Things are moving so quickly, that I have been remiss and not written anything for a few weeks. So, let me make amends.

We have begun to visit schools to meet students joining us in September. It will take us a good few weeks to see everyone as our intake has reached our expected number of 180. It is a real delight to see the enthusiasm and engagement of students as they complete their SATs and look forward to transition to secondary school, the next step in their education journey.

Last week I spent a day with one of Her Majesty’s Inspectors from Ofsted as she looked at all our plans for opening in September. It was a really enjoyable day because I got to talk about all our values, our hopes and the passion of our staff, parents, students and the community to ensure this school supports everyone to exceed their own expectations. Kier allowed us to set up base in their committee room on site and you would be forgiven for thinking that the soundtrack of heavy machinery rumbling past thoroughly suited the discussion about developing students to thrive in a changing world.

When I’m not visiting schools to meet our first student intake, I’ve been appointing support staff. As I hoped, people of exceptional quality have been watching and patiently waiting to offer their considerable skills to drive our school forward. It’s been a delight to appoint a Chief Financial Officer, senior administrator, school administrator, receptionist and finance manager, all joining us between now and September. It has also been humbling to say no to some exceptional candidates, whom I sincerely hope remain interested in working with us as we grow. In the coming weeks we will advertise for teaching assistants, caretaker and cleaner.

We are working on a new version of the website which will go live in the next couple of weeks. It will have all our policies, curriculum, behaviour expectations, how we will handle students medical needs and much more. Alas, it won’t have photos of our students but we will remedy that in September.

On 27th June, we will hold a parents’ evening for our ‘founding’ parents, whose children join us from September. We will provide more information on our Camp Wilderness adventure, music lessons, how to purchase a Chromebook through the school (we hope to encourage every student to have one) and Katherine Warington School Transition Day on July 11^th.

Finally, the building programme is running to schedule and Phase One is on track for hand over to us on 19^thSeptember. Phase Two remains on track for completion in the summer of 2020.

Please click the link below to view the April Newsletter.

Please Click Here to read the latest newsletter from Kier Construction on the build for the Katherine Warington School. You can also visit the dedicated Katherine Warington Section on the Kier Construction website at any time by Clicking Here.

It has been rather hectic since half-term when I accompanied some Yr12 students to Russia on a Roundwood Park trip. The students were an absolute credit to themselves and the school and a delight to share time with (I have to say that in case any of them managed to smuggle any photos of me on stage with a traditional Russian folk dancing troupe!).

In the last couple of weeks we have recruited more teaching staff as the new Heads of maths, English and science added to their departments. Our appointees are exceptionally talented and come with many additional skills in geography, history, drama, Mandarin, FA coaching, netball and hockey to name a few.

The Funding Agreement is now signed, ensuring that Katherine Warington School opens in September 2019 and National Offer Day saw all the available places allocated to local Year 6 students. The Continued Interest list will see two further recruitment runs as parents make their final decisions for the September intake. Further information regarding Continued Interest is available under the APPLICATIONS section of the website.

I met Terry Douris on the site of KWS for some promotional photos last week. Terry holds the Education portfolio for Hertfordshire County Council and has been a supporter of the project, recognising the need for local secondary school places. We were taken to the highest point of the 47 acre development in a 4×4. It was the kind of off-roading experience people pay good money for. The steel structure for the sports centre is already up, water attenuation pond dug and the student courtyard cut out in the centre of the school (this is where the outdoor table tennis tables, giant chess set, basketball hoops and picnic benches will be located).

Finally, we held our Taster Lesson morning on Saturday 2^nd March when students and their parents met the new staff and got a feel for what we aim to achieve at the Katherine Warington School. It was a great event for me, being able to meet our students and introduce the teaching team – it’s a real milestone. I can’t wait to hold further events with the KWS parents so their voice is fully heard in our development. Click Here for photos.

 

Following on from our successful Open Morning on Saturday (it was great to see so many of you there!), we wanted to clarify a few questions that have arisen around the admissions process. We apologise for the complications, but because we couldn’t be part of the co-ordinated admissions process, it threw up some anomalies.

1. If I accept KWS, but a place then becomes available at one of my Continuing Interest (CI) schools, will I automatically lose my KWS place?
Yes, if you have schools on your CI list, you will automatically lose your KWS place if a place becomes available at one of those. If you want KWS, you need to accept it and opt-out of the CI list for all other schools.

2. How do I get onto the Continuing Interest list for KWS?
By Friday 8th March, you must make an application through the Herts admissions online application system or complete the paper form on page 9 of the ‘What Can You Do Now’ leaflet to go onto the waiting list for KWS. It is not automatic. If you don’t do this, you will not be on our list for Round 1 of the continuing interest process.

3. I am Out of County, how do I ensure I am on the Continuing Interest list for KWS?
You must go through your own local authority, e.g. Central Beds, or Luton. You need to add it to your list of preferences through your online login, or complete the relevant form to change your preferences. This must be done by Friday 8th March. You don’t need to contact Herts. Central Beds and Luton are adding KWS to their systems today.