At a whole school assembly this morning, we remembered the service and sacrifice of all those that have defended our freedoms and protected our way of life through the many wars and conflicts.  We remembered the Armed Forces, and their families, from Britain and the Commonwealth, the vital role played by the emergency services and those who lost their lives as a result of conflict or terrorism.

Students in the 6^th Form, Darja, Rosie, Janelle and Ellie, spoke about the symbols of Remembrance, the red poppy, but also other poppies that can be and are worn: purple, black and white poppies.

Remembrance Day Assembly 2022

As part of our A-level Biology course, we were given the amazing opportunity to travel to Dale Fort Field Studies Centre in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It was here that we were able to take part in extensive amounts of fieldwork on a number of different and unique shores, gaining practical skills and ecological knowledge from the resident FSC (Field Studies Council) staff.

The MFL trip to Germany could not have been any better. Not only was it a perfect opportunity to practice our speaking skills but also to dive into German culture, especially the cuisine! We were fortunate to have visited beautiful locations like castles, with a lot of walking, but to socialise with our German host families too. This experience was the perfect way for us to step out of our comfort zones even if it meant being corrected by your host family!  We thoroughly enjoyed and will cherish the six days with our teachers and our schӧne coach driver, Chris, who even learnt German with us along the way.

It was the first live Upper School and Sixth Form Chamber Concert since the pandemic.  Featuring students from Years 10 - 13, organised and led by GCSE Music students with minimal help from the teachers, it allowed them to take on more responsibility and learn about the different aspects of staging a concert. They’ve enjoyed learning about sound and lighting, as well as all the essential roles such as advertising, programming, running rehearsals, stage management and the list goes on…  

In order to celebrate National Poetry Day, the Kendrick English Department held a hugely popular and successful ‘Fridge Magnet Poetry’ event for the school, where students were invited to find inspiration for some poems of their own, and enter them into a competition.

Magnetic poetry consists of individual words on cut-out magnetic ‘tiles,’ which, as the name suggests, are stuck onto a metallic surface and rearranged at will to form various sentences. The tiles do not have to be magnetic (ours were not!) but being able to move the words around allows you to experiment with space, order, and structure, often leading to surreal yet potent metaphors which then serve as prompts for further writing.