In our penultimate week of term, the students have continued to be fantastic. It was wonderful to see the Y7 students in assembly on Monday morning with Mrs Hicks, our Careers Advisor. Mrs Hicks was talking to them about their dreams and aspirations and how as a school, we support students, from Y7 through to Y11, in helping them reach the right destination beyond Kingshill. Mrs Christopher and I visited Cirencester College on Tuesday afternoon to play the role of an intruder during their lockdown practice. It was lovely to see many of our former students who have settled so brilliantly into their next chapter. It was also a great opportunity to share best practice in securing the safety of our students in a lockdown situation. I will be reminding students of our lockdown procedures in assemblies next week.
Assembly
In assemblies this week we introduced Year 7 to Active Minds, the tools we use in class to ensure we are ambitious in our learning, and to guarantee we are all thinking and working hard. Year 8, 9 and 10 assemblies focused on taking pride in our homework and why relying on AI apps means you lose the value of the activity when it becomes simply about task completion. We appreciate students will use AI, but they should do so in a way that helps them understand what makes a good quality response and not by simply copying and pasting them. Year 11 had an assembly on study skills, following on from our evening in September, to help them prepare for the mock exams, which start on the 11th November. We gave them some practical advice on how to use mind maps and flash cards to help them remember more.
Year 11 Mock Exams and Parents’ Evening
The mock exams run from Monday 11th until Thursday 21st November with practical subjects starting the week after and finishing in December. Students will be given the exam dates next week and these will also be in Edulink after half-term. They will receive their grades on Monday 16th December, which is the same day as Year 11 Parents’ Evening.
Cheltenham Literature Festival
Last week was a very exciting one for the English department with four trips throughout the week involving every year group! During the week it was all about the annual Cheltenham Literature Festival, where we started off with a discussion between the hugely successful fantasy authors Philip Reeve, Piers Torday and Liz Hyder about how to create fantasy worlds in stories, as well as thoughts about the best fantasy stories they’ve read. Next up was the absolutely magical Katherine Rundell, who is by the far the most inspirational public speaker I have ever had the chance to see. Her mesmerizing session was filled with ideas on finding inspiration, her writing process and insights into the worlds she has created over the years. If you have not read anything by her yet, you need to! Our final visit to the festival was to the Queen’s Hotel where The Times journalist James Marriott ran a workshop on how to write opinions pieces for newspapers. All of these will be invaluable for helping students with their English work in lessons, but most importantly they were inspirational, thought provoking and offered encouragement for our young minds to express themselves through the written word.
An Inspector Calls
Then on Saturday we took two coaches of Year 11 students to Bristol to watch the award-winning performance of ‘An Inspector Calls’, which they study in both English and Drama. The show is fantastic - even having seen it several times now, with so many small details that leave you thinking about the play long after the performance ends. The students were an absolute credit to us at Cirencester Kingshill School from start to finish and showed pride, responsibility and kindness throughout the day – a big thank you to them all!
Fantastic Fridays
You may have seen students getting ‘Fantastic Friday’ points allocated at the end of each week. This is for all students who have completed a full week without receiving any negative incidents. During Friday R&R sessions Heads of Year also circulate around tutor bases in order to hand out STEPs Postcards to individuals within the year group who have shown particular strength in one of our school STEPS within lesson time. Please do congratulate them each week!
Mr Ryder
Y9 Halloween Cakes
Our Year 9 students have been busy baking up a storm with their incredible Halloween-themed cakes! From spooky designs to delicious flavours, their creativity and baking skills truly impressed. The cakes featured everything from ghosts and pumpkins to intricate spider webs, making this Halloween extra festive (and tasty!). Well done to all the students for their hard work.
Y7 Drama Costumes
Our Year 7 students have been hard at work, not just in rehearsals, but also in bringing their characters to life through imaginative costumes! From colours to inventive designs, their creativity shines through in every detail. The costumes have added an extra layer of excitement to their drama rehearsals and performances.
Eco Club
This term eco-clubsters have been busy tidying the eco-garden after the growth spurt of the summer. The ground has been prepped ready for new plants to be received in the spring and we are particularly proud of our new fig tree that we planted this week thanks to a kind donation from a very generous parent.
Next week will be our final week for a while where our members will get to plant and take home some seeds ready to be sown in the springtime. As the mud proved today, we will down tools over the coming winter months and restart the club in the spring term.
In the meantime, S7 is a haven for all students on a Wednesday lunchtime who might wish to watch some 'Eco-films' and stay warm over the coming months.
Kindness Club
Thank you to our Kindness Club who raised £80.10 at their cake sale yesterday. It was such a treat to be able to use our charity wagon for the first time. A special thank you to Liam R and Sarah-Jane T for all of their hard work and contributions to the Kindness Club and to the staff who made and gave donations for our cake sale. Kindness Club will be running some kindness linked competitions with the money raised next term – watch this space!
Mrs Norman and Miss Walton
Year 10 v Farmors
On Tuesday Kingshill Year 10 rugby team hosted Farmors. The game proved to be extremely competitive and was generally played in good spirit. Both teams demonstrated ambition, pride, passion and teamwork. Kingshill won the game 33-24 following a super start. Farmors finished strong, but Kingshill held on showing resilience to win the game by two scores. The Kingshill team all contributed well and there was a number of very good performances. Special mentions for Captain Fraser who led by example, Josh P for his two scores and the player of the match Ruben S; who showed exemplary levels of intensity and quality throughout the whole game, as well as scoring 3 times.
Mr Hamblin
Year 11 Combination team v Farmors
It was great to see eight Year 11 Kingshill students represent the school at Farmors as part of a combination game against Farmors. It was a very physical game, with Kingshill students playing key positions e.g. scrum and fly half. The score finished 14-14. The game was recorded and footage used will contribute towards a formal GCSE PE Rugby assessment for some of the group. Well done to all involved.
Year 9 Rugby v Thomas Keble
Congratulations to the Year 9 rugby team who successfully beat Thomas Keble 28-24 in a closely contested match. As their coach, I was exceptionally pleased with the responsibility and resilience shown throughout and the team should take great pride in overcoming a 50 point deficit from last season. We look forward to our final District game against Farmors in the near future. Player of the Match: Captain Fantastic - Cameron PS with a special mention for Harry K for his emergency scrum half role.
Mr Thomas
Year 7-Year 11 Netball v Archway
Finally, our netballers were treated to some dry weather and were able to take to the courts against Archway School.
Our Year 7 girls, were dominant again in their second fixture for Kingshill, winning 24-2.
Year 8 shared their match between the A and B teams with the As securing a close win 10-8 and the Bs sadly losing their portion of the match.
Year 9, 10 and 11 lost their matches, but were grateful for the opportunity to finally play some competitive netball.
Congratulations to the following players for being awarded Player of the Match by the opposing teams:
Year 7: Matilda E (attack) and Grace W (defence)
Year 8: Lola T and Poppy W
Year 9: Isla H and Eliza B
Year 10: Kayley B
Year 11: Flo D
Weather permitting, we have fixtures against Deer Park next week.
Mrs Jones
Lost Property
Our lost property collection is overflowing with items, including coats, PE bags and even a new pair of black trainers. We also have various water bottles, hair clips and pencil cases waiting to be claimed. If your child is missing something, please have them check the lost property area, or feel free to contact reception. Let’s help reunite these items with their owners!
The Door for Parents
The Door is here to support you and your family! They offer free, confidential help with any concerns about your child’s wellbeing, behaviour or school life. If you need advice or just someone to talk to, visit our website or get in touch. They are here to help!
Closing Remarks
This is our final weekend before the holidays – 5 more school sleeps to go. Heads of Year are already gearing up ready to reward and celebrate our fabulous students next week in assemblies, tutor time and R&R. Cannot wait for next week’s Fantastic Friday!
