Drumlanrig Castle Trip

On Tuesday 25th June all of the pupils from the Supported Learning Centre took part in a trip to Drumlanrig Castle and Estate in Dumfriesshire. Pupils took part in a variety of different activities. A group of pupils had expressed in an interest in hiring Mountain Bikes and following some of the trails around the estate which they did with Mr Kerr. Other pupils took part in a Nature Trail looking for various different wildlife as well as flora and fauna. This supported the whole centre project that pupils had recently taken part in with Mr Wark studying the lifecycle of 10 caterpillars that we had in the centre as they turned into Painted Lady Butterflies. The weather was bright and sunny and all the staff and pupils enjoyed the day.

SLC Awards

On Friday 21st June the SLC held a small Awards Ceremony to celebrate the achievements of pupils over the past year. Pupils have had success in a number of different events such as the Children in Need Talent show held in school, the East Ayrshire Boccia tournament and at the East Ayrshire Swimming Festival. The achievements and progress that pupils have made in their classes were also celebrated with Awards being given in Literacy, Numeracy and Health and Wellbeing as well as in specific classes such as Media, Art, Science and Technical.  The S6 Leavers also attended the ceremony at which they were presented with a Graduation certificate and gift. Certificates and awards were presented by Mrs Andreen Shaw who had been the previous Principle Teacher of the Supported Learning Centre. Many thanks to her for taking the time to come. It was greatly appreciated by both the staff and pupils.

SLC videos

S4-6 students from the Supported Learning Centre have been studying Media Studies Access 3 all year and as part of this they have been making their own movies from a given brief. The movies were filmed using stop-motion animation. The class made everything on their own from writing the story, making their own clay models, designing sets, filming and editing.

The ballad of big cat and poppa dog 

   

Alien V Dinosaur.

Literacy Across Learning Research Challenge

S3 pupils from the Supported Learning Centre took part in a Literacy Across Learning Research Challenge in the library with Mrs Whitson and Mrs Bax. Students spent two days learning different researching skills such as mind mapping, how to use keywords to search the internet and how to identify good resources. From this they then went onto research a topic of their own choice which ranged from horses, classic cars, forensic science, dogs and Dr Who. They all worked very hard and produced excellent final products that included, information leaflets, posters, auctioneer brochures and information leaflets for a museum. Well done to all involved.

Community Christmas Coffee Morning

The Supported Learning Centre are holding their annual community Christmas coffee morning on Friday 7th December between 10.00am and 12.30pm. There will be tea, coffee, home baking, a quiz, Christmas crafts for sale, guess the weight of the cake and a prize bingo. Everyone is welcome. We hope to see you there.

Recycling Project

The pupils in the Supported Learning Centre are organising a recycling project for drinks containers. East Ayrshire Council has provided bins for the cans and bottles and these will be placed around the school. The pupils held an assembly to promote the use of the bins. Well done to them all for such an enterprising idea.

Trip to Dolphin House

The adventurous pupils in the Supported Learning Centre will be spending the day, 23rd March, at Dolphin House near Culzean Castle. They will be combing the beach for wildlife, having an adventure in the local caves and trying rock climbing.

SLC Burns Supper

The SLC hosted their annual Burns Supper recently and for the first time invitations were extended to parents and friends of the SLC pupils. This resulted in a very well attended Supper and much planning and preparation by Mrs Shaw. As this was Mrs Shaw’s last Burns Supper before her retirement she ensured that it was an event to remember. The Burns Supper was expertly compared by Robbie Drynan with recitals of To a Mouse and a good blast at the Jeely Piece song and Flower of Scotland. It was great to see the growing confidence of the pupils during their recitals and everyone made all our guests feel very welcome.

Staff success

Congratulations to Miss Susan Miller, a teacher in the Supported Learning Centre, who has completed her Postgraduate Practice in Inclusion Education: Research, Policy and Practice.

Dolphin House visit

In the Supported Learning Centre the new S1, S2 and S3 pupils had a day to remember at Dolphin House, Culzean Castle.
Robbie Drynan even declared it was the best day he had ever had.
The group participated in a relaxing rock pooling session in the morning during which they uncovered beautifully coloured starfish, hermit crabs and other interesting marine species.
Things stepped up a notch in the afternoon as everyone tested their strengths when traversing a rock wall then off to the local caves for some adventures in the dark. Whilst in the local caves some brave pupils took on the potholing challenge and squeezed themselves through a 5 metre long tunnel and emerged through a very small gap in the rock. All those who participated had great praise for Gary the staff member who kept us all busy.
He even managed to break an egg - twice - by accident. Thank you to everyone at Dolphin House.

SportsAbility

Supported Learning Centre S1to S3 pupils took part in a SportsAbility Event at the Magnum Centre in Irvine. Pupils undertook activities in Boccia, curling, archery, football and dancercise. Everyone really enjoyed their day learning new sports.

Sportability Award for Most Active School

Well done to all the active pupils in the SLC for achieving the Sportability Award for Most Active School in Ayrshire. In a recent award ceremony the SLC were presented with the Award in recognition of the excellent work that the pupils have achieved. The initiatives that the pupils have been involved in include Boccia, Tai Kwon Do, football and swimming.
We would like to thank Nicola McCormick for working so hard to provide all these opportunities and for nominating the SLC - Ayrshire Champs! The S1 - S3 pupils at the SLC will be attending a team building day at Culzean Country Park with many opportunities to learn how to work together and to get muddy. The day will involve hard work, sharing ideas and plenty of fresh air. Mr Kerr from the SLC would like to thank all the staff at Park School, Grange Campus for their hospitality in his recent visit. Mr Kerr said “It was a great opportunity to share ideas and learn new approaches. I am looking forward to developing new ideas for pupils at Doon.”

Dalmellington Town Trail

Well, it's full steam ahead for the super fit SLC pupils who are working really hard with a whole range of fitness opportunities in place right up to the summer holidays including football, swimming and a day event at Sportsability at the Magnum Leisure Centre Irvine. Will it be six-packs all round come the summer???

SLC 3 and 4 pupils have been enjoying the recent good weather and taking the Dalmellington Town Trail to investigate and report on the interesting information provided in the locally produced history booklet.

Further to the current learning programme some pupils have been leading their own learning and have identified local people of historical interest and the Covenanters as areas for further learning. Furthermore, these outings have also been a great opportunity to meet with the local community who have been very interested in what we have been learning and have been very helpful in sharing their own knowledge.

Most Active Schools Award

The Supported Learning Centre has been nominated for the Ayrshire Sportability ‘Most Active Schools Award’ for their participation in several new initiatives in partnership with Active Schools. We would like to thank Nicola McCormick for presenting us for nomination. The announcement will be made at the Charity Ball on Saturday 7th May – fingers crossed. Also the SLC will be running weekly adventure walks and fishing outings to local locations to provide challenge and enjoyment to their learning experiences. Recently pupils undertook a spring project through outdoor experiences and created an information board on the signs of spring. This type of learning will now be more common place with the SLC pupils. Bring on the sunshine.

SLC Parents visit

The Supported Learning Centre pupils held a coffee afternoon for their parents who viewed the film of the Burns Supper, which was produced and edited by the pupils. The parents all expressed how much they had enjoyed the afternoon and the film. All SLC pupils received a personal copy of the DVD.

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.

Coffee Morning

The Supported Learning Centre held a Community Coffee Morning which was very well attended by parents who were generous in their support. There were home baking goods, crafts and gifts made by the pupils, ginger wine, quiz sheets, bingo and a raffle. The event raised the magnificent sum of £380. All SLC pupils had a specific task for the morning which they carried out admirably and a thank you to them all, from SLC staff, for their support. This was an excellent example of pupil learning through all four capacities of a Curriculum for Excellence.

SLC Boccia Competition

The Supported Learning Centre pupils had a busy week when they all took part in a Boccia Competition, swimming gala and a visit to Sorn Estate learning about willow coppicing and willow crafts. In the Boccia, Conar Currie received a gold medal and Derrick Dews a bronze medal. Robbie Drynan, Robbie Jones, Conar Currie, Martin McCreath, Derrick Dews, Ryan Cranford, Josh Zakaszewski, Paul Andresen, Connar McKinley, Shannon Renwick and Kieran Scott all received medals in the swimming gala.

Poppy Collection

All pupils in the SLC have been very busy over the remembrance period distributing and collecting Poppy Scotland collection cans to local business and community venues throughout the Doon Valley area. Pupils and staff would like to express their thanks to the outlets that have helped us to raise money through Poppy Scotland. Thank you as well to all the local residents who donated so generously especially those who frequent Drongan Spar who raised the single highest amount in excess of £150. The SLC pupils have been learning about enterprise and community participation during this project and have worked well with Mr. Ellis recording and counting the £1300 that has been raised. Well done to all staff and pupils involved in this worthy cause.

SLC Coffe Morning

The Supported Learning Centre is hosting a Community Coffee Morning on Friday 3rd December 10am – 12 noon. There will be a nearly new sale, arts and crafts, raffle and a game of Bingo at 11.15am. All are welcome to attend and entry is by donation.