The Kingsley School Summer 2016 Newsletter

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ISSUE 37 SUMMER 2016

THE NEWSLETTER OF THE KINGSLEY SCHOOL, ROYAL LEAMINGTON SPA

A YEAR FULL OF KINGSLEY MOMENTS

CELEBRATIONS • TRIPS • ENTERPRISE • SPORTING SUCCESSES

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The Kingsley News Summer 2016

Celebrations

2015 PRIZE GIVING CEREMONY The Kingsley School celebrated a wonderful year of achievements at the annual prize giving ceremony at Leamington Town Hall, in December. Girls received their GCSE and A Level certificates, and a host of other prizes were awarded for a wide variety of achievements in many disciplines including music, LAMDA, mathematics, Duke of Edinburgh and riding. The Kingsley Rose Award, awarded to

a girl in the year group who is the embodiment of the spirit and ethos of the school went to Abigail O’Meara in Year 11, Kerrie Punj in Year 12 and Lottie Pearson in Year 13. Guests enjoyed a variety of musical and choral performances and the guest speaker was Charlotte Myers, Director or LMA Academy and Market Talent Development at Lloyds Market Association, a Kingsley alumna, who

has blazed a trail firstly working abroad and then in the male-dominated world of Lloyds. The Chairman of Warwick District Council, Councillor Michael Doody and the Mayor of Royal Leamington Spa, Councillor Amanda Stevens were among the distinguished guests who attended the event.

A CELEBRATION FOR Y11 AND Y13 Year 11 marked the start of study leave for their GCSE exams with a special assembly to celebrate the end of their time in Senior School. Proud parents joined Kingsley students and staff for the celebration which was followed by lunch. Fancy dress on the last day is a tradition and the Year 11 students went all out this year completely taking over the school and turning it into a mock crime scene and horror maze. The Kingsley flag was even temporarily replaced with a skull and crossbones for the day!

The theme continued into the Celebration Assembly where the students reflected on memorable moments, paid tributes to teachers and bid a fond farewell with a programme of musical and dramatic items.

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Headteacher, Ms Owens, gave a proud testimony to the students; who had just begun in Year 7 at Senior School when she became Headteacher. “It has been an absolute joy watching you grow academically and socially throughout the school. You are a credit to yourselves, your parents and the school, and you have truly embodied what it means to be a ‘Kingsley Girl’.” Following a traditional final week of themed fancy dress, outgoing Year 13 girls said a heartfelt farewell to Kingsley students and staff at an emotional assembly. There were tears of laughter and sadness as the girls reminisced about their time at Kingsley. The ‘Kingsley Tour’ video will certainly be well remembered by staff and students for a long time to come!

Head of Sixth Form, Mrs Morgan, paid tribute to the girls with special memories and advice for the future. “Because I know you, I have been changed for the better”, she said, referring to the song from the musical ‘Wicked’ which two Year 13s had just performed. Proud parents watched the assembly before joining their daughters and staff in the Sixth Form Centre for lunch and a toast by Headteacher, Ms Owens.

Celebrations

A CELEBRATION FIT FOR THE QUEEN! Pupils and staff celebrated Her Majesty the Queen’s 90th Birthday on Thursday 21st April by dressing up on the theme of ‘Your Favourite Royal’ for the day. There were some entertaining and clever examples amongst the abundance of princesses, kings and queens. Her Majesty even made an appearance on the Senior School balcony for the day, much to the enjoyment of passers-by.

pupils rejoiced and celebrated in singing songs such as the ‘National Anthem’, ‘Rule Britannia’, ‘Land of Hope and Glory’ and, of course, ‘Happy Birthday’. The crown and jewellery making was superbly creative and heading out into the local area to ‘Clean for The Queen’ and helping to keep Britain tidy was enjoyed by all. A street party style picnic lunch with cakes in the sunshine proved extremely popular with pupils and all staff!

In the Preparatory School there was a terrific ‘Proms’ style assembly where

The Kingsley School

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Prep School

GONG XI FA CAI!

SCIENCE WEEK WAS A BLAST!

Foundation, Reception, Year 1 and 2 marked the occasion of Chinese New Year by putting on a celebration assembly, to which they invited family and staff members.

Pupils at the Prep School got up to a number of out-of-this-world activities at their space themed Science Week.

The girls sang a special song for the Year of the Monkey which they had been learning with Ms Harper and performed a traditional Chinese tale, as well as having lots of facts to share about Chinese New Year. At Chinese New Year the hong bao, or red envelopes, are given to children with money inside. They are given and received with two hands with a Gong Xi Fa Cai greeting. Ms Harper gave all Year 1 pupils a red envelope containing chocolate money to celebrate Chinese New Year in their Chinese lesson.

Children participated in astronaut training, blew up balloons with chemical reactions, created electricity using dough, performed magic milk experiments and created lava lamps to name but a few activities. Year 6 also had the opportunity to use the Senior School labs to make alien slime! The highlight for many was seeing the rockets in the tennis courts, led by our science team. Congratulations must go to Gadesden House for winning this year’s InterHouse Science Quiz.

THE GREAT 2016 PANCAKE RACE The Prep School and Year 7 Houses battled it out on Shrove Tuesday for the much sought after Pancake Race cup. Almost all students participated in a relay race involving dressing up in a matching hat and apron, and pausing mid run for an obligatory go at flipping the pancake.

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The Kingsley team spirit was out in true fashion as the Houses, led by their House Captains, cheered their teams on. Despite stiff competition, Loveday crepe(d) into the lead, securing an unpredictable win. Luckily, no one had to eat the remaining pancakes as forfeit!

Prep School

CREATIVITY - INTELLIGENCE HAVING FUN The Kingsley Prep School’s Creative Curriculum provides opportunities for learners to explore and discover, in particular by using nature and our new purpose-built outdoor classroom. By being creative children learn to think for themselves and to learn by doing and applying. By engaging children’s curiosity and imagination they are more motivated and become more independent and confident learners and individual progress and academic achievement improve. Kingsley has a well-established

thematic curriculum which ensures all pupils are able to achieve their full potential in small classes and a ‘family’ environment. This is the basis for our exciting, interactive and holistic teaching and learning. Our approach enables pupils to reach their true learning potential in a dynamic and vibrant community. Outdoor learning is a significant component, using the natural world to extend children’s understanding of themselves and the world around them. Nature is one of our greatest

teachers and Kingsley’s curriculum engages girls and boys by harnessing innate curiosity to imagine, to build and to investigate – such as, in the bug hotel, mud kitchen or our extensive fields. Creativity underpins purposeful learning and high standards of literacy and numeracy are driven even higher with this approach. Our pupils also benefit from exposure to a carousel of learning three languages – French, Spanish and Mandarin – at an early age.

AN EGGCELENT PARADE A favourite annual Kingsley tradition took place as pupils in Foundation, Reception, Year 1 and 2 showcased their fantastic creations in the Easter Bonnet Parade. The pupils delighted parents with musical performances, demonstrations of mathematical skills and poetry recitals in an assembly, before heading outside to begin the parade. The girls treated parents to the most fantastic, creative and imaginative array of Easter Bonnets this year. We would like to congratulate everyone on their eye catching efforts, with special congratulations to the competition winners chosen by Ms Owens; Mina from Foundation and Sima from Year 1.

The Kingsley School

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Prep School

DROP EVERYTHING AND READ PROJECT PUMPKIN This year our youngest pupils have been involved in ‘Project Pumpkin’. Pupils in Foundation, Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 have been growing mini pumpkins in their classrooms. On Wednesday 8 June they had the exciting opportunity to visit Jephson Gardens in glorious sunny weather to plant the pumpkins in the Sensory Garden. The children also took part in a forest fish activity, where they collected feathers, leaves and twigs to make a fish picture from nature!

THE PANDA MADE ME DO IT!

World Book Day on Thursday 3rd March really captured the Prep School’s imagination. Every class entered into the spirit by bringing in their favourite story along with a special teddy so that they could take part in ‘Drop Everything and READ!’ Lots of stories were shared by both pupils and teachers to celebrate a love of reading.

The whole of the Prep School also took part in a book swap during breaktime, recommending favourites to friends.

RAINFOREST EXPLORERS As part of their geography learning about rainforests, the Year 3 pupils have been busy exploring animals and their habitats in rainforest areas. They have been able to apply their crosscurricular skills to research important facts about jungle animals in ICT, and use their information to create fact pages and information texts in their writing lessons. In art lessons, they created decorations to turn the classroom into a rainforest.

Their learning was put into practice during a recent trip to the Glass House at the Jephson Gardens, where the class saw a wide variety of plants which produced bananas, coffee, figs and mangoes. The surroundings were an opportunity for the class to experience a similar environment to rainforests, as well as to identify the features of each habitat suited to a range of plants and wildlife.

Sylvia and the Climbing Club had the idea of putting on a sponsored climb for the Prep School’s chosen charity WWF a few weeks ago. This was a tremendous success, with some pupils raising over £30 individually through their sponsor slips. The WWF recognised this fantastic achievement and Ms Harper awarded all the pupils with a special sew-on badge, which says ‘the panda made me do it!’ Well done to all pupils involved.

OPEN AND SAY ‘AHHH!’ Year 4 had a visit on Tuesday 8th March from Mr Meixner, Emily’s father, who is a dentist. The class had been learning about teeth in their science unit of work so it was a brilliant opportunity to speak to a professional and find out more about keeping teeth healthy. The girls even had a chance to be a dentist and use real dentist tools!

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Prep School

KINGSLEY AT KINGSWOOD Year 4 departed for a two night stay at the Kingswood Centre in Staffordshire during May, where they participated in a number of adventure and team-building activities including a murder mystery, abseiling, archery and fencing.

YEAR 5 AT THE CRANEDALE CENTRE Year 5, accompanied by Mrs Harrold and Mrs Raja, travelled to North Yorkshire to the Cranedale Centre, in a tiny village called Kirby Grindalythe. The trip brought all their geography lessons to life and the days were filled with practical activities, expeditions and games.

YEAR 6’S FRENCH ADVENTURE Year 6 had a fantastic few days in France, visiting the sites of the D-Day landings, the Bayeux Tapestry, Monet’s Garden, and Merville Market, amongst many other places.

The Kingsley School

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Senior School

A CHRISTMAS SUCCESS! Our ‘Rocking Around the Kingsley Tree’ video was a huge hit over the Christmas period, and even more so after winning a competition on Christmas Day! Kingsley had been participating in the Interactive Schools ‘Social Advent’ throughout December; with a new social media challenge and competition set every day. These ranged from sharing the year’s press highlights to creating a timelapse video of decorating a Christmas tree, with entries being shared with the #SocialAdvent hashtag, and Interactive Schools choosing a winning entry for each day. The challenge set for Christmas Day was to schedule a Merry Christmas tweet, with bonus points for creativity. After tweeting a message featuring the Christmas video, Kingsley was chosen as the winner! The video can be viewed on The Kingsley School website.

KINGSLEY ART PRIZE 2016 Ellie Sinclair in Year 11 was awarded overall winner for this year’s Art Prize, which had a great many submissions from girls throughout the school, from Reception to Year 11. The theme for this year was ‘Pattern and Detail’.

All pieces of artwork were placed on display in the Senior School Foyer area, with staff members casting votes for their favourite pieces across five different age groups, as well as an overall winner.

MS HARPER NAMED WWF AMBASSADOR Ms Harper, WWF and Earth Hour Ambassador, inspired pupils and the local community to care about the planet, in celebration of WWF’s Earth Hour.

her toy panda named Tracey travel around the world, posting photos of her travels on Twitter.

Ms Harper inspired pupils to take part in the event, and hosted a candlielit Earth Hour lunch on Thursday 17th March, with the whole school switching off all non-essential lights. She has also been taking part in #PassThePanda, WWF’s social media campaign, which has seen

OLD GIRLS INSPIRE FUTURE CAREERS Year 7 and 8 students had fun finding out about different jobs on Thursday 9th June when Alumnae, affectionately known as ‘Old Girls’, returned to The Kingsley School, along with other professionals, to join in the ‘Guess My Job’ workshop. The session began with a fun, informal, speed-dating style activity with the girls working in teams and using their detective skills to question the visitors. The panel of speakers, which included a lawyer, neo-natal nurse, prop maker and chemical engineer then spoke about their chosen profession. The girls

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left brimming with ideas and enthusiasm for future career paths. Mrs Bennett, Careers Coordinator, described the session as “a brilliant workshop to start to help the younger girls thinking about different career possibilities. The girls discovered more about particular job roles, but also learnt that many key employability skills such as communication, IT, problem-solving and teamwork are essential to most jobs. It has also helped strengthen the connection between their education and the world of work, as well as being a lot of fun!”

Senior School

CHRIS WHITE MP IN EU REFERENDUM DEBATE Local MP, Chris White, visited The Kingsley School on the morning of Friday 29th April to participate in an EU Referendum debate and discussion during assembly. Students from Years 7 to 13 were given a brief history on how the EU was formed, before Mr White spoke on his views on why Britain should remain.

Sixth Form students provided a counter argument and the assembly floor was opened to everyone for debate.

Cameron is so opposed to leaving the EU, why was the decision made to have the referendum in the first place?’

Mr White answered a number of questions from students, including finance, travel and employment implications. One student even asked for Mr White’s opinion on David Cameron’s decision to have a referendum – ‘if Mr

The stimulating debate was ended with a mock vote by all students and staff; the end result being an 85% of votes to remain in the EU, and 15% of votes to leave.

AN ENTERPRISE IN CHOCOLATE Year 9 students enjoyed an exciting enterprise day recently - the Chocolate Challenge - working in teams to explore working roles and key entrepreneurial and employability skills such as leadership, communication, organisation, working with numbers, teamwork and negotiation. Dressed in smart business attire for the day, each team formed a ‘company’ and assign their working roles of Marketing and Sales Director, Brand Consultant, Production Manager, Financial Director and Buying Manager, with each team ably led by a Managing Director. They then had to design, package and plan the marketing for their chocolates, whilst making a profit along the way, culminating in a presentation to a panel of judges.

The students produced some well thought out results, demonstrating resourcefulness and creativity along the way. They learnt the importance of teamwork, delegation, negotiation, attitudes to work and communication skills and they coped well with the challenges they faced. Careers Coordinator, Mrs Bennett, said: “The day provided an excellent opportunity for the students to widen their exposure to the career possibilities open to them in the future, as well as helping them to foster the ‘can-do’ attitude that employers are increasingly looking for. It was also a bonus to have actual chocolates at the end as a treat for all their hard work!”

SELF ESTEEM TEAM The community of pupils, staff and parents at Kingsley all took part in workshops with the Self Esteem Team, an award-winning organisation dedicated to challenging stereotypes, reducing mental health stigma and educating young people on self-esteem. Grace Barrett, a musician and nutrition expert, ran what the girls described as ‘interesting and relatable’ workshops with Y8-13 year groups throughout the day and parents in the evening: relating issues to scientific studies, and covering topics such as why we need sleep, revision tactics, how to cope with fight and flight, self-motivation, giving and receiving compliments and issues relating to social media. Parental feedback was excellent in that the sessions helped with great practical tips for parenting a teenager, good Q & A opportunities and thought provoking strategies for practical application at home. We look forward to our further work with the team.

The Kingsley School

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Senior School

APP DEVELOPMENT Kingsley girls have had the opportunity of working with Leamington based app design and production company Kwalee Ltd who have offered expert advice, given studio tours and had the girls involved in user testing for one of their current developments. Digital Marketing Executive, Joe Carroll, visited Kingsley to offer advice on Y13 student app design work. He also invited students down to the Kwalee studios to see how a mobile app is produced looking at the various stages of development and the different teams involved. All girls found the tour to be very interesting and they even had some fun playing on a game currently in development for Apple TV and a brand new virtual reality game that was only a day old!

CARNEGIE AUTHOR WORKSHOP Carnegie Prize winning author Tanya Landman visited Kingsley on Wednesday 16th March, inspiring girls with a writing workshop. Key Stage 3 girls participated in a morning session where they planned out a piece of writing for their own murder mystery using celebrities as their victims. The pupils enjoyed

running with their imagination in the creative writing session and were particularly excited to meet and receive writing advice from an award winning writer. Tanya Landman’s books include the Carnegie Prize winning ‘Buffalo Soldier’, ‘The Goldsmith’s Daughter’, and the ‘Poppy Fields Mysteries’.

A CLASSIC VISIT The classics department enjoyed a visit from two of our alumnae Victoria Coltman, Professor of Art History at Edinburgh University and Madhuri Hickling who is currently studying Classics at Exeter University. Professor Coltman spoke about her deep passion for classics, which she studied to degree level and then led to her current distinguished career as an art historian and author. Madhuri enthused the girls with her enjoyment of classics and spoke of the wealth of different areas of study within the world of classics as well

as her recent work experience with a TV company. The girls also had the opportunity to find out more about university life from both sides. Professor Coltman was impressed by the creativity of the Year 8 Roman theatre projects adorning the hall!

LEVEL UP AT NVA Year 9 had a fantastic day out in Nottingham at the National Videogame Arcade Museum in February. After a private presentation, the students had a tour around the exhibition trying many different types of videogame. The trip inspired the girls regarding their current ICT work where the girls are using a fantastic piece of software the school has invested in called ‘Opus Creator’ which will enable them to create their own videogame.

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YEAR 9 AT THE BOOK AWARDS Year 9 girls had a fantastic morning at the Warwickshire Schools Library Service Year 9 Book Awards joining other pupils from around Warwickshire at the Bridge House Theatre in a celebration of writing and reading. The girls saw the finalist authors talk about their books and love of writing on a screen from around the world, and heard a passage of one book read out by a literary agent who also

answered questions on publishing, writing and reading. Vanessa Curtis won this year with her book ‘The Earth is Singing’.

Senior School

HEROES FOR CHILDREN IN NEED Staff and students embraced this year’s Children in Need theme of heroes. From the Preparatory School to Sixth Form, the girls came to school in a wide variety of imaginative and creative costumes to support this fabulous cause. There was a tangible buzz around the school, and the girls’ efforts on the day raised a fantastic £724.97 for Children in Need.

SIEGE AT THE SCIENCE FAIR Year 7 and 8 had a fantastic day out at Warwick Castle’s Science Fair, visiting and participating in a variety of workshops in collaboration with Mad Science and other UK science organisations on Friday 22nd April 2016. Pupils had the opportunity to see an array of science demonstrations, including seeing water being turned into purple squash and milk before their eyes and discovering how to capture smoke in bubbles in their hands. This was in addition to interacting with lifelike robots, making slime, seeing some of

‘the ugliest animals on earth’ and extracting blood from a very lifelike arm. Organiser of the visit, Head of Chemistry, Mrs Bains, praised the event, saying that it provided “experiences that the girls will not forget for a long time”.

Year 8 participated by investigating which materials blocked the most UV light, using a range of materials and beads that change colour when exposed to UV light. Results were logged online adding to the global research.

Year 9 student Helen Lavery reached the final of the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory School Science Prize; one of 16 finalists out of nearly 200 entries on Thursday 17th December 2015. The Science Prize was open to all Year 9 students who were asked to write a 500 word essay about “Why I love science” with the judges looking for an excitement about science and an enthusiasm to learn more. Helen was chosen as one of the finalists and invited to attend an evening celebration at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory where she was asked to give a two minute presentation to the judges. The finalists also had an opportunity to have a tour of one of the high powered laser laboratories - wearing clean suits and visiting parts of the facility rarely seen by students - as well as participating in some hands-on activities and hearing talks with laser physicists about the work of the Central Laser Facility.

STEM DAY

GLOBAL SPACE EXPERIMENT The Royal Society of Chemistry launched a global experiment, investigating ways in which astronauts can be protected from the harmful effects of UV light which links to Tim Peake and his work on the international space station.

SCIENCE PRIZE

All participants received a certificate for participating and were treated to a special video from Tim Peake thanking them for their efforts.

Year 10 girls attended a Girls’ School Association STEM Conference at Edgbaston High School in Birmingham which focused on the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics opportunities available to girls as they think about their further education and careers. Year 10 student Sophie Hawthorn said: “Lord Robert Winston delivered a motivating speech which opened our eyes and minds to what STEM is, how it is used and how it is growing in popularity among the female population. The day gave me a more positive attitude towards STEM subjects - for which I am very grateful.”

The Kingsley School

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Performing Arts

HITTING THE HIGH NOTES The music department are celebrating after all GCSE music students (amounting to 20% of the year group) secured an A*-C in music GCSE, achieving the Incorporated Society of Musicians Gold Award putting the school in the top 87 schools nationally (in England) and demonstrating the excellence of the music department. Mr Julian Smith, Head of Music, commented that, “this is a testament to the high academic standards of the girls, and the hard work and determination they all put in on a daily basis.”

SWINGING AT YOUTH4YOUTH The Kingsley Swing Band performed as part of the Youth4Youth charity event alongside the Warwickshire Gang Show on Friday 15th April raising money for Action for Children. The Band performed a number of songs and proved very popular with the audience. The event was a huge success, with over £1200 raised for Action for Children.

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YOUNG MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR A whole host of musical talent was on show as thirteen girls across the whole school performed at this year’s Young Musician of the Year event. The standard of music in this year’s competition was incredibly high with a plethora of entries from talented girls from the Prep and Senior Schools as well as Sixth Form.

year’s winner, Ellie Sinclair, who had an unenviable job of separating out the twelve finalists. The final conclusion was a win for Carla Estrada for the Prep School prize and a joint award to Lauren McDermott and Annie Harper-Radley for the Senior School competition. Well done to all who took part.

The competition was judged by last

A 5* TWELFTH NIGHT Sixteen girls participated in the annual Shakespeare Schools’ Festival and performed their own unique interpretation of “Twelfth Night” at the Belgrade Theatre’s B2 Studio. The girls demonstrated an excellent understanding of Shakespeare’s language and one parent was heard to state that it was like listening to normal conversation and dialogue due to the impressive delivery of text. Following the performance, the girls received a brilliant 5 star appraisal from the Festival Venue Director!

“I would especially like to applaud this cast for their hard work in supporting each other throughout to create this detailed show. This production was festive, entertaining and clever. A huge congratulations to all the cast and crew who made it happen.”

Sixth Form

Y12 GEOGRAPHERS AT THE LAKES Year 12 geographers visited the Lake District on a field trip in March, staying at the Blencathra field study centre near Keswick amongst incredible scenery. River characteristics were the main focus of the trip, and luckily the group were spared the snow and hail experienced on previous visits!

Y13 AT PARLIAMENT

During the trip Year 12 investigated flood management in Keswick and saw for themselves the terrible damage wrought by Storm Desmond in December. The Glenderaterra Beck on Blencathra mountain gave a great opportunity to measure a wide variety of channel variables and test ideas that are currently being learned in the classroom. On the last day the group went to the coastal town of St Bees to investigate coastal management and processes.

“After passing through some initial security checks we were lead into the breath-taking Westminster Hall - the famous setting for momentous legal and royal events, including speeches from Nelson Mandela and Barack Obama. Here we met our tour guide who informed us about the balance of supreme legislative power between the Sovereign, the elected MPs and the Lords, before taking us to the some of the most significant and important rooms in the building. These included the Queen’s robing room which is used only on the day of the state opening of Parliament, as well the Members’ Lobby, which was extensively damaged and rebuilt after the Second World War bombing. Finally we visited the Aye Lobby, where MPs declare by physical separation whether they agree or disagree with a proposed Bill.

All this information and study gave Year 12 an excellent understanding of field work, as well as providing useful case studies for the AS examination in the Summer.

ENTERPRISE TEAM SUCCESS The Kingsley Young Enterprise Team, ‘Ingenium’, has worked tirelessly this year to design and produce a product to appeal to girls aged 14-25. Their product, ‘The Beauty Bible’, contains hints and tips about fashion, health and fitness and has four pages sponsored by local businesses. The girls were thrilled to win the award for the most innovative product at the recent Coventry and Warwickshire

area finals at IBM Warwick. They used their business skills to good effect, securing financial support from a local printing company to minimise the risk to their shareholders. The book flew off the shelves at the Leamington and Stratford Trade Fairs, resulting in their selling most of their stock and needing to order a second print run.

“As someone who is extremely interested in politics and regularly watches Prime Minister’s Questions from home, my personal highlight of the trip was being able to enter and explore both the House of Lords and the House of Commons. Later, we were even able to view the procession of The Speaker through the Central Lobby, before observing the likes of Michael Fallon (The Secretary of State for Defence) debate from the Commons’ public gallery.

Congratulations to all the girls for their fantastic achievement!

“Overall this was both a thoroughly enjoyable day out as well as a fascinating learning experience.” Mairi Ella, Year 13

The Kingsley School

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Senior School.Sixth Form

A TASTY TRIP After presenting a persuasive proposal to Ms Dyson, a group of Year 8 girls arranged a trip to Birmingham with Mrs Payne to visit the Krispy Kreme Factory, where they had a tour and opportunity to decorate their own doughnuts. The group were commended by the company for their prior research on the company, asking some interesting questions as part of the tour.

SIXTH FORM LEADERSHIP TEAM After a thorough selection process involving students and staff, new Head Girls for the 2016/17 academic year were appointed in March. They are Evie-May Nairne and Lily Holbrook, who be supported in the role by Deputies, Maddie Baskerville and Helena Farren.

Dawn Morgan, Head of Sixth Form, said “We had an incredibly strong field of applicants and subsequently, a rigorous selection process. We are confident that the team will be a strong force for leadership and initiative in the Sixth Form and the wider School community.

While in Birmingham, the group had a brief visit to an art museum and took photographs of the interesting architecture around the city. The girls were surprised to learn that the Bullring is an example of ‘Blobitecture’ and cost £60 million to build!

SIXTH FORM ENRICHMENT Sixth Form students benefit from a varied and engaging Enrichment programme. Study skills sessions sit alongside charity projects; dance classes, fitness and team sports complement informative sessions on healthy lifestyles and mindfulness; young drivers are encouraged to adopt safe practices on the road and we prepare girls for university and beyond with focused sessions on university applications, finding employment or apprenticeships as well as getting clued up about finance and knowing your rights.

HEAD GIRLS Evie-May Nairne and Lily Holbrook

DEPUTY HEAD GIRLS Maddie Baskerville and Helena Farren

HOUSE PREFECTS Elisa Olexa (Huckwell), Katy Cant (Milroy), Eliza Brown (Loveday) and Kelly MacDonald (Gadesden)

PREFECTS

PREP SCHOOL PREFECTS

Olivia Sinclair-Hall (Media & Communications), Olivia Inchley and Jess Harper-Radley Hana Hadad and Abigail O’Meara (Senior)

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PageSport header

KINGSLEY ALIVE WITH ACTIVITY FOR SPORT RELIEF Kingsley was alive with activity for Sport Relief on the last day of term with many activities taking place in addition to the girls and staff arriving in sportswear.

In the Senior School, staff and girls competed against each other in a 10 hour exercise bike marathon - taking place throughout the day. Two bikes were set up in the main entrance to the school, with staff and girls cycling for 20 minutes each. By the end of the day, the final results were a win for the staff team with 320km, with the students not far behind with 313km - almost 200 miles covered by each team!

Miss Knight-Adams and her Zumba Club led the whole of the Prep School in a Zumbathon first thing in the morning, getting everyone energised with some energetic routines.

Throughout the week, girls had the

opportunity to participate in a Sport Relief Marathon Challenge in their PE lessons, attempting to collaboratively complete a 26 mile run, the same distance as the London Marathon. Girls, parents and guardians were also invited to join in running a Sport Relief Mile alongside staff after school on Friday 18th March at the playing fields. The day was a fantastic success with a huge amount of money raised for Sport Relief.

RIDE FOR A REASON

MARATHON RUNNERS Miss Windsor and Mrs Davies are celebrating their phenomenal achievement of running the London Marathon on Sunday 24 April. Miss Windsor ran her first marathon for The Children’s Society, fitting in training around her hockey fixtures, as her team reached the semi-finals of the national cup. Mrs Davies, a seasoned marathon runner, ran for Cancer Research UK.

Both thoroughly enjoyed the day, with fantastic crowds out on the route that kept them going, as well as staff and students following their routes from home. The incredible support received from friends, family, staff and students helped them to raise nearly £4,000. Well done to both, a real inspiration to us all!

Kingsley were visited by cyclist James Golding in a recent assembly, who came along to help inspire and challenge girls to take part in fundraising and sporting challenges. James’ story was fascinating, surviving cancer (twice), septicaemia and peritonitis, completely rebuilding his body and re-learning how to walk before embarking on several cycling challenges across the world. James has ridden across countries, continents, over mountains and through valleys, helping to be a part of over £2,000,000 worth of fundraising for MacMillan Cancer Support. As James said; “we are all capable of amazing things - my journey started with wiggling my toes!”

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The Kingsley School

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Sport

UNDEFEATED CHAMPIONS Kingsley students are celebrating after tremendous successes for their Leamington Netball teams, winning both the the U12 and U13 Coventry and Warwickshire Junior Leagues at the Xcel Centre in Coventry at the end of April. Both teams remained undefeated, winning every one of their matches throughout the league. The U13s finished with a grand total of 502 goals scored - over 250 more than the closest competitor! The U13 team also came as runners up in the handicap tournament, where high scoring teams in the league are given a disadvantage, which is another fantastic achievement in itself.

KINGSLEY HOST CWSSP EVENT The Kingsley Preparatory School played host to over 300 children from 9 local schools in the CWSSP Infant Agility event for Years 1 and 2 at The Kingsley Playing Fields on Tuesday 17th May. Children participated in various events throughout the day, including a 40m sprint, javelin throw, chest push, speed bounce and standing long jump. There was a fantastic atmosphere throughout the day, with superb weather adding to the mood. For the second year running, The Kingsley Preparatory School/St Peter’s Catholic School joint team

won the event, and will be heading through to the County Final in July. Mrs Kate Close, Teacher of PE, said, “I am absolutely delighted for the Kingsley and St Peter’s team, it is fantastic to see the pupils’ efforts in PE paying off. It has been a real pleasure to host the event this year, and lovely to welcome so many local schools to our brilliant playing fields and pavilion.”

Team Captain, Lara Whitmore, who had broken her foot and was supporting from the sidelines in the final match, said “I am very proud of my team, it was amazing to be able to see them play.”

SKI TEAM NATIONAL LEAGUE The Kingsley Ski Team have participated in their first in a series of six races for The Midland Ski Club at the Gloucester Ski and Snowboard Centre, with multiple successes. The Gloucester Summer Race League is a very competitive event, involving over 150 skiers from 12 different ski clubs from Telford to Torquay and Swansea. The Kingsley Ski Team performed brilliantly with points awarded to each racer’s position in their age group.

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Emma Lawton (Year 7) was our top performer, closely followed by Hannah Dennison (Year 7), positioned at 8th and 10th place respectively. Cecilia Goldwin (Year 7), Lily Williamson (Year 9) and Tabatha Sinclair (Year 10) won all three of their dual slalom races. Mr Edwards, Ski Team Manager, made a special mention of Lorenza Chapman (Year 7), Cecilia Goldwin (Year 7), Hannah Phillips (Year 9) and Lucy Sainsbury (Year 7), who put in a fantastic effort on their first race on the big Gloucester slope.

Sport

RIDING SQUAD CHAMPIONS The Kingsley Riding Team had fantastic success at the National Schools Equestrian Association Team Show Jumping competition on Thursday 31st March, with multiple County Champion titles won. The event took place at Allens Hill Equestrian Centre, Pershore, and was the Show Jumping qualifier round for Warwickshire and the West Midlands. Competitors were Amy Newcombe and Charlotte Dennison in Year 11, Hollie Jones in Year 10, and Hannah Dennison and Holly Huckerby in Year 7. Charlotte, Hannah and Holly were representing Kingsley for the first time.

County Champions, and will be going through to the County Championship National Finals in Buckinghamshire at the end of April. Amy was crowned as Warwickshire County Champion in the 1m class, and will also be going through to participate in the National Finals. Equestrian Coordinator, Sue Jessett, said “I am delighted with all our competitors, with a special mention to Charlotte, Hannah and Holly for doing so well in their first competition for Kingsley.”

The team finished 5th out of 17 teams in the 90cm class, with Hollie finishing in 2nd place individually. Both the team and Hollie were crowned Warwickshire

WINCHESTER HORSE TRIALS On Sunday 8th May, three Kingsley girls rode in the Winchester House Hunter Trials at Foxhill Farm, Eydon, Northamptonshire. Charlotte Dennison in Year 11 rode her horse ‘Joules’ in their first cross country event and put in a very promising performance on the novice class (7580cms). Holly Huckerby in Year 7 was riding her grey pony ‘Minnie’ in their first cross country event for Kingsley, again in the novice class. Holly rode very well to come 4th in the pairs section. Amy Newcombe in Year 11 riding her dark bay mare ‘Mallow’ in the open class (95100cms) came a magnificent 2nd.

MEGAN’S RIDING SUCCESS Megan Barratt in Year 9 has had a very exciting few months of riding, being chosen by the GB selectors for her first Keysoe International Dressage Competition in April. This achievement was all the more impressive due to the fact that she had only had her pony for four months, and had competed at this level at an official competition just once!

all over Europe in an event in May and was selected to ride for GB at the PSI Future Heroes event in Hagen, Germany in June, where she won one of her classes. Well done Megan!

Megan performed brilliantly at the competition, finishing in 4th place in the team and individual tests and a fantastic 2nd in the music event. Following this event, Megan finished 5th out of 24 starters from

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Alumnae

FIFTY YEARS ON... Kingsley ‘Old Girls’ from the decades between 1940 and 1970 met at school on Friday 11th December to remember their time at school and view the unveiling of the pictures of the past Heads and the Kingsley family, including the school’s founder, Rose Kingsley.

SPARKLY REUNION AT BOODLES

Miss Nesta Jones (see top photo), who was Head Mistress from 1961 – 1977, and the Mayors of Leamington and Coventry also attended. All enjoyed Prosecco and Christmas spiced apple juice with delicious Christmas treats provided by one of our younger ‘Old Girls’.

A fabulous night was enjoyed by our Alumnae courtesy of Boodles the Jewellers in Sloane Square. Amidst champagne and beautiful canapes, guests were fascinated by a talk about coloured diamonds, by Boodles diamond expert Kevin Stokely. A director of the family owned company took time to share the history of Boodles and their vision for the future.

Lots of memories were shared and messages were read from over twenty old girls who were unable to attend. The ladies were presented with the commemorative silk badges that were commissioned for the 130th anniversary of the school in 2014.

Everybody then had the opportunity to try on various pieces, including a £1,000,000 diamond ring that had just come into the store that day and is unique to Boodles. A sincere thanks to all the staff at Boodles for their time and attention, and to all The Essential Party Ingredient catering staff for wonderful service and gorgeous food. This was our first London reunion and if you missed this, you missed a real treat!

LEAVERS’ TEA An afternoon tea for 2015 and 2016 leavers will be held on Thursday 8th September, from 2 - 4:00pm in the LRC. Come and meet up with your friends before you leave for university, new jobs, gap years or second years! RSVP to alumnae@ kingsleyschool.co.uk.

STUDENT VS ALUMNAE HOCKEY Current Kingsley students met to do battle with Alumnae girls on the hockey pitch on Saturday 9th April. The match took place at St Nicholas

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Park, Warwick at 11:30am, with a fantastic atmosphere. The final result was a 4-2 win for the Alumnae team.

SUMMER 2016 UPDATE FABULOUS FUNDRAISERS The Friends are proud to have raised £16,000 over the previous year and a running total of £8,000 so far this year.

THE BIG GOAL The BIG goal for this year which the Friends are raising money for is flood lights for the tennis courts at the games field. These will allow the use of the facilities to be greatly increased and improve our sporting facilities. As a school we are proud to have high performing sports teams who will benefit greatly from more time on the courts.

ACHIEVEMENT AWARD Friends of Kingsley have decided it would be good to give some money each year towards ‘Personal Achievement Awards’. This year we had £500 to give away and recently announced the two winners: • £250 goes to Blaise Hughes-O’Sullivan in Year 11 for a guiding project in China and Mongolia. We chose this project because Blaise is not only going to have a good time herself, but she is going to be giving her time to help other people including children in an orphanage. • £250 to Amy Barrett in Year 6 to share with a group of 12 Kingsley girls (from Years

5 – 9) to attend a netball umpiring course. We chose this project because it will benefit the school particularly helping younger children with netball.

UPCOMING EVENTS… End of term picnic - 8TH JULY from 1pm Bring your own picnic to the school games field. A chance to relax with friends and celebrate the school year. This year we are pleased to have a children’s entertainer at the event who will be doing games and magic amongst other activities. Quiz Night – Evening of 14TH OCTOBER Back by popular demand! Enjoy a fun, relaxed evening with friends over fish and chips. The Kingsley School Christmas Fayre SATURDAY 26TH DECEMBER from 11am. This iconic family event is a chance to buy some lovely Christmas gifts from over 50 stalls! Meet Santa in his grotto, play games and win prizes on lots of fun stalls. Friends of Kingsley ‘Floodlight’ Ball - SATURDAY 25TH MARCH 2017. More details to follow.

DON’T BE WITHOUT YOUR BAG FOR LIFE It’s not too late to buy your Kingsley bag for life for only £5. If you would like one please see reception at the Prep or Senior School. While stocks last!

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Musings from the Head’s Office In the midst of the all wonderful ‘busyness’ that reaches a crescendo as the end of the summer term approaches, I try to step back and reflect on all the wonderful achievements at Kingsley in 2016. Leafing through these pages readers will hardly be surprised that not many people in the Kingsley community have time to muse, but - just occasionally - I make time to stand and stare and whenever I do I feel a surge of warmth and pride at the buzz and vibrancy of our unique school community. I savour a Kingsley Moment and reflect on a parent’s words to me recently – ‘you do know that Kingsley has been described as Warwickshire’s best kept secret?’ I see staff and girls moving purposefully about their business between the three parts of our school and almost without exception what strikes me are the smiling faces and the friendly way that everyone greets other members of our community. I am proud that at Kingsley our holistic approach to education encourages balance and helps us remain such a happy school. What is clear is that everyone here feels valued, safe in the knowledge that what is important at Kingsley is that everyone does their best. Striving to be THE best - or even better than others - is not what Kingsley is about. Our ethos is rooted in everyone achieving their own personal best, whatever their ability or talent and becoming the best they can be whilst staying true to themselves – as our motto underlines ESSE QUAM VIDERE. The result is that everyone feels safe in their learning - safe to make mistakes and safe to recognise that getting things wrong provides a vital opportunity to learn. The Kingsley mission is to foster a deep love of learning so that pupils are motivated to achieve and make academic progress without pressure

– something which is becoming increasingly difficult with changes to the structure and assessment of public examinations. We aim to be as creative as we can and provide inspiring teaching and learning – this aspect is currently being strengthened particularly in Prep School – it was Einstein who said, ‘Creativity is intelligence having fun’. Kingsley is taking a positive stand against the crushing regime of testing imposed on state primary schools as we develop our curriculum and build our own outdoor classroom – see page 4. The use and application of imaginative strategies in real life contexts help strengthen the learning of basic skills, engage curiosity and motivate independence of thought, so fanning the flames of real intellectual curiosity and a love of learning. The need for balance and perspective is increasingly becoming an important feature of modern life and, as an independent school, we encourage our pupils to become involved in a wide variety of activities in addition to their studies. At Kingsley academic excellence and success is paramount but we also have lots fun – we provide enjoyable ways to learn and to develop personally. Readers can see the evidence by watching our Christmas video (page 7 and available to view on the Kingsley website) and reading about a day of dressing up as ‘a favourite royal’ for the Queen’s birthday, Prep Pancake Day and our Easter Bonnet Parade (pages 2, 3 and 4) – just a few examples of the more momentous Kingsley Moments which epitomise our creative approach to education and the importance of British traditions and values. Numerous trips and enrichment activities have also taken place. These are vital for the extension of classroom learning and developing the ‘soft skills’ which make such a difference in the wider community and in future years. There have been several field trips for science and geography, visits from many outside speakers, including famous authors. MP Chris White visited the Senior School to take part in an EU Brexit/ Remain debate (page 8) and The Self-Esteem Team delivered workshops to support positivity and confidence in teenage girls (page 8).

Design and artwork by J Farrington-Smith at The Kingsley School

The Ski Racing Squad and the ski trip to the USA illustrate one of the many benefits of an all-through school with children from Prep competing alongside Sixth Form girls and forming close friendships across the year groups within the Kingsley family. There are so many amazing events and activities to report: Science Week, the Kingsley Art Competition, national recognition of the girls’ incredible success in GCSE music, the Shakespeare Challenge, our award winning Young Enterprise team… the list goes on and is all part of our rich curriculum aimed at expanding the girls’ horizons, giving them the very best possible experience we can and providing lifelong memories. I marvel at Kingsley’s uniqueness, the great care and almost tangible warmth with which we nurture both academic and personal excellence. What the pupils achieve can be quite literally breathtaking. I hope everyone who reads about us feels the palpable pride in what is achieved here. I feel privileged to lead Kingsley and am grateful to the whole community for their individual contributions.

To paraphrase the late great poet, author and human rights activist Maya Angelou, life is not about the number of breaths you take, but the number of times you have your breath taken away. Here at Kingsley this happens to us all frequently as the pupils celebrate their joy in life and learning. We are committed to an individualised approach and helping everyone be their own unique self. To pass on more of Angelou’s words of wisdom: a Kingsley education is an exceptional one … we would never want to anyone to try to be ordinary … if you do you will never know how amazing you can be...

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