March/April 2000

Carrick Academy

Headlines From Mr Stewart

Many thanks to all the parents, pupils and staff who contributed items to the Charity Shop. The pupils worked very hard to make this a real fundraiser and raised a total of £1400. It was extremely difficult to decide a winner from each house. It was so difficult in fact that we had to arrange for 5 runners up to receive £10 vouchers because it was so close. Thanks to all who contributed.

As another very busy term draws to an end the S3 pupils have now completed their first ‘big tests’ and the S2 and S4/5 pupils are in the process of planning their course choices for next session.

The Study Support funding is now exhausted and although we expected a substantial cut in this funding for next session we have been informed that we will receive almost the same amount of funding as in previous years. However, based on recent experience, we intend to target groups of pupils more precisely in order to use this precious resource as effectively as possible.

We have noticed a drop in the amount of pupils wearing the appropriate dress code. In some cases pupils have their tie with them but have put it in their pocket. In other cases pupils are wearing trainers rather than shoes – this is the area which requires most improvement. I would welcome parents stressing this to their youngsters as we hopefully move into the better weather when there is a temptation to wear trainers at this time of the year.

The next Newsletter will be in May and we will include any items from the last week in April in that edition.

As ever please contact the school if you have any concerns.

R Stewart

Headteacher

Mr Letford our Librarian has left us to join a school nearer to his home in Glasgow. The school has thanked him for all his hard work since his arrival in June 1998. His post will not be advertised for at least 10 weeks and may still be subjected to the South Ayrshire embargo after that time has elapsed. This means that access to the Library will only be available with teacher supervision. Unfortunately, prior to Mr Letford's arrival, access was freely given and £1000 of books were never recovered. We are actively pursuing a better solution and I will give further information in the May Newsletter.

Dr Woodland returns to the school on 16 May to take up her duties in Physics and Guidance.

Mr Corbett who was covering for Mr Alexander in PE leaves us on Friday and to date we have not been given details of his replacement.

The school has received 20 computers for the Computing Department and we have ordered a number of others which will allow for a more effective access to the Internet once the networking has been completed.

I am awaiting word from the contractors about the upgrading of the Cullen Doors throughout the school. The doors will be electronically operated and will be activated by a Swipe card or Key Fob. I think there will be interesting times ahead.

A problem has developed relating to the specification of the hand dryers for the pupil toilets. They have not met South Ayrshire’s requirements and we are awaiting further information relating to their installation.

The S3 pupils have now experienced their first diet of testing which was completed over the last fortnight in March. This will stand them in good stead for the rigours of S4.

Two very successful Course Planning Evenings have taken place. This has allowed parents to hear details of Higher Still and Standard Grade courses and the various pathways on offer to pupils.

Easter Service

Following on from the success of the Christmas Service in school it was decided to have the Easter Service following the same format. Two services will take place in the dining hall in the morning of Friday 7 April. As usual there will be a collection for a Maybole West Church Charity.

A range of End of Term Activities have been arranged for pupils. These activities are designed to contribute to a more positive school ethos and have been recognised by another South Ayrshire School Board as making a significant contribution to the school attendance. As they put it "the best attendance in South Ayrshire and indicative of good practice." My thanks go to the staff for putting on these activities and to the pupils who participate in a much more relaxed environment and to parents for ensuring that pupils attend school to benefit from these experiences.

It is the intention of the School Board to encourage communication between the School Board and parents/guardians of pupils attending Carrick Academy. It was felt that the best way of doing this would be to let you know, through the school newsletter, about issues discussed at the School Board meetings. The Minutes of previous meetings are available in the Library in Maybole High Street, and from the Head Teacher at Carrick Academy, who also has a list of all School Board members. Topics discussed at the meeting held on Tuesday 29^th February are as follows:

Welcome to Councillor Murray Resignation of Co-opted Member Head Teacher's Report

Section 28 Annual School Board budget School Board Training dates

Various new documents were circulated for Board Members to look at before the next meeting. The Head Teacher's Report included discussion on: Smoking on the school buses, Section 28, Improving Our Schools, Budget 2000-2001. The next meeting will be on Monday 5^th June.

South Ayrshire is moving into a two year cycle of development planning which takes a slightly different format. I will issue details to parents on the May newsletter.

A sample of senior pupils recently took part in a Scottish Council for Research in Education project which is designed to check out the effect Core Skills are having in Higher Still Courses. The Core Skills involved are Numeracy, Literacy, Problem Solving, Information Technology and Working with Others.

A sample of pupils, parents, staff and School Board members were drawn up at random and have responded to a questionnaire relating to Study leave for Senior Pupils for next session’s prelims in February. Many thanks for the responses to this questionnaire. I will give you the findings in the May Newsletter.

At 5.45 am on Friday 24 March, 20 pupils and two teachers from Carrick Academy set off on an expedition to London. With only two nights to spend in the city, and with so much to see and do, every second of the holiday was jam-packed and not a minute was wasted. Our time was spent visiting various famous tourist attractions including the Natural History Museum, London Dungeon, The Millennium Dome and London Aquarium to name but a few. We also managed to squeeze in two outstanding musicals and some excellent food at renowned restaurants including Planet Hollywood and Hard Rock Café. With very little opportunity for sleeping, by the end of the trip everyone was exhausted and would definitely have fallen asleep on the Tube, if it hadn't been for the dulcet tones of Mrs Fitzpatrick with her frequent outbursts of song (which were entertaining to say the least!)

A thoroughly enjoyable time was had by all who took part in the trip, but it was nice to get home to smog-free Ayrshire.

Article by Elaine Wyllie 4B1

Just a quick reminder that the final date for the Tesco Computers for Schools vouchers is 9 April. So all vouchers should be submitted by this Friday (7^th April) to the box in the school reception area.

A group of 36 pupils and 5 members of staff leave on Thursday 6^th April to travel to Bad Salzig, Germany. Lots of activities are planned - let's hope the weather improves! Full report in next May's newsletter.

A number of pupils attended an Award presentation organised by the South Ayrshire Award Group and held at Compaq. The evening, culminating in a delicious buffet, was greatly enjoyed by all.

On the 29^th March, the S5 Enterprise Activity class visited Ayrshire Hospice to present a cheque for £170. We were given an interesting tour of the new building and shown the excellent facilities there for the patients. Also we watched a video on the work that the Hospice does to support the patients and their families. We raised the money by making jam and by selling Christmas paper to staff and local primary schools. The whole class worked hard in raising this money and gave up their free time to raise as much as possible. We chose the Ayrshire Hospice because we felt that this money would benefit the local community.

Lorna Wilson and Lesley Hunter

Hi Everyone! I am delighted to say that this year's week in the Charity Shop has been a great success, raising the grand total of £1400. I feel the event was such a success because of the extra support the C.A.A. received from pupils, parents and staff. A special thanks to all parent helpers who staffed the shop during the week and coped with all the hiccups. Thanks also to Alex Kelly and his helpers, office staff and janitors for fetching and carrying. Well done!

Pupils helped set up the shop and worked during the week, with a special thank you to Jonathan Dowie. Mrs Watson and all in the Home Economics department made the tablet, this was a great success. Last but not least, all staff parents and members of the community who supported Carrick Academy. Without their donations this event could not have been such a great success.

M Simpson - Chairperson, Carrick Academy Association

The Chemistry & Geography departments organised a trip for S2 pupils to visit the new Dynamic Earth Experience in Edinburgh at the beginning of March. Whilst in the centre, the pupils were in a rain forest, experienced an earthquake, saw a volcanic eruption and saw the Arctic from a helicopter. They also visited Deep Sea World, where they walked through the longest underwater tunnel of its type in the world . They saw the sharks being fed and were also allowed to touch other forms of sea life.

Our day at Ibrox was brilliant. It took us about an hour to get there. We were guided by Mr Ken Crawford, the Facilities Manager. He went to school with Mr Cannon, so we went places no-one else had been to. First of all we went into the Blue Room. It is where the press go if Rangers are signing up a new player. It had pictures of all the managers and some of the best players on the walls. We then went to the Trophy Room. It was absolutely filled to the brim with trophies, statues, flags and even a bike! We even got to hold the Scottish Cup. We went round about the grounds and looked in offices and other rooms. After all that we finally got to see the pitch. We had gone up on a lift to the middle level. It was huge! When we had the chance to take photos, we had to take 3 because it was so big! We then went down to the pitch to see it from ground level. We ran through the tunnel and out into the dug-out. We sat on Dick Advocaat's seat which was amazing!

We then went into Mr Crawford's office and he gave us a Rangers goody bag. The boys got Rangers ties and the girls got scarves. It was also full of information about players and different matches. When we said our goodbyes and thanked Mr Crawford, we waited for the players. Unfortunately, we didn't get to meet any of them because they were away at training. After we had finished our tour, Mr Stewart and Mr Cannon took us to MacDonalds. Overall, our day at Ibrox Stadium was absolutely brilliant. We would definitely go again.

Greg Rorison , Andrew Dalgleish, Sharron Jess & Eilidh Sinclair

Team: Zach Dickson (capt) S1, Iain McDowall S2, Gareth Cooper S1, Iain Russell S1

The team started off very well with a win over Marr College E. This was our first win in any tournament and a building block for the future. We came 20^th out of 25 which is also better than last time. I thought the team performed quite well considering this was the first time we had played together. I think that we will be a good team after a wee bit more practice.

Article by: Zach Dickson (capt) 1R1

Tournament organisers commented on the good behaviour and sportsmanship that was shown at this tournament. So well done to all the pupils who represented themselves and the school so well!!

This was hosted by Carrick for the first time on Wednesday 29^th March. All the refereeing and scoring was done by Standard Grade pupils who gained lots of experience and did a terrific job all afternoon.

The team played well to get into the second pool and everyone enjoyed the afternoon.

Thanks to all who helped and to Mr Stewart for presenting the prizes to the winning team – Marr College.

L. Baillie

No Smoking Day

S1 & S2 PSE classes along with the S3 and S4 Lifeskills classes took part in a poster competition for No Smoking Day on Wednesday 8 March. The standard of entries was very high. The winners are as follows: Blair Campbell 1G1, Abigail Davidson 2G1, Linzi Milligan 2G1, Dana McMillan 3B2 and Steven Gordon 4Y1. Congratulations to the winners and well done to all who took part.

J McKnight

On Wednesday 5^th April, all S3 pupils attended an Industrial Awareness Day in Maybole Town Hall. It was a very successful day. A full report will be in the next Newsletter.

Within our developing Praise Culture, recognition of pupil achievement is deemed to be vital in helping to promote confidence and self-esteem in pupils of all ability levels from S1 - S4. The Triple 'A' certificate is awarded by all subject departments to S1 - S4 pupils. For Aptitude, Attitude and Achievement in classwork. The Certificate of Distinction is awarded to S3 - S4 pupils who are demonstrating excellence in Standard Grade courses. Both these awards will be presented on a termly basis.

At the very first presentation this week, Triple 'A' certificates were presented by Mrs Johnstone, Depute Head Teacher, to 73 -S1 pupils, 69 - S2 pupils, 56 - S3 pupils and 56 - S4 pupils. Certificates of Distinction were presented to a total of 46 pupils in S3 - S4.

Friday 7^th School closes 2.30 pm Monday 1^st May Holiday

Tuesday 25^th Pupils and staff return, S2 Parents' Eve. Tuesday 2^nd In-Service Day

Thursday 27^th S2 Course Planning Sheets returned Tues 16^th SQA Exams start, S1 Parents' Eve

Frid 26^th & Mon 29^th May Holidays