Knox NewsThe Newsletter of Knox Academy April 2010

From the Head Teacher

Dear Parents/Carers,
Charity & Amount: RunningTotal:
Welcome to the spring edition of the Knox News. Once again
we are approaching the end of a very busy term. There have
been many highlights and these are covered elsewhere in this £3816.87
edition of the Knox News. The pupils have been involved in a
variety of activities, from Glee Club to Debates and from sports Cancer Research: £149.90
events to music and drama.
£3666.97
Of particular note are the fund-raising events organised by the Breast Cancer Campaign:
senior pupils. It is a pleasure to be part of such a generous £415.99
school with youngsters so aware of the plight of others.
£3250.98

Our senior pupils are busy preparing for the SQA Enable: £723.41
examinations, study leave starts on 28 April for pupils in S4
and on 10 May for our S5/6 pupils. I know you will give them £2527.57
every support and encouragement and the whole school wishes DEC Haiti Earthquake
them success in all their examinations. Appeal: £680
£1847.57

Term finishes on Thursday 1 April at 4 pm and the summer Help for Heroes: £222.59
term begins on Tuesday 20 April at 8.44am. £1624.98

Children in Need: £554.54

Best wishes to everyone for an enjoyable spring break. £1070.44

Scottish Poppy Appeal:

£289.32
£781.12
JB Craig Red Cross Appeal:
£195.62
Head Teacher
£585.50
Wear It Pink: £585.50
Pupils at Knox constantly support good causes and this session has proved no different. Through
events organised by the S6 Charities Committee, pupils have raised a staggering £3,816.87 for good
causes.

Marnie Coull; Emma Young; Aidan Lindsay and Roddy Coull have led the National, International
and Local Charities Committees with tireless enthusiasm. The year began with “Wear it Pink” for
Breast Cancer. Turning the corridors of Knox Academy into a sea of pink clothing pupils raised £585
to kick-start their charitable fundraising for 09/10 session.

Dressing up is a particular favourite among the S6 for fundraising and this year’s Children In Need
appeal saw the whole of S6 and some brave members of staff dress up as Children’s Characters.
Pirates, Tin Men and Sponge Bob all made an appearance at Knox for Pudsey and their efforts
totalled £554.

This year has seen parts of the world hit with environmental disasters. Knox pupils have switched on
the news to see floods in Asia and the Haiti Earthquake. Pupils have supported the International
Committee tremendously with their appeals. Both collections saw funds sent to provide the
International Relief Agencies with funds to assist those in need.

In November 2009 pupils showed respect to the fallen with their support for the Royal British Legion
Poppy Appeal. With one tin equalling £200 Knox showed that it has not forgotten those who have
given their lives and those who continue to serve in our Armed Forces. Demand for Poppies was high
and as with other years extra had to be requested. The Charities Committee would like to thank
George MacFarlane for responding so quickly to demand.

Christmas time saw Tutor Groups filling and decorating boxes for the local community. The Local
Charities Committee made sure that each Tutor Group was supplied with a box for them to decorate
to the theme of Disney. 6T were the successful Tutor Group winners and Mrs Ball took time out of
her busy day to distribute the much-appreciated boxes to members of the community.

Recently the school has participated in raising funds for the British Heart Foundation. In order to
highlight Heart Disease pupils have worn red items to school at 50p per item. A total of £180 was
raised during the Friday morning event.

The Charities Committee would like to thank all those who have participated in their events so far this
session.

B Plain
Librarian

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 Knox News, Easter 2010

I thought that parents would find it useful to know about the SQA website
www.sqa.org.uk.

You can access past papers in all subjects at all levels for the last three years. Also marking schemes
for these papers can be accessed .
It has lots of other useful information including the exam timetable and an item bank of 144
objective test items for Higher Mathematics.
When you go onto the web-site click on “NQ” (see picture 1) then choose the subject that you are
interested in from the scroll down menu (see picture 2) and press “go”.
I hope you find this useful.

Mrs L McInnes
PT Mathematics

Picture 1

Picture 2
On the 11 of March we left for The Big Bang Competition. We left school at 1:00pm so we could
catch the 2:08pm train. We arrived at Oxford Road station in Manchester at 5:20pm then we walked
to Manchester Central where the Big Bang was held, and set up our stand. There were almost 250
projects there!

We didn’t arrive at the hotel until 8pm, and dumped our bags down and went for some food. The
next morning we all got up at 6:00 and left the hotel at 6:45am - it was going to be a long day. We
were getting judged that day at 10:00am-10:20am and then again from 11:20am-11:40am. We all
thought the second judging went better than the first as we were not as nervous. We met other
competitors and became friends with two of them; Robert Flood and Stephen Palminteri, who were
from Dublin. The majority of the competitors were from England, but some of them were from the
rest of the UK.There were 1700 visitors over the 3 days, and we had to tell everyone about our project.

We went to see Brianiac Live, which was incredible, especially the office chair powered by carbon
dioxide fire extinguishers and fireworks. There were many other things that grabbed our attention,
such as the flight simulator, a 3D interactive display, a robot and multiple workshops. Kelvin and
Gareth also won an ipod for winning a pipe building competition. The competition was to finish a
network of pipes in the shortest possible time and then check if it leaked or not when water was
pumped though it. Kelvin and Gareth worked as a team and developed their own technique to beat
their opponents. The boys’ best score came on the 12th of March when they completed the task in a
mind blowing 10.5 seconds! The owners of the game thanked the boys for entertaining them
throughout the competition and for creating a tense competition between the hundreds of unlucky
opponents who came up against the Knox Academy duo.

When the awards ceremony came we were all wondering if we could get a prize. When we took our
seats, a man came out; he was quite boring because he talked really slowly and quietly, but then he
started beat boxing, and it was amazing. He was called Beardy Man and we all loved it! When the
real host came on he began to give out the awards. When it came to our section we came third in
Britain for Engineering and Technology, which thrilled us all and we thought it was fantastic. Some of
the other projects that came first were truly incredible, even though it was sometimes difficult to
understand what the projects were really all about because they were so complicated.

All in all it was an experience none of us are going to forget any time soon. None of us have any
regrets on joining this project and doing all this work. Thanks to all who helped us with this project,
especially Miss Leggatt.

By Gabby Jackson 3G2, Conor McHugh 3G2, Fraser Thomson 3T3, Kelvin Craig 3T1 and Gareth
Evans 3T1

4
 Knox News, Easter 2010

The Geography Department went bananas for Fair Trade Fortnight 2010. This annual event focuses
on raising awareness of Fair Trade and encouraging youngsters to choose Fair Trade products to
help support Farmers across the world to ensure they are getting a fair price for their produce.

Miss Sayers’ S2 Tuesday Challenge Class has been looking at how Fair Trade works and if they
could promote Fair Trade within Knox Academy by creating a notice board in the foyer outside the
Geography Department.

The S4 Standard Grade Classes have been looking at Fair Trade as part of their Trade & Aid Unit.
They have researched the success of the Live Aid/ Band Aid Fundraisers, looking at the market
growth of Fair Trade product sales and the increasing popularity of Fair Trade products, investigating
the increase in supermarkets producing own brand Fair Trade products, and named brands such as
Cadbury’s introducing Fair Trade products to their ranges. The S4s have produced promotional Fair
Trade posters and leaflets for display in Miss Jeffrey’s Geography classroom.

ACE Fridays have made Fair Trade Fortnight a focus of their recent Friday sessions with S1
investigating what Fair Trade is, creating their own information leaflets, power point presentations,
watching the Comic Relief Fair Trade/ Dubble Chocolate Bar video campaign and completing a price
comparison activity at Tesco, Haddington. Well done to all involved.

Miss Jeffrey
Geography Department
On 27th January 2010, school pupils from all across East Lothian took
part in The Legacy of Hope at the Brunton Theatre, Musselburgh. The
event, which marked the 65th anniversary of the liberation of
Auschwitz-Birkenau, provided a unique opportunity opportunity for
all of us in East Lothian to remember, reflect and react.
Keith Brown, Minister for Skills and Lifelong Learning, opened the event, and talked about what
Scotland is doing about Holocaust education. School pupils presented readings from their creative
writing, animations, drama and dance, which all expressed their thoughts and feelings about the
Holocaust. Moving personal testimonies from pupils who visited Auschwitz last year were shared with
the audience. Knox Head Boy Alistair Brown says of his visit to Auschwitz last year:
'I never meant to get involved in the visit to Auschwitz and I was worried and unsure about the whole
thing. When the day came to go to Auschwitz, I couldn't take it in. But since then I have thought about
it every day, and linked what happened there to things happening in everyday life now.
It has made a real difference to the way I think about things. I am much more aware of racial
intolerance - what starts with words ends with actions.'
Knox Academy Drama teacher John Naples-Campbell, who co-ordinated the event,
said: “Holocaust Memorial Day 2010 is an important day in our calendar - 65 years ago Auschwitz-
Birkenau Concentration Camp was liberated by the Allied Forces, ending the Holocaust of World War
II. We promised that this would never happen again. However, we have since seen genocide in
Cambodia, Rwanda and Dafour. This year, pupils across East Lothian Council have been working
together to create a safer and better future by holding an event open to the public. I am honoured to
be working with so many talented staff and pupils and feel proud that so many people want to be
involved.'
The audience were moved by the speech given by Jean Pierre Mugenga, a survivor of genocide in
Rwanda, who gave a stark reminder of why the world needs to unite against racism, discrimination
and all kinds of prejudice. To read a copy of the speech given by Jean Pierre Mugenga at this event,
please visit http://mugengajp.blog.co.uk/2010/01/28/east-lothian-holocaust-memorial-
commemoration-speech-by-jean-pierre-mugenga-7892022/

Rebecca Spillane
East Lothian Diversity Officer.

6
 Knox News, Easter 2010

Have you visited the school website recently? Considerable

developments have taken place over past months – so if you haven’t
seen these then have a look today!

In addition to regular General News articles and Mrs Craig’s Friday

update of events at Knox Academy, there are now dedicated
Sports and Library News sections.

Library News has included the Class of the Month through the
Accelerated Reader programme, to competitions and updates on
library stock. The Sports News section celebrates success (even in
defeat!) of the many talented pupils in Knox Academy who participate in our various sporting
events. The Extra-Curricular area of the website is well worth a visit also.

You might also like to expand your mind in the literacy direction with a word a week. The Word of
the Week is usually published on a Tuesday morning.

Archives are available for all types of news, as well as the facility to subscribe to RSS Updates via the
orange symbols on the website. On the other hand if you would prefer to receive updates via email,
there is now the option to subscribe to a regular email delivering content direct to your inbox. Visit
www.ka-net.org.uk/signup to start receiving these emails.

Users of the website will have noticed that Scribd and Slideshare have been used to host documents.
This allows documents to be viewed directly on screen, rather than having to wait for a download.
Over the next few months you should see more and more curriculum content becoming accessible
online. Hopefully the dog will no longer have a chance to eat the homework sheet! It is envisaged
that the website will eventually become a comprehensive resource for all curricular content.

You may have seen Knox Academy in the Edinburgh Evening News recently. This resulted from the
Evening News hearing of the Knox Glee Club on Radio 5 Live. If you missed either, then have a look
at the March News archive and listen to the recording on the Academy Productions page within the
Drama Department. In the same manner if you haven’t been to one of the school concerts, you can
hear the Junior Choir within the Music Department pages.

Competition between Garleton, Lammerlaw and Traprain has intensified recently with weekly updates
on House Points clearly visible on the front page on the website. In addition the front page also has
direct links to regularly used external website such as the SQA and UCAS. The Knox Parents website
is also now easily accessible in the same manner.

We're always interested in hearing from users of our website, what they like, what they don't like,
what they think is missing.... If you have any suggestions for additions please contact us at
knoxacademy@knox.elcschool.org.uk.

Mr C Dempster
Business Education Department
The spring term may only be 12 weeks long, but they are probably the busiest 12 weeks in the Music
Department calendar. At the end of January two of our Standard Grade pipers, Marion Sweetland
and Donald Mackenzie, were invited to take part in a special Robert Burns’ assembly at Haddington
Infant School. The Primary pupils really enjoyed hearing the bagpipes, and staff said that Marion and
Donald were a credit to Knox Academy.
February was a busy month of exam preparation for certificate classes as the SQA Performing exams
for Standard Grade, Intermediate 2 and Higher took place during the first week of March. There
were many very good performances, and pupils were relieved to get this first part of the examination
process out of the way.
A number of pupils have been successful in instrumental exams outside school as well:

VIOLIN GRADE 4:
Emma Campbell (S5) Pass with Merit
Eve Holden (S5) Pass
Rosie Noon (S5) Pass

On March 26th many of our pupils took part in the East Lothian Showcase Concert at the Brunton
Hall. Knox Academy was well represented in the regional String Orchestra, Guitar Group, Wind
Band, Jazz Band and Guitar Group.

We rounded off the term with the annual Spring Concert. After a busy week of rehearsals the pupils
gave a fantastic performance in a varied programme which ranged from ‘Hair’ to ‘Hairspray’ and folk
to funk – something for everyone! The grand finale was a performance of ‘Mr Blue Sky’ by the
combined Junior, Senior and Girls’ Choirs, along with instrumentalists. This provided a memorable
end to the evening, and hopefully a good omen for the holiday weather!

The Spring Concert is the final major event in the Music Department calendar, as extra-curricular
rehearsals stop in the summer term. We would like to thank this year’s S6 pupils for their hard work
and commitment to musical activities during their time at Knox Academy, and wish them all the best
for the future.

Miss E Orr
Music Department

8
 Knox News, Easter 2010

S1 & 2 pupils have been reading their eyes out with Accelerated Reader. The Library and English
Department have seen pupils show a tremendous enthusiasm for reading through the use of
Accelerated Reader quizzes. Accelerated Reader is used across all six East Lothian secondary schools
and is being phased into primary schools. Accelerated Reader develops confidence in reading
through comprehension quizzes.

After a quick comprehension test pupils are given a “comfort zone” from which they can select books
that they will be able to develop their reading skills. Knox pupils, after a little apprehension about the
zones, began reading and flying through quizzes. Quiz frenzy at Knox rivalled the January sales as
pupils used school and public library books alongside books from home to reach their target and
progress on to the next comfort zone.

Mr Plain produces certificates to celebrate pupils’ achievements. A ceremony takes place in

the library to present pupils with their certificates. A S1 & S2 Class of the Month is also presented
with a certificate. The Class of the Month is decided upon based on the amount of passed quizzes
taken.

Future plans using Accelerated Reader are to produce reading lists for each zone so pupils can see the
range of titles available; a Pupil of the Week to be nominated on Accelerated Reader; and Accelerated
Read of the week.

Knox achievements so far include:

Pupils have read 385 books and taken their quizzes that’s a total of 24,464,145 words
25 pupils have reached their initial target and are now on their new level.
Boys lead girls by 2% in 90% and above passes BUT girls lead boys by 6% in 85 – 90% passes.

Mr B Plain
Librarian

This scholarship is funded by Haddington Twinning Association. This year Emma Lynas (S6) has
been awarded the scholarship. She will travel to Aubigny at the end of June to spend a month
staying with families. She hopes to get work experience in the tourist office and with a primary
school. She will have the opportunity to take part in our twin town’s Fetes Franco-Ecossaises in the
middle of July. A group from Haddington, including five Fifth and Sixth Years, will spend a few days
in Aubigny in the middle of July, along with the Haddington Pipe band visit. About 30 pupils from S3
are visiting Aubigny in May on their way to Paris. We’re sure Emma will make the most of this
opportunity and look forward to hearing about it before she goes on to study languages and law at
university.

Mrs E Elliott
Modern Languages Department
Knox Library has joined forces with Scholastic Bookfairs to
bring you the best in the bookfair into school each term.
While the Annual Bookfair will remain a popular fixture in
the Library Diary many pupils asked how they could continue to get titles at
discounted prices and support the school library with free books.

Cover 2 Cover is a magazine led bookfair published every term. Individual magazines are distributed
to S1/2 pupils with a limited supply available for S3 + pupils. All parents/carers have access on the
dedicated Knox Academy Scholastic webpage: http://clubs-school.scholastic.co.uk/knoxacademy

The webpage allows you to browse across the whole Scholastic range from 0 years up to their range
of fiction and general interest titles for adult readers.

If you are a parent/carer of a S3 + and would like to reserve a copy of the Cover 2 Cover magazine
please contact Mr Plain at the school.

The World Book Day edition online order deadline is April 16th.

Last year’s bookfair, you showed amazing support by giving £300 in commission for fiction books for
the library. I hope to organise a group of pupils to get together and help me to select books for the
library with the money you raised. Thank you for your continued support.

As part of 2010 World Book Day celebrations, The Library and English Department ran a
competition around quotes from young people literature. Who Said That ran over two weeks and had
quotes from Twilight, Narnia and more.

The quotes were scattered around the English Department with additional clues in the library. Two
prizes were up for grabs, Becca Fitzpatrick’s Hush Hush and Robert Muchamore’s Brigand’s MC.

Mr B Plain
Librarian

10
 Knox News, Easter 2010

Knox Academy’s debating team are celebrating their recent success, coming second in the Scottish
Final of the “Debating Matters” competition run by the Institute Of Ideas. The Scottish final involved
six schools who had won their regional heats. The team of four - Alexandra Muir, Gregor McMillan,
Emma Lynas and Tom Gates had to prepare for 3 motions. The motions for the heats in the morning
were: There should be no limits on artistic expression (we were supporting this motion) and Clinical
trials in developing countries are exploitative ( we opposed this). Knox won both heats outright and
so were through to the final in the afternoon against Madras College. The motion was: Attempts to
radically extend the human lifespan should be welcomed - we opposed. The final was very close but
we were sadly pipped to the post. The school will receive £500 book vouchers and the pupils each
received a yearlong subscription to Encyclopaedia Britannica online. Gregor McMillan was also highly
commended for his speech in the final. Well done to the team for a fantastic performance.

This was only our second attempt at this competition so next year, you never know...

Mrs K Fairbairn and Mr O Edwards

English Department

3rd Year History & Geography pupils enjoyed a combined field trip to Glasgow on Monday 22nd
March.

The group was made up of 50 individuals including staff from both departments who spent the day
visiting 3 museums in the City to help support them with their Standard Grade courses and highlight
the cross-curricular links between these two subjects.

We visited the Transport Museum where the youngsters studied the changes in transportation
methods and the increase of road travel, noting its influence in settlement and industrial locations.
The second stop of the day was “The People’s Palace” where we studied the social history, service
provision and development of settlements in Glasgow. The third and final stop of the day was the
Maritime Museum (“Clydebuilt”) where we looked at the history of Glasgow’s shipbuilding industry
and its transition into modern day Glasgow.

Miss S. McPhee, Miss L. Jeffrey, Miss C. Sayers

Social Subjects Faculty
On Thursday 28 January, 60 S3 Business Management pupils took part in a Business Dynamics Core
Skills day. The day included designing a holiday within a budget, building a remote control car which
we later raced and learning about communication. The day was good fun. We split everyone into groups
and took turns in doing all the activities.

The people that organised it made sure everyone had fun but at the same time gained skills from it. The
main skills we learned were teamwork, problem solving and communication.

Graham Crowson 3G2

A team of 4 S4 pupils is taking part in the Young Direct Marketing Awards. The team has chosen
Oxfam as their charity, and the aim is to develop a direct marketing campaign to recruit 1000 new
donors to Oxfam 365, at an average donation of more than £100 per year.

Their brief is to raise awareness of the Oxfam 365 programme, and the need for Oxfam to be ready to
respond immediately in the case of a disaster or emergency.

The team members are:

Marion Sweetland, Sarah Bruce, Abbie Lindsay and Ti-an Richmond.

The website is:

www.oxfam.org.uk/oxfam_in_action/emergencies/oxfam365

Good luck to the team.

We are looking to establish closer links with the local Business Community. If you would like to be
involved in any way, please contact Mr Flood at the school.

R Flood,
PT (Curriculum) Technology & Enterprise in Education Co-ordinator

12
 Knox News, Easter 2010

S3 Business Management classes are currently taking part in "Make Your Mark with a Tenner"
which gives pupils the opportunity to take part in a well supported, real life, exciting enterprise
activity which both compliments and enhances the existing enterprise curriculum.
In the past this competition has demonstrated that it not only builds on enterprise capabilities but
also improves pupils’ financial understanding and risk taking skills. What’s more, because this is all
about social enterprise, pupils begin to learn about socially conscious ways to make money for good
causes.
“Pupils need to show enterprising spirit and make as much profit as possible in a way which benefits
their community.”
Exposure to real enterprise activities gives pupils a taste of what running a real venture could be like
and this alone can tip many young people into seriously thinking about more enterprising activities.
One of Enterprise UK's entrepreneurial ambassadors, Sean Geddes from Domino's, visited the
Business Education Department on Wednesday 10 March at lunchtime. There was much
enthusiasm for the project with a full classroom of pupils attending.
All pupils who take part in the competition will receive a certificate outlining the skills they have
developed and the winning team will win some start up capital and support from a business mentor
to help them develop their entrepreneurial ideas.
A full report will be given in the June issue of Knox News.

R Flood,
PT (Curriculum) Technology & Enterprise in Education Co-ordinator

30 S1 Modern Studies pupils visited the Scottish Parliament on Wednesday 3rd February. We arrived
at the Parliament at 11 am and after getting through security we spent some time looking at the
exhibitions. We then completed an electronic questionnaire with the education department before
going on a tour around the Parliament.

The visit ended with a Q and A session with Iain Gray MSP and Alistair Morgan MSP. People asked
them questions about their job, their wages and their favourite football teams!

Jack Rogan 1GY

S1 – S6 pupils came in their droves to become part of a new exciting extra-curricular group at
school. Show Choir has now turned to Glee Club. The E4 show has taken the world by storm and tells
the story of a random group of pupils as they sing and dance their way through the hits of pop and stage.
Our Glee Club do just that – we sing, dance and act our way through a variety of hits from the world of
pop music and musical theatre. We made our national debut on BBC 5
Live with Gabby Logan singing the hit Don’t Stop Believing and then we
had a double page feature in the Edinburgh Evening News (both can be
found on the school website).
Glee Club is open for all pupils in S1-S6 on Tuesdays at lunch from 1.20pm
in the Drama Studio. The aim of the club is to have fun, fun, fun and is
open to anyone interested in singing, dancing or acting. Come along and
be part of the Gleeks!

Pupils in S4 are currently completing their Standard Grade Drama Design Investigations. They
had to choose either Set or Costume Design to focus on and create the design for a production.
Design briefs were showcased in an exhibition in the library and ranged from costume designs for
“We Will Rock You” and “Hairspray” to set design boxes for “Sweeney Todd” and “Romeo and
Juliet”.

The Drama Department was pleased to welcome Olivier Award winning actress Gayle Telfer Stevens
to the school in February. Gayle spent the day observing lessons and answering questions from our
middle and senior pupils about life as an actor. Gayle won the Olivier Award for her work in ‘Jerry
Springer the Opera’ and recently was seen in Dr Who and The National Theatre of Scotland’s ‘365’.
Gayle spoke to the NC pupils in-depth about acting technique for their final production of ‘The
Women of Troy’. Gayle loved her visit to Knox and said ‘What a great department and great pupils.
They are so lucky to have Drama at school, I didn’t. It’s been amazing and I can’t wait to come
back.’

The Higher Drama Acting Exam took place at the end of term with our candidates working hard to
achieve a high standard of performance, scenes from Classic and Contemporary Texts were shown and
assessed and we were glad to welcome back actor Norma Kinnear who supported the pupils by giving
them valuable advice. This year’s exam included scenes from “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie”, “The
House of Bernarda Alba”, “Antigone” and “Borders of Paradise”.
The Intermediate 2 Practical Exam takes place shortly after the Easter Holidays and they are
performing the Gothic melodrama ‘The Mystery of Irma Vep’. Pupils will be specialising in Acting and
Costume Design.
The NC Acting and Performance pupils are in full rehearsal for their final production of ‘The Women
of Troy’ – this new exciting course enables pupils to specialise in purely acting technique and this
production will be the final showcase of the pupils’ hard work throughout the year.
Congratulations to all who have completed their practical exams for Standard Grade and Higher Drama
and good luck to those still to sit them, you’ll be great!

Mr Campbell & Miss Morgan

Drama Department 14
 Knox News, Easter 2010

Every Tuesday we go to Craft Club, with Dr Wilson, Miss Auchinleck and Rosie Noon in Sixth Year
in the Science lab. In the craft club we do lots of different kinds of crafts like felting, origami and
beading.
At the moment we are making felt badges. It is really fun and easy also we have made origami hearts
for Valentine’s Day and paper beads that were made out of recycled magazines, because we are an
eco-friendly school!

The finished product!

Cutting our felt to make broaches

We are hoping to plant daffodils and make cards for Easter. Here are some comments from people in
the Craft Club.

Megan Trotter 1L3 says: “It is fun and enjoyable and you get to do a variety of different things.”

Aimee Broomfield 1L3 says: “It is good because I don’t get to do stuff like that at home”

Caitlin Wright 1T1 says: “It is good being able to make stuff to take home.”

The Craft Club is a great way of spending your Tuesday lunchtimes. It starts at 1.20pm and runs to the
end of lunchtime. All S1 and S2 pupils are welcome.

Eilha Rumbles and Beth McCafferty 1L3

The Amnesty International Youth Group has been involved in various campaigns this term including
the campaign against the Death Penalty. We campaigned on behalf of Troy Davis who has been on
Death Row in America for 20 years after an unfair and flawed Trial. Secondly, we campaigned to
stop the execution of Hakamada Iwao in Japan who has spent the last 40 years on Death Row after an
unfair trial and a confession obtained under duress.

The latest campaign is all about Burma so watch this space….

Mrs Montgomery

RMPS Department

Team Rise came together in August 2009 with our main objective being to establish a successfully run
business and gain useful skills in the process. Our mission statement is:

“To provide our customers with a reliable and wholesome service and to develop valuable business
acumen that we can use in later life.”

Our chosen service was a directory of the shops in Haddington with everything ranging from detailed
information on all of the products offered to photos of each angle of the store. Our aim was to
promote the smaller businesses and better known ones in our town as well as creating a fantastic
website for potential customers locally and further afield.

We ended up getting 19 businesses signed up with a range of packages and the next task was to
import exactly what they wanted and their individual information, onto the website. The packages
were sold at £15, £25 and £35 to the general market which gave us a healthy profit margin. The
interim financial results show total sales of £456.58, giving a gross profit on sales of £456.58.

There is not a shadow of a doubt that everyone’s business skills have improved vastly in creating our
service and valuable lessons have been learned for our future careers no matter how involved in
business they may be.

Emma Lynas
Managing Director
 Knox News, Easter 2010

We have been working with the school to look at ways of making its website even more useful and
accessible for both pupils and parents. This is covered in more detail elsewhere in Knox News, but we
are particularly pleased at the move towards each department having its own section on the site. In
time, departments will be able to post a range of curriculum materials on their pages, such as class
materials, revision materials, lesson resources and useful internet links etc. This is something which
we know many of you have been hoping to see.

We are also delighted to see the trialling of a system which delivers Knox news direct to your e-mail
Inbox, making it easier for us all to stay in touch with what’s going on.

There is also now a direct link from the school site to our own Knox Parents site at
http://www.knoxparents.org.uk which we hope will further improve communications between the
school and parents.

We are only too aware of how difficult exam time can be, and not just for the students. As parents, it
can be hard to know how best to help our children prepare for exams; we don't want to put them
under too much pressure but we want to encourage them to do their best. We think it would be
helpful to have a forum for parents where they can discuss issues and worries, and also offer
suggestions and support to each other. This could be a Knox forum, or county wide, or even wider. If
you have any comments or suggestions, please email us at the Knox parents website.

By the close of nominations at the start of term, we had received one nomination for the vacant post
on the Parent School Partnership. Under the rules, this means that no election is required and the
nominee, Vicky Cole, was duly appointed.

Vicky is an experienced secondary school teacher with a child in first year at Knox. She is
enthusiastically looking forward to contributing to the work of the PSP and has already been hard at
work.

Congratulations Vicky!

In order to find out more about what your Parent School Partnership is doing on your behalf, please
visit our website at http://www.knoxparents.org.uk You can also sign up to receive our latest news by
e-mail – no news, no e-mail! Over 200 parents keep in touch this way, so if you have not already
signed up, please do so now!

Tim Holden
Chair, Parent School Partnership.
A group of 9 S4/5 pupils, along with Mr Woolley, will be off to Morocco on the 2nd July, and will
arrive back in the UK on the 11th. This is a “life skills” expedition, for which we need to raise £1175
each, plus the cost of our kit. In order to do that, one of my activities was a sponsored bungee jump,
which I did on the 13th December 2009. I raised approximately £650 – over half the total cost of the
trip.

The experience was brilliant, but unfortunately I had to stand on top of the transporter bridge in
Middlesbrough for half an hour…in the winter! Not only was it freezing, but there was a lot of
waiting around for others to jump and for the “rescue” boat to get into place. Just before I jumped,
with my ankles strapped together, I stood on the edge and was told to look at the horizon and not
look down. Then “3-2-1 bungee!”. I looked down. I took the decision to jump rather than be
pushed or just fall and went feet first and tumbled backwards in mid air. Would I do it again? I think
so, yes.

In Morocco, we will arrive in Marrakech, before travelling to Mount Toubkal, at 13,671 feet high, it
is the highest peak in North Africa. This climb will take a total of three days. The rest of the time will
be spent mainly around Marrakech, having once-in-a-lifetime experiences, like riding camels.

Graeme McWilliams
4L1

Over recent months KASG has welcomed 5 new members. We are delighted that they are supporting
us and we are always grateful for whatever support a parent or carer can give.
In December we had a very successful “Whole School Christmas Dance”. In the past it has been split
over two nights for different year groups and despite some initial trepidation that the S6 might cramp
the First Years’ style it was one of the most successful dances we have had.
We have funded various activities and equipment for departments:
Chemistry now have a DP Electronic Balance for use with a computer; Drama bid for some Sword
Fighting coaching and the Craft, Design and Technology Department were the proud recipients of
various pieces of technology.
It is coming up to the busiest time for KASG with the Duck Derby on the 2nd June and Teas in the
Park on the 5th June. Contributions of cakes, candy and help will all be gratefully received. Food
donations should be in school by Friday, 4th June.

Mrs M Ball
KASG

18
 Knox News, Easter 2010

Mid/East Secondary Schools Tournament

On Friday 12th February six pupils from Knox Academy picked up medals at the Mid/East Secondary
Schools Badminton Tournament held at Meadowmill Sports Centre.

Under 14s Girls’ Singles

Winner – Erin Craig 2L2
Runner-up – Rosie Bruce 2G2

Boys’ Doubles
Runners-up – Mark Findlay 1G3 & Calum Paul 1G1

Under 16s Girls’ Singles

Winner – Megan Richardson 4G1
Runner-up – Hannah Laing 4G1

Girls’ Doubles
Winners – Hannah Laing & Megan Richardson

Megan Richardson and Hannah Laing won the Scottish Schools U16 Doubles title in Perth. Megan
was also the unlucky loser in the girls singles final being beaten by the number 1 seed.

Knox Academy were beaten 62-12, by last year's winners of the Scottish Cup, in the semi-final of
the U15 girls Basketball Plate.
St Andrew’s Secondary, from Glasgow, have a fantastic pedigree in the basketball cup winning and
have been runners-up for the last two years. They proved too strong for the Knox Academy team in
this year's competition out-scoring and out-classing our relatively young team. In comparison Knox
field four First Year players compared to St Andrew’s who field four national age-grade players.
However, our girls stuck in all the way through the match and battled hard to the end and now
know what it takes to become one of the top playing schools. The girls will build on this
performance and will be looking to avenge this result, one day.

Knox Academy played Musselburgh Grammar in the first round of the East Lothian Golf League at
Musselburgh Old on Friday 12th March and narrowly lost 3.5 to 2.5.
Alasdair Hastings and Connor Bowles won their two matches and Jack Rogan halved his match, but
sadly Knox were beaten in the other three ties allowing Musselburgh to take the win.

Knox Academy played Musselburgh Grammar in their first competitive hockey match of the year
and won 5-0 at Pinkie St Peters.
Knox Academy took nine youngsters to Pinkie on Tuesday 2nd March to play against Musselburgh
Grammar in a mixed S1/2 Hockey match. Musselburgh, who have recently raised a team and Knox
who have not had a game since before winter, were desperate for some game time. It was a great
run out for the youngsters and Knox were delighted with their 5-0 win. Katie Archibald (2T3)
scored four goals and Angus Riddell (1G2) scored one.

Knox Academy repaid the fixture at the Aubigny Astro Turf on Tuesday 16th March and this time
won 4-3. This was a much improved performance from Musselburgh and they defended so
well that the score was not higher.
Team: Angus Riddell, Jacob Walker, Caitlin Wright, Michael Paxton, Fraser Watt, Eve Swinton,
Holly Taylor, Katie Archibald, Kirsty Steven, Ruridh Keiller, Alex Metcalfe, Catherine Dodson, Erin
Craig, Kirsty Wallace, Molly Ferguson

Knox Academy took eight pupils to the Regional Schools Sportshall Athletics Festival for pupils with
physical, sensory and/or learning difficulties at Blackburn, West Lothian on Wednesday 10th
February.

Accompanied by Mr Couper (Sport & Physical Activity Coordinator) and Mrs Little (from Support
for Pupils), the team took part in a series of run jump throw events and relay races.

The team had a great day out competing admirably. The team (and new recruit from Dalkeith, Ross,
who joined our team) also celebrated the day with cup cakes as it was Ashleigh’s 13th Birthday.

Team: K Elder, C Elder, A Lawson, J Lavin, D Smith, J Nisbet, T Caldwell & L Caldwell

Knox Academy’s rugby fixtures have been badly disrupted this winter due to the heavy snow fall and
long frost periods. However, the S1/2 team did manage to squeeze in a triangular tournament against
Dunbar Grammar and Kelso.

Knox beat local rivals Dunbar but were narrowly beaten in the second match against Kelso.

20
 Knox News, Easter 2010

Knox Academy triumphed in the recent East Lothian S2 Orienteering challenge held at John Muir
Country Park.
Eighteen S2 pupils representing the three houses of Knox Academy (Garleton, Lammerlaw &
Traprain), travelled to John Muir Country Park on Wednesday 10th February 2010, to take part in
the Outdoor Education East Lothian S2 Orienteering Challenge. The event was an individual
pursuit that saw over sixty pupils from the six East Lothian schools navigate their way
around the course picking up as many points from the different score stations in the quickest time
Possible.

In the end, Knox Academy had six top ten finishers and held the top four places, with Finlay Munro,
2G1 being the overall winner collecting the most points in the quickest time.
Knox Academy used this event as an Interhouse competition and even though it was a Garleton
winner in the individual pursuit, the winning team was Traprain with a massive overall total of 5060
points. The individual totals were added up and simply because Traprain managed to fill their team
they managed to be the overall winners. Hopefully next year Garleton and Lammerlaw will manage
to pull together a complete team of ten competitors.

Traprain 5060 Lammerlaw 2130 Garleton 1690

R Couper
Sport and Physical Activities Coordinator

Last June, Active Schools linked up with Knox Academy & City Of Edinburgh Trampoline Club to
pilot a “Try Trampolining” programme on Friday afternoons and during the Knox Academy
Transition P7-S1 programme. The “Try Trampolining” sessions had an enormous response (87
youngsters had to be placed on a waiting list!). In light of the popularity and success of the classes,
Active Schools Co-ordinators for the Haddington area Suzanne Laing (Primary) and Rory Couper
(Secondary) along with L.Jeffrey (Geography Teacher & Head Coach of KATC & CETC) have
worked hard together to put in place a development programme from January – April 2010 .

Wednesday afternoons at Knox Academy have become the “Hub of Trampolining” with the KATC
Squad training 4-5.30pm then 3 hours of East Lothian Active School Recreational Classes in the
evening, run by City Of Edinburgh Trampoline Club. These classes have proved to be so popular that
now a further 3 hours run for youngsters from the local cluster primaries on Friday afternoons at
and there is a recreational programme for Knox pupils from 12.30-1.30pm.

Knox Academy Trampoline Club (KATC) displayed their Scottish Circuit Competition Routines and
Synchro at the Expressive Arts Evening before Christmas and are currently working on new
Competition routines for the forthcoming CETC Schools Competition to be held at Lasswade High
School Centre, Midlothian on 8th May. Trampolininsts in KATC, Active Schools Primary and
Secondary Programmes and PE Classes at Knox are training for this event and we hope to be able to
put strong teams forward from Knox Academy and the cluster Primary Schools this year- aiming to
bring home the Championship trophy. Watch this space for the results.

L Jeffrey
KATC
 is a new set of challenges offered to the pupils of Knox Academy by the Outdoor
Education team. It gives pupils the chance to work together as a team, problem solve and try a
variety of different adventures in an outdoor setting. This is the first year R.O.P.E. has been tried at
Knox Academy and it has been a great success to date.

The R.O.P.E. Challenge is a programme of adventurous outdoor activities provided to Knox

Academy by the Outdoor Education Service supported by Active Schools.
R.O.P.E. stands for Rock-climbing, Orienteering, Paddling and Exploration. The first three
sessions introduce participants to different land and water based outdoor activities. While these are
short sessions, the key skills of the activity are covered and they are intended as ‘tasters’ to
encourage future participation.
The final, Exploration session, is designed to be ‘pupil-led’, with participants providing input to
selecting the venue and activity from a choice of options - based on their experiences to date.
A key feature of the programme is to keep the session content flexible, making the best of conditions
on the day; within the bounds of the guidelines and risk-assessments.
The objectives of programme are …
· To provide a variety of outdoor activity taster sessions, within a structure program, that
encourages future participation
· To challenge participants in a number of outdoor environments
· To provide choice and be ‘pupil-led’ for the Exploration
· Encourage progression of group-work and dynamics through the program
At the end of the programme all participants are provided a completion certificate listing the activities
attended.

A group of 8 pupils were selected to take part in the pilot challenge during December 2009 and
January 2010. The three half-day sessions consisted of rock climbing at the Tranent climbing wall,
canoeing up the Tyne and cross-country skiing in Gifford. The final day was a whole day in the
Perthshire hills.

The second block of the R.O.P.E. challenge is under way with a group of 8 S2 pupils completing
their four days during March. On Wednesday 3rd March the group were at the Tranent Climbing
Wall for their rock-climbing element. On Wednesday 10th March the group were snow walking.
For more info on the challenges please visit the Knox Academy website.

R Couper
Sport and Physical Activities Co-ordinator. 22
 Knox News, Easter 2010

Summer days in the forest,

Armies and hide and seek.
Cuts and bruises just ignored.
Sword fighting and hideouts,
With laughter and smiles.
Handshakes and passwords kept amongst us.
No-one knew where to find us.

Dams and dens worked on all day.

Sometimes finding a broken chair, carpet, or a table,
To give a homely touch.
Once finished we would triumph together
We would stay out for hours,
Our only food ICE POLES!
When we were young our imaginations went wild.
We would imagine it was World War 2.
But every day something new and different.
Hard to believe at 13 things have changed,
No longer cool to imagine.
Cool to remember though.

Funny how when love comes

You can mistake it
Maybe for hate, maybe for friendship
Sometimes you don’t notice it
Until it stares you in the face
Love comes with many packages
Sometimes love comes with pain
Sometimes with relief
And often it comes unexpected
Love has been known to tear
It has been known to bruise
It has been known to save souls
And see people through
Love leaves scars
Some happy, some sad
But love is and always will be
Wonderful
The Library will be open an all six days between 9-12am and 1-4pm for general study/revision. All
pupils must sign in and out at the main entrance (am and pm), before attending any of the revision
classes or studying in the Library. High standards of behaviour are expected at all times in all parts of
the school.

0900-1200 Mathematics (All) Geography (H/AH) Admin (SG)

H Harpur L Jeffrey C Dempster

Art (All) Art (All) French/Italian (All)

K John. S Auch. K Milne J Edgar P Hutchinson

Biology (All) PE (All) Chemistry (H)

C Slowther R Greenaway A Jappy

Chemistry (SG)
A Jappy

1300-1600 Mathematics (All) Geography (SG) Bus. Man (Int/H)

E Williamson L Jeffrey C Dempster

Art (All) Art (All) French (All)

K John. S Auch. K Milne J Edgar E Garwood

Biology (All) PE (All) History (Int/H)

G Wilson R Greenaway K Anderson

0900-1200 English (SG) Biology (All) Music (SG/Int)

Z Machen L Ward E Orr

PE (All) English (H) Admin (Int/H)

J Stirling D Swinney R Flood

Mathematics (All) Latin/Classics (All) RMPS (All)

R Barclay L Adam L Montgomery

Craft and Design Mod Stud (SG) Biology (All)

Practical (Workshop) S Illingworth C Slowther
R Smith

1300-1600 English (Int) Biology (All) Music (H/AH)

O Edwards L Ward E Orr

PE (All) English (All Bus. Man. (SG

J Stirling D Swinney R Flood

Maths (All) Latin/Classics (All) RMPS (All)

R Barclay L Adam L Woolley

Graph. Comm (All) Mod Stud (H/Int) Maths (All)

R Smith S Illingworth J Young
24
 Knox News, Easter 2010

The Dress Code for Knox Academy is outlined below.

· White collared shirt (boys shirts should be tucked in)

· School tie (to be worn at the neck)
· ‘V’ neck sweater or fleece (plain – navy or black). No other colours allowed
· Smart black trousers from waist to toe. (No jeans/cargo or hipster trousers.)
· Smart black skirt
· Black shoes (no trainers)
· Shorts may not be worn other than PE in classes
· Headwear may only be worn in school for religious or health reasons
· Jewellery should be kept to a minimum and be discreet
· Accessories should be in dress code colours only eg bags, scarves and hats
· Belts should be black or navy only.

All pupils are expected to wear the dress code as described above and a navy blazer with the school crest.
Christmas leavers are not required to wear a blazer but may do so if they wish.

Prefects are expected to wear blazers with the school crest and braiding at all times.

Outdoor garments may not be worn in class.

In general terms, we would expect all our young people to maintain a sense of decorum. By way of
example, we would not expect to see bare skin/midriffs or shoulders. As in previous years, we will
continue to tackle areas of concern with sensitivity and on an individual basis.

The school now accepts absence notes via email. If you wish to do this please email the address
below, putting your child’s name and tutor group in the subject line. If absences remain unexplained
by either letter or email they will be changed to either “N” for “unreasonable excuse” or “T” for
“truancy”.

knoxacademy@knox.elcschool.org.uk

S Ingham
Depute Head Teacher
Tuesday 20th April All resume
Wednesday 28th April SQA Exams begin
S4 Study Leave begins
S2 Parents’ Consultation (5-7pm)
Thursday 29th April S2 Coursing
Friday 30th April S2 Coursing
Monday 3rd May Holiday
Tuesday 4th May All resume
S2 Coursing
Wednesday 5th May Parent School Partnership (6.15pm)
Thursday 6th May S2 course choice sheets returned
Monday 10th May Activities’ Week begins
S5/6 Study Leave begins
Monday 17th May Holiday
Tuesday 18th May Staff In-Service Day
Wednesday 19th May Pupils resume
Monday 31st May New timetable begins (S2-4)
Tuesday 1st June S5 Induction
Wednesday 2nd June New timetable (S5)
Parent School Partnership (6.15pm)
Monday 7th June SQA Exams end
Tuesday 6th June S6 Induction (am)
New timetable (S6) (pm)
Monday 14th June P7 Information Evening (6.30pm)
Tuesday 15th June P7 Visit
Wednesday 16th June P7 Visit
Thursday 17th June Sports’ Day
Friday 18th June Leavers’ Ceremony (12.15pm)
Monday 28th June S5/6 Paddleport Expedition
Tuesday 29th June S5/6 Paddleport Expedition
Wednesday 30th June S5/6 Paddleport Expedition
Awards’ Ceremony (7pm)
Thursday 1st July S5/6 Paddleport Expedition
Last Day of Term
Wednesday 18th August Extra In-Service Day for
Curriculum for Excellence
Thursday 19th August Pupils resume

Knox Academy
Tel: 01620 823387
Pencaitland Road
Fax: 01620 823186
Haddington
Email: knoxacademy@knox.elcschool.org.uk
EH41 4DT

We’re on the web at: www.ka-net.org.uk 26