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Headteacher Update 20/01/2020 - 24/01/2020

Welcome to the Headteacher Update.

It has been a busy week in Alloa Academy with many of our senior learners taking part in the Assessment Block (prelims). These will continue this coming week and the assessments are an important measure for seniors and teachers to assess the progress made.

I hope the pupils achieve well and use the feedback effectively on the run up to the final SQA exams in May.

Mark Brown Programmes

It was great to see some of our S2 learners graduate from the Mark Brown Programme 'Best of You' this week.

Led by Mark Brown, the programme is designed to allow participants to experience and realise their own untapped potential, to massively increase their confidence, self-belief and ability to self-motivate and remain resilient during times of chaos, conflict and transition. As you can see from the photos, our learners thrived!

Through building strong and authentic relationships, the programme leader built trust and rapport with each participant. By doing this Mark was able to uncover their hidden talents and abilities through creative workshops and coaching sessions.

The young people involved worked together to participate in challenges which stretch their comfort zones, helped build their confidence and raised their aspiration and expectation of themselves. This inspirational guest speakers included Craig Mathieson (Polar Academy) and Lorna Walker (Compassionate Systems) who are hugely sought after in their fields..

On the final day, Mark led the graduation and gave the learners personal feedback in front of the group and invited guests (Guidance, Parents, DHT) . It was very powerful and emotional for everyone involved.

A special thanks to Linsey McKinlay who coordinated the group and supported the learners. 

https://www.compassionatesystem.com/

https://thepolaracademy.org/#about

Cup O' Kindness

Well done to Taylor and Amy who won the first pupil(s) of the month reward. They were each gifted a Cup O' Kindness (Alloa Academy Water Bottle) for their hard work.

As you all know, Taylor and Amy go above in beyond for the wider school on a regular basis. In the last month, they have supported school dances, helped at parents/cares information evenings, supported younger learners in St Mungo's and read out tannoys.

Well done.

Thanks Mr McGhee with coming up with the great idea an sourcing the gifts.

Library - Reading Schools Pilot 2019/20

Reading Schools is a programme designed by Scottish Book Trust to recognise and reward schools for building and sustaining a whole-school reading culture in their setting.

This is a prestigious whole school initiative involving all staff and pupils. The aim is to demonstrate “that a school is focused on improving the literacy attainment of every child, no matter their background, and on fostering curious, open-mined and resilient learners who have the skills needed to survive and thrive in a rapidly-changing world” (SBT Action Plan Template 2019/20).

We are doing lots of great things in our school to build and sustain our reading culture, but we can always do more! Our Reading Leadership Group of staff and pupils meet regularly to discuss progress and ideas. We have also created a Reading Schools vision statement, which reflects our school values:

To further embed a reading culture we have linked this to our values of Respect, Ambition and Resilience.

Respect

We believe that reading should be at the heart of our learning. Developing our reading culture will allow us to experience and understand other viewpoints, cultures and lives beyond our own.

Ambition

Reading for pleasure will contribute to our success in school and in life after school. A life-long love of reading will equip us for the next stage in our journey.

Resilience

We can overcome challenges through reading and learning. Reading will improve our independent learning skills, support our physical and mental well-being and help us to achieve.

If anyone would like to join our Reading Leadership Group, we would welcome any new members. Please contact Mrs Smith (Librarian) or Mrs Sykes (Languages).

Running

Mr Hale, Mr Lynch and Mr McCracken will be running the Alloa half marathon in aid of supporting Alloa Academy's EASN department.

Their aim is to support EASN pupils gain the experience of prom. To do this they need; chaperones for the night, travel to and from the event and and any extra will be put towards suits, kilts or dresses. All of this is in order to give our EASN pupils a proper send off as they have overcome many obstacles as they have progressed through school. It is only right that we do the same.

If you wish to support the cause, you can donate using the link below.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/let039s-get-easn-to-prom?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet

Good luck gents, we are all very proud of this.

Outdoor Learning

It was nice to see some of our learners embrace the winter sunshine and get out into our amazing community. We live and work in an amazing part of the country and it is a pleasure to see our learners enjoy it.

Champion

Congratulations to Lachlan Morris who took part in the Boccia Championships. lovely to see Lachlan proudly wearing his winners medal from the event. Well done .

Prelims

Makaton

Makaton is a unique language that uses symbols, signs and speech to enable people to communicate. It supports the development of essential communication skills such as attention and listening, comprehension, memory, recall and organisation of language and expression.

it is pleasing to see an increase in the use of Makaton across Alloa Academy from pupils and staff. The images below show our learners in EASN learning new signs to support their learning.

Tweet of the week

This weeks 'Tweet of the Week' goes to our Kate Somervail and our staff who deliver the Duke of Edinburgh.

To have 53% of our S3 learners choosing to take the Duke of Edinburgh, speaks volumes for how our pupils value the learning experiences.

Pupil Equity Fund 2019/20

To share with the community, some of the strategies we have in place at Alloa Academy, we have developed the following report (see link below).

I hope you find the report interesting and if you have any questions in relation to PEF please get in touch.

Pupil Equity Fund

Standard and Quality Report 2018/19

I have included the following link to the Alloa Academy Standard and Quality Report 2018/19. It reviews the progress made in the last academic year.

Alloa Academy Standards and Quality Report 2018/19

Parents/Carers Information Evening future dates

S2 - Monday 2nd March 2020 4.15pm – 6.45pm

Finally

Thank you to the pupils who supported in keeping our school tidy last week. We have noticed an increase in pupils dropping litter in the courtyard and we will be targeting this area to ensure it is kept tidy.

Lets work together to ensure our amazing school is kept tidy!

Have a good week,

Regards

Colin Bruce

Headteacher

@AlloaAcademy

@colinbruce1980

#achievingatalloa