From the Head of Secondary 12.03.2022
The Year 12 / 13 Mock Examinations were completed yesterday, and they went very smoothly. All thanks to Mr Colbeck, our Reporting and Assessment Co-ordinator, who managed the whole process from setting the timeline for the preparation of the papers to structuring the invigilation schedule to ensuring that all completed papers were scanned in accordance with the Cambridge Exam Board’s requirements. A small number of students who were unable to sit the tests this week will be taking them in due course. Next week teachers will be talking to the students about their results, and most importantly, giving detailed feedback on what the students need to focus on in the run-up to the actual exams, which start in April.
The Heads of Department have given the final seal of approval to the KIS Study Leave Policy at their meeting on Wednesday. Study leave for Years 11, 12 and 13 will start on Monday 25th April, and I will be meeting with the students on Monday 18th April to ensure they are familiar with what is expected during the exam period. A letter will also be sent home so that parents and guardians can support their children during that time.
With Book Week rapidly approaching, I’ve been pondering my own love of reading. I was an early reader and my parents, whilst they encouraged all us children to read, became a bit alarmed at just how addicted I became! My mum even told me that if I wasn’t careful, I would wear my eyes out and go blind [luckily that never happened….]. When I started Secondary School I had a long journey through the city centre and had to change busses there, fortunately just outside the big city library. Pretty much every day I dropped in to get new books to read; the librarians knew they could expect me and used to put books to one side that they know I would enjoy. I have certainly more than a thousand books in my home; the miracle of technology that is my Kindle holds many more.
I tell students that the single most important thing they can do to improve their language skills is to read. That is just one of the many advantages. During Book Week we will have lots of opportunities to read and my hope for our students is, if so far they haven’t been interested in reading, they will ‘turn the page’ during the Week and start to develop a regular reading habit.
Have a wonderful weekend [hopefully it will involve some reading!].
Mrs Margaret Renshaw
Deputy Principal / Head of Secondary
