Engagement in remote learning continues to be good and our staff team is working hard to ensure a mixture of approaches to this through prepared tasks, live lessons, pre-recorded lessons and Google Meets. Thank you to all parents/carers who completed our remote learning survey which was overwhelmingly positive about our approaches to this. You should have received an email from me yesterday responding to some of the points raised by you. The results have also been shared with staff and we will do our best to tweak our practice to ensure the best remote experiences we can – such as ensuring Google Meets are planned in advance and appear in pupils’ calendars. Our House Teams will also be contacting pupils and parents/carers who raised individual concerns so we can support you.
SQA Update
On 27 January the SQA announced that submission dates for provisional grades will now be by 18 June (as opposed to 28 May). This allows us to continue to focus on learning and teaching with assessment of learners’ attainment at a later stage in the year. I have sent an email to all S4-S6 pupils to give them this information and I would hope this would allay some of their anxiety about working towards the original May deadline.
Parent Council
It was good to meet with the Parent Council last night and review our approaches to remote learning, virtual parents’ evenings and learner pathways (S2-S5). We also talked about the SQA news, remote learning and the results from our recent survey. We also discussed virtual parents’ evenings, monitoring, tracking and reporting and mental health and wellbeing. We also talked about how we are reviewing ideas for a possible return to face:face teaching for some pupils after the February break - although we will know more about this following the First Minister’s statement this coming Tuesday. Once I know more I will update pupils and parents/carers ASAP.
If you would like to attend future meetings please email Lesley Pirie (Chair) at parentcouncil@ka-net.org.uk so you can be invited to the next virtual meeting, which is in March.
S2 Virtual Parents’ Evening
Please can I ask parents/carers to check in with your young people to encourage them to make appointments with as many teachers as possible for next week’s parents’ evening? This can be done through their Google Classrooms.
In School Learning – all pupils
The process for applying for a place for pupils of Parents/carers who are keyworkers has been paused at present pending the announcement by the First Minister this Tuesday regarding a possible return to school post February break. All those who currently have places should attend as normal for the week of 1 – 5 February.
COVID-19
Positive Cases: Please continue to report any positive cases to covidinschools@eastlothian.gov.uk .
Please note: If your young person is attending the in-school provision during this period, please do not send them to school if they, or anyone in your household has tested positive or has Covid-19 symptoms. Please self-isolate and book a test.
Support for pupils
If you or your young person requires any s they require any advice or support please contact their House Team in the first instance:
Ms Adam/Mrs Clubb (Garleton) garleton@knox.elcschool.org.uk;
Mr Meekison/Mr Russell (Lammerlaw) lammerlaw@knox.elcschool.org.uk;
Mrs Doig/Mr Illingworth (Traprain) traprain@knox.elcschool.org.uk
Contacting School
A reminder that you can contact us at any stage of school closure by emailing admin@knox.elcschool.org.uk.
Dates for your diary:
S2 Virtual Parents’ Evening 3 February 2021 (5-7pm)
February mid-term holiday 8 – 15 February (inclusive) for pupils
Please also remember to follow us at: www.ka-net.org.uk @knoxacademy @knoxacademyHT for the latest information and updates
Sue Cook