Last Sunday I was so proud to be in St Mary’s church for the opening service for the Haddington Festival. I was proud to be part of the town celebrating what is so very fine about our community, and I was incredibly proud to see the number of Knox pupils nominated for the Haddington Young Achiever Award. Congratulations go to Hannah Green, Amy Winter, and Sarah Greenwell for impressing the judging panel with their grit, determination and hard work. Sarah was awarded the final honours and we look forward to celebrating that with her at our Awards’ Ceremony.

I have to say that it has been an amazing week all in all. Activities’ Week has gone off so very well with youngsters having an excellent time whether they have been playing in a band, walking across the Forth Road Bridge, making films, or travelling far and wide. You only have to look at the school’s Twitter feed to see the variety of activities and experiences that the pupils have been offered. I would like to say a very big “thank you” to all the staff who have got involved, organised and accompanied activities – this week is a jewel in our crown and is something that we should be, justifiably, proud of. Thank you also to all the parents who support us.

Next week the new S4 are on Work Experience. I hope that they enjoy themselves and get every bit of experience they can out of the week. Sometimes pupils go to the type of job they want, some go to the type of job they think that they want, and some go to a job they would never dream of having. My main focus at school was Religious Studies so I was sent on work experience with a vicar! Now, I had never even thought of ordination at the grand old age of 17, but nevertheless it was fascinating to shadow someone else in their job, see what skills they needed, and how they handled other people. As someone far wise than me wrote, “No experience in life is ever wasted – no matter the outcome, good or bad – if you learn from it in the end.”

The New S5 return to us on Monday and will get stuck into their new timetables. I look forward to having them back in the building and getting a head start on their new courses. Whilst we do allow for some flexibility in June (sports’ days etc.) these three weeks are really valuable in terms of laying a good foundation for August.

On Tuesday of next week our inaugural Art and Design and Design and Technology Exhibition opens. Please pop into the school between 6.00pm and 7.30pm to see some of the fantastic work that our pupils are producing. Thanks to the hard work of the staff and pupils who have been pulling the exhibition together and I am really looking forward to seeing how it takes shape.

Have a very fine weekend.

S Ingham