We are delighted to share with you the Planet Youth Parent Hub – a dedicated space created in partnership with the NHS to support parents and families. The hub offers a range of helpful resources, including practical advice, online webinars, and supportive guidance for parents of secondary school children.
They would greatly value your views and opinions as they continue developing this service to make it as useful as possible for families like yours.
Abby MacLaren (S6) and Ella White (S4) have both recently recorded over 500 hours of volunteering as part of the HLH Leadership Programme, earning themselves the Gold Hoody on the leadership pathway.
Steve Walsh, HLH Chief Exec, presented their hoodies to them at Smithton Primary last Friday where they do the majority of their voluntary hours.
Ella is one of the youngest recipients of the gold hoody in the Highlands and has recorded her hours by leading P1-3 dance sessions at Smithton Primary, Active Schools holiday camp sessions and charity events at the Barn Church.
Abby also leads the P1-3 dance at Smithton and volunteers at gymnastics sessions at Culloden Leisure every Thursday and Friday evening.
This letter was emailed to all Parents and Carers earlier today. It covers:
Our Silver Duke of Edinburgh Expedition took place on Thursday to Saturday last week in the Torridon area. . It was a tough expedition and the students were excellent. They showed great teamwork, resilience and were still smiling at the end of it.
As we reach the end of another school year, we want to take a moment to celebrate the incredible achievements of our pupils. Your hard work, dedication, and positivity help make Culloden Academy such a special place to be — thank you!
A huge congratulations to all of our award winners this year — a group of young people who truly go above and beyond, exemplifying our values of ambition, community, kindness, and respect. You represent the very best of us.
This year, we also take a moment to honour the memory of Mr Harry Gow, a cherished member of our wider school community who sadly passed away. Harry and his family have supported Culloden Academy for decades — and continue to do so today. From daily donations to our breakfast club (the toast is always a hit!) to their newest contribution — a special award in Harry’s memory:
“The Most Enterprising Pupil – In Memory of Mr Harry Gow” Congratulations to Isla MacRae, the first ever recipient of this meaningful honour.
Thank you to every pupil, parent, and supporter who helped make this year one to remember.
Well done to everyone who took part in Sports Day on Thursday last week. You all competed with great effort and attitude!
Well done to Murray Taylor who smashed the S4 Boys High Jump Record, clearing an unbelievable 1.90m & Freya Lonnen who beat the S2 Girls 200m record, finishing it in a rapid 27.63 seconds!
Below are our Sports Day Champions. These are the pupils who accumulated the most points across all the events they competed in (up to 5):
Sports Champions 2025
S2 Boys
1st – Evan Iwaszkiewicz
2nd – Sam MacLennan & Isaac Mackenzie
3rd – Harry Whitfield
S2 Girls
1st – Millie Macdonald
2nd – Kayla Hunter
3rd – Quinn Young
S3 Boys
1st – Sam Donaldson
2nd – Jack Aitchison
3rd – Finn Peacock & Innes Simon
S3 Girls
1st – Lucy Daly & Freya Lonnen
2nd – Josie O’Brien
3rd – Jessica Gibson
S4 Boys
1st – Will MacGregor
2nd – Euan Taylor & Murray Taylor
3rd – Bernhard Almadin
S4-6 Girls
1st – Isabella Mutch
2nd – Charlotte Alexander
3rd – Grace & Emily Hill & Savanah Manning
S5/6 Boys
1st – Fionn Larnach
2nd – David Cieslak & Marcas Zajanckauskas & Julian Horeglad& Archie Kerr
3rd – Seth Johnstone
Dear Parents/Carers,
I am delighted to let you know that Claire McGonigal was appointed as the permanent Head Teacher for Culloden Academy.
Claire is currently the head teacher for Grantown Grammar and will take up her new post at the start of the new school session in August. We wish Claire well in leading the school with all staff, parents and young people.
Yours sincerely,
Mark Jones
Area Quality Improvement Manager
On Monday 16th June, a team of four pupils from S2 and S3 attended the national final of the UK Maths Trust Team Challenge in London, accompanied by Mrs Macdonald and Miss Macleod. Over 60 of the top schools from across the UK qualified through regional rounds to earn their place at the final, and the team from Culloden more than held their own in this competitive field. The final consisted of five rounds – a poster competition, “group circus”, shuttle, crossnumber and relay. The Culloden team should be particularly proud of their poster, on the theme of “the geometry of plants”, which was a strong round for them.
The team, consisting of Roni Brady and Charlene Yeung from S2, and Josseph Almadin and Micah Macdonald from S3, travelled to London the day before and managed to fit in a bit of sightseeing too.
Well done to all four pupils for their maths prowess and for representing the school so well in the competition and throughout the whole trip.
