I hope you all had a lovely summer holiday. It was great to have our new S1 pupils join us last week and also welcome back our S2-S6 pupils to Session 2026-27. We are all very excited to see what this year brings and to work together with you to be ambitious for all of our learners. At the start of the year please can I highlight the need for exemplary attendance as this links directly with attainment and achievement. It would be great to have all pupils attend every day – that’s our aim – so they can achieve their potential. It was brilliant to see so many of our pupils embracing our new approach to uniform – many still adopting the more traditional uniform and lots also wearing our new zipped tops/sweatshirts with our school logo.
Our School Improvement Plan for this session, and Standards and Quality Report reflecting on last session, can be found here.
There is a lot of information in this update being the first one of the term so please do read through it all. Thanks.
Staffing
This session we have welcomed Ben Maxwell (Pupil Support Leader for S1); Laura Waters (Support for Learning Teacher); Bobby Douglas (Modern Studies and Social Subjects); Marianna Cruz (Chemistry and Science- 2 days a week) and Sandy Munroe (Music teacher – Fridays); Paul Gleeson (PE covering Lana Borwick); Scott Thomson (ASN assistant). Our pre-registered teachers joining us this year are: Susan Andrews (Chemistry and Science); Stephen Hogg (Physics and Science); Hugo Pengelley (History and Social Subjects); Yvonne Huddart (Maths). Our PT Equity is Laura Bates.
Assemblies
This week’s assemblies have been on our school values (ambition, respect and community) and have also covered fire evacuation, lockdown and non-fire evacuation procedures so all staff and pupils are fully aware of these.
SQA Results
As a school team we would like to praise our senior pupils for their performance in the recent Qualifications Scotland exam diet and a huge thanks to staff and parents/carers for their support and encouragement of our young people throughout the year that supported their attainment.
An overview of our results:
Our attainment at A-C for National 5 was 83% (this was 83% last session). This was also 3.8% above the National results of 79.2% and above the East Lothian figure of 79%. We had 22 pupils in S4 who achieved 7 National 5 passes, all at Band A, and a further 11 pupils who attained 6As and a B or C. This is our best attainment at this level for a number of years.
At Higher level, our A-C attainment was 85.6% (78% last year). This was well above the National results of 76.7% and the East Lothian figure of 77.6%. 9 pupils attained 5A passes. A number of our pupils also attained 5 and 4 Highers at a mixture of A/B/C grades and there was also strong results in a combination of National 5s and Higher subjects. This is our best performance in the last 9 years and one we want to continue to raise in years to come.
At Advanced Higher (AH), our A-C attainment was 64.9% (58.3% last year). This was below the National results of 77.6% and East Lothian figure of 71%. Four pupils attained 3 Advanced Highers and several others attained 2 AH. A number of our S6 also did another four Highers as opposed to Advanced Highers and performed really well in these – also helping support our best attainment at Higher level this year. This year we presented in 11 subject areas at Advanced Higher.
At Meadowpark, the majority of our S6 leavers left with 5 or more qualifications at SCQF level 3 or above. One of our young people, Eve Bowick, attained 4A pass Highers and N5 A pass and leaves us to take up a place at Edinburgh University to study English and Religion. Sean Devine, also an S6 leaver, has secured an apprenticeship for Early Years Childcare.
Within National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher, many young people showed great progress to achieve the grades they did – whether these were As, Bs or Cs. We also had many young people achieving well at National 3 and National 4, with a significant increase in qualifications achieved by young people at Meadowpark.
Our focus this year will continue to be on ensuring that all young people experience high-quality learning and teaching, and we ask that they engage fully with this to maximise their potential. This requires excellent attendance, a strong commitment to their studies, and a willingness to apply themselves with ambition and determination. For S6 pupils in particular, it is important that they remain committed to their full programme of study throughout the year and do not withdraw from subjects once they have secured an unconditional university offer.
We are committed to offering as meaningful S6 experience as possible and the purpose of S6 is to add value to their qualifications and skillset. However, we are concerned that our decreasing attainment in S6 in recent years has not been about our young people’s ability but more by reduced engagement and commitment to their studies, and for some, a noticeable reduction in application if they receive an unconditional offer from university. Both Higher, and particularly Advanced Higher courses, require significant investment from both staff and pupils, with substantial time dedicated to planning, preparation, teaching, assessment, and feedback. By maintaining commitment throughout the year, pupils will maximise the benefits of these valuable learning opportunities and achieve the best possible outcomes.
Finally – the links between attendance and achievement is huge. For our school (in our recent exam results) those pupils who had attendance of 95% or more had a 96% pass rate whereas those with 55-65% attendance only had a 72% pass rate - so being here every day is paramount to success.
1:1 Devices - Chromebooks
Knox Academy pupils are all very privileged to have 1:1 devices and all pupils now have these (including our new S1s who receive theirs on Wednesday). These should be brought to school, in a bag, each day, fully charged (20 mins charging each evening will ensure this).
Guardian Summaries (Chromebooks)
You may be aware of an additional feature of Google Classroom which is designed to help Parents/Carers gain an overview of the set tasks and assignments. This feature is called Guardian Summaries and it enables Parents/Carers to receive e-mail updates about: Missing work — Work not turned in when the summary was sent; Upcoming work — Work that’s due today and tomorrow (for daily emails) or that’s due in the upcoming week (for weekly emails); Class activities — Announcements, assignments, and questions recently posted by teachers.
As a parent/carer you will be able to control the frequency of these updates or decide to opt-out of receiving them at a later date.
Setting up Guardian Summaries
To setup Guardian Summaries your young person will need to follow these steps. This must be done by each child in your household for whom you wish to receive e-mail updates.
With your child use this link which requires your child to log in via Edubuzz.
We will use the main contact email we have on record but there is an option in the form to add a second email address. It is therefore essential that the pupil record is accurate so please contact us if you wish to make any changes to your stored information.
*Please also note that, due to GDPR regulations, your child may choose to opt out of sharing information with you and if they decline permission we will not be able to set up the summaries for you.
Activating Guardian Summaries is a manual process which needs to be carried out by the school once the form is completed.
Mobile phones/smartphones
As all pupils will have a 1:1 device there will be an expectation that pupils phone use is restricted to allow us to focus on learning and teaching in classes. Phones should be switched off/on silent as soon as they enter the school building (with the exception of young people with medical reasons or in extenuating circumstances as agreed with the House Team and parents/carers). Pupils will only be expected to access their smartphones during break and lunchtime and there will one designated area for them to do this or they can go outside the building to use them. We need to get back to the main thing being the main thing – a focus on learning and working with others – building social skills away from social media/online forums. We have explained this to pupils at assemblies this week and told them that if they are caught using their phones in class/in corridors they will be removed from them for the remainder of the day and a text will be sent to parents/carers to make them aware of this. Any phones removed can be picked up from the office at the end of the school day.
We would like to thank you for your support with this and supporting our young people’s learning and engagement when in school.
School Estate Update
Our ‘Grab and Go’ should be up and running after the September weekend, This will operate in our social area and offer the equivalent of a meal deal type option and soup/hot rolls too. This should mean queues should be vastly reduced in the Food Court with the two areas in operation so pupils will get served quicker at breaks and lunches.
We also have a new toilet block opening up near maths/computing. This should support our growing pupil numbers. We hope that these will be well looked after by our pupils and kept clean and tidy to ensure everyone can access these.
Knox Sports
We are looking forward to getting Knox Sport Clubs restarted! All sports have been available to book from Wednesday 19th August and all sports clubs will commence week beginning 24th August. Information on the booking system was sent out to parents/carers earlier on this week. If any parents or carers would like to volunteer at any of our clubs please get in contact with me. We would encourage all of our young people to get involved with one or more clubs at the school (there will be many more advertised beyond sport) to learn new skills, make new friends and add to our Knox Academy community. It allows pupils to work with other young people in different year groups too. (By Thomas Salkeld, Active Schools Coordinator).
Parent Council – 17 September
The first Parent Council meeting of this session will take place in the School library on the 17 September and we would love to see as many parents join us as possible. Come along from 6pm for tea/coffee and cake and a chat before the meeting starts at 6.30 pm. We hope to see you there! (Morven and Sarah - Co-Chairs)
Rights Respecting Schools (RRSA)
We are a Silver Rights Respecting school which means children's rights are learnt, understood and lived in this school. These are discussed at part of registration in the mornings.
Our Right of the week is Article 36
Children have the right to be protected from all other kinds of exploitation (being taken advantage of) even if these are not specifically mentioned in this Convention.
Events/Trips
Book Festival
The English Team is taking some of our S2 pupils to the Edinburgh Book Festival on Thursday 27 August
S6 Dalguise
Many of our S6 will head off to Dalguise for the weekend (28-30 August) for a weekend of outdoor pursuits and fun team building activities. A huge thank you to staff who have given up their weekend to take the trip. Have fun!
Geography
The staff are taking the N5 class on a river field trip to the Water of Leith.
Pupils’ Successes
I am delighted to share the names of our newly appointed House Captains for this session.
Garleton
Emily Mitchell
Robyn Young
Catriona Francois
Traprain
Niamh McAuley
David Hunter
Robert McWilliam-Snow
Lammerlaw
Ava Smith
Molly White
Lily McKenzie
Congratulations to all of our successful candidates and a huge thank you to all the young people who put themselves forward for these positions. We look forward to seeing the positive contribution they will make to their Houses and the wider school community throughout the year.
National Youth Choir of Scotland
Poppy Davidson-Kelly (S4) was selected as one of 16 choristers from NYCOS (National Youth Choir of Scotland) to sing at the opening of the Scottish Parliament to an audience including the King and Queen. What a great experience!
Hibernian Under 19s
Congratulations to Murray Bennett (S5) who has been selected to train with Hibs in their Under 19s squad.
Wakeboarding
A fantastic achievement for Megan Baillie (S3) who won an award at the annual RiDE multi stop cable tour competition series (UK) on Saturday at Foxlake. Megan has only been wakeboarding for 4 months and has achieved the Silver Medal in her category (Up &Comer Rookie U16) which is a tremendous achievement.
Welfare Information
Flu Vaccinations
Pupil flu vaccination consent forms have now been sent home with your child. It’s very important to complete, sign and return the form by 18th September, even if you don’t want your child to get vaccinated. The vaccine is given once a year. Flu viruses are constantly changing, so a different vaccine has to be made every year to ensure the best protection against flu. The vaccination session will take place at Knox on Thursday 10th December and at Meadowpark Wednesday 16th September. If your young person has not received a form, please ask them to see Alison Swallow in the medical room ASAP. For more information here. (By Mrs Swallow, Welfare).
Opportunities for Pupils
Nominations now open for Scottish Youth Parliament election
The Scottish Youth Parliament is the democratically elected voice of Scotland’s young people. It raises young people’s voices and campaign to make Scotland the best place to grow up.
Registrations now open for young people interested in becoming a Member of the Scottish Youth Parliament. Nominations must be made before 20 September and elections will be held 2 to 15 November. Support will be offered to all candidates.
Scottish Youth Parliament constituencies are the same as the Scottish Parliament’s. Candidates will stand, and pupils will vote, for the constituency based on the schools they attend as follows:
- Edinburgh Eastern, Musselburgh and Tranent: Ross High School, Musselburgh Grammar School, Rosehill High School
- East Lothian Coast and Lammermuirs: Preston Lodge High School, Knox Academy, North Berwick, Dunbar Grammar
Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament are 14-25-year-olds who are elected to represent young people in every part of Scotland. They:
- take part in youth voice and participation activities in their local area or organisation
- consult young people to find out about the issues they care about
- meet with local decision-makers, like Councillors and MSPs, to share young people’s views
- campaign for change and hold decision-makers to account.
Young people interested in standing for election to SYP can find out more and register online here.
Dates for your diary:
Our school calendar is updated regularly and should be used to access all information throughout the year. This will also allow you to plan ahead too for Parent/Carer consultations and other events too.
Sue Cook
