Peterhead Academy Newsletter

1 Peterhead Academy Newsletter 30th June 2017 Dear Parent/Carer We have reached the end of yet another session. Having been at Peterhead Academy now for three years, I am immensely proud of the progress pupils and staff at the school have made. The pupils when I started that were in S2 are now S5s and have become responsible young adults that show a determination to achieve and succeed. Since the change of timetable in early June, they are settling into their new courses and are taking the work seriously. This is encouraging for the coming session. The senior team will be keeping a close eye on the progress of youngsters across all year groups and we ask for your support to ensure that they give 100% commitment to their studies.

2 For too long, many pupils in Peterhead have lacked confidence and aspiration and we need to work together to convince them that they can achieve as well, if not better, than anywhere else in Aberdeenshire. We have amazing young people in this community and staff at the school are working with them to realise their full potential. This term was largely focused on SQA exams but that did not detract from the numerous other opportunities that our pupils endeavoured to succeed in: Young Enterprise: Just Coastin made it to the Grampian finals at RGU on 27th April. It was a hard fought battle and our team did Peterhead proud. Their use of social media in order to attract sales for their enterprising scheme of coasters was to be commended and they worked incredibly hard to produce such an entrepreneurial and successful business.

3 The end of the evening saw them Runners Up as well as winning the Peoples Choice Award which was much sought after. Our teams have done well to reach the final in the past and this year was the best they had ever done so a huge congratulations to them. All participants in both of our Peterhead Academy teams, Just Coastin and Simply Framed, also gained Young Enterprise Strathclyde University exam awards which will be a further addition to their already impressive CVs. Rotary Young Photographer Competition: Epiphany S2 Engineering Challenge: This is a National competition with thousands of entries. Two of our girls did exceptionally well in the local and regional finals. Jean came first in the local heats and third in the regional final in her age category.

4 Iona came first in the local heats and highly commended in the regional final in her age category. The entrants from the school were of a high standard and the judges commented how difficult it was to choose finalists. Well done to everyone who entered. A talented group of youngsters have formed a band and are impressing the local community with their performances. They had the opportunity to promote themselves at Waves Radio on 7th May and we hope to hear much more of them into next session Every year, a number of Aberdeenshire schools take part in the Engineering Challenge led by NESCol and sponsored by a number of oil related businesses, including our flagship partner, Score. This year, two of our youngsters achieved the runner up prize.

5 Well done to them as hundreds of pupils take part in the initial stages. S2 Football Team: Success with Horses: A huge well done to Aberdeenshire S2 boys cup winners. Peterhead beat Kemnay Academy 3-0 in the finals. The boys were rightly very proud of their achievement and took home a shiny cup to mark their success. This is the first Aberdeenshire cup win Peterhead has had in football since 2006. Let s hope for a repeat performance from the team next session. Sarah Macintosh has a hobby that is reaping great reward. She shows Highland ponies and is the youngest registered breeder in Scotland. She has 10 ponies and does all the work herself in rearing, training and presenting them.

6 Her overall champion highland pony at the New Deer Show has now had a foal so she has a long and hopefully lucrative future ahead. Other champions amongst her ponies are Lochewe Magnus and Tiana May. As you can see from the photo, Sarah and her ponies have won numerous prizes. These beautiful ponies are endangered and so we celebrate Sarah s passion to keep the breed alive. Well done! My Fair Lady: Health and Well Being Week: The drama and music team put on an ambitious production this year. Apart from some sound glitches, pupils gave impressive performances, especially the leads, who had so many lines to learn. Thanks to all the hard work and effort from a large number of staff as the commitment to all the rehearsal as well as the three nights of performances is a big ask.

7 The drama team will miss the input from Mr Sutherland who has played numerous characters in our school shows and Ms Birkett who has arranged front of house for many years. Both are retiring in summer and we wish them the very best Peterhead Academy participated in the Aberdeenshire Wellbeing Festival running from 8 May - 14 May 2017 which supported Mental Health Awareness week. The aim of this event was to raise awareness of mental health and wellbeing across the school, reduce stigma, prevent poor mental health, and support recovery. Over 600 pupils from S1 S3 watched presentations from Childline and Police Scotland. Jamie Murray from Childline delivered an extremely informative and engaging presentation on reducing stigma around mental health and the support and advice Childine can offer.

8 PC Taylor then delivered an excellent presentation that addressed a number of issues around the impact that social media can have on mental health. Working with the Active Schools co-coordinator and Peterhead Academy staff, a range of lunchtime activities were held throughout the week with over 200 pupils taking part. Pupils and staff participated in a range of activities including art therapy, a healthy eating caf , yoga, pilates, netball, football, basketball, barre au sol, chi-ball, clay sessions and karate. The school library also had a dedicated mental health display and reading materials, which will be available throughout May. Staff and pupils have spoken very highly about the impact of this event, and the school is hoping that it could lead to some more long-term initiatives being implemented to support pupil and staff well-being.

9 Children s University: Ice Skating: Children s University is an organisation designed to encourage young people into university at the end of their school career. Pupils gain credit for attending learning activities beyond the classroom. Involvement in clubs such as sport, music, drama, dance, cadets, scouts etc can all be recognised and hours awarded. At the end of the session, a ceremony at Aberdeen University takes place where pupils don their robes and take part in a full graduation experience. Well done to our first 8 graduates from the Academy and 2 from St Fergus. We hope that there will be many more from Peterhead in future years. Every Saturday morning, Tyler Ross gets up at to take part in a synchronised ice-skating team called Azura.

10 Synchronised ice-skating is when a group of people work in harmony, in hold or out of hold; Tyler s team has 16 members in it. When taking part in competitions, they skate to music and have to perform certain compulsory elements. In January 2017, Tyler s Team were entered into the British synchronised ice-skating championships in Nottingham and the Team were placed 3rd out of 11 teams. Azura also entered a competition in Dumfries, called Trophy D ecosse in February of this year. This competition was an International one so teams from other countries took part. Azura, came 3rd and were Scottish Champions. A huge well done to Tyler and her team. Prince s Trust Achieve: Health and Well Being Young Leaders: We have a group of S1 pupils who are taking part in our Prince s Trust Achieve pilot and they were lucky enough to meet Prince Charles himself.