What a wonderful final week we have enjoyed! Celebrating the successes of this past academic year in our assemblies, demonstrating sporting prowess on Sports Day and kindness through our contributions in the Charity Fair. In addition, our Y10s have conducted their field research in Burnham-on-Sea, Y7s have undertaken a bikeability course and today, several Y10s have visited RIAT at Fairford and some of our Y9 students have been involved in designing our new Charity Wagon with the one and only former student, Eli Baxter.
Awards Evening
Our annual Awards Evening was a tremendous event where we were able to celebrate all our students who have demonstrated outstanding pride in their learning through their academic excellence and pure commitment to their studies. In addition, the pastoral awards were a highlight as we recognised those students who have shone in all areas of our STEPs; we were all left inspired on hearing their testimonies. A huge thank you to Mrs Christopher for her superb leadership of the event, the Heads of Department for leading their teams in the pursuit of Excellent Teaching and Learning and to our Heads of Year for the relentless commitment to each and every one of their students.
Uniform Expectations in September
A reminder that we return to winter uniform in September, please see the attached uniform guidance. Thank you to those parents who have made helpful suggestions regarding our uniform. As a result, you will notice that students are now able to wear a short-sleeved shirt as part of their uniform throughout the whole academic year.
Sports Day
Sports Day was a whole school event this year, designed to showcase talent on the track and field and promote inclusivity and whole class contributions through benchball, netball, rounders, bocca, curling and archery. The students were typically impressive in how they embodied all of our STEPs showing their responsibility, ambition, resilience and pride shown. Overwhelmingly, as I stood on the finish line timing the track events, I saw huge kindness and respect displayed to all competitors from all competitors; it was a day of smiles, celebration and recognition of being part of something truly special. An enormous thank you to the PE team who coordinated the whole school with military precision and to Mr Radbourne who so superbly captured a flavour of our experience:
Charity Fair
Almost as soon as the activities of Sports Day were over, students turned their attention to setting up their stalls for our Charity Fair and within minutes, the school site was filled with a wide range of activities, challenges and games, alongside much needed refreshments on such a warm afternoon! We were delighted that the students’ endeavours matched the generosity of their spending with £1,729 being raised, all of which will be donated to The Brain Tumour Charity meaning that in total this year, we have raised an amazing £3,743 to support the work of such a worthy charity within our school, in addition to the £4,295 raised through external support of the Cotswold Way Ultra Challenge walk where we had several staff members participate, for a grand total of £8,038!
Mr Morland, Assistant Headteacher
Charity Cart
As part of school's new environmental project, a group of Year 9 students who presented their ideas, including a charity cart to use in school, have now finished it with help from Eli Baxter. Eli was a student at Kingshill two years ago and has since featured on the Channel 4 series George Clarkes’ Amazing Spaces twice, being the youngest person to ever feature on the series. Eli has worked with our Y9 students to build the charity cart for all students to enjoy using and we are immensely pleased to have one of his amazing pieces in school!
100% Attendance
We are delighted to share that 33 students received a postcard home and were presented with a £5 Amazon voucher during Friday’s celebration assemblies. This recognition highlights their outstanding attendance and commitment to their education. By acknowledging and rewarding these efforts, we aim to encourage all students to prioritize regular attendance and strive for excellence in their academic journey.
Sparx Maths
Thank you to all our students for engaging in Sparx Maths homework this year. Congratulations to the students below who have achieved the best scores in their year group this year, showing extremely high levels of Resilience, Ambition and Pride in their work.
English Schools Athletics
We are thrilled to share that after a very long and tiring weekend at the English Schools Athletics competition, Mary secured 15th place and is now ranked 22nd in the country. This is an incredible achievement, especially considering that Mary is in Year 10 and was competing against Year 11 students. Next year, she will be at the top of her age group, and we can't wait to see her excel even further. Mary's dedication and sportsmanship were evident throughout the competition, as she not only gave her best but also supported the rest of the team. Well done, Mary!
Additionally, we had 30 Kingshill students representing Gloucestershire, and our team brought home five medals. Impressively, two of our athletes will be competing for England next weekend. Congratulations to all our students for their hard work and success!
Westonbirt Arboretum
Last week 61 Year 8 students had the opportunity to head out to Westonbirt Arboretum to participate in some workshop style nature writing. The students were so engaged and enthusiastic throughout the whole day and produced some lovely pieces of work inspired by their stunning surroundings. From haikus to creepy descriptions, they worked really hard and we can't wait to see them use these ideas in the future too!
Textiles
One of the most rewarding highlights is witnessing the creativity and enthusiasm of the students firsthand. One particular joy is when students come to share their creations with me. It's a special moment that truly captures the essence of what education is about – fostering innovation, skills development, and personal growth.
Recently, our Year 8 students embarked on a project to create shopping bags, and the results have been nothing short of impressive. Using a variety of skills, from design and sewing to problem-solving and teamwork, they have crafted unique and functional bags, along with some emojis with their excess materials. Seeing their pride and excitement as they present their work is incredibly fulfilling. It reflects the dedication of our staff and the vibrant learning environment we strive to create every day.
Y10 Geography Trip
This week Year 10 have been studying town centres and coastal defences on their Geography field trip to Burnham-on-Sea. A very windy Tuesday tested the ability of our students to keep hold of their clipboards but this was followed by calmer weather on Wednesday. Our Geographers gathered a huge amount of data that we'll crunch when we are back in the class room in September.
As part of their field trip the Year 10 Geographers were invited to look around the RNLI's Burnham-on-Sea lifeboat station. There was an fascinating talk and then the students were able to get a close-up look at some remarkable kit. Special thanks to Dan, Nigel and John at the lifeboat station for giving up their time to talk to us.
Bikeability
Nineteen of our Year 7 students demonstrated their ambition this week by completing their Advanced Cycling Level 3 qualification. The course ensures they are safe and considerate bike users whilst promoting physical activity as part of a lifelong healthy lifestyle.
Kindness Club
This year, in Kindness Club we have completed different activities. One of our first projects was our Crisp Packet Appeal. We are still in the process of getting the blankets made. So far, we have managed to make 2 blankets ready to give over to the charity in September. We also held a craft sale, to raise money for the Matilda production. In total, we managed to raise a total of £110 for the production. Throughout the past 2 terms, we have also maintained a Kindness Board to encourage others to take part in kind acts.
At the end of term 5 we sent flowers to school staff to say thank you for all the hard work that they have done over the year. During the school year, we have also been exchanging letters with the elderly in Hunters Care Home. We distributed some Kindness Pebbles and have exciting plans for us to take part next year in September! We are so proud of the contributions that our Club members have made and the Kindness to the community they have shown.
Farewells
Throughout the week, we have been saying goodbye to colleagues as they leave us for pastures new in September, Mrs Shipley, Mr O'Leary, Mr Potts, Mrs Pauling, Mrs Hughes and Miss Bradford and today we said a farewell to Mrs Holmes and Miss Herbert. All of these wonderful colleagues have played a huge role in their time with us and we wish them all the very best as they set off on their next adventure.
Valuing our Colleagues
In our final staff farewell event of the year, we also recognised those colleagues who have dedicated their service to our school. We celebrated those who have spent the last 5, 10, 15, 20 and even 25 (yes, Mr Edwards) years within our school community. What a pleasure to celebrate such dedicated members of our staff team.
Closing Remarks
This last week has also been a time for reflection on all that has been achieved this year: staff and students alike. I cannot thank the whole Kingshill team enough: students, staff, Trustees and our parents and carers. Everyone has embraced the challenges set before them this year and as parents and carers, your overwhelming support has been truly valued. Despite us all being in need of a break – I also cannot wait to see what next year will bring ! I am already looking forward to Tuesday 3rd September when we welcome the students back for the official start time of 8.40am.
