Arbroath Academy Spring Newsletter

Summer 2019 Tel: 01241 465200 E-mail: [email protected]

Together with Pride! Head Teacher’s Welcome

Dear Parents and Carers, Top Stories As we near the end of the 2018-19 session, it is a good time to reflect on Page 6 the many successes that our young people have achieved. Anti-Bullying We have had; Campaign  U18’s Basketball team got to the Scottish Cup Quarter Finals  Senior Business winning the George Donald Enterprise Challenge Page 7  Most of our S2 pupils achieved a CREST Award. Eco Group—Sky Many more will be recognised at our Annual Celebration of Achievement Ocean Rescue evenings on 25th and 26th June. Event Pages 8—9 In the last few weeks, as a school, we have been focusing on two aspects of accepting responsibility. ASN Sensory Garden Firstly to accept responsibility for your own actions by always giving of your best. Page 11 Secondly to accept responsibility by taking action to help others, in other Tobacco Charter words, showing kindness.

The staff continue to work tirelessly to support our young people achieve Page 12 their best. I would like to thank Mrs Goss for leading the school in my ab- Transformation Trust with Dell sence.

Pages 14—15 I am delighted to have returned to my position as Head teacher at My Language Academy, after a working with many schools across , sharing the Journey Eve work that we have done here. Page 16 Project I would like to wish all of our leavers - staff and pupils - all the very best for Barracuda the future, and to welcome all our new pupils joining Arbroath Academy Pages 18-19 after the summer holidays. Available Clubs Best wishes Pages 20-21 P7 Transition Day at Monikie Country Park

2 Arbroath Academy News

Free School Meals

If you are a parent or carer and receive any of the following you may be entitled to receive free school meals for your child:

 Income Support

 Income based Job Seeker’s Allowance

 Any income related element of Employment and Support Allowance

 Child Tax Credit, but not Working Tax Credit, and your income is under £16495

 Maximum Child Tax Credit and maximum Working Tax Credit and your income is under £6420

 Support under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999

 Universal Credit where the monthly earned income does not exceed £610

 Pupils who receive any of these benefits in their own right can also claim free school meals

 Your child is also entitled to free school lunches if you receive both maxi- mum Child Tax Credit and maximum Working Tax Credit and your income is under £6,420

Entitlement to free school meals is assessed as part of the application process for Housing Benefit/Council Tax Reduction. If you are not in receipt of Housing Benefit/Council Tax Reduction you can claim using the following link:

https://www.angus.gov.uk/schools_and_young_people/ early_learning_and_childcare/free_school_meals

Secondary pupils will have an allowance of £2.20 per day which can also be used for breakfast service before school or at morning interval. This amount will be credited to the pupil’s cashless catering account on a daily basis.

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Exam Updates

Now that the 2018-19 SQA exams are over, we’d like to say a big well done to all the students who have worked hard over the past year and put 100% effort into your studies and exams. We are sure all your hard work will pay off when your results come through and we wish you all the best in your future endeavours, whether you are staying with us, moving on to further education or heading out in to the world of work.

Also a big thank you to all the teaching and support staff who went above and be- yond for the pupils in both preparation, exam support, readers and scribes, holding grade booster days, revision packages and assisting in making sure the exams ran smoothly.

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Cut out these holiday pages and stick them to the fridge for Dates to remember! ease of reference! Holiday Dates 2019/20 Please be aware there are two additional In-service Days for 2019-20

Tuesday 13 August In-Service Closure Day 1

(pupils return to school Wednesday 14 August) Friday 4 October In-service Closure (Additional Day 1) Last day of Autumn Term Sat 5 Oct—Sun 20 Oct Autumn Holiday (pupils return to school Mon 21 October) Wednesday 4 December In-Service Closure Day 2 Thursday 5 December In-Service Closure Day 3 Friday 6 December St Andrew’s Day Holiday Friday 20 December Last day of Winter Term

Sat 21 Dec—Sun 5 Jan Christmas Holiday

(pupils return to school Mon 6 January) Thursday 13 February In-Service Closure Day 4

Fri 14—Mon 17 February Mid-Term Holidays

Friday 3 April Last day of Spring Term Sat 4 Apr—Sun 19 Apr Spring Holiday

(pupils return to school Mon 20 April) Monday 4 May May Day Holiday Monday 25 May In-Service Closure day 5

Tuesday 26 May In-service Closure Day (Additional 2)

Friday 26 June Last day of Summer Term

Sat 27 June—Mon 10 Aug Summer Holiday

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Dates to remember! Cut out these holiday pages and stick them to the fridge for ease of reference! Parents’ Evenings & Parent Forum Dates

Monday 26 August Parent Forum Meeting

Tuesday 1 October S5/6 Parent/Carer Evening

Wednesday 30 October S4 Parent/Carer Evening

Tuesday 12 November Parent Forum Meeting

Tuesday 12 November S3 Parent/Carer Evening

Thursday 28 November S1 Parent/Carer Evening

Thursday 12 December S2 Parent/Carer Evening

Wednesday 22 January Parent Forum Meeting

Monday 16 March Parent Forum Meeting

Tuesday 19 May Parent Forum Meeting

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Anti-Bullying Campaign

Megan Christie and Brodie Williams met with Angus Council’s Education committee on 25th April. Here they, and other Youth Advisory Group members, explained the findings they had uncovered in the course of their research and outlined the plan for the launch of the campaign which will take place before the end of the year. The group then attended an evening event at Links Park in Montrose where they presented the campaign to Head Teachers from all of the Angus secondary schools as well as representatives from Angus Council, the Lord Provost and many other representatives from across the au- thority.

Megan and Brodie will also meet the MSP, Graeme Dey, on 10th June where they will explain the purpose behind the campaign and how it is going to be rolled out to all Angus agencies. Both Megan and Brodie have been vital parts of this campaign and will continue to have a vital input until the launch at the end of the year.

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Eco Group—Sky Ocean Rescue & STEM Festival

On Tuesday 26th March 60 S1 and S2 pupils took part in the Sky Ocean Rescue Chal- lenge in which they had to work in teams to design, create, record, edit and present their own advert to encourage the reduction of the use of single use plastic through the use of the slogan #passonplastic. The pupils gained a huge amount of knowledge from Fallon, the very enthusiastic workshop coordinator, before developing their incredibly creative adverts. Many pupils explained how they really enjoyed their day and the freedom to be creative and that it increased their confidence to work as part of a larger team. A huge congratulations to the Mighty Megladons (our winning team) and the Ninja Turtles and the Sea Saviours (the two runners up). All the stu- dents worked incredibly hard and produced some amazing results and each of them were a credit to Arbroath Academy. 24 of the pupils involved will be heading to the Sky Academy Studios in Livingston, in early June to create their own TV report, short film or video and get a behind the scenes tour of the Sky Studios. The staff and pupils are excited for the trip and share their experience with the rest of the school. As well as the above events, the Eco Group IDL classes and the lunchtime Eco Group have been working hard around the school to improve awareness of environmental issues, reducing the use of single use plastic, increase recycling and reduce littering. The group presented some of their work at the recent STEM Festival which was held in Arbroath Academy. All of this hard work in currently being collated to go towards our Green Flag Resubmission and we will hopefully hear, in the next few months, if we have been successful.

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News from the Additional Support Needs Group

ASN Outdoor Garden

Recently at Arbroath Academy the children from the ASN Department have been creating a sensory garden which includes scented plants that attract butterflies and insects; herbs, fruit trees and strawberries to demonstrate the practical use of a garden; a small fountain to promote mental well-being and a summer house where they can practise their mindfulness techniques and take part in other outdoor learning experiences.

Curriculum for Excellence offers opportunities for all children and young people to enjoy first-hand experiences outdoors, whether within the school grounds, in urban green spaces or in the countryside. These experiences motivate young people to become successful learners, build positive relationships and encourage lifelong involvement and activity in Scotland’s outdoors.

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What an incredible transformation! Well done to all who helped create this new sensory garden! Great use of unused space within the school grounds!

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News From the Social Subjects Faculty

S1 Football A number of young boys successfully represented our school this year in the Angus wide S1 tournament organised by Mr McLeish. The boys displayed the best qualities and skills working well as a team and representing our school to an exceedingly high standard. The boys were joint runners-up with Arbroath High School having been narrowly beaten by Montrose Academy. Well done! P7 Transition P7s from across our partner primary schools completed a successful and enjoyable experience in the Social Subjects faculty. Young people were invited to take part in a work shop focusing on developing their critical thinking skills related to historical sources and artefacts... even getting to dress up in some WW1 uniforms! All young people enjoyed the experience and it has helped to foster positive relationships between staff and future pupils before their two day visit and August start. We look forward to welcoming them into the faculty.

Youth and Philanthropy Initiative The Social Subjects department course to be delivered in the 2019/20 school year that will include participating in The Youth and Philanthropy Initiative (YPI). YPI gives secondary school pupils a hands-on experience of philanthropy that provides them with the skills and awareness to make a positive difference to their local communities. Pupils work in small teams to research and discuss the social needs of their local community and identify the local social service charity they believe is best placed to make a positive contribution. They visit and build relations with representatives from their chosen charity and work together to create a presentation about their charity and the reasons it is deserving of sup- port. The group judged to have made the best presentation in each school is granted £3,000 to award to their charity. During this process, pupils develop teamwork, communication and presentation skills as well as an awareness of the needs of their local community.

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‘Pay it Forward’ – Learning about our community As part of the ‘Pay it Forward’ Master Class a number of pupils in S2 have visited the Food Bank at Old and Abbey Parish church; Community Spirit at Fisheracre and St Andrew’s Church. Before the visits pupils researched the work that these groups do to help people in our local community and were then given the opportunity to ask questions and learn more from our partners in these organisations. This helped pupils to develop their sense of local citizenship and sense of

Tobacco Charter

On Friday 31st May 2019 we participated in a focus group that celebrated World No- Tobacco Day with The Schools Team NHS . After the recent survey going around the school, we asked what your views were on smoking in the school. Over the coming weeks we will meet to discuss the future of non-smoking in Arbroath Academy and making our community tobacco free. We are also trying to get the local football team, Arbroath FC, involved to put in prizes, such as season tickets etc. We are thinking of doing a logo/poster competition so keep your eyes peeled around the school.

Why we need you The Academy hope to hold a charities fair sometime in February of 2020 to help kick off the initiative which will be a great opportunity for local charities to get their word out and engage with young people. If you or a member of your family or friend group has been positively impacted by a local group feel free to let us know so we can ensure we contact them and invite them in. Please drop us a short email with their contact details addressed to: Mr Edwards YPI [email protected]

12 Arbroath Academy News Technologies—Computing

Transformation Trust with Dell

S1 and S2 Pupil’s from Arbroath Academy were invited to take part in workshops held at the University of Dundee as part of the Powering Transformation Trust with Dell. This was a fantastic day for the 50 Computing Science pupils who attended.

During the visit they had a collaborative problem-solving challenge with a focus on community activism, where pupils had the opportunity to design their own technologi- cal solution to a social issue of their choosing.

They had the opportunity to trial the latest virtual reality equipment developed by Dell. Pupils were also given the invaluable experience of vis- iting a university, spending time on a university campus and giv- en a guided tour by university student ambassadors.

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News from Expressive & Performing Art

A huge well done to two of our S6 Art students who have both received unconditional offers to Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design! Their fantastic work is pictured here and I think we can all agree the places are well deserved! Good luck to you both!

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News from the Languages & Communication Faculty My Language Journey Event

An extremely successful ‘Languages in the Workplace’ event took place on the morning of Tuesday 11 June. Miss Munch (teacher of French/Travel and Tourism) organised the event with a view to showing S2 pupils the rich variety of possibilities for anyone interested in continuing with language learning after leaving school. This was fantastically supported by the DYW Team , and were joined by Ailsa Cormie on the day.

Seven thirty-minute workshops explored different language journeys that you can take. A sergeant and corporal from the RAF were present to explain the great flexibility within the RAF for using different languages; Dawn Hartley, Head of Creative Learning for Scottish Dance Theatre, part of Dundee Rep Theatre, showcased the great projects she headlines which have taken her and her students to Rio de Janeiro amongst other places worldwide; Paul Sheerin gave a wonderful tour of his life, starting as a language learner of French in S2 and culminating in him being the Chief Executive of Scottish Engineering, having worked all over the world with major companies, including Polaroid; Mimi Mwasame, Community Liaison Manager with German company MVV Energie AG based in Aberdeen, talked about her exciting life, starting in Kenya with Kiswahili as her mother tongue, and on to her various jobs which always demanded some expertise in speaking different languages – French, German, Portuguese and others, finally achieving one of her great desires which was to live and work in Scotland; Geraint Davies of Angus Alive showed how he is able to use languages in a local context with libraries and in the local tourist industry using French, German, Welsh and Gaelic after living and studying in Europe; Karen Sum, Head of Global Account Management with GEZE Gmbh, who works with both UK and German HQs of the company, shared her journey of how languages have been with her during her whole career and life, including marrying her husband who comes from Hong Kong; Gordon McLuckie rep for SDS (Skills Development Scotland) in school, showed pupils during very active sessions how modern languages can open doors to many different kinds of careers.

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Highlights of the seven workshops were the group dance moves which pupils created towards the end of her sessions, singing Head Shoulders Knees and Toes in Gaelic with Geraint Davies, the lovely freebies which Mimi Mwasame brought with her along with learning some Kiswahili, meeting Miss Shepherd’s sister Karen Sum, and Paul Sheerin’s frankness about his adolescence and terrible choice in jumpers and haircuts! The variety of careers available through joining the RAF was astounding and pupils were impressed by the amount of training available on the job, as well as the excellent salary received once signed up for basic training, and Gordon McLuckie’s brain is to be picked for more interactive ideas for the classroom!

Huge thanks is extended to all the workshop leaders, and also to all teachers who helped out in the classrooms………………..

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News from the Health Improvement Faculty

Project Barracuda

For the 2nd year, the Home Economics department have worked with Dawnfresh Seafoods with the support of Developing the Young Workforce as part of Project Barracuda. S3 Home Economics pupils were given a task by Graeme from Dawnfresh Seafoods to create a ‘new’ fish product, which would be targeted at adults between 30 and 55. They had to decide a company logo, product name, decide a recipe, pick packaging and come up with a catchy slogan within Project Barracuda. They then needed to present their idea to a judging panel which included a member of school staff, Graeme from Dawnfresh Seafoods and Alison from Developing the Young Workforce. All judges were extremely impressed by the commitment and effort that all S3 Home Economics pupils had put into developing their new product. All pupils were presented with a certificate and medal for their participation and hard work. The winning team were presented with a Project Barracuda trophy, and the winners were Hannah Gall, Shannon Anderson, Emily Hamilton and Carolan McKay. Well done to all S3 Home Economics pupils, your dedication made this project a success for another year!

Check out the fantastic write up the Project received; http:// dywda.co.uk/ project- barracuda-an- off-the-hook- success/ Press control and

click the link above to open the page!

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News from the Health Improvement Faculty Rwanda Trip Senior pupils in Arbroath Academy are looking forward to heading out to Rwanda again this year. 13 pupils and 3 staff have been working hard for the last 2 years to raise funds the trip. As it stands, over £25,000 has been raised. A huge thanks goes out to the school and local; community who have supported all of our events. Pupils enjoy the cultural exchange where they will be involved in a wide variety of events including visiting schools, working with disadvantaged children and learning about the Rwandan Genocide.

Sports Day 2019

A big well done to all who took part in our Sports Day this year! The winners of the sports day finals were; S1 Girls: Chloe Merchant S1 Boys: Brandon Barr S2 Girls: Caitlin Vannet S2 Boys: Jamie Shand S3 Girls: Abbey Gordon

Sports Day Record Breakers:

S1 Boys 1500m: Rory Cargill 5.41.62min S1 boys 200m: Brandon Barr 28.09sec S2 Boys Shot Putt: Jamie Shand 9.51m S2 Boys 300m: Jamie Shand 48.33sec S3 Girls 300m: Abbey Gordon 55.1sec S3 Boys Long Jump: Billy Rennie 4.53m S3 Boys 400m: Josh Tuchener 59.5sec

School Sport

Arbroath Academy have enjoyed another very successful year of sport. Pupils have competed in Dance / Rugby / Football / Basketball / Netball / Athletics / Cross Country.

Extra-Curricular clubs for all these events and more will be on offer again in 2019-2020.

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Upcoming Club News from the P.E Department, part of the Health & Wellbeing Faculty

NETBALL CLUB This will start again after the summer holidays and will be open to S1-S6 pupils. Days and times will be announced as soon as they are confirmed.

Strength and Conditioning Miss Morgan will be starting two new clubs after the summer holidays although days and times are still to be confirmed although it will be during lunch time. Strength and conditioning will be open to girls in S4-S6 pupils and will be a beginner club for those pupils who are keen on learn- ing how to use weights correctly building up from body weight to free weights including barbell exercises. This will be limited to a small number of pupils.

Couch to 5k will be open to all years/ staff and is a running club aimed at improving your running so you are able to run a 5k comfortably. The aim is that we would finish with completing the Montrose park run 5k. Again this will be a sign up club and will be limited to numbers as paper work needs to be completed to allow us to go out of school to run. I will be asking pupils to sign up for these clubs the first week of term and then starting the second week. All updates on clubs will be posted on the school twitter account @ArbroathAcadPE

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Clubs Currently Running

Film Club

Tuesday film club has built up a strong group of mem- bers this year all with varying film tastes – from action, romantic, comedy and sci-fi. This year we have watched numerous movies and television episodes (with no judgements made on taste). It is a safe and fun place to come and have lunch and discuss movies the only thing you have to do is sit back and relax. We are hoping in the future to branch out and hopefully set up an excur- sion to the Chalmers to see a new release on the full screen.

Games Club

Ms Hay’s Games Club runs on a Wednesday in room 1C from 4-5pm, open to everyone! A range of different games and also there is theme or set nights like Halloween, computer based, prize bingo, outdoor games, cards, Wii and similar.

Also if there is any interest in War Hammer could you please let Ms Hay know as there is an opportunity to get this club started!

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Our P7 transition day took place at Monikie Country Park earlier this term and we had an excellent day taking part in various team building challenges!

We were lucky enough to have great weather to fully enjoy the activities on offer.

We had pupils join us from Hayshead PS, Warddykes PS, Inverkeilor PS, Friockheim PS, St Thomas PS, Inverbrothock PS, PS, Muirfield PS and Ladyloan PS who will all be joining us after the Summer holidays.

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Some of team building events are pictured here with our future pupils!

Big thank you to some of our current pupils who came and helped on the day and made the primary school pupils feel welcome!

We are all looking forward to seeing them officially start in August!

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Our School Uniform Guide

Arbroath Academy’s colours are BLACK and GOLD. Pupils are expected to wear:  A white or black blouse/shirt  Black cardigan, V-neck sweater or plain black sweatshirt (no hooded tops)  School tie (available to buy from the school office £4)  Black trousers or skirts (no shorts or leggings)  Black shoes  Dark coloured jacket (no denim jackets)

All outdoor garments and anything that is not uniform is to be removed in the classroom.

P.E & Sports For PE and sports activities in school, pupils are expected to wear:  A plain white t-shirt/polo shirt (no football tops)  Black shorts/tracksuit trousers  Training shoes or a change of shoes.  In cold weather you might also like to wear a tracksuit or warm top.

For health and safety reasons pupils will asked to remove jewellery and piercing in PE.

School Blazers

We have boys/girls black school blazers available to purchase from the school. Our supplier is www.uniform-direct.com. The blazers can be purchased at a cost of £30 and they are available from size 6 to 24 for girls and size 30” to 40” for boys. Please contact the school office if you would like to purchase one.  Teflon HT  Crease resistant  Easy care  Machine washable  Quick drying  ‘Mobile phone’ pocket  Easy access badge stitching

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Links of Interest

My World of Work: http://www.myworldofwork.co.uk/

Skills Development Scotland: www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk

SQA (Scottish Qualifications Authority) Home Page: http://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/70972.html

SQA Parents’ webpage: http://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/41292.html

National Qualifications Information for Parents: http://www.npfs.org.uk/nationals-in-a-nutshell/

Education Scotland – parentzone Scotland: https://education.gov.scot/parentzone/

Keep in touch with what’s happening at Arbroath Academy!

Twitter accounts:

School Account: Business Studies: @ArbroathAcad @ArbAcadBusiness P.E: Language & Communication: @ArbroathAcadPE @ArbAcadLang_Com Library: Social Subjects & RME: @arbacadlibrary @ArbAcadSSubRME Maths: BCT: @ArbAcademyMaths @ArbAcad_CompSci Expressive & Performing Arts: @ArbrAcad_ExpArt

Web Site: http://www.arbroathacademy.angus.sch.uk

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The Communities Team in Arbroath Academy

What is Family Learning? Family learning is about giving families the time and opportunity to learn and play together in a safe environment.

Step Up Club

To help the transition from Primary to Secondary we have a club for P7 pupils. The group is about having fun and helping to form new friendships in a safe environment through a variety of activities and help them towards transition to Second- ary school. The club meet on a Wednesday after school 3.50pm– 5.00pm and there are still some places available.

Angus Young Scot Multimedia team

We have recently recruited for this group and the new participants begin their training over the next month. They will be trained in film, animation, photography and journalism to pre- pare them to produce material for the Angus pages for the Young Scot site. The group meet in Forfar Community campus on a Thursday evening but free transport is available from the Academy. If you have a budding journalist, film maker or animator at home then this is the group for them.

Duke of Edinburgh’s Award – Open Unit – meet in the Community Wing

The groups meet alternative Wednesdays at 6.30pm– 8.00pm and we currently have three Bronze groups, one Silver and one Gold group. They recently held a sponsored walk which was a success with 17 participants out on what was a wet and sunny day. If you are now in third year or above then why not come along and find out more and start the Award now. Some of the transferable learning outcomes include, leadership, self-belief, responsibility, teamwork, problem solving and having fun and challenging yourself which are great for future employ- ment or University life. The Award is open to all 14 – 25 year olds living in Angus.

To come along to any of these clubs or if you have an idea for a new club then ask your son or daughter to pop in and speak to the youth workers who are based in the Schoolhouse at the Glenisla Drive gates or contact Rikki on 438254.