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Dear Visitor,
2012 has begun very brightly at The Compass School and the children are making the most of these first weeks of term.
Success In The Swimming Pool
Congratulations must go to our Under 10 swimming team who on Wednesday 1 February took First Place in our Inter-school Swimming Gala at the Aubigny Centre! This is the first of three major inter-school events which The Compass organises each year. The Gala, now in its fifteenth year, annually brings together top swimmers from a range of independent and local authority schools to compete in a wide range of stroke and fun races. Up against some very good teams from Edinburgh Academy, Gullane PS and St Mary’s, Melrose, our Under 10 team won through after a very close competition indeed.
The results were as follows:
1st - The Compass School - 45pts
2nd - The Edinburgh Academy - 40pts
3rd - Gullane PS - 33pts
4th - St Mary’s, Melrose - 22pts
The Compass U10 Swim Team - February 2012
In the Under 11 competition, against some very strong opposition, our older swimmers also swam really well, narrowly missing out on Second Place by 2pts. The results were as follows:
1st - Clifton Hall School - 43pts
2nd - Merchiston Castle School - 35pts
3rd - The Compass School - 33pts
4th - Longridge Towers - 29pts
In addition, there were 14 ‘Personal Best’ times recorded; clear evidence of the determination and endeavour which all our children put into their swimming on the day. Well done to them all!
Scots Verse, Music and Dance Week - 23-27 January
The term seems to be flying by and last week we thoroughly enjoyed our Scots Verse, Music and Dance focus week. Following various activities in class (the results of which can be seen around the School, particularly in the Hall and on the main staircase), the week reached its climax with a most enjoyable Burns Supper and ceilidh for Forms 6, 7 & 8 on Thursday evening and our ceilidhs for Forms 1-5 on Friday.
Burns Night Ceilidh 2011
Once more, Form 8 took the responsibility for organising and running the Burns Supper, with excellent chairing of the proceedings along with speeches from each member of the class, accompanied by entertainment from each form. We were delighted to welcome Fergus and his brother, Struan, back to The Compass to drum and pipe us all into the Dining Room and to pipe the haggis to the table. It was a truly excellent evening and a wonderful showcase of the talents and keen sense of responsibility of our oldest children.
Burns Night Supper 2012
Congratulations are also due to all of our participants in Thursday’s Scots Verse Competition with a rich diversity of poems being performed by the children in Forms 5, 6, 7 & 8 and choral-speaking contributions on the day from Forms 2, 3 & 4. Our adjudicator, Mrs Mary McCall, Headteacher of Pencaitland PS, had the almost impossible task of choosing a winner from each class, as follows:
Form 5 - Jamie - “Nessie”
Form 6 - Nicholas - “The Puddock”
Form 7 - Eve - “Ae Fond Kiss”
Form 8 - Scarlett - “The Image O’ God”
Date For Your Diary – Grandparents’ Day – Thursday 22 March
This is to let you know that we are planning a Grandparents’ Day for the afternoon of Thursday 22 March when all grandparents will be welcome to visit and see around the school in the company of their grandchildren. More details about this popular event, which we hold on a bi-annual basis, will follow shortly, but we hope that parents will commit the date to your diary and, of course, let respective grandparents know too!
A Warm Compass Welcome To Tian Tian and Yang Guang!
Form One children gave a very warm Compass welcome to our new friends from China, Tian Tian and Yang Guang – when they visited the Giant Pandas at Edinburgh Zoo on Wednesday. The children were thrilled to see these wonderful creatures in their enclosure and they enjoyed a fascinating trip around the Zoo. We also were delighted to receive so many compliments from members of the public and from Zoo staff about the behaviour, manners and enthusiasm of our Form One children. Well done to all of them!
Form 1 visit the Pandas at Edinburgh Zoo
School Web-site
This is to let you know that we are currently conducting a short survey of a sample of present and prospective parents regarding our school web-site – identifying what works well and what could improve – ahead of us conducting a re-design and update of our site during the coming months. We will keep you updated of our progress in this but we would like to thank those parents who have so far provided us with helpful and constructive comments which will greatly assist us in our improvement of the site.
Thank You!
We would like to say a belated thank you to everyone who contributed to our Christmas collection following the Carol Service at the end of last term. The collection raised £850 from which a donation was made to St Mary’s Church and the rest divided equally between our two chosen charities: CHAS and Children 1st. Thank you for your kindness and generosity.
We have also received a thank you card from Muirfield Riding Therapy following their receipt of £387 raised by our Christmas Craft Fair in December. Again, thank you to all who supported the children in raising this magnificent sum through their efforts in manufacturing such attractive items for sale and of course through their enterprising skills on the day!
We would also like to thank the small group of parents who have assisted us during the past year in cataloguing and labelling all the new books for the library which have been purchased to replenish and augment our existing stock. This onerous task was completed very swiftly indeed and we are most grateful for all the practical help we received, which allowed books to appear more quickly on the shelves for our children to enjoy.
We are also grateful to another of our parents, Mrs Rebecca Faulkner, for the two sets of non-fiction books for children and young people on geology and careers respectively which she has written and had published and a set of each she has now donated to the School.
Thank you as well to The Compass School Foundation Committee for their running of yet another very successful and well-attended Movie Night in the School Hall on the evning of Friday 27 January. These events are now a regular feature in the School calendar and have become very popular with both children and parents!!
We greatly appreciate the practical help and support we receive from our parents during the School year and those who contribute positively in working with us in taking the School forward.
It has been a very positive start to the New Year and we are looking forward to the busy weeks ahead, both in and out of the classroom. We have a packed schedule planned,with two further inter-school events in hockey and cross-country; our participation in the Edinburgh Festival of Music and Speech, numerous rugby and hockey matches and tournaments, trips to York and to London; our Grandparents’ Day on 22 March; and our whole school swimming gala in the final week of the term. Further details about all of these will of course be sent out in advance of each event. However, I look forward to seeing you during the weeks ahead as we enjoy seeing our children taking on each new challenge with enthusiasm and endeavour.
With all good wishes,
Mark Becher
Headmaster
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