Kilsyth Academy News – 04/09/15
Kilsyth Academy News – 28/08/15
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.
Kilsyth Academy News – 21/08/15
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 2nd 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 31st 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.
Kilsyth Academy News – 14/08/15
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 31st 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.
Kilsyth Academy News – 25/06/15
Kilsyth Academy News – 19/06/15
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 6th 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 25th June, at 1.00 p.m. and will re-open for pupils on Tuesday 18th August, at 8.55 a.m. We wish everyone a great summer holiday.
Kilsyth Academy News – 05/06/15
Our Senior Awards Ceremony will take place on Wednesday 10th June, at 7.30 p.m. and we are delighted to be able to welcome Mr Eddie Wolecki-Black, Manager of Glasgow City FC, as our Principal Guest. We are looking forward to recognising the many achievements of our young people, in the areas of sport, academic studies, the arts, music and citizenship. Parents of reward recipients have already been invited. The following day, Junior awards will be presented at a series of special assemblies.
The Parents’ Evening for P7 parents will also take place on Wednesday 17th June, at 7.30 p.m., which is immediately after the children’s two-day visit on 15th and 16th. Letters of invitation have been issued via the Primary schools.
A huge thank you to everyone involved in our school show, ‘Disco Inferno’, last week. The pupils gave fantastic performances to packed audiences and provided superb entertainment over three evenings. All the pupils’ dedication, during months of rehearsals, really paid off and the staff involved gave up a great deal of their own time to ensure that the production was such a resounding success – see separate review.
On Friday 29 May, the robotics team participated in the Scottish Colleges Robotics Competition at New College Lanarkshire. The competition involves teams driving Rampaging Chariots, which are powerful, radio controlled featherweight sporting robots.
In the morning event, the assault course, Calum Baird obtained first and Josh Wood third. Despite some strong competition from the college’s students. In the afternoon football event, which is a cross between football and robot wars, the Kilsyth robots took a real battering, and some hasty repairs were required. With two damaged robots, the two Kilsyth teams battled on and came third and fourth.
Kilsyth came out first overall, narrowly beating Dundee College to win the trophy for a third time. Well done to Calum Baird, Josh Wood, David Bauld and Adam Boyd. The team now have a week to repair their robots and prepare for the Scottish Robotics games in Edinburgh.
Remaining Uniform Evenings will be Monday 8th June and Wednesday 17th June, from 5.00 – 8.00 p.m.
Kilsyth Academy School Show – Disco Inferno
Kilsyth Academy News – 29/05/15
Kilsyth Academy News – 22/05/15
Rehearsals for ‘Disco Inferno’ are almost complete and it promises to be a fantastic show, featuring all the best songs of the 70s. Pupils and staff involved have put in a tremendous amount of work over many months and we hope that the performances, on Tuesday 2nd, Wednesday 3rd and Thursday 4th June, will each play to packed audiences. This week sees the arrival of the set and an intense weekend of rehearsals, to ensure the highest possible standard of performance for everyone. Some tickets are still available at lunchtimes, outside the café, priced £7 for adults and £5 for concessions – but hurry, they are selling fast!
Our annual Leadership Academy at Kilbowie was once again a great success. The programme over the weekend included a variety of outdoor and adventurous activities, balanced with learning about the various strands of leadership. The pupils were a credit to the school and all completed the course successfully. Many thanks to Mr Turnbull, Mr Rennie, Mrs Wilson and Magi Hamilton, for accompanying the pupils on this venture.
Our bee hives are now in situ, in the school’s Eco Garden, and this week saw the arrival of the bees themselves. Groups of pupils have been learning about how the bees are looked after and how the hives operate, which has been very exciting.
Congratulations to the S4 Geography pupils who organised a number of fund-raising activities, including a wet sponge contest, to raise much needed funds for Nepal. The pupils managed to raise over £200 and thanks go to everyone who supported them. Meanwhile, S3 Geography pupils have been out and about in Kilsyth, participating in field work, as part of their course.
Our annual Primary Rocket Competition took place last week. In the team event, the results were
1st and trophy winner : Kilsyth Primary (382m distance for 4 rockets)
2nd : Banton Primary (376m)
3rd : Lennoxtown Primary (210m)
In the individual event, awards went to
1st : Callum Mewes (Banton Primary)
2nd: Rachel Davies (Kilsyth Primary)
3rd : Zara Smith (Balmalloch Primary)
Best Rocket Design : Erin Dent (Banton Primary)
Thanks to all the primary pupils and staff, Kilsyth Academy helpers, Mr Dudman, Mr Scott and the Rotary Club of Kilsyth, for making this such an exciting event.
S4 pupils who are not sitting examinations have been learning a lot about the world of work this week, with inputs from SDS, the Army, a day long workshop on Employability and attendance at a Modern Apprenticeship event – it’s been a busy four days!
The new timetable will begin on Monday 1st June and all pupils returning to S5/6 must resume classes that day, unless they are sitting an examination. The Leavers’ Ceremony will take place on Wednesday 3rd June and school leavers from S4, S5 and S6 are invited to attend, in uniform. Pupils should all arrive by 9.20 a.m. and the ceremony will finish by 10.30 a.m., when the leavers are invited to join the staff for tea, coffee, cakes etc.
The next meeting of the Parent Council will take place on Thursday 28th May, at 7.00 p.m. This is a week earlier than originally scheduled, due to the timing of the school show.
