Month: October 2016

On Monday 7^th November, we look forward to welcoming the parents of pupils in Primary 6 and Primary 7, at our Information Evening. The event will begin at 7.00 p.m., with presentations from staff and senior pupils and then there will be an opportunity to tour the school and find out about the work in each department. The evening will finish with an opportunity to have tea and coffee and chat informally to staff and members of the Parent Council. We look forward to a good turnout of parents and children are also welcome, if accompanied by a parent.

Congratulations to our team of S2 pupils, who entered the West of Scotland heat of the Kids’ Lit Quiz. Iona Gilchrist, Dylan Grant, Rhiannon Neil and Morgan Waite spent a very enjoyable and exciting day at Our Lady’s High School, answering a wide range of questions on young people’s literature. During the quiz, the team had top scores in 3 of the 10 rounds. In the end, they were placed 6th out of the 31 schools taking part and were the top school in North Lanarkshire.  Well done!

On Wednesday, our S2 and S3 girls had an opportunity to take part in an Active Girls Day, to coincide with similar events being organised by Sportscotland. The girls found the day to be physically challenging but, nevertheless, very enjoyable. During the morning, the girls attended a motivational workshop, led by Paula McGuire, and took part in dance, metafit and basketball sessions. The afternoon was spent doing team building activities. Many thanks to Mairi MacVicar, our Active Schools Coordinator, for organising the event.

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Last Thursday, Hallowe’en descended on Kilsyth Academy, in style. Pupils in S5 and S6, supported by some staff, organised a number of party activities, which were a lot of fun, and a ghost walk around parts of the school, that were more on the scary side! Nevertheless, the 1^st year pupils involved had a great evening. These events were followed by a ‘scary movie’ night with pizza, for the seniors who had helped. Many thanks to everyone involved.

The Modern Languages department has recognised a number of pupils, at part of their ‘Linguist of the Term’ initiative. This is based on pupils’ performance in French, German or Spanish, from August until October. Congratulations to all! They are:

S1 – Josh Chambers, Sarah Bateman, Emma Thomas, Eilidh Brown, Dylan Haggerty, Katie Watkins, Katie Gordon and Elle McArthur.

S2 – Lewis Robertson, Luke Fyfe, Rhiannon Neil, Eilidh Stewart, Emma Roberts, Morgan Waite, Eve McTiernan and Dylan Grant

S3 – Jack Leslie, Paula Bell, Morgan Hendrie, Hannah McFarlane, Zoe Rutherford and Orla Duncan.                                          

S4 – Luke Shearer, Ailsa Stirling, Gemma Hunt, Amy Buck, Rebecca Love, Anne Glen and Louise Rennie.           

S5/6 – Rhona Boyle, Kira Lundy, Katie Allen, Ryan Meechan, Olivia McTiernan, Lauryn Robertson, Abbie Rankin and Claire McGinley.

The Parent Council will meet on Thursday 3^rd November, at 7.00 p.m.

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Congratulations to Natasha Riddel and Olivia Anderson, on completing the Challenge Enterprise weekend, organised by the Rotary Club. The girls really enjoyed the experience and made a number of contacts. Sincere thanks to the Rotary Club of Kilsyth for sponsoring them.

Representatives from the Teenage Cancer Trust came into school last week, to speak to pupils in S2 about the work they do. This was a very informative session and the pupils were extremely attentive.

The first round of Pupil Council meetings have now taken place, with each year group meeting being chaired by a member of the Captaincy team. The outcomes of the various discussions will now be discussed with the Senior Management Team.

Friday was a non-uniform day and pupils raised £889 towards their charities, which have still to be confirmed by the Pupil Council. This is an excellent start to our annual fundraising efforts. Well done!

The S4 Achieve group, together with members of the S6 Leadership class and some members of staff, organised a Macmillan Coffee Morning, for staff, and raised £537. This included a raffle, organised by Elli Gregg and her team. Thanks to everyone who supported this worthy charity and congratulations to all those involved in the organisation.

Our first round of inter-House events took place last week. In the inter-House Rugby, Colzium won, Balmalloch and Dumbreck were in joint second place and Antonine were fourth. Colzium also won the inter-House Netball and the other three Houses tied in second place. Well done to Colzium and congratulations to Austin Muya, who was Player of the Tournament, in Rugby.

A number of pupils have taken part in the ‘Slosh Across North Lanarkshire’ initiative, to raise awareness of the 2017 Transplant Games, that will be coming to North Lanarkshire. Thanks to all those who participated and congratulations to Amy Jarvie, who organised it.

School re-opens on Monday 24^th October, at 8.55 p.m.

S5/6 Tracking Reports have been issued and reply slips should be returned to period 1 teachers, by Wednesday 12^th October.

Once again, Kilsyth Academy is assisting ‘Kilsyth Supporting Refugees’ and their partners at ‘Glasgow the Caring City’. Together, these organisations have shipments going to help refugees in Serbia, Northern Greece and Iraq in the near future, and have asked for our help to supply clothes and shoes. Clothes and shoes can handed in at the school Reception, between Tuesday 11^th and Tuesday 25^th October.

During Assembly this week, S2 pupils have been told about the opportunity to apply for the school’s annual Leadership Academy, to be held at Kilbowie, from 19^th to 22^nd May 2017. Pupils can collect detailed information from Mr Turnbull, in the Technical Base.

Friday 14^th October will be a non-uniform day, with pupils aiming to raise funds for their three charities, soon to be confirmed by the Pupil Councils. Letters have been issued about this and pupils have been asked to pay £2, if they wish to participate.

The school will close for the October week, on Friday 14^th October, at 2.55 p.m., and will re-open on Monday 24^th October, at 8.55 a.m.

The Parent Council is hosting a Parent Workshop entitled ‘Is Your Child Safe On-Line?’. It will take place on Thursday 6^th October, at 7.00 p.m. and will be led by a member of Police Scotland. We are hoping for a large turnout of parents to hear about this very important issue. During the evening, there will be a short AGM of the Parent Forum. This will also be the next meeting of the Parent Council.

S4 Tracking Reports have been issued, together with invitations to the S4 Parents’ Evening, on Tuesday 11^th October, from 4.15 – 6.45 p.m. (not 4^th October, as stated last week). This will be an opportunity for teachers and parents to discuss targets for the year ahead and jointly support pupils to achieve their potential.

Once again, we were successful in securing places on the Lessons from Auschwitz programme, organised by the Holocaust Education Trust. Last week, Karis Abercrombie and Iona Brownlie, accompanied by Mrs Dunn, spent a day in Poland, visiting Auschwitz-Birkenau, in preparation for taking forward a project, within the school. Everyone found the trip to be a very moving experience.

S1 pupils attended a theatre production and workshop, led by the Kickstart Theatre Group, aimed at reinforcing a Smoking Prevention culture, among young people.

Congratulations to six new prefects, who were appointed recently – Adam Boyd, Rhona Boyle, Evan McKillop, Allan McRae, Alanna Paton and Rebecca Stevenson.

Three of our S3 pupils, Alec Gentleman, Carly McLaughlin and Amy Wilson, represented Kilsyth Academy at the first day of this year’s Dragons’ Lair competition, which focuses on Enterprise activities. We wish them every success with their ambitious ideas.

Thanks to our two pipers, Kieran McCann and Luke Shearer, for participating in the opening of the new Greenfaulds High School, in Cumbernauld.

The school will close for the October week, on Friday 14^th October, at 2.55 p.m., and will re-open on Monday 24^th October, at 8.55 a.m. Friday 14^th will also be a non-uniform day, to raise money for the pupils’ chosen charities.