Term 1 Newsletter 2015 2016

MINTLAW ACADEMY
Station Road, Mintlaw, Peterhead, AB42 5FN
Tel: 01771 622994 Fax: 01771 624228
Absence Line: 01771 620000
Office Opening Hours 8.30am – 4pm
E-mail: mintlaw.aca@aberdeenshire.gov.uk
Website: www.mintlawacademy.aberdeenshire.sch.uk
Parent Council - E Mail: MAParentCouncil@gmail.com
NEWSLETTER: Term 1 2015/16
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Learning Together
Fuselab 2015
Sponsored Walk
Wider Achievement Group
European Day of Languages
Iceland
Morgan Macdonald - Judo
Mintlaw Technology
Young Engineers
Christmas is coming…
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RGU Partnership
Introduction of TRUST
S4 Work Experience
S5/6 Pupils: Career Ready
MySchool App
Mymaths
PTA Mega Draw
Dates for your Diary
Introduction
Welcome to the first newsletter of the session and do hope you enjoy it.
This newsletter is full of good news stories and I am delighted we are able to share them with you.
Finally, the configuration of the school day has “settled down” and as we are still getting used to the
two longer days it does appear that better learning is taking place and that we expect to still further
improve our attainment.
Mintlaw Academy exam results saw the best ever performance for “Higher” in the August 2015 SQA
results and continued with the exceptionally high standard of National 5 awards which are also the best
S4 results the school has had. This is as a result of the combined efforts of students, parents and
teachers all working together to achieve fantastic success. Well done to everyone.
The role of parents is crucial in improving learning and with this in mind we are holding a “Parent
Conference” on Thursday 19 November where we will be running workshops on;
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Building Resilience
Teenage Mental Health
Substance Awareness
Internet Safety
Skills for Work – What Employers Want
National Qualifications
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Study Skills
Developing Scotland‟s Young Workforce
Modern Apprenticeships
Parents as Partners
We can only continue to provide our young people with the best opportunities to succeed by working in
partnership and therefore I would urge all parents to try to come along to this important event. Details
of how to “sign-up” will be made available on our website very soon.
You will read about many examples of success in this newsletter but please do have a look at our website
which continues to broadcast examples of success on a weekly basis.
It has been another really busy term and I thank all pupils, staff and parents for their hard work and
making Mintlaw Academy a great place to learn.
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1 “Learning Together”
Sharp
Parent Conference
Save the date!
I
We plan to hold the first ever Mintlaw Academy Parent Conference on the evening of Thursday 19 th
November. The purpose of this unique event is to give parents and carers the opportunity to find out
ways in which we can all work together to better support pupils in their learning. You will have the
opportunity to hear a keynote address by Vincent Docherty, Head of Secondary Education and
Additional Support, Aberdeenshire Council Education and Children‟s Services, and attend workshops on a
wide variety of themes such as
Building Resilience
Internet Safety
Study Skills
Parents as Partners
National Qualifications
Teenage Mental Health
Skills for Work – What Employers Want
Developing Scotland‟s Young Workforce
Skills Development Scotland
Volunteering
Substance Awareness
National Qualifications
Modern Apprenticeships
Wider Achievement
TRUST/Skills development
In addition there will be information available from every Department and Faculty in school, as well as
representatives from the Parent Council and the PTA. Performances from pupils from the Drama and
Music Departments will take place, as well as a display of work from the Art Department.
Please check the school website for further details.
2 Fuselab 2015
I Sharp
Eight S5/6 pupils took part in Fuselab in September, a two-day event held at The Robert Gordon
University as part of the Edinburgh Science Festival. The event, described as “an innovation and
creativity boot camp for teenagers” challenged pupils to come up with innovations to aid the
development of a sustainable way of life on a new planet, free from the constraints of the systems and
structures that exist here on Earth. The event challenged our pupils to use skills in working as a team
to take an imaginative and innovative approach to problem solving by creating a product for this new
world. The pupils who attended thoroughly enjoyed the event which they believed improved their levels
of confidence, and further developed their presentation skills and their ability to problem solve. The
pupils who took part were Louise Anderson, 5B2, John Burnett, 5D, Faye Fowlie, 5D, Kane McCrory, 5M,
Ross Peden, 5B2, Daniela Phelan, 5B1, Kyle Jepson, 6U and Rebecca Murphy, 6M.
3 Mintlaw Academy Sponsored Walk
On Wednesday 16 September, around 730 pupils from Mintlaw Academy, accompanied by 50 members
of staff, walked the line from Mintlaw to Maud and back to raise money for the Mintlaw Academy
School Fund. The walkers set out around 9am and all were back in time for lunch – some fitter and
fresher than others! First boy back was Henry Cole (S5) who was back within 2 hours, definitely more
of a sponsored sprint than a sponsored walk! As always, this year‟s event was notable for the supreme
effort put in by pupils and staff and the incredible good humour shown by everyone who took part.
Sponsor money is still coming in and to date we have raised almost £12,000 – a fantastic sum. We would
like to thank all the families, friends and members of the community who supported the pupils so
generously. This support means that the school can continue to run its impressive range of extracurricular activities and to give pupils the opportunity to participate in a range of events, both locally
and further afield. Your continued support is much appreciated.
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4 Wider Achievement Group
The Charities Wider Achievement Group organised this term a Macmillan Coffee Morning event, they
had a fine pieces coffee morning for the staff and sold cupcakes for the school. Thank you goes to
everyone in the school who managed to raise approximately £172.16. The charities group would like to
thank Mrs Campbell and Miss Clarke and their cake decorating pupils as well as the Senior pupils who
volunteered to decorate the cupcakes that the cake decorating pupils made for us all. The cupcakes
were a delight to eat as was the fine pieces made by various members of staff.
In the new term we have the Poppy Appeal, Mr Horberry has given his permission for pupils who belong
to Air Cadets, Army Cadets, Sea Cadets, Scouts, Guides, Boys and Girl Brigade to wear their
organisations uniform as a mark of remembrance on 11 Nov 15, with them donating money in the Poppy
tin and wearing a poppy. Also that same week Friday 13 Nov Children in Need day where the Charities
group are working on a theme of wearing your three favourite colours to school and putting a £1 in the
bucket at registration, with fun activities at lunchtime, so keep an eye out for school bulletins and
posters saying what they are going to do. Lets all get together once again and have fun on the day and
raise money for a worthwhile charity.
The charities group are also working on sealed bid auction of various items donated by celebrities
including signed merchandise, more details to follow as we get closer to Christmas.
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5 European Day of Languages
S Mitchell
On Friday 25th September, the Modern Languages Department
celebrated European Day of Languages. Timetable in the department was suspended for the day and
classes joined together to compete in language-based competitions. Mrs McSeveney taught Spanish
through the medium of song, “La Bamba” to be precise, and pupils enjoyed a bit of a sing and dance
(some of them anyway!) Mr Méthivier got pupils working on their problem solving skills by translating TV
programme titles from French back into English. The pupils were very competitive!! Finally, Mrs Bream
showed pupils how some of the words that we use in everyday English actually come from other
European languages. They then tested out their creativity by trying to write the most imaginative story
possible using these “borrowed” words. A very successful, and competitive, day!
Here‟s one of our most imaginative
creations using words borrowed
from Norwegian and Danish:
It was a dark night, the streets just
as crooked as a power-mad rich man.
I was an outlaw, outcast by the
ragged and the wrong. Their
accusations were weak and ugly. I
was to take a diamond ring from the
husband of my sister. It was just
luck that I escaped, or perhaps it
was skill. All I knew was that I was
like a bird with one wing: useless. I
took a hit to the leg when I was run
out of town. Caught in a snare of
doubt, it was all wrong, like the root
of a dead flower, as I fell into their
trap.
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6 Iceland
Miss Anderson
On the last week of term a group of 47 pupils along with four teachers (Miss Anderson, Mrs Urquhart,
Mr Merson and Mr Carnie) went on the trip of a lifetime to Iceland! They visited some amazing
geographical sites such as the Gulfoss Waterfall, the Great Geysir, and at the end of a busy week
relaxed in the Blue Lagoon, a Geothermal spa located in the centre of a lava field! The tour guide Mike
taught the group all about the geology of the landscape, and even took them to the famous volcano
Eyjafjallajökull which is well known for its eruptions in 2010. Luckily there were no eruptions while the
Mintlaw Academy crew were there! Below is a photo of the group at the basalt columns at Vik.
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7 Morgan Macdonald – Judo
G Robertson
Morgan Macdonald (Garioch
Judo Club) a pupil at Mintlaw
Academy was selected to
represent Scotland last
week (3rd to 6th
September) at the
Sainsbury UK School Games
in Manchester.
JudoScotland sent a 33
strong team to the Games.
1,600 Athletes competed in
12 Sports
at the Games.
On the Saturday afternoon
Morgan who competes
nationally in the Cadet
classes (born 1998, 99, 2000) and is ranked 12th in Britain, represented Scotland in the u55kg category
and in the first round of the singles he beat Connor Wilson (Scotland) ranked 16th, in the second round
Morgan came up against Jamie McFadden (N. Ireland) who he beat to move into the 3rd round, where he
came up against No. 5 ranked Scott Pearce (Wales), Morgan beat Scott to move into the Quarter Finals
where he met and beat George Gray (England) ranked 6th. In the Semi Finals Morgan‟s brave winning
run came to an end when he came up against Ashton Whalley (England). Ashton competes in the junior
classes which is for players (born 1995, 96, 97) and is ranked No.5 in the Juniors.
Reaching the Semis earned Morgan the Bronze Medal.
On Sunday with the singles over it was time for the Team event. The Team event consists of each
country putting forward a team of 8 players, Brazil who each year are guests at the Games, as they
don't have enough Judo players at the games to make up a team of 8 selects
other players who are not in their country team. There is also a team of players not selected for their
country picked which competes as (Rest of World). Scotland were up against the
ROW team and Morgan fought Jack Purllant (England) Jack is ranked 9th, Morgan was in terrific form
and beat Jack which helped Scotland win and go into the Semi Finals. In the Semis Scotland were up
against N. Ireland, this pairing
resulted in a repeat of Morgan‟s second round fight in the singles, and was up against Jamie McFadden,
Morgan again came out on top and Scotland won through to reach the final against their arch rivals
England.
In the final against England, Morgan was again paired with Junior ranked Ashton Whalley, Ashton's
experience again proved a bridge too far for Morgan, but the experience will stand Morgan in good
stead for the future. A very strong English team won the final leaving
Scotland as runners up and the Silver Medallists. The UK School Games turned out to be one of
Morgan's best tournaments and coming home with a Bronze and a Silver Medal has given Morgan a real
buzz for the rest of the year.
Morgan trains 4 nights a week in Inverurie & one night in Mintlaw, he also regularly spends week-ends
training with Judo Scotland at the Police Academy in Tulliallan. Morgan has a very busy schedule
between now and the end of the year, and in some of the tournaments he will be competing in Cadet and
Junior classes. In September it's the North of England Ranking Championships in Bradford,then in
October it's the Great North Open in Gateshead and Lommal in Belgium for the Flanders Cup.
November takes him to Motherwell for the Scottish Championships and the Welsh Open in Cardiff.
Then to finish off his year in December it's the British Championships in Sheffield.
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Two groups of pupils visited Offshore Europe at
the AECC, the Engineering Science Higher Pupils
went as part of the Energise your Future event.
Two graduate Engineers spoke about their
journey into their positions and the work they
carried out in their jobs now and how they got
there.
The pupils were then given the opportunity to visit several of the exhibitors and ask questions about
the work each company undertook. The boys visited the SHELL stand where they were able to look at
building salt powered cars, where two of the boys were successful and won i-pod shuffles for their
efforts. Some of the boys are pictured below visiting the STORK stand and getting a range of free
goods.
The second group who visited were the SHELL sponsored Energy Girls, the new group of girls were given
the opportunity to visit the Exhibition and be part of the launch of the new Engineering Scheme, one of
our ex pupils Abbey Thomson presented her journey to the assembled audience and Taylor Erridge and
Monique Uri were interviewed by the Energy Voice about the work they have been doing with work
experience at Shell in the summer holidays.
During the summer holidays a group of our Energy Girls were selected to attend the Shell 2 week work
experience. This allowed them the opportunity to get a first hand experience of the range of work
Shell do throughout the energy industry around the world. Shell kindly arranged for the group to visit a
range of companies including, Surviex, CHC Helicopters, Subsea 7 and St Fergus Gas plant. Kiara
Brownlie was interviewed about her experience.
Pictured on the right is Kiara Brownlie and Taylor
Erridge who had the opportunity to meet the Cabinet
Minister for Education Angela Constance at the SECC
in September. As part of their presentation at the
Scottish Learning Festival, they delivered two great
speeches during the seminars highlighting the work
the school does with industry and college partners.
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„I took a tremendous amount out of the work experience because I learned about the different jobs
Shell provide and the work they do. Getting the opportunity to speak to industry professionals about
the jobs they do and their journey was inspiring!!‟
Taylor Erridge also attended the two week experience where they were given the opportunity to run a
scenario for an incident in the North Sea. Taylor was quoted as saying:„One of the most rewarding experiences for me was to run the training scenario of a leak in the North
Sea. During this exercise I was given the role of EIM – Emergency Incident Manager, all the girls had a
Shell employee to mentor them throughout the period. I was encouraged to manage the scenario on my
own as my mentors felt I had a good basic grasp of the leadership skills required to manage this
scenario. It was great fun but a very realistic and challenging experience.‟ Our thanks go to John Raine
and his colleagues at SHELL UK for their continued support.
The S4 Engineering Science class were given the opportunity to visit Baker Hughes in Aberdeen as part
of their GLOBAL MANUFACTURING DAY 2015. The aim was to have a tour of their facilities and talk
to engineers about the different types of jobs they undertake.
The trip was split into two parts, the first was looking at the work carried out by design engineers in
the office, creating the latest technologies for the process of drilling and sending data to the drilling
rig floor. The second part was having a tour of the workshop, this was the bit the class took the most
from as they were able to get first hand experience of the types of projects carried out. They saw the
process from taking a standard piece of Steel tube and creating it into a piece of engineering to fit
down inside the Well.
This November the Faculty will be celebrating the TOMORROWS ENGINEER week of Engineering.
From the 2nd to the 6th November the Faculty is embarking on an ambitious project for every pupil in
the Faculty to have a visit from an Engineer or to take part in an Engineering related activity.
9 Young ENGINEERS
The young engineers have started again this term with renewed
enthusiasm. The ROV MATE project is well underway with two
Robots being constructed this year, this will eventually become
one for the ROV Final in Aberdeen in April.
We have a group of Budding S1 Engineers who have already built a small robot football player and are
currently working on a remote control car.
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10 Christmas is coming to Mintlaw TECH
Finally a group of S1 pupils and Mrs Robertson have started a Christmas Shop, manufacturing laser cut
personalised Christmas decorations and novelty gifts. If you are interested in purchasing any of our
items please visit MintlawTech.co.uk for a better view of our products.
11 RGU Partnership
I Sharp
Sixteen of our S5 and S6 pupils have been successful in gaining a place in the Access To …. Programme
at The Robert Gordon University, an arrangement which is part of Mintlaw Academy‟s developing
relationship with RGU this session as part of their outreach programme designed to widen access to
university and to help all young people find a positive destination, whether that be employment, training,
or further or higher education. The Access to …. Courses are designed to give senior pupils the
experience of learning in a university environment in a range of subjects – here is a sample of the
subjects our pupils are taking:
Communication and Media
Management
Law and Management
Computing
Engineering
Life Sciences
Art, Design and Architecture
This is a unique opportunity for pupils to develop the key skills required to be successful at university
and also find out more about degree course options, entry requirements and study pathways.
Classes are held weekly at RGU‟s Garthdee campus from 4.30 pm to 6.30 pm, and pupils are transported
to and from Aberdeen by bus. The courses started at the end of August and will run until December.
More information can be found using this link
www.rgu.ac.uk/future-students/access-rgu
Other events are planned with RGU this session; RGU staff will be in school during the first term to
give talks to S5 and S6 pupils on making a UCAS application, on choosing a university, student life, and
study skills. We also plan to have whole day activities in conjunction with the RGU Wider Access Team
for S1, S2, on teambuilding, resilience and confidence building.
Members of the RGU Wider Access Team will also be leading a workshop on resilience as part of our
Parent Conference on Thursday 19th November.
12 Introduction of TRUST
EJ Whitehead
This session has seen the exciting introduction of a weekly period of Targeted Reflection and Universal
Support Time (TRUST) for all S1/2 pupils. This innovative period allows for pupils to develop and reflect
on Skills for Learning, Life and Work through a variety of topics and teaching methods. The current
TRUST topics are: S1 TRUST – “My Brilliant Brain” where pupils have the opportunity to reflect on
how they learn to learn. The skills covered in this are: Remember, Understand, Discuss and Talk. S2
TRUST – “Presentation Skills”. Pupils have been developing an understanding of the communication skills
required when delivering an effective presentation and what a well-designed PowerPoint Presentation
looks like. Pupils are now working in groups to create their own presentations which will then be
evaluated by their TRUST class. The skills covered in this topic are: Discuss, Talk, Collaborate and
Present.
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Over the course of S1-3 pupils will have opportunities to practise and extend their knowledge of the 40
skills that are highlighted in the Mintlaw Academy Skills Matrix (this can be found on page 13 of your
son‟s/daughter‟s Pupil Planner). Pupils will be supported by their TRUST teacher to reflect on and plan
for skill development during their TRUST time. Although it is very early in this exciting journey, staff
are already identifying that pupils are recognising transferrable skills across the curriculum.
Many skills are transferrable and learners can use them throughout their lives. In addition to academic
qualifications, young people need to be able to reflect on the skills that they have, how they have used
these skills in context and how they can be transferred from one situation to another. The work
undertaken in TRUST will give young people the tools they need for a successful future, whether they
progress from school to employment, college or university.
13 S4 Work Experience
Work experience provides pupils with first-hand experience of the world of work. This year, over 90%
of pupils went out on work placement the week commencing 21 st September. The various jobs
undertaken by our students this year included Lab Technician, Junior Florist, Farmer, Distillery
Assistant, Landscape Gardener, Mechanical Engineer, Nursery Nurse, Welder and Office
Administrator. There was lots of placement opportunities arranged by pupils from a variety of sectors
and this year, the majority of placements were self-found by the pupils themselves. This will probably
have been the first experience of working life for many, and is an excellent opportunity for pupils to
gain an early understanding of the importance of working practices and attitudes, and can help
contribute towards decisions about future career choices.
S3 pupils will be informed about work experience after the Christmas holidays and given information
about finding a placement for their work experience week in September 2016.
If you are an employer who is interested in offering placements then please get in touch with the Work
Placement Unit: workplacementunit@aberdeenshire.gov.uk or call (01224) 664905.
14 S5/6 Pupils: „Career Ready‟
The Career Ready programme involves pupils in S5 and S6 working with a Mentor from Business or
Industry during S5 and S6 to prepare them for the world of work by building their knowledge of the
range of opportunities available together with developing their skills to ensure that they are able to
take advantage of these opportunities . Pupils have regular meetings with their mentors throughout the
two years, attend „master-classes‟ run by business partners and undertake a five week ‟internship‟ during
the summer holidays between S5 and S5 at the business / industry of their Mentor. Pupils graduate
from the programme in March of S6. More information can be found at https://careerready.org.uk
Please choose „Scotland‟ from the Website homepage.
In S6 four Mintlaw Academy pupils are involved in the scheme and benefitted from the „Internship‟
during the summer at companies including Score, Centrica and Shell. In S5, five pupils have started
their Career Ready journeys and have recently attended the launch event at the Beach Ballroom in
Aberdeen. Our S5 pupils have already had their first „master-class‟ and have started to work with their
Mentors to build their skills and knowledge in order to be „Career Ready‟.
15 mySchoolApp – Mintlaw Academy
G Oldham
Pupils can download our Mintlaw Academy app from either the Apple App Store or Google Play. Look for
„mySchoolApp‟. You then need to sign in with your name, email, phone number, and your own PIN which
you make up yourself. Login and type in‟ Mintlaw Academy‟.
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16 Mymaths
S Ferguson
The Mathematics department would like to encourage the use of the website www.mymaths.co.uk. This
is an excellent resource which can be used for consolidation of the work done in class, further practice
and revision. The site will provide pupils with up to date revision materials and homework tasks as well
as many lessons on a wide range of topics which will help your child achieve their target in Mathematics.
When you first go on to the page the main login is
Login: mintlaw
Password: pentagon
Pupils then use their own personal login and password when completing tasks, as this allows teachers to
see what they have been doing. Pupils should see their teacher if they do not have their own personal
login and password
To access the website on an iPad please follow the instructions below:
Download the free app "Puffin academy" and then search for "mymaths"
17 PTA Mega Draw Winners
Prize
Prize
Prize
Prize
£70
£35
£20
£10
September
Peter Cowie
Doreen Yule
Andy Neil
Victoria Fowlie
18 Dates for your Diary
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2015/2016
Term 2
Monday 26
Tuesday 03
Tuesday 10
Monday 16
Tuesday 17
Thursday 19
Tuesday 24
Thursday 26
Wednesday 09
Friday 11
Wednesday 16
Thursday 17
Tuesday 22
Start of term 2
In Service Holiday
In Service Holiday
End of term 2
Monday, 26 October
Monday, 16 November
Tuesday, 17 November
Tuesday, 22 December
OCTOBER
First day of term 2
NOVEMBER
Safe Drive/Stay Alive Event
S5/6 Parents’ Evening
IN-SERVICE
IN-SERVICE
Parents Conference
Careers Fair
S3 Parents’ Evening
DECEMBER
S2 Parents’ Evening
S4-6 Reports issued to parents
S4 Parents’ Evening
Christmas Concert
Last day of term 2
CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY : Wednesday 23 December 2015 – Tuesday 5 January 2016 (Inc)
This is a draft calendar and dates may change, please check website for
updates.
Links:
www.mintlawacademy.aberdeenshire.sch.uk
http://aberdeenshire.gov.uk/schools/information/term_dates.asp