Round Table Quiz

Doon Academy, as reigning champions, hosted the Kilmarnock Round Table Quiz. Our team consisted of Mark McLean (S1), Alistair Paton (S2), Kyle McCormick (S3) and Grant Reid (S4). Each group battled it out with their competitors from schools across East Ayrshire. Doon did well in the individual rounds with Mark McLean making the play offs for S1 and Alistair Paton winning the S2 round. Unfortunately Doon narrowly missed out on a place in the final. Auchinleck Academy was the overall winner beating Grange in the final. Congratulations to Miss. Borthwick who won the teacher’s round. Everyone involved in the event had an enjoyable night.

Cycle Competition

3 rd Year Doon Academy students in the Motor Vehicle and Fabrication Department have been competing against each other to build a cycle, which must have more than 2 wheels. Designs for this project were downloaded and built by the students with assistance from lecturers Billy Tomlinson and Tom Bone.

Well done!

The Supported Learning Centre at Doon Academy have raised £68.77 for Clic Sargent, Caring for Children with Cancer charity, through Conar Currie collecting loose change that has been dropped in the playground and also receiving money given to him by pupils and staff.

To Autumn

In the English Department Mrs Brotherston’s S4 pupils created an exciting display of essays about the poem ‘To Autumn’ by John Keats. The English corridor is now looking very autumnal!

STUC Visit

Representatives from the STUC carried out successful workshops with S4 students in social subjects. These included awareness raising of rights in the workplace and also a negotiating role-play exercise. Pupils enjoyed the experience and would like to thank the STUC members for their time and effort.

Activate Group

At the request of the Activate Group it was decided that for their Enterprise activity they would set up a cake and sweet sale. On the day all group members worked together to decorate the stage and made the stall look attractive to encourage as many sales as possible. Sweets were wrapped in paper and sold for 10p each and cakes were bought in and sold for 20p. The pupils also ran a themed ‘guess the number of sweets in the jar’. In total £42.46 was raised and donated to Breast Cancer Research. Jennifer Pettigrew won the jar of sweets guessing correctly that 123 chocolate balls were inside.

Netball game

On Thursday 20th November, Doon Academy’s S1 netball team took part in their first ever league game which was against St. Joseph’s. With some great defending from Claire Boyd and Lauren Shaw, St. Joseph’s were unable to get anywhere near the net. It wasn’t long before Doon took the lead with a great net from Jade Scott. St. Joseph’s quickly came back scoring 2 nets in quick succession to take the lead. Hazel Limond, Raegan Heggie and Paige McMahon performed some fantastic manoeuvres in the 2nd half, which meant the two teams, were then on equal terms. Doon was able to score another net after Tami McLelland came on as sub. But, unfortunately, St. Joseph’s were too quick for our girls and the final score meant a 6-3 defeat for Doon. Well done to all girls who took part, as this was a great first game for everyone. Our seniors played a friendly netball game against St Joseph’s on the same day. All put in a great performance.

BAE Systems

David Gubierrez from BAE Systems visited the French Department to present a talk about using French in their future careers. The pupils and staff really enjoyed Mr. Gubierrez’s talk and we thank him very much for visiting the school.

BBC School News Report

Doon Academy’s BBC School News Reporters were delighted to receive a visit from their mentor Tom Connor who is the Sports Editor for the BBC. After a brief tour of the school Mr. Connor spoke to the pupils about the roles of reporter and editor in BBC programming. He also told the news reporters about the interesting people he has interviewed and the many places he has travelled in his career.

Activate trip

A team of pupils from the Activate group took part in a teambuilding day at the Glasgow Climbing Centre. The main aim of the day was to show the importance of working together as a team and to start to prepare pupils for entering into the world of work. Pupils worked in pairs while instructors taught the basics of rock climbing and how to use the safety equipment. Under supervision, one team member climbed while the other worked the belay line to ensure the ropes were tight at all times and there was no danger to their partner if they lost their footing on the wall. The instructors also taught everyone how to abseil back off the wall once they had reached the top. There were various walls to try each one progressing in difficulty, everyone put in a huge effort to make the day a success. Lunch was as McDonald’s where everyone had the chance to wind down, stretch out tired muscles and talk about their experience.

Duke of Edinburgh Award

Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme participants from Doon Academy have been raising money for Children in Need. The following people raised money Mark Webster - £96.00, Adam Lindores - £48.50 and Reece Wigglesworth - £15.00. Well Done to them all for their efforts.

Children in Need

The Doon Academy Children in Need talent show was a great success! The show uncovered many hidden talents and provided some wonderful entertainment for the school staff and pupils. Other activities included ‘Guess the name of the Teddy, non-uniform day, face painting and an auction for teachers of S6 pupils to help them in their classes. The school pupils and staff raised over £600 all of which will be donated to help the needs of children. The Maths Department gave a terrific (their words) singing performance of the Quadratic Formula song. Well Done to everyone in the school who took part in events and raised money for a very worthwhile cause.

Art Exhibition

Doon Academy’s annual art exhibition will have its grand opening at the Doon Valley Museum on the 11th December. Also, good news from the Art Department that artwork from three pupils, Natasha Allison, Daniel Whiteford and Reece Wigglesworth has been chosen for this year’s East Ayrshire calendar. Congratulations to them all.

London trip

There will be a trip to London from the 12th to 14th June 2009. 44 places are available and the cost is £199.00 please ask Ms. Fuller for details.

Friday Credit Union

The Friday Credit Union is now open to all S1 pupils. Any pupils who wish to begin start saving should ask for an application form from Mrs. Lake.

Dancers

Pupils taking dance in 1st and 4th year danced at the Grand Hall in Kilmarnock to promote the Girls into Sport, Art, Health and Well-Being Forum. Well done to all the girls who took part in this event.

Motor Vehicle Project

Doon Academy and Kilmarnock College’s 3rd year Motor Vehicle and Fabrication students have started their next joint project to be completed for Jan 2009. This task involves a complete strip down of an engine and gearbox from a Ford Fiesta. They will then cut away various parts of the engine to gain an insight of how the internal parts of the engine and gearbox operate. The Fabrication Students will build a stand to mount the engine. This task gives the students and opportunity to have a practical task where upon completion they will have an invaluable teaching aid for all groups.

Eco Day

Doon Academy’s Eco Day to promote the launch of the Eco Code will be on Friday 21st November. Groups of pupils from each year group will be involved in a variety of activities throughout the day from S1 Litter Picking to S5/6 Constructing a greenhouse. The Supported Learning Centre will be planting spring bulbs. The Eco Code will be launched during the whole school mentoring period.

BBC School News Day

S1 pupils in Mrs Dorans English class will be taking part in the BBC School News Report. The pupils will work with a mentor from the BBC, and on School News Report Day, the 26th March, they will be making the news for the day.

Burns Competition

S1/2 pupils are busy learning their Burns poem for the Burns Recitation Competition, which will take place in December. Good Luck to them all.

Careers Roadshow

The Business Education and ICT Department are at present busy organising a Careers Roadshow for S2 pupils. Various employers will provide workshops for pupils to experience what a career in their field would be like.

Trade Union visitors

Members of The Scottish Trade Union Council (STUC) will be visiting Doon Academy on Wednesday 26th November. They will take workshops with all S4 pupils on how trade unions work.

Fashion Show

Glasgow School of Art will be sending students from the college to help Doon’s budding fashion students with their designs for the school fashion show.

Carbon Challenge Roadshow

In the Science department BP will be visiting the school to deliver the ‘Carbon Challenge Roadshow’. The Carbon Challenge is a high-impact Science, Maths and Enterprise Roadshow where students work together to examine the school’s carbon footprint and learn about carbon reduction through a variety of activities. This will be a highly enjoyable and informative day for students and teachers.

Tough Challenge

The Doon Academy/Kilmarnock College Motor Vehicle Department’s 4th year group have just finished their toughest challenge to date. The task was to align a damaged frame on a Honda 450 Quad Bike. This task included the Fabrication Group under the guidance of college lecturer Billy Tomlinson and Motor Vehicle Groups under college staff Tom Bone and Jim McCubbin. The Motor Vehicle Group completely removed all components from the quad carefully labelled and stored them. When left with the bare frame the fabrication Group straightened and reinforced it to its proper shape. This was then passed onto the Motor Vehicle Group who assembled the Bike to its original condition. This project span over a 6-month period and was a tremendous success of cooperation, problem and team working between both groups and college lecture staff. The Bar Stool Racer and Go-cart are almost completed

Open Day

Senior pupils studying art and design really enjoyed their visit to the Glasgow School of Art Open Day. They were able to see the campus and find out about courses.

Football coaching

Kilmarnock Football club are sending coaches funded by the Bank of Scotland to Doon Academy on Thursdays after school. The coaches will be working with S1 boys and girls.

Art Competition

The Art Department is currently running an art competition, which is open to all pupils at the school. The winner will have a main piece put on display at the Coalfield Exhibition, which will be open to the public in December.

Turkey Trip

After a very successful Bridges4Europe project reunion in Turkey, where the teachers discussed teaching methods and demonstrated sample lessons to each other and the visiting students, the countries agreed the dates of the final reunion in Scotland. Our visitors will be here from the 1st to the 5th of June 2009. Our Turkish hosts entertained us very well with tours of a cable factory, a sightseeing tour of Cappadochia, a view of their national day parade, and visits to various local dignitaries.

Student teachers

Welcome back to our student teachers, Kirsty Maxwell in Biology, Louise Davidson in Art, Ross Nisbet in English and Ian Gray in PE who will be with us for 5 weeks until the 5th December. We wish them good luck and hope they enjoy their teaching at Doon Academy.

Leadership

S3 pupils who completed leadership courses at Dalguise and Kilmarnock College played host to pupils and staff from Brechin High School. This event was to showcase the types of tasks that our leaders undertook during their leadership courses.

Wall-E

S1 pupils enjoyed their trip to the Odeon Cinema for National Film Education week to see WALL-E.

Campus Day

FOCUS West (formerly GOALS) will be hosting a Campus Day in December for 30 S3 pupils. Pupils will undertake tasks to assist them in their future goals in Higher Education.

Children in Need

Everyone is looking forward to Children in Need Day on Friday 14th November. There are many activities planned including a Talent Show and a football competition.

Parent's night

There will be a Parent’s Evening for S4, 5,6 on Wednesday 12th November 5.30pm – 7.30pm.

Prelims

Prelims for S4 will be the week of Monday 8th December – Friday 12th December.

Cross Country Championships

The Ayrshire Cross Country Championships at the Magnum Centre took place in almost baltic conditions but Doon Academy’s team of 28 pupils performed heroically in the inclement weather. S3 pupil Marc Dyer came in 4th out 180 runners narrowly missing winning a trophy. Well done to all our team and special congratulations to Marc.

Leadership

S3 pupils who attended the recent Leadership Academies were awarded with certificates and polo shirts signifying their accomplishments. All pupils who attended agree that it was a very enjoyable experience. Dalguise and Kilmarnock College attendees will be staging a conference to showcase their achievements. More details soon.

Cancer Research

Congratulations to Mrs Cassidy who ran a 10k race in Glasgow. Mrs Cassidy raised over £800 in aid of Cancer Research UK. Everyone at Doon Academy is extremely proud of her.

Netball

Doon Academy’s S5 netball team made a valiant effort against Kyle Academy. Kyle started well with a few early nets but Doon looked like they were on a comeback when some great passing was witnessed from Ashley Thomson and Kelsey Dunn, getting the ball to the shooters in the top circle. With some superb defending from Chloe Wallace and Jennifer Pettigrew, Kyle looked like they were in trouble but unfortunately it was not to be Doon Academy’s night when the game finished with an outright win to Kyle.

Well done to all the girls who competed in the first game of the league. We look forward to some wins against other Ayrshire schools in the near future.

Cricket News

Former pupil William Rowan is being shipped off to Australia again: this time to the Cricket Academy of Sydney. He will be sponsored by Telford College, where he is studying sports sciences, and by Cricket Scotland. Willie will be leaving on the 2nd of January next year and will be back after 3 months. Everyone at Doon Academy wishes him great success.

Cricket training has recommenced on Monday evenings in the games hall at Doon Academy from 6.30pm till 8.30pm.

Duke of Edinburgh Award

Three 5th year pupils, Caroline Crosby, Tami Drynan and Ashleigh Smillie are trying to raise money for the Yorkhill Sick Children’s Hospital as part of their Duke of Edinburgh award scheme service section. Also, for their Duke of Edinburgh Award certificate Blair O’Neil and Mark Webster will be completing a sponsored swim to raise money for Cancer Research UK. The DOE group are planning a fundraising event on the 14th of November for Children in Need.
See the photos in the gallery.

Cancer Research

On Friday the 26th of October an ‘In the Pink Day’ coffee morning raised £522 for Cancer Research UK.

Halloween Disco

On Thursday 30th October Doon Academy will be holding a Halloween Disco with a twist: All pupils will be encouraged to wear pink. Plus all ticket sales will be donated towards breast cancer.

Wee Red Box

Guess who’s back? The return of the Wee Red Box in the Maths Department. Mr Renwick has been visiting Doon Academy to show S1 to S3 pupils the new Wee Red Box in its physical form. Since the abolishment of the website many people had thought it gone forever. Luckily we can still make use of it.