\Alloa Academy

Inter-House competition Erskine House were back in the driving seat over the last two weeks winning the house competition with 14 points. Schaw and Bruce tied for second place with 11 points each. 1B1 topped the list for weekly co-operation while 1E1 had highest number of outstanding effort merits. Senior Awards Ceremony Award winners received their prizes at a ceremony on Thursday, March 31. Prizes were awarded for Personal Commitment, Citizenship, Endeavour and excellence in particular subjects. The musical interludes performed by Theo Tait, Anna Reeves, Laureline Morgan-Davies, Alex Twist, Dylan Hewer and Jack Mather were superb as was the performance by guest speaker Martin Aelred. For the first time in more than 20 years, the dux medal was shared as two students performed equally excellently in their Highers in S5 - Lisa Carruthers and Timmy Gill. Football The Under 15 boys football team were finalists in the Forth Valley Under 15 Football League. They played well, particularly in the first half, but were defeated by a talented Larbert High squad. Taking part in the final was a great experience for the boys. Eco day S1 Eco-day was a huge success with students producing information about their own carbon footprints, learning about recycling across Europe, designing their own footprint art, making a grasshead and doing a food miles activity. Eco-day activities end with a rag-bag collection this week, supported by the parent council. All students have the chance to bring home a bag which can be filled with old, clean clothes which will be recycled in various ways. Money earned from this venture will be used as a kick-start to the minibus fund. Bags must be returned to the school by Friday, April 22. Reward breakfast Pupils with the highest number of positive merits over the past four weeks were invited to take part and the whole event was organised by one of the S4 Admin and IT classes. Ski trip Thanks to all staff for making the S1-S3 ski trip such a great success. Every pupil reported that it had been a fantastic trip with all making improvements to their skiing and widening their circle of friends. Celebrating reading On Thursday, March 31, there was a celebration of reading to mark the end of a paired reading project between a group of Alloa Academy A3 pupils and P6 pupils from Park Primary. Together the students have read books, completed vocabulary quizzes and learned about books together. Many thanks to the parents who attended to see the final presentations by the students on the project. On Wednesday, March 30, S1 students had the pleasure of an audience with Barry Hutcheson, author of many best-selling children’s books. Barry talked through the process of writing a successful novel and answered many questions from S1 students. It was interesting to find out that, as an author, he receives only around 8p for every book sold on Amazon!