Moffat Academy Secondary News 2024/25 - Term 2

Human Rights Day

Our Charities Committee recently organised a raffle to celebrate Human Rights Day. They raised £273 which will go to our school charity, War Child.

We must say a huge thank you to our local businesses in Moffat, Lockerbie and Dumfries who really went above and beyond to make our raffle prizes truly spectacular.

Some of our S1 pupils also created a fantastic Human Rights board display...

...And our very own Moffat Academy Pipe Band played some tunes at the front of the school.

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Article 27 (adequate standard of living)

Every child has the right to a standard of living that is good enough to meet their physical and social needs and support their development. 

Cooking

Our Chinese Exchange Student, Miss Zhen Niu has been helping out in Home Economics. The S2s have started a new unit called 'Foods of the World'. For the topic on China, Miss Niu taught the class how to make Kung Pao Chicken. The learners really enjoyed this experience and having the opportunity to make an authentic Chinese dish.

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Article 29 (goals of education)

Education must develop every child’s personality, talents and abilities to the full. It must encourage the child’s respect

for human rights, as well as respect for their parents, their own and other cultures, and the environment.

Edinburgh Photography Trip 

As part of our Higher and National 5 Photography course, pupils spent the day exploring the streets of Edinburgh, guided by a professional photographer. They learned how to work with natural light, how to create interesting compositions and where the best spots are to take photographs. In the afternoon, pupils had time to get lunch and shop. The sun was shining and everyone had a great day.

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Article 29 (goals of education)

Education must develop every child’s personality, talents and abilities to the full. It must encourage the child’s respect for human rights, as well as respect for their parents, their own and other cultures, and the environment.

 

Ghost Tour

When I arrived at Moffat Academy in August I wanted to give the S3 Drama Class a challenge and they succeeded. I am so proud of the class for all their hard work and commitment to the Ghost Tour the past term. Seeing the tour develop week by week and the learners dealing with any challenges quickly and effectively has been amazing to watch. A big thank you to all the staff involved! It wouldn’t have happened with you.

Mr Harcourt

Drama

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UNCRC Article 29 (goals of education)

Education must develop every child’s personality, talents and abilities to the full. It must encourage the child’s respect for human rights, as well as respect for their parents, their own and other cultures, and the environment.

 

Remembrance

At this time of year, we turn our thoughts to remembering those who sacrificed their lives for peace and freedom. Some of you may have noticed our school building illuminated in red lighting. In addition, Rev. Elsie Macrae led Remembrance Day Services to children and young people on Friday, 8th November.

Our Moffat Academy prefect leadership representatives were in attendance on Sunday, 10th November at the Moffat War Memorial to lay our wreath and pay our respects.

Article 29 (goals of education)

Education must develop every child’s personality, talents and abilities to the full. It must encourage the child’s respect for human rights, as well as respect for their parents, their own and other cultures, and the environment.  

Christmas Card Competition

Congratulations to our Christmas Card design winner Lexie Jackson. Pictured with runners up Niamh Ryder and Del Vikute-Macey and art teacher Miss McGuchan. You can see Lexie's card featured in our facebook banner. Well done to all!

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UNCRC Article 29 (goals of education)

Education must develop every child’s personality, talents and abilities to the full. It must encourage the child’s respect for human rights, as well as respect for their parents, their own and other cultures, and the environment.

Paddy McGuinness

Representatives from the Moffat Mountain Bike Club, James Gardinor and Mason Crooke, and our Senior Piper, Ryan Wilson, went along to support Paddy McGuinness this morning. Paddy was passing locally on his chopper bike as part of his BBC Children in Need Ultra Endurance Cycle Challenge.

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Article 29 (goals of education)

Education must develop every child’s personality, talents and abilities to the full. It must encourage the child’s respect for human rights, as well as respect for their parents, their own and other cultures, and the environment.

Dresses

We have very kindly been donated over 30 brand new prom dresses from Be our Bride in Hamilton. The dresses range from £350-£450, however the owner, Mhairi, wanted the dresses to be able to help any young person, who wishes to wear one, to do so.

As such, if a young person is looking to have one of these dresses it would be free of charge. We would simply ask that they are returned after prom (though liaise with the school directly if any questions around this).

The dresses are being held in Meeting Room A in school - this will be open during Wednesday after school study and Silent Study Saturdays for student's perusal. We will also open the room on Senior Parents' Evening for families to peruse with their young people.

A massive thank you to Be Our Bride Hamilton & Belle Of The Ball for this generous donation - we can't wait to see the dresses in action!

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UNCRC Article 27 (adequate standard of living)

Every child has the right to a standard of living that is good enough to meet their physical and social needs and support their development.

Our S1 pressure group campaign

In  Modern Studies we have been learning about democracy in Scotland , and in particular the role of  pressure groups 

We organised our own pressure groups on a variety of topics ranging from the environment to sports facilities. 

In class we prepared materials for our campaign such as posters, banners,  and badges that were all based on the colours of each pressure group. Our final campaign method was to organise a protest march at the front of the school on the playing fields.

The march was a great success and we were able to display our slogans and banners as well as carry out our chants that we had rehearsed in class.

 

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Article 29 (goals of education)

Education must develop every child’s personality, talents and abilities to the full. It must encourage the child’s respect for human rights, as well as respect for their parents, their own and other cultures, and the environment.

Winter Formal

Seniors held their Winter Formal last week - here are some photos and videos of the dance. Thank you to Scott McCrosson (DJ Ghozted) and dad Ross for their fantastic input, a great night was had by all.

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UNCRC article 31 (leisure, play and culture)

Every child has the right to relax, play and take part in a wide range of cultural and artistic activities.

 

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Team Building Day for Seniors 

A handful of our S3-S6 students were invited to participate in a multi-agency 16-Days of Activism event. They led discussions between representatives from Social Work, Fire Service and Scottish Police around gender-based violence. They were selected due to the outstanding work they have been doing in collaboration with Equally Safe at School (ESAS). They were an absolute credit to themselves and our school community, and demonstrated the importance of all sectors working together against gender-based violence. 

Article 29 (goals of education)

Education must develop every child’s personality, talents and abilities to the full. It must encourage the child’s respect for human rights, as well as respect for their parents, their own and other cultures, and the environment.

 Ballet

20 of our students travelled up to Glasgow on Friday night to attend a Scottish Ballet performance of The Nutcracker at the Theatre Royal. They first attended Di Maggio's for a meal, before heading to the theatre. The performance was incredible, and definitely got us all in the festive spirit!  

UNCRC Article 31 (leisure, play and culture) Every child has the right to relax, play and take part in a wide range of cultural and artistic activities.

  UWS nursing taster day

Last term a group of young people interested in a nursing career, visited the UWS Dumfries Campus to learn about the tasks and work that nurses perform.

  

UNCRC Article 29 (goals of education) Education must develop every child’s personality, talents and abilities to the full. It must encourage the child’s respect for human rights, as well as respect for their parents, their own and other cultures, and the environment.

STEM Assembly December 2024

Martin Llewellyn (Professor of Molecular Ecology) form the University of Glasgow visited the school on Wed 11th December to deliver our STEM related assembly for session 2024-25.  He spoke about his career pathway as well as his current research focus: Chagas Disease - a tropical parasitic disease spread by insects.  Prof Llewellyn was then joined by a colleague, Dr. Kyrie Dickson, to facilitate workshops for all S3.  Young people had the chance to learn more about parasitic diseases and investigate the insects which spread them, under the microscope.

All S3 were engaged and active in learning new facts about bacteria, bugs and parasites!

We are very lucky to have formed partnerships with the University of Glasgow, inspiring the next generation of scientists!

A huge thank you to Martin Llewellyn who has kindly donated a dissecting microscope to the Biology department. The young people are looking forward to using this piece of equipment to observe small specimens or of course perform dissections. 

 

Wider Achievement

Aila and Eloise

Well done to Aila and Eloise for participating in the music concert at the Bridgend Theatre on Sunday. Eloise on Flute and Aila on piano. Both played beautifully.

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Article 31 (leisure, play and culture)

Every child has the right to relax, play and take part in a wide range of cultural and artistic activities.

 

 

 Aila, Eloise and Joni

Lucy Palmer, Gethyn Ramage and Thomas Brown

Moffat Academy attended the regional table tennis tournament on Sunday 8th December at Dumfries Table Tennis club.  The tournament was well organised and the pupils enjoyed the competitive matches throughout the day.  Moffat pupils represented their school in an excellent manner, the pupils involved were Lucy, Gethyn and Thomas.  All pupils are reminded that Dumfries Table Tennis club are always looking for new players to attend their training.