Duke of Edinburgh Award

The Duke of Edinburgh Award Masterclass has been out and about locally developing their hill walking skills with walks to Dalcairney Falls and Achenroy Hill.

The outing to Dalcairney Falls was a particularly soggy affair despite the constant rain there were no complaints - what a hardy bunch! 

The Award candidates have been getting involved in local groups and services as part of their Volunteering section of the Award.  Some of the young people are helping out at after school groups in local primary schools and others have been getting involved in helping out in stables, nursing homes and youth clubs. 

We too need our volunteers. 

We are currently working on developing a programme of learning to enable the young people to develop the skills needed to participate in their expedition for the Award.  The programme will take place in the New Year and several walking days will be organised to support their training. This involves learning camp craft, navigation skills and group leadership. 

If you have a good knowledge of mountain skills and would like to get involved as a volunteer please contact Mark Kerr at Doon Academy - 01292 550521.

New Technology Teacher

Doon Academy staff and pupils bid a warm welcome to technologies teacher Suzanne Hall who has started in the Technology Department on a 0.6 contract.

Parents' Evening

Doon Academy parents evening for S4 - S6 pupils is being held on Wednesday 16th November 5.00pm to 7.30pm. Pupils will be issued with appointment slips one week before the date. At Doon Academy we value the support of our parents very highly so we hope you can all make appointments for the evening.

Army success

Congratulations to Cameron Smith, Connor Halbert, Aaron McKinstray, Patrick Gilmore and Michael McCreath who gained their certificates for their work experience week with the Army. The boys all received excellent reports from the army personnel and they really enjoyed their week. Cameron said” It was great we learned a great deal and it was fun working with the soldiers and other pupils”.

Church visitors

We are delighted to welcome to the school Mr Iain Jamieson from our local church who will be leading year group assemblies. Also, Morag Crossan our local church youth worker is in the school working with our pupils.

School Gift shop

As part of an East Ayrshire wide initiative Doon Academy has been awarded funding to develop an Enterprise project. It is our intention to open a gift shop in an area of The Zone in Dalmellington. We intend to sell products made within the school. We are also looking for members of the community to contribute to our stock.

If you make gift items - for example cards, decorative items, accessories or jewellery - and would like to be involved in this project please contact Miss Borthwick on 01292 550521 for more information.

Social Subjects trip to Edinburgh

 The Social Subjects department has organised a visit to Edinburgh where pupils will undertake workshops at the Palace of Holyroodhouse as part of their Mary Queen of Scots topic Also they will tour the Scottish Parliament and interview MSP Adam Ingram for the BBC School News Report. MSP Ingram will be reciprocating the visit by coming to the school on Friday 11^th November to speak to staff and pupils about the school’s improvement plans.

Y Dance success

 Congratulations to S2 pupils who have completed their Y Dance project and received their certificates.  The dancers performed a street dance based around the theme of drugs to an audience of parents, pupils and staff.

Netball

The S1/2 and S3/4 netball leagues begin this month. Everyone wishes them good luck in their future matches.

Graphic Designer visits

 In the Art Department we welcome graphic designer Allan McKeown to the school. Allan is working with the S3 art class on designs for their portfolios.

Reading Ambassadors

 Mrs Bax has appointed 3 Reading Ambassadors to help in the Library and to assist with promoting reading throughout the school. The Reading Ambassadors are Morgan Davis, Wendy Roulstone and Katie Roberts. Their first job will be to promote Reading Week 7th - 11th November. Reading Week is when the whole school reads quietly for the first twenty minutes of the school day. 

Literacy Wall

 Congratulations to Iain McWilliam, Alexander Nutt, Darren McLarty,  Kayley Hancox, Melanie Connell and Brooke Paulin whose work from Social Subjects has been selected  for the Literacy Wall this month. Pupils showed off their writing talents by producing high quality news reports about historical events.

Mock Interview Success

  The S4 Mock Interview Programme, held at the Aviator Suite Prestwick Airport, was a tremendous success with 54 pupils from Doon, Cumnock and Auchinleck Academies selected for interview from an initial application process. Altogether 6 employers were represented: NHS, Barr Ltd, Craigengillan Estate, RAF, Play Scheme and ASDA. 3 pupils from each school were in direct competition for each post. As well as the interviews pupils received a very informative lecture on interview behaviour skills as well as psychometric testing and a tutorial on the new world of work website.

Out of the 6 posts Doon academy had success in 4. Congratulations to Frazer Buchanan – NHS Healthcare, Jordan Berretti – Craigengillan Administration, Michael Harvey – ASDAand Paige McMahon – Happydays Playscheme.

Well done to all the pupils who took part. Also thank you to Gillian Cameron at Ayrshire Chambers and all of the employers who gave up their valuable time to take part in the programme.

Schools Cross Country

Well done to the 27 pupils who represented Doon Academy at the Ayrshire Schools Cross Country Championships held at the Magnum, Irvine. The weather was wet and wild but everyone run their very best and there were some personal best times.

Future plans

  Head teacher Mr. MacKenzie welcomed Mr Andrew Sutherland, Head of Schools and HMI District Inspector Douglas Hutchinson to the school. The visitors met with staff and pupils to discuss future plans to improve our school. They also had a tour of our school facilities and classrooms. Earlier in the week, Mr. MacKenzie also met with our local councillors Elaine Dinwoodie, Moira Pirie and Drew Filson to enlighten them on our plans for enhancement.

East Ayrshire Employee Awards

Three of our senior pupils, Taylor Scott, Claire McWilliams and Tyla Crocket will be assisting at the East Ayrshire Employee Awards evening on the 27^th October.

Under-16s football

 The under 16s school football team played their first game together against Carrick Academy. The boys lost 6-2 but played very well with Michael Harvey scoring two good goals. Craig Mitchell said ‘It was our first game and we need to gain more experience.” Good luck in the future boys.

Chef visit

Head Chef John Fowler from the Horizon Hotel, Ayr will be coming into school to work with S3 pupils on their cooking and catering skills. He will, also, select students to enter a competition at the Cook School in Kilmarnock.

STEPS programme

 During staff collegiate time Librarian Mrs Bax presented a workshop on the STEPS programme for use with pupils completing projects.For more information click here

Reader of the month

Congratulations to Stephanie Bell who is Accelerated Reader ‘Reader of the Month’ for September. She was awarded this for outstanding progress in AR.

New DHT

  Congratulations to Mrs Elaine Hetherington, from Marr College, who was successful at interview and was appointed Depute Head Teacher at Doon Academy. Pupils and staff welcome her to our school.

David Almond Webcast

 All of S1 were treated to a live author broadcast thanks to the Scottish Book Trust on Thursday 29th September. The pupils felt like part of the live audience as David Almond, author of books for teenagers such as 'Skellig' and 'My Name is Mina’; spoke to them directly from Glasgow. Pupils found about how David got his ideas for writing from his own life and his lifelong fascination with words. Most pupils agreed that tips from a published author would help them in their own writing.

Sports Leaders

 In the Sports Leader masterclass Active Coordinator Nicola McCormick has been working with pupils on how they teach, to others, the sporting skills they have learned. Pupils will be assessed and awarded the Junior Sports Leaders Award.

Art Book Club

Mrs Bax and Miss Fuller will be starting an after school Art Book Club every Thursday beginning the 4th of November. This is open to all students and members of the club will be creating new mural panels for the library based on quotes from books. Come along and get creative!

Cricket

 In cricket news Doon Academy’s team is now hosting their home games at the square in Wellington School. This agreement has been reached by Coach Mr. White agreeing to maintain the pitch. Thanks Mr White for your help.

Primary 7 visits

 The Primary Transition programme has now begun in school and P7 pupils from our learning partnership schools will be receiving lessons, every Tuesday morning,  in Maths, HE, Art, Science, ICT and PE.

Former pupils success

 Congratulations to former pupil Lisa Teasdale, who has started this year in Primary Education at the University of Glasgow, and has been awarded a Talent Scholarship of £1,000 per year. We wish her every success in her course.

Visiting artist

 Local artist Thomas Wilson will be visiting the Art department on Wednesday 12^th October. 

He will be working with masterclass students on ideas for the Art Trail.

Kayak building

In the kayak building masterclass pupils, Cameron McFarlane, Ben McMurdo, Stuart Stirling and Josh Taylor, are busy building their 17 foot boat under the guidance of technical assistant Mr. Alan White. The plan is to test the craft in the swimming pool before a full sea launch under the expertise of a qualified mariner. Good luck boys and have a safe voyage!

Enterprising Maths

Competing at the East Ayrshire Enterprising Maths competition on Wednesday 5th October were S3 pupils John Anderson and Stephanie Carrick with S4 pupils Alexander McDowall and Hazel Limond. All four pupils represented Doon Academy admirably, fending off fierce competition from several East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire schools to finish 3rd place narrowly missing out on a place at the national finals. Well done to the pupils and thank you to Mr. Taylor who accompanied them to the event.