From S1 to S6, pupils will engage with a range of organisations and are offered opportunities which will raise awareness and improve their understanding of the world of work to prepare them for the future. In particular, we have two services working within the school that your child will gain support with throughout their time in Culloden:

Skills Development Scotland

Skills Development Scotland (SDS) is the national career service, and we have careers advisers in every state secondary school in Scotland.  The SDS career service helps people develop their career management skills and make confident decisions for their future. 

The Careers Advisers for Culloden Academy are:

• Morag Eisnet: who is in school all week supporting Brodie, Cawdor, Dalcross & Rait pupils (Morag.Eisner@sds.co.uk)
• Stuart Bauld: who is in school on a Thursday and Friday supporting Strathnairn and Kilvarock pupils (Stuart.Bauld@sds.co.uk)

Pupils can speak to their SDS careers adviser throughout the school year and will also be supported by them at key times such as starting S1, making option choices, and preparing for moving on from school. This service will be delivered through drop-ins, one-to-one appointments, and group learning sessions.  There is lots of useful career information and advice available at any time through Scotland’s career website My World of Work. There is also a dedicated area for parents and carers with information to help you have career conversations at home.  If you or your young person would like to make an appointment with your school careers adviser, please contact your pupil’s Guidance Teacher for details. 

Beyond school, SDS advisers are also available at one of SDS’s community venues or via our helpline. To get support or arrange an appointment call the SDS freephone helpline on 0800 917 8000 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm). More information about SDS and their career service in schools is available at www.sds.co.uk  

Developing the Young Workforce

We were delighted to welcome Neill Prentice, Fundraising Manager for Blythswood to the school on Thursday to launch our Shoebox Appeal with our S3 Administration & IT classes. Over the coming weeks our three classes will be marketing the Appeal, organising donations and packing shoe boxes, developing event management skills as well as contributing to this global citizenship project.

We are hopeful the school community will support this very worthy cause – watch this space for more information soon!

The Travel and Tourism class learned all about the role, skills, responsibilities and career of a Travel Agent yesterday, when Mr Scott Murray from Murray Travel visited.

The session was both informative and inspirational.  A huge thank you to Mr Murray for giving up his valuable time to support the school, and enhance learning.

This morning our Lab Sciences Skills for Work class visited LifeScan Inverness. They got to experience what a working laboratory looks like and some of the work which goes on behind the scenes, before completing some of their own fun experiments with current apprentices. They learnt some of the laboratory-based roles LifeScan offer, and the various pathways into employment. Huge thank you to Kirsty and the team at LifeScan for the opportunity!

The Travel and Tourism class learned all about the role, skills and responsibilities of Cabin Crew last week, when our DYW Coordinator visited to share past experiences of her career with them.

The session was very informative and hugely inspirational.  Thank you to Mrs Macdonald for supporting the class with their learning.

The following letter was sent to all parents/carers this morning. It covers:

• Mobile Phones
• Toilets
• Attendance & Timekeeping
• Car Park Access

ASN Drop In
Room 3
Monday 19th of August at 2.30 - 3pm

Pop in and tell us how your holidays have been!

This is a time to say hi, catch up over a cuppa and share any worries you may have about returning to school.

This is open to all pupils, S1 -S6, and parents.

Please email Kirsteen.keir@highland.gov.uk , SFL teacher, should you wish further information.

The Young STEM Leader Programme for 2024-2025 is well under way with numerous students enrolling this session.

The programme aims to inspire young people in STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths). Young STEM Leaders are given opportunities to enthuse, lead and mentor other young learners within the school by delivering STEM-based activities.  This encourages them to develop their leadership, communication and employability skills within a fun and engaging programme through which they can gain an award, SCQF credit points and a recognised extra-curricular achievement to include in university applications and on their CV.

Three of the 2023-2024 cohort also received their awards from last year and have now embarked on the next level in their Young STEM Leader journey. Good luck to all of you.

The following letter was sent to all Parents and Carers today. It outlines our expectations in relation to uniform, as below as well as arrangements for purchasing uniform directly from the school during the summer holidays. The letter also outlines the financial assistance available to families who are eilgible.

Our position on uniform remains the same- all pupils are expected to wear something that identifies them as a pupil of Culloden Academy and nothing else with a logo. The reasons for this are:

• It improves school security by making it easier to identify intruders. This has been a problem in Inverness schools recently and since keeping you safe is part of my job, I need your help with it.
• I think we still have work to do to get back to the level of community feeling we had prior to lockdown and masks. All wearing similar clothes is part of that sense of being a community and allows a simple focus on what matters- learning.
• Dressing for the task at hand- learning- encourages better conduct and improves the atmosphere for learning.
• Could help to reduce truancy by identifying pupils when not in school.
• It heightens the reputation of the school in the community- some of whom are future employers of our young people.

Congratulations to the S2 and S3 pupils who submitted their short sagas for the ‘Young Writers’ competition organised by Miss Scott.  We had a number of pupils chosen for publication. This is fantastic.  Well done!