It is hard to believe it is February already – where does the time go?  Most of our young people in S4/5/6 have been receiving their prelim results back this week and a few more results will be issued next week as staff finishing marking these. I hope your child has performed as well as they had hoped and if not, please encourage them that there is still time to build on their knowledge and performance between now and their final exams.  Studying often is the key and using the techniques that best suit is very much an individual preference.  Please refer your child to the SLT PowerPoints on study skills on the Knox Academy website and if they do need help with a revision plan, please ask them to see their Guidance Teacher or any of the Senior Leadership Team as we are all happy to provide individual support with this.

Staffing

Nick Tait, the new Faculty Head of Technologies, will start with us on Monday.

Rebecca Graham, PE, started with us this week and seems to have settled in really well and getting to know all her new classes.

Gavin Boyle, Biology, will start on Monday 18^th February.

Mrs Caroline Falconer (DHT) is embarking on a 23 month secondment as a Quality Improvement Officer with the South East Improvement.  Interviews took place today for her post and I am pleased to say we have a preferred candidate for this.  I will let you all know who this is in the very near future.

Interviews will take place for English over the next week or two. Unfortunately we did not get any applications for our HE post so we will be re-advertising this.  The post for a part-time Guidance teacher closes this Sunday.

In order to plan for next session I will be advertising for full time positions in Modern Studies and PE.  These will go out internally first (within East Lothian Council) and then externally thereafter if we do not appoint.

Finally, a huge thank you to Nicola Stobie who has been the Guidance teacher for Traprain for the last year and now returns to her substantive post in Geography. I think I speak for all staff, pupils and parents/carers in saying she has done a sterling job.  We will welcome Wendy Doig back next week to this role.

Green Flag

Way back in November Ms Laudi submitted an application to Eco-Schools for a Green Flag based on the work she had been leading with the Eco-Committee over the last year and a half.   Word finally arrived this week to say that Knox Academy has been awarded its first ever Green Flag.  This recognition is testament to all the hard work Miss Laudi and the Eco-Committee have done at the school and beyond.  Their ability to consistently and persistently convey to us all the importance of changing our approaches and to be eco-friendlier is vital in protecting our planet and future generations.  Well done to all involved – a very proud moment for the school.

Eco-Committee and Green Team

On Wednesday this week, the Eco-Committee and Green Team invited children from Pear Tree Nursery to make a sea creature display. Our goal was to create an underwater scene made exclusively from re-used/saved materials in order to raise awareness about the problem of plastic and rubbish in our oceans. We wanted make use of donated and leftover materials to prevent them from going to landfill. For example, we collected shimmery Christmas wrapping paper from staff because this is not recyclable. We also didn't buy new materials in order to avoid generating unnecessary waste. We made cut outs of sea creatures using leftover cardboard and we decorated them with materials like candy wrappers, leftover tissue paper, coloured jotter covers, and leftover Christmas wrapping paper.

The children from Pear Tree had a fun time gluing materials on to their sea creatures and Knox students did an amazing job of ensuring that the event ran smoothly. Our Knox students were excellent role models as they supported the children to cut out materials and glue them on to their sea creatures. It was fantastic to see the two groups get together to do something positive! Pear Tree staff have taken the artwork to create an eco-display in the nursery and we can't wait to see the result! Thanks to all the staff who donated materials to help with our project and thanks to the Eco-Committee and Green Team for representing Knox with great respect and enthusiasm. Pictures of this event are already up on the Eco-Committee Twitter account (@knox_eco_comm). Check them out! (by Miss Laudi)

Cross Country

On Wednesday 30th January, Miss Borwick took a group of 18 pupils to Foxlake to participate in the annual East Lothian Cross Country Championships. For those that previously attended this event, this was a change of venue and a new experience for all. S1-S3 categories completed a 3km loop, with seniors completing a slightly longer 3.7km. Knox took a mix of experienced and non-experienced runners who all contributed to the team's success massively. All produced outstanding personal results, but notably the senior boys, made up of Daniel Hall (S4), Harvey Thomson (S5) and Campbell Walker (S5) finished 3rd in their category. Rudie Shearer (S1), also completed a successful run, finishing 3rd in the S1 category. Thank you to all the runners who gave their all to represent the school, and thank you to the parents/carers who came along to support and cheer our runners on. (by Miss Borwick)

Swimming

Owen Williamson (S2) swam at Brodies Scottish Schools Championships on Saturday 26th January at Tollcross in Glasgow, where the 2014 Commonwealth Games were held. Owen swam in the 100 and 200 metre backstroke event. This was the first long course meet of the year, where swimmers perform in 50m pools. Owen swam massive PBs in both events, where he took over 5 seconds off his 100m time - resulting in a 5th place finish, and 9 seconds off his 200m time - resulting in a 6th place finish.  Many of the swimmers from Knox will be completing final competition preparation to try to advance their times to ensure they meet consideration and qualification times for the Scottish National Age Groups in April.

Assemblies

This week I ran a series of assemblies based on one of our school values ‘Respect’, which has been our focus this session.  I touched on the Scottish humour/banter and then spoke about how we relate to one another in the Knox Academy Community and ‘how it takes a village to raise a child’ - the idea that we all need to buy into this value and bring it to life in the work of the school (classrooms, corridors and our community).  I then showed our pupils the new poster on our school value of RESPECT, which was designed by them and the Parent Council.  This is now displayed widely around the school in classrooms and corridors. Thank you to all who contributed to this and raising the profile of this value and its importance in the ethos and culture of our school and our wider community.

Uniform

As winter hits the wearing of uniform seems to have declined.  If young people are wearing cosy tops/jackets to keep warm (which is great), please can parents/carers support them wearing the official school uniform underneath these as these tops/jackets must be removed in class.  The school uniform comprises of – shirt, tie, black trousers/skirt, black jumper/Knox Academy or plain black hooded top, black shoes/boots and, of course, blazers for those in S5/6.  The uniform gives the school a proud identity and I am keen to keep this to the fore as part of our school ethos.

We are currently reviewing our school uniform and the Parent Council and Pupil Voice are being consulted on this.  I will be writing home to parents/carers soon to inform them of any changes for next session to give everyone time to plan ahead. 

S3 Parents’ Evening

Thanks to staff who gave positive advice in regard to next steps for learning.  Parents /carers I spoke to were all very positive about the information they had been given about their child’s progress and next steps in their child’s subjects. Thank you to all who came along.

Request for Parents/Carers to support School Improvement

We are keen to work with parents/carers and pupils to help improve Knox Academy.  To this end I would like to invite parents/carers to join in two working groups to help direct change and improvement here.  The first improvement group, which will be on Recognising Wider Achievement, will be held on Thursday 7^th of March from 9-10.30am.  I am keen to have at least 6 parents/carers on this group so we can get your opinions, along with those of staff and pupils. The other group, which will meet soon (date TBA), is on Monitoring, Tracking and Reporting. 

School Improvement

It is important also to have pupil voice when looking at school improvement, so our Pupil Leadership Team is holding year group focus groups this Monday (pupils have been randomly selected). These focus groups will look at aspects such as learning and teaching and creating a positive ethos in the school.  Pupils will get the opportunity to join the Achievement and Reporting, Monitoring and Tracking groups too. 

Wider Achievement

Thank you to a number of parents/carers who regularly contact me about their child’s achievements out of school.  It is great to hear about these and share them with the wider Knox Academy community.  If your child has done something special out of school, please do let me know.  Thanks.

Maths Department

Mr Blair, Mrs Gourley and Mr Wren attended the fifth Mixed Attainment Maths Conference in London last weekend. This is a conference for primary and secondary school teachers of mathematics who are keen to develop ways of working with mixed-attainment groups. 

Workshops were led by colleagues in schools and universities who are currently teaching, or who have taught mathematics in mixed-attainment classrooms. Workshops included ‘Teaching for mastery in a mixed-attainment setting’, ‘Practising in mixed-attainment classes’, ‘Ensuring support and challenge for all students in mixed attainment classes’ and ‘Using manipulatives with mixed attainment classes’. The latter was particularly useful as we are currently teaching topics and using a new resource – Algebra Tiles – as we strive to ‘make maths visible’ and encourage less rote-learned concepts.

We must thank the London Mathematics Society for awarding a grant to the sum of £350 to allow this excellent professional development to happen (by Mr Blair)

Dates for your diary:

February holiday – 11^th – 18^th (Inclusive)

S2 Parents’ Evening – Tuesday 12^th March – 5-7pm

Parent Council and AGM – Tuesday 19^th March – 6.15-8pm (Library)

Easter holidays (staff and pupils the same) - Break up on Friday 5^th April at 12.05pm and all resume at 8.44am on Tuesday 23^rd April.

Have a good weekend

Sue Cook