October 3, 2012

[KNOX ACA DEMY ANN K NUAL REPORT 2011/12 ] 2

It is wiith great pl leasure and pride that I present to you a report deta d t ailing the academic a attainme and wide achievem ent er ments of our pupils durin the last session. ng s

Yours,

ngham Sarah In Head Te eacher

Academy, H Haddington, is the des scendant of a mediev gramma school and was f val ar a Knox A dedicate to John K ed Knox at the end of the 19th century. It is a n non-denomin national and co-educatio onal school whose roll (at Septemb 2011) was 808. ber w Knox A Academy ha an extensive camp as pus and the major re efurbishmentt and rebuild have provided a combina d ation of new and remo w odelled facilities. These facilities a accessib to all e are ble

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[KNOX ACADEMY ANNUAL REPORT 2011/12]

pupils. Facilities include a Drama room and Seminar rooms as well as social areas for the pupils. All classrooms and the Library are connected to the Internet and Intranet. The school has extensive playing fields and new sports facilities featuring a full-size Games Hall and Gymnasium. For swimming lessons PE classes have use of the Aubigny Sports Centre in the town. The Cluster Primary schools are Kings Meadow Primary School, St Marys Roman Catholic Primary School in Haddington and Yester Primary School in Gifford. The school is a six-year comprehensive, offering a wide curriculum of certificate courses and an extensive choice of cultural, sporting and outdoor activities. Pupils are encouraged to develop a variety of interests and abilities in order to fulfil their potential. The school aims to arm pupils with the skills needed for themto take their place in the community, employment or further and higher education.

Staffing Structure at the start of session 2011/12

October 3, 2012

[KNOX ACADEMY ANNUAL REPORT 2011/12]

HEADTEACHER
DEPUTEHEADTEACHER HEADOFHOUSE GARLETON 4PrincipalTeachers (Curriculum) DEPUTEHEADTEACHER HEADOFHOUSE LAMMERLAW DEPUTEHEADTEACHER HEADOFHOUSE TRAPRAIN PrincipalTeacher (HealthandWellbeing)
2PrincipalTeachers 10PrincipalTeachers/ HeadsofDepartments (Guidance) 1PrincipalTeacher (Inclusion)

Staffing

53Teachers

structure at the end of Session 2011/12

HEADTEACHER
DEPUTE HEADTEACHER HEADOFHOUSE GARLETON DEPUTE HEADTEACHER HEADOFHOUSE LAMMERLAW DEPUTE HEADTEACHER HEADOFHOUSE TRAPRAIN

5PrincipalTeachers (Curriculum)

PrincipalTeacher (HealthandWellbeing)

53Teachers

3PrincipalTeachers (Guidance)

October 3, 2012

[KNOX ACADEMY ANNUAL REPORT 2011/12]

Improvement Plan Priorities: Progress on Priorities in Year 3 of the Development Plan 2009-12

Progress on the priorities listed below are graded on a 6 point scale: Level 6 Excellent Level 5 Very Good Level 4 Good Priority addressed completely. Maintenance required. Progress has been strong. There is some finishing off required. Important progress has been made in this area but more work is required next session. Level 3 Adequate Level 2 Weak Progress has been made on this area. Little progress has been made in this area.

Level 1 Unsatisfactory No progress has been made in this area.

Improvements in Performance Ensuring that pupils attain the best that they can. Ensure that attainment levels continue to improve. Address the needs of pupils as per the Curriculum for Excellence to ensure that all learners attain and achieve to the best of their ability. (Level 4) Fulfilment of Statutory Duties

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[KNOX ACADEMY ANNUAL REPORT 2011/12]

Ensure that the schools finances take account of local and national standards and priorities. Ensure that budgetary and financial decisions are in the best interests of the school and improve the quality of learning & teaching. Ensure that the school actively complies with statutory requirements and codes of practice e.g. Additional Support for Learning Act etc. (Level 6)

Learners Experiences To improve relationships across the school community. To ensure fairness and consistency across the school when dealing with discipline issues. To ensure that all pupils feel safe and respected in the building. To enable pupils to feel that they are working in partnership with staff. (Level 4) The Schools Success in Involving Parents, Carers and Families. Develop the tracking and target-setting system. Improve the understanding of issues around the assessment of NQ Courses. Improve attendance and how we communicate with parents and carers about this issue. Continue to develop the school website. (Level 4) The Schools Success in working and engaging with the local community. Improve links with the local community. Improve the local communitys perception of the school and its work. Develop partnership working with the local community and parents. (Level 5) The Schools Success in working and engaging with the wider community. Maintain the existing global partnerships e.g. Aubigny and Comenius links. Develop the Rwanda link. Integrate more International Education into the curriculum. 5

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[KNOX ACADEMY ANNUAL REPORT 2011/12]

(Level 5)

The Curriculum Establish a clear timeline for the implementation of a Curriculum for Excellence. Develop courses that deliver a Curriculum for Excellence. Develop assessment materials and devise a reporting system for a Curriculum for Excellence. Ensure that the needs of all pupils are met. (Level 4) Management and use of resources and space for learning Improve the school environment. (Level 5)

Next Steps (to be taken forward in sessions 2012-15): Develop the Curriculum for Excellence. Raise attainment across the board. Improve pupils experience in school in the curriculum, other activities and in terms of developing positive relationships. Continue to develop links with the local community and involve parents in the life of the school. Continue to develop the school environment so that pupils and staff have the best possible experience.

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[KNOX ACADEMY ANNUAL REPORT 2011/12]

Successes in Attainment: Pre-Appeals Results 2012 Results by the end of %of relelvant S4 roll achieving 09/10 S4 English & Maths @ Level 3 or better 5+ @ Level 3 or better 5+ @ Level 4 or better 5+ @ Level 5 or better S5 1+ @ Level 6 50 62 56 46 47 47 43 44 7 46 52 45 47 39 37 38 36 35 37 84 84 89 83 82 82 78 78 80 97 93 96 96 95 96 92 93 94 100 95 96 94 96 94 93 93 94 10/11 11/12 09/10 10/11 11/12 09/10 10/11 11/12 Knox Academy East Lothian Scotland

October 3, 2012 or better 3+ @ Level 6 or better 5+ @ Level 6 or better S6 1+ @ Level 7 or better 20 22 36

[KNOX ACADEMY ANNUAL REPORT 2011/12]

39

39

26

27

28

25

26

27

19

19

12

12

13

11

12

13

24

30

19

16

17

15

15

16

It is gratifying to see that the exam results at Knox are good in comparison to other schools in East Lothian and in Scotland. However there are some trends that need to be addressed over the coming session: 5+ @ Level 4 needs to be above 90%. 5+ @ Level 5 needs to be above 50% consistently. More pupils need to be achieving 1+ @ Level 6 or better and to that end we need to look at what Highers are offered and how we skill up successive year groups to achieve this. Take note of where EL and Scotland trends showing an improvement and ensure that Knox is mirroring them. Notable achievements: 4 x S4 pupils achieved 8 Band 1s at Standard Grade 5 x S5 pupils achieved 5 As at Higher 3 x S6 pupils achieved 3 As at Advanced Higher 1 x S6 pupil achieved 4 As at Advanced Higher

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[KNOX ACADEMY ANNUAL REPORT 2011/12]

Of equal importance are the results that individual pupils attained despite trying personal circumstances. session. The Head Teacher highlighted these to staff at the first Staff Meeting of the

Achievements and Developments: Promoting the wider achievements of pupils at Knox is important and as such needs to be developed at Knox especially as regards celebrating the achievements of pupils and staff alike. There is a wide variety of extra-curricular activities available at Knox from sporting clubs, to jewellery making, to Comedy Club. We are also delighted to offer pupils extra opportunities via the Sports Leadership Awards; visits to book festivals; author visits; Theatre trips; music groups; the Tots n Teens Nursery provision; School Council; Business Coaching and Working With Others projects. We are keen to develop the area of social responsibility with the youngsters and continue with the Christmas Boxes; charity fundraising events; Haddington Festival participation; building the sleigh for the Haddington Christmas festivities and Community Service. Taking part in competitions that raise pupils self-confidence and awareness of issues has become an integral part of the Knox experience. The KWN Team have gone from strength to strength over the last two years, culminating in their winning the Grand Prix for Best Documentary at the KWN Global Awards. Other opportunities for pupils to compete and show their talent have been through STEM Club; Land Yacht Challenge; Young Enterprise; Maths Challenge and Young Writer of the Year. Next steps for development in this area are: Continue involvement in community projects and having the community involved in school. Start a Duke of Edinburgh Bronze group. 9

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[KNOX ACADEMY ANNUAL REPORT 2011/12]

Sourcing more extended work experience opportunities in the community. Develop the curriculum in the Senior Phase to include opportunities for personal development awards etc.

Social Enterprise opportunities in Haddington. More accurately record and recognise pupil and staff achievement. Increase opportunities for pupils to take part in local, national and international competitions.

Develop the ethos of the school.

Life and Work of the School: A great deal of the focus of the last year has been on the development of the S3 Curriculum. The challenge has been and will be to ensure that the courses are such that they continue to deliver the Experiences and Outcomes of the Third Level whilst providing progression and challenge to the pupils. Ensuring that this happens consistently across the curriculum will not be an easy task. We are awaiting the publication of the exemplar exam papers for the National 5 qualifications. We are lucky insofar as so many of the staff have been involved in the writing of courses and examinations. It is particularly heartening to know that we have the Principal Assessors for English and Maths working in the school at the moment. The development of the e-portfolios has been significant over the session and should ensure that the pupils in S3 who need to complete their learning Profiles should have an easier task than some others. The work that has been done by Mr Greenaway has been chosen to be published nationally (alongside some others) and he has been invited to speak about our approach at Knox Academy at various national conferences and has visited some schools in Central Scotland to give individual, bespoke advice.

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October 3, 2012

[KNOX ACADEMY ANNUAL REPORT 2011/12]

The Cluster Schools continue to work together, however, there is always room for improvement on joint working and this will be a priority for session 2012-13. The PE Department at Knox have begun supporting their primary colleagues with in-service afternoons to help them develop their practice. Moderation sessions will continue to try to develop a consistent approach to the assessment of Literacy and Numeracy. Community links continue to develop and we are delighted that the Haddington Business Association has helped pupils with employability skills training this session. The Community Police continue to work closely with school to support young people and challenge their behaviour where necessary. Mrs Ingham completed three Cover-Shifts with the Community police during the session. Mr Flood attends the Haddington Community Council along with two senior pupils. Next Steps: PTs of Literacy and Numeracy having input to the work of the primary and nursery schools. Establish closer working in the Cluster. Starting S4 mentoring earlier and develop Talking to Teens workshops. Evaluate and amend the S3 Curriculum in line with parental concerns as far as timetable and budget will allow. Develop Senior Phase curriculum. Continue to develop community engagement. Focus on developing learning and teaching. Roll-out e-portfolios to other yeargroups.

Vision and Leadership:

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October 3, 2012

[KNOX ACADEMY ANNUAL REPORT 2011/12]

Continuous improvement and success for the pupils are key to the direction of Knox Academy. Our priorities are to continue the successful partnership working with other agencies, the community and parents and to distribute leadership at all levels. We have begun to work more closely with Community Learning and Development, hosting a round-robin information gathering event in April. The outcomes of this discussion have helped to shape the direction for partnership working in Haddington and has contributed to the development of the Haddington Vision. The promoted structures in the school have been streamlined in accordance with the other secondary schools in East Lothian. Introducing a further PT (Curriculum) post Numeracy and Technology now means that all Curricular Areas are represented at the weekly Management Team meetings. Staff are working well in faculties to develop their own strategic vision and direction and continue to move the school forward through taking responsibility for areas of the School Improvement Plan. Faculties have devised different ways of evaluating their practice e.g. Communication have developed a Paired Coaching system where staff work collaboratively to improve areas of their work. Evaluation Visits have been useful in understanding how the school works and how to move forward. The relationship with the schools QIO has developed into the best kind of critical friendship over the sessions and her input into the schools self-evaluation has been key. At the end of last session a new Head Teacher was appointed. The process for this was rigorous and involved parents and pupils in the decision.

Next Steps for development: Contribute to Haddington Vision as required. Develop means for improving communication and idea-sharing between staff members. 12

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[KNOX ACADEMY ANNUAL REPORT 2011/12]

HT to have weekly meetings with the Head Boy and Head Girl to mentor them in their leadership development.

HT to involve the School Council in Dress Code consultation, consultation on School Aims etc.

Develop new set of School Aims in conjunction with pupils, staff and parents. Include pupils in the recruitment and selection process for senior staff. Develop the strategic capacity of the Management Team through CPD, mentoring and monthly strategic meetings.

Involve more staff in the Evaluation Visits. Reduce the number of actions on the School Improvement Plan and delegate responsibility for each are to a Depute and their supporting PTsC.

Increase the number of classroom visits made by Senior Management Team. Head Teacher to produce a weekly email to all members of staff detailing important issues and her strategic vision.

Conclusion: Knox Academy has made good progress over the last session and has capacity for further improvement. The new Head teacher is keen to involve as many members of the school community as possible in taking it forward.

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