On a regular basis I meet a group of 10 pupils from S1-S6 as chosen by their Depute Headteacher / Pupil support teacher. These meetings are called “Top 10” and this is my way of taking on board the thoughts and opinions of our pupils throughout the year. We focus on 5 main themes;

My Relationships

• Feeling safe in school
• Pupil voice
• Relationships in school / Ethos
• Getting Support
• Equality and Fairness

My School

• Learning and Teaching
• The Curriculum (pathways)
• Resources

My Learning

• Digital resources
• Cost of things / equity
• Opportunities out of the classroom

My Achievements

• Wider achievement opportunities
• Friendships
• Employability opportunities

My Health and Well-being

• Healthy food options
• Support with stress
• Things that would help me

I gather the opinions and thoughts of the pupils involved in these meetings and email the main points to all staff in the school as they happen.

At the end of the year these important conversations are used to help us to plan for the future. Making sure our pupils voices play an active part in our school improvement plan is one of the keys to our success.

Over the course of last session the school community supported a wide range of charities (listed below). Thanks to your generosity we have been able to support the lives of so many people.

• Hope for Autism
• St Andrews Hospice
• UNICEF
• Cancer Research UK
• Sport Relief
• Alzheimer UK
• Glasgow Children’s Hospital
• Lanarkshire Association for Mental Health
• Red Cross
• Macmillan Cancer Care
• Children in need
• Vision Africa
• Poppy Scotland
• LGBT
• Sight Savers

Well done to everyone who supported our charity drives last year. YOU RAISED A STAGGERING £11,500 – INCREDIBLE.

This morning 20 S2 pupils accompanied by Mrs. O’Connor and Mr. McDowall will travel to the Isle of Arran for a week long leadership and team building course.  Pupils will enjoy a range of activities aimed at building their skills in problem solving, team work, leadership and learning. We hope that the weather is as kind as possible and that all staff and pupils have a fantastic experience!

The trip organised in partnership with “Tree of Knowledge” is a first for the school and we look forward to their partnership this week and our partnership with the Arran Outdoor Education Team.

I look forward to the updates throughout this week and hope that you all have a brilliant time!

On the 13th of September S6 pupils Jill Adam and James Marling attended the Young Ambassador conference at Hampden Park.  This is their experience….

“We were excited to learn what a Young Ambassador was and the role they have within and outwith of the school, as neither of us had any experience of this before. Their main role is to generally promote sport but also to motivate and inspire young people to get involved in sport.  Young Ambassadors should be  good listeners, good at communicating, confident, approachable and should have good leadership skills. We participated in a variety of team building exercises that allowed us to get to know the other young ambassadors from schools all over Scotland.  It was a great experience being able to share our time with the other ambassadors.  Our final discussion focused on what ideas and initiatives we could bring back to Airdrie Academy.  We had the opportunity to meet with our Active Schools Coordinator and we all agreed to bring back favoured clubs and to introduce new ones to Airdrie Academy”

Thank you Jill and James for your leadership and your TEAMWORK. Well Done!

What a pleasure to sit in the audience and enjoy the talent of all of our performers last night! Congratulations to the performing arts department (and everyone else who helped) for organising this superb showcase. Thanks to the staff who came along and took in the show. To all of the proud parents and family members who supported us last night by coming along and cheering on our pupils – THANK YOU! What a lovely atmosphere you created, your encouragement and enthusiasm is very much appreciated. Our comperes for the evening Erin McMillan and Sonny Joe McPherson took us through the evening with aplomb – well done to them.

Congratulations to all of the performers, the overall results-

Junior musician of the year

Winner Mackenzie Reilly

Runner Up Lucy Haggerty

Junior singer of the Year

Winner Eva Kerr

Runner Up Robyn Ward

Senior musician of the year

Winner Georgia Gunn

Runner Up Adam Campbell

Senior singer of the Year

Winner Eve Smith

Runner Up Erin Swann

Two of our senior boys Craig Cummings and Lewis Buchanan made the Lanarkshire select football team and played the first national trophy game this week.

Craig scored one of the goals in a resounding 6-2 victory. Well done to all involved and thanks to all of the coaching staff for all of their hard work and commitment.