Non-Teaching Week

A reminder that next week is a non-ACMS teaching week, so there will be no scheduled lessons or ensembles. Please see the breakdown below:

Monday: Mid-term holiday. Dyce Academy and ACMS closed.

Tuesday: Staff INSET day. Dyce Academy and ACMS closed.

Wednesday: Staff INSET day. Dyce Academy and ACMS closed. Boarding will open in the late afternoon.

Thursday: Dyce Academy open for a normal Thursday. ACMS facilities available during school hours for practice periods. No formal lessons or ensembles. ACMS building closed after 3.00 pm.

Friday: Dyce Academy open for a normal Friday. ACMS facilities available during school hours for practice periods. No formal lessons or ensembles. ACMS building closed after 3.00 pm.

Douglas and the Saltire Award

Congratulations to Douglas, who has reached a significant milestone in his Saltire Award by completing 50 hours of teaching.

As many will know, ACMS pupils play a major role in supporting theory teaching for bursary pupils. This creates a strong buddy system and helps new pupils settle quickly, knowing they already have trusted peers supporting them. It is also a powerful learning experience for our full-time pupils, as teaching theory is one of the best ways to deepen understanding.

The Saltire Award recognises youth volunteering, and Douglas deserves enormous credit for reaching this stage. Many other pupils are steadily working towards their own milestones, and we look forward to celebrating those achievements soon.

Burns Night Performances

🥃🎶 What a brilliant evening celebrating Burns at the Caithness, Orkney & Shetland Association Burns Supper at Aberdeenshire Cricket Club.

Taylor, Kai, and Ruben set the tone of the night, piping guests in on arrival and leading the procession with a stirring piping-in of the haggis 🥁🏴

Later in the evening, Aleina and Marta performed a beautiful selection of Scottish songs 🎤✨ before James brought proceedings to a rousing close with a cracking accordion set 🪗🔥

Many thanks to the Association for being such warm and generous hosts, to Mrs Kyle for her excellent piano accompaniment 🎹, and to Miss Arthur for supporting and staffing the trip. A night full of tradition, music, and proud moments all round ❤️

Evensong at St Andrew’s Cathedral

🎶✨ A landmark weekend for Douglas, who conducted his first service of Evensong at St Andrew’s Cathedral.

The service was beautifully shaped from start to finish, with a programme including Stanford’s Canticles in G, Smith Responses, and Wood’s O Thou the Central Orb 🎼⛪️

Special congratulations as well to Athena, who sang the soprano solo in the Magnificat, marking her first solo appearance with the choir 🌟👏

It was lovely to see so many ACMS connections both singing and supporting from the congregation. A proud moment all round 💙

Gingerbread Designs in Boarding

Thank you to the Boarding staff for organising a wonderful evening of gingerbread creations for our boarders. The results were spectacular, with some genuinely impressive edible architecture on display. These were works of art in their own right, although their shelf life is likely to be short!

Drum Kit Donation

We are hugely grateful to Aaron Robertson of Pinball Studios for his extremely kind donation of a drum kit and bass amp to ACMS. This will be ideal for external trips, and we are very much looking forward to taking it out on its first outing. A generous and much-appreciated gesture.

Recorder Donation

We are also very grateful to Elizabeth, a member of the community at St Machar Cathedral, for the donation of a tenor recorder. Our recorder players are already keen to put it through its paces.

Scottish Young Musicians Junior Heats

We wish the very best of luck to all ACMS pupils taking part in the Scottish Young Musicians Aberdeen City Junior Heats, taking place at Muirfield Primary School on 10 and 11 February 2026.

NESPA Fundraising Event

Huge congratulations to James and Douglas 🎉🎶 for performing at the NESPA fundraising event in support of the upcoming Festival of Performing Arts this June.

They performed brilliantly on stage and were equally impressive on the dance floor 💃🕺

The Festival of Performing Arts is always a highlight in the ACMS calendar, and we are already looking forward to taking part again this summer ☀️🎭

SQA Music Practical Exams

A note from Academic Music: the dates for the National 5 and Higher SQA practical music exams are now confirmed. These will take place on Monday 9 March and Tuesday 10 March.

The exams are presented to a visiting examiner and provide an excellent opportunity for pupils to demonstrate the results of their ACMS learning, study methods, and technical preparation.

Very best wishes to all pupils preparing for these assessments.