In the last week before half-term, Year 9 had the opportunity to try new challenges to help improve team building and team work within the year group. We worked with the Wilderness Group, a workshop in which we got to put our leadership, problem-solving skills and teamwork to the test. We researched missions to Mars and recreated and solved some challenges they would have had to face.
During Activities Week at the end of last term, we had the opportunity to take part in some wilderness team building activities. These were based around the voyage of the explorer Ernest Shackleton, who led a team of men to the Antarctic. His experience was a great example to us of important leadership skills and also how all members of a team can contribute in different ways.
On Tuesday, the Poets’ Society were delighted to meet poet Kate Clanchy (via a Zoom call projected onto the whiteboard!) in a poetry masterclass to inspire us into getting thoughts onto paper and writing poetry. Kate Clanchy has written poetry, short stories, articles, books on teaching, memoirs, and radio plays, and has received many awards for her prose and poetry. She has an MBE for her services to literature, and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to learn from such an established poet!
Across this academic year, the English Department are celebrating significant literary figures with activities and competitions related to their lives and works. At the end of last term, we marked Jane Austen’s birthday, and students were invited to write creatively using Austen’s famous opening ‘It is a truth universally acknowledged…’; Xuan in Year 10 wrote the winning piece.
On Holocaust Memorial Day we remember all those who died during the Holocaust and other genocides. This year, Angela Strach who used to be the Head of Drama at Kendrick school, was invited to speak about her family's experiences of the Holocaust. She has created and shared recordings of her story, links as below.
Last year, I wrote about the House year being like no other and how I hoped a return to normality would mean we could put on more house events this year. I did not think then that this year would be more affected than the last.
This year we celebrated World Book Day a little later than usual due to the COVID-19 national lockdown.
We held two competitions where students were asked to submit a ‘bookish limerick’ or a photograph of themselves reading in an unusual place. We had a fantastic response to both competitions and would like to share our winning entries with you all. Thank you to everyone who took part this year.
We were very impressed with the number of students that took part in our first Inter- House Reading Competition this year. Collectively, over a thousand books were read! Well done to all those who took part and a huge thank you to the House Captains and Vice House Captains who collated the figures.
Cedars – 393 books, Palmer - 370 books and Sidmouth - 280 books
It is now two years since Manasvini, a student in Year 8 passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on 26th March 2019. To mark this day, a message from Mr Stride was read out to students in her year group,
World Book Day 2021 fell on 4th March but as we had not yet returned to school at that point, Kendrick School decided to postpone the celebrations this year until the end of March so that we didn’t miss out on the fun and the important message behind the initiative.
On Wednesday lunchtime, some of the entrants to the ‘Be the Light in the Darkness’ Poetry Competition held after Holocaust Memorial Day at the end of January, were able to meet in the Hall with Ms Kattirtzi and other members of staff, for a prize giving presentation.
Ms Kattirtzi acknowledged the high volume and standard of poems submitted for the competition. She spoke about her delight at the moving and expressive poetry submitted, especially from such young poets and her enthusiasm for future pieces of work as the students continue to develop their poetry-writing skills.
Designed to challenge and inspire, the UK Chemistry Olympiad is the leading Chemistry competition for students in secondary education. This enriching experience is a unique opportunity for students to push themselves further, develop critical problem-solving skills, learn to think more creatively and get a chance to test their knowledge in new, real-world situations.