Kilmarnock Academy - News Archive                   

July 2007

FORMER PUPILS NOTICEBOARD

There has been a recent flurry of activity in this area over the past week. We have recently heard from Kirsteen Wright (in Tokyo), Clifford McMillan (in Korea), Elinor Kerr (in Kilmarnock) and Scott Bell (in Norway).
Click here to check them out.

THE SUMMER HOLIDAYS ARE HERE!

The holidays are here - time to explore. Don't worry if you don't manage to travel to foreign shores - you can always travel to Ayr shore. And if you don't manage to climb the Jungfrau, you can always mount an expedition to conquer the East Face of Loudoun Hill. Whatever you do and wherever you go - have a great holiday! And even though BHS will have 'Back to School' banners up within a week or so, just relax - we don't return until August 15th.

June 2007

SUMMER COUNTDOWN

With only a few days left before the summer holidays, there has been a lot happening at school: the school show was a huge success in the early part of last week; the Senior Prom took place last Thursday 14th; the annual prizegiving took place on Monday 18th; a school trip left for Belgium and France on Sunday 17th and the Barcelona trip left on Thursday 21st.
A programme of organized trips and activities will be taking place on Monday 25th & Tuesday 26th. So. that just leaves Wednesday, 27th June...........

JUNIOR SPORTS CHAMPIONSHIPS - UPDATE 11th JUNE

Stephen Connell was 3rd in the S1 Boys Championships; Cameron Blair and Gary Robertson were 2nd and 3rd in the S3 Boys Championships. Thomas Rankin was the champion but is missing from the photo below. The S3 Girls Championship was shared by Alana Blackwood and Sophie O'Neill. Jade McWilliams and Kerry McAllister were 2nd and 3rd. Josh Reilly was the S2 Boys champion, while Ross Menzies was 2nd and Gareth Ellis and Kevin Howie shared 3rd place.

Lesley Hamilton

JUNIOR SPORTS CHAMPIONSHIPS - FRIDAY 1st JUNE

1st, 2nd and 3rd year sports championships were held last Friday at the field. The weather was glorious and the competition was very keen. The day finished in the Games Hall at P6 after the High Jump competition. Mr Howie rigged up a podium and the first three ahletes in each championship were awarded medals. The winners will receive their trophies at the Prize Giving on Monday 18th June. Here are the S1 boys and girls medalists along with the S2 girls. Full list of winners to follow. Next week it will be the turn of the senior school to compete for the Eric Clark Cup (girls) and the Copland Cup (boys)

Report by Lesley Hamilton

CHILD PROTECTION
 
Child protection issues are taken very seriously in Kilmarnock Academy and procedures are in place to maximise the safety and well being of all pupils in school, and to assist in ensuring their safety outwith school also.

All staff have been trained in East Ayrshire's child protection procedures, and they are reminded of these at the beginning of each session. All staff have a copy of the relevant standard circular on this topic and an explanatory leaflet highlighting the key points to note.

Mr Gus Kerr, Depute Head Teacher, is the school Child Protection Officer with Mrs Carole Ford, Head Teacher, acting as his depute in relation to these matters. Any parent, carer, or concerned member of the public who has concerns regarding the safety or well being of any pupil attending Kilmarnock Academy should contact Mr Kerr or Mrs Ford on 01563 525509.

It is better to have a concern investigated and found to be groundless than to leave a pupil at risk. Further detail on East Ayrshire's procedures may be found on the local authority website (click here).

CYBER BULLYING
At the following link ( http://www.antibullying.net/cyberbullying1.htm) you can get advice on what to do if you are subjected to mobile or cyber bullying.

ENTERPRISE

Kilmarnock Academy staff were given the opportunity to have an Enterprise Experience. This is one of the East Ayrshire recommendations in the Determined to Succeed initiative. It was a bit of fun working together in an enterprising way to remind ourselves what it feels like to be involved in a team activity, concentrating on working together, being creative and meeting deadlines. It was a competition and the winning group was outstanding in all aspects. They had chosen their personnel wisely and had an inspirational leader in Drew Howie. Vouchers were presented to the winners by Mr Alan Stewart.

Report by Lesley Hamilton



A larger-than-life picture.
RUSSIAN INVASIAN
One of our P7 pupils, who will be entering S1 in August, has recently hosted a happy and entirely unexpected event. Her 5 Russian Hamsters ("all female and from the same litter" when she bought them from former pupil Andrew Thomson) have suddenly become 12 Russian hamsters. Andrew's comment: 12 for the price of 5? A bargain!

Stick close to Mum.


 INSIGHT ON MORTON STEVEN TROPHY

Since the launch of the Kilmarnock Academy website, various former pupils have written in to ask for details from the extensive school archives. Some time ago, Mr. and Mrs. Bates from Pitlochry visited the school. Mrs. Bates is the niece of Thomas Morton Steven who was a distinguished former pupil from the school. He was the Mathematics Dux of 1906 and the first editor of The Gold Berry , the school magazine. He became Under Secretary of State for Bengal , India but tragically died from pneumonia when he was only 35. In memory, his mother established an annual dux award, which is still given.

May 2007

MODERN STUDIES DEPARTMENT REACHES THE PARTS............

Our Modern Studies Department was delighted to hear from Kevin Deane, a newly qualified Modern studies teacher working in Braes High in Falkirk. He said, "I came across your website and saw the wonderful things that you are doing there in Kilmarnock. I just wondered if you have any ideas for 1st and 2nd year resources that I could use. I would be happy to share any materials that I have with you."

Mr McDougall has the matter is in hand, Kevin.

HENDERSON CHURCH CENTENARY BANNERS

Below are some examples of the work produced by our pupils on the Henderson Church project. As part of the Henderson Church's centenary celebrations, Higher and S1/2 Graphic Communication and Art and Design pupils designed banners to celebrate the occasion.

Lorna Snodgrass





UPDATES

Thursday 10th May 2007
  Front page
  Recent Front Page Stories
  School Board Page
  Parent Council Constitution
  Weekly Bulletin
  Term Newsletter

SCHOOL BOARD

Kilmarnock Academy School Board has been working for many years to support the work of the school.  The board has acted as a consultative body on many school policies and initiatives, it has lobbied the authority on behalf of the school on specific issues and has made constructive suggestions for improvements.  In line with the new legislation on parental involvement in schools, the school board will cease to exist in June and will be replaced with a Parent Council from August 2007.  The school wishes to thank both previous and current members of the board for the time they have devoted to supporting Kilmarnock Academy.

The photograph on the right shows current membership :

Front row, left to right:
Mrs Lois Cairney, Clerk; Mrs Annette Donnelly, Parent member; Mrs Mary Grant, Chair; Mrs Adrienne Howard, Parent member.

Back row, left to right:
Mrs Elizabeth Bryson, Parent member; Mr Ian Fyfe, Teacher member; Mrs Carole Ford, Head Teacher and advisor to the board.

Mr Ian Murdoch, Teacher member, was unavailable for the photograph.



 PARENT COUNCIL CONSTITUTION

The constitution for the new Parent Council - which will replace  the School Board from August 2007 - has been uploaded to KA  Web.  We hope that as many parents as possible will find the time to  look at these proposals and provide some comments and feedback.  

To e-mail your comments click here.


 THE STRANGE CASE OF THE MISSING PHONE

(A STORY BY CLASS 2D1)

It was last period on Thursday and 2D1 had just come out of P.E. The sun was shining in the sky, there was not a cloud to be seen and the tarmac was burning hot. 2D1 had just reached the English class, and all the other sections had arrived at their classes, so the playground was completely empty. The only thing that could be seen was a seagull that had swooped down to eat a crisp. Everyone was roasting, as it was such a hot day. (To read on click here.)(


April 2007

CHESS CHALLENGE FOR K.A. PUPILS

Three Kilmarnock Academy qualifiers played in the Megafinal of the British Land Chess Competition which was held in Eastwood Academy on Saturday 28th April.

Both Rian Hood and Liam van Loggerenberg were sucessful in qualifying for the Gigafinal while Kirsty McLauchlan just missed out





CHILD PROTECTION
 
Child protection issues are taken very seriously in Kilmarnock Academy and procedures are in place to maximise the safety and well being of all pupils in school, and to assist in ensuring their safety outwith school also.

All staff have been trained in East Ayrshire's child protection procedures, and they are reminded of these at the beginning of each session. All staff have a copy of the relevant standard circular on this topic and an explanatory leaflet highlighting the key points to note.

Mr Gus Kerr, Depute Head Teacher, is the school Child Protection Officer with Mrs Carole Ford, Head Teacher, acting as his depute in relation to these matters. Any parent, carer, or concerned member of the public who has concerns regarding the safety or well being of any pupil attending Kilmarnock Academy should contact Mr Kerr or Mrs Ford on 01563 525509.

It is better to have a concern investigated and found to be groundless than to leave a pupil at risk. Further detail on East Ayrshire's procedures may be found on the local authority website (click here).

GOOD GIG!
Sat 10th March the KA Jazz Band were invited to play in the foyer of the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall before and between performances of Children's Classic Concerts. The Concerts were attended by around 4000 people. Feedback was very positive with a letter from John Wilson Links Officer in the Arts and Education and an email from Emily McGregor - Education Officer with the RSNO. Pupils enjoyed the occasion very much.

Report by D. Ramsay




A CULINARY SUCCESS

A number of Kilmarnock Academy pupils recently attended a culinary skills course at Kilmarnock College on 8 Monday afternoons.

The course was funded by Determined to Succeed and the climax of the course came on Monday 16 th April when the pupils produced a first class 3 course meal for college lecturers , school staff and parents. The quality of the food and the presentation was absolutely first class and the school are very keen to use this college service for future social events.

Special mention should be made of Alistair Curry of class 3W1 for his contribution to the course. We look forward to Alistair 's restaurant opening and celebrity chef programme in years to come.

Report by G. Kerr


A PRAGUE SPRING

Recently, Mr Mackay, one of our Modern Studies teachers, visited the beautiful city of Prague where he spoke to the students of SOS school about the Scottish Education System and life in Scotland in general. He said, "I was made very welcome by both staff and pupils who were very eager to compare and contrast their education system with ours and who were desperately keen to further their English language skills."

To view pictures of Mr Mackay's visit, click here.

SORBIAN VISITORS TOUR K.A.

A group of educators from Sorbia, a region of eastern Germany close to the Polish border, visited East Ayrshire during March to look at a number of aspects of education. A morning spent in Kilmarnock Academy was included as part of the visit. Sorbia has its own language which has a similar status to Gaelic in Scotland . They are anxious to preserve this language and are therefore particularly interested in the Gaelic medium teaching in East Ayrshire. They are interested in language teaching generally and the use of smartboard technology.

During the visit to Kilmarnock Academy they observed the use of smartboards in mathematics


with Mr Nisbet, in French with Mrs Stables and in biology with Mrs Ogg. Mr Fyfe in chemistry showed them an impromptu experiment which involved blowing the lid off a can. Mr Fyfe was impressed even if nobody else was!

They gave to the school a number of gifts associated with Sorbia including a flag and models of the national costumes. In return we presented them with the much coveted Kilmarnock Academy pens and notebooks.

We hope they enjoyed the visit and found it useful.

If you want to find out a bit about Sorbia, then you should click here.



Incidentally, the pictures were     taken between 12.40 and 12.45pm and were uploaded to KA Web at   1.20pm (around 35 minutes later).


Report by our European Correspondent Karol Fjord.





March 2007


EASTER CONCERT SUCCESS & FORTHCOMING SCHOOL SHOW

The school's Easter Concert was held on the evening of Monday 26th March. The event was well-attended and, as well as enjoying a fine range of seasonal musical treats, the audience had a chance to preview some songs from the forthcoming school musical "We Will Rock You".
Promotional leaflets giving details of the dates and times for performances of the show are now available (see left) so make a point of marking it in your diary. Rehearsals are now gaining momentum and the show promises to be one of the best ever staged by K.A.



The winning team from 2D2

Dr Neilson sings "My Way"

EAST AYRSHIRE READERS' CUP

Two years ago, the school librarians of East Ayrshire established a Readers' Cup in order to promote reading. Various rounds are held within each school amongst S1 and S2 pupils before the grand final in May. Pupils have to answer questions on different literary themes.

On Thursday, the second round was held in the Assembly Hall for S2 pupils. Each class fielded a team of 4 who had been the individual winners of the first round.

The whole of second year was present as Mrs Dunsmuir asked the questions. In each round there were ten questions asked on a particular theme - Witches and Wizards, Philip Pullman, Classics and Lucky Dip. Whilst various S6 volunteers marked each round, spot questions were targeted at the rest of the S2 with instant prizes. The results were very close but, in the end, 2D2 won by half a mark over 2B.

The full results can be viewed by clicking here. You can view more pictures of the event by clicking here.

June Neilson -Librarian

MORE PUPILS' WORK COMING SOON TO K.A.WEB

The Writers' Cafe, a new area featuring pupils' writing, will be coming soon to K.A. Web. To get a taster of the sort of creative work that will feature in this area click here.


PRIMARY 7 PARENTS' NIGHT

On the evening of 20th March, parents of pupils starting at K.A. in August were given a guided tour of all subject departments. They also had the opportunity to view displays by our feeder primaries and sample some fine home baking. To view pictures of the event click here.


EAST AYRSHIRE SPRING READ

On the morning of 20th March, we received a visit from the Edinburgh-based author Jonathan Meres who spoke to S2 pupils from KA, James Hamilton and St. Joseph 's Academies. Jonathan gave an energetic and deliciously unpredictable performance which had his young audience captivated throughout. Graham Short, Executive Director of Educational and Social Services, was in attendance and expressed his enthusiasm and support for the event.

The visit was arranged as part of the East Ayrshire Spring Read book festival, an initiative by East Ayrshire school librarians to celebrate World Book Day. Jonathan also visited Grange and Cumnock Academies. S1 and S2 pupils have already visited St. Joseph 's and James Hamilton Academies to hear Cathy Cassidy and the storyteller, Michael Kerins.

To get a flavour of what Jonathan Meres is all about, you really should visit his website by clicking here.

To see more pictures of Jonathan in action at K.A. click here.


Pat Standen, Jonathan Meres, Graham Short &
Dr Neilson

The cool guys from K.A.


The nice bunch from James Hamilton Academy


The well-behaved party from St Joseph's Academy

RED NOSE DAY - 16th March

Miss Templeton (right) & Mrs James (left) arranged a number of activities for Red Nose Day, including a staff karaoke. Mrs Ford did not take part as "they didn't have any Vera Lynn numbers". Mr Monachan was intending to sing but withdrew, in the interests of music.

SPOT THE DIFFERENCE

If you look at the two pictures below right, you should be able to spot the difference between the Dick Institute prior to its recent facelift and the new-look Dick Institute. The War Memorial was also cleaned and repointed as part of the refurbishment programme by East Ayrshire Council.


 PARENT COUNCIL DRAFT CONSTITUTION

 The draft constitution for the new Parent Council - which will replace  the School Board from August 2007 - has just been uploaded to KA  Web.  We hope that as many parents as possible will find the time to  look at these proposals and provide some comments and feedback.  

  To e-mail your comments click here.


 S3 INDUSTRIAL AWARENESS DAY - 8th MARCH 2007

Industrial Awareness Day 2007 was held in school on Thursday 8th March. It was a very successful day with S3 pupils engaged in business-connected tasks. There were nearly 30 people present from the world of work who gave up a day to assist the pupils with their tasks which were designed to give them a taste of what is important in the business world. Iain Sim, a former pupil and local accountant, was the Chairman of the day and it was he who awarded points for each activity. The group who made the biggest profit was “ J ” . The overall winning group was “ M ” -  Mike Howard, Chloe White, Leighton Kirkpatrick, Marc Strain, Kimberley Dick, Alan Roy, Duncan Hart, George Thomson, Suzanne McCallum, Greg Walkinshaw and Bryony McKay. They all won a “ money off ” voucher for the end-of-term activities.

Mrs Hamilton and the S3 pupils thanked the business advisers who had helped make the day possible. Many Kilmarnock Academy staff helped during the day and it was due to this, that all the arrangements went smoothly.

Report by Mrs Hamilton






WHO'S WHO THIS SESSION

Check out who's who and who's new at K.A. this session by visiting the new faces section of KA Web.

There have been a fair number of changes and additions to many departments so if you are having trouble putting names to all the new faces then this page will provide the answers.


EAST AYRSHIRE SPRING READ

East Ayrshire school librarians are organising a book festival, Spring Read, to celebrate World Book Day. Live Literature has funded 9 author sessions so the 9 schools have grouped together to enable each school to benefit from the three authors/storytellers. We are grouped with James Hamilton and St. Joseph 's Academy.

First, Cathy Cassidy will visit St. Joseph 's Academy to talk about her books and her writing. Twenty-three S2 pupils from KA will attend this session during the afternoon of Tuesday the 6 th of March. Pupils from James Hamilton Academy will also be present.

Next, the storyteller, Michael Kerins, will visit James Hamilton Academy during the morning of Tuesday the 13 th of March to weave his magic around the Greek myths. Twenty pupils from KA will attend.

Finally, Jonathan Meres will visit KA on the morning of Tuesday the 20 th of March to talk about his books.

Celebrate reading!

June Neilson - Librarian


RAISING ATTAINMENT WORKING GROUP

This group, led by Mrs Hollywood (pictured left), Depute Head Teacher, has been looking at ways of supporting young people as they move closer to sitting their national examinations. A number of successful strategies were put in place last session and this work is on-going. The work of the group, this session, has been focused on: providing advice to parents on how they can help their children as they revise for examinations; highlighting the benefits of a detailed revision schedule; and looking at other ways in which parents and staff can provide support for pupils as the exams draw nearer.


In order to provide support during prelim time as well as in the run up to the May exams, the following pages have been added to KAWeb:

English Higher/Int. 2 Study Guide    

Helping your child to Revise at Home  

S4 Revision Schedule

07.02.2007


February 2007


EAST AYRSHIRE SCHOOLS - ART & DESIGN EXHIBITION 2006-2007
East Ayrshire's Art & Design Exhibition was launched at the Dick Institute last Friday and features art & design work by pupils from all nine secondary schools in the division. The exhibition runs until the end of February and is open, Tuesday till Saturday, from 11am till 5pm.

The Cultural Co-ordinator responsible for organising this event is Elaine Scott, a former pupil of K.A. as well as a former member of our English Department. Elaine commented: "We would like to congratulate all participating pupils for their excellent artwork and thank the Art and Design teachers for their continued support and enthusiasm. Also, we are grateful to visiting artists Elspeth Lamb and Laura Murray whose contribution to the success of Summer Schools 2006 is much appreciated."

K.A. pupils, Scott Howie and Louise Mitchell, have work featured.


Voodoo Magic by Louise Mitchell


Elaine Scott - Cultural Co-ordinator

World War by Scott Howie

BURNS' SUPPER & CEILIDH - 25th January 2007

A whopping 120 staff and senior pupils celebrated Burns' Birthday this year at the school's annual Burns' Supper. This is an important event in the life of the school.

The Immortal Memory was presented by Dr. Dickson whose speech set out to “dish the dirt on Burns!” Head boy, Graeme Sharpe toasted the lasses by humorously linking different senior girls to alcoholic drinks; while Lyndsay Weadon, Head girl, wittily compared the ladies to cars. Nicola Browning has waited six years to propose the toast to the staff but Mrs MacKenzie of the Modern Languages department got her own back in the reply.

Entertainment for the night was provided by the senior vocal ensemble, the senior choir and Dr. Dickson who narrated the story of ‘The Ghaist of ‘A' Flair' by spooky candlelight.

With the formal part of the evening over it was time to push back the tables and enjoy dancing to the ceilidh band …

Hoots – help ma boab … roll on next year!

Report by Mrs Dunsmuir & Miss Templeton





KA WEB - SOME INTERESTING STATISTICS

Like many of you surfers out there, up until now I wasn't aware of the existence of interesting statistics. However, our hosts at Sirius Concepts have kindly set up STATS for KA Web so now we can get reports on all sorts of facts and figures relating to this website. For example, during the first week of February we had 2,345 sessions served with 3,313 page hits. I found the report featured below (a geographical breakdown of visitors to KA Web during the first week of February) particularly interesting.

If you happen to see your own area listed below and "you were that surfer" then e-mail us with some information about yourself and some feedback on this website at formerpupils@kilmarnockacademy.co.uk.

Neil McIlvanney

Country

State

Sessions

Average per Day

% of all sessions

United States

?

853

107

36.5%

United States

California

457

57

19.6%

Great Britain

 

417

52

17.9%

United States

Washington

254

32

10.9%

United States

Virginia

84

11

3.6%

[un-resolved]

 

44

6

1.9%

(EU)

 

19

2

0.8%

Sweden

 

17

2

0.7%

United States

New Jersey

15

2

0.6%

Australia

 

14

2

0.6%

France

 

13

2

0.6%

United States

Colorado

12

2

0.5%

Canada

(ON)

10

1

0.4%

Canada

?

9

1

0.4%

Germany

 

8

1

0.3%

United States

District of Columbia

8

1

0.3%

Uruguay

 

8

1

0.3%

United States

Maryland

7

1

0.3%

United States

Texas

5

1

0.2%

Netherlands

 

5

1

0.2%

Poland

 

4

1

0.2%

United States

New York

4

1

0.2%

United States

Georgia

4

1

0.2%

United States

Kentucky

3

0

0.1%

Spain

 

3

0

0.1%

 


RAISING ATTAINMENT WORKING GROUP

This group, led by Mrs Hollywood (pictured left), Depute Head Teacher, has been looking at ways of supporting young people as they move closer to sitting their national examinations. A number of successful strategies were put in place last session and this work is on-going. The work of the group, this session, has been focused on: providing advice to parents on how they can help their children as they revise for examinations; highlighting the benefits of a detailed revision schedule; and looking at other ways in which parents and staff can provide support for pupils as the exams draw nearer.


In order to provide support during prelim time as well as in the run up to the May exams, the following pages have been added to KAWeb:

English Higher/Int. 2 Study Guide    

Helping your child to Revise at Home  

S4 Revision Schedule

07.02.2007

Former Pupils

    Worldwide
We have recently heard from Peter Holt (Portugal), Gerry Greensmith in Brighton and Janie Henstock in South Africa who visited Kilmarnock in July 2006. She sent us some pictures and her thoughts on her visit.
GET IN TOUCH WITH K.A.

We have already heard from
Billy Lennon (Derby), Daryn Bolland (Canada), Linda Sewell (Kentucky, USA), Jamie Ross (Weston, Florida, USA), David McGaw (Hamilton), Kara Lou Ross (Kilmarnock), Julie Clemmy (Kilmarnock), Winifred Holland (Ontario), Heather Farrell Andolsen (New Jersey), Laura Hastings (Cape Cod), Russell Dowson (Boston), Alison Macmillan (London), Janet Smith (Auckland), Gordon Mutch (Ontario), Ed Wilson (Arkansas), Lesley Anne Campbell (Glasgow), Iain Brown (Kilmarnock), Jane Henstock (Johannesburg), Angela Brown (New York), Elaine McCulloch (Chicago), Roy McClymont (Atlanta), Craig Hanlon (Paris).

K.A. WORLDWIDE

Is anybody out there?

Over the past year we have received a number of e-mails from former pupils living abroad (check out the list on the left). These are being posted on the Former Pupils' Notice Board.

If you are a former pupil living abroad, then e-mail us and let us know what you've been up to lately.

As you can see from our list, we also welcome e-mails from former pupils who are still living locally.

So, what are you waiting for? Contact us at:

formerpupils@kilmarnockacademy.co.uk


K.A.Gallery

View from the Roof
SOME KA WEB HIGHLIGHTS
In case you are new to KA Web or haven't had the opportunity to browse the site in depth, links to some selected highlights are displayed on the left.

OLD NEWS
In case you have missed some of the previous front page stories and items on KA Web, you can now catch up on all the old news.

Competitions

K.A. Photo Album
These items have been archived and can be viewed here.

As well as catching up on events during the past school year you will be able to view many interesting photographs of school events and school trips.

For more pics visit KA Photo Album.


UPDATES

Daily Newspapers

It Could be You!
A number of areas are due to be created, completely overhauled or updated. However, as yet, there is still no school time allocated for the maintenance and updating of this school website.
Some subjects (English, Geography, French, Modern Studies, Art, Physics) have supplied great materials for uploading to our site. I will create web pages for these and upload them (at home) ASAP.
Neil McIlvanney

Old Haunts


The English Study (Soon...)

KA Shop

                 

January 2007


Hat-trick hero Stevie Naismith (far right of picture) on a visit to K.A. Home Economics Dept.
KILLIE BEAT FALKIRK TO REACH C.I.S CUP FINAL

Kilmarnock beat Falkirk 3-0 in their Scottish League Cup semi-final clash at Fir Park, Motherwell on Tuesday with local hero and man-of-the-match Stevie Naismith scoring a hat-trick. Killie will meet Hibernian - the winners of Wednesday's other semi - in the final at Hampden on Sunday, March 18.

Naismith scored the opener on 30 minutes after collecting a flick on from Colin Nish to bury a 15 metre shot into the bottom right. He then volleyed a superb second after 71 minutes from the edge of the box as Falkirk keeper Kasper Scmeichel started to come for the ball, then retreated and could only manage a hand on the shot. Naismith wrapped up the tie with a penalty six minutes later after he'd been brought down by defender Kenny Milne.


PUPILS ATTEND SHIP LAUNCH
On the 23rd January, 37 pupils from the technology and physics and 4 staff attended the launch of HMS Dauntless at BAE Naval Dockyard at Govan.

HMS Dauntless is a new type destroyer built with the latest technolgy for the Royal Navy for the 21st century.

Former Pupils

    Worldwide
We have recently heard from Peter Holt (Portugal), Gerry Greensmith in Brighton and Janie Henstock in South Africa who visited Kilmarnock in July 2006. She sent us some pictures and her thoughts on her visit.
GET IN TOUCH WITH K.A.

We have already heard from
Billy Lennon (Derby), Daryn Bolland (Canada), Linda Sewell (Kentucky, USA), Jamie Ross (Weston, Florida, USA), David McGaw (Hamilton), Kara Lou Ross (Kilmarnock), Julie Clemmy (Kilmarnock), Winifred Holland (Ontario), Heather Farrell Andolsen (New Jersey), Laura Hastings (Cape Cod), Russell Dowson (Boston), Alison Macmillan (London), Janet Smith (Auckland), Gordon Mutch (Ontario), Ed Wilson (Arkansas), Lesley Anne Campbell (Glasgow), Iain Brown (Kilmarnock), Jane Henstock (Johannesburg), Angela Brown (New York), Elaine McCulloch (Chicago), Roy McClymont (Atlanta), Craig Hanlon (Paris).

K.A. WORLDWIDE

Is anybody out there?

Over the past year we have received a number of e-mails from former pupils living abroad (check out the list on the left). These are being posted on the Former Pupils' Notice Board.

If you are a former pupil living abroad, then e-mail us and let us know what you've been up to lately.

As you can see from our list, we also welcome e-mails from former pupils who are still living locally.

So, what are you waiting for? Contact us at:

formerpupils@kilmarnockacademy.co.uk

S5/S6 Year Parents' Evening - Tuesday 16th January 2007     
  
             
       Our welcoming Committee and Tour Guides.              One of our younger pupils receives support.

             
     Mrs Ford hums an old Scots melody to welcome        Mrs Ford gargles with TCP between performances.
     parents to Reception.                   

             
               The Tea-Squad test their produce.                                     What a 'cool' janny!

             
     Mrs Dunsmuir and Miss Templeton chat with Mrs        Dr Dickson keeping an eye open for the ghost of
     Keachie.                                                             A Floor

             
      Mrs Hollywood prays for more staff development      Mrs Dunsmuir wonders if she left the oven on.
      opportunities.                                                    


December 2006
                 
                                                                 
      

THE CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS ARE HERE AT LAST!

HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS
&
A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

FROM ALL AT K.A.
                 
                                                                 
      

CHRISTMAS - GOOD OR BAD?

Class 1W have added their views on Christmas to the views posted by 2D1 last Friday, 15th December.

You can read them HERE. Thanks to Alison Rodger for typing up 2D1's views and thanks to Dr Neilson for e-mailing me 1W's views.
                 
                                                                 
      

LINDSAY McKENZIE

Former Head Girl, Lindsay McKenzie, has recently starred as Princess Erina in the children's BBC production "Raven - The Island" over the summer holidays. The programme ran for twenty episodes and is to have a new series next spring.

Lindsay has always dreamed of being an actress since primary school and eventually realised her ambition when she auditioned for LIPA, The Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts, and successfully secured one of twenty places to study there. This institution was co-founded by Paul McCartney and offers first class facilities, such as theatres and recording studios, for undergraduates.

Lindsay graduated with a BA (Hon's) in Acting and is currently teaching in Kilmarnock's Centre Stage for performing arts, before embarking upon the next "Raven - The Island".
                 
                                                                 
      
"GUESS THE SANTA" QUIZ
Here's a Christmas challenge for regular surfers at KA Web! Try to identify the members of staff who are portrayed here as Santa Claus. (And, no, the answer to Santa number four is not Bob Hope.)



                 
                                                                 
      
THE GHOST OF 'A' FLOOR

Dr Neil Dickson has been investigating the story of the Ghost of 'A' Floor. You can read his exclusive report by clicking here.

 OLD NEWS

In case you have missed some of the previous front page stories and items on KA Web, you can now catch up on all the old news as these items have been archived and can be viewed here.

As well as catching up on events during the past school year you will be able to view many interesting photographs of school events and school trips.

For more pics visit KA Photo Album.


 UPDATES MON. 11TH DECEMBER

The Front Page
Christmas Decorations
The Celebrating Success Tea Party
Visit to Scottish Parliament
Modern Studies Department
Enterprise in K.A.
The Ghost of 'A' Floor
'Old News' Page
Weekly Bulletin

COMING SOON....
Geography Department Page
S3 Geography Newsletter
More pages in KA Photo Album
                 
                                                                 
      
"SPOT THE DIFFERENCE " QUIZ
There are ten differences between the two pictures below - some are obvious and some are a bit harder to spot. Can you see all ten of them?
  
                  
                                                                 
        

CELEBRATING SUCCESS TEA PARTY

On the afternoon of Thursday, 30th November, Kilmarnock Academy staged the Celebrating Success Tea Party. The purpose of the event was to recognize just some of the hard work put in by staff and pupils as well as to highlight some of the success stories happening within Kilmarnock Academy. The event was hosted by KA's answer to Mick Fleetwood & Sam Fox: Mr Kerr and Mrs Ford. As well as being attended by visitors from outwith the school, the event was attended by many members of staff who were attracted by the free (and very successfully baked) scones, cakes, meringues and biscuits. To find out more click here.
 
                 
                                                                 
      


MSP Margaret Jamieson with KA pupils, outside the Scottish Parliament building.

Mr McDougall, of Modern Studies, who compiled the report and submitted pictures to KA Web.


MSP Margaret Jamieson with KA pupils, inside the debating chamber.

CLASS ACTION AT THE PARLIAMENT!

In November, twenty intrepid pupils from Kilmarnock Academy set off to Edinburgh to explore new horizons and expand their minds! Accompanied by their enthusiastic Modern Studies teachers, they were given VIP tours of the body politic at Holyrood.

Margaret Jamieson, MSP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, met the pupils at the Scottish Parliament and took them on a whistle stop tour. After getting comfortable in the seats in one of the committee rooms, they moved on to explore the Parliamentary chamber and even had the chance to pull up a chair on the front bench. It's now entirely possible that Kilmarnock Academy might just give Scotland a future First Minister!

After a tour of the chamber, Kilmarnock Academy 's finest got down to the nitty-gritty of Scottish politics and got a taste of the daily work of an MSP. The façade of plush offices and ‘think pods' the MSPs enjoy hide a frantic working lifestyle. Our pupils were no slouches and instantly felt at home among the piles of paperwork and masses of meetings.

After a good walk around the capital, it was time for our explorers to troop their way back home. A great day was had by all and everyone left having learnt something – even the teachers!

Report by Mr McDougall, Modern Studies


MODERN STUDIES & GEOGRAPHY PAGES ADDED TO KA WEB

Thanks to Mr McDougall who has kicked off the Modern Studies section of the school website which you can visit by clicking here. Thanks also to Mrs Lyon who is busy compiling material for the Geography section of KA web.

So that leaves the History Department..... Now let's see: promoting your subject; access to worldwide resources in your subject; more effective communication with parents; effective use of technology; motivating pupils & displaying pupils' work; reduction in consumption of paper resources (and departmental budget)...........

Come on, you guys! You're supposed to be teaching about the past - not living in it!
                 
                                                                 
      
 Former Pupils

    Worldwide
FORMER PUPILS' NOTICE BOARD UPDATED

Apologies to the former pupils listed below for the delay in posting their submissions to KA Web's Former Pupils' Notice Board.

Billy Lennon - Derby
Daryn Bolland - Canada
Linda Sewell - Kentucky, USA
Jamie Ross - Weston, Florida, USA
David McGaw - Hamilton
Kara Lou Ross - Kilmarnock
Julie Clemmy - Kilmarnock

Neil McIlvanney
               
                                                                 
      
Tuesday 28.11.06
Regular Updates
What's on this Month
The Weekly Bulletin
Former Pupils' Notice Board
Pupils' Achievements


Wednesday 22.11.06
New Additions
K.A. School Board Report 2006
K.A. Standards & Quality Report
K.A. School Travel Plan 26.10.2006
 CHRISTMAS DISCOS

With Christmas approaching, Mr Kerr has been organizing dates for the Christmas discos. Unfortunately, there are some pupils who won't qualify to go to these festive party nights - make sure you are not one of them.

And how do you do that? That's easy: stay out of trouble; wear your school uniform; arrive at school on time; avoid conduct cards and punishment exercises by behaving in a decent and reasonable manner; hand homework in on time; and check your schoolbag each night to make sure that you have everything you need for the next day's classes.

Do all of the above and you WILL have a Merry Christmas!
               
                                                                                               



November 2006


        Happy 40th
     to Mr Monochan

Congratulations to Mr Monochan who is 40 today (Friday). As can be seen from the baby picture on the left and the current picture on the right, he has hardly changed since he was a tot. He certainly doesn't look his age!


Website Help Appeal
Recently, in the Staff Bulletin, Mrs Ford appealed for members of staff to help with the school website. Well no-one can say that position, status, influence, charm, charisma, wit, intelligence, powers of persuasion and sheer clout don't get immediate results. The K.A. Web team has doubled as a result of this appeal - in future there will be two members of the team instead of just one. Due to the limited response, Legs Howie and Bugsy Reid have offered to approach younger members of staff on behalf of KA Web and "make dem an offer dey can't refuse." This approach sounds a lot more promising.
To reveal the identity of the conscientious, professional, dedicated (and ultimately lonely) volunteer - 'mouse over' the image on the left.




September/October 2006


 
 A pupil makes the most of his own  learning space with one of the  new, individual concentration  zones. Plans are afoot to  introduce Dual Concentration  Zones for pupils working in pairs.
English Department Pilots New Portable Concentration Packs
In a bid to assist pupils who lack focus and who have difficulty concentrating with other pupils around them, KA English Department has come up with an innovative solution. The individual "Concentration Zones" come flat-packed, for easy storage, and can be easily constructed to give pupils their own space, free of distractions.

"The product is still in development," said Miss Templeton, " but we have some great refinements in mind. Pupils will be able to produce better quality work and finish it more quickly. With the additional learning time this creates, pupils will be able to individualise their own zone and they can even