Katherine Warington School welcomes Jonny Weldon as Keynote Speaker for their annual Arts Awards Evening.

Katherine Warington School were thrilled to have Jonny Weldon, one of the stars of the hit Netflix show “One Day,” as the keynote speaker at their 2nd annual Arts Awards Evening. The event took place on June 27th at 7:00 PM.

Jonny brought a unique perspective to the arts with an inspiring and entertaining speech that resonated with students, parents, and arts enthusiasts alike – he said “Having loved the arts from a young age and started off working in school productions, it’s such an incredible privilege to come and see a school that supports and champions the arts as much as Katherine Warington School and gives its  young people such incredible opportunities”.

In addition to Jonny Weldon’s keynote address, the evening featured performances by our talented students in our choir, orchestra and dance company and the presentation of awards by Jonny and Sarah Graham a celebrated photo-realist painter and our new patron of the visual arts.

It has been a very busy and active time at KWS as all staff and students got involved in many activities and the two sports days last week. This week, we are celebrating Euro 2024 with a collection of football books about popular footballers. These books are always a favourite with the students and some of the most borrowed books in the library. We have plenty of other football books in the Sports book section, as well as lots of other sports. Pop by for a good, sporty summer read!

District Athletics Championships

On Thursday 13th June we took students from Years 7-10 to the District Athletics Championships at Woodside Stadium in Watford. We had some fantastic performances throughout the day and the students represented the school superbly. Special mention to Darci M in 200m, and Lexi F and Harry S in the long jump for becoming district champions. Well done also to Jessie T-L (hurdles), Harry S (300m) and Poppy D (long jump) for finishing 3rd in their respective events. Hugely impressive performances!

Cricket

County cricket tournament U13 girls came 3rd and U15 girls came 4th. Great bowling from Anna M, Rose S and Jessica K. Izzy J was recognised as the most outstanding batter too. Well done to everyone that participated.

Sports Day

All this week, students have had an assembly about the format and plan for Sports Day(s) on Thursday 27th and Friday 28th June. Hopefully it should be a fantastic opportunity for students to showcase their sporting ability and also to be as physically active as possible.

Just a reminder that with the temperatures due to be high next week, please ensure your child has a filled water bottle when they start their sporting activities. As well as this, sun tan cream and sun hats are advised too. We thoroughly look forward to next week and sharing the results in due course!

Students in Year 10 spent a week in the world of work for their work experience week. Student placements were varied and ranged from working in educational settings, working with animals and within the NHS, to placements in aircraft museums, the Department for Innovation and Technology, and the MTR Crossrail Elizabeth Line.

Students very much enjoyed the experience, where they had the chance to develop employability skills beyond the classroom. The employers were also very impressed with the students from KWS, with a number reporting that the student that they had from Year 10 was the “best work experience student they had ever had”. This has resulted in some of our students being offered further opportunities within the companies that they were placed with. Some examples of positive feedback are outlined below:

“The team were full of praise for Harry, stating he is a ‘great lad’ who settled in brilliantly from his first day. He has worked across Engineering and Quality Departments with excellent time keeping, constant positivity and a can do attitude, showing interest in every task he has been asked to complete,”

“Alina has fully immersed herself in the world of private specialist dentistry. She has been in surgeries lending a helping hand, as well helped the patients to feel less nervous or helped young children to stay on the chair,”

“Louisa has worked exceptionally hard during her work experience placement. She has predominantly worked alongside the marketing department and contributed to the company’s newsletter. Alongside completing assigned tasks from the company, she has, on the company’s request, vlogged her experience for other students in other schools,”

The Careers Team would like to thank all workplaces that offered placements to our students. We appreciate you giving them invaluable experiences that will stay with them for the rest of their lives. We would also like to say a huge well done to the Year 10 students who truly immersed themselves in their respective roles and made KWS proud!

Welcome back to the last half of the summer term from the KWS library! To celebrate Pride Month, we have a display of books for all to enjoy and learn about acceptance, equality and the history of Pride Month which is celebrated in June due to the important protests that took place in the US in June 1969. Today, Pride is a celebration of people coming together in love and friendship, to show how far LGBTQ+ rights have come but there is still more to be done.