Alford Academy

Congratulations to Jaden who recently was at the final round of the Scottish Motocross Championship. He is the SACU BW85cc Scottish Motocross Champion 2023.

He is also the Aberdeen & District 2023 Champion, the Grampian Motocross 2023 Champion & the Orkney Beach Race 2023 winner.

It’s a great achievement for Jaden who is determined and committed to succeed in motocross to win 4 championships this year.

Congratulations to S4 pupil Stuart and the considerable achievements he has made recently.

The Next Big Thing:

On March 4th Stuart went down to Glasgow to compete in the 2nd round of heats at a Venue called ‘The Bungalow’.  He played ‘Lucy’s song’ and was one of six who made it through to the finals. Although he did not win the judges comments were:

Wow, wow wow – what a nice song.  Great vocal tone, just perfect.  Great control.  Lovely performance, so emotional. Brilliant songwriter. Guitar playing was great, what a talented young man, you have a big future ahead of you.’

The Emmerdale – U have Talent:

On March 15th Stuart competed in the Inverurie heat of this Scottish Competition.  He won the heat and now goes through to the Final on the 9th June at Leonardo’s Hotel, Aberdeen Airport.  The final will be judged by celebrity judges and ITV team.  The overall champion will be invited to perform live on 10th June at The Big Bash Ball with Emmerdale.

On the 24th March he released his 2nd single ‘A Long Way Home’.  This song is about bullying and the effects it has on people and their mental health.

Scottish Schools GLEE competition:

On 28th April, Stuart was invited to perform as an Alumni at the Aberdeen/Aberdeenshire heat finals at the Beach Ballroom, Aberdeen.  At this event a reporter from the P&J heard Stuart’s performance and has asked to do an article on Stuart and his musical journey.  This interview is taking place on Wednesday 17th May at 4pm.

May Day / Kings Coronation Celebrations:

Stuart was invited to perform on 30th May at Inverurie Town Hall as part of ‘The Lockdown Live – Unlocked’ weekend.  This was a facebook group that was created during lockdown to provide a platform to showcase live music when no- one could leave the house.

He was also invited to perform outside Inverurie Town Hall on Sunday 7th May as part of the Inverurie Street Party to celebrate the King’s Coronation.  On both occasions Stuart performed a 30 minute session during which he played a selection of covers and original songs.

Young Songwriter Competition 2023:

Most recently, Stuart has just heard that his song ‘Promises and Regrets’ has made it to the Top 10 of this National competition.

Stuart’s song is about living with Type 1 diabetes and the challenges it brings. This years competition attracted around 1,000 high quality entries from aspiring songwriters aged 8-18 across the world.  The Top 10 in each category are now invited to perform their song on Saturday 23rd September at The Young Songwriter 2023 live showcase held at The Tabernacle, Notting Hill, London where the winners and runners up will be announced.

14 students embraced the opportunity to become Junior Rangers and discover, explore and conserve four different countryside sites in the Cairngorms National Park. Over the course of the week they gained an understanding of different Ranger roles and learnt about biodiversity, land management, and responsible access.

At Dorenell windfarm on Monday, EDF Rangers Stephen and Rebecca showed them into a wind turbine, lead a walk that explored land management practices and explained the eagle monitoring project they work on. On Tuesday, the Junior Rangers learnt how to identify moth species thanks to Helen from Aberdeenshire Council Ranger Service, explored Muir of Dinnet and set camera traps with Kirstin from NatureScot and adventured behind the Burn O’Vat waterfall. The Junior Rangers explored Glen Tanar by mountain bike on Wednesday, finding geocaches along the way and learning about biodiversity, responsible access and fire control with Rangers Eric and Rory. Balmoral Rangers Georgia and Glyn taught the Junior Rangers how to restore peatland at Loch Muick on Thursday and they fully immersed themselves in building leaky dams and relocating sphagnum moss. And on Friday they worked in groups to produce presentations and deliver them to teachers and peers in order to share what they had taken away from the week.

As a result of their hard work they were all presented with their John Muir Awards by Will, Ranger for the Cairngorms National Park Authority, who coordinated and supported the Junior Rangers throughout the week.

It was brilliant to see the students engaging with these important topics and expanding their skills, knowledge and confidence so that they might take critical decisions in the future.