Two weeks of fun and friendships

The choir perform at Assembly Rooms
(photo from the Jabulani Project)

On Sunday we bid a sad 'farewell and see you soon' to our wonderful friends from the Dloko High School choir as the end of their visit to Edinburgh to perform at the Fringe festival reached its conclusion. The trip was a resounding success which allowed this phenomenally talented group of young people - many of whom have never before left Umlazi township - to enjoy experiencing a different culture, be empowered by sharing their love of music and raise a huge amount of money that will be used to support projects tackling poverty in their local community. We at James Gillespie's feel so proud to have played a part in this amazing event and are delighted that the link between our two schools is now stronger than ever.

The schedule for choir's visit was incredibly busy and it would be impossible to document every event in detail but some of our top highlights included:

• 6 shows at St Andrew's and George's West Church.
• 2 shows at Woodend Barn in Banchory.
• 3 shows at the Assembly Rooms with the JGHS chamber choir and Anna McLuckie, including selling out the on the final night and having to open the upper balcony!
• Appearing on the BBC Culture Studio with Janice Forsythe.
• Filming on an Edinburgh tram for BBC Edinburgh Extra.
• A visit to the Scottish Parliament.
• Special performances at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and Montessori Nursery.
• A visit to JGHS to join in with classes and perform for staff and pupils.
• Countless open stage performances at St Andrew's Square and other promo performances around the city.
• Shopping for new shoes at Schuh thanks to fundraising lead by the Assembly Rooms.
• A final night party at Darroch with an experimental fusion of Zulu and Scottish traditional dancing!

The Dloko HS Choir and JGHS community on the final night
(photo with thanks to Ian Miller)

Unbelievably in addition to all of this there was still plenty of time for making strong friendships with the pupils, parents and former pupils of the JGHS network who kindly opened their homes to host the youngsters during their time in Edinburgh and spent time buddying the group on their travels around the city. There can be no doubt that the past two weeks have been a wonderful showcase of the strength, kindness and generosity of the JGHS community of which we are so proud.

We would like to thank all of the many people who helped to make this trip so wonderful, but special thanks must go to the following, as without their hard work and generosity it would never have been possible:

• The Iris Initiative, who funded the choir's travel to Edinburgh.
• The Jabulani Project, lead by Alex Wallace, for the huge amount of hard work in getting ID cards, passports and visas for the pupils.
• The parents, pupils and former pupils of JGHS who hosted and buddied the pupils and staff during their stay.
• The Assembly Rooms Fringe and St Andrew's and St George's West church, who provided their venues free of charge to allow revenue from ticket sales tobe fed back into projects in the school's local community.

Finally, we'd like to thank our friends from Dloko High School for allowing us to share two weeks of music, dancing and sheer joy. We have gained so much from you during your time here and those of us travelling to South Africa next year can't wait to see you again soon!

Last meeting before the summer holidays - Wed 25th June

It's really important that everyone going to South Africa attends the last meeting before the summer next Wednesday in the Darroch resource centre. The only exceptions are people who will be away on other trips. Mr Wallace is coming in to talk to you as your first guest speaker - make sure you are there!

The Dloko Choir Needs You! (Part 2)

We're still short of families from the JGHS community to host the pupils coming over to perform with the Dloko choir in August. If you think you can offer accommodation in your house for one or more pupils for any number of days during the period of August 3rd-17th we'd really love to hear from you.

This is a fantastic opportunity to support the South Africa project and for Gillespie's pupils to get to know some of the pupils from Dloko so we'd like to extend this opportunity to all pupils across the school, whether or not they are able to visit South Africa themselves.

If you can help please email Lisa Gray who is coordinating the hostings (lisa.gray@jamesgillespies.edin.sch.uk).

The Dloko Choir Needs You!

I hope that by now many of you will have heard that the wonderfully talented choir of Dloko High School are coming to Edinburgh in August to peform at the Fringe festival. This has been made possible by the work of Andrew Paterson of the John Byrne award, and former JGHS head teacher and founder of the Jabulani project, Alex Wallace.



The choir will be performing at various times throughout the festival, but are putting on three extra-special shows at the Assembly Rooms on August 12th, 13th and 14th. These dates are special for two reasons. Firstly - through a parent with connections at the Assembly Rooms - the venue has been offered for no charge, meaning that all proceeds from ticket sales can be fed back to the Dloko High School and its wider community. Secondly, the James Gillespie's Chamber Choir will be performing on stage with our South African friends for the finale item. These shows are sure to be an unforgettable experience, showcasing exceptional talent.  For more info follow this link.

To make this event as sucessful as it can be we really need the JGHS community to get on board, and there are a few ways thyou can get involved...

1. Come and see the show. Tickets are being offered at a discounted rate of £12 for JGHS pupils, parents and alumni and are available at the school reception.

2.  Encourage your friends and family to come and see the show too! Tickets for the general public are on sale now for £15, and can be bought online by following this link.

3. Join the JGHS chamber choir and perform. We're still looking for enthusiastic singers! Contact rachel.millar@jamesgillespies.edin.sch.uk for more information about joining and rehearsals.

4. Offer to host Dloko pupils during their stay. We're looking for host families from the JGHS community to offer accommodation to members of the choir during thier stay in Edinburgh from August 3rd-17th. If you think you might be able to help out by offering space in your home for a few nights please contact Lisa Gray at the school (lisa.gray@jamesgillespies.edin.sch.uk).

Hope to see you at the shows in August!

Information from Parents' Meeting on June 17th

Thanks to all who attended yesterday's parent's meeting - your support is valued as always. We've summarised as much of the information as possible below for those who couldn't make it along.

Mr McCallum provided information about the organisation and admin of the trip. Most of the information is summarised in his powerpoint presentation, which can be viewed by following this link

Miss Gray gave an overview of the purpose of the trip, and what we get up to while we are away in South Africa. Here is a link to her powerpoint presentation.

Miss Grant talked about what happens in the months leading up to the trip from now until we leave in February. This covered both what is expected of the pupils, and how parents can get involved. Here is a link to her powerpoint presentation.

The next parent's meeting will be on Tuesday 7th October at 7pm in the resource centre at Darroch. We will send a reminder about this after the summer holiday.

We hope this inforamtion is of use, and hope to see you all on October 7th!

South Africa 2015 letter

Here is the letter issued to S5 students at the meeting last Friday.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/n0wwrxt2qwcbdp2/SA2015.doc

South Africa 2015 meeting

Attention all S5 pupils going to South Africa next year!

There's a meeting with Mr McCallum this Friday (9th May) at 10:30 at Darroch. Attendance is very important!