Jackson Street, Inverurie AB51 3PX Tel. 01465 621655 Fax 01467 624425

E-mail:inverurieaca@aberdeenshire.gov.uk

1.Staff Changes

2.Inspire to Aspire

3.West Church Community

4.Creative Arts 2011-2012

5.Health & Wellbeing Initiative

6.Living Roof Group

7.Music Mini-tour

8.Olympic Performances

9.Scottish Sport Panel

10.Careers

11.Inverurie Youth Forum

12.News Group

13.School Football

14.Home Economics Update

15.Uniform

16.Youth Philanthropy

17.St Mary’s Duke of Edinburgh

18.And finally

19.Dates for your Diary

Newsletter Term 4 2011/12

2

As this term ends we are saying farewell to several long standing members of staff. Mrs Trish Fletcher , who has been PT Guidance for Harlaw House for 16 years is retiring. Also retiring are Mrs Lydie Jarvie who joined us 21 years ago in the Modern Languages Faculty and Mrs Dorothy Morrice who has spent 27 years in the Business and Information Technology Faculty. Mrs Aina Middleton is also leaving us after 13 years in the English Faculty. Mr Jim McEwan who has been acting Principal teacher of Guidance for Barra House takes with him our congratulations and best wishes as he takes up post of Principal teacher of Guidance at Alford Academy in August. Ms Semma Miah and Mrs Sarah Snape are moving on to new pastures from the English department and our probationer teacher Scott also spreads his wings in August. Mr Graham Wilson in Business and Information Technology leaves us at the end of term and we also have to say goodbye to Ms Julia Barkham and Ms S. McKenzie who have had a short time with us in the Social Subjects Faculty and science faculty. All of these teachers take with them our very best wishes for their futures and our grateful thanks for the support they have given to their pupils over so many years of loyal service. A special thank you also needs to go to Mrs Mary MacKay, who has decided that 40 years of leading the SQA invigilator team here in the Academy is enough, and that she wishes to do something else during May/June each year! Mary will have supported many thousands of pupils by ensuring that the exams diets run smoothly. I am sure that some of you who may have been her as pupils will remember her firm but fair manner with fondness.

On Friday the 8

th of June, three lucky students

from S3, myself included, were invited to Hampden for the “inspire- aspire” awards. The poster, based on the Olympic values, provided students with a means to reflect upon themselves and the way they lived life. The whole programme started a few weeks before the school broke up for the Easter holidays, having been set as a task for all S3 students within their RMPS classes. The best from each S3 class was selected and sent off to be

judged and, low and behold, Inverurie managed to turn up trumps with three students managing to be among the top 100 finalists. Sophie Drysdale, Beth Aitken and I headed down to the famous Hampden stadium in Glasgow for the award ceremony, all hopeful and excited. Upon arrival, we discovered to our great pleasure that we had all managed to get

2.

INSPIRE TO ASPIRE AWARD

CEREMONY AT HAMPDEN

Amber Neil (3B1)

1.

STAFF CHANGES

3

a place in the gold section, Sophie being a finalist, Beth coming 4

th gold, and myself

managing to clinch 1st place, a tremendous

honour for not only the three of us, but for the school, to have done so well The award ceremony itself was a spectacular event. We were able to walk through and casually browse through the finalists’ work, seeing our own among them, and were awarded by none other than Liz McColgan, a silver medallist at the Olympics and one of Britain’s finest female middle-long distance runners of the past century. To cap it all, we were even granted entrance out into the

stadium itself, basking in the glory of it all. All in all, in my opinion, and I believe in the opinion of the other two finalists from my class, the whole process of the competition and the award ceremony was most enjoyable, giving us a memorable day out on top of the actual victory of ranking so high out of the thousands of other students participating. In short, Inverurie Academy did it again, and I don’t doubt there will be more to be celebrated for

our school in the near future. For the past few months a group of S5s, including myself, have been taking part in the Community Art Project. We were approached by Reverend Groves of the Inverurie West Church to design and create several paintings to be displayed in the church’s café. We decided to paint three pieces, all of which were

different but linked by a common theme. The first is an acorn, with the words “Mighty Oaks From Little Acorns Grow” engraved into it. This represents the roots of the church’s café: it started as a small idea with the potential to grow. In the second painting, small shoots have developed from the acorn, and a teapot is watering these shoots. Within the stream of water are words such as “community” and “hope”. This represents the growth of the café and the messages of the church, while the teapot is simply a reference to the café itself. In the final painting, the acorn has become a mighty tree, with the words that were used to grow it now ingrained in its roots. Instead of having leaves, the upper branches of the tree hold the instantly recognisable stained glass window of the West Church. Just as the café had small roots which were nurtured until they developed into something great, so too has the

acorn become a mighty oak. As always, this year has been full of activity in the Creative Arts Faculty. The year started in August with the ever popular trip to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, which gives drama pupils in S4-S6 the chance to experience a variety of live theatre. In September a successful music concert at Castle Fraser by soloists from across the school was the first performance of the year. Throughout the year, ‘Live at Lunch’ music recitals took place at the Acorn Centre in Inverurie, giving music pupils the opportunity to perform to a wider audience in an informal setting. This also allows pupils to practise performing pieces prepared for SQA exams. Soloists from the music department also performed Gordon Forum for the Arts AGM in Inverurie Town Hall and at a charity dinner in Gadies Restaurant. Opportunities for performance outside school were plenty around Christmastime, with carol singing and

3.

WEST CHURCH COMMUNITY

ART PROJECT

Andrew O’Rourke (5B2)

4.

2011 – 2012

THE CREATIVE ARTS

(Music, Drama and Art)

Helen Smith (6H)

Vice-Chair of the Creative Arts

Committee.

4

other performances at various events including the Victorian Market in the Town Hall. At the beginning of December the three creative arts of music, drama and art joined together to produce the first school show for a few years, Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’. It was performed ‘in the round’ – meaning the audience surrounded the staging area – and in a cabaret style. This increased the closeness the audience had to the action of the play and demonstrated the ability of the production team to cope excellently with this challenging set-up. The show was the joint effort of senior pupils and staff, and was a great success. The annual Christmas Concert, again combining the three creative arts, marked the end of the term with a display of talent by over 120 pupils and staff in a variety of extra-curricular groups. These groups, the majority of which rehearse weekly at lunchtime, are a lively part of the creative arts faculty, and the enthusiasm present is especially evident at

show times. The Creative Arts Showcase in April demonstrated the talents of pupils from all years, with drama, music and art pupils presenting work prepared for SQA exams, giving the chance for a wider audience to see the results of their hard work. This year we have also benefited from professional musicians visiting the school. The Scottish Opera came and gave music pupils a workshop and a performance of ‘The Barber of Seville’. Concert pianist Seenu Singh kindly came and gave a lunchtime recital to pupils while passing the area on his tour. The

Bucksburn Pipe Band gave the pipers and drummers a demonstration and pupils from all years took part in a jazz workshop with Richard Michael’s jazz band as part of Inverurie Jazz Festival. Pupils also took part in the Rotary Club Young Musician of The Year competition, an annual event. The final weeks of the summer term are busy ones in the creative arts faculty, with preparations for a mini tour of some of the music groups to the local primary schools, performances in local summer events such as Jazz in June in the Town Hall, and the annual summer concert, which this year is entitled ‘Around The World in 90 Minutes’. This final event will be a testimony to the talent, hard work and commitment of both staff and pupils in the creative arts faculty here at Inverurie

Academy. The health of our young people is of major importance to all agencies dealing with youngsters. Recent research the NE of Scotland has a very incidence of teenage pregnancy. I order to address this and related issues the school, community educate NHS, and Inverurie youth forum are coming together to develop a drop in facility which will advise youngsters on sexual health issues. Similar projects are already running, under the generic term of SHED – Sexual Health Education Drop-in, in a number of the Aberdeenshire schools. We are proposing to develop this faculty in conjunction with our young people. To this end an anonymous questionnaire will be issued to a cross-section of pupils during their PSE classes at the start of the autumn term. If you have concerns about your son or daughter particularly in this please contact the school. It is hoped that the SHED will be operational by the October break.

5.

HEALTH & WELLBEING

INITIATIVE

Mr Ritchie (Depute)

5

Hello, here at living roof we have had an interesting few months, as recently a family of Oystercatchers has been nesting on the living roof. It’s been good to see the benefits which the living roof has to offer to the local environment, and we think the increased habitat for wildlife is a huge advantage.

We have been researching different countries to see what their attitudes would be towards Living Roofs by looking at their approach towards recycling and the environment. We think there could also be benefits of a living roof to help in monsoon areas, as they will hold lots of rain water. We’ve not yet finished our project on living roofs, but we do hope to raise awareness for living roofs, and hope that in the future more people will have living roofs.

On Friday 15

th June 2012 a party of 60 pupils

and staff undertook a mini music tour of 3 local Primary schools: Kellands, Market Place and Strathburn. Pupils walked to each location, prepared their set, performed to the pupils in the schools, packed up and moved on to the next location, all with a minimum of fuss and wonderful organisation. Six groups played at each school: the Brass band; the Guitar group; the traditional fiddle group, Celtacad; The woodwind group; the a cappella group, The Chromatics and the Gospel Choir. The pupils performed their pieces to a very high standard and were complimented by staff at the schools for their musicality, discipline and the good-natured way in which they interacted with the primary school pupils. They were a real credit to themselves and Inverurie Academy. Many thanks go to them for their hard work and the very positive attitude they bring with them at all times. Thanks go to the primary schools for the warmth of their welcome and generosity of applause; we all appreciated this. We also thank the Bell Chime group at Strathburn who entertained us before we began with a wonderful performance of their own. The pupils produced a lovely sound which certainly set us up for our own performances. Thanks to all the instrumental teachers and members of staff who gave up their time to accompany the pupils and prepared them for the day. Thanks are particularly due to Mrs Linda Moggach of the Creative Arts faculty who organised the whole day so efficiently but who was unable, unfortunately, to come with us on the tour; she was greatly missed by all. The performances ended with a spirited rendition of a piece by the Chromatics – I hope the P4 Kellands’ pupils sitting in the front row have got over their initial surprise! Those of you who attend the School Summer Concert will see what gave the pupils a moment of shock!

6.

LIVING ROOF GROUP

Genevieve Brown (3S1), Ailie Ma-

conochie (3C2), Kirsten Muat

(3H1)and Franny Schlicke (3S1)

7.

MUSIC DEPARTMENT

MINI-TOUR

Mr S King (Depute)

6

How many of us can say that we took part in the Olympics on our first day at our new school? Well that is exactly what our P7 pupils did when they participated in the Olympics Decathlon event on the first day of their three day visit to the Academy. Split into teams and competing as different countries in events such as Speed Bounce, Vertical Jump, Target Throwing and Balance Test, the day proved to be high energy and lots of fun. There were also some named events that you would recognise – Triple Jump and Javelin, although the javelin we used was not the design that was thrown to a world record of 98.43m in 1996 by an athlete from the Czech Republic! Supported by their S6 buddies and by S5 students specially trained to help with the events, the P7 exemplified the three Olympic values: respect and fair play, excellence – taking part and giving the best of oneself and friendship. For the spectators it was clear to see our new S1 demonstrating first class attitude and effort even as the day progressed and the heat built inside the Assembly Hall and the Games Hall. The P7 enjoyed the challenge and they also benefited from listening to the keynote speakers, whose presentations provided motivation and inspiration to their young audience. The prize ceremony closed a highly enjoyable and successful day.

Two sayings spring to mind: “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall” and “Aim for the Moon and if you miss you will still be flying among the stars”. Well as far as we are concerned our new S1 were all stars

on the day and we are already very proud of them! Thank you to everyone involved, to the staff who organised the day and to our first class S6 buddies and S5 helpers.

I was recently selected to be a member of the Scottish Young People’s Sports Panel, this is a fantastic opportunity for the young people of Scotland to shape, influence and develop Scottish sport. Firstly I had to complete a long application form that questioned me about my skills as well as the importance of sport to me. I think the many opportunities I have been given whilst growing up, both in and out of school allowed me to provide an impressive application form. It was announced in the following weeks that I had been short listed for the interview stage in Edinburgh. I was incredibly nervous when travelling down as this would be my first interview experience. I was also nervous about the wide range of applicants, the panel was open to 14-25 year olds. The interview itself was split into two different sections. The first, group work, required me to work in a small group to invent a new sport and then present our sport as well as how we were going to promote it. I really enjoyed the group work as not only did I have a great group to work with but I also felt very confident when delivering our presentation. The final stage of the interview was an individual interview, I was most nervous about this aspect as I felt under pressure. The interview panel questioned my application form, asking me to expand on certain points I had made. There were also a number of questions that required me to think on the spot. However I had much to speak about in the interview thanks to my work in the Inverurie Academy Health and Wellbeing Young Leaders. I also was given sound advice from Kathy Yates the Active School’s Coordinator for our area, this allowed me to plan and structure the answers I wanted to give in the interview. After the interview I was confident in my group work, however I couldn’t remember a thing I had said in my individual interview. A week later I

8.

OLYMPIC PERFORMANCES

Mr I Hamilton (Depute)

9.

SCOTTISH YOUNG PEOPLE’S

SPORTS PANEL

Morvan Macgregor (5D2)

7

was informed I had been successful and had been picked out of 200 applicants to be a member of the Sport’s panel. The whole experience of applying for something was completely new to me, however I hope I can take the skills I developed and use them in later interviews. I can’t wait to begin my work with the sports panel, I really hope I can help make a difference to Scottish sport. Check out the Sport Scotland and Young Scot web page for more information on the Panel http://www.sportscotland.org.uk http://www.youngscot.org/

At Inverurie Academy we are very lucky to have strong links with local employers who contact Guidance staff directly with employment opportunities. Since Xmas we have had staff from Balfour Beattie, Ace Winches and Nautronix offer pupils help with CV preparation and interview techniques. Next session we hope to develop a link with Survivex at their offshore training premises in Dyce. Comments from pupils about their experiences: “For the past year, helping out at The Community News has been a brilliant learning curve. It gave me an insight into the things journalists and researchers do. Being there also gave me the opportunity to meet lots of new people and I recommend it to those wanting to study journalism. “ Tamsin Ross (5C) “I have been volunteering at Market Place primary school every Tuesday afternoon for the past year because I want to be a primary school teacher. During my experience I helped in various classes and did a wide range of activities including French, Science and Art. This has further encouraged me to pursue my ambition to study Education at University.” Louise Baird (5C) A group of pupils went on a whole day visit to Ace Winches near Turriff. We were given hints

and tips on how to write CVs and how to present ourselves at interviews. The apprenticeship programme was explained to us. We were given a tour of the entire facility and saw first hand the different areas of the company, both office and workshop based. The day was very constructive and beneficial as we received valuable insight into the way in which an engineering company functions. Jack Parker & Evan Pirie (5C) Headstart Engineering. “I have been accepted to spend three days at Heriot Watt University in July where I will learn about the different types of Engineering that I could study at university. I will be staying in halls of residence with pupils from all over the UK.” Dan Smith (5C)

Olympic Torch “It was a once in a life time experience. To carry the Olympic torch was fantastic. It was definitely the best experience of my life. I feel very lucky and grateful for the fact that the school nominated me for this.” Emily Jones (5C) “To have the opportunity to watch Emily carrying the torch was a phenomenal experience. Before the event I felt little emotion but seeing Emily has shown me how amazing, exciting and important this was for the torch bearers, their families and friends and all the spectators.” William Walker (5C) Andrew O’Rourke was selected by Inverurie Rotary Club to attend the Youth Leadership Camp at Abernethy Outdoor Centre in July 2012.

10.

CAREERS

Mrs Stuart (P.T. Guidance)

8

The Inverurie Youth Forum is a youth group who meet at the community centre every Wednesday night at 7pm-9pm. It gives young people in the area a voice and a way to get their issues across in order for things to be changed for the better. The group is open to anyone from the age 11-25. The youth forum is currently working on the youth café project and fundraising to get money for it to happen. This will be a separate building attached to the community centre where youths can hang out, use the various facilities and have a place to go instead of being on the streets. Along with the café there will be many groups which will be ran in the building, on a weekly basis. If you have any way of helping with the youth café please get in touch at our email address Inverurie_youth_forum@hotmail.co.uk

We now have a new school newspaper! The Academy Enquirer is out now and has all sorts of interesting news stories about what is going on in the school, from sport to world affairs. It is a monthly newspaper edited by Michael Dempster, Sarah Cork, Rachael Gray and Jamie Hay and Alice McGinlay, who are all from 2C1. The pupils have done a fantastic job of putting the newspaper together, requiring only minimal support from the English Department. Copies are available for only 35p and are sold outside Barra base at break-time. The news team are always looking for articles, so teachers and pupils should contact newsgroup@inverurie.aberdeenshire.sch.uk if they have a story that they would like to be covered in the next edition

The school has run four boys football teams in the Aberdeenshire Schools Football leagues and also in a number of regional and national cup competitions. More than 100 boys have represented the school during the football season. The Under 13 squad lost only one match throughout the entire season winning the Aberdeenshire League, the North of Scotland Cup, the Esso regional trophy and the Aberdeenshire council cup. Our Under 14 squad successfully retained their Aberdeenshire league title, losing only one league fixture and reached to the semi final stage in three cup competitions losing on penalties on two occasions. The Under 15 squad won the Aberdeenshire council cup winning it for the second year in a row and our Under 18 squad narrowly lost in their council cup final. Congratulations to Ryan Booth 2B1 who has been selected as one of two goalkeepers in the Scottish Under 14 Development squad, well done Ryan. The school would also like to thank the staff who have continued to run the teams and those who have assisted with referring etc. We are also grateful to the individuals and groups who have willing sponsored or donated football strips, medical kits and equipment to help us continue to offer schools football at Inverurie Academy. A final thanks to all the parents who have given of their time to attend games and support the boys in what has been a very successful season.

11.

Inverurie Youth Forum

Jenna Robson, Garioch Centre

12.

News Group

Mrs S Mia (English)

13.

SCHOOL FOOTBALL

Mr Hepburn

(P.T. Guidance)

9

The department has had a very busy year helping pupils to achieve their potential and learn about the world around them. Younger pupils have had fun cutting up unwanted old clothes and jeans and making new items using their creative talents following our, reduce, reuse and recycle theme. We do of course emphasize that they must make sure the items are no longer needed! Learning how to cook and eat together and discovering the rewards of healthy eating using our “Recipes for Success”

Following the review this year of our school uniform by pupils, parents and staff, we are pleased to announce the agreed changes to the uniform. A blazer has been introduced for S4-6 by popular request of the pupils. Pupils will now be allowed to wear a black cardi or jersey with a shirt and school tie, which was popular with the pupils. A further change is to allow black as well as

navy tops, again this is something that has been campaigned for by the school council. All pupils are expected to wear an item of clothing with a school badge visible and not to wear outer garments within the school buildings. They should be removed in school and placed in a locker or bag. Parents were keen to bring in city shorts particularly for the younger pupils and staff and parents felt it was important to ensure that pupils would be encouraged to wear full uniform and for girls to wear skirts of a suitable length. It is hoped that all parents will support this agreed uniform. Staff will be working consistently across the school to ensure that all pupils are proud to wear the uniform and follow the policy.

The following items are acceptable school

Uniform.

TOPS

Polo Shirts- white or navy with school logo unless worn with a sweatshirt/jersey with logo

Shirts/Blouses- white Sweatshirt- navy or black with logo

15.

UNIFORM

Mrs Weir (Depute)

14.

HOME ECONOMICS

DEPARTMENT UPDATE

Mrs A Fell (Health and WellBeing)

10

V-Neck Sweater-navy or black (with logo unless with school tie, when a plain V-Neck may be work)

Cardigan- navy or black School Tie- navy Blazer- black with school crest (optional for S4/6) TROUSERS/SKIRTS

Boys black dress trousers Girls black dress trousers/skirt (which

should sit at or be longer than mid-thigh)/city shorts( of a similar length). Black or nude tights can be worn with skirts or city shorts.

FOOTWEAR Footwear should be plain black this includes shoes, trainers or boots, exceptions will be made in very inclement weather.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION CLASSES It is emphasised that pupils should have a complete change of clothing for participation in Physical Education. PE Kit is as follows: Indoors: Shorts, cotton tops, socks and indoor training shoes. Outdoors: Shorts, cotton tops, socks, tracksuit, warm top, outdoor training shoes or football/hockey boots.

PURCHASING OF SCHOOL UNIFORM

School ties will be available for purchase from the Inverurie Academy school office. Other items of uniform may be purchased from Craigdon Sports, High Street, Inverurie and DFS, High Street, Inverurie

This year I was lucky enough to take part in the YPI project in RMPS. It was a project that the whole of third year took part in and was the first time the school had done it. It involved splitting up into groups and researching local charities and problems in our community. The groups then had to choose their charity and do a presentation on them, and the winning group was to be awarded £3000 for their charity. The finalists were selected and a special evening at the school was held to decide the winner. It was a tightly contested competition but our group was announced as the winner. Everyone was very excited and our charity - Grampian Opportunities – was very pleased. We are now going to attend a special evening in Glasgow where we will meet other winners from across Scotland. It was a great project to be involved in and I learned a lot about my community. It was great to be able to give the money to the charity and raise people’s awareness. It also let us get out of the classroom and meet real people instead of just learning about them. It may have been the first year the school took part in the project but I hope it is not the last.

With growing participation in this Open Award additional volunteers are being sought to help supervise participants, particularly on their expeditions. As a guide the assistants need to be confident in the hills, eg Bennachie, Loch Muick type terrain (rather than Munros) and in time gain Aberdeenshire Certification in ‘Low Hills’ supervision and First Aid.

17.

ST MARY’S DUKE OF

EDINBURGH OPEN AWARD

Revd Cannon John Walker

16.

YOUTH PHILANTHROPY

INITIATIVE

Beth Aitken (3B1)

11

If any prospective volunteers would like information on the DoE scheme or specific guidance on the assistant’s role in the expedition, please get in touch with the school office with your details who will forward this information to the lead organisers. Alternatively you will be welcomed at the monthly DoE meetings at the St Mary’s Centre.

I hope you have enjoyed reading our bumper summer newsletter. Pupils are at the heart of our school and this newsletter aims to reflect that. The new curriculum being built for our children is both a challenge and an opportunity for us as a school community. The Curriculum for Excellence programme is an evolving context and as such continues to be a journey for all schools as the programme rolls out through from primary into secondary and beyond. It is the by far the biggest change seen nationally in Education in a lifetime. It looks at learning in a fundamental way. It provides a massive opportunity for the teaching profession to provide the very best rounded learning experiences for all young people. It addresses the need to equip young people with the skills they will need for the 21

st

century future ahead of them. I have been so very impressed by the opportunities offered to youngsters here to take part and experience many different activities – from leadership to sport, from competitive events to musical performance. Blending this ethos alongside our bread and butter of the current best practice in our classrooms, we are well placed to have a rich and meaningful, challenging and stimulating Broad General Education Phase in S1-3. We are challenged by national policy to ensure that the very best personal learning opportunities are available for all pupils – to promote engagement with learning and developing the life long learners needed by today’s society. We are meeting that challenge well so far and are looking forward to continuing to so as we plan ahead through the new suite of national Qualifications for the senior phase that go live in

the exam diet on 2014. We are in the final stages of confirming a school calendar for next year that will have a number of information evenings for parents to hear more of the evolving context for CfE and how we as a school, within the local Authority, are meeting the purposes and requirements of the national policies on a Curriculum for Excellence. Another development in the Academy is a proposed change to the structure of the working week. As a staff we have been involved in the discussion around the benefits that a slightly different structure would bring to our curriculum flexibility – and how it would also enable us to be very much more cost effective. As part of the necessary protocols and procedures required to progress this issue, we carried out a ballot of teaching staff very recently. The results have revealed an overwhelming support for a change to the structure for 2013-14. We will take some time to now seek feedback from various groups – including pupils and parents. In order to capture feedback from parents of the new S1 pupils, I will be sending out full details of the proposal in a letter to each parent at the start of session along with our rationale for change. I would like to reassure you that we anticipate there being minimal impact on parents as the model basically has three days with slightly shorter finish times, two with slightly later ones and the start time each day remaining unchanged from the current structure. Of major importance to us is the internal structure of the day. We want this to change to 50 minute blocks which will offer flexibility of curriculum delivery as well as giving us a financial saving – which can then be used to further support pupil experience in the school. More details will follow in August! Moving from something brand new and evolving – to something a little older and with other challenges! As a school we recognise that we have an ‘older’ building. You may have seen the local press which spoke of asbestos removal being required prior to some enhancement refurbishment work being undertaken – not uncommon in a building of this age. I have been involved in much work on many fronts since I arrived and I am delighted to report some significant progress with some planned enhancements for us. Firstly, funding has been secured to start a phased painting refresh – starting with the main corridors and stairwells very soon. We are also going to be refurbishing some classrooms whose paint work is a little tired. Further funding has been

18.

AND FINALLY……..

Ms L Evans (Rector)

12

secured for a new suite of high spec PCs – arrival is imminent- which will be situated within the Technologies Faculty but will be able to be accessed by other students as necessary. A rolling programme to upgrade existing ICT hardware and software is also now planned. We are also about to have all the windows in the tower block replaced over the summer. There are also plans for the complete refurbishment of the Technologies Faculty, as well as major refurbishment of the PE changing facilities now that the games hall floor has been replaced with a state of the art sprung model. We are also going to have a second Drama Studio to the same high specification as our existing excellent dedicated studio. This school is all about the young people and providing opportunities for them to experience success and to discover and develop new talents. The children are at the heart of this community and we need the community to be at the heart of our school. In order to achieve success our pupils really do need everyone around them to be working together - setting high expectations for them and supporting them every inch of the way. The school cannot do this alone. We recognise and need your support as parents and friends and members of the community - and we need to continue to work together in partnership to achieve this common goal. We have a common agenda – giving your children – our school’s children - the best start we can to whatever it is they want to do after school. I am looking forward to working together with you and supporting the success of the children for many years to come. My thanks go out to everyone; pupils, parents, staff and all our friends and supporters in the community who have made this very successful session possible. On behalf of all those at Inverurie Academy I hope that you have a great summer and enjoy this time with your family and friends.

August 2012 Monday 20 In-Service Tuesday 21 In-Service Wednesday 22 Session begins for pupils September 2012 Thursday 6 S5/6 Parents’ Information Evening October 2012 Tuesday 9 S1 Parents’ Evening Friday 12 Term Ends Monday 29 In-Service Tuesday 30 Term begins for pupils

19.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

2012-2013