The Higher Accounts class received an engaging and informative presentation today from visiting speakers Andrew, Laura and Matthew of Johnston Carmichael. Pupils were very enthusiastic learning about the life of an accountant and pathways and careers in the industry. Huge thanks to the team for their time, we loved having you all!

‘My Future Friday’ started this week with Barratt Homes Construction in to speak with our pupils about how to pursue a career in the construction industry.  A great turn out and plenty information for our pupils. Thanks to DYW ICH for organising and to Barratt Homes for taking the time to come in to Culloden Academy.

We encourage all pupils to take part in our extensive range of extra-curricular activities. Please see the link for the most up-to-date timetable.

A massive Culloden Academy thank you to our former pupils Catriona Chambers and Dougie Brown who gave up their valuable time to speak to our S6 year group today.

Catriona has spent the majority of her career at SpaceX. Following her degrees in Engineering at Oxford and Princeton Universities, Catriona joined the small SpaceX avionics team in 2005 and stayed with the company until 2021. Catriona has held technical and leadership roles and was responsible for major architectural designs and decisions on the rockets and space capsules. Catriona’s latest project at SpaceX was Director of Starship Avionics which saw multiple rocket launches and landings of the new prototype vehicle. Catriona explained how SpaceX has been able to change the space industry in such a short time through their innovative design and willingness to make and learn from their mistakes. Catriona is currently part of Alpine Space Ventures.

Dougie is Event Producer for Belladrum Tartan Heart Music Festival. Dougie started a Music and Technology course at Leeds Met University but quickly realised this wasn’t for him. After gaining valuable work and gigging experience he completed a Community Arts Degree at Strathclyde University. He has held several prominent roles in the most important music events around Scotland including the following: Rock Ness; Wickerman; Loopallu; Groove; The Gathering and Go North. Like many others Dougie is saddened by the loss of The Ironworks which he helped to develop for over ten years. Dougie is Director for Into The Light Management Ltd. and has managed both Tamzene and now Katie Gregson-MacLeod https://www.katie-gregson-macleod.com/

Congratulations on your success Catriona and Dougie.

The S6 Young Enterprise Team ‘Unravel’ had a fantastic opportunity this week, when they had a visit from local PR company Whale-like-fish.

The pupils gained lots of valuable help and advice about how to launch and market their product – a mental health card game.

Huge thanks to Whale-like-fish for giving up their time and supporting the school.

The S6 Young Enterprise Team ‘Unravel’ are delighted to have not just one, but two Business Advisors!

Andrew MacKenzie (pictured here with some of the team) and Alison MacKenzie, are both from Johnston Carmichael chartered accountants and business advisers.

They visit regularly to advice and guide the team with their business.

We are extremely grateful to Andrew and Alison for supporting Young Enterprise, and our Culloden Academy pupils.

The Higher Business Management classes visited West Fraser Ltd this week.

Pupils received a tour of the factory, and saw Operations Management theory working in real-life business.

Huge thanks to West Fraser Ltd (especially the tour guides) for supporting the school.

To celebrate Maths Week Scotland 2023, the Maths department recently ran a Maths in the Wild Photography competition. To enter, pupils had to submit a photograph of something maths related that they had spotted when they were out with the classroom. The more creative, the better.

Lena Labno (S1) was the overall winner with an equilateral triangle in the school quad and the runner ups were Gabriella Ritchie (S6) with a flower from her garden showing the Fibonacci sequence/symmetry in nature and Toby Macrae (S4) with the Petronas Towers representing symmetry.

Well done to all entrants, there were some fantastic photographs sent in.

LifeScan hosted a maths based open day for some of our S3s last week. Students took part in lots of fun maths based activities, learned about diabetes and enjoyed a tour behind the scenes where they even met Saul and Hagen, two of the resident robot that roam the corridors.

Thank you to LifeScan for organising such a fantastic day.