There have been lots of activities and events in our school over the past months or so, and I want to share some of these with you. So please take the time to read our Christmas 2025 Digital Newsletter as we celebrate all that is great about our school community.

In this quarterly update, you will be able to read about some of the following:

·       S3 History WW1 Trenches Models

·       HMP Moss Low Prison Talk

·       Citizenship – Bubble tree Stall

·       Renfrewshire Active Schools Badminton Quaich

·       S6 Snowball

·       Achievement Ceremony

·       Young Chef Competition

·       Book Week Scotland

·       Helping Hands Renfrewshire

·       S3 Mock elections

·       Christmas Concert

·       STEM

·       S1/S2 Reading for Gold Genre Challenge

·       Active Schools Road Race

·       S4 Bannockburn Trip

·       S1 Basketball    

Our aim is to continue to improve as a school, and your feedback at parent/carer evenings helps us make positive changes, as well as further improving areas of strength. The link below will take you to all the feedback from our questionnaires and more importantly the actions that we have taken and will be taking as a result of your responses.

https://www.gryffehigh.co.uk/your-voice-our-action

Our festive holiday is slightly unusual this year; we will welcome young people back to school on Tuesday 6^th January 2026 at 8:47am, giving everyone an extra day to recharge and get ready. S5/6 Prelims begin on Wednesday 7^th January and run for the next fortnight, playing a vital role in preparing young people for the SQA exam diet which follows our Spring Break. I know our S5/6 pupils will be using the holiday for a combination of relaxation and study!

Have a wonderful holiday.

Kevin Christie

Head Teacher

This is the excellent 3D model created by Finn Davies and Connor McLuskie. 

They heard from the prison governor, a prison officer and a serving prisoner all from HMP Low Moss as well as a very experienced prison Chaplin. 

The panel event focus on questions from participating schools which included, mental issues, overcrowding, reoffending, international comparisons and alternative approaches to prison.

The class found this event extremely useful and it will support them in their essay writing and for many of them their dissertation topic too. 

We had two types - brown sugar syrup with tapioca boba; and mango passionfruit popping boba. We only had 100 portions available in total and the crowd went wild for it! We are sorry if you didn't get one on this occasion, but as it was so popular we hope the Charities Committee might offer this again (for a fee!)

All pupils behaved exceptionally well throughout the day and performed very well with some great individual and team displays.

S1-S2 Boys

Swastik Seth (1Fm)

Ewan Connelly (2B)

Matthew Carey (2B)

Ethan Christie (2B)

Taylor Donnell (2W)

S1-S2 Girls

Maisie Hunter (1Fm)

Aadya Vibinkumar (1F)

Simar Kaur (1F)

Abbie McKay (1Fm)

Rebecca Clark (1Fm)

S3-S6 Boys

Innes Dunn (3B)

Dylan Webber (3W)

Thomas Watson (3F)

Jason Bogle (6Mk)

S3-S6 Girls

Sarah Arbon (3B)

Freya Bull (3M)

Georgia Bull (3M)

Kathryn Johnson (3W)

Sienna Short (3Wa)

Well done everyone.

With Achievements ranging from Scottish Weightlifting Champions, to British Showjumpers and our Saltire Volunteers, it was fantastic to recognise and celebrate the diverse achievements of our wonderful pupils.

A reminder that nominations can be made by parents/carers via the school website or by emailing the school office - we would love to celebrate your child's achievements at our ceremony next month" 

As if that wasn't enough, at Houston United's Awards Ceremony at the beginning of December, Wallis was awarded the Coaches Player of the year.

Well done to both girls and lots of good luck for the future.

The 4 pupils went onto compete again St Columba's and St Benedict's in preparing and making 2 dishes in 2 hours. They also had to cost their menu and fully prepare a time plan.  

A special congratulations to Jenny who was the worthy winner and now goes on to the next round at Ayr College. We will update you in the next newsletter.

Lots of good luck Jenny!

Winners of this year’s Book Week Scotland creative writing competition were Abbie and Adaya in S1, with Abbey submitting a very descriptive short story and Aadya a full play on the theme of friendship.

Congratulations and we hope you keep up the creative writing!

The gifts will be donated to Helping Hands Renfrewshire who work tirelessly to ensure that all children in the area receive a Christmas gift.

Thank you to everyone who took part and helped spread some joy this festive season.

A massive thanks to Mrs Smith in HFT and Mrs Davey in Humanities for organising.

On election day, all pupils presented their materials with their candidates. One class held a 'Question Time' style panel, while the others had debates. 

Well done to our winners - the SAGE Party, Democratic Critters and the D'oh Party!

We were also delighted to introduce two new ensembles — the Trad Group and Percussion Ensemble — making their debut performances.

The evening was filled with festive spirit as the performers presented a varied and accomplished programme to a full and appreciative audience.

During the tour, they explored the different labs where they were shown machines designed to test the measurements of manufactured products to ensure they meet specifications as well as 3D printers and what they can be used for.  The staff also highlighted real-world projects happening at the university, such as coral reef preservation in the Highlands, showing how research connects to practical applications.

The highlight for most was definitely seeing the Formula Student race car.

1A2 and 2A2 are double winners as they have completed the most tasks in their challenge and read the most books for the second term in a row!

Well done to everyone for participating and good luck to the other classes for Term 3 and 4.

S1 Girls Country Champion – Kiera Mitchell

S1 Boys Silver Medal – Angus Farley

S2 Girls 3^rd place – Team Prize

S1 Girls 2^nd place – Team Prize

S1 Boys 2^nd place – Team Prize

Well done everyone!

The pupils had the experience of handling the equipment and dressing as different types of soldiers that fought at Bannockburn. The pupils also learned about the wider impact of the battle had on Robert Bruce's reign in Scotland.

The tour guides commented on the positive engagement of our pupils

A long and wet trip down to Cumnock was rewarded by a 6-26 victory for the visiting Gryffe Squad. 

Well done everyone!

S3:

1^st – 3Mk

2^nd – 3B

3^rd – 3WA

4^th – 3W & 3M

5^th – 3F

S2:

1^st – 2Bn

2^nd – 2F & 2B

3^rd – 2W

S1:

1^st – 1Fm

2^nd – 1M &1B

3^rd – 1F & 1W

Overall, across all years and house groups:

1^st - Burns Overall

2^nd - Fleming Overall

3^rd - Mackintosh Overall

4^th - Wallace Overall

A huge well done to everyone who signed up and took part!

The jackets we have donated will provide for those who wouldn't otherwise have something warm to wear this winter.

Well done to the S6 pupils and staff who gave up their time to transform the school canteen into an amazing winter wonderland and a fantastic venue for Snowball.

A huge thanks to the very talented pupils who kept us entertained while they were setting up, especially their rendition of "My Way"!!

Next stop is the Prom!!

Pupils have chosen an area in science to research and prepare a short lesson for someone at home. Pupils fed back that they enjoyed sharing their knowledge with others and it helped build their confidence.

We hope that you have enjoyed your science lesson!

The pupils attended the University of the West of Scotland to carry out practical work in the Physics Labs. This is an excellent opportunity to use different scientific apparatus and to experience a day in the life of a student. The pupils had a fantastic day and were all successful in completing a full experiment.

Pictured below are Teltron tubes where Lewis Hewitt was able to calculate the charge to mass ratio of an electron, a Michelson’s interferometer where Kirstie Crosbie was able to calculate the wavelength of sodium light. Charlie Smith was also calculated the viscosity of glycerol.

Well done to you all!

Thank you to the parents and carers who helped secure placements, and to our partners who supported the high-quality in-school programme, including ASDA, Save the Children, Clyde Space, Scottish Enterprise, the Community News App, BeeHappy Litter Picking, the Careers Team, and Barista Training.

We had every type of house, from models to excellent posters which very clearly hit the success criteria.

Well done all!