During Advent, pupils across St John'sAcademy prepare for Christmas.  In ourprimary school the highlight is ourannual P2 Nativity and ChristmasShow.  This year the nativity was'Shine, Star, Shine!', the story of thestar of Bethlehem who had lost itsshine until it saw a very special baby ina manger.  In both the afternoon andevening performances, the childrennarrated the story and sangbeautifully.  In addition, stage groupstook to the stage and gave theiraudiences a medley of Christmas hitsand hymns.  The performances werepacked out with family and friends andreally enjoyed the talent on show!

Before the evening performance, wehad our Christmas Fayre.  P7 have beenbusy learning enterprise skills, comingup with ideas and making attractiveChristmas products to sell in aid ofSCIAF.  This year, P7 made a record-breaking sum of over £600.  Well doneto every one of them.  The Nativityand Christmas Shows also support ourschool fund, with over £2000 raised -so thank you for your generosity.

Advent

On 19 December, P1-4 enjoyed a panto inour hall and had a great time.  Thanks toM&M productions for a fun show.

Advent in the primary school is alsomarked by Christmas parties in the lastweek of term, with a special visit fromSanta for our younger year groups.These parties were a great success!

Finally, the primary choir joined our CarolService with Readings at St John'sChurch.  This service is a time for reflec-tion and an opportunity to sing some ofour favourite carols.  The talent of ourpupils in our music department from thesecondary supported a lovely service.

Thanks to all the staff who commit somuch of their time and energies tomaking Advent a very special time forour community.

During the recent Book WeekScotland activities our S1 pupils andaccompanying English teachers tookpart in a different type of Scot’sLanguage workshop, also withMatthew Fitt. They explored theScot’s language and had some funalong the way with Harry Potterthemed activities given a Scottish‘twist’. There was an overwhelmingsense of enjoyment and the S1sgained a further understanding ofScots language; this complimentedthe Whole School focus of ScotsLanguage Week. Pictured: Pupils inthe library with Matthew.

Book Week Scotland

The English Department are very excited to welcome MrBlair into their number! Coming to us from Pitlochry HighSchool, Mr Blair's wealth of experience includes aninterest in film and teaching Media.

A warm welcome to Mr Blair

Our S2 classes this term have been lucky enough to have the opportunity to opt-in toa two part Scots Language workshop run by Matthew Fitt, in partnership with manyothers such as Education Scotland and The Scottish Book Trust. Matthew Fitt hastaught Scots writing in schools, libraries and writers' groups all over Scotland and haspublished more than twenty books in Scots. He has worked with the school onmultiple occasions before. The workshops, part of his new ‘Scots Hoose’undertaking, which is dubbed ‘The new hame for creativity in Scots’have had pupils trying their hand at some Scots creative writing,exploring vocabulary and learning about the roots of theirlanguage. Pictured: Pupils exploring their Scots rhyming words!

Matthew Fitt – Scots Hoose

English News...

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From 26th – 30th November was St John’sannual Scots Language Week! This year, pupilsfrom all over the school were involved in Scotslanguage activities through both classes andtutor group. Pupils had the opportunity toexplore familiar and unfamiliar words with wordpuzzles and the making of a school Scots‘picture dictionary’ among other things. Thethree best explorations of Scots words acrossthe school won prizes – awarded in this case toKaty Balshaw, Amy Bowland and NikolaBarszczewska. In the English department, S2pupils have been creating comic strips andchildren’s picture books, challenging their use ofScots. Elsewhere in the school, pupils have beenengaging in all sorts of Scots related activities,from making Scottish recipes in Home Economicsto analysing a painting in Scots in Art!

Scots Language Week

Pictured: Our winning Scots wordcontributions and some examples ofScots picture books in English.

In November, St John's RC Academy held our first Careers Fairin a number of years. Over 40 exhibitors attended and includeda range of employers, colleges and universities. All of ourpupils from S1 - S6 had the opportunity to attend this eventand ask questions to help them to start planning their careers.Our young people gained a lot from the event and enjoyedfinding out about what's on offer and the different routes intowork. Thank you to all the exhibitors who came along!

Careers Fair

Work Experience

In October and November 13 of our pupils took part in afantastic work experience placement learning abouttraditional masonry skills at the Walled Garden nearMurray Royal Hospital. This was a live project thatinvolved removing old concrete mortar from a stone walland replacing it with lime mortar, which is more inkeeping with traditional buildings. The pupils completeda section of the wall from start to finish which gavethem a real-world experience of work in this industry.Although the work could be physically demanding, andthe weather was challenging at times, they reallyenjoyed it and gained a lot from the experience. Notonly that, they also got lessons in maths, science andbusiness while they were at it! The pupils involved were:

Lewis Beveridge, Niko Czarnik, Luc Hallett, James Simpson, Declan Quinn, JacobDewar, Kuba Baszewski, Cameron Hallyburton, Finlay Duncan, Zander Mistry, JoshMillar, Lucas Davidson and Aaron Nelson.

To help celebrate the feast of StAndrew, pupils in the S3 Health adFood Technology class coursedesigned and made cupcakes with aScottish theme. They ranged from ourvery own Nessy to a tribute to RabbiBurns' poem "Oh, My love is like a RedRed Rose." Well done S3!

S3 Scottish Themed Cupcakes

The Higher Geography class were visited by threemembers from Perth and Kinross PlanningDepartment. This was in accordance with theircourse and provided insight to future careers inTown Planning. The team ran a session onplanning permission and the benefits anddrawbacks of sites around Perth for different landuse projects. Pupils were then given theopportunity to consider as a group how theywould plan for future expansion of the Fair City.

Perth and Kinross Planning Department

Every Wednesday from 1.20pm, Miss Senkel hosts Horrible Histories Club.Here you can delve in to the History you don't always learn about in class.With episodes from each era available to watch, we willdiscover all the shocking facts, mind-bogglinginventions and confusing cures from the Savage StoneAge to the Woeful Second World War. Quick quizzesand activities, including storyboards and time lines,test our knowledge of the more horrible parts of ourhistory along the way!

Come along and join us if you like the sound of Historywith all the horrible bits left in!

Horrible Histories Lunch Club

Some of our S2 pupils have been participating in the ScottishGovernment's Global Voices Competition. The question they wereposed with was, "How do you think Scotland can make a differencein the world and issues affecting the planet and citizens?"Pupils have been proactive in researching the issues affecting theplanet and have been working hard to meet the success criteria,which requires them to consider: why this issue matters to us, whatsteps can be taken to improve the situation at home in Scotlandand in other countries and finally, the impact their idea would haveon the world and the potential for Scotland to be a leading countryin positive Global change. Some pupils have looked at the effect ofsingle use materials on our planet. Keen to ensure that our oceansare cleaner and animals safer, they have chosen to look at the wayin which plastic pollution could be addressed.

Scottish Government Global Voices Competition

At all times, but at this time of year in particular, we keep in our minds those whoneed assistance and think about the way in which we at St John's can help. The RightsRespecting School Committee, which is represented by pupils in both Primary andSecondary, are collecting donations for our local Foodbank. These will be distributedto the Foodbank before the Christmas Holidays.

In 2017/18, The Trussell Trust’s Foodbank Network, of which Perth and KinrossFoodbank is a branch, provided 1,332,952 three-day emergency food supplies andsupport to UK people in crisis.

The Rights Respecting School committee have been working hard making posters anda PowerPoint to gain support for this project. We are hoping to extend this projectuntil the Easter holidays.

Rights Respecting School Foodbank Project

In accordance with the centenary of World War One, our P7 to S6pupils have been remembering the brave soldiers who risked andgave their lives during the Great War for our country.In our own local area of Perthshire, thousands of men signed up inthe flurry of war with a sense of excitement and duty and wewished to commemorate their valour with a display. Each of the726 pupils inscribed a cross, constructed from recycled milkbottles, with the name of a soldier who signed up in Perth andsadly lost their life in action.Our aim to pay our respects to individuals who have someconnection with Perth was achieved with the help of the BlackWatch Museum, Perth and we are extremely grateful for theirresearch and time. The display remained for our Month ofRemembrance and it would not have been possible without thetime and effort invested by our Technicians,MITIE, Design, Engineering and Technology, Artand Social Subjects departments in addition topupils who helped to construct the crosses.

Pupils of St John's were also invited to theRemembrance Service which took place in StJohn's Kirk on Sunday 11th November 1918,before attending the Civic Reception. AbbeyDuncan (S3), Megan Cork (S3), Anna Wilkie(S5) and Natasha Waszczuk(S6) read letterswhich had been sensitively compiled by S3History students tasked with placing themselves in the position of a weary WorldWar One soldier who longed for peace as the war reached its final stages.Roisin Murphy (S6), Matthew Oates (S6) and Col Young (S6) deliveredpoignant readings and prayer before laying a wreath on behalf of theCommunity of St John's.

Remembrance - Centenary of World War One

Lessons from Auschwitz (LFA)

Winter BallOn the 30th of November, we hosted the 2nd Winter ball for S5/6. The Winter Ball tookplace on St Andrew's day where we also had a night of celebration for the Patron Saintof Scotland. The students are greatly appreciative towards the many teachers thathelped out on the night, particularly Mrs Halliburton and Cheryl Gahan who helpedorganising along with the Winter Ball committee.Also a big thank you to Will Miller, our school'stechnician, who gave up his free time to takephotographs throughout the night, the ladies fromTayside Contracts who also gave up their time toprovide us with food, and Lewis T DJ services whoprovided us with music and a photo booth. Wewould like to say a massive thank-you to all thestudents for making the night amazing andallowing us to have such a big turn out of 130people. All proceedings from the night wenttowards SCIAF, for which we can proudly announcethat we were able to achieve our target of £1000.

Hope Munro and Tyler Morrison travelled to Poland on Wednesday 3rd October 2018.This followed an introductory seminar to the Project in Edinburgh, where they heardthe testimony of Holocaust survivor Eva Clarke. Their day visit included a visit to thetown of Oświęcim which was occupied by German forces in October 1939 andsubsequently renamed Auschwitz. It was on the outskirts of this town that the mostinfamous Auschwitz I and Auschwitz-Birkenau were established. The visit to thesesites of mass genocide was extremely sobering for Hope and Tyler and they are nowLFA ambassadors, using their experience and insight to spread awareness of thedangers of prejudice.

Modern Language News...

Our primary and secondary Language Ambassadors(LAs for short!) have met on a number of occasionsthis term to discuss ways of continuing to highlightthe many different languages within our schoolcommunity. They have placed posters around theschool to remind us of the diversity of languagewhich exists within our community. Our ‘LAs’explore ideas and look forward to becoming moreinvolved in the promotion of languages here at StJohn’s, in 2019.

How many posters can you find around the school?

Language Ambassadors

Our Primary 6 and 7 pupils havenew pen pals at Our Lady’s RCPrimary school in Perth! Pupils inboth schools wrote an introductoryletter to each other in French,which were well received by all.We look forward to future contactthrough writing in French.

Pen pals

Eco week saw primarypupils discussing andcreating posters inFrench. Pupils alsowatched video clips ofpupils in France showinghow they looked aftertheir school community.

Eco week

P5 classes have been learning how to saysome items of clothes in French. Many afashion model has been created – watchout Paris, Milan, London & New York!

La Mode

Many primary and secondary classes helped tocelebrate The Day of the Dead. The day is a Mexicancelebration of dead ancestors which occurs onNovember 1 and November 2, coinciding with thesimilar Roman Catholic celebrations of All Saint’s Dayand All Soul’s Day. Classes discovered the historybehind the celebration and many pupils chose to adopta ‘new look’ during class time. Some classes enjoyedwatching films such as “Coco” and “El libro de la vida”(The book of Life) in Spanish. The films were a greatway to learn about tradition and culture.

Día de los muertos

Classes have been discussing how Christmas iscelebrated in different countries around the worldthrough completing literacy tasks in both French andSpanish and some pupils kindly volunteered to sharetheir experience of how Christmas is celebrated intheir country of origin.

S1 pupils have beenpreparing to sendChristmas cards to ourlink school in Cambrai,France! In addition, ourP6/7 classes were keento send a Christmascard to their new penpals at Our Lady’s.

Joyeux Noël / ¡Feliz Navidad!

On Friday the 9th of November,Anthony Nolan volunteers and someof Perth’s firefighting service came into our school and asked pupils andstaff, between the age of 16-30, inthey could have a swab of our salivato see if our blood was a match withsomeone with blood cancer so theycould have our healthy white bloodcells. The Anthony Nolan champions,who are a group of s6 pupils, wentaround to get people to sign up andadvertise the event. When the eventstarted some Anthony Nolanchampions got people signed in, somehelped people fill in backgroundinformation sheets, while others tookthem to the stations wherefirefighters were who would take youthrough the process of getting the swab and give you more information about whatwould happen if you were a match. Overall, we got 67 pupils and staff combined tosign up, which is an improvement on last year. I would highly recommend getting onthe Anthony Nolan register as if you are a match you are saving someone's life whocan’t fight it themselves. Lastly, we would like to say a great big thank you to allthe pupils and staff who are now on the register from the firefighters, volunteersand the AN champions.

Anthony Nolan Champions

One of our secondary LanguageAmbassadors designed aChristmas quiz for tutor grouptime whereby pupils attempted toguess which language thetraditional Christmas greeting‘Happy Christmas’ was written in.

Our School Library (Learning Hub) is open toall our pupils on a Monday. This term, wehave enjoyed Rhymetime sessions, PairedReading activities, Book Club, a fantasticauthor visit from Chae Strathie and a varietyof peer mentoring activities led by ourPrefects.

We also hold a weekly Homework Club whichoffers our learners the opportunity tocomplete their homework in a supportive,well-resourced and relaxed setting. MrsBremner and Miss Martin are on hand tosupport our secondary pupils.

The group runs weekly from 3.20pm-5.00pm.

Parents and Carers are welcome to join us asthis is an excellent opportunity for you toshare in your child’s learning whilst accessingthe wide range of resources available withinour school library.

We look forward to seeing you next term.

Learning Hub (School Library)

Creativity Workshop

Three honours years Visual Communicationstudents from the University of the Highlandsand Islands delivered workshops to seniorGraphic Communication pupils.

Sarah, Kirsty and Jess were joined by NapierUniversity Industrial Design student, Patrycja,in delivering workshops focused on the sharingof ideas to increase creativity.

The pupils were tasked with various briefs andwere shown techniques to help them exploreinitial concepts and produce a final poster.

The posters will form part of the studentsgraduation exhibition Making the Difference.

Perth City Campus - Advanced HigherGraphic Communication pupils

Higher Graphic Communication pupils