We have now all successfully completed our first full cycle of our new 2 week timetable. Our Y7s have now experienced all of their lessons with their new subjects and new teachers – they have shown enormous resilience. It has been a delight this week walking the school and seeing all of our students fully engaged in their learning and following our Active Minds. I do enjoy their eagerness when sharing their experiences with me. Apologies that I declined the Y10 pasta experiment, however the Y8 breakfast muffins were delicious! I really do revel in the hum of activity that pours out of classrooms during the school day and then the slightly noisier atmosphere during social times as our students respectfully let off steam. A reminder of just how special our school community is and how much pride I have for our school.
Student Journals
Although we live in an age that is dominated by digital technology, most of us still make use of written notes throughout our daily life and the importance of identifying priorities and making reflections is one that we are keen to promote within our school. As such, we have issued every student with their own Journal and in my assemblies this week, I encouraged students to reflect on how these should be used. Throughout the Journal, and to help encourage their sense of responsibility, there are pages to identify weekly priorities and tasks, as well as to reflect on attendance. There are also pages devoted to students having the opportunity to log activities related to their personal development. This may include their participation in extra-curricular activities, trips and visits, as well as the range of experiences they are involved in beyond school. To support their ambitions, there are also pages dedicated to logging details of any actions they take to start exploring post-16 options or where they begin to consider various ideas of future employment.
The simple message underpinning the rationale of the Journal was that those who plan, prioritise and prepare well, tend to perform well and those who reflect well, realise things.
I would really urge you to support your young person in maximising their use of the Journal and to offer a few moments each week to ensure that key reflections and priorities are logged.
Mr Morland, Assistant Headteacher
How to find out what we are teaching
We have launched our new subject curriculum maps this week and they are available on the website by clicking here.
For each subject you can see the ambition we have for our learners, what students learn in each year, how this knowledge builds over time, how they will be assessed, what homework will look like and how you can help at home.
Year 11 Study Skills Evening
A huge number of parents and students joined us last night to hear about ways to make revision more effective. The presentation also covered what can go wrong with revision and how to make this time less stressful for students and their parents. A copy of the presentation is available here: Y11 Study Skills
Mr Lee, Deputy Headteacher
Year 10 ‘Welcome to Key Stage 4’ Information Evening
It was wonderful to see so many students and parents join us for this event on Wednesday evening. Beyond some key messages from a range of staff about how to maximise both learning and wider opportunities in Key Stage 4, there were also some inspired words of advice from our Y11 Student Leaders who have reflected so well on their learning and development during Year 10. The slides were used during this presentation can be found on our school website or by following this link: Welcome to Key Stage 4 Information Evening
Mr Morland, Assistant Headteacher
Student Leaders, Year/School Council
With such a vibrant team of Y11 Student Leaders already well established in post, our attention is now focused on developing leadership opportunity across all year groups. In this past week, each cohort has nominated 2 students from each Tutor Group who will be part of their Year Council with their first meeting to be held next week, chaired by their Head of Year. Beyond this, our School Council will be extended this year, with representatives from each year group joining together with different areas of focus, including charity, classroom experience and school environment. They will be meeting on a rotational basis to identify key actions for further development.
Mr Morland, Assistant Headteacher
Extend Programme
We are excited to offer a diverse selection of lunchtime and after-school clubs through our Extended Programme. These extra-curricular activities play a key role in shaping students' personal development, fostering new skills, and building lasting friendships. From sports and arts to academic enrichment, there’s something for everyone! During Wednesday lunchtime, we are excited to be holding our first Extend Fayre, where students will be able to browse stalls that will fully showcase the huge range of the ‘Kingshill Offer’.
As mentioned above, we encourage all students to use their Journals to track their participation and make the most of a range of opportunity that is truly unique to Kingshill! Click herefor a full list of what is on offer.
Mr Morland, Assistant Headteacher
School Photographs
Parents of Y7 and Y9 students are advised that next Wednesday, 18th September, the photographers from Tempest Photography will be in school take portrait photographs of every student in these year groups. These will be updated to our school systems and will also be available for you to purchase with further details on how to do so due to be published in a future letter. Please do make sure that your child wears their smartest smile alongside their smartest uniform that day!
Mr Morland, Assistant Headteacher
Assembly
This week, we officially introduced EduLink to all students across the school. EduLink will now be our main platform for sharing important information, giving students the responsibility to stay on top of their own details—such as attendance, behaviour points, and homework. From now on, all homework assignments will be sent through EduLink instead of Satchel One. As parents, you’ll also have full access to view this information through your own EduLink account.
We’re launching parent accounts week commencing 23rd September! You’ll receive an email with your login details and simple instructions to help you get started. To make things even easier, we’ll also share a tutorial video to guide you through using your account to its full potential. For the best experience, we highly recommend downloading the EduLink app for quick and easy access. Thank you for your continued support as we make these exciting changes!
Mr Patching
Lead Practitioner: Digital Strategy
Homework
We have started setting homework in Key Stage 4 this week with Key Stage 3 students receiving homework from next week. As a parent/carer you will be able to check what homework is set in Edulink.
Students know from their Active Minds that:
We complete our homework on time to ensure we are prepared for our lessons and to practise recalling prior learning. This is linked to the Pride STEP in our UP strategy.
Mr Lee, Deputy Headteacher
A Viral Sensation
Our Aggie became an international internet sensation over the Summer holidays following her visit to the see the King’s Guard in London. If you haven’t seen the clip, here it is – the incredible kindness shown by the horse is breathtaking! Aggie has now received over 17.1 million views over the different clips available and on the back of this, she has been invited to London to meet the guards and their horses of which she is delighted – we can’t wait to see the photos and hear about the experience!
IT Summer Upgrades
Over the summer we invested heavily in upgrading our IT to ensure we are future proofing ourselves for new technologies. Unfortunately, the 6 weeks were not quite long enough to rebuild the entire system which affected each and every area of the school from phones to electronic doors, let alone the essential technology that is needed to function in a school. The IT team have been tremendous and have worked late into the evening to ensure we were able to open without disadvantaging our students in their learning.
However, we have experienced some teething issues most notably with how our systems are able to talk to one another. I want to apologise for the issues we had around ParentMail and the dining room, as you can imagine, these were beyond our control and once aware, we were able to rectify immediately and put support in place. Thank you for your patience when we do experience these problems, please can we ask that you always talk to us to share any concerns as we are a school that prides ourselves in our efforts to deliver a fantastic educational experience for our students. We are always keen to listen and to act where possible.
UPAs
A reminder that if you need to discuss a concern about your child you may not always be able to speak with the tutor or the head of year. However, we do have 2 brilliant colleagues who are known as our Unlocking Potential Assistants, who can support during the school day.
We’ve had several new staff members join us in the new year. We are excited to make introductions to each of them over the next few weeks.
Innovate Catering Update
The menus and tariff are available on the school website, together with information about the theme days we will be holding though this academic year. Links to the Innovate documents, including a welcome letter, the tariff, FSM details, the themed days calendar and the meal deals can be located by clicking here.
Packed Lunch Provision on Thursday 19th September 2024
If you wish you child to have a packed lunch provided by our kitchen team on Thursday 19th September, please remember the deadline for booking one is 10am on Monday 16th September. The online form for booking a packed lunch is available via ParentMail. Your child will be able to collect their packed lunch at either break time or at the end of the school day at 1.20pm.
The packed lunch includes a roll, a dessert and a drink - details were included in the letter sent to you - and will cost £2.75. For students eligible to free school meals this will be taken from their daily allowance.
Thank you from The Kitchen Team
Open Evening
A huge thank you for your support in our early closure on Open Evening. We have over 200 students coming back to support the event and therefore, it is vital that they have some time away from school due to the later finish of 7.30pm The time afforded to the staff to allow for the cleaning team to work their magic and the teachers to set up the classrooms is invaluable to welcoming over 500 guests on the evening. Should you have any concerns regarding the early school closure, do let us know. We are ever mindful that the more students we have who choose to join our school in the years to come will bring additional funding and resources to the school that we can all benefit from, so again, thank you.
Closing Remarks
After a jam-packed newsletter, it leaves me only to wish everyone a wonderful weekend. We look forward to seeing all the students for the start of Week A on Monday!
