2014-15

GRANGE ACADEMY

REVIEW

Schools are about so much more than simply the passing on of knowledge and skills to our young people in order to pass exams, and success is about so much more than winning the race, gaining good grades or being ‘top of the class’. While such things are important and should indeed be celebrated it is important to take a deeper look at the many wonderful gifts and talents our young people have. The following pages give a snap shot of the many opportunities pupils have had here at Grange Academy over the past session to grow and develop through participation in not only curriculum areas and subjects but also through the ethos and life of our school community. It is through taking part in such activities that our young people develop the skills and attributes which they will need in life, in work and further learning— self-confidence, social skills, team-work, resilience, thinking skills, problem solving, leadership skills . . . the list goes on.

2014-15 has been a busy year for everyone. Having introduced the new National Qualifications in all subject areas through to Higher we are now in the final stages of implementation of the new curriculum. Although this has been a very challenging time for pupils and staff alike I am confident that the quality and standard of learning and teaching here at

HEADTEACHER’S REVIEW

At the end of another busy year we take time to reflect on our journey here in Grange Academy and to all families and friends of our school community we take this opportunity to thank you for your support and encouragement throughout session 2014-15.

Grange Academy is of a very high standard and continues to improve year on year. Pupils in our Senior Phase have shown considerable grit and determination in their preparation for exams—hard work which I am sure will be rewarded in exam success.

Finally, as we come to the end of the session I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of two members of our staff who have served the Grange community for many years. We wish Mr David Hollywood (Technical) and Mrs Elaine Roberts (Mathematics) all the very best for the future as they begin their well earned retirement in August.

OUR FINAL YEAR AT GRANGE ACADEMY

INTERVIEW WITH OUR HEAD BOY AND HEAD GIRL

Andrew Chapman and Ellen Roy were elected Head Boy and Head Girl at the start of session 2014-15. Little did they know what lay ahead of them in the coming year!

Our sixth year has certainly been an experience we will never forget. From the start we have faced new challenges like being selected to be Head Boy and Girl for the school, an honour in itself. With this came lots of responsibilities like:

- Representing the school - Expressing the pupil voice - Organising events within the school - Co-ordinating prefects

This is a mere snapshot of what we have achieved. However, we cannot take all the credit for this. Our Senior Prefect team has been a fantastic help. As a team, we communicated and worked together to ensure that any task we carried out met our own standards upon completion as well as those of the brief we were following. It is amazing just how much we have managed to learn from one other. Both of us have represented the school at many events throughout the year ranging from witnessing the referendum vote count in September to running 5km in a Santa suit through the centre of Glasgow in December. From making small talk with MPs and MSPs to launching a Scots Dictionary App; everything we have done has taught us something new or allowed us to develop life skills.

As proud pupils of Grange Academy, having the opportunity to make our mark on the school and help shape its future has been a great privilege. We are both very strong willed and opinionated people so from the start of the year we agreed that when we gave our word to a project, we would complete it to the best of our abilities. This philosophy has served us well and it is something we will both carry forward as we leave to move into the big, bad world ahead. Our greatest - but most enjoyable - challenge has to be the Children in Need event we organised in November. The event is always a big deal for pupils in the school so we felt the need to go all out and produce a spectacle to be proud of. After months of preparation, stressing and generally freaking out on our part, the event ran smoothly thanks to the assistance we got from the S5&6 pupils who kindly volunteered their time to help us. More importantly everyone who attended and helped at the event had fun and enjoyed the day. The icing on the cake came later when we were told that we had managed to make in excess of £9600 for what we feel is a very worthy charity. Overall, our experience of sixth year has been one filled with laughter, tears and fun. We have made so many memories within the past 10 months that will stay with us for the rest of our lives and we cannot express enough gratitude to the staff and pupils that have made this possible.

Neither of us will forget this year.

Grange Academy was named overall winner at the national Salters’ Festival of Chemistry held at Glasgow University in May.

The competition, which is run in partnership with the Royal Society of Chemistry, was attended by a team of four S1 pupils, namely Gemma McTaggart, Jenna Niven, Carter Frew and Liam Davis. The team spent a day in the University’s Chemistry department where they took part in two challenging competitive practical activities. They had to demonstrate their skill in the laboratory by solving a forensic challenge through a series of experiments, using several techniques unfamiliar to them. The team had to maintain their focus and show real determination to beat off strong competition from 18 other schools from across Scotland. And that is not all. Grange Academy’s Science department has been selected to participate in Glasgow University’s Schools Collaborative Crystal Chemistry Project, a unique opportunity to be part of a large distributed research project with 30 other schools. Students will work in tandem with Glasgow University learning about crystal growing with a view to discovering a new compound in the classroom.

P7 pupils from our associated primaries had their first exciting experiences of biology, chemistry and physics at Grange when they took part in our fantastic science fair.

More than 260 pupils enjoyed a wide range of fun experiments and activities with new classmates. The children were divided into 14 aptly-named groups – The Mitochondria, The Einsteins, The Catalysts, The Electrons, The Golgi Bodies, The Hydrocarbons, The Oscilloscopes, The Atoms, The Newtons, The Ions, The Gamma Rays, The Noble Gases, Higgs Boson and The Nucleotides. Topics explored included energy, living things and matter, where budding young scientists explored questions posed by the greatest scientific minds of our time. Pupils carried out scientific tasks in challenging and enjoyable workshops – including Flame On, Radical Radiation, Rocketeers and Whodunnit? - presented by our own teachers and staff from Glasgow Science Centre and Owl Magic. The youngsters also found out about the huge range of interesting careers they could pursue in science around the world – everything from being a vulcanologist, to a forensic scientist or oceanographer.

Science matters

Our first Grange Maths Camp was held in March when over 60 students packed up their calculators and headed to Dounans Activity Centre near Aberfoyle for a weekend of intensive Higher Maths and Advanced Higher revision. Nine teachers from the Grange Maths Department volunteered to accompany the students and provided ten 90-minute sessions of Maths across the weekend. Small groups of between six and nine students allowed more personalised support than is possible in class and this made a huge impact on students’ Mathematical skills, confidence and motivation. Students were provided with booklets to work through during the sessions and had more to take home which helped to provide greater focus for future revision. In addition to the teaching sessions and the Sunday morning exam, the Dounans staff led the group through outdoor activities such as archery, radio rescue and tree climbing. There was also a fiercely contested quiz on the Friday night and a problem-solving task on the Saturday night where Higher Maths questions needed to be solved to uncover the combination to a locked treasure chest of goodies. And it wouldn’t have been a Grange Maths event without teacher Chris Smith cranking up the “geek” factor a notch or two. Students and teachers embraced their inner geek by wearing customised Math camp 2015 hoodies and t-shirts and temporary tattoos. Twitter was buzzing with Math Camp tweets and updates; and several schools from across the UK, and beyond, have approached Mr Smith to ask for advice on how to plan their very own Math Camp adventure. The event was such a success that our Maths Department is already planning their next Camp.

Maths teacher and resident Maths geek, Chris Smith, led the annual celebrations of PiDay at Grange Academy with a Pi in the Sky(line) event. Each year, Mathematicians across the planet use 14 March, which is written as “3.14” in America, to recognise the most famous Mathematical constant π which has a decimal part which is infinite and never repeating. This year the date 3.14.15 made it even more special since the first few digits are mirrored in the date - Pi starts 3.1415926.. Mr Smith mobilised students in the games hall to create a skyline of buildings with each digit of pi being represented by a building with the corresponding number of storeys. At the end of the day, 150 digits of Pi provided a stunning visual representation of the number spanning the length of the hall. The gym hall was buzzing with enthusiasm and some Annanhill Primary pupils took the opportunity to join in the fun too. In addition to all the PiDay action, the school also benefitted from a visit from Professor Adam McBride, OBE, who delivered a talk about hidden Maths in TV show The Simpsons to S3 pupils and a fascinating lecture to senior pupils on the beauty and usefulness of Maths. Finally congratulations to our S3 and S4 pupils who performed very well in the UKMT Challenge. A number earned Gold, Silver and Bronze certificates in this tough competition. Three S4 students, Calum Boyle, Conor Barr, and Holly Leitch did so well that they achieved “Pink Kangaroo” awards. Angus Docherty of S3 excelled once again, securing a Hamilton Award, qualifying for the next round of the Olympiad; an outstanding achievement from a promising young Mathematician.

Mathematics

On Sunday 22nd March, Miss Bolton’s Higher English class decided to step outside their comfort zone to complete the Craufurdland 5km Mud Run.

“I wanted my pupils to experience a challenge and I was keen for them to adopt a more positive attitude towards the hurdles they face in their education. It was certainly a challenge, but we fought our way through the mud with plenty of enthusiasm and laughter. Everyone made it to the end with a smile on their face and I was pleased to hear them raving about it when they returned to school. The class definitely benefited from the experience and our “If you can do a mud run, you can do anything” mantra has been great during the exam period. We will definitely be signing up for the 10km next year! “

Young people and staff from various East Ayrshire Art and Design departments worked with visiting Artist Sue Blackwell, learning various techniques for book sculpting, including the generation of ideas and concepts, through to the realisation of three-dimensional work. The youngsters then went on to create their own sculptural pieces to commemorate the life and work of Clarice Shaw.

Our very own S3 pupil Charley Skilling won first prize for her stunning book sculpture. Her piece was meticulously put together, with outstanding attention to detail and intricacy. The piece is pictured below along with Charley’s narrative.

“I created the Old school house because she used to be a trained music teacher and I believe that school is where many people are inspired and their personal journey begins. The footsteps leading up to the school house represent Clarice’s steps to better education and also the legacy she has left behind which has benefitted us all. The smoke coming from the chimney of the building, with words on the ends, represent her ideas and her attitude of flying free. The tree is an international symbol of life and strength and shows her ever present strength of character and determination. The leaves surrounding the tree suggest the idea of change and growth which I believe is evident both in Clarice Shaw’s time and in our present day.”

This year, Grange Academy once again took part in the annual Gaelic short film competition run by Film G and made a splash!

Every year there is a Youth category for schools to enter into and the intention is to inspire learners to get involved with some media skills and drama production. It is an exciting competition with schools from all over Scotland taking part and we were so excited this year to be shortlisted for two awards, both Best Actor (Helen Frater S3), and Best Theme. At the Awards Ceremony Grange was successful in winning the Best Theme award for the school and our Gaelic pupils were up on stage with some of the BBC and MG Alba showbiz!

Gaelic short film competition

It has been an incredibly busy year for the Music and Drama Department – full of creativity, hard work and innovation.

At the start of the session Senior Music pupils took part in the Gerard Richter project at the Dick Institute; pupils worked with the composer Marco to compose an original piece of music which was inspired by the artwork of German Artist Gerard Richter. The compositions were performed at the Dick Institute and a DVD was produced to celebrate the enriching experience had by all.

Shortly after, Senior Drama pupils presented their own original plays to an audience in Grange Academy; the plays were written and directed by pupils and as always, the enthusiasm, hard work and dedication displayed by all was a credit to the department.

The Christmas concert was a sell out with standing room only available! Pupils from Annanhill, Grange Music and Drama S1-6 performed many Christmas songs as well as showcasing course material.

Senior Drama pupils visited the Citizens’ Theatre in Glasgow to see a fantastic performance of ‘ The Slab Boys’; the Senior choir performed at Princes Square in Glasgow to raise money for the Quarriers charity in the run up to Christmas.

From January to April, all S2 Music and Drama pupils, alongside Park S2&3 pupils took part in a Scottish Myths and Legends project which led to a performance to family and friends.

The hard work and creativity of young people and staff came to a spectacular culmination in this this year’s school show – Footloose. With memorable performances from all members of the cast, an outstanding band and support from backstage crew and sound / lighting specialists, the performance will go down as one of the best from Grange Academy.

The Duke of Edinburgh Award within Grange Academy is going from strength to strength; the award continues to be a popular choice for S3 – S6 pupils as they progress from the Bronze Award to Silver and then to Gold.

During the academic year, Grange Duke of Edinburgh participants collectively volunteer hundreds of hours working for many local charities and/ or helping to support many local community and sporting organisations. Pupils also spend a significant amount of their own time working to improve their own physical fitness and a skill of their choosing.

This year we have 24 Pupils who are currently working towards the completion of the Gold DofE award; the Gold expeditions undertaken and/or planned range from Sailing, Kayaking and walking in the Highlands.

It is expected that over 30 of our Silver participants will complete the Silver award after successful expeditions on the Isle of Arran and a planned qualifying walk on the challenging Muirkirk to Elvanfoot route.

We have over 50 Bronze pupils who are on target to complete their first Award by September of this year. The Bronze practice and qualifying expeditions are undertaken on the Isle of Arran and we have had a quite a range of weather conditions to contend with!

The number of pupils who plan to start the Bronze award next session has significantly grown; in addition to this the number of pupils who plan to progress to Silver and Gold is also expected to increase. In light of this, we need to find news ways to help manage the large cohort of pupils that wish to undertake the Duke of Edinburgh Award.

Should you be in a position to help us with either administrative support, fund raising and/or expeditions please email: kirsten.mcgregor@eastayrshire.org.uk

This has been a busy year in the Modern Languages Department with activities taking place in both Broad General Education and Senior Phase.

In October, Andrew Aitken and Jason Guo travelled to Edinburgh to take part in an Event organised by the Confucius Institute based in the University of Edinburgh. Activities were organised by visiting teachers of Chinese and also students and included calligraphy, art and language workshops and dance. The day was rounded off with a Chinese meal in a restaurant in Edinburgh before returning to Kilmarnock. In November three senior pupils travelled to Gleneagles to take part in the annual Youth Summit organised by SCEN (Scotland China Education Network). Susannah McWhirter, Skye Sgouridis and Jason Guo enjoyed the presentations given and had an opportunity to network with other young people studying Mandarin across Scotland. Preparations are well underway for two Grange Senior pupils travelling to China this summer as part of the Bridge Summer Camp in Beijing and Tianjin. Ross Fitzpatrick and Lachlann Ross were selected to take part in the trip and are very much looking forward to their experience. As part of their two week visit they will have an opportunity to visit our partner school the Xinhua High in Tianjin and visit Chinese host families. Both pupils completed a day’s language

In January the Modern Languages Department organised an International Day for all S1 pupils. The young people of S1 worked around four workshops in which they took part in a music quiz, made international bookmarks, learned the art of Chinese knotting and also calligraphy. February then saw the S2s brining in the Year of the Goat with a wide range of activities ranging from Chinese shuttlecock to origami. Chinese New Year was further celebrated in a New Year event organised in the Grand Hall. This involved 30 S1 pupils from Grange Academy who worked with pupils from both South and North Ayrshires. The day event saw pupils rotating around six workshops (Tai Chi, Shuttlecock, origami, music, calligraphy and Peking opera mask painting). This was the first inter-authority event and was coordinated by Grange Academy. In June a group of ten pupils attended a Science Fair in Glasgow and took part in workshops in French. The title of the conference was “Energy for a Sustainable World” and was designed to broaden knowledge of science through the language they are studying here in school.

Modern Languages

Term 1

In-Service Day 1 Mon 17 Aug 2015

Pupils return Tues 18 Aug 2015

Local Holiday Fri 18 Sep 2015

Local Holiday Mon 21 Sep 2015

Close Fri 09 Oct 2015

In-Service Day 2 Mon 19 Oct 2015

Pupils return Tues 20 Oct 2015

Close Wed 23 Dec 2015

Term 2

Re-open Thurs 07 Jan 2016

Close Fri 12 Feb 2016

In-Service Day 3 Thurs 18 Feb 2016

In-Service Day 4 Fri 19 Feb 2016

Pupils return Mon 22 Feb 2016

Local Holiday Fri 25 Mar 2016

Local Holiday Mon 28 Mar 2016

Close Fri 01 April 2016

Term 3

Re-open Mon 18 April 2016

May Day Mon 02 May 2016

In-Service Day 5 Fri 27 May 2016

Local Holiday Mon 30 May 2016

Close Thurs 30 Jun

NB Good Friday—25 March 2016 Easter Monday—28 March 2016

LOOKING AHEAD TO 2015-16