June 2023

HEAD TEACHER'S UPDATE 23 JUNE 2023
Published: 23 June 2023

It was great to have the school at full capacity again on Monday and Tuesday as our new S1 pupils joined us for the final days of their transition. They all seemed to really enjoy the experience and keen for August to come around to join us full time. They were brilliant on their days here and we have really high hopes about what they will achieve in their six years at the school. Thank you to the P7s, their teachers and parents for making it such a successful transition and we look forward to seeing them all on August 16.

I will be writing home to all parents/carers on the week before we start back in August so you will all have the information you need ahead of schedule for the first day back. For anyone wanting information about the school day, uniform, extra-curricular activities you can access this now in our School Handbook (link available from 28 June 2023).

Staffing

Our full time, permanent English teacher interviews will take place this Monday.

Interviews took place for our Welfare Assistant post took place this week and we have a preferred candidate subject to the usual pre-employment checks.

Parents’ and Pupils’ Information

Awards Ceremony

It is always good to come together at the end of the year to celebrate the achievements of our young people and it was wonderful to present so many awards, to pupils of all year groups, last night. Over the evening we presented nearly 200 awards across a variety of areas; subject awards; community, sporting and musical awards. Thank you also to Haddington Rotary for their awards, which included Young Musician and Young Sportsperson of the Year. The Dux this year was awarded to Leila Maycock and the George Antell and Mavis Brown Antell award was presented to Hannah Pathirana, as the highest academic achiever over S4, S5 and S6. Hannah is going on to work for Project Trust for the next year out in Senegal.

The end of year awards ceremony is only part of our recognition of attainment and achievement across the year and our diligence awards, praise postcards, excelling at a level letters, Achievement Ties and Hot Chocolate Friday’s also highlight successes across the year.

Head Pupils’ Elections

Following interviews and an Open to Question session this week, the voting for the Head Pupils and Pupil Leadership Team takes place this morning. I will update you on Twitter as soon as the result is out – so if you don’t follow us on Twitter, please do (see below). The manifestos and campaign videos were superb so please do take a moment to have a look at them. Good luck to all candidates!

SQA Results

Results day is Tuesday 8 August 2023. Pupils’ certificates will arrive on 8 August and if they signed up for MySQA they will get their results by text or email on 8 August too. It is still not too late to sign up to get them by text – please click on this link here: Sign up to MySQA. Should any young person wish to appeal their results more information can be found here. When the school returns from the summer break, on 16 August, we can also advise and support young people with appeals. In the first instance, they should speak to their subject teacher.

Start of the New Term

I will be writing out to all parents/carers with details about this on 7 August 2023. In the meantime information about the school day, extra-curricular, school uniform and all other information can be found in our School Handbook (link will be active from 28 June 2023).

Annual Data Forms  

Annual Data Forms for new S2 and S3 have been issued this week, and parents/carers are asked to complete and return these by the 18 August 2023.  S4 to S6 will be issued in the new term.

School uniform

The school uniform remains the same for next session and can be purchased from any retailers. S1 is given a school tie as a welcome gift and this will be issued on the first day of the new session. If your young person has lost their tie these can be purchased on SchoolPay and collected from the school office prior to the end of this term.  We believe that wearing a school uniform promotes a sense of community and also equity. In a time where the cost of living is very high, it stops parents/carers feeling that they have to buy the latest fashions for their young people to wear to school and is clothing that is functional (even though perhaps not fashionable to pupils). It also makes their decision of what to wear every morning an easy one. We also have a fabulous uniform bank of new and preloved clothing should any pupils or parents/carers need any assistance with uniform – just ask their Pupil Support Leader to access any of this. Our aim is to make school as affordable as possible for our families.

Clothing Grants and Free School Meals

The thresholds have changed as of April for Free School Meals and School Clothing Grants.  Paper application forms are available from our school office for those parents/carers who are unable to complete online ones and the school office can then assist in emailing these for you freeschoolmeals@eastlothian.gov.uk

Knox Academy Way and Reconnecting

Following consultation with pupils, parents/carers and staff, our new approaches to expectations (The Knox Academy Way) and Smartphone Use (reconnecting PdF sent out two weeks ago via email) will be in place from 16 August. We would be grateful if you could discuss these with your young person (and staff here are also doing this at assemblies next week). Thank you for your support in making Knox Academy a great environment to learn and one that is safe for all to attend.

Pupils’ Achievements

Golf

Ryan Pirie, Rory Leitch and Murray Bowsher are taking part in a golf challenge today for Teenage Cancer Trust. They are calling it ‘The Longest Golf Day’ and they each will play 4 rounds at four different golf course in East Lothian. The rounds started this morning at 4am, at Castlepark Golf Course and they hope to be finished between 9-10pm this evening. If you want to donate to this great cause and find out more about the fundraiser, the link is here.

Football

Liam Scobie, new S4, has been selected to play for the Scottish 09's team in a 4 Nations Tournament at Inverclyde National Sports Centre, over three days, this weekend. We wish him all the very best.

Success Stories

If you have any success stories about your young person please send these in to our admin@knox.elc.school.org so we can share these with everyone in our school and community. Thank you.

Support

Please can parents/carers make an appointment if they wish to speak to a member of Pupil Support or the Senior Leadership Team.  An increasing number of parents/carers have been turning up, without an appointment, wishing to be seen and although we want to see you, we have been unable to do so as we have been teaching or in pre-arranged meetings. By making an appointment with us via the office, or email, we can ensure a time and date. Thank you.

Please do not hesitate to contact our Pupil Support Team by emailing your young person’s House Team if you would like to discuss any support we can offer.

 

Dates for your diary:

Wednesday 28 June – term ends at 3.25pm

Wednesday 16 August – new terms starts for pupils – 8.28am

Our school calendar is updated regularly and should be used to access all information throughout the year and allows you to plan ahead too.

 

Thank you to all pupils, staff and parents/carers for your support throughout this session and I will look forward to working with you all again throughout session 2023-24. Finally, on behalf of all at Knox Academy, I would want to pass on our best wishes to any of our young people who are leaving school this year and venturing on to pastures new.

Have a fantastic summer break and hope the weather is kind to you wherever you are!

Sue Cook

 

Parent Council

The Parent Council has requested a footer on my HT’s update that remains there year round and which offers quick links to remote learning resources, course choices, supported study and careers news. Clicking on these headings takes you straight to these pages.

Please also look at our website for lots of other information. Please also follow us on Twitter for up-to-date news on a day to day basis.

Please also remember to follow us at: www.ka-net.org.uk 84CEAEA2  (link is external) (link is external) for the latest information and updates.

HEAD TEACHER'S UPDATE 16 JUNE 2023
Published: 16 June 2023

It has been fantastic to welcome our P7s this morning for the first day of their transition. Lots of happy, smiley faces and keen to get started on their activities with their new classmates. S6 mentors are taking them from place to place and will continue doing so on Monday and Tuesday and for the first week once they return in August. They have a great energy and positivity and we hope to maintain that enthusiasm for the next six years here. We have also encouraged them to join the special extra-curricular lunch clubs, which we are putting on as tasters next Monday and Tuesday especially for them, as this will also help them make friends with other young people outside of their classes.

Staffing

Our full time, permanent English teacher post closes this Sunday.

We will also be advertising for a temporary, part-time (25hrs) ASN Auxiliary. This goes live next Friday.

Following interviews this week, we have preferred candidates for our Pupil Support Worker and ASN Auxiliary posts. These posts will commence in August.

Interviews for our Welfare Assistant take place next week.

Parents’ and Pupils’ Information

School Improvement – Session 2023-24

Our School Improvement Plan (SIP) for Session 2023-24 has now been finalised. Thank you to all parents/carers who completed the questionnaire as this feedback, along with pupils’ and staff feedback, helped direct our next steps. I will share the School Improvement Plan at the start of next term, once it has been approved by ELC. However, the Parents Overview can be viewed now. This will let you know what we have planned for next session.

The New Timetable and Success

Hard work and commitment to learning are vital to ensuring a young person’s success. Attendance and punctuality are also extremely important. You need to attend to achieve and be on time to classes to maximise the 50 minutes of each class – every minute is precious and means lost learning.

Since we have changed to the new timetable there have been a number of young people arriving late after break and lunch. This not only impacts on their learning but it also impacts on the teacher who has to stop their lesson to welcome them and then catch them up with what they have already explained to the class. If this happens two or three times in a lesson, these latecomers impact upon the whole class as it is disruptive and means the teacher has to explain things again as opposed to supporting those who were on time and now on task. Even 5 minutes late after break and lunch soon adds up to the equivalent to a period missed a week. Excellent attendance, and being on time, are core skills for life, learning and work. When we are asked to write references for pupils in S4/S5/S6, when they are applying for Uni, College or employment, we are always asked to comment on their attendance and punctuality, and we want to be able to report on these favourably to help them stand the best chance in gaining a place or the job. We would be grateful if you could support this with your young people so they can maximise their time at school and achieve their potential. Thank you.

Awards Ceremony

This takes place next Thursday, 22 June, from 6-7pm, for S1 and S2, and from 7.30-8.30pm, for those in S3-S6.  All pupils who are getting an award on this evening have been informed.

For those pupils receiving an award in S1/S2, they should attend a rehearsal on Tuesday 20 June, at the Assembly Hall, at 9.30am.

If your young person is receiving an award and is S3, S4, S5 or S6, they should attend a rehearsal at 11.30am in the Assembly Hall (this includes any pupils who have now officially left school).  

School uniform should be worn to the Awards Evening too.

Start of the New Term

I will be writing out to all parents/carers with details about this on 7 August 2023. In the meantime information about the school day, extra-curricular, school uniform and all other information can be found in our School Handbook which will go live at the end of next week.

Head Pupils’ Elections

Applications for the Head Pupils and Pupil Leadership Team were submitted last Friday. Today, pupils must submit their manifestos and on Monday, they will submit their campaign videos. Tuesday will be their interviews and this will be followed by an Open to Question session on Wednesday afternoon. It’s an exciting time for all those who have thrown their hats in to the ring. The voting will take place on Friday with the Head Pupils and Leadership Team announced next Friday. Good luck to all candidates!

P7 pupils

It was great to have so many parents/carers coming along to our P7 Information Evening. It was good to tell them about our school and opportunities their young people will be able to get involved with over the next six years.

Pupils’ Achievements

County Sports

On Wednesday 14 June, pupils from S2-S6 competed in the annual County Sports event at Meadowmill alongside the other high schools. The representation from our pupils was exceptional with some of our pupils stepping up to compete in a number of events. As the events drew to a close, the points became tighter and some exceptional relay performances, especially with our previous S2 girls, and S3 boys, helped us take 1st place in these events. The overall day was a huge success and we finished 4th. All pupils involved will be celebrating today, in the PE department, at 12 noon with a new take on Hot Chocolate Friday ‘Ice pole Friday.’  

Football

Ava Smith (S2) has signed for the upcoming season at Hearts Academy (National Performance League) at Under 16 level. We are very proud of all the dedication Ava shows towards her football and commitment to achieve.

Success Stories

If you have any success stories about your young person please send these in to our admin@knox.elc.school.org so we can share these with everyone in our school and community. Thank you.

Support

Please can parents/carers make an appointment if they wish to speak to a member of Pupil Support or the Senior Leadership Team.  An increasing number of parents/carers have been turning up, without an appointment, wishing to be seen and although we want to see you, we have been unable to do so as we have been teaching or in pre-arranged meetings. By making an appointment with us via the office, or email, we can ensure a time and date. Thank you.

Please do not hesitate to contact our Pupil Support Team by emailing your young person’s House Team if you would like to discuss any support we can offer.

 

Dates for your diary:

Thursday 22 June – S1/2 Awards Evening – 6-7pm; S3-S6 Awards Evening – 7.30-8.30pm

Wednesday 28 June – term ends at 3.25pm

Wednesday 16 August – new terms starts for pupils – 8.28am

 

Our school calendar is updated regularly and should be used to access all information throughout the year and allows you to plan ahead too.

Sue Cook

Fit Parent Council

The Parent Council has requested a footer on my HT’s update that remains there year round and which offers quick links to remote learning resources, course choices, supported study and careers news. Clicking on these headings takes you straight to these pages.

Please also look at our website for lots of other information. Please also follow us on Twitter for up-to-date news on a day to day basis.

Please also remember to follow us at: www.ka-net.org.uk 84CEAEA2  (link is external) (link is external) for the latest information and updates.

HEAD TEACHER'S UPDATE 9 JUNE 2023
Published: 09 June 2023

S6 Prom

It was wonderful to catch up with our S6 Leavers at the Prom last Friday night at Whitekirk Hill. They looked stunning in their outfits. The Head Pupils’ speech was very amusing and recounted the high points of the last six years and many laughs along the way. The buffet meal followed the speeches and was delicious. Everyone had fun mixing in and dancing the night away. We hope that they will all continue to keep in touch with us and let us know how they are getting on in life and, as former pupils, come back and inspire others at the school telling us about their successes.

Staffing

Congratulations to Martha Middlemiss who was appointed yesterday to the full-time permanent teacher of music position. This will start on 14 August.

Our full time, permanent English teacher post went live last Friday and remains open for another week.

ASN Auxiliaries – advert for three posts for Meadowpark – August start

Today we say goodbye to our brilliant Phil Gilholm, who moves to a Pupil Support Worker post at Rosehill High School on Monday. Our loss is definitely their gain! We wish him all the very best.

Congratulations to Alison Fairbairn, one of our PSAs, who will take up a new post in Edinburgh, in July, working with Seaview Respite Centre. We wish her all the very best for this.

Interviews for our Welfare Assistant, Pupil Support Worker and ASN Auxiliary are taking place next week.

Parents’ and Pupils’ Information

Pupil Leadership Team Elections

On Wednesday this week, Mr Miller and Miss Bulloch officially marked the start of the much anticipated race to become Knox Academy's Pupil Leadership Team by meeting the new S6 cohort in the library to discuss the Head Pupil Election process. 

S6 pupils were invited to apply to become one of two head pupils or three depute head pupils - a prestigious and highly coveted role at Knox.

Pupils will run a rigorous campaign culminating in the key elements of a manifesto, a video and an interview by a wide-ranging panel being marked and scored by members of the school community. There will also be the unscored, but always popular, Knox Academy Question Time where the candidates will answer questions in front of a live studio audience.

The final vote will take place on Friday 23 June, which will also be the day that the Pupil Leadership Team is announced.

We wish all of the nominees the best of luck in the campaigning and remind all pupils that they can vote in two weeks’ time. 

Every pupil and every member of staff has one vote. Every vote counts!

Reconnecting at Knox Academy

Thank you to all parents/carers who came along to last night’s online meeting about our new approach to smartphone use in August. This will allow us to focus on learning, teaching and working with others, rather than smartphones distracting some of our learners. The comments in the chat box, from parents/carers, showed great support for this initiative, which looks at creating the best learning environment for all our young people to flourish. i have sent the presentation home to parents/carers via email so those who were unable to attend know the details of the initiative that launches in August.

P7 pupils

We are looking forward to welcoming our P7 parents/carers to the Information Evening, at Knox Academy, on Tuesday 13 June from 6-7pm.

Evening of Celebration

S1 and S2 Merit Awards winners, who were nominated in three or more subjects, should have now received notification and parent/carers received an e-mail invitation to the event.  Seniors (S3-S6), Special and Rotary Awards e-mail invitations were issued yesterday and today.

Those in S1 and S2 who received one or two merit awards will be presented with them at a House Assembly in the last week of term.

Pupils’ Achievements

Duke of Edinburgh

Thursday 8 & Friday 9 June, twenty pupils from our new S4 are out on a qualifying expedition for Bronze Award locally. These pupils recently had a really successful practice expedition and the qualifying expedition gives them a chance to put their skills to the test. Their bronze Award will also recognise the valuable contributions they've made to the local community through their volunteering activities and their contributions to their own personal development through their physical and skill activities.

On Friday 16 and Saturday 17 June, 13 new S5 pupils will be completing their Bronze qualifying expedition locally.  Participants are looking forward to this expedition far more than the original date earlier in the year that had to be postponed, due to torrential rain for days on end! These pupils completed their practice expedition many months ago and are currently working hard to remember their skills and to refresh their memory about the routes they'd planned so meticulously previously.

Saturday 17 June is due to be the last day that Phil Gilholm will be contributing to Knox DofE groups after many years of giving up countless hours and days of his own time to assist a great many Knox Academy pupils over the years towards their DofE awards, both with the school and with local community groups. I'll take this opportunity to say my thanks on behalf of all of those pupils past and present. (By Mr Boyle, Biology and DofE leader)

Achievement Ties

Yesterday we presented two endeavour certificates and six achievement ties to pupils in recognition of their commitment in a variety of areas. The endeavour certificates were presented for performances in badminton, tennis and rugby. The half colours ties were presented for achievements in swimming and commitment to supporting wider community events.  The full colours ties were awarded for outstanding commitment to music, community volunteering (extended period of time) and piping at a national level. Congratulations to all! The next Achievement Tie nominations will take place in October.

Football

Some of our new S2s, who play for Haddington Athletic have won the 3rd Division League Trophy having only lost one game all season. This is a great achievement for their first year playing eleven aside football!! They play their final League game on Sunday 11 June, at 11am, at the 3G in Whittingehame Drive. Please do go down and support them if you are able. Win, lose or draw, they win the trophy!! 

Success Stories

If you have any success stories about your young person please send these in to our admin@knox.elc.school.org so we can share these with everyone in our school and community. Thank you.

Support

Please can parents/carers make an appointment if they wish to speak to a member of Pupil Support or the Senior Leadership Team.  An increasing number of parents/carers have been turning up, without an appointment, wishing to be seen and although we want to see you, we have been unable to do so as we have been teaching or in pre-arranged meetings. By making an appointment with us via the office, or email, we can ensure a time and date. Thank you.

Please do not hesitate to contact our Pupil Support Team by emailing your young person’s House Team if you would like to discuss any support we can offer.

 

Dates for your diary:

Thursday 22 June – S1/2 Awards Evening – 6-7pm; S3-S6 Awards Evening – 7.30-8.30pm

Wednesday 28 June – term ends at 3.25pm

Wednesday 16 August – new terms starts for pupils – 8.28am

 

Our school calendar is updated regularly and should be used to access all information throughout the year and allows you to plan ahead too.

Sue Cook

Parent Council

The Parent Council has requested a footer on my HT’s update that remains there year round and which offers quick links to remote learning resources, course choices, supported study and careers news. Clicking on these headings takes you straight to these pages.

Please also look at our website for lots of other information. Please also follow us on Twitter for up-to-date news on a day to day basis.

Please also remember to follow us at: www.ka-net.org.uk 84CEAEA2  (link is external) (link is external) for the latest information and updates.

HEAD TEACHER'S UPDATE 2 JUNE 2023
Published: 02 June 2023

We will look forward to welcoming all our senior pupils back to school on Monday as we start our new school timetable for Session 2023-24. All pupils will be given their timetables on Monday morning and there will be an induction session for the new S5 and S6 period one. Please can we ask that all pupils wear full school uniform and come equipped for all classes that day (including PE) so we can start the new timetable in a meaningful way. Thank you.

The last four weeks we have spent time with S1-S3 looking at The Knox Academy Way which we consulted on with staff, pupils and parents, and outlines our expectations of all when at school. These align with our school values and aim to create a positive learning environment for all young people. We would be grateful if you can discuss this at home with your young people too. We will also be leading an assembly on this with S4-S6 next week. Although all these expectations apply now, the official launch of The Knox Academy Way (how we do things here) will be implemented in August. Thank you for your support with this, as we work as a community to ensure all of our young people can be educated in a safe environment that helps them achieve their potential (United Nations Rights of the Child).

S6 Prom

It will be wonderful to celebrate the S6 leavers tonight at their prom and to hear what they are all going to be doing over the coming years. They have been an amazing year group and we would like to wish them, and all of our school leavers, all the very best for their next steps. Please keep in touch and let us know how you are getting on.

Staffing

Congratulations to Laura Bates who was appointed to our Biology post and is now a full time permanent member of our school science team.

Interviews for Music, CDT, Welfare Assistant and ASN Auxiliary will take place over the next two weeks.

Emma Glass is our preferred candidate for class teacher at Meadowpark – August start

ASN Auxiliaries – advert for three posts for Meadowpark – August start

Parents’ and Pupils’ Information

Reconnecting at Knox Academy

We will be doing a presentation on this, online, on Thursday 8 June from 6.30-7pm and a link was emailed out to all parents/carers yesterday (including our new S1 parents).

P7 pupils

The PE department hosted a second P7 Transition event for our cluster primary schools on Thursday 1st June. All pupils had opportunities to take part in a variety of running, jumping and throwing events with some alternative events thrown in such as the welly boot throw. We were fortunate enough to have great group leaders from S1 and S2, and also welcomed back some of our senior pupils to also help assist. The efforts put in from all pupils was exceptional, and we look forward to welcoming all our P7s back in a few weeks’ time

The P7s are also up this morning taking part in the Maths Challenge. They also seem to be really enjoying it too!

S1 and S2

Our S1 and S2 students were given the opportunity to enter the Track and Field Sports Days held at Knox over two mornings this week, in glorious sunshine. Magnificent athleticism was on display, all students supporting each other in a respectful and happy atmosphere.  Lammerlaw House ran away with the overall House Cup, followed by Traprain and then Garleton. 

Edinburgh Marathon Festival Fundraiser

A huge congratulations to all pupils and staff who took part in the 10k and half marathon last weekend and raised £4395 for the Teenage Cancer Trust. Thank you to all who donated (and the link is still open if you still want to donate). The final total of this will be added to the bake sale and teacher gunging that took place last Friday and this will make it in the region of £4500. A fantastic community effort!

Evening of Celebration

S1 and S2 Merit Awards winners should all have now received notification and parent/carers received an e-mail invitation to the event.  Senior (S3-S6), Special and Rotary Awards e-mail invitations will be issued early next week.

Pupils’ Achievements

Battle of the Bands (S2)

Congratulations to Seven Years who won this year’s Battle of the Bands. It was hotly contested but also there can only ever be one winner. The standard of all S2 classes was brilliant and it was evident the time and effort that they had put in to rehearsals to make their performances shine on the day. Thank you to Ms Loughrey and Mrs Middlemiss for organising this fun event. Also to Hannah Beevors for leading on lighting and sound.

Football

Congratulations to Haddington Athletic Under 17s who won the Michael Moran Cup last Tuesday. This is their third piece of silverware this season and a number of the team are Knox Academy pupils. There other two wins were the Victor Parish Bathrooms Cup and the South East Region Division Two Cup.

Success Stories

If you have any success stories about your young person please send these in to our admin@knox.elc.school.org so we can share these with everyone in our school and community. Thank you.

Support

Please can parents/carers make an appointment if they wish to speak to a member of Pupil Support or the Senior Leadership Team.  An increasing number of parents/carers have been turning up, without an appointment, wishing to be seen and although we want to see you, we have been unable to do so as we have been teaching or in pre-arranged meetings. By making an appointment with us via the office, or email, we can ensure a time and date. Thank you.

Please do not hesitate to contact our Pupil Support Team by emailing your young person’s House Team if you would like to discuss any support we can offer.

 

Dates for your diary:

Monday 5 June – New Timetable starts for all year groups

Thursday 8 June – Online Parents’ Info Evening on ‘Reconnecting and smartphones’ – 6.30pm

Thursday 22 June – S1/2 Awards Evening – 6-7pm; S3-S6 Awards Evening – 7.30-8.30pm

Wednesday 28 June – term ends at 3.25pm

Wednesday 16 August – new terms starts for pupils – 8.28am

 

Our school calendar is updated regularly and should be used to access all information throughout the year and allows you to plan ahead too.

Sue Cook

Parent Council

The Parent Council has requested a footer on my HT’s update that remains there year round and which offers quick links to remote learning resources, course choices, supported study and careers news. Clicking on these headings takes you straight to these pages.

Please also look at our website for lots of other information. Please also follow us on Twitter for up-to-date news on a day to day basis.

Please also remember to follow us at: www.ka-net.org.uk 84CEAEA2  (link is external) (link is external) for the latest information and updates.