From the Head of Secondary 15.06.2024

This has been a very busy week and time just seems to have slipped by. The final two weeks of term show no sign of slowing down, with lots of exciting events happening.

With exams now over, teachers are busily writing reports in addition to going through the papers with the students. This is a valuable learning experience for them, as they see how well they have done, and also perhaps how they could have done better, and where they need to focus moving forwards.

Next Tuesday to Thursday we have the Year 6 to 7 Transition Days, where we welcome Year 6 to come and sample life in Secondary. This is always an interesting and exciting experience, and I am very much looking forward to hearing their feedback [especially about which subjects they enjoyed the most!]

On Tuesday at 9am I am also looking forward to meeting our Year 6 parents to talk about all things Secondary!

SCIENCE COFFEE MORNING (Embed) by KIS Marketing

Parents get Active in the Lab!

The Science Department Coffee Morning on Wednesday this week started with Mrs Beresford introducing the parents to the concept of indicators which show us whether something is acidic or alkali. This is something that Y7 students learn, and is a key concept of their Science education as they progress through school as far as A-Levels. Mrs Beresford demonstrated how to make a natural indicator from red cabbage, giving the parents a chance to use the Bunsen Burners, a classic piece of school laboratory equipment. Once the indicators were made, the parents tested an acid and an alkali to see what colour the indicators turned to, and then they used this information to identify a mystery solution.

Mr Colbeck then demonstrated some exciting reactions. The first is known as the ‘whoosh’ bottle, where ethanol is combusted in a large plastic bottle. The reaction produces a large blue flame with a loud ‘whoosh’ sound, from where it gets its name. It’s a real crowd-pleaser! The second was the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide, which is known as ‘elephant’s toothpaste’ for reasons. A sudden eruption of coloured froth is produced as the oxygen leaves the peroxide.

The last was a demonstration of the law of conservation of energy using a pendulum, where Mr Colbeck used his knowledge of Physics and his expertise to prevent a large mass breaking his nose!

A very special feature article this week from Julia Aveline Rabenjoro. Julia goes from strength to strength in her efforts to save the environment. She is a true force to be reckoned with!

Well done Julie!

Calling for Manta Ray Conservation Support

Earlier this year, I was selected to be one of the Manta Trust Ocean Ambassadors along with 19 other teenagers from all around the world. We have monthly online meetings where we learn more about each other, and we are joined by a scientist or director from any one of the Manta Trust research projects spread out across the globe. They tell us about the work they do, why they became biologists and expand our knowledge with facts about mantas and how to identify them.

More recently, our Education Manager, Jen, has told us about an exciting annual event that Manta Trust hosts for the public: the ‘Cross The Oceans Challenge’. It involves virtually traveling the actual distance from one of their real-life project locations to another during the whole month of June. Last year, they ended up at their Peru Mobulid Project, so this year we’re going from there, to their affiliate project in Revillagigedo Archipelago with 5200km in between!

Along the way, the participants can create fundraising pages where friends and family can donate and the funds go directly to the Pacific Manta Research Group and the crucial work they do.

Jen wanted to compose a team of Ocean Ambassadors with any of us keen to join. Six of us were able to do it with her, and we each set ourselves a distance and fundraising goal that she then totalled up. We are aiming to complete 450km together and raise £1000 for the cause.

We started at the beginning of June.

On the 2nd, I had done my first 700m of swimming, then on the 9th, I did 8km of e-foiling to contribute to my total personal goal of 20km. So far, it’s been a great way to stay active and I get to do any sport I want, which means a lot of it is in the water!

If you would like to support my goal and Manta Trust’s projects, don’t hesitate to donate to my fundraising page (https://www.justgiving.com/page/julia-cross-the-oceans), all of it goes to ray conservation! There are no donations too small or too big, everything counts and makes a difference.

Thank you for the support!

Julia Aveline Rabenjoro

Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Practice.

Success for 20 of our Year 9s after completing their Bronze (DoE) International Award Practice Adventurous Journey in Kiulu.

Each group chose their ‘name’ months ago. The 6 girls called themselves Chicken Tikka Masala under the supervision of Mrs Dobbs & Mrs Goldie, then 7 boys in Lucky Charm were with Ms Bearman and the 7 named Skipidi supervised by Mr Gant all successfully navigated trails, tracks & road side routes following the Kiulu river valley.

Over the course of 2 days, 11 footbridges were crossed, 7 local communities passed through and several fields of pineapples, rice and sweetcorn traversed reaching their final destination on day 1 to overnight camp at The Adventure Centre and then stormed to success on Day 2 after some team building and leadership work reaching Tamparuli Town in very respectable times.

Chicken Tikka Masala- Start Day 2 Skipidi- Ready for Day 2 Lucky Charm- Commence D2

Congratulations to all our participating students, who will now embark after a debrief review next Tuesday on planning their final assessment routes for the Qualifying Adventurous Journey which will hopefully take place over 2 days in November 2024.

Thank you to Mrs Dobbs for being a dedicated Award leader for this cohort of our KIS students & leading our DoE staff team of Ms Bearman, Mrs Goldie & Mr Gant so admirably