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.
On Monday the 10th of November, the A-level Sociology students attended the ‘Sociology in Action’ conference, hearing from subject experts about a wide range of sociological issues.
We had six talks: abolitionism, celebrity culture and the media, representations of female crime, exam skills, wealth disparity and its effects on childhood, and gender, feminism and the family.
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!
In November, the Community Committee, with help from other members of the Kendrick Student Leadership Team, ran a series of creative events as part of Fringe Fortnight to raise money for our two school charities; the Reading Refugee Support Group and Smart Works Reading.
Wednesday, December 10th, was Human Rights Day, and to mark this, students from Years 7–13 added their voices to millions of people worldwide by taking part in Amnesty International's Write for Rights Campaign.
Amnesty International is a global movement which is independent of any government or political party, and each year, they identify people from around the world whose human rights have been violated, and ask their supporters to write two types of letters: messages of solidarity and support to those who have been affected, and appeal letters to governments.
Earlier this year, Dr Perry signposted the MFL Department to the GCHQ’s National Language Competition 2025, and we were excited to enter seven teams of four Year 9 students. With challenges of varying levels of difficulty, the competition is designed to enthuse students about language and hopefully encourage them to select language options at GCSE. There were 2734 teams taking part across the United Kingdom, and I am pleased to share with you the results of our seven teams:
On Wednesday 26th November 2025, we were excited to launch our Widening Horizons programme for the 2025-26 academic year. Over 150 parents and primary school children from school Years 3–5 living in our designated area and in receipt of a Pupil Premium or Service Premium, and children in care or previously in care attended the Widening Horizons Information Event for 2025-26 at Kendrick School.
On Thursday 20th November, we attended Reading Council’s Young Voices Safety Summit. We met several new people and had to step out of our comfort zone to talk about a variety of topics. This year's theme was crime and safety. The four topics we discussed at this safety summit were topics that young people identified as the biggest issues for them – Bullying and Hate Crime, Violence against Women and Girls, Exploitation, and Reporting.
On Tuesday 18th November, we visited the Reading Civil Office to take part in the Reading Schools Climate Conference, where Kendrick represented the United Kingdom and the Marshall Islands.
To prepare for this exciting event, we attended preparation sessions at lunchtime with our groups. Outside of school, we did background research on the countries we were representing, to find out about their contributions to climate change and what they are doing to fight climate change. We also prepared an opening statement to present at the beginning of the conference and created PowerPoint slides to demonstrate how our school is being eco-friendly.
On Tuesday 11th November, the staff and students of Kendrick School marked Remembrance Day with an assembly led by Ms Kattirtzi, members of the KSL, our two Holocaust ambassadors and Maya, a member of CCF. This year we commemorated the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, as well as the 80th anniversary of VE Day, VJ Day, and the liberation of the concentration camps. We paid respect to all the veterans whose devotion and sacrifice to the national cause laid the foundations for the free Britain we know today.
On Thursday 16th October, Year 12 biologists embarked on an exciting journey to Longleat Safari Park. As part of our Biology specification, we gained a deeper insight into the importance of maintaining biodiversity and the role of conservation. First and foremost, we attended a conference, where the amazing staff of Longleat explained the role of biodiversity within the safari park, as well as why it is crucial to save endangered species.
During the summer holidays, Wokingham Borough Council ran a writing competition, Protect Our Broken Planet, in partnership with the Natural History Museum's new exhibition, Fixing Our Broken Planet. I chose to participate by composing a poem on my own experience of the growing issue of pollution, based on my memories of the beach we frequented most during my childhood.
That beach holds a special place in my heart. My first experience of the vastness of the ocean mesmerised me, and it continued to do so every time we returned. Our best pastime was to dip our feet in the cold sea and play with the waves.