Stranraer Academy Newsletter All the latest news from in and around the school... Issue 44—June 2018 www.stranraeracademy.org.uk Head Boy & Head Girl Appointments Following an application process for the student leadership positions of Head Boy, Head Girl and their respective Depute roles, interviews were held on Tuesday 26th June to appoint our new 6th year repre- sentatives. The successful candidates have been appointed to the following positions for Session 2018/19 and are as follows: Head Girl: Fiona Ramsay Head Boy: Max Cole Depute Head Girl: Emma O'Neill Depute Head Boy: Finn Onori Congratulations to the pupils who have been appointed for these important roles. Announcements p1-5 | News p6-9 | Sports p10-15 | DYW p16 | Information p17-18 | Parent Council p18 Page - 1 - Announcements Retirements & Staff Changes Stranraer Academy will undergo more changes to staffing after the summer with several members of staff retiring and others taking up new posts at other schools. Our Headteacher, Mr Dawson has announced that he will be retiring at the summer after 11 years at Stranraer Academy. In a letter to staff, pupils, parents and the wider community Mr Dawson had some words to reflect on his time in the school: “Having been eleven years in post, I think it is now time to allow someone else the opportunity to become Headteacher of this great school. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at the school and thank you all for your support over the past years.” Other staff retiring are: Mr G. Clyne, Mr G. Jenkins, Mrs J. Proudfoot, Mr D. Carruthers, Mrs H. Manderson, Mr A. Moffat and Mrs C. Moffat. Staff leaving to continue their careers elsewhere are: Miss F. Martin, Miss M. Turner, Mr W. Russell, Mr B. Bethune, Mr I. McLatchie, Mr G. Mokwa, Mr C. Hyslop and Mr A. Lang. Everyone at Stranraer Academy would like to thank Mr Dawson and wish our other retirees a long and happy retirement! We would also like to say good luck to those who are moving onto other schools and wish them well in their careers. Page - 2 - Announcements S4/5/6 Awards Ceremony The S4/5/6 Awards Ceremony was held on Thursday 26th April 2018 and was very well attended. Well done to all pupils who received an award! S4 Students of the Year: Jake Rice & Heather Nicol S5 Student of the Year: Finn Onori S6 Student of the Year: Jemma Ramsay The full list of Awards are available on our website: http://www.stranraeracademy.org.uk/s456-awards-ceremony.html Page - 3 - Announcements S1/2/3 Awards Ceremony The S1/2/3 Awards Ceremonies were held on Thursday 7th June 2018 and Wednesday 13th June with both being well attended. Well done to all pupils who received an award! S1 Student of the Year: Craig Agnew S2 Students of the Year: Ryan Edgar & Bronagh Gibb S3 Student of the Year: Anna Ramsay The full list of Awards are available on our website: http://stranraeracademy.org.uk/s123-awards-ceremony.html Page - 4 - Announcements Acting Headteacher & Acting Depute Headteacher Appointments Following MrDawson’s retirement, interviews were held on Tuesday 26th June, to appoint Acting Senior Management posts. Mr A. Law has been appointed as Acting Headteacher at Stranraer Academy as from August 2018. Mr R. Lockwood has also recently been appointed Acting Depute Headteacher. S4/5/6 Exam Results Day & Subject Changes Exam Results Day The SQA Exam results will be published on Tuesday 7th August. On that morning, Mr Dawson will be available to speak to pupils with any queries or problems regarding their results. Subject Changes Prior to his official retirement date, Mr Dawson will be available on Wednesday 15th August to make subject changes for pupils in light of their exam results. Out of Bounds Areas & Street Closure With the Summer and better weather, the Street will be closed to all S1-S4 pupils. S5/6 will be the only pupils allowed in and will assist the supervision of entry and exits points with staff. In the event of adverse weather, ALL pupils will be permitted inside during break / lunch at the discretion of Senior Management. Any such decision will be announced over the school speaker system. Finally, please note that the front entrance foyer of the school is out of bounds to all pupils, before, during and after school. This area is for visitors only and pupils who sit or loiter in this area will be moved. Page - 5 - School News S2 Cancer Research Charity Fundraising Early in this school year a group of, then, S1 students led by Gavin Ramsay approached their register teacher, Mr Dornan and their Pupil Support Teacher, Ms McCulloch to discuss how they could raise mon- ey for Cancer Research. This initial group of 7 pupils each have a family member or close family friend who has been diagnosed with cancer. It was decided that 2 main events would be organised – a raffle and a sponsored walk. The youngsters gathered a great selection of raffle prizes through generous support from local businesses and this raised over £600. On Tuesday the 26th of June, a larger group of 25 pupils now in S2 and mainly from Glenapp House group completed a 10km walk from Stranraer to Castle Kennedy and around Castle Kennedy gardens. Everyone had worked hard to get sponsorship for the walk and so far the total sponsorship money exceeds £1400 with more to come. Sincere thanks are due to Stair Estates for support and permission to walk through the estate and also to the adult helpers who accompanied the group on the day. It was a great day made even better by the terrific weather! Well done to all the pupils who took part in the walk and particularly to the “magnificent 7” pupils (Gavin Ramsay, Owen Toal, Charlotte Russell, Halle Arnott, Connor Erskine, Ailsa Erskine & Julian McNally), together with Mr Dornan, who continue to work tirelessly to raise more money for this very worthy cause. If anyone would like to make a donation they can do so on our Just Giv- ing page: https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/beat-cancer-sooner-s1-stranraer Page - 6 - School News Pupil Equity Funding Report Stranraer Academy have provided a brief report on the success of the Pupil Equity Funding pro- vided by the Scottish Government. This initiative has seen £120m provided to schools across Scotland with the purpose of "Closing the Gap". Stranraer Academy has seen a significant improvement across the school in many ways as a result of this additional funding and our Senior Management Team have decided to communicate this to you in the form of a report. To view the report, please use the following links… App: More > Files > PEF Report 2018 Website: http://www.stranraeracademy.org.uk/pef-report-2018.html For more information on PEF, please visit the following link: https://beta.gov.scot/policies/schools/pupil-attainment/ Parliamentary Reception for Teenage Cancer Trust Fundraising As a result of the work done and money raised by all of S2 Health & Wellbeing classes for Teenage Cancer Trust in recent months, there was an invitation extended to the school to attend the Parliamentary Reception at Holyrood on 28th March. Rona Mackay MSP welcomed those in attendance and thanks were extended to all schools involved. The Teenage Cancer Trust have been coming to the school for a number of years now to deliver presen- tations to S2 pupils. The presentations are valued and well received by pupils due to the interactive and informative nature. For more on the Teenage Cancer Trust and the important work they do, please visit their website: https://www.teenagecancertrust.org/ Page - 7 - School News Pupils Help Local Incredible Edibles Initiative! Pupils from the Learning Centre in Stranraer Academy have been busy helping the Stranraer "Incredible Edibles" Group by planting Garlic, French Beans and Runner Beans at the Garden of Friendship in the town. The pupils are helping the local group to provide a variety of edibles such as apples, strawberries, rhu- barb, herbs, pulses and other fruit/vegetables all over Stranraer with the aim of encouraging members of the public to pick the edibles when ripe and ready for consumption. The pupils enjoyed the experience and are looking forward to helping the group again in the near future! If you would like to find out more about Incredible Edibles, please visit the following website: http://www.incredibleediblenetwork.org.uk/ Page - 8 - School News Young Enterprise Narrowly Miss Out at National Finals "Home" the Stranraer Young Enterprise Company narrowlyu missed out on some awards at this years Na- tional Finals but enjoyed the experience. They qualified for the National Finals after being crowned win- ners in the Young Enterprise Dumfries & Galloway Company Programme 2018 Awards earlier this year. "Home" are a company that makes Scottish-themed laser-cut wooden products, also came joint second for presentation. Well done all, and to teacher Fiona Jean and Business Adviser Lee Michael Medd. You can find out more about the company via their official Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/YesCompanyHome Well done everyone! Writing Competition Winners! The Literacy Group would like to announce the results from the annual Stranraer Academy Writing Competition! The results are as follows: Overall winner: Sean Bingham S3 - Creative story "Solitary". Sean received a £25 voucher and the Writer of the Year shield. Runners Up (all receive a £10 voucher): Gabriella Teears, Chloe Waugh and Stuart McCallum Well done and thank you to everyone who entered! Page - 9 - Sports News Netball - Stranraer Girls Scoop Regional Awards! Well done to our Young Netballers who represented the school at the Regional Netball League Awards Night.