Burns Museum trip

The S1/2 Burns Recitation prize winners had a wonderful visit to the new Robert Burns Birthplace Museum. They were met by Education Learning Officers Esther and Hannah and then had a tour of the Burns cottage and a workshop on Tam O’Shanter. Esther then accompanied the pupils on a guided walk, taking in the Auld Alloway Kirk and the Brig O’Doon. At the museum Rebecca, the museum guide, led a further workshop on the life and works of Burns and a tour of the interactive museum. The pupils really enjoyed the visit and as S2 pupil Alana Murray said’ It was great. I really liked the hands on things at the museum’. S1 pupil Daniel Dutton said’ If we take part next year in the competition can we have another visit’. Thank you to all the staff at Robert Burns Birthplace Museum for making the day one to remember.

S2 Parents Evening

Our S2 Parents Evening, on Wednesday 22^nd February, was very busy for our teachers with many staff commenting that they had good discussions with parents about the new S3 broad general teaching options.

Valentine's disco

The Valentine’s disco was held on Thursday 23rd February and although attendance was low everyone had a very pleasant evening. After two late nights some of our staff were delighted that it was the weekend.

Martial Arts success

Congratulations to S2 pupil Wendy Roulstone who won a bronze medal in the Martial Arts under 55kg competition.

Goodbye to Mr Jamieson

Our local minister Iain Jamieson gave a talk to S4 pupils at the Friday assembly. This was Mr. Jamieson’s last official engagement with us as a new minister has been appointed. Staff and pupils presented Mr Jamieson with a gift from the school as a thank you for his hard work in building links between the school and church and for his thought provoking talks. We all wish him a fond farewell.

Rugby trip

40 pupils from Dalmellington Primary and Doon Academy attended the Scotland v France rugby match. Everyone had a fantastic day despite the disappointing final score..

Science roadshow

The science department held a roadshow for S2 pupils to help them choose their science options for next year.

Cricket news

Congratulations to Josh Taylor who has been selected as the school cricket team captain and to Rory Parker selected as his vice captain. In the single wicket competitions Steven MacKay won the D.V.C.C. senior single wicket competition beating James McCreath in the final. In the junior competition Aaron Gilmore beat Colin MacDonald in the final. Well done to everyone who took part in the events.

Jordanhill visit

As part of the FOCUS West project, 26 S3 pupils visited the University of Strathclyde, Jordanhill Campus, for a campus day. The pupils took part in a series of workshops designed to increase their knowledge of university life and team building skills. Everyone really enjoyed their visit and found the workshops motivating and enlightening.

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.

DofE Award activities

In the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award scheme several of our participants are well underway with their enterprising skills section of the programme. Marina and Nicky are offering free manicures to the residents of the local elderly care homes. Blair and Craig have set up a branch of the Cumnock Credit Union. Rachel and Kaitlyn are running a Smartie tube collection to help Bulgarian orphans and Katie and Lorelle are decorating and marketing dental hygiene. We wish all our participants well as they work towards their next stage of planning their expedition.

Peer Education Project

The first training day for the S6 Peer Education Project took place on the 24th February. It consisted of building confidence skills in the morning followed by an afternoon information session on alcohol and solvent abuse. A great day was had by all and everyone is looking forward to day 2 to be held at Auchinleck Academy.

University of Glasgow visit

FOCUS West Top-Up students in S5/6 visited the University of Glasgow for a seminar on note-taking and a lecture. The students found the visit very interesting, and informative.

Author visits

For the Spring Read Programme organised by EA librarians the S2/3 History pupils will be visiting Grange Academy to hear a talk by renowned history author Allan Burnett. Also, the Art Book Club pupils will be visiting Auchinleck Academy to see author and illustrator Teresa Flavin.

Electrical circuits challenge

Principal Teacher of Science Mr Gooding was delighted to welcome P3 pupils from Dalmellington Primary who attended Doon Academy to complete the electrical circuits challenge.

Diary dates

Dates for your diary: East Ayrshire Spring Spectacular Concert 21^st March, S4/5/6 Parents Evening 29^th March, Comenius Visitors 16^th to 20^th April.

Y Dance Showcase

On Saturday 11th February 5 Doon Academy pupils attended Y Dance’s annual showcase at The Magnum Leisure Centre, Irvine.

Lisa McTaggart, Paige Collins, Fiona Kennedy, Alana Murray and Cheryl Allison performed two fantastic dance routines to a packed auditorium and delighted the audience with dances to ‘Black and Gold’ and ‘Beautiful Monster’. The girls have been working hard since October and it finally paid off as both dances received a massive cheer from those watching.



The day began at 11.30 with a warm up for the 100 girls involved and then the groups rehearsing on stage. They then went on to have a full rehearsal with schools from Ayrshire and Glasgow, all working out where they had to be with their routines. The show finally started at 7.30pm with relatives and friends amongst the audience to watch the girls. All groups performed brilliantly with Doon showcasing particularly well. The show finished with a mass finale number to ‘I’ve Had the Time of my Life’ which looked fantastic as all 100 girls moved in unison.

The Doon girls left The Magnum with tired legs but big smiles as all had enjoyed an unforgettable day. Well done to those involved- wear your new Y Dance t-shirts with pride!

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.

Charity fundraising

The non-uniform day organised by S5 pupils raised the fantastic sum of £113 donated to children’s cancer charity CLIC Sargent Scotland. Well done S5

Geography Development Day

On the in-service day Geography teacher, Mrs Elder, hosted a development day for East Ayrshire’s geography teachers. At the event the teachers discussed curricular planning for the new S3 courses.