Ben Lomond walk

The weather forecast was typically Scottish - rain, hail, and lightning with sunny intervals. The group however set off with gusto as they all attempted their first ascent of a Munro. The weather was initially fine, the group were cheery and the prospects of an excellent day were ahead of us. It was an early start and after some banter with fellow walkers in the car park the group were ready to go.

The challenge was taken up by some of the Duke of Edinburgh and John Muir award participants. The walking practice was the objective of the Duke of Edinburgh Award group and the experience of the National Park was the objective of the John Muir participants.

 It was a challenge for all involved. However after 4 hours of ascending the Munro the group reached the summit. The views were spectacular and the feeling of achievement rippled through the group.

Well done to Sophie, Morgan, Sarah, Kayleigh, Callum and Jason who took part in this challenge and who were positive and determined to succeed throughout. Despite the late appearance of the forecast hail storm the drenched walkers were still in high spirits upon completion of their epic adventure.

The day’s events were summed up by Sophie who stated that she preferred going up rather than down, "I found it harder going up because you had to really push yourself to get there".

Group at the summit of Ben Lomond.

RREC

On Friday the 17th May 2nd year students took part in a “Rapid Response Engineering Challenge” day. This event was based on a hurricane causing devastation in a Southern American country and involved the pupils assuming the roles of disaster relief engineers when they arrived at any international disaster site. The pupils had to simulate creating shelters, investigating weather changes, transporting clean water, generating sanitation flow and creating a meal without any gas or electricity. All of the pupils were enthusiastic and a great time was had by all. We were lucky to have two visitors from the HNC Civil Engineering programme at Stowe College who helped pupils understand the relationship between disaster relief and everyday engineering challenges. All in all this was a successful event which the school is looking forward to hosting next year.

The winning team with the engineers.

Doon Dancers

The Doon Dancers dazzled the audience at the Palace Theatre in Kilmarnock in the East Ayrshire's Got Talent show with a slow and emotive routine choreographed entirely by the students. The girls performed a contemporary dance routine to “Skinny Love” by Birdy. This is the second time the girls have appeared in the annual show for the best of East Ayrshire' school performers. The following S3 students took part: Chloe Chalmers, Lauren Ferguson, Shania Brown, Cheryl Allison, Caitlin Steele and Tamsin Thorburn. The audience of councillors, parents, pupils and staff thoroughly enjoyed the show. S3 dancer Lauren Ferguson said: “I really liked the opportunity to perform in front of an audience. The atmosphere was really good and it was great fun. I also really liked seeing the primary students perform. Their dance routines were really good and they were full of ideas. It was great meeting students from other schools who had the same interests as me.”
 

Fashion Show

The Art and Design department have organised a fashion show which will take place on Wednesday 19th of June 2013. The show will be held in M & Co, Alloway Street in Ayr. This will commence at 6.30pm and finish at approximately 9.00pm. Tickets are priced at £3.00 and can be purchased from the school reception. Alternatively they can be bought on the evening of the fashion show in M&Co. Tickets are selling fast please purchase tickets soon to avoid disappointment.

Models rehearsing for the Fashion Show.

Global market

On Friday 31 May, S1 pupils will be visiting the Global Market in Kilmarnock with the Social Subjects and Modern Languages departments. Pupils will have the opportunity to taste foods from around the world, buy crafts and practise their French and Italian speaking skills!

Belgium trip

The S2/3 France and Belgium trip sets off on Monday 3rd June. The group will travel overnight to Dover and sail to Calais the following morning where they will visit a hypermarket. The bus will then travel on to Belgium where pupils and staff will spend two days visiting war memorial sites such as Ypres, Flanders Field museum and trenches which have been preserved from the First World War. After leaving Belgium the group move on to Paris where they will sail down the river Seine and spend the following day in Disneyland Paris before returning home.

Graphic Design “have a go” project

The Visual Arts department at Ayr College is offering an interactive day of graphic design and digital art as part of the World Skills ‘Have a Go’ project. A group of S3 Art and Design students will be taking part in a Graphic design day at Ayr College on Thursday 30 May. The day will be broken into two sessions, morning and afternoon, starting with a basic photography project and leading to an afternoon of experimentation in the latest Mac based creative digital manipulation techniques. The emphasis will be on a ‘fun’ and ‘creative‘ day using digital tools to produce striking and effective graphic designs that the pupils will be able to take home. The students are really looking forward to this.

Food Hygiene Certificate

A group of S3 pupils completed the “Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland Elementary Food Hygiene Certificate” course as part of their Intermediate 1 Hospitality Mrs Cumming in Home Economics. Well done to all students who completed the course.

Campus police officer

We are now delighted to have a campus police officer! PC John Hurren started with us after the Easter holiday.

Mr MacKenzie said of the appointment: “We are delighted to welcome PC Hurren to our staff. We have wanted a campus police officer for a long time and we were doubly delighted to find it was to be PC Hurren – one of the officers who has worked closely with the school, delivering assembly messages about subjects like Internet Safety and Knife Crime. The CPO will have a number of roles and he has his own ideas about ways to engage with our young people as the school develops its understanding of citizenship, rights and responsibilities and respect for our community. PC Hurren is also arranging regular visits to our associated primary schools. Campus cops have been established and successful partners of some Scottish schools for several years and we are really grateful to Police Scotland and our Council for bringing this post to Dalmellington”.

PC Hurren was warmly welcomed by pupils at year group assemblies on Friday 3 May. He said he was looking forward to working with them in classes and around the school and community.

In response to his appointment PC Hurran said: “I am delighted to have been given the opportunity to work with Doon Academy and the young people within the surrounding areas. I have spent a number of years serving the local community within the Doon Valley Community Policing Team which I have enjoyed immensely. In my new role I look forward to building positive relationships with all partner agencies and enhancing the opportunities available to the young people of the area. I bring with me not only experience as a member of Police Scotland but also experience from previous civilian and military employment; I hope I can use this previous experience to positively impact on the development of our young people”.

P.C. Hurran with some S1 pupils.

YipWorld Accolades

A number of students were recently rewarded at the annual YipWorld ‘Accolades’ ceremony at The Dumfries Arms Hotel in Cumnock. The pupil’s efforts were recognised for their participation in the Pulse recording studio programme (S1&2), Inspiring Scotland Programme (S3) and Employability Awards Scheme (S5).

A big thank you goes to Lynne and Laurence at YipWorld for their continued commitment to our pupils.

The pupils involved were: S1 & 2 pupils – Sophie White, Olivia McCutcheon, Stephanie Hamilton, Blair Buchanan, Josh Gibson, Liam Elder and Campbell Baird. S3 pupils – Samantha Halbert, Amy Johnstone, Paul Latto and Robbie Jones S5 pupils – Craig McInnes, Jim Wark and Zoe Gibson.

White Ribbon Campaign

The first of a series of ‘White Ribbon’ assemblies took place in the library recently during Masterclass time. Senior pupils were exposed to the realism of violence against women within society.

The presentation was conducted by Mr Kelly and excellently supported by Nathan Gilmore in S6 who attended an all-male seminar in March 2012 led by activist Professor Michael Kaufmann founder of the campaign.

Our new campus police office PC Hurran also provided an in depth analysis of police interventions in a domestic violence case. The presentation will now be rolled out across the rest of the school. Pictures will follow.

Mock Interview Programme

Preparations are already on-going for this year’s S4 mock interview programme. As part of the employability PSE provision, S4 pupils will learn about the application and interview process and have an opportunity to sample a ‘real life’ interview situation. As usual we will be working in partnership with Auchinleck and Cumnock Academies and Ayrshire Chambers. The programme will also supplement the annual work experience opportunity. The mock interviews will take place at the Aviator Suite Prestwick Airport on 1st October 2013.

SLC videos

S4-6 students from the Supported Learning Centre have been studying Media Studies Access 3 all year and as part of this they have been making their own movies from a given brief. The movies were filmed using stop-motion animation. The class made everything on their own from writing the story, making their own clay models, designing sets, filming and editing.

The ballad of big cat and poppa dog 

   

Alien V Dinosaur.

Barcelona Trip 2014

The June 2014 trip to Barcelona is currently being organised. During the trip students will experience the Spanish culture as well as visiting the Gaudi sights, Neu Camp, Las Ramblas, a water park and the Grand Prix circuit.
This trip is open to all pupils.

 If you are interested in going please see Miss Fuller for more information.

Catwalk Class

Miss Gibson in the PE department will be working with our fashion show models during Masterclass on Wednesday the 22nd of May. During the class she will be helping students with their walk and poses for the fashion show which will take place on Wednesday the 19th of June at 6.30pm in M&Co in Ayr. Tickets can be purchased from the school reception and are priced at £3.00.

Masterclass Open Afternoon

The Parental Involvement working group have decided to hold a Masterclass Open Day. This will be held on the afternoon of Wednesday 8th of May.

The aim is to allow parents to interact with staff and pupils in a more informal manner compared to parents’ evenings. Parents will be able to drop in and out of master classes to experience the excellent variety of activities we offer our pupils. Some pupils will be on hand to escort parents around the school.

Please contact Mr Richardson for more information.

Fashion Show

Students who are modelling for the school’s fashion show are getting the opportunity to go and see Ayr College’s annual Fashion Show dress rehearsal on the afternoon of the 12th of June. This will be a fantastic experience and it will help students with their catwalk moves and it will also give them first-hand experience of a real fashion show.

Young Enterprise Ayrshire Finals

On Thursday 25 April, 4 senior pupils attended the Young Enterprise Ayrshire Area Finals at The Park Hotel, Kilmarnock. Halle Fitzsimmons, Kirsty McCormick, Dylan Thirtle and Mark McLean accompanied Mrs Allen and Mr Mackenzie to the event run by the Young Enterprise Ayrshire Area Board. The night was a great success and everyone enjoyed the opportunity of seeing 9 schools from Ayrshire competing in the Company Programme finals. This programme will run in Doon Academy from next year and the 4 budding entrepreneurs were inspired by the talent from Ayrshire, in particular, the winning team from Belmont Academy.
 

Sporting Stars

Ryan McCreath in S2 and Rory Parker in S3 have both been selected to play for the Ayrshire U-14 Cricket Team. Ryan presently plays for Prestwick CC.

Mark McAllister in S1 is currently the European Under 18s Pool champion.
Congratulations and well done!