Newsletter June 2015

Boclair News
JUNE 2015
Dear Parent / Guardian
Welcome to our June edition of Boclair News. We have now reached the end of yet
another busy year in the school and I am delighted to report on the wide range of
successes in Boclair Academy over the last few months. The dedication of staff, the
commitment of young people and the support of parents have made this one of the most
successful years ever in the history of Boclair Academy and the whole community should
be rightly proud of their combined efforts. The relationships here define our school and
have made it a privilege to be Head Teacher over my first two years.
Our end of year events have ensured a busy but exceptionally positive end of year for the
school with a great deal of hard work on the part of pupils and staff. Our senior pupils
have recently returned to school following our exam leave. Months of hard work and extra
study sessions allowed young people to prepare well for the exams and we now look
forward to hearing of positive results at the start of August. Already our new S5 and S6
pupils have thrown themselves into the life and work of senior school, and S6 pupils in
particular have taken on the leadership roles vacated by the departing S6 pupils.
Various whole school events have taken place in recent weeks including our S6
Paintballing Experience and our Senior Prom, with our Cultural Evening and our Junior
Awards Ceremony taking place towards the end of June. Many of our events are captured
in this newsletter with more to follow in the first newsletter of the new session.
We also recently welcomed our new S1 pupils during the P7 Transition Days in June.
Throughout their three day experience our new S1 pupils excelled in all subjects and have
already firmly established themselves as a hard working, positive group of young people
who are enthusiastic learners. We look forward to them joining us fully in August.
The articles included in this month’s Boclair News provide a description of the various
successes and events which have been part of Boclair Academy over the last few weeks. I
hope you find the following information helpful and as ever we welcome your comments
and new information which we can share in future newsletters.
I wish you a relaxing and enjoyable holiday, whatever you and your family have planned,
and I look forward to welcoming the whole school community back to school at the start of
next session.
Have a great summer.
Best wishes
Douglas Brown
Head Teacher
1
Please note that the school will close for the summer
holidays on Thursday 25th June 2015 at 1.00pm. This information
corrects the date and time given in the gold coloured school calendar which
was issued to parents earlier this session.
NEW PUPIL WEEK
Following a major consultation process involving pupils, parents and staff we have reached a
conclusion on our new pupil week. An overwhelming majority of pupils, parents and staff who
responded to the consultation supported a move to a new pupil week. This involves a change to
32 periods of timetabled classes every week with ten minutes of registration each day.
Each day will start at 8.50 am and there will be two late finishes on a Monday and Tuesday at 3.55
pm and three earlier finishes at 3.05 pm on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. In order to help
with the transition to this new finish time, where parents have a difficulty picking up their child at
this early finish time next session, pupils can remain in the building until the former finish time of
3.35 pm.
While the majority of pupils, parents and staff supported a later lunch time on the longer days, this
has been the most contentious part of the proposals. In order to ease the anxiety we will take
steps to ensure access to canteen food and snacks both before school and at interval, with extra
stations put on if and when required. We also encourage pupils to bring additional snacks to
school if they are worried about the later lunch time. We will also review this with the Parent
Council and Pupil Council throughout the session and make changes if required. I am reassured
that in other East Dunbartonshire schools with the same model, the new model has been working
very well.
The full results of the consultation, processed by the independent analyst IBT, will be placed on the
website for your perusal.
BOCLAIR ACADEMY TIMETABLE
Period
1
08:5009:40
Period
2
09:4010:30
Period
3
10:5511:45
Period
4
11:4512:35
Period
5
12:3513:25
Registration
Interval
10:30-10:40
10:4010:55
Monday
Registration
Interval
Lunch
Tuesday
Registration
Interval
Lunch
Registration
Interval
10:30-10:40
10:4010:55
Wednesday
Registration
Interval
Lunch
Thursday
Registration
Interval
Lunch
Friday
Registration
Interval
Lunch
Period
1
08:5009:40
Period
2
09:4010:30
2
Period
3
10:5511:45
Period
4
11:4512:35
Lunch
12:3513:25
Lunch
13:2514:15
Period
5
13:2514:15
Period
6
14:1515:05
Period
6
14:1515:05
Period
7
15:0515:55
REWARDS EVENTS
S1 Easter Egg Hunt
At the beginning of April our S1 pupils who were ON TRACK
took part in an Easter Egg Hunt around the school grounds.
The pupils took on various puzzles to earn themselves lots of
chocolate at the end of their hunt! Well done to all involved!!
S2 – S3 Pizza Party
S2 – S3 pupils who were ON TRACK in the Spring term were
invited to our first „Rewards Pizza Party‟. Pupils ate pizza and
listened to music whilst hanging out with their friends. The
party appeared a great success and a welcome reward for
those who worked hard to remain ON TRACK throughout the
term.
Our Final rewards event of the year is on Tuesday June 23rd.
Boclair will welcome inflatables to the school and those ON
TRACK in S1-S3 will be given the opportunity to take part at
various points throughout the day.
Positive Behaviour
June sees the end of our pilot year at Boclair Academy for the
rewards system. We have had a very successful year and over
280 pupils have completed the session with no demerits for the
entire year. Next year will see the full roll out of the programme
for S1 – S6.
SALTIRE SUMMIT AWARDS
Congratulations to Ross MacKenzie 6B, Nicola Harrison 6F, Ryan Hughes 6B, Andrew Hunter 6D
and Joseph Lynch 5E who all received the Saltire Summit Award for
outstanding contribution to volunteering within school and the local
community. The summit award recognises
young people who have achieved more than
500 hours and have exceeded expectations.
Ryan Hughes also features in the East
Dunbartonshire Voluntary Action brochure as
a „volunteer hero‟ for all his work with the
Boclair Academy charity committee in raising
over
£1300
for
funding
neuro.
Congratulations!!
3
**Crest Discovery Award**
Congratulations to Adam Ahmed, Rory Bennett, Isaac Miller, Craig Maxwell,
Lewis Pritchard, Kamran Sadiq, Hamish Wallace and Jamie Williamson from
the S1 Science Club on gaining their Crest Discovery Award.
The boys undertook the 'Squashed Tomato Challenge' where they learned
about the difficulties farmers, living at high altitudes, face when trying to
transport their crops to market.
The boys had to work as part of a team to design and
build a method of transporting tomatoes from a height,
over a 'fast flowing river' (the floor) to a receiving station
on the far side of the river.
There was a great deal of fun and laughter as the boys
developed their ideas. At times, it got a bit stressful when
the
prototype
just didn't work!
Designs
were
made,
tested,
remodelled and
tested
again
until most of the
tomatoes were
arriving safely.
After lunch, it was time for the final testing and
showcasing their designs to Crest. All three teams had
taken very different approaches and, it does have to be
said that, some were more successful than others but the boys' sheer enthusiasm, creativity and
excellent teamwork meant that they all passed with ease.
PAS
S
4
This is an analytical chemistry competition for 6th year students from across Scotland and we
realised from the outset that we were up against some very stiff competition as most of the top
Scottish private schools were also taking part. We were, in fact, one of only two local authority
schools taking part.
Although we were given a copy of the experiments in advance
we had no time to practise them as we were in the middle of
our prelims. This meant that we had to do some last minute
preparation on the train to Edinburgh but fortunately our
Advanced Higher chemistry projects meant that, amongst us,
we had some expertise in the techniques involved so we
agreed a team leader for each of the three experiments.
Marks are awarded on how well the team works together.
It was a challenging day with two experiments in the morning
and one in the afternoon. We were very glad that we had
agreed the delegation of tasks before we arrived as it would
be impossible to complete them without everyone taking
ownership of particular areas. We were used to working
together so had no particular problems here and we really
enjoyed the experience of working in a university lab.
To be honest, when it came to the
prize giving we had no great
expectations
but
we
were
absolutely astonished to find that
we had been awarded 3rd place.
Craig Jardine, Shivani Kumar
and Ross MacKenzie
Congratulations and well done to Craig Sproul of S5 who has been
selected to undertake a Nuffield Placement Scheme. Nuffield Research
Placements is a UK-wide scheme giving students a chance to work
alongside professional scientists, technologists, engineers and
mathematicians for 4 - 6 weeks over the summer holidays.
The places for these research opportunities are always very highly
contested so the chemistry department is very proud of Craig in
managing to work his way through the application process which
culminated in a successful interview at the University of Glasgow's
School of Chemistry.
Craig will spend his summer at the University undertaking a research
project with Dr Beth Paschke as his supervisor . He will also be
submitting his project for a Gold Crest Award.
5
In the run up to the national Go4SET final we spent a lot of time practising what we were going to
say and Mrs Stewart's room became our second home. Sam, our mentor from Sciencesoft, paid us
regular visits and we were invited to present our project to the Parents' Council. While the parents
were all very complimentary we knew we were rusty and this spurred us on to yet more practise
sessions. We had to be the best we could possibly be as we were going up against the best teams
from around Scotland.
The final was to be held on June the 5th in Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh. This meant a really early
start so we needed to be at Queen Street Station for 8 am. The
night before we divided up all the various parts of our
presentation so we each had a box or bag to bring with us.
Lisa's dad delivered Lisa, Megan and Katie to Queen Street with
the huge box we had our model in. We all arrived so early that
we were actually on the train by 8 a.m. on our way to Edinburgh.
The early start was a bit too early for Amber so she slept most of
the way to Edinburgh while the rest of us asked each other
questions we thought the judges might ask.
We climbed into taxis at
Waverley station and
headed off to Dynamic Earth where we found that we were
the first team to arrive. We were all excited and nervous at
the same time.
It didn't take us long to set up our display so we had time
to look at what the other schools had done - the
competition
looked
fierce.
Mr Barr, who is in charge of
Go4SET in the West of Scotland, came and spoke to us. He said he
expected us to do very well but we weren't so sure.
After a quick welcome speech, it was time for the judging and Sam and
Mrs Stewart had to leave the room when the judges came to us. We
were one of the first teams the judges came to and we were surprised
that they didn't ask us quite so many questions as the judges at the
West of Scotland had done. We were a bit concerned at the amount of
notes they seemed to take. Sam and Mrs Stewart said not to worry as
they do that in order to remember what everyone had said Mr Brown joined us in time for lunch
and we ate outside in an area overlooking the Scottish
Parliament. After lunch, it was back to our stall to talk to the
afternoon visitors. We spoke to rather a lot of important people
including several MSPs and the Managing Director from
Viridor, the event's main sponsor. He was a bit taken aback
when Amber told him she wanted to be an astrophysicist.
All too soon it was time for the results to be announced and we
really didn't quite believe it when we heard our name being
announced as the winners of the national Go4SET finals. We
really had won!
Lisa Chestnutt, Megan Chase, Amber Drake, Katie Ferrie,
Eilidh Traynor and Bo Yee Yip.
6
D
RAGON’S DEN
All S2 Business and Finance classes studying
Marketing this term took part in the annual Dragon‟s
Den competition. This topic was interdisciplinary with
the Computing section of our department – where the
young people produced a website to market the product they had
produced in Business Education. Each class was divided into
cooperative groups who had to make a product out of recycled
materials. The groups then had to produce a PowerPoint
presentation stating their marketing mix, target market and pitch for
finance from the first set of Dragons. Each class then had a winning
product which then went through to the second round of the
competition. This final round took place in front of Mrs Reid (PT
Business and Information Management), and our invited
entrepreneur Yvonne McFarlane who owns Damselfly which is a Craft shop in the west end.
The
young
people
made
fabulous
pitches
and
the
Dragons
were
extremely
impressed both by the products
and by their presentations.
Eventually the Denim bags
company from class 2D was
chosen to be the winner. As you
will see in the pictures featuring
some of the products our S2
entrepreneurs produced – they
are an extremely creative year
group! Well done S2!!.
RECENT GEOBUS EVENT
S1 pupils involved on Thursday 4th June 2015
Due to the great success of the S3 workshop the Geobus returned for all our S1 pupils. Pupils
were involved in a FUNdamentals of Rocks in Scotland.
This activity covered the identification and composition of the main rock types in Scotland, and
where those different rock types come from. The session also provided the key information about
why rocks are important in terms of Earth‟s history.
Pupils used hand lenses to examine hand specimens of igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary
rocks to note the differences between them and classify them by name. Pupils created their own
fossils, recreated how Arthur‟s seat was formed and took part in many more exciting activities.
7
The Mark Scott Leadership for Life Award takes an innovative approach to personal
development. The Award brings together young people in their 6th year at school from different
social, religious and cultural backgrounds. It trains and supports them as they plan and deliver a
project that will benefit their local community.
Selected participants attend a five day course run by the expert instructors of Outward Bound
Metro at The Trust's Loch Eil or Howtown centres. Here they acquire skills and confidence that will
help them work together.
The Award is unique. The innovative combination of an
outdoor learning residential and urban communitybased project work helps young people to develop their
talents and self-confidence whilst breaking down
traditional barriers and benefitting local communities at
the same time. Through close co-operation with the
schools, staff recognise that the Award creates a legacy
of trust and friendship between diverse participants and
their schools. It enhances leadership skills and
addresses sectarianism as well as other socially divisive
influences in a subtle way.
This year Boclair Academy saw four young people in S6 successfully undertake and complete the
Award and they were presented with their certificates at a prestigious ceremony in the Radisson
Hotel in Glasgow in May. Niamh Wilkinson, Hannah Armour, Dylan Butler and Charandeep Lota
were a credit to their school and their respective projects over the course of the year. Well done to
all four students.
DELTA FORCE PAINTBALLING
On the last day of S6 our senior pupils celebrated the end of
school with a trip to Delta Force Paintballing experience.
Throughout the day the relationships which have developed over
the course of their school life continued to flourish as they
supported one another and enjoyed a thrilling end to their school
careers. Their behaviour throughout the day was excellent, and it
was an absolute pleasure to be shot by them!
Well done to last year’s S6 – the school will miss your presence.
8
S
3 ADMIN AND IT TRIP
2015 – BLAIR
DRUMMOND SAFARI PARK
To start off June our Admin and IT class planned a trip to Blair
Drummond Safari Park as part of the Admin and IT course. The trip took lots of planning and time.
Each group had a different task to complete e.g. sending letters to parents, phoning the bus
company and the safari park and collecting in the money. After a few weeks of planning we were
finally ready to go on the trip.
Thankfully when Friday 12 June 2015 came we had the most
amazing weather which was good as we were outside all day. Once
in the park we were all allowed to go off in groups and do what we
liked. There were so many fun things to do like paddle boats, a zip
line, seeing all the exotic animals e.g. elephants, lions, giraffes and
little meerkats. After many years of absence the monkeys are back
at Blair Drummond just in time for us! We also watched the amazing
sea lion show where the sea lions did lots of different tricks including
clapping along with the
audience.
Another show
that we all enjoyed was the
Bird of Prey display where
hawks and eagles put on an amazing display of flight over
a lovely big lake. There was a boat ride round Chimp
Island where we saw
lots of chimps.
The
male
chimpanzee was
not in a very good
mood
but,
thankfully, when he starting throwing mud at the boats,
we were protected by the grills on the sides of the boat.
In the area where you can pet and feed the animals we
were entertained by a tiny pig that chased the llamas
around the field. The large llamas were frightened by the
little pig and one of them tried to jump over the fence.
Everyone found it very entertaining.
There were lots of different places to eat and get snacks. The
slushies were amazing because it was such a hot day.
All too soon the day was
over and we had to get
back on the coach to head
for home. Everyone had a
thoroughly enjoyable day
and we are all very proud
that we were able to organise such a successful trip using the
skills we have learned in Admin and IT.
Amber Caldwell & Jamie McKirkle
9
BOCLAIR’S GOT TALENT
On the 18th March 2015 our school held the Boclair‟s Got Talent
competition. It was an extremely successful night as over 100 tickets were
sold. All the profits went to the charity – Cancer Research.
Leading up to the competition the S6 Enterprise group, led by Mrs Reid of
the Business and Information Department, held auditions at lunchtimes with
many potential contestants. Eventually it was decided to put 10 acts
through to the main competition.
The show began with a video clip of all three judges: Miss Crocket (DHT),
Mr McEwan (Music) and Mr Higgins (Guidance). Thereafter S5 Dance
group (last year‟s winner) started the show. Mrs Reid then welcomed the
audience and introduced the hosts – Jamie Carmichael and Andrew Hunter both in S6 Enterprise.
All the acts this year were of an exceptionally high standard. In the words of one of the judges “It
was extremely difficult to decide which 5 acts would go through to the second part of the show”.
The S6 group had set up a tuck shop at the interval which proved to be very popular with the
audience!
The five acts which went through to the second half were absolutely fabulous. Again the judges
found it difficult to declare a winner but in third place were Georgia Ferry and Jamie Porteous (both
S1 pupils!). The runners up were Daisy Mearns, Cristina Bertagna and Hannah Berry- who wowed
the audience with their amazing voices. The winners were our very own „Rock‟ group – Cameron
Horne, Bruno Portilho and Adam Nowarah – who were absolutely fabulous!
The S6 Enterprise group would like to thank the Music Technicians – Joseph Lynch and his
assistant Jacob Miller, and the teacher helpers and the audience for attending. It was, once again,
a great night, enjoyed by all!!
Hospitality Students Celebrate Success!
Each year the SQA release a new practical exam for the Intermediate 2 and National 5 Hospitality
courses. These exams challenge each young person in terms of their practical skills, preparation
techniques and in particular, this year, time management skills.
Both exams include three courses, comprising of a starter, main course and dessert, that have to
be prepared in 2 ½ hours to serve 4 people. All preparation, production and service are included
within this time. All of Our S4, National 5 and S5/6, Intermediate 2 Hospitality students have now
successfully completed their assessments and the results are excellent. 27 candidates were
presented at National 5 level, of which, 21 are expected to achieve a grade A. 10 candidates were
presented at Intermediate 2, of which 9 are expected to achieve grade A. Well done to all
participants involved in this course this year, an
outstanding set of results.
National 5 Assessments - menu
Sweet potato and Pea Puffs
Italian Meatballs with Spaghetti
Dark Chocolate and Bar Gateaux
Intermediate 2 Assessments - menu
Thai red Curry soup
Chicken chow Mein
Rhubarb and Custard Pavlovas
10
P7 Health Day
To support the Transition of our young people from
Primary school into the Secondary phase, the
Home Economics department invited four of our
feeder primary schools to visit and take part in
some experiential learning. Over four mornings,
each school, in turn, arrived for a morning full of
practical activities related to healthy eating and
practical cookery.
Each student was presented with a personal copy
of a healthy eating recipe booklet, and having
prepared and made each of the dishes they were
then given a Life Skills certificate validated by the
British Nutrition Foundation. To achieve this life
skills certificate, the students had to follow instructions, use knives and prepare simple dishes that
involved key skills like, grating, cutting, slicing and using electrical equipment like hand blenders
and smoothie making machines.
A great time was had by all, as our
photos evidence. Significant learning
took place and each and every one of
the young people involved was able to
experience what their time in Home
Economics will be like when they join in
August. They got to meet their teachers
and the support staff and the staff alike
were able to meet the students. We very
much look forward to our new S1 and
budding chefs of the future.
11
WIDER ACHIEVEMENT ACROSS THE BROAD
GENERAL EDUCATION
After a busy few months of outdoor learning, our entire S1 year
group have been nominated for a John Muir Trust Award.
The year group have spent a number of days working within our
school grounds, in the local King George V Play Park and the neighbouring Temple Woods.
Pupils were lucky enough to be given the opportunity to develop a wildflower meadow in the park,
with plants donated by our Neighbourhood Strategy Officer, Jackie Gillespie, and over the course
of three visits managed to plant around 100 seeds. The local wood has been enhanced by the
planting of somewhere in the region of 50 new trees which were donated by the Woodland Trust.
Similarly, our own school grounds have been enhanced by the planting of a variety of trees such
as Holly, Silver Birch and Cherry.
Pupils have also successfully undertaken science and geography -based activities such as
humane insect trapping and the measuring of trees, as well as working on nature based literacy
tasks with the English and Modern Languages Departments.
Pupils have made the most of this fantastic opportunity and are excited to watch their work grow
and develop for the future generations to enjoy.
S2 Saltire Awards
Foodbank Project
It is with great pleasure that
we can now announce that
EVERY pupil in S2 has
achieved
their
Saltire
Volunteering Award for the
work completed on our monthly Foodbank project. So far this
session, S2 have collected and donated an astounding 5000 items to
both Maryhill and Glasgow North West Foodbanks, as well as
making and delivering fresh soups and developing a foodbank
cookery book. Class 2B also organised a
fundraising bake sale and enjoyed spending the
money collected on a bumper food bank shop at
Asda on the 4th of June.
The work of this year
local MSP Fiona McLeod,
pupils'
progress.
will present at the East
11th and we have been
September 2015.
group has been recognised by our
who even tweeted about the
Excitingly, a number of our pupils
Dunbartonshire Voluntary Action Seminar on June
invited to speak at the Scottish Parliament in
Pupils involved in this project have developed a real sense of community awareness and are now
looking forward to finding out how their volunteering journey can develop as they move into S3.
12
S3 Dementia Friends
In
partnership
with
Alzheimer‟s Scotland, a
group of our S3 pupils
recently hosted a ' Tea
and a Blether' session in the school canteen for around
twenty elderly people and their carers.
This event took place on Wednesday 3rd June as part of
Dementia Awareness week and, in conjunction with our Music
Department and Princes Trust XL programme, our young
people spent time performing for their guests as well as
enjoying some tea, cake and blethering.
The visitors seemed to thoroughly enjoy their
time at Boclair Academy and we are hoping
to make our 'Tea and a Blether' session a
regular inclusion on next year's volunteering
calendar.
**EAST DUNBARTONSHIRE VOLUNTARY
ACTION INTERGENERATIONAL SEMINAR**
On Thursday 11th June, six of our S2/3 students were invited along to the
Intergenerational Seminar organised by EDVA. The pupils spoke to a
number of council employees and service users about the range of work
undertaken this session which has benefitted the local community and
people across the generations.
Our S2 pupils (Megan Chase 2C, Louis McGuinness 2D and Elias Ben
Boudinar 2F) spoke enthusiastically about their partnership with Greater
Maryhill and Glasgow North West Foodbanks.
Our S3 pupils (Brandon Baker 3F, Lauren Black 3E and Jack McGaffin
3E) then highlighted the work of our S3 Dementia Friends and the „Tea and a Blether‟ event which
took place on Wednesday 3rd June.
The pupils were delighted to be complimented by Fiona McLeod MSP and thoroughly enjoyed
representing Boclair Academy
FORMER PUPIL SUCCESS
We are delighted to report that one of our former pupils,
Jane Ashby, has achieved a MA (2/1) in Business Management
from Glasgow University. Jane has a new job with Denvir
Marketing in Stirling and we wish her all the best with her
future career
13
This project is a collaborative one between the Primary
Schools and Boclair Academy. The programme starts
around February in the Primary School when a teacher
from Wellbeing Support works with pupils from local
primaries to get to know them.
This part of the
programme looks at things such as Hopes, Dreams and
Fears; Subjects at Boclair; Bullying and Cyber bullying
and How to Find Your Way Around Boclair. The Campus
Police Officer allocated to Boclair is also involved in the
programme. All of the activities are fun based.
After
Easter
the
programme shifts to the
secondary school and
pupils participate in their
small group in real taster sessions in a variety of subjects.
This work has proved to be valuable in helping the young
people to settle into Boclair in August. The programme
works on nurture principles and is fun based with the aim of breaking down fears and barriers. So
far it has proven to be a very successful programme.
Lynne Robertson-Wellbeing Support Service
S1 PUPILS RAISE OVER £1000 FOR
SOLARAID CHARITY
Just before the Easter Holidays, S1 hosted a whole school
fundraiser for the SolarAid Charity. SolarAid supply solar lamps
and solar chargers in areas of Africa where there is no electrical grid.
The pupils covered various aspects of the
charity‟s work in Africa in class, from
looking at the design of the lamps in Art,
what fuel poverty means in Maths, to
even learning
some
Swahili
in
Modern Languages.
The students then originated their own money raising ideas for
a fun day. These included cake stalls, smoothie stalls, buzz wire
challenge, guess the iphone password and lots more. There were 20
different stalls and activities which between them raised over £1000.
This is equivalent to 340 Solar Lights and £44,500 collectively saved
by families. Well done to all who took part.
If you would like to read SolarAid's blog report on the project or learn
more about SolarAid click on the link below.
http://www.solar-aid.org/a-new-term-for-sunny-schools/
14
BOCLAIR BOOKENDS AND THE
SCOTTISH CHILDREN’S BOOK
AWARDS
Boclair BookEnds, the Boclair Academy book group have been
reading and reviewing the three books in the senior age group for the
Scottish Children‟s Book Awards. The three books were: Dark Spell
by Gill Arbuthnott, Mosi‟s War by Cathy MacPhail and The Wall by
William Sutcliffe.
We really enjoyed reading all the books but after a discussion our
favourite was Mosi‟s War by Cathy MacPhail. The reviews we
wrote were submitted online to the Scottish Children‟s Book
Awards review competition and were displayed on their
website. At the end of February we heard that one of our group,
Lisa Chestnutt had won first prize in the competition for her
review of The Wall by William Sutcliffe.
Lisa was invited by the Scottish Book Trust to attend the Award
Ceremony in Edinburgh on 4th March with her dad to receive
her award. At the ceremony she had the opportunity to take
part in a book quiz and talk to the authors as well as get her
books signed. During the ceremony she was awarded a framed
certificate, a £25 Waterstone‟s gift voucher and she has also
won an author visit for the school from one of the three
participating authors. William Sutcliffe, the author of The Wall will be with us in the library on 28 th
May to speak to a group of around 40 second and third year pupils
Boclair BookEnds are now shadowing the eight books on the CILIP Carnegie Medal short list
which is awarded by children's librarians for an outstanding book for children and young people.
Caitlin Mulholland 2B and Lisa Chestnutt 2B
GOLD DUKE OF EDINBURGH
7 very dedicated and brave S5 pupils are taking part in their GOLD Duke of Edinburgh award;
pupils have been working hard on route planning, menu planning for their practice expedition – 4
days and 3 nights from Braco to Loch Earnhead on 6th June 2015. This will prepare the pupils for
their Norway expedition at the end of June with World
Challenge,
a
busy but very
exciting month
ahead for the
“Magnificent
7”. Well done
team – we look
forward
to
hearing
all
about
your
expeditions!
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WILLIAM SUTCLIFFE VISIT TO BOCLAIR
ACADEMY LIBRARY
On the 28th of May, William Sutcliffe the author of the popular young adult novel “The
Wall” visited the school thanks to Lisa Chestnutt 2B winning the Scottish Children‟s
Book Award Review competition. Sutcliffe began his talk by introducing his book and
how he was inspired to write it. He gave us an insight into how close we are to third world countries
yet we are divided by a metaphorical “wall”. We were encouraged to participate by thinking of
examples. Sutcliffe explained about the European Union and the wall it creates around itself.
We then focused more
on the novel and themes
that arose during the
text. Sutcliffe talked
about how a common
trait in young adult
fiction is a character
going
through
a
tunnel/portal to a better
world e.g. Alice in
Wonderland, Narnia. However in his story Joshua goes
through a tunnel into a worse world/dystopia flipping the cliché.
The author explained about his travels to Israel and Palestine and how he was moved by the
standards of living and everyday struggles. He told us that even though the town of Amarias is
fictional he still wanted to keep the connection to the West Bank Wall tangible.
Sutcliffe went on to throw light on the biblical references throughout his book and how the name of
the town (Amarias) is an anagram for Samaria home of the Good Samaritan of which his novel is
loosely based. In addition one of the more obvious references was the name of the main character
(Joshua) who was another biblical character.
Thanks to Lisa for winning the competition, it was great experience for everyone who attended!
Sam Adams, Sameet Khan, Jack Murphy and Robyn Taylor
S3 GEO BUS
The Geography department was lucky enough to welcome the
Geobus to the school for all S3 Geographers. Pupils were involved
in an active workshop on wind power.
Pupils were assigned roles
within an energy company and
were given a mock landscape
and a set of maps. Groups had to
decide on and provide reasons for the location of their wind
farm. Pupils were then given
new roles and a selection of
materials with which they had
to design and build the wind
turbine. Their wind turbine
electricity
generation
was
tested to see how much energy
they generated. Pupils were
fantastic and really enjoyed the
morning.
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S3 LOCH LOMOND TRIP
All S3 Geographers went to Loch Lomond and the
Trossach‟s National Park on Tuesday 5th May. All
pupils were fantastic, even though the weather let us
down again – it was very wet – this did not dampen
spirits and pupils had a great day.
Pupils were on a field work trip
to collect information for their
Level 4 assignment which will
prepare pupils for their N5
assignment in S4. Pupils were identifying glaciated features, taking
photographs, completing field sketches, discussing the impacts of tourism in
the area, interviewing a park ranger and completing a survey on tourists in
the area. Now back in the classroom pupils will choose to complete a
physical or human project.
Special thank you to Geography staff –
Mr Higgins and
Mr Chappelle for helping out with the trip and to
Miss Coote who very kindly gave up her time to help us out too.
Boclair Harriers Running
events
The Boclair Running Club has been in action over
the past couple of months racing several events
and raising money for The Beatson Glasgow. At
the end of April the team (Mr Makeham, Mr Gilmour
– resident hero, Mr Meek, Mr Brown,
Mrs Black,
Mrs Morgan and Mr Higgins) took on the gruelling
and very hilly Balfron 10k. For several of the runners this was their first ever competitive race and
all completed the circuit in excellent style. In addition, the team have just completed the Polaroid
series.
Mrs Morgan and Mr Higgins rounded it off on the last day of May by taking part in
the Edinburgh marathon festival. Through these events and fundraising the team have raised a
phenomenal £1070. Well done to all involved and roll on The Great Scottish Run in October.
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HIGHER BUSINESS
MANAGEMENT
Pupils from Boclair Academy and St Ninian‟s High
School studying Higher Business Management took
part in a product Development Challenge on Tuesday
16 June. The challenge was presented by Mrs Reid
and Miss Clark of the Business and Information
Management Department. The morning began with Mrs Alison Clark, a
Marketing Consultant, who spoke to the pupils about her career in Marketing.
Mrs Clark pointed out to pupils the importance of image and target market
when promoting products. The pupils had to work through a series of team
building tasks to gain points to help them make a prototype of a product
associated with the Wii. The young people also learned about the stages of
product development as well as the 7P‟s of the Marketing Mix. All teams presented their products
to the entire group. The worthy winners, who produced a Celfie stick which could be attached to a
Wii, were presented with Amazon vouchers. The group explained that their Celfie stick could take
a photograph which could then be put onto Wii characters. Alternatively, the photographs could be
put onto the apps for Snapchat or Instagram. All pupils were presented with a certificate for taking
part and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
GEOGRAPHY JOHN MUIR
S1 Geography pupils went out for a morning to work on their John
Muir Award as part of their Geography lessons. All pupils were
fantastic; the Wednesday was a little wet but not one person from
Team A complained – well done! Team B and C had dry weather and
all worked really well as a team.
For the John Muir Award pupils must complete 4 sections – Discover,
Explore, Conserve and Share.
Pupils were planting trees in the
local woodland as part of their conserve section. All pupils had
the chance to plant their own tree. Pupils were then exploring
and discovering the woodland, pupils had to choose a tree,
identify the type of tree, and then measure the height of the tree
using trigonometry.
Pupils then came back to school to
conserve the school grounds. We planted wild flower seeds and
made bee houses to try and attract more bees and insects to the
school grounds.
Pupils now will take responsibility to share their
experiences outdoors during PSE time to
achieve
their Bronze John Muir Award.
Thank you to all the staff that helped make these
3 mornings such a success:
Mr Higgins, Mrs Morgan, Mr McClure, Miss Reid,
Mrs Harrison, Mrs Crocket, Ms Trainor,
Mr Chappelle
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In class we have been learning about media, film genres and fairytales. After watching the 2001
DreamWorks film, “Shrek”, and getting a good grasp of the plot and different characters, we went
to watch “Shrek the Musical” in the theatre.
I would definitely recommend that you go watch the musical because it is full of colour, dance and
music. Lots of times in the show I found myself comparing and contrasting the characters with that
of the movie.
I especially loved the character of Lord Farquad as he was absolutely hilarious the way he ran
around the stage on his little legs. This had everyone in the audience laughing out loud - at the end
of the show when he stood up he was normal sized!
I loved the scene were Princess Fiona and Shrek had a farting and belching competition, my class
roared with laughter. It was also really funny when the prince was on top of the tower and he had
his little legs dangling in the breeze and dancing.
The mise en scene was also really awesome, especially during the scene at the Dragon‟s Keep.
There was a real bridge, fire and even a castle. There were 8 men working together to
choreograph the movements of the dragon who was breathing fire and singing and dancing.
The show definitely ended on high note with all the cast members singing and dancing to the song
“I‟m a believer” on stage.
Going to watch Shrek the musical was a really good experience, with a great atmosphere, great
characters and great music.
Overall, it was a brilliant
afternoon. I would love to go
and watch it again if I could.
Isma Aziz 1E
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PRINCE’S TRUST XL
S4 Celebrate Success
Congratulations to the S4 Prince‟s Trust group who have successfully
completed their two year SQA course in Personal Development.
During this time the group have been involved in a variety of activities
which have enabled them to develop leadership, teamwork and
communication skills. These are key skills which employers are
looking for in young people. The pupils have also gained a host of
qualifications such as an SQA award in kayaking, a NICAS 1 certificate in rock climbing and a First
Aid Certificate. They have also raised a significant amount of money for charity. Very well done
and thank you all for working so hard.
S4 Visit from Santander
The S4 xl pupils took part in a CV Writing and Interview Skills workshop run
by representatives from Santander. The representatives from Santander
were delighted at the input by group members.
S3 Visit from Arnold Clark
Representatives from GTG, the training branch of Arnold
Clark, paid a visit recently to the S3 xl group. The S3 pupils
presented their work and an update on the projects that
they have been involved in. The representatives from Arnold
Clark were so impressed by the group that they have invited
the pupils to a showcase celebratory event on Wednesday
24th June. This event is part of a tour HRH Prince Charles
is doing for the 40th anniversary of the Prince's Trust and
the pupils may get a chance to meet him.
S3 Tea and a Blether
As part of Alzheimer‟s Awareness Week the S3 Prince‟s Trust
pupils, in collaboration with S3 Music pupils, hosted a coffee
morning for a group of elderly people and their carers. The
pupils were delighted to welcome some well known friends
from Westerton Care Home and new friends from Burnbank
Day Care Centre. The visit gave the pupils the opportunity to
use the skills which they developed on the Dementia Friendly
training sessions when they were chatting to our guests.
Mrs Percy and her team provided a beautiful morning tea and
S2 pupils provided some home baking for our guests to take
home to enjoy.
Awards
The S3xl group and the S1/3 Choir recently won Intergenerational Awards in recognition of the
work that they do with residents from local care homes.
Celebratory Day
The S3 xl pupils were guests at a celebratory event for all the xl groups in East Dunbartonshire.
The event was organised by the Prince's Trust and East Dunbartonshire Council. The day started
off with an awards ceremony at Bishopbriggs Academy. All of the pupils then went bowling and
enjoyed some lunch at Holywood Bowl at Springfield Quay in Glasgow. All in all it was a great day
and a well deserved reward for all the hard work that the pupils have put in over the last year.
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Evan Deas S1 is a member of the prestigious Senior Scottish Tumbling Gymnastics Squad
and is one of its youngest members. He recently became the Scottish Men‟s National
Tumble Champion and competed in May at the Senior Men‟s level. He is one of the first
and youngest Scottish Competitors to achieve this. Evan also achieved 3rd place for
Scotland International at Sports Acrobatics. Evan also won third place in the British finals
in Sheffield in June 2015. Evan also represents Scotland in the discipline Acro
Gymnastics. Our congratulations to Evan on his outstanding sporting successes.
Alex Marshall S6 has recently been capped at International level for the Scottish Schools
International Football Team. He recently played against Australia and Ireland.
Boclair Academy's Under 16 Football
Team won the Scottish Cup Final in
May.
Lewis Deas S5 is a Scottish
Internationalist within the category of
Sports Acro Gymnastics.
Having
represented Scotland several times,
and most recently having achieved first
place in the European Championships
in Granada, he has now reached elite
level training with Team GB and will
now trial for a place in the British Team
for future international events.
Eilidh Birse of last year's S6 and our former Dux medallist was presented with the
national award for the highest mark in Advanced Higher Physics and was presented with
the award at a ceremony at the Scottish Parliament on 29th January 2015. The award was
presented by the First Minister and Professor Higgs, and Eilidh will now spend a week at
CERN in Switzerland during the Summer working with Professor Higgs and his team.
Our S2 Go4Set Challenge Team won the West of Scotland Best Project Award earlier this
session. Six S2 pupils took part in the competition and progressed to the National Final at
Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh in June which they won!!
Congratulations to Joe Gibson from 2C for his achievements in boxing. Joe won the
Scottish Novice Championship on 19th October 2014. He also won his club competition at
Renton ABC on Sunday 7th December 2014.
Voclair - Six of our S5 pupils were selected following national auditions to represent the
school and the local authority at the national SQA STAR Awards Ceremony. The singing
group, called Voclair performed two pieces on the evening and were excellent in both.
144 S1 pupils achieved a John Muir Award this session for their work in the community
154 S2 pupils achieved a Saltire Award this session
137 S3 pupils trained as Dementia Friends in S3 this session
Members of our S3 XL Group won this year's Community Cup for their work across the
community with elderly and dementia sufferers as well as their Poppy Appeal.
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We currently have 120 pupils at various stages of the DoE Award across S3 - S6, including
our first ever Gold Group.
For the first time this session we have thirty S5 pupils taking part in World Challenge taking place in Norway at the end of June. For this our pupils will undertake ASDAN
accreditation.
Four S6 Pupils achieved a Saltire Summit Award for volunteering this session - awarded
in May 2015
Ryan Hughes in S6 won an EDVA Volunteer Hero 2015 Award this session for his tireless
efforts in volunteering throughout the session - one of only ten adults and young people
across the whole of East Dunbartonshire Council
Ian Stokes, James Stokes, Callum Wilson have been signed with the Partick Thistle
development squad following a successful year with their under 16 team.
One of our S2 girls, Lisa Chestnutt, won the Scottish Book Trust's National Book Review
Competition in May.
During the second term all S1 classes took part in the T shirt company. This involved the young
people working in cooperative groups running a fictitious T shirt business. Each team had to make
decisions such as how many workers they would have, how many T shirts they would make and
the rate of sales commission they would give to their sales team. Whilst making these decisions
the young people were taught how to prepare Trading, Profit and Loss accounts. The winning
team from each class with the highest profits were:
1A Snapshot £165,915
1B Top Boss £308,396
1C Mangu T shirts & Co £405,269
1E The E Team £406,352
1F 1F t shirts £199,402
The overall winners were 1D Label with an astonishing
£539,825.
The feedback from all pupils was that they thoroughly
enjoyed running their T shirt business and want more
activities like this in the future!
PRIMARY 7
TRANSITION DAYS
150 primary pupils attended our induction days as part of their
preparation for moving to Boclair Academy. Pupils attended lots
of classes and had opportunities to meet staff and senior pupils.
At lunchtimes the pupils had the opportunity to try our delicious
canteen food, see demonstrations from our science club and a
performance from our music department. We had a great time
meeting our P7 pupils, they enjoyed their inductions days and
we look forward to welcoming them into S1 in August.
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On 26 of May, 116 thrilled S1 pupils left Boclair
Academy to go to Whithaugh. Highlights of the
week included the Geography and History walk
along Hadrian's wall. Even the rain did not dampen
our spirits and we really enjoyed the scenery. At
the centre pupils were challenged to build a raft,
climb high ropes, face their fears and successfully
overcome challenges.
There was a pigtail epidemic
on the S1 trip to Whithaugh this
year !!!!!!! ;-)
Evening activities included being soaked by the
teachers during a Biology food chain activity and a
fantastic disco hosted by S6 DJs, which had an
extremely good atmosphere. Overall the pupils loved
the experience, bonded as a year group and would
recommend the trip to others.
Alex Candlish 1C and Caitlin Chase 1C
S1 WELLBEING
Kickstart Theatre delivered an interactive play with the help
of lots of S1 volunteers on the theme of personal safety. S1
pupils thoroughly enjoyed taking part in the play and
exploring road safety, smoking, starting fires and the use of
the internet. The Kickstart Theatre production was fun and
well delivered but our volunteers were definitely the stars of
the show.
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Well Done Mr Gilmour!! (Our resident HERO)
On May 21st the Boclair Running Club took part in the annual
Dumbarton 10k. During the race, a stranger to the staff took
seriously ill and sadly collapsed. Mr Gilmour who was running close
by and recently completed his first aid training came to the rescue to
provide CPR and first aid. After being taken away by the ambulance
the team were relieved to find out later that the runner was making a
strong recovery as a result of Mr Gilmour‟s heroics and we are all
extremely proud.
Polaroid later posted this message publicly to all runners involved:
As many of you may be aware, at last week's Dumbarton event one of our runners was
taken seriously ill during the race, and was attended by runners and paramedics. I'm
pleased to say that due to the fast and selfless actions of the runners at the time, the
person is making a good recovery and sends their sincere thanks for the help they
received. As organisers we also extend our thanks to everyone that helped this incident
- a reminder of the strength of community running enables, and why we enjoy providing
these events.
Well done Mr Gilmour from all at Boclair Academy!
As we approach the end of term we say farewell to a number of
members of staff.
Mrs Joyce in Maths Department retires at the end of June and will be
greatly missed by pupils, staff and parents. So many young people
have flourished in Mathematics under her leadership and we thank her for all her hard work over
her many years in the school. We wish her well in her retirement.
Already, our long serving school janitor Mr Roy Smith retired at the end of May. We thank Roy
sincerely for his hard work and commitment over his many years of service. Mrs Maralyn Smith,
School Support Manager, also retires at the end of July and again we thank her for her tireless
efforts in helping improve Boclair Academy over many years. They will both be greatly missed by
the school community and we wish them a long and happy retirement together.
Mrs Margaret Isherwood, our School Office Supervisor, retires at the start of August.
Mrs Isherwood is well known to staff, pupils and parents as the caring voice of Boclair – often the
first point of contact for all members of the school community when communicating with the school.
Her hard work and commitment to the school will be greatly missed and we thank her for
everything she has done for the school over many years.
Congratulations to Mrs Hancox on her promotion to the post of Depute Head Teacher at
Edinburgh Academy. Congratulations to Mrs Inglis on her promotion to Head of Chemistry at
George Watson‟s school. Congratulations to Ms Glencorse on her promotion to Principal Teacher
of Pupil Support in St Joseph‟s High School in Kilmarnock. Congratulations to Miss McSweeney
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on her appointment to the permanent post of Teacher of English in Stirling High School.
Congratulations to Miss McCabe on her appointment to the permanent post of Teacher of Biology
in Auchenleck Academy. Congratulations to Ms Turnock on her appointment to the post of
Teacher of Biology in Lanark Grammar. Congratulations to Ms Fitzpatrick on her appointment to
the post of Teacher of Modern Languages in Bearsden Academy. We thank all of our departing
staff for their hard work and contributions to Boclair Academy and wish them well in their new
posts.
Congratulations to Mrs Bone on the birth of her baby boy. Mrs Bone will be on maternity leave for
the next few months. We are delighted to welcome Miss Johnston from Douglas Academy as
acting Principal Teacher of Geography.
At the end of term Mrs McRae will begin her maternity leave. We look forward to hearing her good
news in the near future. Congratulations to Mr Johnston who has been appointed to the post of
acting Principal Teacher of Guidance in Mrs McRae‟s absence. At the end of term Mrs Williams
will also begin her maternity leave and again we look forward to hearing her good news.
We also say farewell to our Probationer Teachers from this session Mr Reilly and Mr Campion.
We thank them both for their hard work this session and wish them well with their future careers.
Finally, congratulations to Mrs Diane Martin who was appointed to the post of School Support
Manager in Boclair Academy in June. We wish her well in her new post.
@BoclairAcademy
Boclair Academy is now on twitter. With over
400 followers this is a terrific way to share good
practice within the classroom, wider school life
and to promote the fantastic work of our pupils
and staff.
Follow @BoclairAcademy for daily news and
updates.
Please note that pupil photos will be used occasionally to showcase good work. If
you would not like your child’s photo on twitter for educational purposes then
please contact your child’s Guidance Teacher
I would again like to take this opportunity to remind parents not to enter the school car park when
dropping off their children in the morning or when picking them up at the end of the school day.
This is a very busy time with all our young people entering the main gates, buses dropping pupils
off and staff entering the car park. While we understand the frustration on Inveroran Drive in the
mornings and after school, we would appreciate parental support in keeping the school grounds as
safe as we possibly can at these busy times. We would also ask parents not to cover the
driveways of local residents when waiting to pick up their children.
We would ask parents to remind pupils that they should not drop litter in the local community. This
is a problem at lunchtime in particular, when pupils are not under the supervision of the school.
Litter created by several hundred pupils can be a problem for local residents.
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We will continue to use text messages to advise
parents/carers of pupil absence and notification of other
important information. It is therefore vital that we have
an up to date, accurate mobile number for the main pupil
contact.
Please note however that pupil absence from school in
the morning requires a phone call response rather than a text message response. Our school
system is not designed to receive text messages and direct contact from parents allows us to be
sure of the safety of pupils. As always we appreciate your support in this matter.
We would like to remind parents that school uniform must be
worn every day by all pupils. The school uniform consists of:
 School blazer
 White blouse/shirt
 Black jumper or cardigan
 School tie
 Black trousers/skirt
Please note that hooded tops, coloured tops, leggings and jeans are not part of the school uniform.
We will continue to work with the young people and families on this important area of school life,
and we would ask for your support in ensuring young people dress appropriately for school every
day.
Academy Uniforms currently supply blazers for the school and orders can be placed throughout the
academic year. Please log on to their website: www.academyuniforms.co.uk for further details.
It is our intention to use more email communication. If you have not already
done so, would you please provide office staff with the email address of the
main contact of your son/daughter.
School starts again for pupils on
th
Monday 17 August 2015
at 8.50 am
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