1

Dear Parent, Carer or Colleague

We are rapidly approaching the end of another session, Kemnay Academy’s thirty third and my eleventh and last as headteacher. Over all those sessions, the Academy, its pupils, parents and teachers have faced many challenges and made significant achievements. Throughout my time as headteacher, I have been continually impressed by the dedication of our teachers, the positive attitude of the vast majority of our students and the concern and support offered by our parent body. We can all be proud of what Kemnay Academy has become as a result. The academic and other achievements of our current students are to be celebrated at our achievement ceremonies at the end of term but other achievements will be evident in this newsletter. Each one of us, pupil, parent, carer, teacher, non-teacher or any other supporter should recognise that we, too, have achieved in the last 12 months and should join in the celebration with satisfaction irrespective of whatever barriers we may have faced individually. This time of year and the achievement ceremonies give us all the opportunity to reflect on those achievements and to consider how we will develop and improve in the coming session. This session’s S4, 5 and 6 students completed their SQA examinations just a few weeks ago. For the first time we had the benefit of new accommodation that allowed most exams to be timetabled without disrupting other classes. Feedback from the SQA invigilators on our students’ attitude was very positive and complimentary indeed. I congratulate those students and look forward to confirmation of their successes when certificates arrive in August. I also thank parents and carers for

supporting and encouraging them during the exams. I was delighted when Provost Webster of Aberdeenshire Council formally opened our new facilities at the Academy a few weeks ago. The flexibility of pupils and staff and the helpfulness of the contractors have paid dividends and we now have bright, airy and modern facilities that include a new gym that doubles as our exam hall, a biomass heating plant, an extension that accommodates Maths, Music and ASfL and a social area whose design and fittings were designed with pupil involvement. We need to say thank you once again to our officers and councillors for making all of this happen. Our Senior Achievement Ceremony gives us the opportunity to acknowledge the successes of those students who are leaving us for further study or the world of work. I am sure that their memories of the Academy will be positive and that their experience will stand them in good stead for whatever life holds for them. We wish them every success for the future and look forward to hearing about their future successes. Finally, I extend to all pupils, parents, carers, colleagues and partners my thanks for your support as well as a welcome to new headteacher, Mrs Lizbeth Paul. I wish you all a relaxing and safe summer holiday. Dr C Hunter RECTOR

Kemnay Academy

June 2015

2015

2

Staffing Changes

Since the last newsletter at Easter, a number of changes in our staffing have taken place with more changes due at the end of session and for the start of session 2015-16. Notable amongst these is the appointment of Mrs Lizbeth Paul as Headteacher following the retirement of Dr Hunter at the end of this session. Mrs Paul will take up post in August. In addition, Chris Payne and Tracy Christie, Business Studies teachers, have now taken up post. Following interviews that took place before the end of last term, our current probationer teachers, Scott Christie and Cameron MacKenzie, have been appointed to Kemnay Academy as permanent teachers of PE and Physics respectively. Emma Smith, Chemistry probationer, has been successful in gaining a post outwith Aberdeenshire and she will leave us at the end of session. However, both Craig Watson and Susan Davidson will return as teachers of Chemistry following their current career breaks. Lindsay Bray (Music) is now on maternity leave. She will be replaced temporarily from August by Fraser Moffat. Islay Stewart, teacher of Mathematics has gained a role as ASfL teacher at Mackie Academy. John Agnew, teacher of English, will return to his native Dumfries and Galloway at the end of session. Meanwhile, Joyce Pinnell, teacher of ASfL, will retire but Rachel Cooper will return to ASfL in August following her maternity leave. At the time of writing, new colleagues joining us in August will be: Headteacher Lizbeth Paul Music Fraser Moffat Biology Stephanie White Appointments in Mathematics, English, Chemistry Modern Languages and ASfL are underway. Finally, one of our loyal chaplains, Rev Ellen Larson-Davidson, leaves the area to take up a new charge in Stirlingshire. We wish all colleagues joining us or leaving us every success and enjoyment in whatever their next steps might be.

IN THIS ISSUE: Pg 1: Welcome form the Rector Pg 2: Staffing Changes Pg 3: Read Write Gold Pg 4: S5 Induction

S6 Induction Inspiration and Aspiration for S5 and S6 Students Pg 5: SQA News Senior Phase Expectation

Workshops Pg 6: Extension officially unveiled Pg 7: Hospitality Group

S3 Health and Food Technology Technical Challenge

Pg 7: Global Citizenship Pg 8: Chef Visits Home Economics Our Links with Rwanda and the Visit by Jacqueline Uwito Pg 9: Costa Rica – Team 1 Pg 11: Aberden International Youth

Festival Art Club

Pg 12: Music events & News Pg 13: Health & Wellbeing, Active Schools Pg 14: Scottish Space School

Feedback on Annual Parental Surevey 2015

Pg 15: Charity Update Pg 16: Pupil Voice S3 Profiles & Interviews Pg 17: Ace of Spades Pg 18: Kemnay Academy Parent Council Pg 19: Diary Dates for Session 2015-2016

3

Kemnay Academy is in a position where we are able to provide, free of charge, a copy of Read Write Gold 11 for pupils to use at home. Further information about the various elements of this software can be found on the Texthelp website (www.texthelp.com)

This software is used increasingly across the school - primarily to support pupils with literacy difficulties – but as you will see from the website, many of its features have the potential to enhance the learning of all pupils – from the most able to those who face substantial barriers to learning.

If you are interested in installing this software on your home computer please contact Alan Millar (Principal Teacher – Additional Support for Learners) – alan.millar@aberdeenshire.gov.uk . Unfortunately we only have a Windows compatible version at this moment in time, although a free 30 days trial of the tablet app can be found at http://www.texthelp.com/UK/rwtablets

3D Paper mache peacock Rebekah Scott S1

3D paper mache meerkat Sian Hay S1

Paper mache peacock Jodie Henderson and Evie Gray S2

4

S5 Induction

The S5 Induction took place at Thainstone House Hotel on Wednesday, 3 June. We had 3 presentations by 4 speakers in the morning:

Sgt Alison Durward from Police Scotland presented a CSI style ‘Act Now’ scenario based workshop.

Michael Scott from ‘Student Award Agency Scotland’ presented information on funding for higher and further education.

Yva Yortson and Keith Bell (young business owners) presented a ‘Myth and Myth Busting’ presentation on owning your own business.

In the afternoon the Guidance staff spoke with their pupils about the expectations and requirements of the senior school and handed out timetables.

We would like to thank Thainstone House Hotel and in particular Claire and Neil for all their help in the preparation for and during the day.

S6 Induction

This year’s S6 Induction took place at Robert Gordon University on Monday, 8 June. We were welcomed with Costa coffees and time to have a look at the social areas. The day then consisted of lectures on Personal Statement Writing, Choosing a University or College, Campus Tours, mini lectures on Sports Science and Architecture. There was also a presentation by students from RGU who have just finished their degree.

The initial feedback from the pupils is that the day was a great success and it has taken away any worries about attending university or college at the end of their schooling.

We would like to thank RGU for hosting the day and in particular a big thank you to Alison and Ellie who organised and ran the day. Mrs Hepburn

Inspiration and Aspiration for S5 and S6 Students

On 10 June, senior students were treated to an inspirational talk by Bob Keillor, CEO of Wood Group. Bob had spent a career in the oil and gas industry picking up many awards for Entrepreneurship, Business and Leadership along the way. His talk covered key qualities and attributes for success but he surprised the audience by identifying kindness as the key to success. He exemplified this from his own experience and challenged seniors to actively look for opportunities to be unexpectedly kind.

3D Paper Mache Dog Josh Allan S1

5

SQA News

All SQA exams within the SQA diet have now been completed. This has been the first presentation of the new Higher qualifications and we await the results on 4 August. Our young people in S4-6 have been a credit to the school in their preparation for the exams and their conduct in the exam hall has been exemplary. Miss Grant undertook a full evaluation of the exam procedures with staff and the chief invigilator, all of whom have praised our young people in their mature and focused approach in this important time. Results will be issued to S4-6

pupils on Tuesday 4 August and if there are any issues or queries then please contact the school which will be open during this time. Miss Grant will be available to discuss any concerns.

We wish all students well for 4 August and look forward to sharing in their satisfaction with the results of their studies.

Senior Phase Expectation Workshops, Prefects/Head Boy and Girl

All S5 and S6 pupils took part in workshop activities as part of their induction into the senior school. This highlighted the expectations and the aspirations we wish to develop and support with our young people. It also provided an opportunity for them to reflect on the school values and prepare for the demands ahead in order to ensure a successful and productive year ahead. All faculties have worked with our senior pupils to outline their faculty expectations which included course outlines and timelines – in future this will be displayed and made available through “Show my Homework” for parents to view and support their child with.

We are currently going through a rigorous interview process with our S6 pupils for the position of prefects and house captains and from this we will then select our Head Boy and Head Girl for next session. We have also reorganised our senior committees to reflect opportunities within the development of Skills for Life, Learning and Work and further develop pupil/staff relationships and enhance the importance of Pupil Voice within the school.

Costume for a Modern Ballet by Cathriona Sweeney, Advanced Higher

6

Kemnay Academy’s £14.3million extension officially unveiled The Provost of Aberdeenshire officially opened Kemnay Academy’s new £14.3million extension on Wednesday, June 3 and also unveiled a plaque created by Academy Geography teacher, Peter Robinson, that was made with granites recovered from the building site. The new facilities include a fully-equipped gymnasium as well as new music rooms and additional support for learning facilities. The extension is also energy efficient with a biomass heating plant adding to the Eco School status of the Academy. A special plaque of the school badge was created to mark the new facilities by Peter Robinson who has a keen interest in geology and worked on the plaque with stones gathered during the construction phase. The Provost unveiled the new extension and said it was a fantastic facility, adding: “The school serves the community and the whole-school community has been instrumental in bringing the project to fruition too”. “In addition, thanks to Geography teacher Peter Robinson, who with a passion for geology, created the unique plaque that incorporates Kemnay granite used in the building works and is a fantastic piece of history to mark this special occasion.”

Chair of Aberdeenshire Council’s Education, Learning and Leisure Committee Councillor Isobel Davidson said: “The school has a lot to be proud of and stands proud today with its new £14.3million extension that marks a huge investment by Aberdeenshire Council

and includes facilities that will support future generations. “The extension houses a state-of-the-art gymnasium and music facilities and with additional improvement works in the rest of the school, it is clear to see here today the enormous effort that has gone into creating new facilities”. “As a councillor it is fantastic to have the honour of seeing projects go from paper to creation and it is with pleasure I stand here today to mark the opening of these facilities which will be enjoyed for many years to come.”

Both the Provost and Councillor Davidson thanked head teacher, Dr Charlie Hunter, and wished him well as he retires at the end of term too. Head teacher, Dr Charlie Hunter, welcomed everyone to what he said was a significant day in the school’s history and said it had been a privilege to be head teacher for 11 years adding: “I am delighted that this new building and refurbishment leaves us with great quality and sufficient teaching spaces but, more so, the fantastic social space in the atrium”. He also praised former pupil Finlay Smith for creating a piece of music for the event called ‘Inspirans Futurum’ which translates as Inspiring Future and said it served as a great motto for this new phase of Kemnay Academy's history. The whole school was involved in the opening ceremony with music and refreshments provided by pupils.

Former pupil Finlay Smith, 18, from Kintore, saw the extension built in his final year at school and said that he enjoyed the encouragement of teachers at Kemnay Academy and enjoyed composing a piece of music for the event. Finlay said: “I have a real passion for music it was an honour to compose music for this event.It is great to come back and see these new facilities and the new music practice rooms with more space and more equipment for pupils to use and that will inspire others to create great music and more.”

7

Hospitality Group On Wednesday 3rd June a group of S3 Hospitality pupils created a range of sweet and savoury buffet foods and served them at the Opening Event. The foods were well received by all, below is an example or our Cream Meringues and serving to the Lord Provost.

Pupils who participated were:- Kieran Barclay, Jill Cossar, Duncan Mutch, Joanna Collier, Alex Allan, Megan McLeod and Hannah Barclay. All received a Merit award for their hard work. The Home Economics Department were very proud of their cookery skills and ability to serve enthusiastically to a range of pupils, staff and visitors.

S3 Health and Food technology ‘Technical Challenge’

Inspired by the” Great British Bake off” and before the change to the new timetable, our class decided to have a final go at a technical challenge. With only basic instructions given and whisks set to go, the class were asked to make six identical butterfly cakes. All students rose to the challenge and did a fantastic job ….. but of course there can only be one winner.

Congratulations to Georgia Sharp who was crowned ‘star baker’, Fionna Sweeney for 2nd place and Gemma Banks for 3rd place.

8

Professional Chef Visits Home Economics

On Monday 22nd June, the new Nat3/4/5 hospitality classes benefitted from having Paul Grant,

Head Chef at Thainstone House Hotel, along to give them some of his expertise in the Home

Economics department.

Paul demonstrated knife skills in the preparation of a variety of vegetables and then assisted

pupils in carrying out these skills for themselves. Pupils learned some valuable techniques from

Paul which will be fundamental to their practical lessons. The Home Economics teachers and

Paul are keen to further develop this valuable partnership and he hopes to return to the

department again to support pupils through the Practical Cookery course.

Global Citizenship – Our Links with Rwanda and the Visit by Jacqueline Uwitonze

Our partnership with Ryankana School in Rwanda was strengthened in April when Jacqueline Uwitonze, the headteacher, visited Kemnay Academy and the North East of Scotland for a week. This was Jacky’s first visit to Europe and included her first flight in an aircraft so it was very exciting for her. It was exciting for us too. Our situations are so different that everything was new to her. She was overwhelmed by the resources that our students enjoy – a far cry from her classes of 65 who have few benches or desks. She was also impressed by the relationships between students and teachers and could hardly believe how friendly they were.

9

During the week, Jacky took assemblies and explained how great the impact of our partnership is for her community. She responded to an enormous number of questions in Social Subjects classes, visited many other subjects across the Academy and even took a lesson in French. She was also able to firm up on specific projects with teachers. We agreed a challenge for our pupils in sport. Each of us will run an agreed set of athletics events and see whether a Kemnay athlete or a Ryankana athlete wins. This competition will give the students something to communicate with each other about. Just before Jacky visited us, two of her classrooms were destroyed in a tropical storm. The photograph above shows the damage. Clearly, these buildings are no longer safe to use and this has put further pressure on the few classrooms the school has. It has reinforced to us he importance of our fund-raising initiative to help rebuild classrooms

in Ryankana. This is the purpose of our car raffle and we encourage all families to sell tickets so that we really can make a difference. Meanwhile, a joint meeting of Kemnay Academy staff and pupil representatives, Kintore Rotary and the RSVP charity has resulted in Rotary committing to help us improve conditions at Ryankana School in Rwanda by initially donating enough to fund the rebuild of at least one classroom. Together with the funds we aim to raise through the car raffle, this partnership should substantially improve the

learning conditions at the school. A global citizenship/sustainability group comprising pupils and staff now meets weekly to take forward aspects of our partnership with input from Kintore Rotary. You will know that each House sponsors one student through secondary education. All our sponsored students are now in S2 although their ages range from 15 to 21. A few weeks ago we received letters from the students along with their school report cards and these are posted on the House noticeboards to keep all at Kemnay Academy up to date. The students’ gratitude is overwhelming. If you would like more raffle tickets for the Fiat 500S car, please contact Ms Catherine Paterson, PT Humanities and Citizenship, at the Academy.

Costa Rica Expedition 2015 – Team One Our long countdown to our adventure in summer 2015 is finally over. As you are reading this we will all be settling into our new home for three weeks: Costa Rica. Since the last update Team One have been very busy. Expedition Training Weekend In April both Team One and Two travelled down to Crieff for our training weekend. We departed the school with all of our kit in tow on Friday 24th April. We endured a bus journey to Comrie Croft and met with our team leader Simon. Once the welcome

10

was over it was straight into setting up camp, which immediately tested our skills as individuals and as a team. Throughout the weekend we learnt about tent pitching, group kit, stove use and safety, personal hygiene and toilets, group shelters, first aid and evacuation, river crossings, group management, security and rucksack fittings to name a few. We also celebrated Katie and Mathews’ 17th birthday, and indulged in a lot of cake. As the weekend came to an end Simon dropped a bombshell on the whole team. He explained how he may not be able to join us in Costa Rica as he had a serious injury in his leg which would be painful and would prevent him from trekking. However, we were all hopeful that he would recover in time. New Leader Unfortunately a few weeks later it was confirmed to us that Simon would indeed not be able to depart with us to Costa Rica on the 30th June. The whole team were devastated by this news but we all wished him a speedy recovery and understood the circumstance. We soon found out that our new leader would be John Vincent who is 32 years old. He has many qualifications in outdoor activities and also has university degrees in secondary education and biological science. John has travelled all over the world to number of countries including Italy, Ecuador, Borneo, Chile… but his favourite place he has visited is Nepal. We were all very excited to meet him on the 10th June: only 20 days until the expedition. The Race for Life The girls of Team One decided to participate in the Race for Life on Sunday 14th June 2015. We all thought this would be a great way to improve our fitness as well as joining in with the fight

against cancer. It is a fantastic cause and all the girls worked very hard to gain sponsors and awareness. Final Preparation Day The Final preparation day takes place the day before we depart on our adventure. The day runs from 11am until 4pm and includes team kit and equipment distribution, kit and equipment inspection and packing session, a one to one session between each participant and the Expedition Leader, a recap of Outlook’s Code of Conduct and the expedition rules, and an assignment of expedition team roles, jobs and responsibilities. We all have to bring our passports

and every single item we intend to take away with us so it can be checked. After all of the checks we head home for a final night with our families before going to bed early. The next morning we will be meeting at Dyce Airport at 4:50am ready for our flight at 6:50am. And so the adventure of a life time begins.

11

Aberdeen International Youth Festival Abbie Freeman originally of 1A was runner up in the AIYF 'B on a T' competition. Abbie was top 6 out of over 300 entries from the City and Shire. Abbie attended the brochure launch on 5th June with her Mum and was presented with her design on a t-shirt. Olivia Christie, also from 1A, will have her entry in the summer exhibition titled 'Best of the Rest' along with the winner and runners up. The exhibition will be held at Seventeen Gallery, 17 Belmont Street during the festival. The judges were very impressed by all of the entries from Kemnay Academy. "As a thank you to all of our participants for their wonderful efforts, each and every participant will be receiving two tickets to an AIYF performance of their choice! Tokens for each student will be sent out after the programme launch along with the returned competition entries." Art Club Recycled Paper Dresses made at Art Club during lunchtime. Created by a talented group of S1 pupils by sponging paint on to old newspapers

12

MUSIC EVENTS AND NEWS NAMING OF BOAT The concert band has voyaged bravely into uncharted waters with another stellar performance – this time in an unlikely location. On the 29th of May the concert band, led by music teacher Mrs Cormack, was invited to come to Aberdeen harbour to play at the naming of the Ocean Falcon. The vessel, owned by Atlantic Offshore, is an emergency response and rescue vessel (ERRV) that will pair with an offshore installation to provide support and, if required, rescue in the case of a serious incident. Prior to their performance, band members were given a tour of the ship by its personnel, calling in at the bridge, the deck and other points of interest. The band played some of their best-loved tunes to welcome the guests attending the ceremony. Though the weather – and the minister’s risqué jokes – threatened to disrupt their performance, the band pulled off an excellent set concluding with the rousing ‘Highland Cathedral’. The day was considered a great success by all involved, providing an experience not soon forgotten. A photo of the full band was taken to commemorate the occasion. Ewan Guild

ABERDEEN MUSIC FESTIVAL Many congratulations to our brass players who took part as individuals and in groups to gain excellent results in the Aberdeen Music Festival at the beginning of June. BARCELONA 2016 The music department are off on their travels again and the concert band, choir, jazz band, ceilidh band, Highland dancer and pipers are preparing an entertainment programme to take on tour to Barcelona in June of 2016. Our first fund raiser for this trip will be our Summer Concert to be held at the academy on Tuesday 30 June at 7.30pm. Tickets for this event can be bought at the school office.

13

HEALTH AND WELLBEING AND ACTIVE SCHOOLS

Sports Leaders Thank you to our many Sports Leaders who gave up their lunchtimes during link week to deliver a range of sporting activities for the new S1 pupils: Emily Cossar, Katie McLaren and Cara MacKenzie delivered indoor rounders, Ross Anderson and Ryan Parker delivered boys football while Erin Jones and Niamh Chalmers did the same for girls football, Xenoa Campbell-Ledgister, Hannah Barclay, Cara Gill and Amy Stewart all delivered dance sessions while Eve Smillie, Emma Jackson and Daniel Andersen delivered netball.

Sports Day Congratulations to Don House who narrowly beat Bennachie by 1 point at Sports Day! All pupils worked exceptionally hard competing for their houses and their conduct and support was outstanding. Thanks also go to the senior S5/6 pupils who helped on the afternoon.

Golf Good Luck to Matthew Dailey, Rory Gauld and Alex Cochrane who will be representing Kemnay Academy in the annual South Aberdeenshire Schools Golf Tournament on Tuesday 30th June!

Football Our U13 team finished their season with a close hard fought 2-1 defeat to league champions Inverurie Academy. They were however successful in winning new strips in a competition run by Arnold Clark where they needed to submit a funny team photo, they will wear this strip next season. Well done to our U-15 school football team who won convincingly against Meldrum (4-1) and Inverurie Academy (4-0). This was a great achievement as those two schools were Aberdeenshire cup and league winners respectively. We look ahead to an exciting new season as we are entering an U13, U14 and senior teams in the Aberdeenshire cup as well as an U15 girls’ team.

Rugby The rugby team have played a number of fixtures over the past couple of months with games at under 15’s level against Alford, Westhill and Turriff resulting in 2 out of 3 wins. Six players also went forward towards pathway selection at under 15’s level. These were, Alisdair Stephen, Finlay Watt, Dominic Chishinge, James Mcleod, Sean Malcolm and Declan Alexander. Congratulations to all 6 boys and best of luck getting through to the next round of selections. The S1/2 team also had a very successful end of season 7’s festival at Hazelhead two weeks ago narrowly losing in a very competitive final against Banchory. The boys played some excellent rugby and were superb ambassadors for Kemnay Academy. We look ahead to an exciting new season after the holidays next year with the under 16’s in the Scottish National Plate competition as well as the North Schools Cup, the S1/2s playing a number of tournaments & friendlies and the restart of the girls team at the school.

Swimming Congratulations to Erin Jones & Shannon Crawford who have qualified for the Scottish National Open Swimming Championships. Erin will be competing in the 50 Back and 50 Breaststroke while Shannon has a very busy schedule competing in 50 Fly, 200 Fly, 50 Back, 100 Back, 200 Back, 200 IM, 400 IM and 400 Free! Shannon also recently attended a swimming camp in Spain with Hannah and Alisdair Miley as part of Garioch Swimming Club.

14

Scottish Space School Last week I attended the Scottish Space School at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. It was a week long course for 100 S5 pupils from across Scotland who had just finished studying higher Sciences. The course gave me a remarkable mix of experiences: spending a week living in University dorms, working through projects as a team, getting a taster of the different faculties and departments at the university, hearing talks from NASA astronauts and I can even be seen in the background on the STV riverside show! The goal of the Space School is to inspire more students to take up study in STEM subjects but for me it achieved so much more. I met lots of great people, many of whom I'm staying in touch with now, and I'm now determined my future is Engineering in the Space Industry. More information on the Scottish Space School can be found at: www.scottishspaceschool.org.uk Max McKay Feedback on Our Annual Parental Survey 2015 Thank you for taking part in our annual Parents’ Survey; these are designed to listen to Parent Voice and help us to act upon aspects of the survey which have been raised by our parent body as well as support our parents/carers throughout their child’s time at Kemnay Academy. Our survey was conducted via “Survey Monkey“ in consultation with our Parent Council. The results have now been analysed and a summary is detailed below. The key messages from the survey have helped us to inform our improvement planning for next session. Summary of Responses to Rated Questions;

1. Areas where parent/carers generally agree

Pupils have a favourable opinion of Kemnay Academy

Pupils enjoy their courses which we have on offer

Parents/ Carers who have pupils in S1-S4 find courses stimulating

Parents feel welcome in Kemnay Academy

Parental Evenings have been informative

The Academy provides information on next steps for our young people during the parental evenings

Basketball Our basketball team members would like to thank Morrisons Construction for their extremely generous sponsorship which has meant 2 new sets of strips for both our Senior and Junior basketball teams. This has given the teams a real sense of pride and identity and we look forward to putting them to good use next year as we look ahead to competing both locally and nationally. Thank you!

Scottish Schools AthleticsChampionships Congratulations to Alix Still who took silver medal in the U17 Girls Scottish Schools Pentathlon Championships with 3 PBs which are also new school records; Alix also came 2nd in the U17 hurdles final at the Outdoor Championships.

15

2. Areas where a significant number of responses are unsure or disagree

Parents/carers feel their child is supported in developing independent study skills in S4-6

The pace of learning is appropriate for my child’s age and stage

Parents/carers feel that the Academy is not good at keeping them in touch with what is going on – this includes information available on the school website

Parents/carers are aware of “Show my Homework” and how this can be used successfully to support learning

A good understanding of the new qualifications that will be on offer in the senior phase

There are opportunities for parents/carers to be part of the life of the Academy

Summary of Comments The following summary represents the most commonly identified issues in response to the open questions under the headings in the survey. How the Academy could improve; • Development of independent study skills with our senior phase pupils, including parents in

the task of supporting the school in this initiative • Communication with parents on specific areas, including homework, assessment and

reporting Review of the Broad General Education to ensure that all young people have an element of

pace and challenge within the curriculum Summary of Actions from Our Improvement Plan These are the actions that we plan to take to address the above. They are included in our annual improvement plan. • Introduce Early Intervention strategies for all pupils with a particular focus on senior phase

pupils, introduce learning mentor for pupils who require additional support as well as pupils who require aspirational mentoring.

• Use Tracking and Monitoring systems more effectively particularly when identifying next steps for pupils and keeping parents informed of agreed action points

• Using a variety of information sources, eg Insight, to identify areas of success and good practice within the school and to plan appropriately for improvement

• Departmental and whole school review of the S1-3 provision to ensure smooth progression from primary school and transition into the senior phase, using consultation with parents in this process

Charity Update The Charity group are delighted to be able to present a cheque for £1800 to Charlie House at the Senior Achievement Ceremony. The group has also donated to RSVP to continue the work of Kemnay Academy’s connecting classrooms work, to sponsor four Rwandan pupils. The charity group are looking forward to next year’s activities and aim to expand the group to include more of our younger pupils.

16

Pupil Voice The Pupil Council has had a successful year, being heavily involved in the development of our new extension. The Pupil Council for session 2015/16 is planning to develop pupil-mentoring activities, to address pupil concerns around bullying. A number of the Pupil Council senior members have been part of the Aberdeenshire Pupil Voice Forum. They have met with other pupil representatives of secondary schools to discuss their experiences of being educated in Aberdeenshire. A number of positive development have come from this. In particular two of our representatives, Fatima Dawod and Max Mackay were invited to attend a National Pupil Voice Conference in Inverness. They took part in important discussions and met and had a selfie taken with the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon. The Pupil Council is aiming to work closely with the Parent Council in the coming academic year to develop criteria for the new award sponsored by our local Community Council. S3 Profiles and Interviews A big thank you is due to our partners in regard to our S3 pupil interviews. School staff, business partners, members of the Parent Council and Kintore Rotary club members all spent some time interviewing our S3 pupils as a recognition of them completing their Broad General Education. Both adults and pupils enjoyed their experience. One of the adults described the S3 pupils they met as “inspiring” and “with a huge range of skills to offer”. Well done everyone. Mrs Goodbrand

3D paper mache elephant Libby McDonald S1

3D paper mache Indian elephant Katie Clark S1

17

Ace of Spades The Ace of Spades Group is a continuation of a project which has run successfully since 2012. It is developed in Partnership with Kemnay Academy, Bennachie Landscape Project and The Ranger Service. The project uses Bennachie, a local landmark as a focus to engage with a group of young people who attend the Academy. The group meets every Tuesday morning throughout the school year. It gives young people a wider learning experience, outside of the classroom, with the opportunity to take part in a wide range of practical, fun activities exploring Bennachie’s social and environmental landscape in the 19th century. A big part of the project was working with local Archaeologist, Colin Shepard to survey and plan a 2 day archaeological dig on an old farmstead at the Back O Bennachie. This took place after the Easter holidays and thankfully the weather was fine as were the chips once we’d finished! The successful dig has contributed a huge amount of information to the history of the area and produced a good range of finds which are on display in the Bennachie Centre until September. Visitors can also watch a short film the group created based on stories about a local colourful character called William Jamieson who lived on the hill. The young people and workers have had a lot of laughs along the way, and a few tears at the end! The success of the project is down to all the partners who have given their time, and the young people who have been willing to step out of their comfort zones and do something different.

18

Kemnay Academy Parent Council Much has happened since our last contribution to the school newsletter. The new and refurbished school buildings were officially opened and a new headteacher has been appointed! By any stretch, these are two key milestones in the life of any school, and both have come together in this last term at Kemnay Academy. On behalf of the Parent Council, we would like to say a huge thank-you to Dr Charlie Hunter for his positive energy, direction and leadership throughout his time at Kemnay Academy. Our very best wishes go to Dr Hunter for his pending retirement. Here are a few highlights of Parent Council activities from the last few months:

• Parent Council members worked closely with Aberdeenshire Council as well as a number of our local councillors as part of the selection process for a new headteacher. This process culminated on the 25th May with the final interview of a number of high quality candidates. Lizbeth Paul was selected following a careful evaluation process. The Parent Council extends a warm welcome to Lizbeth Paul as our new headteacher and we look forward to working with her in the years to come.

• One of our Parent Council members, Kirsten Cassidy, attended the opening ceremony for the new and refurbished school buildings. Kirsten received a number of complements from both Morrison Construction and Aberdeenshire Council regarding the behaviour, politeness and warmth of our pupils. That's a great accolade for Kemnay Academy.

• A new online benchmarking tool “Insight” was discussed at recent meetings. The tool has been

developed by Scottish Government and is intended to provide comparative data on school attainment. The tool is primarily intended for teaching staff and is aligned with the CfE. We hope to arrange a session with the school in the coming year to fully understand how this tool can be used to inform our understanding of school attainment and where we need to focus our attention.

Finally, we still have two Parent Council member vacancies to fill. Membership is open to all parents of pupils at the academy. Our AGM is scheduled for Thursday 25th June and here we will establish the standing agenda for the 2015 / 2016 academic year. If you are interested in joining the Parent Council and want to get a flavour of what we do and how we work with the school, then this is a great way to test the water. We plan to meet at 6.45pm at the academy. Remember to visit the Parent Council section of the school website where you will find our minutes of meeting as well as our newsletter. If you would like to get in touch with the Parent Council, then do email us at kemnay.acaparentcouncil@yahoo.co.uk. Best Regards, Kemnay Academy Parent Council.

19

Diary Dates for Session 2015-16 TERM 1 17 August In-service day 18 August Pupils return for term 1 8 September P7 parents’ guided tour 1 16 September P7 parents’ guided tour 2 24 September P7 into S1 information evening 1 9 October End of term 1 TERM 2 26 October Start of term 2 29 October S1 parents’ evening 16 November In-service day 17 November In-service day 18 November S3 parents’ evening 8 December S2 parents’ evening 22 December End of term 2 TERM 3 6 January Start of term 3 7 January S2 parents’ information evening 14 January S5/6 parents’ evening 27 January S4 parents’ meeting 10 February S3/4/5 parents’ information evening 12 February Occasional holiday 15 February Mid-term holiday 16 February In-service day 17 February In-service day 18 February S4-6 assessment period begins 19 February Deadline for return of S2 into S3 options 1 March End of S4-6 assessment period 9 March S5/6 business breakfast 10 March Deadline for return of S4-6 options 25 March Good Friday holiday 1 April End of term 3 TERM 4 18 April Start of term 4 2 May Holiday 1-3 June New S5 induction 6 June Holiday 7 June S2-6 new timetable starts 7 June New S6 induction 20 – 24 June P7 Link Week 23 June P7 into S1 information evening 2 1 July End of session

S2 Mask Making Zoe Till