Over the course of this year pupils at Ardrossan Academy have been able to take part in a number of activities aimed at developing their talents, skills, interests and abilities. These have included.
The S2 digital photography group
The Nail Art Group
Leadership Skills
Archaeology
Tapas
Art Exhibitions
Drama Workshops
Philanthropy
Web Design
Construction
Engineering
Enterprise
Our Skills Academy this year was lead by Mr Bell involved a small group of pupils working to gain valuable skills for life and work.
The pupils have taken part in a range of activities over the last four weeks.
As part of this they have earned qualifications in Customer Service and Barista from Ayrshire College. They have visited the Waterside to learn about applying these qualifications to work.
The pupils have engaged with many outside partners including a STEM event with the RAF; team-work and leadership training with the Army; alcohol awareness with North Ayrshire Council and yesterday spent the afternoon at Maximum Potential Gym. Unfortunately due to the Critical Alert at the time our day with the Fire Service was cancelled.
Pupils have also received brilliant training in Heart Start from Catriona, Finlay and Louise; Skills for Work training with Lee and Beth; and enjoyed their climb up Conic Hill with Kris and Catriona.
Pupils also took part in a focus group before receiving their certificate to graduate Skills Academy.
Our focus in personal support this week was alcohol. We talked about ow much alcohol people drink and how much it is recommended to drink. There are health implications associated with drinking alcohol, we talked about the different ways it can affect our bodies and how much this costs the NHS.
Advertising of alcohol can often imply that it is fun and will make us have a great time, or people will like us more, this type of advertising is not allowed. We looked at adverts for alcoholic drinks and discussed the message it was trying to send and if this was appropriate.
In addition to its effect on our health, alcohol can also influence the decisions we make. We discussed the effect of alcohol on crime in Scotland and it bringing in legislation to restrict alcohol would help this.
During our focus week we considered article 3(adults should always consider what is best for children) when discussing if legislation is required for sales of alcohol. We also considered article 19, Children should be protected from all forms of harm. Alcohol causes harm through effects on health and associated violence. We also discussed Article 24, children have the right to nutritious food and information to enable them to stay healthy. Through our discussions we have highlighted the effect of alcohol on our health.
During our anti bullying week, the pupils and staff of Ardrossan Academy raised money to support victims of bullying and raise awareness of bullying. Article 19 states that every child should be protected from all forms of harm and violence. Some of the money we raised was donated to Respectme, Scotland’s anti bullying charity.
http://respectme.org.uk
They sent us this letter.
the festive attire was out on show at Ardrossan Academy on the 16th of December as we took part in the annual Christmas Jumper Day for Save The Children. We raised an impressive £249. 
From the 24th to the 28th of October we discussed the recent issues in Haiti and Syria during personal support time.
Haiti was seriously affected by Hurricane Matthew, the loss of life and destruction caused by this natural disaster has been devastating for a country still recovering from an earthquake in 2010.
Syria has been severely affected by conflict for several years, many people have died, homes and schools have been destroyed and people are fleeing the country.
I both Haiti and Syria people need access to fresh water, food, medical care and shelter. These are basic rights of every child and at Ardrossan Academy we have tried to support those who need our help. We held a coffee morning for staff and sold Halloween cakes and sweets to raise Money to send to Haiti and Syria. The money raised was added to our charities committee fund and made donations of £400 to the Syria appeal and £400 to the Haiti appeal
Our pupils have been discussing Article 15 – children have the right to meet in groups and join organisations – as long as this doesn’t deny someone else their rights. We have outlined how we think the pupils and staff of Ardrossan Academy should act to ensure that we uphold this right.
The call for house ambassadors has encouraged 90 pupils from S1-S3 to volunteer to be the voice of their class and support the school. Everyone interested in becoming a house ambassador completed an application form and selection will take place after the October break. We look forward to our House Ambassadors working to ensure that the voices and opinions of all pupils at Ardrossan Academy are heard.
