Spring Newsletter 2022
Thank you to all pupils, staff and parents/carers for all your support and commitment this session. Hope you enjoy reading our Spring 2022 Newsletter – please click on link above.
Basketball
The newly established Senior basketball team played their first match against Aboyne Academy. The team won 71 – 49. The team played really well, especially with lots of inexperienced players, who were playing in a real game for the first time. Thank you to Aboyne for hosting the game, Andrew Porter for refereeing and Miss Baker for supporting the team. Next time they play, the team hope to have a brand new set of basketball strips, donated kindly by the Parent Council. The Senior basketball team is open to any S4-6 pupils (both girls and boys) and they train 4.00-5.00pm on a Monday, we are always looking for more keen and enthusiastic players of any level. More fixtures to come, watch this talented team grow from strength to strength.
Parent Council Fundraising – Co-op Junior Membership
As Parent Council is one of the Co-op’s local community causes, fundraising for the Outdoor Space Project, the Co-op passed on information about Junior Membership (under 16s) which may be of interest generally and an opportunity to support our cause which runs through to October.
Co-op Junior Membership (under 16s)
If you’re younger than 16 you can become a Co-op Junior Member and earn rewards to spend or donate (you won’t be able to have a say in how the business is run or stand for election until you turn 16). Your parent or guardian will need to apply by calling 0800 023 4708.
Co-op App
Use the app digital membership card to:
- collect rewards each time you scan your digital membership card
- spend your rewards or donate them to a local community
- choose 2 personalised offers each week
- select your local cause
Select your local cause
When you become a Co-op Member, you can choose a local cause to support through your membership. If you choose Alford Academy Parent Council as you cause, the Co-op will donate 2p in every £1 you spend at the Co-op to raise money for the Outdoor Space Project. You can select your local cause under Membership in the app.
Daily Bulletin – Wednesday 30 March
Active Schools – Lunchtime Dodgeball Session
Due to the success of the staff vs Pupils dodgeball session Active Schools are looking to run pupil vs pupil dodgeball sessions at a lunchtime during the week next term. We are looking for either a teacher who would be willing to supervise, or some senior students who would be willing to become Active Schools volunteers and run the sessions. If you would be interested in helping with these sessions please contact myself (Fiona) or Kerry on the Active Schools Alford email address. Activeschoolsalford@aberdeenshire.gov.uk
S5/6 Assembly: All S5/6 pupils must attend an important briefing on SQA arrangements in the Theatre today at 14:05 (please register in class promptly at 2pm before making your way to the Theatre).
S3 Monitors
We are looking to create a new leadership opportunity for our S3 pupils and put in place S3 Monitors next term. Monitors, like prefects, are ambassadors for the school at all times, ‘living’ and promoting our school values and promoting the well-being of all young people in our school. Responsibilities include working alongside staff in supporting and promoting the life and work of the school, particularly during study leave when your S5 and 6 counterparts are out of school. If you are interested please complete an application form by the end of this week – see link on blog & website – https://alfordacademy.edublogs.org/leadership-opportunities-2021-2022/
Student Executive
We are looking for applications from current S5 pupils for Head and Depute Prefect for next session. Details of how to apply can be found on blog/website under Pupil Leadership.
– https://alfordacademy.edublogs.org/leadership-opportunities-2021-2022/
The closing date for applications is the end of this week and interviews will take place during exam leave.
Debating Society
Thank you to those who came along to discuss the Debating Club on Monday. There was a good turnout and a few more pupils who signed up later in the day. If you wanted to join but couldn’t make it, please ask a Humanities teacher to pass your name and year group to Mr Ryland. The first session will be after the exams in June, with the day of the week fixed once we have new timetables in place.
Inter-House Competition
The house captains have organised an end of term Easter Egg Hunt House Challenge.
Wednesday 30th March at 1.30
Meet outside Amphitheatre area, open to all year groups
Prizes and House Points
Library Wellbeing Space
There is now a wellbeing space in the library, created by the Mental Health Peer Educators and wellbeing supporters as well the new librarian Mrs Bronk-Mszk.
This a space anyone can come to relax, learn about mental health and wellbeing or take the opportunity to socialise.
It’s open every lunchtime, feel free to stop in!
If you want to request any resources and activities, please speak to Mrs Bronk-Mszk or Mrs J Munro.
Starting Next Term there will also be two Mental Health Peer Educators available each lunchtime for you to chat with.
Comic and Sports relief 2022 by Interact
The senior Interact club also took part in the fundraising to support the National incentive for Comic Relief (or red nose day) and Sports Relief. During the week 14th – 18th March the group led several activities to have fun and raise funds. Sport Relief is now a year-round celebration linked with major sport events and partnerships throughout the year. Comic is an annual event, returning every March across the UK. We decided to combine both as we have already completed so much fundraising already this year.
On the last day we held a ‘dress up’ as your favourite sport, we asked pupils and staff to pay £1 to donate to Sports Relief. We enjoyed seeing staff and pupils dressing in a variety of sports from football strips, team merchandise and sporty clothes. Also Mr Wake helped to add some laughter to the building by telling jokes on Friday morning, this was brilliant and we are very grateful to him for making the time to help us.
Throughout the week Interact were helped by the PE department to run a variety of sports for both juniors and seniors during lunch break. The following were completed:
Monday – Hockey
Tuesday – Football
Wednesday – Capture the Flag
Thursday – Staff vs Pupils Dodgeball (seniors only)
Friday – Basketball
All sports will be to raise money for Sports Relief and we were delighted to raise £418.77.
What happens to our fundraising: (from https://www.comicrelief.com/what-your-money-does)
All year-round, the money donated to Comic Relief works hard to support some incredible projects making a change to people’s lives across the UK and around the world. In fact, over the past two years, Comic Relief funding has helped to support 11.7 million people, including:
- more than 750,000 people in the UK experiencing financial and material poverty to access advice and support.
- more than 29,000 people who have experienced or are at risk of domestic abuse to access safe accommodation and specialist services.
- more than 46,000 children and young people in the UK, and more than 8.1 million internationally.
We would like to thank everyone who helped the group with this project. The Interact staff (Miss Lovelock, Dr Chirondojan and Mrs Rees-Jenkins) helped the group run the events. The PE faculty were amazing and supported the organisation and the actual lunchtime events which couldn’t have happened without their help. Mr Wake was brilliant in helping make the day fun. Also Mrs Watt was critical in the advertising of the events. And of course, thank you to all staff and pupils who got involved!
JDRF Fundraising update by Stuart in S3
JDRF Fundraising update by Stuart in S3
The Alford Academy Interact group did some fundraising for the charity JDRF last term and we wanted to let Stuart tell you in his own words how important the support from the school community has been in terms of the funds raised. Stuart was keen to share some facts about diabetes and the work of this brilliant charity. Stuart is an active member of the school Interact club and we are delighted to share his words below:
Thank you so much to Alford Academy for all your kind donations. A total of £342 was raised and this will help JDRF create a world without Type 1 Diabetes.
Recently The New York Times and the Sunday Times reported that the first person with Type 1 Diabetes to take part in a clinical trial for Stem Cell Therapy, saw their need for insulin disappear almost entirely. Both papers reported that the participant was ‘cured’ of his Type 1 Diabetes. Although this is not quite true, it is a huge step forward for the Type 1 community. And that’s why JDRF has invested in Stem Cell research since 2000 and are currently supporting hundreds of researchers around the world who are developing insulin producing cells in this way. We still have a long way to go before we can consider Type 1 Diabetes cured. Participants in the trial still must take immunosuppressive drugs for the rest of their life. That’s why JDRF continues to invest in research so we can find ways to restore insulin production without requiring a lifetime of further treatment. Your money will help to make this happen.
I am diabetic, and I live with the challenges it brings every day. I wear a machine attached to my stomach 24 hours a day, 7 hours a week. I cannot take it off. It pumps insulin into my body and keeps me alive. Insulin is made in your pancreas and it helps to control your body’s blood sugar levels and turns the food you eat into energy. Without it, your blood would eventually fill with sugar and turn to acid. Unfortunately, my pancreas has stopped producing insulin. This happened when i was seven years old, I have been injecting lifesaving insulin into my body ever since. Every day, I work to keep my blood sugar at a safe level. To do this I need to do about 8-10 finger pricks a day to measure the amount of sugar in my blood. Everything affects this. The weather, my mood, excitement, what I eat and how much exercise I get. If my blood sugar levels get too low, I become hypoglycaemic and this makes me feel tired, weak and I might faint. If my blood sugar levels get too high, I become hyperglycaemic and this makes me feel angry, upset and very tired. It is hard work to keep my blood sugar at a good level. Every time I eat, I use my pump to inject insulin into my body. Before I do this, I have to weigh my food and calculate the amount of carbohydrates it contains so I know how much insulin to take. Living with Diabetes often leaves me exhausted. I cannot leave the house to meet my friends without taking a bag of medical supplies with me. I can’t wait for the day there is a cure. JDRF don’t receive any direct funding from the Government towards their research, so they rely on supporters like you to fund their work. I am personally grateful to everyone who donated.
It was only 100 years ago, in 1921, when Frederick Grant Banting discovered insulin. Before that, Type 1 Diabetes was a deadly condition, there was no way to treat it. Banting went into the children’s ward of a Toronto Hospital; 50 young patients lay dying in a diabetic coma. One by one, the children were injected by a substance, later known as insulin. As the last of the children were injected, the first started to wake from their coma’s. This was a medical miracle, and in 1923, Banting received the Nobel Prize for his discovery of insulin.
Even since I was diagnosed at 7 years old the treatment for diabetes has improved. I used to inject insulin using a needle up to seven times a day. My legs would get swollen red and sore. But thanks to advances in research and technology, I was one of the first four patients in the Royal Aberdeen’s Children’s Hospital to be offered a brand-new insulin pump that works without requiring the patients to be attached to it from a tube. It is life changing. So, thank you once again. Your money will directly make a difference to my life. I can’t wait to see a world without Type 1 Diabetes!
Thank you to Stuart for sharing this with us.
Alford Academy Interact.
Celebrating Neurodiversity : 21st – 27th March
Friday 25th March 2022
Dyslexia is a complex condition causing an individual to process information differently, particularly around reading, writing and numbers. People with dyslexia often see things in a different way and have strong problem-solving and creative skills.
Developmental co-ordination disorder (DCD), also known as dyspraxia, is a condition affecting physical co-ordination. It causes difficulties with fine and gross motor skills and can affect the ability to carry out daily tasks.
To find out more about Dyslexia and Dyspraxia, how they impact our lives and the strengths that they bring then access our ‘Celebrating Neurodiversity Google site’ :
https://sites.google.com/as.glow.scot/celebratingneurodiversity/home
S5 Horizons – RGU Study skills, Exam preparation and Project Trust
On Tuesday 22 March, Robert Gordon University delivered a workshop to the S5s on note taking and revision skills. This included identifying what type of learning style, what learning methods to use to be an effective learner as well as exam preparation tips. They also covered how to manage your mental wellbeing; what affects our mental health, what can we change and how we can find support. The pupils comments were:
Really helpful and in depth, I learned what learning style works best for me
It was interesting and useful
Very interactive session, good because of personal examples used
Helpful and informative
Project Trust also delivered a presentation on taking a gap year and volunteering with project trust overseas. Pupil comments were:
Great to hear about someone’s actual experience rather than an overview
I think what project trust is doing is amazing and I can’t wait to participate this year.
Definitely considering taking a gap year with project trust inspiring and informative
The presentation made me seriously consider going on a gap year with project trust. It seems like good life experience
The presentation I found really inspiring as it made me realise that there is maybe a good option of what to do after school as I still don’t know what I want to do after I leave school.
Library Wellbeing Space
There is now a wellbeing space in the library, created by the Mental Health Peer Educators and Wellbeing Suporters as well as the new librarian Mrs. B.M.
This a space anyone can come to relax, learn about Mental Health and Wellbeing or take the opportunity to socialise.
It’s open every lunchtime, feel free to stop in!
If you want to request any resources and activities, please speak to MRS. B. M. or Mrs J Munro.
Starting Next Term there will also be two Mental Health Peer Educators available each lunchtime for you to chat with.
Can you help? Tree Planting in Alford.
The Eco-Group would love you to do your bit for the environment? There is an opportunity to volunteer to do tree planting on Saturday 26th March at Murray Park in Alford. Just show up if you would like to lend a hand. The tree planting starts at 10.30am.