Burns Supper

Doon Academy’s annual Burns Supper was a great success and everyone really enjoyed a splendid evening. The haggis was piped in by our own school piper S2 pupil Frazer Buchanan and ably addressed by Robbie Uriarte. Head Teacher Patrick O’Rourke said the Selkirk Grace before junior pupils superbly served the delicious meal excellently prepared by Rena Riggans and her team. Robbie in his 2nd role of the evening gave an interesting and informative Immortal Memory of the Bard. Our S1/2 Burns winner Kirsty McCormick recited To a Mouse and runner-up Josh Taylor recited Willie Wastle. Ryan McKnight followed with a witty Toast to the Lasses with a humorous reply by the President of our Burns Club Lesley Baird. School Captain Marie Reid presented a moving and heartfelt Toast to the School. The entertainment was outstanding with some stirring Scottish tunes from the Doon Ensemble. The winner of the Burns music competition Fiona Kennedy played Afton Water with runner-up Kirsty McCormick with Ye Banks and Braes on the clarinet. Kyle Stewart won all the female hearts with his wonderful singing of “Ae Fond Kiss.”

The Doon Dancers, choreographed by Mrs Ferrie, looked beautiful and gave a superb display of Scottish Contemporary Dancing with a unique twist. The evening would not be complete without a recitation from teacher Bryce Wilson who mesmerised the company with his rendition of Holy Willie’s Prayer. Guest speaker Mr Bill Duncan, President of Alloway Burns Club, gave the toast on behalf of the guests and spoke about the continuing role of the school and our Burns Club on promoting the work of Burns. Chairperson for the evening was S5 pupil Kyle McCormick who did a terrific job in keeping everyone in order and making the evening run smoothly. Well done to everyone who performed in the evening and thank you to everyone who attended the event.

S2 Option Choices

The science department held an information afternoon to assist S2 pupils in choosing their options for 3rd year. In chemistry the pupils conducted the “Magnetic Cornflakes" experiment and were extracting real iron from the cornflakes with a magnet.
Mrs. Gray the chemistry teacher was quick to remind everyone “Remember not to eat too big a bowl of cornflakes before you go on holiday, or you might just set the metal detector off at the airport!”

STEM Scotland Ambassador

Doon Academy also welcomed Mark Klimek a STEM Scotland Ambassador to the school. Mark was in school to speak to our S2 pupils and senior physics pupils to highlight links between what they learn at school and the world of work. As well as providing a better understanding of the types of careers that are open to pupils if they study physics. Some of our S2 pupils took part in experiment workshops throughout the day to further develop their physics skills. The day proved to be very enjoyable and very informative.

Thanks again to Mark for coming in to visit.

Successful work experience

Congratulations to S6 pupil Sophie Mcfarlane who completed a very successful work experience placement at Careshare Nursery. Sophie now wishes to pursue a career as a nursery nurse.

Thank you to all staff at Careshare Nursery for providing this opportunity.

Seasons of Growth

Mr. Kelly, Mrs. McLay, Mrs Murray and Mrs Wood have all begun their Seasons for Growth training alongside colleagues from our learning partnership primary schools. The training is aimed at supporting young people who have been affected by change, loss or detachment in their lives.

Thank you to Michael Pratchett for his excellent delivery of the course.

New Wristbands

A new batch of re-printed ‘Respect and Protect’ wristbands has been delivered to the school and are available to purchase for 60p each. Please see Mr. Kelly in the Guidance Department

Ski trip to Aviemore

The annual ski weekend took place Friday 4th to Sunday 6th February and everyone on the trip had a wonderful time. 33 pupils and 4 staff visited the Aviemore region and stayed in the Cambridge Hotel. After seeing the weather forecast for the area the group were unsure whether they would ski or not. But once they were there the weather was glorious and they had a full weekend of skiing. Everyone also enjoyed the Saturday night disco in the hotel.

SLC Burns Supper

The Supported Learning Centre held their Burns Supper and everyone in the centre recited a poem or speech. The event was a great success and everybody enjoyed their haggis, neeps and tatties. To prepare them for their Burns event the pupils visited the new Robert Burns Birthplace Museum They had a tour of the museum and watched a video of Tam O'Shanter. Also, they undertook a walk in the area to visit the Burns Monument, Brig O'Doon and the Auld Kirk.

Science Showcase

The Science department held a science showcase event for all S2 pupils to help them with their option choices. Pupils visited teachers from Biology, Chemistry and Physics and had an opportunity to learn more about each subject. S2 pupils found this a very interesting and informative session and said it would help them make the right choices for their future.

Photography trip to Culzean

Mr. Mackenzie and Miss Fuller will be taking the Higher Photography students to Culzean Country Park to take photographs of the scenery. The students are completing their folio of photographs on environmental themes as part of their coursework.

Netball

Doon’s netball team travelled to Kyle Academy to see their old rivals in a league match. The S3 team warmed up well and looked good in training but unfortunately could not stop Kyle from scoring 10 points in the first half of the game. Jade Scott managed to score 1 point for the Doon girls but the Kyle attackers kept getting round the long arms of Lauren Shaw and Claire Boyd and gained another 5 points in the second half. Sophie Dobbie helped Jade get another 2 points but unfortunately by this time it was too late. Annabel McTaggart did well to keep up in centre court and control play but unfortunately it was not to be for Doon Academy. A big thank you to Reagan Heggie who played WA and well done to Paige McMahon who received Player of the Match.

World Book Night

Mrs. Bax, Mrs. Murray and Mrs Dorans have been successful in being awarded 48 free copies each of the World Book Night novels. The books will be distributed to pupils, parents and staff at special events to celebrate World Book Night on the 5th March. Further details to be announced – watch this space!

Burns Supper Programme Competition

Congratulations to S2 pupil Reece Higgins whose drawing of thistles was chosen as the winning design for the school’s Burns Supper programme. The runner-up in the competition was Kirsty McCormick.

Fire Reach Success

S3 pupils Robbie Ogilvie and Darryl Grover completed a very successful Fire Reach placement. They both received certificates for their efforts. Well done boys.

Coca Cola Visit

S3 Business Management pupils enjoyed a visit to Coca Cola site in East Kilbride. During their time at the factory they learned about the marketing of the famous soft drink and also the production processes involved. This was followed by a tour of the factory which was enjoyed by everyone. Many thanks to Joanne Gabbay, Education Centre Manager at Coca Cola Enterprises for making our visit such an interesting and informative one. The group were accompanied by Mrs Stewart, Principal Teacher of Business Education & ICT and Ms Mendy, Maths teacher.

Football results

The U18 football team were left rueing a string of missed chances as they slumped to a 3 - 0 defeat at home to Cumnock in the Ayrshire League Cup. A couple of errors allowed Cumnock to race into a two goal lead before Gavin McFadzean and Dillan Dunn missed glorious opportunities. Captain Stewart Steele was inspirational and pulled the strings in midfield but to no avail as Cumnock ended all hopes of a come back with a last gasp third goal. The team have one remaining game at home to Girvan Academy. Good luck boys!

Holocaust Memorial Day

Thursday 27th January marked a series of holocaust memorial services in the school involving all year groups. The theme for the memorial was 'Untold Stories' whereby S3 students Craig Mitchell, Frazer Buchanan and Alexander McDowall emotively portrayed the story of Fani Heim, a Greek Jew who was transported to a Nazi camp in March 1944. Following the story a candle was lit in remembrance and Head Teacher Mr. O’Rourke spoke about the issues surrounding modern day genocide.

Art projects

The art department were delighted that Helen Duncan from the Creative Minds Team visited the school to discuss some exciting future projects.

Spring Read programme out

The Spring Read Festival organised by EAC school librarians will be held during 15th to 25th March. Four fantastic authors, Gillian Philip, Keith Gray, Barry Hutchinson and Cathy Forde will be visiting East Ayrshire secondary schools. There will be one author visit per school and the other schools pupils’ will be invited to attend. The aim of the festival is to promote reading and interschool joviality.

Reading Week

The ‘Get Caught Reading’ week has been a tremendous success. Pupils and staff have really enjoyed reading, for 20 minutes every morning, books, quality newspapers and other texts of their own choice. Well done everyone.

Netball win

Doon Academy netball teams played Queen Margaret Academy at home. The game got off to a roaring start as Sophie Dobbie quickly scored 2 points in the first 3 minutes. Jade Scott helped her with another point before Queen Margaret attackers got past the long arms of Lauren Shaw and Claire Boyd. Not to be deterred, Annabel McTaggart and Fiona Kennedy pushed forward allowing super shooter Sophie to score another two nets. The girls went confidently into half time with a score of 5-1. Paige McMahon did her best to keep the Queen Margaret attackers away from the circle but they played hard going into the second half and scored another 2 points quickly. Thankfully our girls played just as hard and they too scored another 3 points. Queen Margaret scored another net near to full time but this was not enough to stop our girls winning comfortably 8-4. Well done to Fiona Kennedy who stepped in to play for the team at the last minute and to Sophie Dobbie who achieved Player of the Match.