HEAD TEACHER'S UPDATE 21 MAY 2026

Staffing  

Johnathan Foster, who has been temporary with us this year as a Physics teacher, will leave us on 29 May to take up a permanent post at Alva Academy. He been an amazing addition to our science team in his year here. We would like to wish him all the very best in his new post.

Teacher of Modern Languages (1FTE)
Interviews are scheduled for Monday 25 May 2026

Teacher of Music (Part-Time)
Closing date: Sunday 31 May 2026

Teacher of Learning Support (1FTE)
Advertisement will go live on Friday 29 May 2026

ASN Auxiliary (Part-Time) – Meadowpark

Advertisement will go live on Friday 22 May 2026

PT Equity (permanent) - has gone live within the school and interviews will take place at the start of June.

Our School Show – get your tickets now!

'We Will Rock You' - our school show, will take place for three nights - June 3rd, 4th & 5th. Tickets are now on sale through IPay and a small amount can also be purchased, in cash, from our school office.  Please come along to see a fantastic performance of all Queen Hits!'

Rights Respecting Schools (RRSA)   

Our right of the week is Article 30 - Minority Culture, Language and Religion

A person points to themselves and has a speech bubble with A, B and C in three different alphabets. Behind them is a house with a family in it.

Children have the right to use their own language, culture and religion - even if these are not shared by most people in the country where they live.  

Deaf Awareness

This week's sign is know/don't know

Did you know that the best way to get a deaf person’s attention is to gently tap their shoulder, wave in their line of sight!

Events/Trips

S1 Deli Projects

It has been great to see all the planning that S1s have put into their Deli Projects in terms of thinking about productivity, marketing and costs. There were some really tasty foods/smoothies made. It was also wonderful to see so many S1 parents/carers along listening to their presentations and tasting their goods. Well done S1.

Pupils’ Successes

Aubigny Twinning

A huge congratulations to Corin Togher whom, after interviews yesterday, was awarded this scholarship. Corin will spend a month out in Aubigny over the summer immersing herself in the language and culture.

East Coast FM

Last week during his usual radio presenting slot, Leland Foot, did an amazing job during his first training session at East Coast FM. He had 4 Knox pupils, Alexa, Alice, Sophie and Daisy and he spent time with all of them showing them how the equipment works. After that he presented his show live on air while the girls observed. He even included them in his show and got them chatting on air. 

Rugby

Congratulations to our U15 Team who, on their final outing of the season won the Selkirk 7s.

Haddington 2012 Football Team

A huge congratulations to Haddington 2012 Football team who won the Paladin Cup last weekend. A number of Knox Academy pupils were part of the team: Alastair Stewart, Oliver Sandie, Lucas Turner, Joseph Maguire, Alex Mitchell, Aiden Turner, Riley King, Austin Tait, Brendan Hughes, Fraser Brodie and Gabe Lyall

S3 Duke of Edinburgh's Bronze Award Expeditions

Last week the S3 Duke of Edinburgh's Award groups completed their qualifying expedition for their award. This was the culmination of many months of after-school training and preparation and follows on from their successful practice expedition in April. As part of the award participants had to plan a route including calculating their timings and constructing route cards, be entirely self-sufficient for two days, including at their overnight camp, carrying all of the kit, clothing and food required for the two days.

The groups enjoyed exploring the beautiful countryside around Garvald, Gifford and Bolton but had to contend with a range of adverse weather - four seasons in one in day - both days! With weather quickly veering between cold and dry to warm and wet then boiling hot sun topped off with some hailstones each day, the group were well-prepared with kit and training to cope with all the weather.

This year’s groups also had to squeeze route-planning and expeditions in amongst a packed calendar with the PGL trip and work experience also happening around the same time.  As well as the raft of skills the participants learned during their DofE training and expeditions, they've also had first-hand experience of juggling many commitments to help prepare them for the busy modern world!

Mr Boyle is grateful to Ms Elder and Mr Foster for giving up their own time to help with the after school training sessions through this year

Please do contact admin@knox.elcschool.org.uk to tell us about your young people’s successes so we can share these with our school community.

General Information

Thriving Futures

Thriving Futures Trauma Informed Training Programme Thriving Futures is a trauma-informed training programme designed specifically for kinship carers, foster carers and adoptive parents. Commissioned by the Scottish Government as part of the National Trauma Transformation Programme (NTTP) and led by Public Services Delivery Scotland, the training is still in development and undergoing testing. It has already been piloted with foster and kinship carers, and we are now seeking adoptive parents to take part in the next phase. Your lived experience is essential to shaping this programme. By participating, you will access skilled-plus level trauma training and play an active role in refining future national training. If you are interested, then please get in touch here for more information. Sessions will be held in Edinburgh on the 10th and 17th June

There will be no Head Teacher’s update next week.

Dates for your diary:                             

25 & 28 May - Athletics Festival – S1-S3 (only)

28 May – S6 Prom

29 May – BGE (S3) Graduation Ceremony – pupils only

1 June - New Timetable starts

3 -5 June – We Will Rock You - School Show - 7pm

9 June – P7 Information Evening

18 June – Evening of Celebration (Awards Evening)

26 June – End of term – school finishes at 12.15

12 August – Session 2026-27 begins – 8.28 am start

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