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

Cool Creatures

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Recently, all our S2 pupils took part in the ‘Cool Creatures’ event within the school. In this workshop, designed to enrich pupils understanding of habitats within Geography, pupils learned about animals from extreme environments such as the rainforest, hot desert and the tundra and were able to experience holding animals such as a Giant Boa Constrictor, an Armadillo, a Meerkat and a Tarantula. This was really well received by pupils who put aside any fears to take part and helped develop their deeper understanding of the topics they are studying.

BAM Ritchie Partnership
We were delighted to welcome Nick McCormick, Business Development Director of BAM Nuttall, to Kilsyth Academy last week to work with a group of our third year pupils.
Nick provided the pupils with an overview of the very wide ranging career opportunities open to them through pursuing a career in construction and civil engineering. He shared with them some of the exciting projects BAM had been involved in both here and around the world, from the ‘squinty’ bridge in Glasgow to projects in Antartica. The pupils came in with some ideas of what they thought life in the construction trade was and left with a whole new perspective on it.
The pupils also took part in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) activity to design and build a structure that would support a mobile phone. Not as easy as it sounds considering their building materials consisted of spaghetti and marshmallows! Their success hinged upon their ability to plan, communicate, problem solve and work effectively as part of a team.
The pupils thoroughly enjoyed their experience, gaining valuable insight into to the fast-paced and ever advancing world of construction and technology.

Rwanda
We are looking for your support to help us collect donations of childrens’ clothes, shoes, school equipment i.e. pens, pencils, bags that we can take to Rwanda and give to the young people and families we will work with when there. Any donations should be handed into the school by Friday 8^th June.  We very much appreciate the generosity of our school community in helping us raise funds for Rwanda and will be very grateful for any further donations you can give.

School Office
Following four months of renovation work our newly refurbished school office is now open and our staff are pleased to have moved in. The new office is located directly behind our main reception area and visitors to the school should report back to our main reception desk.  Our thanks go to everyone for their patience and understanding during the last few months of building work.

Litter Pick
The school would like to invite all pupils and their families to participate in a community litter pick up around the Academy on Sunday 20 May from 1.00 to 3.00pm. This event is being organised by Cllr Mark Kerr and we would very much appreciate any help and support you can give.  If you can help on Sunday please meet at the foot of the main school drive before 1.00pm.

Football success
We are delighted to announce that Aimee Gibb (S2) has recently signed for Glasgow Celtic FC Women’s U15 academy. Our congratulations go to Aimee for this great achievement and we wish her every success as she steps up a level in her football career.

Twitter
We are pleased to launch our latest Twitter account @KA_English_Dept were you will get news and information about English and literacy. Our thanks to everyone who follows us, just a few more and we will reach 1000 followers so if you haven’t already, please follow @KilsythAcademy .

Dates for you diary
The school will be closed to all pupils for the summer half-term holiday on Friday 25^th and Monday 28^th May.  SQA exams in RMPS and Woodwork will take place on Monday 28^th as scheduled and transport information has been provided to pupils.
School uniform sales will take place in the school café on Wednesday 30^th May from 5.00 to 8.00pm.

 

Primary sports
Kilsyth Academy hosted the Annual Primary Athletics Championships this week. This event was organised by the S5/6 Sports Leaders group who officiated very efficiently throughout the morning. Over sixty athletes from our cluster primary schools competed in a variety of Track and Field events, to gain points for their school towards the overall “Best School” trophy. The following pupils were individual champions in their selected events.

80M Sprint                            Blair Stewart                           Abbie Curtis

         200M                                 Braedon Kiernan                    Angela Houston

600M                                      Max Smith                              Olivia Curle

Shot Putt                               Duncan Fotheringham           Lauren Findlay

Cricket Throw                        James Bradshaw                     Kiera McKenna

Long Jump                              James Clelland                       Megan Girvan

 

Girls 4×50 Metre Relay:         Lennoxtown P.S.

Boys 4×50 Metre Relay:         Balmalloch P.S.

 

              Final Team Placings:   

Overall Champions:    Balmalloch P.S.           78 points

                Runners Up:     Lennoxtown P.S         50 points

                    Third Place:      Kilsyth P.S.                     47 points

Sports Ambassador
Congratulations go to Martin Murphy – S6 on being selected to play a role in organising and running the north area locality inter-school Primary Netball championships last week. Martin has worked very hard this year as one of our sports ambassadors to support the organisation and running of sport in the school and played an important role in helping to organise our recent club fair resulting in a big uptake of pupils into new sports clubs.

Leavers’ ceremony
All pupils from S4 – S6 who are leaving Kilsyth Academy this summer will be recognised at our leavers’ ceremony on Thursday 29^th April.  We wish them all the best in their endeavours when they leave school and every success in their exams before then.

S6 BBQ
The annual S6 BBQ will take place on Friday as a final in-school celebration and recognition to our young people on completing their time in the Academy.

Exams
Letters and personal timetables have been issued to pupils who will be sitting SQA examinations, during May and June. Study Leave, for S4, S5 and S6 pupils sitting SQA examinations, will be from 30^th April until 1st June (both dates inclusive). Pupils who have no examinations will not have Study Leave and will be expected to attend school, during this time.  Everyone at the school send best wishes to all our young people who are sitting exams over the next five weeks.

Easter School
There was a good turnout of pupils at the various Easter School tutorials, held between 3^rd and 5^th April. We hope that this will have helped pupils with their preparation for the forthcoming examinations.

Twitter
As our profile on Twitter continues to grow our range of accounts continues to provide news and information about the school, subjects, departments, careers and the world of work. Help us increase our online profile and keep up-to-date with school news and information by following our twitter accounts.  @KilsythAcademy   @ka_envscience    @ka_biology    @KACareers1 @KilsythPe   @KAhumanities     @KA_library    @KAmodlangs   @KA_ICT @ka_HSPO   @KACaptains   @KAMathsdept

Dates for you diary
The school will be closed to all pupils for the May holiday on Monday 7^th May.  The school is also closed to pupils on Tuesday 8^th May for an in-service day with the exception of those pupils due to sit exams in N5, Higher and Advanced Higher Physics.

Rotary Speaking competition
Congratulations to our all our young people who participated in this year’s Rotary young Speakers competition. There was a wide and varied range of topics including, The Six Nations, Wales is better than Scotland, The Refugee Crisis and Time is an Illusion.
The prize winners in the junior category were:
1st – Mark Donnelly talking about Music
2nd – Craig McFarlane talking about Global Warming
3rd – Jasmine Weir talking about morals and Fables
The prize winners in the senior category were:
1st – Amy Buck – Why I love languages
2nd – Jennifer Wright talking about why Time is an Illusion
3rd – Ayesha Chebe talking about Ghana and Scotland

 

K’nex Challenge
On Thursday March 22th, teams from across our cluster Primary schools took part in our annual K-Nex challenge. This year’s design brief was very challenging with pupils tasked with designing a Ferris Wheel. Banton Primary School finished as runners up to our winning team from Balmalloch Primary School.

 

Celebration of Success
Our “Celebration of Success” assembly takes place on Wednesday 28th March. A large number of pupils from across all year groups are being recognised for everything from reading to youth philanthropy to achievement of John Muir Trust Awards. We would like to offer our congratulations to all pupils, we are very proud of you.

 

Rwanda fundraiser – re-scheduled
As part of our ongoing partnership with the charity Comfort Rwanda a group of senior pupils and staff will again visit Rwanda this summer. To support this trip the group are holding their main fundraiser, a Race Night, in the school cafe on Friday 20th April from 7-10pm. Tickets are available from the school at a cost of £5 and you can get further information from Miss McKillop,
We have always had excellent support from the school and local community and the money raised will make such a difference to the people in Rwanda. At present we do not have our exact project location but it will be restoring or building homes and providing live stock for community groups.
As always raffle prizes will be graciously accepted.

 

Twitter
As our profile on Twitter continues to grow our range of accounts continues to provide news and information about the school, subjects, departments, careers and the world of work. Help us increase our online profile and keep up-to-date with school news and information by following our twitter accounts. @KilsythAcademy,  @ka_envscience,  @ka_biology,  @KACareers1,  @KilsythPe @KAhumanities,  @KA_library,  @KAmodlangs, @KA_ICT,  @ka_HSPO @KACaptains,  @KAMathsdept

 

Easter School
Easter School takes place during mornings next week from Tuesday 3rd April to Thursday 5th April for pupils in S4- 6 studying for SQA exams. This is a great chance to get in some focused study with additional support from subject teachers. Pupils have been issued with the appropriate information and all pupils signed up are expected to attend.

 

End of term arrangements/non-uniform day
School will close for the Spring Break on Thursday 29th March at 2.30pm and re-opens again on Monday 16th April. On Thursday 29th March pupils can participate in our non-uniform day to help us raise additional funds for pupil charities and activities. The cost to dress down is £1 per pupil. Classes will continue to run as normal so it is essential that pupils continue to bring with them a bag, jotters and equipment and P.E. kit. Please note that no football colours are allowed. We wish all our pupils and families an enjoyable break.

Rotary Speaking competition
Following the recent severe weather, The Rotary Club Speaking competition will now take place next week with a number of pupils from S1 – S3 involved. Good luck everyone participating.

Rotary Technology Tournament
On Thursday March 8^th, schools from across Lanarkshire took part in the annual Rotary Technology tournament in Kilsyth Academy.  All teams worked hard to create solutions to the task brief however, our congratulations go to Kilsyth Academy’s senior team who put in a great performance to win the advanced category.  Congratulations also to our junior and intermediate teams who also put in excellent performances to be placed 2^nd and 3^rd in their categories.

Employment and Modern Apprenticeship Opportunities
Employment and apprenticeship opportunities are regularly received in school and displayed in the senior’s area of the café and also on our careers notice board. These are updated regularly and pupils considering both routes when they leave school are encouraged to check the notices regularly.

Sporting success – Athletics
Congratulations to Jamie Stevenson (S5) who has again been called up to participate in a national coaching day with the Scottish School Athletics Association in March.

Rwanda fundraiser – re-scheduled
As part of our ongoing partnership with the charity Comfort Rwanda a group of senior pupils and staff will again visit Rwanda this summer. To support this trip the group are holding their main fundraiser, a Race Night, in the school cafe on Friday 20^th April from 7-10pm. Tickets are available from the school at a cost of £5 and you can get further information from Miss McKillop,

We have always had excellent support from the school and local community and the money raised will make such a difference to the people in Rwanda. At present we do not have our exact project location but it will be restoring or building homes and providing live stock for community groups.

As always raffle prizes will be graciously accepted.

Parent Council
The next meeting of the Parent Council is due to take place on Thursday 22/3/18 at 7.00pm. We welcome any new parents to attend.

Dates for your diary

S2 Tracking reports are due to be issued on Monday 19/3/18.
S2 Parents evening will take place on Thursday 22/3/18.
S3 tracking reports are due to be issued on Wednesday 28/3/18.

The Gathering 2018
Last Thursday, 3 S4 Pupils, Hannah McFarlane, Carly McLaughlin and Zoe Rutherford, led a workshop for more than 100 delegates from third sector organisations, Educations, Local Authorities and employers at The Gathering 2018 – the largest 3^rd Sector conference in Europe.  The girls, who were selected to represent The Wood Foundation from more than 230 school across Scotland, gave a very professional presentation and talked confidently about their involvement in the Wood Foundation’s Youth Philanthropy Initiative and about the power of youth to give delegates a better understanding about how they can embrace young people in their organisations.

 

Silver Linings
Recently, 13 pupils and Ms Gordon attended the ‘Silver Lining’s event which was held at St Maurices on Wednesday 21st February, 6.45pm to 9.00pm. The event was organised by YACK (Youth Action Cumbernauld/Kilsyth) and the main focus was young people and mental health.  Participants took part in 3 workshops, Reeltime music provided a practical session on drumming, Ukele playing and DJing.  There was also a comedy workshop and a ‘Market Place’ where young people had the chance to chat to service providers and take part in other fun activities.

It is hoped that this event will encourage young people from Kilsyth and Cumbernauld to become members of YACK, who meet every Wednesday night in St Maurices (7pm to 8.30pm), to take forward issues relevant to young people.

 

Careers fair
Our Careers Fair took place on Monday 26th February in the school Café and was supported by over 30 providers from Higher and Further Education and Employers. This was a well-attended, informative event and success and we would like to thank all those who gave up their time to meet and support our young people and their parents.

 

Rotary Speaking competition
The Rotary Club Speaking competition takes place this week with a number of pupils from S1 – S3 involved. Good luck everyone participating.

 

Rotary Technology Tournament
On Thursday March 8^th, schools from across Lanarkshire will gather at Kilsyth Academy to take part in the annual Rotary Technology tournament.  Working in teams, pupils will be given a problem to solve and provided with a limited selection of resources to encourage creative approaches to successfully achieving the specified aims.  We look forward to welcoming participating Schools and pupil’s to Kilsyth.

 

Cross Country
Kilsyth Academy held their annual Cross Country Championships last week with over sixty athletes competing in either the junior or senior events. This event also doubles up as one of our inter-house events which led to increased competition for every place in the field.  Furthermore the organisation and management of this event is led by our Sports Leaders and is an integral part of their course, allowing them to put their impressive leadership skills into action.

The individual results after some very close racing were;

• Junior Boys Champion; Reece Culley Silver, Matthew Carlin and Bronze Euan McCrae.
• Junior Girls Champion;   Gracie Currie, Silver, Chloe Whitelock and Bronze Katie Carr.
• Senior Boys Champion; Callum Smith, Silver, Cameron Comrie and Bronze Ross Alexander.
• Senior Girls Champion; Jessica Curle who successfully retained the trophy from last year and has now won three years running, Silver Sophie Lynch and Bronze Rachel Thomson for the second year.
• House Competition.   Junior Trophy; Antonine House

Senior Trophy; Colzium House

There will be a second meeting on Thursday 1st March at morning interval for all athletes competing at the North Lanarkshire Cross Country Event. This will be held in the back gym and permission forms will be issued so all participants must attend.

Rwanda fundraiser
As part of our ongoing partnership with the charity Comfort Rwanda a group of senior pupils and staff will again visit Rwanda this summer. To support this trip the group are holding their main fundraiser, a Race Night, in the school cafe on Friday 2nd March from 7-10pm. Tickets are available from the school at a cost of £5 and you can get further information from Miss McKillop.

We have always had excellent support from the school and local community and the money raised will make such a difference to the people in Rwanda. At present we do not have our exact project location but it will be restoring or building homes and providing live stock for community groups.As always raffle prizes will be graciously accepted.

Parent Council
The next meeting of the Parent Council is due to take place on Thursday 22/3/18 at 7.00pm. We welcome any new parents to attend.

Dates for your diary
S5/6 Tracking reports are due to be issued on Wednesday 7/3/18.

S2 Tracking reports are due to be issued on Monday 19/3/18.

S2 Parents evening will take place on Thursday 22/3/18.

Burns supper
Our annual Burns Supper will take place on Wednesday 7^th February in the school café. This event is entirely organized by senior pupils as part of their Leadership award. This year both Olivia Anderson and Nicole Lowther are leading what will be a very enjoyable event.

Parent Council
The Parent Council met on Monday and heard directly from pupil members of our Rights Respecting Schools committee who outlined our journey so far and discussed our plans to gain Right Respecting School Level 1 status in the next year. In addition, the council discussed our progress with the Pupil Equity Fund and were updated on school issues by the Head Teacher.

First Steps Training
As part of providing some targeted work based learning we have teamed up with First Steps Training in Glasgow to provide a ten week introductory course to five young people in S3 and S4. This course focuses on the skills required in the construction industry and introduces pupils to a range of trades including brick laying, joinery and scaffolding.  The pupils involved have really enjoyed the experience so far and will work with First Steps until Easter.

Peers into schools
On Friday 2^nd February, as part of the Peers into Schools programme run by the House of Lords, Lord Purvis of Tweed will visit Kilsyth Academy to talk to senior pupils about the work of the House of Lords and his role as a member before participating in a question and answer session with pupils in S6.  This programme is designed to develop the political literacy and engagement of young people with a specific focus on the role of the Lords.

Dates
Please note that the school will close for the mid-term break from Monday 12^th to Wednesday 14^th February.  Pupils return to school on Thursday 16^th.

 

 

Christmas concert
Our Christmas Concert last Thursday was a great successes. During the concert, a packed audience was entertained by a range of musicians and singers. This included the Swing Band, Saxophone Group, the Wee Band made up of musicians from Balmalloch Primary School and numerous individual and small group performances. As always, the considerable talent of our young people was outstanding and everyone was extremely impressed by their high standard.

Sincere thanks to all staff who played a part in making the evening happen but, specifically, to Mr Russell, Miss Young and Miss Langan for all their work with the performers.

 

S1/2 Christmas Party
S1 and S2 pupils have enjoyed a Christmas Party and Dance and thanks go to the PE department for ensuring that everyone had a great, fun afternoon.

 

Celebration of Success assembly
Congratulations to all pupils, whose achievements were recognised at the Christmas Celebration of Success Assembly. We are committed to recognising the wide range of achievements of our young people and we are delighted to mark these, in this way.

 

End of term arrangements
The school will close for the Christmas holiday, on Friday 22nd December, at 2.30 p.m. and will re-open at the usual time, on Monday 8th January. We wish all families and friends of the school a very Happy Christmas and best wishes for 2018.

Children in Need
Last Friday, pupils raised a total of £305.35 for Children in Need, through a variety of activities including face painting, beat the goalie, cupcake roulette and pie the teacher and a Pyjama Day for S6. Well done to Catie Gray and her team, for coordinating this, as part of the SQA Leadership Award and to the brave staff who supported this event by volunteering be the goalie and to have cream thrown at them.

Primary Maths Challenge
On Friday teams from across all of our associated Primary Schools took part in our annual Enterprising Primary Maths Challenge. Our congratulations go to Lennoxtown Primary School who again won the event for the second year running.

S5/6 Parents evening
Our Parents’ Evening for S5/6 will take place on Monday 27th November, from 4.15 – 6.45 p.m. This is a really important event, prior to the prelims, in January. It is an opportunity for parents and teachers to discuss any issues and to set targets for the months ahead, at this vital time.

Dates for your diary
S5/6 Tracking reports are due to be issued on Friday 24 November 2017.

Piping success
Congratulations go to Luke Shearer, S5 who, at the recent Festival of Juvenile Solo Piping, in Salcoats, finished the competition as the overall senior champion.

 

Swimming success
Congratulations to Scott Lilburn, S6 who won gold medals in the 100m Freestyle and 200m Freestyle in the recent North Lanarkshire Schools Swimming Championships in Cumbernauld. In addition to his gold medals, Scott put in an excellent performance to equal the North Lanarkshire record in the 100m Freestyle and also won silver in the 100m Butterfly.

 

S1 Panto Trip
Mrs. Olukotun and Miss Pollock intend to take a group of S1 pupils to The Pavilion Theatre, Glasgow to see ‘The Wizard of Never Woz’ which will enable pupils to experience an enjoyable evening at the theatre while developing their understanding of character, theme and setting.  If you would like your child to be considered please return the letter issued to them with a payment of £22.00 by Monday 20th November.  The cost of the trip includes a prime seat in the stalls and travel to and from Glasgow.

Miss Pollock will collect monies on Monday – Wednesday in Room 144 and Mrs. Olukotun on Thursdays and Fridays in Room 146 – oh yes we will!

 

Remembrance Assembly
Last week senior pupils led and participated in our Remembrance Assembly. This event was entirely organised by senior pupils and our thanks go particularly to Karen Marshall, S6 who led this event as part of her S6 Leadership course.  Our thanks are extended to all those who contributed a very thoughtful and considered assembly but particularly to our guests, Minister and Gordon Highlanders veteran Kenn Baird and Royal Airforce Veteran Craig Gore who shared his experience with our pupils.

 

Primary Maths Challenge
On Friday teams from across all of our associated Primary Schools will attend Kilsyth Academy to participate in our annual Enterprising Primary Maths Challenge. Good luck to all those competing and trying to prise the crown from current champions, Lennoxtown Primary School.

 

North Lanarkshire Sumdog competition
North Lanarkshire has recently announced its ‘Sumdog’ Maths competition for pupils in S1 and S2. Sumdog is an online platform that supports young people to develop their Maths and Numeracy skills in both a fun and competitive environment.  All pupils have received their login details and will be reminded of these this week.  Pupils can enter the competition that starts on 17^th November playing both in class and from home.  Parents can read more information about Sumdog at http://www.sumdog.com/en/parent/

 

S5/6 Parents evening
Our Parents’ Evening for S5/6 will take place on Monday 27th November, from 4.15 – 6.45 p.m. This is a really important event, prior to the prelims, in January. It is an opportunity for parents and teachers to discuss any issues and to set targets for the months ahead, at this vital time.

 

Dates for your diary
S2 tracking reports will be issued on Wednesday 15 November 2017.
The school will be closed to pupils on Monday 20^th November for an in-service day.
S5/6 Tracking reports are due to be issued on Friday 24 November 2017.

Hallowe’en Ghost Walk
Hallowe’en will descended on Kilsyth Academy this week when our S1 pupils took part in our Hallowe’en party and ghost walk. This event was organised and run by senior pupils and was the basis of a leadership project for one senior pupil studying the SQA award in Leadership. This was a very successful and enjoyable event that was well supported and our thanks are extended to all staff and senior pupils who contributed in making our annual scarefest a night to remember for our S1 pupils.

 

P7 Science day
Yesterday, primary 7 pupils from across our cluster took part in our annual primary science event, enjoying a very full morning of Science at Kilsyth Academy, delivered by our senior pupils. The senior pupils were mentored by Science staff, on the experiments that the primary pupils would be carrying out, over a period of time. Pupils completed a record book of the experiments they carried out, with seniors helping them to complete the questions. The day was very successful and enjoyed by all involved. A big thank you to everyone involved.

 

Pupil Leadership
Following on from our successful Ghost Walk, a further series of event will take place over the school session organised by our senior leadership class. Pupils, as part of their course, must undertake a project that develops and demonstrates their skills as young leaders. This very demanding course helps pupils develop a range of skills that will serve them well when they leave school. Upcoming events will include our Remembrance Activities, Children in Need, the Crazy Day show and our annual Burns Supper. Other projects include leading our new school newsletter, KA Connections and a specific newsletter for S6 Pupils.

 

Golf Success
Our congratulations go out to David Veitch an S5 pupils who recently represented the school in the Dullatur Cup competition for North Lanarkshire schools. David is the proud winner of the S5 individual competition.

 

Dates for your diary
S1 Parent evening will take place on Thursday 9 November from 4.15 to 6.45pm.
S2 tracking reports will be issued on Wednesday 15 November 2017.
Our next parent council meeting will take place in the school on Tuesday 14th November at 7.00pm.
The school will be closed to pupils on Monday 20th November for an in-service day.