From The Head The weather has been chilly but this has been a good spring term with plenty achieved. It began with good results for our university applicants with over 80% receiving offers from Russell Group universities including seven Oxbridge places in this round of applications. Much time has also been focused on managing the new construction projects on the main site. Work is now well advanced for the construction of the new theatre, Art Department and expanded concourse to be completed in July 2017. Plans and photographs may be found on the website including many taken with the school drone. As this edition of KonnEctionS makes clear, the School remains extraordinarily busy with a variety of activities offering our students many opportunities.
The spring term has a compressed calendar of hockey, netball, football and even sailing at SWAC when the ice allows! We have also enjoyed the annual KESPTA Quiz Night, a number of studio drama productions and several musical events including the spring concert at Turner Sims and wonderful singing at evensong in Romsey Abbey. Charitable activity has been extraordinarily successful with over £10,000 raised this term; a great achievement. Students have travelled to Munich, Florence, Belgium, Salamanca and CERN in Switzerland over half-term.
and Montpellier in France to improve language skills. Many other students will also be involved in various Duke of Edinburgh expeditions in the New Forest and on Dartmoor at Lovaton. This issue of KonnEctionS also highlights some of the remarkable achievements of individual students at King Edward’s. They remain positive and community-minded whatever the weather throws at them! A J Thould Head
Over the Easter break, the annual ski trip to the Alps, expeditions to Morocco and Iceland, a classics visit to Rome and the Bay of Naples, another to Prague and a cultural visit to New York are planned, as well as the regular trips to Andalucía in Spain
King Edward VI School Wilton Road . Southampton . Hampshire SO15 5UQ Telephone: 023 8070 4561
www.kes.hants.sch.uk
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Academic WWI History Day On 13th January, as part of the School’s on-going effort to mark the 100th anniversary of the First World War, the entire Third Year took part in a ‘World War One Day’. This was designed to act as an introduction to different aspects of the Great War, and saw the pupils investigate issues such as life in the trenches, medical provision during the war, the role of women between 1914 and 1918, aerial warfare and the conflict from the German perspective. The School was pleased to welcome a variety of speakers who really brought the topic alive and the day acted as a stimulating introduction to the First World War for pupils.
Geographers investigate Calshot Spit Upper Sixth geographers spent a cold February afternoon at Calshot Spit investigating coastal processes as part of their A Level syllabus. They also surveyed the spit formation looking at the form in cross profile at twenty-one different locations as well as studying the beach material which makes up the feature.
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Classicists visit British Museum On 2nd February, the Third Year Greek and Fourth Year Classical Civilisation sets visited the British Museum. They were given an informative and lively talk on the Parthenon Marbles in the gallery and students were kept busy finding various scenes from the great procession for Athena which is depicted on the frieze. They were also able to explore independently and enjoyed the Egyptian and Assyrian galleries in particular.
Science Olympiad results
Cyber lab team visit KES
There were some excellent results achieved by the Upper Sixth biologists who took part in this year’s Biology Olympiad.
In January, KES pupils received a briefing on the latest news and threats in regard to the digital economy from members of Bournemouth University’s cyber lab. Pupils excelled at the many tasks set for them including finding hidden messages in image data.
James Harper, Claire Mitchell and Bronwyn Lee received a Gold award. Eleanor Medlock, Harriet Crompton, Tom Edwards and Luke D’Souza gained Silver and Ananth Sathyanath achieved Bronze. Katherine Smith, Rachel Jacob and Vicky Diaper got Highly Commended. James Harper’s score ensured he progressed to the second round of the competition to determine the finalists. Over the course of the autumn term, seven KES Upper Sixth physicists also trained to take part in the British Physics Olympiad. Two students did particularly well, achieving medal positions. George Horner achieved a Bronze II certificate and David Veres achieved a Silver certificate placing him in the top 25% of entrants.
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Textile students visit Fashion Museum The Fourth Year GCSE Textiles day out was to the Bath Fashion and Textiles Museum. Highlights of the museum included seeing Madeleine Swann’s (Léa Seydoux) blue ‘Lover Venus’ lace dress from the James Bond film Spectre and trying on period dress, including corsets worn at the turn of the century. The trip gave the students an excellent start to their research for their GCSE controlled assessment project and was a great opportunity to get lots of design ideas.
Economists visit Mini production plant This term, thirty-seven Fifth Year economists visited the Mini assembly factory at Cowley, Oxford for a fascinating insight into global manufacturing. Students were guided through the ‘body in white’ plant, where panels manufactured in a Mini plant in Swindon, are welded together to form the main body of the car and had the opportunity to ask questions as well as watch the robots spot welding at close quarters. In the assembly plant they witnessed a more labour-intensive operation and the visit enabled them to see the specific tasks performed by a combination of human endeavour and automation.
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Salamanca During the half-term, a group of eighteen students and three staff were blessed with glorious weather on the annual trip to Salamanca. They enjoyed sitting around Plaza Mayor sipping coffee and walking around Madrid in the sunshine but were also very busy with four hours of daily language lessons and afternoon and evening activities. They learned to cook Paella and Spanish tortilla; visited the theatre, the cinema, the Bernabeu Stadium and the Reina Sofia museum in Madrid, and sampled a lot of local food; all the time practising their Spanish in preparation for the summer examinations.
Science Roadshow Historians visit Munich
On 28th February, seven Upper Sixth Formers spent the day at Stroud School as part of their ‘Science Roadshow’ experience. The aim of the roadshow is to give KES students experience in presenting science to younger pupils. They did an excellent job of conveying the impact of different materials on sound, and how sound travels, as well as getting the younger children involved in a number of science experiments.
During the recent half-term break, the annual History department IGCSE trip took place. This year saw thirty-four pupils visit Munich, the birthplace of Nazism, and Nuremberg, arguably the spiritual home of National Socialism. This was the first time that these locations have been explored and the trip was a great success. The group spent four days getting to know Munich in particular and, more specifically, developing their understanding of Germany during the period of Nazi control. The party spent time at the chilling and unsettling Dachau Concentration Camp and the Nuremberg Rally Grounds together with the venue for the post-war Nuremberg trials and, as some light relief, also enjoyed a guided tour of Bayern Munich’s magnificent Allianz Arena.
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CERN 2017 During February half-term a group of twenty-one Sixth Form students and three staff travelled to Geneva to visit the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, more commonly known as CERN. Here they were able to explore the two exhibitions that CERN has on offer to the public, the first about the Large Hadron Collider and the second entitled the ‘Universe of Particles’. Afterwards they took part in a workshop on making cloud chambers, supercooling ethanol and using this cloud to help visualise particle pathways. As well as a visit to the Anti-Matter Chamber and the Geneva Science Museum, students also had some free time to enjoy the Lake of Geneva during this two-day trip.
Florence in February A group of Art pupils joined Italian students on a five-day trip to Florence over the February half-term. Added to the visits of the many fantastic galleries and museums, unexpected events such as the Calcio Storico, a historical football contest in Santa Croce square, and colourful procession through the town the following day, just heightened the variety of experience that this incredible city had to offer. Art pupils were treated to a full programme which offered the chance to study a wealth of exquisite sculptural works and fine examples of Medieval and Renaissance paintings, while the Italian students happily took part in the many activities their Italian lessons required.
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Co-curricular Charlotte Exchange - home leg! Before half-term, the School welcomed exchange students from Charlotte Country Day School in North Carolina for the home leg of the programme. The American students stayed with their exchange partners and attended lessons at KES to work on their individual creative arts projects. They also braved the British weather to visit popular tourist destinations such as London, Stonehenge and Oxford, as well as seeing a live football match.
Battle of the Bands 2017 At the end of January, the 2017 Battle of the Bands competition took place in front of an enthusiastic audience who filled the School Hall. The event takes place annually and is one of the principal fund-raising events for the School’s Summer Camp trip for Southampton’s young carers. This year’s event raised nearly £1500.
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Safer Internet Day
KES competes at CISCO challenge
Tuesday 7th February saw the school community get involved in Safer Internet Day. The First Year Digital Leaders presented assembly in the morning and throughout the day students were given the opportunity to make pledges to make the internet a safer place. These were displayed in the Crush Hall.
Six First and Second Year pupils attended the Cisco regional ‘Internet of Things’ final held at Winchester Science Park in January. Their pitch and presentation, along with supporting work, which they had completed over the previous couple of months, earned them third place regionally; a commendable achievement.
Hamble Lifeboat visit Shortly before the Christmas break, KES Sixth Form kayakers and sailors continued their association with the Hamble Lifeboat by visiting their brand new boathouse. They were given a talk about the history of the volunteer lifeboat service that operates in the Solent area, before taking a closer look at their life-saving vessels and participating in some practical rope work led by members of the crew. The highlight for many of the students was trying out some of the high tech kits used to save lives that included a set of thermal imaging goggles.
Fourth consecutive KES win Congratulations to the KES team who took part in the annual Uniformed Services Competition, against eight other local schools, that was held at the end of last term. They finished in 1st place thus securing a fourth consecutive win for the School.
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European Space Centre trip In the half-term break, a group of Third and Fourth Years travelled to Belgium to the European Space Centre. During their visit, the students took part in many exciting activities including astronaut training simulators allowing them to moonwalk. A simulated space shuttle mission was also amazingly realistic with a life-sized version of the space shuttle that involved orbiting, satellite launch, docking with the Space Station, re-entry into the earth’s atmosphere and finally landing. The group also enjoyed taking part in space experiments and rocket building workshops. A torchlit visit to nearby Bouillon Castle and an opportunity to make some Belgium chocolates provided the students with some experience of the local culture too.
South African Dinner Dance The School Hall was transformed into a glittering venue for the South African Dinner Dance in February. The black tie event was a huge success and the Sixth Form team did a fantastic job organising it. Along with ticket sales and the auction, over £4500 was raised for the charity and the forthcoming trip to Goedgedacht due to take place this summer.
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Creative Arts KES Annual Music Competition
Tom Seligman workshop
Congratulations to all sixty-seven musicians who performed in the annual Music Competition on Tuesday 7th February. This year the standard was extremely high and Dr Carrasco, the adjudicator, commented on how well prepared the players were and the impressive range of music on offer. Thank you to Mr Belassie for providing the piano accompaniment for all pupils.
The musical year got off to an exciting start with a workshop from the School’s visiting musical advisor and consultant Tom Seligman. Tom is an English conductor who made his Royal Ballet debut in 2010 conducting a double programme of Peter and the Wolf / Tales of Beatrix Potter at Covent Garden. He is in demand as a choral conductor and has worked extensively with the BBC and London Symphony Choruses. During his visit to KES, Fourth Year GCSE pupils worked with Tom on aspects of their concerto topic, while Sixth Form A Level musicians enjoyed an active conducting workshop on Beethoven’s ‘Eroica Symphony’. Tom also helped A Level musicians with their recital repertoire in a series of excellent performance classes.
Pro Corda National Chamber Music Competition On 3rd February, three students participated in the regional rounds of the National Chamber Music Competition at Godolphin School. The Woodwind Trio, with Tom Edwards and Eva Carlyle playing flute and Aelfred Hillman on clarinet, performed ‘Aubade’ by Gordon Jacob to a very high standard in front of adjudicator Laura Kinnesey, and a receptive audience, before receiving a masterclass on their piece. The results of the competition meant that the trio progressed to the semi-final.
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Drama Scholars perform ‘The Ash Girl’ The School’s drama scholars performed Timberland Wertenbaker’s play, ‘The Ash Girl’ in The Twigg Studio for two nights in February. ‘The Ash Girl’ premiered at Birmingham Rep in 2001 and explores the beauty and terror inherent in growing up. The scholars staged a thoughtful and moving interpretation of the play.
Music Trip to London This term thirty KES GCSE and A Level musicians enjoyed a bright, crisp sunny day out in London. They experienced a fascinating backstage tour of Covent Garden Opera House, visited the National Gallery to look at eight significant masterpieces, watched street theatre in Covent Garden over lunch and listened to the London Mozart Players perform Mozart’s ‘Piano Concerto No 16’ with soloist Howard Shelley at St John’s Smith Square.
Choir sing evensong at Romsey Abbey In February the KES Chamber Choir joined Romsey Abbey Choir to sing evensong at the Abbey. The combined voices produced a beautiful rendition of Noble’s ‘Magnificat’ and Edgar’s ‘Give unto the Lord’ for the congregation.
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City Art Gallery concert On a Thursday lunchtime in February, Sixth Form Music A Level students performed at Southampton’s City Art Gallery. They showcased their A Level recital pieces (vocal and instrumental) to the public, ahead of their forthcoming examinations.
Dance Gala Shortly before half-term, the School held a Dance Gala in the Dance Studio. Pupils showcased everything from Irish and modern dancing to tap and ballet in a spectacular display of talent.
2017 Arts Festival This year’s Arts Festival will take place from Monday 19th to Wednesday 21st June. The three-day festival of arts events will include performances, exhibitions, workshops, lectures and concerts providing an exciting, vibrant and stimulating few days to challenge and inspire. KES pupils will have the opportunity to meet and work alongside professional artists and on Wednesday 21st June there will be a fun lunchtime of street theatre, jugglers, buskers, portrait artists, dancers, magicians, crazy golf, clowns, competitions and lots more. This year we are inviting parents to join us from 1-3pm on the School Field for the Wednesday street theatre event. If you would like to attend please enter the school and sign in at the Wilton Road entrance. In the event of rain on the day, we will unfortunately not be able to cater for parents due to space restrictions inside the building.
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Lower School Music Concert On the Wednesday before half-term, the first of the term’s two spring concerts was held in the Main Hall. The evening saw over one hundred young musicians from the Lower School, supported by some of our Fourth Year pupils, play a programme of lively items to a packed auditorium. Many parents commented on the lovely atmosphere and high standard of musicianship.
Piano Masterclass In the first week after half-term pianist Niel Immelman, teacher at the Royal College of Music and the Royal Academy, visited KES to offer a masterclass to some of our senior pianists. His work with the participants, Maya Garside, Joe Arthur, Sophia Bassi and Alex Zhou, who all played beautifully, was inspirational and demanding and left them with much to think about. Many other talented KES pianists attended as observers and, through Niel’s knowledge and experience, gained an intriguing insight into some advanced music and many interesting nuances of piano technique.
Spring Concert at Turner Sims The second of the term’s spring concerts took place at Turner Sims, acknowledged as one of the finest music venues in the country, on 15th March. The event featured the School’s senior musicians in the Chamber Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra, Big Band and Chamber Choir. There were a number of outstanding group and solo performances, once again highlighting the depth and breadth of music in the School. The musicians performed to a full house with their customary energy, poise and professionalism.
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Sport KES selected to be England Hockey Performance Centre The School is delighted to announce that King Edward’s has been selected to host a performance centre for England hockey. This centre represents the regional level of the performance pathway and is aimed at developing outstanding players aged 14-17 who have the ability and ambition to challenge for national selection. The coaching programme will deliver frequent high quality coaching and challenge the players through ‘best v best’ competition. This appointment as a host performance centre recognises the outstanding quality of facilities available at Wellington Sports Ground and reinforces the excellent reputation of hockey at King Edward’s both within the local community and beyond. Eight current KES students (Rob Atkinson, Harry Croft-Baker, Euan Etheridge, Rory Penrose, Stella Bendoni, Tom Croft-Baker, James Harden and Joe Murphy) have been selected to attend the centre.
U16 and U14 County and regional Hockey success
Having qualified for the regional heats by finishing in 2nd place in the county tournament, the U16 boys’ hockey side put in an impressive performance over the course of the day. They beat Kent College 3-0 and then St Bede’s school 6-0, before a group decider against Cranleigh School. This game ebbed and flowed but the final result of 2-2 meant that the KES team won the group by virtue of a superior goal difference. This earnt them a regional quarter-final at home against Langley Park School from Beckenham, Kent. Unfortunately they lost to Langley Park but overall had a fantastic cup run. The U14 team were dominant in their county championships finishing as convincing winners. In their regional heats, which were hosted at Wellington Sports Ground, they beat reigning champions Whitgift School and went on to win all three further matches without conceding a goal assuring themselves a regional quarter-final match against Reeds School. They beat Reeds (4-1) to progress to the regional finals day of the competition, where they lost 5-4 on penalties to Cranleigh but beat Alleyn’s to finish in 3rd place in the South.
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Inaugural Sports Award day This year the School has introduced a KES Sports Award for applicants at 11+ and 13+. At the beginning of February, the selection day to choose the first cohort of award holders took place. Members of the Sports Department spent the morning with the pupils putting them firstly through some fitness tests and secondly assessing their sporting ability.
Senior team National Cup run The 1st XI unfortunately lost in the first round of the National Cup but progressed extremely well in the plate with wins over Seaford College and Peter Symonds. They beat Reeds School in the third round and Kent College in the regional semi-finals to secure a regional final against RGS Guilford.
KES fields girls’ rugby team In December, the School fielded its first ever girls’ rugby team in a match against Park House School at Newbury Rugby Club. Whilst the score line did not go the girls’ way, a great deal of fun was had by all and this is a landmark for girls’ sport at KES.
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KES hosts hockey tournament
Boys reach National indoor Super 6 Finals Having been successful in the regional heats, the U16 boys’ hockey team played in the National Indoor Super 6 hockey finals this term. The squad played well but unfortunately lost three and drew one of their matches taking them out of the competition. However they should be proud of having reached the finals which placed them in the top 10 in the country.
This term the School was delighted to welcome Stroud School, Walhampton, Dumpton, WestHill Park and Salisbury Cathedral School to join our own U13 and U12 teams in the annual Prep School Hockey Festival now in its third year. The players were impressive in the quality of their hockey, their competitive spirit and their sportsmanship and all enjoyed the afternoon in spite of the solid rain that fell all afternoon. Particular congratulations to Chafyn Grove School who finished as the winners of the tournament.
Medal positions for KES netballers On 6th March the School entered two teams into the Churcher’s Invitational Netball Tournament. Both the U13 and U12 sides competed against PGS, Churcher’s A and B, Alton, Portsmouth High School and the Royal School. The tournament was competitive and the girls played some superb netball. The KES U12 A team improved as the tournament progressed and finished in 3rd place whilst the U13 A team played some outstanding netball missing out on 1st place by only one goal.
King Edward VI School Wilton Road . Southampton . Hampshire SO15 5UQ Telephone: 023 8070 4561 . www.kes.hants.sch.uk