Spanish Play – Primera Cita

January 24, 2025/in Whole School/by Keris McCormick

Today, our Year 9 and 10 students had the privilege of experiencing a fantastic performance by two professional actors from Spain. The play ‘Primera Cita’, performed entirely in Spanish, was an engaging and immersive experience that brought the language to life in an authentic and entertaining way.

Our students demonstrated exemplary behaviour throughout the performance, showing great respect for the actors and enthusiasm for the opportunity to listen to spoken Spanish in such an interactive context.

This event not only enhanced their listening skills but also gave them a deeper appreciation of Spanish culture and the language in action. We are confident that this experience will inspire students in their language-learning journey and contribute to their confidence and proficiency.

A big thank you to the actors for their brilliant performance and to our students for making us proud with their outstanding conduct!

Mrs Kelly

Head of Spanish

Embedding outstanding practice in the classroom: applying coaching techniques from professional athletes

January 24, 2025/in Whole School/by Chrissy Dicks

Professional athletes use video to analyse their performance as a normal way of working. Their coach discusses the video with them, developing action points for how to maximise performance. Like many schools across Hertfordshire, we apply this thinking to the classroom. Your child’s teacher may be filmed as part of our ongoing commitment to improving the quality of education your child receives. We use video to help teachers reflect on their practice and improve. The video is watched by the classroom teacher and their instructional coach, and is then deleted. The focus of the video is the teacher’s pedagogies. Educational research tells us that this is one of the most effective forms of teacher CPD, and we’re proud that we can offer this CPD to our teachers. This is just one of the many things which we offer as part of our wellbeing package to new recruits!

Sports News

January 10, 2025/in Whole School/by Chrissy Dicks

Well done to the Year 7 boys football team for a win on penalties yesterday in the county cup plate. Special mention to Ethan R for a superb performance in goal that kept us in the game, as well as then making a few vital saves in the shoot out.

Well done to the Year 8A girls netball team on a big win against Nicholas Breakspear. Player of the match was Isla R.

Finally, the year 8 basketball team had a solid performance against Aldwickbury in their league fixture, with a 36-24 win. Charlie R and Elliot G were the outstanding players for KWS.

A Magical Afternoon at Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake

January 9, 2025/in Whole School/by Chrissy Dicks

On the last week of term, a group of students studying BTEC Dance/ Performing Arts had the unforgettable opportunity to attend Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake at Sadlers Wells. Known for its groundbreaking reinterpretation of the classic ballet, Bourne’s version captivated everyone with its bold storytelling, stunning choreography, and powerful performances.

This contemporary take on Swan Lake is celebrated for replacing the traditional female corps de ballet with a dramatic ensemble of male swans, bringing a fresh and intense energy to the production. Students were engrossed by the unique combination of humour, drama, and raw emotion, complemented by Tchaikovsky’s iconic score.

For many, this was a first introduction to the world of professional dance, and it sparked enthusiastic discussions about the artistry and themes explored in the show, including identity, love, and freedom.

The trip was not only a cultural experience, but also a chance to delve into the professional dance industry.

Thank you to all students involved; your behaviour and professionalism on the trip was outstanding!

Art update

January 9, 2025/in Whole School/by Chrissy Dicks

Happy 2025 from the art team! We have a few updates we wanted to share with you.

Farewell Miss Robinson

Last term we bid a sad farewell to the super creative and talented Miss Robinson who was one of the founding members of the KWS staff team. She did so much for the arts at our school and will be greatly missed by all.

Spring term in Art

This term we have Year 7 and 8 starting their clay works. Year 9 will be continuing with their acrylic, watercolour and oil painting workshops. Year 10 will work on their portrait project. Year 11 begin their NEA experimentation and Year 12 have their personal investigation and planning research.

Art club

Any students who would like to learn new art skills, have space and support to do their art homework, or get more involved in the world of art, please speak to the art staff! Art club is every Tuesday lunch time in Room 162.

Art team

Mrs Alexis is now the Head of Art and this term a new teacher joined the team, welcome Miss Christou! Miss Longstaff continues teaching year 10 and Year 7 art classes and Mrs Ferris is the art technician.

(Art featured by our year 12 students)

Year 11 A Level English Taster

January 9, 2025/in Whole School/by Keris McCormick

A group of Year 11s looking to pursue English at A Level were treated to a mini-lecture by Dr Suzy Lawrence, one of our much valued school trustees. Dr Lawrence delivered a short session to students on the performance elements of Macbeth, and how a Jacobean audience would have been sensorially exposed to the brutalities of Shakespeare’s tragedy.

‘We received a lecture about how the senses were explored in theatre and Macbeth. I found it really interesting to explore the less obvious ones, like taste and smell. It was fascinating and helpful’ – Charlie A.

“I found Dr. Lawrence’s presentation very insightful as we discussed interesting topics that are studied in A-level English. She spoke about Shakespeare’s plays and taught us how to find different approaches to his work, which I found interesting and informative” – Gracie A.

Welcome return to reading!

January 9, 2025/in Whole School/by Chrissy Dicks

Welcome to 2025, and what we hope will be another fantastic year of reading for everyone at KWS!

We’re delighted to welcome all of our students and staff back into the library for 2025, and we hope everyone has a wonderful year of book-related adventures ahead.

As well as encouraging our students to enjoying reading and to develop a lifelong love of books, the staff team at KWS also like to lead by example. We run a regular staff book club, with many members of the team meeting to discuss the chosen book for that half term.

We recently read Soniah Kamal’s book Unmarriageable, as part of Islamophobia Awareness month. It’s a modern-day retelling of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, with the re-imagined versions of the original characters easy to spot despite the book being set in Pakistan. It’s a colourful and vibrant story, and was well received by many of our book club members.

Next up is Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton. This is described as “a humorous, big-hearted, and boundlessly beautiful romp through the apocalypse and the world that comes after, where even a cowardly crow can become a hero.” It’s clearly a very different genre of book to Unmarriageable, so we shall see what we all make of it at the next book club meeting in February.

Spanish Play – Primera Cita

Embedding outstanding practice in the classroom: applying coaching techniques from professional athletes

Sports News

A Magical Afternoon at Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake

Art update

Year 11 A Level English Taster

Welcome return to reading!

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