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...!
This week is ‘Neurodiversity Celebration Week’, a global initiative that challenges stereotypes and misunderstandings surrounding neurological differences. At Kendrick, we marked this week by viewing a presentation in form time. Students have been sent this, along with a video, to look at in their own time, should they wish. These are also attached below.
The Student Welfare Team also organised a neurodiversity badge making activity during one lunchtime, which proved to be hugely popular. These are just a few examples of their wonderful creations for you to enjoy.
After achieving 1st and 2nd place for our designs in the Falcon 2 Challenge last year, two teams from Kendrick School were invited to visit Coventry University for the launch of the next phase of the Falcon 2 programme. The Falcon 2 Challenge, sponsored by the Royal Aeronautical Society, is a national engineering competition which encompasses designing and building a flight simulator that is accessible and accommodates disabilities.
On Saturday 24th February, I had the opportunity to take part in a masterclass with Eleftheria Kotzia, a professional classical guitarist. Firstly, we talked about how we warm up before starting to play. We got into the right posture, and stretched our hands to improve blood flow and warm them up. Next, we discussed different ways to prepare before playing a piece, such as practising slurs, playing scales and arpeggios and practising technical work or studies. Then, each of us in the class got the chance to perform a piece for Eleftheria, and get her feedback on it.
I performed Kalamatianos, a traditional Greek dance which Eleftheria was familiar with, and she was able to give me lots of great advice on how to improve my playing by suggesting different fingerings for certain passages, as well as helping me change positions more smoothly.
On Monday 11th March, around 30 students from Kendrick and Reading School visited the Royal Berkshire Hospital (RBH) for a choral performance to lift spirits and raise some money for Royal Berkshire Hospital Charity.
As members of the Chamber Choir for the upcoming Air Ambulance Charity Concert, we had been preparing some repertoire and thought it would be a fun opportunity to get an extra performance before the big show!
On Thursday 14th March at lunchtime, the library had the pleasure of hosting the annual Holocaust Poetry Competition Presentation. This year, the theme of the competition was 'fragility of freedom', which clearly inspired many Kendrick poets. We had a wonderful range of poems submitted, which made the unenviable task of choosing the winners extremely difficult for our judges, Mr Dilley (Head of English) and Mrs Moseley (English & History teacher). Four students emerged as winners this year – Trisha and Inakshi from Year 12, Faith from Year 10 and a Year 8 student, Lara Maria.
International Women's Day The theme this year is Inspire Inclusion and at Kendrick we have chosen to focus on women in our lives who we know who have influenced us. Some amazing stories and photos have been shared by students and staff about their relatives - mothers, sisters, aunts, grandmothers- women that have had a positive and inspiring impact on their lives.
A display of these amazing women and of our staff supporting IWD is below.
On Monday 26th February, A-Level German, Spanish and French students went to Reading School to attend an event hosted by the Business Language Challenge on journalism and the influence of modern languages within the world of work. On arrival, we were welcomed with biscuits and then split into groups mixed with students from other schools, who studied the same language as us. After introducing ourselves to our team, everyone took part in a quiz in which we had to guess which news company belonged to which country.