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November 2009 - News Stories | |
Headmaster's reaction to announcement by the OSCRStatement from the Headmaster of St Leonards School, Dr Michael Carslaw, following the announcement by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) that the School has complied with the regulator's direction to submit a plan that sets out a strategy which will ensure that St Leonards will be able to meet the public benefit requirement of the charity test. "I am delighted that the OSCR has given our plan the green light. "It has always been my intention that St Leonards should remain as a charity and, with that in mind, we now look forward to meeting the final stage of the OSCR's direction by putting our plan into effect. "St Leonards is proud of the all-round, top quality education with which it provides its students and it is my intention that as many children as possible should benefit from having the opportunity to study at the School." Pupils proud to wear pinkPicture: Pink Day 2009 Pupils at St Leonards were proud to wear pink as they did their bit for a good cause. Students at the St Andrews school got right into the spirit of Breast Cancer Campaign’s ‘Wear it Pink’ drive, donating money to the charity in order to wear the colour for a day. The kind hearted youngsters also found a tasty way to swell their donation when they hosted a scrumptious bake sale in the School dining hall. Karen Wowk, Head of the Sixth Form, said, “It’s fantastic to be able to make a contribution to such a worthwhile campaign and it’s great that the students got into the spirit of things with their colourful outfits. “The whole day was organised by the Sixth Form students. They worked really hard to try and raise as much money as possible.” Students ponder some weighty issuesPicture: weighty issues A group of Fife school pupils came together to gain a philosophical outlook on some weighty issues at a special event at St Leonards. Lower Sixth Form (S5) students at the St Andrews school were joined by pupils from Madras and Bell Baxter for the Reverend Professor Keith Ward’s talk, ‘God, Science and the new atheism’. Professor Ward, one of Britain’s foremost philosopher-theologians and the former Professor of the Philosophy of Religion at King’s College, London, engaged the young audience in a debate about the natural tensions between science and religion and, in particular, whether there is knowledge in morality. Professor Ward, who was joined for the talk by Professor Eric Priest of St Andrews University, said, “These tend to be spiky sorts of subjects that get people worked up! “I enjoyed speaking to the students. “It was a good audience and there were lots of intelligent questions.” Dawn Pemberton, Deputy Head (Academic) at St Leonards, said that the talk had been particularly beneficial to the host school’s pupils as they are currently undertaking a Theory of Knowledge course as part of their International Baccalaureate studies. She said, “The subject can be quite demanding but Professor Ward explained things in a really understandable way that got the pupils thinking. She added, “It was a wonderful opportunity for all of the students to learn more about knowledge and philosophy. “The pupils were fascinated by the subjects raised.” Super scholars rewardedPicture: scholars 2009 St Leonards School has been recognising excellence with the presentation of its annual scholarship awards. At a special assembly, Headmaster Dr Michael Carslaw handed out certificates to seven students in honour of their outstanding performances and achievements in a range of subjects. Logan Rees (Year 8) from Crail had especially good reason to be proud of himself having been awarded scholarships in three categories: academic, art and sports. Rebecca Mansbridge (Lower Sixth Form (S5)) from Balmullo also received an academic award whilst Year 8 pupils Conor MacCallum from St Andrews and Alasdair McDougall from Drumoig were rewarded for their prowess on local greens and fairways with golf scholarships. Eva Dumann (Lower Sixth Form) from Hannover in Germany won a music award with Zoe Macnaughton (Year 10) from Springfield receiving an art scholarship and Vanessa Stewart (Year 8) from St Andrews being awarded a sport scholarship. The scholarships, which are open to all of the pupils at St Leonards, are awarded following a series of tests and assessments and Dr Carslaw believes that all of the recipients can be extremely proud to have had their hard work and efforts recognised in such a way. “Congratulations to all of the pupils who have received the prestigious scholarship awards,” he said. “They are a recognition of the sustained excellence in learning - upon which St Leonards prides itself - which has been so clearly demonstrated by this particular group of students.” | |