AMBITION BELONGING DEDICATION INSPIRATION RESPECT RESPONSIBILITY The

Inside Story FO R Newsletter RWARD TOGETHE

pg.4/5 pg.2 Family Engagement HEALTH & WELLBEING pg.3 Parent Council pg.7 S3 Leadership pg.10 LGBT Update pg.14 Support Dept. EASTER EDITION 2018

Developing Young Workforce + North Musician 2018 Study and Activity Weekend + We Will Rock You Concert Festival of Learning Event + S2 Group 2 Toy Making Elective

PLUS Art Stars of the Month + Family Engagement Evenings

Dalry Road, Kilwinning, KA13 7HD | Tel: 01294 551316 | @Kilwinning_Acad FAMILY ENGAGEMENT PARENT COUNCIL Christmas Lunch 2017 Financial Support The month of December saw This session the Parent Council have another successful family contributed to Kilwinning Academy in engagement session. the following ways: The Music department showcased some Junior and Senior Prize Award Ceremonies – £300 of the hit songs from our Christmas show provided for each Ceremony as we believe in helping and our PE department led the way with to celebrate the successes of our young people. We the Ceilidh dancing. The raffle was a also support the use of the Parents’ Evening online great success and this was led by Miss booking system and the ‘Show My Homework’ app and Wotherspoon and some of the pupils who have therefore made a contribution of £500 to each attend the zone. of these. Special thanks must got to Yvonne We have recently been awarded £1000 from the (our catering manager) and her team for Youth Participatory Budget application and this what can only be described as an amazing money will be donated to help support the school Christmas lunch. show in June 2018. Parent Council Meetings ‘Heart Start’ The next Parent Council meeting will take The second of our family engagement evenings took Kilwinning Locality Participatory place on Wednesday 30th May 2018 at 7pm place on 22/2/18. in the Meeting Room at Kilwinning Academy. Budgeting Event at Ayrshire The theme of the evening was on the importance of life saving All Parents and Carers welcome, we are always College Kilwinning Campus. knowledge. The evening was led by Mrs Randall and Miss Lyall from looking to get more parents involved. We have regular Kilwinning Academy Parent Council’s application for the PE department and a healthy Chinese meal was provided by meetings to discuss our funding applications and this event has been successful. Therefore we need Yvonne and her catering team. future fundraising events. your help! Finally, you can meet the members of the Parent The next family engagement evening will focus on We need school staff, parents and pupils to come Council at any of the Kilwinning Academy Parents along to this event to vote for our bid. It is also a great drugs and alcohol awareness and our catering team Evenings. We are always in attendance and provide chance for people to find out about all the other good will be providing free Mexican food for you to sample. FREE tea/coffee for everyone. things that are happening in Kilwinning at present.

Christmas Concert Talent Show 2017 The Annual Kilwinning Academy Christmas Concert also The Christmas talent show was particularly took place in December and what a show it was. entertaining this year and thus the talent From the senior choir singing carols, to the amazing sound of Zach on on show continues to get better and better. the marimba, followed by a performance from the ‘Brat Pack’ and there was even a Dancing Donkey! (Who let Mrs Sloan perform??) Stuart certainly had the support of the audience – he even had a banner made for him by the boys in The talent on show, as always, was fantastic. A big well done to all the staff the Higher PE class. Well done Stuart and to the involved – Even those who decided to turn up in their dressing gowns! staff who helped to organise the event.

2 3 HEALTH & WELLBEING Basketball

A great effort was shown from Swimming everyone at the recent Active Schools Basketball Event. Congratulations to our swim team who represented Some great leadership qualities were Kilwinning at the Ayrshire Schools swimming Championships. shown from our young leaders Calum Medallists were Robyn and Ben Cotter and Abbie Freeman. & Connor. Well done to all involved.

Whisks and things Congratulations! Our ‘Whisks and Things’ programme continues Huge well done to Eilidh Martin in the kitchen and on week 5 it was time for who made the final trial for the U15 Chocolate Brownies. Our catering staff really Scottish School Girls football team. are the best! Our young people are learning Eilidh was the only NA girl selected. lifelong skills! #Ambition A fantastic achievement! Active Schools

A Massive Congratulations to Rachel Dance Gorman and Abby Crombie who have been nominated by our Active Schools Well done to all the amazing dancers Co-ordinator Gary Moore for the who took part in the Christmas Provost Civic Pride Award in Sport. Dance Display!! The girls have now been short-listed A big thank you to Symone Thomson for the final where 3 groups will attend and Carly Brown for leading this. the Awards night on the 16th March at The Portal in Irvine. Good luck girls! North Ayrshire Sports Academy

Cross Country At Kilwinning Academy we are so proud of our senior Well done to Kyle McCallum and Symon Bagley for coming girls, Rachel Gorman, Morgan Dickie, Abbie Freeman 3rd place in their age groups at the recent North Ayrshire and Jodie Quirk who this year are all part of the North cross country championships - in really tough conditions! Ayrshire Sports Academy. The girls continue to commit to each session they are involved in and are gaining valuable coaching qualifications with the various National Governing Bodies. Keep up the good work girls!

Table Tennis

Well done to Martin Krus who was 1 of 10 North Ayrshire Table Tennis players that qualified for the Scottish Schools Level 4 Dance Leadership Award Finals. These finals will see our players represent their school and aim to qualify for We are also pleased to announce that Jaymie Haswell and Ellie a place the Scottish Schools Team. Greenan have recently completed their Level 4 Dance Leadership award. A Fantastic Achievement! 4 5 FOOTBALL ROUND UP S4 STUDY AND December saw a great result for our S1 boys football team, they beat Academy 8-3 away from home! Scorers from match were Stuart McAlpine x2, Jack McMahon, Ben Archer, Campbell McLean, Kian Lynch, and ACTIVITY WEEKEND Nathan Foster. Well done boys! 23rd – 25th February 2018 As part of our S4 study programme 24 pupils Another very impressive football result! headed off to Arran for a study and A 10-0 win for our S3 football team against Garnock Academy. activity weekend. Scorers were Jay Clark x 4, Alex Dean x 3, Daniel Sweeny x 2 A number of staff delivered sessions in English, Maths, and Adam McAlpine. The game was played in a great spirit. Chemistry and History over the 2 days and pupils also had opportunities for their own personal study. Although cold, the weather was bright and dry and pupils enjoyed orienteering at Brodick Castle and some canoeing. After an afternoon of studying everyone headed off to the games hall at the Well done to our Auchrannie Hotel to let off some steam. Kilwinning Select Side! As part of the Study Programme we plan to The boys had a great game against Spark of Genius winning 6-5. There was a ‘Hat Trick’ from Mark Smith have a final Saturday morning event on 23rd and goals from Lewis Houston, Logan Strachan and March which will involve a follow up Live ‘n’ Drew Begley. Learn session from the one pupils had the opportunity to take part in at the September study day. Kilwinning Academy U18’s There will also be various sessions during Easter school and masterclasses prior to the exams which Kilwinning Academy U18’s also won 5-2 against Greenwood students can attend to help them with their final Academy. Goal scorers this time were Ong Duff, Robbie Lynch exam revision and preparations. and Captain Declan Wilson with a hat trick! What a performance from the Senior boys! They won 7-1 against Grange Academy. Goal scorers were Thomas Johnston x 1, Jack McCartney x 2, Jared Peacock x1, Ong Duff x 1, Robbie Lynch x 2.

PILA SKI TRIP FEBRUARY 2018 What an amazing week it was in Pila skiing. We had many laughs and plenty of smiles. The snow was perfect and the sun was shining. The level of skiing and the improvement in skill was amazing! S3 LEADERSHIP School Video The video will take place in departments and will include filming staff and pupils having a laugh and The S3 Leadership group is excited to showing their more ‘fun’ side. announce that they’re going to be making a S3 pupils will be round the departments at the school video which will showcase the school beginning of March and hope to have the video and all Kilwinning Academy has to offer. completed for April. 6 7 COMPUTING AND BUSINESS EDUCATION

NCSC Cyber Girls Competition Computing and Business Education Stars S1, S2 and S3 The NCSC Cyber Girls Competition took place on At the end of any significant block of work in the Broad General Education stage (S1-S3) a 29/01/18 – 05/02/18. single pupil (or occasionally 2) pupils are selected from each class as STARS and presented Three groups of our S2 girls took part in this UK wide competition with a reward postcard. with the help of Miss Newell. They spent a week working in teams to Their names are posted in the reward boards in our try to complete as many challenges as possible. Challenges were under corridors along with pictures of them and these are the topics of: Logic and Coding, Cryptography, Networking and Cyber often posted on Twitter too. Security. Each of these topics had questions of 3 levels: Beginner, The awards are at the teacher’s discretion and may Intermediate and Expert. go to the pupil with the best marks in the class, or a The girls were coding; answering logic questions; editing HTML; learning pupil who has made an outstanding contribution by new languages; using CyberChef; learning about Networking; and helping their peers, achieving beyond expectations or working out cryptography questions (amongst a massive list of other overcoming personal challenges. challenges). The contribution from each of the teams was excellent, they In the last few months S1 pupils completed blocks worked hard both in school and at home. The girls earned badges as they of work on word processing and presentations. S2 worked through the challenges which will hopefully earn them the points completed their introduction to Web Development they need to get to Manchester for the final.Fingers crossed!! in Computing and word processing assessments in Business. In S3 Computing pupils have completed their web development unit.

Our most recent STARS are: S1 S2 Computing Games Elective Emma MacGillivray (1P) Faith Cast & Conal Davidson (2P) Billy Lewis (2B2) Nicole Craig (1Q) Kieran McKinlay (2Q) S2 Business Kate-Lyn McLaughlan (1R) Ben Nixon (2S) Callum Salgo (2Q) Amy Jaap (1S) Lucy Chavner & James McIntee (2T) Pippa Mackie (2S) Madison Dorrans (1T) Mya Irving & Calum Johnston (2U) Ayrshire & Arran NHS Visit Murray McLeish (2T) Ben Archer (1U) Joshua McCallum (2V) S3 Administration On Monday 29 January senior pupils from Scott Allison (1V) Eilidh Boyd (2W) Joanne McGregor N4-N5/Higher Administration & IT visited Keira Campbell (1W) Ross McLeod (2X) & Heather Larmour Ayrshire Central Hospital in Irvine to learn Katie Reilly (1X) S3 Computing about Health & Safety, Administration Duties Amy Brown & Alex Dean and Customer Service within the NHS. Keira Thomson (1X) Pupils had a great time and are now able to relate what they have learned in class and apply it to an organisation.

8 9 LGBTQ UPDATE Ambassadors elected After a very in depth interview process we elected 6 Purple Friday! LGBT Ambassadors who will have a crucial role regarding In order to support LGBT Youth Scotland promoting LGBT and Equality around the school. charities and to celebrate LGBT History A many congratulations to Briar Mackenzie, Chloe Campbell, month in February Kilwinning Academy Roisin Horn, Ben Cotter, Stephen Kyle and Emma Gillan. participated in a Purple Friday event. This year’s theme was Everyday Hero and young people and staff were offered the opportunity to Ambassadors Charter Presentation dress in purple, or dress as a super hero. Members at Work In January we officially received of our LGBT group were also given permission to sell our LGBT Youth Scotland Bronze LGBT Youth Scotland Everyday Hero badges to staff In February two of our LGBT and pupils around the school. Mr Swan kindly gave Ambassadors, Briar Mackenzie Charter Mark. We are one of a permission for an extended interval whereby staff and Chloe Campbell, delivered select few schools in Scotland to were invited to come along and enjoy cakes made by a presentation regarding have received this accolade. the group as a way to say thanks for all their support. understanding what LGBT is Our LGBT group members were There was a fantastic turn out by staff who all and how best to support presented the award by Kerry Riddell signed a rainbow flag to demonstrate their support. Last year we raised a staggering amount of £859 for young people at a Family from LGBT Youth Scotland. The group led by Mrs Sloan DHT and Elaine Connor LGBT Youth Scotland. This was the highest amount Engagement evening. raised by any school in Scotland and we hoped to Area Inclusion Worker had to submit a beat this record. Parents and staff were in attendance portfolio regarding the school’s good and the feedback received was practice and a panel of judges agreed I am delighted to say that through the kindness and really positive. that the evidence presented more than support of the school we smashed it!!! At the time of Briar and Chloe also delivered talks met the criteria for the Charter Mark. this print monies donated was still being calculated, regarding LGBT History Month to The feedback said the submission was however at least £900 was raised. The exact total will be in the next newsletter!! Thank you to everyone! pupils at their House Assemblies and “outstanding and evidenced many areas played a vital role in promoting our of excellent practice” and “a thoughtful Purple Friday event. and comprehensive journey which has changed culture throughout the school”.

‘An Equal Future’ Mrs Sloan and Elaine Connor (AIW) had a great time in Edinburgh attending the LGBT+ network ‘An Equal Future Event’ supported by LGBT Youth A new Ayrshire LGBT+ Education Network Scotland. has been established for those working in education and related sectors. Mrs Sloan and The event allowed Elaine and Mrs Elaine Connor were delighted to be invited Sloan time to network and share LGBT+ Q+A good practice with other schools as the guest speakers at the opening of this Thanks to Nurse Hodge who gave new initiative at Kilmarnock College. across Scotland. A Key contact was up her own time to attend the made with ‘Children in Scotland’ A presentation regarding our good practice as well LGBT+ and Supporter group to who are coming out to visit the as our Charter Journey was delivered by Mrs Sloan, . . . Finally school at the end of April 2018. deliver a Q+A session on sexual Elaine and 3 of our Ambassadors, Chloe Campbell, We are delighted to announce that 2 of our LGBT health and relationships. Stephen Kyle and Ben Cotter The feedback was Ambassadors, Briar Mackenzie and Stephen Kyle The young people found the input to be amazing and invites to visit 4 other Secondary have been asked personally by Taylor McInroy from highly informative and really appreciated schools in Ayrshire to talk about our group have Ayrshire Film Company to participate in an exciting 10 the time taken by Nurse Hodge. been requested. new initiative.Well done Briar and Stephen! 11 MUSIC DEPARTMENT

The Annual Rotary Competition The Annual Rotary Competition took place North Ayrshire Young Singer in the school recently with Cameron Beattie and Musician 2018 winning the vocal section and Scott Bryant A massive congratulations to two of our winning the Musician. very own Senior Pupils. Emma Sarginson Both pupils will represent the school in the final at won North Ayrshire’s Young Singer this the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland on the 18th year and Zach Mitchell was runner up in March 2018. Good Luck!!! the Young Musician category. Runners up were Kirsten Mackie (Voice) and Zach Mitchell (Marimba). Once again the talent on show from across North Ayrshire was outstanding. Well done to all involved!!

North Ayrshire Traditional Singer competition 2018 In this year’s North Ayrshire Young Trad Singer competition, Iona Faulkner represented the school. The Band of the Royal Regiment We were delighted when she was placed of Scotland Tour 2018 runner up. Well done Iona! We are delighted that The Band of the Royal Regiment of Scotland Tour 2018 will be visiting the school to work with our Instrumental pupils in various workshops throughout the day. They will finish the Congratulations! day off with a concert for all our music students from The very talented Zach Mitchell (S6) has S3 – S6. Monday 9th and Tuesday 10th April. secured a place at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland to study on their Bachelor of Music course. School Show – We Will Rock You! The competition for being accepted on to this 5/6/18 – 7/6/18 course is incredible so Zach has done extremely Rehearsals are well underway for this year’s school well to secure his place! He will specialise in show. Rehearsals take place every Tuesday after- Timpani and Percussion during his studies. school for Main Cast and Wednesday Lunch and after- Well done Zach!! school for ALL CAST. Please see the notice board for other lunchtime rehearsals during the week. There will also be full day rehearsals during the Easter Holidays – Monday 9th and Tuesday 10th April.

12 13 DEVELOPING FESTIVAL OF YOUNG WORKFORCE LEARNING EVENT Careers Event School-College Partnership In December Mr Neill organised a Careers event aimed at our S4 – S6 pupils. A number of S4 pupils accompanied by The young people of Kilwinning Academy were engaged in the Event with 20 different employers in attendance Mrs McBreen attended a School-College on the day. The young people had the opportunity to gather information and ask questions about potential Partnership taster day held at Ayrshire careers for the future. Pupils said they really enjoyed the day and gained invaluable knowledge. College (Ayr Campus). Mr Neill would like to personally thank all the employers for attending. Pupils attended a series of practical workshops and Many thanks to GSK, DSM, EDF, CH2M, The Fire Brigade, The Royal Navy, The RAF, Santander, Buzzworks, North presentations within a chosen subject area and were Ayrshire Youth Work, Barnardo’s, North Ayrshire Park Rangers, Scotrail, North Ayrshire Council, School Councillor, impressed with the variety of technology and range Farrans Foundation, Clark Contracts, Thorne Travel and KA Leisure. of courses on offer. This event gave the pupils the opportunity to try out different aspects of potential future careers to see if it really is the right choice for them. The workshops on offer included Early Years CHARITIES Education, Health and Social Care, Construction Trades, Hospitality and Engineering. Christmas Jumper day for staff and pupils Thanks to Ayrshire College for inviting us to this event. was a great success and £650 was raised for local children’s charities and the elderly. The annual staff Christmas hampers organised by the Support Department in December were a big hit and pictured are some of our lucky winners. £202 was raised and was split between the charities committee and the S6 fundraising group. Well done to all involved! An impressive £800 was raised during our recent dress down day for WWF by Rachel Dean (S6) as part of her Science Baccalaureate. Thanks to everyone for their support. STEM event S1-S2 Girls As part of the Ayrshire College ‘Festival of Learning’ Event a group of our S1/2 girls attended a STEM event at the Kilwinning Campus. The girls were accompanied by Mrs McNeill and Mrs Stuart from the science department and a great day was had by all. The girls participated in a number of fantastic workshops encompassing all STEM disciplines ranging from microbiology to virtual reality and the physics behind electrical beauty treatments.

14 15 ART & TECHNOLOGY SUPPORT DEPARTMENT ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY TRAINING Glasgow International 2018 FOR STAFF Two of our S6 Advanced Higher pupils, Scott Jaffrey Mrs Wilson, Mrs Harte and Mrs Aydin recently led a and Abbey Roy, are part of a group of 20 pupils from training session for staff on the use of Assistive Technology Scottish schools involved in a collaborative project and its benefits. to produce work that will be exhibited at Glasgow International 2018. Many thanks to Scott Jaffrey (S6) for demonstrating Speech to Text Technology. They are attending weekly studio sessions led by a team of professional artists, making work to be installed in a disused gas station in Dalmarnock, Glasgow. The work is inspired by the theme Steps to Work S4 P6 Enhanced Transition Programme of regeneration and the idea of merging old with new. Mrs McBreen’s Steps to Miss Miller, Ms Gibson and Theresa Potter (Family Learning Work class have been Team) recently welcomed a number working hard recently of P6 pupils and their parents from on building their own the Kilwinning locality to join us Interaction Design at Glasgow employability skills. as part of our new P6 Enhanced School of Art CV writing and Mock Interviews Transition Programme. Katie Seivwright of S6 attended a one off event at Glasgow have been taking place and We look forward to getting to know the School of Art, organised by the Wider Participation Group pupils have been researching pupils and building positive relationships which allowed her to spend a day with the Interaction local job opportunities. within the 4-5 week programme. Design Course Leaders, experiencing some of the interactive Literacy technology used in the department. Ms McKillop’s S1 English classes have been studying Scots Language. Our S1 Art Stars for this They finished the unit of work off with a celebration of Robert Burns S1 ART S2 Group 2 Toy where they had a ‘wee’ taste of some typical Scottish food. The food was month are Kayleigh Wood polished off with great delight and there were very few plates which were STARS FOR and Max Mitchell. Making Elective not completely cleared. FEBRUARY Well done to both of them! The second group of S2 Toy Making Elective pupils have manufactured their every own Pastoral Support A Fond Farewell Mini Rocking Toys. Mrs James and 1C2 welcomed student Mrs Wilson, PT Support is retiring nurses from UWS to their PSHE class on 29th March after 17 years in recently to talk about links between sugar Kilwinning Academy. and obesity. She has dedicated many years to supporting Pupils then had the opportunity to do some and encouraging our young people to overcome research for themselves to find out just how barriers to learning many teaspoons of sugar were in some of their and has been a kind favourite drinks. and caring colleague S3 ART Our S3 Art Stars for this throughout the years. STARS FOR month are Cassidy McGrath Her commitment to FEBRUARY and Dylyn Weir. the school will have a Well done to both of them! lasting impact on all of us. We wish her all the best as she takes a well-deserved break.

16 17 The P7 Enhanced ENHANCED Transition Programme WIDER ACHIEVEMENT The Wider Achievement Working Group Assemblies very soon so watch this space! In order for This year the P7 Enhanced Transition us to celebrate the success of our young people then programme will involve 65 young led by Mrs McBreen recently met to agree TRANSITION the categories and selection criteria for we need to know about it therefore we do need people across the Kilwinning locality. your help... celebrating Wider Achievement. The Programme is led by Elaine Connor Can you help us celebrate your child’s success? Has your P7 Enhanced (Area Inclusion Worker) and this time we also The group decided that a ‘Wider Achievement Tie’ child recently represented their local/national team at have the pleasure of Theresa Potter (Family could be awarded to pupils achieving in the following sport? Are they involved in Theatre/Music/Dance/Charity Transition Afternoon Learning Worker) to facilitate it also. categories – SPORT • MUSIC • THE ARTS • Work? Any other Wider Achievements? Then please let COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT Thanks to all the parents/carers who The programme covers getting to know pupils us know. attended our P7 Enhanced Transition and staff, dispelling any worries about the The group have shortlisted 11 pupils who will be Send us an email: [email protected] information afternoon – it was great to transition from primary to secondary, finding receiving their Wider Achievement Tie at their House and use the subject line wider achievement. see so many present. out about what it is like attending Kilwinning Academy (classes, timetables etc.) as well as a Our P7 Enhanced transition programme is well guided tour of the school. underway now and we thank Dierdre Oakley Where Are They Now? and her team from Community Learning and As always this programme also allows for At Kilwinning Academy we also like hear about the WATCH THIS SPACE... Development for their ongoing support. Community Learning and Development staff Achievements of our former pupils and believe in STAFF HALL OF FAME - COMING SOON to deliver their Dynamic Youth Award to the being part of the Wider Community therefore we in the next edition of our newsletter We have 65 young people involved in Enhanced young people. Transition this year – we are very much looking want to share with you some recent success stories. forward to getting to know the young people and their parents/carers. We are very proud to share that former pupil Matthew Craven currently studying an integrated Masters in Electronic and Electrical Engineering at the University of Strathclyde won a prestigious scholarship with Scottish Power. Matthew was one of only 11 British scholarship winners who were flown over to the headquarters of Scottish Power’s parent company Ibedrola in Madrid in December for an award ceremony which was attended by fellow scholarship winners from Spain, USA, Mexico and Brazil. Matthew received the formal award of his scholarship from King Felipe of Spain at a reception held at the Palacio de la Zarzuela.What an Achievement! Well done Matthew.

We would like to wish former Kilwinning Academy pupil Courtney Gemmell the very best of luck in her next big adventure. After leaving school Courtney undertook an 18 month Youth Work Cluster Adverse Childhood Experiences Modern Apprenticeship with North Ayrshire Council and is now heading off to Africa to help tackle issues such as HIV, youth unemployment and Working The February inset had a focus on the human rights of disabled citizens.What a worthy cause, Well done Mrs Sloan had Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) Courtney! Please come in and tell us all about it when you return. a great time and all staff viewed the ‘Resilience – The attending the Biology of stress and The Science of We would also like to say thank you to former Kilwinning Academy Hope’ film. Physics pupil Aiden Telfer. Aiden recently came back to the Science Whitehirst Park Department to help this year’s S5 pupils apply to Scottish Space School. At Kilwinning Academy, we are committed to Annual Burns He then went on to inspire some of our S3 pupils into considering getting it right for all young people through supper. Engineering as a future career choice. Thanks Aiden. our nurturing, inclusive approaches and indeed The Talent through the utilisation of extensive supports. on show was Well done to former pupil Connie Jaffrey selected in an initial Great spectacular and Britain and Ireland squad of 14 players announced by the R&A ahead of the haggis went next year’s Curtis cup match at Quaker Ridge Golf Club in Scarsdale, N.Y. down a treat. Fantastic news! Well done to all involved!! TELL US! If you are a former pupil or know someone who is and feel they deserve some recognition for what they are doing now then please let us know. Send us an email: [email protected] 18 and use the subject line wider achievement. 19 Head Teacher’s Message

Dear Parents and Carers, In December 2017 a team of inspectors from Education Scotland visited the school to take part in the first official two day inspection process using one of their new approaches to school inspection. The inspectors arranged to meet with the Senior Leadership Team, representatives from the local authority education department, a large number of young people, staff, parents and carers and partners. This new approach to inspection meant that the inspectors would only focus on two of the Quality Indicators from the self-evaluation document ‘How good is our school’ 4th Edition.

QUALITY INDICATOR EVALUATION 1.1 Self-evaluation for self-improvement Good

2.2 Raising attainment and achievement Good Descriptions of the evaluations are available from ‘How good is our school’ (4th edition) Appendix 3

The inspection team found the following strengths in the school’s work – • The leadership of the Headteacher and Deputy Headteachers in developing a culture of improvement. They are all regarded highly by young people, parents, staff and partners. • The school’s commitment to its shared values. This is reflected in its work to provide a nurturing and inclusive environment which results in young people and staff having a strong sense of belonging to the school. • The leadership development of staff and young people across the school. The following areas for improvement were identified and discussed with the Headteacher and a representative from North Ayrshire Council – • Involve young people, parents and partners more in shaping school improvement. This could be through involving them in identifying priorities for improving the school. They could also be engaged in evaluating the progress made towards achieving the priorities set for improvement. • Continue to raise attainment whilst ensuring that by the time young people leave school they have achieved the best possible set of qualifications. This will be supported through continuing to develop systems for checking that young people are making the best possible progress, particularly those from S1 to S3. May I take this opportunity to wish all our young people, preparing for their forthcoming National Qualifications, the very best of luck. The school will support all learners through offering Supported Study, Easter School and Master Classes in almost all subjects. Staff are also willing to support any young person who asks for additional support and advice. It is important during this challenging time that parents, carers and staff work together to support our young people through to achieve their full potential so if there is anything we can do please do not hesitate to contact the school to pass on your suggestions. Yours sincerely

T Swan Head Teacher

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