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Stranraer Academy Newsletter

December 2016 - Issue 38

All the latest news from in and around the school...

Congratulations to Adam Kirkwood (S6) who has been selected for the

Scottish Schools National football team for a second time!

Adam progressed to the final trial recently and impressed the coaches

again with another eye-catching display. Combined with his previous

experience with the National set-up, the faultless display shown during

trial cemented his place in the squad again. Adam started games at

left back in the squad and is set to resume this role again for the

forthcoming national fixtures.

Playing for the National Schools side is a huge honour with past

Stranraer Academy selections including Stuart Sweetin, Alistair Parker,

Stuart McColm, Dean Agnew and James Hilton. Many of these players were selected in S6 so it

becomes all the more impressive seeing Adam selected in both S5 and S6. Adam is also the first

player ever in the Regional Dumfries & Galloway Schools Football history to be selected two years

in a row! The selection is testament to the hard work Adam has put into football with his club side

Stranraer FC as well as the school team that were winners of multiple league titles (often unbeat-

en), regional cups and the prestigious Hunter Shield.

We will keep everyone up to date with Adam's progress over the season with

the National squad. Well done Adam!

Adam Selected for Scottish Schools National Squad!

www.stranraeracademy.org.uk

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School News

Higher Modern Studies Parliament Visit Yesterday, Higher Modern Studies pupils attended a trip to the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh.

Pupils were given a tour of the Parliament and got to watch First Ministers Questions, giving them a real insight to what

goes on in Parliament.

The pupils also had a question and answer session with Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, allowing

them to ask any questions related to his work in Parliament or any issues they would like to raise about the local area.

S2 Teenage Cancer Trust Presentation

All of S2 received a presentation from the Teenage Cancer Trust on Thursday 3rd

November.

The visiting speaker and annual presentation from the Teenage Cancer Trust has

been well received in recent years with pupils commenting how informative and

meaningful it has been to them. The interactive presentation is a great way for

pupils to find out more about work the Trust undertakes and how they help young people affected by this terrible illness.

For more information on the Trust, please visit their website / social media from the links below:

https://www.teenagecancertrust.org/

https://www.facebook.com/teenagecancertrustscotland/

WW1 100th Anniversary Project On Monday 7th of November 2016 all S1 pupils participated in a day long event marking the

centenary of The Great War. Pupils participated in a variety of activities prompted the pupils

to think about the experiences of the people of the local area in war time and the wider

experience of the soldier on the front lines. They engaged in activities to help them under-

stand the importance of remembrance and to produce materials to create our very on

community memorial board within the school, such as the creation of poppies to form a

Remembrance wreath. It is hoped that this will continue each year marking the major events throughout the timescale

of the war. The event organised by Miss SJ. Moffat of the Social Subjects faculty and was made possible by the hard

work of the staff , pupils and sponsorship from local businesses from in and around the Stranraer area. The event was a

great success with all pupils enjoying the day. Photos by S5/6 Digital Photography Pupil Jessica Slater.

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School News

Medley—Young Enterprise

This year the Stranraer Academy Young Enterprise team, Medley, have written and illustrated a collection of children’s

story books. Each of the three books has an underlying message of equality and acceptance told through fun animal

characters. The books titled “Lion Tails”, “The Little Purple Bear” and “Harry the Elephant” aim to encourage children to

read and to understand and accept that everyone is different and that people come from different family back-

grounds. The books are progressive and aimed at pupils between Nursery and Primary 5.

The books are back from the printers and are now available to buy. Based on their size the books cost £3 (Harry the

Elephant), £4 (The Little Purple Bear) and £5 (Lion Tails) or £10 if you wish to

purchase the full collection.

If you are interested please get in contact with the team through their Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/

medleyyes/ or by emailing: medleyyes@gmail.com

Christmas Jumper Day

On Friday 16th December the school

took part in the Save the Children

Christmas Jumper Fundraiser and

raised a total of £552.56! This is a fan-

tastic sum and thank you to everyone

for supporting the event. Mr Halliday

was the winner of the sweepstake that

was run by pupils after he successfully

selected the mince pie!

Well done everyone!

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School News

Rag Bag Recycling Scheme The Parent Council are participating in The Rag Bag textile recycling scheme.

The Rag Bag scheme accept donations of "good quality clean and dry clothing,

paired shoes, handbags, wallets, ties, belts, hats etc."

Items that unfortunately cannot be accepted are "soiled or wet clothing, uni-

forms, pillows, cushions, duvets, carpets of rugs."

Donations should be placed in bags that are dry. Bags are available free of

charge from the school. Please enquire at the office for more information.

The collection point in the school is located between the school kitchen and

AIRD unit as you go around to the rear car park. The metal collection container is

clearly marked with Rag Bag logos just inside the fence / gate.

For more information, please visit: http://www.rag-bag.co.uk/

LGBT Inclusion & Anti-Bullying

The Stranraer Academy Anti-Bullying Policy and LGBT Inclusion

initiative have been updated on the website and school App.

The school has been working towards achieving the LGBT Charter

Mark with staff, parents and pupils working towards developing a

policy to help our young people.

The Anti-Bullying Policy has been ratified and updated and can

also be viewed/downloaded from the following links.

LGBT Inclusion

Website: http://www.stranraeracademy.org.uk/lgbt-inclusion.html

Anti Bullying Policy

Website: http://www.stranraeracademy.org.uk/anti-bullying.html

App: More Files > School Policies & Information

School Meals - Online Payment Service

A new way to pay for school meals is being offered by D&G council. Registration is

free and won't take long to sign up.

For details please use the following links for the guide:

App: More > Files > D&G Authority Information > School Meals - Online Payments

Website: http://www.stranraeracademy.org.uk/school-meals-payment-

service.html

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StranraerAcademy/

posts/1081728268563458:0

Please visit http://www.ipayimpact.co.uk to register.

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School News

School Christmas Fayre

The Erasmus+ group would like to thank everyone who

attended the Christmas Fayre last Saturday! We are glad every-

one enjoyed the stalls, food, activities and live music that was on

offer!

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School News

Christmas Assemblies

Wednesday 21st December was a very busy in school and all yeargroups were timetabled for special assemblies in

the hall for some festive learning and Christmas cheer! We had pupils speaking about what Christmas is like in

countries they are from - learning about the festive traditions and customs Polish, Italian and French families follow for

Christmas.

Poland - presentation by sisters Karolina & Marta Pawlicka

Italy - presentation & Italian food taste test by siblings Finn & Erin Onori

France - presentation by Leigh O'Neill & James Sanderson

We then had Ashley Garrett on guitar singing the popular Niall Horan song 'This Town'.

Pupils were then invited to sing along to a Christmas song before the pentultimate display by some S6 pupils who per-

formed the 12 Days of Christmas (complete with actions) up on the stage!

The final item on the agenda, and arguably the most popular was the Stranraer Academy staff video performance of

"All I Want For Christmas" by Mariah Carey! The link is at the bottom of the page!

Well done to all pupils and staff involved!

All I Want For Christmas Video Links!

Staff from Stranraer Academy organised a special yuletide treat for everyone with

an outstanding rendition of the popular festive Mariah Carey hit "All I Want For

Christmas" You can view the video below. Thank you to all staff who were involved,

especially to Mr Munro of the PE Department who filmed and created the video!

We hope you enjoy it!

https://www.facebook.com/StranraerAcademy/videos/1102632189806399/

http://www.stranraeracademy.org.uk/all-i-want-for-christmas.html

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School News

S3 Business Studies Trip to Cocoa Bean!

S3 Business classes visited the Cocoa Bean chocolate factory at

Twynholm on Friday 9th December. The pupils learned how the

business started and how it has grown to date. The owner gave a

presentation covering all areas of the business from production,

to distribution, to sales and marketing. The pupils then got the op-

portunity to make their own chocolate treats in the factory work-

shop - quite possibly their favourite part of the day! The trip was a

great success and is something we will look to run again with fu-

ture year groups!

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School News

Five Stranraer Academy pupils have now started their DYW experience with the local Morgan Sindall branch. They

attended an induction week which focused on work ethics and health and safety. The remainder of the programme

will provide pupils with opportunities to take part in various departments including plastering, electrical, building, joinery

and plumbing. Local business Jewson Stranraer has kindly provided all 5 boys with equipment for this venture.

Morgan Sindall & Jewson’s

Scotrail visited the school in November.

Pupils received valuable information

about interviews, job applications,

apprenticeships and took part in the Sco-

trail quiz. It was a thoroughly enjoyable

and productive day for all concerned.

Scotrail Abigail Murray (pictured right) has

been gaining vital experience at the

Bank of Scotland. In their local

Stranraer branch.

Bank of Scotland Rebecca McCulloch (pictured below)

has been working with Groupe Lactalis

at Stranraer Creamery in their finance

department.

Groupe Lactalis

DYW Stranraer Academy works to develop sustainable links between our school, parents, employers & col-

leges. Our Facebook page will include information regarding: business offers which we have created

alongside our partner agencies, apprenticeships, DYW work experience opportunities, business presenta-

tions due to take place in Stranraer Academy and assessment days.

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Fundraising News

Children In Need 2016

The Charities Committee would like to thank everyone who contributed to the fundraising for

Children in Need. Whether it was buying the merchandise, taking part in the netball / football or

being part of the great crowds of spectators who donated - it has all helped to contribute to the

fantastic total of over £1400 from Stranraer Academy!

Netball Result: Staff win 13-6. Football Result: Pupils Win 3-2

Photos by S5/6 Digital Photography students Victoria Cochran & Lauren Todd

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Sports News - Netball

Stranraer Girls Selected for Regional Netball Squad!

Junior Trial

Molly McLean

Ellie Arnott

Anna Ramsay

Senior Trial

Jemma Ramsay

Chloe Patterson

Elaine Downie Molly (left) Jemma (Right)

Congratulations to Molly McLean (S2) and Jemma Ramsay (S5) who have been

selected to represent Dumfries & Galloway Schools for Netball in their respective

age groups. Molly and Jemma impressed at the Regional trial and were up

against some tough competition from other schools for limited places in the

squad. Additionally, Ellie Arnott (S2) came close to making the final squad and

has been listed as a reserve.

We will keep you up to date with how the girls get on over the course of the

season with the Regional team.

Well done girls!

Pupils who attended the trials were as follows...

Girls Netball Results! vs Castle Douglas H.S.

Well done to the Stranraer Academy Girls Netball teams in their matches against Castle Douglas High School on Tues-

day evening.

Stranraer won 2 games out of 3 with the Senior girls clinching victory in the last seconds of their match! The Junior A

match against was also a close affair with Stranraer sealing victory by one point.

The scores and Most Valuable Player awards are below. Well done girls!

Stranraer Seniors 14 v 13 CDHS Seniors

MVP: Fiona Ramsay

Stranraer Junior A 6 v 5 CDHS Juniors

MVP: Ellie Arnott

Stranraer Junior B 1 v 8 CDHS Juniors

MVP: Bronagh Gibb

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Sports News - Swimming

Scottish Schools Swimming Regional Qualifiers — Full Results Well done to Stranraer Academy swimmers who took

part in the recent Regional Qualifying event at the

Merrick Leisure Centre, Newton Stewart. Pupils were

competing against other swimmers from Dumfries &

Galloway schools to qualify for the National Finals that

will be held at East Kilbride in January 2017. Stranraer

did very well and picked up a total of 55 medals - of

which 35 were Gold, 13 Silver and 7 Bronze! Spencer

Bullivant, Lauren Anderson and Cameron Allison also

added to this already impressive achievement by

breaking quite a few Regional records between them!

Some of the swimmers are pictured with their medals.

The medals will be formally presented at House group

assemblies over the next week.

We will hopefully find out soon who has qualified for the

National Finals, we will let you know as soon as we hear!

A breakdown of the results are as follows (*RR* denotes a new D&G Regional Record):

Cerys McDowall: GOLD 100m Backstroke, BRONZE 100m Freestyle.

Ashton McKeand: BRONZE 200m Freestyle.

Isla Carter: BRONZE 200m Freestyle.

Emma Walker: GOLD 200m Freestyle, SILVER 100m Backstroke, SILVER 100m Freestyle.

Chloe Munro: GOLD 200m Individual Medley, SILVER 100m Backstroke, BRONZE 100m Freestyle.

Lewis Macleod: GOLD 100m Backstroke, GOLD 200m Backstroke, GOLD 100m Freestyle, GOLD 200m Freestyle.

Lachlan Caulfield: GOLD 200m Backstroke, GOLD 200m Individual Medley, GOLD 100m Butterfly, SILVER 100m Breaststroke.

Rachel Beswick: GOLD 100m Breaststroke, GOLD 200m Breaststroke, GOLD 100m Freestyle, GOLD 200m Individual Medley.

Cameron Allison: GOLD 100m Breaststroke *RR*, GOLD 200m Breaststroke *RR*, SILVER 100m Freestyle, SILVER 200m Freestyle.

Susannah Service: GOLD 100m Freestyle, GOLD 100m Butterfly, BRONZE 100m Backstroke.

Sam Mitchell: GOLD 200m Individual Medley, SILVER 100m Freestyle, SILVER 200m Freestyle, SILVER 100m Breaststroke.

Josh Mitchell: GOLD 400m Individual Medley, SILVER 200m Individual Medley, GOLD 200m Breaststroke, GOLD 100m Breaststroke.

Lisa O’Neill: SILVER 100m Butterfly, SILVER 200m Freestyle, BRONZE 100m Breaststroke.

Logan Hare: GOLD 200m Breaststroke, SILVER 200m Individual Medley, BRONZE 100m Freestyle.

Spencer Bullivant: GOLD 100m Backstroke *RR*, GOLD 200m Freestyle *RR*, GOLD 100m Freestyle, GOLD 200m Backstroke.

Lauren Anderson: GOLD 50m Freestyle *RR*, GOLD 50m Backstroke *RR*, GOLD 50m Butterfly *RR*, GOLD 50m Breaststroke.

Kalle Hoad: GOLD 100m Breaststroke, GOLD 100m Freestyle, GOLD 100m Butterfly, GOLD 200m Freestyle.

Stranraer Academy and Mr Shannon of the PE Department would like to thank Stranraer Stingrays coaches Linda Duffy

and Michael Bullivant for their commitment and assistance to the swimmers. Thank you also to Suzanne Mitchell for as-

sisting with the administration of the event.

Well done everyone!

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Sports News - Football

Girls Defeat Douglas Ewart! Well done to the Girls football team who played against Douglas Ewart High

School last night. The girls won 3-0 and used the match as a good opportunity

to rotate the team around and give younger players a chance to play up an

age group (or two in one case). Coach Allan Jenkins was happy with the per-

formance and picked Heather Nicol of S3 as Woman of the Match! A special

mention goes to Molly McLean who was playing up a couple of age groups

and also impressed.

We hope the girls will take the momentum from this solid win into their upcom-

ing Scottish Cup matches! Match details are below:

Goalscorers: Courtney Anderson 1, Rebecca McCulloch 1, Kelsey Hanlin 1.

Woman of the Match: Heather Nicol

Heather Nicol (left) was Woman Of The

Match after a great display with Molly

McLean impressing when

playing up 2 age groups.

U14's vs Lockerbie (Scottish Cup) The Stranraer Academy U14 boys progressed into the 3rd round of the Scottish

Cup on Tuesday night after winning a cagey match against Lockerbie that

was played in truly horrendous weather. With a strong wind and torrential

downpour for the duration of the match, both sides found it difficult to break

through. Stranraer were missing a few players and eventually went 2-0 up in

the first half and then the match was brought back to 2-1 through a fantastic

Lockerbie strike. Stranraer pressed on and despite having an offside goal

chalked off and benefitting from an Lockerbie own goal. After this, the boys

started to dominate the match where they eventually turned out 5-1 winners.

Man of the Match was Connor Monteith who scored a hat-trick. Unfortunately

we don't have any photos from the game.

Goalscorers: Connor Monteith 3, Rory McIntyre 1.

Man of the Match: Connor Monteith.

Well done boys!

U15’s Stroll Past Girvan (Scottish Cup) Congratulations to the Stranraer Academy U15 football team who played

Girvan Academy yesterday in the Scottish Cup, winning the game 14-1. It was

a great result from what was a great team performance featuring 9 different

goalscorers. Callum McDonald capped off the afternoon with a hat trick, whilst

new additions to the team - Zaac Forsyth and Blair McCulloch were also on the

scoresheet. Some of the goals would not have been possible if not for the

pinpoint passing accuracy from Man of the Match Liam Garrett. Well done

boys!

Goalscorers: Callum McDonald (3), Liam Garrett (2), Blair McCulloch (2), Zaac

Forsyth (2), Daniel Kerr, Dylon Drysdale, Blair McWhirter, Robert McHarrie & Bro-

die McColm.

Man of the Match: Liam Garrett.

U16’s & U18’s Crash Out Of Scottish Cup!

It has been a Scottish Cup run to forget for the U16’s and U18’s this year as

they crashed out of the competition. The U16’s lost 6-1 to Dumfries High

School and the seniors lost 6-0 to Calderglen High School.

Better Luck next year boys!

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Sports News - Football

Boys U13’s, U14’s & U18’s Defeat Dumfries Academy

Well done to the Stranraer Academy boys U13, U14 & U18 football teams who won all 3 matches against Dumfries

Academy at home on Monday 28th November.

The U13 & U14 matches were in the Regional League and the U18's match was a cup competition, where they now

advance to the 2nd round.

The results are as follows:

U13's 6-5 WIN

Goalscorers: Ashton McKeand 3, Tyler Beswick 2, Jay Gallacher 1.

Man of the Match: Jay Gallacher

U14's 6-0 WIN

Goalscorers: Fraser Sullivan 3, Connor Monteith 1, Rory McIntyre 1, Kieran Graham 1.

Man of the Match: Fraser Sullivan.

U18's 6-0 WIN

Goalscorers: Robert Dargie 2, James Mitchell 2, Jordan Rose 2.

Man of the Match: Ryan Allison

Well done boys!

Ryan Allison was Man of the Match

after an excellent display when

playing up two age groups for the

Senior team.

To keep up to date with the latest fixtures, please visit

http://www.scottishfa.co.uk/ssfa/ and look down the list for:

League: http://www.scottishfa.co.uk/ssfa/competitions.cfm?page=1569

Scottish Cup: http://www.scottishfa.co.uk/ssfa/scottish_football.cfm?page=4143

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S6 Winter Road Safety

On Friday 25th November, PC Boyce set up and ran a Winter Road Safety presentation for

all S6 pupils on winter road safety and driving. Pupils who already drive benefited from having their cars

checked over for safety notes by the police, with many tips regarding road safety being passed on from the

police officers in attendance.

The S6 pupils learned a lot and would like to thank PC Boyce, PC Logie and WPC Wilson for running the

initiative. Some photos from the day are shown below and also on the school website and Facebook page

Website: http://www.stranraeracademy.org.uk/winter-road-safety.html

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StranraerAcademy/posts/1075143929221892

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Stranraer Academy have implemented Show My Homework - an innovative

tool for managing, completing and monitoring homework issued by the

teachers. Show My Homework is a new web based initiative where all pupils,

staff and even parents / carers can become more involved with homework

issued by the school.

We hope this approach will enable pupils to improve their organisational skills,

time management and help them to keep on top of their workload.

Show My Homework can be accessed through an icon on the top right and

footer area of the school website or by saving the following link to your

favourites:

https://stranraer.showmyhomework.co.uk/

Personal accounts have been created for all staff and pupils for effective

management and tracking of homework tasks through a very intuitive user

interface. All pupils have a gradebook and homework calendar that is auto-

matically linked to their subjects, class and teacher.

For more information, please visit the Show My Homework page on the

school website: http://www.stranraeracademy.org.uk/show-my-

homework.html

Here are are some

sample screenshots from

the pupil Show My

Homework Interface. It is

really intuitive and easy

to use through a very

user friendly layout.

Show My Homework

provide a free mobile

device App that is

currently supported by

Apple iOS and Android

operating systems.

Search for the App in

your relevant App

store to download.

Download the

App Free!

Information for Pupils, Parents / Carers

Show My Homework

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Information for Pupils, Parents / Carers

Drinking Water In School We would like to remind pupils of the following points….

Pupils are permitted to drink bottled, still water in classes / subject working areas when

and where it is appropriate to do so without compromising the safety of pupils and

equipment in these areas.

The school office will no longer be handing out plastic cups to pupils who ask.

We have always encouraged pupils to bring their own water bottles as they can be re-

filled at numerous drinking water dispensing units all over the school.

Carbonated water / fizzy juice is NOT PERMITTED for drinking in class or on the Street AT

ANY TIME.

Eating is also NOT PERMITTED in class or on the street AT ANY TIME.

Please use the canteen / outside areas to consume food / drink.

SCHOLAR Information Guide

Information regarding SCHOLAR is now on the

School App and Website (under Curriculum tab)

at the following links. SCHOLAR is a useful tool for

parents who have pupils involved in Nat5/Higher/

Advanced Higher courses.

App: More > Files > SCHOLAR

Website: http://www.stranraeracademy.org.uk/scholar.html

What is SCHOLAR?

SCHOLAR provides free access to high quality learning materials on the web. The content is written by experienced

teachers and is strictly aligned with the new SQA CfE curriculum. Over 30 subjects at National 5, Higher and Advanced

Higher are available to students and teachers in Scottish schools.

Try SCHOLAR!

If you would like to see a sample of our interactive materials on the web, please visit our website:

http://scholar.hw.ac.uk/Scotland or request a parent password by emailing: B.Laidlaw@hw.ac.uk

S4/5/6 Prelim Exam Timetable

All S4/5/6 pupils were issued with a timetable recently that contains information

regarding the prelim exams that begin on Thursday 7th January 2016. The timetables

have also been placed on numerous noticeboards around the school.

The information is available on the school website and app. If a pupil loses their timeta-

ble, they can download and print a copy from both of these resources. The links are

supplied below:

Website (Curriculum tab): http://www.stranraeracademy.org.uk/prelim-timetable-2016-

17.html

App: More > Files > S4/5/6 Prelim Exam Timetable

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Information for Parents / Carers

Parent Council Meeting Dates Please note that dates for future Parent Council Meetings have

now been published. They are available to view on the left and

also on the school website and Parent Council Facebook page.

Search for: Stranraer Academy Parent Council

The next meeting of the Parent Council will be on Tuesday 14th

January from 7pm to 9pm in the Conference Room of the school.

The Parent Council would like to thank everyone for their support

so far and hope you all have a Merry Christmas!

STRANRAER ACADEMY

McMasters Road

Stranraer

DG9 8BY

Phone: 01776 706484

Fax: 01776 704748

E-mail: soffice217@ea.dumgal.sch.uk

www.stranraeracademy.org.uk

All newsletters are available in colour

from our archive on the school website.

They can be viewed / downloaded

from the Information menu tab.

Newsletters from May 2014 onwards

are also available on the school App

files section.

Change of address or Phone

Number?

Please remember to notify us if you move

house or change phone number.

Please also notify us of any other changes,

such as for Emergency Contact Information.

The Stranraer Academy school App is completely FREE to

download. It works on all Apple iOS, Android and Windows

Phone devices. Please search for Stranraer Academy in your

App store or visit the school website for details.

Our Social Media Pages...

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/StranraerAcademy

Twitter: @StranraerAcad

School App & Social Media

DO YOU HAVE A STORY OR SOME EXCITING NEWS RELATED TO THE SCHOOL?

PLEASE LET US KNOW! WE’D LOVE TO PUT IT ON THE APP & SOCIAL MEDIA PAGES!

Contacting the School Can I remind parents/carers that they can contact the school in different ways:

* By phoning 01776 706484 *

By e-mailing gw08officestranraer@ea.dumgal.sch.uk

The e-mail account is checked at least twice a day and any e-mail will be forwarded to the relevant member of staff.

Usually, when contacting the school with any issue concerning your child you should ask to speak to their Pupil Support

teacher – don’t worry if you don’t know who that is, just give the office staff the pupil’s name and they will get the

correct person. As all teachers, Pupil Support included, have a teaching commitment they may not be available I

nstantly. It is also possible they are not in school. They should, however, get back to you as soon as possible.

If the Pupil Support teacher is not available when you phone and the matter is urgent, please ask for the duty

manager – that will be one of the Depute Headteachers or myself. We will try to take the call immediately, but will

certainly get back to you as quickly as we possibly can.

Mr N. Dawson

Headteacher