Weekly Newsletters

This week I have been explaining to the new Year 11 students (current Year 10) how they will be in the same position as Year 11 in just one year from now. I have stressed the need for good habits in terms of homework and revision, as well as knowing how to flag up when the pressure gets too much.  Student well-being is an important aspect of school life.  We cannot remove the pressure of examinations, but what we can do is support through the resources we have at our disposal.  As a father whose daughter woke up in the early hours of the morning panicking, I realise this is something we all need to work more collectively on. A view that is equally shared by the staff here at KSCS.

Year 10 Subject evening is just around the corner, it takes place on Wednesday 12 June.   Please click here to book appointments.

Finally, I wish to highly commend the work of the staff involved in the Year 10 ‘Present your CV Day’.  The feedback from the employers and the buzz from the students was fantastic.  We plan to offer another session as part of our Careers Education Impartial Advice Programme. The students found the opportunity to engage with an business person unfamiliar to them a challenging but really rewarding life skill.

I am indebted to staff who are offering a wide range of booster sessions both before the examinations and during the holidays.

Enjoy the half term.

Bryan Erwin
Principal

His evening got even better as Liverpool completed one of the best footballing comebacks in history with a magnificent 4-0 victory over the mighty Barcelona!

Novus added the awards for Best Customer Service and Best Presentation to the main prize and took home 3/5 of the awards they were able to win.  The runners up place went to The Peterborough School but once again, it will be Ken Stimpson representing Cambridgeshire at the Regional Final in Norwich on 5 June.  Novus are Ken Stimpson’s 5^th Peterborough Champions and the school has now been either the Peterborough Winners or Runner Up in each of the past 7 years- quite a ‘hot streak’ of which Mr Abbott and Business Adviser, Ray Rankmore, are incredibly proud.  

Novus, led by Managing Director Marc Humphries, were a class above the other teams on the night and deserved winners.  The presentation team also consisted of Sales Director Amelia Abrahams, HR Director Esther Goodhand and IT Director Harrison Skinner.  Finance Director Bobby Scialla-Cooper was also presenting but in disguise as Suvon, the teams monster mascot which helped them scoop the Best Customer Service prize.  The winning Novus team also consists of Marketing Director Jade-Rose Albert-Pascal, Company Secretary Eddie Malcolm and Operations Director Oliver Smith.  

The team had also been particularly successful at Trade Fairs running up to the Final, winning Best Company and Best Trade Stand at the Hampton event in February and Best Customer Service at the Grafton Centre in March.  They had also won Best Trade Stand at Centre: MK in Milton Keynes in January.

Mr Abbott now is hoping for another double celebration in early June.  Novus are aiming to follow in last year’s winner footsteps as Dynasty went all the way to the National Final in London and claimed 3^rd prize overall.  Can Novus do one better…?

You can read Novus’s Annual Report by clicking on the link below

Novus Report

Mr K Abbott
Assistant Principal

To access & book appointments, please go to https://kscs.parentseveningsystem.co.uk

The schedule of Pre-exam Booster Sessions from Monday 3 June to Friday 7 June will be emailed directly to students on Friday 31 May. Please remind them to check their emails at this time and encourage them to attend the early morning sessions.

Miss J Harvey

Additionally Ms Mayfield will be offering students a chance to improve on their Health and Social Care Coursework on Tuesday 28 May from 9am to 3pm in 3U07

In light of this, YMCA have developed a mobile app that young people can download and use to complete relaxation activities, breathing exercises, meditation and mindfulness activities, all of which are proven to help people manage the various pressures of everyday life.

The app usually costs to download however, Ken Stimpson Community School has secured 1000 licences of this app which we are offering to students free of charge. 

To download the app students need to:

1. Visit www.thrive.uk.com/signup 
2. Sign up using their school email address and a password of their choice
3. Enter the promo code KSYP19 

If students need any assistance in downloading the app, please speak to Mrs Gregg, Mrs Patman or myself. Further information on the app can be found at: www.thrive.uk.com.

Mr P Swift
Assistant Principal

Many thanks to the following businesses who supported on the day and to Peterborough Skills Service who helped organise the day: City College, Barclays, McDonalds, Coca Cola, Ab Agri, Thomas Cook, IKEA, Morgan Sindall, Bauer Media, Lesko Modular, Skanska and Perkins.  We are very proud of our students and all of the businesses said it was a pleasure to meet them and wish them luck with their future career plans.

Year 8 students have been preparing to make their pathway choices by completing our Careers Investigator on-line sessions. This produces a report showing skills, strengths and suggested career pathways. Your son/daughter has access to this report via their school email, if possible please encourage them to share this with you. They have been given time in school to explore the report and I am very impressed with their inspirational career choices.

Aspiring medical care professionals from Year 12 have attended the NHS Insight Day at Anglia Ruskin University, where they explored their skills lab and had Q and A sessions with senior lecturers from Midwifery, General Nursing, Social Work and Adult Nursing.  This will be followed with more bespoke taster sessions at ARU in Cambridge, when they are in Year 13.

This week a small number of students from Years 7,8 and 9 have begun the Jon Egging Trust Blue Skies Inspire Programme. Staff from the JET team alongside RAF Wittering personnel will be in school delivering the programme which supports students with their employability skills including team work, communication and confidence building.

I would like to wish all students sitting exams at the moment the very best of luck and if any student wishes to make an appointment to see me regarding their future plans please do email me a.ayre [at] kscs.org.uk. Alternatively please see the careers section of our school website for up to date information regarding our Careers Programme year by year and information on applying for apprenticeships.  There is also a parents pack giving information on how students can be supported at home with their future career choices.

Mr A Ayre
Careers

The Book Club is open to Years 7 to 11; we need more boys! Students get to choose the book and the English Department buy it in. Meetings are monthly (usually on a Thursday after school) and refreshments are provided. Please think about joining if you like reading.

See Mr Billson for more details.

Mr K Billson
English

On Sunday 19th May I had to complete a level 5 in Gymnastics, called Earth.  I was up against 9 other people. There were certain moves that needed to be completed. Each piece had a different starting number and the judges would take marks off your final score for doing moves a little wrong, or if you fell off the bars or beam.  It was a hard competition but I tried my best.

I achieved first on Floor and Bars, second on Beam and third on Vault. I also achieved first place overall, which I am thrilled with.

Well done Kayleigh, a fantastic achievement!
 

Mrs J Purdy
Dance

Students have all been given a list of topics that have not been tested on Paper 1, along with exam questions to go with these. These topic areas will be their teachers main focus in the lessons running up to paper 2 on Thursday the 6th of June and the half term revision session on Tuesday the 28th of May at 10.30am.  On the day of the exam everyone is invited to the Maths warm-up session from 7.30am.  

Students can revise SMART by using the Pixl Maths App and the multiple resources they have access to, including individualised booklets that have been printed after analysing their March PPEs.  

Every week I continue to send out resources students can start using at home called the final countdown. Using the countdown alongside the PiXL Maths app and other revision resources will really make the difference to closing the gap on areas students still have issues with. Please find attached week 12 and 13 of the 2019 extra questions that students can do at home with the support of parents, as mark schemes and examiners reports are also attached. These are split into two types of questions, one designed for foundation students aiming for a 4 or 5 and the new one for higher tier students aiming for grades 6 to 9. Every week I will continue to attach five topics that regularly appear on examinations. 

Maths academic catch up continues to run on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday for all years. As well as all Maths staff taking revision sessions, I am available in 3U23 on each of these days to help students with areas they are struggling with on the PiXL Maths app. 

Maths equipment is still available to purchase using the school ParentPay system. Pencil cases with all essential equipment (pencil, ruler, rubber, sharpener, protractor and compass) are available for £3.00 and scientific calculators for £7.00 each.

Part 12 Questions/Answers

Mr L Donnelly
Maths