A letter was emailed to all parents and carers this morning. It covers:

• Staffing Changes
• Year Head Arrangements
• Key Dates

Today saw the races of our amazing sledge designs done by the S3 Design and Manufacture classes in Tech. The epic ski run built by the technicians, tested the sledges performance and we found our winners! Well done to both classes who competed so well! A great day for Creative Design!

The winners of this season’s Maths Brain-Teaser Challenges:

• Bronze: Amy Lainton S5, Micah MacDonald S1
• Silver: Freddie Hoare S3
• Gold: Ailish Boyd S4

Participants entered five rounds of Brain-Teasers, gaining points for each correct answer. Well done to all who entered!

On the 2nd of November we attended the IRA to compete in the Rotary Club competition to represent Culloden Academy. There were 10 rounds, each with 6 questions. There were many topics like Science, History and Music. One round that we did particularly well in was ‘The Environment’ in which we got full marks. A highlight for some of us was the chocolate orange buttons which pushed us on till the end. We competed against the Inverness Royal Academy and Charleston and managed to come out on top.

On Thursday, we had nearly 90 pupils from S3 attend the Culloden Battlefield Visitor Centre for a history trip. Our S3 history classes have been studying the Battle of Culloden, so this trip was designed to support their learning. They were involved in four workshops which included; a tour around the museum where they had to perform some dangerous medical treatments, a source activity where they had to identify some items that have been found on the battlefield, a tour of the grounds of the battlefield where they had to march in line, and an acting workshop where they were allowed to dress up as Government/Jacobite soldiers or civilians that were involved.

We would like to thank all our pupils for being fantastic representatives of Culloden Academy, and the Culloden Battlefield Visitor Centre for delivering such engaging and interesting sessions for our pupils.

This morning our DYW coordinator hosted mock interviews, offered to all S4 students. The event was designed to support our S4 students with gaining valuable interview skills and techniques. Work has been ongoing in PSE classes in preparation, encouraging and increasing knowledge and confidence. The session was designed to build upon those skills, allowing the students to practice and receive feedback.

Many thanks to the employers who took the time out of their schedules to attend:

• DM Hall
• Global Highland
• Scottish Ambulance Service
• UHI
• West Fraser
• Kingsmills Hotel
• Macleod & MacCallum
• R I Crudens
• Highlife Highland

This morning was our third instalment of the My Future Friday sessions here at Culloden Academy. We had Laura from Nigg Skills Academy who discussed training opportunities and pathways into engineering, oil and gas, renewables and construction through a programme delivered in partnership with UHI North Highland.

We were fortunate to have the opportunity to take part in negotiations, votes and talks about Climate Change and different countries’ ambitions to fight climate change at the Mock COP28. Emily Ross, Oliver Kinsella, Ella Paterson, Riley Macleod Taylor, Sophie Lambert, Isla Macrae and Skye Searles had a great time developing their knowledge of different countries taking part in the event. Representing The People’s Republic of China was no easy task, but we successfully negotiated with Greenpeace, AOSIS and Brazil about Climate Change in three rounds. It was a great day and all students would highly recommend getting involved next year!

On Wednesday morning our DYW School Coordinator hosted a Careers Speed Dating event for our S3 students. We had fantastic attendance, and great feedback from both employers and our students.

Huge thank you to all the employers who took time out of their busy schedules to attend.

Highlife Highland; Macleod & Macallum; British Army; West Fraser; ScotSafe; Barnardos; Marriott; UHI Nursing; RAF; UHI Optometry; UHI Forestry & Construction; Kier Construction; SGL Carbon; SSE Renewables; Scottish Ambulance; LifeScan

This week we had a representative from the CNC Police. Lots of pupils in attendance. Next week we have Nigg Skills Academy.