THE OFFICIAL KENSINGTON ALDRIDGE ACADEMY MAGAZINE
#8 Spring 2017
P R I N C I PA L’ S W E L C O M E I N T H IS IS S U E . . . Student Council
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House Competitions Interim - Maths Relay Interim - Poetry Slam Interim - Dragons Den Spring 1 - Music Interim - Maths Team Challenge Interim - Rugby Interim - Film Competition Spring 2 - Debating
3 4 4 5 6 6 7 8
Performing & Creative Arts RAD GCSE Dance Workshops 6F Art Work Spring Music Concert
9 9 10
World Book Day
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Bletchley Park Trip
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Psychology Observation
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Careers & Options
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British Science Week
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Geography Field Trip
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Stretch Project
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Sports
17-18
Parent Calendar
Back page
Dear Parents and Carers, This issue of INTREPIDUS is as full as ever with the achievements and successes of our brilliant students here at KAA. I do hope you enjoy reading about all the wonderful things they have been up to this term. Highlights for me include the fantastic House Debating competition with our Year 9 and 12s and Year 7 and 8s debating together, and the election of this year’s student council. It seems incredible that we are now two-thirds of the way through the year, with our Year 9 students so close to selecting their GCSE options, and our sixth form students on the cusp of their AS examinations. Closely related to this - please do look out for the reports coming home after the holiday, and make note of the upcoming Progress Meetings listed below. We have lots to look forward to next term, including House Drama, House Sports Day, the school production of Oliver, and all the usual array of trips, visits, enrichments etc that help broaden our students’ knowledge and develop the widest possible range of talents. An exciting edition this summer term will be the appointment of our first ever Head Boy and Head Girl. Year 12 students will be given information on how to apply upon their return to school in the summer term. All in all an important and exciting term ahead of us. Until then, have a lovely, restful holiday.
With best wishes,
David Benson Principal
INTREPIDUS CONTRIBUTORS
Student photographers and writers this issue Jade (12 Fry) Lorenzo (7 Holmes) Katie (8 Hepburn) If you would like to contribute to INTREPIDUS in the summer term, sign up for the School Magazine enrichment on Thursdays.
Upcoming Reports & Progress Meetings Year 9 Reports will be sent home via pupil post on Wednesday 19th April. The Year 9 Progress Meetings are on Thursday 20th April. Year 8 Reports will be sent home on Thursday 20th April via pupil post. Year 8 Progress Meetings are on Thursday 27th April. Year 7 Reports will be sent via pupil post on Thursday 20th April.
STUDENT COUNCIL 2017/18 “The voice of the students” The 2017 student council election was a high-profile event within the academy as the student council are able to make real changes to the school. They are the voice for the students and are able to make a real impact. Students who were shortlisted from the initial nominations spent a week campaigning for votes, culminating in speeches during year assemblies on Friday 27th January. Well done to all of the shortlisted candidates for student council; the standard of speeches was excellent.
Nada El Ogbani Jake Ayling
Year 8 Councillors
Louiza Benzerga Taif Rahman
Students took to the ballot box to vote in their representatives for the next year on Friday 27th January. It was a strong field and all of the candidates did fantastically well. The interest and enthusiasm from students was brilliant to see across the whole school community. We are pleased to announce that the following students were elected to the 2017 Student Council: Nada (7 Radcliffe), Jake (7 Holmes), Louiza (8 Baker), Taif (8 Chaplin), Harry (9 Jobs), Parmida (9 Winfrey), Seynab (12 Maathai), Juan (12 Maathai) and Reece (8 Baker). The newly elected council had their first meeting on Friday 3rd February. They meet every Friday morning to bring forward ideas and requests from the student body. The council have already introduced a new ‘Girls Day’ on the MUGA on Friday lunchtimes.
Year 7 Councillors
Year 9 Councillors
Harry Senior Parmida Sarrami
Year 12 Councillors
Seynab Abdirahman Juan Domingo
On Friday 24th March the student council hosted their first event - a charity Lip Sync Battle for Red Nose Day. Thank you to all teachers who performed! Watch this space for more news of student council work!
Grandin Councillor
Reece Pedley
HOUSE COMPETITIONS
M ATHS T E AM CHA L LEN G E On Friday 20th January the first interim competition of Spring 1 was hosted by the Maths department during lunchtime. The competition was another wonderful opportunity to see the sixth form working with Key Stage 3 students. Teams included students from each year group competing to correctly answer the most questions. It was great to see our students getting stuck into logic and arithmetic problems during their lunch break. The competition was close, but congratulations must go to Honeyball for clinching first place and 2500 house points. The event was compèred adeptly by Mr Edwards - our thanks to him and the rest of the department for organising their third interim competition.
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1st place - HONEYBALL - 2500 points 2nd place - PANKHURST - 1750 points 3rd place - ANGELOU - 1250 points 4th place - FRANKLIN - 750 points
HOUSE COMPETITIONS
On Friday 3rd February the English Department hosted a Poetry Slam as part of our series of interim house competitions. The event took place during lunch time, and students filled the theatre to watch their fellow students perform.
Students performed poetry, either self-penned or by another author. Special mention went to Mehdi (9 Dyson) for his performance of a poem written by Leila (9 Dyson). Mr Miller and Dr Woodward also joined students and performed for the audience. The event was judged by Mr Clayton, Miss Arnold, Mr Akhlaque and Mr Waller from the English department. They decided to award first place to Honeyball, Angelou came second, Pankhurst were placed third, and Franklin were awarded fourth place. Well done to all of the students (and staff!) who performed and contributed to this fantastic event.
1st place - FRANKLIN - 2500 points 2nd place - PANKHURST - 1750 points 3rd place - HONEYBALL - 1250 points 4th place - ANGELOU - 750 points
Our second interim house competition of the Spring term took place on Friday 27th January during lunch time. Students were challenged to design and pitch a product to make household chores easier. The competition stretched students’ creativity and entrepreneurial skills with lots of fantastic ideas pitched.
Miss Williams, Mr Fitton and Miss Ormsby made up the panel of ‘dragons’ or potential investors. Each pitch was scored out of 10, the scores for each house were then added together to determine the winner.
In first place was Pankhurst, who had a particularly strong pitch from Ahmed (9 Berners-Lee). Honeyball came second with a strong product pitch from Mo and Joe (9 Dyson). Angelou and Franklin came third and fourth respectively. Congratulations to winners Pankhurst, and thank you to the DT department for hosting such a great house competition.
1st place - PANKHURST - 2500 points 2nd place - HONEYBALL - 1750 points 3rd place - ANGELOU - 1250 points 4th place - FRANKLIN - 750 points
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HOUSE COMPETITIONS
H OU S E MU S I C
House Music was fantastic this year! Staff and students enjoyed the final show on Thursday 9th February. The work that had gone into producing the four amazing performances was clear to see, with each house creating a mash-up, remix or medley of their chosen songs. All four houses did amazingly well and as a result the judges had a hard time selecting the winners. Angelou performed The Greatest by Sia with solos from Asia (8 Fitzgerald), Maizie (12 Attlee), Amie (8 Fitzgerald) and Nora (7 Farah). As well as singing, Sofia (9 Simmons), Ayah (9 Jobs), Jeanette (9 Simmons), Yursa (9 Simmons), Stacey (9 Jobs), Safiyah (9 Jobs) and Jenna (7 Grey-Thompson) choreographed and performed their own dance routine, and Ezekiel (9 Simmons) and Andre (9 Jobs) accompanied on drums. Honeyball created a mash-up of two Bruno Mars songs, Just the Way You Are and Marry You. The simple choir performance was beautifully led by sixth formers Calliope (12 Wilberforce) conducting the choir and Vivian (12 Wilberforce) accompanying on piano. Pankhurst house created a fantastic medley of songs, including Don’t Stop Believing by Journey, Price Tag by Jessie J, and Let it Go from the film Frozen. The performance included a special cameo from Pankhurst’s House Captain Kai (12 Sirleaf), and beautiful solos from Fatima (9 Berners-Lee), Hisham (9 Berners-Lee), Lyric (8 Chaplin) and Rolyn (7 Lewis). Franklin performed Drake’s Too Good, with Firdaws (7 Radcliffe) and Hiba (12 Roosevelt) leading the vocals. Tyra (8 Baker) and Louiza (8 Baker) performed the rap section, and a large chorus performed a dance routine, led by the winner of last term’s KAA’s Got Talent, Angelli (12 Roosevelt). The quality of performances blew the judges away anyone could have won. It came to judges’ preference in the end. Mr Benson, Mr Fisher, Mr Malik and guest judge Miss Cockell had a tough job their hands deciding on the results. However, they chose Pankhurst as the winners well done to the performers for such a fantastic medley! Many thanks to Heads of Houses, form tutors and especially Mr Fisher and Mr Rigby for all their hard work rehearsing with students in preparation for the competition!
1st place - PANKHURST - 10,000 points =2nd place - ANGELOU - 8,000 points =2nd place - HONEYBALL - 8,000 points 5
3rd place - FRANKLIN - 6,000 points
HOUSE COMPETITIONS
HOUSE MATHS RELAY On Friday 3rd March the Maths department kicked off the first Interim House Competition of Spring 2. Students worked in teams of 4 to complete maths challenges in a relay race. The competition was fierce and the lead changed on numerous occasions. Franklin and Honeyball led in the first quarter, really bringing their A-game in the early questions before Pankhurst stormed back to take the lead…
For a long time, Franklin and Honeyball fought it out for 2nd place, but a late surge from Franklin saw them within one question of equalling Pankhurst until Pankhurst secured the win with a final question in the last 30 seconds. The competitors and spectators enjoyed the tense atmosphere in the final minutes of the competition.
The final scores were 28 points to Pankhurst, 24 points to Franklin, 20 points to Honeyball and 12 points to Angelou. Congratulations to Pankhurst for scooping the 2500 house points for first place.
1st place - PANKHURST - 2500 points 2nd place - FRANKLIN - 1750 points 3rd place - HONEYBALL - 1250 points 4th place - ANGELOU - 750 points
HOUSE RUGBY In Spring 2 the PE department organised our first house rugby competition at KAA, a very exciting new competition. Teams and spectators made their way to Westway for the matches on Friday 17th March for Year 9, and Friday 24th March for Year 7 and 8. The Year 9 competition saw an “epic” match between Angelou and Pankhurst (Mr Bernard’s words). Well done to all players involved in a historic first House Rugby tournament! Many thanks to the PE team for organising this new event. Year 7 Results
1st place - PANKHURST - 2500 points
2nd place - FRANKLIN - 1000 points =3rd place - ANGELOU - 500 points =3rd place - HONEYBALL - 500 points Year 8 Results
1st place - HONEYBALL - 2500 points 2nd place - ANGELOU - 1750 points
Year 9 Results
3rd place - PANKHURST - 1250 points
1st - PANKHURST - 2500 points
4th place - FRANKLIN- 750 points
2nd - ANGELOU - 1750 points
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HOUSE COMPETITIONS
HOUSE FILM MAKING The 6th Form Enterprise Ambassadors group organised an interim house film competition during Spring 2. The Enterprise Ambassador’s group is a new Year 12 enrichment aimed at supporting students to put their own enterprising ideas into practice. This could be anything, from inviting external speakers into school, to organising their own fundraising event.
By Miss Julings
This term the group decided to organise a short film competition based around the theme ‘The Future: 2084’, a homage to George Orwell’s dystopian classic 1984. The 6th formers gave up their time to run after-school film making sessions, working within their house to help KS3 students create a film short or stop-frame animation. The group even gained the support of BAFTA award winning TV producer Laurence Bowen, who gave a talk to Year 12 students earlier in the year. Laurence visited students in the midst of their film making to give some advice, as well as attending the competition final as a special guest judge alongside Team London Enterprise Adviser, Luka Hunter.
The students interpreted the futuristic theme in a variety of creative and entertaining ways. Honeyball’s film looked at what life might be like for a KAA student in 2084, whilst Franklin decided to transport a future KAA pupil back to 2017, with some hilarious consequences. Students from Pankhurst took a more serious look into the future, with a stop motion animation about how the world might look 70 years from now. Angelou students also chose to go down the animation route, with a hand drawn stop-motion featuring vengeful robot appliances trying to take over the world. The judges had a tough time deciding on a winner, but in the end awarded joint first place to Franklin and Pankhurst, and joint second place to Honeyball and Angelou. Well done to all the students who took part and thank you to Laurence and Luka for giving up their time as judges!
=1st place - PANKHURST - 2500 points =1st place - FRANKLIN - 2500 points =2nd place - ANGELOU - 1750 points =2nd place - HONEYBALL - 1750 points 7
HOUSE COMPETITIONS
Our third annual House Debating competition kicked off on Thursday 23rd March with the semi-final heats. The motions were ‘This house believes that without religion there would be no war’, ‘This house believes that parents should have to apply to have children’, ‘This house believes that stop and search should be banned’ and ‘This house believes that all nuclear arms should be destroyed.’ Students engaged in very mature and well planned debates. In the Year 9 and 12 category Angelou and Franklin made it through to the final. In the Year 7 and 8 contest Franklin and Pankhurst progressed to the final.
The finals took place on Wednesday 29th March, with KAA Governors Dunstan Hadley, Bruno Paulson and Stephanie Tyrer joining Miss Hitchcock to make up the judging panel. The motion for the Year 9 and 12 final was ‘This house believes that Donald Trump should be removed from power.’ Angelou took the proposition, with Franklin arguing the proposition. The Year 7 and 8s tackled the motion ‘This house believes that the decision to vote Brexit should be overruled.’ Franklin took the proposition in this debate, with Pankhurst arguing the opposition. Not only were the debates well researched and confidently orated, but the audience made insightful contributions. The results were revealed at the end of term assembly, with Angelou and Franklin taking joint first place and earning a crucial 10,000 house points each as we head into the final term. A huge well done to each and every student involved in House Debating - from the research teams to the participants. A lot of hard work went into preparing the arguments, and the quality in the finals was a testament to this. Many thanks to Miss Hitchcock for organising another brilliant House Debating competition! Thanks must also go to our Governors for giving up their time to judge the final.
=1st place - ANGELOU - 10,000 points =1st place - FRANKLIN - 10,000 points 2nd place - PANKHURST - 6,000 points 3rd place - HONEYBALL - 4,000 points
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PERFORMING & CREATIVE ARTS
GCSE DANCE TASTER WORKSHOP AT RAD
On Wednesday 11th January a group of Year 9 students attended a GCSE Dance taster workshop run our by partners The Royal Academy of Dance (RAD). As Year 9s are currently in the process of choosing their options, it was a great way for them to get a feel of what the course might be like.
By Mr Dunning
The day started with a session on one of the GCSE set works. Students learnt about the work itself including the theme and intent of the choreographer, as well as learning about the company who performed it. Students then learnt a section of material from the set work, focusing on developing their ability in the Street Dance style and genre. The day ended with a session on contact work which students really enjoyed. They learnt a series of balances and lifts which they later included in a routine using their own choreography. Students came away from the day feeling very positive and all said they felt they now had a clearer understanding of what GCSE Dance might be like if they choose it.
6 F ART INSTA LLAT IO N On Monday 6th March, Alex (12 Tutu) transformed a wall of the school building into a work of Art. Alex had been exploring ideas of social injustice and equality, and being inspired by JR (an artist who creates murals of disenfranchised and disengaged communities), created a wall hanging from a portrait of a KAA student.
Alex demonstrated resilience and creativity; working tirelessly to produce her spray painted piece and searching the school building for the ideal location to display her work. It’s lovely to see our students producing socially conscious work, and developing their knowledge of Art outside of the classroom.
SPRING TERM ART WORK
Amin (12 Wilberforce) Debora (12 Wilberforce)
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This is a small selection of the fantastic work our Year 12 Art students have produced as part of their personal projects. We look forward to seeing the results of their AS exam work in the summer term!
Eugenie (12 Attlee)
PERFORMING & CREATIVE ARTS
SPR IN G C ON CE RT
By Miss Julings Our Spring Music concert took place on Wednesday 22nd March. The concert showcased upcoming talent in the lower school and hosted the 2017 AS Music performance examinations. As part of the Music A-Level, each student has to perform for a minimum of 6 minutes, making up 30% of their overall AS grade. The quality of the Y12 performances was incredible and a testament to how hard the students have been working throughout the year. The first 6th former to perform was Maize Wilson, singing two Noughties classics; The Pretender by Foo Fighters and Crazy by Gnarls Barkley. This was followed by a beautiful rendition of At Last by Etta James, performed by Annie Hyatt. The audience were then treated to two musical theatre pieces sung by Sameera Sharma, including an animated performance of Good Morning Baltimore from Hairspray. The night didn’t stop at singing though! There were also two bluesy numbers performed by guitarist Chase Watson, as well as music from pianists Adea Dragusha, Stefano Cumbo and Milan Marjanovic, and a saxophone piece performed by Rene Campbell. Hiba Benlahmar finished off the evening with heartfelt renditions of Adele’s Remedy and Empire State of Mind by Alicia Keys.
The night was a wonderful example of the amazing musical talent we have here at KAA and will hopefully be the first of many spring music celebrations.
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WORLD BOOK DAY
WORLD BOOK DAY
This year we celebrated World Book Day on Friday 3rd March with the theme ‘Magic & Mystery’. Staff dressed up as characters from Fantasy and Mystery books - including The Worst Witch, The Wizard of Oz, Peter Pan, Northern Lights, Alice in Wonderland, Sherlock Holmes and Mary Poppins! Students were invited to become ‘Book Detectives’ to solve a quiz run by our Student Librarians in the library. All students were also issued with a World Book Day token which could be exchanged for one of the exclusive World Book Day titles or used as a £1 book token. Year 7 students celebrated the day with a visit from Ben Haggerty, a performance storyteller. Ben’s work encourages students to explore and celebrate oracy. He began by telling stories to the group before working students’ ideas into the narrative. Some brilliant pictures below of the enraptured students! Our thanks to Ben for spending the day with us, and many thanks to the National Literacy Trust for organising Ben’s visit to KAA!
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On Wednesday 22nd February, thirty Year 9 students went on a maths trip to Bletchley Park, the home of the British code breaking division during WWII portrayed recently in the film The Imitation Game.
The students were fantastic and did themselves and the school proud whilst they were on site. They had the chance to learn a lot about code-breaking and cryptography, from its inception to its use today, as well as what life would have been like at Bletchley Park during the war.
MATHS
BLETCHLEY PARK TRIP
By Mr Hunt
The day ended up with them cracking a few codes of their own before being invited to use a genuine WWII enigma machine (valued at £150,000) and not a single student shied away from the opportunity. Despite a few of our students being misled by the word ‘Park’ in the estate’s title to begin with, they were all hooked by the end, learnt a thing or two along the way and had nice day out.
PSYCHOLOGY
PSYCHOLOGY OBSERVATION By Ms Sharman
On Wednesday 29th March our sixth form Psychology students conducted observations of stranger anxiety and separation anxiety in a 5 month old baby and a 2 year old toddler. They judged the 5 month old to have not yet formed an attachment and the toddler to have a secure attachment in line with Schaffer and Emerson’s stages of attachment. Keen psychologists in the making!
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CAREERS & OPTIONS
Y E A R 9 O PT IO N S EV E N I NG Our Year 9s have enjoyed a series of options assemblies throughout the Spring term, each outlining the content and structure of a subject available to our students as a GCSE option. On Tuesday 28th February parents and students joined us for the Year 9 Options Evening, where Mr Benson, Ms Jordan and Mr Harris spoke about the KS4 curriculum. Coming up in the summer term will be options interviews, the Year 9 Progress Meetings on Thursday 20th April, and the options deadline on Friday 26th May. An important term ahead for our founder students!
C ARE E R S TA L K
By Miss Julings
Former Deputy Children’s Commissioner for England, Sue Berelowitz, gave an inspiring talk to Year 12 students as part of our 6th Form lecture series. She spoke about her experience campaigning against South African Apartheid and how this led her to pursue a career in social work, describing the fulfilment that comes with having a career that helps change the world for the better. After the talk she was approached by many students, all keen to tell her how moved they were by what she had to say.
ACADEMIC SOCIETIES By Miss Julings
All Year 12 students attend an academic society of their choice after school on Mondays, the aim of which is to give students a more rounded education not solely focused within the confines of the A-Level curriculum. This term the Art and Computer Science societies hosted a talk by director of digital marketing agency ‘This is Forty Six’, Lewie Allen. Lewie grew up locally and learnt to code through a programme run by Paddington Arts centre. Starting his career off building websites, he then went on to advise CEOs of multinational corporations such as Barclays bank on how to develop successful digital marketing strategies. Lewie gave an engaging insight into the marketing industry and had lots of wise words for our Year 12 students, from how to network effectively and sell ones’ skills, to the challenges of managing a team of staff.
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The Year 12 History society were visited by Civil Service Fast Streamer and Oxford graduate Josh Platt. Josh is in his second year in the Civil Service Fast Stream and is about to take up a permanent post within the Treasury, where he will be part of a team working out Britain’s exit from the EU. He told students about why he chose to study History, his experience of university and what it’s like to advise government ministers on the latest policy research. He also had some excellent advice to impart, urging students to study a subject they’re genuinely passionate about, to save themselves struggling through 3 years of a degree they don’t enjoy.
The Science Department organised a number of activities for British Science Week, including a Chemistry Extravaganza during lunch time each day throughout the week, and a Science Project and a book cover design competition.
SCIENCE NEWS
BRITISH SCIENCE WEEK By Miss Barrow
This year’s theme was ‘Change’ and was chosen to encourage young people to think about and investigate the changes happening in the world all around us; from seasons and climate, to materials and energy. On Tuesday 14th March, as part of British Science Week celebrations, nine Year 12 students took a break from their revision to take part in a science quiz at Godolphin and Latymer. Eugenie, Daniel, Chloe, Nicanor, Lauren, Lucia, Angelli, Hajar and Jacob worked in teams with other students from G&L, Latymer Upper, St. Paul’s Boys and St. Paul’s Girls to answer some really tricky questions. The evening was great fun and the students enjoyed socialising while also learning some Science! Thank you to G&L for hosting us.
K A A D U C K LIN G S
There was much excitement in the Science Department during the last two weeks of the Spring term as the Science team incubated a brood of duck eggs.
A live stream was set up so students and staff could monitor the eggs from home. Some pictures here of the first ducklings to hatch!
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GEOGRAPHY NEWS
By Miss Praill & Miss Cosstick
On the weekend of the 3rd February to 6th February we took our intrepid year 12 geographers to Slapton (Devon) where we enjoyed 4 days of coastal fieldwork, hail stones, fish and chips, dolphin sightings, 15km coastal walks and the occasional ill equipped sixth form student/teacher! The students completed their compulsory fieldwork for their AS and A2 exams which involved everything from measuring the size of rocks in the rain to interviewing locals in the hail. The most intrepid moment of the trip was when our year 12s were caught in a full on hail storm walking down the coast from Slapton to Torcross. In a scene that they later described as ‘something from the Blitz’ - too scared to continue their journey they took cover under a nearby sea defence. No one can summarise the trip better than the students themselves, so below are some quotes on all the geographical and life lessons learnt as well as their personal highlights. Huge thanks to Miss Blount for organising the trip and for all of her help. Lesson Learnt: I learnt how to GIS mapping and the differences between dolphins and porpoises. Highlight: Walks on the beach (15km) Bonnie
Lesson learnt: I learnt that bread and butter does not make a good sandwich. Highlight: One thing I enjoyed was looking at the stars in the sky and seals in the sea. Omar A
Highlight: Hot chocolate, talking to everyone and being in the countryside. I enjoyed bonding with everyone #geogsquad Emmie
Lesson learnt: I learnt that white trainers and geographical muddy terrain are not suitable and that mud can prove to be a significant factor in causing discolouring. Okan
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Lesson Learnt: I learnt how to take a cold shower in the middle of winter. Highlight: Playing Uno with Omar, Sara, and both Geoteachers. Elineth
STRETCH PROJECT
What can we learn from people who are different to us?
Your project must have elements from one or more of English, history, RE, geography and languages. You should prepare to present your project for 2 minutes exactly (video, essay, poster, poem, presentation etc.) You may want to think about some of the ideas below:
English: Look at poets that explore other cultures such as John Agard, Grace Nichols and Imtiaz Dharker. What are their poems about? What do they show about differences? Whereabouts are they from? Consider any other writing from other cultures, maybe descriptions of places, novels, poems Read novels such as The Weight of Water by Sarah Crossan or Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman – what ideas do these novels explore? What can we learn from them? Languages Compare cultures in different countries which speak the same language, e.g. Morocco and the Congo, France and St Lucia or Germany and Brazil (they speak German in some parts!) Look at your local area and see how it has been influenced by people from different countries, e.g. Caribbean culture in Notting Hill Research which words in the English language have come from other languages, e.g. à la mode (French), pizza (Italian), Rucksack (German) Interview people you know from a different country/culture Geography: The attitude to life that the Danish have called Hygge The positive attitude that different East Asian and Mediterranean countries have to the elderly The reasons why Norway came top of the Happiness index in 2017, Bhutan is a carbon negative country and why Iceland came top of the Global Peace Index in 2016 How Rwanda has moved forward since the genocide to become one of the top ten fastest growing economies in Africa The ways in which Singapore has used sustainable urban design to improve city living How a group of countries called 'The Blue Zone', despite being from different locations and continents all around the world, are identified as living longer and better lives History: What Queen Elizabeth I learnt about tolerance and diversity from the Mughal Emperor, Akbar the Great How Nelson Mandela inspired by the achievements of Gandhi's civil disobedience campaign in India How the Norman Conquest of 1066 affected Britain for centuries after How Caribbean immigrants contributed to British culture and society during the 1950s and 60's R.E: The different denominations of Christianity and what they have in common How Sunni and Shia Muslims worship differently but around similar themes Different beliefs about the afterlife How different countries celebrate Easter
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SPORTS
ROWING TEAM CRUISE INTO THE LONDON CHAMPIONSHIP TO DEFEND THEIR 2015/16 TITLE In February Cardinal Vaughan hosted Epic’s Kensington and Chelsea Indoor Rowing Competition. The event consisted of four heats: SEN, Year 7, Year 8 and Year 9. The top two rowers from each heat then qualify to represent The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the London Championship on 9th July at Crystal Palace.
By Mr Hajjaj
The challenge tested the rowers’ cardiovascular fitness, endurance and mental strength. Encouraged by bellows of encouragement, our rowers sailed through clocking up impressive scores and ensuring KAA are represented in every heat in the championship finals. Congratulations to the whole rowing team, we look forward to hearing of their progress at the London Championship in the Summer term.
Results: SEN: Reece - 1st place (422 metres) YEAR 7: Enrique - 2nd place (496 metres), Jayden - 4th place (436metres), Trent - 5th place (430 metres) YEAR 8: Soufian - 1st place (773 metres), Jayden - 2nd place (745 metres) YEAR 9: Cameron - 1st place (1019 metres), Jeriel - 4th place (1007 metres)
Y8 BOYS FOOTBALL TEAM TOP OF LEAGUE Our Year 8 boys football team have had a fantastic season, finishing their first 6 games undefeated and with just one draw. This included some dazzling displays against Holland Park and Chelsea Academy. Most recently they managed to come back from behind to draw with Fulham Boys College. With a game in hand the team are top of the QPR Schools League! Best of luck to the team in their final fixtures!
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SPORTS
YEAR 7 INDOOR ATHLETICS TEAM
By Miss Demeester Our Year 7 indoor athletics team participated in the annual Secondary School Games Festival hosted by EPIC in January. Our athletes faired extremely well against a strong field of other local schools.
KAA were dominant in the track events, particularly in the longer distance, 6 lap race, Joao (7 Hamilton) and Israa (7 Grey-Thompson) won the boys and girls events respectively.
In the field events Mohaned (7 Murray) and Trent (7 Farah) excelled in the Shot Put, whilst in the girls events Leilani (Grey-Thompson) put in a valiant effort in the speed bounce. Well done to all whole team!
Y7 NETBALL TEAM WIN THEIR LEAGUE! The Year 7 netball team’s season concluded on Thursday 19th January with an exciting double-header after an undefeated season in the league.
By Miss Demeester
The first fixture of the double-header was against Chelsea Academy and the game was very close. KAA shooters Yousra (7 Hamilton) and Nada (7 Radcliffe) took a while to warm up, but when they did the shots kept coming and the game finished 7-5 to KAA. Their final opponents were the formidable Moore House. The game started at a fast pace and for the first time in the season it was our opponents who got the first point. Quick to respond, Tashi (7 Radcliffe) and Leilani (7 Grey-Thompson) displayed excellent court play to give KAA the opportunity to equalise. At half time it was a draw and the team returned to the court determined to make the final 10 minutes count. KAA took the lead only for Moore House to equalise. With the pressure mounting, goal defence Henadi (7 Holmes) kept the shots away, allowing KAA to score in the final few minutes and win 3-2! The team played fantastically all season and were delighted with their final two wins securing their unbeaten record. As winners of the league the team were selected to represent RBKC at the London School Games in March. On Wednesday 22nd March the team travelled to Crystal Palace for the London School Games tournament. On arrival they were given the borough t-shirts and with great excitement the team got ready for their first match. As the weather conditions worsened the team tried their best to compete with resilience. By the end of their first 3 matches they finished 3rd in the group and went into the afternoon fighting for a good ranking. After a much needed refuge from the rain in the café at lunch time, the team approached the afternoon just as eager as when they started. With great determination the team fought on, and all team members worked tirelessly until the end. Huge congratulations to the team for a fantastic season, and a first in KAA’s history, well done to all those who took part!
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Summer Term Parent Calendar Date
Event
Tuesday 18th April
Staff training day (school closed to students)
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Wednesday 19 April
Summer 1 term begins for all students
Thursday 20th April
Monday 1st May
Y9 Progress Meeting 4.30pm - 7pm Y8 Progress Meeting 4.30pm - 7pm House Swimming Gala 3pm - 4pm Bank holiday (school closed to students)
Tuesday 2nd May
Enrichment begins
Wednesday 3rd May - Friday 5th May
Y7 Kingswood Residential / Y8 London Residential
Monday 8th May - Friday 12th May
KS3 Sum1 Revision Week (English/Maths/Science)
Thursday 27th April Friday 28th April
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Monday 15 May - Friday 19 May Monday 15th May - Tuesday 27th June
KS3 Sum1 Assessment Week (English/Maths/Science) AS EXAMS
Monday 22nd May - Friday 26th May
KS3 Sum1 Review Week (English/Maths/Science)
Wednesday 24th May
House Drama Final
Wednesday 24th May - Friday 26th May
Y8 MFL Trip to France
Friday 26th May
KS4 Options Deadline
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Friday 26 May Monday 29th May - Friday 2nd June
Sum1 Awards Assembly 2pm - 3pm Summer Half Term Holiday
Monday 5th June
Staff training day (school closed to students)
Tuesday 6th June Thursday 15th June Monday 19th June - Friday 23rd June
Summer 2 term begins for all students Y12 UCAS Day KS3 End of Year Revision Week (all subjects)
Monday 20th June Monday 26th June - Friday 7th July
Summer Art Exhibition 5.30pm - 6.30pm KS3 End of Year Exams Weeks (all subjects)
Monday 10th July - Friday 14th July
KS3 End of Year Review Week (all subjects)
Wednesday 12th July
School Production: OLIVER! 6.30pm - 8.30pm School Production: OLIVER! 6.30pm - 8.30pm Sports Day 9am - 4.30pm Whole School Awards Assembly 11am - 12.pm Students finish school at 12.30pm Summer Holiday
Thursday 13th July Friday 14th July Friday 21st July Monday 24th July - Thursday 31st August Friday 1st September Monday 4th September Tuesday 5th September
Y7 & Y12 Induction Day (Y8, Y9, Y10 & Y13 at home) Y8, Y9, Y10 & Y13 Induction Day (Y7 & Y12 at home) Aut1 Term starts (Timetabled lessons begin for all students)