Weekly Newsletters

Lest we forget those who have committed themselves for a great cause

Dear all

This week’s newsletter pays tribute to those who either lost love ones during the wars since 1914, have dealt with the bravery of those sent to war and its consequences, or have passed away.  Sadly, we learnt last week of the passing of our former Chair of Governors, Paddy Reeson. 

We paid tribute to those who lost their lives during conflict in our Remembrance Assembly on Friday. 

We also wish to pay our respect to Paddy Reeson, Former Chair of Governors, who dedicated so much time to the school in order to ensure that everyone was on the journey to make our school an even better place.

A tribute from David McPartlin, former Principal:

Ken Stimpson was an excellent and renowned Director of Education in Peterborough and Cambridgeshire. When he died suddenly, the Local Education Authority were committed to naming a school in his honour. The new secondary school in Werrington was the first to become available.

Patricia "Paddy" Reeson joined the governing body when Ken Stimpson Community School opened in September 1982. This was only right and proper since she was the younger sister of the fore mentioned Ken Stimpson. Paddy was a very committed and highly skilled governor for 24 years, including more than 18 years as the Chair of Governors from 1986 - 2004. For example, the OFSTED inspection in December 2002 praised the dedication and skills of Governors noting “The governors have an excellent understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. They hold the school very well to account, for example setting clear improvement targets.” Paddy was a constant and reassuring presence in the school, always attending school functions. She was involved in almost all aspects of the school’s development and daily life, from advising about building plans, to judging the children's efforts in decorating their classrooms at Christmas. She was very popular with staff who knew that Paddy always had their best interests at heart.

Outside her school work she chaired a major coordinating committee of National Health Service organisations. She was a very talented darts player and both played for and captained the England Ladies team for many years. She was a leading player in finding the funding for and coordinating the building of the all-weather athletics track on the embankment. Her contribution to the growth and development of Ken Stimpson Community School is almost beyond description and always completed with enormous care for the individuals concerned, whether staff or students, and an irrepressible sense of humour.

A tribute from Bridget Holland, former Chair of Governors:

Earlier this week we said a sad farewell to a loyal KSCS supporter. Many of you will not know the name Paddy Reeson, but it is inextricably linked to our school because she was the sister of Ken Stimpson. On his death our school was named in his memory. He had spent much of his life working to provide young people in Werrington with social clubs and activities. When the school opened in 1982 his sister Paddy became one of the governors, a role she fulfilled for 24 years.

Later in her governing career she became the Chair of Governors and like her brother she continued to work hard to support the school and the students within it. She was however known outside of Peterborough as a talented darts player, she captained the national ladies team to many successes and was herself a highly successful player for over 30 years. I came to know her through our shared love of tennis, having spent many summers at matches supporting or commiserating over our favourite players.

When I retired from work in 1998 she asked me to do a small job for her, little was I to know that this “job” would keep me working for 20 years as a governor. When she retired from the position of Chair in 2004 I was honoured and humbled to be chosen as her successor. Anyone who knew Paddy well would tell you that she always saw the funny side of life, you could not spend much time with Paddy without being amused or inspired by her attitude, she found the good in everything and everybody. She cared passionately about young people and the city has lost a much admired and well respected ambassador.

Rest in Peace Paddy, you will not be forgotten.

Bryan Erwin
Principal

We are regularly being made aware of facts and statistics and it can affect anyone, from any background, race, religion, age, gender. At Ken Stimpson, we asked for volunteers to join our growing wellbeing team. We have many ideas and plans for the future which we hope will benefit our young people both in and outside school. By putting a team together, we can share the workload and importantly, help our team to develop valuable skills and experience which will add to their CV’s and personal statements when applying for future opportunities.

All our volunteers completed an application form, stating their reasons why they wanted to get involved. They then had a 1:1 interview with myself, Mrs. Patman and two of our Post 16 ambassadors.

We are very proud to introduce our team. They are (from left to right back row)

Bethan Smith, Hollie Orbell, Esther Goodhand, Emma Cook, Luke Reeve, Karolina Racguckaite, Airida Jomante, Drary Wilder-Garton, Chelsea Johns, McKenzie Britton, Alex Clarke, Safiyah Javed, Sara Indulska, Shannon Aikman.

(Front row: From left to right) Roxanna Tansley, Charlotte Marshall, Rihanna Stokes, Jorja Bettany, Stuart Booth, Connor Aubrey and Laura Miller.

Mrs. Gregg, Mrs. Patman and Mrs. Purdy

Students from Y9 and Year 10 Triple Science had the opportunity to visit the Tim Peake Space Descent VR Bus.  The tour is a partnership between Samsung CSR and the Science Museum Group, bringing to life the excitement and learnings from Tim Peake's Space mission. This complements the recent exhibition in the Cathedral displaying Tim Peake’s decent module.

The students had the opportunity to complete a number of exciting and educational activities on the bus:

• Interactive space training to launch and control the decent of the space capsule
• Be quizzed on facts about ISS (International Space station)
• "Digital Suit Up" to try on an astronaut suit (Augmented Reality)
• Observe the view from a replica window of the International Space Stations
• 12 min 360 degree Virtual Reality Experience: Tim Peake's space descent to Earth.

The virtual reality decent was the real highlight of the visit along with the inevitable questions about how astronauts go to the toilet – and no it wasn’t out of the window!

Mr A Mantell
Head of Science

Our New Rewards Scheme has been up and running now since the beginning of this academic year an students have really excelled themselves in their achievements last half term.

Each Year group had a rewards assembly whereby students received certificates for achieving Bronze, Silver or Gold Award in their connect points.  These points are rewarded for all areas of the school, participation in lessons, helpful in tutor time, attend extra curricular activities, excellent piece of homework etc.  Students also received certificates for their Excellent attitude to learning.

Well done to all students but particular well done to the students below who achieved OUTSTANDING attitude to Learning in their first Autumn Half Term:

Daria Grzeda Year 9, Aimee Robbins Year 11, Michaela Zigova Year 11, Anastasija Bogdanova Year 11, Jemma Thompson Year 11 and Chloe Rayment Year 11, Jade Smith Year 12, Thomas Buckley, Vjaceslavs Ivanovs Year 13, Joseph Kirwan Year 13,  Asia Maffia Year 13 and Kirsten Swinscoe Year 13

Here are a few photos of the celebrations:

Mrs J Purdy
Extended Leadership Team

Congratulations again to Success for holding onto the lead.  There has not been much movement in attendance for all Houses this week.  This is something we all need to work on to help our Houses.  Every day we attend adds up and ensures that you make the most of every lesson.

"The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide that you are not going to stay where you are"