It has been amazing to have all of our young people back at school this week and it is great to have the buzz back around the building. Even under the face coverings, you can see the smiling faces through the lit up eyes and great to meet and greet all pupils first thing in the morning. They are all looking so smart in their school uniforms, prepared for learning and enjoying seeing their friends and staff again – and we are so pleased to have them back too!

Next week we will move to Level 3 restrictions (Covid-19 – Scottish Gvt) but this will not change the mitigations in place at the school.  We will continue to adhere to all the health and safety protocols we currently have in place to keep our young people, staff and families safe.

Staffing

Three new ASN Auxiliary staff at Meadowpark:

Judie Hadden – returning to Meadowpark

Naomi Golightly – New permanent appointment

Edna Lynn – New permanent appointment

One new ASN staff member secured a permanent contract:

Zahara Khan

Three new teaching staff at Meadowpark:

Seonaid Hudson – started after Easter

Warwick Wilson – starts in August

Katherine Balsillie – starts in August

Interviews for our Science Technician on 4^th May 2021

Emma Murray, our Science Technician, leaves us on 3^rd May 2021 to take up the post of Scientist at Charles River – huge congratulations to her - she will be a great loss to Knox Academy.

We are interviewing for our Home Economics position next week.

Parents/Carers Information

SQA Assessments and Additional In-Service Days

The Scottish Government has allocated an additional two days of secondary school closure for the current school session, to provide extra time for teachers to prepare for the Alternative Certification Model for SQA awards. The two days assigned and approved in East Lothian are Tuesday 25 May (immediately following the 24^th May In-service day) and Monday 7 June, when all Secondary schools will be closed to all pupils.

All pupils in S4-S6 should now be fully aware of their assessment dates during the month of May and should have study programmes up and running to support them in their preparation for these. All their teachers will be ensuring they know what these assessments will be based on and also the overall weightings for each. Please click on this link to see the following documents: Alternative Certification Model; Subject Weightings Document; Letter to parents/carers and Frequently Asked Questions.

MySQA: email and text results service

Please encourage your young person to sign up to MySQA – the email and text results service. Pupils who register and activate their account by 5.00 pm on Wednesday 21 July 2021 will receive their results by text and/or email from 8.00 am on Tuesday 10 August 2021. Those registered for MySQA will still receive their paper certificate by post. 

School Improvement Planning

I sent an email to all parents/carers the last week of term asking for your support in helping us identify the aspects we are doing well at Knox Academy and asking for the areas you think we can do better in or need to focus on for session 2021-22. By us all working together we aim to ensure we support all of our young people to achieve their potential. 

Thank you to the parents/carers who have already responded, and I do hope you will all manage to complete our questionnaire that has been sent to you all by email (it takes about 5-10 minutes to complete). If you require a hardcopy of this please email admin@knox.elcschool.org.uk to request this or alternatively phone the school on 01620 823387.

The more responses we have will ensure us that we have a true representation of our school community’s views and what you believe are the important aspects we need to focus on to improve our school and community.  Your views are very much valued.

Pupils and staff are also being asked for their improvement ideas. Once we have feedback from all groups, we will look at these collectively and extract the main themes to focus on to help us on our journey to excellence. I will also report back to you about the findings from all groups and our plans for next session.

Leavers’ Information

The official leaving date will be Friday 4 June for all pupils in S6 and any pupils who wish to leave school in S5 and S4 (and who are 16 prior to 30 September).  The office team has sent out a Google Form to all S4-S6 pupils, via their EduBuzz emails, and this form should be completed by Friday 30 April at very latest. If your young person is leaving school it is vital we support them in to a positive destination (University, College, Employment or Training) so we can know they have a bright future ahead.

LFD Test Kits

Many of our young people from S1-S6 have now volunteered to be part of the testing programme and have been issued with LFD testing kits. If you wish your young person to receive a test kit please complete the e-consent form. Pupils over 16 can consent themselves but parents/carers must consent for those under 16 (before any testing kits can be handed out to this age group).

If a pupil tests positive using the LFD test kit, they and their family should self-isolate and the pupil should book a PCR test through the NHS. Other members of the household do not need to book a test unless they are symptomatic. Please also note that if a pupil receives a negative LFD test result, but has possible Covid symptoms, they should book a PCR test and remain at home until they have a negative PCR test result.

A reminder that these LFD tests are only for use by pupils and cannot be used by anyone else other than those whom they are registered for. Please can you remind all young people to log their results each time they complete a test. Thank you.

Roll out of future LFD test kits - Every week there will be identified times year groups can collect a new kit if they require one. We will ensure that all pupils know when these collection times are so they can do this.  They do not require another consent form for subsequent kits.

Although participation is voluntary it is recommended as it is helps support our safe return to school and keeps our families/community safe too.

COVID-19

Positive Cases: Please report positive cases to the school by phoning us on 01620 823387. Please also report any positive cases to covidinschools@eastlothian.gov.uk or if you do not have access to email, telephone 01875 613921.Thank you.

Please note: Please do not send them if they, or anyone in your household has tested positive or has Covid-19 symptoms – a new continuous cough; fever/high temperature; loss of, or change in, sense of smell or taste (anosmia). Please self-isolate and book a test.

Dates for you diary:

Friday 2 April – Monday 19 April 2021 (inclusive) – Easter Break

Monday 3 May – Bank Holiday

Monday 24 May –Pupils’ holiday (staff in-service)

Tuesday 25 May – In-service day for staff (SQA) – Pupils’ holiday

Monday 7 June - In-service day for staff (SQA) – Pupils’ holiday

Have a lovely weekend and the Haddington Farmers Market is on tomorrow too if you want some amazing local produce.

Sue Cook

Please also remember to follow us at: www.ka-net.org.uk @knoxacademy @knoxacademyHT for the latest information and updates