Inspectors move out
Inspec t o r s f rom Education Scotland have spent this week in Auchinleck Academy.
They have enjoyed very much their engagement with the staff, pupils, parents and partners of Auchinleck Academy. Although they cannot provide details at this point, they have told the school to expect a very positive report.
Auchinleck Academy held its third Anthony Nolan Donor event on Wednesday, November 2, which was a great success as 38 new donors joined the register.
The Fire Service work in conjunction with Anthony Nolan to raise the profile of the charity and encourage new donors to join the register; they have started running events in schools.
Auchinleck Academy was one of the first schools in Scotland to host such an event. The age to join the register has been lowered to 16 to 30- year- olds as it has been discovered that this age group provide the most successful matches.
Both adults and children are diagnosed with blood cancers and blood disorders every 20 minutes each day and therefore more donors are needed to help save the lives of those people. In Ayrshire there have been a number of children diagnosed with blood disorders; in particular one girl picked up a virus that turned into aplastic anaemia; this meant her bone marrow stopped working which would have been fatal if she hadn’t found a donor.
She is now recovering and has been able to start school thanks to a donor who donated bone marrow and saved her life.
All S5 and S6 pupils were able to listen to a presentation about the process of joining the register, the benefits and the commitment involved.
Sixteen S6 pupils helped organise the event by being trained in carrying out the ‘ spit test’ ( the method used to collect DNA information) as well as organising appointments and issuing application forms. The senior pupils provided a vital role in organising and promoting the event in the run up to the event. All involved found it to be a valuable experience.
The S1- 3 and S4- 6 Auchinleck Academy handball teams make the journey up the M74 to Ravenscraig, Motherwell, to compete against the best school teams in the country.
The S1- 3 team started with two tough group games against Our Lady’s from Cumbernauld and Largs Academy, before a better display against Kyle Academy saw them make the fifth/ sixth playoff game against Belmont Academy. With two quick goals from captain Ailey Porter the team relaxed into a commanding and comfortable finish. With a number of new players in this team the future is looking very bright.
The S4- 6 started off as they meant to go on, shocking last year’s finalists and missing out on the final by one goal.
With nothing separating Auchinleck and Linlithgow Academy in the third place match, they went to penalties. Tied after five penalties each, sudden death loomed and Rebecca Morrison stepped up with the decisive penalty. Amy Murdoch still had to save their last penalty to the school finish third in Scotland - and she did.
This was a fantastic achievement for the girls, again many of who were either new to handball this tournament or started last year. Auchinleck Academy pupils and staff travelled over the Tyne ( and back) to watch Sunderland vs Arsenal and get a tour of Newcastle’s home ground.
Even after the early 7am start, all pupils were full of energy and were brilliantly behaved throughout.
Huge thanks to Mr Beattie, Mr Lynch and Miss Carrington for all the help on the day and the Premiership Experience for organising the trip and accommodating the group. Kyle Academy is currently holding a dyslexia friendly week.
It got underway on Monday with assistive technologies, where pupils shared their expertise on using a variety of apps to aid their learning.
On Tuesday, and also running next Tuesday, November 15, a bake sale took place in the foyer and at the parents’ evening.
An S1 assembly on dyslexia was due to take place today ( Wednesday).
Tomorrow, Thursday, artist Julie Boswell shares her story of the challenges she faces with her dyslexia.
Then to round off the week, a relaxation workshop was held.