This week we have had House Group assemblies on the success that good attendance and being on time can bring. These have been led by our Pupil Support Leaders. It would be great if parents/carers can support these with discussions at home using the linked documents. Thank you.
In preparation for our Diversity Evening celebrations on 9 February 2022 we are asking parents/carers to engage with their young people over the holidays to do a genealogy activity so we can explore the diversity within our community. We are asking you to do a family tree of your ancestors and where they lived around the world. I am sure there will be a wet weather day during the holidays where this will be a great family activity. When pupils return after the holidays we will invite pupils to plot these places on our World Map and use this information to help plans some of acts from around the world for our show on that evening. This PowerPoint should also help you with this activity,
Parents’/Carers’ Information
Reports – S4
These will be issued the week after the October break and report on your young person’s achievement of a level, their effort, behaviour, home learning and give a few comments on next steps in learning. The Curriculum section of our website will detail the content of courses to allow parents/carers to be able to see the work being covered in each term rather than reports going in to this detail. Any feedback you have on the reports would be most welcome via the tear-off slips included in the reports.
Morning Drop-Off/End of Day pick-up
If you are dropping off/picking up your young person, parents/carers must not stop on double yellow lines, or the yellow box in front of the main entrance, as this is causing severe traffic congestion in the morning as well as compromising the safety of our young people.
Please drop your young person off round the back of the school and ask them to walk the last section on to the school premises. I appreciate that if the young person has such things as a broken leg/injury the need to drop them off on school grounds but this is extenuating circumstances. Staff and school buses/taxis should really be the only groups accessing the route into the school at the start/end of the day and are asked to do so at 5mph to ensure everyone’s safety. Thank you.
Communication
We are really keen to support our young people and parents/carers. If you do need to contact the school for advice/support/questions about your young person the first port of call should be your young person’s Pupil Support Leader or House Team. For those parents who have young people in S1/2 this is quite a different protocol from primary schools where the teacher or Head Teacher would be contacted in the first instance. The Pupil Support Leader (and House Team) will be able to support you directly in most instances but some questions you have may require them to liaise with other staff too. It would also be appreciated if you do wish to meet with the House Team that an appointment is arranged in advance as if parents/carers arrive at the school without an appointment we cannot guarantee that we will be able to see you at this time. Thank you for your support with this.
We will be issuing our updated Communication Policy after the October break which sets out timelines for responses; usually 48hrs to acknowledge emails/letters and five working days to respond. Staff are not expected to respond to emails over the weekend or during holidays if contacted during these times. House Teams will do their best to respond to all parental contacts as timely as possible. Contact emails are as follows:
Ms Adam/Mrs Falconer (Garleton) garleton@knox.elcschool.org.uk
Mr Meekison/Mr Russell (Lammerlaw) lammerlaw@knox.elcschool.org.uk
Mrs Doig/Mr Illingworth (Traprain) traprain@knox.elcschool.org.uk
Information Session on Scholar for Parents and Carers (S4-S6 pupils)
SCHOLAR has been delighted with the positive response to our recently advertised Information Session for Parents and Carers webinars. As well as running additional sessions to meet the demand, we are also happy to provide links to a recording of the session which took place on 28th September 2022 and to the short PowerPoint presentation used.
School Dances
Pupils who were interested in attending these should have now registered this interest via a Google Form, which was sent directly to their school email accounts. Parents/carers should have received an e-mail with a link to the IPay system to allow them to make the payment for £3.00. If your young person has registered and you have not received an e-mail, please contact admin@knox.elcschool.org.uk.
Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme
A new marketing campaign, launched by the Scottish Government, is encouraging more people under the age of 22 to take up free bus travel. Across TV, digital, radio and outdoor channels, the campaign promotes the benefits of free bus travel to those that may not have considered choosing the bus before.
Young people can use their Young Scot National Entitlement Card or National Entitlement Card to sign up.
Homepage - YPTS (freebus.scot)
Parent Council Meeting
The next meeting is on Wednesday 26 October 2022 at 6.30pm (virtual meeting). This meeting will take place online. If you would like to attend this meeting please email our Chair of the Parent Council to gain access to our meeting code, parentcouncil@ka-net.org.uk. It would be great to see as many people attend as possible.
Charity Fund Raiser
Wear a Flash of Purple for Polio (donation appreciated on the day) – Thursday 27 October 2022
Each year there is a World Polio Day which this year is on 24th October. On this date however Knox Academy will still be on holiday.
Knox Academy is playing our part in supporting “End Polio Now” by creating an awareness day.
In conjunction with Rotary Haddington, we are inviting all pupils to wear a ‘flash of purple’ on their uniform on Thursday 27th October.
The Arts
To assist with future planning, East Lothian Council Arts Service and The Brunton Theatre Trust are carrying out a consultation into East Lothian residents’ views about participatory arts activities at The Brunton in Musselburgh and also out in the community, across East Lothian. This consultation is taking place in order to get residents’ views and to make sure activities respond to identified interests and needs.
Individuals and groups are being encouraged to complete a survey accessed on East Lothian Council’s consultation portal, linked to here. Hard copies of the survey are available to pick up in East Lothian libraries and from The Brunton box office counter. The survey will be available to complete until 10 December. The results of the consultation will be used to develop plans for arts activities going forward. (Charlotte McMillan, Development Officer, Community Arts)
Parent Council – reminder
The Parent Council is keen to get your views on a variety of issues as parent/carers of young people at Knox Academy. The questionnaire will take no longer than 5-10 minutes to complete and they would really appreciate your input. The link to the questionnaire is here. Please can parents/carers respond to it by Friday 14 October? Thank you.
Pupils’ News
S1 Elective –Diversity
Over the past few weeks some S1 pupils have been involved in creating “Around The World” presentations for their Elective. The presentation involved decorating a “stall” with flags, dressing in their given Country’s colours, teaching us how to speak the language, telling us about the culture and history. They even brought into foods for us to sample (including homemade churros) and taught us a local dance. This was a resounding success and all pupils loved being involved. Other teachers were invited into class to watch the presentations and were very impressed. (By Mrs E Reynolds)
S2 Outdoor Education/Storytelling
Unfortunately our “Under the Stars” camping trip was postponed due to adverse weather however some Outdoor Education leaders came into school and took the group out of school to the river where they practised building fires, putting up tents and even enjoyed a hot chocolate and some delicious s’mores. Everyone is now suitably knowledgeable and excited for the trip which will go ahead in the New Year! (By Mrs E Reynolds)
Pupils’ Achievements
Well done to Morven Kenny (S1) who won a bronze medal at the recent Scottish Athletics Road Race.
I hope you all have a lovely October break with your young person/people and we will look forward to welcoming them back to school on Wednesday 26 October at 8.28am.
Dates for your diary:
Monday 17 – Tuesday 25 October School holiday for pupils (staff return on Tuesday 25)
Wednesday 26 October Pupils return (8.28am)
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 
@knoxacademy @knoxacademyHT for the latest information and updates
