The school will close at 2.30pm today, Wednesday 23rd December, and re-open to pupils on Thursday 7th January. 

We hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a happy new year.

All staff and pupils, Marr College.
 

S3 pupils have been busy little elves this term making wooden trains in Design and Technology.  The class have now finished their trains in time for Christmas and they are looking good, Mr Allison and Mr McNeill are both impressed with the work done.  To complete the trains they had to do a lot of marking out, accurate work with hand tools as well as using the wood lathes and mortising machines for the first time.

"It's hands on and I really enjoy working with my hands. Building things is my favourite part of school" - Jack S3
"I like being able to use the machines and then putting everything together to see the final project." - Craig S3

The pre-lim exam schedule has been issued to all S4. S5 and S6 pupils.  They begin on the 14th January and run through till the 29th January.  Full details and dates can be found here.

Ayrshire Hospice Fundraising Officer Mr Robert Flynn visited the school on Friday November 20th to take receipt of two big cheques – one from funds raised from the sponsored walk and the other from the Duke of Edinburgh student leaders’ ‘Go Purple’ fundraising activities.  Mrs McGregor-Sloman, Mr McLean and Mrs Maxwell, along with school captains, DofE student leaders and some top S1 student fundraisers were there for the handover along with a photographer from the Ayrshire Post to take photographs.  Mr Flynn conveyed, on behalf of the Ayrshire Hospice, his sincere thanks to all staff and students of Marr College for the kind donations of £1627.77 and £194.38.  He also said that he “had great pleasure in visiting us here at Marr and learning about both our school and our fundraising activities this year” which have been very busy to say the least!  The donation will go directly towards helping the hospice continue to provide its specialist care and services to terminally ill people within our community.

Wavelength Ltd Marr College Young Enterprise
Wavelength Ltd is a young enterprise group based within Marr College. Our group consists of eleven sixth years and over the year we will be undertaking a number of projects set up by our business. We have now finalized the orders for the Leaver’s Hoodies and hope to have them ready for distribution in the coming New Year. Wavelength Ltd also plans to take orders for Teacher Hoodies in February 2016 and will continue to post updates on this project.  On Sunday the 22 November we participated in Troon's annual ‘Wintertainment’ event with a stall in the Town Hall. Our business was successful in selling handmade soy candles of varied sizes and scents and food gift baskets that mainly included local Ayrshire produce.

Both the food gift baskets and candles were sold out within 5 days thanks to our family, friends, local community and staff. We were also successful in taking orders for a limited edition Marr College rugby ball.  We have now sold all of the 48 food gift baskets and all candles.  Our business has since taken on another project developing wooden Marr College jigsaws.  We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported us so far and we will keep you all updated with future endeavours. 

Well done to Jenny Purdie (S5) who on Monday 30th November was runner up at the St Andrew’s Day Debating Tournament at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh.  Competing on the day were 24 schools from across central Scotland.  Jenny successfully advanced through three rounds of debates before reaching the final, which was held in the main Debating Chamber.  The final debate was chaired by the Deputy Presiding Officer Elaine Smith and among the judges was Scottish Labour Party Leader Kezia Dugdale.  Natasha Martin (S5) and Olivia Russell (S5) also performed roles as judge and time keeper during the earlier rounds of debates. Congratulations Jenny!

The whole of first year enjoyed a fun day out to the pantomime in Glasgow last week, with Marr College students even being invited up on to the stage to perform in ‘Sleeping Betty’. Joe Mack and Gregor Murray battled any stage fright and tried out their ogre growls, as the rest of the year group cheered them on.

Julie Wilson Nimmo (Miss Hoolie from Balamory) who played a cute Hamster in this less-than-traditional Christmas production asked if the boys did Drama – yes, she was very impressed with their acting! “You might be up here one day, then!” she suggested. We’ll see! Louise McArthur who played baddie Fairly Evil was also impressed with the audience participation. “They made our show!” she told Drama teacher Ms Gunn. “They were fab!”

Student teacher in Business, Mr Gilbert, was also a confirmed star of the show. He was surprised with a pretty extended kiss from the pantomime dame character (played by Neil Thomas) much to everyone’s amusement.

As always though, the best reviews are from the audience and the verdict is in! S1’s Freya Davies thought it was amazing: “I loved all of the characters but my favourite of all was Betty’s mum. She was very funny and loud. I liked when the characters came down the stairs so everybody could see. The over-reactions were really good too and the costumes were fab. I would definitely recommend it to the S1 students starting next year.”

Ms Gunn added: “Thanks to everyone who helped make the trip possible – staff members who came along, and those who covered classes in school. It was a really festive trip and should help boost S1’s Christmas spirit!”

Sleeping Betty is at the Tron Theatre in Glasgow until 3 January.

www.tron.co.uk

South Ayrshire Council have recently published a leaflet detailing the issues involved with taking pupils out of school during term time. Full details can be found by clicking the image below.

Donald Dewar Memorial Debating Tournament
Well done to Luke Light (S6) and Rebekah Jack (S6) who on Thursday last week advanced to the next stage of the Donald Dewar Memorial Debating Tournament – Scotland’s biggest senior competition.  Competing on the night were Williamwood High School, Prestwick Academy, Marr College and Mearns Castle High School who also hosted the event. The team now go on to the next round which takes place sometime in January at a time to be confirmed. 

This success follows on from the triumph of Molly MacDougall (S3) and Chloe Russell (S3) who won the annual Victim Support Public Speaking competition at UWS on Wednesday evening last week by delivering powerful speeches on the topics of rape and sexual assault. The girls were commended for their bravery in tackling such emotive subjects, their thorough research undertaken in preparation and the excellent delivery of their presentations. As a result, the girls were awarded a £50 book token each as well as a silver commemorative plate with their names engraved as winners. On top of this, the girls were given a cheque for £500 for Marr College and the school will soon be the recipient of the competition trophy/shield once Marr’s name has been added.
 
Debating and Public Speaking Schedule:
 

• ESU St Andrews’s Day Debate (Seniors) – 30 November 2015 at The Scottish Parliament
• ESU Junior Mace Debate – 3 December 2015 (venue tbc)
• Donald Dewar – Round 2 (Seniors) – Date and Venue TBC

 
We would be delighted to welcome anyone who wishes to get involved in the debating and public speaking club – please get in touch with Mr Hendrie or Ms Gilmour.