Staff News (Download this newsletter from here)

Session 2009-10 is now underway and new pupils and staff have been welcomed into the Academy. In addition to the S1 intake, we have a number of new pupils joining different year groups and we hope that, as parents and carers, you will also become an active member of the school. New staff are as follows – Ms Prowse in Modern Languages, Mrs Dwojacka in Chemistry/Science, Ms Westbrook in Drama, Mrs Murdoch in Geography, Mrs Tebay in Behaviour Support and also Mrs Huddlestone in English who has taken over Mr Donnelly’s teaching commitment. As many of you will know, Gerry Donnelly who was latterly Principal Teacher Pupil Support: Support for Learning has taken up an appointment as Depute at St Joseph’s College in Dumfries and we thank him for all his hard work for the pupils in Kirkcudbright Academy over the past eleven years. Ms Fullarton has taken over Mr Donnelly’s Principal Teacher role for the time being.

SQA Results

The vast majority of pupils who sat SQA examinations in May and June have done themselves justice and obtained good results. In fact, the initial statistics show that several groups of pupils have done extremely well, achieving some of the best results the school has ever had and some of the best in Scotland – this is outstanding for a small school in a relatively remote area. Well done! We are very proud of these and of the many other successes that our pupils achieve in a wide range of activities.

As we have now reached a landmark in our Curriculum Flexibility Project – the first group of pupils has now left the school – we are able to reflect on their progress and the final report of the University of Glasgow monitoring team will be published later in the autumn. We intend to compile a press release about this nearer the time and will share this with parents in advance.

S6 Prefects

The new S6 has elected their prefect representatives for the year and these senior students were presented with their badges at Prize-giving in July – Andrew Carnaghan, Rachel Connor, Sam Gilston, Kate Greenwood, John Picken, Claire Smith and Rachel Taylor.

Harbour Square Development

At the end of last term, the architects involved in producing designs for the Harbour Square space visited the school and consulted with our young people for their ideas and opinions. Feedback from this session has been very positive and pupils’ views will inform the final proposals.

Swine Flu

You should have received a letter from the Scottish Government giving an update on the situation regarding the swine flu epidemic. Please reinforce the advice about hygiene with your youngsters and, if concerned that a pupil may have contracted the flu, keep him or her at home and contact the school.

Emergency Procedures

We await the installation of some lighting equipment before we are able to publicise and practise the emergency procedures that we have put into place (in line with Government requirements and advice). Further details will follow.

Contact Home

We no longer use Groupcall to send information home or to ask for reasons for absence. There is a new system for doing this but we must have either a mobile phone number or an email address in place. For the time being, we will use any mobile number which we have on file for the main contact of each child or alternatively an email address if we have one. If you would prefer messages to go to another mobile number or email address please advise us as soon as possible. For those of you who have neither a mobile number or an email address, please access our website regularly for general information.

School Email Address

The school is using a new email network and our contact address is now koffice612@ea.dumgal.sch.uk

Uniform

The vast majority of pupils have arrived in school looking very smart in uniform, but we ask you to reinforce the rule about black trousers. By ‘black trousers’ we mean smart trousers and not black jeans.

Pupil Planners

This session we are again stressing the importance of the pupil planner as a tool that will help pupils organize and manage their workload with respect to homework, assessment dates and other deadlines.

The school-specific information on pages 2 – 16 is very useful, especially pages 4 and 5, parents/carers are asked read this. Please encourage your child(ren) in the daily use of the planner.

S1 CAT Tests

In September 2009, all S1 pupils in secondary schools in Dumfries and Galloway will take part in the above tests in order to obtain additional information about pupils’ learning. Further information and details regarding dates will be sent to you shortly.

S1 and S2 lunchtime arrangements

As stated previously S1 pupils should remain in school at lunchtime, unless going home for lunch. In S2, pupils are able to have lunch out of school on a Monday and a Wednesday. The vast majority of S2 pupils are staying in school and currently, following parental requests, only 8 are not. It is our view that for pupils in Years 1 and 2, remaining in school is the best option in terms of their safety, supervision and access to clubs. The dining room has no difficulty in coping with 200 plus pupils on a daily basis, although Mrs McLachlan and her team have faced recent challenges brought about by faults in the cashless catering technology.

Thank you for your continuing support of our Lower School lunch arrangements.

Lunchtime and after school clubs

Clubs are beginning to start and I would encourage your child(ren) to take part. Pupils should check notice boards and the large screen in the dining room for details. This year, we are encouraging senior students in Years 4 – 6 to attend and indeed help in the running of these, as part of a school service commitment.

EcoSchool

Advance notice that we can send 4 representatives to the Scottish Parliament in October to take part in an environmental conference.

Terramundi Theatre Company will be visiting the school on Thursday 17th September at 3.45pm to stage a production dealing with Climate Change and the Environment. There are only 40 places available and pupils should watch notice boards for further details.

Girls Rugby

Stewartry Rugby club in Castle Douglas is holding a day for Girls Rugby. The day consists of coaching in the morning and games/tournament in afternoon and will take place on Tuesday 15th September, 10am start, finish at 2.30. Ideally, they would like 10 girls from S1, S2 & S3. The RFU development officers are aiming to set up a regional squad for coaching & games and this is the launch in our area. Please get names to Mrs McEwen by Tuesday 1st September to confirm a place.

Girls Club

We have secured funding from Awards for All (Lottery Funding) to start an After School Club for Girls. The club will be held on Thursdays and be open to Girls from S3-S6 initially. The programme is a mixture of health and beauty sessions and activities such as trampolining, dance and aerobics with the intention of raising self esteem and encouraging an interest in health and wellbeing.
Girls should give their names to Mrs McEwen by Friday 4th September if they are interested and please feel free to contact Mrs McEwen at the school if you would like any more information or could help in any way.

PE

Any clothing left in the PE department will be retained for one week. Items will be displayed on Fridays in the PE Dept and if not claimed will be sent to a charity shop or clothing bank.

Rugby

Our rugby development officer, John Muir, will be back with us this year and is keen to promote rugby within the school for both boys and girls. Over the next few months he will be in school on a Tuesday delivering rugby coaching throughout the day in PE classes. It is hoped this will encourage the pupils to become involved in our rugby team and enable us to field teams at the tournaments and festivals organised this year.

Pantomime

This year is pantomime year at the academy. The panto for this year has still to be finalised, however pupils should look out for details and dates for auditions very soon. We hope to get as many pupils involved as possible, so if you are keen to be involved but don’t want to be on stage keep your eye on the notice board for a meeting for panto helpers.

Gideons International

Members of the Dumfries and District Branch of Gideons International will be visiting the school in the autumn to meet with S1 pupils as part of their Schools’ Programme and will be handing out copies of the New Testament.

Coniston Corporate (Uniform Supplier)

Due to an ordering error on the part of Coniston they have a supply of blazers that they are prepared to offer at a reduced price. Further details will follow.

Congratulations to David Barclay, Angus Milby, Neil Thomson, Iain Wylie (S3) and Helen McAllister (S6) who have won through to the national finals of the Scottish Support for Learning Association Good Practice Award. Led by Ms Pirani, the group will compete at the finals in Bathgate on 18 September.

Careers Adviser Update-Maurice Gilligan, Careers Adviser, Kirkcudbright Academy
Careers Scotland recognises the major influence parents/carers have on their child's career planning.  I am committed to supporting the career planning and decision making skills of all pupils at Kirkcudbright Academy.
Beginning Wednesday 9th of September and every Wednesday (during term time), I will be available in the Health Suite to meet with pupils.
Pupils can self-refer for a careers interview and can also get help with:
Looking at the stages of career planning

• Deciding on the career options open to them
• Explaining how school subjects can help them enter jobs or courses
• Telling them about College/University courses
• Improving their job search and interview skills

Pupils can self-refer for a careers interview by:
Email: maurice.gilligan@careers-scotland.org.uk (emailto: emma.richardson@careers-scotland.org.uk

in the first instance).

Alternatively:

• Asking your pupil support teacher for an appointment.
• Contacting the Careers Scotland Centre in Dumfries (01387 272500).

Parents/Guardians and pupils are always welcome to speak with me.