Duke of Edinburgh: Junior (S2) Expedition to Strathfillan Wigwams

Paul McClemont reports in about the S2 practice expedition along the West Highland Way:

A large amount of the Junior DoE section made their way by minibus to the Strathfillan Wigwams near Crianlarich for their weekend of camping, map and compass work, intended to improve their skill level prior to attempting the full Bronze award in S3.

As usual, the weather was very poor, with a thunder storm battering us as we travelled up the A82. Undaunted, the team set up their tents in the appalling wind and rain and then headed off after a briefing on the route to walk a few kilometres of the West Highland Way. The Wigwams that we were staying at were right on the Way and this meant that we had direct and easy access to the section of the walk we were doing.

After the walk the pupils then cooked their own meals in the campsite kitchen, although the state of the kitchen left a lot to be desired; they're not so good at cleaning up after themselves! The night brought a little respite in the rain and after one or two words the pupils were quiet, though few of us had a good night’s sleep and were a bit bleary in the morning.

It was decided to strike camp early as the pupils were all wet from the rain. So, after a chat about the proper boots needed for walking as well as how to pack a rucksack effectively and a bit more map and compass work, the minibuses were loaded and we headed back to the school. Quite a few lessons were learnt by the pupils and despite the weather they displayed resilience in coping with it, though their campcraft skills need to be improved, which is something to consider for the S3 course next year.

The Scottish Diaspora (and its effect on the world)

Boris Pitchoka recently wrote in: 

The History Department took Higher History candidates on a festive trip to attend a lecture by one of Scotland’s most eminent historians: T.M. Devine on Monday 12^th  December. Professor Devine is a Personal Senior Research Professor in History at the School of History, Classics and Archaeology at University of Edinburgh. His topic was the Scottish Emigration in the late 19^th and early 20^th century, which is the topic our Higher candidates are studying for in preparation for Paper 2 of their examinations. In particular, he looked at the Scottish exodus of the 1800's and 1900's, examining why so many Scots fled the country during a time of Victorian prosperity, as well as the consequences it had on what is now one of Europe's greatest emigrant peoples. Pupils enjoyed the evening with Mr Pichotka’s “favourite” historian. 

You can watch the lecture in full here. 

End Polio Now: our Eco-Committee's efforts in Rouken Glen

On Friday, the 28^th of October 2011, Belmont House School’s Eco-Committee attended an event in Rouken Glen, hosted by the Eastwood Rotary Club, where we planted purple crocuses to help raise funds for “Thanks For Life”: the Rotary project which is leading the way in a world-wide effort to eradicate polio. This effort was part of their overall End Polio Now campaign.

Contributing a mere pound to plant five crocus bulbs can actually prevent five children from being infected with polio, one of the most dreaded childhood diseases of the previous century. Major, widespread epidemics around the turn of the century provided the impetus towards the creation of a vaccine in the 1950’s, which reduced polio cases per year from hundreds of thousands to about a thousand.

We may be fortunate enough to view it as a throwback, but polio, which remains incurable, still cripples thousands of children around the world who lack access to the vaccine, particularly in Nigeria and Southern Asia. The Rotary Club’s campaign stops at nothing short of eradicating the disease from the planet, once and for all, and we were proud to be a part of their undertaking.

Our school planted over one thousand bulbs that day. So, the next time you’re passing by Rouken Glen, glance over at the crocuses and you may see a “B” for Belmont!

DoE Bronze mapwork practice and expedition to Arran

Michael has written us a great report about his experience on Arran.

First, he shares the contents of his kit; all the essentials he packed:

• Sleeping Bag
• Torch
• Matches
• Plate
• Fork
• Knife
• Spoon
• First Aid Kit
• Food (Breakfast, Dinner, Snacks)
• Money
• Water (lots of it!)
• Walking Boots
• Another Pair Of Shoes
• Clothes For The Trip
• Rucksack
• Washing Up Liquid And Sponge
• Compass

Day One:

I was at school in the minibus and we were about to set off. I thought to myself, "What will the walk be like?" We drove off. I had nothing to fear because Mr. Maguire was driving the minibus. We arrived at the dock and waited to get onto the ferry. When we got on, we left the minibus and looked around the ferry. It had a gambling place, a shop and a place where you could get something to eat and drink. We got off the ferry and went to the starting point of our trip.

We got our bags on our shoulders and went on forward. We met Mr. Anderson at the first point and we did some map and compass work. 

A few hours later, we arrived at the campsite. We got the tents set up and cooked some food. Later, we walked down to the beach and back. Then we went to sleep.

Day Two:

We woke up and cooked some breakfast, then we cleaned up and packed the tents and our bags and headed on our way. We met Mr. Anderson for our map and compass work. 

Then we walked, walked and walked some more. We later met Mr. Anderson at a house and continued our walk. 

Then, we finally finished our walk. I cooked some food and gave some to Mr Anderson! We all bought a nice, cold, refreshing glass of coke and hopped on the minibus. We went around the shops of the dock where we were going to get the ferry home. We got on the ferry and eventually arrived back at school. I was tired.

Conclusion: 

I found this walk very challenging, yet I completed it. I am very pleased that this was a challenge I could accomplish because I plan to do Silver and maybe Gold in the future. In conclusion, I am very pleased that I completed the walk on Arran.

 

In case you missed our Remembrance Day Play...

Jennifer has prepared an excellent synopsis of it for us:

The one act plays were put together by the drama group and Ms. Miller to honour Remembrance Day. It was predominantly to allow pupils from transitus to S3 to showcase their talents to their parents. The first play, "An Old Woman Shows Her Medals" by James Barrie, was the more serious and sentimental of the two. Set during WWII, it is about a lonely old woman and a soldier from the war who find happiness in one another’s friendship. The purpose of the second, Anton Chekhov’s "The Proposal", is the one I performed in and was for comic relief. Ivan Vassiliyitch Lomov, attempts to propose to his neighbour Stephan Stepanovitch Chubukov’s daughter Natalya (my character). Things get completely out of order as the couple-to-be are a little too argumentative for their own good. Not only did the play relieve the audience's mood, it was a fun and relaxing performance to give. The characters were very over the top, so we could really express ourselves and have fun with it. Also we didn't have copious amounts of dialogue to learn; it was an off-the-script reading. Another thing I liked about it was the set up - there was no stage or lighting, just a ring of seats around a small makeshift scene. This made the performance more intimate and less intimidating for the younger actors. The evening was also accompanied by the choir, so everyone got involved. A lot of effort and dedication was evident on the night, it was enjoyable for both the performers and the audience.

The Twelve Most Anticipated Space Missions of 2012

Space.com (a brilliant website, by the way) has published a list of exciting developments to look forward to in 2012. It's a nice pick-me-up after NASA's recent closure of the space shuttle program -- truly, the end of an era.

Commercial spaceflight has been generating loads of buzz for what seems like ages now, and these vehicles are soon to visit the International Space Station, which is going to keep operating even if NASA is not (and China's personal space station is well underway). You've probably heard the most about Virgin Galactic, though, which aims to create and dominate a suborbital spaceflight tourist industry.



Plus, LightSail-1, which relies on sunlight as its sole source of fuel, is due to be launched this year.

It's not all about exciting, new developments, however. NASA is sending (massively expensive) probes to the Moon and Mars to collect further data and we expect more information from long-running probes that are currently sailing to the outer reaches of the solar system.

My favourite update: human presence has been constant in space since 2000 and the ISS intends to keep it that way until 2020, with a constant rotation of astronauts performing experiments in the only existing microgravity laboratory.

Read the full article here.

Auditions Today for J6 Assembly next week

On the afternoon of Friday the 27th, our J6 class will be putting on an assembly themed around tolerance and understanding. Some of our students will be performing as punks, geeks and other types of people which are readily stereotyped, to convey the message that we should never judge others based on their outward appearances.

Ms. Smart has composed a piece which combines rap and song to put forth this message of respect for others and students will be auditioning for the rap parts this afternoon. I'll be posting photos and more information about the assembly after it happens.

Belmont Boys are Ready to get Risky

Andrew and Douglas, under the supervision of Mr. Lee, are gearing up for the UK’s premier investment competition for students, the ifs Student Investor Challenge!

Our young investors discuss strategies.

They have £100,000 to invest in a set of stocks chosen from a list of FTSE 100 companies and need to grow their wealth and generate a winning portfolio for February 2012, when the top teams go head-to-head in the regional finals. Fortunately for them, the website has a great deal of extra information to assist them in making good investment decisions and try to outperform their “share Guru” for a virtual cash bonus.

The boys stand to win several prizes if they do well enough, including an all-expenses-paid trip to New York and prize money for Belmont House School.

For further details on the rules and ins and outs of the competition, please visit the ifs website!

Christmas Recipe Swap

Not being an expert on preparing a traditional British holiday roast (Thanksgiving's more my speed...), I was put in charge of all of the baking this past year.


First, I did a round of common American cookies to consume during the Christmas period....not to mention that they were all by popular request from last year, as well!


Fat, Fluffy Snickerdoodles.  Wildly sought-after in spite of the fact that they're a simple cinnamon sugar cookie!


Classic Peanut Butter Blossoms.  A Hershey's Kiss melting into the center of a sweet and savoury cookie.


Oreo-Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Enough said!


The following day, I moved on to making a round of brownies and cupcakes for smaller, more manageable treats after the Christmas feast. Everything was well-received but I'd say people were most excited about the festive brownies.


Triple Chocolate Peppermint Brownies.  Decadently chocolately, melt-in-your-mouth brownies with a layer of peppermint buttercream between chocolate layers.


Chai Spiced Cupcakes with Snickerdoodle Frosting.   Legitimately taste like chai tea buried under creamy cinnamon frosting.


Funfetti Cupcakes.  Vanilla cake, vanilla frosting. For the fussy relatives. I substituted hundreds and thousands for funfetti.

 My pièce de résistance, however, was the cake I made for Boxing Day.


Spiced Chocolate Rum Cake. A delicious chocolate cake spiced with rum, allspice and cinnamon, slathered in a decadent chocolate buttercream and covered with Maltesers. I added extra Hershey Kisses to mine, and it looked like this after I coated it with an edible golden spray:



Not too shabby!

 
I'd be very interested in doing a recipe swap and seeing what you cooked or baked during your holidays, so please click on the comments and link to me some new ideas. I hope you like what I posted, as well -- let me know!

Belmont's Seasonal Concert -- In Pictures

Junior and Senior Choirs prepare to perform!

The Little Cherubs relax and watch the older students take centre stage.

"Hey, Jingle Belmont!"

"Silver Bells".

"It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year".

Olivia & Jackie

Struan

The Orchestra perform "Palladio".

"Celtic Christmas".

"Basil Belmont".

"Santa Fever".

"The Night Before Christmas" -- Nairne & Jack

"Hallelujah" -- Ashleigh

"When You Wish Upon A Star" -- S3

"Where You Lead"

"Marry You"

"Moving On Up"

"Showbiz Snowman".

"Mr. Grinch".

"Dinner Bell" -- Staff & Senior Choir

"Now In Bethlehem"