Weekly Newsletters

Over half term there are a number of booster sessions for students to take advantage of and I am grateful for staff for putting these on to help improve outcomes.
 

After half term, we will begin to communicate the final steps for Year 11 and Post16 so everyone is crystal clear on what the expectations are.
Despite a very challenging half term for many reasons, I wish to end that a lot of things have taken place for our students over the last six weeks and I am extremely grateful for the support of the staff in making this happen, but also for the support of parents/carers in working with us.  Support and trust are the key factors to a successful outcome for any student.
We are blessed with this and I hope the break will enable us all to recharge in readiness for making even further improvements to our school.
Have a good half term
 

Bryan Erwin
Principal

With the fixture being home, the girls had the anxious wait for the away team to arrive, so used their time wisely and conducted a thorough warm up. Both teams were looking good and decided to play a game against each other whilst they waited. Centre passes were practiced, defending tactics rehearsed and shooters were getting shot after shot in. 
 
The away team arrived and both games started swiftly, the ball was getting moved quickly into the attacking end, but TPS’s defences were tight, meaning we struggled to get the ball into the shooting circle. Our defenders in both teams were working hard to stop the shots going in, with a few turn overs here and there giving our shooters another try. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be for both Ken Stimpson teams this time, but they showed true resilience and sportsmanship throughout. 
 

• Year 7 player of the match: Evie Matthews
• Year 8 player of the match: Paige Pitney-Baxter 
   

Miss Z Marley
PE

Languages

• Cameron Gater-Condon - excellent effort and attitude in the run-up to exams, attending revision sessions
• Jack McGougan Yr10 for always working so hard in his AQA PSE lessons. 

English

• Lilia Year 7  - Mr Erwin witnessed excellent work in English.
• James Murawski and his project partner Aiden Groves (Year 7) made an accompanying website for the Island they have been designing in English lessons  - https://sites.google.com/view/www-tiltedtechnique-co-uk/home 

Drama

Inga Kaczmarek and Migle Zirgelyte. Both girls always develop creative and well thought out scenes and will always put in extra time to rehearse. A huge well done and keep up the good work.

Maths

• Jorga Bettany
• Brandon Blake
• Molly Busby
• Stanley Galloway
• Daria Grzeda
• Linuka Gunasekara
• Nathan Hall
• Luca Scialla-Cooper

The above Year 10 students participated in the 'Maths Feast' event at Jack Hunt School - predominantly 'after school '.  They all showed good team work, communication and maths skills.

Dance

The following students competed in a number of street dance competitions last week. Here is what year 10 GCSE Dancer Ashleigh has to tell us.

Dancers – Ashleigh Hustler, Abi Guerin and Tamera Christie-Beddington

On Sunday the 9th of February I went to my first dance competition. It was part of the Udo Championships, which is a Championship that takes place globally. I dance for Danzfusion Studios for the quad team United Youth.

All together there are 9 girls in my squad team. We train on Mondays and Fridays for at least an hour, working on new choreography, learning different skills and socialising. As part of the championships we had to dance a duo, solo and a group dance. With our group dance we placed 3rd in our category which takes us through to the World Championships. In each category the top 3 go through. For my solo, I was unsure at the start of the day if I wanted to do it as I didn't have the confidence. At the end of the day I ended up doing it and being really proud of what I achieved. I have been dancing with Danzfusion for about 8 years now, but last year I was unable to dance as I had a knee injury. I enjoy dancing with my squad as I have built great relationships with the girls and I can do one of the things I am most passionate about.

I love to dance because it is one of the only things that I can do that can show my emotions and how I feel about something. I can tell a story through dance and send a message. I also love the feeling I get when I dance.

I feel more free and myself. I am proud of myself for where I have got to with my dancing and that I am given the opportunity to Dance in and out of school.

Mrs J Purdy

Celebrating and acknowledging students work shows the mix of talented and ambitious students we have at this school. This piece of work by Karigaile Kairyte in Year 7 is a good example of some of the stunning work our students create and how proud we are to show this off!

First up was the Physiology workshop, where students were testing for their estimated VO2 max through a cycling test. Four willing participants hopped on the bikes with a heart rate monitor on, whilst the other students were responsible for checking how they were feeling throughout the test and adding weight onto the bike in order to make it harder. 
 
Next students completed a variety of analysis testing in their biomechanics workshop. Each student took part in and analysed their sprint turn, squat, deadlift and drop jump technique. It’s safe to say this got very competitive, with Max almost taking out the expensive cameras during his sprint, and Dom tripping over in his! 
 
All students thoroughly enjoyed the experience and represented Ken Stimpson School fantastically. Bring on the next one (as we all know Charlie cannot wait to sit in the front seat of the minibus with Mr Bradley again)

Miss Z Marley
PE

Each group completed a session where they learnt the science behind how boats float. After a brief introduction students were then tasked with building their own boats. Working in pairs, students designed and constructed their own ships. They then tested their prototypes to investigate which designs could hold the most weight.

The students had a great time designing different types of boats and testing them in the water.

Miss E Farrell

Year 7's continue to maintain the highest standards with everything they are doing, we have received positive comments from all staff on how they are working hard to achieve their best. Please see some of their work from English and Computing this week below:

This week's assembly was all about friendship building. The students really enjoyed the activities that we did. 
 

I would also like to publicly praise and thank the year 7 tutor team for being such a fantastic support for year 7.  Our team is a strong one and it is reflected in how students have responded.  

Mrs C Read

Our Year 8 students took part in a carousel of events on 29 January which included "Guess The Professional", businesses from across the city supported which was great fun in encouraging students to think outside the box and eliminate stereotypical thinking. They also attended three workshops delivered by Future First and supported by KSCS Alumni, students were able through a series of activities to explore their skills set, these workshops helped students to see the link between subjects and careers.  Thank you so much to all businesses and alumni who gave up their time voluntarily to support.

Year 11 students have been busy attending open days in readiness for life after Year 11. Congratulations to those students who have already secured College and Apprenticeship offers.

Last week I took 7 Post 16 students to BGL Group in Bretton to hear first hand from employees what their Apprenticeship Pathways Programme has to offer. BGL have now released their programme and applications are now open, please see the main BGL website for  the link or see Mrs Ayre for further details.

Hot off the press, Perkins applications are now live with a closing date of March 15, these will be for a September start and are live on their website or the government apprenticeship website. If anyone needs support with applying please do see Mrs Ayre.  Perkins have also offered some work place tours for school, if your child is in Year 11 or Post 16 and interested please let me know.

Next half term all Year 11 students will have a mock interview with our business supporters from across the city.  Year 10 students will be having a Business Network Event where they can chat with employers regarding the interview process, routes into careers and career opportunities within different sectors.  They also have their World Of Work Day, please could permission slips for this day be returned by Friday 28 Feb at the latest.  Year 7 students will also be taking part in the Travelex Maths Challenge.  

Mrs A Ayre
CEIAG