News

I'm a Scientist - Get me out of here

15th Nov 2019 by Mr Crookes

We were lucky to have the chance to have a live online chat with two nuclear scientists working in Manchester and Liverpool. Even though they are based in the UK both regularly head to CERN (a $50 billion science experiment near Geneva) to use their equipment.

It was amazing to hear from Mark Johnson about his work in the ALPHA experiment which aims to create, trap and understand antimatter (which is currently estimated to be the most expensive material in the world at a cost $2700 trillion per gram!).

Many thanks to the scientists,  I’m a Scientist and the Universities of Liverpool and Manchester.

S1 Science Trip

16th May 2019 by Mr Crookes

We were lucky to have great weather for the S1 Science trip to Ardnamurchan distillery and Ardnamurchan Natural History Visitor Centre. The highlights were perhaps seeing fermentation and distillation carried out on such a huge scale compared to our labs.

Many thanks to Ardnamurchan distillery and the Natural History Visitor Centre for allowing us to visit.

Visit to see director of CERN

28th March 2019 by Mr Crookes

The senior physics classes were lucky to be invited to a lecture in Edinburgh from Italian particle physicist Fabiola Gianotti. She is currently in charge of the worlds biggest physics experiment. It was exciting to hear about their recent work investigating the formation of the Universe and what they plan to do next.

Many thanks to Edinburgh University Particle Physics group for running the event.

Communicating Rum Deer Research at Royal Society

4th December 2018 by Mr Crookes

In the final stage of our project with the team of scientists working on Rum, we were lucky enough to be invited to London to share the results of our work investigating the behaviour of the Red Deer Population. It was great to listen to a lecture by Nobel Prize winner Venkatraman Ramakrishnan and hear about similar scientific projects carried out by school students across the UK.

Many thanks to the Royal Society,  Isle of Rum Deer Project,  Preston Lodge (our partner school in the project) and to Caledonian Sleeper who were a huge help with our travel arrangements.

Twelfth Night at Eden Court

13th November 2018 by Mr Crookes

The drama and music performances were again a huge success and included a trip to Inverness to show the student's amazing work. It's great to see so many pupils commit their time (often after school) and work together as a team.

Many thanks to Mrs Tevendale and Mrs Moir and all the other adults that support the drama and music at the school.

Mallaig Book Festival @ Mallaig High School

9th November 2018 by Mr Crookes

We were very lucky to have a visit from some authors and poets to our school.  Perhaps the highlight was taking a rest from lessons to listen to Jackie Kay (Scottish poet laureate) read some of her poems and talk about her life growing up in Scotland. 

Well done to all the students who listened so attentively, especially those who asked questions.

Many thanks to all the writers, Mrs Tevendale and the team behind the book festival.

Second Royal Society Trip to Rum

8th October 2018 by Mr Crookes

Well done to all the students that cycled up and down the hills on Rum.  The scientists on the trip were very impressed by the way you carefully engaged with the project and collected your data.

We were very lucky to have nice weather again and learn more about research carried out on the island by the Rum Deer Project by the lovely people working for the University of Edinburgh. Lots more interesting info on their website and twitter feed.

Many thanks to the Royal Society, Ali and Sean (and Eve) Morris and Josephine Pemberton and the other helpers for making the trip possible.

Rock Band Projects

1st July 2018 by Mrs Moir 

S2 and S3 pupils took part in Rock and Pop contests as part of their "In the Deep End" Project.  I was really impressed with the level of music that was produced and the way that pupils worked together in their groups. 

The winning group from S2: "Westface" with Corra, Hannah, Alasdair, Caiden, Tiegan and Iona. 

The winning group from S3: "008" with Ellie J, Ellie Mac, Grace, Finn, Anna, Elise, Erin and Chloe. 

Well done to all!

Nepal Trip Update

3rd July 2018 by Mr Crookes

Several students are currently on a adventure on the other side of the planet as part of the World Challenge Expedition,

If you would like to see updates you can follow them on Instagram, the big question though, is will they be able to find somewhere to watch England play in the World Cup on Saturday?

Many thanks to Miss Blues and all the people involved for preparing and running the challenge.

Music Concert 

1st June 2018 by Mrs Moir 

Well done to all the students that took part in the music department concert last night. Despite the midges and the heat, it was a hugely successful evening with performances from all school groups such as the S3 Singers, S2 music class, Rock School and Sarah Jayne's String group. 

The music department says a fond farewell to our Advanced Higher students: Matt Baker, Roslin Sutherland, Niamh Jobson (Ellie Tevendale is just entering S6). Wishing you all the very best in you future careers. 

Big thanks to Ms Watt, Mrs Andow, Miss MacInnes, Miss Campbell, Mr Lamont, Mr Sullivan & Mr Crookes for helping out on the night. 

Royal Society Trip to Rum

28th April 2018 by Mr Crookes

Well done to all the students that walked up and down the hills on Rum.  The teachers on the trip were very impressed with your good behaviour and the support you showed to each other during the day.

We were very lucky to have nice weather and learn from Alison Morris about research carried out on the island by the Rum Deer Project. If you are interested in finding out more you can read about their work on their website and following birth of this years calves on twitter.

The next stage of the collaboration will be in October.

Many thanks to the Royal Society and for making the trip possible and to Miss Campbell and Miss Powell for their time.

School Art Award Exhibition

24th March 2018 by Mr Crookes

Finn and Theo's work was recognised today by the  Royal Scottish Academy in the Friends Schools Art Award. Their art is now part of an exhibition in Edinburgh and the work of all the winners can be seen here.

Many thanks to Miss Campbell for her encouragement and guidance and also to the Royal Mail for looking after the work on its way down (and back) from Edinburgh.

I'm a Scientist - Get me out of here

7th Febuary 2018 by Mr Crookes

Today the S3 Chemistry class had a chance to take part in an online event to meet and interact with PhD students, researchers and lecturers from  Universities all over Scotland. Well done to the students for asking so many excellent questions and remember you can vote for the scientist who was your favourite and ask extra questions on the forum.

Many thanks to ScotCHEM and I’m a Scientist.

Student's code run on International Space Station

1st Febuary 2018 by Mr Crookes

Well done to Grace and Finn who's code was transmitted up to the International Space Station and run on their Raspberry Pi machine as part of the AstroPi project.

Many thanks to Raspberry Pi Foundation and European Space Agency.

I'm a Scientist - Get me out of here

15th Nov 2019 by Mr Crookes

We were lucky to have the chance to have a live online chat with two nuclear scientists working in Manchester and Liverpool. Even though they are based in the UK both regularly head to CERN (a $50 billion science experiment near Geneva) to use their equipment.

It was amazing to hear from Mark Johnson about his work in the ALPHA experiment which aims to create, trap and understand antimatter (which is currently estimated to be the most expensive material in the world at a cost $2700 trillion per gram!).

Many thanks to the scientists,  I’m a Scientist and the Universities of Liverpool and Manchester.

James Webb Space Telescope Pilot Project

19th June 2018 by Mr Crookes

Senior Physics students took part in pilot project working with the Institute of Research in Schools (IRIS) in partnership with NASA.

The aim of the project is to find dusty evolved stars within our own and nearby galaxies that can be targets for the new James Webb Space Telescope to study. These stars aren’t easy to find as they are hidden behind thick blankets of dust. We analysed data from a previous infrared mission – the Spitzer Space Telescope and began to learn how to classify the spectra of these sources.

There will be more opportunities to continue the search after the holidays.

Many thanks to Laura Thomas  for running the workshop and to NASA and other groups in America for launching a telescope into space providing access to data.