News from Lockerbie Academy - Thursday 6 November 2008

'Looking For Lockerbie' - 12 Years in the Making

Mr Ferrie, Depute Rector (Senior), represented the school at the Remembrance Week in Syracuse University attending, in particular, the Convocation for Remembrance Scholars.

After the event he met Dr Lawrence Mason who has been working for the last 12 years on a photographic book, with articles written by another Syracuse lecturer, Melissa Chessher and photos taken by Larry and his students. The book is now complete and at 248 pages long is an outstanding and positive look at the community of Lockerbie. The contents range from Gala to sheep farming, boy racers to Curling, as well as countless fascinating photos and insights to local places, people and events. Mr Ferrie handed the first copy of the book to arrive in the UK to Mr Herbert. Copies should be available from the school before Christmas at a cost of £40. It will make fascinating reading and would make a very unique Christmas gift. Pre-delivery orders can be confirmed by contacting Mrs K Dougan at the school office. Any profits will go to supporting the Lockerbie Syracuse Scholarship. Charities News Walk to Waban During South Africa Day in the last week of the school term there was a 5 mile walk/10 mile cycle run to replicate the journey made by pupils at our link school in South Africa. Over 200 staff and pupils took part and an incredible £2,770.14 was raised. The top fund raisers were: Caroline Blaylock 6D £125.90 Selina Murray 2F £94.50 Rory Dean 5D £64.00 Mark Porteous 5B £53.80 Hazel Scott 4E £45.00 Amy Henderson 3E £45.00 Jeans for Genes In the first week of October the school organized a non-uniform day for “Jeans for Genes”, S6 Charities SAMH and RSPCA and School Fund. The S6 Charities Committee have now sent a cheque for £239.68 to the Jeans for Genes campaign which tries to “change the world for children with genetic disorders”. Advanced Higher/Higher Chemistry Visit On Wednesday 1 October the Higher and Advanced Higher Chemists spent the morning on site at Shasun Pharma Solutions in Newbie. We were welcomed by one of the Shift Managers who talked to us about the drugs industry in general and about the quality, safety and environmental considerations involved in the manufacture of drug substances. Thankfully we were able to answer many of the questions asked of us using our knowledge of Chemistry from school. Later on we toured the site in protective lab coats, safety goggles and hard hats. We saw the production buildings and were able to ask lots of questions about the processes. All of us were amazed at how clean everything was and at the sheer size of the reaction vessels in comparison with the equipment we use in school. We saw the analytical labs where samples of products are tested using many different analytical techniques, some of which we had never heard of. At the end of a very interesting morning we regrouped and were able to ask more questions. Everyone has a much better understanding of the chemical industry following our visit and the experience has encouraged some of us to look with renewed interest at a career in related areas. A big thank you to all the staff at Shasun Pharma Solutions who gave up their time to talk to us during the visit and for sharing their experiences with us. Sports News This week’s featured school sports team is rugby. Every Tuesday after school there is coaching taken by Mr Crossan and Mr Dinwoodie and teams play Regional and National competitions at Under 15 and Under 18 level. Recent results have been disappointing but improvements have started to be obvious: U15 Scottish Cup Bowl Rd 1 Carrick 55 v Lockerbie 0 Unfortunately Lockerbie were second in every department in the first half of this game. However, in the second half Lockerbie rallied and put on a display that showed that these teams were actually pretty well matched. (The hosts only managed one try, late on in the second half). A good team spirit was shown by all, well done. Dates for the Diary Thursday 6 November S1/2 Remembrance Service at Dryfesdale Church Thursday 13 November S1/2 Ski Trip meeting, 7.00 pm   S3/4 Remembrance Assembly Friday 14 November Children in Need Monday 17 November P7 Cluster Event Thursday 20 November S5/6 Parents' Evening 7.00 - 9.00 pm Friday 21 November Syracuse University play "The Bird and the Two-Ton Weight"