Rector's Newsletter - January 2009

Dollar is currently in the grip of ice and snow, but we have been fortunate to have been able to play a number of our sporting fixtures during the relentlessly cold weather.  As will be seen in the newsletter, our musicians have contributed throughout Scotland to charitable fundraising, our young sportsmen and women have continued to meet with success in the national arena;  and all of our senior pupils are using this wintry spell to consolidate in preparation for later academic challenges. 

In recent months, a great deal of work has been undertaken in developing a new Dollar prospectus, a new website, and a DVD reflecting many areas of Academy life.  We very much hope that there will be a multi-media launch at the end of this month, and parents and governors will be issued with the up-to-date material on the world of Dollar.  The format of the new website will be easy to navigate, as it is very much a development of the BBC-style website to which we have become accustomed over the years.  The prospectus will be smaller in format, but the DVD will be attached inside the back cover.  The work of Mrs Jackie Smith FP of Heirloom Media has met with great praise, and we very much hope that the parent body as a whole will welcome the photography and words which combine so well.  Information about Dollar and its activities is circulated widely, and many former pupils have contacted the school with positive remarks about the Christmas edition of Fortunas. 

As 2009 begins, the contractors are finalising plans for the installation of the new artificial surface for hockey and tennis outside the girls’ pavilion.  While they aim to cause minimum disruption, we are aware of the impact the contractors will have on our environment in the coming months.  Further detailed information will be conveyed nearer the time, but all members of the Dollar community are alerted to the adjustments which will be required during the time of development.  The aim is clear:  a new surface, ready for action by August 2009.  

PUPILS

Chess
The chess team won all their matches in the West Fife heat of the national competition, and now progress to the national knock-out stages.

Curling
The curling team is developing well at the moment, and over the course of the first weekend in January, they beat Perth Academy in the Perth League and Kinross High School in the Kinross League, which allowed them to qualify for the Scottish Schools Championships.  In the Millar Drummond League, they beat Merchiston for the first time in the past three years.

Debating
Ruth Cameron and Calum Worsley (both III) continued to meet with success in the Courier/CIOBS and ESU debating competitions where they had made their way through to semi-final level in each.  Andrew Taylor (III) and Robert Henson (I) also won through.  Anna George and Alix Brewster (both II) won at Glenalmond on the subject of Jerusalem becoming a UN protectorate.  The internal school competition is likewise progressing vigorously at lunchtimes.

Hockey
A goal from Louise Cunningham (IV) against Glenalmond was enough to propel Dollar’s 1st XI into the Midlands Cup final against Strathallan.  The date of the final is still to be confirmed.

Music
James Ross (VI) had a song he had written for his album played on live radio in BBC Lincolnshire.  He accompanied himself on acoustic guitar.  For those who wish to listen, the link for the show on BBC iPlayer is:
http://ww.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p001w7nz/William Wright 07 01 2009/. 
The song is played at 2h:06m:50s into this link.

Rugby
Dollar’s 1st XV, by beating Marr College 58-10, are now through to the last eight of the Bell Lawrie Scottish Schools Rugby Cup.  The match against Fettes will be played at Fettes at 10 30am on Saturday 31 January, and a strong Dollar support would be very welcome. 

Schools Challenge Quiz
Dollar’s senior team of Scott Weir (V), Robert Osborne (IV), Ruth Cameron and Calum Worsley (both III) were runners-up in this year’s competition.  At the end of a closely fought tie which ended 600 points each against Stewart’s/Melville, the tie-break question saw Dollar stumped.  The correct answer apparently was “Thomas the Tank Engine”.

Shooting
In the Australian Youth Olympic Festival, Jennifer McIntosh (VI) won a Bronze medal in the Three Positions match, after she had finished fifth in her Air Rifle match.  Her continuing successes are pointing towards an outstanding future in the sport. 

Swimming
Laura Duncan (V) has been appointed Captain of the Kinross Otters Amateur Swimming Club Premier Division team.  She is also Girls Captain for the whole club.

NEWS 

Press Review Club
A new club has been formed for pupils in Forms IV, V and VI with an interest in current affairs, journalism and the power of media language.  The group will meet each week to discuss a complex and interestingly written newspaper or magazine article, and aim to deconstruct the way language is used to inform, influence, provoke and persuade.  There will be obvious links with The Galley, the highly professional pupil newspaper, as a result.

Science Showcase
Teachers and pupils from Dollar will be involved at the Scottish Learning Festival in displaying innovation in science.  In addition, Dr Johnson and his form class have been filmed for a DVD being produced on the topic of Immunity and Vaccines.  Mrs Marjorie Smith continues to be involved in widening access to top-quality science in education projects throughout Edinburgh, Midlothian and East Lothian.  She is likewise involved with Curriculum for Excellence events. 

CCF Dining-in Night
The CCF and guests very much enjoyed a stylish dining-in night on Friday 9 January.  There was particular emphasis on the first-aid team’s remarkable run of successes in national competition, and a new trophy was presented to Timmy Hasler, the Captain of the team.

Politics Society
Ken MacDonald, Political and Education Correspondent for BBC Scotland, visited Dollar to speak to the Politics Society about the life of a political journalist. 

Senior Play
This year’s senior production is After Juliet by Sharman Macdonald.  The play follows the fortunes of the houses of Montague and Capulet as the delicate truce between them after the deaths of Romeo and Juliet comes under increasing strain.  Love, revenge, wit, violence and music collide.  The Scottish award-winning playwright is also Keira Knightley’s mother, and she wrote the screenplay for The Edge of Love which opened the Edinburgh Film Festival last year.  After Juliet will be performed in the assembly hall during the second last week of this term.

Fortunas
The deadline for the second term edition of Fortunas will be Friday 6 February, and all articles, photographs and information should be sent to Miss Elspeth Scott by that time.  As ever, we aim to publish before the end of term.

STAFF

As indicated in the December newsletter, we welcomed a number of new staff to the Academy at the beginning of second term.  Mr Peter Nelson (Design Technologist) was married to Caroline during the holidays;  and Miss Libby Miller (English) is now Mrs Andrew Taylor.  Ms Lucinda Elrick was welcomed back to the school office.  Mrs Margaret Nesbitt is absent, ill, and her work in Learning Support is being covered by Prep School colleagues.   James Lansdown has joined us from Lindisfarne College, New Zealand as a gap student.  We are delighted to see the developing close links between Dollar and Lindisfarne.   Our German Assistant, Gunther Straßburger, leaves at the end of January after two and a half years in Dollar, and he will be replaced by Fräulein Clara Jorde from Freiburg. 

CHARITIES 

The end of first term saw extensive involvement by the Chamber Choir and DAJO in a range of fundraising activities.  The Castle Campbell Hotel raised £1,100 for Rachel House in late December, and the choir sang at the fundraising concert.  A sum of over £350 was raised for Quarriers by the Chamber Choir in Princes Square, Glasgow, and a further sum of over £460 was raised by DAJO and the choir in The Buchanan Galleries, Glasgow for RNID Scotland.  The Chamber Choir also sang at the Senior Citizens’ coffee morning held in the Academy dining hall for an audience of over 100.   The Charities Committee raised £236.71 for Diabetes UK through the Form I Disco, and the Senior School, through their involvement with The X-mas Factor raised £638.86 for Children with Leukaemia. 

FORMER  PUPILS

Newcastle University has sent information regarding recent former pupils who have graduated:

Thrift Shop Opening

2:30pm – 4:00pm  (2nd and 4th Thursday of the month)

2009

The Thrift Shop has plentiful supplies of the following quality, second-hand, specialist items:

1. Ski wear
2. Rugby shock tops, scrum caps and other protective attire
3. Riding boots
4. Football and rugby boots in large sizes

There are also good stocks of the new school fleece which Forms IV, V & VI can wear as an alternative to a V-neck sweater.

The volunteers are always happy to help you find the items that you need and the savings will make it well worth the excursion.  Donations of clean good quality uniform items are always welcome.

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