Today we bid farewell to Judie Hadden, ASN Learning Assistant Extraordinaire! Judie and I were 2 of the original 3 staff who met in August 2015 to begin in a new provision in a school which was still being renovated and with 3 young people with hugely varying profiles. Staff and pupils operated out of one of the SfL rooms in Knox while I sat alongside Curriculum Leaders in what is now the Guidance room. We worked closely together with our Knox colleagues to develop opportunities for our pupils. We were overjoyed to move to Meadowpark in June 2016 and have continued to grow in number and achievements. Judie has accommodated all these changes in her own inimitable way and we know that she will be an asset to her new employers. Our loss is very much their gain. A wee poem follows...Good-Bye Judie
General News
Knox Academy is pleased to invite applications for the following vacancy:
Closing Date: Sunday 2 February 2020
All current and previous vacancies can be viewed within our Recruitment section of our website.
As Drama isn't on S2 timetables, please come to the department to make an appointment for parents' evening if you are thinking about taking drama in S3.
The way our students are using technology to support their studies is continually evolving, and as a school community we are trying to keep up with the pace of change. As a result, we have decided not to continue our school wide use of Show My Homework and will terminate our contract with the company in February. In place of this, class teachers are using the free Google Platform to share resources, deadlines and homework tasks.
All our learners have access to GoogleDocs through their school Edubuzz account, and are already doing so in class time in a variety if subjects. The majority of class teachers are already utilising this facility, with further staff training at our recent in-service following the Christmas holidays. Therefore, we are now comfortable to roll out this development across the school and remove Show My Homework completely. As with Show My Homework, the GoogleApp can be installed on home devices to enable reminders and alerts to function.
Over the coming weeks, I would encourage you to sit down with your child to look at the wealth of resources they already have shared on this platform, and for them to teach you how they are using GoogleDocs to promote collaborative work between their peers.
If Knox Academy is closed in line with ELC procedures, for example during adverse weather, staff will be updating work on Google for the pupils to be able to access.
For individual learners who do not have access to technology at home, paper copies of appropriate resources can always be provided by the class teacher.
It’s been great to have all staff and pupils back for a full week and settling quickly into the swing of things. The weather has been against us somewhat alternating between warm, wet, mild, cold and windy which has not been conducive to accessing outdoors at break and lunch. However our innovative staff have provided opportunities for socialising in the gym and common room.
A few brave souls have ventured outside and been a little thwarted because one of the playgrounds has had a ‘face lift – well, perhaps mud pack is a more accurate description…. read more here
East Lothian Council have taken the decision to allocate 8 May 2020 as an additional day's leave in order to celebrate the 75th Anniversary VE Day Celebrations. This follows a consultation held in December 2019.
The current and future session dates can be viewed on our website within the School Information Section.
Full details can be found in the letter to all parents/carers dated 14 January 2020 from Lesley Brown (Chief Operating Officer - Education)
The latest updates to the Extra-Curricular Timetable including Supported Study Sessions is now available.
The Sunday Mail Young Scot Awards 2020 are now open for nominations. Can you nominate some of the incredible and inspiring young Scots at Knox Academy who deserve recognition?
From volunteers to community champions and local heroes, we want to hear your stories of young people who work hard to improve the lives of others. This year, there are 13 categories including Sport, Enterprise, Volunteering, Arts, Environment, Education, Entertainment, Equality and Diversity, Health and Wellbeing, and many more.
If the young people you nominate are finalists, they'll attend a glittering red-carpet ceremony in Edinburgh in April 2020.
Nominations close on 23 February 2020, so please do make your nominations today.
The nomination form takes only a few minutes to complete.
Following the deposit of £50.00 - Further payment deadlines for the trip are as follows (payments should be made online ): two instalments of £150.00 and a two instalments of £100.00 will be due by the end of each month, excluding December (31 Oct, 30 Nov, 31 Jan, 28 Feb and 27 March).
Online payment is the significantly preferred option, we can no longer accept cash or cheques. Please go to the school website and click on SCHOOLPAY on the right hand side to access the payment options. You will need to have registered for Ipay for online payments. Please contact Emma Maguire on 01620 823387 if you have any queries re online payments.
The next installment of £20.00 for the S6 Leavers Dance must be paid by Friday 31st January. This payment must be paid online. Any issues please see Miss Maguire in the office. All food allergies/dietary requirements for the dance should be with either a member of the committee or Miss McBride by this date also.
