What a great week it has been weather wise, which was brilliant for our County Sports. I can hardly believe that we are racing towards the end of term but there are still so many exciting events to come such as our Primary Transition (today/Monday/Tuesday) and our Awards Evening next Wednesday evening.
Staffing
The following staff will all start at Knox Academy in August:
Geography – Mrs Sophie Coats (1 day a week, permanent) and Ms Stobie returns to Knox Academy next Friday.
Maths – Ms Chloe McNeill (1 year temporary)
Senior Business Support Assistant – Mrs Josie Campbell
Physics – Jon Foster
P7 Parents’ Information Evening
Great to see so many parents/carers attend this information evening last night prior to the P7s coming up today to Knox Academy for their 3 day visit. Today is all about meeting their new class and some ice breakers. When they return on Monday/Tuesday they will be following their new timetable and meeting their teachers.
SQA
In keeping with last year, the Appeals Service will continue to be free and available for learners to access directly if they are concerned about a National 5, Higher or Advanced Higher grade and feel there may have been a mistake in the marking.
You can appeal directly to the SQA but we would ask that as soon as you return to school on Wednesday 14 August, you speak to the Curriculum Leader of the subject you would like to appeal in and we can discuss this with you. Mr Illingworth is our SQA Coordinator this year so she will also be able to assist you.
The SQA’s Appeals Service will open on Results Day, Tuesday 5 August at 9 am, and the learner direct submission deadlines are: Tuesday 12 August at 11.59 pm for priority appeals and Tuesday 26 August at 11.59pm for all other appeals. Your appeal can only be prioritised if you have a conditional place at university or college, or in training or employment that depends on your grade.
What is the Appeals Service?
If you appeal your grade, a senior appointee will carry out a marking review of your SQA-marked assessments. This is not a re-mark. A marking review checks that: all parts of your SQA-assessments have been marked; the marking is in line with national standards; the marks given for each answer have been totalled correctly; and the correct result has been entered on our system.
Please note that after being reviewed, your result could stay the same, go up or go down.
School Improvement Plan
We have used the East Lothian Education priorities and staff, pupils’ and parents/carers feedback and our own self-evaluation processes (e.g. Faculty Reviews) to devise our School Improvement Plan (SIP) for next session – 2025-26. Please find the overview of our SIP and the full version of Standards and Quality Report (progress across this year) and the full School Improvement Plan can be viewed on our website after the summer holidays.
Quadrant
The quadrant is progressing well and will become a bookable outdoor classroom from August onwards. This will afford lots of opportunities for learning and teaching across the majority of subject areas from Science to English and the Social Sciences. I have attached some pictures of the mushroom seats and planters. There is also a small pond, lots more seats, planters and the Totem Pole still to be placed in the area. It is great to have this come to fruition after years of planning and fantastic that it was designed by our parents/carers and pupils. A huge thank you to the family who funded this in memory of their wife/mum who was a Dux at Knox Academy.
Music
The Maxwell String Quartet is delighted to invite everyone to their next concert in the Bridging: East Lothian series, taking place this Friday 13th June in the Fraser Centre at 3pm. Tickets are free for all school aged young people. This will be a special concert as they’ll be joined by some of Knox Academy's strings players as part of the concert. Tickets can be bought via the Brunton Theatre website. Find out more about the fabulous quartet here.
Pupils’ Successes
County Sports
Wow...you should have been there!! Our 50 strong students that made up the Knox Academy Team were challenging for every top position in the County Athletics Championships this Tuesday 10th June. Fabulous effort from all and a superb team spirit brought us great rewards. We had so many top placed athletes across the Field and Track events.
We surpassed our previous ranking and came 2nd overall out of the 7 County schools. Wonderful!! Congratulations.
Athletics
A huge well done to Morven Kenny (new S4) who won a bronze medal at the Scottish Secondary Schools Pentathalon Championships last weekend, which is amazing as there was also over 50 competitors in her age group.
Concert
Congratulations to Rosanna Lyall (new S4) who performed a beautiful opening support slot for Rachel Sermanni, at a gig in Haddington last weekend. What an experience to share the stage with professional musicians. We are also looking forward to Rosanna performing for us at our awards evening next week.
Music
A huge congratulations to Adam Russel (new S2) who was awarded Distinction for his recent Alto Saxophone Trinity exam. Adam scored an outstanding 95%.
AH French Essay Competition Winner
In the last academic session, Kaye Nimmo, one of our AH French pupils, entered the Jacqueline Munro-Lafon Essay Competition with Ms. Laudi's guidance and support. We are pleased to announce that Kaye is a runner-up in this year's competition! Kaye had to write an essay in French addressing the statement: Climate change and global warming pose a cultural as well as an existential threat to humanity. As a runner-up, Kaye will receive a monetary prize and a certificate. Congratulations Kaye on your achievement!
Netball
Congratulations to Eve Mercer (S3) who won The Under 16's Most Improved Player of the Year at the North Berwick Rocketeers Netball Club.
Home Economics
Congratulations to 14 of our young people (S4, S5, and S6 pupils from our National 3, 4, and 5 Practical Cookery classes who have achieved their Elementary Food Hygiene Certificate from the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland, (REHIS). This means they have developed a knowledge of food safety hazards, how to store food safely, personal hygiene practices and have developed an understanding of the consequences of poor food management systems.
Letham Mains Summer Fayre
A huge thank you to our musicians (choir, jazz band, pianists and piper) who performed at the Letham Mains Fayre last week – so many compliments received about how amazing they all were. Thank you to Liz Woodsend who played and directed the Jazz Band for their 50 min slot too and to Mrs Middlemiss for leading the choir.
Dates for your diary:
!8 June – Evening of Celebration (by invite only- two ceremonies 6-7pm and 8-9pm)
26 June – end of term – school finishes at 3.25pm
13 August – school resumes for all pupils at 8.28am.
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
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