Barcelona trip

Ms Fuller in the Art Department asks that all outstanding paperwork for the Barcelona school trip be submitted to her. The visit is from Sunday 13th to Saturday 19th June.

Burns by Bonnie Doon

As part of the Burns An A That festival Doon Academy pupils and staff will once again be hosting their ‘Burns by Bonnie Doon’ event at Doon Valley Museum Thursday 27th May. Local artist Geoff Forrest will be there working with pupils as they make 18th century willow platters whilst studying the life and works of Burns.

S1 Parents Night

S1 Parents Night will be held on Wednesday 19th May 5.30pm to 7.30pm.

Leadership Academy

Doon Academy’s Leadership Academy at Dalguise will take place the week beginning the 10th May. Pupils and teachers, including former graduates, will undertake the intensive leadership programme in the 6 key areas: Perseverance, Integrity, Focus, Awareness, Service and Creativity.

New Transitional Support Worker

The School is delighted to welcome Tammy Borthwick as our new Transitional Support Worker. Tammy’s role at the school is to help pupils into positive destinations post-school.

Mock Election

In Social Subjects Mr Kavanagh’s S1 pupils are preparing for their own mock elections to mirror the national parties. Pupils are researching key party policies and campaigning for their chosen candidates. The pupils will vote on Election Day and see if their elected representative reflects the national voting pattern.

Alton Towers trip

An Alton Towers trip has been arranged for S1 – S6 pupils on Tuesday 22nd June. Interested pupils should see Mrs McRoberts for details.

School Inspection Report

Doon Academy’s HMIe report has been published and all pupils have received a copy of the report, as well as a letter and questionnaire for their parents/guardian.

P7 Transition programme

Doon Academy’s P7 Transition programme will be finishing, for this year, on the 18th May. All P7s have undertaken classes in Maths, English, PE, Social Subjects and Science and they have really enjoyed their lessons.

Friendly game

Doon Academy hosted Belmont Academy for a friendly football match. Belmont came into the game as strong favourites having only suffered one defeat all season, whilst Doon had not previously played any games.
Playing in front of a vocal home support, Doon showed signs of nerves as Belmont took control of the contest. Only a combination of some wayward finishing, some last ditch defending and some fantastic goalkeeping from Alan Napier stopped Belmont from taking an early lead. However, this seemed to wake up the hosts who began to take control of midfield through Stewart Steele and David Murphy. Despite having more of the ball Doon struggled to breakthrough the impressive Belmont defence until the stroke of half time. Daniel Carroll played the ball through to Brandon Orr who appeared to have nowhere to go before hitting an unstoppable volley into the top corner from the edge of the box. Unbelievably Doon led at half time. At the beginning of the second half, Belmont responded impressively and immediately tested William Steele in goal. Eventually, their pressure told as they equalised with a stroke of luck as a long-range strike was deflected in off the unfortunate Jake Bunyan. Just as Doon tried to get back in the game Belmont scored a second goal but this was swiftly followed by Doon being awarded a penalty. Stewart Steele took responsibility for taking the penalty with only minutes remaining. He showed excellent composure to slot the ball into the bottom left corner and Doon had the draw they deserved. In a fiery contest, Doon can be delighted with their efforts. Doon Team: Alan Napier, Daniel Carroll, Jake Bunyan, Conner Weir, Alistair Dunn, Stephen Robertson, David Murphy (c), Stewart Steele, Gregg Galloway, Stephen Brown, Brandon Orr Subs: William Steele, Adam Lindores, and Marc Dyer.

Heartstart

S1 girls were trained in Heartstart as part of the school’s Health and Well-being programme. Pupils were taught how to put unconscious but breathing patients into the recovery position and CPR techniques. The girls were all awarded their Heartstart certificates. Well done to everyone who took part in the training and thank you to their trainers Mrs. McLay, Mr. McCrorie and Mrs. Dorans. The programme will be rolled out to the remainder of S1 and S2 pupils.

S2 Football

On Monday 29th March, the school S2 boy’s football team were due to take part in an East Ayrshire schools tournament at Grange Academy. Unfortunately, a number of schools had to pull out of the tournament so Doon were left to test their skills against three teams from Grange Academy. In very testing weather conditions Doon competed well in three thrilling matches. Unfortunately for Doon, they narrowly lost in all three games to score lines of 4-3, 3-2 and 4-3. There is no doubt that the boys deserved more for their efforts but a combination of some missed chances and some late goals from Grange meant that they were to leave with no victories. Goal scorers for Doon were Michael Harvey with a fantastic five goals whilst William McCleary grabbed a brace. Daryl Grover also got his name on the score sheet. Every player played their part in very difficult conditions and can feel unfortunate that they didn’t get the luck they deserved. Let’s hope they have a change in fortunes when they play next time. Doon Team: Peter Featherstonehaugh, Andrew Paton, Michael McCreath, Alexander McDowall, James McCreath, Daryl Grover, Michael Harvey, William McCleary

Leadership

S3 pupils attended a Leadership course at Kilmarnock College where they undertook activities in communication and leadership skills as part of Doon Academy’s Leadership programme.

Prom fundraising

The Seniors held a very successful Bake Sale to raise money for their prom
to be held in June. The home baking treats were very popular with pupils and staff and the seniors thank everyone who purchased goodies from them.

Netball

In netball news the Belmont 1 team travelled to Doon Academy to play their penultimate game of the season. Knowing that Belmont 1, like themselves, had won all their games, Doon were aware that this was going to be a demanding game. It began with Belmont quickly scoring but Doon girls soon equalised the score line. Both teams made the game very exciting by half time, by each scoring another 2 goals. With everything to play for Annabel McTaggart and Halle Fitzsimmons were substituted by Nicky Fairbairn and Sophie Dobbie. With both teams scoring another goal each the score stood at 4 – 4 with 30 seconds to go. Doon girls quickly got the ball to Sophie Dobbie who scored the winning, highly pressured final goal. Well done to Claire Boyd, Paige McMahon and Tammy Reid for their roles in the game and particular congratulations go to Jade Scott and Lauren Shaw who received joint Player of the Match.

Art folios due

The Art Department staff would like to remind all senior pupils that their folios are due in by the 23rd April.

Home Economics exam

In Home Economics pupils will sit their Intermediate 1 Hospitality examination on the 23rd April. The pupils need to prepare a 2-course meal for 4 people consisting of Chicken Curry with brown rice and Chocolate Bar Gateaux and most importantly ‘cleanup as they go.’

Sport Relief

Doon Academy took part in Sport Relief fundraising event. Many staff and pupils ran, cross-trained, rowed, cycled and even swam a mile, all in aid of charity. Well done to everyone who took part as we raised £247.50 for a worthwhile cause. Special mention goes to S5 pupil Paula Glancy and Miss Peacock who raised the most individual sponsor money.

Ocean Youth Trust Fundraising

Fundraising for the Ocean Youth Trust is proceeding apace. Most of the money from the sponsored cycle has been handed in to school and our Easter Egg raffle has raised £75 so far. The group would like to thank everyone who has supported the group by sponsoring the cyclists or by buying raffle tickets.

Parents Evening

The S3 Parents Evening will be held 5.30pm to 7.30pm on Wednesday 28^th April. Also parents of S2 and S4 FOCUS West pupils are invited to attend a meeting, on the same evening 6pm – 7pm, with Joe Meloy FOCUS’ Parents and Families Officer and Iain Mitchell from the University of Strathclyde.