Staffing (Download this newsletter from here)

Mrs Margaret Fulton of the PE Department has decided to retire at the end of session after 18 years of sterling service to the school. Her contribution to sports and fitness, to extra-curricular activities and, more recently to wider issues of health and wellbeing has been highly significant and highly valued. We will be interviewing candidates for this post in mid-May and are hopeful that we will find a worthy replacement. Mrs McFadden, from the Maths Department, is now on maternity leave and, again, we will be interviewing for that temporary post in May. Currently, we are fortunate to have two maths specialists covering classes and we are grateful to Mr Flowers and Mr Collins for their willingness to help out at this time.
Mrs Elizabeth Davidson, a long-standing member of our Office Staff, has also retired and we would wish to express our appreciation of her many years of excellent service to the school and to wish her a healthy and happy retirement. Mrs Alex MacMillan has now been appointed to work in the School Office.
We have also appointed three members of staff to co-ordinate key tasks in the coming months. These are: Miss Prowse, who will oversee the development and implementation of Themes in S2 and S3; Mr Templeton, who will co-ordinate work on Numeracy across the school, and Miss Porteous who will lead our Health and Wellbeing policy and practice.

SQA Exams

This year’s diet of SQA examinations started with Standard Grade English on Thursday last and pupils in S3-S6 have all been briefed about timetables, time-keeping, rules about mobile devices and the importance of informing the school if there are any health, family or travel factors that might affect performance. Parents of pupils sitting examinations should have received similar information by post in order that they are aware of procedures. We have stressed to all pupils the importance of attending classes during the exam diet; for many, last minute revision and clarification can make a real difference to grades.

Study Leave

S4-S6 students have the opportunity to study at home from 4 May until 31 May, but again we recommend that they should attend classes that teachers are running during this period. We have also set aside supervised accommodation for studying in school. S3 pupils do not get study leave, but are allowed to go home following an examination on that day.

School Transport

We have received paperwork announcing some changes to arrangements for school transport. This will be issued to pupils who travel by bus at the end of school on Thursday and it is important that you should ask your youngster to hand it over. In particular, if your child travels to school on a ‘grace and favour’ basis (ie if you live within the 3 mile zone), a form needs to be completed and submitted before 11 May. If you do not get the information from your child, please contact the School Office.

Induction Days

Students in the Senior School have induction activities (see the calendar at the start) to prepare them for this prior to starting the new timetable on 4 June. They have been briefed about these days already and it is vital that they attend these and do so in school uniform, able to return all school books and ready to accept the increasing responsibilities of being in S4, S5 or S6.

Induction Day for new S5: Invitation to Parents

We are organising a Careers Information session on Friday 1st June from 2pm until 3.30pm and invite any parents willing/able to join us in school that afternoon to give a short presentation about their
job/profession to a small group of pupils. Please contact Mrs Kirkland in Pupil Support if you are available to
help.  A brief outline of your job /profession would be useful.

School Uniform

Feedback from the vast majority of parents supports the enforcement of school uniform and several parents have suggested two things: that S1 enrolment should involve a commitment to uniform by signing up, and that the school should investigate the possibility of adding a school jumper or sweatshirt to the uniform. We intend to form a small group of staff, parents and pupils to consider these (and any other) suggestions in the period after examinations and before the summer break.

Celtic New Year Dinner

Congratulations to Miss Porteous and her Hospitality: General Operations group who organised and carried out such an impressive event at Threave. The dinner itself was of high professional standard and the manner in which the students carried out their different duties was exemplary. Everyone who attended the event was full of praise for the cuisine and the service, and we were extremely grateful to mentors, Tom and Kate Kirkpatrick, for all their advice and support and to the restaurant management at Threave for enabling use of the venue and the professional kitchen.

Young Enterprise

Well done also to this year’s Young Enterprise company who acquitted themselves very well at last week’s regional finals at Dumfries and Galloway College. Their products – a recipe and advice App for students having to cater for themselves and a pack of kitchen equipment to complement this – were recognised as highly innovative and professional.

Trades Workshop

After almost 7 years of lobbying for a workshop to accommodate facilities for teaching trades and crafts, we have finally managed to have this venture endorsed by the council. The first step in the creation of the workshop – which will enable the teaching of such things as building, mechanical and traditional craft skills – was the recent purchase of land adjacent to the Games Hall and we are looking forward to our vision of a vocational facility becoming a reality.

Mongolia Expedition

The 32 young people who are undertaking an expedition to Mongolia in October are doing well in their efforts to fund-raise the considerable amount of money that will enable them to cross the world and learn survival skills while making contributions to schools and support services for orphaned children. We are extremely grateful to everyone who has supported their activities in any way and we recognise that such intensive fund-raising can exhaust goodwill. The venture is a worthwhile one and several of these young people would not be able to contemplate such a major adventure if it were not for the financial support of others. Clearly, with so many people involved in raising funds, communication with the school and, in particular, with Penny Smith in the School Office has put additional demands on her time. Given the pressure on Office staff, can I ask that those who wish to get in touch with Penny do so at a specific time: between 9 and 10 am on a Friday? This would ease demands considerably; of course, communication by email can happen at any time!

Football First Fundraising

Football First Fundraising C.I.C. recycles un-wanted or outgrown football boots, shin guards, tracksuits or strips to help children in Dumfries and Galloway.
Place your unwanted items in the recycle box in the PE Dept. More information available at http://www.footballfirstfundraising.co.uk

Kirkcudbright Academy Bike Recycling Scheme

The aim of the Kirkcudbright Academy Bike Recycling Scheme is to develop pupils’ practical skills through an enterprise activity. It has been running for two years now and last year won a national Social Enterprise Award. The initiative is an ideal way to pass on those old bikes that are cluttering up your sheds and garages and will help develop our pupils’ practical and entrepreneurial skills.

We currently have a number of mountain, town and touring bikes which have been recycled and are for sale.

If you have a bike which is no longer of use to you and you would like to donate to this worthwhile initiative please contact the school office. The group are looking for bikes for all age groups and will take your bike, regardless of condition.

Kirkcudbright Academy Half Marathon

Half Marathon day on Saturday 26th May will be a big event.  We would still welcome offers of help and hope you'll encourage your pupils to help too around school and with feeding stations. If, for example, you live on or close to the race route and would be prepared to marshall for a couple of hours, please let Mrs Gladstone know. If you're feeling energetic and would like to take part please ask for an entry form or download one from the Marathon website www.kahm.org.uk.  You could be sponsored to raise funds for the Academy or your own favourite charity or you could book a stall (with Mrs Murdoch) and raise funds that way. Both Mrs Gladstone and Mrs Murdoch can be contacted via the School Office.

Half Marathon Raffle Tickets

All first year pupils will be issued with a letter from Mrs Christine Collins, Parent Council, and raffle tickets to sell to help with fundraising at the Half Marathon.  If anyone would like to buy raffle tickets they will be
available from the school office and from Mrs Christine Collins telephone 01557 331475.  Proceeds will go towards equipping the new Trades Workshop.

KAM (Kirkcudbright Academy Magazine)

KAM will be out next week, beginning the 30 April. The cost will be £2.50 and the magazine will be on sale in school, in the link and in the school office. A lot of hard work has been put towards this year’s edition and we hope you enjoy your copy of KAM 2012.

Tesco and Sainsbury’s Vouchers

Don't forget that we're collecting vouchers from both Tesco and Sainsbury.  Please hand them in to the school office .

Parent and Teen Scheme (P.A.T)

The scheme allows a Parent/Guardian accompanying a * Teenager (currently enrolled at Academy) to attend the following:

• The Gym
• Aqua-circuits (Mondays 7 – 8pm)
• Aquacise (Wednesdays 6.45 – 7.45pm)

*A teenager is a person aged 13- 19, however, due to insurance purposes teens will need to be 14yrs old to use the gym. The price will be £1 per person. Adults will incur an initial cost of £5 which will cover their gym introduction (unless they are currently members). The introduction for teens will be free. If interested in this scheme, please contact the pool for more details. If interested in the gym please contact the pool to book an introduction Kirkcudbright Swimming Pool www.kbtpool.co.uk 01557-331881.

S1/S2 Activities Week 2012, Monday 28 th May to Friday June 1st

Activities Week is an essential part of the curriculum at Kirkcudbright Academy - as important as any other week in the school year. The aim of the programme is to enhance the school ethos and learning experiences by providing staff and pupils with opportunities to interact with each other in learning activities outwith those normally experienced in the classroom. This year’s programme includes drama, art activities, enterprise challenges, trips to St Andrews, Carlisle and the Laggan Outdoor Activity Centre, abseiling, photography and community work amongst many others.

The programme is jointly funded by the school, the School Fund and the pupils themselves. No pupil should be denied the opportunity to participate in an activity because a charge is being made. If the issue of cost might prevent your child from participating in an activity, please make an application to the School Trust Fund by e-mailing the Rector, in confidence, at koffice612@ea.dumgal.sch.uk