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Dates For Your Diary
October Holiday – Friday 11th October
Inservice – Monday 21st October
Pupils Return – Tuesday 22nd October
S5/S6 Parents’ Evening 4pm-6.30pm -
Monday 28th October
Anti-bullying Parents’ Information
Evening Thursday 31st October
Children in Need - Friday 15th November
S4 Parents’ Evening 4.00-6.30pm Tuesday
26th November
Senior Phase Prelims Begin Mon 2nd Dec
National 5 Prelims- 2nd December until
10th December
Christmas Assemblies/close 2.50pm –
Friday 20th December
Higher and Advanced Higher Prelims-
6th January until 16th January
Head Teacher’s Message Dear Parent/Carer,
Welcome to our first newsletter of the new session. I hope
that you find the information useful.
It has been a busy start to the term and the first eight
weeks have flown past. Our new S1 have settled well into
Prestwick Academy and are very positive about their new
school.
In the last few weeks we have launched Show My
Homework to replace the old homework diaries. The
uptake by pupils and parents has been encouraging and is
continuing to grow week by week. As a result it is
improving communication between the school and home
to support young people with their learning.
The latest updated version of our school calendar is on our
website, where you will find the key dates for events over
the coming session.
Finally, I would like to wish each of you an enjoyable
October break.
Best wishes
Mark Anderson
Acting Head Teacher
Individual Highlights
Welcome S1
Celebrating Success
Young Singer of the Year
Library News
Sport
Follow on Twitter @pwkacademy Website: www.prestwick.sayr.sch.uk
re
Welcome to our 218
new S1 supported
by our piper Lewis S6
guard of honour
and many proud
parents.
S1 Welcome Disco
Welcome to Our New S1
S1 met their S6 buddies. The guidance team trying out the inflatables
after watching the S1/S6 buddies having so
much fun
1st years had a fantastic day at Auchengillan outdoor centre. Everyone had a great day and it
proved a great bonding/teambuilding exercise between pupils and their respective House staff.
The Prestwick Academy Guidance team were delighted with the success of the S1-S6 buddy
afternoon.
Harris - Mrs Hughes Lewis - Miss Russell Skye - Mrs Blackwood Eriskay - Mr Hamilton Tiree - Mrs
Alexander
Auchengillan Outdoor Centre
We are proud to have celebrated the success of our young people and their families at our
Senior Prize Giving. The 2019 Dux was Cameron Suttie and former Prestwich High School pupil,
Professor David Purdie, gave a highly entertaining and informative speech on the town of
Prestwick.
S6 attended an Alcohol Awareness course with PTG Mrs Alexander. Where they completed
training to share their knowledge with other year groups through PSE.
On Thursday 5th September 2019, following a successful interview process, our newly appointed
Anti-Bullying Ambassadors attended training with The Diana Award at the High School of
Glasgow. Our young people hope to raise awareness of anti-bullying strategies throughout the
year and provide support to their peers. They hope to officially launch their work in November
to coincide with National Anti-Bullying Week.
Senior Prize Giving
S6 Training
Anti-Bullying Ambassadors
Mr Anderson and Mrs McGoldrick accompanied five representatives from our Pupil
Leadership Team to the Pupil Council Conference at the Royal High School of Edinburgh
on Thursday 26th September. The day was an exciting opportunity to network with other
schools and learn from others’ good practice. The group will subsequently meet to plan
for young people across the school to take on leadership roles and be involved in
implementing positive change across the school.
MacMillian Coffee Morning
On Thursday 19th September we hosted our
annual staff MacMillan Coffee Morning and pupil
dress-down day to raise funds for MacMillan
Cancer Support. This year, we raised a fantastic
total of £1174.96 – thank you to everyone for their
generosity!
Pupil Council Conference
The West of Scotland Schools String Orchestra and Training Band performed in City
Halls, Glasgow. Well done to all and especially the young musicians and instrumental
staff from schools across South Ayrshire. Congratulations to Naomi for winning the String
Orchestra award
Carers Day
Prestwick Academy was honoured to host Prestwick Carers Day again. We enjoyed a
wonderful day.
Chief Inspector Brian
Anderson whilst at
Prestwick Academy
for Carers’ Day I
caught up with the
campus cop, PC
Stewart, who was
busy seeing the kids
off for the weekend.
He loved the notice
at the front
door.....simple but
very true and we
should all remind kids
of it!
Young Singer of the Year
Congratulations to all our performers tonight.
MUSIC
All our Young Singer finalists - well done
everyone
Brilliant performances at our Young Singer
Competition 2019
Library
EDINBURGH BOOK FESTIVAL
In August the library
organised a trip to the
Edinburgh Book Festival.
This year we attended two
events, a workshop and an
author talk. First of all we
took part in a crime writing
workshop with Matt
Wesolowski. Pupils and staff
engaged in a selection of
guided activities looking at
the different perspectives
you can write from. The
second event was a talk
from two authors, Mel
Darbon and David Owen
who spoke about their most
recent novels based on the
theme of accepting our
differences. Pupils were
also given book vouchers to
spend in the bookshop and
we even managed to enjoy
a bit of sunshine. The library
has copies of all the books
from the featured authors.
In which Gray Crosbie interviewed Dean Atta and
Rachel Plummer about their new books (Black Flamingo
and Wain). We also discussed the importance and
availability of LGBTQ identities in young adult literature.
We will be showing this at our next Equalities group
meeting for pupils who couldn’t watch it live.
POETRY DAY
The theme of
National Poetry Day
2019 was “Truth”. We
celebrated with S3
pupils by gathering
together to watch
the BBC Authors Live
event,
LIBRARY COMMITTEE
Our library committee have been very busy
already this term and we are currently in the
process of recruiting some of our new S1 pupils to
complete this year’s team. We will post on Twitter
once everyone is in post. Plans for this year
include:
Taking part in activities and initiatives for
the First Minister’s Reading Challenge
Running activities for Book Week Scotland
Working with our feeder primaries to
highlight the library and everything it can
offer
Launching a library podcast
It looks set to be a busy and exciting year for us!
BOOK WEEK SCOTLAND
‘Book Week Scotland is an annual celebration of books and
reading that takes place across Scotland’. This year’s theme is
Blether so we will be getting our pupils and staff to engage in
conversations about books and reading. There will be a range
of activities planned across the school but one we are very
excited about is our book bistro. We will announce our full
range of activities at the start of November.
The library is open every day before and after
school and we also run the following clubs \ groups
Tuesday after school - Communi+y
(equalities group – all pupils welcome)
Thursday lunchtime - Creative Writing Club
Friday lunchtime – Games Club. Pupils can
bring their lunch and play a variety of
games in the library. We also have staff
from the Games Café in Ayr join us once a
month with even more new games to try.
Remember to follow us on Twitter
@PWKAcademyLib
FIRST MINISTERS READING CHALLENGE
Over the next year, Prestwick Academy will be taking part in the First Minister’s Reading
Challenge. Previously this has been limited to primary schools but they have recently
launched a secondary version. The idea is to create, or in our case improve our reading
culture within the school. We will collect and collate
evidence of everything we do over the year to submit in
May. We will be taking part in \ launching a wide range
of activities \ initiatives throughout the year including:
S2 house reading challenge (OCT – APR)
Staff reading champions
Activities for Book Week Scotland
Currently reading posters \ displays in
departments
Subject book lists \ displays
Library podcast
Book recommendations
Activities with our feeder primaries
Activities for World Book Day
Keep an eye on our Twitter for more information and to follow our journey.
ACCELERATED READER
Our S1 pupils will be taking part in Accelerated Reader this year.
Accelerated Reader is a computer-based programme that encourages pupils to read
books at an appropriate level and then challenges them with quizzes to test their
understanding of the literature.
Pupils will undertake at least three “Star Tests” throughout the year to establish reading
ranges and monitor progress. After each test, pupils will be given a reading range as
opposed to a mark and this will enable them to select appropriate books according to
their ability. As a general guide, pupils should select books at the lower end of their range
and, if they do well in the quizzes they can progress through this range. However, pupils
are not restricted to this and we would encourage them to read as much as possible. Both
fiction and non-fiction books are included in the Accelerated Reader section of the library.
You will be able to follow your child’s progress through the Home Connect feature which
allows you to view what your child has read and how they have performed on their
quizzes. You can also set up email alerts to see your child’s quiz results. Please refer to the
Home Connect information letter included for details of how to login.
There will be regular updates on our Twitter page and further information can be found
on our website.
@PWKAcademyLib
CyberFirst
iDEA Award
The Duke of York Inspiring Digital Enterprise Award (iDEA)
is an international programme that helps people to
develop digital, enterprise and employability skills for free,
and enhances their chances in the job market.
iDEA gives people the chance to earn digital badges
while developing skills, gaining knowledge and learning
information about the digital world. The modules
(badges) also help people reinforce their understanding
about subjects they might already know a bit about.
iDEA is for people of all ages! https://idea.org.uk/
S2 girl Zara achieved the Bronze award seconds before
the school bell rang for summer. An excellent
achievement in just over a week! During the first week of
the new term Zara secured her Silver Award and she waits
patiently for the Gold to be released. Fantastic work
Zara!
Launched in May 2016, and inspired and led by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC),
a part of GCHQ, CyberFirst began as a programme of opportunities helping young people
explore their passion for tech by introducing them to the world of cyber security. As well as
the yearly competition, CyberFirst also run courses for 11-17 year olds.
After reading a tweet on @PrestwickCompSc 6th year Eriskay pupil Erin signed up for the
week long residential at Paisley University in July. During this time Erin gained advanced
skills in some of the key areas of cyber security:
Computing Science
Implementing digital forensics
Understanding encryption technologies
Using open source intelligence techniques
Penetration testing
Erin really enjoyed the course and would recommend
others sign up for it next year. Well done Erin!
Biology Trips
Pupils had a fantastic visit to the Apprenticeship Fair
on the 3rd October. Great info from the employers
Skye's S1 group were out giving a little back to the community. A successful litter pick
Excursions
S2 pupils attended a Countryside
careers day at Dumfries House
where they heard from a huge
variety of speakers about potential
career options. S3 and Advanced Higher pupils
visited Culzean to take part in
sampling organisms within the
woodland and visited the shoreline.
Swimming Fresh from the Swimming European DSISO Championships in Sardinia. Cerys won 3 individual
Bronze medals in the 50m, 200m and 400m freestyle events. She was also part of 2 relay teams
which took Gold and a Bronze Medal in the freestyle events.
Sailing
They did it again! Scottish Feva Sailing Champions 2019! Absolutely superb Jamie and
Scott well done defending your title
Sporting Success
Sport and Recreation
Well done to Euan and
the u19 Scotland team
qualifying for the
Cricket World Cup!
Many congratulations to
Catriona who receives the
Champion of Champions
Quaich for winning Junior,
Intermediate and Senior
Sports Champion over the
last 3 years!
Fantastic to have our P7's from
Heathfield with us for our L6 Sport &
Recreation pupils to deliver their
Basketball blocks, great dribbling
and passing skills on show today!
Sports Champion Cricket
Ski Team
A fantastic start for the Prestwick Academy Ski Team with S3
Mckenzie finishing 2nd in the SSSA Freestyle final! A tremendous
effort.
Athletics
Fantastic day for our Prestwick Academy team competing at the Scottish Schools Road
Race today at Pittencrief, Dunfermline, great result all round from Prestwick and the South
Ayrshire contingent!
Lucy & Sarah are our new Young
Ambassadors.
A fantastic performance from both
Prestwick teams in the SSSA
competition. Team A finished 3rd in the
open competition and Team B finished
1st in the S1-3. Both teams progress to
the finals at Braehead. McKenzie also
claimed 1st prize in the head to head!
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