Education and Children’s Services

New Pitsligo and St John’s School

Congratulations to New Pitlsigo & St John’s School for being presented with their award for winning Buchan Beginning to Bloom (for the second year running).

Banchory Primary School

Well done to Josh Murray who won a silver medal at the Scottish Championships in Perth in October. Josh has trained at Banchory Trampoline Club since he was aged 3.

Two pupils - Emily Hammond and Anabelle Fuker received prizes in the Aberdeenshire Library Challenge, winning a class trip (Emily) and a family trip A number of pupils have been successful (Anabelle) to the Gordon Highlanders in obtaining times that are eligible for Museum. them to swim in the Scottish Schools Championships in January 2015. This is a great achievement. The trials for them to qualify for the January finals are taking place on 25th November 2015.

Rafal Wilowska Tarland School

Congratulations to Rafal on his recent Pupils in the P4/5 class have been finding achievement at the Racketlon World out about life during WW1. Much of the Championships (that’s the sport where learning took place through the you play your opponent consecutively at production of the drama, ‘Archie’s War’. table tennis, badminton, squash and tennis, first to 21 at each, overall cumulative total wins).

Banchory Academy

Congratulations to Iseabail Duncan, an S2 pupil, who was named the winner of a prestigious Scottish Short Story competition, the Association for Scottish Literary Studies (ASLS), Young Writers’ Competition.

The children helped edit the script, choose the costumes, and rehearse the play to a wonderfully high standard.

They went even further by designing a booklet of poems which they sold for the Poppy Fund.

Aboyne Academy Iseabail and her family attended a ceremony at the University of Strathclyde Well done to Aboyne Academy for where she received her £100 prize. winning the Aberdeenshire Schools Mock

Trial competition on 8 November. The Sabrina Pirie also won the top prize in team of 14 senior pupils, accompanied by Aberdeenshire Council’s annual Summer their teacher Jennifer Law, triumphed in Reading Challenge, winning a trip for her the annual competition held at Aberdeen class to visit the Poppy Scotland Sheriff and High Court on Saturday. Headquarters in Edinburgh where was presented with her prize.

Rothienorman Fintry School

Rothienorman School scooped an award Fintry School were delighted to receive (Bushnell Camera) for capturing the best the Gold Joint Winner Award at a recent images of wildlife in their school area as Formartine in Bloom Award Ceremony part of a citizen science project aimed at held at Oldmeldrum. gathering information about under- recorded species and giving the children an opportunity to discover more about the secret life of animals.

The competition was organised by the North East Scotland Biodiversity Partnership and supported by Forestry Commission Scotland.

Sunny Matthew (left) and Amy Finnie (right) collecting the Formartine in Bloom Award, along with a cheque for £200.

Mintlaw Primary School Rothienorman – Roe Deer Primary 7 conducted research into WW1 Evening Express Tokens and the conditions at the front line. They also read “War Horse” by Michael Aberdeenshire Schools, parents and Morpurgo and wrote their own Haiku children have collected an amazing poems influenced by the horses part in 59,457 tokens in a recent Evening the battle Express promotion in September 2014 raising a fantastic sum of £7,142 towards By Connor Gilbert Sport in Schools. The funding was Horses galloping, presented to Active Schools and Machine guns firing, colleagues in each network will be Horses rearing up. consulted about how this investment can best provide more and better quality Horses cantering, School Sport opportunities for children Emotions are taking hold, Sadness everywhere. Durris Primary School Death spreads like wild fire, Getting captured is the worst, Well done to the pupils of Durris Primary Shouts and screams I hear. School for being successful in the Bullets everywhere, Dynamic Youth Awards. Really scared want to go home,

Wire everywhere.

Thunderous booms heard, So many innocent deaths, An open waste land.

Banchory Academy win British to exemplify Scotland’s commitment to Schools Orienteering Championship! sustainable learning. The report is being shared at a global UNESCO conference A team of 12 pupils from Banchory in December 2014 to mark the conclusion Academy travelled to Leeds to compete of the United Nations Decade of in the British Schools Orienteering Education for Sustainable Development. Championships where they won the ‘Large Secondary’ category. This is the Kincardine O’ Neil School second time that Banchory has won these Championships, the other time being in Legion Scotland the Kincardine O’ Neil 2011. Branch was invited to an open day at the gardens of Kincardine Castle on Sunday 15 June. There was a service of dedication of a poppy garden, within the garden in the grounds. This was created by Mrs Bradford of Kincardine Castle, the children of the local primary school, Mrs Ridley, head teacher, and Branch chairman Ian Stewart to commemorate the start of World War 1. The poppy garden has a stone engraved with “IN FLANDERS FIELD THE POPPIES BLOW”. The school children made a poppy for every one of the 63 names with

rank on the local war memorial for those Having conquered the best school teams who died in the war. These were placed in Britain, Banchory’s Orienteers now around the stone before the service along have the World Schools Orienteering with poppies grown from seed in the Championships in Turkey next April in school. The branch has also been their sights. involved in a second poppy garden at the local school. The garden created by the Craigievar Primary School pupils and the school staff with help from our Chairman Ian Stewart and the local Craigievar School has been recognised branch gifted a stone engraved “LEST for its outdoor learning programme in a WE FORGET” to be placed in the garden. nd recent report published by Education At the end of the school term on 2 July Scotland. A team from Education the committee were invited along to the Scotland visited the school in September dedication of the garden and a short 2014 to meet with pupils, staff and concert. The school children made parents. another 63 poppies with names and rank commemorating the local dead. Those were placed around the stone along with home grown poppies before the service.

Another success for the school was Anna Cowley, P6, winning in the SCARF National competition calendar design.

The report titled “Conversations about Learning for Sustainability” was produced Community Learning & Development Torphins Primary School

Celebration of Young Volunteers at the Well done to Torphins Primary School for Hot Spot Peterhead. raising £802.31 for this year’s Children in Need. An excited group of Aberdeenshire young volunteers had their efforts and Strathdon School achievements recognised at an Awards Ceremony held this month, at the Hot On 11 November, the children from Spot, Peterhead. Strathdon School led a Remembrance Service at the War Memorial in A total of 18 Saltire Awards were Strathdon. presented along with an Aberdeenshire Volunteer Award, in recognition of 5 years volunteering. Saltire Awards for 200 hours of volunteering were presented to Kelly Strachan and Connor Dickie. Sean McGil and Geordan Grant received 50 hour awards.

Community Learning & Development

Duke of Edinburgh’s Award

The Expedition season closes with Aberdeenshire records broken for the In the evening they performed a WW1 second year in a row. play entitled ‘Archie Dobson’s War’. This told the story of a family during the war During 2014, 225 expeditions were and the impact that it had on all of their successfully completed by young people lives. The children had gathered involving Bronze, Silver and Gold awards, information about each of the soldiers this record achievement involved over represented on the local War memorial 1300 young people, 68 expedition’s and displayed this for the community to volunteers and 33 volunteer assessors. see.

Hard Vrocht Grun (WW1 Commemoration) Arts and Heritage resource launched

Hard Vrocht Grun, Arts and Heritage resource has been nationally acknowledged by Education Scotland as sector leading. ‘Hard Vrocht Grun’ Project, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund was launched in November. Printed and online source materials Youth Commission #Bullying targeted on the effect that World War One had on the North-east of Scotland are The Youth Commissioners were now available to schools and nominated for an award at the respectme Awards at the Scottish Parliament on communities in Aberdeenshire. th Thursday 20 November. This year, they are the only group to receive an award.