Christmas 2007 Head Teacher’s Message

s we approach the end of 2007 it would seem to be a good time to reflect A on my first six months at Academy. As far as I’m concerned, it has been a good six months. I have been impressed by the hard work of both pupils & staff and the support I have received from parents & carers and other agencies. HMIe visited at the end of October and I am pleased with the progress they found during their visit. Their final report will be published early in the New Year.

By the time you read this I’m hoping that financial close will have taken place for the new School building under PPP. I have been told that building work should start in January and last about 2 years. I am assured that a number of changes we asked to be made in the design of the building will be made. Final plans should be available in January.

Staffing continues to be an issue but I’m pleased to say we have managed to recruit a number of staff and Technical has now been reinstated into the S2 curriculum. I would like to publicly thank teaching staff for taking on additional classes to cover for absent col- leagues to ensure that pupils can be taught by a subject specialist. Thanks also to pro- moted staff who have given up so much of their management time to ensure the needs of pupils are catered for. It is much appreciated.

I would also like to thank all staff for the extras they do around the school – for example: lunchtime supervision, homework clubs, extra-curricular activities, eco-schools, work with student councils, trips, having the library open before and after school and at interval and lunchtime. These are all voluntary extra activities, carried out without payment – without them the school would be a much less enjoyable place!

Thanks also to our pupils. The work of the charities committee, student council, and anti- bullying group helps the school to function better. Most children in are delightful and hard-working, as our exam results prove. They are a pleas- ure to teach and be around. Please keep up the hard work.

May I take this opportunity to thank you for your support and wish you a Merry Christmas with Best Wishes for 2008.

Norman Dawson

Card design by Shannon Harvey, S1

Stranraer Academy Newsletter Christmas Party

An S4 SVS class recently hosted a Christmas party for Stranraer Academy and Park Learning Centres, Aird and Belmont Children’s Centre. A great time was had by all and Santa managed to take time out of his busy schedule to drop in to the party.

Page 1 Like to see this in COLOUR? Go to www.stranraeracademy.co.uk Staff Changes

The Academy is pleased to welcome Mrs C White as the new Principal Teacher of Science, replac- ing Mr G Atkinson, who was appointed to a Depute Head Teacher post in Kent.

Mrs White, a Chemistry teacher, comes to us from Douglas Ewart High School, having previously taught in Lichfield, Staffordshire. Before entering teaching, she was a Laboratory Technician in the University of Derby. She describes becoming a teacher as “the best decision of my life”.

Mrs White’s chosen forms of relaxation are walking—she and her husband have two collie dogs— and playing badminton.

Mr I Speirs has joined the CDT Department. Mr Speirs previously worked in schools in South Ayr- shire. Before that he worked for over 20 years as an engineer/welder/fabricator. His interests include hillwalking and golf. Next year he plans to take part in a golf tournament to raise funds for Childline.

Ms S Gosling has taken up a part-time post in Support for Learning and next term the Computing Department will be joined by Mr W Spratt, who is currently teaching at the Nicholson Institute, Stor- noway.

We welcome these new members of staff and wish them a long and fulfilling career at Stranraer Academy.

We have also recently said farewell to Mr G Bennie (CDT), Mr J Gillan (Computing), Mr J Paling (Mathematics) and Ms A Stewart (Mathematics). Mr Bennie is now teach- ing at the Douglas Ewart, Mr Gillan is off to in , Mr Paling to Bannockburn High School in Stirling and Ms Stewart is now teaching in New Zealand. In January, Dr D Davidson, who has recently been Acting Principal Teacher of Science, will be leaving for a post at Academy. We wish them all well Farewell to Mr in their new jobs. Gillan—see page 6.

www.stranraeracademy.co.uk The school website now includes revision materials for Standard Grade Modern Studies. This is an important step in extending the purpose of the site, and we hope to add resources for other subjects in coming months. The Modern Studies materials were developed by Miss Walker and can be accessed through Faculties and Teams and then Social Subjects, or from the Latest News page.

The Maths Department is the first to provide details of all courses from S1 through to Advanced Higher on the site. Go to the Faculties and Teams page and choose Mathematics.

Homework policies for all faculties can also now be viewed on the faculty pages.

During December the site will also be featuring Christmas greetings designed by 1st year pupils. These will appear on the Latest News page.

The site now has 46 pages in total, as well as numerous downloadable documents. Developments in the New Year will see the site expand to around 80 pages. A new section will be included spe- cifically aimed at teachers considering applying for posts at Stranraer Academy. It is known that teachers routinely check out school websites prior to applying for posts. We hope the website can play a part in attracting applicants for posts in the future.

Stranraer Academy Parent Council meets on the second Thursday in each month in the school library. All parents/carers are welcome to attend. Page 2 This year’s fund-raising for Pictured below are the judges Children in Need raised an for the Talent Contest—Mr impressive £2300 on the after- Munro, Mr Keery, Miss Irvine, noon of 16 November. The Mrs Ferguson and friends. The event was efficiently organ- contest was won by Ms Fore- ised by the S6 Charities Com- man (Home Economics). mittee. Also pictured—Niall Donnelly Classes in the afternoon were (S6) submits to the agony of suspended to allow all pupils leg-waxing, and Jamie McHar- to take part and the day was a rie (S3), winner of `Beat the non-uniform day, with pupils Goalie’. and staff paying £1. £2300

THANKS— to Stranraer Golf Club for donating around £1000 to Stranraer Academy Page 3 Learning Centre. The money will be used for trips and new learning resources. Football News Stranraer Academy Netball Club

Stranraer Academy Netball Club has continued By Stuart Binnie, School Football Representative its success this year with encouraging numbers Stranraer Academy football of girls, from all year groups, coming along on a teams have made another suc- Thursday after school, be- cessful start to the season. tween 3.30pm and 4.30pm with Miss Dalrymple (PE In the regional leagues the u- Dept). 13, u-14 and u-15 teams all remain unbeaten after all three As a new incentive, the teams registered wins in their school has invited Primary final matches of the year 7 girls from some of the against on local primary schools to 15 December. come along to the netball club for 4 week sessions, In the Scottish Shield competitions, the u-13 which has also proven to be a great success. and u-15 teams have both reached the last 32 of their respective competitions. The u-13 team At Stranraer Academy on Tuesday 11 December have already recorded good wins against St we hosted a friendly match against Douglas Ew- Matthew’s Academy, Prestwick Academy and a art High School. Results: fine 6-2 win against Dumfries High. They are

now due to play Williamwood High in the New Year. The u-15 team have beaten Greenwood A- Team (Stranraer Academy) v (Douglas Ewart) Academy and High and are due to 5: 6 play Jordanhill High on 18 December. B- Team (Stranraer Academy) v (Douglas Ewart) At regional level, Jamie McHarrie, Mark Hoad, 3: 5 Robert Boyd, Duncan Anderson and Justin Nicoll have all represented the u-15 team, who Despite the results an enjoyable time was had by have qualified for the quarter final stage of the all and we hope to arrange more games against national trophy, winning all three group other schools in the New Year! matches. Craig McClintock, Lewis Richardson, Glen Mitchell and Callum Dunn have repre- DUNMURRY GIRLS FOOTBALL TRIP sented the u-18 team, who have also reached The annual girls’ football matches against the national quarter finals. Dunmurry High School, Belfast, took place on Thursday 15 November. Glen Mitchell and Craig McClintock were both recently selected for the final The cluster primary team won 11-1, while the jun- Scottish trial at u-18 level, ior team (S1-S3), pictured below, won 5-1. A held at Stenhousemuir FC’s very tense and competitive seniors match ended ground. Against very strong with honours even at 4-4. Nikki Agnew was opposition from all over Scot- awarded player of the match. land, neither boy made the final squad of 20, but they can both be proud of their The teams were accompanied by organisers achievements. Carolyn Taylor (Stranraer Academy PE Teacher) and Anne Ferguson (Active Schools Coordinator). Two boys teams (u-13) and one girls team (u-14) have been entered for the National Coca-Cola sevens competition. The first qualifying round will be held in Dumfries, with the finals at Hampden Park in May.

Stranraer Academy teams have definitely bene- fited from the links forged with Stranraer FC this year, with many pupils receiving extra coaching through the Stranraer development teams. We are hopeful this will continue to be a positive link in the future.

For up-to-date information and school news, visit our website at Page 4 www.stranraeracademy.co.uk University Successes

This year 44 former pupils of Stranraer Academy have started university courses at fifteen different universities. Engineering is the most popular choice of subject, with six students choosing either elec- trical or mechanical engineering. The next most popular options this year were Business Studies, Dietetics/Food and Nutrition, Law, Primary Education, Psychology and Sports Subjects, each with three.

For the first time in recent years, Strathclyde University was the most popular institution, while figures for the last six years (see table) show the continuing popularity of Glasgow University.

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Total Glasgow 16 11 6 14 9 8 64 Strathclyde 6 10 5 4 4 10 39 Stirling 4 1 7 3 4 6 25 Caledonian 6 4 5 3 4 1 23 Edinburgh 4 4 4 3 3 1 19 Queen Margaret 1 1 4 3 5 3 17

Glasgow University—the first Paisley 4 2 4 2 0 3 15 choice for students from Aberdeen 0 1 5 3 3 1 13 Stranraer in the last six Napier 2 2 2 1 0 3 10

Debating Emma Harvey (S6) and Rosie Rogers (S5) were successful in the first round of the English Speaking Union Mace Debating Trophy com- petition, in November. They now go on to the second round in February,

Visit to Scottish Parliament

The Higher Modern Studies students went on The Child Exploitation and Online Protection a visit to the Scottish Parliament in Edin- (CEOP) Centre are running a campaign in the run burgh on Thursday 13 December. During up to Christmas aimed particularly at parents and their time at the parliament students had the carers given that many will be thinking about buy- opportunity to ing internet and digital technologies as gifts for view First Minis- their children. ter's Question Time, where Alex As part of this campaign they are offering a regis- Salmond was tration facility on the ThinkUKnow website where scrutinised by you will be able to receive regular updates via opposition email over the New Year. These updates will in- MSPs. Following clude information on new technologies, emerging this, students were met by Alex Fergusson risks and safety tips to help keep your children MSP who gave them a tour round the parlia- safe online. ment. Students were shown the debating chamber, committee rooms and display Why not visit the website at area. Mr Fergusson is the constituency MSP for the region and also has the additional duty of Presiding Officer of the parlia- www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents ment. All students had an educational and enjoyable experience.

THANKS— to the Centre Liners, for their generous donation of £310 to Learning Cen- Page 5 tre funds. The money will be used for PE equipment to improve gross motor skills. Stranraer Academy :: Dates for Your Diary

Monday 7 January Start of Term Carrick Thursday 10 January Parent Council meeting Laburn S1 Tuesday 29 January S3 Parents’ Night

FEBRUARY Monday 4 February S4 Reports Mon 11 February - Wed 13 Pupil holiday February Thursday 14 February Start of S5/6 Prelims Thursday 14 February Parent Council Meeting

Thursday 28 February Parent Council Quiz Night (Provisional) Teacher) (Depute Head

MARCH Friday 7 March S2 Reports Wednesday 12 March S2 Parents’ Night Tuesday 18 March S2/S4/S5 Careers Night September, December, March, June December, March, September, Wednesday 26 March Showcase Concert Friday 28 March End of Term

lcome—contact Mr. M.Warren lcome—contact Mr. Reports and Parents’ Nights 2006-07 Full Report Parents’ Night S1 23 May 2008 Took place in November S2 7 March 2008 12 March 2008 S3 20 June 2008 29 January 2008

S4 4 February 2008 Took place in October Newsletter—Published Academy Stranraer Comments and suggestions we S5/6 28 March 2008 Took place in November

And It’s Goodbye from Him…..

Computing teacher John Gillan left earlier this month to take up a post at Maxwelltown High School, Dumfries, after nearly twenty years at Stranraer Academy.

One of teaching’s genuine characters, Mr Gillan will be a hard act to follow in the Computing Department. He will also be much missed for his wider contributions to school life, including the Role-Playing Club, and his tireless vigilance in matters of health and safety. The valedictory photo is a rare example of a shot taken by a photogra- pher much taller than him!

Elf and safety— tireless vigilance

(S1) ron Bark CL By Came

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