In October 2022, the Spanish students in year 10 went on a trip to Girona in Spain. We stayed at Mas Pages for 5 days and 4 nights and got to do many activities during our stay.
On day one, we were introduced to the Spanish staff who worked there and played games to get to know each other. On the second day we went on high ropes and zip wires in the forest, did orientation games and played many fun Spanish games throughout our stay. We also had a lot of free time to spend with our friends and play football and basketball!
On the third day we visited Barcelona and saw the fantastic Camp Nou (Barcelona football stadium) as well as La Sagrada Familia, a famous cathedral that has been built for around 140 years, 1882 – present day, and is still being built. We went shopping in The Diagonal Mar Centre and had fun with our friends. Day 4, we went to the market and beach and paddled in ocean. After that, we went on a glass bottom cruise around the coast of Barcelona, around caves and we got to see all sorts of sea-life.
We stayed in rooms with all our friends at Mas Pages. The rooms themselves were fairly big and we had very good facilities to use. The food was really good and everyone had a great time.
We have exciting news this week. We have been awarded the Green Flag Award for our expansive eco-programme throughout the school, and have now proudly displayed this on our new flag pole
near the entrance to the school. Thank you to all of the students in the eco-committee who worked tirelessly to help achieve this award!
One campaign led by the committee this year was Climate Change Awareness Week. Here, a few members of the committee tell us about it:
Heidi G, Year 7: In Year 7, for a form time competition, each student was given a task that could reduce global warming. Some examples of these were not eating lactose, buying a piece of
clothing from a charity shop or planting something. This makes people realise that you don’t need to do much to alter our future for the better and even a small step can make a big difference. Well
done to 7 Nightingale who had the most activities completed throughout the week!
Rebecca M, Year 8: In Year 8 we made our own sustainable cities out of recycled materials on Friday. We spent one lesson planning how our cities would look and how they would tackle the problems of waste, transport, food production, nature integrated into the city and energy production. Over the next week at home we collected lots of materials that we would have otherwise thrown away to build our cities with. On Friday we started to build our cities using the recycled materials we brought in. It was really fun watching our cities take shape and working as a team to get it finished. Once the cities were finished we wrote speeches about our cities to perform to the class. After that, our teachers picked one winning city in each class and the whole group got certificates and sweets.
Well done to Imogen, Mia, Tate, Esmay and Tabitha who won the overall prize in the year group!
Sam R and Oscar Y, Year 9: We were challenged with the task of coming up with ideas on how to reduce energy poverty. Our winning paragraph was written by Isla W. She was able to
win this competition by her passion for energy poverty and how it could be solved. She won the competition due to her amazing solution which was to make an energy tracking app that documents consumption and behaviour. The app will also include tips on how to descale your energy use. The app will be easy to use and portable so you can take it anywhere so your eco plans can stay on track no matter where you are (around the world), These points made by Isla really made her idea stand out and since most people on earth have phones there is nothing to stop you from being eco-friendly.
Mr Inman
https://kwschool.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Picture-1-1.png12001600Keris McCormickhttps://kwschool.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/smlogo.pngKeris McCormick2022-11-18 12:50:572022-11-18 12:50:57Geography and Eco Committee update
On December 14th and 15th at 7pm, our Performing Arts students will be performing a concert version of the classic musical Guys and Dolls.
Set in Damon Runyon’s mythical New York City, Guys And Dolls is an oddball romantic comedy. Gambler Nathan Detroit tries to find the cash to set up the biggest craps game in town while the authorities breathe down his neck; meanwhile, his girlfriend, nightclub performer Adelaide, laments that they’ve been engaged for 14 years. Nathan turns to fellow gambler Sky Masterson for the dough, but Sky ends up chasing the straight-laced missionary Sarah Brown. Guys And Dolls takes us from the heart of Times Square to the cafes of Havana, Cuba, and even into the sewers of New York City, but eventually everyone ends up right where they belong.
In this concert version, we will see over 80 actors, singers and musicians take to the stage to perform the show over two nights.
Fast access to face GP appointments with experienced clinicians at our city centre clinic in St Albans. Located at 54-56 Victoria Street we offer a range primary care services including Sports Medicine and Physiotherapy with free customer parking. To book an appointment, call 0330 053 374, book online at www.privategpservices.co.uk or email stalbans@privategpservices.co.uk.
Live Music – 9th December – India Arkin with special guest Izzie Winter
This December 9th we will be holding our first live music event for members of the school and the wider Harpenden community.
India Arkin hails from Harpenden and has successfully created a musical following based in Newcastle where she went on to further study. India has recently been signed to the new HMV Records Vinyl Label. India’s latest album “Home Truths” can be found on all major streaming sites as well of course in vinyl from HMV records.
Supporting India will be actor musician Izzie Winter, based in Hackney Izzie graduated from the London College of Music in 2021 where she released her debut EP “For when I sleep” – available on all streaming platforms.
Tickets for the event are £6 in advance or £8 on the door. Doors open at 7pm and there will be a licensed bar at the event. Tickets are on sale at www.harpenden-arts.co.uk/events
Classic Christmas Cinema
On Saturday’s during December at 11am, we will be showing a series of classic Christmas films designed for families. Titles this year are:
Elf – December 3rd
Raised as an oversized elf, Buddy travels from the North Pole to New York City to meet his biological father, Walter Hobbs, who doesn’t know he
exists and is in desperate need of some Christmas spirit.
Polar Express – December 10th
On Christmas Eve, a young boy embarks on a magical adventure to the North Pole on the Polar Express, while learning about friendship, bravery, and the spirit of Christmas.
The Muppet Christmas Carol – December 17th
A retelling of the classic Dickens tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, miser extraordinaire. He is held accountable for his dastardly ways during night-time visitations by the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and future.
Mayor’s Christmas Concert 6th December 2022 at 6pm
On the 6th of December members of our choir will be performing at the Mayor’s Christmas Concert at 6pm at St. Nicholas’ Church. This is a wonderful opportunity to perform alongside other Harpenden Schools and the choir of St Nicholas.
Tickets for the event cost £6 and all proceeds go towards the Mayor’s chosen charities for 2022. Tickets can be purchased by emailing jane.juby@harpenden.gov.uk
Batford Christmas Lights Switch On – 1st December 4.30 – 6.30pm
On the 1st December some of our Year 8 performers will be singing as part of the Batford Christmas Lights switch. This event takes place between 4.30pm and 6.30pm and is free for all to attend. It would be wonderful to see members of our school community at this free event.
https://kwschool.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Guuys-dolls.png12001600Keris McCormickhttps://kwschool.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/smlogo.pngKeris McCormick2022-11-18 10:51:052022-11-18 12:46:45Performing Arts
Following our very successful wreath workshops last year, we’re bringing them back to you for 2022! Due to their popularity, this time we’ll be running 3 sessions
Friday 2nd Dec @ 7.30pm till 9pm
Saturday 3rd Dec @ 2.30pm -5pm
Saturday 3rd Dec @ 7.30pm till 9pm
Tickets are £45 including all the support, materials, a glass of mulled wine and festive nibbles. There will also be a bar throughout the evening, so ideal as a group night out.
Tickets are available to buy through this link. If you are organising a group, in order to have group table set up ahead of the event, please can you assign a group leader/group to buy whole group tickets or use a group name and make reference to that name when ordering via email.
If you would like to help during any of the workshops or interested in helping in other ways whether it’s foraging for natural materials or help with setting up, please join the KWAF Wreath Facebook page.
Any people happy to help during a workshop can attend a fun demo evening and have the opportunity to make their own wreath at a discounted price.
CHRISTMAS TREES
Orders are now being taken for Christmas trees. The cut off for orders is Monday 28th November.
Feedback to date is that the trees have been amazing quality, so we hope you’ll order yours through the link below.
All trees will be available for collection from Harpenden Academy on Friday 2nd and Saturday 3rd December between 9.30am and 10.30am both days, or for delivery direct to homes on the same days at an additional cost.
£10 for each tree will be donated to KWS. Make sure you select ‘Katherine Warington School’ from the drop-down list.
KWAF are organising our annual Festive raffle and we need you! Funds raised from this year’s raffle will go towards equipment for the science department, this will benefit all students including those studying for GCSEs to enhance their curriculum.
You can help in two ways –
Donating a prize:
Do you work for/own a company who could donate a raffle prize? Maybe a family friend or relative could donate an item? Many organisations have Community Investment teams and policies which could help us. It could be monetary value or a gift card? ANYTHING would be very well received.
If you feel you can help with a donation please email kwaf@kwschool.co.uk with the details.
Buying tickets:
Raffle tickets will go on sale on Sunday 18 November, purchasable using the following link:
Tickets are £2 each, the star prize is a 64gb iPad.
The draw will be made on Thursday 15 December, allowing for time for prizes to be collected before the term ends.
ALTERNATIVE FESTIVE WORKSHOPS
If you or your friends want to join in the creative, festive fun but making a wreath is not your thing, there are alternative workshops being hosted on the 2nd and 3rd December (please see below). Please book directly with Caroline Lawrence.
The event took place on Friday November 4, and featured pyrotechnics designed to produce the visual effects of everyday fireworks with less noise. The evening was a great success with over 1,800 people in attendance and helped towards this year’s fundraising target for the school’s science and music departments.
A massive thank you to all the Parental Volunteers who helped make the event a success but especially Ellie Renshaw (KWAF Chair) and Dean Inns, James Bullock and Danny Cain from the school for making the evening possible.
If you missed it this year, we hope to see you at the event next year.
https://kwschool.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/KWS-Fireworks-8.jpg428640Dean Innshttps://kwschool.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/smlogo.pngDean Inns2022-11-17 17:00:322022-11-18 12:57:15KWAF Fireworks Night
As the weather starts to get colder and the need for students to keep warm we thought we would take this opportunity to remind you of the rules surrounding the KWS PE Kit.
Students should wear KWS Branded PE Kit at all times and we have a variety of optional items to provide additional warmth available from both Beats School Uniform and Smarty Schoolwear.
Mid-Layer (Recommended) – KWS Branded
Tracksuit Bottoms – KWS Branded
We have also introduced KWS Branded Leggings which are available from both Beats School Uniform and Smarty Schoolwear (information attached). KWS Branded Leggings may be worn on their own without a Skort/Shorts over the top.
Students may wear plain black underlayers under their PE Kit for warmth but the top layer of clothing should always be KWS Branded.
In the event of financial difficulties with the cost of school uniform please contact the school finance department on finance@kwschool.co.uk and we may be able to support with the cost of school uniform or put you in contact with a charity who are able to assist.
We will be carrying out Uniform Checks from Week Commencing 28th November to allow students time to comply with the new guidelines.
This December 9
Raised as an oversized elf, Buddy travels from the North Pole to New York City to meet his biological father, Walter Hobbs, who doesn’t know he
exists and is in desperate need of some Christmas spirit.
The Muppet Christmas Carol – December 17th
