It was an absolute pleasure to be part of the judging panel for the Youth and Philanthropy Initiative (YPI) Final on Tuesday. I was joined by Shamin Akhtar, Lesley Pirie (Parent Council Chair) and Katie Moore (Depute Head Pupil). We had teams in the final after progressing to this stage from the qualifying round of around twenty five teams. YPI involves a team of young people researching a charity of their choice (usually a local one) to be able to present on this charity and secure £3000 for them. The charities represented in the final this year were: The Wave Project (Dunbar); Muirfield Riding Therapy (Gullane); Children 1st (National); The Bridges Project (Musselburgh) and Beyond Boundaries (Haddington).
The research and presentation skills of all the finalists were extremely high. They delivered passionately about the work of their charities, how they supported people and how £3,000 would make a significant difference to the continuation of their work. Every single charity would have been a worthwhile winner; however there was only one cheque and therefore the judging panel was versed with a very difficult decision! After much deliberation we selected Muirfield Riding Therapy to be this year’s recipients, after the team edged out the other ones with an outstanding question and answer session at the end of their presentation. A huge congratulations to the winning team of Kirsty Dee, Ellen Davidson and Olivia Dale. Well done to all teams who presented at all stages. The standard was exceptional this year and the engagement with the chosen charities evident, even though the current pandemic presented some challenges that all of our young people worked around. Thank you also goes to Mr Flood who leads the YPI for the school and ensures that young people invest highly in this great project, run by the Wood Foundation.
Staffing
A huge thank you to Emma Whitfield, our Drama teacher, who will leave us on 18 March 2022 after many years of service here at Knox Academy. Ms Whitfield’s creative talents and amazing teaching approaches made her an outstanding teacher and so many young people have benefitted from her talents. She has also been a great colleague and has contributed to so many shows/performances across the years, as well as organising many trips and excursions for our young people. We wish her well.
The following posts will be advertised over the next few weeks:
English – full time, permanent (part of the Cluster provision with a focus of improving literacy)
French – full time, permanent
Drama – full time, permanent
SQA Invigilation – Can you help?
The SQA exam diet is scheduled to take place from the 26th April 2022 to Wednesday 1st June 2022.
SQA Invigilators play a vital role in the effective running of the examinations and SQA is currently looking to appoint new SQA invigilators to support with the exams at Knox Academy.
If you are available for paid employment, on a part time or full time basis during the exam diet, please complete this form by Friday 25 February to register your interest. Thank you.
Curriculum Information/Learning and Teaching
S2-S5 Coursing (Learner Pathways)
The coursing recommendations for pupils in S3, S4 and S5 were distributed to pupils at registration yesterday and today.
If for any reason there are any recommendations missing, the pupil should speak to their teacher for that subject. If a pupil is considering taking a new subject, they can speak to a member of the relevant department to ask what their recommendation would be.
A reminder that all course choice forms (the Google Form) need to be submitted by the end of the school day on Tuesday 22 February. The Google Form is also available via the school website (in case your young person has lost it or can’t find the email) under the Course Choice Section of the website.
A series of videos are also available to help you and your young person consider options.
If you require further information or support please contact your young person’s House Team. (garleton@knox.elcschool.org.uk, lammerlaw@knox.elcschool.org.uk, traprain@knox.elcschool.org.uk ).
East Lothian Works (ELW) Information Events
East Lothian Works ran a series of information events during January (and were advertised by the school). These proved to be very useful and popular. On the back of these events they have produced a FAQ document and a recorded version of the event so that pupils and parents/ carers can still access it. Parents who attended this week’s Parent Council said they had found this event very useful in supporting them and their young person with Course Choices.
Young Person’s Guarantee – Find Your Future
The Young Person’s Guarantee is a commitment to bring together employers, partners and young people. It aims to connect every 16 to 24 year old in Scotland to an opportunity. This could be a job, apprenticeship, further or higher education, training or volunteering. Discover what your young person could be doing next with the opportunity finder.
Pupils’ News
Aberdeen Squash Rackets Club Junior Gold Event
This competition was held last weekend and brings together the best squash players in Scotland. Three of our pupils were competing in this and performed to a very high level.
Jamie Pearman (S1) finished 2nd in the U13 Boys and 4th in the U15 Boys.
Isla Hamilton (S2 Knox) finished 2nd in the U15 Girls
Dylan Pearman (S5) finished 1st in the U17 Boys.
Rugby
Ollie Craig, S5, has been selected to represent East Lothian and the Borders for a match against Edinburgh this weekend. We wish him well.
Girls’ Football
Well done to our Knox Academy Girls’ team who drew 3-3 with Dunbar Grammar last night. It was a well fought match, in the bitter cold and wind, with Knox girls scoring a last minute equaliser! Thank you to Ms Stobie who has been coaching the team.
Covid-19 Information
The First Minister announced changes to the Covid in schools mitigations in her statement yesterday. More information has still to come through to Head Teachers in regard to this. These mitigations are set to take effect from Monday 28 February 2022. Once I have the detailed information about these changes I will inform parents, pupils and staff about these the first week back after mid-term.
Please continue to report all positive Covid-19 cases to covidinschools@eastlothian.gov.uk or if you do not have access to email, telephone 01875 613921. Please also inform the school so we can amend your young person’s attendance record. Pupils should continue to do twice weekly LFD tests. LFD kits are available every morning on arrival to school and during the day from the office. They can also be collected from pharmacies and test centres.
Please do not send pupils to school who have symptoms. They should self-isolate and book a PCR test and not return to school until they know this is negative and they have no symptoms.
We now have a dedicated section on our website for all things Covid, so please refer to it for the latest information.
Dates for your diary:
Monday 14 –Friday 18 February – Mid-term break (all)
Monday 21 February – staff in-service/pupils’ holiday
Thursday 24 February – S1 Parents’ Consultation (virtual)
Full details of our school calendar can be found here.
Have a lovely mid-term break and we will look forward to seeing all pupils return on Tuesday 22 February at 8.28am.
Parent Council Request
At the Parent Council meeting parents asked if there could be a footer on my HT’s update that stayed there year round and which offered quick links to remote learning resources, course choices, supported study and https://www.ka-net.org.uk/careersnewscareers. 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.
Sue Cook
Please also remember to follow us at: www.ka-net.org.uk 
@knoxacademy @knoxacademyHT for the latest information and updates
