After a very unusual term, we have finally made it to the last day of term. I would like to thank you all as parents/carers for all your support of your young people in their school learning throughout this pandemic and also of our school. It truly has been a team effort and it is so wonderful that we have a caring community who works so closely together to bring about the best outcomes we can for all of our young people. I feel very privileged to be the Head Teacher at Knox Academy and have the opportunity to work with such an amazing staff, pupils, parents/carers and wider community , who have shown incredible kindness and empathy throughout this pandemic. Thank you!
Head Pupil
On Monday afternoon at 4pm, we held a virtual Head Pupil Question Time on Google Meet for our Head Pupil Candidates to convince pupils and staff to vote for them! Mr Miller chaired the live question and answer event so that voters had a chance to see the candidates in action and find out a little more about their policies and personality. This also followed on from all candidates producing manifestos, which were of an extremely high quality. Voting took place on Tuesday and as a result of this Rachel Broadley and Julia Dale were voted in as our Head Pupils and Thomas Guy, Hugo Elder and Duncan Riley as our Depute Head Pupils. Congratulations to them.
I would like to thank all of our young people who ran as candidates for these positions, in what was a closely run race. For those young people not appointed as one of the Senior Pupil Leadership Team, which I know will be disappointing to them, I would want to re-assure them that they are highly valued members of the Knox Academy pupil team and that we would very much like to work with them to take some of their suggestions in their manifestos forward and to use their leadership skills in supporting our school community.
SQA Results/ Re-coursing/Appeals
The SQA results are due out on 4 August. In the aftermath of the results being issued, we would like to process any requests for changes to courses as timeously as possible. In order to assist this process and in an attempt to make it as fair as possible, pupils will be asked to submit any requests for changes, via a Google Form, by Friday 7 August. This will allow staff to then begin processing them for the 10 August. If for any reason you are unable to complete the form, please email the relevant Pupil Support Leader (Guidance Teacher) or phone the school from 10 August.
Exact details of the process and a link to the Form will be emailed to pupils in the ‘new’ S5 and S6 the week before the 4 August. Please bear in mind that a request for a change of course/ level is not a guarantee that it is possible and until the change has been confirmed, pupils should continue to follow the timetabled classes they will have been allocated.
If pupils or parents/ carers have any questions about re-coursing, they should contact their pupil’s Pupil Support Leader (Guidance) in the first instance.
Appeals – any young person wishing to appeal their result(s) should contact our SQA Coordinator, Mr Luke, who will support them with this process. Mr Luke can be emailed on pluke@knox.elcschool.org.uk .
Good luck to everyone receiving their results on 4 August.
GOOGLE CLASSROOM GUARDIAN SUMMARY
Thanks to those parent/carers who have responded to the Guardian Summary consent form. More information about this can be found on the school website and if you have not already done so you can access the form here. Please note that you need to do this with your child as they need to use their Edubuzz login to access the form and you also need to do this for each child in your household separately.
Guardian Summaries allow parent(s)/carer(s) to receive regular updates about the work posted on their child’s Google Classrooms. You are also able to control the frequency of these updates or decide to opt-out of receiving them at a later date (by Calum Blair, CL Numeracy and Computing).
Skills Development Scotland
My name is Chris Trotter and I provide career support from Skills Development Scotland to pupils at Knox Academy. I hope you and your families are keeping safe and well during this pandemic. During this time, like pupils, Career Advisers are unable to attend school, but we continue working from home, for us this is likely to be until at least October. With this in mind Skills Development Scotland still want to support pupils to develop their Career Management Skills to help them make career decisions that are right for them, as they move through school and eventually leave. I may be contacting your young person in the senior part of the school between now and October (including the summer holiday) to discuss their plans for the year ahead although you or your young person can also contact us at a time that suits you by calling our local Musselburgh office on 0131 665 3120. Thank you for your time and I look forward to working with your young person in the year ahead, (Chris Trotter. Careers Adviser)
Free School Meals/Clothing Grants
We are aware that some parents/carers circumstances may have changed as a result of Covid-19 and this may mean you are now eligible for Free School Meals and/or a Clothing Grant. If you think this may apply to you, please visit the Free School Meals and Clothing Grants area of the East Lothian Council website for further information and the relevant forms. If you need help completing these forms there is support available on the website or alternatively please contact your young person’s Pupil Support Leader (Guidance teacher) who should also be able to help you via a telephone call/email.
Awards Evening
This will now take place on Wednesday 16 September. We will await Scottish Government advice nearer the time to see whether this will be a virtual event, a pupils’ only event or whether we can have parents/carers attend too. More information will follow in August.
School Handbook
Our updated school handbook is now available to read. Full of detailed information for parents and carers and well worth reading in readiness for the start of the new term in August.
Eco-Schools Online Learning
If you're looking for ways to fill your time over the summer break, Keep Scotland Beautiful is offering several online learning courses. These courses and challenges are free, they cover a range of topics (including cloud formations and climate change), and they are suitable for various ages. Parents and students can work on them together or students can simply take on the challenge themselves! For more information and to sign up, visit the KSB website. (by Ms. Laudi)
All our staff at Knox Academy are so excited to be welcoming our young people back to the school in August and to see them all face to face again. I hope they are equally excited to be coming back to school as well. Until then, stay safe and well and enjoy the summer break
Sue Cook
