Mackie Academy Pupil and Parent Information Site
School Information
UPDATED: 17.03.23
Primary 7 Parent Presentation: 16.03.23
Parent Presentation March 2023.pdfIt was great to see so many of our Primary 7 parents and students here at Mackie Academy to start our partnership of learning for S1 in 2023-24.
The presentation can be found opposite and contains all the relevant contact details and sites that you can access information from about Mackie Academy.
After the Easter holidays you will be sent details about a dedicated site for Primary 7 to S1 transition and we look forward to seeing more of you and your young person in the summer term.
How to have meaningful career conversations: Thursday, 23rd March 2023
Parents and carers can join this webinar to hear about the value and benefits of having career conversations and get some practical hints and tips on how to approach these. There will also be the opportunity to ask questions.
Parents and carers can register for our session here: https://Meaningfulcareerconversationswithyoungpeople.eventbrite.co.uk
Parent Club: Parental Employability and Financial Support Campaign
Financial Pressures Leaflet.pdfCampaign to help parents struggling with money or employment worries
If you’re finding it hard to make ends meet and the thought of applying for benefits or taking that first step into work is overwhelming, Parent Club can help. The good news is there is lots of help available - and we can guide you to someone you can talk to about applying for benefits and, gaining skills, finding work or childcare.
Benefits and grants you could be entitled to
Knowing where to begin with benefits and one-off payments you’re entitled to can be stressful. You might also think you’re not eligible for any additional financial support, but it’s always worth checking as you may be surprised. We can guide you to a trusted advisor who can help you find out about all the benefits and payments available to you and your family.
Finding a job that works for your family
The thought of finding a job can feel overwhelming, especially if you’re looking for something that fits around childcare. Whether you’ve been out of the workplace for a while, and or worried that your skills are out of date, or this might be your first time looking for a job, and you don’t know where to start. Whatever your situation, you don’t have to do it on your own, as there are lots of support services in your local area to help you and get you job ready.
Looking after your mental health
Worrying about money can take its toll on your mental health, and if you feel like everything is getting too much, it’s important to remember that you’re not alone and there is support out there. Parent Club has tips to help you look after your mental health and places you can go to find support.
To find out more about benefits and employment support, take that first step and visit parentclub.scot/money-work
Police Scotland Young Person's Update: March 2023
This Month’s Topic – Substance Misuse
For materials linked to this topic, we are directing schools towards the I Am Me Scotland Online Learning Platform. The Online Learning Platform hosts multiple interactive, accessible resources on various topics including Alcohol and Substance Awareness.
The Alcohol and Substance programme begins in early years and progresses through to S5. All lessons have been developed with children, young people and people who have lived and living experience of alcohol and substance addiction. The lessons have been designed to be inclusive for children and young people who require audio option as well as text, this option can be turned off if the presenter/teacher chooses to deliver the lesson at their own pace.
A short explanatory video about the resources can be accessed here - https://youtu.be/OT1Xjceg48w
Our Your Police survey
Feedback from the public on local policing is crucial for informing local policing plans going forward and helping us understand the views and priorities of our diverse communities in Scotland. The Your Police survey is the mechanism by which we can understand the views and priorities of our communities and the levels of confidence in policing. The current live survey launched in May 2022 and will be open until end of March 2023.
The survey is anonymous and further information is available on the link page at:
https://consult.scotland.police.uk/strategy-insight-and-innovation/your-police-2022-2023/
The UNCRC and Children's Rights: information for parents and carers
Parent Club Childrens Rights leaflet.pdfYou may have heard people speaking about children’s rights without being sure what this really means. This booklet helps explain what children’s rights are and provides information for parents, carers and family members .
Mackie Academy is currently working towards its Silver Award as a Rights Respecting School and the UNCRC is part of the framework for this award.
Worried about Money: Information for parents
Worried About Money Leaflet.pdfAberdeenshire Council recognises an increasing number of referrals to the Free School Meals panel where, unfortunately, some are not accepted due to families being above the threshold but without exceptional circumstances.
The leaflet opposite details further support that may be available to families and the leaflet can be accessed in different languages at Aberdeenshire - Worried about Money? (worryingaboutmoney.co.uk)
Educational Visits at Mackie Academy: Key Principles 2023 onwards
Mackie Academy's approach to educational visits from January 2023 onwards can be found here. If you have any queries or questions please do not hesitate to get in contact with the school. Thank you to everyone who contributed to the consultation on this - staff, students, parents and our local community.
Your Parent Council needs you for 2023
Mackie Academy Parent Council Flyer 2022-23.pdfFollowing the Parent Council AGM you can find out more about their work on the school website here.
The Parent Council are looking at ways to better communicate with the Parent Forum and some ideas for 2022-23 include:
Mini-bios for all Parent Council members available on this site
Short and sweet updates after each meeting so parent forum members know what has been discussed.
Every year the success of the Parent Council is based on having willing participants give up their time to discuss, challenge and review the school's improvement journey as well as wider educational issues. If you want to join us at the AGM you are more than welcome to do so to find out more about the work of the Parent Council and if it is right for you.
The next Parent Council meeting takes place on Tuesday, 21st March 2023 online; further information about it can be found at https://mackie.aberdeenshire.sch.uk/parent-council/
Mackie Academy School App
The School App for Mackie Academy is our key method of communication with parents and carers now. If you have yet to download this onto your mobile device we would like to encourage parents to download the app to their phone so that you can easily get up to date information from the school.
The app is easy to use and the School App User Guide shows you how to use it. The key thing to remember is that once you have downloaded the app and chosen Mackie Academy you then need to opt out of the groups you don't wish to be part of e.g. if you have one child at Mackie Academy in S4 then you would opt out of all other year groups which means you only receive the messages and calendar events for S4.
The GDPR guidance associated with this app can be found here.
As a school we would ask that parents remain in the following groups:
Whole School
Catering
Parent Council
PTA
Other groups may come online as we develop use of the app and if you have any suggestions about how we make this work better for everyone then feel free to get in contact with the school.