Banff Academy

Pupil Support Newsletter

December 2017

Welcome to the Banff Academy Pupil Support Newsletter for

December. In this issue you will find lots of information about

activities and events our Pupil Support Team have provided during

Terms 1 & 2.

Internet Safety Workshops

We have started delivering Internet Safety

workshops and the aim is to reach all P7

pupils before their transition to the

Academy. The focus is on online bullying

and large social media groups as well as

what makes a good digital citizen. This is

delivered by a multi-agency group. Allison

Rankin PTG, Craig McCann CLD and Mike Taylor Police Scotland.

Teenage Cancer Trust

On Tuesday 26th September we welcomed the

Teenage Cancer Trust back in to the school for

an assembly with all our S2 pupils. They create

world-class cancer services for young people in

the UK, providing life-changing care and support

so young people don’t have to face cancer alone. Cancer doesn’t just change the

life of the young person with cancer. It has a much wider reach; friends, siblings

and family members are also affected by a cancer diagnosis. They want to work

with young people who have cancer to help them educate and empower those

around them. Their Education and Awareness team helps to increase knowledge

of cancer in young people.

ASL News December 2017

SQA Successes

Once again, our Senior Phase Enhanced Provision pupils have achieved great success in the

annual SQA exams. The pupils who has achieved the highest number of National Qualifications

and units passes is Frazer Smith from last session’s S6. Frazer achieved full National 2

qualifications in Business in Practice, Creative Arts and Performance Arts and also achieved

another 19 Nat 2 units and 19 Nat 1 units (over the course of his senior phase). In total, over

2016 and 2017, Enhanced Provision senior pupils achieved 155 Nat 1 units and 147 Nat 2 units

in subjects including Expressive Arts, Health and Wellbeing, Language, Mathematics, Social

Subjects, Science and Technologies. This is a great set of results for our hard-working seniors.

All credit goes to them and to their teachers who worked hard to support them. Mrs Jane

Farquhar leads the Enhanced Provision’s SQA work and deserves to be congratulated for

enabling such a strong performance in Banff Academy’s Enhanced Provision.

Dyslexia Club

Banff Academy’s Dyslexia Club, run by Ms

Strachan, meets every week. The club

members organised a stall at the recent S1

parents’ evening where they displayed

leaflets explaining the various aspects of

dyslexia with suggestions about how best to

manage typical dyslexic problems. One

club member, Abbie Brown of 1B1, has had

her artwork published in a new book called

‘Dyslexia is My Superpower.’ Dyslexia

Scotland invited young people to contribute

their creative ideas which expressed what

dyslexia means to them. Abbie’s poster was

selected for inclusion from entries all over Britain. We are so proud of Abbie and all Banff

Academy pupils who make the most of their talents.

ASL Swimmers’ Success

Congratulations go to the ASL swimming team who did brilliantly

well in September’s ASL Swimming Gala in Aberdeen’s Sports

Village. Overall, the team won six medals: three golds, two silvers

and a bronze. Team members were Niall Stewart, Rebecca Rose,

Robin Heady, Lakeisha Argo, Dylan Jackson, Nathan Knox and

Ryan Rhodes. We are very proud of our competitors and their

fantastic result!

Christmas Events in Enhanced Provision

Fly Cup

On Friday 1st December, parents and friends of Enhanced Provision pupils were invited to Banff

Academy for a fly cup. Our thanks go to Mrs Maison for her organisation of this event. Staff and

pupils set up various stalls, including Christmas crafts, crocus bulbs, raffles, tombola and the

ever-popular home bakes. We were delighted that so many parents and friends came to support

this fund raiser. All the money raised goes towards outings, experiences and equipment for the

pupils, to make their learning more exciting, varied and relevant.

Concert

On Monday 11th December, Mrs Smith held a Christmas Concert when Enhanced Provision

pupils showcased their talents and developed confidence. It’s great to see the pupils working

together and participating in a group activity which gives them loads of fun and satisfaction. Once

again, families and friends were invited to come along, support the young folk and join in the

festive fun.

Panto

On Wednesday 20th December, Enhanced Provision pupils will travel to Inverness to see the

panto at Eden Court Theatre, ‘Snow White’. We are grateful to Mrs Maison for organising this

treat. We are able to subsidise the cost, thanks to our fundraising activities which are generously

supported by parents and friends.

Monthly Assembly

The Enhanced Provision now holds a monthly assembly when we explore a particular theme and

then go on to award star badges to individuals or groups who have impressed their teachers and

the support assistants. In November we had a visiting speaker – Mr Andrew Simpson - who

showed a presentation about the Rotary Club’s crocus campaign and their success in helping to

eliminate polio. December’s theme was homelessness. We

watched a video from Crisis at Christmas, a charity which

supports the homeless.

Shown are some of the “Star Award” winners. They received

their star badges for their excellent progress, behaviour and

achievement. It’s a great feeling to give and receive these

awards. The pupils feel proud of their work and the staff feel

proud of the pupils.

Transition Planning

We are already making plans for the next P7 – S1 transition. Banff Academy teaching staff and

Community Learning and Development staff have had several meetings with colleagues, pupils

and parents from the primary schools to ensure a smooth transition for those pupils who will

benefit from enhanced transitions. Plans will be put into action in term 3 when some pupils will

visit Banff Academy and join in a range of activities to start the familiarisation process and help

pupils feels comfortable and secure about moving up to secondary school. Over time, these

visits will increase in length and frequency until the youngsters feel confident and ready for the

next stage in their education. It’s a big exciting step but, we hope to ensure it will be a positive

one.

Safe Drive Stay Alive

On Tuesday 7th November all S5 pupils were invited to

attend The Safe Drive Stay Alive event at the Beach

Ballroom in Aberdeen which is aimed at senior pupils on

the brink of learning to drive. Safe Drive Stay Alive aims to

make sure that when young people get behind the wheel for the first time,

they are aware of the responsibility they are taking on and the issues which

could affect their safety and that of their passengers and other road users.

In 2013, 73% of those fatally

injured and 49% of those

seriously injured in Scotland

were involved in collisions

on ‘non-built up’ roads,

similar to those we have in

the Banff Area. Common

causal factors in fatal

collisions include ‘loss of

control’; ‘travelling too fast for the conditions’ or ‘excessive speed’. There is a

high risk of collisions involving young drivers and particularly young male

drivers.

At Safe Drive Stay Alive pupils heard real life testimony from the emergency

crews who regularly face the aftermath of road collisions, and from families of

those affected.

The photos are of some of the

team who collaborated to get

the safety message across to

our young people and also

some pupils engaging in the

show. Our S5 pupils reported

back that the event was hard-

hitting but worthwhile.

Macmillan Coffee Morning

Friday 29th September saw 6 Boyndie host their annual coffee morning in aid of

Macmillan Cancer Support. A team of seniors worked together to plan and prepare

for the event in aid of this charity which Boyndie house have supported for over ten

years.

The event took place in the assembly hall at interval and was very well attended by

both staff and pupils. They managed to raise over £200 in just twenty minutes.

The Giving Tree

This year, for our annual Giving Tree event, we raised over

£1500. An amazing effort from all our pupils and staff. This

money was spent on toys for Children assigned to Banff

Academy who would otherwise wake up to nothing on

Christmas morning.

The crew and Mrs Hazlehurst went shopping on a Tuesday evening and spent

over £1200 on toys at Tesco in Danestone. The manager at the end recognised the

good work by also adding nearly £100 to the pot. The young people were so proud

to hand over all these presents on behalf of Banff Academy and, although it was a

very late and snowy night, everyone was so positive about the experience.

The next day we also dropped off £300 of food and toiletries to our local food bank.

Another amazing contribution to support those who need it. So

proud of Banff Academy and of Beth Slater, Chloe Horne, Monica

Wilson, Molly Tulett, Annabel Middleton and Iona Runcie who

helped plan, collect, buy and deliver. A big thank you to Monica’s

mum Marie who drove a second car for us so we could have

space for all the presents!

Alternative Provision

Our Alternative Provision continues to provide valuable targeted support for young

people in Banff Academy, across all year groups. Currently 56 pupils are

benefitting from their participation in a wide range of initiatives, aimed at building

resilience, confidence, friendships, team-working and employability skills.

Our S1 pupils have been busy making and selling Festive

Enterprise crafts with Mrs J Farquhar (ASL), such as bath

salts, Christmas garlands, table confetti and jewellery, which

they have sold at various school and community events. All

of which would make excellent Christmas gifts. All profits

will be donated to charity decided by the pupils. (To date our

pupils have raised £140)

S2 pupils have been supported by two different initiatives, led by Mrs Hazlehurst

(PT Guidance) and Jordan Strachan (Pupil Support Worker), aimed at promoting

positive behaviour and developing resilience. Our S2 Promoting Positive

Behaviour group are learning to work effectively setting, reviewing and

understanding targets and the importance of self regulation to help them engage

with the many learning opportunities offered at Banff Academy. This group enjoyed

a strenuous day of outdoor education, where despite very wet conditions they

managed to work together to achieve all the objectives set, along with having a

great but muddy time! Our Resilience Group, which is underpinned by the

principles of nurture, are also looking forward to an out of school learning activity of

high ropes/climbing wall challenges which will mark the culmination of their small

group intervention.

12 of our S3 pupils are being supported by youth workers in Community Learning

and Development (CLD) to promote a health and well-being initiative in partnership

with our associated primaries.

Our S4 intervention is a joint project, facilitated by both the school and colleagues

in CLD. 14 young people are working towards Princes Trust accreditation which

will see them achieve two additional SQA units on successful completion of this

course. Pupils are developing useful skills such as enhanced communication,

team-working and employability and will begin their community project in the new

year.

Selected pupils in S5/6 are working in partnership with colleagues in CLD to

improve their employability skills.

We have several other projects in the pipeline:

S1 - S3 Photography skills led by Mr A McKay (Teacher of Intervention and

Prevention)

The Banff Wheelbarrow Project - a community initiative which will be delivered

in conjunction with staff from Banff Day Services. This community project will

be based within the grounds of Banff Castle and will enhance our learning

outdoors by helping our young people to develop horticulture and gardening

skills.

Staff are also undertaking Nurture Training to better support children with a

high level of social and emotional needs.

Miss McColl (PT Achievement) has also been working with Support for Pupils staff

to ensure that we “Get it Right for our Young People” to develop Flexible Learning

Pathways, which will enhance vital transferable skills and employability, thereby

delivering positive outcomes for young people within Banff Academy.

“Today we visited Banff Fire station where we met Kev , a

retained firefighter. He is a national training officer and

talked to us about the importance of working in teams,

leadership and assigning different roles with in a team’ He

talked to us about the three main roles that fire fighters

undertake – fires, road traffic accidents and water rescue”

Cameron Sutherland S4

As part of Shaun MackIntosh’s Flexible Learning

Pathways, a visit was arranged with Police Scotland

where Shaun got first hand insight into all aspects of

dog handling. Shaun thoroughly enjoyed this

experience. Thanks to Dr McCabe for organising this

List of Training

Rebound therapy

Dyslexia,

Epilepsy

Makaton

Autism

ADHD

Mentors in Violence Prevention

ACE Training and talk at RGU

Visible Learning National Conference led by Professor John Hattie

Nurture Training

Prefect Training

Our prefect training took place on Thursday 2nd

November with the Army, Hannah

Bennet from the Green Light Project, PC Taylor and Banff Academy staff all coming

together to make this a successful day which 98% of our prefects attended. The

event took place at the Fife Lodge, Banff. The pupils took part in an outdoor

teambuilding event with the

Army leading this throughout

the morning. The afternoon

was varied with scenarios

discussed with PC Taylor,

informative social media talks

and short training on child

protection. These we hope

will support our Prefects in

their duties and tasks around

the school. The Prefects

evaluations were very

supportive of holding this

type of event in future years.