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The
Rector's Newsletter - April 2008
A
Message from the Rector
This term heralds the examination season for Senior students.
A letter has been issued detailing study leave arrangements and
subject workshops. We wish all our students every success in the
forthcoming exams.
This Bulletin is
also being issued to all P7 pupils in our associated primary schools
to give them and their families a flavour of their new school.
We look forward to meeting our new intake during the induction
week in June.
Staffing
We are pleased to
welcome Miss A Galligan to the Business Studies Department, and
both Miss K MacNiven and Miss D Clark to the Science Department.
S3
Exams – Wednesday 23 April
Prior to sitting
prelims in S4, we feel it is extremely important for S3 students
to experience a formal exam setting. This year, exams will be
given in most subjects. Some will operate in the same way as an
SQA examination in that they will take place with formal seating
in the Games Hall. Other exams will be timetabled using classrooms.
These will finish on Wednesday 30 April. You will receive your
child’s report on Friday 23 May, prior to the parents’ evening
on Wednesday 28 May.
Celebration
of Achievement Ceremony – 11 June 2008
Our seventh Celebration
of Achievement ceremony will take place at 7.30pm on 11 June.
This event goes from strength to strength, thanks to our sponsors
and the staff who plan and organise it. Sponsors this year have
already been very generous but there is always room for more.
If you wish to give a donation to the event, either individually
or through your business, please contact the Rector. Trophies
and prizes, in the form of book tokens, are awarded to S4 to S6
students for academic achievement and endeavour. The guest of
honour this year is Border Television presenter, Fiona Armstrong.
Parental
Forums – Meeting 2
The second meeting
of the Parental Forums was held on Monday 25 February, where there
was a good attendance of parents representing each year group.
The meeting, held in the staff room was devoted to updating forum
members on the progress of the new Lockerbie Campus and also on
the ‘Curriculum for Excellence’ initiative.
New
Lockerbie Campus – Progress Report
Any parents who
have visited the Academy or driven past on the Glasgow Road will
have noticed that work has begun in earnest on the new Campus.
At the time of writing,
concrete is being poured for the foundations and much groundwork
and landscaping has already been achieved.
A Campus Communications
Group has been set up to keep everyone informed of the latest
developments.
The Academy has
a notice board displaying plans, plus ‘photo of the week’ and
‘days to go’ countdown (24 June 2010) to keep pupils and staff
up-to-date and involved in the process.
The Contractors
(H & J Martin) were happy to be involved in the recent Science
rocket project using their sophisticated measuring equipment to
calculate how far each rocket travelled.
Battlefields
Trip – September 2008
The Last Post Society
in Ypres has agreed that Lockerbie Academy pupils visiting the
Battlefields this year can lay wreaths as part of the official
ceremony at the Menin Gate on 19 September 2008. They have also
agreed to allow the school to provide a piper to play the lament.
This is a huge honour and a great recognition for the school.
S3
Monitors 2008
Monitors will be
appointed in May. Please encourage your child to apply for this
responsible position. Information will be given at an Assembly
in the near future.
Dougie
Maclean Concert
Tickets are selling
fast for the Dougie Maclean Concert on Tuesday 27 May 2008, priced
at £15 (£13 to Scotland Supporters Club members).
If you wish to buy tickets, please phone the ticket hotline on
01576 202189 or e-mail dmaclean@all.dumgal.org.uk.
This is an evening that the local community should not miss.
‘Gaun
up tae the Big Schule’
Copies of the history
of Lockerbie Academy (author, Isabelle Gow) are still on sale.
If you wish a copy, please call at the school office to purchase
a book (price £10). Alternatively, telephone 01576 202189
or e-mail dougank@all.dumgal.org.uk.
Lockerbie
Academy Bulb campaign
In September 2008,
Lockerbie Academy will be giving people the opportunity to buy
top quality spring bulbs. This will be the third time that the
school has linked up with “The Bulb Man” to raise funds for the
school. Pupils will bring home coloured brochures at the end of
August/September with the orders arriving in school directly from
the growers on 2 November onwards.
Pupils will distribute
their orders within a few days of their arrival, a procedure that
‘The Sunday Herald’ of 14.8.05 recommends, as this means that
“these bulbs do not spend time on hot dry shelves of the shops!”
The previous two
campaigns have made a profit of £1,195.48 which was used
to improve the outdoor environment for pupils. Moreover, our top
selling pupils were given cash prizes for their efforts. Our September
fundraiser will be used to buy more outdoor seating/planters for
our pupils to use, before re-location to our new school.
We hope that you
will support us in this ‘bulb project’.
Tesco
Computers for Schools Vouchers
Once again this
year we are collecting Tesco Computers for Schools vouchers. On
average, we collect about 6,000 tokens per year. This represents
£60,000 worth of shopping at Tesco each year – no small
amount. Normally, the tokens are ‘banked’ for two or three years
while we gather enough to send in a decent order. Please continue
to collect and send in the vouchers because, as they say at Tesco,
“every little helps”.
Thoughts
on being in S1
Your first day is
very nerve-racking, because you’ll be scared about getting lost
but it’s really nothing to worry about, every first year gets
lost a few times. If you are lost ask somebody where to go. I
know I was very scared about finding my way around the school
but you do remember a lot from the induction days, so don’t worry
you’ll be fine when you get there.
Another thing that
might worry you is settling in, so use the induction days as a
chance to make new friends. You’ll find more friends as you go
through first year. I only made a few friends in the induction
days but now I’ve made more. Just make sure you’re being yourself
and you’ll settle in fine.
When you come to
Lockerbie Academy, you might come across new subjects that you
never had a chance to do in primary, but that’s the fun about
it. You get to try things you’ve never done before. You’ll also
get a lot of different teachers which is nice because if you have
a problem you have more people to talk to.
The work is a lot
more challenging at Lockerbie Academy, but if you have any problems
with the work ask for help then your teacher can see what you
can and can’t do.
You will have a
lot more opportunities at the Academy. You can go into competitions
and win house points, you can join clubs and you can be a class
rep and much more. There are so many opportunities here, just
take them.
I know the school
seems massive but it’s not. It just looks it when you first get
there. Don’t worry you soon get used to it.
At lunch, you can
buy it at the canteen, or you can bring a packed lunch. If you
want your lunch in the canteen, make sure you bring your Young
Scot card. To top up your card, you put it in a machine and you
put your money in and the money goes on your card. I have really
enjoyed my first year at Lockerbie Academy.
Tarryn Kempson-Hopkins,
1CK
From the primary
to the academy it’s a bit frightening at first, but if you find
and make friends then they will help you even if they are S3.
In induction week you have an assembly which explains everything
you need to know. It’s a bit nerve-wracking because you don’t
know most people, and you’ve got to think ahead and think about
targets. In induction week you get shown around by your S6 buddies,
who are friendly and helpful.
You get to know
your teachers and your way around pretty quickly. If you ever
get worried about finding classrooms ask a teacher or your friends.
Most people only get lost once or never.
You will get to
know how the classroom numbers and letter codes work, that’s how
most people get to classrooms if your class has been moved to
a different classroom because of tests, and exams that kind of
thing. All teachers are nice and friendly, and you will get on
with them well if you obey the classroom code, as well as any
other teachers rules, if they have any.
There are lots of
different jobs like class reps and eco school committee. This
gives you a chance to change the school for the better. In classes
you make and do lots of different things like in Home Economics
you make apple crumble, in Social Subjects you learn about Scotland’s
history and in Technical you make models and work with wood, saws
and drills.
You will enjoy working
and learning in Lockerbie Academy.
Connor McLaughlin, 1GK
Dates
for your diary
| Apr 23 |
S3 exams begin |
| May 1 |
SQA exams begin |
| |
S4 Study Leave begins |
| May 5 |
May Day Holiday |
| May 12 |
Parental Forums, 7 pm |
| May 13 |
S5/6 Study Leave begins |
| May 15 |
S1 Parents' Evening, 7
- 9 pm |
| May 23 |
P7 Football Festival, King
Edward Park |
| May 26 |
S4 Study Leave ends |
| May 27 |
Sports Day, 1.30 pm, King
Edward Park (parents, friends welcome) |
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Dougie MacLean Concert, 7.30
pm |
| May 28 |
S3 Parents' Evening, 7 -
9 pm |
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S1 Hadrian's Wall trip |
| May 30 |
S5/6 Study Leave ends |
| Jun 2 |
New timetable begins |
| Jun 11 |
SQA exams finish |
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Celebration of Achievement
evening, 7.30 pm |
| Jun 20 |
S5/6 Prom, Lockerbie Manor,
7 pm |
| Jun 23-27 |
Primary Induction Week |
| Jun 25 |
P7 Curriculum Information
Evening, 7 - 8.30 pm |
| Jul 1 |
S6 Team Building day |
| Jul 2 |
S3 Activity day |
| Jul 4 |
Whole school Health and Fitness
day |
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School closes 3.30 pm for
Summer Holiday |
| Aug 4 |
SQA results available online |
| Aug 5 |
SQA results received by post |
| Aug 7 |
Consultation Day on exam
results 10 am - 12.30 pm |
Dates for
Parents’ Evenings 2008 (7.00-9.00 pm)
Dates for Curriculum Information Evenings 2008 (7.00-8.30pm)
School Holidays 2008
| May 5 |
May Day Holiday |
| July 7-Aug 18 |
Summer Holiday |
Parents
are requested to try to arrange family holidays during the school
holiday dates. The school cannot grant permission for holidays
taken during school time and all such absences will be marked
as unauthorised.
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