ARDROSSAN ACADEMY

WINTER NEWSLETTER 2016 I hope you find this Winter newsletter informative and useful. Inside you will find out lots about what has been happening in Academy in recent months and what is coming up in the new term.

Page Content

1 Welcome

2 Personal Support

3 Broad General Education and Senior Phase

4 Junior House Ambassadors

5 Developing the Young Workforce

6 Pastoral Support

7 Pastoral Support

8 Nurture

9 Astra Base , EU Congregational

10 News from the Library

11 Modern Languages, English and Drama

12 Pupil articles

13 & 14 Pupil Achievements Visit our website at

15 Mathematics www.ardrossanacademy.co.uk

16 Health and Wellbeing Follow us on Twitter 17 Office and Parent Council @ardacademy 1118 followers and counting! 18 Important dates

CHARITIES Personal Support

The Charity Group was delighted to be able to hand over cheques Our daily input to personal support continues to develop this session with a range of for £500 to the Hospice departments and staff contributing to the learning programme. As well as daily attendance and the Foodbank. checks and bulletin notices, pupils are participating in learning activities using their learning There have been a number of journals and other interactive activities. Pupils should be at their Personal Support Class ready to fundraising activities which have start at 8.45am every day and ensure they have their journals with them. taken place over the last year to support both of these charities, and more opportunities to raise even more funds will continue Personal Support Programme Jan– Mar 2017 into the New Year.

As well as cash donations, staff Week Begin- and pupils have continued to ning BGE Senior Phase donate items of food on a 09.01.17 monthly basis to the Foodbank as part of Foodbank Friday, In 16.01.17 November 102 selection boxes 23.01.17 Holocaust Memorial Holocaust Memorial were donated by staff and senior 30.01.17 Number Day Number Day students to help support the 06.02.17 Day for Change Day for Change Foodbank over the Christmas period. 13.02.17 Fairtrade Fortnight Fairtrade Fortnight Earlier this term we had a staff 20.02.17 Decorate your doors Decorate your doors coffee morning and pupil cake 27.02.17 World Book Day World Book Day and candy sale to raise money for 06.03.17 Smoking Awareness Smoking Awareness those affected in Haiti and Syria. This, coupled with a donation 13.03.17 Learning Journals Learning Journals from the school allowed us to donate £400 to each of these 20.03.17 Achievement Tracker Achievement Tracker appeals. 27.03.17 World water Day World Water Day Spring Holiday December 16th also saw all staff and pupils participate in the national Christmas Jumper Day. Student Leaders making our donation to Foodbank Money collected will be donated to Save the Children.

Thank you to the school community for your continued support of our chosen charities.

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Broad General Education

Tae celebrate St Andra's Day, 3.6 maunaged sum richt fantoosh wurk oan the Scots Leid. They screived oan a picture o the Wee Broon Moose fae 'The Gruffalo in Scots' then pickit thur most gallus Scots words fur the wa'. They took aw the ideas fae Julia Donaldson's screivin and thocht up thur ain cherecters and wrote a story o thur ain fur the weans.

The hud a richt gallus time, freens!

Senior Phase

Prelim examinations commence week beginning 16th January. Pupils studying at National 5, Higher or Advanced Higher level will be assessed in a format similar to their final SQA exams.

Miss McEvoy has been leading sessions on “How to Study” for senior pupils. These have proved to be popular amongst students as they have learned about time management, note taking, mind mapping and other techniques. Other departments have been running regular supported study sessions with subject specific focuses.

Pupils will not have exam leave for prelims and should be attending normal classes out with scheduled examinations. Timetables were issued on Friday 8th December and copies are also available via the school website, www.ardrossanacademy.co.uk under School Information and Calendar.

The prelim examinations provide staff with evidence of pupils’ likely levels of achievement. This data is used to provide estimated grades to SQA which may have an impact on whether Marking Reviews can be considered in August. Staff also use professional judgement on progress with internal coursework, where it is part of the course, to inform these estimates. It is therefore vital that pupils apply themselves fully to prelim examinations and maintain good study habits over the holidays.

We wish all our seniors the best of luck in their upcoming exams!

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UNIFORM Junior House Ambassadors Just a reminder of the expected uniform standards for session 2016-17. In October we launched a new initiative aimed at encouraging leadership Plain black/white shirt. development at all levels in the school and promoting the House system in the School tie (£4 from office) school. Pupils in S1-3 were invited to apply for the role of House Ambassador by or senior tie (£5 from office) completing an application form. We then invited pupils to take part in group (S1 & Plain black jumper or S2) and solo interviews (S3) where candidates were asked questions by the senior cardigan (no hoodies) House Captains. The House Captains then made the extremely difficult decision on who was selected to be a House Ambassador! The House Ambassadors will now be Plain black trousers or skirts expected to participate in House activities and represent the school when required to (no jeans or leggings). do so at various events. For example, Annick and Barra House Ambassadors have Plain black footwear worked with their House Captains to assist at recent Parents’ Evenings and our S1 House Ambassadors recently represented the school at the James McFarlane Xmas Blazers can be Fayre. The ambassadors were issued with their lapel badges at assemblies in purchased from the office November and we look forward to seeing them take their ideas forward in the New for £20. They are a great Year. Pictured below are some of our S1 and S2 ambassadors. alternative to a jumper and can be worn in class.

PE Kit Black, blue or white t-shirt or polo shirt. Vest tops are not appropriate. badged t-shirts and polo shirts can be purchased from office. Black or navy shorts or tracksuit bottoms. Soft soled shoes. Hoodies etc may be worn for outdoor activities. Pupils not participating in PE are still expected to change into kit and be involved in theory aspects of lessons.

Clean kit will be provided for any pupil who forgets to bring it.

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Developing the Young Workforce YOUR FUTURE

We're looking forward to S2 Leadership Program seeing you all at our annual Your Future careers event will A group of 26 S2 pupils have been lead through a series of workshops on the attributes be held on the 11th January and values needed to become a leader by Derek Gall, of CANI Coaching. The pupils from 4-6.30pm. A range of worked hard for four full day sessions learning through various interactive experiences stalls will be available to help and discussions the pupils. The pupils discovered more about their own values and why you plan your own future in they are important as well as how these relate to their own leadership qualities. Now the world of work. that our leadership group have developed their skills relating to leadership they will be Employers including leading more events across the school in the near future. EDF, Booth Welsh, SimpsInns, the Army, RAF, Braehead Some of the inspiring messages that the group would like to share with the rest of our Foods and more will be school community are: available to discuss working within these sectors. “If you think you can, you can.” Colleges and Universities to discuss entry requirements “Happiness is key. Once you are happy you can do anything that you dream.” for courses as well as tell you more about studying at these “Never give up. Continue to push towards you goals no matter how hard they are!” institutions. Teachers will also be available “Anyone can be the best version of themselves.” to discuss progress within subjects as well as the variety “Don't worry about the future. Focus on now - developing your skills with your goal in of careers which become mind.” available by choosing their subject. “All you need is to be you.”

“When you set your mind to something and believe you can do it - you will!”

ArdCo

The Ardrossan Academy Art and Design Company would like to thank all pupils, parents, carers and staff for their support at the School Christmas Fayre and throughout the year. Pupils framed art works will be displayed throughout the school with future plans to display art work within our local community. Best Wishes for your Festive Holiday and a Happy New Year to all. ThE ArT & DeSiGn Company. 5

HOLOCAUST Pastoral Support MEMORIAL ASSEMBLIES Impact Arts

Caitlin Johnston, S5 and Six pupils have been taking part in a Creative Pathways' programme with Impact arts at the Alice Blades, S6, delivered a Harbor Arts Centre in Irvine. They have been learning a range of environmental skills includ- fascinating and moving ing planting and growing, enhancing and protecting, regeneration, design and recycling and account of their recent trip biodiversity. Pupils have been developing life skills in improving confidence, working in to Auschwitz to the S1 year teams, leadership, consultation and communication. Helping these young people in their group in assembly last preparation for starting college in January. Pupils have said week. They will be doing some more work in the "Meeting new people and the new experiences. I enjoyed origami and I am now looking school in January to forward to starting college in January. " Daisy "I enjoyed everything, I feel more ready to coincide with Holocaust come back to school. Loved it!" Haley Memorial Day.

BLOOD TRANSFUSION SERVICE

Sixth year students attended a presentation highlighting the work carried out by this service who were in the local area during November. Students were given information on Princes Trust/Kier Construction how to go about being a blood donor and the im- Five young people attended an open day run by the Princes Trust and Kier construction in portance of giving blood to Kilmarnock. Two were selected to participate in a day a week from October until December the N.H.S. in learning more about the construction industry and have been offered unconditional places at Kilmarnock college to further their education in construction starting in January. JAMES MCFARLANE Well done! CHRISTMAS FAYRE

Ardrossan Academy student Pantomime ambassadors attended the Fayre after being invited by staff and pupils from the school. They were able to Eighty S1 and 2 pupils attended Aladdin, starring Marti Pellow as Abanazar and Johnny Mac meet the boys and girls as Wishee Washee, at the Clyde Auditorium on Friday 16th of December. A great time was from James McFarlane who had by all and many a lady swooned when Marti, of eighties boy band Wet Wet Wet, made were involved in selling his entrance. Mr Carr would like to thank all the staff who helped him out on the day and to their festive goods from the the office staff who dealt with the paperwork. He still can’t work out how they did the flying many stalls set up on the carpet stunt! day. Mr Carr and the Here’s to next year! student ambassadors would like to thank the school for their hospitality, in particular the tea and mince pies!

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Pastoral Support

Work experience A targeted group of S4 and S5 pupils attended work experience placements during two weeks in November. Pupils were given the opportunity to find their own placement or choose one from the WorkIt website. Completing a Work Experience placement provides our young people with the opportunity to learn more about the world of work, as well as supporting them in developing valuable skills. We were delighted to hear such positive feedback about individual pupils and we are very proud of the pupils who made the most of this opportunity.

Road Safety Baldy Bane Theatre Company Performance

S1 - 9 lives of Roddy Hogg this engaging and entertaining performance had a clear road safety message.

S5/S6 - “Friends Disunited” This performance was warmly received by our senior pupils and hopefully has helped them think about the responsibility of being on the roads and the huge responsibility that comes with being behind the wheel. This was particularly relevant as many of our S6 pupils are currently taking driving lessons and some have even passed their test. Pupils were thoroughly engaged with the performance and were able to learn valuable lessons in an entertaining way.

The drama follows four secondary school friends whose lives are shattered by the inexperience and over-confidence of one young driver. “Friends Disunited” is humorous and witty with a hard-hitting message. It highlights the enjoyment and responsibility that comes with being a new driver.

Anti-bullying Week

From the 14-18th of November we had an Anti-bullying focus. There were a number of activities taking place across the school, to discuss bullying, the effects of bullying and what to do if you or someone you know is being bullied. Our S1 & 2 pupils took part in a workshop, lead by S6 pupils, looking at different aspects of bullying. This was a really worthwhile activity, allowing our S6 pupils to develop their leadership skills and increasing awareness of bullying and how to deal with it for our junior pupils. Throughout the week, pupils in personal support discussed what they would do if they saw someone being bullied and the distinction between fear and respect. Pupils were able to watch an interactive video showing a school pupil being bullied, they were able to chose what to do at key stages, report it or do nothing, and then discuss how this affected the victim in each case. Our rights respecting schools group sold anti-bullying wrist bands throughout the week to raise money to support victims of bullying and organised a non-uniform day on Friday too. We joined the "wear blue campaign" to support victims of bullying in the UK. Mr Milligan's S2 student council members demonstrated the benefits of kind words and actions by encouraging pupils and staff to "take a compliment" strip and pass it on. Mr Burrett was particularly pleased when he was told he was "On Fleek." The S3 student council members also produced a presentation about bullying which was displayed on our school TV all week. On Thursday the school had a visit from the band "White Eskimo" who entertained pupils from S1-3 and spoke to them about the importance of making your own life choices and not being influenced by others.

It was a successful week when the whole school came together to demonstrate its stance against bullying. Money raised during the week was donated to Respectme, Scotland's anti-bullying charity, and Children in Need.

STAFFING UPDATE Nurture

Ardrossan Academy’s ACE Base has been growing steadily as we welcomed our new S1s Miss McEvoy has been appointed into our Nurture room. This year there are 7 S1 pupils working with Mr. Carruth, Miss Floyd as Depute Headteacher, currently and Mrs Mauchlen on a variety of activities to help promote their confidence and self-esteem. One of the activities that the pupils are really engaging well with is their responsible for S1 and S4. weekly visit to the canteen kitchen. The kitchen staff are helping our pupils to understand Miss Irvine will be joining the PE kitchen health and safety, hygiene and are teaching our pupils how to bake. The pupils are department before we finish up also working with Ardrossan Academy’s Eco-committee in the local allotment. They are learning about how our food grows and their plan is to begin using some of the food within for the Christmas holidays. the kitchen. We continue to have several S2s and S3s supported by our Nurture staff by Ms McGhie will be joining the attending the ACE Base several times a week. A Nuture teacher and Classroom Assistant have recently been appointed and therefore we are looking forward to them working with Social Subjects department in the our pupils in the New Year. new term. Miss Graham has been appointed The importance of Nurture has been highlighted to teaching and non-teaching staff at Ardrossan Academy. Our first Nurture training session commenced on the September as the new FH Social Subjects and In-service day and the feedback from staff has been incredibly positive. Our next Nurture will be joining us in the new term. training date has been planned for the New Year. We currently have two members of staff Mrs Venman will be leading our who are undertaking Nurture training. nurture programme alongside A Promoting Positive Relationships Policy working Party has been established and we are Mrs Mauchlen. well into creating our new policy which is very much underpinned by Nurture. We are currently sharing our draft policy with staff and have shared it with parents via our parent Mrs Gilmour will be leading our council. Our next steps are to share the draft policy with our pupils and then make some data analysis from January which final changes before implementing it in the New Year. focuses on pupil attainment and achievement.

Sadly Mrs Blair is leaving us to take up post in Academy. We wish her well.

Mr Baird is retiring from his post as FH Art & Music, we wish him a long and happy retirement.

Astra Base AD ASTRA: PHASE 1

Joe Cullinane, leader of North Ayrshire Council, came to visit the Astra Base (North Ayrshire The Ad Astra Award scheme is Council's Autism Base) in Ardrossan Academy on Tuesday the 6th of December. Councillor now into its third year and we Cullinane spent the morning getting to know some of our pupils and speaking with the Head have now completed Phase 1. Teacher, Miss Chalmers and staff from the base. Councillor Cullinane was given a tour of the Over 700 pupils achieved their new provision, which includes two classrooms and a branch out room that includes a merit threshold for consistent SafeSpace for our pupils to use when required. Councillor Cullinane was also updated on the levels of effort, behaviour, North Ayrshire Council's Autism strategy by Philip Gosnay, who is a Senior Manager for the uniform, respect and council. contribution. Pupils were recently rewarded with a This followed an official opening of the Astra movie afternoon which saw Base on 27th October when representatives them watch an Xmas movie from across North Ayrshire, including accompanied by some tasty councillors, teachers, senior managers and the treats. Pupils enjoyed the time Executive Director attended to view the base away from classes and watched and find out more about this innovative North some classics including Elf and Ayrshire provision. Home Alone.

EU Congregational

Ardrossan Academy performed at the EU Congregational Church Community Christmas Concert on Thursday the 15th of December. Rachel Lawson, Linzi Smith and the junior choir performed beautifully in front of 350 people. The churches of Ardrossan came together at the Carol Service to share the gift of Christmas by singing carols and a synchronised swimming performance by one of the primary drama clubs. There was a collection for the local food bank charity.

Rachel Lawson (left) Junior Singers (middle) 9

Linzi Smith (right)

SENIOR PHASE News from the Library PARENTS’ EVENINGS 2016-17 Since October, life in the Library has been busy, fun and hopefully inspiring our pupils to read and try new genres. Here’s a flavour We lettered parents/carers of what’s been happening: informing them of changes to the arrangements for Senior Reading Wall has featured: Phase Parents' Evenings this Read a Classic – such as Wind in the Willows, Peter Pan and Alice session. Parents/carers had through the Looking Glass the option of attending What the Library means to me – pupils added their thoughts on EITHER a parents' evening on the Library and most said reading which was fantastic! the 22nd November 2016 OR on the 17th February 2017. Displays have included: Any parents/carers who did Anti-bullying not attend on 22nd Remembrance November will be allocated Halloween appointments in February. Poetry – for National Poetry Day Fall into a good book – an autumn display (bad pun, I know!)

Scholastic Book Fair – with so many people buying posters, Parents Evening stationery and books, we managed to get 46 new books for FREE attendance rates this with our £208 worth of rewards. Thank you to everyone who session so far. helped us exceed our target again this year!

S1—60% Book Week Scotland activities encouraged the whole school to participate: S2— 60% 50 word story competition incorporating the phrase “cold and frosty morning”. There were so many entries that a 1st (Linzi Smith S5), 2nd (Molly Sallens S1), and 3 runners-up S3— 62% prizes (Connor Attwood S1, Unnamed Pupil S3, and Lucy Jo Boyd S1) were awarded. S4-6 TBC Photographs taken of pupils with their favourite book or a book they recommend and put on the Reading Wall for others to be inspired to read something different. Non-fiction book sale– withdrawn stock up for grabs! The Book Swap Box is up and running – decorated by the Library Development Group and Book Club. There have been many swaps and even a pile of donations (thanks Miss Blake!) so there’s plenty to choose from. Bring in a book you no longer want and swap it for something new. The Christmas tree in the Library was looking a bit bare so pu- pils were asked to decorate it with “baubles” – recommendations on Christmas card hangings (recycled cards from last year!) to hang on the tree. Looked brilliant!

Remember to visit and like the Library’s Facebook page @ardacadlibrary – see what’s going on and ideas for what to read next!

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Modern Languages—LingoFlamingo COMMUNITY

On the morning of Thursday 1st December, Robbie Norval, founder of LingoFlamingo (a Miss Cruickshank and Mrs Pettigrew took the junior choir to social enterprise company) came into the school to talk to some S3 pupils about the spread some festive cheer at the work he does. His company teaches foreign languages to elderly people and those Argyle Centre. Pupils performed suffering from the effects of dementia across parts of Scotland. He explained about festive poems and songs before the many health benefits of language learning as well as the developmental benefits of Mackenzie Smith played the being able to speak another language and the pupils took part in a number of tasks bagpipes and Cameron relating to his presentation. Pupils also looked at the benefits that learning another McMenemy and Aidan Lundy language could have on their future careers and earning potential. All of the performed a traditional sketch. information was extremely interesting and the pupils were a credit to the school throughout. The Drama Club performed a short sharing to parents and friends on Monday 19th December. The group were given English & Drama a selection of short poems which they turned into short festive scenes. It's been a busy term in our faculty with new timetables, new classes, and lots of new teachers! Everyone is settling in well now and we're all working hard to prepare our senior pupil for the prelims which begin on Monday 16th January. Not long now...

As always, there have been many highlights this term but the ones that really stand out are: the S1 Winter Elective Programme; the S3 exams in English which allowed our pupils to demonstrate the skills they've developed over the past 2 and half years at the Academy; the Inter-Disciplinary visit from Nil By Mouth anti-sectarianism group which was interesting for staff as well as pupils; and the Higher Drama theatre visit to see Shawshank Redemption which gave our candidates an insight into the complex nature of developing, staging and performing a production. And finally, both our English and Drama teachers have already been out visiting the local primaries preparing our current P7s for the forthcoming move to Ardrossan Academy. Our student leaders represented But the fun never stops and next term's diary is already filling up with lots of Ardrossan Academy on interesting activities to look forward to such as January's Burns Supper, the S3 trip to Remembrance Sunday in see The Woman in Black, S4-6's trip to see Cutting a Rug, and the annual visit to and Ardrossan. The Stratford-Upon-Avon which is now booked and details will be issued shortly. pupils laid a wreath at the Ardrossan War Memorial And, of course, we have to take the chance to advertise this year's School Show, Gardens in Glasgow Street to pay Annie... it's a hard knock life, their respects to all those who folks! have sacrificed their lives. From Monday 7th until Thursday 10th of November every year group had a special assembly and held a minute silence to show their respect. In World War One, 54 Nil By Mouth Ardrossan Academy pupils lost their lives and in World War Two, Presentation 66 pupils lost their lives.

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Halloween Party

On the lunchtime of Halloween, the S6 prom committee hosted a spooky Halloween party to raise money for their prom. There was a £1 entry fee which got the pupil a sweetie bag and a

drink. It also included many fun activities like pin the arm on the zombie, a photo booth with props, a piñata where even more sweets could be won and bobbing for apples. There was also guess the name of the two pumpkin characters and face painting where the pupils could have a spooky Halloween item painted on their face. The pumpkin names were drawn at the end of the party with the red m&m being called Jesus, won by Greg Gibson in S6 and the Nemo pumpkin who was named Rachel, won by Jamie- Leigh, an S1 pupil. Well done to you both! Overall the prom committee raised a total of £86.22. Thank you to everyone who attended, both pupils and teachers, we hope you had as much fun as we did!

Nicola Jamieson, S6

West Kilbride Yuletide Snowball

Over the past six months I have been planning a charity snowball event with a small group of pupils from Ardrossan and . On the 3rd of December we were finally able to see the result of our hard work and planning. We received so much positive feedback, which was the cherry on top after rigorous planning. The night was a success and we have raised a small sum of money for the homeless charity Crisis at Christmas.

The planning at points seemed tedious, as every detail had to be planned to ensure the nights success and if something did go wrong, we would know the protocol to follow to keep the night going. One of our main problems was a small budget, however after every member of the team utilising their skills in one form or another we managed to put on a good night – even if the DJ was an ex teacher at Ardrossan Academy, but we have the community to thank as the venue was free as was the lighting. The night had a few hitches however if there were no downs we would never be able to appreciate the ups, and seeing two schools come to together to have fun made the planning completely worth it.

All in all I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and have developed new skills in event planning that I plan to use in the rest of my school career and in the future. I would recommend this experience to everyone, as the satisfaction of successfully pulling off a large scale event with 130 people is the greatest reward.

Marie Anne Wales, S6

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Junior Sports Personality of the Year 2016 - Aria Pascual CHRISTMAS FAYRE 2016

The achievements of Aria Pascual were recognised in October at The Ardrossan Academy Christmas the North Ayrshire Council Awards ceremony. Aria was awarded Fayre was a huge success thanks to the prize of Junior Sports Personality of the Year at the North the staff, pupils and partners who Ayrshire Council Awards ceremony on Friday night in recognition helped to organise and contributed of her achievements in Karate. The highlights for the Black Belt 2nd to the event. Dan this year include becoming was becoming the JKA European Champion 2016 in U-15 Girls' Kata. This event took place in Serbia £1768 was raised for school funds. in May, and Aria also sat her N5 History exam whilst on the day before the final– she got an A! A special thanks to Mrs MacPherson who oversees the Christmas Fayre and gets every on board and doing what they’re supposed to be doing!

Participative Democracy Award

A group of pupils in S2, S3 and S4 have been working with Laura McCaskill from Youth Services on the PDA which is a programme which allows pupils to work together on school based projects. The pupils have met regularly this session with Laura to look into school-based issues such as bullying, addictions and litter. They have worked on developing information items for pupils and have also learned about planning, team work and evaluating. They represented the school at the Youth Conference in October and will hopefully be speaking to assemblies about their findings soon. They hope to achieve their PDA early in the New Year. Some of the group, pictured above, assisted with the anti- bullying week in November. We hope that the pupils involved in this piece of work have improved their skills. They have really enjoyed working with Laura and thanks to her for her 13 time and support.

ACHIEVEMENTS

Karate: in November, Aria Pascual, S5, competed in at the JKA Open International tournament. She competed in the seniors for the first time and despite being the youngest competitor in her group, won a bronze in the Female Kata age 16-18 competition and a silver medal in the Female Kumite age 16-18 competition.

Louise Falconer with her medals Football: congratulations to Nicole Turner, S5 who as a member of Kilmarnock FC Ladies U-15s who recently won their league.

Table Tennis: Holly McNamara, S1 is the Scottish primary Girls Singles & Doubles Champion.

Figure skating: Louise Falconer came 3rd in the National British Figure Skating Championships.

STEM: Lucy Muir and Amy Palmer, both S1, won the Lucy Muir and Amy Palmer “I’m a scientist get me out of here competition.”

Art & Design: Jay Scott, S3, designed a new logo for our Parent Council which will now be used on all their correspondence.

50 word story: Molly Sallens, Lucy Jo Boyd and Connor Attwood S1 who were all runners -up in the 50 word story competition. They created very entertaining stories with some great ideas. 14 Holly McNamara

Mathematics News AFTER SCHOOL SUPPORT Competitions: S1 Homework Club is up and Four students, accompanied by Mr Clifford, participated in the Enterprising Maths national final on running after school Thursdays 15th November in the Glasgow science centre. with Mrs Andrew. Success eluded us this year but a jolly good time was had by all and the science centre gave free access Supported Study continues to to its interactive displays to all of the students involved. run for N5 & Higher pupils The competitors this year were Jack Blades and Callum Murray from S4 and Christopher Ribbeck and Mondays and Tuesdays after Ross Gibb from S3 – well done boys – you did yourselves and the school proud (and we now have a nice school with Mr Clifford, Mrs piece of crystal for the trophy cabinet to commemorate your endeavours!). Jamieson & Mrs Harkin.

Maths DYW links:

The maths department has initiated contact with both the RAF and Booth Welsh and awaiting further contact re-establishing a link with both organisations. At present the department has established a successful link with Ashleigh Construction – two groups of S3 students have attended sessions on-site with Ashleigh with follow-up visits planned: the first maths visits to ‘Ashleigh Building’ construction site took place in November. Pupils spoke to employees and looked at their roles within the construction site. Also each group were given a plot where they had to do measurements and calculations and work out the amount of material required for a job. Pupils will return in the spring when they can see their STEM plot and how it has developed. Also they will be given a chance at this point to work further on their development. A group of S3 girls were involved in a stem event where the day consisted of a mix of hands-on activities and opportunities to meet role models from a wide spectrum of STEM related industries. The girls found the day very enjoyable and were able come back to school and share their learning's with Maths Department Twitter Feed: others.

During this session the maths department has joined a number of other departments in establishing a Twitter feed. Students, parents/carers and staff members can follow our maths department on: @ardacadmaths Using Twitter the department will keep everyone informed of upcoming events within the department, useful web-sites and revision tools, career opportunities, maths games and even some maths humour! The department will be following a number of maths related Twitter feeds along with many useful local and national feeds that should be of interest to all. The department feed was only established in October and already has over 120 followers – pupils, parents/carers and staff included. For Twitter to be its most effective it depends on as many people as possible following our feed and sharing/liking our tweets. If you follow please encourage a few friends to do likewise and in this way information on the feed will reach the widest possible audience.

ACHIEVERS Health and Wellbeing Jay McManus S3 has been selected for Scotland U15 School of Sport: Football team Our School of sport for Rugby has seen the S1/2 boys and girls compete in local and National Ross Jack S6 was selected for competitions as well as a visit from the Scotland rugby team. Pupils from local primaries, U18 Ayrshire team and has re- school of sport and our Senior teams were able to meet and greet with international male cently been awarded best player and female players. On a surprisingly sunny day for Any senior girl interested in playing in a Rugby 7's tournament after the holiday should see cross country, our S2 girls won Miss Muir in the PE dept. No experience necessary. We also have it on good authority there team bronze, with Alexander is a 'friendly' touch rugby challenge between the Ardrossan Accies Hockey and Rugby girls Orderly S3 winning individual teams on New Year's day. bronze at North Ayrshire Cross S1/S2 Basketball has been packed this term with boys and girls develop their skills, getting country at Irvine Beach park. Great effort by all. ready for fixtures. Last week, our S1 boys Basketball team won a thrilling game 42-36 against Loudon Academy after going into overtime. Player of the match was Spencer Dent. In the North Ayrshire Swimming Gala, our team scored a massive Our girls make their debut in January in the basketball ayrshire 3v3 challenge tournament. 66 points, narrowly beaten into The senior boys team are looking strong this year, with a top 3 finish in the league as their 4th place by a single point. goal. Tremendous effort by our Anyone in S1/2 interested in joining our School of Sport programme for either Basketball or swimmers under intense Rugby should see Miss Muir in the PE dept. pressure.

What a fabulous start for the S1/2 Netball team in their debut PE game, winning 18-11 against St Matthews. Player of the match– Over the last few weeks pupils in PE have been looking my World Of Work, checking out Molly Mitchell S1. Netball club is different careers, such as; event management, personal trainer, sports journalist, and on a Wednesday after school, graphic designer. Some of our pupils on work experience have been learning about the new players welcome. skills needed for careers in sport coaching, ground keeping and leisure management.

U14 girls Football team played in Higher PE classes have been creating and carrying out their personalised training Coca cola sevens West of programme with the help of Maximum Potential staff, who also run a fitness club on a Scotland tournament at Queen of Wednesday after school for S1-S6. the south. Player of the tournament - Stephanie Spring HE S1. U14 girls also competed in North Ayrshire 7's S3 pupils have recently visited Garfields restaurant to experience first hand how to prepare tournament.We fielded two and produce dishes as well as ask the chef about pathways into a career in Hospitality. teams, placing 2nd and 4th. Our Textiles club, Food for Life, club and the HE dept designed and created Lavender scent Our Senior boys Football- A hard bags, Christmas cookies and cupcakes which were snapped up at the recent Christmas Fayre. earned 1-1 draw against St The Hospitality classes have been linking up with the Eco committee in using organic Matthews. Man of the match was ingredients grown in our allotment, with courgette chocolate cake and red onion and Ross Jack, goal scorer Bradley Morrison. rosemary focaccia definite favourites. On a Wednesday lunchtime our textile club are making knitted hats and booties for the premature baby unit. Any donations of wool would be greatly appreciated.

Dumfries House was the venue for a fabulous textiles day where senior pupils were truly in- 16 spired and created personalised rucksacks, learning how to line and sew in zips. A great day thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Office and Pupil Attendance

From 1st April 2016, Ardrossan Academy school office hours will be:

Monday—Thursday 8.30am—4.30pm

Friday 8.30am—4.00pm

I would ask parents and carers to support us by calling the main office on 01294 461931 by 9am on the first day of pupil absence. It is vital for pupil safety that we know S1 Netball Team as early as possible when pupils are going to be absent from school. It is the responsibility of parents/carers to contact school in the event of an absence.

Absence records will be checked every morning with texts sent or calls made to parents/ carers of absent pupils where we have had no contact. Please understand that in a large school it can take some time to check individual absence records, therefore your support in phoning so that we can amend absence codes is very much appreciated and helps to us to manage the flow of information. It also makes it much easier to flag up when a child has gone missing. Please also note that the text messaging service is not the best way to contact office staff about pupil absence. We would much prefer to speak with a parent/ carer directly.

Please note that if pupils are coming in late to school, they will be recorded as absent until they appear. Pupils must report directly to the school office and get a late slip to get access to class and have records updated. If we do not know that a pupil is going to be late you may get an absence text.

Absence notes must be provided to ensure an absence is closed off in the electronic system.

PARENT COUNCIL

Parent Council meetings take place in the school Conference Room, start at 6.30pm and usually last between 1-2 hours. New members are warmly invited to attend. This session the Parent Council will be chaired by Hugh Neill with vice-chair Margaret Gilchrist. The team are currently looking at new ways to consult and communicate with parents/carers. More information will be available in the new session and on the new school website.

Hospitality Prelims—well done! Dates for meetings next year:

30th January 13th March 24th April 5th June (AGM)

Important dates

9th January 2017—Staff and Pupils Return

11th January—Your Future, Open to all pupils, parents and carers. S3 Reports issued.

16th January—Prelims begin. S3 Options interviews start.

23rd January—Burns Supper

30th January—Parent Council meet 6.30pm

2nd February—S3 YPI Final

10th February—Holiday

13th February—Holiday

14th February—In-service, school closed to pupils.

24th February—S4-6 Tracking report issued

27th February—S4-6 Parents’ Evening, S4/5 Options Interviews start

6th March—S2 Curriculum Choice Interviews

13th March—Parent Council meet 6.30pm

24th March—S5/6 Ad Astra Award Ceremony

27th March—S1 Ad Astra Award Ceremony

28th March—S2 Ad Astra Award Ceremony

29th March—S3 Ad Astra Award Ceremony

30th March—S4 Ad Astra Award Ceremony

31st March—close for Spring holiday

18th April—Staff and Pupils return

Have a wonderful festive period!

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