Author: Mr Docherty

We were delighted to welcome representatives from Scotrail, to provide careers advice to pupils in S4, S5 and S6. This was well received by the young people concerned, who felt that they learned a great deal from the experience.

A group of S3 girls enjoyed a great week at Firereach. This programme is operated by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and provides an insight into the importance of teamwork, challenge and self-belief.

Our sincere thanks go to Professor Kevin O’Gorman, from Heriot-Watt University, for all his work in supporting our senior pupils with personal statements, for entry to university in 2017. Our UCAS Information evening was well attended and provided a wealth of advice for both pupils and parents, regarding applications to Higher Education. Again, many thanks to Professor O’Gorman and to Michael Scott from the Student Award Agency Scotland.

Pupils and staff welcomed one of our new chaplains, Rev Jane Denniston, to S1/2 and S3/4 assemblies, last week. We are delighted that Jane is going to be leading some of our religious observance opportunities, in addition to working with RME classes.

All classes are in the process of voting for class representatives on the Pupil Council. Archie Grant, one of our Vice Captains, is coordinating our Pupil Councils this session, as part of his SQA Leadership Award, and meetings will take place over the next couple of weeks.

We wish our S4 pupils very success as they embark on work experience placements, over the next few weeks. In turn, we are indebted to local employers, and some a bit further afield, who have agreed to provide these opportunities to our young people.

On Monday 6^th March 2017, we propose holding a Careers Fair within the school, during the early evening. This will be an opportunity for pupils and parents to visit a variety of stalls and learn more about post-school pathways. It will also coincide with the time when many pupils are choosing subjects for the following session. We are keen to hear from any business contacts who would be willing to engage with the school either at the Careers Fair or in another way. Please contact Miss Dallas, at the school, if you can help in any way.

We look forward to welcoming seven student teachers to the school, who will be part of our staff team, until December. They are: Alison Duncan, Mark Robertson, Melissa Burke, Claire McAveety, Flora Le Fellic, Frauke Izdebski and Christy Scott. We hope they will enjoy their placements in Kilsyth Academy.

Friday 23^rd and Monday 26^th September will be holidays and the school will be closed both days.

An S1/2 basketball club is starting on Thursdays at lunch time, in the back gym. This club is open to both boys and girls.  Pupils should bring PE kit and a packed lunch for a prompt start at 12.30.

Pupils have started to audition for a Christmas pantomime, Cinderella.

Our UCAS Information evening takes place on Thursday 15^th September, to provide parents of S5/6 pupils with information about the process of applying for university. In the past, parents have found this to be a very informative evening, which will include details about funding, qualifications and the applications process. The evening begins at 7.00 p.m. and we are hoping for a good turnout.

A group of S5/6 pupils visited Whitelee Wind Farm last week, as part of their Environmental Science course. The pupils were first taken into the visitor centre and given the ‘Generation Game’ challenge. The pupils discussed the mechanics and uses of wind turbines, they were then asked to construct a wind turbine using equipment provided in a box. The pupils investigated the effect the length of copper wire in the turbine’s generator had on the power generated. This exercise was followed by a tour of the windfarm and pupils were given the chance to look at how the windfarm effected the biodiversity of the area. They were amazed by the size of the turbines and were very good at communicating their interest to the tour leader. Those who attended found the visit to be very informative and enjoyable.

Congratulations to Rebecca Stevenson, Imogen Fleming and Lauren Miller, who have been selected to participate in the Mark Scott Leadership for Life Award. The girls are currently of their Outward Bound residential experience, at Loch Eil, and thereafter will decide on projects for the year ahead.

 

Congratulations to the two pupils who achieved eight A passes in their National 5 examinations – Catie Gray and Ryan Meechan. Similarly, congratulations to the six pupils who achieved five A passes at Higher, in S5 – Katie Allan, Archie Grant, Holly McArthur, Craig Melvin, Abbie Rankin and Jack Rennie; and to Angus Buck who achieved three Advanced Highers at grade A. These are fantastic achievements from all concerned and are testimony to the hard work that each of these young people put into their studies.

S1, S4, S5 and S6 individual photographs were taken last week and the pupils have been issued with order forms, which should be returned to the school, with full payment, by Friday 2nd September, if you would like to buy copies.

Senior pupils are currently visiting a range of University Open Days, as part of the groundwork to prepare application forms for courses that will begin in the autumn of 2017. Over the next few weeks, the Seniors will be working on Personal Statements, supported by Mrs Kerr, and on Thursday 15^th September, we will be holding a UCAS Information Evening, to provide parents of S5/6 pupils with information about the process of applying for university. In the past, parents have found this to be a very informative evening, which will include details about funding, qualifications and the applications process. The evening begins at 7.00 p.m. and we are hoping for a good turnout.

We were pleased to welcome Lucy, from St Andrew’s Hospice, to last week’s assemblies, for S3 to S6. Lucy spoke to the pupils about the work of the hospice and associated running costs. Pupils were also invited to take part in the annual 6k fun run, scheduled for 18^th September. Completed application forms and entry fees should be returned to Mrs Kerr, by Wednesday 31^st August.

Congratulations to members of the 4Achieve group, who took part in a sponsored cycle to Millport, to raise funds for MacMillan Cancer Care.

Pupils in S1, S5 and S6 attended Road Safety Scotland theatre in education performances last week. The S1 pupils watched ‘Roddy Hogg’ and the seniors watched ‘Friends Disunited’. Everyone involved enjoyed the performances.

Congratulations to Olivia McTiernan upon achieving a Scottish cap for 10-pin bowling. Congratulations also go to Mhairi McFarlane, Kenzi Wise, Hollie Currie and Megan Currie, who recently qualified for the World Championships in Cheerleading and to Jamie Stevenson, double gold medallist in the Scottish Athletics Championships, at 100m and 200m. These are all fantastic achievements – well done!

The Parent Council meets on Thursday 1^st September, at 7.00 p.m., in the school. All welcome.

We are delighted to welcome our new S1 pupils to the Academy and wish them all every success in the years to come. They are all looking extremely smart and have made a very enthusiastic start to High School. Well done to pupils from last session’s S4, S5 and S6 on their excellent achievements in SQA examinations. We are very pleased with the results and it is clear that pupils’ and teachers’ hard work really paid off, once again.

Last year’s leavers are now embarking on either new courses in Further or Higher Education, or on new careers and we wish them every success. We look forward to hearing about their continued achievements, in the years ahead. A number of former pupils also graduated over the summer and our warmest congratulations go to them.

We are pleased to welcome a number of new staff: Mr Corbett (English), Mr P Morton (Biology), Mr H Morton (Technical), Mrs Kerr (Modern Languages), Ms Payne (Art & Design), Miss Young (Music) and Miss Murphy (PE). We hope that they will all greatly enjoy their time in Kilsyth Academy.

Congratulations to Holly McArthur (S6) who was called up to the GB Junior selection for Manchester International Athletics meeting. Holly raced in the 400m Hurdles, in a strong field, which included a number of senior competitors. She gave an excellent performance and came 5^th, behind the seniors.

Congratulations too, to Kieran McCann and Luke Shearer (both S4), members of the North Lanarkshire Schools’ Pipe Band, who were crowned World Novice Juvenile Grade A Champions at the World Pipe Band Championships, held at Glasgow Green on Saturday 13 August. Well done!

The Parent Council meets on Thursday 1^st September, at 7.00 p.m., in the school. All welcome.

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The Senior Social was, once again, a great success. S5, S6 and staff enjoyed the evening at the Marriott Hotel, celebrating the end to a successful session and marking the end of school for all those in S6.

A party of 27 pupils and 4 staff are currently enjoying a five-day trip to Berlin. This is organised jointly between the History and Modern Languages departments and, whilst there, the group will be visiting a range of historical sights, finding out about German culture and trying out their language skills.

End of term trips to M&Ds theme park and Blackpool Pleasure Beach will provide a fun end to the session, for many pupils too.

A group of senior pupils had a great day at Clyde Gateway, celebrating their success with the Urban Plan UK competition.

Pupils have received a Newsletter, which contains important information about end of term and start of session arrangements. Please check school bags!

Our best wishes go to three staff who will be retiring this summer – Mrs Ann Fernie of the Art and Design department, Mrs Anne Mitchell, our Classroom Assistant and Mr Phil Forster, our Attendance Officer. Sincere thanks go to each of them, for all they have contributed to the school and we wish them a great deal of health and happiness in the years ahead.

The school will close for the summer, on Wednesday 29^th June, at 1.00 p.m. SQA results will be published on Tuesday 9^th August and senior staff will be available in school that day, if there are any issues with the receipt of results. Pupils in S5/6, who wish to change some subject options, in the light of results, should make an appointment to meet with Mrs Kerr, on Thursday 11^th August, between 9.00 a.m. and 3.00 p.m.

The school will re-open for pupils on Wednesday 17^th August, at 8.55 a.m. Pupils travelling by school bus can go on any Kilsyth Academy bus that day, pending the issue of bus passes.

 

Congratulations to pupils in the new S6, who have been elected as Prefects for session 2016-17. They are: Katie Allen, Robbie Brown, Kyle Brown, Courtney Campbell, Laura Cochrane, Grant Douglas, Imogen Fleming, Julia Fountain, Archie Grant, Elli Gregg, Kira Lundy, Lauryn Macniven, Lewis Maloney, Holly McArthur, Kiera Meiklejohn, Craig Melvin, Lauren Miller, Ann Paterson, Ross Quinn, Abbie Rankin, Jack Rennie, Frazer Sherlock, Lewis Sherlock, Rory Smith, Georgia Stevenson, Calum Stewart, Lindsay Sword, Heather Taylor and Murray Wilson.

Award Ceremonies have now been held for all year groups, at which we were delighted to recognise a wide range of achievements from so many young people. At the Senior Awards Ceremony, we were pleased to welcome Gerry Hughes, as our Principal Guest. Gerry is the world’s first deaf yachtsman, to sail single-handed around the world, passing the 5 great capes. It was great to hear his story and the impact he has made upon the education of deaf children. Our Dux for 2015-16 was confirmed as Archie Grant (5C), who richly deserves the accolade, and the Inter-House competition was won by Antonine House.

Our annual Rotary Public Speaking competition took place last week and the speeches were of a very high standard. The winners and speech titles were:

1^st Harry Thomson – Tolerance

2^nd Morgan Waite – The Ocean

3^rd Ross Chalmers – Light Bulb Moments and Jam Side Downers.

Well done!

We also held our first Rotary Debating competition, with the teams debating the motion ‘The UK should remain as part of the EU’. The arguments were well thought out and the pupils performed to a very high standard. The winners were Morgan Waite and Eilidh Stewart (2B). Congratulations! Our thanks go to the Rotary Club of Kilsyth, for sponsoring both events.

A number of Modern Studies pupils attended the NLC International Conference last week, representing Hungary. The pupils had a great day and participated really well in the debate and in the question and answer session.

Thursday 23^rd June will be a staff in-service day, as the school is being used as a polling station, for the EU Referendum.

The school will close for the summer, on Wednesday 29^th June, at 1.00 p.m. and will re-open to pupils on Wednesday 17^th August, at 8.55 a.m.

Kilsyth Academy participated in the North Lanarkshire Athletics Championships at Wishaw, over the last two weeks. The team won nine medals over the course of the two days of competition. This included a very impressive performance from the S3 Boys 4×100 metres relay squad, who picked up the silver medal in a very close finish. In addition to this, two of our pupils, Jamie Stevenson and Rebecca Love from S3, were selected to represent North Lanarkshire in the Scottish Schools’ Inter Area Championships at Grangemouth, later in June.

 

Gold Medals

 Ross Quinn                            Senior Shot Putt

Jamie Stevenson                     S3 100 metres

 

Silver Medals

Rebecca Love                         S3 Long Jump

Eleanor Duncan                      S2 Discus

Jamie Stevenson                      S3 4x100m Relay

Jay Coyle

Jamie McCaughey

William Burke

 

Bronze medals

Aidan Belton                         S2 Hurdles

Lauryn MacNiven                    Senior High Jump

Scott McIntyre                       S3 Discus

Fraser Gallacher                     Senior Triple Jump

 

Some other notable performances were:

Scott Lilburn – 4th in 800m; Aidan Belton – 4th in Javelin; Ross Alexander – 4^th in Javelin; Connor Robertson S1, who qualified for the 800 metres final and Lauryn Robertson who qualified for the Senior girls’ 200 metre final. Congratulations to all.

Holly McArthur represented Kilsyth Academy in the Scottish Schools Athletics. Holly won gold in the under-17 women’s pentathlon, with a total of 3713 points, smashing the under-17 women’s record that has stood for 45 years. This is a superb achievement and we are extremely proud of Holly, who is currently training with the Scotland squad, in Portugal.

The P7 children who will be transferring to Kilsyth Academy, in August, spent two days in the school, following S1 timetables and meeting a number of staff and senior pupils. There was a great deal of excitement and enthusiasm and we look forward to working with the youngsters, in the years ahead.

A number of our new S5/6 pupils visited New College Lanarkshire, in Motherwell, and enjoyed a variety of taster sessions for a range of courses that the college offers.

The annual Rotary Bake-Off took place last week and, as always, was a great success. The pupils spent the morning baking and, early in the afternoon, their cakes were judged. Congratulations to Jennifer Wright and Kimberley McBride, this year’s winners, who baked a delicious rainbow cake and chocolate brownies. In the afternoon, some older citizens from the local community visited the school and were treated to afternoon tea, with an opportunity to eat the cakes that had been baked earlier.

A team of S1 pupils took part in the Salters’ Chemistry Challenge, held at the University of Glasgow. There were two main challenges, the first in the morning set by Salters’ and the second in the afternoon set by the university. In the morning challenge the students worked in teams and used Analytical Chemistry techniques to help identify a suspect in a crime. In the afternoon they again worked in teams to solve another forensic science based problem. This was followed with a lecture on “Chemical Magic” involving fun chemical reactions. Despite not winning any of the top prizes the pupils had a great day out. Members of the S1 team representing Kilsyth were Morgan Waite, Aaron Fitzsimmons, Alana Thomson and Mark Donnelly. Well done!

We had a great representation at the first day of the North Lanarkshire Athletics Championships, last week. The weather was superb and the competitors performed well. A number of pupils have qualified for finals next week and already we have five medallists:

Scott McIntyre – Bronze – Discus

Eleanor Duncan – Silver – Discus

Aidan Belton – Bronze – Hurdles

Rebecca Love – Silver – Long Jump

 

S3 Boys Relay (Jamie McCaughey, William Burke, Jamie Stevenson and Jay Coyle) – Silver. Congratulations to all.

 

We look forward to welcoming the P7 children, who will be transferring to Kilsyth Academy next session, on Wednesday 8^th and Thursday 9^th June. During the two-day visit, the pupils will become familiar with their new classes and have an opportunity to meet some of their new teachers. The Information Evening, for parents of P7 pupils, will take place on Thursday 9^th June, at 7.30 p.m. This is an opportunity for parents, to find out about all the arrangements for next session and to meet the Pupil Support staff, who will be parents’ first contact with the school. Our second Uniform Evening will also be on Thursday 9^th June, from 5.00-8.00 p.m., in the café.

The Senior Awards Ceremony will take place on Wednesday 15^th June, at 7.20 for 7.30 p.m., in the Assembly Hall. Invitation letters have now been sent to the parents of recipients finishing S4, S5 and S6 and we hope for a large turnout, to celebrate the many achievements of our young people, throughout another busy year in Kilsyth Academy. Our Principal Guest will be Gerry Hughes, the first deaf yachtsman to sail single-handedly around the world, via the five southernmost capes, and I am sure his story will prove inspirational.

Junior Award Ceremonies will take place, during the school day, on Thursday 16^th June, when we will once again celebrate a wide range of pupils’ achievements, for those finishing S1, S2 and S3.

Congratulations to Miss Elspeth Strang, our new PT Support for Learning and Inclusion. It is hoped that Miss Strang will take up post on Monday 20^th June and we look forward to working with her, in the future. Currently, Miss Strang teaches at Denny High School and she is a former pupil of Kilsyth Academy.

The School Sports was held last week, in great weather, with over seventy athletes participating in a variety of Track and Field events. The event is also a House competition and this increases the level of effort that each athlete displays, as they compete to win the overall trophy. Individual champions in each event were:

S1 –  600 metres            Connor Robertson                   Alanna Thomson

S2 – 600 metres            Cameron Comrie                     Rachel Thomson

S1 – 200 metres            Christopher Gibb                    Keri McGrory

S2 – 200 metres            Craig Clelland                         Hollie Currie

S1 – 80 metres             Austin Muya                           Sophie Bridges

S2 – 80 metres             Aidan Belton                           Megan Currie

S1 – Javelin                    James Baird                             Stephanie Dow

S2 – Javelin                    Aidan Belton                           Eleanor Duncan

S1 – Long Jump             Mark McCann                         Layla Morris

S2 – Long Jump             Finlay Cowan                          Megan Currie

S1 – Shot Putt               Jackson Gourlay                     Rebecca Wilson

S2 – Shot Putt               Ewan Abercrombie                 Kimberley Scott.

S2 – Relay                      1st Balmalloch                         2nd  Colzium

S1 – Relay                      1st Dumbreck                          2nd Colzium.

When all the points were tallied up for each event Colzium House were victorious in both S1 and S2 competitions. Congratulations to all!

We look forward to welcoming the P7 children, who will be transferring to Kilsyth Academy next session, on Wednesday 8^th and Thursday 9^th June. During the two-day visit, the pupils will become familiar with their new classes and have an opportunity to meet some of their new teachers. The Information Evening, for parents of P7 pupils, will take place on Thursday 9^th June, at 7.30 p.m. This is an opportunity for parents, to find out about all the arrangements for next session and to meet the Pupil Support staff, who will be parents’ first contact with the school. Our second Uniform Evening will also be on Thursday 9^th June, from 5.00-8.00 p.m., in the café.

The new timetable will begin on Monday 6^th June and all pupils returning for S5 or S6 must be back at school that day.

The Parent Council will meet on Thursday 2^nd June, at 7.00 p.m., in the school.