“Happy New Year” to one and all. I wish you everything that you wish for yourselves in 2016.

We have already got off to a flying start, which augurs well for the rest of the session. On Wednesday night the S6 revived their end-of-term spirit to put on their panto for the parents. Thanks to all who attended (I think that the S6 got a shock at the size of the audience!). I cannot adequately express how proud I am of the S6 and their organisation of the panto. They did it entirely on their own (apart from a bit of help from the Art Department, and using Ms Whitfield as a sounding board) – writing the script, casting the parts, organising the music and the rehearsals. They should all be extremely proud. Special thanks should go to Chloe Craig as overall director of the show.

School of Rugby pupils are already turning up for early morning training sessions and it’s great to hear what a positive experience it’s being for all. “It’s halfway through the season and the Knox Academy’s partnership with Haddington RFC has seen the numbers playing rugby increase to over 70 in the school this season. This is in line with the 25% increase in players and games across Scotland as a result of this SRU initiative. Every team has won games and those pupils that have just started to play are building their skills, fitness and strength week on week through the sessions being run by Scott, Tom and the volunteer coaches from the rugby club. Boys and girls are also actively getting involved in coaching primary school pupils and they are looking to run a UKCC level 1 coaching course in the summer specifically for 5th and 6th years. It’s worth noting that this course will count towards UCAS points for those wanting to head on to university. Training resumed on Wednesday 6th January for all teams and there is a full schedule of fixtures up until the Easter holidays at which point the U16s will be heading off for a few days to play in a tournament in Cardiff. A limited number of spaces are still available so why not come along and give rugby a try or come back and give it another go if you have drifted away. There are more exciting developments to come as we are currently in discussions with two French rugby clubs about establishing a rugby exchange in future years. All in all, it’s a great success for the school, the rugby club and the community, and something that all young people, parents and teachers can be proud of.”

I would like to take this opportunity to flag up the work of a group called “Steps to Inclusion”. Steps to Inclusion is a social enterprise, based in Scotland, who are passionate about raising awareness and understanding of Autism Spectrum Condition and Dyslexia. They are running some workshops for parents of autistic children, in Musselburgh, starting on the 13th January and you can find out more about them by clicking on the following link (http://www.stepstoinclusion.com/parentcarers.html) .

Next Wednesday the Parent School Partnership (Parent Council) is meeting at 6.15pm in the Library. Any parent is welcome to attend these meetings – it would be great to see you there. And, just to help with diary planning, I would like to flag up the school Burns’ Supper that is being held on Thursday 28th January. Tickets will be available through the school and I’ll let you know when they are available.

Have a good week.

S Ingham