Masterclass Open Afternoon

The Parental Involvement working group have decided to hold a Masterclass Open Day. This will be held on the afternoon of Wednesday 8th of May.

The aim is to allow parents to interact with staff and pupils in a more informal manner compared to parents’ evenings. Parents will be able to drop in and out of master classes to experience the excellent variety of activities we offer our pupils. Some pupils will be on hand to escort parents around the school.

Please contact Mr Richardson for more information.

Willow Art

Local artist Geoff Forrest has been working with Miss Fuller’s master class making willow stars and wreaths for Christmas. The opening of the Art department’s annual exhibition will take place on Thursday the 29^th of November at 6.30pm until 8.00pm in the Doon Valley Museum in Dalmellington. All are welcome to attend, refreshments provided and arts and crafts will be on sale.

Plants for sale

As part of the BESC project S1 -S3 Biology students and the Science Club masterclass are going into business. They bought gardening supplies and, taking advantage of the sunny weather, have created a range of products.

For sale we have: Tomato, Sweet pepper and chilli plants - £1.50 each  Herb Garden window boxes containing 3 herbs- £ 12; Colourful planters - £15; and Hanging baskets - £15.

These are on sale in school. Anyone wishing to purchase these should contact Miss Borthwick on 01290550521

Fishing trip

The Fishing Masterclass had a great day on the Belston Loch fishing for rainbow and brown trout. Well done to all the pupils and Mr White who caught 4 fish. Commiserations to Mr. Kelly who ‘caught a cold’ but no fish!

Chess masterclass

Owing to a generous donation of six chess sets to Doon Academy, we hope to be offering a chess masterclass in the near future. Chess has been played for several centuries and continues to be one of the most popular games in the world. Playing chess can help to develop many useful skills such as memory, concentration and attention.

If you are interested in taking part in a chess masterclass (no matter whether you have played the game before), contact Mr. Taylor in the Maths department.

Big fish

Continuing our focus on the masterclasses pupils in the fishing class, under the guidance of Mr. Kelly and Mr. White, have been casting their rods in the local rivers. The pupils have learned valuable techniques which have led to success with some really large fish being caught.

Italian masterclass trip

Mrs McKenzie’s Italian masterclass visited Ceccini’s Restaurant in Ayr to practise their conversation skills in Italian. Pupils ordered their food in Italian from the waiter and Mrs McKenzie was very impressed with their linguistic ability.

Willow masterclass

Local artist Geoff Forrest has been in school working with pupils in the art masterclass.  The pupils have been crafting a fish made from willow and using unwanted CDs for its gills.

Police visit Crash Test

On Wednesday 9th of November Constable Denholm and former Doon Academy pupil Sergeant White visited the crash scene investigation masterclass. During the visit Constable Denholm explained the procedures used to investigate crash scenes as well as helping the pupils investigate the motion of vehicles before collisions. The pupils then got the chance to measure the speed of vehicles outside the school using the Police radar gun.

Luckily for the motorists there was no speeding!

Youth Magazine

Tracey Baird and Mike Mills from the Ark Youth Project visited the school and met with Mr. MacKenzie and Mrs Murray PT of English to discuss pupil contributions to a new youth magazine project. Pupils and staff are looking forward to working with the Ark whose alcohol free nightclub is a popular venue for young people.

Felt Artist

Renowned felt artist Ewa Kuniczak is working with Mrs Gillespie and Ms Fuller’s masterclass making felt wrist bands to be sold in The Miner’s Lamp school shop

Astronomer Royal visit

Pupils and staff were delighted to receive a visit from Professor John C Brown, 10th Astronomer Royal for Scotland. He gave two presentations, one to Dalmellington Primary School and one to Doon Academy pupils.

The presentation to the primary pupils was on "Abra cad Astra - The Magic of the Cosmos". Professor Brown talked about planets, stars and the sun and illustrated his talk with some wonderful magic tricks. He demonstrated reduced gravity with magnets, Jupiter’s moons with a magic ring trick and black holes by making a fifty pence piece disappear through some rubber and reappear on the other side! In addition, Professor Brown explained how he did some of the tricks, but some remained a mystery to the enthralled audience.

His talk to the Doon Academy Astronomy group was similar but with more science and different tricks. Both groups were hooked by Prof Brown’s magic colouring book at the start of the show. After the talk, Professor Brown had a chat with the Astronomy group and promised to return next year when the Dalmellington Observatory is up and running.

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.

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!

Visit to Transport Museum

Mr Richardson’s S4 Physics class along with the Crash Investigation masterclass visited the new Riverside Museum: Scotland’s Museum of Transport and Travel designed by internationally-renowned architect, Zaha Hadid. Alexander Nutt from the masterclass said “It was a great day and really interesting. I liked finding out how the cars and trains worked.”

Willow work

In the Art masterclass pupils have been working with local willow artist Geoff Forrest to design and make willow sculptures to form part of the Dalmellington Art Trail.

Dazzle

During the Dazzle masterclass pupils were busy reading scripts and working on performance techniques to preparation for their auditions. The auditions will be held in the coming weeks and will decide who will take the lead roles in the Christmas concert pantomime.

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.

Masterclass programme

Doon Academy’s Wednesday afternoon Masterclasses are off to an excellent start. Pupils have chosen which masterclass activity they wish to undertake from a wide selection on offer from Crash Investigation, Entrepreneurship, Fishing, Italian, Jewellery Making and many more.