Girvan Academy: 30 December 2008

Jan 2 2009

CHRISTMAS dances proved a big hit for junior and senior pupils of Girvan Academy.

Pupils in S1-3 enjoyed a selection of traditional and pop music, allowing them to demonstrate dance skills learned at PE.

Seniors enjoyed the live music provided by Miss Hutchison’s excellent band.

Thirty pupils and staff attended the Scottish Ballet production of The Sleeping Beauty at the King’s Theatre in Glasgow.

There was a special matinee performance for schools who had been involved in the Scottish Ballet school programme of workshops earlier in the session.

Scottish Ballet have been working throughout Scotland introducing ballet to a new young audience and making it more accessible.

The captivating fairytale was brought to life in a colourful production with magical effects and costumes.

Pupils and staff were thrilled with this opportunity to see a live performance.

They and had an absolutely marvellous day to begin their countdown to Christmas.

* A talent show called G Factor proved a massive hit with pupils, and raised a super £1108 for the school fund.

Girvan Academy’s answer to the X Factor saw pupils demonstrate a variety of talents, including singing, dancing and even magic.

Auditions had been held over the previous two weeks, and 13 pupils took part in the grand final.

Each performance was given a critique by a panel of judges, but the audience had the final word, voting for their favourite.

The result was: 1, Adam Prungle, with a brilliant performance of Can’t Take My Eyes Off You; 2, William McEwan and Lee Fenton’s super magic act; 3, Hannah Grater with her great version of Bleeding Love.

Finalists from the G Factor were among the performers in Girvan Academy’s Christmas concert.

Also starring were the school’s show band, brass band and folk group.

Everyone enjoyed a great afternoon’s entertainment for a modest £1 for school funds.

A special festive debate featured the motion: This house would ban Christmas.

The fun proposition was put by Peter Jeans and Matt Wilson, who argued that as elves they were overworked and underpaid.

The motion was opposed by Santa look-alikes Bobby McCormack and Adam Pringle whose skilled argument carried the vote.

So Girvan Academy believes Christmas should definitely not be banned.

Pupils who took part in therecent inter-house drama competition were rewarded with a film screening of Mama Mia. They will also get to see filmed version of their own productions on the last day of term.

S2 pupils learned Spanish for one period a week for four weeks, to coincide with the Colombian project.

They then had two periods to complete a project in Spanish on their favourite things.

Overall winner was Noi McMillan with a booklet; with prizes also going to Sarah White, with a power-point presentation; Lauren Voce, who designed a poster; Lily Woodhouse with a poster; Casey Crowhurst and Charlie Ceates with their power-point; and Claire Gray with her power-point.

Each winner got a certificate and a chocolate Santa for a superb effort, and overall winner Noi also received a £5 prize.

A group of potential winter leavers have been working towards an innovative new Employability Award, run by ASDAN.

The course has been designed to give the pupils an opportunity to build confidence and improve their employability skills.

It included Monday afternoons at Ayr College South in Girvan; two days of outdoor activities supervised by ACE; two days of planning the filming of their experiences with Enterprise Screen Productions, with a further day of helping the edit decisions.

There was also work experience over a three-week periodin the local community, and the ASDAN Employability Award course run within the school.

Girvan Academy is grateful to: Asda, Girvan; Girvan Golf Club; Invergarven School; Stepping Stones and Ayr College for supporting the pupils’ in their work experience.

Six pupils have completed their portfolios of evidence, and are in no doubt they have benefited immensely from the course.

The pupils held a a party to celebrate their success, with invitations going out parents, and groups involved in running the programme.

The pupils made a short presentation to the large audience and were presented with a See Success DVD, which included pupil interviews and footage of their outdoor activities.

Due to the success of the course several of the pupils have managed to secure placements on various training programmes starting in January 2009.

And Girvan Academy will be run the course again in the new year, with a group of 12 S4 summer leavers.

The Colombian month during November for S2 involved a wide range of school subjects, and provided some real challenges, writes Stephen Scholes of S5.

Each S2 class learned about Colombian life, heritage and culture.

Modern Studies classes examined the social, economic and political issues within Colombia, and in History these issues were given their historical context.

Geography focused on the environmental aspects of Colombia: rainforests, volcanoes and earthquakes; and in RE the ethics of the drugs trade was investigated, together with its impact on the lives of street children.

Modern Languages contributed to this cross curricular project through teaching Spanish to the S2 pupils.

The Go for Gold celebrations this month were sweetened by the Asda Store in Girvan, who generously donated a large number of selection boxes.

The donation marks a very successful partnership between the local store and Girvan Academy.

This session saw S4 pupils completing their week’s work experience for the first time at the Asda store.

The store was also able to accommodate work experience for potential leavers in S5 and S6, who are following an ASDAN Employability course.

Feedback from both the store and participation pupils was very successful.

There have also been some preliminary talks to identify ways in which the store can support the careers programme at Girvan Academy.

As a result of their experiences Girvan pupils now have much more insight into possible careers opportunities in the retail sector.

Special assemblies were held to mark the end of term leading up to Christmas.

These included a Christmas message from the school chaplains, Rev I McLachlan and Rev D McNab.

The assemblies also included music from the brass band and some of the performances from house entries into the G Factor. Presentation of certificates for S3 and S4 monitoring and the winner and runners-up in the year book cover competition.

As a reard in Go for Gold, the 63 pupils who received the top gold award, enjoyed lunch and the movie Mama Mia at Kilmarnock.

The 94 silver award pupils took part in either PE or craft activities for an afternoon. The bronze winners had a one hour session of games and bingo. Pupils who received no award were given normal class work.