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Newsletter - Issue 80 - Friday 29 March 2019

LARKHALL ACADEMYLARKHALL ACADEMY

The Greatest Showman

Staff and pupils at Larkhall Academy held ‘The Greatest Showman’ Theme Day on

Thursday 28 March to celebrate the learning and achievements of the S1 cohort. In the lead

up to the event, S1 pupils undertook lessons across the school in many subjects, which allowed them to engage

with and learn more about this blockbuster movie. During lunchtime on Thursday 28 March all pupils and staff were invited to come and share the experiences of the S1 les-

sons whilst enjoying the delicious ‘Carnival’ inspired menu supplied by the school canteen. Entertainment was provid-ed in the form of a sing-a-long to The Greatest Showman sound-track; Carnival Games and Pie the Teacher. All pupils and staff were invited to dress up for the day and

all money raised will be donated to SeeMeScotland which raises awareness for mental health.

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HEADTEACHER’S MESSAGE

We Aspire We Believe We Succeed

As we approach our Spring Break, which will be followed closely by our Easter weekend

holiday, it is startling to reflect on how quickly this term has passed. Prelims, course choices for S2-S5 and ensuring internal assessments are completed for SQA courses, in addition to the day-to-day life of the school, have made this an extreme-ly busy term.

You will be aware that we have faced significant staffing challenges through the term and before Christmas. We have already started planning for next year’s staffing and to date we have made 6 new permanent appointments, all of whom will start in August. We ex-pect to make 4 more permanent appointments over the next week. With the addition of cover staff and NQTs, there will be around 20 new staff in place in Larkhall Academy af-ter the summer and I expect us to be fully staffed at that point. A wealth of new ideas, ex-

perience and knowledge will enhance our teaching team and will help us build on the strong learning and teaching in our school. Next term, we’ll be consulting on our school vision and values and parental views will be an integral part of this process. After the summer break, we’ll have a further consultation on our curriculum, to ensure we provide our young people with the skills and qualifica-

tions required to thrive in the world of work. I would like to thank you for your continued support of the school and I hope you enjoy a peaceful break. Andy Smith Head Teacher

SQA EXAMINATIONS

All S4-S6 pupils will be on study leave from Thursday 25 April – Tuesday 28 May inclusive. Pupils will be issued with personalised exam timetables after Spring break. Pupils must ensure they ar-rive in school 15 minutes prior to the start of the exam. Should a pupil be ill on the day of the exam and unable to attend please call the school office and ask to speak with the Year head. Any absence from an exam due to illness must be followed up with a medical line within 5 working days. All S4 and S5 pupils will return to school on Wednesday 29 May where they will begin their new timetable for session 2019/20. Best of luck everyone.

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Effective Contributors

Transition Evenings

Mrs Gilfillan and our PT Pupil Support staff were happy to welcome our future S1 pupils and their parents/carers to our transition events which took place in the last few weeks. This allowed pupils and parents/carers the opportunity to attend two eve-nings where pupils could meet others in their regis-tration classes, and house groups, as well as their Pupil Support teacher. The pupils worked extremely well with one another and showed great enthusiasm during the event where they took part in people bin-go, a treasure hunt and a lesson on the support available at Larkhall Academy. We are confident that they will show the same levels of enthusiasm throughout their first year at Larkhall Academy.

YPI Initiative Pupils from Larkhall Academy are currently tak-ing part in the Youth and Philanthropy Initiative for the third consecutive year. All S3 pupils have been working hard on the project since January. The initiative involves pupils identifying a social issue in the local community and then choosing a charity which works to address the issue. Groups meet their charities and prepare a presentation to convince a panel of judges why they are deserving of a £3000 grant. Last month a wide range of local charities came along to a Charities Fayre which was held in school which gave pupils the opportunity see some of the fan-tastic work being done in the local community. The grand final will be held in school on 21 May. Good Luck to all of our groups and their chosen charities.

Silver Success Congratulations go to the members of the Larkhall Academy Concert Band and their conductor Mr Chris Bradley who were successful in gaining a Silver plus certificate at the Scottish Concert Band National Finals which were held at Perth Concert Hall on Sunday 17 March. The band received su-per feedback from the judges and it was great to see so many junior players on stage in this huge hall for the very first time. Special mention must go to Fiona Trayner and Jessica Fleming who were both highly commend-ed for their solo performances.

Breakfast Club

As part of the Health and Well-being initi-ative, Breakfast Club continues to oper-ate in Larkhall Academy every Friday morning. Pupils arrive at school at 7 am and are given the opportunity to take part in a number of different sporting activities. They then sit down to-gether and partake of a healthy breakfast before be-ginning their lessons at 8.45 am. This club is well attended and is open to all school pupils from S1-S6. What a great way to start the day!

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Successful Learners

Numeracy Ninjas Pupils in S1 at Larkhall Academy have been taking part in Numeracy Ninjas which is a mathematics pro-gram designed to fill gaps in pupils’ mental arithmetic and numeracy skills. Each of our S1 pupils completes a 5 minute skills test each week which includes: 10 questions on mental numeracy calculation strategies, 10 times tables questions and 10 questions on key topics that must be mas-tered before studying for their Nationals. The tests are then marked in class and their Ninja Score is recorded out of 30. This score corresponds to a particular colour of Ninja Belt. Congratulations go to the following S1 pupils who have earned the cov-eted Black Ninja belt. This is a great achievement as only a Ninja Score of 30 will earn pupils the Black Ninja Belt!

Munro McLean 1F Abby Madden 1F Chloe Bradshaw 1A2 Erin Moncrieff 1A2 Chloe Hill 1G1 Hayley Hetherington 1G1 Alfie Warren 1G2 Max Andrews 1G2 A special mention must go to Munro McLean (1F) who has earned the black belt at least 3 times and as such has been awarded a certificate for Grand Master status!

World Book Day As part of the English department's World Book Day celebration a compe-tition for all S1 pupils was held on the 7th March. This involved pupils choosing a book they had previously read, re-designing the front cover and completing a 200 word challenge which aimed to persuade someone else to read the book. Congratulations go to the three winners who will each receive National Book Token vouchers to spend. The names of pupils are listed below, along with the title of the book they entered with. 1st Prize - Laura Watson 1S - ‘Born To Run’ (£20 voucher) Runners up - Chloe Moore 1A - ‘Wonder’ (£10 voucher)

Tiegan McFall 1G - ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’ (£10 voucher)

S1 - CPR

All S1 pupils at Larkhall Academy participated in workshops on Wednesday 27 March in which they were taught CPR skills. These workshops were led by Dr McGregor and Miss Dunn from the Science Depart-ment who were assisted by students from the senior health sector class. CPR stands for cardiopulmo-nary resuscitation. It is a life saving medical procedure which is given to someone who is in cardiac arrest. It helps to pump blood around the person's body when their heart cannot. During the workshops the pupils were taught how ad-minister CPR with the use of CPR Kits containing inflat-able mannequins. By teach-ing CPR to these pupils it is hoped that we can help cre-ate a nation of life savers.

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Developing the Young Workforce

Industrial Links ….. Over the last few months staff and pupils at Larkhall Academy have been establish-ing and building links with a local manufacturing company – Probe Test Solutions Ltd who are based in Hamilton. PTSL is a world leading company who deliver advanced ATE test hardware solutions to blue chip customers all over the world. A group of staff from different faculties within the school were given the opportunity to visit the company during the In-set Day on Wednesday 13 February. They enjoyed meeting management and employees of the company and were given the opportunity to tour the workplace and gain some hands on experi-ence. This was followed a few weeks later when a group of senior pupils were also given the opportunity to visit the company. During this visit the pupils were given the opportunity to learn lots about probes, en-gineering and quality assurance, whilst improving their skills of dexterity, precision and patience. This business link has been established by the DYW (Developing the Young Workforce) team within the school. It is hoped that by developing the skills of our young people within a business environment that it may lead to employment and advancing career prospects for some of our pupils.

HP Inc has awarded £25,000 to Larkhall Academy as part of a campaign to improve the quality of STEAM learning in schools. STEAM is an educational approach to learning that uses Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathe-matics as focus areas for guiding learning and critical thinking. Our delivery of technology has now been delivered. We have received larger monitors for two computer suites to enable enhanced graphic editing, introduced dual-screen technology where one monitor is used to code and the other demon-strates the live updates, increased our number of Chrome-books for Art, Maths and Science as well as widened access to voice-typing to nearly all subject areas. We look forward to sharing with you the impact this technology is having on our learners.

HP Community Tech Fund

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Idea Award

During their personalised learning periods, pupils from 2A and 2G have been undertaking “The Duke of York” Inspiring Digital Enterprise Award, known as the “iDEA award” (an international programme that helps students develop digital, enterprise and employability skills for free) with their tutor Mr Divers from the DLE faculty. iDEA is a blended learning approach that aspires to be a digital and enterprise equivalent of The Duke of Edinburgh Award. Prince Andrew - (The Duke of York) is quoted as saying “iDEA HOPES TO PLAY A CRUCIAL ROLE IN ENSURING THAT PEOPLE HAVE THE BEST POSSIBLE OPPORTUNITIES TO BECOME ECONOMICALLY ACTIVE – TO GET JOBS”. Whilst working through this award pupils have to complete the following badges: • CITIZEN BADGES - Digital awareness, safety and ethics. • WORKER BADGES - Tools and techniques which are useful in the workplace, and employability skills. • MAKER BADGES - Digital creativity and building and making in the digital world. • ENTREPRENEUR BADGES - How to originate ideas and bring them to life. • GAMER BADGES - Gamification techniques and help people learn how to make games.

Congratulations to five S2 pupils who have now completed their Bronze award from this programme. These pupils are: Emma Gilchrist, Emma Murdoch, Ben Surgenor, Lewis Thomson and Ellie Rodger. It is hoped that a number of other pupils will also complete this level within the next few weeks.

SLC Dance Competition

Congratulations to the Larkhall Academy S1-S3 dance troupe who were successful in winning the Best Overall Team Performance (S1-S3) at the South Lanarkshire Active Schools Secondary Dance Competi-tion which was held at Hamilton Town House on Wednesday 20 February. The girls gave an amazing and emotional performance in which they showed their support for Macmillan Cancer Support. The message they communicated to the audience and the judges through their beautifully choreographed dance was that ‘They stood for cancer survivors’. To add to their success, one of the group members Aimee Curivan (2G) also won the award for The Best Individual Performer (S1-S3).

The girls are pictured from left to right - Emily Stevenson, Daisy Jamieson, Aimee Curivan, Keira Muncie and Ava Meikle.

Our senior dance troupe also per-formed at this event. Their group included Eve Hinshelwood, Amy Fleming, Ava Duncan, Sarah Mooney, Milly Bell and Ellie Mooney. The girls showed enormous commit-ment and even man-aged to rehearse dur-ing their prelims. A special mention should go to Eve who choreographed the whole dance herself.

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.. Performing Arts ..

SLC Showcase Pupils from the Performing Arts Department took part in South Lan-arkshire Council’s Instrumental Music Showcase on the evening of Thursday 7 March. This evening showcases the very highest quality instrumental and vocal music performed by a selection of soloists, con-cert bands, orchestras and ensembles from all SLC schools. This year the Scottish Ensemble Group from Larkhall Academy per-formed “Shotgun” by George Ezra and their performance was enjoyed by the audience present in The Town House in Hamilton.

Holocaust Memorial Day

Congratulations to S3 pupil Holly Muir who was chosen to perform at the SLC Holocaust Memorial Service which was held at Duncanrig High School in East Kilbride on Wednesday 23 Janu-ary. Holly performed a piece of music entitled ‘Suite Antique’ on the flute. She was accompanied by Mrs Michael on the piano. Holly is pictured below with her music tutor Mrs Michael.

Battle of the Bands Larkhall Academy’ own S3 Rock Band - ‘Dechipher’ performed their original song “Honey” at the SLC Battle of the Bands competition which was held on 6 February at Hamilton Town House. Following on from last year’s inaugural event this com-petition certainly had the audience rocking as the selec-tion of young bands from SLC schools performed quali-ty rock and pop music. Decipher gave a fantastic performance on the evening and the staff in the Perfoming Arts Department were very proud of their achievements. Listen to this performance on: https://t.co/65fjl0NQpn

Larkhall Academy Music Department Youtube channel has recently broken through the 50,000 views mark. This channel contains demonstration videos and backing tracks which help all music students to prepare for their practical exams. Great to see that the students are good making use of this valuable resource.

On 5 February a group of students from the mu-sic department attend a Brass Concert for Schools entitled “Heroes and Villians” in the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow. The concert had performances from both Junior and Senior Conservatoire players and included some familiar tunes such as Danse Macabre, Music for the Royal Fireworks and Dance of the Knights. This event was enjoyed by all.

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Responsible Citizens

International Women’s Day On Friday 8 March 2019 at Larkhall Academy, we cele-brated International Women’s Day in line with other coun-tries around the world. International Women’s Day recog-nises the various achievements of women across the world in economic, social, cultural and political terms. Pupils were introduced to the topic by two fantastic key-note speakers; Lady Susan Haughey and Leila Khan, who addressed topics including equality, mental health and career opportunities. The pupils took part in vari-ous workshops later in the afternoon where they met females with inspiring career backgrounds; the pupils en-gaged in further discussions and had the chance to ask any questions they had. Our superb guests included Val de Souza - South Lanark-shire Council’s Director of Health and Social Care; Ann Black from the Scottish Ambulance Service; Caitlin Hickey from Probe Test Solutions and Chloe Aitken - a current S6 pupil with a great dealing of sailing experience and achievements. The event was well received by all with excellent feed-back from guests regarding the engagement of pupils.

Socialbite Miss McCallion, Andrew Kenny (S6 ) and Jade Keirs (Former S6 pupil) attended the Socialbite Malala Thank You Dinner at EICC Edinburgh on Wednesday 13 March. They were invited to this event because Larkhall Academy came in the top ten list of fundraisers who took part in the Wee Sleep Out towards the end of last year. There were over 400 people at this event celebrating the £7.6 million total which has been raised for the charity over the past two years through events such as Sleep in the Park and Wee Sleep Outs. The Larkhall group were honoured to listen to an interview with John Simpson CBE and Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani activist for fe-male education. She is known for at the age of 17, becoming the youngest person to win the Nobel Peace Prize after surviving an as-sassination attempt by the Taliban. The evening also included comedy from Fred MacAuley; a live auction; a speech from Ni-cola Sturgeon and Socialbite’s founders Josh Littlejohn and Alice Thomson.Josh

Littlejohn and Alice Thompson.

Prom 2016 This year’s Senior Prom event will be held in Dalziel Park Hotel, Motherwell on Tuesday 25 June from 7 pm until 12 mid-night. Transport from the venue will be provided at the end of the evening to Larkhall, Stonehouse and Netherburn. The cost of the ticket will be approximately £40. This is an event which all pupils and staff look forward to a great deal and it is therefore important that everyone plays a part in ensuring the success of this event. A let-ter summarising our standards and expectations for this event can be read on the Twitter feed or online on: http://www.larkhall.s-lanark.sch.uk/docs/letters/190319_-_Prom_Letter_2019.pdf

SQA EXAMS Don’t know where to start? Perhaps try a study plan? It can help you prioritise your work. Check out:

SQA’s ‘My Study Plan’ app

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South Lanarkshire Cross Country

Friday 29 March School Closes for Easter at 2.30 pm Monday 15 April School re-opens at 8.45 am Friday 19 April School closed for Good Friday Monday 22 April School closed for Easter Monday Thursday 25 April SQA exams begin Monday 6 May May Bank Holiday - school closed Tuesday 7 May In Service Day - school closed to pupils Friday 24 May May Bank Holiday - school closed Monday 27 May May Bank Holiday - school closed Tuesday 18 June Junior Prize-giving - S1-S3 Friday 28 June School Closes at 1 pm

Congratulations to all 26 pupils from Larkhall Academy who competed in the South Lanarkshire Schools Cross Country Championships which were held at Biggar on Wednesday 6 March.

All pupils showed great resilience to the inclement weather conditions, the muddy running conditions and the pressure of the competition. Special congratulations to Dean Hill who won the S1 race and to Thomas Watson S5 who won the silver medal in the senior boys’ race. A special mention must also go to Sophie Evans who finished in 4th place in the S2 Girls Race.

Football Success

Congratulations to S4 pupil Matthew Henderson. Matthew is a mem-ber of the Rangers U17 squad who have just become the first British side to win the prestigious Al Kass International in Qatar following a dramatic penalty shoot-out victory over Roma in the Final. In a field that also included the likes of Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain, Rangers emerged victorious in what is a stunning success for the club's academy. Although Matthew sustained an in-jury, he played very well during the early part of tournament. Well done!!

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Out and About

Six Nations Rugby On Saturday 9 March 16 pupils accompanied by 5 members of staff travelled to Murrayfield, Edin-burgh to watch the Scottish Rugby team play against Wales in the Six Nations Rugby Tourna-ment. Although it was a very cold day, everyone thor-oughly enjoyed this experience. Scotland played well but unfortunately the final score was 11-18 to Wales. As a result of the two visits to rugby games re-cently and the interest in the sport which has been shown by our pupils we are now working with Hamilton Rugby Club in an attempt to start up our own school Rugby team who will hopefully compete in local festivals and tournaments.

ASN Residential Trip Three S1 pupils from the ASN Department were given the opportunity to complete an outdoor expedition in Badaguish, Aviemore from 11-14 March. Accompanied by Mrs Ramage and Gordon McGregor of Paradventures, the boys orienteered and planned their walking route using an OS map. They enjoyed the picturesque glaciated scenery at Loch Morlich and An Lochan Uaine (Green Loch) and toasted marsh-mallows in a bothy. This trip gave our pupils (Ben Callan, Lewis Court and Brandon Jackson) the chance to develop excellent communication and leadership skills. Throughout the week the pupils were a credit to Larkhall Academy and worked very well as a team.