HEAD TEACHER'S UPDATE 4 SEPTEMBER 2020

I would like to start by thanking parents/carers for their support of your young people wearing face coverings at school this week, after being introduced by the Scottish Government as an enhanced measure to prevent transmission of Covid-19 in schools.  Please can I encourage you to purchase cloth/re-useable ones as being an Eco-school we are really not wishing to promote the use of disposable ones and are concerned by the use of these on the environment (seas/oceans/green spaces). Pupils have adapted really well to using them in various spaces around the school, including corridors and social areas.  If it is dry outside we are continuing to ask young people to be outdoors at breaks and lunches as a further measure we have put in place to prevent transmission and pupils crowding together. Please can you support us with this strategy by discussing this with your young person and encouraging them to bring a warm jacket/hat/gloves as the weather gets colder? Thank you.

Staffing

Short leet interviews for Depute Head Teacher (Meadowpark) take place this Tuesday.

Active Schools – applications have now closed and interviews taking place over the coming weeks

Health and Safety around the school

Just a short reminder that any pupil showing Covid-19 symptoms must not attend school and you can book a test online at www.nhsinform.scot or by telephoning 0800 028 2816. Only if this test is negative should the pupil return to school (and parents are encouraged to email any result to kfraser@knox.elcschool.org.uk (who is our Welfare Auxiliary)). Jason Leith has also produced a letter for parents/carers in recognising the difference between Covid-19 and the common cold.

Along with all other Scottish schools we’re taking a zero-tolerance approach to Covid-19 symptoms. We have already shared with you the process for dealing with young people who begin to exhibit symptoms while at school. They will be taken quickly from the classroom to somewhere they can safely isolate until they are collected to return home. The rest of the class and staff will also leave the classroom area so that fogging can take place before lessons resume. Affected areas will be available to use after 15 minutes.

Such cases are likely to be rare and it’s important that we all remember that this is a highly-precautionary measure to keep everyone in our school buildings safe. As it becomes more familiar to our young people it will become an accepted and routine part of school life. We encourage everyone to remain calm and responsible throughout and to avoid speculation.

We are very proud of how our young people have adapted to the new routines in schools and are grateful for your continued support.

S4/5/6 - Changing Courses

Now that the timetable is settled and as we focus on supporting pupils to achieve as much as they can this session, we would ask that no more requests for course changes are made at this time. There are one or two outstanding requests being looked at but no new requests should be made. This includes requests to drop a subject.

The next general opportunity for such requests to be made will be after the prelim results when it may be necessary/ advisable for some senior pupils to change levels. (by David Russell, DHT)

School College Partnerships (SCP)

Course delivery will commences next week, 7 September.

Once the courses have started i.e. from 7 September, the following arrangements will apply:

S5/6 –S5/6 should work from home wherever possible on a Tuesday and Thursday afternoon. It would be great if parents could consent to this, in the form of an email to Mr Russell (drussell@knox.elcschool.org.uk)

S4 – pupils will attend the college class with Mr Barnhurst on a Tuesday and Thursday afternoon and complete the work set by their college course.

The other two periods designated as college are a Monday period 7 and a Friday period 4 (the last periods in the day). With parental consent in the form of an email to Mr Russell (drussell@knox.elcschool.org.uk), pupils can finish school early and go home. Where consent is not granted or it is not possible for the pupil to travel home, they should remain in school and attend the Opportunity for Wider Achievement Class.

Should your family have no access to Wi-Fi or a Chromebooks/laptop at home, then please contact the school office at admin@knox.elcschool.org.uk by Monday 7 September. Alternatively, if your son/daughter would prefer to be re-coursed, then they need to speak to Mr Russell, DHT as soon as possible. (by David Russell, DHT)

Virtual Awards Event – change of date - 30th September

Due to a postal issue in getting letters out to our award winners by the end of last week, and to give time for parents/carers to respond with information we need for this event, and to allow us to take photographs of our award winners with their certificates/prizes, this event will now take place on Wednesday 30th September. More information to follow.

Information Update

A pack will be coming home containing a PC1 and an Annual Data Check form which is required to be checked by parent/carers, updated as appropriate, signed and returned. Packs will contain photo permission forms, email consent forms and school closure forms if we do not hold a copy on file. If you have no email address, it is essential that you inform the school. Where this is the case, the weekly email information is automatically updated on our website.

Attendance

A reminder that we now have an “Attendance” inbox for parents to email with pupils’ absences/appointments. Please email attendance@knox.elcschool.org.uk 

Active Schools

Our new programme of activities, run by Active Schools and our staff at Knox Academy, will be starting up on as of 14 September 2020.  Thomas Salkeld, our Active Schools Coordinator,  is organising this and pupils will be given details of all clubs, and the timings of these, in the next few weeks. This information will also be posted on our website.

Parent Council

It was great to see so many parents/carers at our first virtual Parent Council on the year. If you would like to come along to the next one on Wednesday 28th October, please let Lesley Pirie, the Chair, know by emailing her at lesley_pirie@hotmail.com so you can be added to the meeting. 

Communication

Most of our communication is by email to parents/carers so if you have still to provide us with your email please do so ASAP so you don’t miss out on any information from us.  Please send an email to admin@knox.elcschool.org.uk to give us your email information. Thank you. If you have a question to ask about your young person or a question in general about the school, please email your young person’s Pupil Support Leader in the first instance as they will be best placed to help you.  If need be, they will refer any questions on to the House Depute Head Teachers.  The email addresses are as follows:

Ms Adam - ladam1@knox.elcschool.org.uk (Garleton Pupil Support Leader (PSL))

Mr Meekison - smeekison@knox.elcschool.org.uk  (Lammerlaw PSL) 

Mrs Doig - wdoig@knox.elcschool.org.uk  (Traprain)

Dr Lyon - vlyon@knox.elcschool.org.uk (PSL Support for Learning)

Ms Fox - sfox@knox.elcschool.org.uk (PSL for Inclusion)

Have a lovely weekend

Sue Cook