OCTOBER 2009:
REAL RADIO VARIETY SHOW
Congratulations to all our talented performers who auditioned and participated in the Strathaven Academy final on Monday, 14 September. Steve McKenna compered the evening and one of the bands, Prelude, was selected as the winning act.
Thanks to all pupils and families for cheering everyone on, to Mrs Frew and Mr Mackay for their excellent work in organising the evening and to my fellow judges for their support – Robert Macsween, Julie Mitchell, Mr Gilliland and Mr Simpson.
See pictures from the show here.
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GOLF
South Lanarkshire Schools Golf Championship took place at Hamilton Golf Club on Monday, 21 September. Fourteen secondary schools took part. The reason for celebration is that Strathaven Academy, represented by Ross Gillon, Alex Falder and Jordan Bryce, won the team trophy. Andrew Cameron also took part in the event.
Well done to our golfers!
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HIGHER ART AND DESIGN
“On Friday 18 September, our class of S5/6 visited the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art and the Dean Gallery in Edinburgh. When we arrived we had photographs taken in our new school blazers on the steps of the Dean Gallery. We split into smaller groups lead by Mr Simpson and Mr Wellcoat and entered the galleries.
Firstly we went to the Gallery of Modern Art where we saw an exhibition that included works by Damien Hirst, who is famous for his art work involving dead animals in tanks. His main work on show was a sheep preserved in formaldehyde. We all wondered how this could be considered art, but learned more about the artist and the meanings behind his work.
There were many works on display, including more traditional work and sculpture, but my main impression was my experience of contemporary art. The day was fun and we were able to develop our knowledge to assist in our higher studies. The day also made me realise that some works are not art just because of how they look, but also how they make you feel.”
Thanks to Jill Gillespie S5 for this report.
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DARWIN 200
Eilidh Rankin, S4 recounts her recent experience at “Darwin 200”.
“Recently, a group of twelve senior pupils had the exciting opportunity of spending a full day in lively discussion and debate – a dream scenario for most teenagers!
The Darwin Trust in Edinburgh, in partnership with the National Museums for Scotland and the Royal Society of Edinburgh, invited Strathaven Academy pupils to be involved with a number of other schools in a discussion forum entitled ‘Darwin - the Great Debate’. Our aim was to examine various aspects of Darwin’s theories.
Initially, an informative presentation was made by Professor Steve Jones (Department of Genetics, Evolution and the Environment at University College London), who focused on Darwin’s Theory of Evolution.
Bishop Richard Holloway then spoke on the various religious perspectives of Creationism, in a convincing and thought provoking way.
As pupils we were delighted when we were then able to challenge and engage in stimulating debate with such eminent guest speakers. As a result, some long held beliefs were confirmed, whilst others came away thinking more deeply about the opposing arguments they had heard that day.
Later in the afternoon, there was further opportunity to work in pupil groups and to prepare presentations on such topics as ‘Is man just another animal or something more?’ or ‘Genesis Chapter 1 – Fact or Poetry?’ this was a very valuable section as it meant we had to collate and organise our arguments, present them in a credible manner and be prepared to justify our standpoint when questioned by the audience and guest speakers! Nerve wracking, but we felt a great sense of achievement because we had worked together well as a team!
Special thanks to Mrs McArthur (Principal Teacher of RME) for organising this enjoyable, informative and above all, thought provoking day!”
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GEOGRAPHY FIELD TRIP
“Twenty four S6 pupils, accompanied by Mr Gannon and Miss Leggate left for Malham in the Yorkshire Dales on 23 September at 9.00am. We travelled by bus to Malham where we initially visited Malham cove. This is a landscape showing limestone and glacial features. It remained dry throughout the day. And we were shown examples of disappearing streams and swallow holes.
Following our time here we went to the Youth Hostel in Malham where we separated into rooms of 4-6 pupils. After our dinner we spent the evening in the social room playing games.
The next day we were up early and went to visit the underground cavern – White Scar Cave. This had excellent examples of stalagmites, stalactites and columnar pillars. We spent over an hour underground. It was amazing to see the underground rivers and waterfalls. The guides were very informative and the extra information given by Mr Gannon helped make this experience worthwhile.
From here we headed home and arrived at 5.00pm. This trip was worthwhile due to the information given and examples shown which will help with our Higher Geography studies. Thank you to Mr Gannon and Miss Leggate for their time and effort into making this trip possible.”
Ryan McWilliams, S5, has contributed this interesting report.
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SCULPTURE PROJECT
“Following encouragement from local Chair Person of Strathaven in Bloom, Helen Young, five of our pupils, Beth Poulton, Matthew Butter, Lynn Ferguson, Sophie Dalziel and Jenny Kirkwood, supported by Mr Gilliland, set out to design and make a sculpture to recognise the return of our pupils to Strathaven.
Starting early in September 2008, the boys and girls worked tirelessly on Tuesday lunchtimes and after school through the session to create a sculpture, recognising, “The return of secondary teaching and learning to Strathaven”.
During this preparation time, the team drilled, hacksawed, filed, welded, angle ground, hammered, chiselled, scraped, bent and generally moulded challenging mild steel into a symbolic sculpture. These five pupils were truly inspirational, never ever complaining (honestly!) about being tired, bored or having dirty hands.
During the early days of the designing, they took photographs of different poses to help decide how sculpture should be formed. They took measurements of two of the children, Beth and Matthew, to generate the anthropometric and ergonomic data required to build the sculpture.
Once completed, the artefact was transported to Highland Colourgalv in Cumbernauld, who galvanised it (coated it with molten zinc) and applied a colour coating in the school colours. The firm’s Managing Director, Geoff Crowley, offered to carry out these services free of charge since it was a community project. The school, and indeed the Strathaven community, take this opportunity to thank Geoff for his generosity.
The formal unveiling of the sculpture took part on a lovely Saturday morning, 12 September, at the site on the corner of Commercial and Glasgow Roads. We were fortunate to have the attendance of the pupils involved and their parents, Councillors Filshie, Campbell, Holman and Malloy, Helen Young from Strathaven in Bloom, the staff of the Technical department, Miss Martin, Mr Connor, Mr Brown, Mr Gilliland, and of course our Head Teacher Mrs Banks.
Recognition was made during the address of the excellent support from the Parks department as the flower bed, surrounding lawn and footpaths looked superb.
We are delighted with this symbolic structure which looks across to the new school, perhaps reflecting our pupils looking to their teachers for leadership, advice, guidance and knowledge; and to be indeed a “centre of excellence” to deliver “Curriculum for Excellence!”
Mr Gilliland is responsible for telling you about our hardworking pupils and this special project.
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