A full moon and high winds definitely have an impact on young people – and maybe on those of us who are not so young. A surge of energy has passed through Meadowpark this week and we have encouraged pupils to take it out onto the playground as much as possible. Fortunately we have plenty of space, bikes, scooters and imagination for pupils to unleash their teenage energy.

We would dearly love to have some permanent pieces of playground equipment so if anybody can help with application forms for funding please get in touch.

The High winds have meant that a number of the beautiful trees that surround Meadowpark, and further afield have lost their leaves. Not to miss a trick our ever resourceful teachers and support staff have been gathering these to make lovely Autumn displays, walking along the banks of the Tyne and through the park. It is a wonderful time of year to talk about change and transition, which many of our young people find difficult, and being to use the natural environment to assist with this enables understanding and puts difficult concepts into a real life context.

We had a birthday to celebrate this week and Oliver received not one, but two cakes from Class 2. One was made on site by Oliver’s peers and the other was made at home by Daniel. The fact that they were both demolished within minutes shows how baking and good food can be such a great motivator.

Class 1 went to Tesco to do their shopping for soup making. I would like to thank Tesco who continue to be incredibly supportive of our young people as they venture further into independence. Meadowpark pupils and staff are always made to feel welcome when shopping and this reaffirms my vision that Haddington could become an Autism Friendly town.

Class 3 used root vegetables from their weekly visit to Amisfield Garden – a huge parsnip, potatoes and leeks were washed, peeled, chopped and put in the pot. Again, the soup was consumed within minutes.
As I write all pupils are enjoying exercising in the autumn sunshine – some are swimming in Aubigny sports Centre, others doing their daily mile or visiting the local park. When they come back Class 2 will hold an Assembly on Being a Good Friend and celebrating the achievements of others.

Daily exercise and healthy eating are essential ingredients for everyone and we will continue to educate all our young people to make healthy choices – home-made food, water, fruit juice and milk rather than sweets, fizzy drinks and highly processed food.

Have a peaceful weekend.

Charli Prime

On Tuesday our U16 Rugby team boarded a bus for a 3 hour journey heading for Montrose to take on Lathallan School in the National Bowl competition. The team boarded the bus in high spirits and a positive feeling about the match ahead. The coaches were subjected to some choice music certainly not of their genre!! After a few stop offs for refueling (that was the boys not the bus)  we arrived at our destination, Lathallan School an old castle over looking the North Sea. The pitch was the narrowest we had ever seen but still we thought we can win this match. The warm up went well with the boys looking ready to go even after sitting for 3 hours on a bus.

The game started and didn't go as plan, the home side were more dominant and wanted the win more, Knox looked shell shocked and could not get a hold on the match. Within 25 minutes we were down 28-0! With 5 minutes left in the half the light switch went on and we started to play rugby! A pleasant half time talk by their coach seemed to work as the boys played some good rugby in the second half but a couple of costly mistakes let the home side cross the line again. The final whistle went and the score ended 38-28 a case of not showing up for the first half and a disappointed bunch of Knox lads.

The result was soon forgotten about as the bus journey began home,with the boys banter beginning and the awful music restarting! The usual food of bus trips called for we stopped at the Golden Arches like a plague of Locust we swarmed in and swarmed out slightly more full. We arrived back at Knox defeated but not down and also a bit more closer as a team.

The boys were a credit to themselves, the school and the game of rugby, it was a joy to be out with them and i look forward to future Road Trips with them.

Knox Scorers:

• Andrew Syme 3 Tries
• Owen Doyle 1 Try
• Ross Campbell 4 Conversion

A reminder that all are invited to the next Parent Council meeting to be held in the library at 6.15 pm on Wednesday 4 October 2017.

Knox Academy is pleased to invite applications for the following vacancy:

Closing Date: Sunday 15 October 2017

• Teacher of Biology