Year 9 Mandarin students present their posters in Mandarin, introducing the city of Xi’an, they gave the presentation completely  in Mandarin.

Miss Hu

Written by Becky D. and Annalisa R. (Year 10) 

As part of activities week, the Year 10 history students had the opportunity to go on a trip into London. To start with, we went to the Imperial War Museum which is the world’s leading museum of war and conflict. We looked around the First and Second World War galleries which brought together the stories of real people from the past. We saw many things there including: historic weapons, uniforms, pictures and art. My favourite part was getting to walk through a recreation of a trench and experience what being in one might have felt like. I found it really interesting and it definitely helped support what we were learning about in our previous topic.

Annie – Golden Hinde:

Secondly, we went to the Golden Hinde, an Elizabethan warship launched in 1577. We got a tour round the ship, and we were told about the various voyages as well as the functions of different elements on the ship. We were taught about the conditions people on the ship lived in, why people would want to come on a ship like this, and about Francis Drake too. The part I found most interesting was the map of where the ship travelled on its various voyages, and what the crew did and discovered on their journeys. I found it helpful as it links to what we will be learning about in our current history lessons.

Overall, a really nice day out in London which broadened our historical knowledge.

Mr Laing

Arts Week

This week we have been celebrating Arts week at Katherine Warington School. There have been a number of activities including an Art Exhibition, and a Music, Drama and Dance festival where over 60 students performed in front of our guest adjudicators – Siobhan Cha Cha and Vaneeka Dhadria winning points for their house as well as receiving feedback from the adjudicators.

Arts Awards

Thursday saw our inaugural Arts Award evening. Over three hundred parents and students were hosted by Adele James (Netflix’s Queen Cleopatra, BBC Casualty) and celebrated students achievements in Art, Music, Drama and Dance throughout the course of the year. With over 200 nominations and performances by the orchestra, Dance troupe and soloists, it really was a highlight of the year.

Music Festival

This Saturday sees the climax of our Arts Week with a music festival taking place in the school grounds featuring our own Sam Clift, DJ Sets from Year 10 students Jahleel and Michael, as well as Harpenden’s own India Arkin and a range of hand curated bands tipped for success in 2023.

There are family activities, the Katherine Warington School Association of Friends, food stalls and a bar, as well as a range of craft stalls by both students and local businesses.

Tickets are still available in advance and KWS parents can get a discount of 50% on tickets by using the code ‘live23’ at the checkout. Full details can be found at www.harpenden-live.com

Activities Week

As part of activities week, 72 Performing Arts students took part in a 4 day residential based at the LSE’s Bankside Hall of residence.

As part of the week, students saw four shows, including West End classics such as Phantom of the Opera and the Lion King, the new show Mrs Doubtfire as well as an afternoon performance of Shakespeare’s ‘Comedy of Errors’ at the Globe Theatre.

As well as performances, students also had workshops with the creative team involved with the show. Andy York from Phantom led a workshop on the singing and choreography from ‘Masquerade’, Ellie Mitchell from Mrs Doubtfire on choreographing the opening number from the show, including a visit from the show’s Associate Choreographer Lisa Mathieson.

The following day saw the fight director from the Comedy of Errors direct a fascinating workshop on stage combat with our students and the day finished with a workshop on ‘Be Prepared’ from Lion King with a former member of the cast.

Mr Bullock

clueQuest

In Activities Week, 60 year 10 students visited the clueQuest Escape Rooms in Islington, London.  The escape rooms are themed on Mr. Q’s spy agency and participants take on the role of secret agents tasked with a variety of missions.  For example, in one room, students must identify the double agent, prove that the evil Professor BlackSheep is behind the disappearance of fellow agents and achieve all of that before a security device detonates the agency’s entire facility.   

We were impressed with the way students worked together, helping and encouraging each other to find clues, solve puzzles and ultimately escape from the rooms.  There were a number of successfully completed missions and fortunately no one got locked in and left behind!

When students were not in the escape rooms, they were able to participate in Agent Training challenges and “choose your own adventure” table top games.  It was a busy day which the students seemed to really enjoy and we look forward to visiting clueQuest again next year. 

Miss Wall