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

Kilsyth Academy selected thirty five pupils to take part in the North Lanarkshire Cross Country Championships at Airdrie last week. The weather conditions were less than favourable and every athlete put in a huge effort, just to complete a very challenging course.  When all results were collated the S2 girls’ team of Jessica Curle, Morgan Ross, Rebecca Love and Kayleigh Craig finished in a very impressive 2nd place.  All four girls finished in the top twenty five out of over a hundred athletes giving them a very solid team score. Congratulations to them and to all other members of the team, for their contribution.

A group of S1 and a group of S5 girls participated in the North Lanarkshire Dance Championships, also held in Airdrie last week. The girls gave an outstanding performance but results of the competition are not yet known.

Our S2 pupils have been considering the courses that they will specialise in next session and have been attending interviews with Pupil Support staff, as part of that process. There will also be a Parents’ Meeting on Tuesday 17^th March, from 4.15 until 6.45 p.m., when parents can meet with class teachers to discuss progress and preferences for next session.

Our S4 xl Club paid a visit to Hampden, to attend the ‘Welcome to your Future’ event, which was an opportunity to access information from employers and Further Education establishments.

Well done to the S5/6 Beauty Therapy group who organised a Pamper Day, with donations totalling almost £130. The girls have now donated this sum to ‘Children in Need’.

 

The annual Rotary Technology Competition took place last week, once again hosted by Kilsyth Academy. There was an amazing turnout from schools throughout Lanarkshire and it was a challenging day for the teams who participated. Kilsyth Academy won the Advanced category, for senior pupils, and congratulations go to Kathryn Marshall, David Bauld, Josh Wood and Calum Baird. Also, sincere thanks to the Rotary Club for organising the event.

The fundraising Race Night, in aid of the forthcoming Rwanda trip, was a great success and raised over £1400. A group of senior pupils and two staff will be heading to Rwanda in June.

Higher French pupils attended an immersion day this week, at the Alliance Française. This will be of great assistance to the pupils, as they prepare for their forthcoming examinations and those involved enjoyed the day.

Elections for members of the Scottish Youth Parliament have been taking place across Scotland this week. In Kilsyth Academy, pupils voted for their preferred candidate, on Wednesday. We look forward to hearing the outcome of the event.

Some of our Mark Scott Leadership for Life candidates have organised Heartstart training to enable pupils to teach first aid. The next step will be to put this learning into action!

Senior pupils, studying Geography and History, took part in a field trip to Glasgow last week, where they were able to undertake some focused research linked to their course work. Despite the chilly weather, everyone involved had an enjoyable day.

Once again, we are indebted to the Rotary Club of Kilsyth, for carrying out mock interviews with S4 pupils, as part of their Enterprise and Employability award. The pupils themselves felt that this was of real benefit and were pleased to receive feedback on their performance.

We were delighted to welcome Oliver Blomfield and Laura Pearson, from the Outward Bound Trust. They spent a day in school, visiting classes and seeing how Curriculum for Excellence operates in schools.

Chanelle Gallagher (S5) and Ross Chalmers (S2) spent a morning at the Lanarkshire Business Show, networking with employers and encouraging them to engage with schools. We hope that some of these contacts will engage with the school, in the months and years ahead, and enhance opportunities for our young people.

Pupils in S2 have started to consider choices of subjects for S3, which will allow some deeper learning, together with personalisation and choice. There was a good turnout of parents at the Information Evening, linked to this process. Each pupil will have a one-to-one interview with their Pupil Support teacher and there will be a Parents’ Meeting with class teachers, on Tuesday 17^th March, from 4.15 – 6.45 p.m. In advance of that, S2 Tracking Reports will be issued, together with appointment sheets.

Pupils in S4, S5 and S6 recently sat prelim examinations in many subjects and Tracking Reports will be issued this week. With them will come advice from teachers, regarding priorities for the next few months, prior to the SQA examinations. Supported Study continues to run in many subjects, at lunchtime and after school. It is vital that pupils grasp this opportunity, in an effort to consolidate their understanding of various topics.

During this week, pupils will be given the opportunity to vote in the Scottish Youth Parliament elections. One of our S5 pupils, Caitlin Mayhew, is standing as a candidate and we wish her every success.

Once again, Reel Time Music has been working with our S4 xl group, making a music DVD, in and around the school.

The Parent Council will meet on Thursday 5^th March, at 7.00 p.m., in the school.

Parents of pupils in S2 have been invited to an Information Evening about subject choices, on Thursday 26^th February, at 7.00 p.m. We hope that a large number of parents will attend this event, to find out about how the options process works and how best to support their child.

Last week our girls’ team played in a football festival at St Margaret’s HS, displaying fantastic performances. We played 6 games, winning 3, drawing 1 and narrowly losing twice. Results and scorers are as follows.

Kilsyth Academy 4 – 0 Our Lady’s HS(Samantha Coe Patrick x 3 and Rachel Stewart)Kilsyth

Academy 4 – 0 Caldervale HS (Samantha Coe Patrick x 3 and Amy Smith)

Kilsyth Academy 0 – 1 Airdrie Academy

Kilsyth Academy 1 – 0 St Margaret’s HS (Samantha Coe Patrick x 1)

Kilsyth Academy 0 – 2 Braidhurst HS

Kilsyth Academy 3 – 3 St Maurice’s HS (Samantha Coe Patrick x 3).

Congratulations to Samantha, who played some amazing football, but massive credit to the whole team who worked extremely hard, particularly after the first 2 games when we were playing into strong winds and heavy rain. All the girls contributed massively and were excellent ambassadors for the school. The improvements the girls have made since the start of last season really has been incredible.

The squad; Lauren MacDonald, Aimee Paterson, Mhairi Paterson, Rachel Stewart, Abigail Shaw, Beth Milne, Karis Abercrombie, Cara Robertson, Amy Smith, Jodie Young & Samantha Coe Patrick.

Our annual Burns Supper, as always, was a great success and the event was well supported by senior pupils and staff. School Captain, Gavin Glover, coordinated the arrangements and recited the Address to the Haggis, after it was piped in by Luke Shearer. Blair Mitchell chaired the evening, the Selkirk Grace was recited by Scott Dickson and the Immortal Memory was proposed by Mr Reilly. The company enjoyed a range of entertainment – musical items from Connie McFarlane, Gavin Glover and Kirstin MacLaren and a poetry recitation of ‘To a Mouse’, by Sean Climie. This year’s toast Tae the Lassies was proposed by Ross Leonard and Adam Quinn and the Reply came from Lauren McArthur and Rebecca Frew. The evening was rounded off with some ceilidh dancing. Well done to all concerned.

Our Rock Band performed in the finals of the Battle of the Bands competition, held in Motherwell Concert Hall. They were unlucky not to be placed, having performed to a high standard. Congratulations to Gordon Airlie, Blair Mitchell, Adam Quinn and Ross Quinn.

The senior pupils, in S5 and S6, formed the audience for a ‘Question Time’ style debate, last week. We were delighted to host Gregg McClymont MP, Jamie Hepburn MSP, Patrick Harvie MSP and Meghan Gallacher, who is a parliamentary candidate for the forthcoming general election. The questions focused on election promises, tuition fees, teacher numbers in schools, illegal drug use and child poverty, with each panellist having an opportunity to express their opinions. The panel was chaired by School Captain Gavin Glover and the event was organised by Mrs Wilson, our Modern Studies teacher. Many thanks to the politicians for supporting the event and to Mrs Wilson for all her organisiation.

Our second group of twelve S3 pupils has now completed a superb week at the Outward Bound Centre, at Loch Eil. The young people enjoyed the winter conditions, despite the cold, and all participated in outdoor challenges, which involved pushing themselves as individuals and working as part of a team. Everyone achieved the John Muir Discovery Award and the Outward Bound Adventure and Challenge Award. Well done to Aiden Cannon, Ben Cullen, Aaron Foulner, Liam Jack, Leanne Kimmet, Olivia Laing, Beth Milne, Connor Munro, Martin Murphy, Aimee Paterson, David Steven, Chloe Stevenson and Sam Taylor; plus a big thank you to Magi Hamilton, who accompanied the party.

Pupils in S1 and S2 attended a band performance and workshop, focusing on Cyber Bullying and the event was greatly enjoyed by the pupils.

Jodie Young, Emma Stewart, Jasmine Geor, Elena Walker, Finlay Sword, Jamie Stevenson and Luke Shearer, are working with Network Rail to develop a ‘station for the future’. The pupils are pictured at the recent Lanarkshire launch of the Go4SET competition, held at the University of West of Scotland in Hamilton. Go4SET links teams of S2 pupils with companies and universities, to offer a 10 week science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) experience. By providing a real and live STEM project, Go4SET aims to raise the pupils’ awareness and highlight the exciting future career opportunities in STEM. Good luck to all involved!

Technical Pupils of the Month for January have been announced. They are: S1 Amy Cameron, S2 Piotr Gacmenga, S3 Fraser Crawford, S4 Julia Fountain and S5/6 Steven Puttock. Well done!

Pupils in S1 should be making appointments with individual teachers, for our Parents’ Meeting on Thursday 5^th February, from 4.15 until 6.45 p.m.

The Parent Council will meet on Thursday 5^th February, at 7.00 p.m., in the school.

S1 Tracking Reports have been issued, together with invitations to the S1 Parents’ Evening on Thursday 5^th February, from 4.15 until 6.45 p.m. It is hoped that the event will be well supported by parents, as it is an opportunity to meet with each of their child’s subject teachers.

Congratulations to Gordon Airlie, Adam Quinn, Blair Mitchell and Ross Quinn, who will be finalists in this year’s ‘Battle of the Bands’ event, to be held at Motherwell Concert Hall, on the evening of Thursday 5^th February. Tickets, priced £5.00 are available from members of the band or from Mr Russell.

Preparations are well underway for our annual Burns Supper, which is open to staff and senior pupils. It will be held after the prelims, on Tuesday 3^rd February, at 7.00 p.m. Tickets, priced £10 are available from Blair Mitchell and Gavin Glover.

All pupils should have received a copy of the Head Teacher’s Newsletter, which contains important information that affects all pupils and parents.

The Parent Council will meet on Thursday 5^th February, at 7.00 p.m., in the school.

Happy New Year to all families and supporters of the school.

The prelim exams for pupils in S4, S5 and S6 will begin on Monday 19^th January and will run until Friday 30^th January. Exam timetables and instructions have been issued to pupils and it should be noted that they will be in normal classes, when they do not have an examination.

Our S3 Parents’ Meeting will be on Thursday 15^th January, from 4.15 – 6.45 p.m. and we hope that this event will be well supported. It is an excellent opportunity for parents and teachers to discuss progress and agree priorities for the remainder of S3.

A group of S1 and S2 pupils visited the pantomime ‘Treasure Island’ at the Pavilion Theatre in Glasgow, last week. The young people greatly enjoyed the show and thanks go to all staff involved in the trip.

Our S1 pupils had a visit from representatives of Gideons International, during their assembly last week. Following a talk, the pupils were presented with personal copies of the Gideon Bible.

The term rounded off with another successful Crazy Day, on Monday, with staff and pupils enjoying a wide range of fun activities in the morning, followed by the annual Crazy Day show in the afternoon. The show was judged by an X-Factor panel and two acts were selected to be finalists – ‘Get Hyper’ and ‘Haka Waka’. Following the customary audience vote, ‘Haka Waka’ were declared winners. The pupils made a donation to charity, to be involved in the day, and raised a total of £1500. This money will be split among three charities, yet to be decided by the Pupil Council.

On Tuesday morning, the pupils gathered together once again, to enjoy some carol singing, with all the Christmas favourites featuring. Congratulations to the many soloists and to everyone else who joined in at the appointed times.

Thanks are due to the staff who organised all aspects of these events, ensuring that the pupils enjoyed the last couple of days prior to Christmas.

Please note that the school will re-open on Monday 5^th January, at the usual time.

Over the past few weeks, we have been collecting groceries, to make Christmas parcels for the Kilsyth community Food Bank. With some competitive spirit among the four Houses, a total of 800 items were collected, with Colzium House collecting the most. After being packaged up, the parcels were delivered to the ACE project, in the town.

S3 and S4 Tracking Reports have been issued and there will be an S3 Parents’ Meeting, on Thursday 15^th January, from 4.15 – 6.45 p.m. S3 pupils received appointment sheets, attached to their Tracking Report.

Last week, we celebrated the successes and wider achievements of 155 pupils. Pupils were recognised for a range of successes, in sports, Heartstart, for gaining Merits, for representing the school at some events, for attainment and in the arts. Congratulations to all concerned.

The school Gymnastics Club Championships were held last Tuesday.  Sixteen gymnasts performed a floor and apparatus routine marked out of thirty points.  The event was judged by former pupil Gemma Butterly, who competes in World Championships for Cheerleading. Gemma was very impressed by the overall standard of the gymnasts.  The Senior Champion was declared as Ann Paterson, runner up Katie Cooper and in 3rd place Mollie