Berkshire Music Trust, in partnership with Windsor Festival and Bradfield College, held a competition for singers to showcase their talent and win prizes alongside others between the ages of 10-18.  In this competition there are three categories; Folk, Musical Theatre and Classical, and I participated in the Folk category.

The final was held at The Old Court in Windsor as part of the Windsor Festival. I chose to sing a Traditional Irish Folk song, ‘Tir Na Nog’ which means "Land of the Young".

I am proud to say that I was awarded winner of the Folk Category.

Designed to challenge and inspire, the UK Chemistry Olympiad (UKChO) is a unique opportunity for students to push themselves further and excel in the field of chemistry, within and outside the curriculum.  

On 26th January, we took part in the prestigious Royal Society of Chemistry Olympiad 2024. The  Olympiad gives students the opportunity to develop critical problem-solving skills, apply their knowledge to unfamiliar scenarios, offering valuable insights into real-world chemistry applications.  

Recently, all of Year 11 went on a trip to the Hexagon to attend Poetry Live, which as Mrs Munns described it, is the Poets’ Oscars!  We listened to a wide range of poets, some of which were from our specification and some of which were not - either way, it was fascinating to hear them.

We listened to Carol Ann Duffy talk about the ideas behind her poems ‘Valentine’, ‘War Photographer’ and ‘Before You Were Mine’. She talked about how significant the shape of a poem could be, which was a really illuminating view of looking at poetry which we hadn’t really thought about before.

This week is ‘Neurodiversity Celebration Week’, a global initiative that challenges stereotypes and misunderstandings surrounding neurological differences.  At Kendrick, we marked this week by viewing a presentation in form time.  Students have been sent this, along with a video, to look at in their own time, should they wish.  These are also attached below.

The Student Welfare Team also organised a neurodiversity badge making activity during one lunchtime, which proved to be hugely popular.   These are just a few examples of their wonderful creations for you to enjoy.

On Saturday 24th February, I had the opportunity to take part in a masterclass with Eleftheria Kotzia, a professional classical guitarist. Firstly, we talked about how we warm up before starting to play. We got into the right posture, and stretched our hands to improve blood flow and warm them up. Next, we discussed different ways to prepare before playing a piece, such as practising slurs, playing scales and arpeggios and practising technical work or studies. Then, each of us in the class got the chance to perform a piece for Eleftheria, and get her feedback on it.

I performed Kalamatianos, a traditional Greek dance which Eleftheria was familiar with, and she was able to give me lots of great advice on how to improve my playing by suggesting different fingerings for certain passages, as well as helping me change positions more smoothly.

On Thursday 14th March at lunchtime, the library had the pleasure of hosting the annual Holocaust Poetry Competition Presentation. This year, the theme of the competition was 'fragility of freedom', which clearly inspired many Kendrick poets. We had a wonderful range of poems submitted, which made the unenviable task of choosing the winners extremely difficult for our judges, Mr Dilley (Head of English) and Mrs Moseley (English & History teacher). Four students emerged as winners this year – Trisha and Inakshi from Year 12, Faith from Year 10 and a Year 8 student, Lara Maria.