October 2019

HEAD TEACHER'S UPDATE: 11 OCTOBER 2019
Published: 11 October 2019

Staffing Update

We have made an appointment in Music and once pre-employment checks have taken place I will be able to give more details as to who the successful candidate is.  

We are in the middle of appointing a job-share Welfare Assistant who will work with Mrs Ball.

Meadowpark – advertising for two Learning Assistants.

Clair Fruish will start as our Acting Curriculum Leader of Communications (English, Literacy and Languages) on Monday 28 October.  We would like to wish Ms Machen all the best on her maternity leave and thank her for all her work in leading the Communications Faculty. 

Pupil News

U18 Hockey

Charlie Gates was selected from the East District to try out for the Academy Series. This is the preliminary step towards selection for Scotland U18s.  We wish him well and will find out by the end of November if he has been selected.

Parents/Carers Information

New S1 Parents’ Information Evening

Thank you to all parents/carers who came along to our information session. It was a great turn out and all the P7s seemed to enjoy trying out the various activities at each faculty.  We look forward to developing this relationship throughout the year and welcoming you back for your Induction Days in June.

Achievement Ties – Nominations

Nomination closed today, Friday 11 October. The Achievement Tie Committee will meet on Tuesday 29 October to review these and pupils/nominators will be made aware of the outcome shortly after this. Thank you to the parents/carers who came forward to be part of this committee.

S1 Parental Experience (new S1 parents/carers only) – Monday 28 October

We are looking forward to nine parents/carers joining us for the day to experience a day in the life of an S1 pupil at Knox Academy.   Following this I will feedback to the wider community on their experiences of this day and look at taking this forward in the years to come.

Uniform

Thank you to parents/carers for supporting our school uniform policy and our sense of shared values and community. Please can I ask for support in continuing this high standard of uniform into the colder days.  A reminder that hooded tops are no longer an acceptable part of uniform and should not be worn at school (please see the uniform letter on the website for more details about the reasons for this). Pre-loved uniform will be available on Parents' Evenings and if anyone would like to contribute items to this please pass these to the office for the attention of Ms Laudi and the Eco Team. Thanks.

Mid-term

Reminder that pupils will not return to school until Wednesday 23 October as Monday 21 and Tuesday 22 are staff in-service days.

Dates for your diary (please also refer to the CALENDAR on the school website for all events across the year):

  • 14-22 October – Mid-term break for pupils
  • 22 October – LGBTQ+ Training -11-12 at Knox Academy – parents/carers welcome
  • 29 October – Parent Council Meeting 6.15-8pm (Library)
  • 30 October – S1-S6 Halloween Dance (7-10pm)
  • 2-9 November – Hong Kong students visit from Tsung Tsin Christian Academy
  • 6 November – S3 Parents’ Evening

Have a lovely October break and we look forward to welcoming all our young people back on Wednesday 23 October.

Sue Cook

 

HEAD TEACHER'S UPDATE: 4 OCTOBER 2019
Published: 04 October 2019

Staffing Update

We appointed Clair Fruish as our Acting Curriculum Leader of Communications (English, Literacy and Languages). Ms Fruish currently teaches English at North Berwick High School and will start with us on 28 October.  We are interviewing for the Music post next week. Both of these posts are temporary and are to cover the maternity leave of the current post holders.

We will also be interviewing for our Welfare Assistant role (job share) next week

Meadowpark – advertising for two Learning Assistants

Pupil News

Duke of Edinburgh

Knox Tyne group Julia Dale, Harvey Taylor, Kate Wellington, Hollie Austin, Elise Hayman and Duncan Riley did a sterling job completing their silver D of E expedition last weekend, over three days, despite the horrific weather on Friday.  Well done to all!

Drama Presentation by S4/5/6 (N3/4/5 and Higher)

Congratulations to our learners for their commitment to the drama process, creating and presenting pieces to an invited audience on Wednesday evening. National 3/4/5 and Higher learners will be performing scripted pieces to invited audiences again in December as prelims for their SQA practical exam assessments. (by Ms Whitfield)

East Lothian School's Swimming Gala:

Our East Lothian School's calendar is getting underway with our first event on Thursday 7 November at the Mercat Gait Centre, Prestonpans during the school day. We are looking for any competitive swimmers, or strong recreational swimmers to swim on behalf of Knox Academy. The distances are all 50 metres, except for the 100 metre individual medley. A meeting was held earlier on in the week, but if you are still interested we would encourage you to make your intention known to Miss Borwick in PE as soon as possible.

General School Information/Activities/Events

Silver LGBT Charter

As you may be aware, we are aiming to achieve our Silver Charter Award by the end of this session.

Some of our young people are currently organising a ‘Wear it Purple Day’ and also a series of House Assemblies about ‘Inclusion’.  As part of our approaches to ensure that we embrace inclusion at Knox Academy, we have LGBTQ+ training on Tuesday 22 October from 11am -12 midday. We would like to invite parents/carers to be part of this training to ensure a partnership approach towards inclusion at the school. If you would like to attend this hour’s training, please can you email emaguire@knox.elcschool.org.uk with your name by Thursday 10 October?  It would be great to have as many parents/carers along as possible to this event. Thank you.

Achievement Ties – Nominations

Nomination forms will be available online/from the school office and register teachers from Monday 30 September and must be submitted by Friday 11 October, at latest, to Mr Moncrieff.  Staff, pupils/carers and coaches/leaders/community partners can nominate pupils. Please use this document for more details about the categories and criteria to apply for one.  If you require any further details please email jmoncrieff@knox.elcschool.org.uk .

Final chance - S1 Parental Experience (new S1 parents/carers only) – Monday 28 October

So far we have only six parents/carers interested in taking part and we will need a minimum of ten people for it to be viable so if you are considering it, please do come along. If you would like to participate in this opportunity, please email emaguire@knox.elcschool.org.uk by Tuesday 8 October at latest. Please give us the following information in your email: Your Name/Your Young Person’s Name and their House and Class.  We will be in touch with parents/carers after this date to let you know if you are part of the group of 20 and the programme for the day.  Parents/carers who have taken part in these days have always seen it as a very valuable and fun experience.

Dates for your diary (please also refer to the CALENDAR on the school website for all events across the year):

  • 9 October – P7 Information Evening
  • 14-22 October – Mid-term break for pupils
  • 22 October – LGBTQ+ Training -11-12 at Knox Academy – parents/carers welcome
  • 29 October – Parent Council Meeting 6.15-8pm (Library)
  • 30 October – S1-S6 Halloween Dance (7-10pm)
  • 6 November – S3 Parents’ Evening

Have a lovely weekend

Sue Cook