. The staff in the 

lorry were very kind. We 

really enjoyed this interesting 

experience and we learned 

lots in the lorry. 

Lauren 

Miller 

2HP 

The band played at the Moulin Rouge 

where only two bands were allowed 

to perform. They went around 

schools in Paris, playing for school 

children and played at a dinner for the 

bank Société Générale. Jack was away 

for 4 days with the band and got to 

experience some French culture as 

well as performing with his band. 

Our main focus in the department is 

now the Musical Revue, ‘Stages 

Through the Ages’ which is being 

held on the 11 th and 12 th June. This is 

a look at musicals from the 1950s 

through to the 2000s including Sister 

Act, Grease, Hairspray and We Will 

Rock You. Tickets will be on sale the 

month before so get in quick as it 

promises to be a fabulous show! 

Miss Maynes 

Head of Music 


Page 8 


Newbattle Dance 


As S6 pupils, we had enjoyed five 

amazing years of dancing at Newbattle, 

but the time had finally come for 

us to put our dancing shoes on for 

one last time and take part in our last 

ever dance show. Sixth year had finally 

come around quicker than expected, 

and here we were, on a Tuesday 

evening, ready to get on that stage 

one last time. We were full of nerves 

and excitement, but most of all we 

were full of sadness, because since 

our first dance show in S2, the stage 

had been like a second home to us. 

Things had come a long way from 

our first dance show: the costumes 

were bigger and better, the number of 

dancers had increased significantly 

and the once domineering hip-hop 

style had been sidelined for many 

other genres of dance, ranging from 

Scottish to Ballet. 

A S3 year group started off the show. 

Throughout the evening these girls 

showed how wide their repertoire of 

dance skills was, oozing confidence 

whilst doing so. The S2 peak performance 

groups were up next. During 

class time they had been learning 

dances choreographed by S5/6 pupils. 

Although they were less experienced 

than the S3 girls, they were not 

to be outshone, and put maximum 

effort into their routines, making for 

pleasant viewing. Not to forget the 

fourth years, whose highly developed 

skills and 

techniques 

were exhibited 

during 

their amazing 

dance, 

and their 

outrageous 

hair and 

costumes were marvellous. 

Alongside these 

group performances, 

there were various selfchoreographed 

duets. 

All were contemporary/ballet 

inspired, 

bringing calm to the 

excitement of the show. 

The show was closed by 

the S5/6 ‘Spectrum’ 

dance. It seemed fitting 

for us to close the show 

as it was our last one 

ever, and we wanted to 

go out with a bang. We also can’t forget 

to mention the excellent compering 

throughout the show by Holly 

Neilson and Andrea McGoldrick, 

receiving many laughs from the audience. 

We’d like to thank everyone who 

came to the show, but most of all 

we’d like to thank all friends and family 

who have supported the dance 

department over the years and have 

made it as successful as it is today. 

We would also like to say an extremely 

big thank you to Mrs Fegen, 

not only for this amazing dance show, 

but for everything she has done for us 

over the years and the large number 

of opportunities she has given to us. 

The amount of confidence we have 

developed over the years is unbelievable, 

and we can’t thank her enough. 

Hopefully we’ll be remembered for 

doing something we love, and be role 

models for future dance captains in 

the school once we have left. 

S6 Dance 


Page 9 



Badminton Success 

As a new club 

for this session, 

Newbattle Badminton 

has already 

gained 

popularity 

among pupils 

and success in 

regional competitions. 

The 

club, which 

takes place on 

Thursdays after 

school, is well attended every week 

and is open to pupils of all ages and 

abilities. In November 2012, we travelled 

to the Emirates Arena in Glasgow 

to watch the finals of the Scottish 

International Badminton Championships. 

Pupils enjoyed taking part 

in skill zone activities within the velodrome 

and watching five badminton 

matches played at the highest level. 

All pupils enjoyed the trip and even 

had the opportunity to meet some of 

the finalists… as well as Clyde, the 

mascot for the 2014 Commonwealth 

Games! 

Inspired by their experience of world 

class badminton, several pupils then 

represented Newbattle CHS in the 

Mid & East Lothian Secondary 

Schools Badminton Championships 

at Meadowmill Sports Centre in February. 

In the singles event, Jordan 

Cunningham (S1) and Mason May 

(S1) won silver medals in their respective 

categories. In the doubles 

tournament, there were gold medals 

for Mason May & Sean McGill 

(S1), whilst Jordan Cunningham & 

Morgan Rutherford (S1) and Russell 

Hogg (S4) & Ben Miller (S4) 

collected silver medals. All pupils participated 

with great enthusiasm and 

were a credit to themselves and the 

school. 

This led nicely onto the seasonending 

Newbattle Badminton Championships, 

where once again the turnout 

was excellent across all categories. 

Kim Simpson (S6) claimed victory 

in the girls’ singles and also in the 

girls’ doubles alongside Amy Rutherford 

(S6). Darren Gould (S6) also 

won double gold, in the boys’ S4-6 

singles and with Natasha Cumming 

(S6) in the mixed doubles. The boys’ 

S1-3 singles was won by Connor 

Ramsay (S3), while the boys’ doubles 

champions were Liam Dunbar 

and Daryl McKinnon (both S4). 

Overall, it has been a fantastic year 

for Newbattle Badminton and we 

look forward to another successful 

season in 2013/14. 

Mrs Alexander and Mr Anderson 

PE Department 

Values For Life 

Trust – to feel confident and secure by building relationships 

based on honesty and fairness 

Respect – to be considerate of the needs, wishes and 

feelings of others as well as your own 

worth 

Perseverance – continued determination to succeed and 

never give up in spite of difficulties 

Responsibility – making informed decisions and being 

accountable for your own actions 

Humour – maintain a positive outlook on life even in 

the face of adversity 

Focus – concentrate fully on the task in hand and avoid 

distractions 


Page 10 


Planning to leave school at the end of 

S4, S5 or S6 this summer? 

Sorted with your future career plans? 

For those of you hoping to go to university 

you should be starting to receive 

offers back from the universities 

but do you need to be considering 

HNC/D courses at college as a fall 

back option? Have you applied for 

funding for your course? 

Colleges are now accepting applications 

for courses starting in August 

2013 and the earlier you apply for 

courses the better. So start checking 

college websites and if you want to discuss 

your options further come and see 

one of the Careers Advisers in school 

or visit the Skills Development Scotland 

Centre in Dalkeith (see below). 

For those of you looking to leave 

school and find employment then you 

Careers Information for school leavers 

should be looking in newspapers, company 

websites, recruitment websites, 

shop windows, Job Centre, etc. You 

should also be contacting local employers 

to see if they will be recruiting staff. 

The more people that know you are 

looking for a job the better. If you 

need help with CVs, application forms, 

job hunting, preparing for interviews, 

then visit the website or speak to a Careers 

Adviser. You should also be 

keeping an eye on the ‘Careers’ section 

of the school website as job opportunities 

and useful information will also be 

posted here. Signing up to the 

school’s Facebook and Twitter accounts 

means you will be sent this information 

automatically. 

Local training providers may also be 

able to help you get that first step on 

the career ladder. For more information 

on training schemes in your local 

Young Enterprise Christmas Market 2012 


area you need to speak to a Careers 

Adviser. 

The careers advisers, Carla Bichan and 

Alison McGeechan are in school if you 

need more help; speak to your Guidance 

Teacher about getting an appointment 

with them. Alternatively you can 

access the services of Skills Development 

Scotland at the following places: 

Skills Development Scotland Centre 

in Dalkeith at 

29 Eskbank Road, 

Dalkeith. 

The centre is open Monday to Thursday 

from 9am to 5pm, and Friday from 

10.30am to 5pm. 

Visit www.myworldofwork.co.uk 

Contact the Skills Development Scotland 

Contact Centre on 0800 917 8000. 

Inaugural Giant Heptathlon 

Months of meetings, preparation and 

planning had all come down to this, 

the Young Enterprise Scotland 

(YES) Christmas Market. This was a 

chance for All YES participants to 

compete against one another, selling 

their products as entrepreneurs. 

Newbattle’s young enterprise group 

was well represented by Claire 

Laing, Melissa Byrne, Shawn 

McAleer and Ryan Millar who were 

all up bright and early and eager to 

set up their stall to sell their product- 

Seasonal Sensations, a recipe book 

catering to all seasons and occasions. 

The event was buzzing with Young 

entrepreneurs, visitors and customers. 

The Seasonal Sensations group 

took to the challenge of selling well, 

with their confidence growing as the 

day progressed. When it came to 

cashing up, an impressive 20 units 

had been sold and the day was rendered 

a success! Well done and congratulations 

to those involved! 

Miss Hyland 

Twelve S2 pupils represented Newbattle 

in the first Midlothian Giant 

Heptathlon event at Lasswade in 

February. All team members completed 

seven different Athletics challenges 

with every score counting towards 

the team’s total. Newbattle 

finished the event in 2 nd place, just 

behind winners Beeslack, and as a 

result qualified for the regional finals 

at Meadowbank Stadium in March. 

A full team of fourteen pupils competed 

in the regional final and were 

excellent ambassadors for the school. 

In an event involving schools from 

the entire South-East District, Newbattle 

finished 6 th overall. Well done 

to all pupils who contributed to the 

team’s success! 

Mr Anderson, PE 


Page 11 



Newbattle Netball 2012/2013 

Netball at Newbattle has continued to grow this year with 

over 20 girls training and competing each week. The senior 

girl’s team entered the Scottish Cup playing against previous 

winner Peebles, Balerno and James Gillespies. This 

round produced mixed fortunes for Newbattle and they 

went forward into the silver section where after a close 

game with Madras College Newbattle’s Scottish Cup campaign 

for 2013 was over. However the girls were yet to 

have their most significant win of the season. In February 

the seniors took to the court against the Newbattle staff 

where they were victorious 35-28, which we will never hear 

the end of! 

The S1/2 team has also gone from strength to strength this 

year with new S1 recruits who have had friendly matches 

against Danderhall and Gorebridge in preparation for next 

season’s Scottish Cup. We also had the opportunity to 

watch the World Netball Series at the Emirates arena 

which displayed the talents of Netball’s premier league 

players. 

To end the 2012/13 season we finished with the following 

Newbattle netball awards: 

Players’ Player junior: Meghan Linton 

Players’ Player senior: Rachael McIntosh 

Player of the Year junior: Cheynelle Birrell 

Player of the Year senior: Rebecca Morgan 

Outstanding Contribution 

to Netball (2008-2013): Holly Neilson 

Thank you to all players for the great commitment and 

team work again this season. For all pupils interested in 

joining netball for next season please ask your PE teacher. 

Mrs Alexander/Mrs Gill/Miss Forbes 

Many school trips discover the beauty 

of other countries, but we thought it 

was important to appreciate what we 

have on our own doorstep. Therefore, 

our Prince’s Trust xl class went 

on a trip to Edinburgh. We took the 

opportunity to visit various landmarks 

and monuments, such as The Scott 

Monument, The Statue of Wellington, 

Princes Street Gardens, The National 

Art Gallery and many more. 

Educational Trip to Edinburgh 

Following this, we went on a tour of 

the famous Edinburgh Dungeons. 

Here, the eerie history of Edinburgh 

(and Scotland) was revealed and we 

learned about Jekyll and Hyde, the 

family of Sawney Bean and William 

Wallace… and we visited Mary King’s 

Close. During this experience, some 

members of the group were selected 

to participate in the horrifying activities 

in the Dungeons: Ryse had to 

stand before the High Court Judge 

and Jamie was questioned by William 

Wallace’s soldiers. However, the 

Boat Ride and the ‘Extremis: Drop 

Ride to Doom’ were definitely the 

most scary! 

Before returning home, we got the 

chance to experience some of Edinburgh’s 

famous street entertainment. 

This was the perfect end to an interesting 

and educational day and we 

recognised the beauty of our capital 

city! 

Prince’s Trust xl Class 


Page 12 



Newbattle Community Sport Hub 

Newbattle High the only school in 

Midlothian, and one of only 12 across 

the country, which offers regular 

League participation for all age groups, 

The Newbattle Community Sport Hub 

was launched in September 2012 with 

a number of sports activities on offer 

for free. 

The new session is offering another 

exciting opportunity to take part in 

sport such as netball, basketball, badminton 

and dance all free to school 

pupils. 

As a constituted organisation we are 

committed to improving the already 

high standard of sports clubs and facilities 

in the Newbattle area while engaging 

with and supporting new ones. 

Our main aim is to increase the number 

of opportunities for people of all 

ages to participate in sport. 

If your sports club would like more 

information on becoming involved 

with the Newbattle Community Sport 

Hub please email communitysporthubs@midlothian.gov.uk 

or 

visit: www.midlothian.sporthub.org.uk 

Football Donation 

received a boost 

last week when 

they received a 

new set of kit for 

their Senior side 

from Loanhead 

based Nissan 

Dealer Alex F 

Noble and Son. 

John Frame, 

School Meal 

Price Increase 

From the start of the new term Monday 

19th August 2013 the High 

School Pupil new price for school 

meals will be £2.00 for a two course 

meal and a drink. Forms for Free 

School Meals 

and Clothing 

Grants are available 

from the 

school reception. 

Newbattle Director of Football, said 

‘We are delighted that such a well 

known and respected local company 

as Alex F Noble have agreed to support 

us in these difficult financial 

times. Running five teams requires 

a huge commitment in terms of 

time and resources and this sponsorship 

will be a big help in enabling 

us to maintain our provision in 

the coming year.’ 

Gordon Campbell, Sales Manager of 

Alex Noble & Son presented the new 

kit to the Newbattle Senior captain 

Rory Maciver prior to their recent 

League fixture against North Berwick at 

Mayfield Complex. 

Newbattle Community 

High School 

64 Easthouses Road 

Dalkeith 

Midlothian 

EH22 4EW 

Telephone 0131 663 4191 

Fax 0131 654 2611 

Email newbattle_ hs@midlothian.gov.uk 

Website www.newbattle.org.uk 

Find home study resources, latest news, photos and more at www.newbattle.org.uk 

Get our latest news delivered 

to you automatically via 

Facebook or Twitter 


twitter.com/newbattlehigh 

See videos from 

Newbattle past and 

present on Youtube 

www.youtube.com/newbattlehigh 

Return to school Wednesday 21st August 2013

Summer 2013 draft 14 pub - Newbattle Community High School

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