From the Head of Secondary 17.12.2022
After the excitement of last week [Book Week!] this week has been somewhat quieter.
On Wednesday afternoon, Dr Gross and I, together with Pik Yen, Pik Ern and Lung Ip (members of the Charity Committee) transported 50+ Christmas Angel Gifts to the Sabah Cheshire Home. It was a lovely occasion and we were warmly greeted by staff and clients. Read more about this in the Community section of this newsletter.
On Thursday Mr Bromley spoke to our Year 11 students about their upcoming IGCSE Mock Examinations in January and what they need to do beforehand to ensure that they are fully prepared for these important tests, and how they needed to conduct themselves in the exam room. We take the mocks very seriously, and they are conducted in exactly the same way as the actual exams in May/June. ‘Practising’ like this means that some inevitable tension is diffused before the ‘real’ exams as students know exactly what to expect in the exam room. The results will give teachers and students indicators as to what they need to do in terms of revision and practice in the remaining months of the course. The Mock report will be sent out on the 7th February, and the Teacher / Parent / Student meetings will take place on the 8th February.
On Friday morning we had our traditional Celebration Assembly, followed by House Activities including a Christmas Sing-Off. There has been much to celebrate this term. In addition to the usual merit certificates, we recognised the achievements of the Student Council, the Charity Committee, the U15 FOBISIA sports team, the Duke of Edinburgh Awardees, The Short Story Competition winners, the UKMT Awardees, the prefects who completed courses in Wellbeing and Mentoring, and the Ecowarriors. We were also treated to some fantastic musical performances by our very talented students!
It has been a long and very busy term, and everybody deserves an amazing and well-deserved holiday with family and friends, so I would like to wish you all a “Very Happy Christmas!”
Kind regards
Mrs Margaret Renshaw
Deputy Principal / Head of Secondary
Book Week 2022 was a riotous and fun return to pre-Covid celebrations of our love of reading and all things bookish, and I think we were all the more glad for it. In fact, not only did we see a welcome return of all our old Book Week traditions, but we added some new ones into the mix too.
We started our week with launch assemblies to promote all our activities for the week, and a school-wide treasure hunt for Secondary with many tricksy riddles set by Mr Bryant. This was followed by the ‘Big Read’, a personal favourite of mine. How often do we get the simple luxury of time dedicated just to reading? The whole school was silent while we got lost in our books, and perhaps everyone found a peaceful moment of calm and escapism from the real world.
KIS was a hive of bustle and industry for the rest of the week, with many activities and book-related crafts taking place, all based on our theme of ‘Action and Adventure’ The book doors on display throughout the school are amazingly creative, and I hope to collate all the stories written during the week into the huge anthology we keep in the Library for posterity. Primary had a Book Swap, and a devilishly difficult quiz, with themed lessons and Library scavenger hunts
Secondary had daily quizzes and competitions, with many lessons also on theme. Perhaps the most fun was had by the Sixth Formers, Year 6 and Year 7, all of whom were involved in a very silly game pretending to be secret agents with highly ridiculous missions. It was all very wild and tense, chasing each other around the school and planning our targets- and that was just the teachers!
Thursday was a real highlight- Pyjama Day! Everyone looked very comfortable and relaxed, and I enjoyed the opportunity to show off my best jammies! Primary students got to make reading dens and bed forts, snuggling in with their books, and sharing their stories. Reading in bed is a habit many of us share, so it was lovely to celebrate this.
Of course, Friday’s Character Day is the high point of any Book Week, and this year did not disappoint! Action heroes roamed the school, and the costumes were so impressive and creative. There were monsters, villains, heroes, and side-kicks, as well as one errant robot. And because the cake contest was back, all of us who won our costume contests got to eat some delicious cake! The cakes were magnificent- my personal favourite was the incredible hobbit house from Lou-Anne and Yanis Gautier, especially because of all the marzipan!
