Staffing Update
The Acting Curriculum Leader of Communications (English, Literacy and Languages) and a part-time Music teacher adverts close on 22 and 29 September (respectively) and we are intending to interview for both in the next two weeks. Both of these posts are temporary and are to cover the maternity leave of the current post holders.
Pupil News
Scottish Inter-District Hockey Finals
The Scottish Inter-district Finals were held this weekend in the National Hockey Centre in Glasgow. East District were the winners in the U18s category, and two of our Knox Academy S5 boys were part of the winning team. Daniel Hall (Inverleith Hockey Club) and Charlie Gates (Grange HC) were outstanding in their performances and in ensuring the team won. Well done to both!
Gold Duke of Edinburgh Group
We had six of our young people in S6 take part in their DofE Gold qualifying expedition in the Cairngorms last weekend. They walked and camped through the mountains from Inverey near Braemar to Blair Atholl, over 4 days, which is no mean feat! They also incorporated sessions of yoga throughout their walk. A member of staff from Venturing Out, who was involved in assessing the group, said they were amazing and wrote the following comment on Venturing Out’s website, “Fantastic 4 days and 3 nights in the Cairngorms with the Haddy Hikers on their Gold DoE Scotland Qualifying Expedition. Great to spend time in such a remote and beautiful place. They all tackled their expedition with enthusiasm, smiles and good humour! Great resilience shown by all to complete the expedition which is no mean feat and an achievement not to be taken lightly! Well done to all and good luck with your next steps in life”. What a great accolade for these young people and for the school. A huge thank you to the Parent Leader too for making this possible for all of these young people. Your support of them has been much appreciated by the school and the young people.
The Martin Garner Spurn Young Birder of the Year
Congratulations to Corin Woodhead, in S2, who won The Martin Garner Spurn Young Birder of the Year competition. This national competition focused on migration, field skills, topographical studies and general knowledge on birds and their identification and behaviour.
Young Sports Ambassadors
Bethany Ross and Ewan McKinlay have been appointed as our new YSAs for the year.
Staff News
I completed my challenge to cycle the 185 miles of the Hebridean Way in one day on Saturday 6 July 2019. I had originally planned to ride from south to north with the prevailing wind but the wind forecasts were mostly northerly so I changed my plans and rode from north to south. The benefit of this was having a light tail wind and generally good weather, but the downside was having to leave at 2:00am to meet the ferries on the journey south. It was pitch black when I left so I had to ride with lights for about 2.5 hours, it was amazing to watch the sunrise in such spectacular scenery. After travelling through Lewis, I had the challenge of the big hills on Harris, everything went well, my training paying off. I arrived at my first ferry 95 miles after cycling for 6.5 hours and had a good break before setting off from Berneray on the second part which was 75 miles through North Uist, Benbecula and South Uist then onto Eriskay to catch my last ferry to Barra. I had 6 hours to meet this ferry but I managed to complete the 75 miles in 5.5 hours. By the time I arrived on Barra it was starting to get cold and I was just beginning to get tired so the last 15 miles were tough, especially the long 12% hill climb which was two miles from the finish! I arrived at the end on Vatersay at just after 8:00pm, plenty daylight to pitch the tent and get off to bed at about 9:30pm. I thoroughly enjoyed my challenge which was helped a lot by my wife Aileen and son James acting as my support vehicle so I could ride without carrying too much, and I had no punctures or mechanical problems. In total I was cycling for 13 hours and 15 minutes with breaks on the 2 ferry journeys. To help ensure all pupils have the opportunity to take part in activities that are vital, memorable experiences that help to make everyone feel included in their school community please help me to fulfil this aim by donating to my challenge or by contacting me at Knox Academy. I am not far off raising my £1000 target so any support would be much appreciated. (by Phil Gilholm)
General School Information/Activities
Achievement Ties – Nominations
Nomination forms will be available online/from the school office from Monday 30 September and must be submitted by Friday 11 October, at latest, to Mr Moncrieff. Please use this document for more details about the categories and criteria to apply for one. If you require any further details please email jmoncrieff@knox.elcschool.org.uk .
Knox Academy’s Vision
Thank you to all parents/carers who took the time to complete the online survey to help us create our vision for the next 5-10 years at Knox Academy. Staff, pupils, parents/carers and community partners will now form a small group to analyse the results and then use the four top words as a framework for our vision statement. Once this has been done I will let everyone know what it is. It is great that our vision will truly be a joint vision as all the key groups have had a say in leading in it. A huge thank you to our community partners, staff and pupils for their engagement with the survey too.
Reminder of S1 Parental Experience (new S1 parents/carers only) – Monday 28 October
So far we have only four parents/carers interested in taking part and we will need a minimum of ten people for it to be viable so if you are considering it, please do come along. If you would like to participate in this opportunity, please email emaguire@knox.elcschool.org.uk by Friday 27 September at latest. Please give us the following information in your email: Your Name/Your Young Person’s Name and their House and Class. We will be in touch with parents/carers after this date to let you know if you are part of the group of 20 and the programme for the day. Parents/carers who have taken part in these days have always seen it as a very valuable and fun experience.
Extra-Curricular Clubs
Please can parents/carers encourage your young people to attend one, or more, of our extra-curricular clubs. These range from morning fitness sessions, lunch time clubs and after-school sessions. Some activities have a small fee and are detailed on the information pack that was given out to S1/S2 pupils a few weeks ago. If any S3s and above require more information, please see members of the PE department.
All the activities on offer require a completed 2019-2020 PC1 form. Please ensure that this is returned to the PE department before your first session – please note only one PC1 needs to be completed unlike previous years. This will also allow you to compete in fixtures, some that are already well underway!
Study Support
Our full programme of study support is now available. Please encourage your young person to attend these as it is better for young people to be supported throughout the year than to try to cram support in at the last minute before exams. The sessions provide an opportunity for supporting homework, exam preparation and extension tasks.
Scholar
All pupils in S3-S6 should have scholar passwords now and should be actively using this as a tool to support their learning. I would be grateful if parents/carers can encourage their young person to use this programme to support their studies. Prelims are earlier this year (November) and pupils should already have study programmes in place to prepare for them.
Eco-Schools
This week the Eco-Committee organised our donations of clothes hangers and uniform items. We received one clothing rack but it's already full! The Eco-Committee is still looking for another portable clothes rack to accommodate new uniform donations which will be collected during upcoming Parents' Nights. If you have spare clothes hangers or a clothing rack, please bring them into the school. A big thank you to everyone who has already helped us out so far.
Meadowpark
The session for Meadowpark has got off to an excellent collaborative and financial start as they are in receipt of a generous donation of £8000 from four of the developers working locally. CALA, Mactaggart and Mickel, Stewart Milne Homes and Taylor Wimpey each donated £2000 so that the Meadowpark provision can revamp its garden and outdoor spaces.
The plans, which were drawn up in conjunction with the school’s young people, ELPA and Loose Parts Play will create a greener space that includes more trees and planting, a herb garden, sensory space and seating areas. The work will be carried out by volunteers from STRiVE and Haddington Peer Project (HPP).
CALA were impressed that Meadowpark DHT Charli Prime had included Lothian Autistic Society (LAS), East Lothian Special Needs Playscheme (ELSNPS) and the HPP as part of her bid to the CALA community bursary. Both LAS and ELSNPS hold their clubs in Meadowpark in the evenings, weekends and holidays. If you are a keen gardener or can offer some support to prepare the ground please get in touch (by Ms Charli Prime)
Lost Property
Any lost property will be held at the school for reclaiming for one month. After this period items will either be recycled to our ‘preloved uniform’ clothing, which will be available for parents/carers to select items from at school events, or to the East Lothian Uniform Bank is available for families to access via a support letter from the school.
S6 Dalguise
Our S6 pupils head off to Dalguise this weekend for a fun packed 48 hours of activities and outdoor pursuits. I would like to wish them all well and also thank the staff for giving their time to accompany them on the trip.
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Any absence emails/appointments/requests for call backs etc should be sent to knoxacademy@knox.elcschool.org.uk
Dates for your diary (please also refer to the CALENDAR on the school website for all events across the year):
- 24 September – UCAS Information Session for Parents
- 9 October – P7 Information Evening
- 14-22 October – Mid-term break for pupils
- 29 October – Parent Council Meeting 6.15-8pm (Library)
Have a lovely weekend
Sue Cook
