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May 2019 NewsletterMalawi Summit 2019

Monday 13 May met us with sunny skies and warm weather, ideal for our 10thMalawi Summit at The Gleneagles Hotel. As has always been the case, pupils (andstaff) walked up to the hotel from TCSoA to give us all an idea of what it feels like forpupils in Malawi who have to walk large distances every day in order to access theirSecondary education.On arrival we were ushered to the recently refurbished Henry Hall suite where wespent the rest of the day delivering presentations and thinking about differences inlifestyle, resources and opportunity that exist between our two countries. Each of thefive practical sets in S2 chose a topic from Energy Sustainability, Water, Modern-daySlavery, David Livingstone and Microbes and Disease, producing a poster andpreparing a presentation to reflect their opinion on the subject: the David Livingstonepresentation took the form of a Reality Television show, which was novel.Many of our groups chose to embed video clips in their presentations and Jon Samuelfrom The Gleneagles Hotel AVU spent time over the weekend embedding the videosin presentations so that the whole event proceeded smoothly on the day. We arevery grateful to the hotel for providing such a backdrop for our S2 pupils to delivertheir Summit, and for the S1 pupils to engage in active listening, evaluating eachpresentation so they will be prepared when they have to deliver their own versionnext year.

The CommunitySchool of Auchterarder

Continued on page 3

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June Dates For Your Diary

Mon 3 2019/2020 New Timetable commences for new S5/S6 pupilsTue 4 P7 Welcome to Secondary Evening, 7.30 - 9.30 pmWed 5 Secondary Sports Day (alternative date 12/6/19)Thu 6 - Fri 7 P7 Induction DaysMon 10 Primary Achievement Logs - Final Reports issued to parents/carersTue 11 S4/5/6 Trip to Perth Museum and Art galleryWed 12 Secondary Sports Day (alternative date to 5/6/19)Thu 13-Fri 14 Music Department Lunchtime Concerts, Aytoun Hall, 10.00 am - 2.00 pmFri 14 - Fri 21 S4 - S6 German Exchange Trip to Lichtenbergschule in DarmstadtMon 17 S1/S2 Presentation of Accelerated Reader Certificates, periods 4 and 5Mon 17 Primary Award Ceremony, Assembly Hall, 1.30 pmTue 18 Secondary Award Ceremony, Assembly Hall, 7.00 pm (doors open 6.30 pm)Wed 19 Primary County Sports, George Duncan Athletics Track, Perth, all dayThu 20 Secondary County Sports, George Duncan Athletics Track, Perth, all dayMon 24 Primary Meet Your New Teacher, 2.15 - 2.45 pmTue 25 Primary Pupil of the Year Trip (arrangements tbc)Thu 27 P7 Leavers’ Assembly, Auchterarder Parish Church, 11.00 am - 12 noonFri 28 Summer Term ends, school closes at 12 noon

Forward Dates for August:-Mon 19 Aug In-Service Day 1, school open for staff onlyTue 20 Aug In-Service Day 2, school open for staff onlyWed 21 Aug Autumn Term commences, school open for staff and pupils

Secondary Pupils - Replacement NEC Cards

An increasing number of pupils are arriving at the Dining Centre at break and lunchtimewithout their NEC cards, and this is causing queues at the payment tills.

Can you please remind your son/daughter to have their NEC cards ready to pay for theirsnacks and meals, where pre-payment has been made through the online Parentpaysystem. Cash can also be used as an alternative payment method.

If a pupil has lost his/her NEC Card, please contact Perth and Kinross Council on01738 476200 and request a replacement card, providing details of your child’s name andaddress. A replacement NEC card will be posted to their home address withinapproximately two weeks.

Exam Results

Scottish Qualification Certificates will arrive at home addresses on Tuesday 6 August.

Pupils who activate MySQA accounts will also receive exam results by email and/or textmessage on Tuesday 6 August. The deadline for signing up is 5.00pm on Wednesday17 July 2019.

Further information is available from the SQA website:https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/78138.html

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Malawi Summit, continued from page 1

Emma Simpson, Director of People and Culture, gave an informative talk on the history ofThe Gleneagles Hotel and its place in both our local community and the world stage. Wealso had representatives from the David Livingstone Centre in Blantyre, Scotland visitingfor the day. They spoke about the refurbished exhibition space that will be opening nextSpring, and welcomed the inclusion of some controversial and non-conventional views onDavid Livingstone’s life which were aired during the pupil presentation.We would like to give a big vote of thanks to The Gleneagles Hotel for welcoming us forthe day and providing us with refreshments, and look forward to a return in 2020. Thepupils were a credit to the school with their behaviour during our trek to and from thehotel, as well as their time in the hotel itself. Staff were glad to get back to base at the endof the day and get the chance to revive their aching feet.

Well done everyone!Dr Marshall, for the Linthipe Partnership Group.

National Parent/Carer Questionnaire

Dear Parents/CarersMany thanks for having recently completed The Community School of Auchterarder’sparental questionnaire. All local authorities will be now be inviting parents and carers intheir schools to participate in the national questionnaire ”Parental Involvement andEngagement Census FAQ”, which should result in comparable data being collected. Onceavailable, the data will be used primarily to drive improvement at a local level but also tohelp monitor the progress of policies at a national level.

We would appreciate if you would spare a few minutes of your time completing thequestions attached via the appropriate hyperlink. The questions focus on yourexperience with the school overall, therefore only one questionnaire should be selectedby parents/carers with more than one child in the school.

The Census questionnaire was designed to cover the main areas discussed in the NationalAction Plan on Parental Engagement. These have been condensed to fit the followingthemes: ‘Parental Engagement’, ‘Parental Involvement’, ‘Learning at home / in thecommunity’ and ‘Family Learning’.

Responses to the Census questions will remain confidential. Schools will not have accessto individual level parent/carer data that would identify parents.Primary - https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/pkcprimaryparentcensus/Secondary - https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/pkcsecondaryparentcensus/

Kind regardsKara McKillop, Depute Head Teacher

SQA Exams

Well done to all pupils who have recently completed their SQA exams.A huge note of thanks goes to our Invigilation team, led by Mrs Pam Swanson, ChiefInvigilator for all their hard work and support during the exam period, ensuring that theexams run smoothly and also to our Facilities Team for setting up the Assembly Hall.

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Linthipe-Auchterarder Partnership - Maize Growing Project

Our partner school in Malawi has recently reportedon their Maize growing project funded by ourstudent trip in July 2018.The lead Teacher, Charles Kajiani, reports as follows:“following the maize growing project my group ofstudents are now equipped with some knowledgeon how to grow maize and becoming hardworkingcitizens.Next year we would like to extend our project tothree hectares”.

It is anticipated that TCSoA will be able to continueto fund the project to ensure that pupils in Linthipecan get practical learning of agricultural skills.

Chess in School

Chess continues to be a very popular activity in school - bothPrimary and Secondary. The annual Secondary ChessCompetition took place over a number of weeks in theLearning Resource Centre at lunchtimes. The winner of theJunior section (S1 - S3) was David Lindsay (S3), runner-upIdris Benwell (S1) and the winner of the Secondary sectionand overall School Chess Champion was Patrick Wither (S6),but this only after an intense two hour deciding matchbetween Alistair Reid (S6) and Patrick. A very well done toall participants and especially to the winners and runners-up.

The After-school Club has finished now until after the October holiday, but the very wellattended Primary lunchtime Club, hosted by Mrs Straiton (P4 Teacher), will continueuntil the Summer holidays.

On Thursday 23 May, the LRC hosted a tournament between TCSoA and DunningPrimary. Dunning fielded three teams and TCSoA fielded five teams, which includedpupils from P3 to P7. Eight excellent matches were played, with all players improvingtheir skills and learning chess competition etiquette. At the end of the day, Dunning wonby just half a point. It was a super event; well done to all participants especially our bestperforming team - Nick, Natalie, Saoirse and Joe and congratulations to Dunning PrimarySchool.

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P6 Scottish Parliament Workshop (by Amelie Mackay P6McM)

On Wednesday 1 May 2019 both P6M and P6McM were lucky enough to get a visit fromMr Clark, Educational Support Officer, who works at the Scottish Parliament. He cameto teach both classes all about the Scottish Parliament as part of a fun-filled workshop.The session started with a lot of questions about the Scottish and UK Parliament; a littlebit about the Scottish Government too.We then got organised into parties where we hadto elect a leader and write our promises(manifestos) to share with the class. After that, wehad a debate about whether or not animals shouldbe part of circuses. Mya, who was our PresidingOfficer, said “it was fun”. It was Mya’s job to makesure that everyone had a say about whetheranimals should be in circus. Here are some thingswe learned:

Did you know?Did you know that the Parliament at Holyroodwas built 20 years ago?Did you know the Parliament and Governmentare different organisations?Did you know that there are debates every day?Did you know that there are they are 129 MSPs?

Author Visit

On Friday 24 May, we were absolutely delighted to host Chris Duke, author of ‘Lucy’sBlue Day’. Chris kindly led an Assembly for P1 - P4 pupils, reading his book andanswering questions from the children in the audience. All classes previously had theopportunity to read the book and explore some of the concepts, resulting in somebeautiful class work which was displayed for Chris to see during his visit. Chris was alsoable to join a group of Upper Primary pupils, and pupils from Mrs Welsh’s Literacyclasses, in the Learning Resource Centre. Chris told us more about how he became anauthor, and how he got his book published. Some Senior pupils, led by Archie Curran(S4), have been really helpful in supporting pupils to explore their emotions, helping tomake notice boards in the Secondary and Primary schools as well as a giant ‘Lucy’mascot, who is travelling around the school, reminding pupils #itsoknottobeok

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You Are Invited

In association with Friends of Aytoun Hall

Lunchtime ConcertsAytoun Hall

by pupils of

The Community School of Auchterarder

Thursday 13th June 2019 - 12.45pm-1.30pmFriday 14th June 2019- 12.45pm-1.30pm

Entry by donation.Different concerts each day.

Bring your lunch – tea / coffee provided.

S1 Social Studies Stirling Trip

On Friday 24 May we held our annual S1 Social Studies trip to Stirling. The pupils wereable to explore the castle and town centre for the day.The trip offered the opportunity for S1 pupils to analyse the different geographical andenvironmental features within Stirling, evaluate the diverse social issues which exist inForth Valley and lastly, explore Scotland’s history and heritage at Stirling Castle.Throughout the day, pupils had time to collect photographic and film evidence for theStirling group challenge. This is an exciting task where groups pick a scenario and deliveran engaging presentation about why people should visit Stirling. The presentation finalistwill be judged in June by a panel which will include a member from VisitScotland.Overall, the pupils had a fantastic day out in the sunshine and were a credit to the school.

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I would like to take this opportunity to thank you, for all your support and for sendingand encouraging your children to attend the active schools clubs. I have really enjoyedmy time at TCSoA and loved watching your children grow and become confident anddetermined individuals.

I leave this post at the end of May but would like to reassure you that all clubs that arecurrently up and running will continue to run this term. All coaches will keep youinformed of when the last sessions will be before we break up for the summer holidays.

The great news is that we have a new Active Schools Coordinator that will join TCSoAand cluster school after the summer holidays. Pete McDougall will take on the role andcomes with a wealth of experience and ideas.

Our school’s clubs wouldn’t be made possible if it wasn’t for our amazing volunteersof teachers, parents, pupils, coaches, clubs and local people, all of whom really see thebenefit of sport and exercise, and I can’t thank them enough. They make such adifference to our school and give the pupils such great opportunities.

I hope that you all have a great time over the summer holidays when it comes, andPete looks forward in meeting you all in the new academic year.

Thank you again. I will miss The Community School Of Auchterarder.

Sports News

Young Choreographer of the Year Competition - Winning Team

Horsecross Arts and Active Schools Scotland put on a competition for young dance leaders in Perthand Kinross, allowing them to choreograph a dance and perform it in Perth Theatre. After six weeksof practice 10 girls from TCSoA performed a dance choreographed by Amy Davidge (S6) on Sunday5 May at Perth Theatre. It was to the song “Unsteady” by X Ambassadors with the dance title being‘You Are Not Alone’. The girls performed with amazing confidence and passion, winning the YoungChoreographer of the Year Competition. Well done to all the dancers who put so much effort intomaking it such an amazing dance.

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School Sport Coaching Project Summer 2019

The SSCP, supported by the Gannochy Trust, offers Perth and Kinross School pupils theopportunity to undertake introductory sports coaching/leadership/officiatingqualifications. Following a course, pupils are required to undertake 20 hours volunteeringin a school or community club setting. Applications are available from Active SchoolsCoordinators in all Secondary Schools or via the organiser (as below).

Sports News, Continued

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