There are lots to tell you this week, so here goes:

Last Friday I attended the School of Rugby Dinner hosted by Haddington Rugby Club.  It was a great night that celebrated all that is good about the partnership between the rugby club, pupils, parents and the school.  The speeches were funny and thoughtful.  I was particularly impressed with Simon Duke’s speech.  Simon is S2 Team Captain and has shone on the field this year, and he shone when giving his speech – it was a large audience and he spoke with respect and humour.

On Monday I found out that two of our pupils will be representing the school at the finals of the Disability Sports to be held at Grangemouth on the 4th June.  Ashleigh Lawson and Josh Nisbet will both compete in the Long Jump and the 100m.  I know that they will do themselves and the school proud.  Good luck to both of them.

On Wednesday I, along with some other staff, got to play at being a “dragon” (insert your own joke here) in the S3 Business Studies version of “Dragon’s Den”.  The pupils presented their pitches for business ideas and I, Ms Adam and Ms McCafferty had to declare whether we were “in” or “out”.  The pupils did really well, coming up with some ingenious ideas.  It was a thoroughly enjoyable time.

On Wednesday evening I attended the final PSP meeting of the session.  Vicky Cole stood down as Chair and Greg Cookson resigned his Vice Chair position.  Louise Elder has agreed to take on the Chair and Dave Neillans will be Vice Chair.  I would like to thank all the PSP for their support and good advice and I look forward to working with Louise and Dave next session.  I shall miss Vicky’s wise counsel and Greg’s eternal positivity, and hope that they will still pop in to meetings every so often to see what we’re up to.  Do check out the PSP website for information, and an opportunity to give your views on various topics.  There is a survey about the new qualifications at the moment that S3 and S4 parents might want to respond to.

Yesterday saw the final of the Little and Large Cookery competition.  Each secondary school in the authority sent a team comprising of a senior pupil plus two primary compatriots.  By all accounts it was a hard fought final but Knox triumphed again (albeit sharing 1st place with Dunbar Grammar School).  Congratulations to Claire Thomson and her King’s Meadow cohorts, and huge thanks to Ms Hossack and her team for hosting and organising the event.

Also yesterday, 26 excited pupils went on a trip to Queen Margaret University with Dr Wilson and Miss Ward for the "Broken Bodies" event. We followed 'patients' as they received treatment then rehabilitation before being released from hospital. There was a patient with a knee injury, a patient with diabetes, a patient with a suspected stroke and a patient with hearing loss. We learnt a lot about different professions and really enjoyed seeing round QMU. The pupils were exceptionally well behaved and were a credit to the school.

This morning the first of our Activities' Week foreign trips departed.  Thanks to everyone for organising the trips and I hope the weather stays good.  I look forward to hearing how everyone got on when they return.

And finally: good luck to the Knox Academy team running in the Edinburgh Marathon Festival 5k and 10k tomorrow.  I wish them all the best and hope that the wind is at their backs all the way!

Until next week,
S Ingham