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

The S4/S5/S6 prelims are in full swing and parents will receive reports during February, together with recommendations for final presentation levels. Supported Study continues and it is vital that pupils take full advantage of this extra support, which is available at lunchtimes and after school.

Our S3 Parents’ Meeting will be on Thursday 2nd 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. S3 pupils should be making individual appointments with their class teachers.

Congratulations to ‘Born and Raised’ who achieved third place at the ‘Rockfest Battle of the Bands’ event, at Motherwell Concert Hall. Well done to Ross Quinn (guitar & vocals), Rachel Griffin (keyboard & vocals), Archie Grant (keyboard), Courtney Campbell (drum kit) & Cameron Comrie (bass).

To help support a local initiative, our pupils are collecting clothes and shoes that are suitable for use by the Serbian Red Cross, for distribution to refugees passing through Serbia, Northern Greece and Iraq. The ‘Kilsyth Supporting Refugees’ group will uplift the items from us at the end of this month. Pupils are asked to bring items to school, between Friday the 20^th and Friday 27th January, and hand them in at the Reception, at the start of the school day. We hope that this collection is well supported.

The mid-term holiday will be on Monday 13^th and Tuesday 14^th February and there will also be an in-service day on Wednesday 15^th February. The school will therefore be closed to pupils on these three days.

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

At the start of this very busy term, pupils in S4, S5 and S6 are getting ready to sit their prelim examinations, in preparation for the final SQA exams in May. Our prelim diet will run from Monday 16^th until Friday 27^th January and all pupils are expected to be in class, when they do not have an examination. Lots of advice about revision is available from class teachers and supported study has been running across many subjects.

A group of talented pupils will represent the school as 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.  Best of luck to the band who are called ‘Born and Raised’, and the members are Ross Quinn (guitar & vocals), Rachel Griffin (keyboard & vocals), Archie Grant (keyboard), Courtney Campbell (drum kit) & Cameron Comrie (bass).

Tickets, priced £5.00 are available from members of the band or from Mr Russell.

Congratulations to Holly McArthur, S6, who took gold with a score of 3804 points in the England Athletics U20 Pentathlon at the weekend. A winning score exceeding 3700 points should give automatic GB selection to an International Combined Events Match in Prague later this month. This is another superb achievement and we are extremely proud of Holly

We are please to welcome our new Classroom Assistant, CarolAnn McMahon. We hope she enjoys her time at Kilsyth Academy.

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Our Christmas Concert and performance of the Pantomime, ‘Cinderella’ were great successes. During the concert, a packed audience was entertained by a range of musicians and singers. This included the Swing Band, Saxophone Group, Rock Band and numerous individual and small group performances by Luke Shearer, Kieran McCann, Ross Quinn, Archie Grant, Robbie Brown, Hannah McFarlane, Rachel Griffin, Kira Lundy, Leoni McLay, Abigail Newey, Katie McDowall, Emma Carrigan, Erin Robertson, Olivia Elliot, Carly McLaughlin and Rebekah Machray. As always, the considerable talent of our young people was outstanding and everyone was extremely impressed by their high standard.

The second half of the evening consisted of a very accomplished performance of the Pantomime ‘Cinderella’, starring Rachel Griffin as Cinderella, Andrew Jack as Ugly Sister Lavinia, Dylan McLay as Ugly Sister Davina, Abby Bankier as the Fairy Godmother, Andrew McRae as Buttons, Martin Murphy as Prince Charming, Jennifer Wright as the Wicked Stepmother, Baroness Hardup, and Adam Boyd as Major Dommel, the Prince’s Equerry. This was a fantastic climax to the evening, extremely funny and with perfect timing in every part of the production. Again, the level of talent was exceptional and left the audience on a real high.

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

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

Pupils in the S1/2 Science Club have almost finished their robot arm models, as part of the Ultimate Stem Challenge. The challenge is sponsored by BP and the pupils have been tirelessly working to complete the models. They also must create a PowerPoint presentation to describe their model and justify why they chose to construct it in this way. Thanks to Mrs Stirling-Young for leading this.

After Christmas, Mr Paul Reilly will be taking on the role as Acting Head Teacher, pending Mr Orrock taking up post, in late January/early February. We wish him every success in this role.

The school will close for the Christmas holiday, on Friday 23^rd December, at 2.30 p.m. and will re-open at the usual time, on Monday 9^th January. We wish all families and friends of the school a very Happy Christmas and best wishes for 2017.

It’s not too late to buy your tickets for our Christmas Concert and Pantomime ‘Cinderella’, to be held on Thursday 15^th December, at 7.00 p.m. Tickets are priced at £5.00 for adults and £3.00 for children and are available from Music, Drama or the school Reception. We hope to have a large turnout, for what promises to be a very entertaining evening.

Pupils are still seeking donations for the Kilsyth Foodbank, as part of our drive to help the community at Christmas. Please bring items to school up to Friday 9th December and hand them in at the House boxes in the café, any day at the interval. In particular, we have been asked to collect: Salmon, Tuna, Shloer/Fruit Juice, Chocolates, Tinned Ham, Cheese/Crackers, Mince Pies, Steak Pies, Christmas Crackers, and Shortbread.

The S4 Modern Studies class visited the Scottish parliament, on St Andrew’s Day, and enjoyed finding out about the workings of the parliament and what goes on behind the scenes.

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A group, made up of almost 50 pupils and staff, spent a great weekend in the North West of England, taking part in an amazing football experience. They attended two premier league games – Burnley v Manchester City and Manchester United v West Ham United. They also took part in a training development session with coaches from Burnley FC, visited the National Football Museum and toured the Etihad Stadium. Everyone enjoyed the trip and thanks go to Mr Urquhart, Mr Buchanan, Mr McAllister and Mr Brown for giving up their weekend to accompany the pupils.

The S1 and S2 Christmas Party will take place on the afternoon of Friday 16^th December and Crazy Day, our annual charities day, will be on Thursday 22^nd December. The three charities that we will be supporting have been agreed by the Pupil Council. They are Glasgow City Mission, Cash for Kids and Médecins Sans Frontières.

 

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Children from our associated Primary schools joined us last week, for the annual Primary Maths Challenge. As always, it was a hard fought event, but lots of fun at the same time. For the second year in succession, Lennoxtown Primary School were the outright winners. Well done to them and to Miss Rae for organising everything.

Tickets are now on sale for our Christmas Concert and Pantomime ‘Cinderella’, to be held on Thursday 15^th December, at 7.00 p.m. The tickets are priced at £5.00 for adults and £3.00 for children. They are available from Music, Drama or the school Reception. We hope to have a large turnout, for what promises to be a very entertaining evening.

Congratulations to Eilidh Brown 1B, who has designed this year’s school Christmas card. Her design, based on a snow globe, is very eye-catching and was a unanimous winner from the panel of judges.

This Christmas we will be collecting food items to distribute to the Kilsyth Community Food Bank. Pupils are asked to bring items to school between Monday 28th November and Friday 9th December and hand them in to representatives of their house, who will be in the café, every day at the interval. In particular, we have been asked to collect: Salmon, Tuna, Shloer/Fruit Juice, Chocolates, Tinned Ham, Cheese/Crackers, Mince Pies, Steak Pies, Christmas Crackers, Shortbread.

Thanks to Kieran McCann and Luke Shearer for, once again, accepting a bagpiping engagement at the launch of the Transplant Games, which took place at Colzium House last week.

More than thirty senior pupils participated in a whole-day Urban Land Regeneration workshop, led by industry professionals. This was a great day and a fantastic opportunity for the pupils, to work with such a high calibre team.

The Parent Council will meet on Thursday 1^st December, at 7.00 p.m., in the school.

S5 and S6 tracking reports were issued last week and acknowledgement slips should be returned by Thursday 24^th November. Our S5/6 Parents’ Evening will take place on Tuesday 29^th 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. Supported Study is taking place at lunchtimes and after school, across a range of subjects, and S4, S5 and S6 pupils are encouraged to take full advantage of these opportunities.

Pupils have been raising money for Children in Need, through the sale of wristbands and a Pyjama Day for S6. Altogether £210 was raised. Well done to Jack Rennie and his team, for coordinating this, as part of the SQA Leadership Award.

Two debating teams took part in the first round of the Donald Dewar Debating Competition. Craig Melvin, Archie Grant, Iona Brownlie and Amy Smith gave outstanding performances but, against very stiff competition, did not progress to the next round. Congratulations to St Maurice’s HS and Our Lady’s HS (Motherwell).

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We were pleased to welcome the Geobus to the school last week. Staff on the bus provided a workshop on fossils and rock formation, which is part of the Environmental Science course.

The Senior inter-House football tournament took place at the all-weather pitch in Kilsyth. Antonine won all three games, to finish first, followed by Balmalloch in 2^nd place, Colzium 3^rd and Dumbreck 4^th.

The Parent Council will meet on Thursday 1^st December, at 7.00 p.m., in the school.

We had a great evening with P6 and P7 pupils and parents, last week, at our annual transition event in Kilsyth Academy. There was an amazing turnout and, in particular, everyone found the tours to be very enjoyable. It was great to see so many people and there was a great buzz around the school. Many thanks to Kilsyth Academy staff and pupils who gave up their time to come along and help, to the Parent Council for looking after teas and coffees and to the Primary Head Teachers, for their support.

Our Parents’ Evening for S5/6 will take place on Tuesday 29^th 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. Supported Study is taking place at lunchtimes and after school, across a range of subjects, and S4, S5 and S6 pupils are encouraged to take full advantage of these opportunities.

Three pupils represented the school at the first meeting of the North Lanarkshire Pupil Council, held in Airdrie last week. Well done to Mark Donnelly, Eve McTiernan and Grant Douglas.

Throughout the last two weeks, pupils have been donating money to The Poppy Appeal, following presentations from members of S6, at assemblies. The collection has been a great success, this year, and culminated with the whole school marking the national silence, at 11.00 a.m., on 11^th November.

Congratulations to Lucy Laggan, Katie McDowall, Aimee Paterson and Robyn Shaw, last session’s YPI Winners, who will receive the prestigious Diana Award, at a ceremony to be held in The Emirates Arena, next month. This is in recognition of the work that the girls did for Chris’s House and we are delighted that they will be recognised in this way.

Rehearsals are well underway for our Christmas pantomime, Cinderella, which will take place as part of the Christmas Concert, on the evening of Thursday 15^th December. Tickets will be on sale soon, but please save the date, meantime.

Monday 21^st November will be a staff in-service day and so the school will be closed to pupils.

The S1 Parents’ Meeting will take place on Tuesday 15^th November, from 4.15 until 6.45 p.m. This is an opportunity to meet class teachers and Pupil Support staff, to discuss how the young people are settling in at Kilsyth Academy and to agree targets for the remainder of the session. In the meantime, pupils in S1 and s2 have been issued with tracking reports.

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P7 pupils from our cluster Primary schools enjoyed 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.

A group of S5 pupils spent a morning working with representatives from the University of Glasgow, as part of the Reach and Access programmes. This was the start of a series of workshops, designed to support pupils with entry to their chosen university courses.

Representatives of our peer mentor group attended the national ‘Children in Scotland’ conference, held at the Westerwood Hotel, last week. The group led a workshop on the ‘Mentors in Violence Prevention’ scheme, which was very well received by the professionals concerned, and the pupils received very positive feedback. Well done!

Natasha Riddel and Olivia Anderson participated in a meeting of the Rotary Club of Kilsyth, to give a presentation on their recent Challenge Enterprise experience, which was funded by the club. The girls provided an excellent insight to their experience and entertained the members. Well done!

Monday 21^st November will be a staff in-service day and so the school will be closed to pupils.

 

On Monday 7^th November, we look forward to welcoming the parents of pupils in Primary 6 and Primary 7, at our Information Evening. The event will begin at 7.00 p.m., with presentations from staff and senior pupils and then there will be an opportunity to tour the school and find out about the work in each department. The evening will finish with an opportunity to have tea and coffee and chat informally to staff and members of the Parent Council. We look forward to a good turnout of parents and children are also welcome, if accompanied by a parent.

Congratulations to our team of S2 pupils, who entered the West of Scotland heat of the Kids’ Lit Quiz. Iona Gilchrist, Dylan Grant, Rhiannon Neil and Morgan Waite spent a very enjoyable and exciting day at Our Lady’s High School, answering a wide range of questions on young people’s literature. During the quiz, the team had top scores in 3 of the 10 rounds. In the end, they were placed 6th out of the 31 schools taking part and were the top school in North Lanarkshire.  Well done!

On Wednesday, our S2 and S3 girls had an opportunity to take part in an Active Girls Day, to coincide with similar events being organised by Sportscotland. The girls found the day to be physically challenging but, nevertheless, very enjoyable. During the morning, the girls attended a motivational workshop, led by Paula McGuire, and took part in dance, metafit and basketball sessions. The afternoon was spent doing team building activities. Many thanks to Mairi MacVicar, our Active Schools Coordinator, for organising the event.

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Last Thursday, Hallowe’en descended on Kilsyth Academy, in style. Pupils in S5 and S6, supported by some staff, organised a number of party activities, which were a lot of fun, and a ghost walk around parts of the school, that were more on the scary side! Nevertheless, the 1^st year pupils involved had a great evening. These events were followed by a ‘scary movie’ night with pizza, for the seniors who had helped. Many thanks to everyone involved.

The Modern Languages department has recognised a number of pupils, at part of their ‘Linguist of the Term’ initiative. This is based on pupils’ performance in French, German or Spanish, from August until October. Congratulations to all! They are:

S1 – Josh Chambers, Sarah Bateman, Emma Thomas, Eilidh Brown, Dylan Haggerty, Katie Watkins, Katie Gordon and Elle McArthur.

S2 – Lewis Robertson, Luke Fyfe, Rhiannon Neil, Eilidh Stewart, Emma Roberts, Morgan Waite, Eve McTiernan and Dylan Grant

S3 – Jack Leslie, Paula Bell, Morgan Hendrie, Hannah McFarlane, Zoe Rutherford and Orla Duncan.                                          

S4 – Luke Shearer, Ailsa Stirling, Gemma Hunt, Amy Buck, Rebecca Love, Anne Glen and Louise Rennie.           

S5/6 – Rhona Boyle, Kira Lundy, Katie Allen, Ryan Meechan, Olivia McTiernan, Lauryn Robertson, Abbie Rankin and Claire McGinley.

The Parent Council will meet on Thursday 3^rd November, at 7.00 p.m.

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Congratulations to Natasha Riddel and Olivia Anderson, on completing the Challenge Enterprise weekend, organised by the Rotary Club. The girls really enjoyed the experience and made a number of contacts. Sincere thanks to the Rotary Club of Kilsyth for sponsoring them.

Representatives from the Teenage Cancer Trust came into school last week, to speak to pupils in S2 about the work they do. This was a very informative session and the pupils were extremely attentive.

The first round of Pupil Council meetings have now taken place, with each year group meeting being chaired by a member of the Captaincy team. The outcomes of the various discussions will now be discussed with the Senior Management Team.

Friday was a non-uniform day and pupils raised £889 towards their charities, which have still to be confirmed by the Pupil Council. This is an excellent start to our annual fundraising efforts. Well done!

The S4 Achieve group, together with members of the S6 Leadership class and some members of staff, organised a Macmillan Coffee Morning, for staff, and raised £537. This included a raffle, organised by Elli Gregg and her team. Thanks to everyone who supported this worthy charity and congratulations to all those involved in the organisation.

Our first round of inter-House events took place last week. In the inter-House Rugby, Colzium won, Balmalloch and Dumbreck were in joint second place and Antonine were fourth. Colzium also won the inter-House Netball and the other three Houses tied in second place. Well done to Colzium and congratulations to Austin Muya, who was Player of the Tournament, in Rugby.

A number of pupils have taken part in the ‘Slosh Across North Lanarkshire’ initiative, to raise awareness of the 2017 Transplant Games, that will be coming to North Lanarkshire. Thanks to all those who participated and congratulations to Amy Jarvie, who organised it.

School re-opens on Monday 24^th October, at 8.55 p.m.