
	AMEC Website Find out more about innovative AMEC projects	Hazlehead Students in line for an Amec Placement Five pupils from Hazlehead's S6 attended a series of presentations at Amec's headquarters in Altens recently. The students went along to hear more about a placement scheme being offered by the company. Amec are offering placements within a number of disciplines within the company including finance, HR, commercial and design. The students are pictured below with Karen Dalton of the Human Resources Department who is part involved in promoting the scheme. Go4Set team win Beyond Zero Award Congratulations go to the Hazlehead Academy Go4Set team and their mentor Muhammad Mazhar from Amec on winning AMEC’s Beyond Zero Award. Amec's ‘Beyond Zero’ programme focuses on the safety behaviours of is employees and their colleagues, but mostly on how the company can help the communities in which they are based. To strengthen the link that AMEC has with Hazlehead, Muhammad Mazhar, along with Mr MacBeath, Teacher of Design and Technology, mentored 6 enthusiastic pupils in the Go4set competition. The pupils won this, beating many other schools in the northeast of Scotland. Now they have beaten worldwide competition to win the Beyond Zero Award. They all deserve huge congratulations for the effort and hard work put in. Pupils demonstrate their green credentials Congratulations to the 6 second year pupils who have beaten tough competition from schools all over Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire to win the 2009 Go4SET competition. The pupils had previously been given a brief to design an “eco hotel” that would be completely run from alternative electricity resources. Over the last several months, along with AMEC mentors Allan Baird and Muhammad Mazhar and Design and Technology teacher Mr MacBeath, they have been designing their Eco friendly hotel. The pupils had a busy day at the competition which was held at the new BP headquarters in Dyce. A large number of guests and BP employees stopped at the stands during the course of the day and the enthusiasm and knowledge of the Hazlehead group quickly became apparent. They all deserve congratulations for a great team effort. Go4 Set team visit AMEC A group of S2 pupils are taking part in in the Go4set Project which focuses on alternative electricity sources. The pupils have to create an "Eco-Hotel" that has a below average carbon footprint. To do this the hotel has to be powered by renewable energy. To help with their research into a project such as this, the pupils recently visited AMEC, along with Mr MacBeath, to see how a company such as this tries to reduce their carbon footprint. The group enjoyed themselves on this visit and AMEC have gave them a lot of good ideas and valuable insight into what a global company such as this can, and are doing, to reduce their carbon footprint. AMEC provides radio safety link for Hazlehead pupils Thanks to Nikki Lebedis' involvement with last year's Silver Duke of Edinburgh's Award expedition, AMEC kindly donated money which has been used to purchase two radios for use during mountain activities where communication between staff supervising groups can become difficult. A very generous deal given to us by Enterprise Marine, enabled us to acquire ICOM sets which will benefit groups walking and expeditioning in wild country. AMEC Director wins top award for Hazlehead Link AMEC's partnership with Hazlehead was recognised recently at the Institute of Directors (Scotland) Directors of the Year Awards 2007 which took place in Glasgow in March 2008. AMEC Chief Operating Officer, Neil Bruce, was honoured with the Institute's 'Determined to Succeed Director Award for Developing Young People'. The award was as a result of the work AMEC has undertaken with Hazlehead Academy. Neil Bruce said "Whilst the award was presented to me, it was made possible as a direct result of all the hard work undertaken by staff at AMEC and Hazlehead Academy and I would personally like to extend my sincere thanks to all those involved for their dedication, commitment and enthusiasm in making the partnership an outstanding success." Hazlehead and AMEC wow Scotland's First Minister with 'Amec Presents Hazlehead Acabaret!' The 2007 Education Industry Dinner took place on Friday June 1st at the Marcliffe hotel. Attending this prestigious event, organised by Hazlehead pupils with assistance from staff from the school and AMEC, was Scotland's new First Minister Alex Salmond. The meticulous planning and months of preparation by the pupils and staff from Hazlehead and AMEC provided an evening of unparalleled glamour and entertainment. The event, which helped raise funds for the school, was attended by over 180 guests from industry and education. They were treated to entertainment between dinner with a 1920s. 1930s and 1940s theme. Pictured below is Alex Salmond being introduced to some of the performers by Lavinia Carr of AMEC. Pupils and staff from Channel 5, the schools own Drama company, worked for many months putting together a stunning series of sets which received terrific applause from the audience. Guests spoke of the quality of the performances and the enthusiasm with which they were delivered. Over 30 pupils and staff were involved in putting together the evening. Amec engineers see Hazlehead students 'Build-It' Another new Interhouse competition has taken place with the help of engineers from Amec. This is the Build-it Challenge which saw teams given a construction task. They had to build a tower from spaghetti and tape to support a tennis ball as high as possible. Engineers from Amec, Hazlehead's partner company, were on hand to pass judgement and award Interhouse points. Babak Alnasser and Douglas Weber-Steinhaus were both impressed by the students innovative ideas and enthusiasm. Marischal House came top with a rather elegant design. above - Douglas and Babak are photographed with the winning team and their structure. Hazlehead students' success with AMEC Following a rather gruelling interview and presentation, six Hazlehead students have been successful in gaining a place on the coveted AMEC placement scheme. The six students will work with AMEC staff during their placement and will be involved in the multi-million pound BritSats project. The placement scheme will run for the remainder of the academic year and give the participants a real insight into the many different disciplines involved in bringing such a large project to completion. Hazlehead and AMEC host Education-Industry Dinner This year's Education Industry Dinner, which took place on the 29th of September at the Marcliffe hotel, proved to be a slightly different event for the 170 guests. The meticulous planning and months of preparation by the pupils and staff from Hazlehead and AMEC provided an evening of unparallelled glamour and entertainment. The guest speaker for the event was Deputy First Minister Nicol Stephen and the MC for the evening was Aberdeen magician, Bill Duncan. Guests were greeted at the door of the Marcliffe by the school's pipe band, small though it may be, it provided a hint of what was to come. As guests were greeted with reception drinks they had the opportunity to listen to a saxaphone quartet of pupils who provided a selection of pieces with a very Scottish feel to them. Sitting down to the sound of the pipe band, guests enjoyed a superb meal. Entertainment during the meal was provided by pupils from Hazlehead's Drama Department. Two extracts from 'The Cheviot, The Stag and the Black, Black Oil' and a stunning dance piece brought the guests to their feet in a standing ovation. The evening concluded with dancing to World Champion Ceilidh band, Galik Bred.
		Video from the evening can be seen by clicking on the picture to the right.
		The evening was put together by Hazlehead pupils working with staff from the school and Lavinia Carr from AMEC. Comments from guests ranged from 'wonderful' to 'fantastic' and 'one of the most memorable evenings of my life'. Fund raising during the event has hopefully raised over £10000 for school projects - principally a new sound system for the Assembly Theatre. Pictured below are the pupils from Hazlehead who helped organise the evening - captured during one of their more 'posey' moments! Missing from the photograph is Kimberley Robinson, a pupil from last year's S6, who was the senior pupil in charge of the group but unfortunately had university lectures during the day of the dinner.
		Hazlehead and AMEC Partnership wins ACE Award The partnership between Hazlehead Academy and AMEC was officially recognised for its quality when it received the Award for Business Links at the Aberdeen City Education Awards for 2006. Against some stiff opposition, the partnership came out top in recognition of the variety of projects which the partnership has undertaken and the quality of these. AMEC has been involved in providing a high quality work placement scheme for pupils from the Academy and even provided a weeks work experience for a Norwegian pupil taking part in an exchange with Hazlehead. AMEC provided a major input into the Academy's recent Senior Student Conference and a group of pupils has been working with staff to organise this year's Annual Education-Business dinner. Pictured below is Lavinia Carr representing AMEC and Campbell Robertson of Hazlehead Academy with the award.
		Rosemary Anthony talks to Hazlehead Pupils Rosemary gave a talk to Hazlehead pupils on the career prospects within the field of engineering in the oil industry. A formal talk was followed up by informal chats over sandwiches. It was pleasing to se that girls had been attracted to Rosemary's talk as well as boys, demonstrating that there are opportunities for both boys and girls in the oil industry.
		Pupils visit the Buzzard Platform Two S6 pupils paid a visit to the Buzzard platform under construction at Hartlepool. Emma Douglas and Peter Sutherland are currently taking part in a placement scheme at AMEC and went to visit the platform as part of the scheme. They were accompanied by engineer, Rosemary Anthony. (Rosemary will visiting Hazlehead Academy to speak to pupils about careers in engineering in the oil industry and the many different types of engineer employed by AMEC and other companies involved in oil exploration and production.) Emma and Peter were provided with protective clothing before being shown around the construction shed. They were then given a tour around the facility including workshop areas, the operating machinery and the living space. All the areas are designed to be thoroughly modern and Emma and Peter were extremely impressed with the standard of the module. Emma said of the trip "Seeing Buzzard really brought the meaning of my involvement with AMEC to life. The trip showed me exactly how a rig really looks in life and how much engineering is involved. Overall, I really enjoyed the trip and would love to see Buzzard being moved!" Peter was equally enthusiastic, "The Hartlepool site visit proved to be a very valuable experience. It provided a hands on experience that makes the project all the more impressive and creates a greater understanding and appreciation of the industry and all that is involved in a project like Buzzard." This is the first time that AMEC has operated a work experience placement of this type and everyone was in agreement that the success of the trip will mean that in future AMEC will take on further students as part of the placement.
		A testing time at AMEC! A group of six S6 pupils have been visiting AMEC as part of a development in the Hazlehead-AMEC link. The pupils are finding out more about the company in order to further their studies towards careers in engineering and business management. The pupils underwent a real life selection process today when they were put through a company selection programme to determine which of the six will take part in the latter stages of the project. This is the first project of its kind which has been developed from the AMEC Hazlehead link and it is hoped that it will greatly enhance the knowledge of the pupils and their knowledge of the oil industry. The aim is to provide a high quality experience which would not otherwise be available to them. Pictured below are the pupils along with engineers Michael Wilton and Rosemary Anthony who are part of the link project steering group. Here are some comments by the students on their experiences at AMEC. Peter – “The link with AMEC provides a positive and relative experience in industry that is out with the usual curriculum.” Graeme – “The AMEC program is interesting and gives us all a good insight into the industry we hope to join.” Emma – “I think the partnership is a great opportunity for anyone, no matter what their interests are. being accepted into this scheme is a fantastic opportunity which I am very excited about.” Scott – “It is great meeting people who are so enthusiastic and passionate about their jobs - they are really keen to get pupils involved.”
		AMEC and Hazlehead Join forces at the Enterprise Conference AMEC and Hazlehead Academy put on a joint stand at the recent AECC Enterprise Conference. Hazlehead pupils and staff and staff from AMEC were on hand to explain to those attending the conference the plans that were in place to develop the partnership between two organisations.
		AMEC-Hazlehead Academy Partnership Hazlehead Academy and AMEC have created a formal partnership to undertake a range of projects together for the benefit of both parties. In August, a formal signing took place at AMEC's Aberdeen headquarters. The agreement states: This agreement is prepared to provide form and focus to the arrangements between AMEC and Hazlehead Academy for the provision of support from AMEC to the school. The parties to this agreement have agreed to come together to establish a mutually beneficial partnership. The intent of this partnership is to assist the school in improving pupil achievement levels and providing them with experiential learning of the world of work. AMEC recognises the need for organisations to become involved in the development of enterprise in education and therefore commits to the provision of support to the school in the form of professional and technical personnel resource. The company and the school have identified the following projects which will form the main elements of the support provided by the company in the initial stages of this partnership: · Support for the production of the school newspaper · Provision of S4 work placements during January 2006 · Development of focussed work placements with appropriate selection and feedback processes in areas of accounting, maths and physics in business, instrumentation engineering and business management The parties to this agreement intend that it should be a long-term and sustainable arrangement and it is intended that these programmes will be maintained and developed over time. Hazlehead Academy, on its part, recognising the importance of this business partnership, commits to welcoming the support provided by AMEC and to facilitate the delivery of that support by providing time, resource and appropriate opportunities for the company to fulfil its obligations under this agreement. A small steering group will be established comprising representatives from the company, the school management team and pupils to ensure continuing focus on the main objectives of the partnership, the appropriate utilisation of resources and to ensure appropriate and effective communication regarding the partnership. AMEC and Hazlehead Academy agree to formally adopt this basis of understanding. Both partners enter this agreement on a professional basis, in an open and trusting manner, agreeing to abide by the principles underpinning the agreement and to maintain effective communication links at all times.