Kemnay Academy have been selected as the Aberdeenshire representative for the Champions in Schools national event in Glasgow later in May in the build up to the Commonwealth Games. This is the second year they have run the programme in school and the group were selected this year have really benefited from it. A number of schools across the Shire applied to take their group and fortunately Kemnay Academy were selected. The 8 second year pupils have already been selected who will go to the event and it should be an excellent opportunity for them to develop.

Well done to all involved and Good Luck 🙂

This year’s YPI Final for Kemnay Academy was won by Isobel Thomson and Sarah-Jane Christie from Bennachie House.  Their chosen charity was ‘Riding for the Disabled’ (Gordon Branch). 

Further to their success, the girls and Ms Donaldson were invited to attend the YPI Scotland National Event at Perth Concert Hall on Wednesday 19^th June 2013.  The event was held to celebrate the successes of all the winning teams across Scotland, and for those that helped to make it happen.  At present there are over 80 schools participating across all Local Authorities in Scotland. 

The audience were entertained by Aberdeen singer/songwriter Myke Black, with the headline act being Sandi Thom.  The guest speaker was Katherine Grainger, Britain’s most successful female rower, who won Olympic Gold at the London 2012 Olympics.  Ms Grainger was appointed CBE this year for services to rowing, and her Olympic achievements make her the first female British athlete – in any sport – to gain medals in four consecutive Olympic Games.  The girls, and Ms Donaldson, were photographed with Ms Grainger as can be seen in the photographs below. 

 Photograph of the winners and Ms Donaldson with Olympic Gold Medal Winner Katherine Grainger at the YPI Scotland National Event at Perth Concert Hall, June 2013.

This year a group of S5 and S6 students have formed a group called “Young Health Leaders”. As a group our aim is to try and improve health within our school, we do this by making the staff and pupils aware of the nutritional values of the food they are consuming and by offering them healthier alternatives for these foods.  This year we targeted oral health in particular.  We have accomplished several tasks throughout the year so far, including going to Inverurie Academy to meet the Young Health Leaders of other schools and getting the chance to brainstorm ideas about health issues in our schools and local communities.  This year the S5 leaders were put in charge of promoting healthier alternatives for food and making all members of Kemnay Academy aware of what was in the food they were consuming.  This task was completed through the use of posters in the canteens and around the school.

An S5 leader also created a healthy eating booklet which offered several healthy recipes that could be made at home and some interesting facts about which foods are good for you and which foods are better to avoid.  On each page it also informed the reader if the recipe was high in phosphorus, calcium, vitamin D, or low in sugar.  Some of the other S6 leaders created an oral health campaign which they presented to the S1 pupils.  This campaign gave the S1 pupils information on the best way to clean their teeth, on how to spot signs of any problems in the mouth which could lead to disease in the future and also told them the best foods to avoid with alternatives available.                                                                                             Joanne Findlay S6