Pupils from the N5 Travel and Tourism class attended the citywide Travel and Tourism Conference on Friday 8th September in Dundee and Angus College, Kingsway campus. This is the second such conference to be organised for all pupils participating in this Skills for Work Award. The conference opened with a variety of speakers related to the industry. 

Founders of Dark Dundee

Alistair Smith from STA Travel, Dundee

Gaynor Sullivan from Dundee City Council Business Development Department

Connor Scanlon from British Airways

Allan McIntyre, Creative Industries/Events Organiser from the V and A

Pupils then participated in four workshops on Holiday Reps, Cabin Crew, Travel Agents and Scottish Tourism. In the course of the day, pupils will have gained a particular insight into customer service and employability which will assist them in gaining their outcomes for the award. 

Special thanks to Roxy Hamid of Dundee and Angus College for putting it all together and ensuring a successful day.

Katherine Stewart was the first worthy winner of the Morven Mackenzie Memorial Award for Advanced Higher Geography. Mrs Mackenzie was a well- loved and well-respected member of the Geography department here at Grove who passed away suddenly in November last year. Her husband, Donald, donated the beautiful trophy which will be awarded annually to our best AH student.

Katherine (who also won the prize for Higher Environmental Science) is going  to study Geography at Glasgow University. Mrs Mackenzie would have been very proud to know that Katherine and several other S6 pupils are going off to study Geography next session. She was a great inspiration to them all.

Photograph shows Katherine with Donald Mackenzie and Mrs Kerr and Miss Kydd of the Geography department.

Four pupils from Grove Academy took part in the TAYplan Youth Camp on 13th June and came back with the prize for the best sustainable city design.

Ellis Shirkey, Kirsty Turfus, Carmen Thomson and Bethany Isles (all S4) had a fantastic day with Town Planners from the local councils and lecturers form Dundee University who talked them through a couple of local planning scenarios before getting them to work on their own design. 

They were each given a certificate for taking part and a trophy for the school. Part of their prize also involves an invitation to go on work experience with the Planning Department which they hope to take up in the near future. Well done girls!

On Friday 17th March Andy Marnie, Energy  Manager from Dundee City Council came to talk to the Higher Environmental Science class.

He went over some details about energy use in Scotland and how we are moving from traditional sources like coal and nuclear power to renewables. This was a good revision exercise for the class who are almost finished the course. Higher Environmental Science is on offer again next session. It is taught jointly between Biology and Geography, covering three areas- the Earth's Resources, Sustainability and the Living Environment.

National 5 Travel and Tourism pupils had a visit from Alisdair Smith of STA Travel on Wednesday.

Alisdair gave a very interesting insight into his job as a Travel Agent, saying how every day is different and explaining the variety of tasks involved. The pupils were particularly interested in the incentives offered and the trips abroad!

Currently pupils are carrying out a Travel Agent role play exercise which covers some of the SQA outcomes. Staff have volunteered to be clients and pupils are researching holidays for them. Pupils will be examined on their customer service techniques.

STA Travel are again offering a 24 month apprenticeship in each of their 52 stores around the U.K. This is an excellent opportunity for a 16-18 year old to get some on the job training in an industry which can be difficult to access as employers want experience. The on line application process opens in March for an August start. Potential students should go to the STA website or see Mrs Kerr or Mr Creamer for further details.

S3 Geography pupils had a talk on Friday afternoon about Town Planning.

Julie Robertson, a Planner from Dundee City Council and Vincent Onyango, a Planning Lecturer from Dundee University explained the routes they had taken into their careers.

We considered the new Perth Food and Drink Hub as a scenario in groups. The purpose of the talk was to prepare pupils for the TAYplan Youth Camp which will be held in the University in June when 4 pupils will be able to attend. Here they will discuss getting involved in the planning process and taking part in a competition with other local schools.

On Thursday 16th February, pupils from the N5 Travel and Tourism class visited Dundee and Angus College. They were met by Lecturer, Roxy Hamid who told them about the courses available and what these entailed. HNC and HND students were on hand to answer questions. Several of the group are interested in following careers in Tourism/Hospitality/Events Management so this was an ideal opportunity for them to find out about available pathways. A welcome drink of juice and home made cakes was provided by the college!

A team from Grove Academy has won the local Tayside round of the SAGT Geography Worldwise Quiz.

Calum Macrae (S2), Lucy Angus (S3) and Lewis Stracey (S4) romped home to victory in both the local heat and local final at Perth Academy last Wednesday night. The team will now represent the Tayside area in the Scottish final in June.

Winners of this competition will go forward to compete against other national winners at the British Isles final later in the year.

S3, S4 and S5 Geography pupils are being given the opportunity to travel to Iceland to take part in field work in October 2017. There are lots of exciting geographical places to visit- waterfalls, glaciers, mountains, hot springs, volcanoes. Pupils will fly from Glasgow on Wednesday 4th October and return on Monday 9th.

In connection with the Iceland trip pupils are carrying out some fundraising activities. The closing date for the music quiz was 13th January but monies for this can still be handed in. 3 Bake Sales are organised for Wednesdays 25th January, 22nd February and 22nd March. These will take place at morning interval outside Home Economics.

There are still a couple of spaces available. Further details are available from Principal Teacher of Geography, Mrs Kerr ddmkerr956@glow.sch.uk.