At last week’s assemblies, the S6 Charities Group prepared and delivered a moving and informative presentation on the floods and the aftermath in Pakistan. A coin collection was held after each assembly and at the end of the school day on Friday; also, an intrepid group of S6 pupils undertook an arduous bout of shoe cleaning. All this raised a wonderful £400 and has got the fund-raising year off to a terrific start.

On Tuesday, a brass quintet, ‘Pure Brass’ (all graduates of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama) visited the school. They have been playing in various concerts during the Lammermuir Festival.  They performed an hour-long concert to pupils in Higher and Intermediate Music classes plus senior brass players. As well as playing a number of pieces from their repertoire, they took questions from the audience, demonstrated their individual instruments and highlighted various musical concepts and techniques present in the music. The whole performance was delightful and greatly appreciated by the Knox pupils.

It has been a busy week for the Drama department. Yesterday, the theatre company ‘Catherine Wheels’ ran 2 workshops for the S4 Drama classes. The theme was refugees and immigration and the workshops proved challenging as well as enjoyable. The school looks forward to welcoming the company back at the end of the month for a performance of ‘Hannah and Hanna’. Undaunted by the possibility of traffic chaos, yesterday evening senior pupils studying Drama travelled to the SECC in Glasgow for a performance of ‘Black Watch’ by the National Theatre of Scotland. The pupils and staff found the performance funny, informative and moving. Staff reported that the pupils were a credit to themselves and the school.

There was further drama during ACE afternoon yesterday; all S2 pupils watched the 'Baldy Bane' theatre company perform the road safety play, ‘The Nine Lives of Roddy Hogg’. This involved audience participation and proved to be a very lively event.

Next Monday, 20 September, is a holiday and the school will be closed. Staff and pupils resume on Tuesday 21 September.

Best wishes.

JB Craig