Our 3rd prize National Gallery winner, Ross McDonald, won an art workshop for members of his class.  We travelled to Edinburgh to meet artist, Damian Callan and to visit the Impressionists exhibition.

The first part of our trip was a tour of the exhibition where we looked at the artwork of the Impressionists and their ideas, techniques and working methods.  Some of the famous artists we looked at included: Pissaro, Seurat, Monet, Degas and Van Gogh. 

Back in the studio we learnt how to create painting techniques similar to those used by the Impressionists, learning how to create colours by mixing complimentary colours together and using a palette knife to create a textured effect.

In the afternoon, (the weather was good for once!) equipped with our clipboards, paper, and palettes , we sat in Princes Street gardens and worked 'au plein air' and tried to recreate how the Impressionists would have worked.

 

Many thanks to Linda and Damian at the National Gallery for allowing us to have this opportunity.

As a result of the Industrial Action being taken by members of Unison, the school was closed to pupils on Wednesday 20th August 2008.

The school was open for business as usual on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday of this week. We will keep you informed of any changes to this as required.

Perth Academy's Prizegiving Ceremony took place on Wednesday 25th June in the Horsecross (PICTURES HERE). Mr Donald Maxwell (ex-geography teacher and opera singer) was the guest of honour and presented a number of prizes to pupils as well as entertaining us with an excellent speech and, of course, the Hippopotamus Song.

It was a bittersweet occasion as it also marked the retirements of Mr Martin Neilson and Mrs Jean Stevenson. Both have had a profound impact on the life and work of the school and both will be missed greatly by staff and especially pupils.

Some of the major prize-winners on the night included:

• Parent Teacher Award for Product Design — Sean B Taylor
• Perth Academy Award for Accounting — Helena C Galloway
• Mrs Jenny Smart Award for Art — Holly Hunter / Rachel M Robertson
• Edward Smart Award for Biology — Sheona S Proven
• Alfred J Smith Award for Business Management — Shellen F Lochrane
• Edward Smart Award for Chemistry — Kieran B Smith
• Perth Academy Award for Computing Studies — Daniel P Chakraverty
• McDonald Award for English — Wilfred A Wilson
• Jean J Buhrer Award for French — Wilfred A Wilson
• Alexander McDonald Memorial Award for Geography — Wilfred A Wilson
• Jim Lough Memorial Award for Managing Environmental Resources — Ross J Donaldson
• Perth Academy Award for Graphic Communication — Alexander S S Garthwaite
• Parent Teacher Award for History — Katelynne A Kirk
• Jane Robertson Award for Home Economics — Danielle Douglas
• The Home Economics Department Prize for Practical Cookery — Lewis G Jessett
• Perth Academy Award for Human Biology — Jennifer C Mitchell
• Mrs T D Miller Award for Mathematics — Wilfred A Wilson
• Harry Hynd Memorial Award for Modem Studies — Mhairi L Allan
• Carruthers Fraser Award for Music — David J Norris
• Edward Smart Award for Physics — Wilfred A Wilson
• Perth Academy Award for Physical Education — Joanna H Campbell
• Perth Academy Award for Religious, Moral and Philosophical Studies — Morvern C Tomison
• Parent Teacher Award for Spanish — Lucie A Brown
• Michael Shankland Award for Technology — Jason D Blackley

The full list of winners will be posted here soon. In the meantime, why not check out some of the photos from the night: http://perthacademy.net/Pix/thumbnails.php?album=9

As may have been apparent by the lack of tall people around school, Tuesday and Wednesday  (17-18th June 2008) were the host of an excellent business awareness course run by the charitable foundation, Business Dynamics. Arranged for senior pupils of Perth Academy, around 25 6th years, as well as a few 5th years (the rest were spending Tuesday with the Army at Barry Buddon) took part in the event which was held at the Quality Hotel, near the train station.

The aim of the course was not only to raise awareness of the business world, and life after school, but also to help develop the promising young people who we call senior pupils into professionals ready to attempt any challenge. A major aspect of the two days was team working skills as well as leadership and management. At the beginning of the course, we were split up and put into 5 groups of around 5 people - and in these teams we would stay. Throughout the course, we worked within our teams on a number of challenges - each day, we had two visitors from the business world to speak to us about a different aspect of working life (design & development, finance, marketing and management) and afterward each we were set to work to put our new knowledge and skills into action. Teams worked against each other to provide the best solutions to the problems, and this ferocious competition greatly added to the enthusiasm and energy of the days!

Perhaps most memorable was Bill Hutchison, a man with a very varied and interesting career, who spoke to us about design and development. After his talk, we were tasked with designing, building and controlling a robot that would enter a dangerous earthquake zone and rescue trapped children quickly and safely (all scaled down of course - the children were really just very tasty Jelly Babies). I was rather proud to lead my team to victory, saving all the trapped children in a lightning fast time, but although no other team succeeded, we all learned a great deal from the experience, and the task was very fun (especially when the Jelly Babies got run over!). The other guest speakers were similarly excellent, including a Liverpudlian who attended Perth Academy, a man from the Navy and Eileen Barclay from RBS.

To end the last day, each team gave a 5 minute presentation (well, that was the plan anyway) on a different aspect of the business world that we had learned about. An ultimate test of team work, leadership, and creativity, every team confidently produced a professional - and sometimes humorous - summation of the days' achievements. All who survived the two days were presented with a certificate of their participation in the course, something sure to impress any future employers.

Amongst these fun activities, several 6th years were required to make the long trek up to school (and back!) in order to attend the Head Boy and Girl interviews in Mr Kiddie's office - congratulations Thommo and Darryl, as well as the other deputies - such is the busyness of being a senior pupil!

The course was thoroughly enjoyed by all involved, and we hope that Colin will be back next year for another fun couple of days. Our new skills and knowledge will be extremely helpful to us, no matter where we head after school.

We would like to thank the leader of the event, Colin, for his excellent course, and also Mrs Dow and Mr Moller for accompanying us during the two days.

Last week we hosted a Leavers' ceremony for all our S6 pupils leaving school.  Parents were invited to watch the ceremony as pupils all had their moment on the stage and were presented with a certificate of appreciation.  We are very proud of the work our 6th year has done this past session, and their efforts were in fact recognised at the Perth and Kinross Spirit of Youth awards when the Senior Pupil Leadership team won the award for citizenship.  We wish them all well in the future, and hope to hear of their successes!

There is less than three days to go to the first art and design exhibition at the academy in at least ten years. We have gone for a similar style to the art colleges, where work is shown in a variety of rooms, in our case art rooms A1,A2, A4 AND A5.

We are very aware of the talent that lies in every pupil and this show attempts to show the breadth of work that we undertake in a year from our advanced higher candidates down to our prospective new S1 as they visited us recently on their induction days.

This is an inclusive exhibition, it is the pupils exhibition to showcase the tremendous creativity that lies within each pupil who comes to art.

Our exhibition previews on Thursday the 19th from 7pm until 9. On Friday the rooms will be open to visitors, please phone 458035 to confirm your arrival at the school reception. Each pupil recieved a family invitation recently. So we welcomeall our families to our exhibition, come and see that talent!

A Latto