The QueenKatherine School
NewsletterSpring 2016
An Evening of Dance Pirates of the Crabby Bean
4 Alan Bennett
14
3 Fair Trade 20 County Cross Country Championships
15
10 Challenging day of Maths
6 RE ambassadors
13 Christmas Concert
2 |
Welcome to the spring edition ofthe QKS newsletter. As you can see, it has been a fantastic term here at The Queen Katherine School, with ourstudents being involved in a hugevariety of activities.
Year 7, who have been with usless than half a year, have been on the Conway trip and Year 10 have had their week’s work experience.Thanks to staff who directed andproduced another excellent Key Stage 3 production “Pirates of theCrabbie Bean.”
Sixth Form students were treated toan afternoon with Alan Bennett. Thefamous playwright gave a talk aboutthe process of writing before takingquestions from excited English andDrama students. Many students arestudying Bennett’s work as part of theirA level courses and they valued thisextraordinary experience to further theirstudy and develop their creative writing.
Since September, I have met manyparents at School events and ‘meetthe head’ evenings. I am often askedwhat my ideas and vision are for QKS.I believe that schools are about threethings; they are about studentsreaching their full potential, developingthemselves as individuals and enjoyingthemselves in the process. Thesethree ambitions underpin everything wedo. I hope that from reading thisnewsletter you will get a flavour of howQKS delivers these things and how wesupport each of our students to reachtheir potential.
Jon HayesHeadteacher
THE HEAD WRITES
Whilst we do not want to be encouragingon-line shopping, if this is where you choose to shop please do so viaSchool Angel and The Queen KatherineSchool website where you will find a link.
We have raised over £800 so far.
www.schoolangel.org.uk/the-queen-katherine-school.html
Readers who knew her will besaddened to hear of the death of June Stock, who taught in the Art Department. June worked from1992 to 2006 in the Art Dept andalso in D&T, as her specialism was in Textiles.
June Stock
Visitors from MoscowState PedagogicalUniversityMonday 18 and Tuesday 19 January
On Monday 18 January, two Russianvisitors from Moscow State PedagogicalUniversity (the foremost teacher traininginstitution in Russia), Professor AlexeySemenov, Rector, and Dr Elena Bulin-Sokolova visited The Queen KatherineSchool’s Centre for Leadership andLearning. They attended a briefing on theSchool Direct Teacher Training Programmeand took part in discussions with staff andstudents. On the Tuesday, they learnt aboutthe secondary teacher training programmeand visited Heron Hill Primary School tolearn about a school’s experience of theSchool Direct Programme.
Professor Alexey Semenov is a senior and respected academic in Russia,with a huge international reputation. He is determined to reform and improveteacher education in Russia and isinterested in the School Direct approach.Stephen Moss, former officer of theKendal Collaborative Partnership, has known Professor Alexey Semenov for a number of years, and worked withhim as a consultant on the design of new schools for Skolkovo city andtechnopark near Moscow.
If you are further interested, you can find more information by visiting the Moscow State Pedagogical University - http://en.xn—c1arjr.xn—p1ai/about-mspu/rector-s-greeting/
News | 3
On Monday 22 February, at KendalTown Hall, Year 12 students plannedand resourced an event to celebrate FairTrade fortnight which starts on Monday29 February. Over 75 children from 8primary schools in the area wereinvolved. Warming up with the,“Bananas of the World Unite,” a songcomplete with actions, the studentsenergised their audience and set thescene for their Fair Trade passportactivity, which gave children theopportunity to work together to discovera range of Fair Trade products grownaround the world. The afternoon endedwith a rousing rendition of the FourteenDays of Fair Trade, a song speciallywritten for the event by the students;think “The Twelve Days of Christmas”and you’ll get the idea!
The activities focused on keyaspects of Fair Trade, the impact of foodinsecurity, what makes trade fair andwhat can you do to support Fair Trade.This event was more than justcelebrating and supporting Fair Trade,and is an example of young peopletaking a proactive role within theircommunity to make a difference, andwas a wonderful afternoon that broughtchildren from across the communitytogether to consider the issue of FairTrade in a fun and accessible manner.
Thanks go to James Cropper plc for their support.
It is becoming clear that the directionof travel for all schools in England is forthem to belong to Multi Academy Trusts.The view of the Cumbria Alliance ofSystem Leaders is that these should,wherever possible, be local and thatschools should willingly join the Trust oftheir choice.
The Queen Katherine School, WalneySchool and George Hastwell School arevery well placed as part of The QueenKatherine School Multi Academy Trust. All three benefit from strong support fromthe MAT Board and MAT ManagementTeam. A recent review of the DfE on behalfof the Regional Schools Commissioner
was very complimentary about the work ofour MAT and the work taking place at QKSto improve standards.
Each school now has a very stronglocal governance arrangement to supportthe work of each Headteacher and his orher leadership team.
Like all organisations, the QKS MATcannot stand still and has beenencouraged by the DfE to considerfurther development. This will bediscussed with each school and the MAT Board over the next term.
Stephen WilkinsonExecutive Headteacher
THE EXECUTIVE HEAD WRITES
FAIR TRADE EVENT
Photo courtesy of Westmorland Gazette
4 |
Sixth Form students at The QueenKatherine School were treated toan afternoon with Alan Bennett onFriday 29th January. The famousplaywright gave a talk about theprocess of writing, before takingquestions from excited English andDrama students. Many studentsare studying Bennett’s work as partof their A level courses and valuedthis extraordinary experience tofurther their study and developtheir creative writing. Laura Holliday, Head of English,commented: “Students relished theopportunity to meet with an award-winning dramatist. Alan gave aunique insight into the texts thatstudents are studying, as well asproviding excellent advice andinspiration to the significantnumber of very talented youngwriters we have at QKS. Perhapsin the future, one of our studentswill come back to visit us followinga successful writing career! We’revery grateful to Alan for taking thetime to meet with and enthuse ourSixth Form students.”
Year 9 German students held a biscuitbaking competition. They had to find atraditional German recipe and then bake!After the judging by Margaret Knowles fromthe LRC, the whole class had a chance tosample the biscuits. They were all delicious!In the picture from left to right: BellaMatarewicz, Imogen Welsh, Isabel Kelly,Hannah Wenzel, Imogen Foster, HarrySanderson, Matthew Maguire.
Famous playwright inspires QKS students
GermanBake Off
News | 5
180 Year 9 students gained a Foundation Certificate in French and German last year. In the autumn term, the students were presented with the certificates by Mr. Patrick. This year, more Year 9 students are being entered for the certificate.
FCSE FOUNDATIONFRENCH AND GERMAN
Training coursesThe Teaching School Alliance has been very busy organising, running and attending training sessions over thelast term. Since September 2015, wehave held 18 different training courses,and just over 500 members of school staff have attended. We have had aliteracy and leadership focus over the last term with key trainers from theNational Association for the Teaching of English leading training.
Conference for Newly Qualified TeachersIn February, the QKTSA worked with theSLF and SLRP Teaching Schools to hosta conference for the newly qualifiedteachers in South Cumbria. It was afantastic opportunity for new teachers to meet each other and to learn moreabout key issues in teaching and learning.A number of the newly qualified teacherswere trained by the SC SCITT and QKTSA last year.
Early Years ProjectThe QKTSA Early Years project isprogressing well. There are 64 nurseries andearly years settings from across Blackpool,Blackburn with Darwen, Cumbria andLancashire working together to share bestpractice in looking after and educating theyoungest children. There was a trainingevent in March about the inspection of EarlyYears, and in May an event will be held atQKS, where the group will explain about thelearning and improvements they have madeover the last 18 months.
The trainee teachers on both theprimary and secondary courses are nowsettled in to their second placementschool and enjoying learning aboutteaching in a different context. We havebeen interviewing and recruiting well forthe next group to start their training in
September 2016. All of the primary placesare now full with 12 people accepted. In secondary, we have recruited 11 so far,with a few places left in English,Geography, Physics, Chemistry andMathematics. We have also recentlyopened two new subjects – Art andMusic. If you know anyone who isinterested in training to be a teacherplease contact:
For Primary – Rachel [email protected]
For Secondary with the South Cumbria SCITT – Alison Smith [email protected]
Trainee teachers
6 |
On Tuesday 26 January 2016, we welcomed Caroline Slifkin from theHolocaust Educational Trust to lead anR.S, History and Art day for a group ofYear 9 students. The focus of the daywas to educate them about theHolocaust, and how people dealt withtheir experiences by being creative,through art, to express their feelings andto record some of the scenes they
witnessed. The theme behind much ofthis art work was that whilst bodies andlives could be destroyed, the human spiritendured and could not be touched.
As well as considering the victims andtheir lives, students also learned about thelives of some of the perpetrators.Students then expressed their thoughtsand feelings by creating their own artwork based around the Holocaust andspirituality. Holocaust Memorial Day wasthe day after the workshop and several ofthe pictures produced by students duringthe day are to be entered into a SpiritedArts competition run by NATRE (NationalAssociation for Teachers of ReligiousEducation).
Those students who took part saidthey enjoyed the day, with onecommenting that it was one of the bestschool days she had ever had!
On Tuesday 24th February, the REambassadors (Emily White, Josie Blyth,Jonah Aldridge, and Emily Blythe)headed for Ulverston to visit theMandrushri Kadampa MeditiationCentre. The ambassadors have beenasked by the RE Council to investigatehow a non-mainstream religious groupor movement prepares people for life inmodern Britain. The outcomes of thisresearch will form a presentation by theQKS students at the YoungAmbassadors’ annual conference inLondon later in the year.
We were fortunate enough to takepart in a simple 15 minute meditationand a 45 minute consultation withGeoff Roe who helped build the NewKadampa community in Ulverston. A huge thanks to Geoff for allowing
us to conduct the interview with him.We have left with more reading andresearch to do!
RS Spirituality Day
On Friday 4 December, TheQueen Katherine School welcomedDJ Kash Singh from Preston. Shehad been invited by Mrs France,Head of RS and Citizenship, to shareher understanding of Sikhism as aBritish Sikh today. Kash spoke aboutcore beliefs, displayed sacred textsand artefacts. Kash is also an expertin Bhangra dance, so students fromCastle Park Primary School and QKSbenefited from her vibrant andenergetic instruction! Much fun washad and students left every sessionfull of smiles, more energisedand with a deeper understanding ofBritish Sikh culture.
SikhismDay
Young RE ambassadors update
The Queen Katherine School’sAmnesty International group, led by Lotte Young Andrade, held a highlysuccessful “Human Rights Fair” on the 3 December. Entirely organised by QKSSixth Form Students, the fair consisted of four stalls with different focuses:Education, Refugees, Local Poverty and the Environment.
Throughout the day, Year 7 studentsvisited the fair in their classes to see the stalls and partake in the variousactivities on offer. The fair had a greatresponse from students and teachersalike, fulfilling its aim of raising awareness and inspiring the youngpeople to become involved in local andglobal human rights charity work. Duringmorning and lunch break time, talks wereheld by Andrea Aldridge of Manna Houseand John Barnes of AmnestyInternational. Both of these had largeaudience turn-outs, with Andrea’saudience even including Chris Hogg theMayor. Due to the fair’s positive outcomeand popular membership of QueenKatherine’s Amnesty group, it is plannedto run similar events in the future.
News | 7
AMNESTYINTERNATIONAL
On the 25th and the 26th of February, Sixth form students coveredalmost 500km ‘cycling across Europe’ on exercise bikes raising over£220. Initially the aim of this event was to raise awareness of a smallpercentage of the journey that many Syrian refugees have taken toreach safety (approximately 177km from Budapest to Vienna).However, the students’ enthusiasm meant that we covered thedistance from Vienna to Prague. The money raised will be donated tothe World Food programme, a charity that is bringing food packagesto occupied areas in Syria where many are close to starvation. Wechose this charity because we wanted to support people who are toovulnerable or do not have the means to even begin to make thisjourney. These are quite often pregnant women, the elderly, and sickchildren. On the 26th Tim Farron came to support us, cycled 6kmwhilst he answering questions from the students. Lotte Young Andrade
If you would like to sponsor them, please go to their Just Giving page to donate:www.justgiving.com/QKS-Amnesty
SYRIAN REFUGEES
8 |
Sixteen young people from Year 9have successfully applied to be QKSAmbassadors to support the School’santi-bullying initiative. On 8 January, theseyoung people attended some peer mentortraining to help them prepare for this role.
The training involved discussing hopesand fears for their new role and discussingwhat strengths they could bring to theposition. They also learnt a variety ofdifferent skills to help them in the job theyare about to undertake. There was adiscussion on what bullying actuallymeans, and how to deal with it, as well as
why the participants actually wanted to do this job.
The ambassadors discussed manydifferent things about what they wanted toachieve. They all wanted to make surethat people were happy and safe. Somepracticalities about the role werediscussed, such as how they wantedpeople to know about them.
Watch this space for more news onthe QKS Ambassadors!
Mr Hayes, Headteacher said: “At TheQueen Katherine School, we prideourselves on supporting others whether in
our local, national or internationalcommunity. We’ve all been very pleasedwith the positive response we have hadfrom our students when we let them knowabout the QKS Ambassadors. In such abusy time for them with GCSE options onthe horizon, as well as the issues causedby the floods, the fact they are determinedto put their concerns to one side to helpothers reflects what outstanding youngpeople they are. These selfless actionsnot only show great leadership, but alsohumility and compassion.”
QKS AMBASSADORSANTI BULLYINGINITIATIVEKaya Carradice, a Year 9 Student reports
News | 9
UP-COMING SESSIONS:
Thursday 14th AprilThursday 28th AprilThursday 12th MayThursday 26th MayThursday 16th JuneThursday 30th June
There is a new free drop-in club atthe Hallgarth Community Centre everyother Thursday during term time , and itis exclusively for QKS students and theirparents. A team of friendly, eager anddedicated staff spend the evening at theCentre providing fun games, activitiesand educational opportunities for all who attend.
Every session has a different themealong with the homework help corner.So far, we have had Valentine crafts anda World Record pom-pom challenge,along with a fish and chip supper andhome-made pancakes. Yet to come is a much anticipated jewellery session, a sign language short course, makinghanging baskets, weaving a willow pot
stand, creating a wallet from a tetra pack and much more.
In addition to the range of activitieson offer, there is always a meal provided;sometimes students will be involved inits preparation and sometimes dinner willbe prepared and served for them .Before the half-term holiday, we hadchippie tea from Stramongate fish shop!
All residents of Hallgarth and furtherafield are welcome to come along to ourfree sessions on Thursday 5.00pm-6.45pm. Students need to collect apermission letter (from School or theCentre) and return the signed reply slipbefore attending. Parents and carers arewelcome to drop in any time for a brewand a chat at the pop-up café.
Do you have a skill or hobby that you could share with young people?
Would you like to talk to one of the school staff about issues affecting you or your children?
Would you like to attend adult education sessions about e-safety?
Would you like to join in with a family reading activity?
Could you give up some time to volunteer to help run an activity?
Are you curious to find out what activities are coming up?
THE HALLGARTHQKS PARTNERSHIP
10 |
At the start of November, students of allages from The Queen Katherine Schooltook part in the annual BebrasComputational Thinking Challenge. Theaim of the challenge is to get studentsinvolved in thinking in a fun and engagingway about some of the problem-solvingtechniques and ideas that underpinComputer Science. It is an international
competition that is sponsored in the UKby the University of Oxford, Computingat School and ARM.When the results were delivered, we weredelighted to discover that one of ourstudents in Year 7, Suzi Darrington, hadattained full marks. Suzi is one of only 32students in her age group to do so. Thisis no mean achievement in a field of
14,000 entrants of her age nationwide. The University of Oxford’s Department of Computer Science, and HertfordCollege, are holding an event for top-scoring pupils, to which Suzi is nowinvited. As well as spending a day at the Oxford College, she has theopportunity to take part in the secondround of the competition.
Bebras Computational Thinking Challenge
On Wednesday 16 December at 2pm, the staff and students at TheQueen Katherine School hosted an Inter-generational Christmas Tea Party.Geraldine Wade, Assistant Headteacher,Student Support Services and ShellyNeill, Student Support Mentor worked
alongside Lyn Richardson, South LakesHousing Community EngagementOfficer, to plan a tea party for seniorcitizens from the Kendal area.
Students from QKS volunteered toplay host to the guests, and anafternoon tea was served by the
students with the Music Departmentproviding seasonal entertainment. Theafternoon was rounded off with somecarols and a visit from Santa to hand outthe raffle gifts. Asda, Morrison’s and Aldivery generously donated items to helpmake the party an event to remember!
Inter-generational Tea Party
This was one of the questions posed toYear 12 female Mathematics students by alecturer at the Florence Nightingale Day atLancaster University, talking about Maths’Greatest Unsolved Puzzles, including the$1 million Millennium Prize Problems. TheQKS girls had been invited to experience ataste of life as a Mathematicsundergraduate and to celebrate women’sachievements in Mathematics, on a day oflectures delivered by leading femalemathematicians in one of the university’slargest lecture theatres. In betweenlectures, the girls split into 2 teams andpitted themselves against students fromother schools in Lancashire and Cumbriain a Maths quiz, coming a very respectable2nd out of 10 teams. Other lecturesincluded fractals and their use in CGI, andthe life of mathematician SofiaKovalevskaya, who became amathematician in an academic world that,at the time, only allowed men. A great daywas had by all. Incidentally, the QKS girlswere quick to come up with a method forsolving the bus fare problem: a surprisingbut correct £1.43.
If I had to pay £1 for the bus and I needed the exact change, what is the highest possible amount of money I could have in coins and still not be able to pay it?
Challenging day of Maths for 6th form girl students at Lancaster
Maths | 11
Lancaster Royal Grammar School hasbeen appointed as one of 34 schools and colleges in England to take akey role in a network of school-basedcentres, or hubs, designed to improveMaths education for children andteenagers across the country. LRGS will be the lead school for the NorthLancashire and Cumbria Maths Hub,working in collaboration with The Queen Katherine Teaching SchoolAlliance, Kendal.
The Maths Hubs programme, backedby £11 million from the Department forEducation, gives schools and collegesresponsibility for coordinating andresourcing Maths improvement initiativesin their region. This initiative means that acore group of schools, colleges anduniversities will coordinate professionaldevelopment and research to providehigh-quality training to further improve theeffectiveness of Maths education in
primary and secondary schools. The hub has already begun to
establish links with local schools anduniversities. Lancaster Royal GrammarSchool will work closely with The QueenKatherine School and with DowdalesSchool, Dalton-in-Furness, whose Headof Maths Alison Scott will be the specialistMaths Lead for the new hub. The Hub willwork closely with Teaching SchoolAlliances across our region and with thewell-established Cumbria Alliance ofSystem Leaders.
Dr Chris Pyle, Head of LRGS, said,“This is an exciting initiative which has thepotential to benefit children in schoolsright across North Lancashire andCumbria. It puts schools and teachers inthe driving seat of professionaldevelopment. It is also a tribute to thesustained success of Mathematics atLRGS. I look forward to working with TheQueen Katherine School and Dowdales
School, and with a wide range of otherprimary and secondary schools andpartner institutions, to improve Mathsopportunities and outcomes across ourregion.”
Stephen Wilkinson, Chair of The LocalAlliance of System Leaders in SouthCumbria add: “This is a great opportunityto coordinate the work already establishedacross Cumbria, north Lancashire andother areas, including Blackburn, Darwenand Blackpool to improve the quality ofMathematics education. We will have theopportunity to progress a number ofnational priorities, as well as to developinitiatives to meet to our local priorities.”
The Maths Hubs programme, linkingall 34 hubs across England, is coordinatedcentrally by the National Centre forExcellence in the Teaching of Mathematics(NCETM). For details of all Maths Hubs,go to www.ncetm.org.uk/mathshubs
North Lancashire and Cumbria Maths Hub
The photograph shows, from left to right, Stephen Wilkinson, ExecutiveHeadteacher, The Queen Katherine School, Julie O’Connor, Headteacher,Dowdales School, Jon Hayes, Headteacher, The Queen Katherine School andChris Pyle, Headmaster, Lancaster Royal Grammar School.
12 |
The Young Enterprise Achievers’Workshop was held at Kendal College onFriday 5th February. The key purpose of the workshop was toprepare our QKS YE Company,“Collective”, for The Spring Trade Fair,where the judges’ marks go towards thefinal competition. The students practised presentation skillsand were given advice on how toproduce an effective trade stand andcompany report. They were very lucky tobe visited by Tim Farron who gave someexcellent advice to the teams. Timprovided some thought-provoking ideasas he explained “branding” and related itto the Lake District. He went on to sayhow the recent floods had negativelyaffected the Lake District brand by thebig hole in the road!! A great day which inspired the students.
Young Enterprise Achievers’ Workshop
Year 12 students at The QueenKatherine School have completed atraining afternoon led by the Alzheimer’sSociety learning more about dementia.This training has led to the studentsbecoming ‘Dementia Friends.’ Thistraining made the students aware ofsome of the opportunities that are offeredto people with dementia and to theircarers in the local area, and they wantedto do something that could add to this.
The students chose to create aDementia Friends’ Christmas Café to beheld at the Gateway Centre on Friday 18thDecember from 10.30 am to 12 noon.This café offered guests the opportunity toparticipate in Christmas activities thatwould be enjoyable and bring backmemories. Activities were varied - crackermaking, log decorating, singing carols,decorating trees and playing festive bingo,all accompanied by mince pies!
Special guest, local M.P. Tim Farronwas able to attend the event.
Mr Hayes, Headteacher commented:“The Queen Katherine School has always worked as part of the localcommunity, and it is great to see somany of our young people working withgroups in this way. I am sure thateveryone involved had an enjoyableafternoon and benefited a great dealfrom the experience.”
DEMENTIA FRIENDS
Photo courtesy of Westmorland Gazette
CHRISTMASCONCERT
For many in Kendal the Christmasseason starts with The Queen KatherineSchool’s Christmas Concert at theKendal Parish Church, and this year wasno exception.
The evening was a showcase of themusical talent drawn from over 180students who are involved inextracurricular music and many of thegroups have students from Years 7 and13 standing and performing together.
The packed Church audience wasenthused by a wide variety of performersincluding chamber ensembles, choirs,the School Orchestra and the Big Band.
The repertoire was entirely festiveincluding lovely arrangements of “WinterWonderland” and a female a cappellarendition of “Silent Night.”
Many groups were led by theSchool’s large team of peripateticteachers, which included Chamber Choirled by Rachel Little and Guitar Ensembleled by Rob Steels. They performed
festive numbers such as “God Rest YeMerry Gentlemen” and “The SnowBegins to Fall.”
Head of Music Robert Shillitoe led theSchool Big Band, Man Band (a male acappella group) and the QKS Orchestra,who performed wonderful arrangementsof “Have Yourself a Merry LittleChristmas”, “The 12 Pains of Christmas”(a ‘bah humbug’ song for Christmas!)and “Sleigh Ride.”
The congregation also joined together to sing three carols,accompanied by Bob Talbot on theorgan. The concert also featured TheQueen Katherine School CommunityMusic Centre Ensemble led by KarenWest, who performed “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”
The School also joined forces withthe Cumbria Music Hub, with the KS3Wind Band performing alongside a Hubfunded local wind band for primaryschool students (The Kendal Young Wind
Band, led by Liz Crompton), andtogether they performed “Santa Claus isComin’ to Town.”
Headteacher, Jon Hayes said, “I wasdelighted to be able to attend my firstChristmas Concert as the Head of TheQueen Katherine School. The array oftalent on display was amazing and thewonderful venue of Kendal Parish Churchreally allowed all the students to shine.My thanks to Mr Shillitoe and Mr Banfieldfor enabling the event to take place andgetting Christmas off to a great start".
At the end of the evening, KendalParish Church were thanked for the useof their church, and a retiring collectionwas left to support them through thedifficult times they have encountered inrecent weeks with flood damage. All inall, it was a wonderful evening and itmost certainly was the start to the festiveseason that had been hoped for!
Performing Arts | 13
Image by Flo Acland. If you are a parent of a pupil at QKS you can now view and purchase Florence’s photographs from recent QKSevents. Simply log on to the parent’s section of the VLE and click the link in the left hand menu. Follow the instructions from there.
PIRATES OF THECRABBY BEANCast member Lucy Nelson reports:There wasn’t a straight face in the audience on the final night of QueenKatherine School’s swashbucklingperformance of “Pirates of the Crabby Bean”
Directed and also written by talentedJonathan Linaker and Jarrod Collings,the cutlass-sharp script tells the story offeeble Colin and his sparky wife Vera,who yearns for adventure. Theyaccidentally travel back in time to an 18thCentury Pirate treasure saga completewith lost maps, rivalry, bloodshed, riddles
and love interest. All the production tookplace with fantastic pirate lingo,bucketfuls of hilarious delinquent silliness,with an engaging plot and charactersperformed with real skill and commitmentby 11-14 year old actors.
Peak moments amongst manyincluded the “claws in drawers” lobsters-down-the-pants torture of CaptainJeopardy (played brilliantly by Jonah“shiver-mi-timbers”Aldridge), Vera’stongue-in-cheek recital of Abba’s“Fernando” song as a passionate love
poem (played by talented Rowan Baker-Ellwood), Thomas and Gilbert - thecheeky duo of pirates-cum-novicemonks played with perfect comic timingby Libby Kay and Harry Bates, and theseductive transformation of cabin boyJack Sparrow into flaxen haired maidenJaqueline Marrow by Iona Nelson-Yeats.The audience response was electric.
The entire cast was exceptionallystrong and The Queen Katherine Schoolshould be incredibly proud of theirperformance.
14 |
Stage BandOur School Stage Band were once
again kept busy this term throughSchool concert performances andexternal bookings.
Towards the end of February, theStage Band were booked to performat a birthday celebration held atBurgundy’s Wine Bar in Kendal. Ledby their director Rob Steels, thestudents attended extra rehearsals andduring the performance were greatambassadors for the School.
This year’s an Evening of Dance took place
on Wednesday 2nd December, 2015,
where a whopping 28 dances were
performed to a packed audience in the
School Hall. Students from Years 7 to Year
13 took part showcasing a variety of
dance styles and themes. All of the dance
clubs in School prepared a performance
for the evening. Year 7 dance club
performed a spooky/haunted dance
number titled “Music Box” and in contrast
our Boys’ Dance Club prepared an
uplifting street dance number to “Beggin”
whilst the Lower School Dance Club
showed off their developing technical skills
in an emotional contemporary dance
piece. This year’s show included lots of
curriculum work too. Our Year 9 class
explored through dance how social media
can impact human relationships; they even
made their own t-shirts! Year 10 students
performed a piece about the speed of
time, inspired by the professional work
“Perfect” by Motionhouse. We were also
very lucky to see some works in progress
from our Year 11s who gave us a hint of
their exam pieces. It was also very
pleasing to see lots of students create their
own dance pieces for the show from all
year groups – we are very lucky to have
such talented and dedicated students.
Last but not least, the final performance
“How do you feel about?” was
choreographed by guest choreographer
Josh Hawkins, who has been working with
our gifted and talented students. Josh
trained at the Northern School of
Contemporary Dance and has now
formed Hawk Dance Theatre. HDT aim to
create visually dynamic and powerful
productions that take influence from
photography, film, technology and the
environment that surrounds us. They
create work from various platforms,
including theatres and festivals.
An Evening of
DANCE
Performing Arts | 15
Images by Flo Acland
!
laashaaashlaFF
anga gBBhh
opWall
atWhat-
Showa Showw!w!
!
laaaF
adrutaS
euT
2016eunJhty 25a
oteunJtsy 21asde
6
la
e
o
a
erBhetta
drutaS
J
y Arrewe
hty 25a
2016
andeK
ertnes Ctr
eun
-O--O
O
O-O-O
OO O-O--O--O-O -O-O-O-
-O--O--O-
O-O-O-O-OOOOO-O-O-
OO-O-
O-O--O
O-O-O-O-
O--O--O--O-
O-O--O-O-O-O-O-OOOO-O
O
-O-O-O-
-O--O--O-O
O
O-O-
O-
O-O-O-O-O-O O
O-O-O-O-OO
“Half a Sixpence” is a feel-good British Musical and QKSwill be performing it at theBrewery Arts Centre Tuesday22nd - Saturday 25th June. The plot centres on Arthur Kipps,a draper’s assistant who falls inlove with a chambermaid namedAnn. In quick succession, hecomes into a fortune, nearlymarries a wealthy girl, marriesAnn instead, loses his fortune,but regains that fortune and liveshappily ever after.
The version of the show thatQKS will be performing is a newversion that has been updatedfor today’s audiences. It hasadditional scenes, more andbigger roles, more pace andmore humour than the original,yet still maintains the feel-goodfactor of the original. With showstopping numbers such as“Flash Bang Wallop” and “Half a Sixpence”, this show has something for everyone!!
Tickets go on sale from The Brewery Arts Centre on 1st June.
A Level Music Recital EveningsJanuary 2016 saw our Year 12 and
13 Music students perform at breaktimes in the Music department as partof their performance coursework.Performing one or two items, this wasto give students the experience ofperforming in front of an audience and
it also gave them the chance to berecorded and listen back to theirperformances. This all culminated intwo A level Recital evenings on Monday29th February and Tuesday 1stMarch. With programme notesprepared, final preparations made,
all A Level students performed either a 5-minute recital or 12-minute recitalto a full audience. Both nights werevery successful and it is safe to say thatwe have some incredibly talentedmusicians at this school.
16 |
Community / Sport | 17
QKS Geography Teacher representsEngland at Interland Orienteering Cup in Belgium.
Over the February half-term, Geographyteacher Sam Gibbs represented Englandat the annual Interland Orienteering Cupin Belgium, a six-way competitionbetween various European countries. He came 9th place in his age class, butmore importantly contributed points tothe overall England team total. The areaused was an army training complex nearAntwerp, which meant that even thoughit was relatively flat, it was technicallycomplex and physically very tough.Overall, England came 2nd with Belgium winning the event. Sam runs with Helm Hill Running Club.
Geography Teacherrepresents England
The Year 8 hockey team won 9-0 v Dallamon 28th January, playing in heavy rain and abiting wind. Despite this, the attack were onfire. Mia Stewart consistently drove throughand gave the GK a hard time with sixsuccessful shots going in. Hannah Humbleattacked Dallam's weak left side andmanaged to up the score by three to a final9-0. QKS displayed a real perseverance inharsh conditions. Well done.
5KKS0Year 8 – Feb 1st
QKS 0Dallam9Year 8 – Jan 28th
QKS
9Sedbergh1QKS
Hockey
Year 8 District Hockey Tournament -Monday 1st February: QKS played amessy first game against Kirkbie Kendal.Having only played one 11-a-side game,
they struggled to use the whole pitch totheir advantage. So many passes weremade through the centre that the gameresembled a game of table tennis, ratherthan a hockey match. The second game,despite the result, was a much better levelof game with some strong passes beingmade in attack to the right and left. NaomiArmstrong, in goal, had a busy game withmany saves and clears being made.Although the results were not 'stacked' on our side the girls enjoyed Sedberghhospitality and polished off a largechocolate cookie and hot Ribena beforegetting on the bus home.
No more tea under a soggytarpaulin! The Appleby RoadCommunity Garden at QKS has beenlucky enough to get funding for a yurt
style outdoor classroom through theTesco ‘bags of help’ initiative. This willmake a massive difference for everyoneworking on the site, and hopefully
inspire more people to get involved in the project. We hope to have it up and running by the end of thesummer term.
Community Garden outdoor classroom
18 |
This was the first match of the term forthe Year 9s. QKS started strongly withlots of possession and scoringopportunities in the first third. However,with a tall QES defence, any missedchances were caught on the rebound bythe opposition. The first third endedQKS1 QES 2. A slight team change sawthe second third go QKS’s way with thescore finishing QKS 3 and QES 2. Tightdefensive work denied QES any scoringopportunities. Despite both teams uppingtheir game and fighting for every singlepass the score finished QKS 3 QES 5.Player of the match was StephanieDriscoll - goal attack.
Year 8, 9 and 10 rugby players have beenbusy learning all about coaching andleadership through rugby on the RFUyoung ambassadors’ course with localrugby player Gary Holmes. The students
learned a variety of coaching ideas andmethods and put them into practicewhen Settlebeck School came for anafternoon of tag rugby.
The team put in a solid performance,having played a match only the previousday. The first two quarters saw a slow startwith Windermere taking the lead 8-3.Following this, the team really cametogether well and displayed a great attack,gaining some ground on Windermere withsome brilliant goals from Steph Driscoll.The third quarter ended QKS 7Windermere 10. During the final quarter,QKS continued to put pressure onWindermere and had equalised to 12 all.However Windermere managed a lastminute goal to win the match 13-12.Welldone to Megan Berry (GK), whom wasvoted players’ player. Overall, this was agreat game of netball between two equallymatched teams.
5QES3Year 9 – Feb 10th
QKS 12QKS13Year 9 – Feb 11th
W’mere
The Year 10 netball team were edged outby Dallam 9-7 in an exciting match. TheQKS team started off really strongly anddominated possession for the first twothirds, despite there being only one netseparating the teams. There was someexcellent accurate shooting from SamanthaGraham and Josie Blyth, and some high-level decision making and team play byIsabelle Brownell and Alice Boston to getthe ball into the shooting D. The defencewere missing their regular GD, HannahEdwards, although Katie Dand stepped upand ensured the circle defence were just astight in partnership with Maddie Brown andIsabel Garstang as WD.
7QKS9Year 10 – Jan 28th
Dallam
Netball
Rugby
Sport | 19
The Year 11 boys’ football team won 9-2on 24th February in the Quarter Final ofthe County Cup v the Lakes School. The team started very slowly and foundthemselves 1-0 and 2-1 down early on.However 5 first half goals gave QKS a good lead at the half-time. Muchimproved defending in the second halfand continued deadly finishing led to the9-2 victory. Goals came from MattKennedy x 5, Alex Birkett x2, KorkoeyFiamor-Young and Dan Jones. Man of thematch was Korkoey Fiamor-Young whoput in a brilliant midfield display.
The PE department held a primary school gymnastics competition for localprimary schools on Monday 8th Feb and Thursday 11th Feb with over 130children competing. This event was staffed by QKS student gymnasts.
In the previous round, the Year 11 boyswon 6-3 having won last year. They beatMillom 6-3 with goals from Dan Jones (2),Korkoey Fiamor-Young, Alex Birkett andHal Van Geesbergen.
2Lakes9Year 11 boys – Feb 24th
Year 11 Boys’ County Cup games
QKS
Under 19 County Cup v Furness College:This was a tough game for aninexperienced team against a talentedFurness side. QKS were 6 goals down at half- time, playing into a strong windblowing in from the sea. However, the teamplayed the conditions very well in thesecond half and drew it 1 - 1 by sticking toa game plan. Furness certainly had to workhard for every goal they scored, as the QKSeffort never dropped. This was extremelycommendable, as it would have been all tooeasy for QKS to become disillusioned anddiscouraged in the circumstances. It wasalso pleasing that some players who havenever represented the school at Football got an opportunity to play. It was a shameabout the result but QKS were winners in other aspects.
Year 10 GCSE PE StudentJames Neal has qualified for theNational IndividualChampionships after winning theCumbria Schools IndividualChampionship on the 7thFebruary at Kirkby StephenGrammar School. This is the thirdtime James has won thiscompetition and is lookingforward to competing nationallyagain! The national tournamentwill be held on April 23rd atAldersley Leisure Village,Wolverhampton.
7Furness1Under 19 County Cup
QKS
Football
Table Tennis
Gymnastics
3Millom6Year 11 boys – Feb 24th
QKS
In 7 a-side fixtures v Dallam School, QKS Year 7 won 2-0, Year 8 lost 1-3 and Year 9 won 8-1 with goals fromKelton Knowles (3), Jake Green (2) andLucas Parker (3).
7 a-side
Vicky Jones handing out a winning medal to one of the competitiors
20 | Sport
County CrossCountryChampionshipsat Sedbergh SchoolWednesday 13th January 2016
Photos show some of the QKS runners after their races: Senior Girls: Hannah Russell (number 509) and Heidi Murray (number 501).Minor boys: Ollie Sanders (number 502) and Daniel Sanderson (number 501)
This year’s South Lakes DistrictCounty Cross Country Championshipsreturned to Sedbergh this year. Verychallenging conditions faced a very strongcontingent from QKS in the South LakesTeam. Runners battled bitter cold, ice,wintery showers, frozen ground and anabundance of deep mud. Conditionsworsened as the day progressed, andseniors experienced the most challengingconditions of all. Many QKS studentsfeatured at the front of the races, 5 finishing in medal places and 11securing places in the County Team.
QKS Medallists were:
Senior Girls3rd Heidi Murray, 1st Hannah Russell
Junior Girls3rd Stephanie Driscoll
Minor Boys 2nd Ollie Sanders, 3rd Daniel Sanderson
Full ResultsThe County team selection is
Senior GirlsHeidi Murray, Hannah Russell
Junior GirlsStephanie Driscoll
Minor BoysOllie Sanders, Daniel Sanderso
Minor GirlsGeorgia Heath, Ella Beardwood
Minor BoysAlex Tallon
Senior BoysJack Bryne, Matthew Senior
Successful runners had the opportunityto represent the county at the NE Inter-County match at Stockton on Saturday6th Feb.
Following this, the following QKSstudents were selected to represent thecounty at the English Schools CrossCountry Championships at Wollaton ParkNottingham 5th March 2016:
Inter BoysAlex Birkett Yr. 11
Inter BoysCole Blaikie Yr. 11
Senior GirlsHannah Russell Yr. 13
Senior GirlsHeidi Murray Yr. 12
Senior Boys Non Travelling ReserveJack Byrne Yr. 12
The following year 7 students are alsoselected for the county cross countryteam for their National Schools CrossCountry Championship at Belvoir CastleLeicestershire on Saturday 19th March
Daniel SandersonOllie SandersAlex Tallon Non Travelling Reserve
