HEAD TEACHER'S UPDATE 9 JUNE 2023

S6 Prom

It was wonderful to catch up with our S6 Leavers at the Prom last Friday night at Whitekirk Hill. They looked stunning in their outfits. The Head Pupils’ speech was very amusing and recounted the high points of the last six years and many laughs along the way. The buffet meal followed the speeches and was delicious. Everyone had fun mixing in and dancing the night away. We hope that they will all continue to keep in touch with us and let us know how they are getting on in life and, as former pupils, come back and inspire others at the school telling us about their successes.

Staffing

Congratulations to Martha Middlemiss who was appointed yesterday to the full-time permanent teacher of music position. This will start on 14 August.

Our full time, permanent English teacher post went live last Friday and remains open for another week.

ASN Auxiliaries – advert for three posts for Meadowpark – August start

Today we say goodbye to our brilliant Phil Gilholm, who moves to a Pupil Support Worker post at Rosehill High School on Monday. Our loss is definitely their gain! We wish him all the very best.

Congratulations to Alison Fairbairn, one of our PSAs, who will take up a new post in Edinburgh, in July, working with Seaview Respite Centre. We wish her all the very best for this.

Interviews for our Welfare Assistant, Pupil Support Worker and ASN Auxiliary are taking place next week.

Parents’ and Pupils’ Information

Pupil Leadership Team Elections

On Wednesday this week, Mr Miller and Miss Bulloch officially marked the start of the much anticipated race to become Knox Academy's Pupil Leadership Team by meeting the new S6 cohort in the library to discuss the Head Pupil Election process. 

S6 pupils were invited to apply to become one of two head pupils or three depute head pupils - a prestigious and highly coveted role at Knox.

Pupils will run a rigorous campaign culminating in the key elements of a manifesto, a video and an interview by a wide-ranging panel being marked and scored by members of the school community. There will also be the unscored, but always popular, Knox Academy Question Time where the candidates will answer questions in front of a live studio audience.

The final vote will take place on Friday 23 June, which will also be the day that the Pupil Leadership Team is announced.

We wish all of the nominees the best of luck in the campaigning and remind all pupils that they can vote in two weeks’ time. 

Every pupil and every member of staff has one vote. Every vote counts!

Reconnecting at Knox Academy

Thank you to all parents/carers who came along to last night’s online meeting about our new approach to smartphone use in August. This will allow us to focus on learning, teaching and working with others, rather than smartphones distracting some of our learners. The comments in the chat box, from parents/carers, showed great support for this initiative, which looks at creating the best learning environment for all our young people to flourish. i have sent the presentation home to parents/carers via email so those who were unable to attend know the details of the initiative that launches in August.

P7 pupils

We are looking forward to welcoming our P7 parents/carers to the Information Evening, at Knox Academy, on Tuesday 13 June from 6-7pm.

Evening of Celebration

S1 and S2 Merit Awards winners, who were nominated in three or more subjects, should have now received notification and parent/carers received an e-mail invitation to the event.  Seniors (S3-S6), Special and Rotary Awards e-mail invitations were issued yesterday and today.

Those in S1 and S2 who received one or two merit awards will be presented with them at a House Assembly in the last week of term.

Pupils’ Achievements

Duke of Edinburgh

Thursday 8 & Friday 9 June, twenty pupils from our new S4 are out on a qualifying expedition for Bronze Award locally. These pupils recently had a really successful practice expedition and the qualifying expedition gives them a chance to put their skills to the test. Their bronze Award will also recognise the valuable contributions they've made to the local community through their volunteering activities and their contributions to their own personal development through their physical and skill activities.

On Friday 16 and Saturday 17 June, 13 new S5 pupils will be completing their Bronze qualifying expedition locally.  Participants are looking forward to this expedition far more than the original date earlier in the year that had to be postponed, due to torrential rain for days on end! These pupils completed their practice expedition many months ago and are currently working hard to remember their skills and to refresh their memory about the routes they'd planned so meticulously previously.

Saturday 17 June is due to be the last day that Phil Gilholm will be contributing to Knox DofE groups after many years of giving up countless hours and days of his own time to assist a great many Knox Academy pupils over the years towards their DofE awards, both with the school and with local community groups. I'll take this opportunity to say my thanks on behalf of all of those pupils past and present. (By Mr Boyle, Biology and DofE leader)

Achievement Ties

Yesterday we presented two endeavour certificates and six achievement ties to pupils in recognition of their commitment in a variety of areas. The endeavour certificates were presented for performances in badminton, tennis and rugby. The half colours ties were presented for achievements in swimming and commitment to supporting wider community events.  The full colours ties were awarded for outstanding commitment to music, community volunteering (extended period of time) and piping at a national level. Congratulations to all! The next Achievement Tie nominations will take place in October.

Football

Some of our new S2s, who play for Haddington Athletic have won the 3rd Division League Trophy having only lost one game all season. This is a great achievement for their first year playing eleven aside football!! They play their final League game on Sunday 11 June, at 11am, at the 3G in Whittingehame Drive. Please do go down and support them if you are able. Win, lose or draw, they win the trophy!! 

Success Stories

If you have any success stories about your young person please send these in to our admin@knox.elc.school.org so we can share these with everyone in our school and community. Thank you.

Support

Please can parents/carers make an appointment if they wish to speak to a member of Pupil Support or the Senior Leadership Team.  An increasing number of parents/carers have been turning up, without an appointment, wishing to be seen and although we want to see you, we have been unable to do so as we have been teaching or in pre-arranged meetings. By making an appointment with us via the office, or email, we can ensure a time and date. Thank you.

Please do not hesitate to contact our Pupil Support Team by emailing your young person’s House Team if you would like to discuss any support we can offer.

 

Dates for your diary:

Thursday 22 June – S1/2 Awards Evening – 6-7pm; S3-S6 Awards Evening – 7.30-8.30pm

Wednesday 28 June – term ends at 3.25pm

Wednesday 16 August – new terms starts for pupils – 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.

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