April 2014

Published: 25 April 2014

Today we have said an informal farewell to our senior pupils as they go away on Exam Leave.  As I said to them at assembly, they are more than welcome to be in school, working and revising during Exam Leave – my only stipulation is that they wear Dress Code if they come into the building.  I wish them all well with their endeavours.

From what I hear the Easter Revision classes were well attended.  I hope that they have given the pupils that little bit more confidence.  Thanks to all staff who gave generously of their holiday time to come in.

We have a bright, shiny, refurbished Library.  The room had started to look a bit tired and old-fashioned, so we have invested in some new furniture, given it a lick of paint and rearranged some of the areas.  The feedback from the pupils has been very positive even though we’re not quite finished yet.  So if you are in the building do pop in for a look around.

Last night the S2 Parents’ Evening was very well attended.  Appointments generally ran to time and good discussions were had between parents and staff.  S2 Course Choice sheets should be returned to the Office by the 2nd of May so that we can start constructing the new timetable that will (hopefully!) run from the 2nd June.

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome Mr Dickie to the Science and Chemistry departments. He is an experienced teacher who has spent most of his career in Fife Council.  I know that he will be an excellent addition to the team up in the Science Faculty.

And finally…a group of staff and S6 pupils are running the Edinburgh 5k and 10k next month in aid of Edinburgh's Sick Kids Friends Foundation.  To help raise funds they are organising a Race Night and Disco at Haddington Golf Club on Saturday 17th May.  Tickets are £5 and will be on sale locally next week so look out for the posters.  The team is also looking for local businesses to sponsor the races and contribute raffle prizes so please get in touch if you would like to help Team Knox raise their £4000 target.

Have a very good week.
S Ingham
 

Published: 04 April 2014

It has been a week of interviews, music and exercise so far at Knox. 

On Monday I had the pleasure of mock-interviewing some of our senior pupils as part of their Employability Skills work that has been supported by the Communications Faculty.  Pupils came prepared for different interviews and completely blew me away with the maturity of their answers and the way that they generally presented themselves.  I am confident that any employer will be impressed by them.

Tuesday saw us welcome some of our P7s to the “Comicwealth Games”.  This event was run by our Community Sports Leaders pupils and members of the School of Rugby.  The P7s had the chance to try their hands at Dance Mat, basketball, handball, skittles and curling (to name a few) all the while getting to mix with pupils from other schools and pupils who they will see around the building next year.  It looked like everyone was having fun and the day was only slightly marred by the fact that it was raining so everyone had to stay indoors.  We are looking forward to getting the P7s up to school and hope that they liked their taster of what life at Knox might entail.

On Wednesday I delighted in basking in the reflected glory of the pupils performing in the Spring Concert.  Boy, but they were good!  Jaimee Pickard shone in an arrangement of the clarinet piece that got her so far in a recent competition and she was ably supported by orchestra.  We had pipers and drummers, and all manner of woodwind, brass and string players.  The choirs were superb; their pleasure at singing was evident.  As ever my gratitude goes to all the Music staff and the Instructors, without whom the event would not happen.

Yesterday I had the dubious pleasure of being drafted for the Staff and Coaches versus Pupils Basketball Match.  I seemed to do a lot of running for not a lot of a result but I had a blast.  Watching the younger pupils hare up and down the court and pull off some fantastic shots was great.  Thanks go to the pupil coaches who are ever-upbeat and fun to be around, and to the players who resisted the urge to charge me!

Whilst a lot of us will be looking forward to the holidays I know that the S4 to S6 are gearing up to study.  The Easter Revision sessions will be running on the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of each week.  Pupils are reminded that they must sign in and out when they visit (in case there’s a fire, we need to know who is in the building).  Sessions run from 10.00am to 12 noon and from 12.30pm until 2.30pm on each day.  Pupils cannot be in the building between 12 noon and 12.30pm as there won’t necessarily be anyone to supervise them.  If you are unsure what is running when, check out the timetable that can be downloaded from this website (see link that is positioned to the right of this post).

I look forward to seeing everyone on Tuesday 22nd April.

Have a very good fortnight.
S Ingham