Moffat Academy Whole School News Term 2, 2025/26
Gold Rights Respecting School Award
Moffat Academy is proud to announce that we have achieved the prestigious GOLD Rights Respecting School Award (RRSA) for our all-through school, spanning ages 2 to 18. This outstanding achievement reflects the hard work and dedication of our young people, staff, and partners. During the accreditation visit, it was clear that our students are deeply passionate about their rights, and the feedback emphasised how they feel Moffat Academy actively upholds and supports those rights. The report highlighted how rights education is embedded throughout the school, with pupils demonstrating a strong understanding of their rights and their importance. This recognition is a testament to the positive impact our commitment to children’s rights has had on our school community, fostering an environment where young people feel safe, valued, and supported. The school’s focus on mutual respect, trust, and the overall wellbeing of students has been central to creating a nurturing and inclusive atmosphere. We are immensely proud of this achievement, which reflects our ongoing commitment to supporting and empowering all our students.
Moffat Academy Christmas Concert
On Thursday 11th December, we held our Christmas Concert. It was an incredible evening of music, with a huge variety of acts, soloists and class groups. From the Moffat Academy Pipe Band to the debut of 'Jeff Brown Overdrive', the talent on display was outstanding throughout.
Huge thanks to our hosts William, Scott and Alfie, and our instrumental staff for all their hard work, and to all the families and friends who came along to support. And of course, a huge well done to all our performers — you were all fantastic! Moffat Academy has some seriously impressive musical talent!
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.
Congratulations to our Resident Author, Claire Berridge!
Congratulations to our very own resident author and P3 teacher Claire Berridge! Read all about her book in the article and also the poignant and compassionate story behind it. Well done Claire from all at Moffat Academy and the best of luck for your book launch.
Last Day of Term Church Performances
A few musical excerpts from our annual Christmas visit to Upper Annandale Parish Church Moffat for our end of term service. Thank you to all who came along to join in the event and to the church for hosting us.
Music from:
-The Moffat Academy Pipe Band
-Daniel Palmer
-Jeff Brown Overdrive
Book Week Scotland
We've had lots of fun for Book Week Scotland! P1 received their Bookbug Bags and P2 and P3 received their Read, Write and Count Bags.
Primary have been also participating in a host of activities and are looking forward to an author visit from the Wigtown Book Festival next week as part of the BiG Dog Schools Tour.
In Secondary, S1 & S2 classes have been watching a Sarah Crossan Author Video and participating in a Book Personality Quiz plus a wee bit of Countdown! Shoutout to Damien Adamson who guessed a conundrum!
Staff were gifted a small book about Friendship and Miss Gibbon hid a Golden Ticket in one them - we are still waiting for a winner to come forward!
Thank you to the Wigtown Book Festival for our author visit from David C Flanagan and to the Scottish Book Trust for Bookbags, Read, Write and Count bags, Friendship books and various activities.
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.
Moffat ACademy Community Ceilidh
We held our Community Ceilidh on Friday to raise funds for piping and drumming both for our pupils and across D&G — and we’re absolutely delighted to say we raised over £1000! What an amazing amount!
A massive thank you to our very kind sponsors who helped us cover the cost of the refreshments for the night. Thank you as well to our local businesses, parents and friends who kindly donated raffle prizes — your generosity really made a difference.
We were also thrilled to have the Pipers and Drummers from SWSPDA join us. The band sounded incredible and added so much to the evening. And of course, a huge thank you to our Ceilidh band for keeping everyone dancing!
Supporting piping and drumming in Dumfries and Galloway is so important so that our young people can continue to receive free tuition in schools. And a special thank you to Martin Gillespie from Skerryvore for his lovely message to our students on the night — it really helped encourage donations and meant a lot to everyone involved.
Thank you all so much for your support — it truly means the world to us. Please enjoy a selection of videos and photos from a great evening of fundraising and entertainment.
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.
Christmas Fun Day
On Saturday, 8th November, Moffat Town Hall was filled with laughter, energy, and community spirit as residents came together for a fantastic Fun Day event. The day was a joint effort between Moffat Academy, the Moffat Town Hall Redevelopment Trust, and Upper Annandale Football Club – and it proved to be a tremendous success.
From engaging games and sports activities to stalls, refreshments, and entertainment, the event offered something for everyone. The atmosphere was one of togetherness and pride, with people of all ages joining in to celebrate what makes Moffat such a special place to live.
Organisers expressed their gratitude to everyone who attended, volunteered or contributed in any way, and they hope this will be the first of many shared community events.
Together, Moffat continues to show that when schools, organisations, and residents unite, great things happen.
Halloween
In English, students in 2H are currently learning about the history of witchcraft in preparation for their study of Salem by David Calcutt. On Thursday 19th September after finding evidence of witches in the local community, Moffat Academy hosted several witch trials across the school! Students were put into groups and went to watch these trials, with a view to determining: what accusations were levied, who was accused, what the verdict was and, importantly, whether they themselves agreed with the outcome. They will be producing pamphlets either denouncing or supporting the accused - developing an awareness of the power of propaganda - before moving on to their play study.
Big thanks to the following for putting on engaging trials for the S2s: Mrs Kirk and the Senior Health and Food Technology class Mr Armstrong and the Higher Sociology class Mr Page and 1H Science Mr Yuill and the Senior Admin & IT class The Higher Classical Studies class'
And here is a short video of some of the fab outfits our creative pupils wore for Halloween!
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