Contents...

Welcome from the Headteacher

Residential trip to Lendrick Muir

Heritage Skills event

Nursery & Primary News

Health Week quiz winners

Maths News

Music News

English & Drama News

Mordun Dig

Home Economics News

Inventor’s visit

Making Space

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St John’s RC Academy- Newsletter

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@St_JohnsEnglish

Notes from the Headteacher...

Welcome to the first newsletter of 2016-17!

Inside our newsletter you’ll find news about how our learners have been engaging with newexperiences and celebrating their successes.

Each year we are joined by new pupils is nursery, P1 and S1 as well as a significantnumber of placing requests for other year groups.  There’s been a lot of settling in to do!Our new children and young people at St John’s Academy have made a really positivestart, and we will be working with them to ensure they progress well in their learning.

There are many opportunities in Term 1 focused on helping parents settle in to their newschool too!  It has been great to meet many of our nursery and primary parents through our‘stay and play’ and ‘soft starts’ programmes, as well as our S1 parents at our regular ‘drop-in’ events.  We would also like to receive more offers from parents to spend some time inschool and volunteer for different roles.  If you are able to offer your time, please contactthe school office.

In the senior phase of school, last year’s S4-6 received their SQA results over the summer.Following on from their successes in S4, S5 in particular have achieved very well with avery impressive 68% achieving at least 1 Higher.  S4 also did well, with more young peopleachieving 5 National 5s than ever before.  Congratulations to all our pupils – and thanks toall our dedicated staff – on all their achievements.  We know that our learners perform bestwhen they have the tireless support of their parents and carers and we thank you forsupporting us through supporting your child’s learning from nursery to S6.  You make ahuge difference.

At the start of this year we also said fond farewells to two longstanding teachers – MissSusan Cassidy and Mrs Carol Rigby.  We thank them for all their hard work over manyyears and wish them every happiness in their retirement.  We also wished Mr JamieRobertson every success as he goes on to pastures new after 10 years with us.

Mr David Bald will be beginning a secondment at Our Lady’s Primary School as ActingHeadteacher after the holidays.  Mrs Jan Jack will continue in her role as Acting DHT forthe whole week, overseeing Nursery-P3.  Mr Hugh McAninch will take over responsibilityfor S1 when Mr Bald departs. Mrs Susan MacLagan will be Acting DHT along with MrsJoanne Philp.  Mrs MacLagan and Mrs Philp will oversee all the children in P4-7.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank you for the care you take to ensure yourchildren are ready and prepared for school each day. Almost every pupil, almost all thetime, is in our full school uniform. Individually, they look smart and ready for the day ahead.Together, they are a very impressive sight and one which our visitors continually praise.  Aswinter approaches, please encourage your child to have suitable footwear for the schoolday – they can leave outdoor boots and jackets in their lockers/cloakrooms. For advice onour uniform, please see our website:

www.st-johnsacademy.org.uk

Also, please remember not to use the turning circle outside the school as a drop off point.This endangers our pupils.  Thank you for your cooperation.

And finally, I hope you all have an enjoyable October holiday with your children and I lookforward to welcoming them back on 24 October 2016.

God bless,SP HagneyHeadteacher and Campus Leader

At the end of August almost half ofour new S1 pupils spent 2 days atLendrick Muir, an outdoor educationcentre near to Kinross. There they gotto try high ropes, low ropes, archery,giant swing and they played beachvolleyball and had great fun on thegiant inflatables. Here you can seesome on the high rope challenge and onthe giant swing.The grounds at Lendrick Muir werefantastic and a great time was had by all.

In September our S4/5 and 6 pupils had theopportunity to try out various traditionalbuilding skills at an event run by Perth andKinross Heritage Trust. The young peoplegot to try out stone carving, traditionaljoinery, roof slating and preparing slates,and some specialist painting in the form ofstencilling. Our local area needs people totrain in these skills to help preserve andmaintain the many fine old buildings thatare in our locality. Let’s hope some of themhave found something they might consideras a future career.

S1 residential trip to Lendrick Muir

Heritage Skills event

There is still 1 space available

on the school ski trip to Italy,

open to S2 pupils. If

interested, please see Mr.

Barker for more details.

Italy Ski Trip 2017

Nursery and primary News...

At the moment the nursery isdeveloping our outdoorlearning space. We recentlyhad a visit from the S4 Designand Manufacture students whocame to see if they could helpus. They talked to us aboutwhat we would like andexplored outside measuringand recording all theinformation. We look forward tovisiting them to see how theyare getting on next term. If youhave any old tyres, logs, largestones, old pots and pans,sinks and taps for our mudkitchen or pieces of tubing andoff cuts of guttering for ourwater wall, nursery would begrateful for all things received.Thank you.

12

Nursery children havebeen improving theircycle skills with weeklypedal bike training onour new bikes.Everyone has beenlearning about bikesafety, maintenance andwhat all the parts of abike are called. We havebeen improving ourbalance by playing lotsof different games. Ourfavourite is “frogs legs”where we lift our feet offthe ground and coastalong. We are alsolearning how to brake!!Some of our group arenearly ready to venturea bit further around theoutside of the school asthey speed away ontheir bikes.

Pedal bike training Follow us on Twitter

@stJohnsnursery_

Bunnies room

We have welcomed lots of newchildren into our bunnies room thisterm and they have been enjoyingretelling fairy tales. Big bad wolveshave been a favourite character andcostumes and activities have revolvedaround the 3 little pigs. Costumes,puppets and lots of retelling of thestory have given the childrenopportunities to build their vocabularyand entertain the staff with mini plays.

Primary 4 pupils have been studying what goeson under the sea with a little help from theBahamas! We have been getting messagesfrom Miss Rae, asking us to find informationand have made sea safety posters, plottedroutes around the oceans and classified seacreatures to help solve the puzzling questionsshe sent us. In return we wrote letters to MissRae asking questions about her new life on theisland and the creatures she comes across andshe has sent photos and video links, whichhave helped us learn more about our topic andmade us all very jealous.

Miss Rae met a seahorse

Pupils in primary 6M have been learning aboutFrance and other French-speaking countries thisterm. We learned about different parts of Franceby looking at different maps and researching thetowns and cities where our pen pals live. Weexplored the tourist landmarks in Paris and thenused our knowledge to write a senses poem abouta walk around Paris. We took inspiration from theartwork of Claude Monet, a famous French artist,to create our own paintings of his famous gardenand waterlily pond. We have been continuing todevelop our French language skills with the help ofOphelie, our Modern Language Assistant. Wehave also used our teamwork skills to worktogether to build our own class Eiffel Tower.

Vive La France

Tutor Group A1 won the quiz during

Health Week and got the chance to visit

East Dron Farm. A1, along with Miss

Kearney and Mrs McKenzie, made their

way down to the farm on the last week of

term to see exactly where our food

comes from. On the farm we met the

farmer Andrew Sinclair and Alix Ritchie

from The Royal Highland Educational

Trust, who took us on a tour of the farm.

We had the opportunity to see some of

the livestock, the farming equipment, the

silage pits and the wheat fields. The

whole class agreed that it was a very

enjoyable and informative day - even if

the hills were difficult for some!

Health Week quiz winners

SQA Success

Congratulations to all pupils who were successful in their SQA maths exams last session. It ispleasing to know that all the hard work, in class and at home, from pupils (and the support fromtheir teachers and parents/carers) has been rewarded with the grades pupils have received.And good luck to all pupils being presented for SQA exams during the current session !

Maths News...

Music News...

This year's Instructors' Evening will take place on Tuesday 8 November at 7 pm in theAssembly Hall. This is a chance for our young musicians who receive lessons in the school toshow off their talents to family, friends and fellow pupils.

There will be performances from primary pupils and also students from S1 to S6. Some of theinstruments featured will be piano, violin, trumpet and flute. There will also be opportunitiesfor parents and carers to chat to our Instrumental Instructors.

All money taken at the door is given to Rachel House Hospice.

Instructors' Evening

New S1

Our S1 pupils have made a great start in Music and Drama. They are settled in class andworking well. Many of them are using the Music rooms for extra practice at lunchtimes andhave shown their enthusiasm by joining our extra-curricular groups. The monthly Showcaseallows them to show off their talents to their peers and we are hoping that many of them signup for the Christmas Show.

Please come along and support our

talented young people!

Completing homework on a regular basis is crucial if each pupil is to achieve their fullpotential. Homework should be regarded as a three way partnership between pupils, teachersand parents/carers. Parents/carers are encouraged to look at pupils’ diary planners on aregular basis and discuss with their child what they have been studying at school, whathomework they may have, and help them to plan their time usefully.

The amount and frequency of homework in S1 and S2 will vary according to the level ofmaths being studied and the needs of individual classes.

Pupils in all classes have been registered for the online homework package MyMaths. Thiscan be accessed at www.mymaths.co.uk. The package allows pupils to complete homeworktasks online, either at school or at home. Tasks are set by the class teacher and, when pupilslog on to their page on the website, they will be directed to the tasks. Each task will have acompletion date and there will be a revision tutorial for each task. Pupils can also useMyMaths for revision purposes by accessing one of the Booster Packs.

Maths Study Support

Remember that help is always available to support pupils to attain the best grade possible intheir SQA exams, as well as in class tests, assessments and prelims, not to mention generalhelp with homework tasks. The Maths department is offering pupils a range of study supportsessions for S1 to S6 classes.

Although some of the study support sessions relate to specific courses, they are also open toany pupil who would like to receive help and support with their maths studies. Study supportsessions provide excellent opportunities for pupils to obtain this help and support, accordingto their particular needs, in a relaxed setting. Learn a few study tips, complete yourhomework, get valuable advice from your teacher and practise some exam-type questions.

Maths Homework

Reading ChallengeAs part of our drive toencourage personal reading

at all stages, we have set up a

challenge which will contribute

towards the YouthAchievement Award. Pupils

can record the time they have

spent reading for pleasure

and use these hours asevidence of becoming

‘successful learners’.

English News...

A big ‘CONGRATULATIONS’ to all of our successful candidates who achieved NationalQualifications last session. Your hard work has been rewarded and we are all extremelypleased with the outcome. National 5 results were the best ever – so no pressure on thisyear’s candidates!

We are delighted to welcome two new membersof staff to the department: Miss Lynch and MissCosgrove. They have already made a verypositive impact: Miss Lynch has organised theFriday Tutor Group Challenge and dragged thedepartment into the 21st Century by setting up aTwitter account (even Mrs McCabe has beenseen to tweet!); Miss Cosgrove has started aFilm Club on Wednesdays during lunch break.We are also being joined by Miss Elder who ishere on placement for a total of ten weeks.

New staff

SQA Results

Paired Reading

Mrs McCabe has been

responsible for organising an

opportunity for some of our S2

pupils to work on their reading

skills with senior prefects. Prefect

Mentors have been getting to

know their young readers and it

is very encouraging to see so

many involved.

S2 pupils have beenfortunate enough to takepart in Drama workshopsin partnership withEnglish. Miss Kearney'sclass have been usingtheir class text 'TheMaze Runner' as astimulus and have reallyenjoyed workingtogether to bring it to life.

S2 Drama Workshops

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Miss Lynch

Miss Cosgrove

Higher students working with Miss Toal and Miss Kearney have beenstudying two of Shakespeare’s most popular plays: ‘Macbeth’ and‘Romeo and Juliet’. Miss Toal's students' learning experience has beenenhanced through workshops delivered by Mrs Melville in Drama andMiss Kearney's students are looking forward to the experience next term.

Bringing Shakespeare to Life

In September, members ofthe departmentaccompanied S1 pupils tothe hill-fort at MoncrieffeHill. Each day, the groupsenjoyed taking part in thearchaeological dig, findingout about the local historyof the hill and learning howto forage.

Moredun Dig

Home Economics News...

This session we have introduced National 5Practical Cake Craft for our S6pupils. This course allowspupils to develop theircreativity and manualdexterity whilst having fun in arelaxed environment. Manypupils have chosen this courseto balance out a hectic academicschedule. So far we have made avariety of sponge based cakesincluding a caterpillar and teddybear cakes. We are looking forward tomaking Halloween and Christmas cakes.

As part of theirassessment work, theS4 Early Education andChildcare class plannedand carried out a varietyof play sessions with ourprimary pupils. Theseranged from outdoorgames to cookerysessions. Thanks to allthe primary pupils andstaff who helped the S4pupils complete theirassessment task.

S4, S5 and S6 Healthand Food Technologypupils were recentlychallenged to design alow fat dessert. Theydid exceptionally well,proving low fat doesn'tneed to mean no fun!

Practical Cake Craft!

S4 Early Education and Childcare

Low fat dessert challenge

Tanya Ewing describes herself as a“normal Mum” who lives in Perth and is aparent in the St Johns community. InAugust she visited the Higher Design andManufacture class to share herexperiences and lessons learnedthroughout her career. Tanya shared herstory of both struggles and successes andhow she holds patents for a successfulinvention that has the potential todramatically reduce household energyuse. She explained the differencebetween inventing products and hercurrent project which is instead aninnovation of an existing idea. The pupilswho were able to listen and question herappreciated Tanya's openness and theinsights she gave which linked to both lifeexperience and the Design andManufacture course.

Design, Engineering & Technology News...

Local innovator visits St John’s.

“Tanya was a great inspiration to the class andmyself, as she has overcome so many obstacles,

and has come out here today as a hero.”

Many family members of St John's pupils have experience of working life that would berelevant to specific subject areas. Sharing these stories with learners can be a valuablecontribution that complements the course content by making it relevant to working life.

If you would be willing to visit the school and share your everyday experience with a group ofpupils then please contact Mr Clark who is in the Developing Young Workforce team and willbe able to link you with the relevant staff member.

Contact: colinclark@pkc.gov.uk or tel: 01738 454300

“ I thought Tanya did a great job inmaking the talk interesting and funny; I

felt she was a massive inspiration!”

“Tanya was the first speaker in

school I’ve actually listened to”

We need your stories

After 10 years of hard work and dedication to ourdepartment, and the community of St John’s Academy, MrJamie Szultka-Robertson leaves us to take up an new postin Alloa Academy. We wish him success in his new role.

And it’s a goodbye from us...

Pupils at St John's RC Academy have beenselected to form part of a judging panel forMaking Space - a competition in whicharchitecture university students submitdesigns for spaces for young people. Theyare the only pupils in the whole countrytaking part in this exercise!

Fifteen pupils from P6 all the way up to S6attended a training event in August whichwas run by architecture company StoneOpera and charity Children in Scotland. Theywere taught about floor plans, use of scaleand they were even asked to design plans fortheir own dream home.

We were joined by professionals from thearchitecture industry who came from as faraway as Finland, Portugal and Germany!They were all very impressed by theknowledge and creativity of our pupils and bythe level of discussion they took part in.

The main event will take place in Novemberat the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow and ourpupils will join the professionals on thejudging panel. This means that their opinionsare clearly valued and taken seriously andwe're sure they will do us proud!

Making SpaceDesign, Engineering & Technology

Raffaele Esposito, Architect, City Deal, Principal/Masterplanningand Implementation, Glasgow City Council.

"Very smart and articulate students; it gives mecomfort that our future might be in better handsthan ours.” Professor Gordon Murray.

Lynn Gilmour Children in Scotland

"It has been fantastic and deeply inspiringto be exposed to the young people’senthusiasm and clever reasoning."

The young people were all engaged andenthusiastic, getting to grips with technical termsand complex architectural theory quickly. Thearchitects and the team from Stone Opera whoworked with the group were all impressed withthe level of knowledge shown by the pupils.”