As a school we are ever eager to celebrate and reward the tremendous and connuing achievements of many of our students. So, it was with this in mind that, as in all previous years, Kingsmead once again held its presgious ‘Fesval of Achievement’ in the Autumn term. This is the occasion when the achievements of students across a whole range of areas is formally recognised and honoured. This annual event took place at the end of October and having the ‘Prince of Wales Theatre’ in Cannock as its venue again added that extra sense of significance for the students, parents, staff, governors and special guests in aendance. All students who received awards had been nominated by staff. The range of trophies and cups included recognion for Subject, House, Performing Arts, Community, Extra- curricular achievements, as well as celebrang atude and commitment. Presentaons this year were made by Steve Gummer, a former Kingsmead student who is now Financial Services Director of the large company ‘Salesforce.com’. His speech to the assembled students and audience was both interesng and inspiraonal. The audience enjoyed musical performances from Natasha Pearce Y8, James Greenhill Y11 and our Sixth Form trio of Sabrina Chin, Erica Shirley and Luther Williamson. Mr Bryant, Headteacher said “This is an evening in which we see Kingsmead at its very best. I am delighted with the achievements of so many of our students.” All in all it was a very successful and memorable evening and all students - not to menon all parents - went away feeling very PROUD and very happy. Kingsmead School Newsleer January 2015 In this issue: Student News Sixth Form News House News Sports News Snow Closure Procedure We will aim to make an assessment by 7:00am If the site is considered to be unsafe or if we consider that a large number of staff will not be able to travel, arrangements will be made to close the school. A message will be placed on the school website, a text sent to all parents who have nofied school of their current mobile number, a message put on Twier and a push noficaon sent to all parents who have downloaded the App. Contact will be made with local radio staons asking them to put out a noce of closure. Holidays School closes—Friday 13th February at 3:00pm School opens—Monday 23rd February at 8:50am School closes—Thursday 2nd April at 3:00pm School opens—Monday 20th April at 9:50am Fesval of Achievement 2014
Transcript
As a school we are ever eager to celebrate and reward the tremendous and continuing
achievements of many of our students. So, it was with this in mind that, as in all
previous years, Kingsmead once again held its prestigious ‘Festival of Achievement’ in
the Autumn term. This is the occasion when the achievements of students across a
whole range of areas is formally recognised and honoured.
This annual event took place at the end of October and having the ‘Prince of Wales
Theatre’ in Cannock as its venue again added that extra sense of significance for the
students, parents, staff, governors and special guests in attendance.
All students who received awards had been nominated by staff. The range of trophies
and cups included recognition for Subject, House, Performing Arts, Community, Extra-
curricular achievements, as well as celebrating attitude and commitment.
Presentations this year were made by Steve Gummer, a former Kingsmead student who
is now Financial Services Director of the large company ‘Salesforce.com’. His speech to
the assembled students and audience was both interesting and inspirational.
The audience enjoyed musical performances from Natasha Pearce Y8, James Greenhill
Y11 and our Sixth Form trio of Sabrina Chin, Erica Shirley and Luther Williamson.
Mr Bryant, Headteacher said “This is an evening in which we see Kingsmead at its very
best. I am delighted with the achievements of so many of our students.”
All in all it was a very successful and memorable evening and all students - not to
mention all parents - went away feeling very PROUD and very happy.
Kingsmead School Newsletter
January 2015
In this issue:
Student News
Sixth Form News
House News
Sports News
Snow Closure Procedure
We will aim to make an
assessment by 7:00am
If the site is considered to be
unsafe or if we consider that a
large number of staff will not be
able to travel, arrangements will
be made to close the school.
A message will be placed on the
school website, a text sent to all
parents who have notified
school of their current mobile
number, a message put on
Twitter and a push notification
sent to all parents who have
downloaded the App. Contact
will be made with local radio
stations asking them to put out a
notice of closure.
Holidays
School closes—Friday 13th
February at 3:00pm
School opens—Monday 23rd
February at 8:50am
School closes—Thursday 2nd
April at 3:00pm
School opens—Monday 20th
April at 9:50am
Festival of Achievement 2014
Student News
Y11 Champions League
Twenty nine Kingsmead Learners visited ‘Beaudesert Park’ in November to begin
the ‘Y11 Champions League Competition’. The competition was designed to
further support students in their preparation for their mock exams in December.
During the visit, teams of students were challenged to a ‘Crate Stacking Task’.
Working as a team, they had to learn new skills,
communicate with each other and plan how to
achieve their goals. All agreed it was great fun and
highly rewarding - even through the scary part when
students were attached to a safety rope and had to
climb to the top of a stack of crates! The highest level
achieved was twenty crates!
Students also pitted themselves against staff in an
archery competition. Marksmanship improved
dramatically with practice and there was a good
atmosphere particularly as the students beat the
teachers convincingly!
The final event of the day was ‘Climbing the Wall’.
This gave some of the students the opportunity to
beat their fears and others to challenge themselves
to attempt more
complex
techniques including climbing blindfolded.
Mr Cope, Assistant Headteacher, who
organised the event said “I would like to
congratulate all the students on their hard
work during the day and their willingness to
take on new challenges. Feedback indicates
the event was a huge success.”
Working with Dignity in Health and Social Care
Y11 students successfully completed a Level 1 OCN award in ‘Working with Dignity in Health and Social Care’.
Following their attendance at the above conference last year, students completed
a portfolio of evidence to show how to care for the needs of various service users
in a dignified and compassionate manner. Their portfolios have been highlighted as
exemplary work and are being used by the awarding body as examples of excellent
practice.
Ms Fittes, Subject Leader Health and Social Care said “I am really proud of the girls’
achievement and their commitment. They demonstrated excellent knowledge and
have gained a qualification that will be useful for University applications and future
careers.”
Competing with the Best in the
World
During October Kingsmead's well -
televised pigeons recorded an
excellent result in this years ‘South
Africa Million Dollar Race’ which
took place in Johannesburg. We
were invited to enter three pigeons.
Due to all the top pigeon lofts in the
world being represented this race is
regarded as the ‘World
Championship’ of pigeon racing.
Kingsmead pigeon ‘Prince’ recorded
an excellent result! He finished 7th
out of all the UK pigeons and was
107th in the entire World Series.
This was quite literally a ‘flying
start’ to this years competition.
We recently purchased a pigeon
from a West Hill Primary student at
a local club charity event for £5.
This pigeon has won a number of
positions and was part of the team
that won Kingsmead the ‘Best Old
Bird’ average for the season in the
'National Flying Club’.
Student News
Shooting Star
Y10 student Phoebe Taylor is a member of
and trains at ‘Rugeley Rifle Club’. She shoots
a 10m Air Rifle, 50m Three Positions Rifle and
a Prone Rifle.
She was delighted during a recent ‘GB
Training Weekend’ to win the Gold Medal
position in the 10m Air Rifle Competition.
Phoebe has been shooting the 10m Air Rifle
for four months. She has a natural talent for
shooting and has progressed extremely
quickly.
Her hard work and talent have been
recognised at National Level as she has been
selected to shoot for Great Britain in
‘Oldenburg, Germany’ in April 2015 and the
‘Junior International’ at Bisley in July 2015.
Congratulations to one of Kingsmead’s Young Athletes!
My name is Remi Flavell and I am a Y11 student at Kingsmead School.
I am currently ‘West Midlands Young Athlete Champion’ for 2013/2014 as
well as the ‘Staffordshire Schools 3000m Champion’. Within the 3000m
distance I am amongst the top forty in Great Britain for U17 and in the top
seven for my actual age group.
Having achieved the qualifying standards for the ‘English Schools
Championship’ last season, I was very proud to be selected to represent
Staffordshire Schools in this event.
It was held at my home ground ‘Alexandra Stadium’ where I train as part of
the ‘Birchfield Harriers’ team. The event took place on Friday 11th and
Saturday 12th July 2014. All the team stayed together in an hotel in
Birmingham from the Thursday evening and I shared a room with two other
girls. I competed on the Saturday in the 3000m. There were twenty six
athletes in my race and I was delighted to equal
my personal best time of 10 minutes 22 seconds. It
was a great experience from start to finish—
staying away from home, meeting new people and
running as part of a huge event!
I am now working hard to achieve the standards
for this Summer. I am determined to get there
again when the event will be held at ‘Gateshead
Stadium!’.
National Anti Bullying Week
Monday 17th to Friday 21st November was ‘Anti Bullying’ Week and here at Kingsmead it was an opportunity for the
students in our new anti-bullying programme ‘SMILE’ to introduce themselves to the Kingsmead community.
During two weeks in November, Drama students and Peer Mentors performed short devised pieces giving students
examples of what bullying could look like with possible solutions to deal with these issues. In addition, key information
about ‘SMILE’ was given to all students and staff to ensure they are aware of what we can do at Kingsmead to stop bullying
happening. This includes a drop in session in E08. Here, if students should ever feel they are a victim of bullying, they can
pop in and talk to trained ‘SMILERS’. If there are issues, these will be worked through in a safe, secure environment.
Students can also email [email protected] if they feel they are being bullied. Messages will be picked up by
either Mr Truby or Miss Baylay, who are Lead Tutors in Anti-Bullying. They will endeavour to contact the student and
within twenty four hours begin to find a solution to the issue.
Student News
School Council Review 2014-15
During October we elected this years Kingsmead School Council. The election took place in the Main Hall following each
House assembly. Students voted using ballot papers and ballot booths and boxes kindly donated to us from the electoral
office of ‘Cannock Chase District Council’.
Every school has to have an elected Student Council to monitor and assist with the running of the school from a students’
point of view. Elected students listen to and put forward ideas, discuss and implement new policies and rules, sit on
interview panels, attend Youth Conferences, get involved in campaigns and represent Kingsmead students within the
community.
The School Council is made up of two elected representatives from each House, one from KS3 and one from KS4.
Congratulations to our newly elected candidates; Katy Jones and Daniel Skerman (Coppice), Ben Marshall and Oliver Thacker
(Hayes), David Woods and Caitlin Tsang (Littleton), Emma Guest and Dylan Ottey (Uxbridge), Luke Rowlands and Amy
Corcoran (Valley) and Josh Holdcroft and Tom Green (Wimblebury). Students held their first meeting on November 12th.
They have already starting researching information to run a campaign in the New Year to tackle the litter problem in and
around school.
Young Writers Competition
As part of a Literacy Drive, a competition was launched throughout school for students
to get involved in producing a poem referencing conflict. Within our tutor group, we
discussed any conflict students had either seen, been involved in or learnt about
previously at Kingsmead. As tutor, I took it upon
myself to get the whole group involved in this
activity as there were so many avenues in which
the pupils could express themselves. We split
into small groups of two’s and three’s and each
group was given the responsibility to complete a line of the acrostic poem spelling
‘CONFLICT’. We accumulated all the sentences then using their ICT skills the students
designed our entry.
As we submitted the poem, we didn’t expect too much, as there would have been
thousands of entries from schools across the West Midlands. We did feel positive
however that our simple but effective poem did represent the feelings of our group.
As the weeks went by we had all but forgotten about the competition until a dreary
Monday morning when a letter arrived on my desk from the ‘Young Writers
Association’. We had been selected for publishing! I couldn't wait to tell my tutor
group the good news! The whole group were thrilled and amazed that they were all now published writers in their own
right! The project was a real team effort and is one that every student and indeed myself was proud to be part of.
By Miss S Brant, Tutor Group V-SLB
CONFLICT POEM
Comes in so many forms
Only gives pain with no gain
No one can escape conflict
Fighting happens every day
Lives are lost
Individuals are lost, families
follow, we all break down
Cries of torture ring out across the
land
Tomorrow conflict may end, but
not today.
Remembrance Day 2014
On the 11th November at 11:11am students and staff held a minutes silence to commemorate the
end of the ‘First World War’. This years ‘Remembrance Day’ also marks the 100th Anniversary of
the start of the 1914 war.
Students who belong to uniformed organisations were invited to attend in their uniforms for the
day. It was with great pride that many students responded.
Well done to all players that competed in the ‘House
Hockey Tournament’. Some great skill and determination was shown throughout the
competition with Hayes managing to win despite not
having a full squad!
Sports News
House Hockey
Tournament 2014
Rugby On Tuesday 16th December, our combined Y7 & Y8 rugby team played their first competitive fixture of the season against Cannock Chase High School. The team was captained by Cameron Robertson who did a great job organising his team on the field. The team played some great rugby and put in a solid effort in defence to see them finish the game with an emphatic first win 45-15 to Kingsmead. Well done to all involved. Remember if you would like to come and try rugby, extra-curricular rugby sessions run on Wednesdays after school and are open to all year groups for boys and girls.
Badminton
The KS3 boys team were emphatic winners of the ‘District Badminton Tournament’ beating Staffordshire University Academy, Cardinal Griffin and Chase Academy. They have also qualified for the ‘County Finals’ at Fenton Park, Stoke this month.
The KS3 girls finished runners-Up to a strong Chase Academy side. The KS4 Team cleaned up at the ‘District Badminton Finals’ winning both the boys and the girls categories. Both teams were unbeaten not dropping a single game in the afternoon play on home turf.
Athletics
Four teams of Y7 & Y8 students travelled to Rugeley Leisure Centre to play against five other local schools (Fair Oak, Cardinal Griffin, Hagley, SUA & Cannock Chase) All teams performed exceptionally well with the Y7 boys and Y8 girls coming out winners in their category. They will now travel to Fenton Park, Stoke for the County Finals in February. The Y7 Girls and Y8 Boys both finished Third.
Netball
During December, our netball teams were very busy! Y10 and Y11 played Cardinal Griffin at home. The Y10s were up against it as the Griffin team were extremely strong having never lost a game! Our girls played well but unfortunately lost 27-5. The Y11 match was a very tight game but after being ahead in the first half we lost 8-9, which was disappointing. Y9 and Y10 played away at Norton Canes. Both teams played extremely well and won 24-6 and 25-2 respectively…..a fantastic result well done! Y8 and Y9 played away at Cardinal Griffin. It was a mixed evening, unfortunately the year 8s lost 2-8 but the Year 9s won 10-2!
Y7B beat
Norton 3-0
Y7A beat
Norton 5-1
Y8 beat
Norton 11-1
Football Round Up
Y8 boys 6-a-side team competed in the local tournament hosted at EDA. We drew a tough group but won two of three matches, only losing to the eventual winners EDA 1-0. We beat Codsall 1-0 and Hagley Park 2-0. Notable performances came from Ryan Atherton who scored twice and Travis Bishop who kept a clean sheet, conceding no goals in two of the three matches. Congratulations to all on their efforts and achievements. Y9 boys finished Third in their group and just failed to qualify for the finals on a freezing November evening. After a slow start the boys did very well beating Cannock Chase and Cardinal Griffin in the last two games to almost qualify.
View all our sporting news
on our website…
New Sports Page Coming
soon...
U16 Boys Staffordshire Indoor Hockey Championships
Our first game against Newcastle Under-Lyme School proved to be a tough game as teams went into halftime 1-1. The second
half was much better and Kingsmead came out of the game 3-1 winners. Our second match was against local rivals The Friary School. This proved to be an all-around different kind of game. Throughout the game both teams took the lead and at half time a change in personnel and a change in tactics proved to be the turning point for Kingsmead. With the final whistle gone for full time The Friary converted a penalty corner to draw 4-4. This result saw Kingsmead take their first ever ‘Staffordshire County Indoor’ title after being runners up the previous season.
Christmas Charity & Community Events
Inter-House Christmas Music Competition
Students were challenged to write a Christmas song. Entries varied from solo
entrants to whole tutor groups. All students however, showed an enthusiastic
and festive approach.
Winners will be announced this month.
Y7 Annual Carol Service
Y7 students enjoyed a Christmas Celebration at St Peters Church on Friday 19th
December where the Reverend Paul Kelly welcomed us.
A number of Y7 students participated as readers, musicians and vocalists performing
a range of Christmas pieces.
We were joined by many Y7 parents and families and what has become an annual
community event was thoroughly enjoyed by all. It certainly got everyone into the
Christmas spirit!
Thank you to all who attended and helped in any way.
Y7 Christmas Card Competition
Y7 students
attended a
‘Christmas Card
Club’ with Miss
Pearce, Teacher
of Art on Friday afternoons after
school.
The students designed and created
their own cards which were then
submitted into a school competition in
which all students and staff voted for
their favourite.
Congratulations to our winners Joanna
Earl V-AGO, Georgia Glynn H-ART and
Emily Harley V-SR.
The card was printed and sent to over
300 local businesses and schools.
Christmas Fayre
During lunchtimes on Tuesday 16th and Wednesday 17th
December students from all Houses
plied their trade to raise money for
their House charities.
Stalls included ‘Homemade Biscuits’, ‘Candy Floss’, ‘Name the
Teddies’, ‘Nail Art’, ‘Guess the Baby’ and many, many more.
Totals raised were:-
Coppice—SNAP £143.43
Hayes—National Memorial Arboretum
£98.63
Littleton—Riding for the Disabled £85.94
Uxbridge— Air Ambulance £107.25
Valley—Katharine House £187.86
Wimblebury—Breatheasy £59.63
Hednesford Lights Switch On
A group of talented singers shone at the ‘Hednesford Town Christmas Lights
Switch On’. Our students performed alongside a number of other contributors.
Students had spent many weeks leading up to the event rehearsing and had
shown real dedication and enthusiasm for it. Despite the cold and rainy weather, the students sang beautifully. Their set
comprised of two Christmas songs, with a stunning solo performance of ’Ave Maria’ by Millie Rogers Y11. All students
performed a solo or duet within the pieces.
Miss Grice, Subject Leader Music and Mrs Williams, Teacher of Music said “The Kingsmead
singers did the school proud and had fantastic comments from members of the audience. They
were a credit to the school and positive feedback has since been received about their wonderful
performance and excellent behaviour. We would like to thank all the Kingsmead singers for their
fabulous performances. Thank you also to the students families and friends for attending the
event in support of us.”
Shoebox Appeal
Once again many
students played
their part in
donating filled
shoeboxes for the ‘Samaritans Purse’
charity.
Many thanks to all who donated.
New Initiatives… New Ideas
VIVO Ambassadors
We have recently launched the concept of having VIVO Ambassadors to promote Vivos and House Points within Kingsmead.
These Ambassadors will collect views from other students to help develop the reward system, meet with the ‘Midlands Vivo
Champion’ to put forward our ideas and have access to unique competitions with special prizes on the ‘Vivoedge’ website.
Students were asked to volunteer for this role. One student from each House and across each year was chosen to ensure all
views were represented. Congratulations to James Giles (Coppice) Y7, Rianne Martin (Hayes) Y9, Owyn Roberts (Littleton) Y8,
Since September, tutors have been electing students in their tutor group each week as their ‘Star of the Week’. This can be
for a variety of achievements that may have been accomplished over the previous week.
Many tutors display their ‘Star’ on their notice board and the student gains 10 House Points.
Subject Stars of the Fortnight
Students are regularly rewarded by subject staff in lessons through the House Points system. To raise the profile of excellent
student attitudes within a subject, we are now nominating a ‘Star of the Fortnight’ for each year group. We are using the
reward data from the previous two weeks to determine the winners.
Students receive a certificate from the Curriculum Leader and the names of the ‘Subject Stars’ are displayed on the notice
boards within Curriculum areas.
‘The Big Read’
To share our love of reading, we are celebrating BBC’s ‘The Big Read’ this academic year. All Y8 and Y9 students were given
a brand new book to read over the Christmas period. Students were excited by the number of different books they could
choose from. The books are mostly part of a series and our hope is that students will become interested and want to read
more. Students will have an opportunity to share their thoughts about the books during their ‘Skills’ lessons and we will be
using the ‘Recommendation Tree’ to pass on book reviews to each other. This is only one of the ways we are focusing on
reading over the next year.
For further information http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/bigread/
A Y8 Partnership Evening… with a DIFFERENCE!!
…..and it certainly was different!
The whole idea behind this Partnership Evening was on ‘activity’, involvement and ‘participation’.
The eighty plus parents who attended had perhaps been used to occasions such as this being all about sitting passively and
listening. It wasn’t like that this time. Suddenly parents found themselves fully engaged experiencing what for their sons and
daughters a typical lesson might be like.
Mr Francis, Teacher of Technology for instance got them involved in a group activity modelled on a ‘Dragons Den’ challenge.
Miss Hughes and Miss Baylay, History Department, led a lively ‘Off with their Heads’ activity. In Science, Mr Summers and Mr
Hunt, through interactive engagement they explored the theme .. ‘It’s not what it used to be’, while Mr Russell, Curriculum
Leader English, gave hands-on experience on how to help at home in developing English
and reading skills.
It was a fun evening. Parents agreed they had learned a lot and gained invaluable insights
into life in a modern classroom (“it was never like this in my day”) ..and they loved it!
Mrs Ryder, Senior Leader
We have had a very busy and productive Autumn term in Sixth Form.
Firstly, we welcomed our new Y12 students in September, who enthusiastically
embraced the beginning of this new phase of their education. Not to give too
much away but their induction at ‘Keys Park’ had it’s hairy moments with a
visit from the ‘Exotic Zoo’. They were certainly challenged and were ready to
face the work that lay ahead. They have since settled really well into their
studies and are rising to the challenges of new and rigorous routines.
We welcomed back Y13 after
some very good AS results in the
Summer with a renewed determination to succeed this year. We were very
pleased to appoint our Head Girl, Ellie Dewsbury and Head Boy, James
Statham, ably assisted by their deputies Tom Birch and Becky Bradshaw. All
of them are representing our Sixth Form very well indeed. Their first big
opportunity was to present at our annual ‘Festival of Achievement’ and then
play an important role in our Sixth Form information evening on the 20th
November. This event saw a good number of Y11 students and their parents
come along to see what’s on offer at Kingsmead Sixth Form. As a result we
have had a record number of applications this year.
Y13 have been very busy completing their University applications this year
and many of our students have already received offers from their first choice
University. Good news is that Paige Merricks has received an unconditional
offer from ‘Leicester University’ and Lewis Kesterton has received and
accepted a guaranteed unconditional offer and scholarship to study the piano at ‘The Birmingham Conservatoire of
Music’. We wish them all the best, and, of course we wish all of Y13 success with their applications.
Our Sixth Formers are playing an increasingly more important lead role within the House and Vertical Tutoring system.
They are taking responsibility and using initiative in supporting younger students in the group. It is good to see them being
great role models as well as developing useful personal skills. Well done to all our Sixth Form students who received
awards for excellent Achievement and Attitude to Learning in our recent House Achievement Assemblies. There are just
too many to mention!
There have been a number of successful educational visits this
term including; a science visit to ‘Chester Zoo’, a geography field
trip to ‘Dorset’ and a Media Studies trip to the ‘Harry Potter
Studios’. All our students as usual represented our Sixth Form
impeccably.
December, saw the close of a very productive term which
culminated in a fantastic rewards visit to ‘Oxford Street’ and
‘Winter Wonderland’ in Hyde Park, London. This was a very well
deserved day after a long and challenging term. Well done to all
the team and here’s to a great second term!
Mrs D Collins
Senior Leader Sixth Form
Sixth Form Student News
L-R: Tom Birch, Becky Bradshaw,
Eleanor Dewsbury and James
Statham
House Information
Coppice House
Coppice House got off to a flying start this year
with news that Aidan Stone Y11, has been
signed by ‘Walsall Football Club’. Aidan has
played football for a number of years and was
spotted by his coach as having a talent for
goalkeeping. He now trains with the Football Club and maybe one
day we will see him make the first team! Well done Aidan!
Welcome to New Students!
September bought with it plenty of sunshine but also new
students to our school in the form of Y7. They looked fantastic
in their new uniform and we are proud to welcome them to both
Coppice House and Kingsmead.
Christmas Fun
On Friday 12th December, Mrs Fittes, Subject Leader Health and
Social Care, visited SNAP (Special Needs Adventure Playground),
our House Charity to help them put up the Christmas decorations
that had been made here at school. Coppice House students
decorated baubles with messages from their tutor group which
were then added to the SNAP Christmas tree. In addition, Coppice
hosted a Christmas Fayre at Kingsmead. All the other Houses were
invited to set up stalls and raise money for their House charities.
The fayre was extremely well attended and everyone enjoyed ‘Hot
Chocolate’, ‘Cookies’ and ‘Candyfloss’ as well as bagging bargain
Christmas presents.
Congratulations
Well done to Daniel Skerman Y10 and Katie Jones Y9 on their election to the School Council
2014-15. They have worked tirelessly on House Council business already and I am sure will
do a sterling job in their new role. Many congratulations also go to
Becky Bradshaw C-JBU and Tom Birch C-AHY on their appointments as
Deputy Head Girl and Deputy Head Boy at Kingsmead. We are
extremely proud of them both and their first outing in their new roles
showed off their excellent presentation skills at the Autumn ‘Festival of
Achievement’.
Finally, my congratulations to all Coppice House students, at all levels of
achievement, who received such encouraging exam results just before
we started the Autumn term. Its great to see so many of you back in the
Sixth Form.
Wishing everyone a wonderful 2015 from Coppice House.
Mrs J Davies
Students with consistently
high ‘Attitude to Learning’
Y7
Jessica Allman
Olivia Bowman
Ellie Cartwright
Ben Comlay
Sean Chin
Courtney Hill
Liberty Jones
Aaliyah Parker
Freya Terry
Liam Thompson
Millie Woollaston
Lewis Woolley
Y8
Hannah Cook
Charlotte Cooke
Natasha Hyden
Jack Jenkins
Rhiannan Pyke
Y9
Joseph Banks
Lauren Fuller
Amy Langley
Cieran Mason
Y10
Taylor Allen
Leah Allman
Jack Cartwright
Katie Garraton
Tanaka Katsukunya
Grace Pike
Phoebe Woolley
Y11
Molly Arrowsmith
Ben Hawthorne
House Information
Hayes House
Hayes House Council have met regularly and have been making plans
for future charity events which we will be putting on throughout the
year. The Christmas Fayre was a fantastic event with Hayes students
running a ‘Tombola Stall’ with some fabulous prizes, as well as some
challenging ‘Against the Clock’ puzzle activities. It was another great
fundraising event, not just for Hayes, but for all Houses taking part.
Special mention and congratulations must go to the following
students for their talent and dedication to their chosen activities and
interests outside of the classroom. Jenna Martin
Y8, plays hockey outside of school and has been
nominated for the ‘Junior Academy Centre’.
Rianne Martin Y9, has kept herself busy with
coaching the U13 girls team at ‘Cannock Hockey Club’ and is poised to
start coaching boys and girls under the age of 10. She has also been
selected to be the Captain of the County hockey team for which she
plays. Rianne is looking to play in the ‘National Team’ when she reaches 16. Eleanor
Cartwright Y8, won a Bronze Medal in a recent school gymnastic event alongside a Gold as
part of a group. Lily Cocks Y7, has been attending the girls ‘Air Cadets’ and has
experienced flying, shooting and camping as part of her training.
Amy Lynk Y10, has been awarded the ‘Baden Powell’ badge for her
dedication to the ‘Girl Guides’. Finally, as mentioned earlier in the
Newsletter, we also congratulate Remi Flavell and her amazing
athletics successes. This is just an overview of
some of the fantastic achievements and
personal development skills in which many
Hayes students are involved. Well done and keep it up!
Mr Francis, Teacher of Technology and Miss Grice, Subject Leader
for Music have launched a House competition which involves using
metal bars from glockenspiels to create a design during tutor time.
The bars will then be recycled to create wind, door or rain chimes. The response has been
very positive and students have been working hard on various ideas. A winner will then be
selected. Watch this space!
We are also continuing to work on our future ‘Kingsmead's Got talent’ show, which will no
doubt showcase the amazing musical and performing skills of Kingsmead students.
Finally, a word of congratulations should go to the many students in Hayes House who
returned with some excellent exam results in the Autumn term. Many of you did us proud!
It only remains for me to wish all a Happy New Year!
Mr P Bradbury
Students with consistently
high ‘Attitude to Learning’
Y7
Joshua Cunningham
Nina Cuthbert
Ben Gough
Alicia Turner
Y8
Rhiannon Bickley
Eleanor Cartwright
Sarah Gray
Jenna Martin
Mitchell Partridge
Sion Pearce
Megan Renshaw
Megan Robins
Chloe Salt
Y9
Rianne Martin
Megan Birch
Y10
Owen Baker
Paige Collins
Ella-May Greenfield
Demi Holland
Sophie Hollyhead
Amy Lynk
Holly Mullen
Colin Traat
Y11
Phoebe Brickley
Rachel Cumberledge
Jamie Greenwood
Grace Hewitt
Isabella Howe
Mia Platek
Oliver Thacker
Georgia Wilson
House Information
Littleton House
Here we are again! Doesn’t time fly… On behalf of Littleton House, I
was incredibly proud to receive the House Cup at the end of the year
and for the second year running! It was a fantastic achievement and
whole heartedly deserved by all Littleton students. We are now going for
the hat trick! In order to achieve this amazing feat we will need to keep
working hard and be the best we can. On that note… I know it seems like ages ago but I
would like to congratulate Y11s, Y12s and Y13s on receiving some excellent GCSE, AS and A
Levels results last Summer. You worked incredibly hard and I was very proud of you all.
New Roles I am pleased to announce we have some new Sports Representatives that have
been elected by their peers. Well done to Dylan Berry and Megan Vincent Y7, Luke Baugh
and Lara Tolley Y8, Kyle Baskeyfield and Amber Crisp Y9, Charlie Thompson and Abbie
Malcolm Y10 and James Taylor and Charlie Tittley Y11. Each tutor group has also elected a
new House Council Representative. Congratulations to the following students, Corbin Ansari
Y10, Sasha Monaghan Y9, David Woods Y9, Joe Cowdell Y10, Eve Webley Y7, Rajinder Kaur
Y10, Ronan Mitchell Y11, Louise Maunders Y10, Tom Byrne Y10, James Chisholm Y9 and
Sophie Spearman Y11. Your role is very important in giving a voice to our students.
Achievements As always I like to hear about and celebrate all Littleton achievements! I
could write a few pages on them all but here are a few I would like to share with you,
though there are many others which we celebrated in our Achievement Assembly at the
start of this term. Congratulations to Sarah Dickson Y10, Ronan Mitchell Y11 and Beth Jones
Y12 for securing roles in the school production ‘Fame’. Well done to Hannah Baker Y10 who
starred in the ‘Wendy and Peter’ production and is representing the school as an ‘Anti
Bullying’ peer mentor as is Caitlin Tsang Y10. On the sporting front, well done to Rebecca
Mann Y12, who achieved her Black Belt Second Degree and Tasmyn Brittain Y11, for being
runner up in the ‘Central England Dance’ competition. Congratulations to Tom Byrne Y10,
who competed in a ‘National Judo’ competition and to Lara Tolley Y8, who has been invited
to take part in a ‘National Cross Country’ competition. Lastly, well
done to all those who continue to represent the school in various
sports teams. Keep up the good work!
Littleton Lunch On Thursday 27th November, Mr Truby, Littleton Lead
Tutor and myself held our Littleton lunch with the Y7s. It was lovely to
have our Y7 students all together and chat to them about their first term at Kingsmead.
They have settled in really well and I look forward to them getting involved with all the
House competitions in the months ahead.
Christmas We all got into the Christmassy mood during our Christmas Fayre, where we
raised money for our charity. Students baked biscuits for our popular ‘Christmas Biscuit’
stall and helped man the ‘Splat the Christmas Rat’ and ‘Guess the Littleton Tutor’ stall.
A great start to the year. Wishing you all a good one!
Mrs K Greenwood
Students with consistently
high ‘Attitude to Learning’
Y7
Ellie Harris
Samuel Harris
Adam Nelson
Y8
Kelly Bodley
Charlie Evans
Chloe Redding
Owyn Roberts
Amandeep SIngh
Lara Tolley
Stephanie Wainwright
Y9
Kyra Campbell
Amber Crisp
Jude Hughes
Georgia Rose
Lewis Small
Brandon Stokes
Olivia Taylor
Y10
Hannah Baker
Holly Butterfield
Joseph Egerton
Hollie Gallier
Amie Heath
Abigail Malcolm
Louise Maunders
Emily Middle
Caitlin Tsang
Y11
Lewis Byrne
Scott McAllister
House Information
Uxbridge House
Welcome to the Uxbridge page of the Newsletter and let me take this
opportunity to wish everyone a happy and prosperous New Year! 2015
will provide us with many exciting opportunities and triumphs and the
start of the new year seems the perfect opportunity to reflect on the
‘goings on’ in Uxbridge over the latter end of last year.
As you are aware, our chosen House Charity is the ‘Midlands Air Ambulance’ - a charity
that receives no government funding. All proceeds from our House events are donated
to this charity. Daniel Waddison, Y9 student took it upon himself to raise money for this
worthy cause outside of school in a ‘Sponsored Swimming Challenge’. Daniel came up
with the idea himself, arranged and organised the event and collected the money he
raised. In total this was just under £250 by swimming two miles! You may also recall read-
ing in a previous article about Molly Skelding Y9, who raised over £150 in a cake sale she
held in her street. The proceeds went to ‘Macmillan Cancer Care’. Molly held the cake sale
again, this time raising £230, a truly amazing effort! We also have many students who are
in the ‘Air Cadets’ and other uniformed youth groups. They were involved in commemora-
tion of ‘Armistice Day’.
There have been many successes, far too many to mention in this Newsletter, so I make
my apologies in advance for any I fail to mention. First of all however, Leah Aldred Y10, has
again achieved great things with her Athletics Club and Liam Morrisey Y12, is continuing to
volunteer as a goalkeeper coach for many primary school footballers. This experience will
help him realise his ambition of becoming a primary school teacher.
In early November, Uxbridge House held the School Council elections in which one KS3
student and one KS4 student was elected to represent the views of our House at School
Council meetings. The elections took place during assemblies and students experienced
real life voting conditions using ballot boxes and booths. I would like to thank everyone
who put their name forward and had the courage to stand for election in front of their
peers. The victorious candidates were Emma Guest (KS3) and Dylan Ottey (KS4), huge
congratulations to both.
Kieran Hardwick Y10, has been appointed VIVO Ambassador along with the Ambassadors
from each of the Houses. He will play a vital role in the organisation of the school reward
system.
During the last week of 2014, Kingsmead held their annual Christmas Fayre, here each
House create, manage and run stalls with the proceeds going to their House Charity. This
year, Uxbridge followed last years success by raising over £100 during two lunchtimes by
running a range of stalls. These included the popular ‘Snow Floss’ to the ever frustrating
‘Lemon Game’, where if you balance a coin on a lemon placed in a bowl of water for five
seconds, you win five times your stake! A huge thanks to all students who contributed.
Finally, congratulations to all former Uxbridge Y11 students who have returned to our
Sixth Form and to all students who did so well in their exams.
Mr M Cavanagh
Students with consistently
high ‘Attitude to Learning’
Y7
Diogo Baptista
Harry Cooke
Gemma Davies
Jack Grundy
Alex Mowe
Bryony Roberts
Holly Short
Ellie Wrotchford
Y8
Jordan Ketland
Tom Walters
Y9
Millie Bates
Caitlin Briggs
Megan Grantham
Charley Ottey
Jasmine Rainer
Conor Rigby
Molly Skelding
Y10
Georgina Coyne
Ryan Davies
Dylan Ottey
Lauren Roberts
Heather Smith
Daniel Waddison
Natalie Wain
Callum Warren
Y11
Natalya Bubalo
Fern Nelson
Charlie Walker
Valley House
Valley House are the early pacesetters in the House Cup this year,
being crowned half term House Cup winners in November. I informed
students at the start of the year that we had finished third last year in
the final House Cup rankings. Students took all this on board and I am
delighted that they have shown the determination to improve and have made an excellent
start in trying to achieve our ambition of being the winning House this year.
Charity and Care
The Valley House Council met in October to discuss what
stalls we should run at the Christmas Fayre to raise money
for our House charity. We decided to run a ‘Pick and Mix’,
‘Tombola’ and ‘Photo Booth’ stall. In addition, students
have raised money by writing a Christmas message to their
tutor group on a special Christmas card under the ‘Give
Care not Cards’ programme.
Student Roles
The start of the year has seen many students take on roles of responsibility
within the House. Congratulations to Amy Corcoran Y10, and Luke Rowlands
Y9, on their School Council elections. I would also like to congratulate the
following students for being elected as form representatives for Valley
House Council; Hollie Bea Martin Y11, Vicki Egan Y11, Kyle Parker Y8, Beth
O’Sullivan Y11, Luke Rowlands Y9, David Gasson Y10, Kaine Corbett Y10, Charlie Hill Y11,
Ben Wilkinson Y7 and James Bradman Y8. Congratulations again to Ben Wilkinson and to
Aaliyah Neale who have been elected Y7 Sports Representatives. It is
excellent to see students with the courage and confi-
dence to volunteer themselves for a role so early into
their time at Kingsmead. A number of students have
been very successful in a variety of pursuits outside of
the classroom. I would like to share some of these with
you; Sophie Watts Y11, has been invited to complete an
‘Army Training’ programme, Olivia Dakin Y11, has
earned a place at the ‘Walsall Operatic Society’, Ben Wilkinson Y7 is
currently playing for ‘Shrewsbury Town Academy’ U12s, Vicki Egan Y11,
has achieved a Grade 6 in the clarinet and Hannah Hampton Y9 has
recently trained with the ‘England U15’ girls football team at St George’s
Park. Hannah has also represented the England U14’ girls rounder's team.
In closing I would like to acknowledge all those students in Y11 (many who have returned
to our Sixth Form), who along with students in Y10, Y12 and Y13 did so well in their external
exams last academic year.
Finally, I wish all students in Valley House a very happy and successful New Year.
Mr R Broomhall
House Information
Students with consistently
high ‘Attitude to Learning’
Y7
Jacob Chandler
Owen Hallworth
Ellie Jones
Aaliyah Neale
Cullen Peaty
Craig Richards
Y8
Tomas Boot
Madison Griffiths
Reece Hawkins
Destiny Jones
Abbie Newton
Jai Ramah
Kieran Ramah
Louie Smith
Kyle Smith
Bethany Webb
Y10
Isobel Cummings
Hollie Davis
Georgia Haddon
Daniel Robinson
Thomas Stevens
Ethan Thornton
Emily Wilkinson
Y11
Liam Allen
Charlie Hill
Myles Pearson
Bethany Saunders
House Information
Wimblebury House
Hello… Once again, I am thrilled that Wimblebury House had such an
excellent first term in this academic year. Congratulations also to all
those students who did so well in their external examinations last
Summer. I am delighted that so many Wimblebury students have
returned to study in our Sixth Form.
Sports Representatives
The new Y7 intake are showing how well they have settled in and
have already taken opportunities to get involved in the life of the
school. We have two new Y7 Sports Representatives; Megan
Vincent and Dylan Berry. They will serve alongside the
Representatives from Y8, Y9, Y10 and Y11. I hope all these students
will lead the rest of our House by encouraging students to take
part in Inter-House competitions and leading us to victory yet again
in the Sports Day competition in the Summer.
Well Done!
We have many Wimblebury students who collected awards for a variety of reasons at the
recent ‘Festival of Achievement’. Congratulations to all!
Wimblebury students also took part in our Autumn term ‘Open Evening’ either representing
subjects in classrooms or showing prospective parents around school. Many parents
commented on how impressed they were with the maturity and confidence shown by our
students.
Form and Charity Representatives
This year as well as electing our Form Representatives; Laura Allsop Y11, Alethea Buck
Y9, Isobel Copland Y9, Tom Green Y11, Toni Iwanowa Y11, Roan Lilly Y8, Beth Parish Y10,
James Robson Y9, Callum Roche Y9, Bethany Vaissiere Y11 and Abbie Yeomans Y9. We have
also elected Charity Representatives who will be responsible for organising our charity
activities for our House charity ‘Breatheasy’. We have raised funds at the Christmas Fayre
by making and selling ‘Candy Floss’ and selling ‘Charity Wristbands’.
Thank you
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr Higho who has taken over the reins of
Wimblebury House in my recent absence.
I hope all our Wimblebury students had a happy, relaxing Christmas and will have a good
New Year. I extend the same wishes to all parents and carers and thank you for your
continuing support.
Miss A Evans
Students with consistently
high ‘Attitude to Learning’
Y7 Y7
Harrison Buck
Millie Casey
Olivia Elcock
Abigail Owen
Adam Parker
Lauren Pearse
Ben Sowley
Y8
Isla Henley
Callum Jennings
Roan Lilly
Y9
Alethea Buck
Isobel Copland
Lewis Powell
Ashleigh Radford
James Robson
Katy Wilcox
Y10
Milly Edwards
Brittany Hall
Bethany Hayward
Samantha James
Simran Kaur
Reece Lappin
Joshua Lilly
Reuben Murcott
Bethany Parrish
Lucy Radjenovic
Hannah Ridgway
Y11
Kayleigh Ghent
Scarlett Oakes
Liam Pinson
Finally, a few updates...
Kingsmead on the Go!
As many of you are aware, we have a ‘Kingsmead App’.
The App allows parents to keep in touch with school on a daily basis, contact school when
necessary, check dates and much, much more from their mobile phone.
We have recently updated the App and implemented the extremely useful ‘Push
Notifications’ facility. This enables school to send messages to all parents who have the
App downloaded. The message will show on their phone as an alert whether the App is
being used or not. We believe this would be extremely useful for general messages but also
urgent messages such as the school being closed due to bad weather.
The App can be downloaded from GooglePlay and the Apple Store. If you would like any
assistance with this please contact school.
Sixth Form students are also enjoying their new App. This allows students to check their
timetable and a diary section where they can record
work schedules and important deadlines. It also
gives parents the opportunity to receive ‘Push
Notifications’ from the Sixth Form.
We also updated our website last year. Why not
have a look? You will find us at
www.kingsmeadonline.net
Kingsmead
‘New Look’ App
Attendance News
We have put a reward system in place to acknowledge and encourage good attendance and are pleased to announce that a pizza party took place on Thursday 15th January for the tutor groups with the highest attendance for Autumn term.
‘The winners were L-KP and W-HJB . Their tutor group attendance was 98.3%. Well done!’
If your child is absent from school notify the Attendance Office 512464/512243. Where possible please book medical appointments before or after school; If this is not an option please provide an appointment card/letter either before or after the appointment. For further guidance see the School Policies page on our website. We now use text messages to communicate with parents/carers and find this very effective, it is also possible for you to reply to the text message.
Thank you for your continued support. The Attendance Team.
IMPORTANT REMINDER
In the interest of safety for all, please do not block the entrance to
school site when dropping off or picking up your children.
