Kilsyth Academy, Balmalloch, Kilsyth, G659NF – Tel : 01236 632157

Congratulations to our new House Captains, who were appointed this week. They are:

Antonine –       Chanelle Gallagher and Scott Leslie

Balmalloch –    Connie McFarlane and Kyle Thomson

Colzium –        Nicola Wilson and Jack Devlin

Dumbreck –     Kirsty Craigie and Sam Davidson.

Three of our senior pupils, Anna Patterson, Blair Anderson and Molly Kiernan, were interviewed by Heart FM, as part of their coverage of the first anniversary of the Independence Referendum. You can hear their broadcast on Wednesday 16^th September, at 18.45. Well done!

A group of pupils from the S4 xl class attended a presentation from Police Scotland entitled ‘No Knives Better Lives’. Those who attended engaged well with the workshop and felt that it was very worthwhile.

S1 pupils will be looking for sponsors for their forthcoming activity on the Mobile Adventure Course. This will form one element of the S1 Welcome event, on 24^th September and funds raised will help to subsidise the S1 residential experience in May 2016. Please give generously.

A number of clubs are starting up and pupils should listen and read notices to find out about all the opportunities that exist.

The Parent Council is running a Charity Quiz Night in the school cafeteria, on Thursday 1^st October, starting at 7.15 p.m. We hope that there will be a good response from parents, who are welcome to come along either as teams of 4-6 people or we are happy to make up teams on the night. The entry fee is £5 per team and this includes refreshments. There will also be a tombola. During the interval, there will be a very short AGM of the Parent Forum and members will be happy to chat to anyone who might consider joining the Parent Council.

Two new Sports Ambassadors, Lindsay Sword and Julia Fountain, were appointed last week. Their role is to promote sport among the pupils and to organise sporting events.

 Sixth year pupils are currently arranging a number of Community Involvement placements, which will enable them to use part of the school week in volunteering. Many of these opportunities are linked to careers that the young people are hoping to pursue and we are grateful to local employers who support the programme.

 Congratulations to Eilidh McDowall (2B), who was the best Kilsyth Academy entrant in the recent Inspire Aspire competition, and also a national finalist. Eilidh received her medal at assembly last week.

 The Parent Council will meet on Thursday 3rd September, at 7.00 p.m., in the school.

Congratulations to the five pupils who achieved eight A passes in their National 5 examinations – Archie Grant, Holly McArthur, Anne Paterson, Ross Quinn and Jack Rennie. Similarly, congratulations to the five pupils who achieved five A passes at Higher, in S5 – Blair Anderson, Lewis Cameron, Kayley Forsyth, Erin Main and Annie Mason and to the two pupils who achieved three Advanced Highers at grade A – Erika Allen and Kathryn Marshall. 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 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 Wednesday 2^nd September.

 The 2015 Yearbook finally arrived, during the summer holiday, and those who ordered a copy can uplift it from Miss Reilly. Thanks go to last year’s Yearbook team for putting it all together.

 Senior pupils are 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 2016. Over the next few weeks, the Seniors will be working on Personal Statements, supported by Mrs Kerr and on Monday 31^st August, we will be holding a UCAS Information Evening, to provide parents of S5/6 pupils with information about the process of applying for university. This will include details about funding, qualifications etc and we will be having a guest speaker along – Professor Kevin O’Gorman from Heriot Watt University. The evening begins at 7.00 p.m. and we are hoping for a good turnout.

 Congratulations to our initial group of prefects, who received their badges last week. They are:

Blair Anderson (Vice Captain), Angus Buck, Lewis Cameron (Vice Captain), Jack Devlin, Courtney Forsyth (Vice Captain), Kayley Forsyth, Joanna Hay, Rachel Kimmett (Vice Captain), Chloe Laggan, Scott Leslie, Erin Main (Captain), Annie Mason, Connie McFarlane, Kirstin McLaren, Lucy Rutherford, Christopher Smith, Nicola Wilson. A further group of prefects will be appointed in the coming weeks.

 The Parent Council will meet on Thursday 3rd September, at 7.00 p.m., in the school.

We are delighted to welcome our new S1 pupils to the Academy and wish them all every success in the years to come. 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, particularly with respect to all the new qualifications. We wish last year’s leavers every success as they embark on either new courses in Further or Higher Education, or on new careers. Similarly, our warm congratulations to former pupils who graduated over the summer.

We are pleased to welcome a number of new staff. Miss Annette Graham has joined us as Principal Teacher of Humanities and she will also be teaching Modern Studies. We wish her every success in this new role. We have also welcomed Miss McFarlane (Modern Languages), Miss Rae (Mathematics), Mr Mullen (Computing), Miss Stirling (Biology), Mrs O’Neill (Mathematics), Mrs Coggill (English), Mrs Bowes (Geography) and Mr Martins (PE). We hope that they will all greatly enjoy their time in Kilsyth Academy.

On Monday 31^st August, we will be holding a UCAS Information Evening, to provide parents of S5/6 pupils with information about the process of applying for university. This will include details about funding, qualifications etc and we will be having a guest speaker along – Professor Kevin O’Gorman from Heriot Watt University. The evening begins at 7.00 p.m. and we are hoping for a good turnout.

Congratulations to our new captaincy team, appointed last week, following interviews and presentations. Erin Main will be the School Captain for 2015-16 and will be assisted by four Vice Captains – Blair Anderson, Lewis Cameron, Courtney Forsyth and Rachel Kimmett. We wish the group a very successful 6^th year and look forward to working closely with them.

Our new S1 intake spent two days in Kilsyth Academy, last week, acclimatising to their new school, meeting their teachers and hearing about the many opportunities that exist for them, in secondary school. The two days went very well, as did the Parents’ Evening which followed. We look forward to welcoming the children to Kilsyth Academy, in August.

Pupils in S1 (new S2) made their Health and Wellbeing presentations this week. Eight pupils made presentations to their peers and a panel of judges. Once again, these were to a very high standard and the winner was Olivia Elliott. Well done!

A party of senior pupils and staff are now in Rwanda and, during their first few days, have been working with victims of the genocide, carrying out a service project and working with a Street Kids Rescue project. Trips to London and the Battlefields have headed off this week and we look forward to hearing about their exploits too.

A team of senior pupils from the Modern Studies took part in the annual International Conference last week. The country that they had to represent was Afghanistan and their research and debating skills were put to the test in representing their viewpoints. Congratulations to all those who participated.

Our very best wishes go to three members of staff who are retiring this summer – Mr Colin Laird, Mr David Chesney and Mrs Victoria McAulay. We wish all three a very long and happy retirement.

The school will close for the summer, on Thursday 25^th June, at 1.00 p.m. and will re-open for pupils on Tuesday 18^th August, at 8.55 a.m. We wish everyone a great summer holiday.