A Maybole teacher is
officially the best in Scotland. Cairn Primary’s Fiona McAvoy has waltzed off with a top award for her efforts
outside the classroom. Fiona was named the nation’s best
primary teacher after helping to set up several soccer
schools. She scooped the gong at a glittering Hampden Park
ceremony which honoured the country’s success at grassroots
level.
Fiona, who received her
award from Scottish football legend Kenny Dalglish,
admitted: “I am incredibly proud of this award as it’s very
special to be recognised for helping my local community.
“Football has always been a huge passion of mine and I get
so much out of encouraging and supporting youngsters who
want to get involved.” The judging panel were impressed by
Fiona’s work in setting up football schools in her local
area. And the event, sponsored by McDonald’s, honoured her
efforts.
Scotland Hall of Famer
Dalglish added: “Football in communities is built on the
dedication of individuals like Fiona. “As a long-term
supporter of coaching in Scottish communities, McDonald’s is
proud to honour her achievements at the Oscars of grassroots
football.”
MAYBOLE and District Save the Children held a
very successful dinner dance at Ayr’s Western House Hotel.
Around 100 people attended an event which netted £2500 for
the charity. There were generous gifts from local businesses
for for a great raffle. And a highlight was the auction of a
personal helicopter flight for a private party to fly out
from Blairquhan Castle, sponsored by T.J. Shields.
Auctioneer for the evening was
John Scott MSP, who has supported the charity over many
years. 2009 is the 90th anniversary of Save the Children,
originally set up to look after the thousands of homeless,
displaced and starving children throughout Europe after the
First World War. And the charity is still working to care
for children in desperate need in disaster and war-torn
areas like Gaza and the Congo. The Maybole committee is
planning a number of events for 2009, including a children's
garden party, the annual Texas scramble golf tournament at
Brunston Castle, and an autumn ceilidh.
Thanks to
two kind-hearted young people in Maybole and the generosity
of shoppers in Maybole the fantastic total of £1,518 has
been raised for the Yorkhill Children’s Foundation.
Every year, around 150,000 children from all over Scotland
attend the Royal Hospital for Sick Children at Yorkhill in
Glasgow. Yorkhill Children's Foundation aims to provide the
'extra' services and equipment for the whole of Yorkhill
which would not otherwise be possible.
Over Christmas and New Year, Andrew Pollock
and Carly Wilson packed bags in the local Somerfield
supermarket and accepted donations for hospital. Last week,
accompanied by staff in the shop, they handed over a cheque
to Shona Cardle, Executive Director of the Foundation. Shona
thanked Andrew and Carly for giving up their time said how
much she appreciated their efforts, as well as the staff and
customers . She added, “Our aim is to help sick children by
making their stay in hospital less distressing for them and
their families, by funding medical equipment, research, and
treatment facilities.”
Carrick Sports
Club held its Homecoming 250th anniversary Burns
Supper last Friday evening in the club’s function room.
Bryce McCulloch piped in the top table and Alex Meek,
club convener, introduced them to the company before
handing over to the chairman for the evening, Alistair
Hastings. Bryce the piped in the haggis
which was addressed by Ian Hewitt and the Selkirk Grace
was recited by Jim Millar before an excellent meal.
Throughout the evening,
the entertainment was provided by The Fiddlers fae Ayr
(Danny MacPherson, John Ross and Kenny Turner); Davie
Anderson; and Bryce McCulloch. The Immortal
Memory was proposed by David Rae, from Mossblown; the
Toast to the Lassies was proposed by Gavin Barrie, from
Mauchline; and the Toast to Maybole by David Kiltie.
Gordon Hennessey gave several recitations with Tam
o’Shanter given a great reception. Club
secretary Bill McCubbin proposed a very comprehensive
vote of thanks before the company singing of The Star o’
Rabbie Burns.
Maybole’s Memorial Park
Bowling Club is planning to do its bit to fight the
recession. The club has dropped its fees this year to
only £1 for all members and new members and there will
be no joining fee. Chic Kincaid, club vice president,
said, “ First of all, this is to give something back to
the members as we had a good financial year last year;
and secondly, to try and attract new members as all
clubs are losing membership each year.
“In this year of recession
we hope to attract more adults to the game, and
especially juniors as we have three fully qualified
coaches in the club. Application forms can be got by
contacting me on 01655 882968 or collected at the
bowling club any Sunday night between 6.30 and 7pm
before the bingo starts.”
Cairn Primary
School’s special Homecoming concert got off to a great start
last Friday with P7 choir singing “Scot’s Wha Hae” whose lyrics were
written by Robert Burns in 1793, in the form of a speech given by
Robert the Bruce before the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.
The choir’s next song was “Ye Banks and Braes”,
another song by Burns. Homecoming, as most people now know, is to
celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns whose
parents met and married in Maybole. Head teacher, Fiona McDougall,
had invited parents, friends of the school and former pupils to
“come home” to Cairn for this special event and the hall was packed
as Brad McCulloch, compere, welcomed them all.
Every class was involved in the concert which
followed. P1/2 performed Wee Willie Winkie and Skatin’; the Recorder
group played a selection of tunes; P2/3 sang Twa Leggit Mice, The
Crocodile and Three Craws; for those who had missed the school’s
Burns Supper, the Immortal Memory of Robert Burns was proposed by
Chloe McKay and Chloe Cuthbert; this was followed by a unique
telling of Tam o’Shanter by the Chinheads; the choir sang The Wee
Kirkcudbright Centipede and then P4/5 played the Clapping Game and
some skipping games; and P3/4 sang The Dentist, The Elephant, Jock
and Jean, and Wee Deoch an Doris- and they were certainly “a'richt,
ye ken” as they could say “It's a braw bricht moonlicht nicht"!
In between performances five pupils from P 5/6
introduced their top five favourite Scots. In descending order these
were David Livingstone, John Logie Bair, Mary Queen of Scots,
Alexander Fleming and, in first place, Robert the Bruce who was born
at Turnberry. Before closing there was community singing of some old
favourites.
Fit to Skip.
Recently at Carrick Academy, in Physical Education pupils learned to
skip, and then looked to see how much exercise they would have to do
to use the energy value of the meal that they have made in Home
Economics.
Pupils looked at the principles of training and
carried them out when they were working. In their health diary they
noted the amount of exercise they did. By using heart monitors they
were able to see if their heart rate was in their training zone
during the activity. Pupils were then challenged to skip for 30
minutes to raise money for the British Heart Foundation and the
school.
Three boxers – Sammy Hill, Natalie Hill and Sean
Anderson were invited in to encourage, motivate and challenge the
pupils during the event. In Home Economics, pupils investigated
healthy eating, including the energy value of food. They
investigated foods that are suitable to be eaten before taking part
in a sporting activity. Pupils, independently, planned and cooked a
pasta dish to meet this energy requirement.
A local chef from Malin Court judged the best pasta
dish with the winner being invited to support delivering a food
demonstration at his hotel, with the winning dish being put on the
menu. Supported by the chef, the pupils will prepare cook and serve
the dish to the rugby team at lunchtime on a match day. In Design
and Technology, pupils are looking at promotion and advertising.
Pupils will gain an understanding of the industry and work in
partnership with the English department in deconstructing relevant
literature and graphics on healthy eating.
Pupils will research and compile survey questions to
ascertain eating and exercise habits of young people and produce an
information leaflet encouraging people of their own age to eat
healthily and take regular exercise. Next part of the project is the
rugby lunch!
Carrick Academy Rugby
Wins Gold!!!! Carrick Academy has
been awarded the Gold level under the Rugby Champions
scheme. Only 14 of the 188 schools registered so far have
been awarded the Gold level. The school will receive an
equipment package and also be awarded with a gold plaque to
be displayed in the school.
In addition the school have to
select an additional reward.
Gold schools may select one of
the following:
1. 20 tickets to a pro team
match
2. 20 tickets to the IRB 7’s
2009 (Murrayfield 30th & 31st May).
3. Coaching Masterclass
(delivered for your school locally by a Specialist Coach
e.g. pro Coach, Academy Coach etc)
This award is recognition for
all the work that the pupils and coaches have put into
making Carrick Academy a leading player in Scottish Schools
Rugby.
Cabinet Minister for Justice, Kenny
MacAskill MSP, visited pigeon lofts in Maybole to see how pigeons
are giving young people a new interest and bridging the generation
gap.
South Ayrshire Community Safety
Partnership applied for and received funding under Scottish
Government CashBack scheme. The funding is being used to support a
pilot project, to provide a diversionary and educational activity to
encourage young people to be involved in positive projects in their
community. Additional funding has also been received from the ADAT
Innovation fund to extend the project, bringing the total amount of
funding to £9,000.
Members of the Maybole Pigeon Club,
will gift a team of racing pigeons to young people involved in the
initiative, they will then have to take responsibility for rearing,
feeding, cleaning, training, building a new pigeon loft and
eventually racing the young pigeons given to them. Pigeon Club
members will work with members of the Community Safety Team
throughout this project. The young people will also take
responsibility for feeding, cleaning and assisting in training, and
all aspects of maintaining a healthy pigeon loft.
After visiting a pigeon loft in
Maybole and meeting the young people Kenny MacAskill said: “This
Government is using cash seized from criminals to give young people
more and better opportunities and alternatives to a life of crime
and antisocial behaviour.
“I’ve seen various projects around the
country – from football and basketball to drama and an internet
café. This Ayrshire project that uses the care of pigeons to engage
young people is an innovative way of fostering new interests and
involvement in an activity that’s popular in the local community.
The young people involved in the
project will be given free membership of the local pigeon club, and
will be supported to participate in racing with the Ayrshire North
Road Federation for the duration of the young bird season. Diplomas
will be presented to those involved at the end of the year.
Councillor Nan McFarlane, Chair of the
South Ayrshire Community Safety Partnership said: “This is a great
scheme that offers young people something a little different. It is
important to remember that young people are all different and not
all of them are interested in pop music and dancing. The pigeons
may well just be the thing that keeps some young people out of
trouble.
“Another great benefit is that the
young people will be encouraged to become junior members of the
established racing club in Maybole. This should build their
confidence and help them to develop meaningful links with older
members of the community.”
The aim is to pilot the project in the
Maybole area, and then to deliver it in identified ‘hot-spot’ areas
in subsequent years.
A special pigeon related class project
is going to be run in Cairn Primary School, ‘Doo The Right Thing.
The school children will be allocated a pigeon and they will receive
updates on the progress it is making along with pictures of it.
Archie Jamieson, President of Carrick
and District Homing Society said: “Next year will be our centenary
year and we welcome this opportunity to encourage young members to
join our club.”
Fiona
McDougall, head teacher of Cairn PS said “ We’re delighted to be
part of Brian’s project as we are always looking for new ways to
motivate pupils.”
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