Community Action & Service
Reading Buddies
Sixth Form volunteers wrapped up their work at St Joseph’s this term, having enjoyed a six-month placement supporting pupils’ literacy skills
Language Leaders
Third Year Language Leaders delivered MFL taster lessons to over 500 pupils from St John’s, St Joseph’s and King Athelstan Primary Schools One of the primary school teachers commented that “they were amazing! The children were engrossed and the games were engaging, plus it was nice to learn some languages not normally learned, like Dutch ” The Third Year students who took part commented that the experience “has really built our self-confidence and we have learnt lots of valuable skills ” A great way to spread MFL’s love of languages with our local community!
It has been a busy Summer term across volunteering, partnership and charity initiatives
Faraday Challenge
30 pupils from five local primary schools spent the day as engineers and designers, working as a team to solve a practical engineering problem, giving them a taste of the kind of challenge and reward experienced through a career in STEAM.
Primary Maths Challenge
The 15 pupils who joined the Primary Maths Challenge in September completed their certificates this term, and should be really proud of their achievements Many of them were awarded Bronze or Silver having been coached by Mrs Slezak and Mr Skeates and assisted by some of our A Level Maths students
Drama Club
The after-school Drama Club run by Miss Christmas for a group of Year 5 and 6 pupils at St Joseph’s performed ‘Pirate Stories’ in the Studio at KGS this term in front of their parents and teachers – such a lovely way to celebrate their achievements The Headteacher, Mrs Flower, commented on the positive impact the club had on her pupils’ selfconfidence One KGS volunteer, Plum Knowles, explained how she “learned how to not only keep things fun and lighthearted but also how to maintain a focus from the class on current tasks I think working with the children has boosted their confidence and acting skills ”
This term our cake sale raised money for Friends of Anstee Bridge, a charity chosen by Sixth Formers because of the support they provide to vulnerable local young people We collected for Kingston Food and Hygiene Bank, asked for donations of pre-loved boots for Football Rebooted and supported BRITE Box’s important work in Kingston with our non-uniform day in June
The Sports Department’s Olympic Run from Athens to Paris was an amazing week-long endeavour, raising money in support of The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity Students and staff clocked up miles in and around the Fairfield and at the time of going to press, they had raised over £2,500, smashing their target of £1,000
The fundraiser remains open so please donate if you can:
Mrs K Pinnock I Head of Community Action and Service
https://justgiving.com/page/kgs-olympic-run
Holes
by Louis Sachar
I had the pleasure of watching Holes The play is an adaptation of Louis Sachar’s novel and centres on the character Stanley Yelnats (played by Frederik Merlo), who is sent to Camp Green Lake, a correctional boot camp in a Texan desert, after being falsely accused of theft The plot explores the history of the area and how the actions of several characters in the past have affected Stanley's life in the present These interconnecting stories touch on themes such as labour, boyhood and masculinity, friendship, meaning of names, illiteracy, with elements of fairy tales The performance was excellent with some wonderful acting from our younger students as well as fantastic sound, lighting and set design
Mr A Beard, Assistant Head
Considering this was Mr Gee’s first Junior Play, I think it is fair to say that he came, he directed and he conquered ‘Holes’ was a fantastic execution of such a classic story and I found myself engaged from start to finish, with the fantastic storytelling by all members of the cast The play was the perfect balance between narrative, plot twists, bold characterisation and comedy.
Arlo Avens, Angela Harris,
Eva Rouse,
Fredrik Merlo’s
Doing an accent on the stage is never easy, but the Southern American accents were pulled off flawlessly, in particular by Arlo Avens, who incredibly and comically played Mr Sir, Angela Harris, who excellently showed off Miss Pendanski’s motherly sass, and also by Eva Rouse, who performed The Warden with the perfect blend of menace and intrigue I cannot write a review on this play without commending Frederik Merlo’ superb performance as Stanley Yelnats, ensuring that all ‘holes’ in the story were filled in. Frederik was ably complimented by Oliver Hamilton,who played Zero, and the bond that these two characters formed throughout the story was utterly convincing, and very heartwarming The kids at Camp Green Lake came together to give Stanley a tough, yet endurable time, which was truly shown by
Aram Adams, Matilda Pain, Bella Brunati, Hugo Whyte, Agatha Lehec, Sammy Ridley, Connie Le Hurray and Mattia Signoretto. All of these characters had incredible stage presence and allowed for very funny moments to shine through an intense plot.
Woody Griffith, Zoe Goldwyn-Pagett
The story telling was also cleverly executed through the use of flashbacks, taking us back to Latvia in 1870, with brilliant and clear narrative from playing Elya, and playing Madame Zeroni This helped to boost the already fascinating storyline.
The story also took us back to the town of Green Lake in the 1900s where we met sleazy Sheriff, and the story’s crucial link Kissin’ Kate Barlow played with aplomb by
Anfisa Betts’
Lily Buchanan
Oliver Hamilton, (Bella Brown) (Anya Taylor),
Justice for Stanley was finally restored by Mrs Morengo and the Attorney General which was definitely the happy ending deserving of such a fantastic play I must mention the incredible set, designed by Miss Chen, with the beautiful backdrop of ‘God’s Thumb’. This, along with the lighting design by Mrs Starmer, made the audience feel as though they were indeed in the desert Mr Tierney had composed a fabulous score to complement a brilliant play
Izzy Reilly
Assistant Directors and and the mostly First Year technical crew of should all be congratulated. Well done, everyone!
Lottie Routledge I Upper Sixth
Tess Goodyer , Jessica Todd,
Jemima Stuart, Tess Goodyer, Jessica Todd, Antonia Ridley, Amy Davies, Xanthe Olding, Orla Kasolowsky, Katie Gaarn-Larsen, Thomas Darbyshire, Edward Haynes, Oscar Allibone, Esther Shaw and Georgia Shepherd
Canada calling...
James Byatt
is one of only 20 cadets nationwide selected to represent the UK Cadet Forces on Exercise Oak Leaf, due to take place in Canada this summer We are delighted for him as this is a truly remarkable achievement
Rocky Mountain Cadet Training Centre in Alberta has a long history of hosting the Oak Leaf exchange Cadets will participate alongside Canadian Army Cadets on a four-week Expedition Team Leader course. It was a rigorous selection process, from the initial application to a tough selection weekend in Wales.
Before leaving for Canada, James will attend the National Cadet Training Centre in Frimley, where he will be interviewed by several press outlets
A special mention should also go to Oliver De Soyres along with James, was one of only six cadets representing London at the selection weekend He did extremely well to get down to the last 65 in the UK and received a Special Recommendation to re-apply next year, something that is not always the case He should be proud of how he has performed throughout this process We are certainly very proud of both him and James who,
Major A Beggs I Contingent Commander
Sail away, sail away, sail away...
Golf
Natalie Ivory won the Surrey Schools Golf Championships at Clandon Regis Golf Club, taking first place in the girls’ gross competition and, in a field of 60 boys and girls, achieved the third best gross score, a very impressive achievement in a high standard competition
Congratulations to Fourth Year students Sophia Olding, Amy Parker, Kitty Carroll and Angela Oliva-Velez Segura who completed their Duke of Edinburgh Bronze sailing expedition in June Accompanied by me and Ms Hill, the four students, all experienced dinghy sailors, spent three days camping and sailing at Cobnor Point in Chichester Harbour The weather was kind for the whole trip and the students enjoyed some great sailing in several types of boat The first day saw a fresh north-easterly breeze which meant a fast spinnaker run in two dinghies to East Head beach for lunch The second day saw lighter winds and a beat up to Dell Quay while for the last day the students sailed together in a larger Wayfarer dinghy up to the beautiful village of Bosham The students had spent several terms preparing for the expedition with lessons on tides, navigation and weather Their thorough preparation paid off and they displayed some very impressive sailing skills throughout. In the feedback session at the end of the trip, our DoE assessors said to the students that it felt more like a Gold expedition than a Bronze! High praise indeed and very well deserved
Mr N Forsyth I DoE Lead
Mr M Rodgers I Head of Golf
Angela Oliva-Velez Segura
Celebrating the CCF
On Friday 14th June the KGS Combined Cadet Force celebrated ten years under the command of Major Beggs with a Regimental Reception and Dinner The event showcased the long history of the CCF and how it has played a vital role in developing leadership, resilience and camaraderie among a large number of students and staff. Held at the school, the evening brought together current Upper Sixth cadets, alumni, invited guests and KGS CCF staff to celebrate the legacy and ongoing contribution of the CCF
Guests began the evening watching the final Parade of the day in the Cage, followed by a drinks reception where they enjoyed looking at a display of photographs and memorabilia from the last ten years
The Royal Toast was given by Matthew Pugh (OK 2017) in his role as Vice-President of the Mess Committee Air Commodore Edward Cole (OK 1974), currently Head of Support Transformation at the Ministry of Defence, delivered an inspiring address emphasising the importance of the skills and values instilled in him by the KGS CCF, such as discipline, teamwork and leadership He shared anecdotes from his time as a cadet, some of which were both extremely entertaining and slightly scary!
It was lovely to see two recent leavers who are currently at the start of their military careers – 2nd Lieutenant Freya King (2019) and Flying Officer Oliver Cole (2017) who both have long and illustrious careers ahead of them We also welcomed back Colonel Peter Babbington (OK 1964), Commander Jonathan Powis (RN) (OK 1974), Major Graham Fitness (OK 1971) and Warrant Officer Neil McCrimmon (OK 1974).
A special tribute was paid to the dedicated KGS staff whose tireless efforts have been instrumental in the CCF's success Four Upper Sixth students received their new ranks, recognising their outstanding commitment, service and contributions to the Contingent
Concluding with a toast to the future of the CCF, the centenary dinner was not just a celebration of the past but a reaffirmation of the CCF’s aim to inspire and develop future KGS cadets
Mrs S Humphrey I Deputy Head; Director of Development
Pi Wars
In late April I was lucky enough to attend the Pi Wars robotics competition, hosted by Cambridge University. On arrival, we made final adjustments to our little big guy, Fsh, and added finishing touches before our first challenge, the maze This was what our talented programmers had been working to perfect but despite our hard work and nearperfect run, Fsh hit a wall, meaning a time penalty although we did still score points. The obstacle course, which I drove, was next: goodness, it was a nightmare! Out of practice and feeling pretty anxious, I did pretty poorly but at least we took part – and the points contributed to our final score
Our next challenge was line following We had worked on attempting to complete this autonomously, programming it to detect the walls of the small course rather than the line, but sadly it was not to be! It freaked out under all the pressure and span in a circle
Challenge 5 was eco disaster, and we needed to place 12 coloured barrels into zones Using the remote control, I managed to get 11 out of 12 of them in the right place We raced through Round 3 of Pi Noon and into the semi-finals thanks to expert driving from
Anas Boulahmi.
A minesweeper challenge, the zombie apocalypse and another victory in Pi Noon and we were into the finals Tensions were high With battle specialist Anas on the controls, we took second place and are so proud of him for getting us so far
Overall, we placed third in Minesweeper, second in the Maze, second in Pi Noon and seventh overall out of the novice teams What a fun time we had I was ever so grateful to come along for the ride A very special thanks to Mr Benson, for running Digital Makers’ Club and all his help with Fsh, and Mrs Reilly and Mr Geron for accompanying us to the competition We hope to do it all over again next year
Angelina Remisio I Lower Sixth
A snapshot of a musical term
Summer Fair
Lovekyn Recital
MFL
Language Leaders
After more than two terms of meeting every Monday lunchtime with MFL staff to learn how to teach vocabulary, manage a classroom and create engaging resources, we were finally ready to teach a series of taster lessons to different year groups at St Joseph’s, St John’s and King Athelstan Primary Schools. We chose lots of different activities to engage the pupils and develop their knowledge, using a range of starters and plenaries, as well as speaking in pairs and games
We thoroughly enjoyed this year as Language Leaders and would recommend this experience to anyone who enjoys MFL or would like to have a go at teaching It has really built our self-confidence and we have learnt lots of valuable skills The pupils had a great time too and we were happy to be able to share our languages with them!
Iris Ottink, Lilia Van Herwaarden, Maddie Robinson, Connie Le Huray, Anfisa Betts, Alice Maltby, Matilda Pain, Clarissa Cheng, Valerie Wan, Daniel Rust, Alex Young, Maiya Kolev, Lily Buchanan, Grace Stylianou, Sinead Ritchie, Bella Brunati, Bella Brown, Inessa Saltykova, Elspeth Hill, Antonia Ridley and Sofia Gupta
Deutsche Schule visit
In May, fifteen Third Year students went to the German School in Petersham After some ice-breaker activities, our exchange partners gave us a tour and then we joined them in lessons (in German). Some of us learnt quadratics in Maths and others were learning how to analyse poetry in German
We found it very interesting as it was unusual being surrounded by the German language It also felt quite rewarding communicating in German even though sometimes it was a bit difficult to understand what our buddies were saying! Finally, we had lunch with our exchange partners and then returned to KGS, ready to welcome them to KGS the following week
The school was very nice and the people were very friendly and welcoming. Overall, we found the experience very exciting and really recommend the German exchange day to other students who want to experience more of the German language whilst also having a really fun day!
Tom Dragne & Lilia van Herwaarden I Third Year
Celebrating success
First Year students marked the end of a wonderful year with an afternoon of prizegiving, music and song and cake
Huge thanks to Sara Wilheim, James Ho, Clara Shin, Mia Vilasoa Allegue and Kassie Li for the wonderful musical entertainment and to all First Year students for having been such a super year group.
Congratulations to First Year student Owen Ng, representing the Kingston area, who did fantastically well to win Silver in the 50m freestyle event at the receive his oman to cs London Youth Games
Congratulations to Alia Jarvis who has won the Tsotsorkov Scholarship, awarded to one student of Bulgarian heritage, to study Biochemistry at Imperial College London Well done, Alia
Sturgeon at the Field
The annual Sturgeon cricket fixtures between current KGS students and the alumni took place on the last Sunday of term. It was a lively and entertaining event, showcasing the best of the KGS cricket talent The grounds looked beautiful and the weather cooperated – just!
It was lovely to welcome back our alumni –who led the Kingstonian team to victory, beating the current students by 90 runs. Nick and Ben scored impressive half centuries
Jemma Dreyer
Dave Bartram, Tom Beaumont, Matt McGinnis, Nick Browning, Joe Woodcock, Ben Park, Ross McGeachie and Billy Winter and James Hall,
Alongside this annual fixture, we held the inaugural Senior v Junior Girls’ Match. The senior girls just came out on top, with achieving a well-played 50 We look forward to having some of our alumni joining us in the future for this fixture
To conclude the afternoon, James Gordon
Sam Hayes
(OK 1979) presented two trophies: to the Kingstonian team for winning the game and to current student Sam Hayes who received the Sturgeons award.
Running alongside was the annual family tennis event, a delightful affair that brought together players of all ages and skill levels Current parent and governor Ed Bowyer won the event with his son, Luke.
Mrs S Humphrey I Deputy Head; Director of Development
CCF Easter Camp
Day 1: 12km hike through the Brecon Beacons
We split into pairs and took turns to lead the group to a certain spot on the map, and then the rest of the section had to find where the leaders had taken them We learned to use grass blades for more accurate map reading
The key landmark was a memorial for a crashed Canadian test flight from WW2 After dinner back at Sennybridge we recounted the day’s hike and plotted a route for a ‘ rescue team’ who would need to safely reach the crash site This included information such as bearings, time estimates, elevation and landmarks
Day 2: A walk through an abandoned railway tunnel, gorge walking and orienteering
The section had to create a system to safely get to the other end of the tunnel As the tunnel curved, there was a period of complete darkness, and no torches were used. Our section leader allocated numbers to keep track of where everyone was, and she periodically called “numbers” to which everyone would respond with their allocated number This helped us stay together as a group We also used long sticks to feel for the wall next to us, and the person at the front had another stick to feel for obstacles on the ground
We went upstream after lunch to go gorge walking. We learned where to place your feet for stable footing and to avoid large stones as they are more slippery and could cause you to fall in quick water We climbed through a small rapid-like section by getting a solid grip and pushing against the water There was a waterfall with a hollow area behind it and, one by one, the whole section stood behind the waterfall and held out their hand to feel the force of the water. Everybody persevered despite the cold water and enjoyed the experience in the end!
That night we went orienteering Everybody was paired up and had 15 minutes to find as many points on the map around the base as possible
Day 3: Canoeing
We canoed along a canal in pairs, learning steering techniques and how to efficiently travel across the water. We worked on teamwork as we played a game involving throwing a ball to our teammates in the boat and trying to reach a goal Only one person went overboard in an enthusiastic attempt to catch the ball!
Day 4: Climbing, bouldering, archery and plank walking
These teamwork-based activities at the Trewern Centre were really interesting as the whole group had to step together to move forward The instructors made our few days very enjoyable, with engaging activities every day
Is this the future of AI?
This term saw the inaugural Religion & Philosophy essay writing competition for First to Fourth Years, who were invited to submit entries in response to one of three philosophical questions. Entries tackled a range of ideas and thinkers, including references to Descartes, Plato and Aristotle, and we were thoroughly impressed by the great philosophical talent we have here at KGS
Gregor More
Technologies such as deep learning start to push the boundaries into thought, as the conclusions these systems generate from data can be strange, especially as it is often difficult to find how these conclusions were made vaguely reminiscent of the mind.
Cathy Oh Flora Mitchell
Second Year was our winner, with an essay which asked, ‘Could a machine think?’. You can read Gregor’s essay below. Runners-up were and in Second and First Year respectively, who both responded to the question, ‘Can I know the world I experience is real?’ Well done to all who entered
Could a machine think?
With many advancements in AI and other similar technological fields, you may stumble upon the question: could a machine think? This question may seem distant and irrelevant, but in the future this could be the most important one as the judgement of it would affect an era-defining law if robots should have rights? On the surface, the obvious answer would be no, a machine couldn’t think, but if you look deeper into the subject the answer gets more complex.
The obvious and concrete are the easiest to understand, so I will begin by discussing the least abstract ideas and simplest (yet still advanced) machines, as well as how they definitely cannot think Language models such as ChatGPT are now very advanced and can answer abstract questions by looking at many web sources to create an ‘objectively right’ answer. This obviously requires human input, so the machine is not thinking The ‘objectively right’ answer is often the result of being the most popular answer on the internet, like if I were to pose a controversial question such as one about what a woman is, it would most likely give me an answer the media would give This is a show of its inability to reason for itself to think and its weakness against popular judgement rather than fair judgement. Although this flaw is larger in AI, many people fall into this trap too like sheep in a herd, and there are issues such as indoctrination that can lead to this mentality in such people, but AI can’t retreat into its own ‘mind’ like a human could and think philosophically
Another capability of ChatGPT is image generation. This is another process which requires a lot of human input to help the AI imagine the image that is produced The problem with this input argument however, is the fact that we wouldn’t know left from right or red from blue without human input Just like computers, if we are fed that right is left and vice versa, we will think that what we are taught is right So really, is this computer imagining this image? In fact, it is This is obvious because it comes up with such an image because of the information it is given, like a human. For another example, if I was told from birth that a dragon looked like a dog does, when asked to draw a dragon I would draw a dog If the computer was given the same, it would do the same as me The question here isn’t one of imagination, though, but rather one of thought Therefore, it is important to consider if imagination is thought
The dictionary definition of imagination is ‘the faculty or action of forming new ideas, or images or concepts of external objects not present to the senses ’ The inclusion of the word ‘faculty’ interests me the most, because it means an ‘inherent mental power ’ Robots surely can’t have an inherent mental power like a human Having mental power means to think, but as established in the first paragraph, ChatGPT can’t think, so these two arguments contradict each other. ChatGPT itself believes (or defines, as it says) that thought involves ‘the generation, organisation, and manipulation of ideas, concepts, beliefs and perceptions’ It says that various processes such as reason, problem solving and decision-making are part of thought With all of these in mind, AI can think already
Surely, however, ChatGPT can’t think because of its lack of consciousness or subjective experience, which it says itself Even though AI can technically ‘think’, it can’t feel, love or do anything even similar to what the human experience is Computers are born of logic and can be mass produced in a way humans can’t be Humans animals as well are born of love, a relationship between two parents to create a unique offspring. But what significance does this have? Thought (consciousness) is the human experience. Even the people who appear emotionless feel but choose to ignore their emotions
Machines cannot feel or love like a human, so cannot experience like a human. The reason I believe thought is the human experience is that everyone isis unique, unlike any characteristic you have such as hair colour or head shape as René Descartes said An AI’s ‘experience’ could only be unique if it was the only AI, which it isn’t, as the parts and code used to build the machine’s brain would be mass produced for other machines
Finally, I would like to briefly cover the most abstract machine and perhaps future ones designed to think or experience like a human. The system in question is deep learning This concerns me because it behaves in a way the human mind does It is multi-layered thinking, and as mentioned in the introduction, can come up with strange conclusions to questions based on data input Although there is no emotion attached to deep learning processes, parallels can be drawn to extremist minds such as Adolf Hitler and others’ beliefs conclusions for the AI as they can come from a small speck of information or misinformation to create an extreme view. A danger is that with the smarts of an AI these views can become implemented into our society through deception and clever propaganda leaving us with the conclusion that AI shouldn’t think
On the future of thinking machines, I believe machines will think based upon all my discourse, but that they will never rival a human in the fields of morality, philosophy and emotion, as they will never be able to feel and have a consciousness like a human In conclusion, machines will definitely be able to think and fluctuating by definition, already can Despite this, and as repeated throughout this essay, they will never love or have a human experience because of the uniqueness of our conscious mind From this we should learn to treasure our philosophical and emotional abilities and as a whole, make the most of our human experience. After all, the odds of you being born are 1 to 400 trillion!
