As Dr Vance mentioned in his recent newsletter, Highland Council are keen to understand the barriers to high attendance and would very much appreciate it if any parent who struggles to get their child to come to school or is worried about their child’s attendance would take 3-5 minutes to complete the parental survey. We also need to hear from pupils who struggle- or fail- to attend so that we better understand what we can do to make school and education a more appealing prospect.

February’s letter to parents and carers was issued by email this morning. It can also be downloaded below. It covers:

• Attendance
• Uniform
• Mobile Phones
• Vandalism

It was with great pleasure that we welcomed Calum back to Culloden Academy last week. Calum left school in 2006 and following his graduation with a Law Degree from Aberdeen University, and time as a Corporate Lawyer, Calum moved on to work with the Scottish Professional Football League. He has had a number of roles with the organisation and is currently the Chief Operating Officer, alongside his responsibilities with UEFA and FIFA.

Calum was good enough to talk about his experiences as a Inverness Caledonian Thistle U17 football player and how he made some difficult choices to follow his dreams to work in football. Calum was kind enough to bring the Scottish League Cup with him – a very popular choice!

Congratulations on your success Calum. Thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule to talk to so many of our pupils.

A group of 12 budding scientists attended the Girls do Science event at the WASP Academy in Inverness.

After and interesting and inspiring talk from Laura Young on her role as an Environmental Scientist the students then took part in a range of interactive activities. They were introduced to using robotics in marine surveys from SAMS, extracting DNA from their own cells and the role of hydrogen and wind power from Balfour Beattie.   

On the 10^th February we attended the annual Rotary Club Inter-Schools Quiz Competition at Charleston Academy to compete against four other secondary school teams in the hope of retaining the shield for another year. There were 10 rounds, covering many topics such as Science, History and Music each with 6 questions. On the team were Finlay Simpson, Magnus Johnson, Evie Strachan and Zoe Marsden.

We are delighted to say that we did it, we won again for the second year in a row. Well done team!

Three of our S2 pupils entered the Highland Boccia Heats this month. After a morning of games at Inverness Royal Academy, Oihane qualified to take part in the Highland Finals which will be held at Millburn in March. Congratulations to Amy and Kenzie who also won several games!

 It was an exciting morning on Thursday when 1P got to unwrap the brand new Boccia sets. The object of the game is to get your ball as close to the ‘jack’ (the white ball) as possible.

Gillian McKenzie and Eric Robertson from the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) are coming into school on Thursday 13 February and Thursday 6 March to meet with anyone who is considering leaving this year and is interested in Construction Apprenticeships. They are also happy to speak with any pupil who may have an interest in a career in the Construction Sector. They will have up to date information on local employers who are actively recruiting apprentices this year. The sessions are taking place in Room 13 in the yellow huts (Morag the SDS Careers Adviser’s Room) during lunch between 1:30pm and 2pm. Pupils can drop in at any point during this time.

As part of the fundraising for the Vine Trust school expedition with Vine Trust we are doing a prize draw. The draw will run until the 9^th of March and there are some great prizes on offer. Follow the link to purchase tickets, it is £2 per entry ticket. Any donations big or small are much appreciated. 

The Travel & Tourism pupils enjoyed learning about Highlife Highland and the Inverness Castle Experience today.  They heard all about this new and exciting local tourist attraction, and employment opportunities.  Thank you to Mary-Dawn for this very inspiring session.