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Dear Parent/Carer
As I type this I’m also taking a deep breath in readiness! The High School is about to embark on two of its busiest weeks of the academic year. Over the years we have formed some really lovely KSHS Christmas traditions, all of which give students the chance to celebrate, reflect, come together and hopefully make other members of the local community’s lives just that little more festive.
Our celebrations start next week with two days of Christmas lunches, where students enjoy a festive meal served by staff, with decorated tables and festive music. Please remember that no other food is served that day, so students will need to bring food themselves if you haven’t pre-ordered them a meal. Next week also sees our Christmas concert and we look forward to welcoming parents into school in the evening. The same day, our student Interact Club members run the annual Senior Citizens Christmas party in school: with food and entertainment provided by students. Christmas Jumper fundraising days for Save the Children and the talent show all round off the first of two weeks of festive celebration.
The last week of term features our annual Prize Giving when ex-Year 11 and Year 13 students come to collect their certificates and prizes in an evening ceremony. This year we are delighted to welcome back ex-Head Girl of the School, Actress, Director, and Stage Fight Coordinator Kaitlin Howard who will present the prizes, as well as talking to the audience about her life and career post High School. The last day of term sees our formal Christmas assembly at St Denys' Church and later in the afternoon our celebration of all things High School. Thi includes our top merit award winner draws, and talent show winner announcements and performances. We will all be ready for the holidays.
Finally do scroll down for a Christmas stocking filler idea for your child. You'll see it in Mrs Stokes' article on Teaching and learing at KSHS!
Mrs J Smith
Headteacher
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On Friday 29 November sixty-eight A-Level Psychology students based at the High School, Carre’s and St George’s Academy travelled to London to attend a fantastic conference with well renowned experts in the field. Talks were given about the impact of living without memory; the role of size and shape in brain development and how this compares to other species; and the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on foetal brain development. A clinical psychologist spoke about her work with the mental health of young people, a forensic psychologist spoke about the extent to which criminals are ‘mad or bad’, and a scientist, who uses psychology to enhance the thrill of rollercoaster rides, proved very popular.
The students loved opening their eyes to psychology beyond their A-Level course specification, the latest findings from cutting edge psychology research and possible careers in the subject.
The conference flew by (which is always a good sign!) But before we embarked on the long journey home, there was time for a couple of hours' free time in Covent Garden, where students enjoyed the chance to explore, shop, see the Christmas lights and get some food.
It was one early start, and one late finish: but well worth every minute.
Mrs H Brooks
Subject Leader - Psychology
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Girls on Board - an initiative to support girls with friendship 'fall outs'
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This term we are very excited to have launched Girls on Board at KSHS. This is a worldwide adopted approach that is supporting tens of thousands of girls in their friendships. Our Year 7-10s have all had a one-hour launch session which looks at how we can empower girls to solve their own friendship problems and recognise that they are usually the only ones who can. The Girls on Board programme is designed so that additional future sessions will be held where necessary when fallouts are happening within tutor groups to remind students of the skills that they have to resolve the fallout for themselves.
This video below gives a brief overview about Girls on Board.
Girls on Board Explainer Video
The students have actively engaged with the sessions, discussing different key questions such as ‘Do adults make the situation better or worse when they get involved?’ and ‘Do adults find out the truth when they start trying to unpick the fallout?’. The students have been open, honest and reflective of their own behaviours.
As parents if you would like more information then Andrew Hampton, the founder of Girls on Board, has written the following book, When Girls Fall Out, and it is a recommended read.
Whilst Girls on Board will not stop friendship fallouts, we hope that it will give the students the skills to manage friendships and resolve problems for themselves.
Mrs A Kopsidas
Assistant Headteacher
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Geographical Association Worldwide Quiz
On Thursday 28 November six of our Year 11 Geography students had the opportunity to attend the Geographical Worldwide Quiz at Carre’s Grammar School. This annual event involves schools in the local area competing in teams, answering a range of questions about Geography.
Frankie, Bella, Imogen, Eve, Julia and Orla performed very well with KSHS teams achieving joint third place. The students received certificates and inflatable mini globes to mark their achievement. We were impressed with their success and willingness to get involved – well done to all!
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Visiting Speaker from Act4Africa
On Friday 22 November, the Year 9 and Year 12 students welcomed former student Abbey into the Geography Department to talk about her experiences of working with the charity Act4Africa. Abbey studied Geography A-Level in Sleaford Joint Sixth Form and is currently studying for a degree in International Development at the University of Reading. She is taking a placement year supporting the charity in fundraising and public relations, which includes four weeks work experience in Uganda.
The students enjoyed listening about the projects supported by the charity in Uganda including the ‘Strong Mothers’ Programme’ which promotes gender equality and the empowerment of women. Abbey’s talk linked very well to recent work completed by the students which justified sustainable health care schemes in Uganda.
If you are interested in finding out more about the work of Act4Africa please follow the link Act4Africa | Changing Lives
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Are you a Teacher of English – could you cover a maternity leave in our popular department?
We currently have a vacancy for a year-long maternity cover in one of the friendliest and most successful departments in the school. If you are a teacher of English and looking for a full or part-time timetable, and your own teaching classroom, this could be the job for you. The role starts in February ideally and would be perfect for someone at any stage of their teaching career. Schemes of learning are all in place and marking and assessment protocols are carefully considered to be manageable and efficient. If you would like to visit the school and meet the English team please get in touch. Scroll down to the end of this newsletter for application details. We would love to hear from you.
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Personal Development and Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE)
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Year 11 PSHE Day – Wellbeing, Safety and The Future
On Friday 22 November Year 11 participated in a variety of workshops for their first PSHE Day of the year.
In Session 1, they joined Jo Yoga for a relaxing Yoga session, learning valuable strategies for reducing stress physically and mentally. This session often invites some raised eyebrows from a few pupils before they begin, however all finish the workshop feeling grounded and peaceful, with new appreciation for yoga and what it can do for them!
Next up was First Aid with Jo, who joined us from Mini First Aid to give the students the key practical skills required to deal with medical situations, from CPR to burns and bleeds and calling for emergency help.
In our third session we welcomed presenters from the Army, including Beans from the Royal Logistics Corps and colleagues from Infantry backgrounds. After Careers information and a helpful Q&A, one workshop tested student reactions and another challenged them to build the tallest and most robust tower using a kit of mixed items. Well done to the winning teams, whose towers survived the ‘Beans’ hurricane!
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Finally, all of Year 11 regrouped in the Main Hall at the end of the day for a Study Skills talk hosted by Nick from Lincoln University. This presentation encouraged everyone to consider how well they had prepared for the November mock examinations, and how they can reflect on their revision choices to improve planning and study skills ready for the March mocks next year! They came away with plenty of practical suggestions.
Ms Natley, Personal Development & PSHE Coordinator
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Teaching and Learning at KSHS
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This week the assembly for all students was on the topic of Metacognition, or 'thinking how to think'. We discussed the processes that happen in the brain which allow us to learn and conducted experiments to both test our working memory and how we can hook new information onto the schema we hold in our long-term memory.
This assembly followed feedback from a survey on Teaching and Learning at KSHS that students completed in groups during the last tutor review. A strong understanding of how we learn can strengthen the learning that happens in the classroom, and teachers at KSHS employ lots of strategies to support this.
We ask, if possible, that you ensure that your child has the correct equipment for school in her pencil case. Key elements of this at KSHS are:
- At least 2 blue/black pens
- A pencil and eraser
- A ruler
- A green pen
- A drywipe board marker.
The final item is a new addition for the 2024-25 academic year to support with learning strategies we use at school. If you are looking for small gift ideas as we enter the festive season, a pack of 4 pens can be purchased from Tesco for as little as £1.10 and could make a nice stocking filler.
Watch out for ways you can support your child at home with metacognitive strategies to support independent learning and study in later Newsletter editions.
Mrs Stokes
Assistant Headteacher – Teaching and Learning
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06 Dec 2024
Staff are invited to nominate students who have demonstrated a Growth Mindset in the past few weeks. This might have been in lessons, in clubs, tutor time or simply around school. Please note we already award bi-annual subject badges and merits for good academic work, effort and improvement. Th...
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06 Dec 2024
Well done to Lily who was a finalist in the STARS junior equitation class 2024 at Aintree with her horse Bob.
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Well done to Issie who won the Mallard Cake Dash 5km in Boston a couple of weeks ago.
She had a great run and was 1st lady back with a new 5km pb of 23 mins 52 sec.
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The PTA festive Duck Race is now LIVE. Ducks will be racing virtually online from Friday 14 December to Thursday 19 December with the winners being announced in our Final Assembly.
Ducks cost £3 each and are available to purchase from: https://www.balloonrace.net/kashsp
The winning 100 club numbers are:
September 15
October 17
November 45
December 26
If you are a winner, you will receive your cheque very soon.
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Reporting Illness – a new feature!!
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You can now report an absence caused by illness through the attendance panel (top left) on MCAS if you are working online on a PC.
- Click on report an absence
- Fill in the relevant date information
- Go to the reason box and add a short explanation for the cause of illness i.e. sickness/sore throat etc.
- Press Send
This needs to be completed daily for the duration of the illness.
This function should soon be available on the MCAS phone App – we will let you know when it goes ‘live’.
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04 Nov 2024
Permanent Part-time 0.8 FTE Maternity Cover MPS/UPS – February 2025 for one year
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09 Sep 2024
We are looking to appoint Cover Supervisors
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