Leadership Showcase

Leadership team members organized and delivered a ‘Showcase’ of the leadership programme to an audience of 95 national and local business people, community leaders and parents. The event was staged to improve links with the wider community and to raise funds for the school’s leadership academies.
The evening was hosted by 6th year leaders Lee Orr and Stephanie Roberts and consisted of a dinner, an auction, a raffle and an entertaining presentation delivered by past graduates of the leadership academy. The presentation was confidently delivered and the practical challenges that were set were also well attempted by the audience. Guests also heard a speech from guest of honour, Lorna Dempsey, from Butterfly Events. Lorna is a former head girl at Doon Academy and was recently named Cancer Research UK’s Volunteer of the Year 2009. The event raised an amazing £2100 for leadership funds. The pupil leaders who organised the event would like to express their thanks to all who attended and gave their support to this new venture.

Maths to Malawi

The Maths Department has been busy sorting out maths textbooks to send to schools in Malawi. Mrs. Brotherwood, Acting Principal Teacher of Maths, said: “ These textbooks are ones we no longer use in the department and I know they will be a great help to teachers in Malawi who have very limited resources to purchase books.”

Morrisons Vouchers

The Eco Group will be collecting Morrisons 'Let's Grow' vouchers between 7th September and 15th November. Vouchers can be handed in to Eco Chair Mrs Elder, or the school office. The vouchers will enable us to purchase gardening equipment to continue our improvement of the school grounds. Also, the school has received 25 free water hippos from Scottish Water, which will be installed in the toilets next session. Hippos can save up to 3 litres of water in every toilet flush! Anyone can claim a free hippo from Scottish water at www.business-stream.co.uk/free-hippo.

Winning Film

Congratulations to the S1 Media Group who won 1st prize for their film ‘Futureworld’ in the East Ayrshire International Media Competition. The pupils won media equipment for the school.

Games Day

Games Day was a great success again this year with staff and pupils taking part in 12 different activities ranging from bowling to softball. Our thanks to Mr McCrorie for organising the event. Well done to Doon Clan who won the house trophy.

Citizenship garden

The Citizenship Group have transformed a derelict area into a beautiful garden with fruit trees and shrubs. The pupils worked with Kilmarnock College lecturers to design sculptural features. The boys received certificates for their service to the school at a graduation ceremony.

Science Study Room

From next term there will be an S6 study science room which will be set up with a computer and printer. Mr. Gooding, Acting Principal Teacher of Science, said: “This will be an ideal room for S6 pupils to revise and study for their examinations in Biology, Chemistry and Physics.”

Bowls Competition

During this session the PE Department introduced a new sport, bowling, to the curriculum and the first bowling competition has taken place with teams from Dalmellington Primary and Doon Academy. Congratulations to Doon B team who won the trophy.

Maths PT leaving

Congratulations to Acting PT of Maths Nanette Brotherwood who was success at interview for PT Maths in James Hamilton Academy. Mrs. Brotherwood will take up her position in August. She will be sadly missed and we wish her every success in the future.

Carnegie Medal

Pupils have been enjoying reading books from the Carnegie Medal shortlist and the winning books have been named as Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd and illustrated book Harris Finds His Feet by Catherine Rayner.

Readers' Cup Quiz

Doon Academy’s team of Heather Dunn, Alastair Paton, Fiona Kennedy and Mark McLean put in a great performance at the East Ayrshire Schools Readers' Cup Quiz. In a very close contest they were up with the leaders from the start and, despite struggling with the sequels round, they finished in a very creditable 3rd place. Each team member won a goodie bag, and each school library was presented with some books donated by helpful publishers. Auchinleck Academy was the eventual winner. All the participants and the audience thoroughly enjoyed the quiz.

Coffee morning

S1 and S2 pupils in the Pupil Support Department invited their parents to a coffee morning celebrating their successes over the past year. Parents enjoyed being served coffee and cakes by pupils and also had the opportunity to see some of the work the pupils had completed. Everyone had a really enjoyable morning and pupils relaxed with a well-earned cuppa and cake after their guests had gone! Many thanks to the families who supported this event.

Pamela Feggans success

Congratulations to former pupil Pamela Feggans who gained tied 5th place, 2 shots off the winner, at the Portugal Ladies Open Golf Championship. Pamela recently visited the school and was interviewed by the BBC news reporters. She also opened an achievement display board dedicated to her success. We wish Pamela the best of luck in future tour events.

Bronze Expedition

Well done to Duke of Edinburgh Awards participants Ryan McKnight, James Mulholland and Caroline Crosby who completed their Bronze outdoor overnight expedition on Arran. Ms. Griffin, Mr. Tomlinson and Andy McNamara from East Ayrshire Outdoor Education accompanied the group. They had dry and warm weather conditions for their walk and everyone really enjoyed the expedition. The midges enjoyed the group’s visit too!

New Acting Depute Head Teacher

Congratulations to Principal Teacher of Support for Learning/Behaviour Lyndsay McRoberts who was successful in interview for the Acting Depute Head Teacher position. We wish her good luck in her new role.

Leadership Showcase

Leadership Graduates are busy preparing for the school’s Leadership Showcase. Former pupil Lorna Dempsey, Ayrshire’s Young Businesswoman of the Year 2008, will be at the event. We hope to make good contacts with the business community with a view to entering into long lasting partnerships that would support the continuation of our Leadership Academy.

School books back please

All departments are asking for the return of textbooks pupils have borrowed over time. Please have a search of your homes and return books to the school. Please also return any library books to the school.

International School Award

Doon Academy’s portfolio for the British Council’s International School Award has now been submitted and the result will be published in September.

Bridges4Europe

The final meeting for our Comenius ‘bridges4europe’ was a great success. Twenty-eight pupils and staff from our four partnership schools in Bulgaria, Italy, Romania and Turkey visited the school. Doon Academy’s pupils and staff entertained the visitors with excellent recitations, singing and musical interludes. The partnership group visited the local area and were given tours of Culzean Castle and Grant’s Distillery, which they really enjoyed, and then onto shopping in Ayr. They also had a visit to the historical sites in Edinburgh. Our school’s Comenius team would like to thank the families of Marc Dyer, Jennifer Phillips, Gail Limond, Gavin McFadzean, Lesley Baird and Lorna Brown who hosted our visiting pupils. Also, thank you to The Glenpark Hotel in Ayr for accommodating the visiting teachers. A full report and photographs of the visit can be found on the Bridges4Europe website at http://bridges4europe.wikispaces.com/scotland09

Leadership conference

Doon pupils were to the fore at a conference for schools and employers, which have been in partnerships over the last session. This event was organised by staff of Determined to Succeed - the government organisation that supports enterprise in education and was held in the Park Hotel, Kilmarnock on Tuesday 2nd June. Leadership graduates Ashleigh Mitchell, Holly Weir, James Mulholland, Craig Pettigrew and Graeme Davis (all S3) assisted with the conference arrangements by welcoming guests and dealing with technical matters. It was Graeme though who had the main responsibility. He shared the stage with Mr John Wilson in a slick double act, which held the audience's attention and ensured that the conference was a great success. Mr Wilson and the Determined to Succeed staff expressed their thanks to all the Doon pupils for their assistance with the conference.

Ayrshire Athletics

Eleven pupils from the school spent the day at Dam Park taking part in the Ayrshire Athletics. After qualifying in May at the East Ayrshire Athletics, the pupils were faced with competitors from all of Ayrshire. With 10 of our 11 pupils returning with medals, it was an extremely successful day for Doon Academy and all pupils returned to school elated from their victories. S1 pupils: Varri Murdoch 3rd Discus, Stuart Paulin 3rd Javelin, Lauren Shaw 2nd Shot Putt, and Ross Mellis 3rd Discus. S2 Dillan Dunn 100m 2nd and 3rd place in the 200m. S3 pupils, Kyle McCormick 3rd Discus, Stacey Chalmers 2nd Hurdles. S4 pupil Connie Hose won 2nd place in Discus. S5 pupil Hayley Simpson 3rd Discus. Well done to all for their hard work!

Netball

ü The S1 netball team had their final games of the season. Going away against Cumnock Academy, the girls were in high spirits with many who had never previously played for the school team. The first team played well, with Sophie Dobbie and Jade Scott managing to get three points for the team. Excellent defence as usual came from Claire Boyd and Lauren Shaw, who unfortunately had to exit the game early with an injured knee. Varri Murdoch took the Centre bib and alongside Paige McMahon and Raegan Heggie, did a great job in mid court. Half time saw Rachael Maxey and Hayley Mitchell come on, who both performed a sterling job. Unfortunately the Cumnock girls were just too strong for us again and the final score finished 7 – 3. The second game gave many girls who had never played before, a chance to see what playing a real game was like. Congratulations to Jane Gallacher, Carly Hay, Lauren Young, Amy Fulton and Alex Dearie who all coped admirably in their first ever game. The girls lost out 9 – 2 but put in maximum effort which was appreciated by their opponents. Player of the Match was given to Jade Scott and Lauren Shaw was awarded Player of the Year. She received her prize alongside a glorious cheer for all her hard work, determination and dedication this year. Congratulations to Lauren, who will also receive a trophy at Doon Academy’s Prize Giving Ceremony. All girls did an excellent job in their first ever netball season. They put up superb challenges against much larger schools and next season we look forward to seeing them storm up the league with all the netball experience they’ve now gained under their belts (or should that be netball skirts!). Well-done Doon Academy’s S1 Netball Team and good luck for next season!

Models wanted

In the Art Department, after the summer holiday auditions will be held for models for the Fashion Show. Also there are still places available for the Barcelona Visit in June 2010 please contact Ms. Fuller for more details.

School garden

The S2 Citizenship Group would like to thank Dobbies in Ayr for kindly donating plants for the school’s quadrangle garden. Ryan Brown, Lyle Wares and Kerr Boyd visited Dobbies to choose their plants and were helped by the plant and general managers. The S2 boys have been busy tidying the garden area and planting the new trees and shrubs.
Thank you to Dobbies and to the citizenship group for all their hard work. The quadrangle is looking super.

Football

S1 boys competed in a football tournament at The Grange Academy in Kilmarnock. They played against six other East Ayrshire schools and proved that even though they are from a small school there is still a great deal of talent. With some great defending from Mark McLean, Ross Mellis and Scott Hunter, the boys managed to fend off many attacks. Once Connor Strang, Jordan Berretti or Michael Harvey got the ball, there was no stopping them with each of the boys scoring at least one tremendous goal. With our solid midfield players of Peter Featherstonehaugh, Robbie Ogilvie and Jack Baird our team managed a very admiral two wins, two draws and two losses, placing them 3rd out of 7 teams. Well done to all boys who took part, as their behaviour was impeccable and their determination exceptional.

Storytime

Dalmellington Primary School’s P1 class, with their teacher Mrs. Gormanley, visited Doon Academy to hear stories read to them by S2 pupils. The stories were all from the short list for the Kate Greenaway Medal, which is awarded by children’s librarians for an outstanding book in terms of illustration for children and young people. After the readings the pupils all enjoyed their juice and biscuits. The P1s voted for their favourite book, which was The Way Back Home, by Oliver Jeffers read to the class by S2 pupils Shereen Steele and Chelsea Carruthers.

Barcelona 2010

The Art Department are arranging another visit to Barcelona for June 2010. The previous visit was a great success and everyone enjoyed their trip. For more details please contact Mrs. Humes or Ms. Fuller in the Art Department.