As the academic year ended staff gathered to thank Ms Jude Lowson for her exceptional leadership as Acting Head.
Ms Lowson took on the role of Acting Head in April 2021 when Head Master, Andrew Halls, stepped down. Having joined the school as Deputy Head (Pastoral) in April 2018 and become Principal Deputy in September 2020, Ms Lowson has been an outstanding Head through deeply uncertain times. She helped navigate the school through the continuing pandemic, the significant structural change in the junior and lower schools, through the tragic loss of Deputy Head, Mr Mark Allen, and through the difficulties brought by Everyone’s Invited. Ms Lowson’s insightful, clear, calm and sensitive approach to all these things, paired with her unfailingly positive outlook, offered pupils, parents and colleagues support, empowerment and galvanisation when it was most needed.
Deputy Head (Pastoral), Mr Richard Amlot commented that Ms Lowson “has led with clarity of purpose, kindness, empathy and a deep commitment to making the pupil experience here as good as possible”, while Deputy Head (Academic), Miss Melissa Clarke praised the “great care, precision, and impact” of the cultural changes Ms Lowson has led. She added, “she has demonstrated to us all the power of change through dialogue, listening and empathy.”
Ms Lowson summed up her feelings in her end of term letter in July: “It has been a tremendous honour and privilege to have led the school for the past four terms. It has given me a new insight into just how much happens on any given day at our school; the breadth and depth of the talents of pupils and the scope and scale of the support that they receive from my colleagues.” She ended by saying, “Thank you, to each and every member of the community for your loyalty to the school and to each other. I wish you a restful break, and am looking forward to the next chapter for this wonderful school under our new, permanent Head,
Dr Anne Cotton, in September.”
Ms Lowson will continue to help lead the school as Senior Deputy for the next academic year before she becomes the first female Head of The King’s School, Canterbury in September 2023.
Dr Anne Cotton takes the reins as Head of King’s this September. As the summer came to an end she shared these words: “It is a joy to be here at King’s. It has been a real pleasure to start to meet pupils, staff, parents and alumni in recent months as I have prepared to join the school, and in every interaction I have been struck by the warmth and dedication of the community, and by the energy and purpose of King’s life. I am very much looking forward to immersing myself in the activities of the school, and this term I shall spend much of my time getting to know pupils and staff, visiting departments and lessons, and enjoying the wealth of activities which make King’s such an energetic and inspiring place to be. Likewise, I am excited to get to know the wider King’s communities, and to extend to you all the warm welcome that the community has offered me.”
Dr Cotton has been Head of The Portsmouth Grammar School and will be the first permanent female head of King’s. She has a double first in Classics from Christ Church, Oxford, where she also completed her MSt in Classical Languages and Literature and her DPhil.
At the end of January, King’s College School and King’s College Junior School received a weeklong inspection from The Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI), who report to the UK government’s Department for Education.
The reports are published in two parts. The first covers the focused compliance inspection. Inspectors review the school’s policies, procedures and records against the Independent School Standards in order to judge whether these are met or not met. We are very pleased to report that every single
standard was met in both the junior and senior school. The second part of the inspection report details the findings on educational quality. There are two overall categories: the quality of pupils’ academic outcomes and the quality of their personal development, each with a number of sub-categories. We are delighted to report that the inspectors graded the school ‘excellent’, the highest possible rating, in each of these areas.
Inspectors praised the pupils‘ “outstanding academic, musical, sporting, linguistic and dramatic distinctions”, and their “outstanding
“
work ethic”. They also commented upon the “first-rate communication skills” and their ability to manage their lives “in an understated, yet mature, manner” with “self-awareness and resilience”. The full report is available on the school website.
Fellowship Day 2022 was an occasion to remember. It was the first meeting of the King’s Fellows since October 2019 and the event provided governors and Fellows with a chance to thank long-standing governor, Owen Carlstrand, and former Head Master, Andrew Halls for their outstanding service to the school. In recognition of Mr Halls’ contribution, the Music School has been named in his honour and this event was the perfect occasion to unveil the plaque memorialising his tenure.
Farewell to Mrs Anna Maria Clarke who has served as Bursar and Chief Operating Officer (COO) since April 2017. She leaves to become COO and partner at Hawthorn Advisers.
We welcome Dr Ghazwa AlwaniStarr who takes up the post of Bursar (Director of Finance & Operations), Dr Alwani-Starr joins us from Queen Mary University of London, where she was Chief Operations Officer.
On Friday 18th March, pupils and staff planted a crop of saplings around the school and Kingsway site as part of the national tree planting initiative, The Queen’s Green Canopy (QGC). The QGC was created to mark Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee, and aims to encourage people from across the United Kingdom to play their part in enhancing our environment. The school received 105 hawthorne, rowan, blackthorn, silver birch, hazel and oak trees as part of the scheme.
On 4th May 2022 we celebrated the 125th anniversary of the opening of King’s College School’s new home in Wimbledon. Previously located in the basement of Somerset House on the Strand, for many years the school had been desperately in need of outdoor space for organised games. After much searching for a suitable site, the headmaster of the school, Charles Bourne, finally persuaded the Council of King’s College to support the purchase of South Hayes, a large Victorian property with around seven acres of land, opposite Wimbledon Common.
Late last summer, the King’s sports centre was awarded a RIBA National Award and named one of London’s best buildings for 2021. This is the second RIBA award the school has won, with the music school being name as one of the country’s best buildings in 2019. Both buildings were part of our 10 year masterplan to enhance the facilities at the school.
The upper sixth enjoyed their Leavers’ Dinner on 4th July. Pupils, parents and staff spent the evening together celebrating all the achievements of the class of 2022.
The annual Christmas Concert in Picadilly resumed after a two year hiatus.
After all the difficulties experienced since March 2020, the academic year 2021/22 has seen school life start to return to a more sports, trips and co-curricular activities. Here is a sample of just a few of the
In-person drama productions were back with a bang in the autumn. The Senior Production for 2021-22 was The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Pupils and staff were able to return wider range of face-to-face Community and Partnerships Projects
Prizegiving took place in-person during the last week of the summer term. VIP guest, Clare Balding joined the celebrations as this year’s prize giver.
resumed this year
Inter-school sports fixtures returned across the school. The weekend of 16th January even saw a new record set for the number of fixtures played. A total of 500 across the weekend!
more normal rhythm. Pupils and staff have been delighted to get back to in-person events, concerts, and productions as well as to many occasions celebrated over the course of the academice year 2021/22.
return to a Community
September’s Music Scholars’ and Exhibitioners’ Recital was the first time a live audience attended a school concert in over eighteen months.watch and listen.
December saw the launch of The Wimbledon Charter, a student-led collaboration between King’s and local girls’ school, Wimbledon High School (WHS). The Charter was established with four key areas of collaboration between the two schools including: working together to share best practice and to undertake shared staff training in order to further embed a supportive culture where every pupil feels safe, secure and supported; collaborating on the coordination and delivery of PSHE and RSE; working together with parents from both schools on the broader contextual and societal issues facing schools, young people and parents; and setting
up a number of academic and social partnerships between pupils in our two schools.
As well as the official signing of the charter, the launch included words from Ms Lowson, Ms Kennedy, Head of Wimbledon High School (WHS) and Deanna Puccio from the RAP Project (Raising Awareness and Prevention Project). A student from each school also spoke at the event, with Eddy (L6K2) representing King’s.
A selection of Charter activities took place in the months following the foundation, the final one for 202122 being an evening session for
parents, Making Informed Choices. This discussion focused on how to create an inclusive culture for and with young people. Parents had a valuable and thought-provoking discussion with guest experts, therapist, Alicia Drummond; Fiona Spargo-Mabbs, Founder of drug and alcohol education charity, the Daniel Spargo-Mabbs Foundation; and Dr Charlie Easmon, expert in mental health and stress.
This year's Mental Health Awareness Week took place from 9th to 15th May, with a focus on loneliness and the impact of the pandemic upon mental health. Activities at King's centred around connecting with one another with a range of communal lunchtime activities taking place including lawn games, ball games and an ice lolly give-away which put a smile on everyone's face!
Each week the King’s Pride Group meets with the aim of increasing education and awareness related to experiences of those who identify as LGBTQ+, as well as ensuring solidarity for pupils in our school community. The sessions usually include a short lecture, video or podcast, a paired reading and then group discussion. This year, the group considered topics such as why those who identify as LGBTQ+ may be inadvertently grouped; how the law has shaped the LGBTQ+ experience before the twentieth century; how the medical profession framed sexuality as a pathology in the nineteenth century; and how the experience of those who identify as LGBTQ+ has changed across time.
The Pride Group also had the opportunity to help researchers from King’s College London (KCL) with a study which aims to improve training available to educators and help to better support LGBTQ+ pupils. Pupils took part in discussions with KCL researchers, and the Pride Group ran a focus group in Perspectives CCA of six pupils across different year groups who answered the researchers’ questions.
The theme for this year’s Black History Month was ‘celebrating the unheard voices of Black British history’ with events and initiatives taking place in October but also continuing throughout the year. The aim was to bring into focus the contribution of Black voices to contemporary British culture and in particular to our own school community and this was explored in a host of ways.
The initiative, ‘Celebrating unheard voices: curriculum challenge’ encouraged all departments to think about how they incorporate diverse voices into their teaching. Mr Short Ring presented a series of assemblies on the life of Olive Morris, the inspirational Black community leader and activist. Children’s author Catherine Johnson gave a talk to year 7 and 8 pupils about her research for her books; her life experience; and led a discussion on representation in history and literature.
Pupils Emmanuel (L6A2) and Lucas (L6G1) hosted an assembly on Asquith Xavier, who ended a ‘colour bar’ policy at British Railways in London in 1966. Professor David Olusoga OBE, joined us remotely for a talk on the importance of historical accuracy and the forgotten voices that have shaped our country.
The upper fifth welcomed Dr Charlie Easmon on Thursday 2nd December for a thought provoking seminar on the topic of prejudice. Dr Easmon is a medical doctor and civil rights activist who has written extensively on race issues. Dr Easmon brought a wealth of personal and professional insight into the seminar, which aims to give pupils an opportunity to reflect; think, and question their beliefs on this topic and the arising issues. Shatansu (U5Mac) commented, “I learned about background inequalities which may affect me in the future, or have already affected me, unknowingly. The talk gave me a clearer sense of how racial inequality in the world and in the UK exists, and it also taught me how to help prevent racism, particularly from the discussions at the end of the talk.”
In the spring term, Lower sixth historians participated in seminars on the topic of the British Empire and British Identity. In the sessions which were run by members of the History department, pupils discussed a range of questions, using evidence gathered from three chapters of David Olusoga’s book, Black and British: A Forgotten History. The three-part seminar series allowed pupils the chance to deepen their understanding of some of the context around issues that still affect society today and encouraged them to probe more deeply the complexity of dealing with our nation’s past. Alexandra (L6L) observed
“We [...] had time to discuss the elements of the book that we believed should be incorporated into our curriculum which gave way to a conversation about why British exam boards or more widely British educational systems tend to be exclusionary about their nation’s colonial history. I think this marks the nascence of a new era in the study of British empire which, as David Olusuga discussed in his talk earlier this year, doesn’t condone selective amnesia or attempts to void countries of their accountability.”
Spearheaded by our Director of Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity (EDI), we have developed a comprehensive EDI action plan which spans all areas of school life. The plan builds upon the work we have already started around support and visibility and considers EDI in relation to staff and student experience, the governing body and the wider school community including alumni and parents.
The King’s African Caribbean Society (ACS) was founded during lockdown by Lucas (4G2) and two former King’s pupils, following the tragic death of George Floyd. It offers a supportive community for discussion, sharing of experiences, and lectures, events and other immersive experiences, provided by black students for black students. The society is represented on the EDI Committee by Mr Barrington and three members of ACS, allowing them to address issues on behalf of the group e.g. the institution of the Halo code. Sixth former and ACS member Emmanuel (L6A2) commented: “Undoubtedly, the main function of ACS is to allow its members to have a real voice within the school.”
International Women’s Day took place on Tuesday, 8th March. To celebrate the occasion, King’s hosted a joint Wimbledon Charter event with WHS. The event featured a performance from a joint King’s-WHS choir, followed by discussions from a panel of dynamic women which included Elham Fardad, CEO and founder of Migrant Leaders; Rebecca McKinlay, Head of Client Strategy, Creative & Media at Economist Impact; and Barbara Gottardi, Chief Information Officer at a global bank.
Another part of the Women’s Day activities involved six King’s pupils travelling to the Women of the World Festival at the Southbank Centre on Friday, 11th March. The annual arts and science festival celebrates the achievements of women, girls and non-binary people, as well as looking at the obstacles they face across the world.
This year’s LGBT+ History Month celebrations included a fascinating assembly by Mr Foster on the physiology and psychology of prejudice. He talked about the evolutionary origins of moral faculties such as disgust and how it began as a self-defense against accidental poisoning and has become part of our behavioural immune system, protecting us from disease but also producing strong reactions to perceived out-groups, leading to prejudicial behaviours and moral judgements.
Other events included a King’s logo competition; a collation of LGBT+ themed performance pieces from the Drama department; an LGBT+ History themed issue of pupil-led Perspectives Magazine; and a lower school origami activity in which pupils made paper cranes from colourful paper. The cranes became a display in the Cotman Gallery, aimed at increasing the visibility of the LGBT+ community and promoting equality and diversity.
King’s pupils have been benefited from a huge array of guest speakers and workshop sessions this year.Visitors have included one of the first ever openly gay pilots in the Royal Air Force (RAF), Matt Lindley (right), Emma Gleadhill, an experienced deputy head with psychoanalytic training from the Tavistock and Portman NHS trust. Their presentations covered personal testimonies of sexuality, leadership and mental health; psychological wellbeing, emotional intelligence, and healthy relationships; and the evolution of human rights in the UK. Workshops included an optional CPD accredited Mental Health Warrior course, delivered by George Peterkin from Mind Your Health which 25 upper fifth and lower sixth pupils took part in.
On Thursday 27th January, Mr Rendell led a special assembly to mark Holocaust Memorial Day Mr Rendell used a thought-provoking quote from Marian Turski, an Auschwitz survivor, to underline the danger of complacency. Part of the quote reads: “In those early 1930s, you can read an inscription on the benches, ‘Jews must not sit on these benches’. You can say it’s not fair, it’s not right but there are other benches, you can sit somewhere else”. Building on this chilling warning against passivity, Mr Rendell urged pupils and staff to challenge hatred in all its forms, reminding his listeners of our shared responsibility in the fight against persecution.
This year our long-running series of informal talks from women in the King’s community added a new event to its calendar. In October, the first ‘Empowering Women in the Workplace’ event took place in collaboration with Putney High School. The event saw Ella Dodd, of the charity Smart Works; Joyce Sarpong, a businesswoman with over 20 years of experience in the IT sector; and Alison Wild, of Goldman Sachs, join a panel discussion attended by parents and pupils from both schools. The usual lunchtime events have also continued with guest speakers including Hannah Redmond, Director of Innovation at Macmillan; and Susanna KingChristopher, an in-house lawyer for exam board and education publisher, Pearson.
The King’s Girls Who Code Club was officially approved by the international nonprofit organisation, Girls Who Code, which is working to close the gender pay gap in tech. The newly endorsed club at King’s was founded last academic year. By creating accounts on the Girl’s Who Code website, girls can learn to code through courses in programmes such as Scratch and Python.
This year’s grades were outstanding, with 96% of all results graded A*/A or the IB equivalent. The acting head has congratulated all upper sixth pupils on their fantastic effort:
“My colleagues and I are extremely proud of all of you. You have been a lively and enjoyable year group to teach, and today’s results complement the already strong legacy you have left in all areas of school life – drama, music, sport and much more. I would like to personally congratulate you and all your teachers for your resilience, determination and hard work over the past two years, and especially in the context of all the pandemic-related uncertainty and disruption.“
The school’s first female Captain of School, Issy (U6M) embraced life at King’s wholeheartedly. Aside from achieving a string of top A level grades this summer, some of her many accomplishments include: playing first team hockey and tennis; directing Major’s entry into this year’s House Play Festival; and making it to the ESU Mace and Oxford Debating finals. Issy’s passion for the past now carries her to Christ’s College, Cambridge where she will read History.
Theo (U6M2) is one of King’s most devoted mathematicians. Having chosen to study A levels in Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Greek, he was instrumental in the founding of maths journal, Fractionally Interesting and a regular contributor of articles and puzzles thereafter. He also made - and later proved - a conjecture on the form of odd Perfect Numbers. He leaves King’s to study Mathematics at Cambridge.
Jonathon (U6G1) has made an outstanding contribution to music at King’s and richly deserves the success he has achieved. He leaves King’s as the holder of the school’s first ever LRSM diploma, along with excellent A level grades in Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Music. He is going on to study Mechanical Engineering at UCL.
Hugo (U6L1) and Ella (U6Mac) are both celebrating stellar performances this year. Two of the leads in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hugo - whose portrayal of Frollo won him the drama award for individual appearance - studied Higher Level Maths, Chemistry and Physics for his IB, while also performing duties as Vice-Captain of School. He goes on to study Natural Sciences at Cambridge. Meanwhile Ellawho played Esmerelda and was also the school’s first female cricketer - is going on to study Medicine at Oxford having taken A levels in Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Maths.
Captain of School, James (U6A) was an outstanding member of his cohort. Amongst many other pursuits and achievements, James was captain of the first XI hockey team, as well as playing for the first XI cricketers and second XV rugby team. He is now heading to Cambridge to study Modern & Medieval Languages.
As 2022’s Sportswoman of the Year, Martha (U6G) played as hard as she studied. Not only did she captain the netball team but she was also part of the hockey team and a tennis player. Martha has a place at UCL to read Neuroscience, having achieved a fantastic IB score (HL Biology, Chemistry and Psychology).
As well as being a Grade 8 pianist and the winner of this year’s Monetary Essay Prize, Michele (U6M2) is renowned for his formidable tennis playing. He gained brilliant results this summer and leaves to study Economics at London School of Economics and Political Science.
Beatrice (U6A) combined hard work and commitment to her IB studies (HL Biology, Chemistry, Maths) with dedication on the water as Vice-Captain of Boats. She takes her topnotch IB results with her to read Biochemistry at Oriel Collge, Oxford.
Twins Kaspar (U6L2) and Dirk (U6L1) displayed great commitment in the classroom and beyond. Each achieved brilliant A level results with Kaspar having been captain of both the first XV and second XI cricket teams, vicecaptain of house and co-lead of the TED climate masterclass, while Dirk showed exceptional sportsmanship playing for the first XV and on the water polo team, both of which enjoyed record-breaking success this year. Kaspar is off to Brown in the USA to pursue a Liberal Arts degree, while Dirk is going to Durham to read Geography.
Helena (U6G) has proven herself to be a natural-born scientist throughout her time at King’s. She was this year’s winner of the school’s Agebeg Prize for Physics and adds this to a resume that boasts gold awards in the UKMT Maths Challenge, BPHO Physics Challenge and the Cambridge Chemistry Challenge! It is no surprise that her brilliant results allow her to pursue her dream of studying Physics at Oxford.
Malachy (U6Mac1) has kept himself extremely busy during his school years. A keen dramatist, he has been a familiar sight on the Collyer Hall stage but is perhaps best known for his musical talent. Rather than resting on the laurels of his perfect IB results this summer, Malachy completed his DipABRSM piano diploma with Distinction, adding to Distinctions in three Grade 8s, on piano, saxophone and clarinet. When term starts, he will begin studying for a degree in Biological Sciences at Edinburgh University.
We wish all the out-going upper sixth the very best for their lives after King’s.
This year’s upper fifth are celebrating some excellent GCSE and IGCSE results this summer.
73% of all results have been awarded the top grade 9
91% of all exams have been graded 9/8 (A* equivalent)
87 pupils achieved a sweep of nine or more qualifications at grade 9
Congratulations are also in order for the lower fifth (year 10) whose French IGCSE results are extremely strong, with 92% grade 9.
Upper fifth former, Rohan M (U5Mac) was named as the highest performer across all schools for OCR GCSE Classical Greek this year. An outstanding achievement for Rohan who achieved a clean sweep of 11 top grades and now moves on to the sixth form to study A levels in Maths, Further Maths, Chemistry and Physics.
It has been a good year for Ayan (U5Mac) who came away with fantastic IGCSE grades, as well as first prize in the David Grossel History Essay Prize for his excellent essay on the socio-economic impact of post-war migration around London Docklands.
Hal (U5G) is another upper fifth former who can be rightly proud of his achievements this summer. He achieved excellent exam results on the back of winning the Prize for Engineering at the Triumph Design Awards in July. He and five other pupils travelled to Leicester for the National Finals of the engineering competition, where they heard speeches from design engineers and university lecturers before each pitched their submission to a board of judges. Hal’s award was in recognition of excellent technical knowledge and ability.
Congratulations to King’s Middle School Piano Prize runner-up, Ivan (U5G) who scored perfect results in all 14 of his IGCSE subjects which included four languages, Further Maths and Music!
LUCKY NUMBER
The new Captains of School were announced on Friday, 29th April. This year’s Captains are Alex D (L6L - upper left) and Xavier (L6K1 - upper right) and who will be ably supported by Vice-Captains, Angie (L6L - lower left) and Emmanuel (L6A2 - lower right).
In order to raise money for their house charity, Metabolic Support UK, 60 Alverstone pupils and tutors took part in a game of ‘Assassination’. Each pupil contributed £3 to play and was then assigned a single target to ‘assassinate’ by tagging them on the arm or shoulder. Once assassinated, players were eliminated from the game, and the assassin took on their victim’s target. The final three players in the game were Santino (L5A), Luke (L6A2) and Miss Spicer with Luke coming out on top as the overall winner. The event raised almost £200!
Twelve King’s pupils made it to the national finals of the UK Space Design Competition in 2021. The pupils had designed a space craft capable of transporting passengers to Mars, completing advanced calculations and numerical computations in orbital mechanics to come to their design solution. Well done Sassan (L6K1), William (L6M1), Luka (L6G2), Alexander (L6A2), Nicholas (L6G2), Robyn (U6K), AliAli (L6L1), Rui (L6K2), Jack (L6G1), Lara (L6G), Ranesh (L6Mac1), and Aaryan (L6Mac2).
Lower school pupils Anthony (7CVO), Areehant (7HRF), Oliver B (7HFMM), Oscar O (8LOS), Dante (8LOS), Edward H (7AJB) and Daniel P (7HRF). all met the 202122 100 Reads Challenge. Special mention goes to the latter two who devoured 551 and 472 books respectively!
The King’s U19 chess team qualified for a place in the U19 National Chess Finals at Crowne Plaza, Stratfordupon-Avon this year. The two day tournament saw the team face other notoriously talented chess teams including Westminster School, Haberdashers’’ Boys School, RGS Guildford and Eton College.
The pupils played five rigorous rounds of chess, each one lasting at least one hour in length. On the first day of the competition, King’s played Eton College, RGS Guildford and Westminster, winning against the first two and drawing against Westminster. This meant the day closed with King’s at the top of the table on tiebreak points.
On the second day, the King’s team drew against Haberdashers’ Boys School and won a crucial game against St Olave’s Grammar School. However, with Westminster winning their matches, King’s was pipped to the final victory post. and came away with the Richard Haddrell Trophy.
In March this year Issy (U6M) and Raphi (U6A1) (pictured together right) made it to the finals of the Oxford Union Schools' Debating Competition, while Ben B (L6A1) and Matilde (L6G) also qualified for the finals of the Cambridge Union Schools' Debating Competition!
James S (U6A2) and Hugo (U6L1) (pictured left) won the final of the Joutes Oratoires at the Institut Francais. They argued their way to victory against a strong team from Haberdashers’ Boys’ School, discussing the motion ‘Si tu veux la paix, prépare la guerre’.
Congratulations to Mathieu (L6G2) and Saskia (L6A), pictured below, who both won awards for their submissions to the History of Totalitarianism Essay Prize this year.
Qasim (4M) was also celebrating when he was awarded 2nd place in the Brighton CollegeKing’s History Essay Competition 2021-22 for his examination of the historical significance of Horatio Nelson.
King’s writers have been hard at work throughout this year. With a host of magazine publications ranging from Kingsguistics to History of Science Magazine and Graph to Perspectives, editorial teams have made sure the community has plenty of challenging material to absorb.
Meanwhile, writing colleagues in the King’s Blogging Club have also been creating content at an impressive rate. Articles have included an interrogation of the efficacy of various revision approaches and a comparison between Plato’s utopian state, Kallipolis, and modern British politics.
Well done to Ella (U6Mac) and Aidan (L6A1) (both pictured) who each earned a gold award and to Hamza (L6L2) who earned a silver award.
Five sixth form pupils (Charlie (U6G2), Jack (U6G1), Kerem (U6Mac2), Jean-Paul (U6M1) and Luka (L6G2)) volunteered at the Wimbledon Winter Astronomy Event on Wimbledon Common. During this time Jupiter, Saturn, Venus and The Crescent Moon were visible in a unique alignment in the evening sky.
Upper sixth pupil and competitive cyclist, Domini (U6L), has been featured in an episode of sports app, Strava's new series, Segment Stories. The series invites athletes to talk about portions of their favourite routes - segments - and what they mean to them.
Upper sixth pupils, Kaspar (U6L2), Lucas (U6G2) and Rafa (U6MAC2) continued making an environmental impact in 2021-22. They attended COY16, the world’s largest annual youth gathering on climate change as representatives of the Youth Climate Action Network, where they ran a workshop on centre stage entitled Understanding Climate Action Through the En-ROADS Model. The trio also started a new CCA, ‘The Climate Change Challenge’ through which they visited a number of local primary schools educating pupils on how to become a ‘Sustainable Super School’. Groups of pupils at each school were invited to present their ideas with the winners proceeding to the finals held at The Natural History Museum (NHM), where they faced a panel of experts from the Royal Institute, Grantham Institue of Climate Change and Angry Monk.
Misha (7CVO), Danny (8FLS), Vittorio (4G1), Toby (7CVO), William (7CVO) and Daniel (7HRF) competed in the Bebras Computing Challenge this year, with Vittorio, Daniel and William all earning distinctions. Special congratulations go to Daniel who won the best score in the school!
In January, fourth form German pupils competed in “Das Große Backen” (the Great German Bake-Off). Bakes included traditional German recipes such as Ben L's (4L) Kalter Hund and Ben C's (4K) Lebkuchen. Judges awarded first place to Daniel P's (4Mac) Schwarzwälderkirschtorte.
This year, two teams from King’s entered the F1 in Schools STEM challenge for the first time. The international competition sees teams of three to six students design and manufacture a miniature Formula 1 car out of the official F1 Model Block using CAD/CAM design tools. The cars are then powered by powerful CO2 cartridges. Our first team ‘Typhoon Racing’ - Valentino (U5K), Akash (U5M), Angus H (U5MAC) and Ethan L (U5MAC) - were awarded Best Research and Development in the regional finals. Hal (U5G), Edward G-W G (U5L) and Fraser (U5K) (pictured above) achieved an amazing third overall in the regionals earning them an invitation to the national finals where they were awarded second place for best design and engineering portfolios.
Puils and staff within the Wimbledon Independent and State Schools Partnership were finally able to return to a more normal model of activities this year as community projects got back on track. Here are some highlights from across 2021-22.
Luke (U6L2) tells us about the King’s Junior Aspirations programme: “The programme involves King’s pupils running extra classes in English, mathematics and science for talented and aspirational pupils aged 9 and 10 from local primary schools. In the sessions, we see the students respond with a range of positive emotions: there was bubbling excitement when they created their own fairy tales with a twist, and silent awe when they used a Bunsen burner for the first time. Their enthusiasm is truly amazing: week in, week out, they wave to the sixth form assistants at lunch and tell us how this is the “best part of their week””.
Jazz in the Community is a weekly co-curricular initiative that sees members of the King’s Friday Afternoon Blues band travelling to Merton Abbey Primary School to teach jazz improvisation to children. Together with Merton Music, and music teacher, Mr Andrews, the group went on a musical journey which culminated in a final concert showcase at the end of term. Pupils started by learning basic clapping rhythms and ended up performing sophisticated solos on instruments from glockenspiel to guitar!
The Community Production 2022 took place on the last day of the spring term. King’s pupils and pupils from ten different partnerships schools took part in the community production, A Thousand and One Nights, in the Collyer Hall Theatre.
An adapted version of the Community Christmas Tea took place this year. Thanks to donations from generous members of the community, hampers and goodie bags were prepared and distributed to vulnerable people in and around Wimbledon. Hampers went to 20 care homes, and eight also received a visit from Junior School boys and members of staff singing carols. 110 goodie bags also made their way to individuals nominated by local charities.
A central part of the King’s ethos is giving back. Read on for details of some of the charitable initiatives that have taken place over the last 12 months.
Shivoham (L6M2) cycled over 1,000 km in a week to raise money for the British Heart Foundation. He raised over £2,500!
Over Easter, fourth form pupils took up a challenge from children’s charity, WeSeeHope. The charity which helps vulnerable children in Southern and Eastern Africa invited pupils to make £10 become £100 (or more!) by devising fund raising projects. The boys did an amazing job, turning their hands to tutoring, car washing and creating and selling art, and were rewarded for their efforts when they were able to hand over a donation of over £1,500!
Antonia (L6L) received a personal letter of thanks from Dr Cheryl Mvula MBE, the founder of High Five Club. The letter came after Antonia held a charity bake sale and raised £600 for the UK charity which fundraises to help change lives in wildlife areas of Africa. The money will go towards supplementing the feeding and medical support of 30 vulnerable children, pictures of whom were included in Dr Mvula's letter.
Members of the King’s community have been deeply moved by the outbreak of conflict in Ukraine. In the spring term, pupils arranged for donations of clothing, supplies and financial support to be delivered to those in need.
Then in June, a group of musical pupils gave a concert in support of the Save the Children Ukrainian Appeal. They managed to raise £2,000 for the appeal, while the CCF raised £771 in support of the Disasters Emergency Committee’s Ukraine Appeal.
In order to provide support for families who have come to the UK as a result of the conflict, the King's English Language School ran for the last four weeks of the summer term. The programme supported ten boys who followed a timetable of English lessons, along with some additional Maths and Geography classes and some co-curricular activities. King's staff and parents also hosted a well-attended coffee morning each week for Ukrainian families and their sponsors.
In 2021-22, the senior rowers enjoyed a great season which culminated in eight pupils being selected to represent Great Britain. Four of those - Alex F (U6MAC2), Zac D (U6G2), Ben L (U6MAC2) and Tom C (U6MAC1) - rowed in crews at the U19 World Championships in July, giving King’s the largest representation from a single school or club in the competition. Each pupil performed exceptionally well, between them helping team GB to bring home a silver medal in the U19 eight and a new national U19 men’s pair time record, with the icing on the cake coming from Alex and his team mates in the men’s coxless four who left the competition world champions!
Highlights of the home season for the senior boys’ included a King’s first at the Henley Royal Regatta when the crew qualified for the semi-finals of the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup for the first time.
The senior girls’ rowing squad - Rebecca (L6MAC), Isla (L6A), Kate (U6L) and Beatrice (U6A) - made King’s history as the first female rowers to take part in the prestigious 2021 Fours Head of the River Race.
The first XI won the London Cup, beating Dulwich College 5-4 on penalties in the final. The second XI football team also celebrated winning the Trinity Cup this season.
Albane (U6A) competed in the English Schools’ Cross Country Championships for Surrey. She has also competed in the Nationals, placing 29th in the country, helping her team to achieve 3rd place overall.
The U18 and U15 (pictured) water polo teams took part in the National Plate Final in Northampton. The U18s finished 4th overall, making it to the plate final for the first time while the U15 squad won the bronze medal in their category.
The U15A team (pictured) became double Surrey champions, winning both the County Cup and the U15 English Schools Cricket Association T20 cup. More good news came from the U16As and the U13As who respectively retained the King’s Cup and won the Reigate 6s over 24 other schools.
This year, sixth former Tamara (L6K) brought home a bronze medal from the Cadet French National Circuit, then placed 6th at the Public Schools’ Fencing Championships.
The U18s basketball team made King’s history this year, securing the school’s first ever U18 championship title with a 59-53 victory against Whitgift! Special mention goes to Captain, Tyler (U6A2), who scored 29 points, and Hugo (L6M1) who doggedly guarded Whitgift’s 40-point scoring GB player for two quarters and contributed 11 points of his own.
won gold in the under 34 kgs category for his age group at the 2022 British Schools' Judo Championships, making him a British Schools' Judo Champion.
Mattie (L6MAC2 has spent much of the year racing in the UK and Europe. Highlights have been: selection for GB and 9th at GentWevelgem, a silver medal in the British Junior National Road Race Championships and third overall and a stage win in the six day Junior Tour of Ireland.
The first XV enjoyed their most successful season in a decade, reaching the Daily Mail Cup Plate Finals in March, after a thrilling homewin against Caterham School in the semi-final (pictured left).
The U14 7s (pictured below left) won the Surrey Sevens Tournament, playing RGS Guildford, St John’s School and Trinity to take first place in the competition, scoring an impressive 200 points across the day!
A total of 12 boys are now involved in either the Harlequins or London Irish academy system - and remarkably, nine of these players are in the fourth form (U14)! Tom (U5L2 - pictured right) has had particular success and has been selected from the U16 Harlequin player development scheme for the U17 elite player development group!
This year saw the return of the senior production in all its dazzling glory. The Hunchback of Notre Dame featured 35 cast members - ably led by Will (L6Mac1) as Quasimodo, Ella (U6Mac) as Esmerelda and Hugo (U6L1) as Frollo - nine band members, technical crew, production team students and staff members as the ensemble performance brought the sorrowful tale to life in sensational style. Together they brought to life the beauty, magic, mayhem and malevolence of Victor Hugo’s haunting tale.
House Line Is It Anyway? is the punning title we give to our house improvisation competition. It was great seeing some upper sixth IB students returning just for the joy of taking part! The final results were really close and a tie-breaker was required to conclude matters, with Maclear just edging Layton as overall winners.
A vast array of musical performances took place in 202122: from November’s Voice & Piano Recital and the termly Orchestral Concerts to Ensemble Concerts, Band Showcases, the House Music Competition, Carol Concert, and much more besides.
The 2022 Jazz Club event took place in March and was a bittersweet occasion as over half
the pupils in the Big Band were out-going upper sixth. Similarly, part of The City of Stars Concert which took place at the historic church of St Thomas the Martyr in Winchelsea, saw the last performance of the Pavak Trio Comprised of Jonathon (U6G1piano), James (U6K2 - violin) and Lucas (L6G2 - clarinet), the trio have performed as an immensley successful chamber group and will be much missed next year.
Year 8 pupils took part in an interdisciplinary writing project to devise their own dystopian novel. Under the yearlong guidance of award-winning author and Writer-in-Residence, Sarah Govett, the pupils researched, developed, and wrote the opening chapters to their book, whilst participating in practical craft and theory sessions. The project concluded with boys presenting their ideas to the rest of the year group and invited dignitaries.
As part of the 2022 World Book Day celebrations, lower school pupils were given the literary-themed challenge to transform a potato into a book character. The creations ranged from the BFG, Harry Potter, Frankenstein, and Count Dracula, to members of the Mr Men series, James Bond, Long John Silver, Worzel Gummidge and many more.
Three lower fifth pupils were selected to join the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain for their 2022 season. This is a very considerable achievement by each of the pupils, but to have three boys from the same year group invited makes King’s history! William (L5M) has a place on the double bass, Lucas (L6G2) on the clarinet and Julian (L5G) on the violin.
Musical pupils were lucky to be invited to take part in an array of masterclasses this year. Visiting musicians included Matt Lewis, principal trombone of the BBC Concert Orchestra and trombone teacher at the Junior Academy (pictured left); German pianist, Caroline Oltmanns, Professor and Head of Keyboard at Youngstown State University, Ohio (top right); and James Oldfield who has performed with Garsington Festival Opera, The Royal Opera and Opera North and who coaches the choral scholars at Trinity and Emmanuel Colleges, Cambridge (bottom right).
Over the course of the Autumn term, many Art pupils had the chance to participate in the Friends’ visiting artist programme. Jeanette Barnes (pictured) and Paul Brandford held some fantastic drawing workshops with pupils in which they looked at urban cityscapes, painting development and portraiture. The sessions proved to be very successful with pupils creating some striking pieces.
Izzy (U6M) came third in the Catherine Lambert Singing Competition run by the Association of English Singers and Speakers (AESS) this year.
King’s artists were hard at work throughout 2021-22. Pupils from across the school produced pieces in a variety of media including drawing, painting, photography, mixed media collages, sculptures and installations and it was great to be able to showcase these exciting creations as the schools hosted an array of art exhibitions again.
Lucas D (L6G2) was selected to play in the woodwind category final of the BBC Young Musician 2022. Lucas gave a recital at King’s on Monday 4th July in preparation for the final which will be televised nationally later this year.
In the penultimate week of June, the lower and middle school presented their production of Matilda. Fifty-five pupils took part in the brilliantly exuberant production, including Chris D (7HRF) who offered a poised and beautifully nuanced Matilda, Harry J (7HFMM) as an utterly hilarious Mr Wormwood, and Thomas S (8JFO) as Bruce Bogtrotter with a musical theatre belt like no other.
Desmond (L5G) and Ethan (4G2) performed in the final round of the Iris Dyer Piano Prize at the Junior Academy of the Royal Academy of Music. Ethan was named the overall winner of the junior category Many congratulations to both of these fantastic pianists.
The KCS Theatre Co. returned to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this summer. A cast of sixth form pupils performed Dorian, a striking
imagining of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray. The play premiered in Edinburgh on 15th August and ran through to 21st August.
Well done to Gheorghi (4A - Chaque) who won the annual Fourth Form French Poetry Competition based on Jacques Prévert’s poems this year.
Members of the choir were back to old traditions this year as they were able to perform choral evensong events for the first time in two years.Venues included St Paul’s Cathedral (below), Guildford Cathedral and Hampton Court’s Chapel Royal.
On Thursday, 24th March. Pupils and staff were encouraged to minimise energy usage by making simple changes such as reducing the use of electronic equipment; turning off lights, screens, projectors and lamps when not in use; and working in communal spaces.The initiative was led by King’s environmental
group, Blue Marble, whose pupil-members compared energy usage on a normal day to that achieved on 24th March. The image below left shows that the total energy usage on Low Energy Day was 1,785.0 kWh which compares very favourably to 5,432.8 kWh used the day before (below right).
King’s alumni, Joe Salisbury (OK 2010) and Arthur Fery (OK 2019) both played at Wimbledon this summer. Fery reached the second round of the Gentlemen’s Doubles, while Salisbury reached the semi finals.
Congratulations to King's alumnus, programmer and entrepreneur, Nick D'Aloisio (OK 2014) who has just sold his latest tech product Sphere to social media giant Twitter. Nick's first technology success came back in his King's days when he developed the App Store chart-topping news programme, Summly.
Josephine Philips (OK 2016) is making waves with her circular fashion app, Sojo. The tailoring solution which aims to extend the life of new, preloved and vintage clothing, connects customers to local seamster businesses through their app and bicycle delivery service.
Alex Sawyer (OK 2011) is currently starring in the West End’s Hamilton as the alternate lead, character Alexander Hamilton
A now common feature of King’s life are collaborative activities with our international partners. Highlights from this academic year included a sporting challenge and a language competition.
Shortly before the Christmas break, pupils and staff at King’s joined together in a virtual fixture against our partner school, International School Monaco (ISM) The challenge entailed the King’s community participating in as much extra-curricular sporting and physical activity within a one-week period, with the winning school being the school whose total hours were the highest. Similar to past challenges against ISM, pupils motivated each other to get involved and submit their results, meaning our score got off to a great start. The week flew by with the results looking positive however, ISM were being very quiet, which could mean one of two things...
The final results saw a total of 3,324 hours spent participating in physical activity and/or sport across the two schools within a one-week period, which is very impressive. However, it was ISM who managed to take the win by the finest of margins with a total of 1721 hours, compared to King’s 1602 hours. Despite not winning the overall challenge, we are pleased to announce that we came out on top for the individual battles, with our highest scoring students in the junior and senior school scoring higher than ISM’s highest scorers in both junior and senior ages. The highest scorer in the junior school was Tommaso (TWL) and in the senior school it was Robin (U5M), a big well done to both of these pupils.
On Friday, 25th February King’s pupils took part in the King’s-ISM Joutes Oratoires debating competition. Lower sixth pupil, Balthazar (L6K1) was part of the winning pair with ISM counterpart, Alexander. Balthazar commented: “The Joutes Oratoires was a successful and educational experience, as well as enabling us to create some connections in Monaco, and seeing that we really were more similar than expected with our fellow students in Monaco. I recommend participating in this event if given the chance as it is truly beneficial and thought-provoking.”
This summer saw the completion of a wonderful second year for King’s Bangkok. Following its highly successful launch in August 2020, it will have over 1,100 pupils on roll next academic year and the leadership team is expanding alongside this growth. Mr Thomas Banyard, current Headmaster at King’s Bangkok and former senior teacher at King’s Wimbledon, will take on the post of Founding Head from April 2023, with Mr Will Forse, currently Assistant Head at King’s Wimbledon, joining King’s Bangkok as Headmaster.
