Music at St Columba's - St Columba's School

4 | FACuLTY NeWs THE COLUMBAN ISSUE 28
Chinese Language
and Culture
We said farewell in May to Miss Li, our first Chinese Language
Assistant. During her eight-month sojourn at St Columba’s
Miss Li introduced a wide range of pupils to Chinese language
and culture, from leading a short course in Mandarin for the
entire SVI throughout the Autumn Term, to working with
those in the Prep Department and Junior 6 after Christmas.
In addition, she found opportunities to engage pupils from
other year groups through contributions to SII Modern Studies
lessons and the establishment of a lunchtime club for pupils
in SI and SII – with a programme devoted to calligraphy, paper
cutting and Chinese knots, which culminated in the week
before her departure in a display of the art of Tai Chi and Kung
Fu by a guest teacher. Undoubtedly the highlight of her year
with us was a lunch in the Senior School hall in February to
mark Chinese New Year.
Design
Glasgow school of Art – First steps exhibition
Congratulation to Sam Conn (SV). Sam is one of 10 (out of
1,200) candidates whose folio was picked by the SQA to be
displayed as part of the First Steps Exhibition at the Glasgow
School of Art. The exhibition has been arranged to highlight
the quality of product design in Scotland and to identify upand-coming
talent.
Sam’s teacher, Mr Alan Morrison, said, “I’m extremely
impressed and encouraged to see the innovative design folios
on display, and particularly proud of Sam. A spokesperson for
the SQA noted that several folios from the school could have
been chosen for the exhibition, as the quality of the work
produced by the pupils from St Columba’s was extremely high.
I am proud of all the candidates for their hard work, especially
as this was the first year of presenting pupils at this level.”
Mathematics
uK Mathematics Trust Team Maths Challenge and
Intermediate Challenge
Amy Bretherton, Marc Smillie (SII), Heather Fleming and
Kieren Ferrier (SI) competed in the UK Mathematics Trust
Team Maths Challenge Regional Final at the University of
the West of Scotland on 5 March, and were delighted to come
7th. Nearly 1300 schools took part in one of 66 regional finals
across the UK.
Charlotte Mitchell (SIV) went through to the next round
of the Intermediate Challenge. Her score subsequently
qualified her to participate in the UKMT European Kangaroo
Competition. Three million students worldwide took part in
this competition.