Welcome
Ofsted report November 2022 "The Kendrick Pledge emphasises friendship, kindness, respect, equality, tolerance and justice, and these values underpin all that the school achieves. Pupils flourish in this exceptionally caring and inclusive learning environment. Secure, trusting relationships between staff and pupils ensure pupils feel very well supported and safe here. In turn, pupils’ excellent behaviour and impeccable manners make Kendrick a very special place to be".
To listen to an audio with staff and students talking about Kendrick's history, life at school and what the school means to us all, please click on the link below.
Kendrick Voices
Kendrick School is an 11 to 18 selective girls' school with academy status. With approximately 950 students on roll, it has a well-deserved local and national reputation for excellence.
Our vision at Kendrick is to be a centre of excellence where personal development is valued as highly as academic achievement. We are committed to providing a safe, exciting and inclusive environment where students can be themselves, develop self-confidence and discover their strengths. Kendrick is a place where every student feels a sense of belonging and can grow into a successful young adult while continuing to enjoy the opportunities and experiences of childhood.
We are proud to play an active role within the Reading community and beyond. Through initiatives such as the Widening Horizons Project, which engages students from local primary schools, we strive to make selective education more accessible to girls from all backgrounds.
At Kendrick, students and staff work together with confidence, curiosity and ambition. We challenge one another to think creatively, embrace innovation and pursue excellence in all that we do. We aim to be a school where everyone can lead, inspire and make a positive difference to the lives of girls and young women.
In its most recent Ofsted inspection, Kendrick School was judged to be Outstanding. Inspectors noted that: "Pupils and sixth-formers are justly proud of their school community. They delight in their learning and truly excel here. One parent spoke for many when reflecting, ‘The school does a great job of creating well-rounded, kind, human beings who will hopefully go on to make the world a better place. The academic results are important, of course, but far from the only focus.’ Inspectors totally agree.”
School life at Kendrick is busy and purposeful. Students work hard in lessons and take maximum benefit from every hour that they are taught. Staff value the engagement and motivation of students, as well as unwavering support of parents and carers. As a result, Kendrick is a rewarding place both to learn and to work.
Outside of lessons there is a very full programme of extra and super curricular opportunities including many clubs and societies, trips, challenges and competitions. Music, art, drama and sports all thrive in lessons as well as clubs and the House System gives students the chance to participate in events and competitions with students from other forms and year groups. It is a source of great joy to me how much the older students interact with and encourage the younger students at Kendrick. Kendrick Student Leaders exemplify this spirit through the creative and inclusive initiatives they lead.
As part of Kendrick’s community work, I am particularly proud of the Widening Horizons project that engages students from primary schools and the local area. In July 2024 and again in July 2025, we were awarded the Sutton Trust Fair School Admissions Award (Gold). This recognition reflects our commitment to fair and accessible admissions, and we are immensely proud of this achievement.
Whatever your connection with Kendrick School, I hope your experience is a positive one and that you see the same joy of learning, sense of purpose and spirit of community that I experience every day. Kendrick is truly a very special place to learn, work and grow.
Mr Nicholas Simmonds
Headteacher
September 2026
Weekly UPDATE - FRIDAY 11TH SEPTEMBER 2026
Please click here for previous weekly updates.
WEEKLY UPDATE – FRIDAY 11th SEPTEMBER 2026
Letter from Mr Simmonds, Headteacher
This week the school has settled impressively quickly to the routines of registrations, assemblies, lessons and homework. A few parents of students in Year 12 commented to me last night on the speed in which school life gets going. This is just as it should be. We must remember that there are just 39 teaching weeks a year and some of these are spent on trips, exams and super curricular activity. Each week a full week represents about 3% of the year’s teaching and learning. Time in school is precious.
Pastoral leaders have led excellent assemblies welcoming students to the new school year. I have been impressed with the sense of calm, enjoyment and focus that I see around school and in lessons.
Many thanks to Year 12 parents who joined us in school on Thursday to meet their daughter’s tutor and hear essential information from the Sixth Form leadership team as well as a few words of introduction from myself. It was great to meet them and discuss our shared hopes and ambitions for all the amazing students starting their A level journey in Year 12.
Mr Nicholas Simmonds
Headteacher
School Notices
Admission Test Day – Friday 18th September
This is a reminder that it is admission test day for entry into Year 7 in September 2027 on Friday 18th September 2026 and students will work from home on that day. This is a normal school day for all students and remote registration will be emailed to them in the morning.
Free School Meals
Thank you to those parents that have completed the Free School Meals form. We are working on the outcome of your application and will get back to you as soon as we can. In the meantime, any child that was receiving a free school meal last academic year will continue to receive one until we have the latest information. If you have yet to complete the form and you think your child may be eligible for a free school meal, or you are unsure of the new process, please click here for more information.
Reporting a Student Absence
A reminder on how to report a student absent is below. Thank you for your support in helping us ensure all students are safe and accounted for during the school day. If further clarification is required, please email admin@kendrick.reading.sch.uk.
- Absences must be reported via School Gateway before 9:00am on the first day of absence. If an absence continues over multiple days, a daily update is required - one message to cover multiple days is not sufficient. Any student who has vomited must remain off school for 48 hours following their last episode of vomiting.
- Promptness We expect all students to be inside their form room and ready to start their school day by 8.25am. Students can access their classrooms from 8am. Please ensure sufficient time is allowed for traffic, train cancellations and bus delays.
- Medical appointments must be reported in advance via School Gateway and a collection time arranged with the student prior to arriving at school.
- Students in Years 7–11 must be collected by an adult if leaving during the school day. Students will not be permitted to leave unaccompanied for any reason regardless of circumstance.
- Mobile phones are not permitted to be used by students anywhere on the school premises during the school day. This includes using phones to notify parents of their arrival, illness, or forgotten items.
- Students who become unwell during the day; If a student is unwell during the day they should notify their teacher and where treatment is required, they are to report to the General Office. In circumstances where the student is too unwell to remain in school a member of staff will contact parents / carers to collect their child promptly. Please ensure we are provided with a local contact who can do this.
Safeguarding
Safeguarding at Kendrick School
Supporting your child with new social media changes. The government plans to ban social media for under-16s by spring 2027, while introducing new safety measures. Here is more about what is happening, along with advice on supporting your child.
Mental Health and Wellbeing
Mental Health and Wellbeing at Kendrick School
Social Media and Mental Health. Social media can have a positive impact on your mental health. But it can also make you feel anxious and overwhelmed. Young Minds advice can help you stay in control of your feed and look after your mental health online.
Reading’s SEND Local Offer. The SEND Local Offer is here to help you find information about local services, support, activities and events for children and young people aged 0 - 25 years who have special educational needs or disabilities (SEND).
School Fund
Please donate to our School Fund here. You can make one-off payments through your ParentPay account or complete a standing order form for more regular payments. If you are a UK taxpayer, please ensure you also complete a Gift Aid Form.
A school fund is maintained by voluntary contributions from the parents/carers of students. Its purpose is to provide an additional source of funding for the provision of facilities and educational resources for the benefit of students. We use our School Fund to support so many activities in and out of school that have now become essential to school life.
Canteen
The Autumn/Winter menu will be shared in due course. Please ensure that you regularly check your child's canteen balance on their ParentPay account and settle any 'overdrafts' quickly. Overdrafts should only be issued on an exceptional basis and not as a regular occurrence.
Week A
Tuesday 15th September – Year 7 Welcome Evening, 5pm to 60.30pm
Friday 18th September – Admission Test Day, school closed to students
Student Careers and Work Experience
Attendance Officer and Administration Coordinator – Monday to Friday, 8am to 3.30pm, term time only.
Art and Technology Technician – 30 hours a week, term time only
ParentPay and Evolve Reminders
Latest Reminders for ParentPay and Evolve
KPS Updates
KPS has created WhatsApp groups to link parents across each year group. From this group you can also link into the individual classes’ groups and class representatives. If you would like to join the group, please use the link below for your child’s year group (for September 2026). KPS will manage the group on behalf of the parents as we all transition through our child’s time at Kendrick. The WhatsApp group is open to all parents and carers, however, please do not share the link outside the school community or on any other groups. Existing groups are unchanged (no need to rejoin).
Year 7 (2026-27). This group will be open to join until the end of the month, after this time permission will have to be requested to join. This is for security reasons.
Year 8 (2026-27). This is the same as last year's group for Year 7 (2025). No need to rejoin, but permission will need to be sought to join.
Year 9 (2026-27). This is the same as last year’s for Year 8 (2025). No need to rejoin, but permission will need to be sought to join.
Year 10 (2026-27). This is the same as last year’s group for Year 9 (2025). No need to rejoin, but permission will need to be sought to join.
Year 11 (2026-27). This is the same as last years’ group for Year 10 (2025). No need to rejoin, but permission will need to be sought to join.
The 6th form (2026-27). This merges Year 11 (2025/6) and Year 12 (2025/6. This is the same WhatsApp group for Year 11 (2025/6), no need to rejoin.
Year 13 (2026) parents will need to join. The existing 6th form group (2025/6) will be archived soon.
This new group will be open to join until the end of the month, after this date permission will have to be requested to join. This is for security reasons.
If you are not a KPS member and would like to join KPS, please reply to this e-mail. You can also donate to the KPS charity. All funds go to support our girls, the school and facilitate events. We cannot support the school without your help.
Letter from Mr Charles Ramsden, Chair of the Board of Trustees
On behalf of the trustee body, I would like to welcome everyone to the 2026-2027 academic year. I particularly welcome students joining us for the first time who will get the support they need to settle in quickly and make a positive contribution to the school.
As trustees, we are responsible for working with Mr Nicholas Simmonds, Headteacher and the Senior Leadership Team to agree on the strategic direction of Kendrick. We assist with setting the school's vision, aims and objectives. To do this, we are organised into three committees – Learning & Teaching, Performance and Review, and Resources. Each of these committees meets regularly, and we meet as a full board three times a year. All the trustees are committed to supporting the ethos of the school, and many have direct experience of the school – either as a student or the parent of a student.
We want to ensure that every student at Kendrick has the opportunity to thrive – academically, as a member of the school community, and in their personal development. Kendrick has something for everyone: a huge range of extracurricular activities including music, sports, and drama; opportunities to show leadership, as part of the School Council or the Student Leadership Team; and, of course, the chance to help others.
I do hope that you will take advantage of the opportunities to engage with the school. We are always keen to get your feedback, and as Chair of the Board of Trustees, I am always happy to hear from any of you. Please feel free to contact Lisa Hillan, Governance Officer to the Trustee Board lhillan@kendrick.reading.sch.uk if you would like to get in touch.
On behalf of the trustees, I wish everyone a successful year ahead.
With best wishes
Charles Ramsden
Chairman of the Board of Trustees
September 2026