We hope you all had a lovely summer holiday. It was great to have our new S1 pupils join us last week and also welcome back our S2-S6 pupils to Session 2025-26. We are all very excited to see what this year brings and to work together with you to be ambitious for all of our learners. At the start of the year please can I highlight the need for exemplary attendance as this links directly with attainment and achievement. It would be great to have all pupils attend every day – that’s our aim – so they can achieve their potential.
This Head Teacher’s update, being the first of the year, has a lot of information in it so please be sure to read it all through.
Staffing
Congratulations to Alicia Coyle (Maths) who will be taking up the acting Principal Teacher of Maths at Berwickshire High School until the end of May 2026. Mrs Coyle will leave us on Friday 5 September. An advert for her post here (permeant – across Knox Academy/Musselburgh) will be live this Friday.
Mrs Sophie Coats, join us in Geography (one day a week, permanent).
It was also great to welcome our new Physics teacher, Jonathan Foster (1 year temporary full-time); our temporary maths teacher, Chloe McNeill, who is covering Mrs Gourlay’s maternity leave.
We also welcomed our two new probationers for this session: Kate Allen (Modern Studies) and Jordan Brunton (History).
We also welcomed Josie Campbell as Business Support in the school office.
Assemblies
This week’s assemblies have been on our school values (ambition, respect and community) and have also covered fire evacuation, lockdown and non-fire evacuation procedures so all staff and pupils are fully aware of these.
SQA Results
As a school team we would like to praise our pupils for their performance in the exam diet in 2025 and to thanks staff and parents/carers for their support with encouraging them to apply themselves well to their studies.
An overview of our results:
Our attainment at A-C for National 5 was 83% (this was 78% last session) so 5% above last year’s performance. This was also 4.6% above the National results of 78.4% and the East Lothian figure of 79.6%. We had 18 pupils in S4 who achieved 7 National 5 passes, all at Band A, and a further 8 pupils who attained 6As and a B or C. This is our best attainment at this level for a number of years.
At Higher level, our A-C attainment was 78% (83% last year). This was above the National results of 75.9% and the East Lothian figure of 77.2%. 8 pupils attained 5A passes. A number of our pupils also attained 5 and 4 Highers at a mixture of A/B/C grades and there was also strong results in a combination of National 5s and Higher subjects.
At Advanced Higher (AH), our A-C attainment was 58.3% (67% last year). This was below the National results of 76.7% and East Lothian figure of 68.5%. AH was down from last year at school and ELC levels but wen up overall at a National levels. Two pupils attained 3As in their Advanced Highers and 7 others attained 2 AHs and a number of others one AH and a number of Highers. This year we presented in 11 subject areas at Advanced Higher.
At Meadowpark, all of our S6 leavers left with 5 or more qualifications at SCQF level 3 of above – which is superb.
Within National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher, many young people showed great progress to achieve the grades they did – whether these were As, Bs or Cs. We also had many young people achieving well at National 3 and National 4, with a significant increase in qualifications achieved by young people at Meadowpark too – where all the S6 pupils at Meadowpark left with 5 or more qualifications at SCQF Level 3 or above.
Our focus this year will continue to be on ensuring our young people experience high quality learning and teaching and ask that they engage with this to maximise their potential. This means they need to attend to a high level, apply themselves to their studies (ambition) and for S6, in particular, to commit to the full year of their studies (and not ‘drop out’ of a subject when they receive an unconditional for University). We aim to offer as many AH courses as we can but our dropping pass rates in recent years have been less attributed to the abilities of our young people that to the dropout rates/commitment to them post university offers. We need to work together to ensure, if we are offering them, all young people see them through from inception to completion as staff input to these are as much as for the young people in terms of preparation, teaching and marking.
Careers Support
Chris Trotter is our Schools Development Scotland adviser and has said the following information will be useful to parents/carers to help with career guidance from S1 right up to S6 – My World of Work general information and Knox Academy (specific information).
Our School Library
The library offers a wide range of support for reading both in class and beyond.
As East Lothian library members all pupils have access to a wide range of online resources.
These include apps that give pupils access to free audiobooks, eBooks, comic books, newspapers, magazines, language practice and driving theory test practice.
For more information please see the council’s website.
Pupils can request login details from the library at any time.
The library also hosts some great lunchtime clubs that all pupils can get involved in:
On the 1st and 2nd Tuesday of each month - Zine club to make and create fun and interesting Zines to share. The first meeting is Tuesday 2nd September.
On the 3rd Tuesday of each month - Book club. The next meeting is Tuesday 16th September and the theme is comic books.
On the Last Tuesday of each month - Reading Leadership group. This is where pupils can have their say on how we improve reading as a whole school and can work towards a volunteering award.
Please contact knoxlibrary@knox.elcschool.org.uk for more information about any of the above.
Google Classroom – Guardian Summaries (this links with Chromebooks and home learning)
You may be aware of an additional feature of Google Classroom which is designed to help Parents/Carers gain an overview of the set tasks and assignments. This feature is called Guardian Summaries and it enables Parents/Carers to receive e-mail updates about: Missing work — Work not turned in when the summary was sent; Upcoming work — Work that’s due today and tomorrow (for daily emails) or that’s due in the upcoming week (for weekly emails); Class activities — Announcements, assignments, and questions recently posted by teachers.
As a parent/carer you will be able to control the frequency of these updates or decide to opt-out of receiving them at a later date.
Setting up Guardian Summaries
To setup Guardian Summaries your child will need to follow these steps. This must be done by each child in your household for whom you wish to receive e-mail updates.
With your child use this link which requires your child to log in via Edubuzz.
We will use the main contact email we have on record but there is an option in the form to add a second email address. It is therefore essential that the pupil record is accurate so please contact us if you wish to make any changes to your stored information.
*Please also note that, due to GDPR regulations, your child may choose to opt out of sharing information with you and if they decline permission we will not be able to set up the summaries for you.
Activating Guardian Summaries is a manual process which needs to be carried out by the school once the form is completed.
School Estate Update
On 24 June Estate Councillors agreed to partially reinstate financial provision in the capital programme for the following projects: Additional toilet and catering provision as an initial phase at Knox Academy with planning being undertaken on phase 2 to deliver additional teaching space. Once I have more information about this I will let you know.
Parent Council – 16 September
The first Parent Council meeting of this session will take place in the School library on the 16 September and we would love to see as many parents join us as possible. Come along from 6pm for tea/coffee and cake and a chat before the meeting starts at 6.30 pm.
We hope to see you there! (Morven and Sarah - Co-Chairs)
Flu Vaccinations
Consent forms for the Flu vaccine were sent home with pupils this week. It’s very important to complete, sign and return the form ASAP, even if you don’t want your child to get vaccinated. The vaccine is given once a year. Flu viruses are constantly changing, so a different vaccine has to be made every year to ensure the best protection against flu.
The vaccination session will take place at Knox on Thursday 11th December. Meadowpark vaccinations will take place on Thursday 18th September. For more information visit nhsinform.scot/childflu
Knox Sports
We are looking forward to getting Knox Sport Clubs restarted! Please click to see the sports on offer and to register. If anyone has any issues registering please contact Thomas Salkeld at tsalkeld@elcschool.org.uk. All sports are available to book from Monday 18th August with all sports clubs restarting week beginning 25th August. If any parents or Carers would like to get into volunteering at any of our clubs please get in contact with Thomas. We would encourage all of our young people to get involved with one or more clubs at the school (there will be many more advertised beyond sport) to learn new skills, make new friends and add to our Knox Academy community. It allows pupils to work with other young people in different year groups too.
Trips
Dalguise
S6 head off this weekend for their outdoor adventure to Dalguise. It will be a fun weekend that will allow them to further gel as an S6 group. A huge thank you to all the staff going who have given up their weekend to take the trip. We will look forward to hearing all about it on your return.
S2/3 are also going to the Edinburgh Book Festival this week and S3 is going to Edinburgh for an Industry Project linking with an Interior Design company.
Local Events
Haddington Fun Run and Joe Forte Relay Race in aid of Our Community Kitchen on 20th September 2025
Would you like to join us for an afternoon of fun, fitness, and fundraising to help us reduce isolation and loneliness in our community? Our Community Kitchen exists to reduce loneliness and isolation by bringing people together around a large table each day to enjoy fresh and nourishing food, followed by activities such as exercise classes, bus trips and intergenerational activities with schools. We have also developed a community garden in Haddington where we grow our food, which is used in our cooking and enjoyed by everyone. We welcome around 160 people each week, and we have 56 wonderful volunteers and a staff team of 5. People who join us include the elderly, people living with dementia, people with lifelong conditions, wheelchair users, and people who have been widowed. More recently, we have been joined by people who have more profound and complex learning difficulties. We are completely accessible with ramps on all entry points, and we regularly mash and puree food for people who have swallowing difficulties.
Our Haddington Fun Run will take place on Saturday, 20th September, 12.00 pm – 3.00 pm at HADDINGTON RUGBY CLUB.
Do as many laps of the Rugby pitch as you can, ALL AGES. FANCY DRESS OPTIONAL!
Additionally, teams of four people will be able to take part in the Joe Forte Memorial Relay Race in memory of the late, great Joe Forte, who was an enthusiastic and generous supporter of all Haddington community and sporting endeavours. (arrive at 12.30 pm for a 1.00 pm start) We are honoured to host this relay race in Joe's name. 4 people (£10.00 per person to take part - 1 lap per person). The winning team will be presented with a trophy.
Join us for the cause, stay for the fun! All donations, whether taking part or not, are very much appreciated. Any support at all from Knox Academy pupils, parents and staff towards this fundraiser would be hugely appreciated and will mean so much to so many people.
Sign up for the Fun Run
We hope you can take part (by Elaine Gale – OCK)
Pupils’ Success Stories
Pupil Leadership Team
Following applications, manifestos, interviews and voting the last week of term, we now have our Pupil Leadership Team for Session 2025-26. They are Keelan Woodhead and Maya Borkowski as Head Pupils, and Grace Scott, Luke Mercer and Isobel Lincoln as Depute Head Pupils. Thank you to all of our young people who applied for these positions and I hope we can harness their leadership skills too throughout the coming session.
House Captains
Garleton: Melodie Minel, Jamie Towler, Kristen Dick, Molly Ramsay
Lammerlaw: Tilly Darby, Rebecca Cecil, Glen Cameron, Ailie Doherty
Traprain: James Jack, Chloe Milazzo, Rae Nicholas, Finlay Paterson
Prefects will be selected very soon.
Dig for Victory Competition
Congratulations to Poppy Davidson-Kelly (S3), who won the S1-S3 category of this competition, and to Delilah Brady (S3) who was runner up.
Dates for your diary:
28 August – UCAS Parents’ Info Evening – run by Mr Meekison – 6pm (School Assembly Hall)
12-15 September (inclusive) – Holiday (all)
Tuesday 16 September – Parent Council (all welcome) – School Library 6.30-8pm
9 October – P7 Information Evening – 5-7pm
13-20 0ctober – Pupils’ holiday (13-17 for staff)
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
Quick Links:
remote learning resources, course choices, supported study and careers news. Clicking on these headings takes you straight to these pages.
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@knoxacademyHT for the latest information and updates.
