Newsletter King’s College Alicante
SECONDARY
FEBRUARY 2014 / SECOND TERM
Trip to Barcelona Message from the Head of Secondary Welcome to the February edition of the Secondary newsletter. You will see from the variety of articles inside what another busy and inspiring month it has been for pupils in the Secondary School. Once again our students have demonstrated their concern and desire to help others through their fundraising efforts and the charitable events they have organised. This month we were delighted to support the Red Cross and a local charity, Adimar, as you will see from the photos inside. As I have mentioned in previous issues such charity fundraising is a great way of increasing awareness of the problems other people in the local and wider community are facing and I am always humbled by the enthusiasm with which the children, and you as parents, support these initiatives. We will be starting another collection for Caritas in the middle of March and our Charity Committee will be in touch in due course with further details of the donations you will be able to make. February also saw another successful Trips Week take place with pupils in Years 7-13 participating in various
local excursions as well as our annual Ski Trip to Huesca. These trips provide pupils with a well-earned change of pace but also offer them opportunities to learn in a different environment and apply what they have been studying in the classroom to real-world situations. The Year 10s were also very lucky to participate in our wellestablished Work Experience Programme which goes from strength to strength each year. This would not be possible without the help of the many collaborating organisations we work with and the determination and dedication of Sr. Francisco, who has the unenviable job of finding placements for 40-70 pupils each year. I would like to take this opportunity to formally thank Sr. Francisco as well as all the companies that support this important week in our Year 10 calendar, that offers our pupils an invaluable and often inspirational look into the world of work.
Mr. S Wicks Head of Secondary
19 schools and a total of 405 students have been involved in this competition. Two of our students, Paloma and Tommy Van Duijvenbode Ye have been selected for the next phase, which will take place in late March in the UMH of Elche. Finalists will represent Spain in the international final in Beijing in July 2014.
Spanish Linguistics Olympiad Seven of our expert students face the immeasurable task of deciphering codes, hidden messages, unknown puzzles, uncharted languages, cipher texts ... searching for the key among their neurons, trying to figure out the formula, deciphering the hieroglyphic to open the doors of the glory... Yes, this happened at our school and a few weeks ago, in various schools in the province simultaneously, and no, it was not an Indiana Jones movie or Mission Impossible III. A group of year 11 students decided to face a very difficult challenge, participate in the OLE, Spanish Linguistics Olympiad. The OLE is organized by a number of institutions that are part of the European project Abu- Matrรกn ( www. abumatran.eu) Prompsit Language Engineering, linguistic engineering company based in Elche (Alicante) , the Dublin City University (organizer Olympics in Ireland) and the University of Alicante. The Olympics also has the support of the Science Park Business University Miguel Hernรกndez and the International Olympic Committee .
March 2013 Final, Dublin City University Linguistics Olympiad is a competition that encourages high school students to develop strategies for solving problems related to languages around the world. Students must use their wits to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphics or interpret texts in other languages such as Inuit, Punjabi, ancient Japanese or Semitic,
Congratulations to all students who participated and especially to Paloma and Tommy . We wish you luck and we all hope you have the chance to represent Spain and our school in China.
charitywork KCA fundraising A special congratulations to all pupils in Key Stage 2 and 3 for their participation last year, designing fantastic Christmas cards that were sold at school during our Christmas concerts to support the efforts of The Red Cross in the Philippines. All children involved proudly handed over the cheque for 540 euros and had a chat with Red Cross representatives about the work being undertaken in this area of the world. A great collaboration between primary and secondary that yielded a very positive result!
Thank you to Jesus 3S, Mia 3S, Martina 4J, Cayetana 4J, Aitana 5R, Julia 5R, Laura 5R, Sara 8G, Patricia 8G andYaiza 8P On 17th of February the school charity committee had a special assembly to welcome members of ADIMAR. ADIMAR is an association from Guardamar dedicated to helping disabled people. The objective of the association is to facilitate full integration and non-discrimination of physical, mental or sensory disabled people. The school collected a total of 909.75 euros for this cause. Congratulations to everyone involved in this wonderful project.
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Literary Festival On Tuesday 4th March, year 7 – 11 will take part in an exciting carousel of activities for our annual Literacy Festival. Just a few of the activities to look forward to include aiming high as a Language Ninja, travelling on a moral journey alongside Victor Frankenstein, competing in “The Voice”, taking part in a World Conference and becoming a Police Detective. To add to the excitement, we also have a group of Drama students visiting us from the John Madjeski school in the UK, who will be running drama workshops throughout the day and putting on a unique theatrical performance of Romeo and Juliet for our students to all enjoy. This year's theme is LITERACY IN THE WORLD and our objective is to make students aware of the ways in which they may need to use of English in variety of contexts in the wider world. The English department is really looking forward to seeing the students’ reactions to this year´s event, which we hope to be the best yet! Miss Taylor Head of English
in the
NEWS King's College pupils celebrate academic success with many students obtaining fantastic results in their examinations. Pupils of King’s College Madrid, Alicante and Murcia have received their IGCSE and A Levels certificates from the renowned Edexcel and Cambridge International Examination centres for the examinations they sat last May and June. The results obtained by the studentes were outstanding with three pupuls getting the best grades worldwide. To read the full article please click on the image.
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HOUSE
DAY! Key Stage 3 rose to the challenge as they always do in response to their House Day during Trips Week. All pupils were involved in getting to grips with a number of challenges related to their curriculum.
Thanks to the help of some sixth formers, most groups managed to be at the right challenge at the right time! Challenges included: ‘Quote Match’ which involved speed reading and team work, ‘Where in The World?’ whereby pupils needed to use their geography skills to place famous landmarks, ‘Speed Draw’ to test pupils ability to draw portraits accurately and identify famous features, ‘Number Puzzle’ a Maths based quiz, ‘Mad Science’ when pupils communicated their recall of Science facts in Key Stage 3 and ‘Test Your Tongues’ which involved working out the names of fruit and vegetables in several European Languages. As well as classroom based activities pupils were engaged in outdoor challenges which included a literacy based orienteering activity and Mr Nutter’s ‘Balloon Swamp Challenge’ - very ‘Gran Prix de Verano’! A great effort by all teams and special congratulations to Orwell for coming first place, closely followed by Darwin. Orwell certainly know how to cheer the loudest! Mrs. C Castro Spanish Teacher
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Sports Tournaments On Monday 3rd February, we welcomed pupils from our sister school King´s College, Murcia and from Newton College , Elche to a tournament of badminton, table tennis and basketball. Thanks to all the pupils and staff who participated, especially to Miss Rigney and Mr Nutter who organized and hosted the event as part of our on-going inter-school sports exchanges. Badminton & Table Tennis Tournament By Clara 7B We played Badminton first against Newton College. I enjoyed being part of the year 7 & 8 team for both Badminton & Table Tennis. I got to play with my friends; Raquel, Mariola & Emma. We won all our games in all our categories; singles and doubles in both Badminton & Table tennis. I thought the competition was a little easy because we had different tactics and techniques than the other two schools (Murcia & Newton). I would love to repeat this event over again so that I can improve my Badminton skills. I am looking forward to the inter-house competition soon.
Results Badminton: Year 7 / 8 Girls Newton vs KCA
17 10 18 6 20
14 23 19 36 18
Newton vs KCM
14 25 10 17 29
16 21 23 32 20
Badminton: Year 7 / 8 Boys
KCN vs KCA
8 16 10 20 11
26 19 24 24 34
Newton vs KCA
15 8 4 5 4
45 24 28 33 33
Newton vs KCM
11 16 7 26 10
25 21 25 19 29
KCN vs KCA
14 18 18 20 12
26 27 12 21 23
Winner: KCA Winner: KCM Winner: KCA (3-2) (3-2) (5-0)
Winner: KCA Winner: KCM Winner: KCA (5-0) (4-1) (4-1)
Badminton: Year 9 / 10 Girls
Badminton: Year 9 / 10 Boys
Newton vs KCA
18 18 6 10
23 25 8 20
Newton vs KCM
17 29 12 10 12
15 18 14 23 19
KCN vs KCA
14
21
Newton vs KCA
17 17 23 12
22 26 8 27
Newton vs KCM
13 22 9 25 8
28 20 27 26 32
KCN vs KCA
23 22 22 (3) 27 (2) 29 13
Winner: KCA Winner: KCM Winner: KCA (4-0) (3-2) (1-0)
Winner: KCA Winner: KCM Winner: KCM (3-1) (4-1) (3-0)
Table Tennis: Year 7 / 8 Girls
Table Tennis: Year 7 / 8 Boys
Newton vs KCA
33 21 42 36
10 15 9 11
Winner: KCA (4-0)
Newton vs KCM
KCN vs KCA
24 17 17 21 79pt
7 17 30 9 4
12 22 24 18 76pt
Winner: Newton (2-2, win pts difference
33 37 38 25 29
Winner: KCA (5-0)
Table Tennis: Year 9 / 10 Girls Newton vs KCA
8 16 9
43 25 19
Newton vs KCM
18 11 36
13 56 37
KCN vs KCA
54
11
Winner: KCA Winner: KCM Winner: KCM (3-0) (2-1) (1-0)
Newton vs KCA
7 5 3 27 13
40 30 16 34 26
Newton vs KCM
18 15 12
31 20 21
KCN vs KCA
14 16 10 20
29 40 29 28
Winner: KCA Winner: KCM Winner: KCA (5-0) (3-0) (4-0)
Table Tennis: Year 9 / 10 Boys Newton vs KCA
27 33 13
30 36 51
Newton vs KCM
25 8 26
26 22 15
KCN vs KCA
12 18
14 24
Winner: KCA Winner: KCM Winner: KCA (3-0) (2-1) (2-0)
NB: There were two games not included in the tables - Newton beat KCM 23-21 and KCM beat Newton 28-26. The scorer did not indicate the gender or age group on the score sheets for these games.
Basketball Year 9 / 10 Girls
Year 7 / 8 Boys
Year 9 / 10 Girls
16
0
12
6
64
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BARCELONA FIELD TRIP
2014
The annual Barcelona trip departed last week and was, as always, an overriding success. The Alicante year 12 Geographers were joined at the airport by the Murcia year 12 Geographers in order to begin the essential fieldwork element on their A level work. After a short and easy flight to Barcelona we set off for our inner city apartments. Much to our relief it was short journey and our new home for the next three days was perfect, beautifully furnished and with all the essentials for a good stay. After a quick unpack and discussion we agreed we would have a ´family meal´ that evening and so the next task was to find a supermarket. The boys took charge on the first night and treated us all to a great meal and were aptly rewarded for their efforts by being let off the washing up! It was early nights all round as we had a very early start the following day to begin the purpose of our stay, to explore rebranding and regeneration of Barcelona. We were met the next morning by staff from the Barcelona Field Study Centre and a minibus. We spent the day travelling around villages within the Priorat region and completing various fieldwork techniques all designed to establish the need and success of rebranding in the area. The students were able to explore the local region and ask the field centre staff plenty of questions to help support their work back in the classroom. After a long day in the rural villages we headed back to the city for some time to digest our data and relax. It was the girls´ turn to cook and a pasta dish was on the menu. We had a lovely meal and a nice discussion, sometimes Geography related, over dinner! It was early nights all round to be fresh and ready for the next study filled day looking at rebranding in the El Raval area. Day two consisted of walking through the El Raval in Barcelona. The area was split into 4 study zones and each zone had undergone rebranding to different degrees. The students had to again split into groups and carry out various fieldwork investigations to assess the rebranding that had taken place. The trip was an incredibly useful tool to help students understand the theory they had been studying in class whilst also equipping them with the knowledge and skills they need to be able to answer the questions in their forthcoming AS exams. Thank you to all the year 12´s for a fantastic trip and get ready for the next instalment as we tackle our local coastline and the threats that it is facing. Mrs. K Miller Geography Teacher
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GEOGRAPHY TRIP
TO BENIDORM
During trips week the year 9 students were taken to Benidorm in order to further their exploration of tourism which they have been studying this term in class. In particular the focus of the day was to examine the impacts tourism has had on Benidorm as a town. The students were armed and ready with their own questionnaires they designed and printed previously and a comprehensive fieldwork booklet with plenty of tasks to complete. The students were split into groups and allocated an area in the town within which to carry out their investigation. The focus of the day was on independence and the students rose magnificently to the challenge, managing their tasks and their time keeping expertly. We were lucky to have great staff members with us on the day who helped all the activities to run smoothly and ensured all students got their work completed. As always it was not all hard work and there was some free time to have lunch, enjoy the beach and thankfully the sunshine! Once all the tasks had been completed we had a quiet return to school with lots of sleepy students. The next day they year 9 were number crunching their data and designing suitable graphs etc to help them analyse their results and draw conclusions as to the impacts tourism has had on Benidorm. The students were a credit to the school and got on with the tasks in an expertly fashion. This has not only helped their Geography skills but also their team work and independence skills. We have had two follow up days using ICT and again these are invaluable skills they can relate to other subjects as they continue to learn in the school. Well done year 9 on a very successful trip, I look forward to receiving all the finished projects and finding out what your conclusions are. Ms. K Miller Geography Teacher
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Ski Trip to Panticosa A loud and lively bus left King´s College on the Monday morning en route to Panticosa full of expectation, excitement and heavy beats from the Y12 boys on the back seat. A quick introduction from Javi, our Educo monitor for the week, as we picked him up in Valencia and after a few films and lunch in a cold and windy Teruel, we arrived at our hotel, La Pardina, in plenty of time to unpack before a very sociable meal. A good night´s sleep was in order for us all to be fully prepared for the exertion of a week´s skiing, and after some gentle persuasion, the students agreed that this was a much better idea than parties in each other´s rooms. Bad news greeted us on the first morning as curtains were drawn and heavy grey clouds scowled back. Their silver lining was the fact that although visibility was poor, the slopes were still open and we mostly needed the easy green and blue slopes so, with extra caution and a few more layers on, the skiers braved the elements. They say you haven´t really skied until you can´t see where you are going or feel your face. The students took care in the precarious conditions and after the beginner group agreed that they maybe should leave the black piste until their second day on snow, we all managed to return to the hotel, in one piece, if a little wet, cold, wind burnt and with dreadful hair. After a hot shower and a hearty meal the group slept fitfully after the demands of the day and with a greater hope for better weather for the remaining 2 days. Our prayers were answered as we hit the slopes hard on the Wednesday under blue skies, warm sunshine and enough powder snow that you could lose a pupil in, as we found out when Paula Izquierdo tried to follow a reckless snowboarder off piste….Mr Butcher finding the powder much easier on his wide board than a skier would on two narrow planks. The beginners moved from green to blue, and some from blue to red as Mr Esteban led a mass exodus
over the valley onto the empty slopes behind Panticosa. Those who were snow ploughing less that 24 hours previously showed their parallel turns on quick pistes with enough fresh snow to give good grip. The good weather allowed for a visit to Jaca after leaving the slopes to see the fort and carry out some shopping before heading back to the hotel for a late meal and an early night. Thursday saw a return of dark skies, falling snow and variable visibility, but this did not put off the skiers for their last morning of lessons. All skiers made it onto the main slopes with the top group venturing off piste and finding moguls and jumps. The afternoon was a more relaxed affair with some taking the opportunity to have a long lunch watching the winter Olympics before heading out for one last ski before high winds blew us off the slopes early. The teachers tried to control the ugly scenes that ensued as a snowball fight broke out, ended only when a stray snowball entered the coach and Paco (our driver) blew for full time. All bags were packed before dinner and the inaugural ski trip quiz, won by the Y12 boys through their knowledge of national flags and underhand tactics. Moving words were offered for Javi and Paco, along with gifts before we all headed to bed, dreading an early start on the Friday for the long, and much quieter, return to a much warmer Alicante and reunions with families…. Mr D Butcher Head of Science
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Trip to Cartagena Cartagena is a Spanish city and a major naval station located in the Region of Murcia, by the Mediterranean coast, south-eastern Spain. Cartagena has been inhabited for over two millennia, being founded around 227 BC by the Carthaginian Hasdrubal the Fair as Qart Hadasht. The city lived its heyday during the Roman Empire, when it was known as Carthago Nova (the New Carthage) and Carthago Spartaria, capital of the province of Carthaginensis. Much of the historical weight of Cartagena in the past goes to its coveted defensive port, one of the most important in the western Mediterranean. The confluence of civilizations as well as its strategic harbour, together with the rise of the local mining industry is manifested by a unique artistic heritage, with a number of landmarks such as the Roman Theatre, the second largest of the Iberian Peninsula after the one in MĂŠrida.
Eva , Year 7D During the trip to Cartagena we visited a Roman theatre and we played a game reading lines of a play called Don Juan Tenorio. We also went to a shelter that protected people during the Civil War. Rodrigo, Year 7D During the trip to Cartagena we visited hitorical places like the Roman Theatre, Concepci贸n Castle and the shelter. Clara, Year 7B We went to an underground shelter and saw ancient things. We also went to a Roman Theatre and enjoyed ourselves loads.
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Canelobre Caves Canelobre Caves are located in Busot (Alicante, Spain), a small town 23 km away from the city of Alicante. The entrance to the caves is at the altitude of about 700 m on the northern slopes of the mountain ridge known as Cabezón de Oro (literally, big golden head). The caves are famous for a large vault of 70 m height similar in shape to a cathedral. These are some comments from our pupils: Irene, Year 8G We had a great time in Canelobre Caves. The temperature outside the caves was high so it wasn’t very cold inside the caves. The caves were full of beautiful columns of rock all of different sizes and shapes. We learned lots of new things and enjoyed the trip a lot! Patricia, Year 8G On Friday the 14th, we went to Busot. We went hiking in Cabeçó d’Or, a wonderful, but enormous mountain full of vegetation and mysterious insects. We had a snack and at 2 pm we saw Canalobre’s Caves, a secret place where they hide the planes during the Civil War. I had a fabulous time! Sophie, Year 8G We had a fantastic time at the Canelobre Caves. It was a little dark and damp, but as you looked at the stones going down and up stairs you could see a massive rocks with all differents shapes. Jorge, Year 8G We hiked up the massive mountain called Cabeçó d’Or. It was exhausting! After the hiking, we went to visit the Caves. It was beautiful!
Work Experience Sofia,Year 10 "This year from 10th to 14th February our year group had a work experience week. I went to the Husa hotel in San juan. Each day I was learning something new from the different departments of the hotel. This was very helpful and gave me a lot of ideas about my future job". Pablo, Year 10 "I decided to do practical work for my work experience, this is why I was working in an architectural project. It was extremely interesting to work with a very specific computer programme and moving to see the projects in the field". Daniel, Year 10 "I had the experience to see how an office timetable works. You need to be responsible and obey deadlines with the customers". Oliver, Year 10 "I enjoyed every second of it because it is nice to try something different. It helped me to find out what kind of work I want to do".
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the
art corner
On 17th February professional photographer Karl Blackwell, who has worked for Rough Guide and Canon, came to KCA to work with the year 10 Art students. The day’s workshop consisted of advice on taking good quality photographs and on using software such as Photoshop to manipulate and improve the images. Year 10 had a fantastic time and learnt many tricks of the trade which will help them to create better research and supporting studies for their IGCSE next year. Mr Blackwell commented on the day; “what a fantastic group of students…can I come back?” Sofia Year 10 “Mr Blackwell was great and I learnt how to change the settings on my camera to improve the quality.” Mikaela Year 10 “The day was so much fun and I learnt lots about photography.” George year 10 “It was good to be able to use Photoshop in a professional way.”
artist of the
month Artist of the month is Cherish in year 10 and you can see her clever Gummie Bear portrait.
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Ch e s s W o r l d No . 2 Congratulations to Irene who has become the World No.2 in Ladies’ Chess U18 category.
Jose Luis Outstandig Results Jose Luis, from 11-M, has recently obtained some outstanding results in his sport: badminton. He participated in two events of the National Circuit, held in Cerdanyola del Valles (Barcelona) and in Estella (Navarra) respectively. In the first, he became semi-finalist in men’s singles and champion in men’s doubles. In the latter, which is one of the most prestigious tournaments of the season, he obtained a second place in mixed doubles. Likewise, Jose Luis participated in two territorial tournaments valid for the Spanish ranking, held in Teulada and El Campello. In both events he became champion of men’s singles and mixed doubles of his category, under-17. Moreover, he is playing in the National Badminton League for his team Club Badminton Alicante. He is the youngest male player in this competition and is gaining important experience for the future.
Visit from
Mr Trevor Rowell We were delighted to welcome back Mr Trevor Rowell (King´s Group Board of Governors) for another visit to the school. Mr Rowell has been a regular guest at school over the past few years and always takes a great interest in the work and welfare of the children as well as the staff. During his recent visit, Mr Rowell met with new teachers and spent time chatting with representatives from the Primary Eco-Warriors and the 6th form Committee. Some Y6 pupils also demonstrated to Mr Rowell their new work using recently acquired iPads. This is a new initiative in school which Mr Rowell was very interested to learn about and to encourage in the future.
Congratulations to Elena Benito King's Group CEO, Elena Benito receives an award in recognition of her outstanding career. To read the full article please click on the image beside.
Important Dates MARCH 2014
4 M a r
Literacy Festival
4 M a r
John Madejski Visiting
6 M a r
Year 9/11 Option Meeting
2 8 M a r
Book Fair
2 8 M a r
Ciudad de la Luz Recording All Day
4 A p r
Last Day Term
4 A p r
Non Uniform
2 2 A p r
Third Term First Day
King’s College Alicante Glorieta del Reino Unido 5 Alicante 03008 Spain Tlf: 965 106 351 Fax: 965 108 096 info.kca@kingsgroup.org www.bsalicante.com