SCHOOL NEWSLETTERCHRISTMAS 2015

Hello,Once again, thanks to the Advanced Higher GraphicCommunications class for putting together this newstyle newsletter.Concerts- dances- and a wee bit of snow have beenforemost in the school recently and once again theyoung people of Culloden Academy have beenexcellent ambassadors for their school and theircommunity. Unfortunately due to very low ticketsales we did not have a S3/4 dance but in all otherways- a concert for local senior citizens, a concertfor the community and our school dances, wecelebrated the season well.January will see the focus shift with Prelim exams,course deadlines and assessments dominatingsenior school and choice of course or subjectbecoming an issue for many of our younger pupils.If you are unsure about what options are availablefor your child, please come to the appropriateinformation evenings (dates below). Invites will beissued about ten days before the event and if youcould collect it from the bottom of your child’s bagand return it, that would be much appreciated.I wish you all a happy and relaxing holiday and ahealthy and successful 2016. I hope that over theholidays our young people don’t forget themessages they have had recently about safety -safety on the roads, safety online, safety when outwith friends. Have a great holiday and we’ll all meetagain on Thursday 7�� January.Best wishes,J Vance

RECTORS WELCOME

Advanced Higher Graph Comm students,from left to right: Robert McCormack,Emily Eadie, Andrew Stewart and FinlayMacNeill.

KEY DATESSpring term begins Thursday 7 January 2016

Parent Council Monday 11�� January (7pm)

S2 Parents’ Evening Wednesday 13�� January

S3 Parents’ Information Evening Wednesday 27�� January

S3 Parents’ Evening Wednesday 3�� February

S4-5 Parents‘ Information Evening Wednesday 10�� February

Holiday Monday 15�� and Tuesday 16�� February

In-service day Wednesday 17�� February

S4 Parents Evening Wednesday 24�� February

S5/6 Parents Evening              Wednesday 2ⁿ� March

Concert Monday 14�� March

Last day of term Thursday 24�� March

Summer term begins Monday 11�� April

A MUSICALThe ‘Aviemore Weekend’ is an excellentopportunity for young musicians fromacross the Highlands to perform at a highlevel in front of a relatively largeaudience.

There was great musical variety at theweekend, with performances rangingfrom Coisir G, a Gaelic choir to theHighland Youth Big Band. Prior to theperformance, the musicians haverehearsals for most of the day. All of theperformers stay in the Macdonald resortovernight, and enjoy the trip away fromhome. Personally, I really enjoyed gettingto meet more people from the Highlandsthat are into music as much as I am.Playing in the Big Band was great fun,and the time spent rehearsing over twoweekends during the year was definitelyworth the effort because the end resultwas brilliant.

(Daniel Wilby, Head Music Prefect)

Highland Youth Windband – JohannahMurray (S3), Neil Crawshaw (S4), BradleyMcBride (S6) and Kirsten Moss (S6).Highland Youth Choir – Isabelle Huxtable-Smith (S1) and Kirsty Thomson (S3)Highland Region Youth Orchestra – MarkGreen (S4), Ainsley MacDonald (S4), BethMackenzie (S4)Highland Youth Big Band – Ruairidh Jones(S4), Sam Cain (S6), Daisy MacGowan (S6),Rory Maciver (S6) and Daniel Wilby (S6)Coisir G (Gaelic choir) – Kirsty Crawford(S1), Eilish Crawford (S2), Colla MacDonald(S2), Megan Scott (S3), Ishana Graham (S4)and Kenna MacDonald (S4)SNAS (Traditional Group) – Mabel Green(S4), Craig Robinson (S6) and Ellen Stewart(S6)

Culloden Academy was wellrepresented at the AviemoreWeekend with the followingpupils performing:

MUSICWITHIN THECOMMUNITY

Christmas just wouldn’t be the samewithout carols, ceilidhs and choirs and sothe staff and pupils have been hard at worktaking their talents to the community.

We kicked off the festive season with anentertaining afternoon for the seniorcitizens from the local area. The school’swindband led much of the afternoon with arousing rendition of some of Queen'sgreatest hits followed by ‘Simple Gifts’ andmusic from ‘The Polar Express’ which leftthe audience with that festive feeling. Theband also led a selection of Christmas carolswhich the audience sang along to. On top ofthat, there were performances from othersenior pupils who entertained the audiencewith an acoustic cover and an originalcomposition. Teas, coffees and home bakingmade and served by senior pupils werewelcomed and it’s fair to say the cakes werefantastic. It wouldn’t be Christmas withoutsome ceilidh dancing so the PE departmentled our audience in a St Bernard's waltz anda military two step. Organised primarily byTalia Bagnall, a sixth year pupil, theafternoon was a great event enjoyed by all.

(Daisy MacGowan)

Still to happen;the Madrigals, the school's allgirl a cappella group, will bepaying a visit to the RNIcommunity hospital where theywill be entertaining elderlypatients by singing someChristmas favourites.

ONLINE SHOPPINGHelp raise school funds for newlighting/sound in theatre and big screenfor the social area.Please use our new shopping portal:http://www.schoolangel.org.uk/culloden-academy.html.

1. Go to school angel2. Find school Culloden Academy3. Install ‘Remind-Me’

Participating retailers give on average5% of sales price to school.  Noregistration, no login, no passwords,safe and simple.  Amazon – Argos –M&S – Next – Debenhams – John Lewis– PC World and lots, lots more…

From left to right: Cameron Grant; Ben Docherty; FraserCameron; Rory Fraser; Maya Murphy and Chloe Innes. Othershifts on the stall were covered by Rhianna Bell, ScottMacDonald, Caitlin Kenley and Roddy Johnson.

The S6 Young Enterprise Team‘Cask’ took part in the YESChristmas Trade Fair inInverness on Saturday 12��December and they had abusy day of trading.

They braved the cold and setup the stall at 8.15 am. Theirtea light holders andbook/tablet rests, all madeby the team from oak whiskybarrel staves, sold out. Salesrevenue was £466.60.

Well done Cask!

This year’s S6 Young Enterprise team are FraserCameron – Managing Director, Scott MacDonald –Financial Director, Rhianna Bell – Sales Executive andAdministration, Chloe Innes – Creative Director,Caitlin Kenley and Cameron Grant – Fundraising andQuality control, Roddy Johnson, Maya Murphy –Marketing and Advertising, Rory Fraser and BenDocherty – Sales Executives. The team came up thename 'Cask' which relates to their product perfectly.They are upcycling the oak wood from whisky barrelsto make clocks, book holders and tea light candleholders. On the 9�� of November they all took part ina Dragons Den event in Nairn where they pitchedtheir idea to four entrepreneurs. The Dragons gavethem all constructive criticism and advice on nextsteps with their products.  They were awarded £40 tohelp toward production of their idea. The wholeevent was extremely worthwhile and an excellentlearning activity toward the process of running abusiness.

TECHNICAL

Property and Land Surveyors Visit

The Property and Land Surveyors came into take a laser scanning of the theatre thisterm and we were able to sit in on themdoing their scanning. They were able todemonstrate the laser scanning processand tell us all about the equipment theyhad brought with them. The scannersthey were using were Leica Scanners andwere worth a total of £150,000, thesurveyors showed as some of theirprevious projects which included manyfamiliar sites such as the Victorian Marketand Inverness Castle. The process of laserscanning was very interesting and wewere even given the opportunity to helpsetup a scanner. The surveyors visit gaveus an insight into real world graphics in anarchitectural and engineeringenvironment and will be very beneficial tothe architectural section of our course.

Advanced Higher Graphics

The Advanced Higher Graphics classwere given the opportunity to visit theScottish Provincial Press Printing Plantin Dingwall and were able to watch thenewspapers, such as the Highland Newsbeing printed. Ronnie Moffat theprinting manager gave us a tour of thebuilding which provided us with a realinsight into the workings of a modernlarge scale print works. We were alsogiven the chance to see offsetlithography in action, which will reallyhelp us to understand this area in ourcourse. This trip was a fantasticexperience which we were able to seeeverything from the articles beingedited to the finished newspapers beingstacked. We would highly recommendthis trip to next years Advanced Higherstudents as it was really fun andworthwhile.

Third year Design and ManufactureThe third year design and manufacture classes havejust completed an innovative new project where theywere asked to create a production line. The classeswere split into “cell” groups and had to manufacture20 identical parts each; all being quality assured andchecked by their own team. When complete theteam foreman collected the team payment forsuccessful manufacture. An assembly line wascreated and a project that would have taken 9 weeksif built individually and 6 weeks including painting.This has been a great opportunity for our third yearpupils to experience real life production and planningsystems, working as a team and improving theiraccuracy and communication skills. Well done to allwho took part.

RC Modelling ClubDuring next term we will be starting a RC Modellingclub. The aim of the club will be to create and buildradio controlled gliders and planes. The club will alsofly the finished models. The school fund has awardedthe club £250 which should go some way to gettingthe club started. However we are currently lookingfor any donations of any old Radio Controlled Modelsor Equipment, if so please pass this onto the TechnicalDepartment.

Computer Graphics ClubDue to the very keen S1 cohort working on graphicsprojects at lunchtime the technical department will bestarting a formal lunchtime graphics club. Keep aneye on the notices for details.

DRAMAChildren’s Theatre Showcase

All Culloden Academy National 4/5 Dramapupils participated in a showcase forprimary school pupils in September. Pupilscreated their own performances from astimulus and faced an entirely newchallenge: creating something whichwould appeal to an audience of 7-10 year-olds! Our feeder primaries Balloch andDuncan Forbes each sent us an audienceof Primary 5s and 6s who descended enmasse to the Theatre here at CullodenAcademy.Our pupils did us proud – the showsfeatured dancing and acrobatics, monstersand aliens, magic waterfalls, a crown-decorating challenge, a giant rocket, high-speed chases and evil villains. Incrediblywell done to all involved. The audience’swords speak for themselves:‘Thank you for the show, it was brilliant,fabulous and amazing. My favourite wasthe space show. It was funny, exciting andimaginative.’ (George)‘I really enjoyed all of it, but my favouritepart was the dancing; it was amazing!’(Jasmine)

A Dragon in the Gingerbread House?

The Culloden Puppeteers continue theirintrepid progress. Not content withcreating a book trailer for a competition(watch on youtube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iiijm-nuzQ), they moved straight on to our nextproject – a Christmas play, entirely devisedby our pupils, scripted by Mrs Hendersonand to be performed with marionettes(string puppets) to the Balloch Primaryschool P2s on 15�� December.Also, a quick heads-up: The manager ofWaterstone’s Inverness is keen for us to doa Saturday morning performance aroundEaster, based on picture books. It’s likely tobe a showcase ofthree plays, open tothe public. We arevery excited to beworking towardsthis next!

A Culloden Academy lunchtime puppetryclub has struck gold in a national booktrailer competition. Multi-award winningnovelist Teri Terry launched a trailercompetition for her latest novel MindGames in February, with schools andindividuals invited to enter. With thedeadline at the end of November,participants had ample time to maketheir entries original. A fabulous effortfrom everybody involved.

BOOK TRAILER WIN FOR PUPPETEERS

DUKE OF EDINBURGH’S AWARDCulloden Academy was mentioned in the 2014-15National DofE Achievement Report, on account of100% completion rate last year, with all 42 of ourfirst Bronze cohort completing in the first year of usrunning the awards. This year we have done itagain! All Bronze level pupils completed, and manyare now progressing on to Silver and Gold level. 35of our now S5 pupils passed their Silver expeditionslast term, trekking across the country from Ullapoolto Croick, then Morvich to Plodda Falls. Two teamsconquered the demanding 30 mile AchnashellachCircuit route for their qualifying expedition. 21pupils have signed up for Gold in 2016. This session,Mr Airey is teaching the skills to a new group of 28Bronze level pupils in S3; while Mrs Muirhead willoversee the Silver and Gold programmes. Wealready have one parent helping to lead Silverexpeditions, which is fantastic. If any other parentsare interesting in helping out in any way, pleasecontact Dr Vance, or Mrs Muirhead.

ART & DESIGN

Northland Creative Glass Centre –Portfolio Program 13�� -16�� November2015We took the highland coastal route upNorth to a weekend at the centre inLybster, Caithness . This opportunitywas open to all school in the highlandsand only 10 pupils got accepted. Westayed in the onsite accommodationwhich allowed us to have 2 full days inthe glass workshop. During these daysthere were a number of differentartists; a jewellery designer, two visualartists and a sculptor, that worked closeby. They spared their time to share theirartistic journey, showing exhibited workto inspire us and looking at their placein creative industry. Some of theseartists led workshops using theircreative techniques which we asstudents had fun in experimenting with;adding new media to our portfolio ofwork. Many thanks to the Highland ArtsHub who funded this trip; we lookforward to our return in April for thefollow up weekend. Caitlin Kenley andRobert McCormack

AH Lunch with the Medics 17/11/1

Catherine the medical student fromAberdeen University shared a lunch inthe department chatting aboutuniversity life, personal statementsand guiding some of the AdvancedHigher with their “Anatomy” basedfolios. She completed her Higher Art &Design in S6 due to her workload withscience subjects in S5. She commentedon how her Art & Design qualificationhas helped her with the manualdexterity required in surgery.

Check out our updated - “CareerPathways from Art & Design”

www.cullodenart.wordpress.com/careers-page/

Highland Decorative and Fine ArtSociety - Advanced Higher Art & DesignThis term we have enjoyed lectures on“The Art of the Passport” “War Artists”and “The Cuisine of Art and the Art of theCuisine” down at Smithton Church Hall.The lectures have been interesting andopen up topics and new areas to explorein our cultural heritage and that of others.The members of the society love uscoming down and being part of the group.At the December lecture they had a rafflewhich raised funds for “The Young Arts”aspect of their work. We benefit annuallyfrom this with a sponsored, Life DrawingClass and then a printmaking workshop.We are really grateful for the opportunitiesthat this link facilitates.HDFAS Life Drawing 28�� and 29��November 2015Led by Dean Melville the class allowed 9Advanced Higher students from CullodenAcademy, Nairn Academy, FortroseAcademy, and Inverness Royal Academyto work together with a model over a 2day intensive course. The resulting workwill feature in folios for SQA submissionand Art School entrance.

Fashion in Art & Design -Draping on the Stand Workshops 23�� 24�� and 26��Nov. 2015

Thanks to Ms McCormack who shared her knowledgefrom a recent workshop in Dumfries House Ayrshireto allow our students work with fabric to reachprofessional standards. This will help for SQAsubmission and entrance to Art School.

PHYSICS

S3: As part of their S3 BGE physicscourse students have completed units onElectronics and Transport. Having studiedthe use of air bags in car safety, studentswere tasked with completing the eggdrop challenge where limited resourceswere provided to protect an egg droppedfrom a height of 5 metres. The vastmajority of eggs survived due to theingenuity of the students.

S4: National 5 Physics students areworking towards their prelim in Januarywhile National 4 are completing the uniton Electricity & Energy.All S4 Physics students were invited tospend the morning of Saturday 5��December with the Medical PhysicsDepartment of Raigmore Hospital to seeradiography in action.

S5/6: National 5 students arepreparing for their prelim in January. ForHigher and Advanced Higher their prelimwill be at the beginning of February.

Maureen Beangedemonstrates howa patient isprepared on theLINAC

Radiographer andformer CullodenAcademy studentEmma Rochfordexplains the use ofthe CT scanner

Ian Foster showsthe internalworkings of thewide bore CTscanner

BIOLOGY

The Advanced Higher Biology class have been gainingexperience of fieldwork. In August we carried outsurveys of invertebrates living in streams at AigasField Centre, looking at the effect of water speed, pHand oxygen level on their distribution. Last month wealso gained experience of studying animal behaviourat the Highland Wildlife Park, using ethograms tostudy behaviour patterns in captive Japanesemacaques and Amur tigers.

HISTORYIn September we took part in ‘The Lessonsfrom Auschwitz Project’ which allowsstudents like ourselves to further ourknowledge and understanding of theworld’s most devastating genocide, theHolocaust, which is thought to have takenthe lives of around six million people. Thereare four parts to the programme, anintroductory seminar, a one day visit toPoland, a follow up seminar and a finalproject. This encourages us as HolocaustEducational Trust Ambassadors todisseminate what can happen if prejudiceand racism become acceptable.During the visit to Auschwitz – Birkenau wesaw with our own eyes one of the world’sstrongest links to the genocide which tookplace there and at similar camps acrossEurope. Being a part of this project hastaken great lengths in understanding thevast effects of the suffering that took placeduring the Holocaust.One of the most important messagesthroughout the experience was to beaware that millions of lives had been lostbut to truly understand individual loss andsuffering. We found the effort made by theguides and group leaders to try tohumanise the people we heard about, boththe victims and the perpetrators, incrediblythought provoking and remarkable. Fromthe first seminar this was a central focus,with an account from a Jewish survivor, ZigiShipper, to allow us to hear from someone

The Lessons from Auschwitz Projectwho had lived this terror first hand. Thisinstilled in our minds the victims of theHolocaust as human beings who are notto be lost in extreme figures. ZigiShipper’s testimony covers his time in theŁódź Ghetto, the escape of his father tothe Soviet Union, never to be seen again,and working at a railway yard whilstimprisoned. Zigi was only 14 years oldwhen he was sent to Auschwitz –Birkenau in 1944. Remarkably, Zigi thensurvived a death march to be liberated byBritish soldiers in May 1945. Followingthis he spent three months in hospitalbeing treated for the effects ofovereating which was common amongstsurviving prisoners as they were verymalnourished. Today, Zigi lives in Englandwhere he married and had a family afterarriving in 1947. Something particularlyremarkable from Zigi’s testimony was theimpression he created, he has notallowed his life to be consumed withhatred towards the perpetrators and thiswas useful preparation to our visit as itallowed us to gain in-depth opinions. Wefeel these lessons of humanity have hadthe most profound influence overall.Another beneficial topic, highlighted theroles of individuals and the differencethose who chose not to be a bystander tothe Holocaust could make. This wasfurther explained to us by a rabbi whoaccompanied us on the trip.

remember everyone involved in theseevents to prevent history repeating itself.Prior to our visit to Auschwitz – Birkenauwe were very unsure of what sort ofexperience we would have and what toexpect from the different sites that wewould be visiting. However we had notexpected to leave with more questionsthan we had before the visit. An estimated1.1 million people were murdered atAuschwitz - Birkenau, it would be lesspainful to avoid it all together however wefeel it is a very important life experienceas ‘hearing is not like seeing’. Today,Auschwitz – Birkenau holds a mass ofevidence including personal possessions,the prison cells of Block 11 and ruins ofthe crematorium. Yet being able to fathomthe crimes against humanity committedthere remains a grand task.

We agree that this experience hasconfirmed our aspirations of continuingstudies in history and has created a goal totravel to other similar sites, potentiallyHolocaust related, as our time with‘Lessons from Auschwitz’ hasstrengthened a passion in this subject. Asthe Holocaust moves further into historythis only heightens the need to share itslessons and insure we are not bystandersto the world’s issues of today.

Article written by Olivia Callum andEwen Mearns

After being involved with this project weagree that the Holocaust holds definitecontemporary relevance today. The recentcriminal trial of the Auschwitz book keeperhighlights the question of the role ofindividuals as he claimed to not beresponsible for the murders. In contrast, theBritish spy, Frank Foley is estimated to havesaved 10,000 lives and is a heroic exampleof an individual who made another type ofchoice at this time of despair.This shows that we heard the stories of thepeople from both sides, about incredibleresilience and strength, and also aboutperpetrators who were able to be both kindand compassionate but also capable ofparticipation in terrible atrocities. This wassomething that struck with us anddemonstrated perfectly how important it isto view people from the past as individualsas they are capable of such contrastingactions with such complex motivationsbehind them. These examples of cruciallifesaving actions versus lack of intervenethat took place at Auschwitz and otherconcentration camps have taught us theneed to share these lessons of theHolocaust. Furthermore there is a need to

HOME ECONOMICSChristmas Textile ProjectS1 and S2 had the opportunity to try outtheir sewing skills this term. This tookthe form of a design brief where theyhad the choice of creating a felt treedecoration, a Christmas pinflair baubleor a cross stitch card. Many pupilsproduced beautiful pieces of work whichwill no doubt take pride of place on theirfamily’s Christmas trees this year and formany years to come.

Special Occasion cakesS3 tried out some product development.The pupils had to design, plan andproduce a cake for a special occasion.They now have to evaluate the quality,effectiveness and appearance of theircakes. There was no shortage ofdecorative talent. In fact some cakeswere so creatively decorated it seemed ashame to eat them.

Nationals 3, 4 and 5Each year we are fortunate to have someof Aberdeen University medical studentscome to talk to some of our classes. Thisyear our National 3, 4 and 5 pupilsbenefited from talks on hand washingand food poisoning prevention. There isalways a great deal of amazement andhilarity when they bring the “glittermachine” and the pupils realise thattheir hand washing leaves much roomfor improvement.

Inverness Rotary MasterchefCompetitionThe Year of Food and Drink 2015 gave theInverness area the opportunity toshowcase local produce and provenance.It raised awareness of Scotland’srestaurants, hotels, food producers, B&Bs,takeaways, cafes and visitor attractions.Food is an integral part of the tourismexperience. Sampling traditional dishesand local produce is the second mostpopular activity undertaken by visitors toScotland.

Not only did this competition encourageyoungsters to take an interest in food,cooking skills and hospitality as a potentialcareer, it also emphasises how important itis to source food locally, wherever possible,in order to minimise food miles and supportlocal producers.This competition was sponsored byWilliamson Foodservice, the main themerunning through the competition was theavailability and use of local and Scottishproduce.In addition to the main sponsors,Williamson Foodservice, who supplied thevegetables free of charge, Coast and Glensupplied all the seafood required, also freeof charge.The final of this competition was held inthe new UHI Inverness Campus in front ofthe public and invited guests on Tuesday10th November. The school wasrepresented by Erin Kelly 3DV2, alongwith her helper, Amy Innes 3DV2.

The final pupils had to produce a three-course menu, buy the required food andcook a meal for two top Scottish chefs,Mark Greenaway and Brian McLeish.Their score was combined with that ofround three to form the final mark. Inround three Erin spent a day in theDrumossie Hotel under the guidance ofthe chef and in the evening she cooked atwo-course meal for two judges. Shegained twenty four points out of twentyfive.Erin, aided by her adviser, award winningchef Alan Little of the Riverside Restauranton Greig Street, Inverness, came up withthis excellent 3 course menu:To Start….Pan seared Ardgay wood pigeon filletserved on a warm salad of wildmushrooms, Stornoway black puddingcroutons and wilted rocket drizzled with anArran mustard and cider vinegar dressing.To Follow…Oven roasted Scrabster hake finished witha brown shrimp butter, set ona parsnip puree with sauteed cabbage,spring onion and Great Glenvenison and pork chorizo.To Finish…Wester Hardmuir bramble and raspberrycheesecake with apple jellyand homemade shortbread.

On any other day she would probably havewon but she was narrowly beaten by anexcellent candidate from Millburn

This term some pupils from S2 English,volunteered to enter writingcompetitions. Rachael Taylor, DavidMacLaren and Lily McGlennon enteredthe McCash Poetry Competition whichchallenged the pupils to write a poem inany variety of the Scots language.Rachael then went on to enter the SirWalter Scott Competition along withAlex Wortley. Following the tradition ofthe great Scottish author, the girls wererequired to write a short story with ahistorical setting. Rachael set her storyin World War 1 with a moving twist atthe end as the story moved towardsWorld War 2. Alex set her story inRoman times and made excellent use ofrealistic historical details.

We wish all participants the best of luck!

S2 WRITING COMPETITION

ROMANIA TEAM

Four of last year’s team are travelling back to Marghitain December, to visit the children and help distributeshoe boxes. This shows fantastic commitment andwillingness to support underprivileged children in anon-going way.

Eight senior pupils are activelyfundraising in order to run acamp for very poor and fosteredkids in Marghita, NW Romaniafor the last week of June andfirst week of July 2016. So farthey have climbed Ben Macduiand organised a very enjoyableCeilidh night. Next eventsinclude a curry night at SmithtonFree church on Friday 27��November as well as catering atthe Christmas concert andparents’ evenings. Pleasesupport these events if you can!We will have baking, teas,coffees and a raffle at the S1parents’ evening on 25��November. All the funds go toBlythswood care, who organisethis trip.

This year the children out in Romania producedbeautiful handmade Christmas cards (quilling) whichhave been brought over to Inverness, and can bepurchased from the school, to raise money for a classtrip next summer for the special needs pupils inMarghita school.

If you would like to support this on-going work, pleasecontact Mrs Muirhead.

FROM EVERYONEAT CULLODENACADEMYHAVE A SAFEAND HAPPYCHRISTMAS!