From the Head of Secondary 06.02.2021

On Monday next week we have the Year 11 Parent/Teacher/Student Day. This is a great opportunity for parents and students to discuss the path ahead in individual subjects. The remaining weeks of the academic year will focus heavily on examination preparation. To support that, teachers are offering supplementary after school lessons [these will continue throughout online learning]. To start the day Mr Hallas will be giving an update on progression through to our A Level programme for Year 11. There will be no lessons for Year 11 on Monday, and those teachers who will be attending parent meetings will set work for their other classes as necessary. A note here that the date of the Year 8 Parent/Teacher/Student Day has been changed, and will now take place on Thursday 18^th February. A letter was sent home to parents about this last week, and students have been making appointments with their teachers.

Our world has been transformed over the last [nearly] one year, and we are always looking out for ways to stay calm, healthy and happy. In this week’s newsletter read on to discover ideas about some strategies that could work for you. Ms Colley’s Year 12 English Language group was set this task:  ‘Write your own survival guide, advising other students on how to cope with online learning’ and they have done a great job, with ideas aplenty. Many thanks to Shim, Joseph, Qawiemah, Holly and Vadim!

KIS has been very successful in the FOBISIA Short Story Writing Competition over many years. Read on for a heads-up about this year’s writing challenge. I know we have many talented writers within our student body, so let’s see what you can do with the theme ‘Spark’!

Parents, you too have a chance to flex your creative muscles. Pick up your pen or open your laptop and let’s see what you can produce, following the same rules as those that have been set for your child

The English Department is pleased to announce that we are once again accepting entries for the annual FOBISIA Short Story Competition, which this year centres around the word ‘spark’. The spark that lit a wildfire perhaps? The spark that began a protest? A spark of fear? Of genius? Or, maybe, just maybe, a spark of hope.

Whilst the last eleven months have undoubtedly been challenging for us all, they have also shaken us up and shown us new perspectives about our lives and the world we are living in. Therefore, although Ms Young, Ms Milligan, Mr Bryant and I are looking forward to reading our students’ submissions, we also hope that this competition will serve as a much needed creative outlet for our school community during this period of online learning.

With that in mind, we would also like to extend the invitation to put pen to paper to our parents as well. Although we will be unable to enter you for the official FOBISIA competition, which is open to all KIS students from Year 3 to Year 13, we would still love to see any imaginative or reflective offerings from anyone who is willing to share them. We will then hold a separate in-house competition for all students and parents with prizes on offer for the three best entries.

The deadline for submissions will be Friday, February 19th. Each entry must have an original title and be under 1000 words.

Good luck to all those who choose to take part, and happy writing!

Ms Colley

Head of English