At this time of year, we celebrate the achievements of our most senior students and offer some the opportunity to perform as a soloist accompanied by one of our senior ensembles. 
First up came Petra, who performed an outstanding and stylistic saxophone solo as part of Jazz Band's rendition of 'I Got You (I Feel Good)' by James Brown. They really engaged with the audience and showed how much they'd grown in confidence since their time in Year 7.
On 18th April, I, along with 30 other students at Kendrick, took part in the Garsington Opera Workshop. At first, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I knew we would be learning about the opera ‘Marriage of Figaro’ that we would be seeing in July.
It started off fun and engaging; the people running the workshop were very friendly and made everyone feel included and involved. We did a few warm-up exercises which helped us get to know each other. We were encouraged to interact and stand next to people in different Year groups. Throughout the workshop, we listened to songs from the opera being played on piano and translated into English in order to help us understand the opera in more detail, which was very helpful. We also heard sections of the opera being performed by the workers, who were also opera singers, and it was fascinating to watch and learn more.
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Recently, Year 12 students participated in the Geography Innovation Challenge with Reading School. It was a close competition, but our two teams came out at the top, being awarded 1st and 2nd place. The task was to find an innovative solution to the prevalent microplastic problem in our oceans.
The competition was between four groups of Year 12 students from Reading School and Kendrick School. Each team created and did a fifteen-minute presentation, that included research into microplastic sources and challenges, our chosen solution, and considerations of scalability and funding for the solution. This was followed by fifteen minutes of answering challenging questions.
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.
This year’s annual student-led Air Ambulance Charity Concert was a huge success; students from all year groups and both schools came together to produce harmonious sounds as part of a variety of talented ensembles. This concert was started as an act of gratitude after the Air Ambulance saved a student’s life, and has been taking place for over a decade, surviving tough circumstances like the pandemic.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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...!