January’s right of the month at Auchinleck Academy has been Article 2: Non Discrimination(nobody should be discriminated against because of their ethnicity, gender, sexuality, religion, language ability family background or any other status). To learn more about this right, S1 Pupils have been participating in anti-bullying lessons in PSE and have also attended workshops delivered by Centre Stage and Nil By Mouth which focused on respect, and tackling prejudice and hate crime.  Next week all pupils will attend assemblies delivered by S1 pupils to raise awareness of this right and to mark Holocaust Memorial Day.

Please find the supported study timetable attached.

Supported study calendar Jan-April

For any S4/S5 pupils who are interested in attending college while still at school Ayrshire College are holding a Parent’s Evening at the Ayr Campus on Thursday 21st February 5-7pm, click the link below to book tickets and to see other availability.

https://schoolinformationevenings.eventbrite.co.uk

East Ayrshire Council’s Learning Outdoors Support Team (LOST) are hosting a careers event to inspire and encourage girls and young women to pursue careers in Rural and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields.

The #WomenInWellies event will be hosted at Dumfries House on Tuesday 19^th February 2019 from 9:30-2:45. All female pupils from 3^rd year, will attend this event which includes hearing from inspiring speakers, talking with a wide variety of women from over 20 different careers and taking part in summit workshops.

The Scottish Government’s STEM strategy, highlights that there are significant differences in the participation of women in STEM and rural subjects, with gender imbalances seen across education, training and work sectors.

• Only 16% of entrants into Engineering and Technology higher education courses were female.
• Only 3% of Construction Modern Apprenticeships were taken up by women.
• Women in STEM tend to earn less than male colleagues,
• Girls are underrepresented in STEM subjects with 28% of Higher Physics entries, 16% of Higher Computing entries and 10% of Computing Science

The benefits of working and spending time in the outdoors particularly in natural or greenspace is increasingly acknowledged as one of the key factors in fighting stress, inactivity and poor overall physical and mental health.

It is hoped that attendees will leave the event inspired and motivated to learn and engage in STEM and rural learning, and investigate these pursuits as a potential career path.

We hope you agree that this will be a fantastic opportunity for your daughter to engage with professional women from a variety of different careers and will support them in attending the event.

Refreshments and sandwiches will be provided throughout the day.

There is no cost to parents/carers for this event.

A letter will be given to your daughter about this event and if you would prefer that she does not attend, please return the slip attached to the school office.

The options process began this week with a test run to give us an idea of the subjects pupils wish to study next year. Final option choices will be made in the coming weeks for S2-S5 pupils as follows:

w/b 21^st Jan – S2

w/b 28^th Jan – S3

w/b 4^th Feb – S4

w/b 18^th Feb – S5

Pupils will have an individual meeting with their Guidance Teacher or Depute Head Teacher. Pupils should consider the subjects they wish to study prior to the meeting. It would be helpful for pupils to research possible career pathways and to discuss any questions about subjects with subject specialist teachers.

Options booklets and final option forms will be published on the school website once we have considered the data collected during the test run.

Vicky Grove

Depute Head Teacher

We’ve recently received an update on our joint fundraising with Cumnock Academy from the Marys Meals Charity about our sponsored school in Liberia.

Please take some time to check out the report and photos.

https://www.marysmeals.org.uk/fundraising/project-reports/auchinleck-and-cumnock-supporting-jebbeh-kiazolu-primary-school

All staff, pupils and parents were asked to respond to proposals to change our Curriculum model to bring both our school and Cumnock Academy in line to support a smoother transition during our merger. This will also allow the development of an exciting and innovative curriculum which will be implemented in The Robert Burns Academy in June 2020.

To view the new Curriculum Model click School Curriculum Update Tab above.

The Supported Study Timetable for January is attached.

January Supported Study Timetable

December’s Right of the Month:

 Article 30 (children from minority groups): Every child has the right to learn and use the language, customs and religion of their family, whether or not these are shared by the majority of the people in the country where they live.

 Rights fact of the Month:

 Rights are UNIVERSAL. This means that they are for all people (children and adults) everywhere, all of the time. The basic rights and freedoms to which all human beings are entitled are stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Children require extra protection and have an additional set of rights. These are set out in the  United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), which is an international human rights treaty.

Last year SLT, PTGs, staff, pupils and parents worked with Education Scotland staff to create a Case Study highlighting the excellent practice in the school in Equality, Wellbeing and Inclusion.  This came as a result of the Very Good Rating that we were given by HMIE for this quality indicator in our inspection in 2016.

 The Case Study has been published and can be viewed at the following link:

 https://education.gov.scot/improvement/practice-exemplars/Auchinleck%20Academy%20-%20Developing%20a%20culture%20of%20inclusion%20and%20equality