Mintlaw Academy

Mintlaw Academy

Motto	Putting learning first
Established	1981
Type	State comprehensive
Head Teacher	Linda Evans
Location	Station Road Mintlaw Aberdeenshire AB42 5FN Scotland
Local authority	Aberdeenshire Council
Staff	69.9 wte
Students	858[1]
Gender	Co-educational
Ages	11–18
Houses	4
Website	mintlawacademy.aberdeenshire.sch.uk

Coordinates: 57°31′29″N 2°00′47″W / 57.524789°N 2.013193°W / 57.524789; -2.013193

Mintlaw Academy is a secondary school in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

History

The school opened in 1981 with about 600 enrolled students and a capacity of 1,000. By August 2003, it had about 920 enrolled students. The rector is Linda Evans.^[2] The school serves the rural communities of Central Buchan and draws pupils from the villages of Mintlaw, Fetterangus, Longside, Maud, New Deer, New Pitsligo, Strichen, Auchnagatt, Stuartfield and the surrounding area.

At Mintlaw Academy there are four houses. Brucklay (named after Brucklay estate between Maud and New Deer), Deer (named after Deer Abbey a few miles from the school), Mormond (named after Mormond Hill near Strichen) and Ugie (named after the river Ugie flowing past Mintlaw). There was another house, Aden,(named after Aden Country Park) though this house was stopped due to a falling role in the school at the end of the 2008/09 school year. In the past there was an annual Activities Day involving various types of inter-house competition and after a number of years without Activities Day, this was reinstated in 2005.

Tradition

Since the school opened there has been an annual ski-trip, usually to Switzerland but there have been other destinations as well. These trips have always been led by head of Aden house John Peterson. The other main excursion is the German trip for Standard Grade German pupils. For a long time Mintlaw Academy was the only school in Scotland to have more pupils studying German than French.^{[citation needed]}.

Mintlaw Academy has a school newspaper, run solely by pupils. "The Quartet" is released four times a year; it features interviews with new teachers and various other articles.

Once every two years, the school holds a sponsored walk, in which all pupils walk from Mintlaw to Maud and back again, along the old Buchan railway line. Normally this raises in the regions of £15,000 for student facilities.^{[citation needed]}

Also annually is the Burns supper for senior pupils and teachers. Held in the Ban Car in Lonmay, the mid January celebration of Robert Burns has been a longstanding tradition at Mintlaw Academy.

Sport

The school has a range of extra-curricular activities available to pupils. Activities available as of 2007 include Netball, boys and girls hockey, boys and girls football, badminton, alpha-beta club, debating club, running club, drama club, rugby union, book-explorers club and warhammer club. Also available to the senior pupils are a variety of committees. Burns supper, charities, amnesty international, yearbook, anti-bullying and parents evening.

Known as the best school for Girls Football in Scotland^{[citation needed]} and one of the best in the United Kingdom, Mintlaw Academy has had much success in this area. As of January 2007, the senior girls team has remained unbeaten for over three years.

Alumni events

A small book was released in 2007 to mark the 25th anniversary of the school's opening. The book discussed the last quarter century. Additionally there was a ceilidh organised to bring together former students, teachers, current pupils and staff.

Community School Network

In addition to Mintlaw Academy, the Mintlaw Community School Network consists of Auchnagatt Primary School, Fetterangus Primary School, Kininmonth Primary School, Longside Primary School, Maud Primary School, Mintlaw Primary School, New Deer Primary School, New Pitsligo & St John's School, Pitfour Primary School, Strichen Primary School and Stuartfield Primary School.^[3]

Footnotes

1. ^ "Mintlaw Academy". Scottish Schools Online. September 2007. http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/scottishschoolsonline/schools/mintlawacademyaberdeenshire.asp. Retrieved 2009-09-10. 
2. ^ "New head teacher for Mintlaw". pressandjournal.co.uk. 21 May 2009. http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1225361. Retrieved 17 June 2011. 
3. ^ "Mintlaw Community School Network". http://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/parentscarers/our_schools/csn.asp?csnID=11. Retrieved 2009-09-12.