Staffing
All at Knox Academy would like to wish John Taylor, our Curriculum Leader of Science, a long and happy retirement when he leaves Knox Academy next week after nearly 29 years here. He has been a truly amazing member of our team.
Best wishes to Wendy Tan (Pupil Support Auxiliary) who finishes with us on Monday to head off to Luton to follow a pathway in health and social care.
Best wishes to Jo Donald, who leaves us next Friday to take up a post as a teacher of HE at Winchburgh Academy in August.
Good luck to Erin Laing, who has been our probationer this year in Modern Studies. Whoever recruits Erin onto their staff team will have won the lottery!
Our Home Economics post closes on Sunday and interviews take place next Thursday
Interviews for our temporary teacher of English (until May 2025) take place on Wednesday
Our temporary teacher of Modern Languages post is advertised today (until June 2025)
Acting Curriculum Leader of Communications (English and Modern Languages) interviews take place on Monday.
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. Following a delicious buffet meal, the Head Pupils’ speech was very amusing and recounted the high points of the last six years. 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.
School Improvement Plan
We have used the East Lothian Education priorities and staff, pupils and parents/carers feedback to devise our school improvement priorities for next session – 2024-25.
Evening of Celebration
It was great to come together, last night, as a school community, to celebrate the achievements of our young people. There were many awards for academic excellence and achievement in our local and wider community. Congratulations to all our young people who received an award last night and thank you to all parents/carers and partners of the school, who came along to support them. Thank you also goes to Irene Ogilvie, from Haddington Rotary, who provided a number of awards on the evening. It was also wonderful to welcome John Arnold (actor) as our Guest Speaker at the Senior Awards Ceremony and for him to offer advice about ‘showing up’ and giving of your best. A huge thank you to Leila Maycock and Indie Phoenix-Hill for representing the Pupil Leadership Team and speaking about their highlights over the last six years at Knox Academy.
A huge thank you to the staff at our school for their unwavering support of our young people across the year and in helping them to achieve their potential and goals. Also, thank you to all of our parents/carers who are the inspiration for your young people on a day to day basis and encouraging them to be th best version of themselves and achieve their best.
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. Create meaningful, purposeful and fulfilling lives for yourselves and learn how to use your talents to make an impact and a difference to the lives of others. Please do keep in touch to let us know how you are getting on.
Grease
This was absolutely amazing!!!! The quality of acting, singing and dancing was just phenomenal and we couldn’t be more proud of our young people and staff who took part in this performance, gave it their all and wowed the audience. So many of us clapped or sang along to the tunes, so there was great audience participation over the two nights as well. There are so many people to thank for bringing this show to fruition. Firstly, a huge thank you to our amazing cast starting with our dancers and actors. They worked tirelessly all year showing real grit and determination throughout the entire rehearsal period. Well done to you all - you blew us away with your talent and we all thoroughly enjoyed your performances!
Next I would like to thank all of the staff and pupils who have helped with the production of the show. We have: Nick Ball -for his particularly creative skills in props; Nick Tait - for designing our Grease posters; Katie Johnston, Anya Reynolds and Imogen Hunsley for their amazing set design; Mia Colquhoun, Casey Burgess and Isla Hogg for programming and running the stage lights; Liam Morrison for sound and microphones; Aillie Docherty and Rachel Fox for their tireless efforts helping with choreography and production; our Office staff and Senior Leadership Team for all their support; our PTA for serving the refreshments and our janitors for setting up for us. A huge thank you to our staff team who have championed this production from Day 1 - Jo Donald and Aileen McSherry for their amazing choreography skills. All the dances looked spectacular. Laura Bates who single-handedly dressed this show, opening both her wardrobe and her heart, and was also part of the choreography and marketing team. Emma Reynolds, our very own "Lady Lynch" who's been a part of our directive and production team from the beginning, providing the cast with many laughs along the way. Adam Welsh, otherwise known as Johnny Casino, who co-directed, oversaw sound and generously offered his velvet voice. Finally, my biggest thanks goes to Ashleigh Breslin, our director, and the brain and heart of this production. Without her vision and drive we would not have had this show. We now can't wait for the next one!!! My final thanks goes to all of our parents/carers, pupils and friends of the school who came along on the evenings to support the show.
Careers Guidance during the Summer Holiday
Chris Trotter, your school careers adviser, is still available to offer careers information advice and guidance over the summer holidays and beyond. He can help even if a pupil has left school. Perhaps there has been a change of plan or they still haven’t secured a job or course. For information take a look at the new careers website where you can explore hundreds of jobs build a CV and search for courses. There is also a useful section for parents and carers with ideas on how you could support your child.
On the 6th August Skills Development Scotland will open up the national exam results helpline. However, you can also call Chris on the day too. If you would like to get a head start, take a look here.
If you would like to meet Chris face to face or online during the holiday please email or call.
0131 376 3233 (direct)
0131 665 3120 (office)
Successes
Squash
Good luck to Jamie Pearman (S3) who will be competing in the Portuguese Junior Squash Open Championships at the end of this month. We will look forward to hearing how you get on.
Dates for your diary:
28 June – End of term 12.15pm
14 August – school resumes for pupils at 8.26am
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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