We hope you all had a lovely summer holiday. Welcome back to Session 2024-25. It has been great to have all of our new S1 pupils join us and to welcome back our S2-S6 pupils. We hope that our young people embrace the opportunities they have here for learning and also make the most of the many after school opportunities on offer to further develop their skills and friendships. Please do encourage your young people to take part in our wider school events as this builds our community too.
Staffing
Home Economics – Mrs Milan was appointed the last day of term to this post. We were delighted to welcome her to our staff team on Monday.
We also welcomed Mrs Sinclair (acting Curriculum Leader of Communications), Ms Milliken (Modern Studies), Mr Morris (Physics) and Ms Coats (PE).
Mrs MacDonald is Curriculum Leader of Science.
SQA Results
Our pupils performed really well in the SQA exams in April/May 2024. This is testament to their hard work and commitment to their studies, and the support of staff and parents/carers. We have to be mindful that the S4 were in the final year of primary school when the first lockdown happened in March 2020 and did not get the benefit of all the experiences of transition to Knox Academy – they also had a disrupted S1 with further lockdowns. S5 pupils also missed their final months of S1 and a disrupted S2. So taking this into account they have done amazingly well and coped with the SQA adding assignments back in to many subject last session too! We are super proud of them and know, for those returning to school, they will continue to build on these results over Session 2024-25
An overview of our results:
Our attainment at A-C for National 5 was 78%. This was marginally down on last year at 80.1% (but SQA has expressly said not to compare them to the last few years results when assessments were changed due to the pandemic). However our 78% above the National results of 77.2% and the East Lothian figure of 77.9%. We had 13 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.
At Higher level, our A-C attainment was 83% (80.5% last year). This was above the National results of 74.9% and the East Lothian figure of 74.3%. 8 pupils attained 5A passes and a further 9 attained 4As. A number of our pupils also attained very strong results in a combination of National 5s and Higher subjects.
At Advanced Higher, our A-C attainment was 67% (79.1% last year). This was below the National results of 75.3% and East Lothian figure of 70.1%. AH was down from last year at school, ELC and National levels. One pupil attained 4As in their Advanced Highers and 6 others attained 3 AHs and 9 pupils achieved 2 AHs.
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.
The above statistics are pre-appeal. Our focus this year will continue to be on teaching for excellence, closing our GAP, focusing on attendance (huge link between this and attainment and achievement) and ensuring that our young people attain the highest level and most qualifications they can that are relevant to them. We also need to work together to ensure that, in particular, our S6 cohort see all courses through from inception to completion to guarantee them the best results and reach their potential.
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).
Knox Sports
We are looking forward to getting Knox Sport back up and running! 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 19th August with all sports clubs restarting week beginning 26th 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.
Pupils’ Success Stories
Gymnastics
Congratulations to Kyla Hynd (S4) her teammates won Bronze at the TeamGym British Championships 2024 in July. What an achievement!
Dates for your diary:
28 August – UCAS Parents’ Info Evening – run by Mr Meekison – 6-7.30pm (School Assembly Hall)
11 September – S4 Parents’ Evening – 4.30-6.30pm (Knox Academy)
17 September – Parent Council (School Library – 6.30-8pm) – all parents/carers welcome
25 September – S1 Parents’ Consultation – 4.30-6.30pm (Knox Academy)
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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