No Smoking Day

As we move closer to National "No Smoking Day" which will take place on Wednesday 13 March 2013, pupils in S1/2 have been learning about the physical, social and emotional effects of smoking within PSE lessons. This year’s slogan is "Swap Fags For Swag" and S1 pupils have once again entered the annual poster competition co-ordinated by Doon Valley Pharmacy in Dalmellington.

Swimming Championships

The Doon Academy Swimming Championships took place on Tuesday 24^th April. All competitors performed extremely well and the competitive spirit made for an exciting event. Results were as follows: Junior Girls 1^st- Haidee Barclay 2^nd- Rebekah Copeland 3^rd- Melanie Connell/Charelle Boyce 4^th- Amy Collins  Junior Boys1^st- Jack Sommerville2^nd- Jamie Geddes Senior Boys1^st- Stuart Paulin 2^nd- Logan Wilson 3^rd- Jamie McLatchie. Congratulations to everyone who took part in the championships.

Reading Week

Our latest Reading Week was a great success with pupils and staff reading for enjoyment the first 20 minutes of the day.
Our focus this time was on a Reading Quote competition. Pupils were asked to choose a quotation and design an appropriate illustration.

 The winner was Tommy Campbell in S3 with his picture of "A book is like a garden carried in a pocket" which is a Chinese proverb. Runner-up in the competition was S2 pupil Jordan Kean. Congratulations to them and well done to everyone who took part.

Stock Market Challenge

S3 Business Management pupils are looking forward to taking part in the Stock Market Challenge at the Mitchell Library on Wednesday 25 January.  They will be accompanied by Mrs Stewart, Principal Teacher of Business Education & ICT.

Winning Cook

 

Congratulations to S3 pupil Amy Gibson who is one of four East Ayrshire pupils, selected by the chefs at Braehead Cook School, to represent East Ayrshire. Amy will go to the cook school at the end of January for the cook-off competition against teams from North and South Ayrshire. Good Luck to Amy and the East Ayrshire team.

Christmas Fayre winner

 Congratulations to S1 pupil Fallan Smith who was Doon Academy's winner of the Dalmellington Community Council Christmas Fayre poster competition. Fallan received a certificate and a £10 gift voucher.

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.

Young Musician of the Year

Doon Academy’s ‘Young Musician of the Year’ competition was a tremendous success and everyone really enjoyed the evening. The Master of Ceremonies was former pupil Lorna Dempsey and the adjudicator was Archie Hutchinson. Guest artistes were last year’s winner Tazmyn Hearton and the Dalmellington Junior Band conducted by Ian Taylor. Thank you to Band Leader Hugh Johnstone MBE who donated the winning trophies. This musical extravaganza featured 24 outstanding competitors who sang and played a variety of musical instruments to the delight of the audience. The winner was Tommy Campbell with his rendition of Stars and runner-up was Dennis Coles .The audience choice prize was awarded to Paige Collins. Fiona Kennedy was Music Student of the Year; Kirsty McCormick most improved instrumentalist and Alex’s Dearie as most improved vocalist. Congratulations to everyone who took part in the event. Thank you to Mrs. Rae Principal Teacher of Music and Music Instructors David Sullivan, Barbara Lee and Gary Patterson for all their hard work, dedication and expertise.

East Ayrshire Maths Competition

In the Maths department pupils are busy revising for the East Ayrshire Maths competition to be held at Cumnock Academy.

Ayrshire Cross Country

The Ayrshire Cross Country Championships will be held at the Magnum in Irvine on Wednesday 5th October. Pupils from schools throughout Ayrshire will be taking part in the event.

Rocket car competition

In conjunction with the Bloodhound Rocket Car Project pupils in the Engineering masterclass have been taking part in the rocket car competition. Their brief is to design a scale model of a rocket powered car which can reach a speed of 100 miles per hour. The pupils’ first prototype has had a test run and reached a speed of approximately 80 miles per hour. Well done to the class and good luck in the competition.

Art news

S6 pupils Zoe Muller and Lisa Chalmers visited the Glasgow School of Art to view Art school candidate portfolios.

Pupils in the Art department are designing a logo for the Dalmellington Village regeneration project.

Art deadline slips for S4-6 must be returned to Miss Fuller asap!

Health4Life t-shirts

Pupils in the Art department have been designing T shirts for the Comenius Health4Life Project. The brief was to design a logo incorporating some aspect of healthy living and then paint this onto their T shirt. The T shirts will be worn at project meetings in the partnership countries.

Coalfield Art Competition success

Congratulations to Claire Boyd, Halle Fitzsimmons and Rachel Murphy who have won 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize respectively in the Coalfields Art Competition. This is the third year the department has scooped 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize.

Mini Saga Competition

Miss Borthwick's S1 and S2 English classes entered the Young Writers Mini Saga competition. This was a competition, which required you to write a complete story in 50 words. Many of the Doon pupils in S1 and S2 were successful and will now have their Mini Sagas Published in the Young Writers book, "Mini Marvels Southern Scotland".

Respect & Protect wristbands

The school has witnessed the official launch of the 'Respect and Protect' anti-bullying wristbands.
Pupils and staff have been encouraged to purchase a fashionable silicone wristband with 'Doon Academy Respects & Protects' printed clearly on each band. In purchasing the band all pupils sign a contract agreeing to fully support the schools respect and protect anti-bullying policy as highlighted in the handbook and student planners. The bands have proved to be extremely popular with staff and pupils alike.

It is hoped that everyone within the school will wear one and 'Lend a hand to take a stand - wear the band!'

To support the initiative there is a competition for pupils to submit entries for the best presentation on anti-bullying.

Coalfields Art Competition

In the Art department pupils have once again been taking part in the Coalfields Art Competition. The theme this year is ‘Toys of Yesteryear’. Doon has won 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in this competition for the past 2 years and there are high hopes for this year’s entries.

Scotland team place

Congratulations to S4 pupil Robbie Welsh who is in the Scotland Team to go to the International Sheepdog Trials in Ireland on the 15th and 16th September. This is a tremendous achievement for Robbie as he is the youngest person ever to qualify for the Scotland Team. Also, we believe no other national team has had anyone as young as Robbie in their team. Good Luck Robbie from everyone at Doon Academy.

Summer Reading Challenge winner

Mrs. Bax our librarian ran a summer reading competition where she asked S1 and S2 to read a book during the summer holidays in an interesting or humorous place and to submit a short review to the Doon Reads blog. Frazer Buchanan read Theresa Breslin’s book ‘Prisoner of the Inquisition’ in a cupboard and under his bed! He submitted his review and made Mrs Bax laugh on a dull Monday morning and so he won! Congratulations to Frazer who won a signed copy of the book.

Health4Life logo competition

In the Art and Business and ICT departments S1 to S3 pupils are designing a logo for our new Comenius ‘Health4Life’ Project. There are 4 prizes to be won for the best designs and the overall winning logo will be entered for the international competition with our partner schools in Belgium, Greece, Poland, Portugal and Spain. Good luck to all the pupils taking part in the competition.