Category Archives: Kemnay Academy

Kemnay Academy

Rock Challenge Scottish Final

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The thunderous cheering begins to blow the roof off the Dundee Caird Hall.  Arbroath High has been awarded yet another prize, one of a string of prizes they go on to win.  Chatting and laughing with my friends, I am not paying a lot of attention to the stage: after all, we were at the Rock Challenge Scottish Finals not to win, but to show the schools what Kemnay Academy was made of, and to have a good time.  We had had such fun during the day, dancing with other schools in the Morning Production Meeting, munching on pizza together before our final show preparation; we weren’t overly focussed on winning the most amount of prizes.  Being the lighting director and working on the administration side of Rock Challenge, I had never felt I was overly important in the scheme of things; there was dancing, choreography, set, costume all of which I believe were more important than me.  So when an award-presenter on-stage announces that the Lighting Design Award has been given to Kemnay Academy, our school erupts with screams and cheers of surprise and joy – and I was in utter shock.

I had won an award, completely off my own back, and it lifted the school’s spirits infinitely. Knowing we had made our mark at the Rock Challenge Scottish Finals was a great achievement, and furthermore knowing that it was me who had made that mark, boosted my self-esteem.  I realised then that no matter what role you play in a Rock Challenge performance, whether you are the main character such as the Dictator, or if you painted one tree on one piece of set: every single member is important, and without the joint effort of everyone we could never pull off the performances that we do.  Rock Challenge is and will continue to be a staple in the diet of the pupils of our school, from S2 up to their final days at school.  If nothing else, Rock Challenge helps you to take part in something great, learn new skills, and most of all, to make life-long friends.

 Eilidh Maclachlan

Kemnay Academy

S3 History Fundraising Success

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S3 History pupils have been studying the topic of Genocide and in particular the country of Cambodia.  Part of this study involved looking at the work of Handicap International and how they help landmine victims.

The pupils created a raising awareness campaign and were involved in presenting at school assemblies.   Across the three S3 History classes, various fundraising activities were carried out including an Easter hamper, sponsored silence, guess the birthday, guess how many sweets are in the jar and a Landmines Challenge.  The Landmines Challenge was a success in particular as it gave both the pupils and teachers who competed an idea about how everyday life can be a challenge for landmine victims.

In total £302.21 was raised across the various activities.  Thank you to all the staff and pupils who contributed as this money will help many landmine victims in Cambodia.

Kemnay Academy

Kemnay Academy:Young Writers’ The Poetry Games Success

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Three Kemnay Academy pupils are to have their work published following their success in a poetry writing competition.  Young Writers received thousands of entries from across the UK for The Poetry Games.  Jack Bedborough (S2), Lee Aitken (S3) and Ewan Guild (S4) will now have their poems appear in The Poetry Games – Scotland & Wales anthology, a complimentary copy of which is to be sent to the school in recognition of their achievement.  Staff and pupils alike will therefore be able to see in print Law and Order, Bagpipes and A Farmer’s Life, written by Jack, Ewan and Lee respectively.  Young Writers has been publishing poetry for two decades and winners of the competition were selected based on “perception, imagination, expression and creative use of language”.  Staff of Kemnay Academy are extremely proud of our writers and wish to congratulate the three young poets.

Kemnay Academy, Mintlaw Cluster

Mintlaw and Kemnay Academies scooping awards in National Event

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Kemnay Academy’s ROV team came third once again in a hotly contested competition. The scores were very close between the top 3 and no one really knew what the outcome would be until the announcements were made. Mintlaw Academy won and Menzieshill High from Dundee came second.
The project was sponsored by BP and each entry received £300 to cover the costs of the project.
The Kemnay team comprised  S6 students, Peter Mitchell, Gavin Mackenzie and Martin Thomson and S5 student, Liam Miller, won £200 as a prize and certificates.

Kemnay Academy

S3 Students at Kemnay Academy in National Finals

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Kemnay Academy is delighted that a group of S3 students has won through to the National final of the Poppy Scotland Moving Stories Competition 2012. The team is one of two National finalists. Earlier in the session they created a video during their RMPS lessons to coincide with Remembrance Day and submitted this for the competition. Next month, professional film-makers will spend 2 days with the students shooting a high quality version of their film.

 

 

Kemnay Academy

Writers’ Group Reading @Kemnay Academy

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Several of our writers showcased their talent at a reading held in the school library on Tuesday, February 5th. Featuring members of various year groups, the event included both  poetry and prose pieces. Ailie Keddie, Lee Aitken and Ewan Guild entertained with poems they’d written, whilst Rebecca Newman read one of her short stories.

Ewan, who also contributed to the reading with the prologue to a longer piece of his, later reflected on the day: “It was an excellent opportunity to share our work with others – an opportunity I will gladly seize again.”

The group continue to work on new projects and are enthusiastically welcoming new members to their weekly meetings. Our next focus is to post our pieces on Kemnay Academy’s Writers’ Blog, which can be accessed through Glow at https://wikis.glowscotland.org.uk/0002985/English.                             Miss Hall, English

Kemnay Academy

Kemnay Academy Glow Team Update Christmas to Spring 2013

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“Lead by Excellence”

Recently the academy pupils undertook a small survey to see how the Academy Glow Team could benefit the learning of each person in the Academy.  The surveys were filled in during registration and were collated into the GLOW REPORT SESSION 2011-12.   A  PowerPoint of the responses can be viewed on the Academy website.  The team hope to get feedback from pupils on the changes that have be made to Glow in this session 2012-13 by the national team.  The Academy was commended by the Cabinet Secretary recently as a “credit to the education system.  The work by Kemnay Academy Glow Team shows the stellar leadership of the group and shows the next generation making great changes in education and Glow“.  All stakeholders along with Dr Hunter and staff should be encouraged by this. 

As pupils are aware, the Scottish Government are looking at ICT in Education and how they can support it.  The Cabinet Secretary asked Professor Muffy Calder to conduct a review process into the use of ICT in Education. Her report had been submitted and parents and pupils across Scotland can view the report on the following site: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Education/Schools/SSDN/ExcellenceGroupReport.

Kemnay Academy Glow Team has given feedback on the recommendations of the report.  The new Glow portal, Stage One, was rolled out to all Aberdeenshire schools in early December.  The Glow team is currently training pupils on it.  We encourage pupils to get involved and help us make this a good resource for the next generation.  

Finally, the Academy has great resources for exam revision and and I encourage each pupil to have user names and passwords to allow use of them at home. Updates of the Academy’s work on Glow will be included in future newsletters. The next few moths will see us conduct our second annual Glow report.

I would like to thank the Academy’s faculty PTs, staff, pupils, SMT and Dr Hunter for the continued support they give the Team.

Kieran Swanson (S5), Head of Glow Team.

Kemnay Academy

Poppy Scotland Video @Kemany Academy

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In the closing months of last year my S3 RMPS class entered a competition to make a film/storyboard about ‘What does remembrance mean today?’.  First we watched the videos that won the competition last year then we discussed ideas for our video.  Everybody from the class made a storyboard and it was compiled together to make a single video storyboard with some music.  Once a script was written and confirmed we filmed the video and edited it together.  The competition was sent off to Poppy Scotland in a last minute hurry and we waited for a reply.  On Tuesday, 12 March, we learned that we had got through to the finals for the competition; in the coming weeks the film will be remade by professionals and it will be uploaded to the Poppy Scotland website for a public vote.  We hope that you enjoy the video and vote for us when it is uploaded as we had a great time making it.                                        

Max McKay 3D

Kemnay Academy

Rock Challenge 2013 @Kemany Academy

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I was so lucky to get a main part in rock Challenge this year, but it is a lot of work.  You have to try to set an example and the standard you want everyone to reach.  You need to try your best all the time.  Also, I got to choreograph dances which I love to do.  I worked so hard this year trying to get the dances I helped choreograph absolutely perfect, and it paid off as the judges actually commented on one of the dances saying the choreography was amazing (this is down to Sarah Michie and Rachel Mackie too)!

I also put a lot of effort into the drama side of things which, in previous years, I’ve never really bothered to do.  That also paid off as we got a high mark in drama, so overall I am very proud of how well we’ve done this year!  I was also over the moon to get 4 awards and then to find out a week later that we made it to the finals even though we were fourth place because our points were so high.

The actual day was very emotional for me.  I hurt my knee only 5 days before the event so I had to rest it and sit out of the morning production meeting and the afternoon production meeting.  I also was so nervous that I ate almost nothing and had to rest and sleep for about half an hour to get my energy back.  Before going on stage I cried.  I’m not completely sure why but I think it may have been down to nerves!  And as soon as the lights went down at the end of the performance I cried again because it was all over.  Little did I know that it actually wasn’t!

All in all, Rock Challenge has always been a big part of my life ever since first year, and in my opinion this year was one of the best.  I a so proud of everyone and am very excited for the Scottish Finals in Dundee.

Catriona Sweeney 4Y

Kemnay Academy

Business Breakfast Event @Kemany Academy

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A very successful Business Breakfast event took place at Kemnay Academy on the morning of 27 February 2013.

Local business representatives, from small to multinational companies, answered questions from S5 and S6 pupils in regard to skills, qualities and qualifications relating to their area of expertise.

The aim was to provide pupils with an understanding of the realities of the work place, and broaden pupils experience using the expertise of delegates.

The event also allowed pupils to recognise their interests, skills, strengths and preferences to help them make informed choices related to manageable goals and plans for their future careers.

All delegates enjoyed catering from the school canteen – bacon, sausage and vegetarian rolls, fruit, coffee and tea.  Some of our S6 boys clearly enjoyed this.

Business delegates benefitted from a presentation on Curriculum for Excellence, Senior Phase and New Qualifications from Dr Hunter and musical entertainment was provided by the ever talented Music Faculty of Kemnay Academy.  Pupils work from the Technical and Art Faculty and Social Studies Faculty was on display throughout the event.

Pupils reported that the event was very worthwhile and that it gave them a real idea of what would be expected of them in the world of work, a number of pupils discussed the possibility of visiting some companies.  The business delegates were very positive about the calibre of pupils at Kemnay Academy and their interest in the companies they were from. One delegate stated: “pupils were well prepared and had good questions, full marks to all”!