Moffat Academy Newsletter
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Moffat Academy Newsletter Summer 2019 Introduction Dear Parent/Carer Although the weather was certainly changeable over the holidays, I hope you all enjoyed this precious time with your children. The school is always very quiet when they are not in, so I was delighted to welcome them and the buzz they create last Wednesday. They all appear to have settled well and I am sure they will be enjoying getting to know their new teachers and making some new friends. We have enrolled a number of new pupils in our school and I would like to extend a warm welcome to them and their families. Exam Results Congratulations to all our senior pupils who received their exam results during the holidays. The examination picture across our entire senior phase was particularly strong. Our S4 pupils broke school records with 70% achieving 5 or more National 5 qualifications. Yet again, our statistics compare favourably with schools across the authority. There were some outstanding individual performances and these children should be commended. However, there are some pupils who may be feeling disappointed. Our message for them is to regroup, come and seek advice and work hard during this coming year to achieve all they possibly can. The excellent results across our senior phase is testament not only to the hard work of our pupils but also the dedication and commitment of our staff team. We are very fortunate that staff go above and beyond to ensure that our young people achieve all they are capable of. Staffing There has been a number of changes to our staffing to start the new academic session. In Primary we were delighted to hear that Miss Smail had secured a permanent post out with Dumfries and Galloway but unfortunately that meant she could not join us to teach Primary 6. Miss Dalgliesh has joined the Primary team until the post is advertised. We were also pleased to welcome back Mrs O’Sullivan and Mrs James from their maternity leaves. Mrs Graham has taken up the Acting Depute Head Teacher role at Beattock Primary School. In Secondary, Miss McNaughton is now a permanent member of our English department and we also welcomed back Mrs Chambers from Dalbeattie High School. I look forward to working with all our young people and their families during the year ahead. I am sure that together we can make it another highly successful one for Moffat Academy. Andrea Macfarlane Acting Head Teacher Primary News Nursery Nursery enjoyed a fun sports day last term—thank you to parents, carers, friends and families who came along and to staff for arranging the event. There were lots of races including running, egg and spoon and even horse riding! Well done to the Nursery for learning fabulous songs to sing at the event too. Primary 1 P1 had an exciting end to the school year in term 3 with lots of learning and fun. One highlight was our Young Engineers Workshop where we made our own cars with a little help from some parents, grandparents and friends. (Even Mrs Lemon needed a little help from some of the parents!) We all had a super afternoon and our cars looked great and worked really well. As part of our topic work we also visited Drumlanrig Castle and had a super time. We especially loved the adventure playground. It was a great end to a fabulous year. Primary 1/2 P1/2 enjoyed an amazing day out at Moat Brae. Pupils were shown around the house by Wendy (yes, Wendy!), which was full of stunning rooms filled with Peter Pan memorabilia. There was a library complete with a giant crocodile making it's way through the wall and you could even try to catch Peter Pan's shadow that was flying across a room! We had a tour of the beautiful garden and the Jolly Roger, made up stories and decorated stones with Flora and bought things in the shop. Thank you to everyone at Moat Brae for a fantastic day. Primary 2/3 Primary 2/3 visited Millbank Venison and the Barony Campus Robotic Dairy Unit as part of their topic on food and farming. The children really enjoyed having the opportunity to learn about the process of food from farm to fork and the journey of milk from cow to carton. One of the highlights was making our own venison sausages. The sun shone and a great day was had by all. Primary 3/4 Pupils enjoyed a Brazilian festival last term. They created masks, danced, played music and made some Brazilian delicacies to eat. Thank you to parent Mrs Nunes (who was formerly a resident of Brazil) for all your help. Primary 4/5 P4/5 had a lot of fun using their maths and ICT skills to programme a car to travel along the road (without crashing off or bumping into hazards). Primary 5 On Wednesday 8th May, P5 went on a trip to Holyrood Palace to round off their Mary Queen of Scots topic. A great day was had by all despite the weather! On 21st-24th May, P5 went on an overnight residential to Carlingwark. The pupils took part in sailing, canoeing and kayaking activities led by the Outdoor Team. Primary 6 Great summer weather towards the end of term meant that Primary 6 were able to get out and about in the local area. They enjoyed an active day in the forest and at the park. Fun and friendship were high on the agenda and PC Irons kindly came along and helped out with basketball and rounders. Primary 6/7 The Royal British Legion invited some Primary pupils to attend a short service on Thursday 6th June at the War Memorial, to commemorate 75 years since the D-Day landings in Normandy. Six of our Primary 7 pupils represented Moffat Academy, bearing flags and remembering those who gave their lives. (Primary 7s - Kenzie, Hannah, Olivia, Hannah, Evie and Zena) Primary 7 We really enjoyed going on the P7 Residential to Galloway Activity Centre, Loch Ken. We did lots of water activities including stand up paddle boarding, dragon boat racing and raft building. We enjoyed getting to know some of our new Secondary Teachers and spending time with our friends. My favourite part of the Residential was the 'leap of faith' where we had to climb up the ladder and jump off (with a harness attached) to try to get the large ball dangling in front of us! By Zena Hodgson, P7 (now S1) Rhet Tractor Tour We were delighted when Moffat Primary was selected to host a visit from the RHET Tractor Tour of Scotland, as it’s only stop in Dumfries & Galloway before it headed into the Borders region. The Tour completed its journey when it arrived at the Royal Highland Show. In all, the tractors visited 12 regions in Scotland, visiting 1 school in each region and covering over 600 miles. RHET (Royal Highland Education Trust) is a charity that takes the class- room to the countryside and many pupils from Moffat Primary have benefit- ed from its input and volunteers. RHET is celebrating 20 years’ ser- vice to nurseries, primary and secondary schools throughout Scotland. Primary 3 pupils have visited the Barony Campus, Parkgate and The Venison Deer Farm in Boreland, funded by RHET for a number of years. They have also recently been involved in soup making . Over the years we have invited farm speakers into our classrooms to deliver key messages about farming and food production. Nursery children have enjoyed a tractor and baby lamb visit organised by RHET at the beginning of this term. During the tour visit there were a number of exciting activities which our children were invited to take part in, these activities were organised by RHET and include visiting machinery, a sheep station, deer and bee farm activities, Scottish food activities, butter making, colouring and name the tractor competition. We asked all children to come to school dressed as a farmer for the day in return for a small donation to RHET. We were also thrilled that Beattock Primary joined us on the day making it a cluster event for all to enjoy. Morning Nursery children were also welcome to come along with their parents to the event. Health Week Primary enjoyed a fantastic sunny Health Week Monday- Wednesday last term. There were so many activities for pupils to try, from cosmic yoga to water balls! Thank you to all staff involved, especially Miss Rae for all her hard work organising the events. Thank you to all our local members of the community who came to share their skills with us and, finally thank you to this year's Secondary photographers for amazing photos; Ewan and Harvey S2, Emily and Charlie S3. Sports Day Our Primary Sports Day was held last term and all the pupils enjoyed a fun 'superhero theme'. We almost managed to complete the races but were forced to cancel due to the weather. We finished the final races as soon as the weather permitted and the presentations were held at Church on the last day of term. Thank you to all parents who came along to support the day, to all the staff involved and to Miss Rae for arranging the event. Thank you also to the Parent Council for their refreshing pop-up café and Miss Gibbon and her Work Experience students Louis, Charlie and Luke for their photography. We were a little late catching a photo of this year's Primary Sports Champions after they were awarded this morning, so as you can see they are decorated in good luck messages for progressing to secondary after the holidays! Primary Sports Champions Ben 1st Billy 2nd Logan and Mason 3rd Lorna 1st Laura 2nd Rose 3rd Congratulations to all! Interhouse Rugby Thank you to Cammy Little and the team from Moffat Rugby Football Club for hosting our Primary Interhouse Rugby Tournament.