Our sense of belonging as individuals, in our friendships, in school, and in communities plays a vital role in our mental health and wellbeing.

To know our place and really feel part of our environment is a basic human need. It can have powerful and long-lasting impacts in lots of areas of our lives, including our physical and mental health, education, employment and relationships. When we feel that we belong, it empowers us to contribute to the world and make a real difference. 

This year, Place2Be’s Children’s Mental Health Week aims to support the groups and systems surrounding children. They encourage peers, families, schools and communities to create inclusive and nurturing environments, where children and young people feel they belong and can say “This is My Place”. See the link for more information.

Over the weekend, Flora Alexander (S2) took part in the Champions of Tomorrow 2026 Ballroom and Latin dancing event in Blackpool.

She competed in the Newcomer category for both Ballroom and Latin and achieved an incredible result of 2nd place in both categories!

Congratulations Flora.

Stagecoach and D&E have confirmed that no school buses are running this morning so Culloden Academy is CLOSED today.

Not the start to the new term that we’d planned but we hope to be open tomorrow and will update you this afternoon.

Pupils should check Google classroom for work.

Take care and stay warm!

Mrs Claire McGonigal, Head Teacher

Congratulations to our English Star Pupils of Term 2. You have a fantastic attitude towards learning, well done!

As part of our Book Week Scotland celebrations, we ran our usual, Drop Everything And Read (DEAR) for our S4-S6 pupils.

Pupils could read a book of their choice, or the Scottish Book Trust book for 2025 on Friendship.  Many thanks to all our senior pupils who took part.

Culloden Academy Kit4All – Drop-Off Point Now Open

We’re proud to support Kit4All, a fantastic initiative offering recycled, unwanted or pre-loved sports kit to individuals and families who need it, completely FREE. This helps make sport and physical activity more accessible for everyone, while supporting sustainability. You can now drop off donations at our Culloden Academy Kit4All collection point, located in the Culloden Academy concorse. We gladly accept good-quality:

• T-shirts
• Shorts/joggers & leggings
• Trainers/shoes
• Jumpers/hoodies & jackets
• Football boots
• Swimming goggles

This campaign is led by our brilliant S6 Leadership Team, supported by Active Schools and DYW Inverness & Central Highland. Thank you for helping us make a difference in our community!

To kick off our book week Scotland celebrations, last week we visited the incredible @highland.zine.bothy.

Iona, talked us through their amazing collection of zines from all around the world and showed us how to make our own mini zines (magazines).

Our pupils produced some absolutely gorgeous work on the book week Scotland theme for 2025, which is friendship.

It was such a creative and inspiring day.

Many thanks to all the pupils that came along and to the @highland.zine.bothy for such a fantastic workshop.

Join Skills Development Scotland on Wednesday 3rd December at 6.30pm for a free webinar for parents and carers of S1 to S3 pupils on option choices.

This session will give information about the support SDS offer at option choice time, as well as highlighting questions and information young people should consider when making these important decisions. We will also introduce you to additional SDS resources available to support young people and their parents and carers.