Staffing
Teacher of Learning Support (1FTE)
Interviews will take place on Monday 22 June..
ASN Auxiliary (27.5 hrs) – Meadowpark – 4 posts –interviews take place next week
FA Scientific Coordinator post – Congratulations to David Rice (Chemistry) who was appointed to this post with ELC. He will do this 2 days per week and stay at Knox Academy for the other three days.
Thank you and best wishes for the future for staff who leave us next Friday
I would like to take the opportunity to wish Aileen McSherry a long, happy and health retirement and for all her hardwork and commitment over the last 4 years at Knox Academy. Aileen not only taught PE but contributed massively to our extra-curricular programmes too.
All the very best to our two probationer teachers to who have been with us this year – Kate Allen in Modern Studies and Jordan Brunton in History. We wish them luck in securing posts in the near future and thank them for their passion and commitment across the year and their contributions to the wider school.
P7 Transition
It was a great few days welcoming P7s pupils to Knox Academy as part of their transition. They spent Friday getting to know their register teachers and also in team building activities. On Monday and Tuesday they followed their class timetables (the ones they will follow in S1 in August). They all seemed to have really enjoyed their time here and we are very much looking forward to welcoming them to S1 in August. We wish them all well for their last week of primary school.
Qualification Scotland – Appeals
We hope that all of our young people get the results they hoped for when they receive their exam results on Tuesday 4 August. If they don’t, they may be able to appeal their grade if there is relevant evidence to do so. The information below, provided by Qualifications Scotland, provides advice around this process.
Appeals
If you have concerns about a grade (or grades) on your results certificate, you can use the free appeals service. You can appeal directly to us or ask your school, college or training provider to do this for you. (Ms Machen, our Qualifications Scotland Coordinator will be able to support you with this).
The service will open on results day, Tuesday 4 August at 9 am, and the learner direct submission deadlines are:
Tuesday 11 August at 11.59 pm for priority appeals
Tuesday 25 August at 11.59 pm for all other appeals
If you appeal through your school, college or training provider, the deadlines are:
Thursday 20 August at 5 pm for priority appeals
Friday 28 August at 5 pm for all other appeals
You can ask for a priority appeal but only if you have a conditional place at university or college, or in training or employment that depends on your grade.
How does the Appeals Service work?
You should only appeal if you believe a mistake has been made in the external marking of your work.
If you do appeal your grade, a senior marker will carry out a marking review of your Qualifications Scotland-marked assessments. This means that they’ll review your answers to all questions and assignments marked by us. They check that the marks awarded by the original marker are in line with the marking standards agreed at the markers’ briefing and the marking instructions.
In addition, they also check that:
All parts of your Qualifications Scotland assessments have been marked;
The marks given for each answer have been added correctly; and
The correct result has been entered on our system.
Please note that after being reviewed, your result could stay the same, go up or go down.
Rights Respecting Schools (RRSA)
Our right of the week is Article 34 - the Government should protect children from sexual exploitation (being taken advantage of) and sexual abuse, including by people forcing children to have sex for money or making sexual pictures or films of them.
Events/Trips
Evening of Celebration
It was a pleasure to come together last night, as a school community, to celebrate the achievements of our young people. This included both our S1/2 pupils and those in S3–S6. The evening highlighted a wide range of successes, with many awards recognising academic excellence as well as contributions to our local and wider community.
Congratulations to all of our young people who received awards, and thank you to the parents, carers, staff and partners who joined us to support them. We are also very grateful to the Haddington Rotary who kindly donated a number of awards on the evening.
We were delighted to welcome Callum Booth as our Guest Speaker. Callum was a Knox Academy pupil and was a professional footballer, who played for a variety of clubs including St Johnstone, Dundee United and Hibernian. It was inspiring to hear him reflect on his time at Knox and share insights into his journey and career and the highs and lows within it. Callum’s reflected on the need to develop resilience to be able to deal with setbacks and get back on track. It was a very inspiring speech, from the heart, and which the audience really appreciated. .
I would also like to extend a sincere thank you to all staff for their continued dedication and unwavering support of our young people throughout the year, helping them to achieve their potential and reach their goals. Likewise, we recognise the vital role of parents and carers, whose encouragement and support underpin so many of our young people’s successes. A huge thank you also goes to our musicians on the night – William Gold, Emily Westgarth, Euan Evatt, Iris Pathirina and Anwen and Elyn McInnes. Many thanks to all who did the hard work behind the scenes to bring this ceremony together - Lorraine Arnot, Colin Dempster, the Music and Art Departments and our Janitors.
Finally, as I said last night, on behalf of everyone at Knox Academy, I would like to offer our very best wishes to those who are leaving us this year. As you move on to new opportunities, we hope you go on to lead meaningful and fulfilling lives, and use your experiences to make a positive difference to others. Please do keep in touch and let us know how you are getting on.
Army Leadership Course (S6)
It was great to have the Army in taking a course on Leadership for some of our own S6, as well as S6 from other East Lothian secondary schools.
Royal Highland Show - Edinburgh
A large group of our senior pupils are heading to the Royal Highland Show on 18 June. This is a great trip offering education about the countryside and food.
Sky Academy in Livingston
Twenty-seven of our pupils are off to Sky Academy, on 25 June, to make and record their Film Projects – how exciting!
Knox Academy celebrates Pride Week
This week we have been celebrating LGBTQI+ Pride week here at Knox Academy. Pride is a vital time for those who are part of the LGBT+ Community as it is a time to celebrate their identities and share their experiences. There have been numerous events taking place at lunchtimes to celebrate Pride week. We are also holding a Pride themed bake sale today, Friday 19 June, to raise funds for resources. All pupils (and staff) have been invited to wear a splash of rainbow today to show their allyship. We look forward to seeing everyone's colourful support! (by Lucy Fletcher).
Higher Spanish Trip
S5/6 Higher pupils will go to a Spanish restaurant to enjoy tapas.
Pupil Successes
Green Stories Award
Congratulations to Emelia Dawson (S2) who has just won the Green Stories writing competition. Her poem was entitled Our Planet. She wins a gift voucher for herself and the school!
Brain Tumour Charity
A huge well done to Boyd Fearnside (S4) who completed a charity skydive for the Brain Tumour Charity on Sunday 14th June. He has raised over £1000 to date. I've
His JustGiving page is still open and accepting donations. You can donate here to this great cause and for Boyd being so brave as to do a sky dive to raise funds.
Squash
All the very best to Jamie Pearman who is competing in the Portugese Junior Open Squash Championships over the coming days.
Music
The Music Department would like to thank members of Knox Choir and the following young people who showed our school values of Ambition, Respect and Community by giving up their lunchtimes on Monday and Tuesday to perform to the visiting P7s:
Gregor Mitchell
Emily Westgarth, Poppy Davidson-Kelly, Robyn Carter
Neil Presley & William Nathan
Faye Lenk-Anderson
Holly Thomson
General Information
U13 and U14 Boys' rugby pre-season
Training starting on Tuesday 7 July. It will run every Tuesday & Thursday throughout the summer from 5.30 - 7pm at Neilson Park. New and existing players all welcome and free of charge.
Dates for your diary:
26 June – End of term – school finishes at 12.15
12 August – Session 2026-27 begins – 8.28 am start
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
