January 2016

Kingsmead School Newsletter January 2016 In this issue: Student News Sixth Form News Christmas, Charity & Community News Sports News Snow Closure Procedure We will aim to make an assessment by 7:00am

Festival of Achievement 2015 “An evening of which we are very proud…”

One of the highlights of the Kingsmead school year is our annual Festival of Achievement held each Autumn term. This is when we recognise and celebrate the considerable achievements of so many of our students in so many areas of school and community life. We try to make it an even more special event by holding it off school site at the Prince of Wales Theatre in Cannock.

Students, parents, staff, governors and special guests come together to applaud and honour those who have received trophies, cups and awards marking their achievement in Subject, House, Performing Arts, Sport and extra-curricular activities.

Presentations this year were made by Mr Gareth Moss, Chair of John Taylor Multi-Academy Trust Board and National Leader of Governance. His speech was both interesting and inspirational. The audience enjoyed musical performances from Jack Grimshaw and Lewis Askey Y7, Hollie Spooner Y10 and Sixth Form students Kyle Allen, Jack Evans, Lewis Parry, Kyra Purchase and Erica Shirley.

Mr Bryant, Headteacher said “As ever our students continue to do themselves, their parents and the school great credit. It was a very pleasing and successful evening.”

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 12th February at 3:00pm School opens—Monday 22nd February at 8:50am School closes—Thursday 24th March at 3:00pm School opens—Monday 11th April at 9:50am

Student News Future Chef 2015 On Wednesday 18th November FutureChef, a national cooking competition arrived at Kingsmead! Pupils from Y7 to Y10 prepared and cooked a main course meal within a £5 budget.

Taking part were Ashley Bird Y7, Ellie Jones and Fay Woodhead Y8, Ryan Green and Abigail Phipps Y9 alongside Luke Rowlands and David Woods Y10.

Winners of the school heats were Abigail and Fay who went on to represent the school in the Local Heats of Future Chef. As standards were so high a third winner Ryan, was also selected to represent the school in the District Finals of Rotary Young Chef competition in February.

Many thanks to our judges; Miss Jepson Curriculum Leader Art, Joshua Robinson Head Boy and Ellie-Jayne Ryder Head Girl, who judged the school heat.

At the Local Heats, Abigail and Fay performed extremely well and both produced fabulous dishes. Indeed, after overcoming her nerves Abigail produced a faultless dish to win through to the Regional Finals of this National competition to be held on the 6th February in Birmingham. In preparation for the next round, Abigail will be mentored by the Head Chef at the Moat House, Stafford.

Well done also to Fay. She is one of the youngest competitors taking part in this round and she produced a mouth-watering vegetarian dish.

Miss Thomas, Teacher of Technology A Mini –Moto racing Title!

Y9 student Josh Hiatt has won the British National Championship title in Mini-Moto Riding. He received his trophy on Saturday 21st November having won the 4.2 class title for ages 6-12 in only his second season of riding. The 2016 championship will see Josh step up a class competing on a bigger bike and against older rivals.

On the racing circuit during 2015, Josh and his family travelled as far north as Newcastle as well as the Lake District, Central England, Wales, Kent and Cambridge. Josh had already won the title when they travelled to the final event at The Red Lodge Circuit in Suffolk.

Josh recently met one of his hero’s Wiltshire's Danny Kent. The 21 year old is the first Briton since the great Barry Sheene to win a Grand Prix Title having triumphed in this years’ Moto3.

So what is next for Josh?.... According to Josh's Grandad John, much depends on his success next season when he moves into the higher class. John said “We have already been down to our regular training circuit, Whilton Mill Karting Track in Daventry to test lap times against the standard Josh will be facing next season. We have had a look at his timings and without much practice Josh is looking really good!”

We wish Josh all the best for next season and look forward to bringing you more news from the Moto Circuit.

Youth Speaks On Monday 18th January, Kingsmead School hosted the first Rotary Club of Cannock Youth Speaks competition. The public speaking event challenges students to deliver information in a formal, interesting and clear way.

Kingsmead entered five teams with three making the final. Each team was made up of three students who each took a specific role within the twelve minute talk.

All teams performed strongly and judges were taken aback by the confidence and maturity shown by all.

The competition was an opportunity for young people to develop and showcase important transferable skills. This is one of a number of current initiatives at Kingsmead to empower and train up students for the world of work.

Following the success of the evening a new Debating Club will be starting at Kingsmead soon.

Watch this space...

Student News Annual Prefect’s Meal As a reward for their hard work, we take Y11 Kingsmead Prefects out for a Christmas meal. This is subsidised by the school as a way of saying thank you. There are ten Prefects in each House, chosen by their Head of House, for the excellent qualities they have displayed during their time in KS3 and Y10. Kingsmead Prefects should be fair-minded, trustworthy, kind, self-disciplined, responsible and good team players.

There are six areas in school that are allocated to a different House and two Prefects from each House are expected to do their duty there once a week. Duties include stopping students from entering ‘no go zones’, supporting positive behaviour and assisting students in need. In addition they help out at Parents and Open Evenings when required.

This year forty five Prefects chose to come to Cuizine in Hednesford along with the Heads of House and Senior Leaders.

The students all had a great time and particularly enjoyed the chocolate fountain!

Champions League This year’s Boys’ Champions League is well under way! Twenty nine boys prepared for their mock exams and competed for prizes, which will be awarded shortly.

To launch the programme the boys learnt a whole set of new skills with a trip to Beaudesert Activity Park. The freezing weather did not put any of them off as they battled their preconceptions of what they were capable of doing. “I can’t do that” and “that’s too high” became “we can do this”, “give me your hand” and “we don’t have long left let’s go for it!”

Swadlincote Ski Lessons Mr Farrell, Ms Evans and Miss Taylor took twenty students to Swadlincote Dry Ski Scope in Derbyshire in December to have their first experience on skis.

The students have all been on the school ski trip to Alpes D’Huez this month, further news bulletin coming shortly… The two hour lesson at Swadlincote is designed to allow students to practice getting skis and boots on and off and to teach them how to do basic stops and turns whilst keeping their balance. They also had the opportunity to use the button lift which drags them up the slope.

The skills they learn during the lesson not only save at least a day in lessons at the resort but also enable the students to feel more confident about the sport. It also added to the excitement which was already building as the date for departure drew near!

Mr Farrell and Miss Taylor joined the children on the slopes for the two hour lesson to get some practice in. Ms Evans volunteered to take the pictures and wait for the snow in France before donning her ski boots. The students had a fantastic couple of hours and as a result were ready to hit the slopes!

Students were left in no doubt that when faced with challenges they have resilience and as a team they can support each other to achieve.

This is now being applied into lessons where students are keen to show a positive attitude to revision and their studies.

The competition ran throughout the December exams and into January.

Mr Cope, Assistant Headteacher said “The boys did themselves proud. They really got what we were trying to achieve with the trip. I think they surprised themselves with what they could achieve when they put their mind to it.”

Student News What is the Arts Award?

The Arts Award itself is the equivalent to a GCSE grade and dependant on whether Bronze, Silver or Gold is undertaken (reflects the GCSE grading scale (E-A*)). It is a useful project completed over a year, which strengthens students’ knowledge as well as their understanding of a variety of Art skills including but not limited to Art, Acting and Literacy. It consists of four parts:Part A: Learning New Skills—This is linked to the book the students are representing for the Young Teenage Fiction Award. They decided to produce a trailer for their book, ‘Bodyguard Ransom’ by Chris Bradford. A professional photographer; Hollie Turner also came in to help them. She held a workshop about film making and then helped by filming and editing the book trailer. The new skills being focussed on were script-writing and Drama, as the various roles were acted out. Other groups were able to focus on different skills such as poetry, depending on how they wished to present their book.

Part B: Be the Audience—Students have to attend a performance (concert, play, musical etc) and feedback upon it. The Arts Award group chose to attend a musical called ‘Hairspray’ at The Grand Theatre in Wolverhampton.

Part C: Inspiration—Students choose their favourite Idol and write about them, using research techniques and report writing skills.

Part D: Passing on Skills—Students take over one lesson and present what new skills they have discovered to other people outside the YTF. As there were ten students taking the Arts Award at Kingsmead, they split into three groups. One group taught film making skills and terminology to Y7 students at Kingsmead. The other groups went to St Peter’s Primary School and shared acting and confidence building skills with their Y4 students.

Rhiannon Pyke, a Y9 student writes:- “This was my first year in the Arts Award and I have to say, it has come in handy!

Parts of the Award have really helped me inside and outside of school, as well as achieving the GCSE equivalent mark itself. I enjoyed sharing my Arts skills by teaching primary school children for two hours. It was a major experience for me and acted as work experience for my after school studies in Post-Graduate Teaching abilities. Having to lead a lesson gave me a true insight into teaching.

I also enjoyed the Performing Arts dimension, which will help me to get ready for (hopefully) taking on an acting career in January with a Performing Arts group in Norton Canes. I got to do many things including interviewing my Idols, collecting lots of information, acting on set as part of a cast and even watching other performances such as ‘Hairspray’ in the Grand Theatre.

Over all, I enjoyed my experience and will continue to be a part of the Young Teenage Fiction Club.

Lewis Powell of Y10 writes:As I am in Y10, I had already been involved in the Young Teenage Fiction project with Mrs Harrison (Librarian) for two years. When the opportunity came along to take part in the Arts Award, I soon asked if I could participate.

Arts Award Bronze includes four sections; a mixture of activities including acting and watching performances. The Award is a recognised GCSE in the Arts, due to being accredited

by Trinity College London. As part of this, we had to make a short film championing a book called ‘Bodyguard Ransom’ by Chris Bradford. A professional film maker called Hollie Turner came into school for a day to help us make our film.

I have been playing drums for three years and I was very keen to put my talent to good use on a project like this. I felt I could show others what I could do and how Music can make something like a film much more interesting by having more than one Performing Art in it.

During the Summer of 2015 I decided, along with the other Arts Award students, that I would record two tracks and we would pick the best one to use on our short film. I recorded ‘Sweet Child of Mine’ by Guns n Roses and ‘Like I Roll’ by Black Stone Cherry. We came to the conclusion that we should use ‘Sweet Child of Mine’ as it was more related to our film.

To sum up... I really enjoyed the whole experience! I made some new friends, developed my performing skills and got a qualification in the Arts!

Student Trips London History Trip On a cold, wet and miserable morning, forty four excited Y9 students and four members of staff arrived at Rocky Car Park at 7am. Just after 7:30am, we departed for London. Our first stop was Hampton Court Palace to see the living quarters, kitchens and gardens of Henry VIII. The building itself was incredibly impressive and gave the students a real insight into how Henry VIII lived. From there we drove into London to undertake a workshop at The British Library. Here, students were able to see real life documents from across the ages such as part of the original Magna Carta and letters from Charles I to Parliament before he was executed. Following a delicious meal at Pizza Express, it was time to check into our hotel, but not before seeing highlights such as the Houses of Parliament and the London Eye lit up at night.

Thursday promised to be an action packed day with a stop at the Imperial War Museum. Here students were able to visit an exhibition of World War 1 and even walk through a replica of a real life trench. Students were also incredibly excited to speak to a survivor of World War 2 and listen to his experiences of war. A brief stop at the Medicine Through Time exhibition at the Science Museum was followed by a quick McDonalds lunch stop. Unfortunately weather was not on our side as we made our way to the London Eye. However, this did not dampen our spirits as we boarded the pods to take in the overwhelming views of London. A cruise along the River Thames was next.

As it was beginning to go dusk it was beautiful to see all parts of London start to light up, including the Financial Quarter and St Pauls Cathedral. An evening meal at St Katherine Dock’s in Café Rouge was our choice that evening before embarking on a two hour Jack the Ripper Walking Tour. This involved walking around the different streets where these ghastly murders took place.

An early start again on Friday, where we had breakfast, checked out and made our way to Westminster. A walking tour around this famous area followed, where we all learnt about the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace and Trafalgar Square. London Museum was our final stop on this hectic trip. Students here learnt about the Great Fire of London and took part in a hands-on exhibition about the ever-expanding City of London. At 4pm we boarded the coach ready for our return journey to Hednesford. It is safe to say that all students enjoyed this trip and I was incredibly proud of them all.

Miss Baylay, Teacher of History.

Hairspray… A Synopsis and a Visit In 1962, Tracy Turnbald of Baltimore in Maryland is obsessed with 'The Corny Collins Show' and one of its dancers, Link Larkin. Though rejected at auditions by producer Velma Von Tussle, when Tracey shows off some moves at the 'Sophomore Hop', Corny Collins gives her a place on the show. Tracey is launched to celebrity stardom overnight and meets a colorful array of characters. However, she is unhappy that the show won't allow racial integration and launches a campaign to make it happen. This fantastic show is based on the 1988 John Walters film 'Hairspray' and the songs include 1960's style dance music, Motown and Rhythm and Blues.

Visit to see Hairspray the Musical by Bilston Operatic Company by Danielle Anslow Y9 “The show was unforgettable and truly breath-taking! The music was vibrant and comical with panto aspects thrown in.

Although it showed a comical side it also tackled serious issues such as black rights and equality, which were a real problem in that particular time period.

The quirky musical numbers were both daring and comical and the show was performed to a high level, proving that many of the amateur performers have West End potential.

Unfortunately, the dialogue was at times hard to understand, due to the attempt to use American accent and also the speech was not quite loud enough. This was a problem to us as we were in the Grand Circle at the back of the theatre.

However, when it came to the musical numbers the speech became clear again and the casts true potential was shown.

In all the show was absolutely brilliant and deserves far more credit than it has already received. In my personal opinion the man who played Tracy's Mom, Edna (Adam Starr) was truly brilliant and very entertaining. The size of the heels he wore all night earned my highest respect!”

Sports Teams KS3 Girls Badminton Team

U16 Boys Hockey Team

Winners of the Cannock & District Tournament and now progressing to the County Cup Y11 Boys Rugby Team

Staffordshire Indoor Hockey Champions!

Y7 Boys 5-a-side Football Team

A great performance in their first game of the season!

U14 Girls Hockey Team

District Champions!

Y7 and Y8 Girls Hockey Teams

County Champions!

1st and 4th place in the Mini Hockey Tournament

Christmas & Community Events Y7 Annual Carol Service Reverend Paul Kelly welcomed Y7 students, parents and staff to our annual Christmas Celebration at St Peters Church on Friday 18th December.

A number of Y7 students participated as readers, musicians and vocalists performing a range of Christmas pieces.

Mrs Ryder, Senior Leader who organised the celebration said, “It was wonderful to be joined by so many Y7 parents and families at what has become an annual community event. It was thoroughly enjoyed by all and put everyone in the Christmas spirit!

Thank you to all who attended and helped in any way.”

Y7 Christmas Card Competition Congratulations to Y7 student Millie Griffiths-James whose Christmas card design was voted the winner this year.

Students from Y7 joined Miss Pearce, Teacher of Art every Friday after school to create and work on their designs.

The final designs by Jessica Craft C-LT, Louise Craft C-KPA, Maisie Harris C-SBO, Millie Griffiths-James V-DSU and Daisy Holt H-RSS were voted on by Kingsmead staff and Millie's design chosen as the overall winner!

Miss Pearce said "I am extremely pleased with all the entries this year, the standard was very high! Congratulations to all the students for a job well done!"

SMILERS… the work goes on!

During the month of November, SMILE (Kingsmead’s AntiBullying Programme) students were heavily involved in a variety of activities within school and in the wider community.

During anti bullying week, led by Mr Truby (Anti-Bullying Co-ordinator) fourteen SMILERS visited Pye Green Valley Academy and St. Peters Primary School to conduct a whole school assembly with a presentation and short Drama piece. It was aimed at primary pupils to raise awareness of the consequences of bullying and what you should do if you feel you are being bullied.

This was followed by Drama workshops exploring the theme of bullying with the whole of Y5 from both schools. It was inspiring to witness our Kingsmead SMILERS leading and directing future Kingsmead students with enthusiasm and passion.

Miss Beere from Pye Green Valley said “Our students couldn’t stop talking about the assembly on the playground throughout the week” and St. Peter’s Deputy Headteacher Mr Stevens commented on how our SMILERS were excellent role models for younger pupils.

SMILE have a strong presence around Kingsmead with over fifty students trained as anti-bullying mentors. They help promote a positive message across the whole school. Both this term and last term, students from across the years have dropped into B27: some to talk about the adjustment from primary to secondary school or the challenge of making new friends. Others feeling a bit worried over something just wanted to have a chat having previously been mentored with great success by the SMILERS. Finally, remember that SMILE is here for every single student – we want the whole student body to be happy and safe! Whilst bullying is something that will always exist within society, how we deal with it and offer support to both the victims and bullies is vitally important. We want to ensure positive solutions are always found and to enable young people to feel happy and safe. As always, if you would like to report a bullying incident or concern about your child, please email smile@kingsmeadschool.net

Christmas, Charity & Community Events Christmas Fayre During lunchtimes on Tuesday 15th and Wednesday 16th December students from all Houses plied their trade to raise money for their House charities.

Stalls included ‘Homemade Biscuits’, ‘Candy Floss’, ‘Name the Teddies’, ‘Tombolas’, ‘Splat the Santa’, ‘Christmas Photos’ and many, many more. Charity money raised included:Coppice—SNAP £93.62 Hayes—National Memorial Arboretum £104.25 Littleton—Royal British Legion £86.50 Uxbridge— Air Ambulance £134.35 Valley—Katharine House £165.98 Wimblebury—Breatheasy £48.90 Over £630 in all!

Well done and Thank you.

Hednesford Christmas Lights Once again a group of talented singers shone at the switch on of Hednesfords’ Christmas lights.

Our students performed alongside a number of other contributors.

They had spent many weeks leading up to the event rehearsing and had shown real dedication and enthusiasm for it. Despite the cold and windy weather, the students sang beautifully. 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 volunteers for their fabulous performances. Thank you also to the students families and friends for attending the event in support of us.”

School Christmas Concert

Shoebox Appeal

Friends, families, staff and students also enjoyed the Christmas Concert that took place in school in December.

Performers from Y7 through to Sixth Form presented a variety of musical items to a packed house!

Once again many students played their part in donating filled shoeboxes for the ‘Samaritans Purse’ charity.

The evening was a huge success with some fantastic staff and audience participation!

Many thanks to all who donated.

Sixth Form Student News A word from our Head Boy and Head Girl...

Sixth Form University News

“The positions of Head Boy and Head Girl within a school are privileged positions, which are about being ambassadors for the school and role-models for younger students. This year, it has been the aim of the Sixth Form team to make these roles more visible within the school. Therefore, Ellie Ryder, Head Girl and myself, Joshua Robinson have shown our faces at a number of different events.” Joshua

The Autumn term saw a very busy Y13 eager to get their University applications submitted via UCAS. This year we have had 76 applications go through which is 85% of our Y13 cohort. This represents a healthy proportion of our students who already have their futures mapped out. We are also proud of all our other students who have secured high quality Level 3 Apprenticeships with major companies in the area. The future of our Sixth Form students is looking strong and aspirational. Lots of offers have already come through and this year we have seen a strong rise in offers from Russell Group Universities. So far our students have received offers from the Universities of York, Durham, Warwick, Birmingham, Bath, Liverpool and Loughborough, but the icing on the cake for our Sixth Form this year is that two of our Y13 students have received offers from the prestigious University of Oxford; one offer for Law and the other for Physics.

“Particularly enjoyable for me, was the day I spent at St. Peter’s Primary School, when they were having a ‘World of Work’ day. The Y6 students took over the school for a day, teaching classes ranging from reception to Y5. The students planned the lessons, made the resources and even had the opportunity to be on the local Cannock radio station. I was there to give a helping hand and ensure the whole day ran as smoothly as possible. It was great to meet the Y6’s and see how excited they were to start the process of moving to high school.” Ellie “We were privileged to be asked to be judges at the Future Chef competition, at which we experienced a variety of cuisine, all of which was prepared with enthusiasm and effort. It was also required that we go round to each contestant, asking questions about their dish, their ingredients, and their cooking method. It’s a shame that we can only experience the plethora of culinary delights that came from those upstairs cooking rooms on just this one occasion!” Joshua “In terms of making the role more visible around the school, an area which we were particularly keen to help out with was Y7. This was in order to try and help bridge the gap between the older and the younger students. Firstly, Josh and I helped Mr Goodwin present the first ever Y7 Showcase Evening, and what a great performance it was! We were very pleased to be able to be involved in such a special event, and to see just how much talent there is in Y7. On the last day of term, Josh and I, along with Lucy and Tash (Sixth Form Ambassadors), went up to St. Peter’s Church to take part in the annual Y7 Carol Concert. Lucy and Tash were there to greet parents and hand out the order of services, and Josh and I welcomed people on the door, hopefully spreading some Christmas spirit!” Ellie “Sixth form Open evening was another occasion at which we were present running a stall which depicted student life. This is a stall which is quite different to the other stalls in which academia is the centre. Instead, it was a stall at which fun and enjoyment was at the centre. This was definitely reflected by the large banner, the lights, the cakes, and the live singing that was going on.” Joshua “We have welcomed Y12’s into Sixth Form life and there is a great atmosphere in the common room, which is important when A- Levels can be so demanding!

Everyone enjoyed working together in order to brighten the common room with Christmas decorations. As Christmas approached, we also enjoyed treats such as hot chocolate and mince pies during lunchtimes. Finally, we all had a great day out at the end of a busy term, at Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park, London.” Ellie

We are delighted that so many students are keen to continue their education at University and we wish them every success in their upcoming examinations in Summer.

Mrs Pritchard, Senior Leader Post-16 K-FEST Hello, in July this year, Sophie Nutting Y12 will be travelling to Sri Lanka to take part in a care and community project helping with vulnerable children in schools and orphanages. The Y12 BTEC Music group will be holding a fundraiser concert to aid with raising money in order for the trip to go ahead. On Monday 14th March at 7pm, you are invited to attend K-Fest where tickets are only £2.50 each! Enjoy a night of musical acts and collaborations of all genres here at Kingsmead School, performed by students from all years! Please come along to make this event a success, to raise money for an important charity and to support the Design by Maisie Cole – Y12 talents of Kingsmead School.

House Information Coppice House Whilst I have been teaching at Kingsmead for fourteen years, this is my first opportunity to write to you as Head of Coppice House. I was appointed to this role in September and the past term was the best I have ever experienced.

Over the past three months, the students in Coppice have shown me what a great group of students they are. At the start of the year I set the House a challenge. I asked the students in Coppice to provide me with one hundred reasons in my first one hundred days why they were the best students. So between the 9th September and the 16th December the students excelled in proving to me how great they are!

It has been a pleasure to welcome our new Y7 students into the school. I have been taken aback by both their enthusiasm and how well they have settled at Kingsmead. Eighteen of these Coppice students performed in the ‘Music Showcase’ but particular praise should go to Jake Harrison and Ruby Pike. Both students performed duets in front of a packed hall.

This is a great achievement considering they had only been at Kingsmead for six weeks! Many Y7 students took the opportunity to represent the school and act as a guide at Open Evening, showing how confident they had become in such a short amount of time.

However it is not just younger students who have impressed me.

Seventeen Sixth Form Coppice students have volunteered to work with younger students on a paired reading scheme, supporting them with their Literacy development. Many students, as ever, have volunteered to represent other students as either Sport, Form or Charity Representatives. Particular praise should go to the Charity Representatives who helped to raise money for our charity SNAP through the Christmas Fayre. Emily Small, Ellie Rose and Aaliyah Parker all gave up their own time to bake treats to the sell at the Fayre.

Coppice students throughout all years have been awarded a high number of House Points. A third of Coppice students have already earned over a hundred! Particular praise, however, should be given to Ruby Pike, Louise Craft and Sam Arrowsuch. These three students have each earned over 400 House Points, in part due to their great efforts with the ‘Accelerated Reading Scheme’. These fantastic achievements, alongside many others, meant that Coppice won the House Cup for the first half term. I am looking forward to Coppice replicating this throughout the rest of the year and hopefully winning the House Cup for the whole year!

I would like to wish you all a happy year ahead. After spending a term with the students of Coppice, I am confident that it will be a truly successful one for all of our students!

Mr R Dyke

Excellent Achievement Certificates for Progress Check 1 awarded to:Y7 Kyle Kenny Y8 Liberty Jones Jack Rogers Liam Thompson Y9 Christopher Birtles Hannah Cook Charlotte Cooke Tegan Kirkham Y10 Luke Astell Emily Craft Sam Elwell Elle Haytree Lewis Scott Jessica Shore Y11 Katie Garraton Grace Pike

House Attendance was 95.51% September to December 2015

House Information Hayes House It was a busy but exciting first term for Kingsmead School and Hayes House. Once again students demonstrated our core values: to be proud, prepared, positive and polite, engaging in all aspects of school life.

Hayes Charity Council had a productive meeting last term in which ideas were put forward for the annual Christmas Fayre. The event was once again a great success, with the legendary Hayes ‘Chocolate Raffle Stall’ drawing in a huge amount of punters and raising a lot of money for our House charity, the National Memorial Arboretum. Hayes House were proud to take on the overall organisation of the Fayre this year following the departure of former Coppice House Head Mrs Davies, who originally devised the event. We are pleased to say the Fayre was as popular and well attended as ever and looks set to be an ongoing Kingsmead tradition.

Special mention must go to Billy Bellamy Y7 and Josh Painter Y9, for their achievements in football. Josh plays for both the school team and also Chasetown, who are currently top of the League and about to get promoted, thanks in no small part to Josh’s talents. Billy plays for Cheslyn Hay and is fast becoming a player to watch out for. Ryan Salt Y11, has also achieved well in rugby. For the girls Rianne Martin Y10, remains our star hockey player, having been invited to play for the first team whilst also keeping busy with goal keeper coaching.

We have had more of a focus on rewards this term which has seen many Hayes students receive certificates for high numbers of achievement points. In particular I would like to congratulate Lily Cocks Y8, who has achieved a very impressive 347 points.

Our Y11 students completed their mock exams in December and I am sure all their hard work will stand them in good stead for the Summer exams. It is a tough year but ultimately one which rewards diligence and dedication and I am sure they will do themselves and Kingsmead School proud. Mention must also be made of two of our Y13 students Laura Greenwood and Luther Williamson who have been appointed Deputy Head Girl and Deputy Head Boy. Well done to you both!

I am also keen to point out the hard work done by Hayes Tutors and their dedication to their Tutor Groups. Students have again formed very good relationships with their Tutors and often tell me of the positive atmosphere and interaction which goes on in Tutor Time, something which I frequently see myself when I pay a visit.

We are well underway with what looks like another successful term full of achievement, rewards and success!

Mr P Bradbury

Excellent Achievement Students withfor consistently Certificates Progress high ‘Attitude to Learning’ Check 1 awarded to:Y7 Kaan Islek Y8 Nina Cuthbert Chelsea-Mae Lee Y9 Jack Harley Jenna Martin Joseph Symonds Harvey Taylor Ellie-Jo Mapp Y10 Liam Boot Rianne Martin Callum White Y11 Sophie Hollyhead Colin Traat

House Attendance was 96.47% September to December 2015

House Information Littleton House Well, here we are well into the second term! Littleton students were working hard last term and I’m looking forward to sharing with you what they have been up to!

I am pleased our Y7’s settled in so well and I have enjoyed getting to know them all. It was nice to have a natter with them at the ‘Littleton Lunch’ where they chatted to myself and Mr Truby about their experiences at Kingsmead so far, the new friends they have made and the clubs they have joined.

Littleton’s students’ hard work last term has been rewarded with many Vivo’s. Some lucky students were also rewarded with the new ‘Kingy Bar’ in recognition of a great start to the school year. The winners included Reece Watson Y7, Johnathan Pearson-Key Y8, Abigail Phipps Y9, David Woods Y10, Anna Woolridge Y11 and Sophie Spearman Y12. One lucky winner, Sophie, also received the ‘Golden Ticket’ which is a £5 voucher of their choice. I look forward to giving some more out soon!

Littleton’s Charity has changed this year and we are now supporting the Royal British Legion. We formed a new Charity Council and I am immensely proud that they co-ordinated the school Poppy Appeal and raised over £200 for the charity. Notable Y11 helpers included Holly Butterfield, Jordan Green, Charlie Parker, Louise Maunders and Kieran Roberts and in KS3 Jacob Straw, Emily Spearman, Ethan Latimer and Ben Maley. A big thank you!

Our House Council also met to discuss matters arising in school and plan our Christmas Fayre stalls. The Fayre is extremely popular and a great way to fundraise for the House Charities. This year they decided to run ‘Splat Santa’, ‘Pin the nose on the Reindeer’ and a ‘Christmas Biscuit’ stall. Huge thanks to Mr Truby for volunteering to be splatted!

As well as working hard in lessons many Littleton students have been industrious out of school. Charlie Evans Y9, has achieved her Bronze D of E, Amber Powell Y8, has achieved her silver swimming badge, Morgan Upton Y9, has clocked up three Midlands swimming times, Tyrone Evans Y7, has won a racing Championship in Holland, Owyn Roberts Y9, has achieved his Black Belt in Karate, Amadeep Singh Y9, has received a Superstar award from his Tai Kwando club and is currently a red belt and finally, Ella Mae Heath Y7, is currently British Amateur Champion in Kickboxing!

I’d like to wish you a belated Happy New Year. Let’s hope it’s a successful year for all of our students and Littleton House!

Mrs K Greenwood

Excellent Achievement Certificates for Progress Check 1 awarded to:Y7 Ellie Lashford Maisey Richards Amelia Spink Letitia Williams Y8 Joice Dos Santos Joshua Holmes Y9 Kelly Bodley Chloe Redding Y10 Sean Booth Amber Crisp Kieran May Y11 Abigail Malcolm Hannah Baker Lana Titley

House Attendance was 95.91% September to December 2015

House Information Uxbridge House Welcome to the Uxbridge page in the Kingsmead Newsletter and let me take this opportunity to wish you a happy 2016! The beginning of a new year is always a time to make pledges and promises about the forthcoming twelve months. I would however, like to take this opportunity to reflect on some of the achievements made in Uxbridge House since the last Newsletter. There have been so many successes and triumphs that I must apologise in advance to anyone who I leave out!

With Christmas now a distant memory, I would like to mention Robert Ellis Y13, Liam Andre Y7, Miles Jackson-Lea Y12 and Bryony Y8 & Lauren Roberts Y11 who all played a pivotal role in the Christmas Concert.

This was a truly fantastic event. Bethany Mynett in Y7, also performed at the Hednesford Christmas lights ceremony – well done! Uxbridge House also contributed to the Kingsmead Christmas Fayre, with our ever popular ‘Snowfloss Stall’ raising £165.98 for the Midlands Air Ambulance, our chosen House Charity. A big thank you to all the Uxbridgians who took part and a special mention to Tom Walters Y9, who donated prizes to the Fayre!

Evidence of how well the new Y7 students have settled can be seen from the number of Achievement Points they have gained so far this year! I would also like to mention Phoebe Round and Hannah TudorSmith who took part in the Y7 Showcase event. Achievement is always celebrated in Uxbridge and this is shared with the students at the end of an assembly (time permitting!) and on the Uxbridge Noticeboard.

Kingsmead as a school has also been successful on the sporting fields and of course this includes some fantastic Uxbridge students. I would like to give specific mentions to Leah Aldred Y11 who, as part of Cannock and Stafford Athletics Club has won the World Marathon Challenge for the last two years. Not only did they win but beat their own 2014 World Record in the process. A fantastic achievement!

Further to this, Katie Wood Y9, took part in the girls’ football tournament gaining first place in Staffordshire & Stoke area. Lily Walker Y9, achieved great success in 5-a-side football, netball and badminton competitions as has Amy Newman Y10 in the girls’ U16s Football Cup. Other notable achievements include Portia Mills Y7, who has had great success in various styles of dancing including ballet, tap, modern and freestyle and Luke Pilsbury Y9 who has been cast as the lead role in Beauty and the Beast at Wolverhampton Arena Theatre.

Finally, we were very proud that a Y13 student of Uxbridge House EllieJayne Ryder was interviewed and appointed as Kingsmeads’ Head Girl.

A big congratulations on all the achievements and I leave you with this thought – “What do you want to achieve in 2016?”

Mr M Cavanagh

Excellent Achievement Certificates for Progress Y7 Millie Bennett Tilly Broad Jessica Brown Grace Johnson Myles Jones Grace Richardson Y8 Tara Brough-Smith Jack Grundy Alex Mowe Holly Short Ellie Taylor Y9 Jasmine Bradbury Jordan Hollowood Alexander Wilcox Y10 Ellie-May Bates Caitlin Briggs Amy Newman Grace Round Ellie Tisdell Y11 Amy Beech Dylan Ottey Luke Smith Emily Upton

House Attendance was 95.84% September to December 2015

House Information Valley House House Charity – Katharine House Hospice On Thursday 3rd December, the Valley House Charity Representatives warmly welcomed Emma Whitehurst from Katharine House Hospice to their meeting.

Emma spoke to students about the work of the Hospice and the funding the Hospice needs each year to fund the services it provides to its patients and their families.

Emma then delivered a presentation to the whole House during assembly, it was very well received by students.

Valley House has supported Katharine House Hospice for four years, and in that time has raised over £1000 for the Hospice through fundraising events in school. In early December six students took their fundraising efforts into the local community. On Sunday 6th December the students, myself and one of the House Staff, Mrs Read, bag packed at ASDA Supercentre in Cannock to raise money for our charity. Between 10am-1pm, Kyle, Caitlin, Fay, Neve, Cameron and Amy packed bags for customers on what was a busy preChristmas shopping day. The students were polite, courteous and helpful to all of the customers with whom they interacted. All the students were delighted when they found out they had raised £241.04.

I am extremely proud of all the students who took part.

The photo shows Valley House Charity Ambassador Kyle Parker presenting Emma Whitehurst from Katharine House Hospice with the money raised from the ‘bagpack’.

Excellent Achievement Certificates for Progress Check 1 awarded to:Y7 Ella Devall Eve Lewis Shannon Neale Y8 Ellie Jones Y9 Jake Arms Kyle Ramah Joseph Rutty Y10 Abigail Grice Mia Markham Y11 Isobel Cummings Hollie Davis Lauren Davison Daniel Robinson

Christmas Fayre The Christmas Fayre which took place on Tuesday 15th and Wednesday 16th December also raised valuable funds for Katharine House Hospice. Valley House ran several stalls including: ‘Tombola’, ‘Pick and Mix Sweets’, ‘Guess the Sweets in the Jar’, ‘Fancy Dress Photo’ and a ‘Gift Shop’ run by Katharine House Hospice. A huge credit goes to all those students who helped run the stalls during the two lunchtimes.

Finally, a word of congratulations to one of our Y13 Valley House student, Joshua Robinson who has been appointed Head Boy. Although it is several weeks behind us now, I hope all enjoyed a relaxing Christmas and wish you all a happy 2016.

Mr R Broomhall

House Attendance was 96.49% September to December 2015

House Information Wimblebury House It does not seem like five minutes since I was welcoming our Wimblebury students to the start of the new academic year and already it is 2016!

I am pleased to say that our Y7 students seem to have settled in exceptionally well and have already taken over positions of responsibility and become involved in Kingsmead life. Alex Hill and Ellie Mae Littlewood are our Sports Representatives whilst Emily Bradbury and Isaac Nicholls are our Charity Form Representatives. Isaac also plays in the school orchestra and has performed at two school concerts. Bradley Oakes was a parent guide at Open Evening, plays rugby in school and created his own Christmas Box for the Shoebox Appeal. Jack Bailey performed in both the Y7 Concert and the Christmas Concert and raised money for the Cuba Trip in the ‘Zombie Fun Run’.

Many Wimblebury students were also recognised at the ‘Festival of Achievement’ in October. These included notably; Lauren Pearse Y8, who gained the Outstanding Achievement Award for her amazing Literacy skills and Joshua Holdcroft Y10, who gained the award for Outstanding Attitude to Learning. Josh is involved in many areas of school life including charity work and cooking competitions.

Wimblebury students excelled in donating shoe boxes for the Operation Christmas Child Appeal. I am delighted and proud to say we won the competition (and 600 House Points) by producing the most boxes!

We are still raising money for our House Charity, Breatheasy, who campaign on behalf of people with lung related illness. Last term our Charity Ambassador Niall Toolan Y10 and two Charity Representatives Joshua Holdcroft Y10 and Elizabeth Robson Y8, accompanied me to St Luke’s Church in Cannock to help dress the Breatheasy Tree for the Annual Charity Christmas Tree Display. All the Charity Representatives in Wimblebury had worked in their lunch hours and after school creating stars for the tree. These displayed information on different illnesses that affect the lungs so as well as festive it was informative and encouraged us to think of the needs of others. We then went on to raise £48.90 at our annual Christmas Fayre through ‘Selling popcorn’, ‘Pinning the Nose on Santa’ and ‘Guess the Name of the Bear' competitions. We are now looking forward to being involved in many more fun activities in the Spring term.

Indeed, we are looking forward to an exciting and positive year ahead.

Ms A Evans

Excellent Achievement Certificates for Progress Check 1 awarded to:Y7 Josie Hillier Jake Toolan Matthew Turner Y8 Millie Casey Olivia Elcock Katie Mead Elizabeth Robson Ben Sowley Y9 Diogo Rodrigues Alex Turbutt Y10 Megan Nicholson Y11 Joshua Lilly Millicent Edwards

House Attendance was 95.65% September to December 2015

Dates for your Diary Monday 8th February Y11 Photographs Tuesday 9th February Parents Evening ‘Safer Internet Day’

Contact information Kingsmead School Kings Avenue

Monday 22nd February New York Business Studies Trip Monday 7th March Sixth Form Partnership Meeting Wednesday 9th March Y9 Geography Trip

Hednesford

Thursday 10th March Y9 Geography Trip

Cannock

Monday 14th March K-Fest

Staffs

Tuesday 22nd March Y8 Options Evening

WS12 1DH 01543 512455 office@kingsmead.staffs.sch.uk

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