November 2010

26 November 2010
Published: 26 November 2010

Fund raising for ‘Children in Need’ continued this week with brave staff being ‘sponged and creamed’ by pupils at lunchtime on Wednesday. All the activities have raised a splendid £1410 for ‘Children in Need’. Congratulations to the whole school community and thanks to the S6 for organising the events.

During the week, I have visited the S5/6 classes. The focus this week has been ‘attitude to work’ and preparation for the prelim examinations (they begin on 24 January-only 6 ‘working’ weeks away). It is pleasing to report that the teachers, in the main, are complimentary regarding the pupils’ commitment to their studies. However, some pupils need to be more diligent in completing and returning homework on time.

The theme of the assemblies this week has been treat others, as you would like to be treated. Mrs Ingham used the character of Mrs  Doasyouwouldbedoneby, from ‘The Water Babies’ to illustrate the theme. 

Over the last two days, a group of S3 pupils undertook training for the Panasonic KWN (Kid Witness News) programme. The pupils will form a news team to produce a film/video reflecting Global Citizenship. This is a great opportunity for the pupils, good luck to them as they make progress with their project and thanks to Mr Campbell for organising the Knox team.

Yesterday, a group of S2 pupils, accompanied by Ms Morson and Ms Patterson, travelled to Telford College to take part in the ‘Construction and Built Environment Challenge’. The group had to solve an engineering puzzle by building a model. Congratulations to A Crow, M Trotter, N Wright, B McCafferty, T Muir, T Harrison, D Gibbons, M Kelly, C Paul and R Keiller, who, as well as being a real credit to the school, have been successful in reaching the next round and will compete again in January. Well done and thanks to the Design and Technology staff for organising the team.

Today is the final day of the S4 Work Experience week and I am looking forward to hearing about the pupils’ placements, as I am sure they will have had an enjoyable and rewarding time.

Best wishes.

JB Craig

19 November 2010
Published: 19 November 2010

This week has been Global Enterprise Week, and classes across the school have been engaged in enterprise activities. On Monday there was an ‘Enterprise Challenge’ for groups of S2 and S5 pupils. Well done to the winning teams: S2: L King, A McNaughton, A Waddell, L Banks and G Brown (Lammerlaw) and S5: F Duncan, S Subasic, S McAlpine, F McBean and H Donaldson (Garleton). Special thanks to Mr Dempster and Mrs Ferguson who ran the event on the day, and to the staff who gave up their time to judge the event: Mr Barclay, Miss Whitfield, Miss Slowther, Ms McIntyre, Mr Greenaway and Mrs Moore. 

On Thursday, accompanied by Mrs Ferguson, a group of 5 S3 pupils travelled to Edinburgh University to take part in the Stock Market Challenge. Teams from 27 schools took part and the Knox team achieved a very creditable 5th place. Congratulations to all involved.

During the week, I have visited the S6 Advanced Higher classes. The focus this week has been ‘attitude to work’ and it is very pleasing to report that the teachers, regarding their commitment to their studies, deem the pupils very good or better.

Today is the final day of the S4 prelim examinations and I am looking forward to seeing the results. Next week, the S4 pupils are on Work Experience and I am sure they will have an enjoyable and valuable time.

I am sure everyone is aware that today is ‘Children in Need’ day. The S6 pupils have been busy all week, making preparations and organising events. Yesterday, 8 intrepid S6 boys had their heads shaved for the charity; this drew a large crowd and a great deal of sponsorship. Today, the S6 pupils dressed up, the theme was Disney/animation characters, although the theme was interpreted in a very broad sense. So the school has been inhabited by groups of pirates, Tinkerbells, Minnie Mice, Harry Potters and Snow Whites along with Batman, Tin-tin, Bugs Bunny, Rambo (?) and a range of mad scientists and other super heroes too numerous to mention. Some brave staff dressed up as well, Casper the Friendly Ghost (a.k.a. the Head of S6) being the least convincing! Many pupils and staff paid to wear items of clothing with spots and there was a very popular bake sale at interval to round off a successful day for ‘Children in Need’. Details of the amount raised will be available next week. Congratulations to all involved.

Best wishes.

JB Craig

12 November 2010
Published: 12 November 2010

Last week, on 4th November, the first National Non-Fiction Day was celebrated. Pupils were encouraged to select a non-fiction book from the library, those who did so, received a reader sticker. Also, a very lucky group of S1 pupils were taken by staff from the Maths Department, to meet the wonderful Kjartan Poskitt at the Royal Society in Edinburgh. Mrs McInnes reported that Maths is often seen as dull, boring and useless but not by Kjartan – he dazzled the pupils by showing them how exciting, useful and entertaining maths can be with an amazingly energetic and fun-packed show. All the pupils had great fun and came away buzzing with excitement. National Non-Fiction Day will be an annual celebration, initiated by the Federation of Children’s Book Groups in partnership with Scholastic Children’s Books. Thank you to Scholastic for giving Knox a signed copy of Kjartan's new book ‘The Murderous Maths of Everything'.

On Tuesday evening, the Rotary Club debates took place and were a great success. The pupils involved were: Laura Lynas, Hannah Baxter, Sophie Christman, Meg McVicar, Megan Rogers (S5) and Rosie Murray, Ailish Kelly, Liska Crofts and Beth Revualta (S4). Two topics were debated: 'This House Believes the Voting Age Should be Lowered to 16' and ‘This House Believes that Single Sex Education is Beneficial to Pupils'. After some very tough judging, Megan Rogers (S5) was awarded the 'The Rotary Club of Haddington 50th Anniversary Trophy' for the best single participant. Congratulations to Megan and all the participants and thanks to the Rotary Club for hosting the event and Mr O Edwards for organising the Knox team.

During the week, I have visited the S3 classes. As always, I monitored dress code and the use of homework organisers. The focus this week has been homework and it is pleasing to report that the vast majority of pupils are deemed satisfactory or better by the teachers regarding handing in homework and the standard of the work completed.

The theme of the assemblies this week has been ‘War and Peace’ to commemorate Remembrance Day. The timings of the morning yesterday were re-configured to ensure all pupils were in class for the 2 minutes silence at 11am. As the assembly hall is in use for the S4 examinations, Mr Illingworth prepared a ‘virtual’ assembly to be played in each classroom and to include the 2 minutes silence. The presentation proved to be very moving and is available to view on the website. Poppies have been on sale all week and, yet again, the pupils and staff have been generous in contributing to the charity.

Today, along with Mr Plain and Mr Illingworth, I had the pleasurable but daunting task of judging the S3 History pupils’ trench warfare models. There were so many models and of such a high standard it was very difficult to choose the ‘top’ three. Ms McPhee will inform pupils of the outcome next week. Well done to all pupils involved and thanks to Ms McPhee for organising the event.

Best wishes.

JB Craig

 

5 November 2010
Published: 05 November 2010

Last weekend, Knox pupils were very busy in the community. A group of S6 pupils gave up their Friday afternoon and Saturday to help with the Autumn Fayre at Kings Meadow Primary School. The chair of the KMPS PTA reported ‘the pupils were cheerful, polite, willing and able. I really would have struggled without them. They didn't rush off at the end but kept asking what else they could do to help with the clear up, I couldn't have asked for more’.

On Sunday evening, a group of pupils joined the Paisley Philharmonic Choir in a concert at St Mary’s. The pupils (N Hardie and B Nisbet, S4, G Dodson and David Edgar, S5 and R Bissoonauth and D Ryan, S6) performed solos and were very well received by both choir and audience.

The theme of the assemblies this week has been the school’s Sports Council and the extra-curricular opportunities available to pupils. The Sports Co-ordinator, Mr A Lambert, encouraged all pupils to take part in a sport and asked for suggestions regarding activities they would like to see in the school.

The Parent School Partnership (Parent Council) met on Wednesday evening and various issues and areas were discussed. The meeting began with a presentation from Mr D Swinney, Head of the Communication and Literacy Faculty, regarding the work in the school on literacy. Minutes will be available on the Parents’ website.

The Preliminary Examinations for all S4 pupils began yesterday, I am sure you join me in wishing all the pupils good luck in these important examinations.

The school’s Eco Group held their first major event yesterday evening. The ‘Ecolife’ event was a resounding success. There were stalls selling recycled/local goods, a book/DVD swap, plant stall, refreshments and information tables on composting and the work of the Seabird Centre. The event drew a big crowd of pupils, staff, parents and members of the community, perhaps the main draw being the fashion show. Local charity shops provided clothes and staff and pupils of all ages took part. Paris, Milan, Haddington? Congratulations to all pupils and staff involved in the evening and a special thank you to the Biology Department: Ms C Slowther, Dr G Wilson and Ms L Ward for their enthusiasm and leadership in organising the enjoyable evening.

Today, Knox Academy has taken on a pink tinge as the pupils have paid to be able to wear pink items of dress. There have been lots of pink ties, shirts, hats, tights and jewellery. All monies collected (currently £400 and rising) are for Breast Cancer Care. Many thanks to the S6 Charities Committee for organising the morning.

Congratulations to all members of the school community on a hectic and successful week.

Best wishes.

JB Craig