Thursday 9 August 2007

15th June 2007




 


 

 


 

 


 


Mr O'Rourke, prizewinners and guests.

14th June 2007


Primary 1 pupils’ from Dalmellington Primary were delighted to attend Doon Academy where they heard stories, read by pupils from S2, from the Kate Greenaway competition entries. The primary pupils voted for the best book which was ‘The Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon’ by Mini Grey.
Mrs Gormanley presented prizes to the readers of the winning story.


The Doon Academy Learning Partnership Primary 7 pupils attended Doon Academy for their two induction days.

Two new members of staff will be joining the Science Department . Probationer teachers Ms Peacock and Mr McPherson will be teaching Biology and Physics respectively. Also, Ms. Borthwick will be a probationer teacher in the English Department. Welcome to Doon!

Pupils from S1/2 took part in the annual Readers Cup Quiz at Loudon Academy on Wednesday June 6. Although the team tried well, they didn’t manage to snatch victory, and their advice to any competitors next year is to be confident!

Mrs Cummings S2 elective class, including Steven Robertson and Neil McManus, have designed and made a friendship quilt. Well done to everyone in the class!

The S1-S3 school trip to Alton Towers takes place on Tuesday 19th June. Wishing you all a great day out!

25th May 2007 - Podcasting Day

S3 Students recently took part in a French Podcasting Day at Doon Academy. The event was organised jointly by the Modern Languages Department at Doon, headed by Mrs Anita Neilson, Acting Principal Teacher and Partners in Excellence Coordinators Mark Pentleton and Kay McMeekin.
In the first part of the morning session, students were shown how to compose, record and edit a radio broadcast (podcast), before moving onto the next stage of actually creating their own podcast. The French Assistante, Anne Campan, was there to lend a hand, as was Mrs. Iris Smith from the Modern Languages Department.
In the afternoon session, students were also given a Language Challenge. They had to listen to a podcast in a completely new language, and then present this to the rest of the Group. Prizes were given to each student who gave a presentation. Mrs Neilson and Head Teacher, Patrick O’Rourke, praised all the Students for taking part with great enthusiasm in such an innovative project in modern languages learning.
To hear the finished podcast, log onto: http://www.doon.e-ayr.sch.uk (and go into the French Dept. page).

Survey of Achievement
The Scottish Survey of Achievement is trying to find out what pupils from across Scotland can do. The focus this year was on science and selected S2 science pupils from Doon Academy were involved in the survey. Pupils took part in a variety of practicals, assessments and writing tasks. Two field officers also visited the school to interview pupils.

Leadership
Our S3 Leadership graduates made a presentation on our leadership programme to visitors from Braeview Academy in Dundee. The visitors were very impressed not just by our programme but by the quality of the presentation and the confidence displayed by our pupils. Our leadership programme is achieving national recognition through Schools of Ambition, and East Ayrshire is also looking closely at it with a view to providing something similar to all other East Ayrshire secondary schools.

3rd May 2007

This week a group of S3 pupils with 4 members of staff are taking part in Doon Academy’s Leadership Academy in Dalguise. The Academy is being led by some of our S3 pupils who recently graduated from the Columba 1400 Leadership Academy in Skye. Mr McCrorie, Mr Taylor and Mrs McLay are assisting the leaders. We hope they all had their high factor sun cream on as the sun has shone all week for them! Look out for the tanned faces returning to school next week.
Mrs Neilson’s S1 Podcasting Club met for the first time this week. Watch this space for more information on the club and the podcasts coming soon!
Pupils in S4-S6 are taking part in SQA exams this month. Good luck, everyone!
Miss P. McClue will be joining the Mathematics department after the summer break. The Press Group would like to take this opportunity to wish Miss McClue the very best of luck in her new job at Doon Academy.
Pop Idol Michelle McManus and Radio Scotland’s favourite broadcaster Fred McAuley will be at the school on Thursday, May 17 to unveil the plastic bottle greenhouse as part of the school’s Eco-School Project. Keep your eyes peeled for information and pictures coming soon!
Student teachers have now returned to us for their final placement of five weeks. Miss Shepherd in the Art department and Miss Borthwick in the English Department.
Eoghann MacColl will be our ‘artist in residence’ again in the Art department working with S3 students from the beginning of June. Welcome back Eoghann! It really is exciting tapping into your expertise!

26th April 2007

The S3 exams begin after the Easter holidays on Wednesday 18th April.
Doon Academy’s staff and pupils bid farewell to Mr. Shevlin, ICT Department, who leaves the school at the end of this term.
The GOALS S6 Top-Up programme has now finished. Well done to all those who took part in the programme.
A group of twelve Doon Academy pupils, accompanied by Mrs McLatchie and Mr Taylor, attended the Ayrshire Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Challenge. There were four teams from the three local authorities and they undertook a series of activities to come up with an idea to encourage teenagers to visit Ayrshire. The group then had to present their idea to an audience of 150 people. Doon Academy’s pupils had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
The S1 girls’ netball team played Queen Margaret Academy recently and although everyone played well they lost the game. Better luck next time, girls!
Senior students took part in the Ayr Senior Seven-A-Side rugby tournament on Wednesday, March 28 at Marr College in Troon. Watch this space for the results next week! Meanwhile, the S2 rugby team had a successful first tournament and out of three games, they won one, lost one and drew one. Well done boys!
Miss McMenemy is organising a badminton tournament for pupils in S1 and S2. See the P.E. department for more information!
On Tuesday, March 27 Bradan won the S1 Reader’s Cup Quiz in what was a very closely fought competition! The previous week, Finlas won the S2 Quiz. Both contests were very close and exciting, so well done to the teams who won!
The Eco-Group has now completed the building of the plastic bottle greenhouse. It is situated in the quadrangle outside Mr O’Rourke’s office. The Eco-group is now hoping to grow flowers and vegetables in the greenhouse for the summer. Well done to everyone who participated in the building of the greenhouse and a huge thank you to everyone who brought in plastic bottles!

18th April 2007

During the Easter holidays Doon Academy was very busy with an encouraging selection of activities being offered by staff for the Easter School. Pupils attended tutorials in a variety of subjects and had the opportunity to participate in physical activities as well. Well done to everyone who took advantage of this extra study time and good luck in the forthcoming exams.
S1 pupils really enjoyed the GOALS/RSAMD drama workshops which took place recently in the school.
The swimming championships are being held for pupils of all year groups from 9.45am on Friday, April 20. Good luck to everyone who is taking part and watch this space for the results next week!
The Supported Learning Centre is running a sunflower competition for all Doon Academy pupils. Collect a sunflower seed from the SLC and take it home for the summer before bringing it back in September. The pupil who grows the tallest sunflower will win a prize. Good luck to everyone!
Pupils from the SLC will be visiting the Glasgow Science Centre and Imax Cinema on Wednesday, April 25.
The SLC are having a very busy time just now as one of the pupils, James Dorrans S1, has come up with the idea of making a film using his class mates as the cast in “King of the Castle.” The script has been written by James and, with the help of Euan Lees our Community Link Worker, he will produce the film over the coming few weeks. Rehearsals begin this Friday for what promises to be a very exciting project. Watch this space for more information on how you can obtain the DVD.
Tokens from Tesco are being collected by the SLC to help them purchase computer equipment and CDs.
A group of S2 pupils who are taking part in the annual judging for the Carnegie Medal will be going on a trip to Stirling on Thursday, April 26 with Mrs Bax to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Carnegie Medal.
S6 students are in the final stages of designing the Doon Academy Yearbook which will be available soon for pupils, parents and staff. Keep your eyes peeled for information about how you can purchase your own copy!
S4 Health Fair was held on Thursday morning in the school and the pupils participated in workshops delivered by the Police, Fire Brigade, Mental Health and Dental Health. All the sessions were very informative and thoroughly enjoyed by our pupils. Thanks to all the facilitators for this interesting and worthwhile event.