Dates For Your Diary Easter break – Thursday 29th

March 2.30pm & return Monday 16thApril

Bank holiday – Monday 7th May SQA Exams begin –Monday 30th

April Bank holiday –Friday 25th May,

Monday 28th May Inservice Day - Tuesday 29th May New Timetable starts

Wednesday 30th May Close for Summer Friday 29th

June

Head Teacher’s MessageDear Parent/Carer,

I am delighted to provide you with our newsletter for this term. I hope that, as with its predecessors, it gives an enjoyable and informative insight into some of our young people’s many achievements.

This month has been extremely busy with our senior pupils completing course assessments and assignments in addition to preparing for the forthcoming SQA examinations which begin on Monday, 30th April 2018 with Spanish. Our Supported Study programme has also been running during March. In addition, a range of supported study sessions will be on offer during the April holiday. Information is available on the school website and our twitter feed.

Finally, we hope you all enjoy the April break!

Yours sincerely

Mr G BoneHead Teacher

Follow on Twitter @pwkacademy Website: www.prestwick.sayr.sch.uk

Individual Highlights

Online School Payments 5

Music Success 6

Duke of Edinburgh11

Follow the yellow footed road!

SA Youth Forum members trying out the new footsteps

12

Congratulations to Molly Weatherston and Jennie Stewart S3 who have both secured a place on Strathclyde University’s Engineering the Future for Girl’s summer school. There were only 100 spaces available for Scotland and their applications were strong enough to stand out and be accepted!

A huge thanks to Ayrshire College for bringing their Future Technology Roads show to us! All year groups got to experience virtual reality trips and witness first and how technology could change the world of education!

On Wednesday 21st March six S2 pupils travelled to Dumfries house for the Regional STEM Celebration where they had to show all of the things they had completed throughout the year during the STEM Club and the STEM Elective. Pupils also participated in a competition called Don’t Waste a Drop where they had to transfer two litres of water three metres using a pump or a wheel. For the second year in a row WE WON! Local companies also attended and set pupils timed challenges. These included pylon building, managing a water pipe map, creating a jet wind turbine and also an egg drop challenge! Our Pupils also delivered a presentation to a host of judges who were really impressed by Riley, our robot, and took part in sampling our VR headset. The pupils involved had an excellent day and were delighted with their win!

Design & Technology hosted the K’nex Cluster quarter finals today. Four teams took on the challenge of designing and creating a Ferris Wheel. Well done to our winners at Glenburn Primary and our runners up at Kingcase Primary!

13

Ayrshire College Festival of LearningA number of Prestwick Academy pupils enjoyed the taster sessions at Ayr College on Friday 16.2.18. The staff and facilities were excellent! http://www1.ayrshire.ac.uk/

The Design & Technology department played host to the Prestwick cluster Primary 7s with a transition project called ‘Newton Racers’. At their own primary school, the pupils learned about Sir Isaac Newton and his 3rd Law of motion, as well as developing their design skills and familiarising themselves with the materials for the ‘Big Day’. Pupils excelled themselves with their knowledge of Newton’s Law and building their very own Newton Racers designed and built. A difficult choice had to be made but Jenna, Jacob, Matthew, Rebecca & Beck were the overall Design winners Melissa, Ben, Evie & Katie were the overall winners of the day when their Newton Racers triumphed in the longest distance travelled! All pupils were actively involved in the event and also got chance to see around the school. The P7 pupils thoroughly enjoyed themselves and many said that project helped them to acquaint themselves with their new school. We look forward to meeting them again in August!

Stiletto Gals

File and polish performed on

some residents of Alexandria Court

Our S4 ‘Cycle Squad’ and ‘The Hub’ had a successful morning doing ‘Service Saturday’. Thanks to all the members of the community who came out to support us on a very cold morning at Prestwick Academy. Everyone managed to get their bike serviced, watch bike maintenance workshops and take part in lots of fun games and activities.

.

14

ONLINE SCHOOL PAYMENTS

A good number of parents are now using the Ipay system to pay for school meals online.  Our new trips will now be available to pay online. Once you have received word that your child will be attending from the trip organiser, you will be able to go in and pay for it online.  For new trips abroad, this will be broken into several payment dates.  When paying for trips, you require to ensure that you are paying for the trip rather than for school meals – you will clearly see the name of the trip when you make the payment.  If you only see the school meals account, please contact the school office before making a payment for a trip.

For any parents who have not yet signed up for the online school payments system, there is still time to do so.  You will have received a letter in December with a unique identifier for your child and instructions on how to register for the system and make payments.  Should you have mislaid this letter, please contact the office who can provide you with a duplicate.

A Huge well done to our amazing S2 team for bringing the Frankie and Benny’s (Ayr) trophy back to Prestwick Academy for another year.

Check out the fantastic pizza baguettes our S1/S2 group made. Big thumbs up from hungry staff!! Well done girls.

Katie in S6 and Mr Docherty attended the SAC Children’s Services Conference, which had a

great interactive presentation from Juliet Harris on Children’s RightsMr Ross and Mrs McGoldrick gave a

presentation at a recent Education Scotland event supported by Respect Me

Congratulations to all of our S1 and S2 pupils who achieved House Colours, Half Colours and Full Colours. Certificates and badges were issued during year group assemblies.

15

Musical Success

Congratulations to woodwind pupils Elly, Emily

and Ross who are all representing Prestwick Academy in the West of Scotland Training Band.

Congratulations to Prestwick

Academy’s String Orchestra who

won their class at the Ayrshire Music Festival fantastic

achievement!!!There was also a school show preview of ‘The Wedding

Singer’ to conclude the evening.

16Congratulations!!!!! Our Percussion group have been

awarded £1000 after the Locality Decides Event

Junior Choir

YOUNG MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR The music department’s annual Young Musician of the Year Competition took place on Monday 26th March.This year it was incorporated in to a Spring Showcase displaying the work of the department over the past term. The String Orchestra, Junior Choir, Woodwind Group, Percussion Group, Wind Band and S2 Elective ‘Voice Factor’ all gave fantastic performances.

FINALISTS OF THE YOUNG MUSICIAN COMPETITION JUNIOR COMPETITION

Kate Terras ViolinStuart Khaliq Piano Sylvia Home                     ViolinRoss Houston                   SaxophoneMegan Morrison              PianoMichael Andrews EuphoniumNatalie Elliot                     ViolinScott Dunlop Saxophone

SENIOR COMPETITION

Aimee Kennedy CelloMary Beth Lindsay Tuned PercussionSuzie Poole PianoKatie Stanley TrumpetBlair McMeechan Tuned PercussionLuke Duncan CelloCOMPETITION RESULTS

Junior WinnerStuart Khaliq S3

Junior Runner-upRoss Houston S3

Senior WinnerSuzie Poole S6

Senior Runner-upKatie Stanley S4Rising StarMegan Morrison S1

17

BURNS CLUB Well done to all of the pupils who performed at Prestwick Burns Club on Tuesday 6th February. Pupils recited a great variety of Scottish poems, all giving excellent performances. Other pupils  played traditional instrumental works and some vocalists performed Scottish songs.  A small ceilidh group provided some good entertainment throughout the evening too. Thanks to Mrs Dippie and Mrs Hunter in the music department for preparing the pupils and organising the event.

18

LGBT History Month

As part of LGBT history month the library promoted a great selection of LGBT+ books for staff and pupils to read. There was also a range of information available from the library including guides, leaflets and contact details for relevant organisations. Some of our S3 classes have also been taking part in some LGBT activities during library classes. Pupils have been reading and discussing a selection of LGBT short stories and poems. We are currently working alongside Scottish Book Trust to invite in some authors\ illustrators to come in and work on this further with pupils.

World Book Day

Unfortunately SNOWMAGEDDON caused a bit of chaos with our World Book Day plans. We still managed to hand out our book tokens but a few of our activities had to be postponed.

In the weeks leading up to World Book Day S1 pupils took part in Bookclubbing activities. Pupils were shown the official Bookclubbing video and encouraged to discuss what they are reading and recommend books to each other. Some of these recommendations are displayed in the library. We also invited our designated reading champions to share their favourite books with pupils.

The library also hosted a book quiz for S1 pupils. Teams who had signed up came along to the library at lunchtime to battle it out. We ended up in a tie break situation but in the end it was team ‘Tons of Dots…’ who were victorious.

Rotary Club Quiz

Prestwick Academy hosted The Prestwick Rotary Primary School Quiz this year. All Prestwick primary schools entered a team and this year the questions were prepared and organised by a group of S1 pupils from Prestwick Academy. The group spent time in the library researching topics to help them put together the questions for the day. They also formed a welcome committee on the day, looked after the teams and assisted with the running of the day.

The scores were close but in the end it was Kingcase who won. They will now go on to represent Prestwick at the Rotary District Final on 22nd May in Glasgow. We wish them luck!

Prestwick Rotary President, Richie Cameron said, ‘Congratulations to Kingcase Primary they were superb on the day and all their efforts paid off. Congratulations to all the teams and to Prestwick Academy for making it a great day. Kingcase will do Prestwick proud in the District Final’.

BOOKQUIZ WINNER

19

Accelerated Reader Update

Our S1 and S2 pupils have been taking part in Accelerated Reader, a computer-based programme that encourages pupils to read books at an appropriate level and then challenges them with quizzes to test their understanding of the literature. Pupils have been earning certificates and meeting targets throughout this term. Pupils have read a staggering 3241 Accelerated Reader books so far!

The following pupils have also become

Word Millionaires this year:Isla Robinson X5 (S1)

Naeve Heron X3 (S1)

110

Isla Robinson X5 (S1)Naeve Heron X3 (S1)

Please continue to encourage your child to read at home. You can also view your child’s progress through the Home Connect feature. Letters containing your login details have already been sent out.

Author Martin Stewart will be coming in on Monday 23rd April to speak to S3 pupils about his new book The Sacrifice Box: a

like comedy horror set in 1986.  He will then stay on to answer any questions and sign copies of his books.  There are a limited amount of spaces available to s1\s2 pupils

  Please see Miss Milne in the library to sign Waterstones will be there on the day to sell copies of the

book for £5 but if you can’t wait until then there are copies of Martin’s books available from the school library. 

SKYEWORDS READ: 12,110,665CERTIFICATES EARNED: 151

HARRISWORDS READ: 17,352,654 CERTIFICATES EARNED: 155

ERISKAYWORDS READ: 23,057,075CERTIFICATES EARNED: 185

TIREEWORDS READ: 10,318,263CERTIFICATES EARNED: 115

LEWISWORDS READ: 15,228,302CERTIFICATES EARNED: 171

For more information on what’s going on in the library check out our page on the school website and our dedicated blog. We are also now on Twitter @PWKAcademyLib

TherapetThis year we welcome

back Megan, our Therapet to work with some of our pupils. Each Thursday in

the library we host a ‘reading with dogs’

session which helps pupils build confidence in

reading aloud.

S3 Reading Challenge

Well done to our S3 pupils who are taking part in our reading challenge. Classes have been working their way through the 50 challenges set by library staff. After taking part in the Scottish Teen book Awards another three classes will take part in the challenge after Easter.

111

Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Practice Expedition, braving the weather

Duke of Edinburgh

112

Silver Award

Elizabeth BurnsEva Forrest

Alistair KhaliqEmily NobleKirsty Shaw

Johnathon CairnieRhiannon Freireich

Sophie McLeanAlex Pitman

Getting over the wall is always easier with help from your team as our Bronze Duke of Edinburgh group have proved

Our Bronze Duke of Edinburgh pupils putting their navigation skills to the test

Gold Award

Claire BrownIona Goldie

Emma McDonaldAbigail Pitman

Kirsty ClyneWilliam JamiesonRobert McIntosh

Dylan White

Bronze Award

Bethany Alexander

Victoria Lawrence

Adam Brawley Seona MacDonald

Sophie Buchanan Nathan McColmLeah Cooper Marc MulgrewLuke Duncan Vittorio

Pezzaiolo

113

DOE Presentations well done to all of those who achieved their award

The next Bronze intake will be later this year.  If any pupils in 4th year would like to do Silver or pupils in 5th year who would like to do Gold but have not yet enrolled please see Mrs Pope in CR2 any Wednesday at lunchtime or ask for more information from the office.  It is not too late!

Mrs Pope received a presentation at the DOE ceremony, this will be her last session at Prestwick Academy as she is moving back up north to enjoy her retirement. Thanks for all your help and hard work!

114

Sporting Success

Well done to all the S1-3 pupils who took part in our secondary schools tennis competition. Congratulations to our top 3! Euan Henderson, Gregor Morris and Thomas Taylor.

Scottish Disability Sport, Physical Category – National Champion!Many Congratulations to Sam our latest Scottish Champion, winning Gold in the SDS National XC Championships at Bellahouston in the S4 Boys Physical category Fantastic Event!

115

Gymnasts looking great ahead of their

So we did it! A 1st and a 3rd for Prestwick!! Well done girlies! Scottish finals here we come

Well done Eoin who managed to fight his way to bronze in a busy and hard fought tournament in his first outing for the JKS Scotland team -awesome performances!

Follow on Twitter @pwkacademy Website: www.prestwick.sayr.sch.uk