World Book Day
This week staff and pupils in the English department have been celebrating the 25th Anniversary of World Book Day. We've had the infamous department Tik-Toks highlighting the importance of reading as well as the vast amount of books on offer in the school library. Junior pupils have taken part in book quizzes and reading bingo and to top it off the English department has launched a competition in conjunction with the school library, offering shiny new books as prizes. To be in with a chance of winning, S1-2 pupils should submit a video, reviewing a book they've enjoyed or would recommend to others. (Z Machen)
Curriculum
Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM)
Yesterday morning, 25 S1 engineers-in-the-making took part in a STEM event in conjunction with Edinburgh College. Their challenge was to make a tower as tall as possible using a minimum of materials. Once constructed, each tower was tested to see how well it could stand up to strong winds and an earthquake. The pupils would gain extra points if their towers could withstand the worst of conditions.
As each straw and pipe cleaner that was used to build the towers had a cost, the young engineers had to keep track of their total cost and also calculate their cost to height ratio. At the end, every pupil said that they had thoroughly enjoyed their morning of design, construction and numeracy.
Next Thursday the pupils will have an opportunity to discuss how they got on with engineers from the college and ask questions relating to tower building and other aspects of engineering.
Also next Thursday, S2 pupils will have the opportunity to take part in the same tower building event.
Easter Study Programme
There is an online Easter Study Programme available through E-Sgoil. This covers a range of subjects and levels and pupils have been encouraged to sign up to this ASAP. Please can you support them to do this too. Thank you.
Career Ready Programme 2020-2022
The year 2 students (S6) are almost at the end of their Career Ready programme which leads a young person during their journey from education to employment. Each student has spent S5 and S6 partnered with a mentor from the volunteer businesses - Charles River, Diageo and HSBC - who also provided a work internship for each pupil. Unfortunately due to the pandemic, not all workplaces were able to provide the internship opportunity this year, but those students that did, enjoyed the experience - and being paid was a bonus!
By the end of March the four pupils will undertake the final "masterclass" entitled "Brand Me". This teaches and encourages them to provide potential employers, colleges or universities with the full details and best examples of their experience, qualifications and skills. In addition, pupils are encouraged to have confidence of selling themselves and to see the importance of this to achieve their personal career goals.
The four students will attend a virtual Graduation Ceremony on Friday 18 March 2022 along with over 100 pupils from Edinburgh and the Lothians. The event celebrates their achievements and progress alongside their mentor, school coordinator, family and friends.
Knox Academy is delighted the pupils have had the opportunity to participate in this programme and look forward to the Graduation. (D Ferguson)
Leavers’ Information
The official leaving date will be Tuesday 31 May 2022 for all pupils in S6 and any pupils who wish to leave school in S5 and S4 (and who are 16 prior to 30 September).
Squash
Last weekend it was the Scottish Squash Junior Nationals and Jamie (S1) and Dylan Pearman (S5) were competing in this. Jamie played in the Boys U13's and finished in 3rd position. .Dylan played in the Boys U17's and also finished in 3rd position. Jamie has been selected to represent Scotland at the 5 Nations Championships in Warwick in April. This will be Jamie's third time of representing Scotland. Dylan has also played for Scotland on many occasions but is now too old for these championships.
Achievements in/out of School and Achievement Ties
We are very keen to celebrate the success of our pupils so if your young person had achieved in an event out of school, please do contact us to let us know so we can celebrate it and share it with our community. Next week we will be inviting applications for Achievement Ties and it would be great if as many parents/coaches/pupils applied for these as possible if they fit the categories. The link to the application form will be in next week’s HT’s update but in the meantime, please read the information.
Covid-19 Information
Please continue to report all positive Covid-19 cases to covidinschools@eastlothian.gov.uk or if you do not have access to email, telephone 01875 613921. Please also inform the school so we can amend your young person’s attendance record. LFD kits are available every morning on arrival to school and during the day from the office. They can also be collected from pharmacies and test centres.
Please do not send pupils to school who have symptoms. They should self-isolate and book a PCR test and not return to school until they know this is negative and they have no symptoms. Pupils should also continue to do a twice weekly LFD test and if this is positive, self-isolate until they get two negative LFD tests, two days apart after day 6. If they do not, they are able to return after day 10.
We now have a dedicated section on our website for all things Covid, so please refer to it for the latest information.
Attendance
We now have an “Attendance” inbox for parents to email with student absences/appointments. Please email attendance@knox.elcschool.org.uk
Dates for your diary:
Friday 8 April S6 Leavers’ Ceremony
Monday 11 – Friday 22 April Easter holidays
Monday 25 April All pupils and staff return
Wednesday 27 April *Exam leave starts for S4-S6
*Letters to parents/carers/pupils will be issued next week with more detailed information about exam leave
Parent Council Request
At the Parent Council meeting parents asked if there could be a footer on my HT’s update that stayed there year round and which offered quick links to remote learning resources, course choices, supported study and https://www.ka-net.org.uk/careersnews. 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.
Sue Cook
Please also remember to follow us at: www.ka-net.org.uk 
@knoxacademy @knoxacademyHT for the latest information and updates
