Happy New Year and welcome back to Term 2! After a fantastic end to last term with our Winter Balls, Festive Fayre and Christmas Concert, this term opens with our young people getting their digital devices next week. This should support both their learning and in and out of school and I am sure, given it is their own individual device, they will all look after it exceptionally well!
Staffing
A warm welcome to Mark O’Neill who joined us as Pupil Support Leader (Inclusion).
Patrick McLaren will start with us on Monday as our new Pupil Support Worker.
Interviews will take place on 15 January for our temporary teacher of English.
Meadowpark is interviewing for 2 ASN auxiliaries today.
An advert will go live today for a temporary Support for Learning teacher – this will close two weeks on Sunday.
An advert for a Senior Business Support Assistant (Guidance) 30 hours per week, 39 weeks per year, permanent.
Digital Devices
All parents/carers should have received the letter about the Chromebooks and the Learner Promise.
We held a series of assemblies, for all year groups, on these digital devices earlier this week (Tuesday/Wednesday) and spoke to pupils about the Learner Promise they must complete prior to receiving this (this is about using them responsibly). We also introduced them to the various apps/programmes they can access to support their learning at school and home.
All learners will be expected to bring their Chromebooks to school, everyday, charged and ready for use as they will be used in many classrooms to support learning and research. They will be used alongside other learning and teaching strategies and not as a standalone resource.
Rights Respecting Schools (RRSA)
Our Article of focus this week is Article 18 - Responsibility of parents
Parents are the main people responsible for bringing up a child. When the child does not have any parents, another adult will have this responsibility and they are called a guardian or carer. Parents and guardians/carers should always consider what is best for that child. Governments should help them. Where a child has both parents, both of them should be responsible for bringing up that child.
S3 Teen Booster Vaccinations
All young people in S3 are offered the Teen Booster MenACWY and DTP vaccines on 26th and 27th January at Meadowpark and Knox Academy, which protect against meningitis, diphtheria, tetanus and polio. These vaccines are given as an injection in the upper arm and provide longer-term protection against these serious and, in some cases, life-threatening diseases.
Young people who are eligible should have brought a consent pack home from school before the Christmas break.
If your child was absent from school last term the form may have been posted home. Pupils can collect their consent pack at registration. If they did not receive a consent pack and were present at school, please ask them to speak to Alison Swallow, School Welfare Assistant.
NHS Scotland encourages parents/carers and young people to chat about the vaccines using the enclosed information leaflet, before signing and returning their consent form to Alison in the envelope provided ASAP.
Please visit the nhs website for further information, including videos about why vaccines are offered to young people and what to expect at the vaccination session.
Pupils’ Successes
Achievement Ties –
3 endeavour certificates, 2 half colour ties and one full colour tie were awarded for a variety of achievements from sport to commitment to helping and supporting others in the community.
Events/Trips:
S2 Battle of the Bands 2026
Competition is heating up in the Music Department this month! On Thursday 22nd January the nine S2 classes at Knox Academy will perform on the stage with lights and mics for our annual Battle of the Bands competition. We have embedded this experience into our curriculum as a fantastic way to develop the transferable skills of confidence, communication and creativity. Each class chose a song in October and will have had at least 6 music lessons to practise.
3 competitive heats will take place in house groups: Garleton (2.1, 2.2, 2.3), Lammerlaw (2.4, 2.5, 2.6) and Traprain (2.7, 2.8, 2.9).
These heats will be judged by a panel made up of the 2025 Battle of the Band winners (2.5 Everybody Wants To Rule The World)
The Final will take place period 7 in front of the entire S2. The judging panel will include Senior Leadership, teachers and a VIP Community Guest
Dates for your diary:
27 January – Parent Council – Library – 6.30-8pm (all parents/carers welcome)
29 January – S3 Parent’s Evening – 4.30 -6.30pm
10 February – S1 Parents’ Evening – 4.30 -6.30pm
16-23 February – holiday for pupils (staff 16-20 February with 23 February in-service day)
Our school calendar is updated regularly and should be used to access all information throughout the year and allows you to plan ahead too.
Sue Cook
