Coronation Cup
Jera, one of our pupils completed at the Coronation Cup at Cairngorm last weekend, a 2 day slalom competition hosted by the Scottish Ski Club. Conditions were absolutely brutal.
Jera won gold both days and we are very proud of her.
Alford Academy Career Fair – Thursday 12th March 2026 6pm – 8pm
Bebras UK Computing Challenge 2025 – Winners Announced
A massive congratulations to everyone who took part in the Bebras UK Computing Challenge 2025 within the Business and Digital Education Faculty. This is a computational thinking challenge where participants were presented with a series of puzzles and tasks to solve in 45 minutes. The results are in and we are delighted to announce that 215 pupils in S1 – S3 took part with 3 Gold certificates, 54 Certificate of Distinction and 55 Certificates of Merit awarded. There were also 106 Certificates of Participation. Well done to everyone, certificates will be issued next week in class.
The Gold certificate winners were Josh, Rhydian and Emma in S2 who came within the top 10% of their year group in the UK – a brilliant achievement.
Rig to Reef: S3 Biology PBL
Rig to Reef: S3 Biology PBL
The biology department has been busy preparing the next batch of S3 Biology students to address climate action and learn about the North Sea through project based learning. The ‘Rig to Reef’ project is now in its 4th year and this year our new Biologist Chris Bodington has been tweaking the 5 week programme of learning.
This type of learning can be initially challenging but has the potential of not only being fun for the students but develops their skills in team working and communication which are key in Science.
Driving Questions: How can we, as S3 Biologists, help our school community restore the health of the sea around the North East of Scotland?
Project Overview: The ocean holds a pivotal role in the relationship between climate and biodiversity. Ocean -based solutions have the potential to solve both our global biodiversity and climate crises. This project seeks to explore the issues facing the biodiversity of our oceans and to explore the many positive solutions the ocean can provide.
To introduce the project, Mrs Bodington arranged for 3 speakers to come into school and create a showcase event to inspire our learners before taking on the project. The 3 sessions below were created:
- North Sea ecosystems with Dr Lauren Smith – Marine Biologist – runs Saltwater Life, a marine research & conservation organisation and Project Manager at East Grampian Coastal Partnership. Expert in elasmobranchs.
2. Ocean Plastic Pollution with Marie Dare – Marine Biologist – Learning Officer at Macduff Aquarium, she is an expert in marine science, fisheries and conservation biology.
3. Oil and Life in the North Sea with Jemma Kerr and Scott Campbell – BP’s Environmental Team for the North Sea, experts in the environmental issues surrounding exploration and decommissioning.
The pupils were superb and engaged well during each session and all staff who had the opportunity to be involved thoroughly enjoyed the sessions. We are grateful to the training opportunities we have had from Excelerate Learning who sponsored all our staff training for this type of work.
Senior Boys Progress in NoS Cup
The Senior Boys football team had their first game of the season on Thursday 18th September with a home match against Fortrose Academy in the North of Scotland Cup. Alford dominated the match from start to finish with all 14 boys playing their part in the win.
Alford took the lead halfway through the first half when Harvey produced a moment of magic, taking on 3 Fortrose defenders before slotting the ball passed the ‘keeper. More good things were to come 10 minutes later when the 2 wingers combined to great effect. Leo brought the ball down from Taylor’s pass and played Darroch through on goal, who sent a shot into the far corner from a challenging angle. 2-0 to Alford at half-time. The second half continued in much the same way with Alford creating a number of chances before some intricate passing between the midfield three of Mungo, Sam and Harvey, resulted in a superb strike from Harvey from 25 yards out. Alford got their fourth with a bullet header from Liam from Ethan’s in-swinging corner. Full time: Alford 4 – 0 Fortrose. A clean sheet and strong defensive performance from all involved.
A fantastic result to start the season and the boys are rewarded with a trip to the Isle of Skye to take on Portree High School in the second round.
Bioblitz 2025
Bioblitz 2025
Building on the success of last year’s bioblitz, the S3 biologists completed a series of tasks to complete the bioblitz 2025. The aim of a bioblitz is to record as many different species as possible for a site in the space of a day. On the 18h of June all 5 S3 Biology classes worked with colleagues from NESBReC, Nature Scot & CNPA Ranger Service to find out which plants and animals live in and around the Alford Academy campus.
Everyone involved recorded wildlife and every piece of information adds to our understanding of biodiversity. Our pupils used different ways to record the plants and animals we found and why it is important to gather the data. This data can now be used to help us to protect and promote nature on the school campus. The data will become a useful part of the North East Scotland Biological Records Centre (NESBReC) database and can be used by the school to see how the campus develops for nature in years to come. We now have 2 years of data and were able to complete a larger scale survey compared to last year.
Judy Baxter from the CNPA Ranger Service and Aileen Salway from NESBReC supported the school and organised a team of helpers to come and lend a hand, and their knowledge on the day.
68 pupils took part in this bioblitz led by Biology teacher Mrs Bodington, to gather baseline data from the school. In future years all our S2 pupils in Science will be taking part each year to track changes and hopefully see an improvement in biodiversity.
In successive years we can monitor how species diversity changes over time as we work to improve the school grounds. We have a new outdoor learning group who will be working with our partners to develop ideas with our pupils to make the grounds more enjoyable and a better home for nature.
National Scientific Thinking Challenge 2025
National Scientific Thinking Challenge 2025
In May our S3 chemists participated in the National Scientific Thinking Challenge. This is an annual challenge organised by Warwick University. This year over 15,000 S3 (or equivalent) pupils from 266 schools from all round the World took part. The challenge involved interpreting and processing information on a number of science topics relevant to modern society. The questions are deliberately quite hard and test their ability to think like a scientist.
This year we are delighted to say that two of our pupils, Calum and Isla, achieved a silver medal for being placed in the top 25% of candidates worldwide, while another two, Emily and Esme, were awarded bronze medals. Well done to all who participated.
SCQF (Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework) Ambassador Programme
A few weeks ago SLT attended a presentation by Donnie Wood on the SCQF Ambassador Programme, highlighting the power of alternative pathways for pupils.
This week, Dr Skellern and Mr Walker shared some of this information to our senior pupils, showcasing the different pathways open to them as they progress in their learning throughout and after school, and highlighting how the SCQF levels articulate with each other.
The presentation also highlighted the importance of pupils holding themselves accountable for their learning – putting in adequate time to achieve the awards they aspire to.
Bellabeg bench project
Bellabeg bench project
Over the past few months Mr Eadon and a group of S3 woodwork students have been restoring a bench which the Strathdon paths group had to remove from its home in Bellabeg due to extensive weather damage. Cairngorms National Park Authority Ranger, Will George has been working with the school and expressed a desire to save it as the community of Bellabeg use the bench. Mr Eaden, one of our technical teachers, offered to work with a group of keen pupils to restore the bench and develop their joinery skills.
The group has worked hard to restore the beauty of the bench. Mr Eadon (Technical teacher), Mr Donaldson (technical teacher), Mrs Wotherspoon (Head teacher) and Mrs Rees-Jenkins (The school link with the Cairngorm National Park) joined the pupils at Bellabeg (Strathdon) to return the bench to its home. The Strathdon Path Network representatives, Maria and Alastair Dawson, supported the pupils in securing the bench back to the original site and helped to ensure it will provide a welcome rest for walkers over many years to come.
Thanks go to all involved in the project and to Mr Eadon for taking on this unique project for our community. It is a beautiful bench in a beautiful spot.
Celebrating Success in Science
Congratulations to our Science pupils for their achievements this year.
Oli was awarded the Gold Award in the British Physics Olympiad which took place in November 2024. Toby also participated in the competition, being awarded the Bronze II Award. Well done both!
Poppy was awarded the Young STEM Leader Award (Level 6) by SSERC for all the work she did while running the Science Club for junior pupils. Thank you, Poppy, for all the help throughout the year.
