Dear all

Welcome to our Christmas Newsletter. We have had an exceptionally busy term and I hope you enjoy the wide range of achievements of our children and young people included in this edition. We have also enjoyed seeing many of you at our family learning events and drop-in sessions across the campus and I hope to see you in the New Year at the various events we have on offer. You will find included in this newsletter feedback from our information gathering events and the dates and times of our next family learning sessions. I hope to see you there!

Kind regards

Miss Stones Head Teacher 3-18

On 29 September we welcomed our parents to join us and help us to build our 3-18 ‘Vision, Aims and Values’. We also spoke with teachers and pupils in the schools and we gathered the ideas of our school community. From this process we have created our 3-18 statement which will inform our 3-18 curriculum rationale.

‘ Campus is a close family comprising of Dornoch Academy, Dornoch Primary and Nursery school and Primary and Nursery school. Our schools are deeply committed to working with everyone involved with the learning of our children and young people and have a very inclusive, nurturing, family school ethos from age 3 to 18. We are always happy to welcome new families who are about to join our community.

We want our children to be happy, resilient and flourish in all aspects of their development and learning. We are hard-working schools with a strong focus on the wide range of achievements open to our children and young people. Our young people are guided to work effectively and fulfil their aspirations. We work hand in hand with partners to provide a bespoke education for all young people in order to prepare them for learning, life and work.

Our 3-18 curriculum rationale is focused and aspirational. It is built around the four contexts of learning (curriculum areas and subjects; interdisciplinary learning; ethos and life of the school; opportunities for personal achievement). To ensure that we remain a vibrant and progressive campus, we revisit our rationale on an annual basis with our partners and school community. This means that we both build on our past and continue to prepare our pupils for a full and successful life as global citizens in the 21st century.’

On Monday 22 January 2018 at Dornoch Primary School, we would like you to join us and help us build our 3-18 curriculum rationale. There will be tea, coffee and cake, an opportunity to see the work of our children, and time to chat about how we shape the 3-18 curriculum for our campus. Following this event, Mrs Birnie, Mr Ross and Mr Sergeant will liaise with individual parent councils to arrange further information events at your child’s school. The children will showcase their work and we can discuss topics and projects for the future. Further information can be found at https://education.gov.scot/improvement/Documents/frwk17-curriculum-rationale-diagram.pdf. Parents should telephone 0800 564 2272 for updated information using the school PIN: Bonar Bridge Primary (041550); Dornoch Academy (041020); Dornoch Primary (041890). Information will also be available at: http://www.highland.gov.uk/schoolclosures, https://www.facebook.com/highlandcouncil, and https://twitter. com/HighlandCouncil. Guidelines for Parents are available on our website or can be requested from the school.

I should like to invite you to join us at our Carol Service in on Friday 22 December at 10.30 am (secondary pupils), and 1.45 pm (primary pupils). Each service will last approximately 30 minutes.

Last term we held a number of family learning events across Campus. This is a new way of working in response to parent feedback and the new guidelines in ‘How Good Is Our School? 4’. Further information can be found at https://education.gov.scot/improvement/frwk2hgios.

Our initial meetings were a great opportunity to introduce teaching approaches and materials to our parents and to get to know you and your children earlier in their educational journey. The approach will take a few years to embed into our practice and we welcome your feedback on our events. So far we held events in literacy and numeracy, especially focussing on ‘Emerging Literacy’ in Primary 1. Further information can be found at https://bumps2bairns.com/ and https://highlandliteracy.com/emerging-literacy/.

Please join us for our next event at 9.00 am on Tuesday 12 December at Bonar Bridge Primary School, or at 9.00 am on Wednesday 13 December at Dornoch Primary School. At this event we will be looking at Benchmarks in Literacy and Numeracy for children in P1-P3. At this workshop we will look at examples of work from our children and look at ways to support progression at home as well as in school.

The parents had seen each stage of the lighthouse building and photos of the children making simple circuits. Each child was able to explain some of the key learning points. Our P3s worked as a problem solving group showing their understanding by making a model where they had a light that was lit and turned round at the same time. It was, sadly, too bulky to put into any of our lighthouses!

Nursery children were welcomed into the newly built setting at the start of this term. They have settled in very well and have all taken opportunities to explore and familiarise themselves with their new environment. Here are some of the children’s views on their favourite parts of the new nursery: “I like all of it!” (Struan); “The home corner is my favourite bit.” (Molly); “I like my home tray and the drawing table.” (Isla); “The garden, filling the buckets with stones.” (Magnus). Nursery children have been learning about how to keep safe as they walk outside. They attended the road safety assembly with the rest of the school and have enjoyed a visit form the lollipop lady, Terry. Mrs Gallon In September we welcomed our children from Bonar Bridge and Dornoch Primary to join us for a ‘Gaelic Interdisciplinary Learning day’. Young people from all schools worked together on Gaelic song and cookery. A great day was had by all!

P4-P7 pupils entered a competition to design a new flag for . These pupils were winners and received a booklet on Heraldry. Mrs Allan was very proud of all the entries but a particular ‘well done’ to these pupils who were chosen as winners.

We celebrated Halloween in Bonar Bridge Primary by holding a ‘spooky’ themed House Team Challenge, whereby pupils worked in their House Teams to assemble a skeleton from memory using limited materials. Every team worked well together and finished the task in the given time. The winning team was who won 20 Pom Poms for their team. The children also came to school dressed up and took part in some fun Halloween activities in class. I am sure you will agree they all made a huge effort and look fantastic.

Bonar Bridge Primary School were lucky to get a visit from Peter Price – a well- known guitarist and singer. He was performing a concert nearby and offered to come in and run a workshop with the pupils. Every pupil got the chance to play the guitar and learn some chords. He even taught them to play chords for some famous songs. The pupils thoroughly enjoyed it and have invited him back again next year.

P1-P3 really enjoy doing yoga through stories with Jamie on the smartboard. They always start and finish with the special word, “Namaste”. There is a very quiet relaxation section at the end of each story. After each session, they discuss which moves they found the trickiest and which parts of the body they have exercised.

The five-a-side football teams have being doing well, with P6 and P7 teams competing against local primaries. The boys’ team were successful in gaining third place in the last tournament meeting, with the girls’ team winning their section outright. Very well done to all! Benchball has also been marked by success in the annual competition, with the boys’ and girls’ teams taking first place. The basketball competition is ongoing, and the teams are training and playing hard to progress. Thanks are due to all the parents and coaches who have helped out so much. Mr Hepburn

P6 and P7 are working very hard to prepare for the Christmas show ‘Troy Story’. All the children are working hard to remember their lines and are learning their song lyrics at the same time. Their dancing skills are coming on really well, and every member of the cast is really engaged and enthusiastic. We are looking forward to the show more than ever! Miss Shelley

At the end of October, an inspirational week was spent at Kindrogan Field Studies Centre beginning the journey to Forest School accreditation. Forest School is an empowering and creative approach to learning and development which maximises the benefits of learning in the outdoors. It offers our children the opportunity, over repeated visits, to engage with the rich natural diversity of our wild environments to help build confidence, curiosity, resilience, compassion, care and healthy bodies and minds.

Forest School’s positive effects on learners, staff and their wider community are increasingly recognised by HMIe and Learning and Teaching as an ideal vehicle for delivering our Curriculum for Excellence, closing the attainment gap and putting the learners at the heart of their learning experience. Mrs Cameron

Hamish McGill S6 - Wildlife Park Placement - During the summer I spent a week at the Highland Wildlife Park at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s Science Summer School. The 15 of us who were accepted onto this course came from schools all over Scotland, so during the various tasks we were given there was an emphasis on communication as we all got to know each other. A strong theme throughout the week was on animal behaviour and conservation. There were many projects we were set during the course, but the main research project was focused on a certain animal species. My group’s animal was the Scottish Wildcat. After designing and constructing our project, we spent the week carrying out observations on the wildcats and recording their behaviours. We were also given the opportunity to design enrichment for our chosen species. Enrichment is designed to stimulate captive animals’ natural behaviours, and our enrichment was used in the wildcats’ enclosure. The data we collected and analysed was used in our presentations at the end of the week, which we gave to the parents of those of us on the course. It also included our research on the other projects we had done, and a fox dissection we had taken part in. The findings we gathered on our main research project gained me a Silver Level Crest Award, an award recognised by the scientific community.

Nuffield Research Foundation Placement - The summer break of 2017 saw Dornoch Academy sixth year student Rebecca Grewcock undertake her four week Nuffield Research Foundation placement at the Environmental Research Institute (ERI) in , . Commenting on this, Rebecca said, “This was a wonderful opportunity and one which I would certainly recommend other pupils to apply for because it brings a further aspect to studying the STEM subjects and puts these very much into context, building on experience and knowledge which can be carried through life.” “This was an independent research project, with some guidance from senior researchers at ERI, to analyse how the antioxidants of different, native species of seaweed harvested from the North coast can be of benefit to human diet. Varying methods of element extraction and storage were investigated and ultimately presented in a final report. Then a presentation was made to an audience of scientists at the Royal College of Surgeons, .” Rebecca highlighted that the Nuffield research placement opens up a number of avenues in the sciences and certainly puts the work in school into context with theory, problem solving and practical experience. “Leading on from my Nuffield placement, I have also been awarded a gold CREST award for self-motivation and achievement in science, as well as entering the Big Bang competition. Particular thanks must go to Mr Robinson for initially raising awareness of this to me and Dornoch Academy for encouragement and support.” Rebecca was presented with her certificate at the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh, by Dr Andrew Russell of Rolls Royce.

The 14 November would have been the renowned Scottish poet Norman MacCaig’s 107th birthday and a group of 15 pupils and staff gathered in the English Department for a special lunch to remember him. MacCaig’s poetry is well known to many pupils who have studied his works in preparation for SQA exams. All who were present chose a MacCaig poem to read to the group and some of the adults were able to recount their experiences of chance encounters with the great man. It was agreed that a MacCaig Lunch should become an annual event in the Dornoch Academy calendar.

Dornoch Academy Interact is a club which is affiliated to the East Sutherland Rotary Club. However, it is entirely run by young people. Interact members raise money for local, national and international charities, as well as performing community service. This year, the group decided to concentrate on community service and, as part of this, a litter pick took place in Dornoch. It is great to be involved in Interact for many different reasons. Members choose which charities to support. Interact can also help to develop social skills and is a great way to make new friends. In Interact, there are certain roles which members undertake, e.g. president, vice president, secretary, treasurer and PR.

Interact took part in a “global swimathon” and this raised £10,000. In October, the group sold crocuses for 10p and invited people to name their crocus, with a prize for the best named. This was to raise money for a polio research charity. Then, the 1000 crocuses were planted in the school grounds. Interact also sold purple ice cream to raise more money for this worthy cause. In total, in excess of £150 was raised. Recently, groups of pupils have been visiting The Meadows Nursing Home in Dornoch. This is a particularly valuable part of what Interact does as members are able to chat and interact with people who clearly enjoy the visits. In October, Interact held a non- uniform day for the Jeans for Genes charity which supports people with genetic disorders. This was really successful and raised £168. Recently, Interact coordinated the Rotary Club’s shoebox appeal within the school and more than 60 boxes were collected. Overall, Interact is a very dynamic group which enables members to develop new skills and make a difference to the local community.

In September, £500 was raised for MacMillan Cancer Care, with contributions being made across the campus. Thanks are due to local businesses which kindly donated prizes for the staff raffle and to the staff and pupils who baked, provided music, decorated the hall or helped in other ways to make the coffee morning such a resounding success. On 21 September a group of three sixth year ladies got the opportunity to visit the University of Highlands and Islands photography event as part of the new international Flowfest exhibition. Matt Sillars, a senior lecturer, spent a fascinating couple of hours with us discussing the work of the famous 20th century photographer Andrew Patterson. We also saw contemporary work by a woman called Franki Raffles; what a fabulous name! The whole experience was extremely beneficial to the three of us taking Higher Photography. It was also of great interest to us to have a guided tour of the Art and Design suite and talk to students working on their photograph editing on their terrific MACs. Thanks for sending us!

On 21 September, Hannah Chisholm, Adam Maclean, Jessica Ross and Catriona Short attended the Highland Maths Challenge. It was a day filled with different challenges - practical, mental and written. These challenges ranged from cube puzzles to number relays - they even got us up on our feet! Out of the 14 teams present that day, we came 6th (despite being one of the smallest schools). It was a great experience which we thoroughly enjoyed. Hannah Chisholm (S4) and Catriona Short (S4)

Jason and the Argonauts is a play about a young male whose father was brutally murdered by his own brother. After finding this out, Jason goes on a long quest for the throne. When he gets to where his uncle is ruling, he declares that the throne is rightfully his, and that he should step down. His uncle sends him on an impossible quest to find a golden fleece, and if he finds it and brings it to the kingdom, he can claim the throne. Jason agrees and sets out on what his uncle believes to be an impossible mission. As he ventures across the ocean with his loyal friends and ancient god Hermes, he comes across sea monsters and moving cliffs. When he gets to the fleece he travels back to his uncle, ready to challenge him. After a long fight, he brings his uncle down and claims the throne. Personally, I thought the play was fantastic! The acting was great, and the way they displayed it was fascinating. I absolutely think this is worth watching! Freya Nicolson (S1) Earlier this session, the Lieutenancy of Sutherland, in conjunction with local Highland Councillors, launched a competition to design a Flag for Sutherland. Several Dornoch Academy pupils submitted an individual or group entry for the competition. Congratulations to Hannah Grewcock, Jamie Lockie, Aimee Mackay, Jessica Maclennan, Tom Simco, Beth Sutherland, Tay Warner- Mackintosh and Jonathan Wix whose entries were commended. Each commended entry received a copy of a Scottish Heraldry booklet.

In June 2017, several pupils from Dornoch Academy took part in a five day 110km walk from Scottish coast to Scottish coast, along with pupils from other Sutherland schools. Funds raised from the walk went to several local charities, including the East Sutherland Rescue Association, seen here receiving their cheque for £400 from Dornoch Academy pupils.

All S1, S2 and S3 pupils had the opportunity to visit the Young Highland Chef competition held at UHI’s Burghfield House on 2 October 2017. Pupils saw cooking demonstrations by Tony Singh and Michael Smith, were able to sample local produce from the food exhibition, and watch live streaming of the Young Highland Chef competition.

Earlier this term, Dornoch Academy Parent Council organised a squad of volunteer parents, pupils and staff to help tidy the school garden. Despite being November, it was a lovely sunny day and everyone worked hard to weed and redefine some of the garden paths. A huge thank you to everyone who came along to help out. The Parent Council plan to organise further garden sessions, 10.00 am-2.00 pm on the first Saturday of each month starting from February 2018. Email reminders will be sent out nearer the time. Please do come along and help out if you can.

On Thursday 16 November, 25 pupils from S3, N5 and Higher Modern Studies classes visited the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood. The group was delighted to receive tickets for First Minister’s Question Time (FMQT) from two of our MSPs, John Finnie and Gail Ross. There was great excitement about being present in the main chamber for the weekly sparring contest between the Leader of the Scottish Government and the opposition in Holyrood.

Following attendance at FMQT, pupils visited the Parliament Education Centre where they were able to show off their excellent knowledge of devolved and reserved powers. Three pupil teams managed to beat their teachers in an online Cahoot challenge where speed was the decisive factor.

Next on the itinerary was a meeting with two of our Highland MSPs, Rhoda Grant and Jamie Halcrow- Johnson. Pupils posed a number of challenging questions for our MSPs on topics such as inadequate mental health service provision for young people in Highland; lack of some specialised medical facilities at Raigmore Hospital; the tax system in Scotland and the UK; local transport provision in the Highlands; and issues pertaining to the Scottish education system. Facilitators from the Parliament’s Education Centre commented on the high quality of questions put by pupils to the MSPs.

This was a great trip, although a lot to pack into one day! Visiting the Scottish Parliament is a wonderful opportunity to bring classroom learning to life and to encourage pupils to see themselves as part of the political process in Scotland. We are extremely grateful to our local councillors for, once again, supporting our trip to Edinburgh through the Ward Discretionary Fund and ensuring that all of our pupils can afford to attend school trips.