Contents...
Follow us on Twitter
@st_johnsacademy
Welcome from the Headteacher
Festival of the Arts
Health week
Breakfast club
Parent Council
Fairtrade shop
Battlefields Experience
Sports Awards
Senior prom
Award ceremony
Notice Board
St John’s RC Academy- Newsletter
Notes from the Headteacher...
Dear Parent/Carers and Friends of St John’s RC Academy
Welcome to our final newsletter of session 2015/16.
As always, it has been a very busy year and this newsletter highlights just some of the manyactivities over the last term. As you can see from the content, our staff continue to providegreat opportunities to help our young people achieve so well in so many different ways.Nursery staff were delighted with their recent inspection report, and are working hard toensure that the nursery experience here is excellent. In primary, many of our P4 childrencelebrated their First Holy Communion and P7 have been getting ready to move onto the nextbig stage in their education. In the secondary, senior pupils have been studying hard andundertaking N5, Higher and new Advanced Higher exams. Many of them have just returnedfrom their Battlefields trip where they remembered all those who gave their lives in the GreatWar; they will be leading us on the last day of term as we remember the 100th anniversary ofthe Battle of the Somme on 1 July.
Over the past month we have been celebrating the many successes of our young people.Our first Sports Awards evening was a great success with Roddy Grant as our speaker, andwe have had award ceremonies and assemblies for all ages over June. Special thanks mustgo to our local MSP, Depute First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, MrJohn Swinney, for his keynote speech at our S3-6 Awards Ceremony. His inspirationalspeech really made the night an extra special one for us all. Congratulation to all our awardwinners, and to Mrs May who received the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice Award from Pope Francisfor her contribution to Catholic education.
The end of the school year is a time of goodbyes. We wish all our leavers well for the future,and I particularly thank Laura Wardlaw and Andrew Blain, our outgoing Head Girl and Boy,and their whole team for all their hard work: Deputes David; Fiona; Justyna; Liam; HouseCaptains of St Margaret: Harris and Cally; of St Andrew: Anthony and Rosa; of St Columba:Sarah-Jane and Conall; of St Ninian: Laura and Niall. We also welcome our new Head Girland Boy, Katie Henderson and Adam Chudzinski; Deputes Morgan, David, Michael andAmber; House Captains of St Margaret: Joseph and Katherine; of St Andrew: Kacper andIona; of St Columba: Orla and Summer; of St Ninian: Kaytie and Adam.
A number of staff are moving on too – and some have already left us. I thank Mrs Vikki Blackfor her contribution as Acting Depute Headteacher, Katherine Kane from the Mathsdepartment and Kerry Ramsay from Drama. We say farewell to our probationary teachersAggie Barrett from English, Nicole Murray from Music and Louise Ward from the primary. Wealso said goodbye to Mrs Gill Mitchell, PT of English as an Additional Language who retired inMay, Lisa Jackson from our support department who is taking up a permanent post at PerthAcademy, and after 19 years teaching within our Primary, we wish Lauren Foreman bestwishes and every success as she takes up the post of Pupil Support Teacher at InchviewPrimary School. We also wish Jennifer Rae every good wish as she moves to the Bahamasto teach. I also thank John McManamon, our outdoor learning instructor, who has beencovering a maternity position – we hope to see him in another role soon. On behalf of thewhole community, I know you would want to join me in thanking these staff for everything theyhave done to help our young people.
Looking ahead to next session, I know many parents will be buying new clothing foruniforms. I thank parents and our pupils for their commitment to coming to school every dayready for learning – people regularly comment on how fantastic your children look when theyvisit the school. A reminder of what our uniform includes (and doesn’t include) is in thisnewsletter for guidance.
As I come to the end of my second year as Headteacher, I would also like to take thisopportunity to thank you for the support you have given to me personally and to the schoolas a whole over the past year. Your support is central to the success of our school and tothe success of our children and young people. I can’t thank you enough for all that you do.
To all our families, our best wishes for a great summer and I hope the sun shines on youwherever you are - home or abroad. Feel free to tweet your happiest photos@st_johnsacademy. We’d love to see and share them.
Enjoy this special family time. God Bless.
Festival of the Arts
On Thursday 19 May pupils performed at a lunchtimeconcert as part of Perth's Festival of the Arts at St John'sKirk. The programme consisted of solo and small groupitems from the secondary pupils and brass items fromPrimary 5 and Primary 6. All pupils performedmarvellously and showed themselves to be a credit to ourschool through their attitude and demeanour. This is thesecond time we have taken primary pupils as well assecondary and it was a great success. Pictures of thepupils appeared in several local papers. Everyone in theaudience was very appreciative.
Seán P HagneyHeadteacher and Campus Leader
A group of senior pupils recently took part in anannual Triathlon run by Lomond School on thebanks of Loch Lomond. Louise Ford, RheaMurray, Briony Hodge, Robert Young, AlexGribben, Dio Paderog, Isobel Joughin andSean Montilla all accepted the ‘Challenge’ andcompleted the following stages in teams of 2:
� 2km Canadian Canoe� 4km Mountain Bike� 3.2km Run
Congratulations again to all pupils forcompleting the course. A special mention to the teamof Robert Young and Briony Hodge who came secondoverall in the mixed event.
Lomond Adventure Challenge
Health Week
The primary celebrated health week on 4th-6th of May. The pupils all came in their sportsclothes and took part in a busy week full ofsessions designed to help look afterthemselves and develop a healthy body andmind. There were lots of different activitiesavailable such as cooking, running,gymnastics, yoga, art for relaxation, footballand more.
We also had excellent sports dayparticipation from all involved and luckily thesun stayed out all week! The healthcommittee also introduced a healthy snackchart and trophy; each week the class withthe greatest number of healthy snacks getsthe trophy for their classroom. This hashelped encourage healthy eating and willcontinue now weekly.
The 'Big Bike Breakfast' was a huge successthis year. Lots of pupils and parents joined inon the cycle though the North Inch andbreakfast on arrival at the school.
We would also like to say a big thank you toall the staff, volunteers and parents whohelped make it a wonderful week.
P3 is investigating how weather ismade. We had a science afternoonand carried out some experiments.We made a tornado in a jar and triedto make a rainbow, but the sunwasn't shining. We also investigatedhow thunderstorms are made. We made rain gaugesso that we could take them home, put them in ourgardens and measure how much rain we get.
P3 Science Afternoon
A nut rit ious breakfast select ionA good social at mospherePart icipat ion in informal act ivit iesJoining in special event sMore likely to feel great
A great start to the
£2.00 per session for all pupils.Available from 8.00 am every school day!
ClubBreakfast
school day! The club takes place in the schooldining room with food items suchas cereals and toast beingregularly available and plenty ofoccasional items such as yoghurts,fruits, special toasts, omelettes,muffins and porridge.
It is widely accepted that breakfast is
the most important meal of the day and
by providing a healthy, balanced
breakfast and a relaxed, social
atmosphere in which to eat it, your
children are being offered a great start
to the day. The breakfast club has dedicated staff.There are activities available each day for either
groups or individuals – all children will be involved
and if on some days they just want to read on theirown – well, that’s OK too.
The breakfast club will not normally require
you to reserve places – it works on a drop-
in basis. Accordingly it is your responsibility
for the child’s safe arrival into the school –
school absence procedures will not be
active until normal class time begins.
School crossing patrols are not in place earlier.Children remain under the supervision of the clubstaff until the start of the school day, unless yourequest otherwise.
Parent Council News...
The Parent Council held their last meeting of thisschool year on 7th June. Two long standingmembers of the group attended for the last timeas their children leave school. Many thanks toAleta Donaldson and Louise Wardlaw for theirhard work and commitment over the years.
The P7 leavers disco was held on 10th June;many thanks to those members of the ParentCouncil fundraising group who organised andhelped with the event.
The Parent Council supplied the cake for thefirst Holy Communions held on 5th June; we hopeeveryone had a fabulous time celebrating their special day.
The next meeting of the Parent Council is to be held on 7th September, 7pm in thelecture theatre. This will be the AGM and we are looking for nominations for the vacantpost of Vice Chair.
Any interested parties should email [email protected]
The school shop is open every Friday lunchtime(opposite school office in street area).
Ryan Geddes, Jodi Whiting and Beth Allen runthe shop and keep it stocked with a selection offair-trade gifts and school stationery items - all ofwhich are priced very competitively!
Ideas of other products we should stock? Please speak to Ryan,Jodi, Beth or Mrs Sandilands.
Fairtrade School Shop
On Friday 29 April S3 pupils participated inan all day workshop run by the NationalTheatre of Scotland. It was based around anew production by the company - 306:Dawn- that tells the story of soldiers who wereexecuted for cowardice and desertion in theFirst World War. Activities included lookingat the various stories of the soldiers,thinking through themes such as betrayaland loss and composing background musicfor the scenes. On 27 May pupils attendeda performance of 306: Dawn which wasstaged in a barn in the Perthshirecountryside. This was a very powerful piece oftheatre and its message will stay with the pupils for years to come.
Music & Drama Workshop
On Sunday the 12th of June, the 6th St John’s AcademyPals Battalion departed Perth for the Belgian and FrenchWW1 Battlefields Experience. We travelled overnight andarrived in the Port of Dover first thing on Monday morning.After crossing into France and finally reaching Belgium,pupils were given the opportunity to explore the historiccity of Brugge. Later that day we arrived at the YouthHostel and pupils were given an insight into what the nextfew days would hold.
We spent the next three days exploring the Ypres salientand the infamous battle ground of the Somme. Pupils weregiven the opportunity to visit a number of interesting andthought provoking battle sites. At the end of these threedays we were then given the honourable opportunity toattend the Menin Gate ceremony in Ypres, rememberingthose who fought during the conflict. Pupils then led theirown private ceremony, with great respect, to rememberthe soldiers of The Great War at Black Watch Corner.
On the final day pupils and staff departedthe youth hostel and started their journeyback to Blighty, changed by theirexperiences. The 6th St John’s AcademyPals Battalion was a shining examplethroughout the trip. Their attitude,behaviour and empathy made staff feelvery honoured and they too should be veryproud of themselves.
WW1 Battle Fields ExperienceBattlefields Experience
It has been a very busy year for Maths Challenge.
Pupils from both the primary and secondary departments have participated in two separatenational competitions.
Six Primary 7 pupils participated in the Scottish Mathematical Council Maths Challenge. Thisis a three round competition of tricky problem solving questions for Scottish primary pupils.The pupils worked on these in their own time (lunchtime and break times) and showed greatcommitment in completing all three rounds. Well done to Chloe Gunn, Matthew Cullerton,Grace McAninch, Calista Donald, Maria Piaszczynika and Owen Leitch.
The results were outstanding - Chloe, Grace and Maria received Bronze Awards, Calistareceived a Silver award and Owen received a Gold award.
The UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge took place early in the school year. A large numberof S3 and S4 pupils participated in this. There were ten Bronze Award winners - RuairidhSmith, Robert Young, Marta Weyer, Louise Ford, Lauren Corcoran, Jacob MacLeod,Malgosia Plociennik, Ben McLuckie, Sunny D'Cruze and Zuzanna Lipiec. There were alsotwo Silver Award Winners - Isobel Joughin and Jonathan Sloan, and Robert McCall (S4) andCol Young (S3) both received Gold Awards and qualified for the Kangaroo round, which is forhigh-scoring pupils throughout the UK. Both pupils built on this success by qualifying forcertificates for their entries in the Kangaroo Challenge, Col receiving a Merit Certificate.
The UKMT Junior Maths Challenge took place in April. Again, a large number of primary 7,S1 and S2 pupils participated. As usual, the pupils behaved and performed very well, andalthough many of them were in "the big hall" for the first time, they coped marvelously! RileyDavidson and Amielle Vasquez (both S2) received Silver Awards, whilst KayleighMacDonald, Matthew Malcomson, Josh Paterson, Nathan Rebbeck, Matthew Gribben andMartins Miezitis all gained Bronze Awards.
A special mention must also be given to Bharti Sharma in P7, one of the youngest pupils toenter from our school who narrowly missed out on a Bronze.
Maths Challenge
Preparations are already under way for the next skitrip to Pila, in Italy. The trip is open to current S2pupils only, and it will take place between Saturday28th January and Sunday 5th February, 2017. Wewill be staying at the Hotel Veneriaz.
There will be an Information Evening for pupils andparents on Thursday 1st September. Details of thisinformation evening will be issued in August.
There may still be a few spaces left on the trip. Anyinterested pupils should see Mr. Barker.
Further information about the school ski trip can befound at www.italyskitrip.wordpress.com.
Italy Ski Trip 2017
Inventor’s Challenge
Our annual Inventor’s Challenge eventwhich is organised and run by theBusiness Education and ComputingDepartment was held on Friday 13 June2016. Primary 7 pupils who will join StJohn’s Academy next session camealong to the event and worked in mixedgroupings with our current S1 pupils tocomplete a series of business tasks.
This year’s event was themed aroundthe opening of a hairdresser/barbershop and pupils had to work out basicprofit projections, choose a businessname and design a logo and a flyer toadvertise their business.
St John's Academy (secondary) hosted its first ever Schools SportAwards Night on Thursday 9 June to celebrate the endeavours andsuccesses of its young people in sport and volunteering. Theawards also recognised the commitment and dedication of the staffand volunteers who run the extracurricular programme at the school.Over 180 pupils and their family members attended.
Twenty three pupils were recognised for their volunteeringcommitments within school and the wider community. Pupils wereawarded for their commitment and endeavours towards the school'sextracurricular programme and we also commended our pupils whohave achieved sporting success at school, regional or national level.
Our guest speaker, Roddy Grant of St Johnstone FC, delivered atruly inspiring speech about how sport has helped him through hislife whilst coping with ADHD. We enjoyed presentations by pupilsIsobel Joughin and Harris Blain on their experiences in sport andvolunteering at school and in the wider community. We were alsotreated to wonderful performances by Ellie Menmuir (gymnastics)and Amy Gallagher (dance).
The event showcased all the sporting and volunteering opportunitiesat our school and the evening culminated in the presentation toIsobel Joughin as School Sport Personality of the Year.
Schools Sport Awards
Once again we had a wonderful evening at theSenior Prom. As in previous years, the eventwas held in the Huntingtower Hotel, Perth.Staff and pupils alike had a wonderful eveningwhich began with photos. We sat down to alovely meal and then danced the night awayto the music provided by the band “Lost inMusic”. It was wonderful to see our young peopleall grown up; they looked amazing. Thanks to allwho made this a very memorable evening.
Senior Prom
On the 21st and 22nd of June, St John’s RC Academy celebrated our juniorand senior award ceremonies, hosted by Depute Headteacher, Mr HughMcAninch. This year, we were honoured to have the distinguishedguest Mr John Swinney MSP. John Swinney is our local MSP,Depute First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education andSkills. He spoke of his learning journey and the importance ofeducation on individuals, on families and on our country. MrSwinney also spoke highly of our school, praising our ethos andachievements, and celebrating the individual achievements of ouryoung people. We were also blessed with the return of Mrs AudreyMay who came to pick up her deserved Papal award for hercontribution to Catholic Education. The award, Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice, isa high honour given by the Vatican at the petition of Bishop StephenRobson. Mrs May, dressed as always for the occasion, said that she feltvery unworthy to receive this, but accepted it as a gift and a grace.
Headteacher Seán Hagney presented his annual report, highlighting themany achievements of the school. In the S3-6 ceremony, he alsohighlighted the achievements of this year’s S6 and the important legacywhich they leave us with.
The evening was, of course, focused on our very own St John’s Academypupils who provided some wonderful entertainment on the night. Theschool orchestra played uplifting music and the soloist Jordanne Finlaysonsang a moving and powerful version of ‘I Dreamed a Dream’. Piper ChloeDonaldson belted out the school hymn and the band Indigo Sunday got the crowd going.Presentations made by Mr Robertson showed the achievements, diversity, fun and activitiesundertaken at St John’s. Outgoing Head Boy and Head Girl, Andrew Blain and Laura Wardlaw,also delivered a very moving but poignant speech about their time at school.
Naturally, the main event of the evening focused around the prize winners. In the Junior AwardsCeremony, forty students received a certificate of Excellence and fifty students received aCertificate of Endeavour. Within this, were Aaron Frampton and Millie Quinn-Rembisz whoreceived the Parent Council Award. Kerry Rigby received the Headteacher Award forachievement in S1 and Rebekah Rose received the Headteacher Award for achievement in S2.
In the senior Awards Ceremony, there were well over 100 prizes awarded. These includedJustyna Mlynarczyk who was awarded the Perth and Kinross Dux medal. Liam Marlborough wasawarded the Proxime Accesit Award for high achievement and Abigail Bednarek, Col Young,Sean Montilla and Aiden Smart were awarded the Headteacher award for Achievement.
Overall the evening was a great success and everyone was uplifted and inspired. It felt anhonour to be part of a well-run and entertaining evening and we thank all the staff, parents andstudents who were involved.
Awards Ceremonies
Maths NoticeS4 Progression to S5
S4 pupils wishing to return to school for a 5th year and unsure of which maths course to
study in S5, should seek advice from their class teacher as to the most appropriatecourse of study. Teachers will take into account S4 grades, current attitude to work,effort, application and conduct in class, completion of homework and potential ability inmaths before recommending a specific course of study in S5.Maths Homework Requirements : Information for ParentsParents are reminded that pupils receive maths homework on a regular basis. It is expectedthat this homework will be completed and returned to class teachers when required.Homework should be regarded as being a 3-way partnership, comprising pupils, teachersand parents.
Parents are encouraged to help develop a positive attitude in their children towardshomework. Pupils, and parents, are reminded that homework consolidates classwork, andthat better grades can be achieved through a healthy attitude towards homework.Class teachers will issue homework on a regular basis to pupils. This may take the formof written homework (from textbooks, booklets, worksheets, etc.), online homework viamaths-based websites, research and reading, or puzzles and problem-solving questions.The completion of regular homework is a crucial part of the learning process. Homeworkis not optional, if pupils are to achieve to the best of their ability.Further details or advice can be obtained from Mr. Barker in the mathematicsdepartment.
Study Support for MathsPupils wishing extra help/support, consolidation of classwork, revision, or preparation forexams should contact their maths teacher, or a member of the mathematics department,in order to arrange suitable times for tutorials (lunchtimes or after school). A fullprogramme of study support will be finalized in August.
Return of Textbooks
Pupils who have recently finished S4, S5
or S6 should return all textbooks
(including other materials and resources)
to the maths department as soon as
possible, in order that they can be issued
to new S4 – S6 sections. Parents are
asked to encourage pupils to seek out all
resources that belong to the maths
department, and to return them to school.The ParentPay link is now live on our website.
Visit: www.st-johnsacademy.org.uk
