On behalf of everyone at Kensington we would like to wish you a healthy and prosperous 2021. We hope that you are all well and are feeling refreshed after a somewhat unusual holiday period.
Next term is almost upon us and I am very confident that the great community spirit amongst the pupils and the profound mutual support between home and school, which has seen us thrive as a school in recent months, will be maintained despite all the significant challenges we all face.
Who knows what is around the corner? The pandemic figures across the globe are still going in the wrong direction and the coming eleven weeks may well be disrupted but I am confident that Kensington will continue to offer our families a first-rate education , whatever the circumstances.
On Monday evening there were significant developments announced by the UK government for public examinations this summer in England. GCSE and A Level exams will not be held as normal. We are following developments closely and I will be writing to families of public examination students in the coming weeks once the new arrangements have been confirmed by our exam board Pearson Edexcel.
No announcement has yet been made about international GCSEs and international A Levels which are sat by many of our pupils. We much appreciate that this uncertainty will not be welcomed by our older students but the authorities need time to consider the exact details of the new arrangements for this summer before publishing the new detailed protocols.
However, we can learn from our experience with a similar situation last summer. Despite the very significant disruption caused by the pandemic our students ultimately received grades which were fair and reflected their extremely conscientious approach to study. Our remarkably high pass rates were maintained and Kensington students continued to be accepted by leading universities around the world. Last term´s school reports clearly demonstrated that our exam candidates impressed our teachers and, as long as this splendid level of commitment continues, there is no reason to doubt that our senior students will not again be rewarded with the excellent final grades they deserve next summer.
Although we will begin the term remotely, as previously announced, during the first two days the school building will be open for those students sitting International AL modular exams. Then, on Monday 11th, we look forward very much to welcoming all pupils back, in person, to begin what we all expect will be another term of effective, challenging but enjoyable teaching and learning.
We will not, of course, lower our guard with regard to Covid security which, given the recent trends in the pandemic, is even more important than last term. So all the measures taken by our Covid committee will continue to be strictly enforced for as long as is required to keep everyone as safe as possible.
With sincere thanks to everyone in our community for all your support in the past and in anticipation of even more future success - in whatever context we find ourselves.
Mr Michael Bayes, Headmaster
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