Ms Cook is intending running a short life working group looking at the criteria for awarding achievement ties (also to be linked in with ambition and diligence awards) and would like to invite 4-6 parents along to a discussion, with a few staff and pupils about this on Wednesday 7th March from 9-10.30am.
If you are interested in talking part in this please contact the School office by February 28th. knoxacademy@knox.elcschool.org.uk or 823387
Recruitment Observations
The Parent Council is often asked to provide Parent Observers to assist in staff interviews, the role usually includes:
Lesson Observation
The parent observer will sit in a classroom watching the candidate teach a class and taking notes on various aspects of the lesson. There is a checklist of what to look for. The class is normally an S1 or S2 class. Often we have two classroom observations running at the same time so the parent will swap with the other observer half way through the lesson so they can observe both candidates. There is a feedback meeting at the end of the interview process.
Interview
The parent observer will sit on the interview panel, asking questions and taking notes, normally with the Head Teacher and a Depute/Faculty Head. There will be a sheet of prepared questions, which the Head Teacher will go over with the parent before the interviews commence. There is a feedback meeting at the end of the interview process.
This is a great opportunity for you to play an important part of the life of the school and see what happens in a classroom!
No experience is required. If you’d like to be involved in interviews and are able to commit a half day or in some case a whole day to the process (it’s good to have continuity of the same observer for all applicants), then please contact the Parent Council and you’ll be put on a list of interested parents. When we’re approached by the school office for volunteers, you’ll receive an email seeking your assistance, with dates etc. then it’s first come first served. We hope that this can extend the reach of parental involvement within the school. You don’t need to be a member of the Parent Council to take part in this, but you do need to have a strong desire to play an important part in the ongoing development of the school.
mailto:knoxacademypsp@gmail.com
John Wrinn
Chair of the Knox Parent Council
Here are comments from other parents who’ve helped out recently:
“When I saw an email asking for parent helper I ignored it. After all I had been out the work place for many years and I thought I would be of no help at all. Another few emails came out and as no one stepped forward I decided to offer my help. I admit I was apprehensive the first time I was involved with an interview. That was about a year ago and I have now been involved with quite a few. The role is fairly informal. You sit in a classroom and observe the interviewee. You are given a sheet of paper with guidelines. As a parent you observe the interview in a different way from a teacher. I really think this helps the interview panel to acquire a better overall impression of the candidate. I also benefitted from the process. I know more of the staff and they in turn know who I am, I have a better understanding of how the school functions and I have an active role in my children’s school. I would highly recommend being involved.” KB
“Being a parent observer was a great experience. It gives both a great insight into classroom learning at the school and ensures that parental views are taken into account during the recruitment process. It’s well worth a morning of your time.” SS
Knox Academy Leadership Team Proposal
Under Parent’s Matters at the recent PSP meeting (Wed 2nd Sept) we discussed the recent changes to the pupil leadership team. We thought it would be helpful for parents to have access to this document.
Employability skills were discussed as a recent PSP meeting- mainly in relation to preparing pupils for the interviews/tests that they have to undergo to secure places on training courses with major employers such as EDF and RBS
A couple of web sites were noted as being particularly useful when helping pupils prepare
The school’s employability skills training is open to all senior pupils that want to take part. Knox recently won the Community Partners Team award at the recent East Lothian Council Star Awards for their Employability Skills Programme
A couple of additional web sites that may be useful for vocational training are
www.eastlothian.gov.uk/skillscentre
http://southeastscotlandacademies.org/index.html
Next meeting of the PSP is on Wednesday the 4th of February at 6:15pm in the LSS room
Next meeting of the PSP takes place next Wed 3rd Dec 6.15. Agenda to follow shortly. And huge welcome to all our new Facebook followers especially for taking us to the 100 mark.
The draft minutes from last week’s PSP meeting are now available here.
The Knox PSP (Parent School Partnership) will meet this Wednesday (4 September) at 6:15 pm at the school.
All parents are most welcome to attend. It is a very useful way to find out what goes on behind the scenes!
V Cole
Parent School Partnership
This year, for the first time, the PSP will be presenting an award to acknowledge a pupil, an unsung hero, who goes the extra mile for an extraordinary achievement. It is not for academic or sporting success, but for someone who, possibly out of school, has persevered and committed their time and energies in pursuit of an extraordinary goal. The award will be called the AAA award (Attitude, not Aptitude determines your Altitude).
If you know of a pupil who should be considered for this award, please let us know, either by email or through the school, as soon as possible.