We are writing from Kendrick School to wish you a heartfelt and joyful 100th birthday. Our students and staff join millions around the world in celebrating your extraordinary life and the profound impact you have had on our understanding of the natural world.

During the week of 16th March, we were thrilled to run Fairtrade Week, to raise money for the Fairtrade charity and awareness of what we do in the school on a regular basis. Our role as the Fairtrade Team is to run a stall on Tuesdays during the second break in the servery, where we promote and encourage students to purchase fairtrade products for their personal shopping.

Fairtrade is a charitable organisation and sustainability label, working to make trade fairer for the people who grow our food, by guaranteeing farmers a fair minimum price and protecting them if the markets drop. This initiative was established at Kendrick many years ago, and we were honoured to take the lead and continue this tradition.

On 13th and 17th March, we had the opportunity to watch French and German plays in school, performed by a theatre company called Onatti.  This was available to all Year 9 and Year 10 students studying either language.  The Year 10s, studying both French and German, were fortunate to see both.

Olivia entered Reading Symphony Orchestra's Young Musician of the Year 2026 Competition.  She competed against seven other fantastic musicians, who all performed amazingly well. 

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.