Alva Academy
Encyclopedia
Alva Academy is a six year comprehensive school
serving the villages of Alva
, Menstrie
, Tillicoultry
, Coalsnaughton
, Devonside, Dollar
and Muckhart
, all in Clackmannanshire
, Scotland
. The roll is fairly static at over 1100. It has six associated primaries - Alva, Menstrie, Tillicoultry, Coalsnaughton, Strathdevon and Muckhart.
Following a Clackmannanshire
Council decision in 1997 to integrate pupils with Moderate Learning Difficulties into a mainstream secondary school, Alva Academy was chosen as the location for this development. MLD pupils in S3 to S6 experience a full and varied curriculum which is integrated with mainstream subjects at appropriate levels.
Pupils receive a broad curriculum in S1. In S2 and S3 pupils select subjects from a whole range of Standard Grade and National Certificate courses. The curriculum is also broad with Higher Still courses at Advanced Higher, Higher, Intermediate 1 and 2 levels and Access levels. The school enjoys excellent relationships with Forth Valley College
.
The school is at the forefront of many national developments e.g. curriculum review, use of praise and reward to motivate, support study, activities weeks, European links, Restorative Practice, Co-operative Learning and working with pre-NEET pupils. The school enjoys considerable success in both the formal and informal curriculum.
Extensive use has also been made of the Sport Scotland funded Sports Development Coordinator to offer a full menu of sporting experience.
Information Technology is at a very advanced stage, with seven dedicated computer labs and interactive white boards in every department. This is to aid learning to an advanced stage and to ensure their use is optimised for the move to the new school building, in which every classroom will have the use of the interactive whiteboards. The school is also credited as being a pioneer in Social Media
. In 2001, a former pupil, John Harrower, was the first to create a web-based photograph tagging application. This allowed users to add "tags" and comments to yeargroup photographs that was used as a means of labelling the people within photographs and allowing social interaction. These features would go on to become commonplace in future social media websites.
The school was accredited with the Investors in People standard in 2001 and re-accredited in 2004.
The School is due to be demolished or sold after a move to their new building, also situated in Alva is due for completion and pupils will be moving into their new building on 24 April 2009. This will feature state of the art equipment along with existing whiteboards being transferred from the former building.
Alva Academy has been made to change the house system from three houses to five. This is due to a member of staff leaving. The new houses have been named after birds of prey, with pupils being in Falcon, Harrier, Kestrel, Osprey or Merlin house.
On 10 November 2009, the school was evacuated due to a fire which broke out at a nearby cigarette paper factory.
, the council area in which the school is situated. Entitled "The Haggis", the song was released in aid of Comic Relief
, and featured the voices of former Miss Scotland
winner Stephanie Willemse
and more than 2,000 students. As well as an official video, the single also featured its own "Haggis Dance". The single raised over £3,000 for charity, and topped both the UK Indie Chart
and the Scottish Singles Chart
.
Comprehensive school
A comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to the United...
serving the villages of Alva
Alva, Clackmannanshire
Alva is a small town in Clackmannanshire, set in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It is one of a number of towns situated immediately to the south of the Ochil Hills, collectively referred to as the Hillfoots Villages or simply The Hillfoots...
, Menstrie
Menstrie
Menstrie is a village in the county of Clackmannanshire in Scotland, UK. It is about 5 miles east-north-east of Stirling...
, Tillicoultry
Tillicoultry
Tillicoultry...
, Coalsnaughton
Coalsnaughton
Coalsnaughton or Calibar is a village in Clackmannanshire, Scotland. It is just south of Tillicoultry....
, Devonside, Dollar
Dollar, Clackmannanshire
Dollar is a small town in Clackmannanshire, Scotland. It is one of the Hillfoots Villages, situated between the Ochil Hills range to the north and the River Devon to the south. Dollar is on the A91 road, which runs from Stirling to St. Andrews. The town is around 3 miles east of Tillicoultry...
and Muckhart
Muckhart
Muckhart commonly refers to two small villages in Clackmannanshire, Scotland, Pool of Muckhart and Yetts o' Muckhart. Muckhart is one of the Hillfoots Villages, situated on the A91 around 3 miles north-east of Dollar...
, all in Clackmannanshire
Clackmannanshire
Clackmannanshire, often abbreviated to Clacks is a local government council area in Scotland, and a lieutenancy area, bordering Perth and Kinross, Stirling and Fife.As Scotland's smallest historic county, it is often nicknamed 'The Wee County'....
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. The roll is fairly static at over 1100. It has six associated primaries - Alva, Menstrie, Tillicoultry, Coalsnaughton, Strathdevon and Muckhart.
History
The original Alva Academy was established in the 1860s by public subscriptions from concerned residents of the town to overcome the shortcomings of educational provision. Educational change and a constantly rising school roll forced regular change to meet growing demands. The advent of comprehensive education in 1967/68 saw the linking of Tillicoultry and Alva Schools into a six year comprehensive.Following a Clackmannanshire
Clackmannanshire
Clackmannanshire, often abbreviated to Clacks is a local government council area in Scotland, and a lieutenancy area, bordering Perth and Kinross, Stirling and Fife.As Scotland's smallest historic county, it is often nicknamed 'The Wee County'....
Council decision in 1997 to integrate pupils with Moderate Learning Difficulties into a mainstream secondary school, Alva Academy was chosen as the location for this development. MLD pupils in S3 to S6 experience a full and varied curriculum which is integrated with mainstream subjects at appropriate levels.
Pupils receive a broad curriculum in S1. In S2 and S3 pupils select subjects from a whole range of Standard Grade and National Certificate courses. The curriculum is also broad with Higher Still courses at Advanced Higher, Higher, Intermediate 1 and 2 levels and Access levels. The school enjoys excellent relationships with Forth Valley College
Forth Valley College
Forth Valley College is a college in Scotland. It was formed in 2005 by the merger of Falkirk College of Further & Higher Education and Clackmannan College.-Campuses:The four main campuses of Forth Valley College are:*Falkirk*Stirling*Alloa*Raploch...
.
The school is at the forefront of many national developments e.g. curriculum review, use of praise and reward to motivate, support study, activities weeks, European links, Restorative Practice, Co-operative Learning and working with pre-NEET pupils. The school enjoys considerable success in both the formal and informal curriculum.
Extensive use has also been made of the Sport Scotland funded Sports Development Coordinator to offer a full menu of sporting experience.
Information Technology is at a very advanced stage, with seven dedicated computer labs and interactive white boards in every department. This is to aid learning to an advanced stage and to ensure their use is optimised for the move to the new school building, in which every classroom will have the use of the interactive whiteboards. The school is also credited as being a pioneer in Social Media
Social media
The term Social Media refers to the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into an interactive dialogue. Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0,...
. In 2001, a former pupil, John Harrower, was the first to create a web-based photograph tagging application. This allowed users to add "tags" and comments to yeargroup photographs that was used as a means of labelling the people within photographs and allowing social interaction. These features would go on to become commonplace in future social media websites.
The school was accredited with the Investors in People standard in 2001 and re-accredited in 2004.
The School is due to be demolished or sold after a move to their new building, also situated in Alva is due for completion and pupils will be moving into their new building on 24 April 2009. This will feature state of the art equipment along with existing whiteboards being transferred from the former building.
Alva Academy has been made to change the house system from three houses to five. This is due to a member of staff leaving. The new houses have been named after birds of prey, with pupils being in Falcon, Harrier, Kestrel, Osprey or Merlin house.
On 10 November 2009, the school was evacuated due to a fire which broke out at a nearby cigarette paper factory.
Clax
On 23 March 2009, Alva Academy released a charity single under the name Clax, in honour of ClackmannanshireClackmannanshire
Clackmannanshire, often abbreviated to Clacks is a local government council area in Scotland, and a lieutenancy area, bordering Perth and Kinross, Stirling and Fife.As Scotland's smallest historic county, it is often nicknamed 'The Wee County'....
, the council area in which the school is situated. Entitled "The Haggis", the song was released in aid of Comic Relief
Comic Relief
Comic Relief is an operating British charity, founded in 1985 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Lenny Henry in response to famine in Ethiopia. The highlight of Comic Relief's appeal is Red Nose Day, a biennial telethon held in March, alternating with sister project Sport Relief...
, and featured the voices of former Miss Scotland
Miss Scotland
The Miss Scotland competition is an annual beauty pageant targeted at women aged 18–24 living in Scotland. Entrants must hold a British passport to enter...
winner Stephanie Willemse
Stephanie Willemse
Stephanie Willemse is a beauty pageant contestant who represented Scotland in Miss World 2008 in South Africa, after which she began working as a model.-References:...
and more than 2,000 students. As well as an official video, the single also featured its own "Haggis Dance". The single raised over £3,000 for charity, and topped both the UK Indie Chart
UK Indie Chart
The UK Independent Chart or Indie Chart is a chart of the best-selling independent record releases in the UK.- History :In the wake of punk, small record labels began to spring up, as an outlet for artists that were unwilling to sign contracts with major record companies, or were not considered...
and the Scottish Singles Chart
Scottish Singles and Albums Chart
The Scottish Singles Chart and Scottish Albums Chart are charts compiled by The Official Charts Company, based on physical and digital sales in the STV North, STV Central and ITV Border regions....
.