Welcome from the Head of Middle Years

Dear Parents, Guardians and Pupils,

I am delighted to welcome you to the Middle Years and am very much looking forward to sharing your journey through these formative years. The Middle Years are such an important part of life at King’s: a time where ambitions are built, resilience is mastered, and kindness can flourish. It is also a time when pupils are becoming more independent, trying new activities, and taking on more responsibility. This helps them to make decisions and work out just who they are and what they want to be. Achieving independence is an essential part of a pupil’s journey, and we aim to help our pupils grow successfully by fostering a curious, caring, and confident approach.

Progressing into the Middle Years is an exciting time, but understandably one that might make some pupils feel nervous or worried. I expect that pupils new to King’s and the Houses have lots of questions about school life, so we have put together this handbook to try to answer some of them before you arrive. It is designed to introduce life in the Middle Years and includes important information about pastoral care and school routines. We hope it is useful and helps make the transition straightforward.

Learning is at the heart of what we do; we want our pupils to be actively engaged and motivated to achieve high academic standards but also build skills to prepare them for a bright future. As part of this, we offer a wide range of subjects in the Middle Years curriculum and encourage pupils to involve themselves fully both inside and outside of the classroom. We do not expect pupils to know everything from the first instance but encourage them to be curious, embrace those browfurrowing moments in lessons, ask questions, challenge themselves, and get stuck in because we never know where it may take them. Our expectations of all our pupils are high in the Middle Years. We will both support pupils in their meeting of these expectations and hold them accountable, in line with our school policies. Effort and enjoyment are the most important parts of success. Pupils need not be afraid to ask for help from their teachers; we are passionate about our subjects and co-curricular offerings, but more importantly we are passionate about supporting pupils to develop.

Naturally, we hope that pupils will want to expand their horizons by getting involved in as many of our co-curricular activities as they possibly can. The range of activities is too wide to describe here, but there really is something for everyone. From weekly clubs to trips abroad, the opportunities are vast and add to the feeling of King’s as a warm and vibrant community. Balancing these commitments is important and Year Group Tutors will help guide pupils on societies or clubs to join.

I hope that you are really looking forward to joining King’s or moving up into your House – we are certainly looking forward to getting to know you and hope that you will be very happy in the Middle Years. If you have any queries or concerns, then the Year Group Tutor is the person to contact in the first instance.

Should you have any immediate queries before September, then please do get in touch via eferguson@ksw.org.uk

Best wishes,

Mrs Emmah Ferguson Head of Middle Years