Newsletter King’s College Alicante
SECONDARY
NOVEMBER 2013 / FIRST TERM
Message from the Head of Secondary With December just around the corner now, that festive feeling is definitely beginning to spread throughout the Secondary school. Thoughts of carol concerts, card competitions, Christmas fairs and other seasonal events are high on the agendas of pupils and staff. It has been apparent this month however that pupils are also very aware of those less fortunate than themselves in the local and wider community, and are keen to make a difference to the lives of others. Our school has a long tradition of collecting for those in need but this year we have a particularly pro-active and energetic set of Sixth Form students leading our Charity Committee. Between them they have been organising the collection of food and other items from Primary and Secondary school pupils for the Red Cross campaign for the Phillipines and the Caritas campaign to help local families. Your help, coupled with their perseverance and relentless hard work resulted in an incredible 1.2 tonnes of items for the two charities. There is no doubt that this initiative will have a massive impact on the lives of many but it also helps to shape our own children into the adults they will become. There are important lessons here for them to learn, not least about the power of teamwork and the collective impact you can have when you work together with a common aim. I am incredibly proud of everybody involved in this initiative but would be remiss not to say a special thank you to Fiona, Tara, Alba and Claudia for the dedication to the charity committee and its work. A special ‘well done’ to you all. This month has also seen us participate in a number of other events
including our inaugural Inter School Football Tournament. It was very exciting for both staff and pupils to participate in this event, involving schools from as far south as Murcia and as far north as Javea. More than 200 players joined various tournaments involving boys and girls from Year 7 to Year 13. Our pupils were not only a credit to the school on the day but had a great time meeting new people and being involved in some healthy competition! This is the second time this term we have involved the local community in sporting competitions and I hope this will form the basis of many more such competitions and friendly matches in the months and years to come. Congratulations to all who took part. On a final note, with only three weeks to go and the excitement of Christmas ahead of us all, I would urge everybody to keep focused on their priorities and would like to particularly wish our Y11 pupils luck with their fast-approaching, mock examinations. Read Mme. Maire’s advice inside this newsletter, ask your teachers if you need any guidance and really prove to yourself and your teachers what you are capable of achieving in your IGCSEs this summer. “Continuous effort, not strength or intelligence, is the key to unlocking your potential”, Winston Churchill.
Simon Wicks Head of Secondary