October 2012

26 October 2012
Published: 26 October 2012

Pupils have settled back into school quickly since the October Holiday and are working well.  I have taken the opportunity to visit numerous classes this week: I saw an S4 class preparing for their Art Prelim; watched Mr Blair and his S3 Maths class be nearly defeated by a fractions problem; joined in a discussion with the Higher Modern Studies class about sexism in the workplace and learned the French names for various European countries with S1.  Thanks to all staff and pupils for allowing me to join in their classes.

Not only are the pupils working hard, they are playing hard.  We have had a “Wear It Pink” day today in a bid to raise funds for Cancer Research.  Pupils are already taking part in sporting events from rugby matches to a Sports’ Ambassadors Conference and helping at PE lessons for pupils from Haddington and St Mary’s Infant Schools.  The Higher Investigative Drama performance took place yesterday evening and was very well attended.

The senior pupils are starting the hard slog towards prelim exams with the S4 gearing up for starting in the next week and the S5/6 realising that there are only ten working weeks until their prelims begin.  Some pupils have also been taking part in Empolyability Skills Training, which culminated this week in formal, albeit mock, interviews with local employers so that they could put into practice all that they have learned so far and get the all-important feedback from the interviewers.  All of the pupils acquitted themselves well, and learned a lot from the process.

Reminder:  There is a Parent School Partnership meeting on Wednesday evening (31st October) at 6.15pm.  I suggested that we come in Hallowe’en costume but I’m not sure that they are going to take me up on that idea…

And: The clocks go back at 2am on Sunday 28th October 2012.

12 October 2012
Published: 12 October 2012

The start of the week saw Mr Swinney welcoming our (in some cases, slightly nervous) Communication Plus volunteers into the school and getting them set up with the pupils that they are going to be helping.  I popped into the Library at one point to see adults and pupils  poring over their books and deep in discussion.  Thanks to the volunteers for giving so generously of their time and, well done to the pupils for being so welcoming and hardworking.
 

On Tuesday night prospective S1 parents and their children made their first official visit to the school for a look at what we do.  The Hall looked very full and it was a miracle of organisation (thanks to Mr Illingworth and his raffle tickets) that got the crowd divided up and onto their tours.  I would like to thank all the pupils and staff for helping to showcase our talents.

The Land Yacht Challenges were the highlight of the S2 curriculum on both Tuesday and Wednesday this week and I believe that the final races were hard fought.  Congratulations to all involved.
 

I had the pleasure to be greeted by a trophy-laden Ms Duff on Wednesday afternoon.  Knox had taken a coach-load of pupils to the Rugby 7s tournament at Meadowmill.  All of the teams did well, with the senior boys being outstanding (their cup is gold as opposed to the other 4 being silver!).  Well done to them and thanks to Ms Duff and Mr Wands for accompanying the teams.

Last period today we are having a whole school challenge with mixed groups of youngsters going to all areas of the building to try and win points for their Houses.  I am hoping that the spirit of gentle competition is alive and well, and may the best House win!

 

 

Two things to highlight:
There has been a slight change made to the calendar: S2 Parents’ Evening will now be on the 17th April and the S3 Parents’ Evening will be on the 27th February.  These changes will be added to the website soon.

School closes for the October Holiday today at 12.05pm and pupils resume on the 23rd October.

5 October 2012
Published: 05 October 2012

Having said goodbye to two members of staff last week we have welcomed some staff on a more permanent basis or into different posts, so here goes:
Ms Maguire (who currently works on Reception) will be joining the Office Staff permanently as Business Support Administrator and will be taking on the role of my PA.
Mr Woolley (currently Teacher of RMPS) has been appointed to the acting role of Head of Social Subjects.
Mrs M Stuart is continuing as Teacher of Art as is Ms S Moore as Teacher of Technologies.
Mr T Mazazda will be joining us as Temporary Teacher of Mathematics for the session and Ms D Moffat will be our new Pupil Support Worker.  They will take up post as soon as the relevant checks have been completed.
I am delighted for them and wish them all the best for the rest of the session.

Mr Flood and I had the pleasure of attending the meeting to launch “The Haddington Vision” on Monday.  It was great to see so many members of the community there.  I certainly got some good ideas and met some very interesting people.  A number of our pupils were involved in hosting the event and had also put ideas forward for the “Vision”.  I was so very proud of them as they showed what confident young people they are and that they were willing to turn their hands to anything (even the artistic arrangement of wine glasses – you had to be there, really!).

The Parent School Partnership met on Wednesday.  We had an interesting presentation from Mr Greenaway giving us an update on E-Portfolios and the S3 Profile.  The PSP website continues to be “down”, so feel free to use the school as a conduit for any issues that you would like to raise. 

It amazes me to think that I have been in post as Head Teacher for nearly two months now – I never knew that time could pass so quickly.  Interestingly the demands on my time have changed quite significantly from when I was a depute, and I seem to be rushing from one meeting to the next and trying to visit as many classrooms as I can. I am aware that parents have been contacting me via telephone, letter and email and I apologise if my responses have been tardy.  If you are ‘phoning in to speak to me, it would be really helpful if you could give the Office Staff some idea of what it is you need to speak to me about.  This helps me in two ways: firstly to prioritise my workload and secondly it might be more appropriate for someone else to investigate your query or concern e.g. the House Head or Guidance Teacher.  So, please do not be offended if you the person who answers your call seems to be asking a lot of questions or suggests that you speak to someone else - they are trying to meet your needs.

Next week sees us in the run-up to the October Holiday.  We finish at 12.05 on Friday 12th October and pupils return on the 23rd October.