The week commencing 4th March will see the start of the KWS house charity fortnight.
There are various activities planned throughout the fortnight to raise money for our school charities which are The Ollie Foundation and Cancer Research UK. Students can contribute using card or cash. House representatives have coordinated various events to support these great causes.
5th March- Armstrong have arranged a “guess the eggs in the jar”
6th March- Franklin have arranged a sweet sale in the Courtyard at 3.30pm.
8th March- Ali have arranged a “dunk the teacher” event. This will be held at lunchtime in the courtyard.
11th March- Keller have a bake sale in the Hall at lunchtime.
12th March- Nightingale have a movie screen in Room 41/43 at Lunchtime.
13th March- Tesla have arranged “The great KWS bake off”. All entries will receive achievement points. The deadline for submitting cakes will be 12th March, these will then be judged and winners will be announced. On the 13th March all cakes will be sold in the hall at lunchtime.
Students across different year groups have enjoyed a cultural lesson on Chinese New Year this week. We held a lantern-making workshop during lunchtime on Tuesday. 龙年快乐🧧
https://kwschool.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/IMG_4180.jpeg12001600Chrissy Dickshttps://kwschool.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/smlogo.pngChrissy Dicks2024-02-09 13:52:492024-02-09 13:52:49Celebration of Chinese New Year in Mandarin lessons
This week KWS celebrated Safer Internet Day. The theme this year is “change online”
Students looked at:
Young people’s perspective on new and emerging technology
Using the internet to make change for the better
The changes young people want to see online
The things that can influence and change the way young people think, feel and act online and offline.
Here at KWS we think online safety is very important, as a school to keep children safe online Hertfordshire police run Cyber prevent sessions, we have e-safety lessons in PRE and Computing lessons. We communicate with parents about online safety issues. If parents have missed our e-safety parent briefings this year, you can access information and support through our website.
Here are a few tips from Safer Internet Day to help you deal with online safety:
Staying up to date with what children are doing online can feel like a challenge sometimes. However, you don’t have to be an expert in every new app or service. Simply having conversations with your children about their lives online, and what to do if they need help or something goes wrong, is what’s most important. Here are a few simple steps you can take to help bridge the gap.
Talk little and often
Having a regular open dialogue with your children about their favourite apps, the games they enjoy, and their online friends, will help create an environment where chatting about online experiences becomes a normal part of family life.
Stay proactive
As a result of discussions with your children about their online activities, take time to research the apps they’re using, the accounts or channels they’re following, and the games they’re playing, to get a better idea of what they’re experiencing and what your thoughts are towards it.
Seek support
Knowing where to get help is essential. Each app or platform will have its own safety guidelines and reporting features, and having knowledge of how to use these will ensure you can make a report, seek help, and support your child to get the best out of the services they’re using.
Miss Fatima
https://kwschool.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-08-at-11.02.36u202fam.png00Chrissy Dickshttps://kwschool.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/smlogo.pngChrissy Dicks2024-02-09 13:52:352024-02-09 13:52:35Safer Internet Day
It has been a busy week at KWS marking the upcoming Lunar New Year. Throughout the week students have been enjoying arts and crafts activities alongside an animated film before enjoying a special lunch menu on Thursday organised by our caterers.
As well as making lanterns with Miss Hu and Mrs Kilby, Mrs Chow created some beautiful cut out decorations out of red card (pictured) with hidden messages in Mandarin of Spring.
Thank you to Mr Lee who kindly put together traditional envelopes full of chocolate coins that are given out to children at Chinese New Year for our students who attended our film showing.
We at KWS wish all of our families who celebrate the Lunar New Year (also known as Chinese New Year) a prosperous one.
https://kwschool.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/IMG_7142.jpeg12001600Chrissy Dickshttps://kwschool.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/smlogo.pngChrissy Dicks2024-02-09 13:52:232024-02-09 13:52:23Lunar New Year celebrations
There have been lots of positives in PE this week. Our Year 10A netball team had a fantastic 15-9 win against STAGS, with the player of the match identified as Eden A. Great work from our Year 7A netball team on their 7-1 win against STAGS. Some superb passing and interceptions throughout. Sophie K was recognised as the game’s most outstanding player. Meanwhile, our Year 7B team showed great elements of play despite a loss to St Columba’s in a recent league fixture. Sophia D was acknowledged as the most effective KWS player.
After being affected by the weather in previous weeks, we had our first blocked Saturday football fixture of the season for Years 7-10 against Samuel Ryder. All teams equipped themselves well, with Year 7 drawing 2-2, Year 8 winning 3-0 and Year 9 managing to come through a tight game to prevail 3-2. Our Year 10 side, unfortunately suffered a loss, however they can be encouraged by the performance.
Our Year 11 boys football team had a brilliant 8-0 win in the county cup. They now progress to the quarter finals. Some excellent performances throughout the side but special mention to Jordan C for scoring 4, including a contender for goal of the season. Lewis N in central midfield was everywhere, breaking up play and showing composure when pressurised in possession.
The Year 8 boys have a county cup quarter final to look forward to on Monday, our Year 9s have a district cup fixture today and our U13 girls also have a district cup game on Monday too.
In basketball, our Year 7 team had a great 20-2 win against Townsend and the Year 8 side won 37-11 against St Albans School. Both teams put in a good team performance at both ends of the court, with excellent rebounding from Marley M and Charlie R. Well done to all of those involved.
On Thursday this week, 11 Year 9 students attended the Herts county inclusion champions training at Hertfordshire Sports village. The session started with a talk from Steve Frew, an ex team GB gymnast, and two young athlete role models about the importance of inclusion in sport. They then spent an hour experiencing 6 different inclusive activities and discussing different ways they could be adapted to include people with different needs, including wheelchair users and those with visual and hearing impairments.
Once they had finished the activities, they spent some time working with school games organisers and young athletes to come up with a plan for how they will deliver the various activities within KWS to their peers. Thinking about the who, how and what will it look like and also the implementation and impact this would have. All the students conducted themselves brilliantly throughout the afternoon and demonstrated all the KWS values representing the school fantastically.
Lastly, Year 7s have Sports Hall Athletics team trials before school at 8am in our sports hall on Monday.
It’s been fantastic to see so much usage of the astroturf over the last few weeks and how well students have adhered to ensuring that the space is getting looked after and being maximised. Long may that continue!
We have also had a series of fixtures recently. Our Year 11 netball team had a superb 17-11 win against Stags and all students were fantastic – some great passing and interceptions throughout. Jasmine D and Thea O were identified as players that excelled.
Great work by the U12, U14 and U16 girls futsal teams in a district tournament. The girls were superb! Stand out performers were Alice T, Sophie K, Poppy D and Mikalya C. Our u16 girls finished 3rd overall.
The year 11 boys football team had a fantastic 3-2 win in the county cup at home on our brand new astroturf.
Our Year 7 basketball team had a 23-22 win against Aldwickbury yesterday. They also have another fixture against Nicholas Breakspeare later today. The Year 8 rugby team completed their final game of the rugby season with a highly competitive game against Verulam, being edged out by one try. Some fantastic defence throughout though.
Finally, huge congratulations to the six students who competed at the Zonal trampoline competition in Solihull last Sunday. Matthew P, Josh P and Riley W were crowned Zonal Champions in the year 7-9 Elite category, qualifying for the National Finals in March in Telford and Matthew qualified in 5th place individually. Ollie T and Jude D competed fabulous routines to place 7th and 9th respectively in the year 9-10 Novice category, with Ollie only 0.1 away from qualifying individually for his first National Finals. To finish the day off, Will E competed in a tough category for the intermediate boys. Will completed great routines and placed 4th overall qualifying for the National Finals. Thank you to all the parents who supported their children on the day and to parents who volunteered as helpers for the competition.
When we arrived at the University of Hertfordshire, we were greeted by University Ambassadors who study a range of subjects from Engineering, Computer Science to Fashion. We started off with a seminar on the different routes to apprenticeships. Some of these apprenticeships included working for the Metropolitan police (MET) at a level 7 apprenticeship which could earn you £30K/annum all the way to working as a chef with a level 2 apprenticeship which could earn you £12K/annum. Next we found ourselves in a careers workshop delivered by career coaches. We learnt that jobs need applicable skills, we put this to the test by getting into groups of 3/4 we were then given spaghetti and marshmallows to try and build the tallest tower without it falling over. We used many shapes to try and create the most stable structures, they were then measured and ranked in height order.
After this we had a talk about the many career opportunities that one could pursue whilst studying at University and how having a job could benefit you massively and improve the skills needed. We looked at how career services worked, they can help with CVs and cover letters exploring different career options available to students. You can also have mock interviews with them. There are lots of different part time job opportunities at the university, such as becoming a student career coach. For lunch we got to go to their canteen called The Forum. There was a restaurant, a premier, subway, a coffee place and much more. There was a vast seating area where you can have lunch whilst you study or just socialise with your friends.
After lunch, we received a seminar on the benefits of going to University and what it would be like learning there. The lecturer explained to us how the University provides a wide range of opportunities across many courses provided by the university. There are many clubs and social groups for students to join at the university, which allow students to further improve their employable skills. Along with these clubs, many housing arrangements are available such as studio rooms, en-suite rooms and shared rooms. University life is vastly different to primary and secondary school life; no longer being jam packed with lessons and instead having many free periods for students to enjoy, socialise, study and work.
The final event of the day was the University of Hertfordshire- College Lane Campus tour. We were shown the entire campus. We first visited a housing block and saw what the living spaces looked like. Next we were shown around the various facilities the University had. We had the chance to see several flight simulators that the engineering department uses. We saw the University’s formula one car that students designed and created. We were told how students from all faculties are involved in this and have the chance to go abroad to race in various races. Following on we were given the chance to visit the student support areas such as the student union and the careers support team. The tour was definitely the best bit of the day, getting to see so many different facilities at the University and seeing students going about their normal day.
Jack F and Dean H- Year 10
https://kwschool.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/IMG_6665.jpg12001600Chrissy Dickshttps://kwschool.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/smlogo.pngChrissy Dicks2024-01-26 10:46:302024-01-26 10:46:30University of Hertfordshire visit
On Friday 12th January 2024, the Katherine Warington School Community Pitch, our new artificial pitch, was officially opened by some special guests: Mick Harford, the former LTFC player, manager and ex England international, Annie Brewster, who has worked at parish, district, and county council level for over 15 years and Dr Tom Gilham, a local GP partner.
A collaboration between Katherine Warington School, Wheathampsted Wanderers, the Football Foundation, and Watford FC Community, the new pitch will be enjoyed not only by KWS students but by the wider community for multiple sports, all year round.
Our guests spoke about how fortunate the students and local residents are to have such a fantastic facility on their doorstep. Mick Harford commented that “sport changes lives for the better” and urged students to make the most of the pitch, which he said “is going to be an incredible success”. Mick also said, “Sport and exercise also brings people together especially when it’s introduced in your formative years, it builds relationships which last a lifetime”
Annie Brewster commented that, “She was delighted the school, plus its wider community, now had access to this fantastic facility having originally campaigned for the school to have a 3G when it was built”. Annie looks forward to working with the school in her new role as High Sherrif of Hertfordshire later in the year.
After the official cutting of the ribbon, some selected students were invited to take part in a penalty shootout with Mick Hartford. Benjamin Mupita, a KWS student said, “It was amazing to be playing with Mick Harford. It was lots of fun and I really enjoyed myself.” Isobel James, a KWS student said, “I enjoyed using the new astro to play football with Mick Harford very much as it gave me an opportunity to use this wonderful facility and understand how it would be used in the future.”
The school was also delighted to be able to raise funds for Prostate Cancer UK as part of the event and currently has a Just Giving page running (https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/KWS-3G-Pitch). At the ceremony, a cheque for £1,000 was presented following a donation from Academia Technology Group.
David Martin, Headteacher gave thanks for the dedication of Dean Inns, School Business Manager, and Tony Smith as well as to the incredible contribution of so many in the local community who have worked tirelessly together to support this project and make it a reality.
As a school, we place great importance on attendance and expect that all our students will achieve an attendance level of at least 96% each academic year.
Parents have a legal responsibility to ensure their child attends school regularly and punctually.
Any student with an attendance figure below 90% is defined nationally as a persistent absentee. This equates to just over 3 days of absence per half term and applies if the absence is authorised or unauthorised.
If a student were to get a score of 90% on a maths test this would be very good. If, however, a student’s attendance is 90% over their five years of compulsory school age, from Year 7 to 11, this equates to missing half a year of school, which is detrimental to any individual, regardless of their academic ability.
There is a strong statistical link between attendance and attainment. Studies show that students with the highest attainment in their GCSE exams, at the end of Year 11, have higher rates of attendance over Years 10 and 11, compared to those with the lowest attainment.
We review attendance regularly and have an attendance procedure we follow based on each student’s attendance percentage. The attached attendance leafletprovides important information regarding our attendance procedures.
We strongly advise parents/carers to avoid booking holidays during term time. We appreciate there may be exceptional circumstances behind a request for leave. If this is the case, you should give a detailed explanation as to why it is necessary for you to take your child out of school by completing this formand sending it to absence@kwschool.co.uk where it will be forwarded to Mr Martin for his consideration.
Rewarding Excellent Attendance
We also like to recognise students who have excellent attendance as well as those that have strived to increase their attendance by sending letters of congratulations to students and parents. Each week in assembly, we celebrate the form group with the best attendance.
Students who attain 100% attendance every half term have their name entered into a prize draw which takes place at the end of the year. The more half terms that a student attends without absence, the more entries they have in the draw which increases their chances in the draw. Previous prizes have included Apple Airpods and Love to Shop vouchers.
By working together, we can help students reach their full potential and make the most of the opportunities school has to offer.
If you feel you would like support with your child’s attendance or wellbeing, please do not hesitate to contact the school.
Absence Reporting
If your child is unable to attend school due to illness, urgent appointments or other reasons please telephone the 24hr school absence line on 01582 314800 or email absence@kwschool.co.uk by 8.30am at the latest, on the first day of absence and every subsequent day thereafter.
Please provide your child’s name and tutor group
Please give as much detail as possible for the reason of absence avoiding using terms such as ‘unwell’ or ‘under the weather’
If you fail to contact the school to inform us of your child’s absence, this will be referred to our safeguarding team who may consider it is appropriate to complete a safe and well check
This is a reminder to all parents/carers that informing the school is a key responsibility of yours. When staff from both the attendance and safeguarding team take time out of their day to chase families, it detracts from the support we can offer to students in school. Therefore, please ensure all reports are made by 8.30am.
Where possible, please give plenty of notice for any planned absence, for example hospital appointments, and provide a copy of any medical/dental appointment letters/cards to the school. We would appreciate all dental and non-urgent doctor appointments being made out of school hours.
The attached attendance leaflet provides further information.
Please Click here to view our attendance page on the school website.