Bellshill Academy NewsletterChristmas 2015

A Message from Mrs MunroI am delighted to welcome you to Bellshill Academy’s Christmas Newsletter. We have had a fantastic term with so many of our young people and staff achieving great success across all aspects of school and community life. I hope you enjoy reading about our highlights and continue to support our wonderful school. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our young people and staff who have worked so hard this term to achieve the many successes you will read about in our Newsletter.

On behalf of everyone at the Academy, I would like to thank you for your ongoing support and wish you and your family a very happy Christmas and successful 2016.

This was a successful week and all pupils from S1-S6 took part in a number of Health and Wellbeing activities. Bellshill’s Tesco very kindly donated a large amount of fruit to the school in order to encourage youngsters to make healthier choices. Wiseman’s Dairy also supported our Health Week and guests from out with the school took our pupils through a range of presentations and activities. Bellshill’s YMCA contributed hugely along with Tommy Boyle from ‘Winning Scotland Foundation’ and the Samaritans.

Pupil CouncilPupil council representatives from S1-S4 attended a Youth Conference on Friday 6th November 10am-3.30pm. At the conference they had the chance to ask a panel of experts about any changes that they would like to see in the Bellshill area. The event was a great success.

Fire ReachTwenty-four of our S3 pupils have had the opportunity to take part in the Fire Reach programme run by the Fire Service at Coatbridge Fire station.

Coffee MorningThe school Captains and Vice Captains (pictured below) supported a ‘Sporting Memories’ group from within the community which involved a group of gentlemen who suffer from various levels of Dementia. They participated in a coffee morning, football quiz, carpet bowls and indoor curling. This was an enjoyable morning and a truly valuable experience for our senior pupils involved in working with our guests.

S2 Learning DayDuring Health Week, S2 took part in a Mind-set Learning Day. The event was presented by Miss Lafferty, Mr McGuire and Mr Linning and was popular with all S2 pupils. The pupils were fully involved in the activities, working in groups of four they learned all about how the mind-set we have can affect our learning.

S2 worked extremely hard throughout the event and were able to provide the ‘recipe’ for a successful learner, tell us how you can train your brain to become more intelligent and even come up with their own motivational quote.

Outward BoundMany congratulations to all of our pupils who participated in the Outward Bound trip to Loch Eil this term. The pupils had a fantastic

time and were great ambassadors for the school. Many thanks to Miss Simonini who accompanied the pupils.

New Dance Studio, and Fitness SuiteWe are delighted that work has now begun on our new PE facility. Once completed, our pupils and staff will have access to state of the art Dance Studio and Fitness suite and a multi-purpose room for teaching and Drama performances.

Primary 7 RoadshowsA huge thanks to all of the P7 pupils and parents from Lawmuir, Mossend and Noble Primary Schools for participating in our annual Roadshows. The events, organised by Mrs McGraw were a fantastic success. Thanks also to the Head Teachers in each of the schools for hosting the events and to our own Bellshill Academy students who delivered great presentations at each school.

Children in Need ChoirNine of our S3 and S4 singers were successful in auditioning for the BBC Children in Need Glasgow Choir. They took part in the choir which was made up of selected pupils from schools all over Lanarkshire and Glasgow. The choir sang on TV for Children in Need on Friday 13th November.

The pupils were:

S4Mhairi Lees, Sarah Lindsay, Leona McLean

S3Amber Boyle, Danielle Burke, Kim Jackson, Angela McCormack, Amber Ramsay, Samantha Mulholland

Children in Need Fun DayOn Friday 13th November, our charity committee hosted an S1-3 Fun Day to raise money for Children in Need. Pupils had the opportunity to take part in lots of different activities such as a bouncy castle, inflatable super slide, sumo suit wrestling, face painting, and much more! As part of the day, the committee held a coffee morning for staff. The committee raised almost £900 and our thanks go to Miss Simonini, Mr Clark and all the students and staff who participated in raising this fantastic amount.

Remembrance Day Senior students and staff joined with members of the wider Bellshill community in a moving ceremony at the War Memorial. Our School Captains laid a wreath at the memorial and Sarah Lindsay read her World War 1 Memorial poem which is now inscribed in marble at the memorial. We were pleased that Primary 7 pupils from our associated primary schools and senior students from Cardinal Newman High School (pictured below) joined with us at the ceremony.

Dance ShowThere was a North Lanarkshire Dance Show for S1/2 pupils held here at Bellshill Academy. Many schools in the authority attended and youngsters were given the opportunity to showcase their performances which were created through their own choreography.

Christmas Concert and Christmas MarketOur Christmas Concert took place in the Academy on Thursday 10th December. In addition to our wonderful musical performances, parents and carers were also treated to performances from our dance group and the staff choir and staff band.

On the same evening Bellshill Academy’s Christmas Winter Market Shopping event took place. Many members of the local community came out to support the event and they were treated to a wide range of stalls selling handmade wares including: jams, chutneys, Christmas cards, decorations, jewellery, candles and much more.

Primary Transition ProgrammeThis week Head Teachers and senior staff from Lawmuir, Mossend and Noble Primary Schools met with Mrs McGraw and Miss McCormick from the Art department to plan for our Transition art project which will begin in the new term.

Exam Revision ClinicsWe would encourage as many of our senior students as possible to make good use of our exam revision clinics in the run up to our

Prelim examinations which are scheduled to take place from 18/1/2016 - 29/1/2016.

History TripsSenior pupils attended the Showcase cinema to watch the film "Suffragettes" as they are studying this topic in class.

S4 pupils attended a Workshop at Summerlee Heritage Centre about the First World War.

S3 and S4 Pupils are having a residential trip to London in June 2016. Preparations are well under way

Auschwitz TripTwo Senior pupils, Emma Bridgewater and Chloe Watson visited the concentration camp Auschwitz in Poland. This event was organised by the Holocaust Educational Trust and the 2 girls were chosen to represent Bellshill Academy. The girls will use this experience to tell others about the Holocaust and how we should not discriminate because of religion.

Gymnastics CompetitionOn Friday the 4th of December, two staff and fifteen pupils went to Ravenscraig Sports Centre to compete in the North Lanarkshire Gymnastics competition. The girls were entered in at level one, where they had to perform a floor routine and two vaults. The pupils (pictured below) were a credit to themselves and their school, with all of their hard work over the past few weeks paying off.

A massive well done to all girls involved for their hard-work and dedication. A special mention must go to Alana Hillcoat who won individual gold and to Abby Forwell who won individual silver. Also congratulations to Morgan Ferguson, Jodie Burns, Abby Forwell and Alana Hillcoat who won overall team gold with a total score of 83.6! Once again, congratulations to all involved and a big thank-you to all who organised the fantastic day. A thoroughly enjoyable experience for all!

Christmas Card Recycling House CompetitionThe eco committee have started to organise this year’s Christmas Card Recycling Competition. During the first week back after the Christmas break there will be a house competition taking place which gives yboth pupils and staff the opportunity to win more points for your house.

House Captains will come round the tutor classes each day to collect Christmas cards for recycling. Pupils can also post the cards into your house box outside room 3 (Geography) before school or during break times.

The competition will begin on the first day back after Christmas – Wednesday 6th January 2016. Pupils have until the end of the school day on Tuesday 12th January 2016 to bring in your old Christmas cards and the house which recycles the most Christmas cards wins the most points!

Good Luck!

Book Week ScotlandTo celebrate Book Week Scotland in November, the Library Resource Centre and English Department welcomed two popular children’s authors to the school.

Writer and translator Matthew Fitt gave a braw talk to Mr Scott and Miss Moore’s S3 classes about Scots language, while Cathy Forde explored her inspiration for writing teenage fiction with Mrs Casement and Mr Alexander’s S2 pupils.

Both visitors were highly impressed by the pupils’ behaviour and attentiveness during the sessions.

The Award-Winning Project Flame OutProject Flame out won a corporate Award for regeneration at the award ceremony in Motherwell Civic on Monday 19th October. Flame Out is a Peer Education pack designed and delivered by young people in the Bellshill area.

This pack includes lots of local fire information and engaging activities for first and second year pupils to take part in to promote fire safety. They have also produced a number of films to promote the fire safety message in Bellshill and North Lanarkshire. The project has also won a CL&D Partnership Award and the pupils attended the Award Ceremony at Coatbridge College.

The pack has been delivered by the senior pupils (pictured above) to all of S1 and S2 within the school and will soon be delivered to P6&7 pupils over the coming month.

End of Term ActivitiesThe end of term has been an incredibly busy one for our students with a range of activities and events taking place including:S1 trip to the pantomime, S5/6 visit to the Christmas Market in Edinburgh, Modern Languages trip to Excape in Glasgow and student musical performances at our partnership nurseries. We have also hosted our own coffee mornings to raise funds for school projects and to welcome some of our older Bellshill residents. We would like to thank all of the pupils and staff who have organised and participated in these events