Montrose Academy
Christmas Newsletter
December 2017
Head Teacher Remarks
As we approach the end of a very busy term for both pupils and members of staff, I would like to give you an update on the work which has been going on in the Academy.
There have been a number of changes in staffing. Jim Dunbar, the longest serving member of the current Senior Leadership Team and who has worked in Montrose Academy on and off for 16 years will retire at the end of this term. Jim’s service to the school, both as Teacher of Chemistry and as Depute Head Teacher has been considerable and it is thanks to Jim that, amongst other things, we have the very successful American Exchange and enjoy the close links we do with GSK and GE Oil. On behalf of Montrose Academy I would like to thank Jim for his service to the school and wish him a very happy retirement. Paul Cunningham, Depute Head Teacher, took up a position in Perth High School in October and we look forward to Mrs Rebecca Robertson joining us in January to fill this role. Mrs Fyfe (Acting Depute Head Teacher), Mrs Hepburn and Mrs Lockhart (both PE) are on maternity leave and we have been joined by Mr Hutton and Mr McBride in the PE department. Miss Hudgins (Additional Support Needs) will take up a role in Forfar Community Campus shortly after the Christmas holidays; we wish her well in her new role.
The behaviour of the vast majority of our pupils means that we are exceptionally fortunate to work in Montrose Academy. Outside the classroom, we see many of our pupils excel. Young people are typically shy in sharing their successes outside school with us; as a school we are keen to recognise these achievements, so please do let us know if your son or daughter has achieved success outside school.
Staff and senior phase pupils are busy preparing for exams. Many thanks to parents and carers who have attended Parents’ Evenings and school events. If you have a look at the school website, you will see the wide range of study support classes being offered to senior phase pupils as we prepare for the prelims (starting on Friday 19th January). The library will also be opened in the evening in the run up to and during the prelims with supervision being offered by members of staff. Time and again the staff of Montrose Academy work well beyond the terms of their contracts to ensure that our pupils have access to an increased range of opportunities to enable them to realise their potential; thank you to all.
Next term is a long and challenging one. I hope all parents, carers, pupils and staff enjoy a safe, relaxing and enjoyable Christmas break and I wish you all the best for a very happy 2018.
Malcolm Smart
Head Teacher
Tayside Schools Swimming Championships
Finlay Wallace, Bethany Hall, Darcey Reid & Gabby Winton all represented the school in the Tayside Schools Swimming Championships at the Olympia inDundeethis November. All pupils either achieved a Personal Best, reached a final or won a medal. Well done to all!
Rock Challenge
Preparations for this year’s Rock Challenge entry are now well under way. Groups are rehearsing to create and develop their theme, which is based on the story of Noah's Ark, into an 8 minute performance. The competition will take place at the CairdHall, Dundee on Wednesday, 14th March. Tickets for the event cost £13.50 and parents/carers will be informed about how to purchase them after the holidays.
The team have held a bingo night and a Christmas shopping night whichraised a little over £2000 for the purchase of set, props, costume and make up supplies. On Friday, 2nd February, a family ceilidh will be held at Occasions. Tickets for this cost £10 each and will be available from Hoggs and Clover Fashions in the New Year.
Drama Trips
As part of the performance analysis element of the Higher and Advanced Higher Drama courses, S4, S5 and S6 pupils visited Dundee Rep theatre in September to watch Tony Roper's highly-acclaimed 'The Steamie'. In November, the S5 and S6 pupils travelled to the Citizens Theatre, Glasgow to watch Harry Gibson's adaptation of Irvine Welsh's controversial novel, ‘Trainspotting’. The group thoroughly enjoyed both performances, and were excellent representatives of the school.
Photography
Photography pupils had their work published in a new online DC Thomson publication: ‘Your Montrose’: The double page feature showcased landscape & cityscape work produced by our Higher Photography pupils this year for their SQA presentations. Pupils whose work was included were Freya Sanders, Joe Robb, Maxine Cook and Kira Wishart.
Expressive Arts Festival
This year’s school Christmas concert was an ‘Arts festival’ and featured live performances and exhibitions by pupils involved in Art, Drama and Music. The first half of the festival comprised a variety of musical pieces and acts and the second half a Christmas concert.
The exhibition included art work produced by Nat 5, Higher, Photography and Advanced Higher Art & Design pupils from the 2017 SQA exams and a selection of work from S1 – S3 including S2 animation projects. The pottery club displayed work and demonstrated a range of ceramic techniques used at the school. Well done to Nadine Dryden whose winning Christmas card competition entry was used to illustrate the poster.
Music
Montrose Academy’s talented musicians continue to excel in local events. Thank you and congratulations to all pupils who took part in the Angus Schools Orchestra and Bands Concerts at the Reid Hall in November. Singers from S1-4 sang at the Rotary Club Christmas Dinner on Tuesday 19th December and the school’s Baroque ensemble, orchestra and wind band also participated in the Montrose Cluster Christmas Concert in Old and St Andrews on Wednesday 20th December. Thank you to Julie Smith, Beth Wyllie and Paul Judge for organising this.
School library
The school library organises a number of events to develop pupils’ skills. In addition to hosting ‘Magic Paul’ Cunningham’s farewell act, it also runs the following:
- Books and Banter Club
The weekly ‘Books and Banter’ book group continues to thrive, and has a good number of new S1 recruits this session. We meet in the library during Thursday lunchtimes.
- Chess Club
The weekly Chess Club is proving to be a big hit again this year; the Chess Ladder is encouraging players to improve their game and earn a place in the annual Montrose Academy Chess Championship tournament which will be held in the spring.
- Craft Club
The library hosted one of our popular craft clubs recently, with a Christmas theme! Pupils signed up to paint and decorate fairy doors, some of which are now on display in the library.
Montrose Grammar School Library
Montrose Academy has received the remaining contents of the old Montrose Grammar School Library into our archive; the collection comprises a variety of items in Greek, Latin, English and French languages, with some of the books dating back to the early 16th century.
Members of the Montrose Antiquarian Society visited us to inspect the collection, and to discuss storage and accessioning of these. They will return for further consultation. Meanwhile experts from the National Library of Scotland paid a visit and advised us on storage, preservation and conservation, and recording bibliographic details.
We are looking forward to the challenge of preserving this unique collection!
Developing the Young Workforce
Many of our pupils have completed or are set to take part in work experience placements. Many thanks to all local employers who offer placements to young people. This is something the school could not provide for our pupils without your support. Thank you also to all members of staff who build and maintain these very important links.
GirlsGetSet
The S1/2 girls have attended two events: the first at Silverburn House, Aberdeen and the second at Baker Hughes, Portlethen (see picture below). The focus of these events is to develop engineering and team-working skills. The S3 girls have completed their first project: the research and design of an eco-friendlymobile phone charger which they then had to present in a Dragons’ Den-style event. S5 pupils, involving both boys and girls, are involved in a year-long project which focuses on the design of a subsea Xmas tree. In addition to the design, the team will have to work on a logo and name, Gantt chart and project plan. S6 girls took part in a Personal Branding event, working closely with the Recruitment Department at GE Oil
GlaxoSmithKline
GSK continue to provide a series of work experience opportunities for our pupils. In addition to this, S3 pupils have visited the site to see the different employment opportunities available.
Charity work
Montrose Academy was involved in a very successful Rotary Shoebox appeal. This year we filled 55 boxes; many thanks to all pupils and parents/carers who contributed items to help young people in some of the poorest countries of Europe. On 21st December, we will also have a Dress As You Please day to raise money for our link with Nyumbani, Kenya. We recognise however that many families in Montrose also experience financial hardship and we hope that our contributions to Montrose Food Bank will help make Christmas more manageable for those families affected.
Remembrance Day
Mrs Manley led assemblies on Remembrance Day events and a service was held in the Millennium Gardens for all S6 pupils. Many thanks to Oliver Milne for playing the Last Post and to Reverend Geoff Redmayne for delivering a service. A group of pupils and staff attended the town’s Remembrance Day service and parade.
Peace One Day
S2 RMPS Classes excelled themselves this year by planning and taking part in a number of activities designed to promote the United Nations Peace day on the 21st of September. They raised around £250 for the UK based charity Peace One Day.Activities included a Peace Day café on the day with entertainment provided by out talented S2 choir,a pupil bake sale and Tombola stall and a Staff versus Pupils football match. S2 pupils also created a display board for our Library of their best work explaining why the day was created and why it’s important in today’s world. A special mention should go to AbbiCoull and Makenzie Low in 2B2 who organized a Peace one Day sponsored walk out to the Montrose Lighthouse and raised over £100.
Health and well-being
At Montrose Academy, like all schools, we try to prepare pupils for a successful life after school. However, societal and peer pressures often get in the way. We work hard to inform our pupils against risk-taking behaviours but a number of young people continue to put their and others’ safety at risk through their behaviour on rare occasions in, but most often out of school. S5 pupils attended Safe Drive Stay Alive in November to remind pupils of the importance of safe driving practices as many approach the age of being able to drive. Although there are many advantages to having instant access to the internet, social media continues to act as a vehicle for antisocial and unsafe behaviours; much of this happens outside school hours and while the school is able to provide advice, information and support, we rely hugely upon parents and carers to monitor what young people are doing on social media. We are also aware that young people are putting themselves at risk through substance misuse. To tackle this we have organised a series of Drugs Awareness events to enable professionals from a range of agencies to speak to our pupils of their experiences of dealing with young people who have taken drugs. At the event held for parents and carers on 13th December, the point was made that many drugs are easily accessible, are cheaper than most adults think and that people can react very differently to drugs bought from the same batch or supplier. This is not a ‘Montrose problem’ but a national one. Should pupils, parents or carers have any information on who is making drugs available to the town’s young people, please contact the police.
Duke of Edinburgh
Thefollowing pupils recently achieved their Duke of Edinburgh awards.
Bronze:
Scott Dykes
Elliot Scott
Ellie Boyd
Patrick Skea
Kyle Burden
Matthew Holmes
Eilidh Campbell
Holly Walker
Chloe Lowther
Callum Shearer
Zoe McLachlan
Silver:
Molly Munro
All DofE groups are currently becoming familiar with route cards/ planning the location of their summer expeditions. (The Gold group are also costing their expedition)
Next term’s events
Monday 8th JanuaryTerm starts
Monday 15th JanuaryS1 Parents’ Evening
Friday 19th JanuaryPrelims begin (S4-6 pupils)
Monday 22nd JanuaryParent Partnership meeting (all welcome)
Thursday 25th JanuaryS3 Parents’/Carers Literacy and Numeracy evening
Tuesday 30th JanuaryS2 Parents’ Evening
Thursday 15th FebruaryIn-service Day
Friday 16th & Monday 19th FebruaryHolidays
Thursday 22nd FebruaryS5&6 Parents’ Evening
Wednesday 7th MarchS4 Parents’ Evening
Thursday 8th MarchS2 Parents’/Carers Literacy and Numeracy evening
Friday 30th MarchTerm ends