From the Head of Secondary 20.08.2022

Welcome Back to Secondary!

This week there have been moments of great fun and excitement, together of course with some serious moments as students settle into school for the academic year 2022 / 2023.

The week began on Monday with our traditional Induction Days for Year 7, 10, 12 and 13, led by our Heads of Key Stages, Ms Colley, Mr Bromley and Mrs Colbeck. Students in Years 7, 10 and 12 met their form tutors and took part in a range of activities designed to introduce them to various aspects of school in the new key stage. There was a big emphasis on wellbeing, how to get help when you need it, and on aligning behaviours with key aspects of our mission and values, in particular kindness and respect.

Read on in this newsletter to find out more about Monday 15^th August 2022!

The AS and A Level results were published last Thursday, the 11^th, with the IGCSE results coming out a week later, on Thursday this week. All of us, staff and students [and parents!], look forward to these results with a sense of nervous excitement and trepidation. This year many of our students did exceptionally well, with some achieving outstanding sets of results. When you consider everything that has happened over the last 2 plus years, they are even more remarkable. We spent more time in online teaching and learning than in school face-to-face. We were forced to cancel previous exams, and then were delighted that we were able run them in school in May/June for this cohort. The results show how hard our students worked in spite of the difficulties, how they showed resilience and determination to do well, and their efforts have been rewarded. Thanks must go also to the teachers, and to parents who encouraged their child all the way through.

Having received their results on the 11^th, our Year 13 students are still absorbing the implications for their future plans and having meetings with staff to decide on the best course of action. Our Year 12 students, having only received their results on Thursday should be celebrating this weekend and basking in the congratulations of family and friends, and our graduating class of 2022 are finalising their university places, wherever they are going in the world. We wish them all the best.

Ms McNutt received news about some of our Class of 2019 this week. These are students who graduated in that year after taking their A Levels with us:

• Maisie John has graduated with a 1st in Biology from Manchester University and is working for a healthcare communications company in Manchester, England.

• Dana Dumpangol has graduated with at 2:1 from Keele in Geography & Geology. She is currently applying for positions in the field of sustainability, the environment and water management

• Stuart Tyrwhitt has graduated from London with a 2:1 Law degree and is now working in Dubai

• Ella Anning is working as a social media marketing manager in Dubai.

In the assembly on Tuesday Mr Watson, our House Coordinator, spoke about all the exciting plans for this year. He introduced the House Presidents for Sulug, Sapi and Gaya and invited applications for the House Ambassador positions. This was followed by an outline of all of the fun events that will be taking place, some during the school day, and some in after school sessions, such as House Sports. He showed the students how the House webpages worked and how we could all access it to find out the latest news and how we could all enter the various events, competitions and challenges. I hope that all students will feel compelled to participate, support their House and have fun at the same time!

Mrs Margaret Renshaw

Head of Secondary / Deputy Principal

On Monday, we were delighted to welcome Year 7 to Secondary. While the majority of students have been with us at KIS for some time, it was also a pleasure to welcome some new faces to the KIS community.

The day began with an assembly hosted by myself, Mrs Renshaw and Dr Gross where we helped to ease any anxieties the students might be feeling about the transition to Secondary by communicating the KIS ethos that the students are at the centre of everything that we do. They were assured that whatever difficulties they might face or worries they might have, there will always be someone to help, support and listen to them, including their form tutors, Ms Siti, myself and Mrs Renshaw.

After the assembly, the students had an extended form time with their tutors before embarking on the rest of the day’s activities. These included an introduction to both the Humanities and Creative Arts, a wellbeing session with Ms Siti and an opportunity to pose some ‘getting to know you’ questions to their classmates, Mrs Renshaw and myself. It was wonderful to get to know our new additions a little better and I really appreciated the humour and originality of some of the things we found out!

The day ended with some team building activities with Ms Watt and Mr Celestial. Judging by the smiles and the shrieks of delight, it was safe to say that Year 7 thoroughly enjoyed themselves and it was great to see them all working together so inclusively.

Just before they packed up to go home, I was reassured with a resounding cheer that they had all had fun and that everyone was still very excited about the year ahead. For my part, I am very much looking forward to supervising Year 7 this year as they presented themselves as a charming group of students who I am sure will have great successes both pastorally and academically.

Ms Colley

Head of Key Stage 3

Monday this week saw the return to school of students in Y10 to complete their induction into a new Key Stage and to begin examination courses.

At the start of the day, time was set aside for students to meet with their new tutors, be issued with planners, homework timetables, lockers and other logistical arrangements.

The day afforded the opportunity to go through sessions on:-

• How to stay ahead: Study Skills
• Getting ahead with IGCSE English
• Maths through IGCSE
• Digital cleanup
• Library orientation

In the afternoon, the focus shifted to team building and group dynamics. Two sessions were designed, one for team-building activities with their tutor where students worked on communication skills and problem-solving. The second session was a team Scavenger Hunt using the GooseChase app where students could complete “missions” in teams which were beneficial in bringing individuals together and building relationships with the tutor groups.

Below are some images from these “missions”:-

Mr Bromley
Head of Key Stage 4

We have had a wonderful and busy start to the academic year in the Sixth Form, with Monday being our gentle introduction to life in Key Stage 5. We started with some ‘settling in’ and ‘getting to know you’ activities, although this was mainly for the benefit of our new KS5 tutors, Mrs Beresford, the new tutor for 12K, and Mr Clifford, our new Year 13 tutor. We also had a general assembly to remind ourselves of all the rules and responsibilities of leading the school, as well as some discussion time around the leadership roles we’re hoping our Sixth Formers will take on. I can definitely confirm that our new Year 13 are starting the year with huge commitment and focus to ensure they get the best results they can next year, and much planning has been done this week to make work schedules and timetables to facilitate this.

It’s been a crazy week, with Year 13 getting their AS Level results last Thursday, with lots of discussions around successes and future targets. We saw how brilliantly our 2022 graduates did with their A Level results, getting the best results we’ve ever seen at KIS for A Level!

As I write this, Year 12 are in a similar situation, with their IGCSE results being released, and again, it seems that they did a superb job and are reaping the rewards of all that hard work over the last two years. Hopefully they are all as delighted as I am, and this will give them extra confidence as they start their AS courses.

2022-2023 is off to a promising start!

Mrs Colbeck

Head of Key Stage 5

Over The past 2 years, whilst in the Sixth Form at KIS, through the periods of lockdown and when school could open, two of our students, Wilber Wong and Daniel Veldman, were both diligently been working on their International Gold Award.

They logged their hours of weekly commitments:  learning a new Skill, staying physically fit by undertaking a Physical Activity, and volunteering their time to the community through their Service. As a direct Gold Level entrant, not having done any of the DofE awards previously, Daniel had to log 78 weeks (18 months) of commitment to one section of his choosing, and 52 weeks in the other two, whilst Wilbur, who had completed his Bronze and Silver awards, logged 52 weeks (12 months) in all three sections.

Along with these three sections there was the Adventurous Journey section, which for our 2021/22 cohort at Gold was undertaken around the streets of KK and track for their practice four days and at Sabah Tea Plantation for the assessment, where they successfully planned and navigated their four day route.

Gold also has a “project” residential element. Wilbur went to UMS for 5 days and worked with academics in the ESD department, producing a promotional video on Education for Sustainable Development.

It is a challenge to complete this Award whilst in the Sixth Form and at KIS although we have had Gold success twice already it has not been whilst the student has still been in KK. I was delighted therefore to be able to present Wilber his Gold Award certificate and badge at our Celebration Assembly in June.

Daniel completed his final three hours of Service and logged his final Violin Skills session over this summer and was awarded his Gold, verified by HQ in London, this week (16th August 2022).

Massive congratulations to both Wilber and Daniel on this tremendous achievement!

Miss McNutt

KIS International Award Coordinator

Head of Humanities