U13 Football
S1 football team managed to defeat Prestwick Academy last week on penalties 5-4, after a 2-2 draw. This results puts the boys into the Ayr and District Cup Final, to be played on Monday 29th April KO 6pm. Their final league game is next Wednesday against Queen Margaret Academy, and a win could potentially put the boys into the semi-final of the Ayrshire Cup.
Tickets for the Cup Final are available from the PE Dept at the school or at Dam Park on the night. Child £1—Adult £2
Scorers in game – K Poole & C Skilling
Penalty Scorers – S Millarvie, K Beauchamp, K Poole, M Orr & D Warnock
The boys are wearing the new S1 strip that was purchased by the school.
Girvan Academy – Go4Set 2013 West of Scotland Celebration and Assessment Day
WEST OF SCOTLAND SCHOOLS COMPETE FOR ENERGY SAVING AWARD
Girvan Academy won the best overall project at the Go4Set West of Scotland Celebration and Assessment day, held at the University of the West of Scotland in Paisley, on Thursday 21st March. The team consisted of Ailsa Buchanan, Alan Carle, Monthawat Tohthom, Natalie Purdie, Jack McCulloch and Charli Davidson all in S2. Girvan Academy went into the West of Scotland final as the 2012 Ayrshire Champions and Scottish finalists.
The aim of Go4SET is to stimulate the interest of young people in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). To achieve this pupils underwent a 10 week project to solve a STEM problem – “Energy and your school”, competing against other schools. The Girvan team drew on the experience of our link organisation Grants, to gain an understanding of their project within a real world context. They also visited Colmonell Primary School to find out more about their energy saving techniques.
Well done to the Girvan team who will now progress to the 2013 Scottish final in Glasgow City Chambers on May 15th.
Carrick Gazette Article
http://www.carricktoday.co.uk/news/local-headlines/award-for-girvan-energy-team-1-2860620
Putting Girvan On The Map
The term between Christmas and Easter is the one, especially in the senior school, when pupils are required to get their head down and really focus on their studies, and yet here we are at Easter – this term seems to have flown by.
That said our young people have been out representing the school, either as individual s, or in teams, and a question that is often asked is “where exactly is Girvan Academy”. We know we are not a big school, and yet our young people have the talent and ability to hold their own against schools throughout Scotland / GB. Here are just a few examples of our pupils’ successes:
Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM)
Six of our S2 pupils were successful in winning the West of Scotland Go4Set challenge. This is the second year in a row that Girvan Academy has won the regional event. Our pupils put in many hours building models, producing booklets, and carrying out experiments. Our thanks go to William Grant and Sons Distillers for their on-going technical support and to GlaxoSmithKline for their STEM Ambassador support.
The team consisted of:
Ailsa Buchannan
Alan Carle
Charli Davidson
Jack McCulloch
Natalie Purdie
Monthawat Tohthom
Roddy Mackay William Grant and Son Distillers Process Engineer
Gareth Rae PT Technologies
Chess
Christina Espinosa S4 is the Scottish Chess Secondary Girls Champion. This is the third year in a row that she has won this title.
Monica Espinosa S1 has won 3 National titles in 2012
- Scottish Girls champion for her age group
- Chess Scotland Primary Individual (Boys and Girls)
- British girls U12 champion
In the primary individual, she is the first girl in 30 years to win the title!!
Athletics
Fraser Stirling S3 was part of the Scotland team that headed to Wales for the Home Countries International Match at Dinefwr Estate, Llandeilo
Strathclyde University Schools Novice Debating Competition – Saturday 23rd March 2013
David Leng, Daisy Bradshaw, Steven Wightman, Cristina Espinosa, Praphatsara Tohthom, Monica Espinosa and Andrew Leng, took park in the inaugural Strathclyde University novice debating competition on Saturday 23rd March. This competition was open to pupils who had no experience in competitive debating. The team consisting of Daisy Bradshaw and David Leng made it all the way to the final where they opposed the motion “This House would make the next James Bond a female”.
Our congratulations go to all these young people. Of course we have showcased a whole range of pupil talents this week in the school with our Arts Festival, which includes music, art, and dance. I hope you were able to share our celebration with us.
More and more people are discovering exactly where Girvan Academy is, because our young people are putting Girvan on the map.
I am looking forward to the Easter break, and our trip to Sweden with some of our senior pupils.
Thank you as parents / carers for your on-going support of the Academy, and if you have a son/daughter sitting SQA exams in the summer term, any encouragement and support you can give them to keep up their revision over the holidays would be very much appreciated.
Happy Easter
Strathclyde University Schools Novice Debating Competition – Saturday 23rd March 2013
Girvan Academy teams consisting of David Leng, Daisy Bradshaw, Steven Wightman, Cristina Espinosa, Praphatsara Tohthom, Monica Espinosa and Andrew Leng, took park in the inaugural Strathclyde University novice debating competition on Saturday 23rd March. This competition was open to pupils who had no experience in competitive debating. The team consisting of Daisy Bradshaw and David Leng made it all the way to the final where they opposed the motion “This House would the next James Bond a female”. Well done to all involved.
Girvan Academy – Go4Set 2013 West of Scotland Celebration and Assessment Day
Girvan Academy won the best overall project at the Go4Set West of Scotland Celebration and Assessment day, held at the University of the West of Scotland in Paisley, on Thursday 21st March. The team consisted of Ailsa Buchanan, Alan Carle, Monthawat Tohthom, Natalie Purdie, Jack McCulloch and Charli Davidson all in S2. Girvan Academy went into the West of Scotland final as the 2012 Ayrshire Champions and Scottish finalists.
The aim of Go4SET is to stimulate the interest of young people in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). To achieve this pupils underwent a 10 week project to solve a STEM problem – “Energy and your school”, competing against other schools. The Girvan team drew on the experience of our link organisation Grants, to gain an understanding of their project within a real world context. They also visited Colmonell Primary School to find out more about their energy saving techniques.
Well done to the Girvan team who will now progress to the 2013 Scottish final in Glasgow City Chambers on May 15th.
Comic Relief
The charity committee had been very busy organising events for Comic Relief. Staff and pupils dressed up in 80’s gear with Mr Gillespie winning the best dressed male and Mrs Howie and Mrs Foster winning the best dressed females. There was a great variety of outfits on show with pupils getting into the spirit of the occasions in very colourful and imaginative outfits. Emma McAllister won the prize for the best dressed girl and Lewis Gray won for the boys. Well done to the winners and many thanks to everyone who dressed up and donated to a good cause.
As part of the day there was a teachers versus pupils football match in the games hall at lunch time, with some very interesting outfits being worn, although maybe not quite sporty or 80’s but definitely interesting. The teachers came out on top beating the pupils 7 – 2. Better luck next time.
U-13 Football Scottish Cup
The U-13 football team has been busy this term with their Scottish Cup campaign taking them to the 4th round. The boys have had a good campaign beating Ardrossan Academy 6 – 1 in the 1st round. The 2nd round they had another strong win against Kilwinning Academy and in the 3rd round they played at home against St Joseph’s College, Dumfries. They managed a narrow 1 – 0 victory, which took them to the 4th round against John Paul Academy, Bearden. They played their 4th round match on Wednesday 20th February. Despite a slow start, going down 2-0 the boys battled back to make it 2 – 1 at half time. Unfortunately in the second half John Paul Academy got two very quick goals taking them to 4 – 1 and that made the task for Girvan very difficult. The boys showed great determination and in the last 15 minutes they had seven or eight good chances but only managed to score one goal. John Paul Academy scored with a few minutes remaining taking the score to 5 – 3. Bad luck to the boys who showed good spirit and determination throughout their matches.
PE visit to Inverclyde
A group of S2 pupils travelled to Inverclyde Sports Centre to participate in various sporting activities. The pupils were put in different groups so they were able to try out all of the activities available which included gymnastics, trampolining, golf and archery. Everyone had a great time and really enjoyed the facilities.
Easter Holidays
Girvan Academy will close at 2.30pm on Thursday 29th March 2013 and will re open on Monday 15th April 2013
Community Boat
Scottish Coastal Rowing Community Boat
Construction of a St Ayles Skiff
Girvan Project. The Story So Far…
Our aim
The aim of the Scottish Coastal Rowing Project is to provide a relatively inexpensive entry to the sport by using a design which can be built by the communities who will be rowing the boats, rather than buying completed boats from professional boat builders.
Who designed it?
The St Ayles Skiff, designed by internationally renowned small boat designer, Iain Oughtred, is based on the traditional Fair Isle Skiff.
Check on our progress
Construction of the Girvan boat began in August 2012 with the building of the frame.
Look at the photographs to follow the construction progress to date.
What materials are we using?
The Girvan St Ayles skiff is being built using the Clinker Ply method, which combines traditional and modern methods of construction. The estimated completion cost of this boat is around £3000. We are using a kit of pre-cut plywood parts and Scottish-grown timber.
Who’s who in the Construction Team?
Girvan Academy Staff Alan Gaff and David Wilson
Community Involvement Les Austin, Bill Swiatek and Walter Willis
Pupil Teams S3 Soc and Voc. Group; S3 Duke of Edinburgh Team;
S1 Pupil Support Group
What’s next?
Complete the interior fittings
Paint the hull
Launch Date
Sunday 23rd June 2013
Do you want to take part?
The St Ayles Skiff will take four rowers with one oar each, and a Coxswain to steer the boat and exhort the crew to greater effort when racing!
Future plans
The skiffs are being designed with the option to add a sail in the future, which will add to the skill and seamanship required to race the boats.
Why rowing?
Coastal Rowing is a sport which can be enjoyed by all: from teenagers to pensioners. It is one of the best forms of exercise as it uses nearly all of the muscles in the human body.
It is probably the most team-intensive sport around, as a physically weaker crew with excellent timing will beat a strong crew who cannot row well together.
Want to know more?
For more information about the Girvan Coastal Rowing Project contact
Girvan Academy
62 The Avenue
Girvan
KA26 9DW
School Catering Service – 22nd February 2013
The attached letter has been issued to pupils today -Friday 22nd February 2013.
Information Evening – 13th February 2013
On Wednesday of this week, we held two informative Parents’ Information sessions. Our first session was for parents of young people who will be entering S3 next session, and the second session was for parents of young people who will be entering S4. Along with inputs from Senior Managers in the school, Donna Vivers from SQA, and Susan Wood from Skills Development Scotland, provided additional relevant information. Parents may well wish to review the presentation slides that are attached below, as well as the link to mywoldofwork -http://www.myworldofwork.co.uk/
S5/6 Prelims
S5-6 Prelim timetable was given to pupils on Tuesday 29th January 2013.
Timetable and covering letter posted home to Parents/Carers on Monday 28th January 2013.
letter to parents S5.6 prelims
S5 Prelims February 2013 Timetable
Weather Conditions 25th January 2013
At present there is no snow in Girvan and none of the Girvan Academy associated Primary Schools have closed due to the weather conditions.
We are maintaining communication with our associated Primaries re travel conditions. However if road conditions to outlying areas are poor, please contact the school regarding travel arrangements for your child.
U15 Football
Jamie and Kieran represented the Ayrshire U15 football team on Tuesday 22nd January against Fife winning 6-1 and progressing through to the semi-finals to face either Forth Valley or Dundee. Jamie scored twice and Kieran had a good performance (playing a year above his age group).
Well done to both boys.
A Plethora of Terms
Let’s be honest, I could just have said and “excess of terms” or maybe even “far too many terms”. We can be prone to using educational terms assuming that everyone understands what they mean.
Here are some of the terms we use regularly within Curriculum for Excellence.
“Active learning” – being actively engaged, whether mentally or physically. This is probably one of the most misunderstood terms. We all get the idea that it can mean being physically active. However it also means using your BRAIN, in real life or imaginary situations.
“Co-operative Learning”- thinking and talking together. Many businesses expect their workforce to work in teams to discuss ideas and solve problems. Very often it is the creativity of team working that gives companies the cutting edge against their competitors. Encouraging young people to learn co-operatively is an essential skill.
Talking of “Skills” – this is an area that could take pages to describe. Skills are emphasised within Curriculum for Excellence. We aim to develop skills that will equip a young person for learning (throughout their life), for life itself, and for work. These include thinking about complex issues, problem solving, making judgements and decisions, developing arguments for and against, and being able to analyse data (or situations).
Active Learning – Damian (S5) developing his basketball skills including set shots, layups, passing and dribbling.
Still active learning – Nathan’s brain is fully engaged while he sits a test on web technologies.
Chloe and Lisa working together in RMPS as part of a team. Their topic is science and belief, and they are pulling together information in order to present a persuasive argument.
Katherine (S4) seeks clarification, as she develops her analysis skills while learning about new tax powers proposed by the Scottish Government
Weather update – 21st January
The Academy will remain open as normal.
The snow continues to fall lightly, but is not lying on the roads.
Please assume that the school will close at the normal time of 3.40pm today.
Weather conditions Monday 21st January
It is snowing in Girvan, however it is not lying on the roads.
We are monitoring the situation, and will review any action that we need to take at 1pm today.
The weather forecast is for the light snow to go off at 1pm today.
U14 Football
Kieran Balfour has been selected for the Scottish Regional Football Squad at U14 Level.
