I decided to apply to be a Fedex ball kid for the Nitto ATP Tour Finals which is an end of year tennis tournament with the top 8 male players in the world. I have been playing tennis since the age of five and closely follow the professional tour. I had always wanted to see the players up close and thought this would be a great opportunity.
In November 2019, Year 7 went to the Reading Museum to learn about the contenders for the throne in 1066, the Battle of Hastings and its background tale. After we put our belongings away, our guide led us up the stairs to the first floor which held a replica of the Bayeux Tapestry.
The Year 10 German trip was a wonderful experience for all those who took part. We were able to immerse ourselves in the culture by staying with German families, eating German meals and communicating in German. It enabled everyone to be taken out of their comfort zone and gain confidence. We also got to explore beautiful places and engage in amazing activities that brought us all closer together. Everyone enjoyed the trip greatly and are extremely grateful to the teachers who accompanied them on this trip as well as the wonderful coach driver, Scott, who drove us safely everywhere throughout the week.
On Thursday morning, the two Religious Studies classes from Years 10 and 11 boarded the coach to go to Oxford. Our first destination was the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, a very large and architecturally beautiful building.
On Monday 4 November, Emily, Anna Mae, Mia (Year 13s), Amy Grace and Rowena (Year 9s) were given the incredible opportunity to go to the Reading Council Climate Conference at Alfred Sutton Primary along with Ms Kattirtzi and Ms Fallows. There were lots of amazing presentations (and food!), which left us all inspired to do our part to help our planet.
On Sunday the 13th October, French students in Year 10 embarked on what would, for many of us, be one of our most unique and amazing experiences. It was a 14 hour journey, including the exciting Eurotunnel and a French service station. We arrived in Tours to be picked up by our host families and our nerves and excitement were obvious.
The Biology Department had a great time planning and delivering a jam-packed Biology week last week. Some of the Year 12 Biology prefects put together some wonderful Biology quizzes and ‘Women in Biology’ presentations to be shown during registration time. Some of the women they chose to celebrate included Rosalind Franklin, whose work was central to the understanding of the molecular structures of DNA, Mary Anning, who was the first to excavate and describe a fossil of Ichthyosaurus at the age of 11, and Jane Goodall, who is recognised for her ground breaking discoveries about chimpanzee behaviour.
On 11th of October 2019, the Head Girl Team invited Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu to Kendrick School to deliver an inspirational talk as part of our Black History Month.
On World Mental Health Day at Kendrick School, students and staff wore an item of yellow clothing to take part in the Young Minds charity initiative #HelloYellow and each donating towards the cause.
Eco Week kicked off with a debate considering whether individual and small scale actions to reduce the effects of climate change are useless. Subjects as wide-ranging as the plastic straw ban to the Brazilian rainforest were considered. There was an excellent turnout, with students from both Lower School and Sixth Form taking part, and the debating grew fierce, eventually deciding that small-scale efforts are not completely useless.
In September of 2018, after I finished my studies at Kendrick, I flew to Munich to begin my Au-Pair year in Germany.
On the 17th September, Emily and I toured three lovely ladies around Kendrick who had attended the school in the 1940s. Vivienne, Hilary and Miriam Stock, as they were known when they attended Kendrick, had come back to visit whilst Miriam, who now lives in Sydney, was in the UK.