We held our third “Low Bang” firework spectacular on Friday 8th November. We had record attendance with over 1,500 people attending our biggest event yet. The event raised over £6,500 to support the students at KWS. The event would not have been possible without the help and support of the KWAF Volunteers (both parental and staff) led by Claire and Natasha and support from the school – Mr Bullock, Mr Inns, Mrs Freeman and the KWS Site Team. Thank you to those who supported with the event including Fantastic Fireworks, Herts Catering, Hearn Medics, ReallyAwesomeCoffee and the Police Service who were also in attendance and our Main Sponsor Phoenix Construction.

There is some drone footage from the event available here – Click Here

Students in Y11 were lucky to be visited by some external speakers, as well as our very own Mr Laing to inform them of some of their options at post-16 and post-18 level.

Mr Laing spoke about KWSixth and how it differs from life within the main school body. Students were informed of the subjects on offer and what would be required of them should they wish to join KWSixth in September 2025.

We were also lucky to have Andy from “Power of Events”, who spoke about the broad scope of roles within event planning and organisation. The students heard what was required to plan smaller events, such as weddings, and also heard how Andy and his colleagues had been involved in much larger events like global superstar concerts, sporting events and Eurovision. Andy also spoke about the different routes into the company, such as apprenticeships.

Sarah from the University of Hertfordshire informed students of what university life is like. This session was used to introduce students to the idea of university and how different university courses are from GCSE or higher education courses. She also touched on some aspects of student life like tuition fees and loan repayments, so that students were aware of these and how to access help with such things should they need to.

Unfortunately, some of our speakers were unable to attend on the day due to illness. We will, therefore, host some smaller events later in the year to provide further information on apprenticeships, vocational colleges and also working within the NHS.

In September and October we read: Standard Deviation  by Katherine Heiny

There were differing opinions on whether we liked the book or not.

It was generally agreed that it was an amusing book to read for pleasure and the characters were very interesting but the ending was a bit dull.

There were a few moments that had us gasping in surprise.

We enjoyed the descriptive writing.

‘A divinely funny novel about the challenges of a good marriage, the delight and heartache of raising children, and the irresistible temptation to wonder about the path not taken.

Graham Cavanaugh’s second wife, Audra, is everything his first wife was not. She considers herself privileged to live in the age of the hair towel, talks non-stop through her epidural, labour and delivery, invites the doorman to move in and the eccentric members of their son’s Origami Club to Thanksgiving. She is charming and spontaneous and fun but life with her can be exhausting.

In the midst of the day-to-day difficulties and delights of marriage and raising a child with Asperger’s, his first wife, Elspeth, reenters Graham’s life. Former spouses are hard to categorise – are they friends, enemies, old flames, or just people who know you really, really well? Graham starts to wonder: How can anyone love two such different women? Did he make the right choice? Is there a right choice?’

Our current Staff Book Club read is – Umarriageable by Soniah Kamal

We’ve had an action packed few weeks in PE in the lead up to half term.

Netball

Well done to the Year 7 netball team who played their first competitive match versus Marlborough. An unfortunate loss, but lots to take from the game. Player of the match was Abigail W. An amazing set of results for both the 8A and 8B teams versus STAGS. A’s won 11-9 and B’s 16-2. Sophie K and Emily W were identified as the outstanding players in the respective games. The 8B and 9B netball teams also had league matches versus Samuel Ryder. With Maisie and Eden G acknowledged for good game impact. 

Congratulations to the 9A netball team who progressed through to the next round of the district cup. An end to end game with Marlborough finishing 15-15 in normal time but 18-15 after extra time to KWS. Player of the match was Bella L. Moreover, well done to our year 9 netball teams in their matches versus STAHS and Beaumont. The girls improved massively throughout each quarter and their resilience and motivation was a credit to themselves and the school. Scarlett M, Rosie H and Isla G each get a mention for putting in particularly impressive performances. A special shoutout to Heidi G too, for her effort and enthusiasm throughout. 

Great work from the year 11 netball team versus Marlborough. A 9-9 tie but some great elements of play from the squad. This was then followed up by an excellent win over Beaumont B’s in the district league. Player of the match for both games was identified as Eden A.

Rugby

Well done to our Years 7-10 rugby squads against our annual fixture against Roundwood. A very impressive performance by our Year 9s, meanwhile Year 10s drew a very tight game. Further valuable experience for our Years 7&8 squads. This was then followed with lots of entertaining rugby by our rugby teams against Sandringham. Year 8 and 9 had very positive performances and big wins, playing some excellent rugby throughout. Year 7s showed a marked improvement and are getting better each game, meanwhile Year 10s battled back after a tough start to the game and showed heart throughout. Then, last Saturday we had a tough set of fixtures against Watford Grammar School for Year 7, 8 and 10. With torrential rain throughout, Year 8s in particular equipped themselves very well with some of the best rugby they have played since forming as a team. We look forward to more fixtures after the half term break.

Cross country

We concluded our cross country season at Verulam in the last few weeks. A top 5 place finish for Lucy H in the junior girls race. It has been great to see so many students competing in the different age groups and improving each week!

Basketball

Our Year 10 team had a superb win in the district league game versus SJL, scoring 55 points in the process and only having 5 points scored against them. A massive well done and it bodes well for the rest of the season.

Football

For the girls, the U13s had a brilliant first game in the County Cup versus last year’s winners Beaumont. The girls had some great chances, finishing 1-1 in the first half, but unfortunately losing 2-1 by full time. Superb performances in particular from Sophie K and Lucy H, meanwhile the goal scorer was Hannah D. 

Well done also to Alice and Lucy in Year 10 for representing Hertfordshire U16s in their match last weekend. It’s great to have KWS representation in county squads this year.

Moving onto the boys, this year we entered two age groups into the National Cup, with both having excellent wins. The Year 8 boys beat Brooklands Middle School 3-0, with 2 goals from Fin J and Thoas also notching. 

Meanwhile for the Year 9s, it was a hard fought win away at a very well respected sporting school, Bishop’s Stortford High School. Having gone 2-0 down, the boys overcame setbacks throughout to win and score 7 in the process. There was a valuable hat trick from Ed James, but the whole squad played their part in really digging in and showing character throughout. 

Tennis

Well done to Finlay R in Year 9, who has been selected to represent the Herts U14 tennis team (team of four) at the upcoming 12 counties event at the end of October in Corby. Good luck with this.

Finally, just a reminder that for any football training/lessons, all students must wear shin pads. Have a great half term. We look forward to more sporting action after the holiday.