Last Friday I had the pleasure of reporting on our exam results and pupil destinations at our annual attainment meeting with the Head of Education. Whilst there are always areas in which we can improve, the results this year were pleasing. In last year’s S4 98% of pupils gained some form of National Qualification, with 80% of pupils achieving 5 or more National 4s (or better) and 58% achieving 5 or more National 5s. The old S5s did well with 63% of pupils achieving at least one Higher, 42% achieving 3 or more Highers, and 16% achieving 5 or more Highers. The S6 who left at the end of last session outdid themselves with 32% getting one or more Advanced Higher (the best result that we have had in that area for a long time). All the pupils are to be congratulated on their hard work and positive attitude – we just need to make sure that we keep these levels up.

On Saturday, the Modern Studies department had the pleasure of celebrating the success of one of last year's S6 at the Modern Studies Association Annual Conference. Caitlin Wright was presented with the award for the highest mark in the country in Advanced Higher Modern Studies. Caitlin achieved 87/90 in the exam in May, and an astounding “full marks” for her dissertation on the UK's Prison System. We are extremely proud of Caitlin who has been an outstanding pupil over the years and we wish her well in the next chapter in her life as a student of Law at Edinburgh University.

As well as pupils flexing their academic muscle, we have had news of further sporting success for one of our pupils –Scott Thomson. He was competing as part of the Scottish Judo team at the Flanders Judo Cup in Belgium. It was Scott’s last competition in the Cadet category and despite a field of 43 competitors, Scott managed to triumph and fight his way to a gold medal. All at the school are very proud of Scott and what he is achieving in his sport.

Last Friday some of our pupils competed in the East Lothian Badminton Competition. The Under 14 team won their part of the competition, doing the school proud. Congratulations to the team.

Pupils in the school have been raising money left, right and centre. “Wear it Pink” last week garnered £450 for Cancer Research, the Macmillan Cancer Support Concerts raised £1390 (that’s with pupils from all over East Lothian taking part), and we are looking forward to Children In Need in the next couple of weeks.

We had a good Parent School Partnership meeting on Wednesday night. We discussed numerous topics ranging from Pupil Council feedback to nutrition in school. The next meeting is on December 2nd at 6.15pm, and any parent is welcome to attend.

Carla Taylor, our chief Pupil Librarian, has developed a Library website that allows pupils to post book reviews and ask for advice on library services. The site includes educational apps to assist pupils with studying and there are also Poetry, Pupil Librarian and Events pages. You can view the site at www.knox.is/library Carla has worked tirelessly to get this site up and running, developing and building it single-handed, so please give it a look.

Have a very good weekend.

S Ingham