THE OFFICIAL KENSINGTON ALDRIDGE ACADEMY MAGAZINE
#20 SPRING 2022
Principal’s Welcome I’m delighted to welcome you to another issue of INTREPIDUS magazine as we celebrate the start of the Summer term. Wiith so many activities up and running again it hasn’t been possible to report on them all, but we have been hard at work to bring you a new-look magazine that really gives our parents and supporters a wonderful insight into the wonderful things our students have achieved last term. As things have begun to return to normal following a difficult end to the autumn term and start to the spring term, due to the Omicron variant, I’ve particularly enjoyed watching the major house competitions in the Spring term - House Dance and House Drama. With over 100 students taking part in each of these comeptitions, it has been a joy to watch our students express themselves through these Performing Arts competitions. Other highlights this term have included our Geography fieldtrips and the return of our annual Literary Festival, supported by the KAA Intrepidus Trust. Do have a look through the wonderful photographs and articles about these events! Thanks as ever to our parents and local community for your support. We look forward to seeing many of you this term for the school production of High School Musical on 12th and 13th July - make sure one of these dates are added to your diary now and we will share details of how to secure tickets via ParentPay soon. Best wishes,
David Benson Prinicpal
IN THIS ISSUE... UKMT MATHS CHELLENGE ... 3 KAA LITERARY FESTIVAL ... 4 BRITISH SCIENCE WEEK ... 6 HOUSE SYSTEM ... 8 House Dance Interim Competitions House Drama PERFORMING & CREATIVE ARTS ... 16 School Production Auditions Theatre Trips GCSE Taster Days Jubilee Concert Future Sounds Competition Performing Arts Recital Mosaic Room Art Project
UKMT MATHS CHALLENGE & OLYMPIAD SUCCESS Our Maths department has enjoyed success this term in a number of national competitions, led by Mr Taylor. In January, Luka (13 Wilberforce) qualified and competed in the first round of the British Mathematical Olympiad, a prestigious competition for the top 1000 young mathematicians in the country. After a gruelling three-and-a-half-hour paper, Luka was awarded a certificate of merit, a huge achievement and unparalleled in KAA history. He was only one correct question away from qualifying for the final round! In March, students in Years 9, 10 and 11 took part in the UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge. The UKMT is a 60-minute, multiple-choice challenge testing students’ mathematical reasoning, precision of thought, and fluency in using basic mathematical techniques to solve interesting problems. The top scoring 50% of students at the competition are awarded Bronze, Silver and Gold certificates in the ratio 3:2:1. This year, students achieved our best ever results with two gold certificates, fourteen silver certificates and nineteen bronze certificiates. Terrel (10 Gupta), Nerses (11 Truth), Tahir (9 Mirzahkhani) and Joshua (Mirzakhani) all qualified for the next round of the competition!
Congratulations to Nerses for being awarded the “Best in School” school prize by UKMT. We look forward to reporting back on the next round of the competition in the summer term, as our top four students prepare to compete in the finals.
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LITERARY FESTIVAL ‘22 The KAA Literary Festival from Monday 7th March to Friday 11th March was a roaring success; a week full of guest speakers, workshops, competitions and (of course) staff fancy dress! Monday kicked off Lit Fest with three incredibly varied speakers; gothic horror author Lindsey Barraclough, ‘Private Eye’ journalist Richard Brooks, and poet/ podcaster Arji Manuelpillai. Lindsey Barraclough was also guest judge for the ‘create a supernatural character’ competition at lunchtime, won by Betty (7 Taylor) with a manga-inspired creation. The first day finished with a Year 7 debate after school on the motion “This house believes that children should choose what books we study in school,” with Mr Clayton & Mr Dickinson judging the opposition as victors in a very close debate. Tuesday’s Wordle competition in the library was a huge hit, and won by Angelou for 50 house points (who somehow conjured the word ‘vivid’ from nowhere). There was also great excitement for actor Leo Suter’s visit, talking about his new Netflix show ‘Vikings’. Performance poets Harry Baker and Lola Oh wowed the students on Wednesday, and a group of lucky Year 10 headed to The Globe to see an incredible production of Macbeth. The brilliant ‘Definamites’ and ‘Design a Book Cover’ lunchtime challenges brought fun and creativity to the library (with Pankhurst coming out on top this time for 50 house points). Two more brilliant authors visited on Thursday and Friday; Sam Angus and Sita Brahmachari. Sita’s book ‘Artichoke Hearts’ is one of the most popular KS3 Morning Reading texts, and a select group of Year 7s took part in Friday’s theatre workshop by the producers who are adapting the book into a stage play! The Poetry Slam interim house competition was a true highlight; the winner Tymo (7 Mason) wowed the judges with his moving poem about the war in Ukraine. And of course staff fancy dress ended the week in fitting fashion, with characters from the like of Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan and 101 Dalmations bringing much colour to the corridors. Ms Gogarty, Ms Peel & Mr Dickinson thank everyone who helped contribute to KAA’s best Literary Festival so far! Bring on next year… 4
BY MR DICKINSON (LIBRARIAN)
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BRITISH SCIENCE WEEK BY MR PRASCH (TEACHER OF SCIENCE) KAA celebrated British Science Week from Friday 11th March to Friday 18th March with the biggest calendar of events in the school’s history! Throughout the week students explored the theme of growth under various scientific fields. From a wide array of activities, students took part in growing seedlings, swabbed for germs to see them multiply in petri dishes, made their own hand sanitiser, grew crystal gardens, met with a zoologist, explored optical illusions, and much more. The science department produced British Science Week lab books for students to complete the activities throughout the week. A special shout out goes to our avid scientists Franek (8 Slimani) and Bryan (8 Evaristo) for attending at least one event each and every day. British Science Week also saw the finals of our Year 9 Schools Challenge, a national competition run by Imperial College London and Goldman Sachs. Our teams presented their final products to a panel of judges. Team “Floating Greens” came up with an idea to use footfall to generate electricity, to be used to power hydroponic gardens to be established around London to reduce the food miles of our produce. Team Modern Greeners came up with a creative solution to address waste management: by turning bins around London’s youth centres into a “Basket-Bin”! While we didn’t take home the winning prize, our teams did bring home the “Gold Star Award” for excellent presentation skills and quick thinking in their Q&A session. Each student has earned a silver CREST award for their efforts throughout the year. A huge congratulations to all who took part! The interim science competitions saw “eggscelent” competitive spirit with the egg drop experiment – our Year 7 and Year 8 engineers developed creative solutions, but in the end Franklin cracked out a win over the competition. Years 9 and 10 designed their own chemical rockets using nothing more than recycled plastics, a pinch of baking soda, and a dash of vinegar, but it was Honeyball that launched their way to the top of the leader boards in this event to win 5,000 house points for the interim science competitions. Congratulations Honeyball! 7
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ANGELOU WIN HOUSE DANCE In the Spring 1 term the major house competition was House Dance! Each house was assigned a movie genre and tasked to create a performance inspired by a film within that genre. On Thursday 10th February, over 100 students competed in the finals in performances to Years 7, 8 and 9, with the final show taking place in front of a panel of independent judges. We were delighted to be joined by special guest judge Luke Rittner CBE, Chief Exectuive of our academic partner, the Royal Aademy of Dance. The show was hosted by our Director of Performing & Creative Arts, Mr Dunning, and opened with the duet by Danielle (9 Turing) and Anna (9 Euler), which won second place at KAA’s Got Talent 2021 in the Autumn term. Honeyball were the first house to perform. Their genre was animated films, and they based their dance on the movie ‘Shrek’, set to the music “Holding Out for a Hero”. It was full of sparkle and magic, with glitter covered outfits and perfectly timed confetti canons! The choreography included solos by Julia (13 Maathai) and a duet by Ana (11 Truth) and Stephanie (11 Bonhoeffer). The Head Judge Luke Rittner’s said: “A terrific opening, real enthusiasm. It was a big cast and they moved in unison really beautifully. I was really delighted with everything I saw.” The second house to take to the stage were Pankhurst, performing a James Bond themed dance for their action movie theme. Set to the 007 theme music, Pankhurst’s slick performance included solos from Aarmi (7 Armstrong) and Kaya (7 Mason). Royal Academy of Dance teacher Jemma called for a round of applause for Kaya for stepping in at the last moment on the solo, and congratulated on the soloists for the tension they built up towards the end of the piece. Luke Rittner said “the communication of the theme was absolutely brilliant and the choreographic elements were really first class.” The third performance was Franklin, with their sci-fi theme inspired by the Star Wars films. Cloaked like a Jedi and a Sith, Hannah (12 Roosevelt) and Lirio (11 Hume) 8
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performed solo and duets throughout the performance, supported by chorus groups of Jedi and Sith dancers. Judge Gemma said “The duets at the very beginning had excellent dynamics and the travelling sets from group to group had beautiful physical skills used in the alignment and core strength of the grand jete and the split leaps.” The final performance was Angelou’s horror-themed number inspired by the movie “It”. The eerie atmosphere from start to finish was electric, the full chorus sported blood-stained clothing as they persued the four principal dancers, Willow (7 Knowles), Sarah (7 Knowles), Rami (7 Taylor) and Anastasiia (7 Taylor), who wore the iconic yellow raincoats and carried red balloons. The chorus performed a number of lifts in their pursuit of the four lead dancers, including Dominick (7 Knowles), who also contorted into a number of shapes to add thematically to the eerie atmosphere. The chilling choreography was set to a dubstep mix of horror and circus sounds and Angelou had the largest company with 44 dancers! Judge Jemma said “I actually got shivers! The strength of the work was in the story telling and excellent use of formations and really impressive acrobatics throughout.” Luke Rittner added that “There was a real sense of fear, a real sinister feeling that you conveyed. It was a fantastic communication of the theme, and a real sense of originality in the way of you were conveying it.” The judges submitted their final scores to Mr Dunning, ready for the big reveal during the extended tutor time celebrations on the final day of the Spring 1 term. It was no surprise to most that ANGELOU were given first place by the judges, with a total of 77 points. In join second place, Honeyball and Pankhurst both scored level on 70 points. Franklin was placed fourth with 64 points.
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SPRING 1 INTERIM HOUSE COMPETITIONS
Swimming Gala WINNER: FRANKLIN
On Friday 4th February, over 80 students competed in our interim swimming gala. With points totalled for each of the race, Franklin were named champios and won the 5,000 house points.
KAAraoke WINNER: ANGELOU
On Monday 24th January, students competed in a karaoke sing-off to win 5,000 points for their house. Dominik and Indigo (7 Knowles) were placed first and won Angelou the top spot!
MFL Spelling Bee WINNER: FRANKLIN
On Thursday 3rd February, students competed in a spelling bee testing their linguistic skills across a range of different modern foreign languages. It was especially lovely to see Sixth Formers working with the lower school students.
Indoor Athletics WINNERS: FRANKLIN & HONEYBALL
The Indoor Athletics comeptition was split across two weeks after school in February. Students competed in a range of atheltics activities and Franklin & Honeyball tied on 36 points! 12
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Poetry Slam WINNER: PANKHURST
During KAA Literary Week the English department held a Poetry slam during lunch time on Friday 11th March. Pankhurst won with Tima’s moving poem about the conflict in Ukraine.
SPRING 2 INTERIM HOUSE COMPETITIONS
Science Week WINNERS: HONEYBALL
During British Science Week in March, Honeyball proved the most successful scientists across both the egg drop and rocket building competitions during lunch times and bagged first place!
Maths Countdown WINNER: PANKHURST
On Thursday 10th March the maths department hosted a maths countdown showdown in the theatre to test students mathematical prowess. Pankhurst won with 31 points and neat & clear working - a mathematician’s dream!
Trampolining WINNERS: HONEYBALL
On Thursday 24th March, the PE department hosted an interim trampolining competition after school. Honeyball came out victorious and took the 5,000 points.
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HONEYBALL WIN HOUSE DRAMA
The major house competition of the spring two term was House Drama. Each house was given a different Roald Dahl “Revolting Rhyme” to perform. Students rehearsed twice a week for two months over the half term before the finals on Wednesday 30th March in front of guest judges Matthew Jay Ryan and Natalie Ann Boyd.
Angelou’s story was “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”. They chose to perform their rhyme using entirely physical theatre instead of props. Natalie said she “was really impressed by the physicality of the performance.” Franklin’s rhyme was “The Three Little Pigs” and judge Matthew Ryan said “it was so clever the way you changed the piece with little details that fitted into Ladbroke Grove.” Honeyball performed “Jack and The Beanstalk” and the judge Natalie said the teamwork of the cast “was like watching a West End show.” The last performance was Pankhurst’s interpretation of “Cinderella”. The judges were impressed with the individual characters of each narrator, as well as the lead performance from Gabriel (10 Beckett) as Cinderella. Thank you to Dastin (10 Graham) for running all of the sound and lighting for the competition, and to the Heads of House and Drama teachers for their coordination of rehearsals throughout the Spring term. The results of the competition were announced in the End of Term assembly, revelaing Honeyball as the winners with 45 points out of a possible 50. The 20,000 house points for winning the major competition helped to propel them into second place at the end of the Spring 2 term.
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PERFORMING AND CREATIVE ARTS NEWS HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL
On Friday 14th January, 72 brave students from Years 7-10 auditioned in front of their performing arts teachers for a chance to bag a leading role in KAA’s upcoming production of ‘High School Musical’. We were overwhelmed with the students’ confidence and talent, so much so that we have decided to double cast many of the roles! A huge congratulations to all of the students taking part, especially our leading man and ladies Dominick (7 Knowles), Mia (7 Knowles) and Omara (8 Muller) (pictured below) who are taking the lead roles of Troy and Gabriella. Rehearsal are now well underway for the production and tickets for ‘High School Musical’ will be on sale in the Summer term.
SIX THE MUSICAL TRIP On Thursday the 10th of March, the Performing Arts and History departments joined together to orgnaise a trip to see the amazing musical ‘SIX’. Year 8 students who have been studying musical theatre learnt about the lives of the six wives of Henry VIII through a modern retelling presented as a pop concert. Students were seen to be having the time of their lives singing and dancing along to the songs and getting involved with audience participation. The show was thoroughly enjoyed by all twenty students in Year 8 and 9, as well as the two staff members who accompanied the students. 16
BY MR DUNNING (DIRECTOR OF PERFORMING & CREATIVE ARTS)
NUTCRACKER THEATRE TRIP On Tuesday 11th January the dance department treated twenty-three students from the Intrepidus Dance Company to their first theatre trip of 2022. Students watched the critically acclaimed Matthew Bourne’s ‘Nutcracker’ at Sadler’s Wells and thoroughly enjoyed the reinterpretation of a classic ballet. We were also incredibly lucky to have our seats upgraded from the far back of the royal circle, to the front row of the theatre! It was an experience that many students (or staff) will not enjoy again, so we were thrilled.
JAZZ QUINTET CONCERT TRIP On Monday 21st March, 20 GCSE and A Level musicians enjoyed a jazz quintet performance at the world-renowned venue Wigmore Hall in central London. Christian McBride with members of Inside Straight played a mesmerising set of jazz showcasing seriously impressive talent.
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GCSE OPTION TASTER DAYS On Thursday 20th January 20 Year 9 students went to The Royal Academy of Dance to take part in a GCSE Dance Taster Day. Students got to take part in a series of workshops focusing on different components of the GCSE Dance course. Students really enjoyed the experience and visiting The Royal Academy of Dance. On Friday 25th February, Year 9 students took part in KAA’s second PCA Drop Down Day. The theme for the day centred around ‘Lights, Camera, Action’ and students had the opportunity to take part in a variety of externally lead performing and creative art workshops based around this theme; ranging from learning to use a green screen to creating their own stage combat routines! It was great to see the whole year group really immerse themselves in the experience and we hope their passion and creativity for the arts continues throughout their time here at KAA and their choices at GCSE! In March, Year 9 students were invited to take part in Taster sessions for GCSE Textiles and GCSE Art. In the Textiles taster session, the students looked at current Year 11 work and were introduced to some techniques based around the concept of using recycled materials. They made wax fused teabag samples using wax pots and irons. From this, the tea bags become translucent creating interesting textures and patterns. They also tried a plastics fusion technique where a range of different plastics were melted, manipulated and fused together to create exciting layers. In the Art taster session, students were introduced to the GCSE assessment objectives emphasizing experimentation and personal responses. The students explored experimental drawing techniques, playing with a range of different surfaces including painted and collaged grounds. The aim of this session was for students to create personalised responses and push their drawing skills to a new level. The students tried blind drawing, continuous and overlapping line drawing and sustained drawing with non-traditional materials. We hope that these sessions were really exciting and useful for students as they make decisions about their GCSE options for next year! 17
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QUEEN’S JUBILEE CONCERT On Wednesday 23rd March, the KAA Choir performed at St Mary Abbots Church near High Street Kensington as part of the RBKC Diamond Jubilee celebrations. The mayor was in attendance as well as other council members and the choir performed “Rise Up” by Andra Day. The choir rose to the occassion and put on a beautiful performance, which you can watch on our YouTube channel.
FUTURE SOUNDS SUCCESS KAA was very well represented at the Future Sounds competition held at The Rhythm Studios in March. This is a battle of the bands-style competition for students 11-18 in the three local London boroughs, Kensington & Chelsea, Westminster and Hammersmith & Fulham. Three judges hosted this initial preliminary stage with at least 20 competitors and only 7 acts making it to the final. The school band performed “Locked Out Of Heaven” by Bruno Mars, Katie (11 Jones) played “Your Song” by Elton John, and Josh (11 Jones) played a virtuosic jazz interpretation of the standard “Sonny”, by Marvin Gaye. Josh made it through to the final and went on to perform two songs, one cover and one original, at Bush Hall on Wednesday 30th March in front of Hollie Cooke (artist), Dylan MyerscoughHarris (UK A&R Manager at Peer Music). We’re delighted to announce that Josh was awarded the “Star Performer” prize. He performed his piece for students on the final day of term in our awards assembly.
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PERFORMING ARTS RECITAL On Thursday 24th March, our GCSE and A Level performing and creative arts students performed a showcase of their work for parents, staff and students in Year 9 and Year 11 considering selecting performing arts subjects for their GCSEs and A levels next year.
YEAR 12 ART EXHIBITION
Year 12 students have been involved in a collaborative project with The Mosaic Room Gallery, responding to the exhibition ‘Stateless Heritage.’ The images in the exhibition explore the Dheisheh refugee camp in Palestine and are displayed in light boxes. The photographers (Sandi Hilal and Alessandro Petti ) documented the streets through photography. They believe that the camp should be considered a world heritage site. It has been in existence since 1949. Students visited the exhibition in Earls Court and in a similar way to the photographers, they documented the area with the artist Harold Offeh. Students took rubbings/clay imprints in the local area, took photographs, documented words they heard people said and did observational drawings. Students worked in small groups creating a collaborative art piece documenting their findings by creating a visual representation. This work has been printed onto vinyl and we invited parents and other students to celebrate the end of the project.
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The INTREPIDUS MAGAZINE TEAM Editor Vashti Turner REPORTERS Mr Dickinson Mr Dunning Mr Prasch Contact If you have a story or a photgraph you’d like to submit for the summer term issue of INTREPIDUS, email Miss Turner at info@kaa.org.uk or visit her office in room 015 to discuss! 20
