Winners of Jubilee Mugs:

Emily Harvey 7F for her beautiful Celebration Cake

Jess Campbell 7A for her beautifully piped striped cupcakes

Winners of Jubilee badges:

Abi Watt 8W for her Union Jack cupcakes

Daisy Freeman 7F for her Jubilee themed cupcakes

The library Captains Club have been busily creating and curating displays for the library as we reflect and celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s momentous 70-year reign. 

Molly and Julia - two of our Year 7 library Captains making paper chains

Thank you to Mrs Gibson and the site team and students for the decorations around school. Everyone arriving at school this morning was greeted with bunting galore!

Staff and students got into the red, white and blue theme too - some even wore tiaras!

On Monday 16 May 2022 several Robert Carre Trust ex-students arrived at Buckingham Palace gardens to celebrate achieving their Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award.  They were greeted by RAF Air Cadets. International adventurers and explorers, business leaders and entrepreneurs spoke including TV Explorer Ben Fogle, TV Apprentice’s Tim Campbell and DofE alumna Actress Nina Wadia and there were games and activities in the garden for all to enjoy.

HRH The Earl of Wessex spoke from the main stage along with Strictly Come Dancing’s Johannes Radebe and Award holder Felix Daglish who recounted how DofE had transformed his approach to life remembering it being his first taste of independence due to his disability.  Our students were given their certificates and celebrated in the good British tradition with garden party tea served in Duke of Edinburgh cups along with a cupcake each.

Mrs Walker, D of E coordinator across the RCT was privileged enough to receive an invite to go and see them receiving their awards. She commented that they all looked very different in their finery to the students she took to the Yorkshire Moors or Dales back in summer 2018 and 2019.

Huge congratulations to them all!

                                Lucy, Jenny, Charlotte, Amy, Chloe, Roxanne

                                                  Leigh and Georgia

The Interact Club have been organising a food collection to donate to the Sleaford New Life Community Larder. All year groups were involved and we collected more than ever. The items were collected last week and filled the car! Members of the Interact Club, Meredith, Nadia and Katie, are pictured presenting the donations. Thank you very much to all who contributed!

With a few staffing changes planned for next academic year we are delighted to thank Mr Shivas for his work as Head of Year 7 and 8 this year covering for maternity leave. Mr Shivas will continue to be Head of current Year 7 (into Year 8 next year) whilst Mr Mapletoft will support current Year 8 (into Year 9 next year).

I’m Mr Mapletoft, September will see me start my 4^th year here as a History teacher but my first as a Head of Year - though I begin the role fully in Term 6 of this academic year. I am really looking forward to being able to provide support and guidance to the young people in my year group and forming some solid relationships which nurture their needs but also spur them on to fulfil their potential in academic achievement. I hope at some point I’ll get the chance to talk to lots of parents and carers during my time in the role.

On Wednesday 18 May students were invited to attend 7 sessions throughout the day, and our thanks go to the speakers.  It was great to welcome people back in school!

Careers that were represented were:

The NHS – An hour could barely scratch the surface of their 350 job roles, however lots of detailed handouts for popular Career pathways were available for students. Further details of all careers in the sector can be found on the website www.healthcareers.nhs.uk.

The NHS Talent Academy at  www.lincstalentacademy.org.uk is the website to book student work placements and we understand these are gradually returning to face-to-face positions post pandemic.

The Police – James Keenan has been coming into school for many years. He was a Sergeant for many years before moving into Police training to share his wealth of experience. It was unfortunately Mr Keenan’s last visit, as he is moving on to pastures new, lecturing future Police at University College London. We wish him well for the future and thank him for his enthusiasm for his role and the support he has given the school.

Careers with Languages – Students were given an insight by a former Army Linguist on different careers where Languages can be used. Students were surprised to find out there were so many, not only translators. Students also learnt a few numbers in Farsi!

The Renewable Energy Plant – Sleaford – We were very happy to welcome for the first time a representative from the sustainable energy plant here in Sleaford. A model of the plant was brought into school for students to see and here about what they do and what careers they offer.

My Future Finances – Mr Steven Price a financial planner, held a workshop with the students about future finances and the ‘Reality vs the Dream’! Students completed a worksheet to help them understand the costs of everyday expenses, long term financial goals, and how they may evaluate their ability to achieve those goals in relation to income. The session was not so much Careers in Finance, but how your career choice determines your future finances.

Teacher Training – Students were advised on the different training pathways into Teaching Primary and Secondary pupils and the qualifications required.

NKDC – We have recently been matched with Nikita Lord at NKDC as the School’s Enterprise Advisor. This is a quite a new Government initiative to link schools with employers. Nikki gave a short presentation to one set of students about careers within local councils. We look forward to working with her more in the future.

Unifrog – All students had a short session with year 12 Careers Ambassadors to help understand how best to use the platform and help them with future research and choices.

Unfortunately, it is not possible to cover all careers on days like these, but we hope the insights were useful.

Mrs P Hunter

Careers Lead

Last week the PE department ran their assembly on the benefits of physical exercise on health and wellbeing, the students even did a 1 minute activity to measure their heartbeat; it was fabulous to see so many of our young people really embracing this.

What impact does physical activity have on wellbeing?

Physical activity has huge potential to enhance our wellbeing. Even a short burst of 10 minutes’ brisk walking increases our mental alertness, energy and positive mood. Participation in regular physical activity can increase our self-esteem and can reduce stress and anxiety. It also plays a role in preventing the development of mental health problems and in improving the quality of life of people experiencing mental health problems.

Impact on our mood

Physical activity has also been shown to have a positive impact on our mood. One study asked people to rate their mood immediately after periods of physical activity (e.g. going for a walk or doing housework), and periods of inactivity (e.g. reading a book or watching television). Researchers found that the participants felt more content, more awake and calmer after being physically active compared to after periods of inactivity. They also found that the effect of physical activity on mood was greatest when mood was initially low.

There are many studies looking at physical activity at different levels of intensity and its impact on people’s mood. Overall, research has found that low-intensity aerobic exercise – for 30–35 minutes, 3–5 days a week, for 10–12 weeks – was best at increasing positive moods (e.g. enthusiasm, alertness).

Checking in with friends over the half term break

With half term on the horizon, some young people may want to check in with their friends but perhaps are struggling to think about how to do this.  Lots of things can damage the way they feel and think, and it’s more common than people realise – one in every five children, for example, struggles with their mental health. Sending memes, jokes and messages online is easy – but finding the right words to talk to a friend who’s having a hard time can be tricky. This poster could help your child find the right time – and the right way – to check in with a friend. In the guide, there are tips such as sending nice messages, asking how you can help someone and being a good listener.

Mrs D Collett

Assistant Headteacher – Pastoral and Wellbeing

Following on from the message from Mrs Smith in the last newsletter, a big thank you to those of you who responded to the call for new Community Governors. 

We are pleased to confirm that the plans coming out of the wide-ranging Governance Review undertaken by the Robert Carre Trust, of which KSHS is part, have now been agreed. The Board also approved various positive changes to current appointments on the Local Governing Bodies. The LGBs will be renamed ‘Local Governance Tiers’ from September and the changes in appointments mean that we will have two Parent Governor opportunities on the KSHS LGT with effect from 1 September.  

We are currently starting the election process for these vacancies and nomination papers will be sent out to all parents over the next few days. Please watch out for the messages. More information will be available on the website or by contacting the Clerk, debbie.scott@robertcarretrust.uk 

All parents of, or those with parental responsibilities for, students currently registered at KSHS are eligible to be nominated and, if there are more candidates than vacancies, an election will be held.