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Belmont.mail@south-ayrshire.gov.uk

Christmas Newsletter

December 2016

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It does not seem like a year since I wrote last year’s Christmas communication – I think it

must be true what they say about time passing more quickly as you get older!

On the theme of time passing quickly, the last 4 years have literally flown by, and it seems

this has brought me to the decision to retire. When I took up post in January 2013, I fully intended to leave

teaching by retiring from Belmont. However, I had thought maybe six or seven years in post would be a good goal.

Yet, here I am retiring after four years.

The reasons for my earlier than anticipated departure are multi-fold, but I do think it pertinent to highlight those

reasons to you as parents - as I have already done with the whole staff and full pupil body.

I think I can genuinely say that I underestimated the job as a Head Teacher, despite being a Depute Head

Teacher in two schools (both large secondaries of 1800 and 1150 pupils respectively) and thinking that there might

not be that much of a difference. How wrong was I?! To be fair, the job of any Head Teacher is partly subject to

specific and individual context. For the past four years, I have lived and breathed Belmont – and have sincerely

enjoyed every minute. Working 60-70 hours per week on a consistent basis, however, is something I no longer wish

to do. Such was the context of the school I inherited, and such is the context of Scottish education, that it takes

these hours to manage and lead a school of Belmont’s size and profile. So… in short, the main reason for my

departure is to get my life back, and to spend some genuine quality time with my family of four children, 5

grandchildren, a grand dog and of course my husband.

Other reasons or ‘prompts’ include the state of Scottish education at this moment in time. Recent changes are

unprecedented and Scottish education has seen a paradigm shift. Whilst the principles of CfE are sound, the rate

of change, the volume of development work and the increasing bureaucracy make the job almost untenable – or at

least ensures that it cannot be carried out within the contracted 35 hours. This is the case at any level in the

hierarchy. Sadly, I am not convinced that the intended improvements have materialised, as highlighted in the

recent PISA results and OECD Report.

Having outlined my reasons for leaving education (which may seem to have gloomy overtures), I must inform you

that I am forever heartened by the positivity, and motivating factors, that are alive and kicking at Belmont. We

have travelled a huge distance in terms of our improvement journey over the last four years (see SQA Directorate

Visit section) and the school is now in an excellent position with further capacity and improvement to be added. I

have appointed over half of our current staff (around 46 people) so we have witnessed a tremendous shift in terms

of positive ethos and culture. There is immense scope for distributing leadership and building leadership capacity –

the contents of this Newsletter pays testimony to that. All in all, there is fertile ground upon which the new Head

Teacher can build. I wish that person all the very best.

All that remains is for me to say is that it has been an absolute pleasure working with your children and the wider

Belmont community. I will, undoubtedly, miss the buzz of school life and the sheer joy of working with young

people. However, the time is right for me to move onto new pastures and ventures.

I wish you all a (very) Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, with additional best wishes for the future of

Belmont’s young people, families, friends and wider community. Sue Beattie

Head Teacher

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On 26th October this year we welcomed our Quality Improvement Team and Douglas Hutchison (Director of

Education) for the annual validated self-evaluation visit. Allan Rattray from Girvan Academy joined the team as the

peer Head Teacher.

This year the visit was known as the School Self Improvement visit and the focus included a scrutiny of our SQA

results for 2015-2016 along with an overview of the progress made with all other improvement priorities. Self-

evaluation processes are critical in recognising our improvement needs. These will continue to be discussed and

debated to ensure that this self-evaluation leads to self-improvement at Belmont Academy.

The visit this year was a tremendous success with presentation inputs from all members of the Senior Leadership

Team, in highlighting our strengths and development needs. Whilst there is always headroom for improvement and

specific targets, it was agreed that Belmont is in a positive position in relation to attainment, curriculum

development, learning and teaching, pupils’ experiences and self-evaluation.

All of the groundwork has now been set for (hopefully) a successful outcome with exam results in August 2017.

Sue Beattie

Head Teacher

SQA Directorate Visit

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A huge thank you to all the businesses that sponsored our Christmas Fair -

your contribution made a massive difference to us, and we are very grateful for your support!

Hugh Strain & Sons

Rozelle Tearoom

Acorn Shutters and Blinds

Martin Aitken & Co

Minuteman Press

Lime Tree Healthcare (Alloway Pharmacy)

Lesley Dobbie Optometrists

Poet’s Corner

Andersson Dental Care

KMS Chartered Accountants

Twenty-Seven Alloway

Aegirfish

Dinos

We had our first meeting at the end of August where we welcomed some new first year parents. The AGM took place on

Wednesday 28th September 2016 and the following office bearers were appointed:

Margo Cathcart Chair cathcm51@gmail.com

Andrea Kirkhope Vice Chair

Janice Lindsay Secretary

Jill Ross Treasurer

Julie McTaggart Catering Convenor

Our fundraising efforts continue and to this end we have

Provided tea and coffee at the three parents’ nights – 1st year, 4th year and 3rd year.

We invited the 6th year pupils to a pre-prom evening where local businesses – hairdressers, make-up salons and dress

shops showed the range of services they can provide. There was a lovely atmosphere with the pupils taking the

opportunity to try out a new look and think about dresses and highland wear for the prom.

We had another successful Christmas Fair. Thank you to all who attended. It was a great night of fun with a number

of fun activities. We were inundated by people wanting to take a stall so we had a great range of tempting Christmas

gifts available as well as the Tombola, Bottle stall and home baking stall with beautiful cakes made by pupils and

parents. As always a great attraction was the raffle. The prizes included an Apple Watch, Beats Headphones,

Abercrombie and Fitch vouchers and Nando vouchers as well as prizes kindly donated by the stall holders. Our final

profit was just under £2000. A big thank you to all the local businesses who supported the event.

We have a bag pack arranged at Iceland on 17th and 18th December

Having now accumulated £5000 we are making a donation to the school to enable them to buy another ‘classroom in a box’. This

resource contains 20 laptops and can be used throughout the school to benefit all the pupils.

Back in October 2 parent council members along with Miss Wilson (Principal Teacher – Learning Support) attended ‘Ayr South

Decides’ to bid for funds for a school gardening project. The bid was successful. So we were able to secure £1000 for the

school to buy gardening equipment, seeds and bulbs. The school catering department and the Home Economics department are

looking forward to using home-grown produce in the very near future.

By now everyone will know the sad news that Mrs Beattie is leaving the school at the end of this session. As a parent council we

have really enjoyed working with Mrs Beattie and we will miss her. We would like to wish her all the best for the future and

thank her for unstinting support of the parent council.

Our role as the parent council includes representing all the parents. We are not allowed to discuss individuals at our meeting

but we can represent the wider concerns. I have deliberately included my address so that if there is anything you wish us to

discuss you can contact me. Please feel free to raise any questions or concerns with us at any time.

Any parent at any time is welcome to attend the parent council meetings. We meet on the last Wednesday of every month at

7pm in the Lifelong Learning room in the Admin corridor.

Margo Cathcart

Chair of the Parent Council

Andrea Kirkhope

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The Learning and Teaching Project Group has met and has identified areas we are going to focus on in our peer

observations this session. The Learning and Teaching Project group will conduct peer observations next session and

will focus on meeting staff professional learning needs in order to learn from and support each to deliver lessons

which are high quality, progressive and suitably challenging for all our pupils. Thanks to the teacher volunteers who

read and share articles from the weekly TES magazine on a rotation to raise awareness of current educational

issues and to Rose Dunlop (Biology Department) for managing the rota.

Belmont Academy staff are participating in an initiative called ‘Making Thinking Visible’ provided by the

Tapestry programme. Making Thinking Visible is a strongly research-based programme (Perkins, 2008,

Ritchhart, Palmer, Church and Tishman, 2006). The long-standing goals of the Making Thinking Visible approach

are to deepen learning in classrooms using ideas and strategies called Thinking Routines. Thinking Routines are

tools and structures which emerge from questioning, extending dialogues, listening and documenting. Thinking

Routines support learners through the processes of introducing and exploring ideas, synthesising and organising

new ideas and digging deeper into those ideas to promote deep learning. Making Thinking Visible promotes

learners’ dispositions towards thinking arguing that effective thinking is not only about thinking skills but also

about thinking dispositions characterised by open mindedness, creativity, curiosity, attention to evidence and so

on. These thinking dispositions are fostered best in thinking cultures in the classroom/department/school

where everyone values and actively promotes thinking. In a culture of thinking, thinking is more than a solo

endeavour. Learners share and build on one another’s knowledge and skills. By making thinking visible, teachers

and learners develop a better understanding of each other’s thinking. This makes deciding on next steps in

learning more apparent and relevant. Teachers and learners become more motivated in the day to day

experiences of teaching and learning because they both feel more deeply engaged in the process.

MTV is led in Belmont Academy by nine voluntary Lead Learners: Brian Sinclair (DHT), Jennifer Chalmers

(Physics), Asif Rafiq (Technical), Jill Flanagan (Acting PT PE), David Moore (Music), Orane Frachisse (Acting PT

Modern Languages), Richard Ledingham (Geography), Pamela Rowan (PT Guidance) and Laura MacMillan (Music).

The Lead Learners attend training sessions with South Ayrshire colleagues and share ideas of how we can

implement the 21 Thinking Routines in our subject areas to enhance the learning experience for all pupils. All

teaching staff have attended two school twilight sessions where the Lead Learners led workshops delivering

working examples of 8 Thinking Routines for staff to trial in their classrooms. The MTV Thinking Routines were

included in the lesson focus for the whole school observations undertaken by the Senior Leadership Team and

some Principal Teachers in December.

Laura MacMillan

Learning and Teaching Project Group Leader and MTV School Lead Learner

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As we approach the festive period Literacy and Numeracy across Learning are still high on the agenda and pupils have taken

part in various activities to improve their skills in these two areas.

The Maths department held some Hallowe’en themed events in October. Pupils in S1-3 took part in spooky relays or solved

murder mysteries, making great use of their mathematical and numeracy skills. Members of the Maths department have been

involved in working with the P7 cluster on reinforcing work on fractions, decimals and percentages. These topics are extremely

important as they are part of essential knowledge and skills for life and work. The P7 pupils who have participated so far have

been very enthusiastic about what they have learned. If you think that your child needs any more consolidation on these topics

then please direct them to the mathsworkout website where they will find plenty of activities to help them progress. All

activities can be marked by using the ‘check’ button. The username for any pupil wishing to use this online facility is ‘Belmont’

and the password in ‘vertex37’. Mathsworkout isn’t just good for fractions, decimals and percentages but can be used for many

different topics up to and including National 5 level.

Supported study has been running for many years in the maths department. Sessions this year have been very well attended

and your children have been a credit to you in displaying their gratitude to staff for the time that they give up to allow this

facility to run. Thank you for your continued support.

www.mathsworkout.co.uk

Next session, pupils from the maths department will be participating in the UKMT Intermediate and Junior challenges. These

challenges are fantastic opportunities for young people to develop their problem solving skills and can lead to being invited to

compete at national level in Kangaroo or Olympiad championships.

The English department welcomed a new Principal teacher this session - Ms C Grant – who joined us from Bearsden Academy

and brings with her enthusiasm, creativity and a passion for learning and literacy.

We are so lucky in the department to have been given a new set of laptops. This has allowed more students to access Literacy

aids such as Read&Write Gold and Clicker 7 which encourages them to be more independent and to access the curriculum.

As a department we strive to encourage leadership skills and so we have started a lunch-club for

junior pupils who benefit from the quiet, nurturing atmosphere where 6th year buddies and teachers

are on hand to help - sometime with their homework, such as extended written tasks, or sometimes

just joining in with a fun game of Cluedo or Monopoly.

Our Creative Writing Club (meets in English 5 on Monday at lunchtime) has gone from strength

to strength and pupils are encouraged to enter a wide range of competitions including the

popular 500 word story competition launched by Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans and the Young Writers

Welcome to Wonderland competition where pupils had to invent their own worlds. Many pupils

in the department entered into this competition and we have our fingers crossed for success!

Supported study sessions for National 5 and Higher pupils have been running since October and

has, you will be pleased to hear, been very well attended. Sessions have focused on introducing pupils to the free resources on

http://scholar.hw.ac.uk and the feedback from our young people thus far has been very positive.

In the New Year we plan to roll out information to all key stake-holders regarding the Scottish Government’s new draft

Literacy Benchmarks. This is an exciting and important publication that will aid us as teacher and you as parents ensure our

young people are supported and challenged appropriately across learning in their BGE. If you are interested in learning more

about the new benchmarks please visit: https://education.gov.scot/improvement/Documents/LiteracyEnglishBenchmarks.pdf /

https://education.gov.scot/improvement/Documents/NumeracyMathematicsBenchmarks.pdf

We encourage you to check out our great new blog at www.belmontacademyenglishdeparetment.wordpress.com which has lots of

information about the English and Literacy department and many excellent bespoke resources.

Follow us and keep in touch on Twitter @belmont_english for updates! Look out for more information on Numeracy and Literacy

across Learning in next session’s newsletter and we hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Rhona McFarlane/Claire Tomelty

Literacy & Numeracy Co-Ordinators

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This year has already seen some positive work being done to build on what was started last year. A small cluster

working group, established in April, has created three different tasks for all our Primary 7 pupils to work on

between now and Easter. Each task encourages them to explore a different part of their health and wellbeing,

specifically – physical activity, food and nutrition and the mental and emotional side. The aim is to promote all the

different parts that make up their health and wellbeing and the different ways in which they can make small,

positive changes. This work will then culminate in two HWB mornings at Belmont in May, where they will not only

use the knowledge they have been developing over the course of the year, but will also have the opportunity to

showcase their work for their peers to see.

Finally, our Sports Leaders have been out to Kincaidston, Tarbolton and Holmston Primary schools, delivering both

curricular and extra-curricular sessions for a variety of primary aged pupils. This has not only given them the

opportunity to use the skills and training they have been given this year, but also provided the primary pupils with a

unique experience and the chance to ask questions about Belmont Academy. In addition to this, the Sports

Leaders also ran a number of transition events over a series of Wednesday afternoons. These sessions allowed

Primary 7 pupils from across the cluster to come together and learn/experience a range of different activities …

and from speaking to some of those involved they were a great success! Our senior sports leaders continue to

positively represent Belmont Academy and impress with their teaching capabilities – keep up the good work!

Jill Flanagan

Acting Principal Teacher of Physical Education

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S2 IDL

S2 are now two thirds of the way through their rotations for S2 STEM IDL. Once the

rotations end, they will be put into teams to work on a ‘top secret’ project, putting to use all

the new skills they will have learned during the rotations.

Belmont Community Project

A group of S4 pupils have been working on a noticeboard to go outside the Butchers shop on

the Mount. This project has been requested by the Belmont Community council. The pupils have completed initial

research, design ideas on mock up models, and are now looking to build a prototype to test on the school grounds to

develop an understanding of materials and weather implications.

1st Lego League

A group of 10 S1 & S2 pupils have been busy designing a robot, programming it to do specific tasks and preparing

their presentations for our 1st Lego League competition on Saturday 17th December. Mr Rafiq and Miss Carballo

have attended the competition with our pupils. On the day the pupils had a fantastic experience and won the Core

Values Trophy this year. Great job!

Go 4 Set

This year our young engineering girls are participating in the Go4Set

challenge. Working with EDF Energy Engineering department they

have designed and are now researching viable options for sustainable

living and learning on an eco-school island. Sound challenging? It

surely is. However the energy and enthusiasm of our young engineers

ensures great progress. Thank you also to our parents who are using

their knowhow to shape the pupils’ ideas into practical solutions. An

exciting project where the pupils develop to the stage of

prototyping their Eco Islands. We hope to showcase at the regional

STEM celebration at Dumfries House in March 2017.

Other News

A representative from EDF, Archie Crowford has supported both the GO 4

Set teams and Talent 2030. Talent 2030 is an initiative which hopes to

achieve gender balance in engineering by 2030. We have 2 teams involved in

the initiative; a group of S4 girls are working on bringing engineering tasks

to the community to raise awareness of wildlife issues, i.e. bird houses. And

an S5/6 group of girls are working on the viability of rainfall as a way of

powering a micro power plant.

Both teams hope to achieve either a silver or gold CREST award

through this project.

A group of S3 young engineers have offered and now constructed a

‘Resonance Board ‘to support the learning of blind and/or deaf

children. The Resonance Board will help these children develop the

child’s brain to interpret motor activity and listening skills.

And finally, a group of S3 boys have been working on construction

skills building charity boxes through Duke of Edinburgh for the

Community Aid Team run by the S5/6 wider achievement group with Miss Dunlop. Kirsty Armstrong

STEM Co-Ordinator

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On 17th November 30 pupils from S3 attended a Skills Development Scotland event at Seamill Hydro. This event

specifically focused on Apprenticeships, both Foundation and Modern, and was delivered via local Apprentices and

employers who were able to give first hand insights as to what the Apprenticeship programme has to offer.

During their time slot, pupils received a presentation and demonstration session directly from employers and

Apprentices on some of the Work Based Learning they do. In addition to this pupils had a chance to discover more

sectors in the exhibition area, where there were tasks relating to different industries.

After the success of the event last year, we are repeating the S2 Careers Day in conjunction with Ayr

College. This will take place on 16th February 2017. All of S2 will be given the opportunity to hear from employers

in many different job sectors. Pupils are currently making their choices regarding which zones they might like to

visit. Jill Hitchman

DSYW Co-ordinator

In addition to their curricular and extra-curricular commitments S6 students have had the opportunity to

participate in Enhanced Curriculum. All S6 students had the opportunity to select one of the following options:

Fencing

Survival Cookery

Heart Start

First Aid

Life Coaching

Self-Defence

Primary Work Placement

Pilates

All students were involved in an additional short programme on Financial Management.

Involvement in Enhanced Curriculum will help to broaden the horizons of our S6 students and in many cases provide

them with the practical help as they prepare for their next stage in life!

At Belmont Academy we are committed to providing our S6 students with an enriching final year experience to

help guide and support them as they make the transition from secondary school into Further or Higher Education

or into the world of work/training.

We recognise that S6 represents a special time in the lives of our senior students and we aim to provide them with

opportunities to participate in a wide range of events throughout the year. So far this year our students have

participated in the following:

S6 Induction

S6 Leadership Days

S6 Kyle/Belmont Halloween Disco

Yearbook

The S6 Pre-Prom Party

The Senior Christmas Dance

Various fundraising and Charity Events

Lynsey Pollock S6 Experience Leader

Next up will be the S6 Burns Supper!

Thursday 26th January 2017!

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Rights Respecting School Award (RRSA) work has been in full swing since the summer holidays with many new

activities and initiatives being created and taking shape:

School Charter

All staff and pupils had the opportunity to vote on which articles from the United Nations Convention on the

Rights of the Child (UNCRC) they thought are the most important for life at Belmont. The top five were:

1. Article 23 – A child with a disability has the right to live a full and decent life with dignity and

independence, and to play an active part in the community.

2. Article 28 – Every child has the right to an education.

3. Article 12 – Every child has the right to say what they think in all matters affecting them, and to have

their views taken seriously.

4. Article 31 – Every child has the right to relax, play and take part in a wide range of cultural and artistic

activities.

5. Article 15 – Every child has the right to meet with other children and to join groups and organisations. As

long as this does not stop other people from enjoying their rights.

The RRS Pupil Councils met to decide how the new School Charter should look and where it should be displayed.

They have asked pupils from across the school to create artwork to represent each Article in order for the

Charter to be more memorable.

RRS Pupil Council

There are two RRS Councils – one for BGE and one for Senior Phase pupils. A full Council meeting took place at the

end of September to discuss issues they felt were important within the school, Ayr, Scotland, and the wider world.

RRS Councils have been focusing on the new School Charter but in the New Year will be revisiting these issues and

will launch a campaign focusing on one or more of these areas.

Cluster Work

At the beginning of 2016, Miss Melville began meeting with RRS representatives from all the associated primary

schools within the Belmont Cluster. Work began on a joint Cluster project which has taken the shape of a charity

calendar. Each primary had two Articles and pupils were asked to create artwork to contribute to the calendar.

The judging process was very difficult but with twelve pictures chosen and a front cover created by Emma Neillie

in S2, a calendar has been created. They have been on sale at all the schools’ respective Christmas Fairs and all

proceeds will be donated to UNICEF.

Nina Melville

RRS Co-Ordinator

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“Seventeen and Starving”. This describes most students when they move away from home and face having to cook

for themselves. Aware that young people are easily tempted into buying fast food, Alfa Enterprises has identified

a gap in the market for a no-nonsense cook book which would be affordable to buy but would also be an ideal gift to

receive.

A Survival Cookery lesson which was held by Mrs Emerson in Home Economics was the ideal place to use as a focus

group. The group learned that young adults would happily pay £5 or £6 for an easy-to-understand set of recipes

which were fun to prepare and within their budget.

At this stage, the Operations Team has given themselves the task of pulling recipes, methods and design together

to create a unique and fun product, and are considering some of the following chapter titles:

Breakfasts – Rushing to Lectures

Lunches – Cheaper than the Café

Dinners – It’s been a long day …

Desserts and Cakes – everyone deserves a treat!

Late night snacks – let’s watch a movie?

The company plan to launch the product in the New Year, and are networking with the local community, colleges and

universities in order to take the product to market. Watch this space!

Thereafter, Alfa members will undertake the University of Strathclyde Young Enterprise Company Examination,

and prepare for the Ayrshire Finals which are held in April 2017.

Background: Alfa is a group of 14 budding business individuals from Belmont Academy’s S5 & S6, who have joined the Young Enterprise Company Programme. Having secured finance by selling Halloween baking and sweets to pupils throughout October, they are now actively developing their product, led by Robin McGregor and Paul McGuiness.

Susan Glass

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The Belmont Chemistry team was Charlotte MacDowall 3 CumB, Rose Saville 2 KinB, Rachel Hart 4 ArA and Abbie

Middleton 3 LomB. The ‘Top of the Bench’ competition is organised by the Royal Society of Chemistry and

Strathclyde University. We were third out of 21 teams and this was our first entry to the annual competition.

Teams were entered from all over Glasgow and the West of Scotland. George Hardie and Amy Andrews

accompanied the team to Strathclyde on the night of Thursday 24th November. Well done girls!

Jeanette Brennan

Principal Teacher of Chemistry

English Blog and Twitter

The English Department is now online. Please follow us on Twitter (@belmont_english) to find out what’s going on in

the department as well as interesting articles, revision advice, and reading recommendations for our discerning

pupils. You can also visit our Blog (https://belmontacademyenglishdepartment.wordpress.com) for additional

resources and information.

Public Speaking Competitions

Michael Lafferty and Gemma Munro took part in this year’s Victim Support South Ayrshire Public Speaking

Competition. Both Michael and Gemma spoke about Hate Crime and were excellent in their content and delivery as

well as raising awareness of how Victim Support Scotland plays such an important role in tackling this issue. They

were complimented by the judges on their maturity and level of detail but were sadly pipped to the post.

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Youth Speaks Competition

Massive congratulations to this year’s Rotary Youth Speaks team. Senior pupils, Beth Murdoch, Sophie Lafferty

and Monica McCrorie, presented an engaging and polished speech, entitled “I’m So Bored: The 21st Century

Affliction”, to a packed room of rotarians and other guests on Tuesday 29th November. Although they were

narrowly beaten to the top spot by Wellington School, the Belmont team claimed second place and therefore go

through to the district round in Glasgow as representatives of the Rotary Club of Alloway.

Drama Workshop

The Department was very lucky to welcome Wendy Faraone to work with S2/3 pupils in a drama workshop with a

Q&A on working in the industry. Wendy has been an on-set acting coach for Disney for 13 years starting in Hannah

Montana and going on to work in Ant Farm, I’m with the Band, Crash and Bernstein, I Didn’t Do It, Wizards of

Waverly Place, Sonny With A Chance and Liv And Maddie which she also directed. In addition to this she travels

around the world teaching in acting workshops.

Wendy explained the schedule for acting on sit-coms and how much writing, rehearsing and re-writing goes into

each episode. Using two students, Rachel Gilchrist (whom Wendy privately coaches and mentors) and Emma

Hawken, Wendy demonstrated how she coaches an actor through a script and the girls gave a performance for the

group.

Wendy went on to do a question and answer session and gave advice on acting, writing and directing with the key

message being to train as much as possible wherever possible.

Normally Wendy only teaches in specific workshops. However she was delighted to come to Belmont Academy given

the support it gives students who wish to pursue Performing Arts as a career which she has seen though working

with Rachel. She said ‘growing up I lived and breathed drama, choir and dance and I want to promote support for

performing arts all over the country. I loved visiting Rachel’s school, Belmont Academy, and would love to do a

workshop with the students the next time I’m in Scotland.’ Claire Grant

Principal Teacher of English

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Making Thinking Visible routines are now part of everyday teaching. They have been highly

successful in all classes from S1 to S6 in Modern Languages. Here are some examples of

pupils’ answers.

Think – Puzzle – Explore

We have been blessed again this year with amazing Spanish Projects! From La Tomatina to la Salamandra de Barcelona, from La Ligua to Bull fighting, topics

chosen by our S3 pupils were varied and interesting. The project started from the

Think – Puzzle – Explore routine when pupils were asked what they thought or knew

about Spain. Then, in groups, they were able to make connections between the

various things mentioned. Finally, individually or in groups, they chose to research and

explore a topic of interest. Here are some of the fabulous results!

@MFLBelmont

We are on Twitter! Our brand new Twitter account was inaugurated last month with some of our

best S3 Spanish projects followed by our Day of the Dead Special display. 120 tweets and over 50

followers later, we are taking the opportunity to use this valuable tool to share revision tips, pupils’ work and

relevant articles to our pupils, but also fun pictures and our love of languages! Follow us @MFLBelmont!

El Día de los Muertos

Our Day of the Dead event this year took our second years to a whole new

level. Our S2 pupils got the chance to learn about the event as part of

their Spanish taster unit. S4 Spanish students started making sugar skull

masks, soon followed by the S3 Language and Culture class. Altogether, 4

year groups teamed up to put together this amazing display!

Tapas The senior Spanish classes made traditional Spanish Tapas thanks to

the HE department and enjoyed them in the library with the S3 Language and

Culture pupils.

Caroline Kennedy

Principal Teacher of Modern Languages

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London Trip – June 2017

Next June 40 pupils will be travelling to London with the Music Deaprtment for two nights. We will be going to see

two West End Musicals and going on a Backstage Tour. We will also be doing some sightseeing around the capital

for appropriate photo opportunities. Everyone from S1 – S6 was invited to apply for a place and we have a mixed

age group with all year groups represented. We don’t know what shows we will be going to see but we will keep

everyone posted!

David Moore

Teacher of Music/Trip Leader

Pupil Success

Saraswati Neyar has gained a place in the West of Scotland String Orchestra

Lucy Pye will play with the West of Scotland Symphony Orchestra next session and has also secured a place as

deputy leader of cello section in the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland.

Rebecca O’ Mahoney achieved Distinction in her Grade 7 Flute

Scott McClure has been offered an unconditional/reserve place at the Royal Conservatoire in Glasgow

Sophia Constantinou was chosen to participate in an exchange visit with students from Peabody Institute,

Baltimore .

Sophia Constantinou and Sarah Smith performed with the West of Scotland Orchestra in Italy during the summer

holiday.

Performing in the Community and Representing Belmont Academy

Vocal Ensemble sang at the Masonhill Crematorium Candlelight Service on 11th December and gave very sensitive

performances at this service of Reflection.

Following a residential weekend at Dumfries House, 16 pupils represented Belmont Academy as they performed

with the South Ayrshire Chamber Choir and Orchestra on 27th November in Ayr Baptist Church and 9th December

in St Nicholas Church.

Amy Paterson

Lara Frew

Rachel Moore

Jennifer Faulds

Elizabeth Robinson

Jenni Irvine

Sophie Lafferty

Mirren Muir

Ruth Stevenson

Rory Russell

Scott McClure

Sarah Smith

Robin McGregor

Deborah Nicol

Lucy Pye

Rosie Middleton

Rory O’Hara represented Belmont in a performance with South Ayrshire Brass Band in St Columba Church Ayr on

9th December.

Students from University of West Of Scotland are working each week along with Belmont Academy Music Staff to

set up a Music Tech Club to allow pupils to develop skills in the use of music technology and to use music technology

creatively in sound production. Jennie McCutcheon

Principal Teacher of Music

16

Children in Need

Well done to all S1 and 2 Home Economics pupils, who helped raise

£139 for Children in Need by donating money to make Pudsey Bear

cakes during their Home Economics lessons.

Christmas Fair Baking

Thanks to our Senior Practical Cake Craft classes and our S3

Hospitality classes for helping to bake items for the school’s

Christmas fair. This was a great success and helped to raise money

for the school fund.

Languages and Culture Tapas event

Senior Spanish pupils helped to produce tapas for the S3

Languages and Culture class, who were treated to a tapas event.

Mrs Gillespie led the senior pupils, who worked extremely hard to

produce a range of dishes including, Paella, Patatas Bravas and

Tortilla. Thanks to Mrs Cooper for her Churros and Chocolate

sauce, which were as popular as ever!

Survival Cookery

Mrs Emerson and Mrs Leslie have completed a session of survival

cookery for S6 wider achievement pupils. Pupils were involved in

choosing the dishes that were cooked and produced both a main

course and a pudding.

Duke of Edinburgh lunch time Cookery Club

Twenty pupils have taken part in the Duke of Edinburgh cookery

club every Monday lunch time. Pupils have prepared a range of

savoury and baked goods during this time. Most pupils are working

towards their Bronze Award, however, some pupils will continue to

produce a range of more challenging dishes after Christmas to

achieve a Silver or Gold Award. Aileen Emerson

Principal Teacher of Home Economics

17

For Hallowe’en the Maths Department had an activities day for all pupils

from S1 to S3. Pupils were put into groups where they had to work

together to compete with other groups.

S1 had to use their maths skills to solve a ‘BIDMAS’ Murder Mystery (a

topic they have recently learned about) They discovered that Mr Hodge

had poisoned Mrs McCaughey and Mrs McFarlane because they had used

up all the jotters!

S2 and S3 pupils were also involved in a maths based relay race.

All events were designed to be fun but enable pupils to apply maths skills

in a different context.

Huge thanks goes to Mrs McCaughey’s S4 class who volunteered as

markers and helpers for all classes.

Rhona McFarlane

Principal Teacher of Mathematics

18

As the first part of the year comes to an end the PE department has had some real success from their extra-

curricular clubs. As the netball, football and volleyball teams continue to thrive in both league and Scottish cup

competitions – it has been the boys’ rugby and girls’ gymnastics teams who have particularly shone.

Three teams took part in the first ever South Ayrshire Schools’ gymnastics competition. We had two teams

representing at Level 1 and one at Level 2. After weeks of practise all three teams performed exceptionally well

on both the vault and floor. Our level 2 teams placed 1st and 6th and our level 3 team was also 1st – this means we

have two teams representing Belmont and South Ayrshire at the Scottish School Gymnastics Championship in the

New Year. Well done girls and Miss Neil!

In rugby, the boys qualified for the Ayrshire Cup at S1, S2 and Under 16 age groups by coming top of the South

Ayrshire Conference leagues. The boys competed in several matches against schools across South Ayrshire to

earn their place at the finals at Rugby Park on Friday 9th December. After an exciting and competitive night of

rugby the S1 team lost out to Loudoun 31-22, the S2 team snatched a victory of 35-28 against Auchinleck and in

another close match Belmont Under 16s just missed out 17-14 to Auchinleck. It is a fantastic effort by Mr Murrie

and the boys to get three teams in to the final and a great achievement to bring home a trophy. Well done!

Finally, the PE staff continue to go to all our cluster Primary schools and deliver PE to a variety of age groups. As

well as providing a positive learning experience for the pupils, it also provides the chance for teachers to upskill in

this aspect of the curriculum. The initiative continues to positively impact PE in primaries, as well as furthering

strengthening the transition process for the older pupils.

Golfing Success

S1 Belmont pupil Max Barclay has enjoyed recent success in golf. He represented Turnberry in the Ayrshire U18

League. The team was delighted to win the league.

Max Barclay with the

Ayrshire Under 18’s League Trophy

19

Skiing Success

Belmont Academy Team A has reached the final of the Scottish Schools Ski Association dual slalom competition

which is to be held at Snowfactor, Braehead. Last year they were placed 4th overall and were very disappointed not

to receive a medal. Hopefully, that may be improved on this year.

The boys involved in Belmont Academy A team are:

Callum Gray- 3rd year

Joe Zonfrillo- 3rd year

Finlay Cowan-3rd year

Harry Dawson-5th year

Football News Third year pupil, Harry Evans, has enjoyed a great deal of success recently. He plays football with Ayr Valspar U15

but has been selected as part of the regional squad for his age group. In addition to this Harry was recently

selected for the SYFA under 15 Scotland Development football

team. He is one of only 22 boys in the National squad chosen from

football clubs across the whole of Scotland so this is an amazing

achievement. Harry will have the opportunity to play teams from

other countries as part of the squad and was part of the team who

recently enjoyed a 3-1 victory over South Queensland State from

Australia. Well Done Harry!

20

Karting Success

Oliver Hunter finished 3rd in the Scottish WSKC Karting Championship for 2016. Having changed class at

beginning of season, he missed the first two rounds and had to play catch up all season.

Oliver competed in the British NKF championship, and travelled throughout Britain. He won the Rookie trophy at

the world’s premier kart track, where Lewis Hamilton raced.

Testing has begun for next season, but Oliver is looking to race in the Junior Touring Car series, which will be

around racetracks, such as Silverstone, Brands Hatch and Donington Park.

Caroline Peacock/Senior Communication Team

21

Home Economics

Belmont Academy S3 Home Economics pupils recently took

part in the Café Ginger Challenge. For this challenge pupils

were asked to develop a soup and a sandwich product to go on

the Café Ginger menu. 80 pupils developed their ideas and 4

finalists were chosen to prepare their dishes for Café Ginger

owner Eddy Ecrepont. Mr Ecrepont came to the school on 7th

September to sample the finalists’ dishes. After much

deliberation he chose Marion Murdoch’s Carrot and Courgette

soup and Shannon Doolan’s Supper Salmon Bagel as the

winners. Both pupils received a Café Ginger voucher and will

have their dish placed on the Café Ginger menu for a week in

October. Jarred Swan and Kayleigh Reid were the runners up

and each received a £5 voucher. Mr Ecrepont was so

impressed by their dishes that he decided to put them on the

menu for a week as well.

News from Campus Police Officer

Pupils who are part of PC Gilmour’s Duke of Edinburgh Bronze

award group recently worked together to build a wooden picnic

bench. On completion the bench was donated to Braehead

Primary School and has been placed within their school garden.

Braehead primary pupils enjoy their new picnic bench. Looking on are Belmont pupils Shaun Pender, Christopher Neil, Jack Pitt and campus Police Officer Steven Gilmour.

Pupil Achievements

Belmont Academy pupils Sarah and Rachel Smith continue to enjoy huge success playing Chess. Sarah toured this

year with the WSSSO in Tuscancy and both girls represented Scotland in the Euroyouth Chess Championships in

Prague. This was in addition to the Glorney, where both received awards as the highest scoring members of their

team. Rachel was the highest scoring member of the entire Scottish squad this year. Well done to both girls.

In addition to this both girls continue to excel in Music. Sarah recently passed her Grade 8 piano and is now

working on her performance diploma. Rachel is also working towards this and both girls are expected to complete

this prior to leaving school.

22

Fundraising Achievement Fifth year Belmont Academy pupil Mitchell Lamont recently participated in the Action Challenge 2016 China Trek.

Many participants in the event were raising money for the Ayrshire Hospice and Mitchell wanted to complete the

challenge in memory of his Mum who sadly died from cancer. The event took place from 21st until 29th October and

covered a distance of 50km. Mitchell was part of a team of 30 people. They were led by a team of 3 guides, Yaxin,

Jack and Joe. Mitchell has raised the amazing amount of £6000 on his own. When this is added to the amount

raised by the other participants a total of £40,000 has been donated to the Ayrshire Hospice. Here is Mitchell’s

personal record of the experience.

Science News Pupils at Belmont Academy have been interacting with scientists from across the UK in an event aimed at getting

students excited about science.

“I’m a Scientist, Get Me Out of Here” is an online public engagement event where school students from across the

UK meet and interact with scientists. It’s an X Factor-style competition between scientists, where the students

are the judges.

Students challenge the scientists over fast-paced online text-based live chats. They ask the scientists anything

they want, and vote for their favourite scientist who will win money to fund their projects.

The aim of the event is to get students excited about science. Students see that scientists are normal people,

learn that science lessons relate to real life, and become more enthused about science.

The event ran from 7th-18th November 2016 across the UK.

The event is funded principally by the Wellcome Trust, an independent global charitable foundation dedicated to

improving health. Additional funders in November 2016 include the Royal Society of Chemistry and the

Physiological Society.

Students at nearly 150 schools from across the UK interacted with 45 scientists across 9 different themed

“zones” this November.

23

Remembrance Day Recently S1 pupil Josh Piper brought in a medal which he had achieved for his

commitment to selling poppies for Remembrance Day. Josh sold so many

poppies last year in Prestwick that he was awarded a medal for his efforts.

He did this along with other members of his family. While Josh was in P7 at

Kincaidston Primary he was also given the opportunity to go and visit the

factory in Edinburgh where the poppies are produced. He was even allowed to

make some poppies himself. Josh was very proud to tell others about his

achievement.

In addition to this, the school held very successful Remembrance Day

Assemblies which all year groups were able to attend. The Assemblies

featured inputs from the school’s chaplains and also the Rights Respecting

Group. Everyone agreed that the Assemblies were a very successful way to

mark Remembrance Day.

Caroline Peacock/Senior Communication Team

24

The charities committee has been working hard this term and as a school we have shown tremendous generosity

raising money for worthwhile causes. On 15th September we held a bake sale which raised £232.55. The money

raised from this event helped 2 senior pupils fund their trip to Africa to help build a school, to give less fortunate

children an opportunity to gain an education. Following this we held a ‘Go Purple Day’ for Ayrshire Hospice. We had

a wear something purple event, purple nail bar, cake sale and face painting to name a few. This raised £530.77. We

had representatives from Ayrshire Hospice and the Ayrshire Post in school to witness all of our fundraising

events. Since the beginning of December a focus has been placed on raising money for Social Bite – a chain of

charitable cafés which employ homeless people and donate all of their profit to solving social challenges both here

and abroad. 25% of their employees were previously homeless and they work with homeless people to give them

employability skills and shelter until they get on their feet. Before the end of term we will be holding a tuckshop

to help raise money for this charity. Other areas within school such as the Community Aid group and Senior

Student Council have also been running events in which the profits will go to the same charity. To date, we have

raised around £2000.00 for Social Bite. We aim to have a ‘handover’ event where we will present the cheque to

Josh Littlejohn (from Social Bite) and take some photographs. Keep up the good work Belmont!!

Linzi Dunsmuir

This year the Belmont Community Aid Team has been continuing to work hard on strengthening the bond between

our school and its local community. The small group of senior students have coordinated a range of projects this

term based on values of care, compassion and social justice.

3 Tin Challenge

Belmont pupils were challenged to bring 3 tins of food to school to help the work of the Salvation Army in

November. A fantastic 1000 tins of food were donated at our Harvest Thanksgiving Assemblies and were collected

by the Community Aid Team. The food will help the Salvation Army provide emergency food parcels for those in

need this winter.

Cycle for Social Bite

Over 250 pupils cycled 1300 miles, the distance from John

O’Groats to Lands’ End and back to Ayr, on exercise bikes in the

Atrium of the school over 5 days. All pupils involved raised a

total of £661.11 which will be donated to Social Bite – a social

business aimed at supporting the homeless, lonely and isolated.

25

Food Collecting Units

The group is in the process of building food collecting units that

will be used to collect and provide emergency food parcels from

and to residents in the Belmont catchment area.

Community Christmas Cards

The team has hand-made over 200 Christmas Cards that will be delivered to our neighbours in the local community

over the festive period. The cards have been cleverly created using a range of craft materials.

Plans for 2017

The Community Aid Team plan on further developing their work within the local community next year. Watch this

space!

Rose Dunlop

& Belmont Community Aid Team

26

Once again this year’s dances were a great success! Monday, Tuesday and Thursday saw all year groups having the

opportunity to put their glad rags on and party away to some live ceilidh music, more up-to-date tunes and of

course some old classics … the seniors even learned the Slosh! I cannot thank the staff enough, specifically those

in PE, for their hard work in teaching the dances and making each night such an enjoyable experience for all pupils

involved. The support given by the senior pupils, at the tuck shop and encouraging the younger pupils to join in, was

also much appreciated and a special mention needs to go to Mr Murrie, who compered all three nights with a smile

and some witty banter! Band already booked for 2017!!

The HWB group also organised the first Primary 7 Christmas Dance. This took place at Belmont Academy on 14th

December and was a huge success. Our aim was to provide all the cluster pupils with a transition event earlier in

the year to give them a chance to meet those who will be their fellow S1 classmates next session. One hundred and

thirty P7 pupils attended and danced the night away! Jill Flanagan

Acting Principal Teacher of Physical Education

27

28

The Praise and Reward system continues to go from strength to strength at Belmont Academy. Firmly embedded

as a Belmont tradition, pupils are receiving points for departmental competitions, charity fund raising, attendance,

punctuality, participation in school events/sports and wider achievement activities away from the classroom and

much, much more! One of our new initiatives this year has been the introduction of “Token Tuesdays” – taking place

on the last Tuesday of each month, one teacher token is given out during every single period that day – creating a

surge in points and a buzz around the school amongst the staff and the pupils.

Congratulations must go to Kintyre who had the most pupils in school uniform during a recent survey this term – 2nd

Bute, 3rd Cumbrae, 4th Arran and 5th Lomond.

In addition to a movie afternoon at the end of this term for the interim leading House, we also have a mystery

Christmas present prize-draw - open to all pupils with 100% attendance in each House.

At present Cumbrae is leading the totals (2387 points), thanks partly to a concerted effort with regards to wider

achievement. Second place Kintyre (2041 points) is just keeping Lomond (2037 points) at bay, whilst Arran (2007

points) and defending champions Bute (1845 points) are clearly hoping for a strong finish to the year in the Spring

and Summer terms.

Richard Ledingham

2016 has been another very successful year for Duke of Edinburgh Award at Belmont

Academy with 108 completed awards across all three sections, Bronze, Silver and

Gold. Everyone who has completed their Award will receive an invitation to the South

Ayrshire Council DofE presentation ceremony in February and we hope everyone will be

able to come and receive their Award Certificates in person. As an extra-curricular

activity, DofE relies heavily on the excellent support of volunteer leaders and helpers,

both teaching staff and parents. To everyone who has helped or continues to help a

very big "thank you". We simply couldn't do it without you. For next year we have 100

Bronze enrolments which is a record for our school. At Silver we have 38 and 32 at

Gold and we look forward to working with you all over the coming months.

Marilyn Pope

Duke of Edinburgh Co-Ordinator

29

We continue with our Assemblies Programme organised and led by the Senior Student Council and House Teams in

collaboration with the Chaplains and other agencies.

Please see programme below:

Thursday 22nd December 2016 Christmas Service

Monday 9th January 2017 New Beginnings

Friday 27th January 2017 Holocaust Memorial Day

Tuesday 21st February 2017 Global Perspective

Ian Watson

30

At Belmont Academy, we pride ourselves on our high standards of school uniform. We believe that school uniform

promotes a positive school ethos, a smart attitude for work and represents a commitment to the values of our

school.

We recognise that the majority of pupils at Belmont Academy, with support from their parents, are conscientious

and take pride in their appearance and we thank you for your continued support in this important matter.

This session, we have continued carrying out ‘spot checks’ and awarding House points to all pupils who are wearing

the expected core school uniform as part of our Praise and Reward scheme.

Pupils are asked to borrow a school tie for the day if they appear at school in the morning without one. This is

monitored by SLT and Guidance staff on a daily basis.

Uniform Expectations

The following items should be worn by all pupils as it represents our core uniform;

A school shirt (black or white)

Black trousers or skirt (not denim jeans)

A school tie

Black or dark school shoes (not trainers)

Appropriate school bag

The following may also be worn

Black/grey jumper or cardigan (tie should be visible)

School blazer

Kirsty Maxwell

Principal Teacher of Arran House

31

This term has seen the appointment of a new team of staff for the Belmont Academy Stationery Shop. The

successful candidates at interview were S2 pupils; Dominic Henson, Stephanie Hay, Emilia Summers and Aidan

Moore as pictured below.

Pupils can purchase the Belmont Academy branded stationery ranging from pencils to USB drives in a variety of

colours for a very affordable price every Wednesday lunchtime in the school atrium.

New items on order are drawstring bags (ideal for PE kit/trainers) and purple rulers priced at £3 and £1

respectively. On sale soon!

Please contact Kirsty Maxwell (PT Guidance, Arran House) for any purchases.

Kirsty Maxwell

Principal Teacher of Arran House

32

An important role for our S6 Leadership Team is to serve on the Senior Student Council. So far, this has been

another busy start to the year! Our S6 Leaders have taken on this important role with passion and enthusiasm.

They have worked tirelessly on a number of events including the successful and well-attended Hallowe’en Dance

with their Kyle counterparts. They also supported Belmont Academy’s first Pre-Prom Event where senior pupils

had a chance to go and try dresses, kilts or suits from some of Ayrshire’s top stores.

Our School Captains have participated in recent Assemblies, helping to deliver important messages to their fellow

students. These have included the Remembrance Day Assembly which was very well received by their fellow

students and staff. The SSC are currently assisting with the organisation of events on the busy Christmas

calendar, including several fund-raising events for the charity Social Bite. In addition to this, the SSC has been

involved in the running of the school Christmas Dances which are always one of the most popular events in the

school calendar. Lynsey Pollock/Iain Phillips

Study Leave will no longer be an option for S4, S5 and S6 pupils during the

Prelim exams. This means our expectation is that all S4-6 pupils will be in

school, attending all classes during the Prelim exams. Obviously pupils will

be released from classes to attend pertinent exams but they should

thereafter return to class.

We will ensure that Study facilities are available in school, and that staff

are on hand to support our pupils to maximise their attainment.

Prelims will run from: Monday 16th January 2017 – Friday 27th January 2017. (Both dates inclusive)

Brian Sinclair

Depute Head Teacher/SQA Co-Ordinator

33

Subject Level Paper Timing Time & Venue

Monday 16th January Monday 16th January

no coincident exams no coincident exams

English Higher 1 - RUAE 1 hour 30 minutes 9.00-10.30 - Hall & Gym

English Higher 2 - Critical Reading 1 hour 30 minutes 11.15 -12.45 - Hall & Gym

English Adv Higher 1 - Literary Study 1 hour 30 minutes 9.00-10.30 - Stage

English Adv Higher 2 - Textual Analysis 1 hour 30 minutes 11.15 -12.45 - Stage

French Adv Higher 1- Reading/Translation 1 hour 30 minutes 9.00-10.30 - Hall

Art and Design National 5 Art and Design Studies 1 hour 10 minutes 2.05 - 3.35 - Hall

Physics National 5 Exam Paper 2 hours 1.35 - 3.35 - Hall early lunch @ 12.45

French Adv Higher 2 - Listening/Writing 1 hour 20 minutes 2.05 - 3.25 Modern languages 3

Tuesday 17th January Tuesday 17th January

no coincident exams no coincident exams

English National 5 1- RUAE 1 hour 9.00-10.00 - Hall & Gym

English National 5 2 - Critical Reading 1 hour 30 minutes 11.00-12.30 - Hall & Gym

French Higher 1- Listening/Writing 60 minutes 9.00 - 10.00 Modern Languages 3

French Higher 2 - Reading/Directed Writing 1hour 40 mins 1.35 - 3.15 - Hall - early lunch @ 12.45

Computing Science Higher Exam Paper 2 hours 1.35 -3.35 - Hall - early lunch @ 12.45

Computing Science Adv Higher Exam Paper 2 hours 1.35 -3.35 - Hall - early lunch @ 12.45

Computing Science National 5 Exam Paper 1 hour 30 minutes 2.05 - 3.35 - Hall

Subject Level Paper Timing Time & Venue

Wednesday 18th January Wednesday 18th January

coincident exams coincident exams

Mathematics Higher Paper 1 - Non-Calculator 1hour 10 minutes 9.00 - 10.10 - Hall

34

Mathematics Higher Paper 2 - Calculator 1hour 30 minutes 11.15 - 12.45 - Hall

Mathematics Adv Higher Exam Paper 2 hours 9.00 - 11.00 - Gym

Graphic Communication National 5 Exam Paper 1hr 30 Min 9.00 - 10.30 - Hall

Politics Higher Exam Paper 2 hours 15 minutes 9.00 - 11.15 - Gym - Caitlin McGhee: H Maths/Politics

Psychology National 5 Exam Paper 1 hour 30 minutes 2.05 - 3.35 - Gym

Physical Education Higher Exam Paper 1 hour 30 minutes 2.05 - 3.35 - Hall - Tiegan Philbin: H PE/Psych

Music Higher Listening(Understanding Music) 1 hour 2.05-3.05 - Music Dept

Thursday 19th January Thursday 19th January

no coincident exams no coincident exams

Biology National 5 1 and 2 Units 1 & 3 2 hours 9.00 - 11.00 - Hall

Biology Higher 1 and 2 Units 1 & 2 2 hours 30 minutes 9.00-11.30 - Gym

Human Biology Higher 1 and 2 Units 1 & 2 2 hours 30 minutes 9.00-11.30 - Gym

Biology Adv Higher Sections A&B Units 1 and 2 2 hours 30 minutes 9.00-11.30 - Gym

Design and Manufacture Higher Exam Paper 2 hours 9.00 - 11.00 - Stage

RMPS Higher Exam Paper 2 Hours 15 Minutes 9.00 - 11.15 - Hall

RMPS National 5 Exam Paper 1 hour 30 minutes 1.15 - 2.45 - Hall

Design and Manufacture National 5 Exam Paper 1 hour 30 minutes 1.15 - 2.45 - Hall - Euan Malcolm: N5 Music/DM

Music Nat 5 Music Listening(Understanding Music) 45mins 1.15 - 2.00 - Music Dept - 2 rooms

Subject Level Paper Timing Time & Venue

Friday 20th January Friday 20th January

no coincident exams no coincident exams

Modern Studies National 5 Exam Paper 1 hour 10 minutes 9.00 - 10.10 - Hall

35

Modern Studies Higher Exam Paper 2 hours 15 minutes 9.00 - 11.15 - Hall

Physics Higher Exam Paper 2 hours 30 Minutes 9.00 - 11.30 - Gym

Physics Adv Higher Exam Paper 2 hours 30 Minutes 9.00 - 11.30 - Gym

Music Adv Higher Listening(Understanding Music) 1 hour 15 1.15 - 2.30 - Music Dept

Monday 23rd January Monday 23rd January

no coincident exams no coincident exams

History National 5 1 - Writing 1 hour 10 minutes 9.00 - 10.10 - Hall

History Higher 1 - writing 1 hour 40 minutes 9.00 - 10.40 - Hall

History Adv Higher 1 - writing 3 hours 9.00 - 12.00 - Hall

German Higher 2 - Reading/Directed Writing 1 hour 40 minutes 9.00 - 10.40 - Modern Languages 3

German Adv Higher 1- Reading/Translation 1hour 30 minutes 9.00 - 10.30 - Gym

Environmental Science Higher Exam Paper 2 hours 30 mins 9.00 - 11.30 - Gym

Environmental Science National 5 Exam Paper 2 hours 9.00 - 11.00 - Gym

German Higher 1- Listening/Writing 1hour 12.00 - 1.00 - Modern Languages 3

German Adv Higher 2 - Listening/Discursive Writing 1 hour 20 minutes 2.05 - 3.25 - Modern Languages 3

Accounting National 5 Exam Paper 2.05 - 3.35 - Hall

Accounting Higher Exam Paper 1.35 - 3.35 - Hall early lunch @ 12.45

Health & Food Tech National 5 Exam Paper 2.05 - 3.35 - Hall

Subject Level Paper Timing Time & Venue

Tuesday 24th January Tuesday 24th January

coincident exams coincident exams

Chemistry National 5 1 paper sections 1&2 2 hours 9.00 - 11.00 - Hall

36

Chemistry Higher 1 paper sections 1 & 2 2 hours 30 minutes 9.00-11.30 - Gym

Chemistry Adv Higher 1 paper sections 1 & 2 2 hours 30 minutes 9.00-11.30 - Gym

Spanish Adv Higher 1- Reading/Translation 1 hour 30 minutes 9.00-10.30 - Stage

Psychology Higher Exam Paper 2 hours 9.00 - 11.00 - Hall Ellie Watson: H Psych/Chem

Heather Vietch: H Psych/AdvH Ch

Spanish Adv Higher 2 - Listening/Writing 1 hour 20 minutes 2.05-3.25 - Modern Languages 3

Wednesday 25th January Wednesday 25th January

no coincident exams no coincident exams

Geography National 5 Exam Paper 1 hour 45 minutes 9.00 - 10.45 - Hall (Double desks)

Geography Higher Exam Paper 2 hours 15 minutes 9.00 - 11.15 - Gym (Double desks)

Geography Adv Higher Exam Paper 2 hrs 30 mins 9.00 - 11.30 - Stage (Double desks)

French National 5 1 - Listening 30mins 12.30 - 1.00 - Modern Languages 3

French National 5 2 - Reading/Writing 1hour 30 minutes 2.05 - 3.35 - Hall

Sociology Higher Exam Paper 1 hours 20 minutes 2.05 3.35 - Hall

Thursday 26th January Thursday 26th January

no coincident exams no coincident exams

Mathematics National 5 Paper 1 - Non-Calculator 1hour 9.00 - 10.00 - Hall +Gym

Mathematics National 5 Paper 2 - Calculator 1hour 30 minutes 10.45 - 12.15 - Hall + Gym

Art and Design Higher Art and Design Studies 2 Hours 12.45 - 2.45 - early lunch at 12 noon - Hall

Business Management National 5 Exam Paper 1 hour 30 minutes 1.15 - 2.45 - Hall

Subject Level Paper Timing Time & Venue

Friday 27th January Friday 27th January

coincident exams coincident exams

Graphic Communication Higher Written paper 2 Hours 9.00 - 11.00 - Hall

37

Graphic Communication Adv Higher Written paper 2 Hours 9.00 - 11.00 - Hall

Business Management HIgher Exam Paper 2 hours 15 minutes 9.00 - 11.15 - Hall Robin McGregor: H BM/H Spanish

Spanish National 5 2 - Reading/Writing 1hour 30 minutes 9.00 - 10.30 Gym

Spanish Higher 2 - Reading/Directed Writing 1 hour 40 minutes 9.00 - 10.40 Gym

Spanish National 5 1 - Listening 30 minutes 11.30 - 12.00 Modern Languages 3

Spanish Higher 1- Listening/Writing 1 Hour 1.15 - 2.15 Modern Languages 3

Subject Level Paper Timing Time & Venue

Friday 2nd December 2016

Hospitality Practical Cookery National 5 Practical 3 -4 hours 9.00 - 12.30 - Home Economics Dept

Wednesday 7th Dec 2016

Hospitality Practical Cookery National 5 Practical 3 - 4 hours 9.00 - 1.00 - Home Economics Dept

Friday 9th December 2016

Hospitality Practical Cookery National 5 Practical 3 - 4 hours 9.00 - 12.30 - Home Economics Dept

Wednesday 14th Dec 2016

Hospitality Practical Cookery National 5 Practical 3 - 4 hours 9.00 - 1.00 - Home Economics Dept

38

PRELIM EXAMS – EXPECTATIONS AND GUIDELINES

UNIFORM

Pupils should attend all exams

wearing their usual school

uniform

BEHAVIOUR

Prelim Exams mark a crucial time in school. Please treat with due importance. Show this by behaving positively and

appropriately when coming into school for exams. Corridor wandering is not permitted. The Dining Hall and Atrium

are available as a waiting area between exams where required. All pupils should be in normal timetabled classes

unless sitting an exam.

The Invigilators are in charge of the management and organisation of the exams. They will issue instructions which

must be followed. REMEMBER to be polite and courteous and to bring all necessary equipment for your exams.

REVISION TIPS

Plan your time to take account of when your exams are.

Review all your notes but concentrate on the parts you find

difficult rather than things you can do well.

Your teachers will have given you revision materials.

You can also use online resources – see below for details

PHONES, IPODS

Please be aware that you are not allowed to

have mobile phones, IPods and MP3 players

with you in the exam hall. If you are seen

with them they will be confiscated and you

may lose the award for your exam.

STUDY LEAVE

Study Leave is not granted for Prelim Exams. This is an

Authority directive and applies to all of our secondary schools.

The expectation is that all seniors will attend normal

timetabled classes unless they have an exam.

There may be study facilities offered to individuals by

teachers/departments.

Prelim Exams will take place from Wednesday 13th January

2016 to Friday 22nd January 2016 inclusive.

PROCEDURES

Rooms and seat numbers are on your

individual timetable and are posted

in the Dining Hall before each exam.

Remember to report for any exam 15

minutes before the exam start time.

Alternative Assessment

arrangements will be relayed to

individual pupils.

USEFUL WEBSITES

www.sqa.org.uk

www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/education/bitesize

www.leckiemindmaps.com

www.studygs.net/

www.howtostudy.com/

www.testtakingtips.com/

www.buzzin.net/revision_tips/skills/sk-00.htm

THOUGHTS FOR STUDY TIME

“Learning without thought is labour lost;

thought without learning is perilous”

“Some people drink at the fountain of

knowledge; others just gargle”

Do your best!

Good Luck!

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Subject Description and Day Art and Design Ms Maestranzi

Lunchtime on Tuesday and Friday Mrs Murray After school on Monday and Lunchtime on Thursday Miss Wills Afterschool on Tuesday and Wednesday Miss Fuller Afterschool on Thursday All senior students welcome to attend anytime/day listed above

Biology

National 5 Higher Thursday at Lunchtime Advanced Higher

Business Education Accounting – Lunchtimes/after school any day except Wednesday, by arrangement with Mrs Brodie Admin & IT – Lunchtimes any day, by arrangement with Mrs Cunningham Business Management N5 – Lunchtime Wednesday and after school Monday with Mrs Cunningham Business Management H – Lunchtime Tuesday and afterschool Wednesday by arrangement with Mrs Glass

Chemistry All levels welcome! Tuesday after school (3.45pm – 4.45pm) in Chemistry Lab 1. Wednesday Lunchtime in Chemistry Lab 4

Computing

All levels welcome! Tuesday Lunchtime with Mrs Kay Tuesday after school with Miss Carmichael

Design & Technology All levels welcome! Every Lunchtime expect THURSDAY LUNCHTIME. Additionally, Thursday after school (2.55pm – 3.55pm)

English

National 5 – Thursday Lunchtime (12.20pm – 1pm). Also, every second Wednesday after school with Mr Pringle. Higher – Thursday after school (3.00pm – 3.50pm). Also, every Friday lunchtime and every other Wednesday after school with Mr Pringle.

Maths All levels welcome! Wednesday Lunchtime and Thursday after school (3.50pm – 4.50pm). Timetable is up in the Maths corridor on the staff base door.

Modern Languages Supported Study will be offered between Prelims and final Exams, this will be National 5 & Higher French and Spanish. Currently the department are offering Duke of Edinburgh skills in Spanish and Italian on a Thursday lunchtime. They also have homework drop in for the Junior pupils on a Tuesday.

Music National 5 – Thursday Lunchtime with Mr Moore Higher and Advanced Higher – Friday Lunchtime with Miss MacMillan/Mrs McCutcheon

Physical Education

Drop-in supported study is available every morning, lunchtime and after school. Speak to Mrs Flanagan for more information

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After a meticulous revamp, we are delighted with the new Belmont Academy website. The new design was the work

of former computer teacher Suzanne Kerr, but the whole school has been involved in populating the pages with up

to date information, study links, policy documents, pictures and good news stories. The aim was to create a “one

stop shop” for parents, staff, pupils and other stakeholders where current information is readily available. You can

find our new website at: http://www.belmont.sayr.sch.uk/

We hope you like the new-look website – and more importantly, can navigate to find what you need. Robin Pringle

The new Head Teacher of Belmont Academy has been appointed. Tracy Stewart from Irvine Royal Academy will

join Belmont on 14th February 2017. We wish Tracey great success.

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Date Event

Friday 23rd December 2016 School Closes at 2.30pm

Monday 9th January 2017 Pupils Return

Monday 9th January 2017 New Year Assemblies

Monday 16th January 2017 S4/5/6 Prelims Begin

Wednesday 25th January 2017 Diphtheria, Tetanus, Polio and Meningitis C

Immunisations

Wednesday 25th January 2017 Parent Council Meeting at 7pm

Thursday 26th January 2017 Diphtheria, Tetanus, Polio and Meningitis C

Immunisations

Thursday 26th January 2017 S6 Burns Supper

Friday 27th January 2017 Holocaust Memorial Day

Friday 27th January 2017 S4/5/6 Prelims End

Tuesday 7th February 2017 S2 Parents’ Evening – 5pm – 7pm

Wednesday 8th February 2017 S2 Options Begin

Thursday 9th February 2017 School Closes at 2.50pm

Friday 10th February 2017 Public Holiday

Monday 13th February 2017 Public Holiday

Tuesday 14th February 2017 In-Service Day

Friday 17th February 2017 S2 Options End

Wednesday 22nd February 2017 Parent Council Meeting at 7pm

Thursday 23rd February 2017 S3 Parents’ Evening

Friday 24th February 2017 S3 Options Start

Friday 3rd March 2017 S3 Options End

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