Weekly Newsletters

If your child was involved in the evening, then may I extend my sincere gratitude for the time that they willingly gave up. I also wish to share that the members of staff and myself were incredibly proud of their confidence and belief in the school.  They were real stars!  Later I will share how we wish to convey our gratitude to the students and yourself, as I am so proud of their contribution.

As we move into autumn and the daylight hours get shorter, I would like to remind students, with your assistance, to ensure that they have a coat and if they are cycling to school that they have a helmet and lights on their bicycle.   Please can I urge you to check that your son or daughter considers the safety issues when travelling to and from school.  Some of the simplest checks have been pointed out to me by members of the public.  These are:

• Wear a helmet and have lights fitted to your bicycle.
• Be aware the Werrington centre car park is not a through fare – use the designated paths to walk and cycle to and from school.
• Consider that cars may not be able to see you.  Do not swerve between cars and do not assume that a vehicle can see you.
• Be considerate of others in the Werrington centre by dismounting and walking with your bicycle until you are away from the centre.

Thank you to Miss Williams for her time and effort in showcasing a sample of student artwork across years 7 to 9.  Just in case you may have missed it I have included a number of photographs below.

As a school, we are concerned that some students are bringing to school large quantities of sweets, crisps and energy drinks.  Members of staff and myself will be reminding students about not bringing into school bottles of fizzy drinks and other high sugar foods.  The evidence is clear that that this is a recipe for hyperactivity and poor concentration when it is needed during the school day.  Water is provided to students before school, during break and lunch times for them to fill up their bottles.  Large bottles of fizzy drink will be confiscated during the school day.

Finally, we are committed to providing an even better extracurricular provision.  Your say and what we do is valued.  Mr Norman (Head of Performing Arts) is leading on this and has constructed a simple questionnaire which as parents and students we would welcome you completing to guide us in adding further provision. Mr Norman has included an explanation and link to the survey further below.

The deadline is Friday 20 October for all responses.

Best wishes

Bryan Erwin
Principal

'From this talk I have been able to get a clearer idea about the way that our minds work. I've yet to read his book but i do want to as id like a further understanding of Dean Coomer's and the way he understands our brains with the Chimp Model. I truly think that it is beneficial to attend this talk as it has made me realise how hard it actually is for people, including me, to stop doing bad habits that have been ingrained into our minds and the way our minds begin to respond to positive reinforcements.'

Jasmine Wrightson

'I thoroughly enjoyed the trip, I learnt a lot about myself and how the mind works. I will be able to apply the theory to my life and will find strategies to be able to feel happier. I've even put the book on my christmas list.'

Paige Soutwell

'I really enjoyed the trip and I gained a lot of advice for myself and how I can manage my emotions better, this trip was extremely useful and showed how the mind worked and this extremely interesting. I would definitely recommend this to anyone taking psychology or for anyone who needs help understanding their mind.

Thank you so much from taking me, I really enjoyed it.'

Max Geldard

'Thank you for the invitation for the chimp paradox trip. I found it to be a great experience to the RAF College and also the presentation as I’ve learnt so much about how our brain works and the reason we act the way we act.

Thank you' 

Ana Pinto

For me I went with a bus load of students, and came back with a few Gremlins , Goblins , Chimps and a Human Brain.

I would also like to thank Flight Lieutenant A Marsdunn- for making the trip available to KSCS students. 

Ms Marsdunn
Teacher of PE

Our assemblies throughout the past week have focused on Wellbeing and Mental Health. As a school, we are saying, “Let’s Talk – There Are People Who Will Listen”

One of our year 11 students, Hollie, approached us expressing her wish to raise awareness of the stigmas around mental health. She independently contacted local councillors and the Mayor, all of whom have been supportive.  As a result, she has been appointed Student Ambassador for Wellbeing and has been instrumental in driving the campaign forward and making things happen.  Hollie has recruited a team of volunteers who are also keen to get involved and they are pictured with her below (from left) Anisha, Bethan, Hollie, Lily and Saffron.

We have dedicated pages on the school website, which are being regularly updated, and information on school noticeboards and digital screens. We have produced pocket-sized cards which signpost students to help outside of school should they or someone they know need it.  These cards are available from members of staff.

We also have a TAC (Talk and Connect) Club for students to drop in during Break 2 on Wednesdays (Years 7&8) and Thursdays (Year 9 upwards).

We are excited about putting more ideas into practice so keep a look out for regular updates!

Mrs Gregg
Vocational Studies Mentor

Homework Club is also held Monday to Thursday in 4U06 from 15:15 - 16:15.

We are aware that there may be many things we do not currently offer that your child would be enjoy and want to be involved in. Therefore we would be extremely grateful if you could complete a short online survey with your thoughts on what we currently offer or how the system can be improved.  The survey will take around 5 minutes to complete but will be a huge help to us to offer something for everyone.  It can be found here.  We would request that all surveys are completed by Friday 20 October.  Many thanks for your help with this, if you have any queries about our clubs and out-of-school learning opportunities please do not hesitate to contact me.

Mr Norman
Head of Faculty, Performing Arts

This week I am pleased to announce that Cameron Gater-Condon from Mrs Hughes form is this weeks Success House Middle School tutee of the week. Well done to Cameron for your hard work and commitment this term. 

Mr Billitt
Head of House - Success

The group were the first in Success House middle school to complete the challenge of creating the most eye-catching and informative tutor notice board in class. It is great to see the students working as a team and having a healthy competitive nature. Well done to CTK enjoy the chocolates!

Mr Billitt
Head of House - Success

Bob spoke on the theme of Regenerating Places, focusing on the changes in East London and the Olympic Park. As this is a key area of the A level course the students found it extremely beneficial to hear case study information from a leading researcher in this topic.

Ben Wright said “it was an inspirational experience. Bob was very informative and expressed ideas in a very relatable way”. Rhianna Dunne stated “The lecture from Bob Digby really helped us to extend our geography knowledge and make links to other topics within the course, so we can think more synoptically” and Huw Stephens appreciated having “a range of real life examples that linked in to the theories we have studied”.

The students represented KSCS in an exemplary way, and we are looking forward to more lectures in this series.

Mrs Leeman
Teacher of Geography

Choir gives a POSH performance

Last Saturday (30^th) the school choir were invited to perform at the ABAX stadium prior to Peterborough United’s match with Oxford United. The performance took place in the fanzone where we were warmly received by the POSH supporters including comments such as “is this really a school choir?”. It also marked the start of our fundraising activities towards our return trip to perform at Disneyland Paris in July 2018 on which there will be more in future newsletters.

Following the performance POSH have asked if we will return later in the season, more details as and when we get them.

New staging to add the professional touch to choir performances

Thanks to the continued hard work of the young people of Ken Stimpson, and the support of their parents and carers, we have swiftly built a reputation around the city including being described as “the best school choir in Peterborough”. However we have always lacked the ‘professional touch’ as, with all the students standing in one group, the ‘perfect balance of sounds’ is difficult to achieve; mainly because one person will be singing into the back of the head of the person in front. This is resolved by using specialist staging known as ‘choral risers’ but, for a school, this is incredibly difficult to obtain due to the cost.

We were therefore delighted when the Peterborough Music Hub offered to buy a set of choral risers that we would be able to use. This was delivered to the school last week and, following them being put together (thanks site team), we were delighted to use them for the first time in our year 6 open evening on Wednesday. The difference in sound quality was immediate and we are extremely lucky to have use of this professional equipment.

The next time it will be used is in our Music-a-thon (more details below) and then in our Christmas Showcase on December 8^th.

However, a huge thank you to the support of the Peterborough Music Hub in enabling us to have this opportunity.

Announcing the Music-a-Thon and Autumn Craft Fayre

Following a lengthy audition process involving videos and audition tapes I am delighted to announce that the school choir and acapella groups have been invited to travel  to Disneyland Paris next July. However a trip such as this involves a huge outlay in costs totalling over £10,000. In addition Music Equipment is becoming more and more expensive and, unfortunately, beyond the reach of many school budgets.

Step forward an extremely supportive group of parents and students and the fundraising has begun!

As part of this we are planning a ‘Music-a-Thon’ and Autumn Craft Fayre. This will take place in the Ken Stimpson Canteen area (Leisure Centre) on Saturday 21^st October.

The ‘Music-a-Thon’ involves all our music students creating a non-stop 12 hour Music Marathon from 9am – 9pm but, alongside this, there will be a Craft Fayre that will take place between 10am and 4pm. Choir members will have sponsorship forms for the music and this will be split 60% towards our Disney trip and 40% towards music equipment. However, in addition, there will be a raffle, tombola and a café area as well as a collection bucket. All the amounts collected through these items will go 100% towards our Disney performance.

So why not come along, browse the stalls to get your Christmas shopping started, have a cup of tea and listen to some great music. Admission is Free.

We look forward to seeing you there and thank you for your support.

Mr Norman
Head of Faculty, Performing Arts

Aspire stay in the lead this week and generally attendance has increased. Time seems to be flying by with the weeks whizzing past. Make the most from your time at school. Did you know, over a 5 year period, a pupil with 90% attendance will have missed half of a school year? Statistics show a direct link between poor attendance and under-achievement. Don't let this be you!