May Half Term Newsletter

Dear Families,

This Summer Term has been an incredibly productive one, with most of our pupils engaged in either end of year assessments or external examinations. The pupils have been working incredibly hard, attending extra clinics and revision lessons. Our 3rd and 4th Form, as well as our Drama scholars, enjoyed their trip to the Marlowe Theatre to watch ‘Shrek! The Musical’ and we had a lively series of Scholars’ Lunches with talks delivered by the pupils. The Lower Sixth had a very fruitful trip to the UK University and Apprenticeship Fair at the University of Kent and have all now started preparations for their UCAS applications. The buzz of academic activity has only been rivalled with the influx of our first swarm of bees on Newlands!

We have held a number of House competitions, with the newly introduced House Rowing, Masterchef, Tug of War and of course finishing the half term with a ‘bang’ on Sports Day. We have also been able to complete a number of trips, with the boarders having fun at Thorpe Park and watching the Basketball play-offs at the O2 arena, the 4th Form Geography Fieldtrip to study the coastal features at Ramsgate, and almost all of our 4th Form pupils completing their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh expedition. We also held a really enjoyable ‘Open mic night’ showcasing a wealth of musical talent from across the College community.

More pupils have played sport for the School than at any other point this year and there have been some notable performances: the U15 girls reaching the semi-finals of the regional Indoor8s competition; Tega Gbagi gaining a Gold Medal with a Long Jump of 6.55m in the County Championships; Patrick Gartrell taking 5 wickets (including a hat-trick) against Sutton Valence School; and Nana and Freddie have made valuable contributions for St Benedict’s College in Johannesburg, in our Hockey and Rugby exchange.

Well done to everyone for an excellent first half of term and I wish you all an enjoyable break!

Barney Durrant MA

Head of College

Dear Families,

What a busy first half of term… with exams, Year 6 residential, Year 2 and 4 sleep overs, trips to Quex and Reculver all culminating in our spiritual and thoughtful Prayer Space morning, we really have been filling each school day to the brim. We recently updated our ‘Aims and Impact’ statement with our purpose being for children to have ‘An inspiring educational journey which goes well beyond the classroom’ we’re proud that every day is a new adventure with the widest breadth of learning opportunities. We look forward to welcoming parents to a number of events next term including the Leavers Show, Sports Day, Summer Fair, Celebration Assembly and Speech Day. Directly after half term we welcome you to join us for the termly Form Tutor Meetings to discuss your child/ren’s progress. As a community #We Achieve #We Create #We Explore.

Ellen Rowe, BA (Hons), PGCE, IAPS

Head of Junior School

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