2010-2011 Chronicle 2010-2011
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The Academy Glasgow The Glasgow Academy 2010-2011 Chronicle 2010-2011 The Glasgow Academy is an educational charity registered in Scotland. Charity Number SCO 15638. The Glasgow Academy 2010-2011 Autumn 2011 Number 331 Editor: Tom Carlin with Alan Whyte, Alison Campbell and Clare Blair From the Rector ‘More than just a school’ is the theme of the films S5 and We have enjoyed many sporting achievements this year at both S6 have been making about the spirit and opportunities team and individual levels, with eleven sportsmen and women of our community. Their films are scripted, presented, being selected for international duty. The cricket 1st XI enjoyed shot and edited entirely by pupils, and they embody the an unbeaten season and there were notable rugby sevens rounded, holistic education which we celebrate. Here, as tournament wins. We won more medals than any other school in so much else, our pupils have certainly taken to heart in the Scottish Indoor Rowing Championship. Ronan Murphy our mantras ‘Can do, will do’, ‘Being the best you can be’ and Ross Urquhart ended the year as Scottish Champions, and ‘Keep faith’. British Champions and Home International Champions. Their time at the Home International was the fastest achieved by I congratulate all our young people who have worked so any British Junior pair this year and would have won the men’s sensibly to do so wonderfully well. At Higher Grade and event. They also made history at the Scottish Championships Advanced Higher we gained our best-ever results. Our when they won senior eights: the first time a junior eight has Higher pass rate rose to 95.62%. 62.8% of entries scored won this senior event. Our S4 girls gained Bronze medals at A grades - a very significant increase on the previous best the British Championships and 70 children now row with the of 55%. In Highers taken in S6 we gained easily our best- school, many of them in addition to their other sports. ever AB rate (76.6%), a splendid 13% rise. At Advanced Higher we scored our best-ever A grade rate (55.6%), Productions of ‘Fiddler on the Roof’, ‘The Memory of Water’ our best-ever AB rate (80%) and our best-ever pass rate and the student-led ‘Antigone’, as well as the Prep School (92.9%). Two pupils gained a remarkable 11 Advanced Show, were great successes, as is the new Jazz Band. Highers between them, plus a starred A grade in A level Further Maths, an S (Outstanding) in Cambridge STEP, The school raised over £30,000 for charities, gained Investors and top 20 places in the UK Maths Olympiad. We also in People status and became a UNESCO Associated School. achieved our best-ever results at Standard Grade English, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education shot a series of films taken early in S3. at our school reflecting the initiatives, good practice and rich opportunities enjoyed by our pupils. Sharan Maiya came first in the UK in the World Maths Day Competition and 6th in the world. Jason Long won the Google Trailblazer Technology Prize and the Intel Prize at the Big Bang Competition. Our CCF (which now has over 230 cadets, who are all volunteers) won the Military Skills competition - the top prize in Scotland for Army sections - after a weekend of map reading, first aid, obstacle courses and shooting, preceded by two selection weekends. At annual camp, our CCF won the Best Contingent Award, for the second year running, gaining first place in every category considered for the Award. Our Chemistry team were UK finalists in the Royal Society of Chemistry Inter-Schools Quiz for the third consecutive year (and the sixth in eight years). We reached the finals of the UK Mathematics Trust Senior Maths Challenge for the third consecutive year. Every part of The Academy was awarded the Green Flag by Eco-Schools Scotland. In the UK Ethical Enterprise Awards, we won four of the eight awards - Best Overall Enterprise, Best Presentation, Greenest Overall and Best Use of Young Co-operatives Website. Our Young Enterprise team won three of the five awards in the Glasgow Area Finals. Chronicle 1 Excellence Meet our Internationalists Scotland Under 15 Scottish Schools Scotland Rowing Scotland Rowing Scotland Under Squash Under 17 Athletics Under 18 Pairs Under 18 Pairs 17 Cricket James Wilson Max Aitchison Ronan Murphy Ross Urquhart Lyle Hill British Alpine Ski Scotland Rowing Scotland Under Scotland Rowing Scottish Schools Scotland Under 14 Team Under 18 Eights 18 Hockey Under 18 Eights Under 15 Cross-country Gaelic Football Fraser Middleton Kimberley Somerside Karin Belch Eleanor Jamieson Catriona Graves Angus Murray Nicholson Unbeaten Lyle Hill captained Scotland U17 Cricket and won the award for Outstanding Individual Achievement at the Sports Council for Glasgow Annual Awards. Talent travels Jason Long won the Google Trailblazer Technology Prize and the Intel Prize at the Big Bang Competition, enjoying an all-expenses paid trip to Los Angeles. Jason achieved 6 Advanced Highers and 7 Highers (all at grade A), plus starred A in A level Further Maths. He was 4th in the UK in the Mathematical Olympiad. International Wetbob Wonders Ronan Murphy and Ross Urquhart ended the year as Scottish Champions, British Champions and Home International Champions. 2 Chronicle Excellence First in the UK Top CCF - again! Sharan Maiya came first in the Our CCF won the top prize in UK in the World Maths Day Scotland for Army sections: the Competition and 6th in the world, Military Skills competition. out of 5.3 million entries. At annual camp, our CCF won the Best Contingent Award, for the second year running, gaining first place in every category considered for the Award. Best Company Our Young Enterprise team won three of the five awards UK Ethical Awards at the Glasgow Area Finals - for Best Company at the In the UK Ethical Enterprise Trade Fair, Best presentation Awards, we won four of the eight and Best Overall group. awards - Best Overall Enterprise, Best Presentation, Greenest Overall and Best Use of Young Top in Scotland Co-operatives Website. Zara Reid won the SQA award for being the top pupil in Scotland at Advanced Higher History, plus the Royal Historical Society Prize for Best Performance. Can do Some of the many pupils who achieved a complete set of SQA top grades. UK Hat trick Our Chemistry team were UK finalists in the Royal Society of Chemistry Inter-Schools Quiz for the third consecutive year. We reached the London finals of the UK Mathematics Trust Senior Maths Challenge for the third consecutive year. Chronicle 3 Charities and Community Involvement Pupils were involved in several new orang-utan. At Christmas they and imaginative events to raise were really busy recycling 30kg of money for charity this year. One Christmas cards for the Woodland of the most challenging took place Trust. The Nursery and Kindergarten shortly after the start of the session raised £239 for the National Autistic in September when 12 pupils from Society with their "Thomas the Tank S3 to S6 and 8 members of staff Train Walk" and, not to be outdone, took part in the 'Pedal for Scotland' the staff raised almost £1500 for 50 mile cycle ride from Glasgow Maggie's Cancer Care in Glasgow's Green to Leith, Edinburgh, to raise Women's 10k. A variety of other money for Maggie's Cancer Care. charities were supported, including The fastest cyclists completed the the RNLI and Save The Children. distance in less than 4 hours and great fun was had by all. £730 At Kelvinbridge the pupils were was raised for the cause. every bit as involved. In February activities in aid of the British Heart Asthma Scotland was supported to Foundation's 'Red for Heart' the tune of £791 at Dairsie through week raised £1700. Children 1st the profits generated during Money benefited to the tune of £2890 Week, Dairsie Daft Day and a from their jumble sale and Kilts Royal Wedding Day, with their own for Kids event. Sponsored walks prince and princess. The P3 Young were popular here too, with the Enterprise "Jog in The Park" event Kindergarten 'Welly Walk' raising raised a staggering total of £1745 £630 for East Park Home. A for Children in Need. The Balcraig sponsored French vocabulary test Foundation in Kenya, Children's in Primary 7 raised £305 for Mary's Hospice Movement were also Meals. The Food and Fitness supported. Activities Day raised £1242 for the Scottish Community Foundation. Donations in kind were made to In addition to other activities pupils Glasgow City Mission and Mary's from all years amassed an amazing Meals from all three sites, but at £1059 for Barnardos with their box Atholl animals featured in a big collections. way. Selling dog keyrings raised money for the Dog's Trust and In the Senior School two annual through the WWF they adopted events were particularly successful: a polar bear and sponsored an the annual 24 hour sports marathon 4 Chronicle raised a record £1075 and this, for farmers and workers in together with money raised by the developing countries. In the Talent Show, was divided equally process of gaining Fair Trade between Help for Heroes and the School status they raised £100 for Anthony Nolan Trust. The English the WWF. Department's Readathon raised the fantastic sum of £2,543; the money A very active Amnesty is split between ClicSargent and International group raised £540 Roald Dahl Foundation. through a variety of events, the most memorable being an inter- At the end of the first term the Theatre house quiz, with buzzers, just like Choir performance in Princes University Challenge.