ECO Day

As part of the Eco Schools Scotland Programme, pupils took part in a morning of environmentally-themed activities. This included a session in creating products from recycled materials together with planting, tree surveying, litter picking and removing invasive species. One group made a greenhouse from recycled plastic drink bottles. Tremendous progress was made throughout the morning and pupils enjoyed the results of their hard work.

Senior pupils learned about opportunities in Green Careers. Andrew Donaldson (1993)) from Comrie Croft and David Gladman from the University of Strathclyde gave presentations about their own careers which have an environmental focus.

More Art Success

Congratulations to Ben Duncan, S6, who was selected as one of the winners in Specialist Crafts cover competition for his art work “Time Lord Head Piece” which will be featured in their May edition of Artifacts magazine. He wins the department £75 and will go on to be one of the competition finalists to be decided at the end of the year.

Sports Relief fundraising success

The school raised a total of £3750 for Sport Relief in its “Mile in Style” at the end of last term. Pupils from across the school chose a number of imaginative ways to complete their sponsored mile – running, swimming, climbing, hopping, in a variety of costumes, including their pyjamas! Sport Relief will put the money to excellent use in helping disadvantaged children in the UK and in the developing world.

Chamber Choir records for Songs of Praise

The BBC recorded for Songs of Praise recently at Dunblane Cathedral. The Chamber Choir will feature in two programmes with the songs “I will sing with the spirit" by John Rutter and the Scots song "The Rowan Tree" to the words of "I heard the voice of Jesus say". The production team complimented the girls' singing and professionalism.  The two editions of Songs of Praise will be aired on Sunday 1 July 2012 and Sunday 27 January 2013.

New Film-Making Club’s first production

The Film-Making Club is a new initiative which encourages those keen to learn about the creative film-making process to produce an original film. In its first year, over thirty pupils collaborated in writing, directing, editing and acting; a preview of their first film “The Hidden Darkness” was shown to pupils and staff and an invited audience of parents and friends will be treated to a screening towards the end of term.

Congratulations to councillor rhona brock

Rhona, who is a well-regarded member of the Crieff community and the school team at Morrison’s Academy, has just been elected Councillor in recent local elections. Rhona has also received an invitation to the Royal Garden party at Holyrood this summer in recognition of her contribution to helping others.

Carly Booth (2006) becomes youngest winner of the Scottish Open
Carly, who is just 19 years old, described her win as “a dream come true!” She won her first Ladies European Tour title with a one-shot win over Florentyna Parker and Frances Bondad at Archerfield, East Lothian. Her final round of 71 gave her a four under par total of 212 after she had begun the day in a three-way tie. She told BBC Scotland: "I'm overwhelmed. After two years on the Tour I have managed to find my way".

Former Pupils perform with Pipe Band during Hong Kong tour
1990s leavers Dr Raymond Chan (former Head Boy) and George Cheng among others, were delighted to join the youngsters of the Pipe Band on stage at the Hong Kong Gathering. Neither had lost their touch! 
They were supported by current and former pupils and friends of the school; a fantastic evening was had by everyone.

Pictured here are Simon Pengelley (Rector), Raymond Chan and Marcus Leung.

Watch the Drum Salute at Hong Kong University
 

Margot Livesey (1971) publishes her seventh successful novel
Margot Livesey, who lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the USA, is a distinguished novelist and writer in residence at Emerson College. She is a New York Times best-selling author .  Her seventh novel, “The Flight of Gemma Hardy”, is a re-telling of the classic story of Jane Eyre and is now available in the UK. Margot recalls her time at Morrison’s Academy fondly : “My memories of Morrison's are mainly of wonderful teachers: Miss Nisbet, who taught Latin, encouraged me to try translating poets like Ovid and Catullus and Mrs. Patterson, who taught History, allowed me to do a very long project on the Spanish Civil War.  I spent many hours in the library which had been newly built”

Read more about Margot here

Flora Sharp (1972) becomes the first female Chair of Governors
“It is an honour and privilege to be given the opportunity to take on the role of Chairman. I am delighted to be working with my fellow Board members, the Rector and so many committed and professional staff as we enter the next exciting stage of the School's development”.

Read more here

Second book deal for Andrew Mackay (1988)
Andrew’s first novel, “Yong Lions” was featured in the November edition of The Link.  You can watch a video review of the book here The second book in the series “Young Lions Roar” will be published this summer.

Death of Henry Vick (1939)
Henry Alastair Vick passed away peacefully on the morning of 24th March 2012.  The Vick family has a long association with Morrison’s Academy; they are the only family to have three successive generations of Macrosty medal winners; Henry was the first to win the prestigious award, followed by his son Richard (1966) and grandson  Douglas (1996).

Henry regarded the winning the Macrosty medal (for the boy with the best influence on the life of the school) as one of his greatest achievements, but privately he was most proud of the fact that (in his own words) “I never got caught!” 

Read Richard’s eulogy for his father here

Historic Time-Line finds a permanent home at Morrison’s Academy
Former pupils Mary Mair (nee Bolton, 1961), Beryl Christie (nee McGuire, 1959) and Maureen Anderson (nee Gowling, 1968), spent months creating an historic time-line history of Morrison’s Academy to commemorate its150th anniversary. Over 500 former pupils from all over the world visited the school during the celebrations and were able to view the history, which was displayed throughout two classrooms and a section of the main corridor. The work, which is now laminated and sectioned into decades, will be exhibited permanently at the school and former pupils are welcome to visit the school to take a look. The school is grateful to Mary, Beryl and Maureen for their dedication to this project. Archive work continues at the school, as volunteers are working on a huge project to digitise thousands of documents and photographs so that FPs can access information and images through the school website.

This year’s annual giving mailing was sent recently and we are delighted to receive support from new and existing donors throughout the world.

Funds raised will go towards bursaries, enabling children with a desire to learn and develop their potential to gain access to an education at Morrison’s Academy, regardless of means. We can also enhance the learning experience for pupils throughout the school with new sports equipment and more interactive whiteboards.

This year’s donors will be invited, together with parents and friends of the school, to a “thank you” event, hosted at the opening of the new Nursery in September.

Annual Giving mailing
Annual Report for 2010-2011

The first project in our campus redevelopment programme is the new Nursery, which is on time and on budget for completion this August. Nursery staff and pupils are very excited about the move and look forward to the opening event in September.