September 2009

25 September 2009
Published: 25 September 2009

This has been the week of Study Skills for S5/6 pupils. All senior pupils have been given general and subject specific materials to help them with revision and studying. The skills covered should be of great use for class work, assessments and the prelims.

A trip to the theatre on Wednesday evening to see 'Beauty and the Beast' was a great success and the junior pupils were a credit to the school. Continuing on the drama theme, the school's production of 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' has been cast. Pupils from all year groups and many staff are involved in the production that will be a lovely pre-Christmas treat for all.

Congratulations to the 5 pupils who have reached 125 points in the Pupil Points System, their Bronze Award certificates are the first to be issued this session, and I look forward to signing many more over the coming months.

Best wishes (and good luck) to the S6 pupils and staff who leave today for the Staff/Pupils Weekend. This is now a well-established tradition and I look forward to hearing about another successful trip.

JB Craig

 

18 September 2009
Published: 18 September 2009

This has been another eventful week at Knox Academy. The S1 'Settling In Evening' on Tuesday was very well attended and I would like to thank all staff and the Head Boy and Head Girl, who took part in the presentations. I hope the parents found the evening informative and it was a delight to report how well their youngsters are settling in at the school.
This week, it was the turn of S6 to undertake the 'Live'n Learn' seminar, again the feedback has been positive. S5 pupils will undertake this next Tuesday as part of the S5/6 Study Skills Week (S6 pupils may be distracted by the packing required for the S6/Staff Weekend at the end of the week).

Early in the week, I visited all S5/6 classes in column B on the timetable. The theme was 'Homework' (completion on time and standard). All staff agreed that progress in this area was satisfactory, although one or two pupils were identified as being a bit 'reluctant' to do homework. However, it was a pleasure to see all the senior pupils and to hear so many positive comments about their attitude to their studies.

If you have been in Haddington this week you may have seen groups of pupils in and around various shops. This was not mass truanting but S3 Business Education pupils completing an enterprise survey and S1 pupils undertaking research on Fair Trade as part of the 'Destination Africa' section of the ACE Friday morning.

Monday is a holiday and I wish all sections of the school community an enjoyable weekend.

Best wishes,
JB Craig

 

11 September 2009
Published: 11 September 2009

Another busy week and, thankfully, the weather has improved. This has meant that the sporting fixtures have been able to start with a rugby match at Dunbar.
As part of our support for study programme, all S3 pupils took part in a 'Live'n Learn' seminar, this proved to be very lively (judging by the cheering from the hall). Feedback has been positive and this is encouraging as we have further sessions planned for other year groups.

This week I have visited all the S2 and S3 classes. The theme this week has been conduct and behaviour and I'm pleased to report that staff were positive about the pupils and the majority of pupils had, and were using, the homework planners. However, some pupils had lost/forgotten/misplaced their school ties and parental help in locating these items that have mysteriously disappeared would be very welcome.

The Parent School Partnership (Parent Council) met on Wednesday evening and I would encourage parents to access the Parent Forum section of the website for more information.

We have the S1 'Settling in Evening' on Tuesday 15th September at 6pm in the school hall and I look forward to providing an update for parents on how their youngsters are doing at Knox Academy.

Best wishes,
JB Craig

 

4 September 2009
Published: 04 September 2009

The weather has been the dominant element of this week. The rain has been relentless and all pupils are urged to dress appropriately for the weather. Our advice to pupils during inclement weather is to remain in school and accommodation is provided.

A major problem and concern this week has been the traffic in and out of the school campus, this has caused obstruction and 'traffic jams'. Please note: parents/carers must not bring their vehicles into the school area either to drop off or collect pupils, unless a prior arrangement has been made with the school.

East Lothian managed to hold the county sports, congratulations to all Knox competitors involved. It has been a busy week for the seniors with the Higher Education Convention and 2Moro's Drivers event.

A big thank you to the prefects who have been helping with the juniors during the inclement weather.

Fingers crossed for a dry week next week.

Best wishes,
JB Craig