As the end of another busy session approaches, we say goodbye, good luck and thanks to the following staff:

Mr McGinnis in Technical who has been appointed to Auchinleck Academy

Mr Hopkins in Technical who has been appointed to James Hamilton Academy

Mrs Muir in Pupil Support who has been appointed to a post in North Ayrshire

Mrs Brennan in English who is transferring to Marr College

Miss Connor in the Modern Languages Department.

Mr Downie, Acting PT in History/Modern Studies, retires this week after 25 years in Carrick Academy. We all wish him a long, happy and healthy retirement!

Congratulations to Mr Swan in the Maths department who has been appointed to the post of PT Guidance in the school.

We look forward to welcoming several new staff to Carrick in August:

Mr Brown to Modern Studies, Mrs Alsaffar to French and Miss Dunlop to the Music department.

We had a very smooth change to pupil timetables in early June before welcoming the primary 7 pupils on their 3-day Transition visit. An interesting Health day took place on day 3 where the highlight was definitely the performance by the PACE theatre Company from Paisley. Much of the success of this day was due the efforts of Sina Currie and Mary Jeans, two of our school nurses, who helped to organise the event.

The efforts and achievements of many of our pupils were celebrated at an Awards ceremony held in the school and also at our annual Prize giving in Maybole Town Hall on 18 June. Thanks to the many parents, staff and friends who came along to support our young people.

The school has been represented in a number of additional sports events in the last week: Ayrshire Athletic Championships :

1st place in S2 High Jump – Elaine Montgomerie

1st place in S2 800 metres – Craig Hutton

1st place in S3 Triple Jump – Laura Jane Gibson

Other members of the team were Kevin Haywood, Colin Sturgeon, Kirsty Walker, Sam Barker and Elizabeth Ferguson who all finished in the top 4 places. Well done everyone! Well done also to those who took part in other sporting events.

Best wishes for the summer,

I S Johnstone

As you are more than likely aware a new teacher has joined the Music Department. Here is a little bit about her. For the first few years of her career she taught in Scotland. After that she taught music in America between high schools and universities. She still frequently goes back there whether it’s for a break or to teach.

She feels that America’s a great place to teach. She says, "There’s no problem with money" as you are very well paid. Miss Kimmins also feels that the music departments in America are great as they have a vast number of instruments for staff and pupils to use and they all have at least four different bands and an orchestra. She also says, "The classroom set up is much better". The class is arranged in tiered seats similar to that in the lecture theatre. This makes it much better when conducting.

The average school day in America is 8 am to about 2 or 3pm (it depends on the climate of the state). In the afternoon after school, pupils may wish to go to sports, choir or band. There are many types of choir and bands in American schools. They practice every day and all have their own uniforms. The bands play at football matches as well as having the cheerleaders cheering!

Miss Kimmins loves to shop. She says, "It’s my main hobby in life". She loves to shop in places like New York and other big cities in America. She like many types of music. She likes middle of the road music. She likes music that is a challenge and not predictable – something different. Apart from music Miss Kimmins also enjoys films and books. Her favourite film is "Bridget Jones’s Diary." She says it makes her feel good after she’s had a tough day.

She tells us she once met Steve Martin, the actor, at Chicago airport. She said he was a nice man and that he is very funny. She likes to read books by Fredrick Forsyth, as he is a very good author. She also likes anything by Patricia Cornwell. Her favourite book is also "Gone With The Wind". She feels that she can’t read as much as she would like to, as she is so busy with her music.

The first member of staff she met was Mr McComiskey and she felt that he was very nice. She says that the pupils are more country kids than what she is used to. She also realises that the pupils find her different, as she is more of a city person. Miss Kimmins also feels that compared to American kids, British kids are less mature. She is a fascinating lady to interview.

Our new S1 pupils came to Carrick for their three-day visit from 10^th – 12^th June. For much of the time they were in classes but on Thursday they had the chance to spend the day at the Town Hall with a Health Fair in the morning and a theatre production in the afternoon. Most seemed to be quite happy with their time here and we wish them all the best when they come to Carrick in August for real!

Dialogue Youth is an exciting new initiative for young people throughout Scotland.

It is a development of the Young Scot pack and aims to promote young people's information services through a new website. The Dialogue Youth team hopes to open a shop front facility in Ayr town centre for young people. They are also developing a new smart card that will combine proof of age, local and national discounts, library card and new swipe card for school cafeteria. They are also looking to involve more young people in the team who negotiate discounts with local shops and places of entertainment like the cinema, L.A. Bowl etc. A two-day training course is being organised for those who are interested in doing this. They are also looking for people who are interested in e-journalism to develop the information website.

The group also has representatives in the Scottish Youth Parliament, which is the national voice for young people.

We are also involved with the Dialogue Youth Initiative to develop information services for young people and will be organising an art competition between S1 & S2 to design a special South Ayrshire Young Scot logo for the smart card. More has been said on Dialogue Youth above.

Ryan Murray 5G1

Pictured here with her award winning cake is VICTORIA BOUGHEN (new S6). She won a trophy for the Ayrshire Schools Baking Competition, as outright winner of the Cake Decorating section.

Switzerland, Alton Towers, Loudoun Castle, a fishing trip – these are just some of the highlights of the end of term. If you are going on any of these, have a good time!

School will close at 1 pm on Friday 27^th June. Buses are expected to be there at this time. Any changes will be notified. The new session begins on Friday 15^th August for staff and on Tuesday 19^th August for pupils. Let’s hope for seven weeks of sunshine!