We have a number of jackets in our lost property. If you have lost a jacket recently then please access the attached link below to review the images and contact Jo Munro (jo.munro@aberdeenshire.gov.uk) to have it returned to you.
All items left in school by Wednesday 7th December will be donated to our preloved winter jacket resource. Lost Property – Winter Jackets Nov 2022
Alford Academy Remembrance Day 2022
“Remembrance honours those who serve to defend our freedom and way of life. It recognises the sacrifice of the Armed Forces community across the Commonwealth, as well emergency services and innocent civilians killed through conflict and terrorism. Remembrance honours people who have served and sacrificed, including armed forces and emergency services. It means stopping to remember people affected by war and hoping for a peaceful future.” (Taken from https://www.poppyscotland.org.uk/)
This year we continued our traditions in remembering all those who have or who still ensure our freedom.
The Interact club recruited friends in the school to create a week of remembrance. We are always very grateful to all the support staff give us at this busy time of the year and special thanks goes to the English and Humanities faculties as well as the Senior Leadership Team and Mrs Watt who always help the group with absolutely everything.
CLAN classes used a presentation made by interact pupils in the club with the inspiration from Mr Ryland to share some history; then CLAN pupils made poppies to be displayed in the school. The poppies were decorated with memories and thanks. These have been displayed for all to read.
Each morning during the lead up to the 11th there was a tannoy message sharing a reading or poem about remembrance which pupils are supported in selecting by Miss Steel. During the weeks assembly our pupil senior executive shared their own thoughts with a few minutes of personal reflection.
On the 11th the school took part in a 2-minute silence led by Mr Cookson at 11am and listened to another reading followed by a piper. At the same time Mrs Wotherspoon represented our school community with a number of pupils, staff and a piper to place a wreath on the Alford war memorial along with the primary and chaplain team.
All week pupils were selling poppies for Poppy Scotland and were delighted to hand over a generous donation.
Thank you to all the pupils and staff who helped the group.
Alford Academy Interact Group
Rotary Shoe Box Scheme 2022
The Interact club wanted to fill more boxes this year than last; and we are delighted to announce that we succeeded!!!
Over 50 boxes were collected after the holidays and will be sent to disadvantaged adults and children in Eastern Europe to help support those with a need greater than our own. CLAN classes were involved again this year and rose to the challenge of filling at least 3 boxes each.
The boxes will be sent to countries such as the Ukraine, Romania and Moldova. Our thanks extend to the Rotary Club of Alford for involving us in the scheme and collecting them for us.
If you wish to find out more information about the scheme then this website has more information: http://www.rotaryshoebox.org/
Alford Academy Interact Club
MacMillan Coffee Morning 2022
By the Alford Academy Interact Group
We did it! We had an actual event! And made £232.52 in cash donations and we received with £47 in online donations making a total of £279.52. This is enough to make a huge difference for those using the help MacMillan provide and we are absolutely delighted! This is the most we have raised in a coffee morning for years so we cannot thank everyone enough.
The coffee morning is the first organised event by the Interact Club, this year we were able to use the facilities in HE to bake our own fine pieces to sell to staff. Diane Forbes helped pupils to create a delicious array of tray bakes and ensure we had enough to go around all staff. The staff met in the school staff room which the pupils decorated and set up with their fine pieces and the urns with hot water to make plenty tea and coffee.
The pupils had to plan the event from scratch, order ingredients which Mrs Watt ordered for us and with the help of Mrs Harper set up ready for baking. Once baked the pupils labelled all the ingredients and set up the event.
This year we were grateful of online banking which helped everyone to contribute.
As ever the group is very grateful to everyone who donated this year and we are already looking forward to a bigger coffee morning next year.
The Alford Academy Interact Club
Understanding options available after school (SDS) for parents and carers secondary pupils, Thursday 10th November 6.30pm
Skills Development Scotland careers advisers are hosting a webinar for parents and carers of secondary pupils on 10 Nov at 6:30pm to discuss the options available to young people when they leave secondary school, and resources and support available from Skills Development Scotland.
Parents and carers can register for our session here:
https://Understandingoptionsavailableafterschool.eventbrite.co.uk
Today is World Mental Health Day and staff took the opportunity to wear yellow in school today to raise awareness of this and to demonstrate support for our young people’s mental health. We wanted to show young people that how they feel matters. We are supporting this cause to work towards creating a future where all young people get the mental health support they need.
Later in the week our Mental Health Peer Educators will be sharing information to all our pupils about how to access support both in and out of school and will present some information in CLAN and SDA classes to highlight a variety of support resources that young people can access.
Aberdeenshire North Foodbank :
Mrs Jo Munro is the main contact for the Aberdeenshire North Foodbank at Alford Academy and can request food parcels on your behalf using an e-referral. Please make contact via email : jo.munro@aberdeenshire.gov.uk
Too Good to Go App : Accessing Unwanted Food
The app that lets customers rescue unsold food from shops and restaurants, to save it from going to waste, all at reduced prices. For further information access : https://toogoodtogo.co.uk/en-gb/
A Scholar information session will be held for parents and carers on Wednesday 14th September 2022 6:00-6:30pm.
Register (via eventbrite.com)
SCHOLAR provides a range of National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher online courses and support materials for young people in subscribing local authorities across Scotland.
The webinar will take place in MS Teams and will provide an overview for parents and carers of:
For information on the SCHOLAR programme and courses, please see:
https://scholar.hw.ac.uk/using.html#parents
SCHOLAR currently offers the following online courses aligned to the SQA curriculum at National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher level:
The amazing addition of the outdoor court at Alford Academy has lead to an increased popularity in basketball during leisure time. It’s great to see the pupils using their break times to be active and practice new skills. Basketball has also become more popular at the school, with both junior and senior clubs training on a Monday after school and practice times on Tuesday and Thursday lunchtimes. The school look forward to seeing more from the teams next year with more games planned as well as hoping to enter some leagues or tournaments. The academy is also working closely with the basketball development officer and school sports coordinators to plan coaching qualifications and holiday camps.
Here you can see a couple of our senior team players modelling our new basketball kit, kindly donated by the Parent Council.
Pre-Loved Uniform Event : On behalf of your Alford Academy Parent Council
Previously we have collected and organised pre-loved academy school uniform and redistributed it for others to use. This worked well and many in our school community benefitted.
Our next table top event will take place on Thursday 9th June (3-5pm) and Saturday 11th June (10-12 noon), in advance of this please can we request for you to donate any uniform items that you no longer require. These can be dropped off in the metal cage in the foyer of the community campus. Please see the attached our poster for full details.
We would also welcome any revision /success guides for SQA exams (any subject) that are no longer required as we will also be able to re-distribute these to our young people.
Thank you in advance for helping the environment and supporting our school community.
