News from Lockerbie Academy - Thursday 27 May 2010

New School is Almost Open

On Monday 31 May staff go across to spend their first day at the new Campus. For four days they will be unpacking and preparing the school for the first group of pupils who will arrive on Friday 4 June. One of the most exciting aspects of the new school is the fact that the Primary is next door and their staff and pupils must be equally excited.

A team of Academy Staff have been preparing a new map of the school which will be given to all the pupils and staff and will assist with the fire evacuation procedures as well as general movement around the new school.

To the People of the Future

As part of the contents of the time capsule which was buried at the weekend, pupils in S1 were asked to write their thoughts about 2040 when the capsule will be opened. One of the best examples was written by Morven Beattie, Sean Hewitt, Holly Hunter. Sophie Place and Molly McCutcheon.

“If you are reading this then it must be 2040. As we are writing this it is 2010, and the day is the 12th of May. It feels strange to be writing to the future, and we’re sure it is strange for you to be reading something from the past.

To start I will tell you what life was like in the year 2010 at Lockerbie Academy. Some of the subjects we have are Maths, Art, English, French, Science, Geography, History, PE and lots more. Most classes are enjoyable but some can be boring! We write on paper with pencils or pens and we use smart boards to get the whole class interacting with each other. At internal and lunchtime every year from 1-6 have their own social areas where we go to chat and do our own things. School uniform is the next thing we will tell you about. We wear black trousers or a skirt, black shoes (no trainers) and a white shirt or polo shirt. On special occasions we go on school trips/outings.

It is hard for us to try and think about the future but we will write about what we think life will be like in 2040. We imagine there will be a lot more tech in the future and there will be more digital and technical items involved in your schooling. I also think you will be more intelligent in the future than we are now. We think you might have things like robot teachers, 4D learning systems and double our current school roll (roughly 800).

Now we will say our predictions for the future of our lives when you are not in school. We are not sure Lady Gaga will still be around in your time, but are sure she will go down in history as an idol and you will all have her amazing dress sense. We think that there will be more women's rights and no racism.

Hope you enjoyed learning about the past and this letter wasn’t too boring for you. We wonder if our predictions will come true, but even if they don’t we know the future will be great!”

African Mural ready for the New School

Ashley Candler of S6 was the winner of the African Malawi Link Project mural, and despite a very tight deadline we are delighted that the winning mural is ready to be displayed across at the new school, along with dozens of other heritable items.

S3 Finance and Enterprise

On 29 April, S3 Finance & Enterprise class sold Ubuntu Fairtrade Cola to pupils at Interval in the Assembly Hall. They sold 48 cans and 24 bottles in a record 10 minutes. This was their Enterprise project which they had to organise themselves with little teacher input.

We had brainstorming sessions deciding what enterprise project to do. They had previously sold Dubble bars, Calendars and Fairtrade rice but this time the teacher had to have little input and just guide them in the correct direction.

They had to ask SMT for permission, organise the ordering from Ethical Superstore, organise a sales table with the janitor and a float from the office. They also made tannoy announcements and designed posters which were placed round the school. They had to ask their teachers to get out early to sell on the day and made pricelists so that they could make calculations if pupils wanted more than one. Once they had sold the bottles and cans they counted the money and put it into the office.

The pupils involved were Megan Crawford, Ashleigh Balmer, Jordan Scott, Jordan Glendinning and Jack Back.

Scottish Kennel Club Final

On Thursday 20 May 2010 Ashley Place and I went to the Scottish Kennel Club final for Scottish Junior Handler of the Year 2009.

I had qualified at Selkirk dog show with an Aussie Shepherd called Harvey.

The final had two groups, Age 6 to 11 years old and age 12 to 16 years old. I was in the older group but was the youngest. I was handling a whippet, “Crosscop Brilliant That’s Me” (Dave) owned by my friends Leigh Morris and George Waddell. There were ten finalists in each group. The youngest group went first and Morven McDonald and Rachel Gilmour were short listed. Then it was our turn and Chloe Green and I were short listed. The four of us were called back into the ring for the final decision. Rachel was called out first but it was for fourth place, then Chloe, then Morven and I realised I had won. I was given a large rosette, a pewter Quaich, a dog tent, dog food and a towel from Royal Canine, who were the sponsors. I was very happy. I had a wonderful night.
Charley Donaldson 2AA

Dates for the Diary