At the start of 2025, I was blessed with the opportunity to experience life on the big-screen, as one of the cast members (Young Nelly Dean) in Emerald Fennell’s 2026 adaptation of Emily Brontë’s renowned Wuthering Heights.

Though I did sometimes indulge in the fantasy of acting and the fun perks that came with it, I’d never seriously considered acting in an actual project. It was my brother (now a drama school student) who was aiming for Hollywood, so I would sometimes help him tape his auditions and read lines for him. Consequently, my mum was part of many audition forums online where they’d send out open casting calls. It was on a whim and “just for fun” that I decided to sign up for an audition that fitted my description and, by a stroke of luck, I managed to land the role.

On Friday 6th March, Kendrick School had the pleasure of hosting the annual interschool Air Ambulance charity concert alongside Reading School. Started in 2012 by Alicia Darrington after her brother Toby’s life was saved by the Thames Valley Air Ambulance (TVAA) charity when he was involved in a cycling accident, she wanted to demonstrate her gratitude by raising money and awareness through a charity concert, which has evolved into one of the most important events of the year.

In the last week before half-term, Kendrick students came together to spread some kindness by making birthday cards for Amelia, a soon-to-be eight-year-old girl from Birmingham who has been battling cancer since the age of two and a half. To mark this massive milestone, Amelia set herself the goal of receiving 8,000 birthday cards to set a new UK record – she has since smashed her target with over 100,000 cards, including 64 heartfelt messages from Kendrick.

Holocaust Memorial Day on Tuesday 27th January marked the time in 1945 when the Nazi concentration camp in Auschwitz, Poland was liberated by the allies.  Since 2011, we have been marking this day in our school.  Our two Year 13 Holocaust Ambassadors, Koyenum and Atika, spoke about their visit to Auschwitz last year on the Lessons from Auschwitz project, a visit which two of our Sixth form History students have been able to go on for many years.

All of Year 10 gathered for a fantastic celebration of public speaking and oratorical flair for our Orators' Cup final, a competition that is now in its second year. Before Christmas, every Year 10 student delivered a speech to their English teacher and their peers on a topic of their choice for their GCSE Spoken Language Assessment, and the best speaker from each English class was chosen to compete in front of the whole year group. 

Last week, we were delighted to welcome over 270 students from Years 4 and 5 from local primary schools into Kendrick to watch our Year 10 pantomimes.  These are written and performed by our Year 10 students who are studying Drama at GCSE.  This year's performances were based on Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Cinderella, Aladdin and we were also treated to Gretel and Little Red and Snow White and the Very Many Dwarfs!