Happy New Year to all parents/carers and our young people. I hope 2024 will be a healthy, happy and successful one for you all.

The next two weeks are very busy with school events. This Wednesday saw our S4 Parents’ Evening and the main focus of discussions was on prelim performance, next steps and presentation levels. Thank you to all parents/carers who managed to attend. If you were unable to make it for any reason, please contact your young person’s House Team to get some feedback.

Next week is also a very busy week with two events which will support learner pathways (subject choices) for our S2-S5 pupils. On Monday 15 January we are holding a coursing information event, from 18:30-19:30, for parents/ carers of pupils in S2, S3, S4 and S5. This event will aim to cover the broad issues around subject choice, how the Scottish Curriculum works, how we will do coursing at Knox etc. It will be of particular interest/ use to parents and carers who are new to the coursing process. It would be good if as many parents/carers as possible can attend this to be able to support their young person with this process and so they know more details about all progression pathways from S2-S6.

Our Knox Academy Careers Event will take place on Wednesday 17 January from 6- 8pm. There will be over 60 businesses attending and a series of presentations about Foundation, Modern and Graduate Apprenticeships running alongside the main exhibition, so there is something for everyone. We realise that car parking will be limited on the night (most of the exhibitors will have cars in the carpark so they can offload their displays quickly), so if you can walk please do, or park elsewhere.

The extensive range of exhibitors will include universities/ colleges, training providers, as well as businesses involved in finance, gaming, food and drink, green technology, science, make up and textiles. We hope that you will take this opportunity to visit and speak with those who can help you make informed subject choices which will help you in the years ahead. Come along and be inspired:

• Learn how your interests, strengths and skills relate to specific job roles
• How the subjects you will select relate to jobs and careers
• How you can begin to build business networks, skills, confidence, knowledge and ideas for choices and next steps

Here are a couple of links with further details:

List of Exhibitors

There will also be a programme of presentations about Apprenticeships. For S1-3 pupils, attendance at the career fair will help you understand more about possible future career paths as well as the subjects you’ll need to gain qualifications in. The exhibitors are keen to share with you the opportunities that exist within their organisations/ companies and their own career journeys.  They’d be delighted if you asked them about how they got into their role; what skills, qualifications they look for in their employees and applicants; what advice they could give you about what skills development to focus on at school.

For S4-6 pupils attendance at the career fair will help you learn more about routes into college, university, apprenticeships and employment. This might include details of specific jobs that are available and the application process for their business/ organisation. Some of you may be leaving school next summer, or may be available for part-time weekend work or volunteering before then, so come along and hear about the varied opportunities for you to become inspired and ultimately hired.

Vaccinations

The Community Vaccination Team will be in school on Monday 29 January doing the Teenage Booster vaccinations for Diphtheria/Tetanus/ Polio (DTP) and Meningitis (MenACWY). This is for all S3 pupils and some of the S4, S5 and S6 who still have to get theirs.

S2/S3 Language Talk

Our S2s and language learning S3s were lucky enough to receive a talk from an outside speaker who has achieved great things in his career largely thanks to his language learning skills. He shared his inspiring story of working for a Premier League football team (Arsenal F.C.) for 11 years. Thanks to his modern language degree, he stood out as a fantastic candidate for the role and was able to travel all over the world, meeting incredible people along the way. We also learnt of the varied exciting careers in football or professional sport where language skills are either necessary or a real asset. His story demonstrates the many different doors that learning languages can open and the ways in which living abroad pushes you out of your comfort zone and allows you to build resilience. (By Ms Fletcher)

Breakfast Club 

Breakfast Club started this week. It is open to all young people and open from 8-8.20am in our HE Department.

Active Schools

Active Schools classes will be available to book as detailed below:

Free Classes live to book 15.1.24 from 6pm

Paid Classes live to book 1.2.24 from 6pm

www.eastlothian.gov.uk/activeschools

Success Stories

Congratulations to Harry Hudson (S1) who has been selected for the Under 13s Scottish Ice Hockey squad. Harry will be representing Scotland in upcoming tournaments in Bratislava in March, and also against England later on in the year. We continue to wish him the best as the season progresses.

Dates for your diary:

15 January 2024 - Coursing Evening – 6.30-7.30pm (at Knox Academy)

17 January – Careers Fayre – 6 – 8pm (at Knox Academy)

30 January – Parent Council 6.30-8pm (online)

22 February – S5/6 Parents’ Evening – 4.30-6.30pm (at Knox Academy)

12 March – S1 Parents’ Evening – 4.30-6.30pm (at 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

Parent Council

The Parent Council has requested a footer on my HT’s update that remains there year round and which offers quick links to remote learning resources, course choices, supported study and careers news. Clicking on these headings takes you straight to these pages.

Please also look at our website for lots of other information. Please also follow us on Twitter for up-to-date news on a day to day basis.

Please also remember to follow us at: www.ka-net.org.uk   @knoxacademyHT for the latest information and updates.