Hermitage Academy
Parental Newsletter
August 2015
Curriculum for Excellence and the SQA Exams
Congratulations to our pupils who received their SQA examination results on the 4th of August. I am very
pleased to say that our pupils have achieved well in the exams and they should be congratulated on their
successes. A considerable amount of hard work was expended by the pupils and teachers. This coupled with
support from Parents and Carers, has led to many satisfied successful learners in Hermitage Academy.
In S5 the number of pupils who achieved 5 or more Highers rose by 5% from last year. Those gaining 3 or more
Highers went up by 13% and those gaining 1 or more Higher went up by 1%. The number of pupils who got 5
Highers went up from 33 last year to 44 this year. As you are aware our Curricular Model allows pupils to sit six
subjects in S5 and the school were delighted that 29 pupils achieved 6 Highers. Five pupils attained 5 A Passes
and two pupils achieved the superb total of 6 A passes at Higher.
At Advanced Higher again the pupils performed very well with more pupils than before achieving 2 or 3
Advanced Highers. Three pupils achieved 3 A passes in Advanced Higher, with one pupil gaining 3 As and 1 B.
There is a new system, called INSIGHT, for analysis of SQA results and pupils achievement and this data will be
with the school at the end of September. At that stage the school will be able to compare ourselves with
similar schools in Scotland and have an accurate picture of our performance on a National level.
The school will inform parents with a more detailed analysis of the results once the INSIGHT data becomes
available.
As part of our Self Evaluation Programme in the school we will be reviewing the impact of Curriculum for
Excellence. In the summer term we looked at the S1-S3 Curriculum (Broad General Education) and our plan is
to continue this by looking at the Senior Phase S4-S6 in the coming months, in light of the SQA results and
feedback from pupils, staff and parents.
The school will be celebrating the Academic and Wider Achievements of the pupils at the Annual Awards
Evening on Thursday 10th September 2015.
New School Website
The school launched it’s new website in the Summer term.
www.hermitageacademy.argyll-bute.sch.uk
This will be continually developed throughout the year. The school is very keen to ensure that the website
carries relevant and up to date information. We will also be trying to get email contacts for all parents so that
we can send school communication directly to parents and avoid the costly and inefficient “Pupil Post”!
School Show
This year’s school show A Little House of Horrors will be performed on Monday 21st Sept through to Thursday
24th Sept. Further details about tickets will be available soon.
New Staff
A number of new staff have joined Hermitage Academy on a permanent basis, namely Mr Morrison and Mrs
Tait in RMPS, Mr Christie and Mrs Savage in Mathematics. There are also a number of staff who have joined on
a temporary basis including Mr Hercus (PE), Miss Patrick (Geography), Mrs O’Donnell (Art), Mrs Richards
(Drama), Mr Bernard (Physics) and Miss Duncan (Science).
New Management Structure
With the retirement of Mr Cassells, the promotion of Miss Fisher to HT at Rothesay Academy and other
staffing changes, the School Management Structure has changed. There are still a few staffing appointments to
be made and these will be confirmed in the near future. The new structure is as follows.
Hermitage Academy SLT Remits
Aug-15
HEAD TEACHER
DHT
DHT
DHT
DHT
DHT
MR URIE
MRS MUIR
MR HUTCHISON
MR MORGAN
MRS MACKAY
MRS TREVELYAN
Head of S2 and S3
Head of S4 and S5
Head Teacher
Head of P7 and S1
Leadership and
Managem ent
Supporting Learners
(GIRFEC)
Learning and Teaching
Attainm ent and
School Im provem ent
Achievem ent
Raising Attainm ent
Head of S6 / L7
Head of Operations
Positive Destinations
Adm inistration and
Organisation
Prom oting Positive Behaviour
Year Team / Staged Intervention
With the appointment of the new DHTs and Mrs Futamata to DHT at Ardrossan Academy there have been a
few changes in the Year Team Structure.
Hermitage Academy Year Teams
Year
S1
DHT
Mrs Muir
Whole School PT
S2
S3
Mr Hutchison
S4
S5
Mr Morgan
To be confirmed
S6
Mrs Mackay
To be confirmed
Guidance Teacher
Mrs McGinley
Ms Sheen
Miss Cullen
Mrs Elvin
Mr Turnbull
Mr Millar
Mrs Fletcher
Mrs Biennier
Lead Pupil
Support Teacher
Mr Berrall
Mrs McAulay
Mrs Cowan (PT)
Mrs Brewer
Mr MacKenzie
Mr MacKenzie
Holiday Dates
The school will be closed on Monday 28th Sept for the September weekend.
The school finishes for the October Break on Friday 9th October at 3.30 pm and re- opens again for pupils on
Monday 19th October.
G. T. Urie
Headteacher