From the Head of Secondary 03.09.2022

Whilst in some ways this has been a ‘short week’ with Wednesday being a public holiday, perhaps to make up for that I have the impression that the other four days have been super-busy!

With school trips now being possible, there are many trip requests coming across my desk. KIS has a very detailed Field Trip Policy; clearly it is essential that everything is planned in detail, from the dates of the trip [not as easy to decide as we might assume] to what the students need to bring with them. We are all a little out of practice in this area, with day or overnight trips not being possible for quite some time; luckily the policy spells out what needs to be done, and in what order. So this week I have been processing information about a Year 12/13 Team Building Bowling Trip, Business studies trips to the Hyatt Hotel, potential Music trip in December, and various Humanities trips. It is wonderful to see them all coming together as life returns to the ‘old normal’ with, of course, a few Covid related precautions.

In terms of getting back to normal, we have decided on a kind of hybrid approach to parents / teacher / student meetings this year. In many ways online meetings were very successful. Many parents found it much more convenient to join us from home, rather than having to drive into school etc, and also parents who were away from KK were able to join the discussions. There was less ‘waiting time’ as there were clear schedules with set timings. After discussions with the Secondary team and the Heads of Department, it was decided that this year we will continue with online meetings for Years 7, 8 and 9, and revert to face-to-face meetings for Years 10 to 13. More information will be sent out closer to the dates of the Teacher/Parent/Student meetings. Parents can, of course, make appointments to meet with teachers at any time if there are concerns outside of the formal meetings.

Next week will see students choosing their extra-curricular activities for this term. There is an excellent range on offer and hopefully to the students’ tastes. However, if a student has an idea for an ECA and the school does not currently offer it, I would love to hear from them. This year for example we have two students offering a Dance Club, and it will be running. The two girls will be running it under the overall supervision of Ms Young.

More news next week about the Secondary Charity Committee and the Student Council for 2022!

Have a lovely weekend

Kind regards

Mrs Margaret Renshaw

Deputy Principal / Head of Secondary

My Year12s did a fantastic job yesterday, teaching each other about different cell organelles.  They thoroughly researched the topic and were fantastic in presenting what they had found in a confident and engaging way.

A great job done by all!

Mr Andrew Clifford