Earlier this year, the Curriculum and Current Affairs Committee launched the Kendrick Young Reporter Competition, an opportunity for students from all year groups to report their views/experiences regarding an issue, allowing them to learn and share topics they are passionate about. The entries varied in formats of audio, video and written text.

On Saturday, 16th March, our school participated in the Magistrates' Mock Trial Competition held at the Crown Court in Reading. We came in first place after competing against 8 schools from all over Berkshire. A team of 18 Year 9 students, including 4 students participating in a separate but related competition, attended.

The Magistrates' Mock Trial competition aims at giving students an insight into how the legal justice system works. The teams have to prepare legal arguments for both prosecution and defence for a case given to them and then participate in heats against other schools. Their performance during both defence and prosecution is evaluated and marked. To prepare for this event, our team worked extremely hard and practised both during and after school with the support and guidance of Ms. Heath and Ms. Mayers.

Last week we were delighted to welcome Year 4 students and staff from Katesgrove Primary School, Christ the King Primary School and Redlands Primary School to Kendrick School.

The students, along with many of our Year 10 students, took part in a wonderful kindness activity from 52Lives, a local charity that aims to change someone's life every week of the year.

Chess Club has had a busy term with two main strands of activity:

The first was the Delancey ‘UK Chess Challenge for Schools’, which ran as a seven-week tournament, with students from Years 7 – 11 taking part. The final was an exciting game between Saswathi (Year 10) and Nivi (Year 9), and this was eventually a draw, so the tournament had two winners! It was harder on the younger students, frequently meeting more experienced players, but special credit goes to Riya and Sanvi (Year 7), who both played particularly well. It is hoped that some of the participants will go on to represent the school in area Megafinals, taking place in April and May.

Earlier this year, around fifty Biology A-level students participated in the highly regarded British Biology Olympiad, an advanced problem-solving competition which challenges and stimulates students across the country, on topics and ideas that go beyond the exam specification.

Fourteen students were awarded either Bronze, Silver or Gold (most pictured below), with many others walking away with a highly commended certificate. As the quotes below illustrate, their participation in the competition was deeply enriching and valuable, allowing the students to gain new perspectives on Biology. There will be further opportunities later this year for students in lower years to take part, so watch this space for more information if you’re interested...!  

After achieving 1st and 2nd place for our designs in the Falcon 2 Challenge last year, two teams from Kendrick School were invited to visit Coventry University for the launch of the next phase of the Falcon 2 programme.  The Falcon 2 Challenge, sponsored by the Royal Aeronautical Society, is a national engineering competition which encompasses designing and building a flight simulator that is accessible and accommodates disabilities.