Weekly Newsletters

Ken Stimpson Community School: Leading the way for Business and Enterprise Education

This week I wish to share with you a journey of truly remarkable success. As part of our Business and Enterprise specialism we entered a team of students who, alongside 16,500+ pupils from hundreds of schools, took part in this year’s Young Enterprise Company Programme. This involved setting up and running a business over the course of the year.  I am pleased to share with you that Dynasty, the schools Young Enterprise company, reached the national final after winning the Peterborough, Cambridgeshire and then East Anglia heats.

I am so very proud of Dynasty, our most successful Young Enterprise team ever. After a very tough two days at the Company of the Year National Final (14 schools in total) in London and a superb 10 months leading up to this point, they were crowned Second Runner Up (3rd place) in the entire country and won the Retail Excellence category. This award was sponsored by the Post Office and recognised their product, sales approach, trade stand and customer service.

Congratulations to the students, Mr Abbott and Mr Rankmore (Business Adviser) for their remarkable achievements on this journey.  I will be expecting at least 2nd or 1st next year!

Final Day arrangements

Just a reminder that following the end of term assembly on Friday 20 July, at approximately 1.35pm, students will be allowed to go home for their summer break.  There will be a further newsletter next week to inform you of the updates that are planned for September.

Bryan Erwin
Principal

‘Road To Education’ team members Ethan Lutterer, Daniel Wright, Richard Coric, Conor Clarke and Rami Saqre designed and created a dual pen/pencil with detachable ruler.

‘Shoochoo’ team members Laura Miller, Aleksandra Wolna, Millie Wright, Mollie Simpson and Airide Jomante designed the Shoochoo, a pencil aimed at primary school students with characters which become detachable as you sharpen it.

Each team went into a judging room in front of a panel of experts to pitch, Dragons Den style. Only 5 out of 130 teams were chosen to pitch again on the big stage in front of a panel of judges including businessman Theo Paphitis. The presenters were Jordan and Perry from Diversity who were more than happy to take selfies with our excited students.

We are very proud of the preparation, commitment, teamwork and creativity shown in both teams. They all enjoyed the day immensely and will have gained valuable experience from taking part in such a prestigious event. We hope many will become our Young Enterprise team members of the future.

Mrs Gregg
Vocational Studies Co-ordinator

Over the weeks the students have discussed and learnt about a wide variety of jobs and the skills and qualifications that will help them.  We are grateful to Raj Regmi who kindly provided the students with a behind the scenes tour of Ferry Meadow Lakeside Cafe, whilst there they had the opportunity to speak to a various employees in different roles and find out how the business worked.  All the students impressed Hazel and Rai with the questions they asked throughout the visit.  

Mrs Patman, Mrs Coppin and Mr Hill
Pupil Premium Administrator / SEN Administrator / Teaching Assistant

The conference consisted of a variety of workshops that focused on the development of school life - enabling students to participate in projects that they could then take forward with them in the future. 

Adam Berridge, Jake Syddell, Bryn Eccleston, Georgia Kulesza, Jessica Curl and Charlea Bailey-Pratt all represented Ken Stimpson, whilst working alongside students from other schools across Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire. 

These workshops included things such as 'Public Speaking', where they were able to learn the importance of professional speaking and where to use necessary pauses to create emphasis. In addition, they also took part in a 'team building' workshop, getting them to use their initiative in problem solving situations as well as having to work within a team to do this. They even took part in a project called 'Mindfulness', where students were given the opportunity to understand how to control their mind to focus on the present in more depth, as well as learn how to relax their minds whenever they may feel stressed or under pressure within school. 

Overall, it was a successful day! Hopefully they will take this experience away with them and put it to some use!

Miss Jones
Business Admin Apprentice

Although stifling hot, the group took an active role in navigating the journey and many enjoyed the new experience of travelling via the busy underground – although some determined that they would not like to do so again any time soon!

The purpose of the trip was to provide a wider contextual consolidation of 19^th Century and gothic fiction leading to creative writing and a department display board. It also gave students some contextual influences for their own creative work (25% Language GCSE) which we have been exploring in extra-curricular English. Aside from the academic benefits of the trip, it was a great opportunity to reward these students’ continuous hard work and exemplary attitude to their English studies. 

The whole day was a fantastic experience for everybody involved. Inside the London Dungeons, the historical value of the tour was a brilliant addition to their English and History lessons, highlighting the dark and sinister happenings of backstreet 19^th Century London. Nerves were tested, hearts were racing and throats became sore from screaming – and that was just Mrs Willoughby and I! The experience was definitely one to be remembered and the students seemed to thoroughly enjoy being terrified to their wits end.

            Following the trip, the HAL students were asked to write an account of their experience at the London Dungeons – below is Richard Coric’s (Year 9) fantastically-written account of the day. Mrs Willoughby and I would like to thank those who attended the trip for their impeccable behaviour and attitude whilst travelling and for representing the school in such a positive light.

Miss R Curtis
English HAL Lead

We walked in as a group unaware of the terrors lurking inside. Blinded by courage, we continued shuffling along in the endless queue. Oblivious of the presence of a camera, we entered a room with a strange background. After the blinding flash, we were pleased by the upcoming toilets.

We had heard rumours of the terrifying nature within this place. This is where it started, screams of agony ahead, stories of Jack the Ripper could be heard behind – now we were panicked.

The corridor around us was silent as we whispered our expectations, when in the blink of an eye someone kicked a sheet of metal and shouted: "MOVE ALONG LAZY HUMANS". Every single one of us turned abruptly, some with screams, others with shock and despair.

It was the story of the Ripper: we trudged along avoiding all walls and doors just in case something was to jump out at us. We entered a room in which the King's jester awkwardly told us we are going to be executed.

Every moment from that point onwards was filled with adrenaline and tension. We walked down the corridor with the sensation of walking through webs onto the first ride: the boat. It sounds casual at first until you experience it first-hand. The ride took us around while we heard noises from creatures lost in the darkness.

THEN there was a chain of screams as we were splashed with water from falling barrels.

After that, the track abruptly terminated and the platform underneath us suddenly tilted backwards. There was a high-pitched shriek as the boat switched tracks and reversed at rapid speed.

Continuing onwards away from the boats – now every little noise alarmed us. We floated from room to room listening to the King's helpers; building up to the Ripper himself. The Ripper’s identity was unknown, so we never saw him for any longer than 2 seconds. It happened in the pub. There was a raging storm outside and the waiter said we could stay. The lights flickered on and off at precise intervals - from under-lit to pitch black. The light died, the waiter was gone. Then it happened. The light flickered on and off, each second gave the silhouette of a tall figure holding a knife: THE RIPPER. The constant yelling rang through our heads.

Finally, the lights turned on and the waiter made it seem as if nothing happened, as if we were insane.

A while later we were in a room with a locked-up witch. She looked like she was doing some sort of ritual. Again, the lights flashed constantly. "Am I still alive, was this just Déjà vu?" When the light flickered on the bars moved an inch – the witch had escaped! Simultaneous screams killed the speakers. The cage was empty until the light was back on – then, everything was normal, the witch was once more encaged and the guard was laughing, mocking us for seeing ghosts!

From here we entered the eternal mirror maze. We spent what felt like years attempting to get out of that thing. Eventually, we just followed a group of people (honestly not for claustrophobics like most of us).

This is where our group miraculously split, half of us went one way and the rest went the other way; the next ride - the Death Drop.

This was the worst of them all. We lined up, the more experimental and brave of our group got on.

When we were all settled, the machine dropped us from a ten-meter height; it felt like when an astronaut is testing 4g in a centrifuge. It felt as if your stomach lifted into your mouth and your guts are just about to spew out, but just before that happens it stops and lifts you back up. Dizzy and shocked we got to the end to the rewarding part: the gift shop.

From here we stopped at McDonald’s where it looked as if all of London entered simultaneously. Thereupon, we all got back onto the crowded tube.

Mentally scarred, we travelled home with the whole group now united.

Richard Coric
Year 9 Student

In May Year 9 students took part in the National Enterprise Challenge set by Ryman's, they worked in teams to create a new back to school product and two teams represented the school in the National Finals in Telford.  Year 10 students received a mock interview from a local business, they shared their CV's and took away tips of how to perform well. 

Our visitors were very impressed with the students mature approach to planning for their future.  In June all Year 8 students completed the Careers Investigator On-Line activity which helps them explore careers that suit their skills and personalities, Year 10 students have also completed On-Line Career Profiling which assesses particular areas of suitability for careers choice. The reports that these on-line activities produced are used by Careers Advisers and staff in school to discuss on a one to one basis with students when planning their future. 

Year 9 students have also visited Lincoln University taking part in an IT taster day and Cambridge University taking part in a Law taster day. Last week a small number of Year 8 students were invited to Ab-Agri in Lynchwood for an employability experience where they learned all about the company and the different opportunities available as an employee. Many thanks to Ab-Agri for this fantastic opportunity for our students. 

This week a number of Year 8 students will be visiting a Careers Fair at Wembley Stadium, they will be taking part in quizzes and activities during they day linked to making choices for their future and finally next week a number of Year 9 students will be taking part in workshops delivered by local businesses exploring the connections between subject choices and job roles. 

On behalf of the school I would like to sincerely thank all the businesses that have supported us this year on our journey to prepare students for life after school. Many relationships have been developed with employers returning to school and planning future events with us.  Many comments have been made about the mature way our students are preparing for their future. There will be further information regarding our Careers Education Information Advice and Guidance Programme on our website in the new academic year. 

Please may I ask that if you feel that you are able or work for a company that is able to support our students on their journey into the world of work that you contact me at school.

Mrs A Ayre
Careers Lead

Deliberate fire setting is a challenge a majority of Fire and Rescue Services in the UK deal with and in Peterborough the current situation names Central ward as a higher risk area for this type of fire.

We carry out a number of different types of campaigns based on our data in an attempt to educate and inform communities and reduce the number of deliberate and other types of incidents where there appears to be a risk.

With this in mind we have reached out to your child’s school and they have kindly agreed to circulate this message asking that you as parents/guardians/caregivers speak to your children regarding the dangers and consequences of deliberate fire setting to ensure they are not tempted to play with fire during school holiday time when we have seen a slight rise in very small rubbish and outdoor fires in this area.

Station Commander P Jones
Arson Liaison Lead - Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service

There has been a change in leadership for statistics, this week as into the lead races Integrity House with Aspire hot on their tails. Congratulations to Integrity! It will be interesting to see who wins the overall attendance for the end of the academic year as all could change. If students work together as a team you could make all the difference!    

"If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself."

Mrs S Blackledge
Attendance Officer