General

Culloden Academy will be open as normal to all pupils in S1 to S6 on Monday 4th October.

Due to a staff shortage Culloden Academy will be closed to pupils in S4, S5 and S6 on Friday 1st October. The school will remain open to all pupils in S1, S2 and S3 who should attend classes as normal. Students in S4, S5, and S6 should be able to continue with work online and teachers will provide additional work if possible.

Skills Development Scotland are delivering a national webinar to introduce their work to parents and carers of S1 pupils. The event will take place on Wednesday 29th September at 6:30pm. This session aims to give parents and carers an introduction to SDS, the role of Careers Advisers in school as well as information to support career planning. The online session will also introduce SDS’s career service work, My World of Work, which has a dedicated area for parents and carers.

Parents and carers can register for the session at the link below:

Jason Leitch, the National Clinical Director for Scotland has published an important letter clarifying some recent changes in approach to Covid-19:

Highland Council have released the following statement that everyone in our community should be aware of:

Children who are sick should not attend school and where a child has symptoms that could be from COVID they should stay at home and have a PCR test booked. Once well and with a negative PCR test, they can return to school.
 
If a case of COVID arises in a member of staff or student at a school, letters will be issued to those who have been in contact with the case which will explain what action needs to be taken. There will be no need for school contacts to self-isolate unless they are contacted by Test and Protect. In the event of further cases in the school, additional action will be taken and in the event of a significant outbreak advice will be sought from the Health Protection Team and actions undertaken depending on the specific circumstances.

Further information is contained in the letter to all parents from Donna Manson, Chief Executive of Highland Council and on the NHS Inform website:

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The pedestrian crossing East of the school on Barn Church Road is presently out of action. In the meantime, until it is repaired, we are requesting that pupils use the crossing West of the school/Keppoch Road junction. This will involve a slight detour for pupils who should use the pelican crossing on Keppoch Road then the west-side pedestrian crossing. It is important to be aware of road safety at this busy junction.

The Council have issued the following statement regarding the repair works for the faulty crossing:

The Council has tried several times to repair the crossing lights but faults keep reappearing and putting the signals out after a short time. We have now identified that the fault lies in the underground cables and not any of the on street equipment.  We are arranging for the traffic signal company to come up from the central belt to fully re-cable the crossing but don’t have a confirmed date yet but it has been logged as an urgent fault.

Free Instrumental lessons are available in Culloden Academy, delivered by Highlife Highland staff. If you are interested, please watch the short promotional video and read the flyer for more information.

Dr Vance’s first letter to parents/carers and pupils for this session is available at the link below. It covers matters such as:

• School Calendar 2021-22
• Coronavirus Update
• Building Works
• Messages for each Year Group

Highland Council have released the following statement this afternoon regarding the new toilets at Culloden Academy.

The new S1/S2 and S3/S4 toilets have been completed in line with the programme dates advised to the Stakeholder Group in June and communicated in end-of-term letters to pupils and parents.  These improvements are necessary in order to provide additional, fit-for-purpose toilet facilities to address the pressures from the increased school roll. 
 
There are similar facilities in place at Alness Academy, Wick High School, Inverness Royal Academy and Charleston Academy.  These are in line with what is happening across Scotland – open plan / unisex facilities are generally being used in new-builds and refurbishments.
 
The new toilet cubicles and doors are full height and fully enclosed for improved security and privacy for pupils. The handwashing areas are open plan and can be easily supervised from the corridor. This approach provides greater flexibility in how the school makes use of the facility either now or in the future.  It is widely considered that this model of toilet facility can contribute to positive pupil behaviour and reduce the potential for vandalism.
 
An Interim arrangement was put in place at the start of the new session until the S5/S6 toilets are completed, with the new toilet areas being unisex. Following feedback from pupils during the first week, this has been reviewed and the S1/S2 toilets are to be redesignated as boys’ toilets and the S3/S4 toilets as girls’ toilets with effect from Monday morning.
 
The plan is that these arrangements will continue after all the toilet improvements are complete, and the third new toilet area will be designated as unisex. However, there will be ongoing dialogue with pupils in the coming weeks.
 
If pupils have any particular concerns about the toilet facilities, they are encouraged to speak to their Guidance Teacher regarding this.