On Thursday 20th April we hosted the Quarter Final Glasgow Science Festival K’Nex Challenge. This is a national competition that our cluster participate in each year, and is an excellent opportunity for Primary 6 pupils to engage with engineering, problem solving and team work.  The first stage of the competition took place in Primary schools across our cluster. The winning team from these heats were then invited to participate in the quarter final challenge in Auchinleck Academy.

This year, the teams were asked to construct a go-kart – whilst adhering to strict technical design criteria. The teams were also constrained by a tough time limit of only one. All teams were able to successfully meet the design brief and our judges – Mr Tickner, Mr Richardson and Miss Brien, were very impressed by the standards achieved by all teams on the day.

Congratulations to Ethan Frew and Scott Kirkland from Ochiltree Primary who were the declared the winning team. The boys were able to impress the judges with how creatively they had interpreted the design brief and how confidently they presented their design ideas. Arran Hall and Dylan Welsh from Drongan Primary came a close second with a very solid Go-Kart design. A big well done to all who took part, it was a very worthwhile event that was enjoyed by all.

The winning team from Ochiltree Primary will now move on to the next stage in the competition and will represent the Auchinleck Cluster at the regional semi-finals in May.

The Minutes from the recent Parent Council meeting are available to view on the Parent Council Section of the website.

The next meetings of the Parent Council will be held on Tuesday 3rd May and Wednesday 1st June.

Anyone wishing to find out more information or become a member of the Parent Council is encouraged to attend on Wednesday 1st June.

This year the procedure for selecting school and house captains has been changed.

Details of the new arrangements are as follows:

Tuesday 19th April: Closing date for application forms

Wed 20^th April – Tues 6^th June – Short list of applicants for interviews composed.

Wed/Thurs 7th/8th June: Interviews and presentations

Thursday 16th June: New captains receive badges at prize giving

The job description, application form and details on how to apply are attached.

School and House Captain Selection Procedures 2016-17

Recently, four sixth year Auchinleck Academy pupils – Ryan Burley, Jake Cocks, Kitty Ma and Stephanie McConnachie – entered a competition run by the Scottish European Educational Trust called ‘Our Films, Our Europe’. This competition was led by the school’s Modern Languages teacher Ms Morrsion who helped to film during the day of the workshop.

This project involved a film making process, where contestants have to plan and create a short film about the benefits, experiences and opportunities as a young pupil in the EU. It is an amazing chance for young people to learn about production as they get to work with film making professionals and different types of equipment and resources.

The first stage of the competition required contestants to submit a storyboard of their chosen plot, an idea for their film and a recording describing the storyline. Auchinleck Academy pupils’ final idea was to go on a road trip around Europe including countries such as France, Germany and Sweden. This involved pupils meeting fictional characters telling them about employment, education and immigration opportunities available for them as a European citizen. All these ideas were able to come alive as pupils managed to go through to the second and final stage of the competition which was to produce, direct and film. Pupils were very pleased with the outcome of their short film and the finished product can be viewed on the ‘Our Films, Our Europe’ website soon.

On Monday 21 March 2016, the team travelled up to the Scottish Parliament building in Edinburgh with our teacher, Ms Morrison. They were invited to a film premiere where all fifteen of the films were shown, which was then followed by an awards ceremony where Per Johansson from Eunic and Madeleine McGirk, a member from SEET, issued all seven awards to a variety of school teams.  John Mulgrew OBE and Christina McKelvie SNP MSP opened the premiere by saying a few words about the EU and Our Europe project. Each school did a wonderful job with their filmmaking and every single one was deserving of an award.  The team was ecstatic when their name was called for the ‘Best European Content” award and Stephanie McConnachie then gave an acceptance speech to express their joy at winning and to acknowledge the hard work that had went into the project.  The whole experience was wonderful and they were all thankful to be a part of it.

Pupils were able to improve their language skills as part of this project; they boosted their French speaking skills and were able to learn two completely new languages in the space of three months. Learning a new language was interesting; it gave them an insight in to a variety of different cultures. It was a challenge but they all enjoyed it nonetheless. It was exciting learning how to film and edit, how to use iMovie and a variety of other software packages to make sure their film pieced together nicely. They all enjoyed being actors for the day and filming in various places around Glasgow City Centre – including George Square.  Hopefully this will encourage young people, from S3-S6, to get involved with this project as you most definitely won’t regret it: you will meet new friends, learn new languages and adapt new skills that may come in handy when building up your CV to impress future employers.

By Kitty Ma and Stephanie McConnachie

Saturday 5^th March

Auchinleck Academy School of Rugby Under 13 team took to the field in the school’s first Saturday morning fixture to take on Carrick Academy their South Ayrshire rivals from Maybole (Mr Raby’s hometown) the weather was perfect for open running and attacking rugby which both sides played. Auchinleck came out on top with a stunning 44-28 win over turning their first every result together when Carrick were the victors in a pre-conference friendly. This shows that all the hard work and effort put in by the pupils is paying off.

Stand out performers were L. Young, J. Morrison and C. White who showed some great passing skills and attacked space at every opportunity. In the forwards K. Kong playing his first game scored two run away tries and A. Rogers tackled everything that moved in Carrick colours. L. Graham also making his debut played well and both Kong and Graham have caught the Happiness bug from Mr Raby – “Happiness is Egg Shaped”

Well done to all pupils and parents for getting out of bed early on a Saturday and for fielding 17 pupils, this is further evidence of the massive improvements made by Auchinleck Academy Rugby since August. It is hoped that Auchinleck will build up a fixture list of Saturday morning games and start competing against the established Saturday morning playing schools in the upcoming season. For all things Auchinleck Academy Rugby follow @EACAuchRugby.

Our new Scholastic Book Club is up and running!

Go to http://schools.scholastic.co.uk/auchinleck-academy to browse the latest books and order online. For every £1 you spend on this month’s Book Club, our school will earn 20p in Scholastic Rewards. The £1 World Book Day token can also be used as part payment. Just include it in your online order or hand it in with the printed order form which can be collected from your English teacher or Miss McGill.

Please place your order online or by handing the printed order form and payment to Miss McGill in the School Library or your English teacher by March 18th, 2016.

Speak to your Guidance Teacher for more information

The Ayrshire Chamber of  Commerce have been given the opportunity to work in partnership with Sodexo to supply young people to work at The Open in July.

 Young people will be paid £7 per hour and they do have placements that they feel will be more suitable for younger students, see info below:

HOSPITALITY

Champions Club – This is an informal, interactive dining area.  A very fun environment which gives staff a great opportunity to soak up the atmosphere through their shifts.  This would be an ideal placement for younger students as there are 26 shifts for under 18s (Table Clearers, Food runners, Wine Waiters).  Staff in this area should be well presented, friendly, and enthusiastic. Training to take place on Tues 12^th for some positions, area goes live from 13^th July – 17^th July.  Positions available include:

Canape/Counter Staff  – 7:30 – 19:30

Coffee Station Staff – Would be ideal for anyone looking for barista experience.  7:30 – 19:30

Clearer – 10:00 – 16:00/10:00 – 18:00

Runner – 11:00 – 16:00

Wine Waiters – 11:00 – 16:00

Runners – Would be ideal for younger hospitality students, ability to prioritise and have excellent presentation  10:00 – 16:00 (approx. 10 shifts available)

There is also a further opportunity, in order to assist Sodexo in managing the pool of staff, they would be keen to take on a student representative who may be interested in event staffing or HR to assist as a “familiar face” checking in the students, and then to join the staffing team for the remainder of the day.

By working with the Chamber of Commerce, Sodexo’s hope is that we will be able to supply them with young people who are keen to work, have a good attitude and will sustain their placement.  There is no getting away from that the shifts will be long, it will be very hard work and a very busy environment.

We have recently been advised of some local apprenticeship opportunities.

If any senior pupils are interested please speak to Mr Tickner.

The Princes Foundation for Building Community

The Prince’s Foundation for Building Community are pleased to announce the third year of their programme aimed at helping 16 – 18 year-olds into a career in the traditional building craft sector. The Prince’s Foundation will train these Young Heritage Apprentices in a variety of crafts including stonemasonry, roofing, land crafts, carpentry and plastering. The Young Heritage Apprentices will be able to try their hand at the different crafts, and specialise in the one they enjoy the most. By combining these classes with placements with some of the country’s leading master craftspeople, as well as short courses such as Business Skills, the budding craft professionals will take the first steps towards a career in a sector that is currently suffering from a skills shortage.

YHA 2016-17 A5 Leaflet     Overview of the Young Heritage Apprentices Programme

Defence Munitions – Beith

The Defence Munitions, Beith will be taking on a further six Engineering Apprentices during 2016. Should any pupils be interested in applying the advertisement is now on-line and can be found within the links below (JOB Reference: 1483703)

Check it out by clicking https://www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/jobs.cgi?jcode=1483703.

If you are interested in a career in the Civil Service you can search for opportunities at https://www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/

Motor Vehicle Industry

Please see your Guidance teacher if you are interested in working in the motor vehicle industry as a service adviser or a parts sdviser

The Promoting Positive Behaviour Group have recently been working on an updated Respect Policy.

Please find a copy attached.

The group would like to invite parents/carers to comment on this please.

Thank you

Draft Behaviour Policy 13 Jan 2016