January's Monthly Newsletter

A NOTE FROM THE HEADMASTER, Mr Duncan Giles

We were delighted to welcome students back after the Christmas break. They all returned in good spirits and willing to continue the excellent learning that took place during our first term.

January has been a busy month with a number of activities across the school's wide age range. Our Junior students have had the opportunity to enjoy the first ever Junior School Ski Trip in La Masella, students in the Senior school have continued with the extensive programme of art visits organised by the Head of Art, Ms Lewis and our Upper Sixth students have seen their university applications sent to UCAS for processing.

It is this final point that is especially fulfilling. Kensington is quite unique amongst international schools around the world, as a number of our Sixth Formers have been at the school a considerable length of time. We are all remarkably proud when we look back and remember these fine young men and women as younger children and reflect on their learning journey with us. The quality of their university destinations is testament to their hard work and commitment. As a school we wish them the very best with regards to offers received and then, their final examinations in the summer.

I would like to thank parents for having taken the time to complete our survey. The findings will be of great help to us and will allow us to add to the school's development plan. If you have not yet done so, please can I ask you to take the time to complete this key aspect of school improvement.

COMPLETE PARENT SURVEY

We are already planning a number of exciting activities that will take place during February, the Key Stage 3 Drama performances on the 6th, 8th and 9th of February (19:00), the Senior School ski trip and our first Culture Day on the 10th February where we will be celebrating the diverse nature of our school. There will be a series of readings, performances, presentations, music and food from the many nations that make up Kensington School.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Egyptian Archeology Trip

Article written by our Junior 5 Student, Nathan Wang...

"First of all, we left our school by bus around 9 o’clock in the morning. It took around 25 minutes to arrive at the archaeology campus and I was really excited.

Propaganda and Satire - Form 3 English

As part of Form 3's War Poetry unit, students have been studying the differences between propaganda and satire, and learning how writers and visual artists can create texts to influence readers either to support a cause (through propaganda) or feel ashamed by human behaviour (through satire).

Form 4 GCSE Art

On the 22nd of November 2022, Form 4 GCSE Fine art students visited the MOCO Museum and the Picasso Museum. Kensington School students are fortunate to be able to enjoy the vast opportunities the city provides and were able to enjoy exploring a wide range of inspiring modern, contemporary and street art at Moco by creating observational drawings and critically analysing the artwork on display.

Form 1 experiment with a Van de Graaf generators and enjoy the results!

This term in Form 1 Science, students will be studying forces. On their first lesson back after the Christmas holidays, they looked at contact and non-contact forces. The students investigated non-contact forces using the Van De Graaf generator and bar magnets.

Junior School Ski Trip (La Masella)

We were delighted to have so many students in J5 and J6 join us for our first ever Junior School Ski Trip.

Students travelled to the nearby La Masella resort for two full days of skiing. The snow was good, the sun was shining and everyone had a wonderful time. All students received two hours of lessons from the ski station instructors and were able to enjoy time skiing with friends under the supervision of their class teachers, Ms Russell and Mr Kelly. My Vanderhayden and Miss Hannah were also on hand to support and assist.

'El Lazarillo de Tormes' theatre visit

Students in Form 2 and Form 3 visited the 'Centre Catolic de Sants' theatre to see the play 'El Lazarillo Tormes' play in support of their Spanish language studies.

The play is based on the book 'La vida de Lazarillo de Tormes y de sus fortunas y adversidades' that was first published in 1554 and is by an anonymous author. It tells the tale of a young boy, Lazaro de Tormes from his birth in the XVIth century, all through his adult life and eventual marriage.

Fine Art students find inspiration around Barcelona

In preparation for the Externally Set Assignment (ESA) on the theme of Lock, this year’s Form 5 GCSE Fine Art students enjoyed finding inspiration for their exam project by visiting galleries around Barcelona this month.

What’s been going on in the art department in January?

Form On the 20th of January Form 2 visited the Dali Cibernetic exhibition at IDEAL in Barcelona to gather inspiration for their current Surrealism project.

Secondary School's annual Drama performances

Forms 1, 2 and 3 have been busily rehearsing and preparing for their annual dramatic performances which will take place over three evenings next week: 6th, 8th and 9th February.

Check out next month's newsletter to see what we have been up to!