Headmaster's Blog

• Friday 13 May 2022 13th May 2022 When contemplating a theme for Monday morning’s assembly, it is useful to consider the day and the week ahead, and whether some message can set the school on a particular course. With Form 8 about to sit their Common Entrance Mental Arithmetic paper on Monday, and the Common Entrance French Listening and Speaking exams on Tuesday, honing their lateral thinking and listening skills in assembly seemed appropriate.
• Friday 6 May 2022 6th May 2022 As Mrs Harvey often reminds me, we schoolteachers are a bossy bunch who are very good at giving instructions! Her words stuck in my mind as I reflected on the theme of my two assemblies in the first two weeks of this term; Week 1 - Be the Best Version of Yourself and Week 2 - The Great Tapestry of Scotland and the Skills Used to Produce it. Both assemblies included encouragement to do better, work with others and use our talents to the full to produce the highest possible standard.
• Friday 29 April 2022 Friday 29th April Most people have a car to Kwik Fit related horror story to tell. However, my Easter holiday ‘trauma’ of paying a fortune for unseen problems as well as the minor issue that had taken me there in the first place, actually ended up paying valuable dividends.
• Friday 22 April 2022 22nd April 2022 Finally, after a lengthy absence, Melrose 7s took place over the holidays and staff and FPs involved in running our own gathering here in Abbey Park were grateful to the St. Mary’s community revellers for their cooperation in following the many rules needed to keep everyone safe and the campus tidy. Reward came in the form of the appreciation and gratitude expressed, which made all the extra work for the school worthwhile.
• Friday 25 March 2022 25th March 2022
• Friday 18 March 2022 18th March 2022 The penultimate week of a hectic and challenging term is often the most ‘interesting’. Monday saw a few continued absences leaving me wondering if the ever patient and willing staff might succumb to a ‘fuel shortage’ as energy levels grew depleted. Mr Inwood, Mr Rooney, Mr Brown and loyal parent supporters had been involved in two very tough rugby 7s tournaments on Saturday (U13s at Mowden) and Sunday (U11s at Merchiston).
• Friday 11 March 2022 11th March 2022
• Friday 4 March 2022 4th March 2022 Having concentrated on her ˜day job ™ and smaller scale initiatives since the marvellous Poppy Scotland project last term,
• Friday 25 February 2022 25th February 2022 Prior to the half-term holiday, we were one pupil short of a COVID free roll of staff and pupils. Prior to returning on Monday, seven pupils tested positive and remained at home. As I write on the fifth day since our return, we have enjoyed the reappearance of some of the seven, but reassuringly, no new cases throughout the week.
• Friday 11 February 2022 11th February 2022 Writing a blog with nine hours to go until the end of this demanding but productive and successful first half of this Lent Term, always feels like fate is being tempted, so I shall proceed with caution.Week 6 assembly began with Prishaa playing ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star’ on the cello, Finnian then played ‘Boogie’ on the piano and Maddi concluded the solos with ‘Rondo Olympia’ on the cornet. All three ‘hit the note’ with skilled performances. This set the tone for an upbeat start to Children’s Mental Health Week, and we have followed up this theme with some excellent resources used in daily Form time.To cheer everyone along as they embarked upon Week 6, I reminded them of the tale of the doll’s face that stares out of our school wall and on to the High Street. This all came about around sixty years ago, when the wall was being built.A local stone mason employed a young apprentice George McDonald, from Darnick. As a bit of
• Friday 4 February 2022 4th February 2022 Malik then Corrie took us by storm last week, and once again our buildings and trees stood up to the test. However, even the toughened glass of Mr Brown’s classroom could not withstand a windblown Melrose Rugby Club frame, but Mr Brydon was quickly on scene to make the teaching space draft free and safe.
• Friday 28 January 2022 28th January 2022 A day before the famous bard’s 263rd birthday, we paid our own St. Mary’s tribute in the traditional way. Among our number, we have talented, willing people that can enhance our offering, and we were delighted they stepped forward to lead our Burns celebration.
• Friday 21 January 2022 21st January 2022 Every year, the third Monday in January is dubbed ‘Blue Monday’. This is apparently based on the cold weather, Christmas over-spending, dark nights and mornings, and possible new year’s resolutions falling by the wayside.
• Friday 14 January 2022 14th January 2022 As we concluded term in December, we ran our final assembly from the Form 8 classroom where trophies and colours were awarded, long, loyal and exemplary service to St. Mary’s was recognised, and a summation of the highlights and achievements of the term was given.
• Friday 7 January 2022 7th January 2022 Happy New Year, and may 2022 see a national and global metamorphosis from continued COVID corruption to a more workable existence for all of us.
• Wednesday 15 December 2021 15th December
• Friday 5 November 2021 5th November 2021 On Monday morning, we were joined in assembly by Headmaster of Merchiston School Mr Jonathan Anderson, and senior prefect and St. Mary’s FP Lachlan Ferguson. It was a treat to hear from them and at first glance through the ‘magic window’ Lachlan looked like a member of Merchiston’s teaching staff!
• Friday 17 September 2021 17th September 2021 Following on from last week’s Blog, Miss Wood had succeeded in producing the 1 min 30 second St. Mary’s montage with sounds, voices and some striking visuals that will be visible to all who log on to the Great Scottish Canvas online Art and Poetry exhibition this weekend. We attempted to run this as a preview in assembly, though Monday morning Wi-Fi in the Borders was probably straining under the weight of traffic. However, the gist of the offering came across loud and clear and in a stunning, shocking and eye-catching way. This short production blended neatly into my reminder that this year’s Bang Goes the Borders themes for today and tomorrow are sustainability, climate change and virology (the study of viruses). This then led conveniently on to my ‘soap box’ offering of the week. Given the escalating number of colds and sickness in the past two weeks, I took the opportunity to remind all pupils and staff of the value in regular and thorough handwashing.