S3 PARENTS’ EVENING

A quick reminder this takes place on Tuesday 1 October 2024 from 4.15 p.m. to 6.45 p.m. in the Assembly Hall. Information on booking appointments with teachers will have been sent to the Main Contact email address we hold for students on our school records.

S6 UCAS INFORMATION SESSION

We are holdings an information session for all young people thinking about applying to further education via UCAS, and their parents and carers. This will take place in Barista on Wednesday 2 October 2024 from 6.00 p.m. to 7.00 p.m. Apologies for the short notice confirmation of this event as we were unsure if we were able to run it, but hopefully we will see many along.

DUKE OF EDINBURGH

We will be having a Parent & Carer Information Evening on Monday 7 October 2024 from 6.00 p.m. to 7.00 p.m. in Barista for students in S3 who are considering starting the Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award. All welcome!

FAMILY LEARNING EVENT – HEALTHY LIVING

On Wednesday 9 October 2024 from 4.00 p.m. to 6.00 p.m. in the Assembly Hall and other locations around the school, we are having a family learning event focussed on healthy living. There will be lots of different things to try and do, either fun filled, energetic or relaxing, which will promote good wellbeing and bring us together as a school community. Free food and drink too. Feel free to come along – we are hoping for a great turnout to make this a successful and enjoyable event.

HELPING YOUR CHILD EVENINGS

We will have our Helping Your Child family learning evenings on Tuesday 22 October 2024 for S2/3 students and Wednesday 23 October 2024 for S4/5 students and their parents and carers between 4.30 p.m. and 6.30 p.m. These will start with a short presentation in the Assembly Hall, followed by activity within different departments to help parents and carers know more about how to support their child at each stage in their learning. A sign-up link for booking will be shared next week.

S6 PHOTOGRAPHS

We are aware of an issue with the proofs provided to students in S6 from recent School Photographs. Whilst these look great, they are not quite what was expected and we are in discussion with Tempest Photography for a reissue, hopefully next week, so that everyone can order what they need.

As you can see, we have lots and lots going on in school for parents and carers to be involved and we are really keen to see as many families joining us in various ways. I have attached an updated version of the School Calendar for reference.

Kind regards

David Falconer

Head Teacher

 

SENIOR LEADERSHIP TEAM

Mrs Whiteside, Depute Head Teacher will commence her secondment to Doon Academy on return from the September Break. In the interim, members of the Senior Leadership Team will assume her various remit responsibilities and I will communicate further detail on this in the course of next week.

FIRE ALARM ACTIVATION

As you may be aware, we have had a few fire alarm activations since returning in August after a spell of nearly a year without any. We put a high priority on young people’s safety, wellbeing and learning in school and unfortunately the most recent have been identified to be coming from vaping in the toilets and excess deodorant in the changing rooms. I would wish to commend and thank our young people for how sensible and cooperative they have been throughout these matters and assure parents and carers that appropriate steps have been taken in connection to students responsible.

Any student identified setting off a fire alarm will be dealt with in the most serious of terms. Our position on unnecessary out of class time, students gathering in toilets and vaping in school has been made clear time and time again, although this involves a minority of students. We have seen big improvements in these areas of late and will ensure this continues through engaging with parents and carers where this is an issue for their child specifically.

ASSEMBLY PROGRAMME

Over the last week or so, Depute Head Teachers have led year group assemblies focussing on how we can get the best out of school, and be learning together, achieving together. As a team of staff, we also recently relaunched our Excellent Learning Framework setting out expectations for high quality experiences in every classroom and this was also shared with students. Our assemblies for next week will be led by the newly appointed Student Leadership Team on their roles and what they hope to take forwards this year.

DUKE OF EDINBURGH

We will be having a Parent & Carer Information Evening on Monday 7 October 2024 from 6.00 p.m. to 7.00 p.m. for students in S3 who are considering starting the Bronze Award. Last year we had nearly 40 students going through Bronze Award with almost all continuing to Silver this year. This is a fantastic programme for young people to take part in for their personal development and wider achievement and the evening will give parents and carers, and their young person, all the information needed to get started.

FAMILY LEARNING EVENT – HEALTHY LIVING

On Wednesday 9 October 2024 from 4.00 p.m. to 6.00 p.m. in the Assembly Hall and other locations around the school, we are having a family learning event focussed on healthy living, organised by S4 students in English classes. Special thanks to Mrs McCrone, Principal Teacher of English for organising with the team of staff supporting. There will be lots of different things to try and do, either fun filled, energetic or relaxing, which will promote good wellbeing and bring us together as a school community. More info to come as we approach the date on the activities available. I really hope you will be able to make it.

S1-S6 TRACKING REPORTS

Tracking reports will be issued to all S1-S6 students early next week. These will indicate ratings for Behaviour, Effort and Progress and up-to-date working levels. For S4-6 students, these will also include Aspirational Grades that students should hope to achieve if they work hard in their courses and how close they are to this at present. These early Tracking Reports are issued following target setting conversations in classes with learners and are designed to give a good indication of how students have settled into learning since returning in August.

S1 & S3 PARENTS’ EVENINGS

S3 Parents’ Evening will take place on Tuesday 1 October 2024 and S3 Parents’ Evening on Wednesday 30 October 2024, both between 4.15 p.m. and 6.45 p.m. in the Assembly Hall. Information will follow to the Main Contact email we hold on our school records for each student on how to access the booking system to make appointments with individual class teachers.

HELPING YOUR CHILD EVENINGS

In response to feedback from parents and carers which told us they wanted more information on how to support their child at each stage, we introduced our Helping Your Child evenings, which will run again very soon. These are informal opportunities to meet with staff in departments and learn alongside your young person about what they experience in their curriculum and across the school environment, allowing you to help them achieve their best.

These will run again on Tuesday 22 October 2024 for S2/3 students and Wednesday 23 October 2024 for S4/5 students between 4.30 p.m. and 6.30 p.m. starting in the Assembly Hall, then across different departments. We hope to see as many young people with their families as possible and a sign-up link will come in the next few weeks.

LONG WEEKEND

I am sure you need no reminder that the school is closed tomorrow, Friday 20 September 2024 and Monday 23 September 2024 for the local holiday. It looks to be really lovely weather and I hope you have nice plans for quality time with your family.

We look forwards to seeing our young people back in school on Tuesday 24 September 2024, bright and early, in full school uniform, eager and ready to learn.

Take care and best wishes for now

David Falconer

Head Teacher

STUDENT LEADERSHIP TEAM

After a rigorous selection process and very high quality applications from S6 students, our Student Leadership Team for 2024/2025 has been confirmed. I am delighted to announce Grace Robinson (6Hoy) and Callum Riddell (6Skye) as our School Captains, with Mhairi Ballantyne (6Harris) and Max Neil (6Arran) as School Vice Captains. All are outstanding representatives of our School Values and demonstrated an appreciation not only what they have gained from their time at Loudoun Academy, but also were very clear on what they wish to contribute as a legacy for current and future pupils in their new roles.

In addition, each of our House Captains has also been appointed, as well as School Champions in a range of areas including primary transition, inclusion, poverty proofing, anti-bullying, mental health, LGBTQ+, celebrating success and participatory budgeting with a total of 28 positions filled. On behalf of the staff team, I’d like to offer warm congratulations to all. We are hugely looking forwards to working alongside our Student Leadership Team and I have no doubt their work will bring a very positive impact to the school community in the year ahead.

STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE COUNCIL

Our very first Student Representative Council met this week, with students from each registration class S1-S5 engaging in very lively and energetic discussion. Students raised a range of areas which were important to them and the minutes of the meeting, as well as the class representatives, are displayed on the Student Representative Council noticeboard and will be shared during PSHE lessons. With over 60 members split into S1-3 and S4-6 stages, the Council will now meet on a monthly basis. This is a hugely exciting step for us and will make sure student voice is front and centre of future developments within the school community.

GRAEME ARMSTRONG

Graeme Armstrong, renowned author of The Young Team and presenter of the BBC Scotland documentary series Street Gangs will return to Loudoun Academy on Tuesday 17 September 2024 to speak with S3 and S5 students about his personal journey through trauma, addiction and involvement in gangs and how his life changed through education. With some very hard hitting messages, this is likely to be an inspiring and thought-provoking presentation.

DINNER HALL REFURBISHMENT – SURVEY

In conjunction with colleagues at Facilities and Property Management (FPM), we are asking young people to give feedback on the new Dinner Hall facilities. The survey can be accessed using the following link, closing Monday 30 September 2024:

https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/diningfacilities/

HOLIDAY WEEKEND

Just a quick reminder that next week is the Ayr Gold Cup weekend and the school will be closed for the local holiday on Friday 20 September 2024 and Monday 23 September 2024, with students returning on Tuesday 24 September 2024.

Best wishes

David Falconer

Head Teacher

SENIOR LEADERSHIP TEAM – CONTEXTS

I would be grateful if all parents and carers read the information communicated by letter earlier today, which can be accessed via the Latest News Section of the School App. It provides an important update on the context of the Senior Leadership Team at Loudoun Academy in the near future.

HOUSE ASSEMBLIES

This week we had S1-S6 students at House Assemblies led by Principal Teachers of Pupil Support. The main focus was on how we build a positive ethos in the school, to encourage young people to take part in opportunities and to be involved. Students also heard a proposal from staff on a Merits system where positive engagement would lead to termly rewards.

Should any young person need support with any aspect of school, they should access their Principal Teacher of Pupil Support or Principal Teacher of Communication in the first instance and the team are almost always available Period 1 in the day to do this in the House classrooms.

ATTENDANCE

At Assemblies, there were some key expectations set out around attendance at school. We know that young people learn and achieve best when they have good school attendance. Where there are attendance issues, this can limit progress, decrease confidence and impact on wider opportunities for achievement and social and emotional skills. Of course, there can be very legitimate reasons why students would not be attending school, but as a guideline:

Good = 95% on average (only two weeks missed from school)

Satisfactory = 90% on average (four weeks missing from school)

Cause for concern = 85% on average or less (six weeks missed from school).

We will shortly be in touch with any parents or carers of young people under the thresholds above to offer further supports where these are helpful and also set targets for improved attendance in the coming weeks.

 

S1 LEARNING WALKS & TALKS

This week, Ms Boyd – Depute Head Teacher (Acting) and I visited S1 students in a wide range of classes. We were both very impressed by how well the new intake have settled and the great work underway at secondary. Well done new S1- We have high hopes for your time at Loudoun!

STUDENT LEADERSHIP TEAM

Next week will see the appointment of our School Captains, Vice Captains and House Captains as well as specific Champions in a range of areas. We also will hold our very first Student Representative Council meeting, with representatives from each registration class. This is a hugely exciting development and places children’s rights and student voice at the heart of future change within the school.

 

MAGIC BREAKFAST

Over the last week, our Magic Breakfast provision has got up and running in the Assembly Hall before the school day, with students able to access toast, bagels and pancakes and other breakfast items, free of charge. Uptake has been very good and will make sure that all young people are ready to learn in the mornings. We will work with young people to develop the offer as we move it forwards. Thanks to the team of staff leading this initiative.

EXTRA CURRICULAR PROGRAMME

Please find attached the programme of clubs and activities running at the start of the new term. We have lots going on throughout the week in different departments and we strongly encourage every student to join at least one. Extra_Curricular_Timetable_2024.25

ANNUAL DATA CHECK

Just a quick reminder that if you have not managed to do so, could the updated Annual Data Check please be with the School Office as soon as possible. It is so important we have the correct details for each student. Many thanks for your support with this.

SUPPORT FOR LEARNING S1 OPEN AFTERNOON

A quick reminder also that The Support for Learning department are holding a Parent and Carer Open Afternoon for S1 students in the wider school with an additional support need. This will take place on Tuesday 10 September 2024 between 2.15 p.m. to 3.30 p.m.

I hope you have a lovely weekend and enjoy some of the nice weather to come in the next few days.

David Falconer

Head Teacher