Social Subjects updates
Updated: Jun 20
Charity Football Match: S6 Vs Staff
After much discussion from the staff and S6 pupils a charity match was arranged by the Charities Committee and Mr Shaw. The all-star line-up included many familiar staff faces in a highly uncompetitive match. Despite a very unflattering score the match met its main which raised over £400 towards the DEC earthquake appeal and Maggie’s Cancer centres both incredibly worthy causes. A massive thank you to all of the staff and pupils who helped to support this great event. The staff team in already in training for next year
Visit to DHS: Shirley-Anne Somerville
The Modern Studies Department is incredibly grateful to the school’s constituency MSP Shirley-Anne Somerville for coming in to speak to all of our National 5 Modern Studies, Higher Modern Studies and Politics pupils. Her insights in to the role of an MSP helped pupils preparing to answers question in upcoming assessments.
Take What You Need Boxes
As part of our drive to support pupils and families with the current financial climate the school has now rolled out “Take What you Need Boxes.”. These boxes are located in various signposted classrooms and spaces around the school. They contain every day essentials such as toiletries, face cloths, toothbrushes, hairbrushes. A massive thank you to the school community and staff who have helped to support this
Breakfast Club
During the course of this term the school was incredibly lucky to have the Stephens Bakery Foundation offer funding and financially support our daily breakfast club. We are incredibly grateful to Stephens for supporting our Breakfast Club. We have a number of activities pupils can undertake in the mornings before school, martial arts, gym sessions, running and many more.
6 Nations: Italy vs Scotland
Thanks to some very quick emailing from Miss Hunter the school was able to secure tickets to the final game of this years Six Nations at Murrayfield. Mr Forbes and Mr Argo took all of the pupils to the game it was an early start but a great game! All pupils behaved very well
BBC Debate Night: Glenrothes
Mr Forbes and five senior pupil attended BBC Scotland’s Debate Night in Glenrothes. The pupils had the opportunity to hear from politicians across the political spectrum and to engage in the warm up debate before filming took part.
S4 History Trip to Edinburgh
Just before the end of last term some of our S4 History pupils took a trip over to Edinburgh to visit the National Museum of Scotland. A wonderful space to explore and great opportunity to visit a very historic city!
Holocaust Memorial Day
This year the school was incredibly lucky to have two senior pupils Danny and Eva undertake the Holocaust Education Trust trip to Auschwitz. Both pupils represented the school incredibly well in all of the training. They presented a project to a mix of S5 and S6 pupils on Holocaust Memorial Day prior to the pupils hearing from Ruth Posner a holocaust survivor.
After both presentations S4, S5 and S6 pupils made a pledge based on the topics discussed.
International Day of Happiness
On March 20th the Social Subjects and RMPS faculty helped to lead a celebration of International Day of Happiness. Each S1 and S2 pupil had the opportunity to create and celebrate happiness. This culminated in some very creative thank you cards distributed at home and in school. More can be seen on our twitter page @DHScitizenship.
First Aid Elective: S1 CPR Training
S1 pupils have now completed the CPR: Call, Push, Rescue training programme, facilitated by senior pupils in the First Aid Elective. This is a British Heart Foundation programme and pupils have now received their certificate to authenticate their training.
Senior pupils did a fantastic job and trained 210 pupils between November and March. We are delighted to have CPR training running again at Dunfermline High!
International Women’s Day 2023
The campaign for International Women's Day 2023 is Embrace Equity.
It highlights the fact that equity isn't just a nice-to-have, it's a must have, and a focus on gender equity needs to be part of every society's DNA.
The aim of the IWD 2023 #EmbraceEquity campaign theme is to get the world talking about Why equal opportunities aren't enough. People start from different places, so true inclusion and belonging require equitable action.
This International Women’s Day staff and pupils at DHS took time to consider their role in Embracing Equity and commit to a pledge to help push forward the process of equity in order that we can reach equality.
John Muir Award
Well done to our S1 DAS pupils for making this amazing video on the life of John Muir
Mission Christmas
As a school this year we have been taking part in Mission Christmas to help support children across Fife and Dunfermline. Ensuring that every child wakes up to a present on Christmas Day. We have been overwhelmed by the generosity of the school community. A final total will be posted on our twitter.
National Book Week
In Social Subjects we love getting involved in whole school events. Our friends in English did an amazing job celebrating National Book Week and we didn’t want to miss out suggesting some of our favourite books in B-Wing.
Polish Consulate Visit
The Social Subjects Department was delighted to welcome the Polish Consulate for Scotland to the school for an incredible talk on the historic links between Dunfermline and the Polish Republic. Particularly the close links during the Second World War. We are very grateful for the informative and passionate talk the Consulate provided as well as the very generous donation to the school of reading materials on the history of Poland.
Remembrance Assembly
For the first time in a number of years the school was able to have an in-person Remembrance Assembly organised by Social Subjects but with huge inputs from Expressive Arts and English. The very moving Assembly was observed by all year groups not undertaking prelims. A massive thank you to MaryAnn Rennie for giving up her time and to Brandon for piping so well throughout the day.
CPR Training
The senior first aid elective have been very busy teaching the S1 pupils how to successfully complete CPR. It has been great to see the confidence grow in our seniors and also watch our S1 pupils learn some potentially lifesaving skills.
Poppy Scotland Diary Submission
We have had two wonderful S3 pupils take the time to enter the – “Day the War Began” diary competition with Poppy Scotland. A very thoughtful and well put together account well done to both pupils!
Debating Club
The club has been very busy this term looking at issues like sports boycotts and if Christmas is better than Halloween. A huge well done to Andrew and James who have progressed to the next round of the Law Society Donal Dewar Debating competition.
Breakfast Club
After the October Holidays the school started a breakfast club. This is open to all pupils from 08:00 until 08:30 with items available to collect up until the bell. There is now a full programme of activities available for pupils to do prior to school. We have received donations from Asda and are always happy to accept support from the community. A massive thank you to all of the staff who help to support this important club.
RSGS Essay Competition
Congratulations to Zoe Park who has entered our Royal Scottish Geographical Society Essay writing competition
Dunfermline to Kyiv
As part of our work to raise awareness of the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Ukraine as a school we set ourselves the target of covering the 1694 miles from the school to Kyiv in a school week. Pupils and staff went out to cover the distance around the school. After just two days the school had beat this target! This was an amazing feat and showed just how committed staff and pupils are to supporting people caught up in this crisis. Along with the walk the school undertook fundraising to donate to helping the people of Ukraine.
Citizenship Day- World Refugee Day
The Social Subjects and RMPS Faculty took the lead on organising and creating a Citizenship Day tied to the theme of World Refugee Day for all of S2. Every subject in the school got involved in delivering a themed lesson raising awareness of the difficulties that refugees can experience. It was an incredibly successful and emotive day with pupils enjoying the opportunity to learn about such an important issue.
P7 Visit 2022
In Social Subjects and RMPS we had designed specific lessons to welcome in person our new S1 pupils during their three-day visit. This included an amazing and informative scavenger hunt around the school which provides an excellent starting point for our new S1 pupils. We look forward to seeing them in August.
Mental Health Awareness Week
In Social Subjects and RMPS we joined in the whole school focus on discussing and supporting Mental Health Awareness Week. For our faculty we focussed on mindful colouring in and kahoots to bring up and support discussions around mental health.
YPI 2022
All S3 pupils this year undertook the YPI (Youth and Philanthropy Initiative) they had to research a local charity, contact them and then advocate on their behalf for £3000. The standard from all pupils this year was incredibly high. Dunfermline’s Rotary Club along with Mr Buchanan had the difficult task of judging our finalists. Sophia and Mya advocating for Choices won the funding. However due to the generosity of the local Rotary Club every charity in the final received a generous donation. Mrs McLean and the winning team then attended the national YPI event in Perth which was a hugely inspiring day!
S1 and S2 Reward Trip
Throughout this year pupils in S1 and S2 classes have been gathering points in classes across the faculty. As a result of some exceptional work we took the winning S1 and S2 classes to Dynamic Earth. We can’t wait to see how many points the classes get next year!
Donald Dewar Final
The schools debating Society had had a very successful year. After several rounds of competition our senior debating team of Andrew Bell and Rachel McGrath reached the Law Society Donald Dewar Final. This was held in the chamber of the Scottish Parliament. Despite not winning the school and debating club are incredibly proud of them! The debating club thoroughly enjoyed the trip to Parliament and the chance to sit in the famous chamber.
Edinburgh Geography Trip
The Geography Department has recently taken all S3 pupils on an educational tour of Edinburgh's new and old town. We did an open top bus tour and then environmental quality analysis of three different areas in the city.
RSGS talks and Essay writing competition
DHS is proud to welcome the RSGS talks back for another season. Also our pupils are entered in the RSGS essay writing competition. Good luck to our finalists who have entered the RSGS' essay writing competition on Scotland's Future.
Dynamic Earth Trip for S1+S2 top classes
Classes that earned the most points were rewarded with a trip to Dynamic Earth. Well done 2B1 and 1Q2!
Earth and Beyond Club Young Environmentalists News!
Congratulations to our Earth and Beyond Club members Zoe and Sasha who with the help of their club mates produced an absolutely brilliant news report for the Rotary Club's Young Environmentalist Competition. Their news report on climate change and the importance of tackling this global challenge is first class. Well done - what a fantastic effort from these talented youngsters!
Royal town Planning Institute commends DHS pupil!
The Royal Town Planning Institute has commended Keira McCrudden who reached the last 21 finalists with a certificate celebrating her achievement. Fantastic effort Keira we're so proud of your effort!
Emergency First Aid Course
On Friday 10th December we took part in a full day Emergency First Aid Course as part of our Health Elective. We started the day by looking at DRS ABCD which stands for Danger, Response, Shout, Airways, Breathing, Circulation and Defibrillator. We learned how to take care of casualties who are breathing normally by putting them into recovery position which is a lifesaving skill.
Next, we looked at what to do if the casualty isn’t breathing normally and how to do CPR. We learnt hands only CPR. This means that we used chest compressions only and did not use rescue breaths due to the pandemic. Heart attacks can be identified by if a person is complaining of chest pains that can travel into other areas of the body like pins and needles. We learnt about using ‘W’ position meaning that their knees are up and their back is against a wall before calling 999.
We then went on to talk about seizures and what procedures to go through when this happens. We then went onto look at bleeding, nose bleeds, bandages, shock and burns. It was a very full day. I found the course so interesting and I would now feel confident in dealing with a first aid situation. I would really recommend this course to others – it could literally be a life-saver!
Raegan Swanson, S5
COP 26 Pupil Project
Recently, we took part in the COP 26 inspiring futures climate change conference, which aimed to attract future generations and highlight the scale of the global climate crisis. As part of the event, 10 S2 and S3 students were chosen to represent Dunfermline High School in the world’s most significant summit on climate change. Throughout the day, we took part in leadership discussions with worldwide leaders and global experts on climate change to grow our understanding of the importance of climate change. As part of the day, we learned some of the key attributes required to live a more sustainable life and limit our impact on the already fragile planet. By 2050, Britain as a
whole should be taking out as much carbon dioxide as we are putting in at today's levels. This is a huge feat and will take society to work together to help achieve this goal. Additionally, we have begun to think about our impacts on the planet and our effects of climate change. Through the upcoming club, we will be looking at starting at DHS; we hope to build a more sustainable and environmentally conscious school. This will take a huge effort from the whole school community and benefit not just the students of the DHS but also the wider society. We have already begun thinking about initiatives with our teachers, and we are empowered to continue to make these changes. Furthermore, we have created a forest of promises in B210, highlighting what climate change impacts we can individually make, to
make a global difference. This also presents the opportunity to remind fellow students on a daily basis of what they can do to improve their impacts on the planet. Over the coming weeks at DHS, we plan to roll out a wider school COP 26 legacy project where each teacher is given the opportunity to highlight what they are doing to try and reduce their footprint and further another suggestion of what they change. This will raise the profile of climate change at DHS and hopefully bring about the changes that we as students are rooting for. Overall, the day we spent at the youth summit was highly influential and eye-opening and allowed us to grasp the true impacts on the planet, and it has empowered us to become the citizens of the future.
Check out our YPI page for details of this year's chance to win £3000 for your chosen charity
S3 pupils at Dunfermline High School started work on their Youth and Philanthropy Initiative (YPI) projects just before we returned to school after Lockdown 2. Pupils have worked hard under challenging circumstances to design digital presentations in preparation for a remote Final which took place on Wednesday 23 June.
This year 4 groups reached the final and I am delighted to say that Happy Days Club was the winning charity, who will now receive £3000 from The Wood Foundation.
Take a look at our Sharing Success page with examples of great pupil work from S1 and S2!
Thanks to our wonderful senior pupils Rhiannon, Amelie and Zeenat for starting our Social Subjects club with S1 and S2 pupils.
The Royal Institute of Town Planners is running a competition for S2 pupils to plan a sustainable town project poster. Good luck to all our entrants!
