Results of consultation on changing the length of the school day

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The consensus of opinion from our recent consultation with parents and students was two-thirds in favour of changing the length of the school day.  We will therefore be going ahead with the changes from September 2022.

This means that we will re-arrange the school day to finish at 3.30pm from Monday through to Thursday and will continue to finish at 2.30pm on Fridays. The school day from Monday to Thursday will be shortened by reducing morning form time to 25 minutes, shortening lunchtime to 45 minutes everyday and removing the 10 minute ‘break’ between period 6 and 7.

As outlined in our consultation, the advantages of doing this include:

  • More productive use of staff and students time in the school day
  • Improved staff wellbeing, retention and recruitment
  • Continuing Period 7 whilst finishing at a comparable time to other schools
  • More time for students to participate in independent study/other activities after school

In addition I would like to address some common questions raised during the consultation:

  • Period 7 will remain a key part of our KWS curriculum, running from 3.00pm to 3.30pm Monday to Thursday.
  • Students participating in Body options for P7 which require changing into PE kit, will have the option to do so at lunchtime.
  • We are currently not using the full serving capacity of our food hall. We have three additional serving hatches which we will use as student numbers increase, along with other potential options to add more capacity, eg. pods in other areas of the site, as used by many other local secondary schools. We will also increase the number of till points in the main serving area.
  • We appreciate that the change will cause issues for a handful of families that collect siblings from local primary schools before collecting students from KWS. We would like to reassure you that the school buildings will continue to remain open until at least 5pm and that students can make use of the supervised library facilities to do academic work until at least 4pm.

We have spoken to Herts County Council who will be factoring in the changes to transport, as they commission and co-ordinate external bus services for the next academic year.  We hope to be able to distribute new bus timetables by the time we break for the summer holidays in July.

These changes will commence from 1st September 2022 and we would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who took the time to respond to the consultation.

Tony Smith

Headteacher

Travel Plan – Zonal Map Reminder

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As you will be aware from previous communications – KWS operates a travel plan and as part of this we encourage parents strongly to pick up/drop off a 5-10 minute walk away from school to help the enviroment and also encourage students to be active and healthy. The School Car Park should not be used for pick up/drop off unless you have been issued with a KWS Parking Permit from the school due to an exceptional need such as as a medical issue. These are renewed on a termly basis as we only have a limited amount of parking available on site. The Senior Leadership Team will be checking all cars coming on site after half term have the appropriate permit.

Please Click Here to see the zonal map and ensure you are picking up/dropping off your child a 5-10 minute walk away from the school. We ask that when parking in neighbouring roads a 5-10 minute walk away that you park respectfully not obstructing access to a driveway and ensure your engine is switch off whilst waiting.

KWAF Update – February 2022

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We have a couple of exciting upcoming Events –

Comedy @ KWS – Friday 18th March – Click Here for more Information

Easter Fair – Saturday 19th March 10am to 4pm – SAVE THE DATE – more information to follow!

Our February Newsletter is also attached.

Netball

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Students have had a great half term of netball playing in fixtures against Sir John Lawes and STAGS.

All students who have taken part worked well as a team and put in some great scores.

Well done!

Miss Moxham

Celebrating the Year of The Tiger

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To celebrate the Year of the Tiger, KWS students have been making dumplings and paper cutting.

Dumpling is a symbol of wealth for its shape like ancient Chinese gold money; paper cutting is a symbol of luck and happiness and parents in China put money into the red envelopes for their children. Thank you to Mrs Freeman for all her help in the food tech room. We wish everyone:

Xin nian kuai le, Happy new year!
Gong xi fa cai, Congratulations and may you be prosperous!
Thank you
Mr Chen and Miss Hu

The Eco-committee contribute to HCL Catering consultation

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A group of 18 students across Years 7-9 took part in a focus group this week about the future of school food.
It was fascinating for students to see how their opinion as ‘customers’ can impact on the strategy of a regional catering company.
We had wide-ranging discussions about the importance of recyclable food packaging, food miles, the impact on the climate, as well as the importance of variety and value for money.
Thank you to all for taking part and contributing to a more sustainable future for food in schools.
Mr Inman and Mr Inns

Maths Challenge

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The Maths Department would like to say well done to the following students who achieved over 80% on the recent UKMT 25th Anniversary Challenge: Lucas C, Joel D, Henry G, John D, Marco R and Hannah W.

Over 90 of KWS’s Year 7 and 8 mathematicians took part in this challenge and we are very pleased with all of their results.

Well done all!

The Maths Department

Year 8 Careers Workshop

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On Tuesday 8th February, all Year 8 students were involved in a careers workshop run by SSG who provide activities for children and young people.

During the session, students were asked to identify skills that were important for different jobs, as well as qualifications and experience required for certain careers.

Different pathways into careers, for example apprenticeships, were explained to students and advice was also given for students choosing their options subjects. The students enjoyed the workshop and contributed really well in the sessions. Hopefully students will use the information they were given on the day to make well-informed choices about their options for Key Stage 4.

Miss Phillips

PE Update

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It’s been another action packed week on the sporting front. It started with our Year 8 Boy’s rugby team competing in a tournament at Harpenden Rugby Club on Monday 7th February. They held their own in all games played and some impressive performances throughout. Callum S was voted the KWS player of the tournament.

This was then followed by the Year 8 netball team demonstrating the progress they’ve made over the course of the season with a closely fought game against STAGS.

This week has also seen boxercise feature in the PE curriculum for the first time since pre-covid. As part of the wider fitness unit, boxercise has proved a great form of exercise and students have engaged excellently in the physically demanding nature of it. Watch out Katie Taylor and Tyson Fury!

Rugby and football squad training also continue this weekend. Rugby is for all who are interested from 9am – 10am and football training is 9am – 10am for the Year 7 and 8 squads and 10am – 11am for the Year 9 squad.

Lastly, we are also on Twitter, so please follow regular PE updates @KwsSport1.

 

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Harpenden Secondary Education Trust

Company Number: 09238779
Registered Address: Katherine Warington School, Lower Luton Road, Harpenden, Herts, AL5 5FH

Chair Of Trustees: Jenny Howarth, j.howarth@kwschool.co.uk

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Katherine Warington School,
Lower Luton Road,
Harpenden,
Hertfordshire,
AL5 5FH

Telephone: 01582 314777
admin@kwschool.co.uk

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