November's Monthly Newsletter

WELCOME FROM THE HEADMASTER, Mr Michael Bayes

November is a month when much academic work is undertaken in preparation for end of term assessments in the final weeks of term. Being Spain, with a generous number of fiestas, the exam period this year is split either side of the Puente de la Constitución.

All pupils will receive full school reports on the last day of term which should provide considerable information on both progress and achievements since September. Although our termly parental consultation evenings had to be online again this month they were very successful in maintaining strong information flows between school and home.

For our oldest students this is the time of year when university applications are undertaken. It is pleasing to report that offers of places in higher education are already being received by members of our upper sixth class. This year our pupils are applying for courses in Canada, Denmark, England, Ireland, Netherlands, Scotland, Singapore, Spain, Ulster, United States and Wales. Having secured impressive GCSE results and provided carefully written personal statements we are optimistic that this cohort, as in previous years, will gain access to prestigious universities worldwide.

It is also interesting to note the wide range of degrees that our pupils are pursuing, thus confirming that our sixth form curriculum is sufficiently broad to enable access to a multitude of pathways in the tertiary sector. Acting, Aerospace Engineering, Business Studies, Economics, Electrical Engineering, Finance, Forensic Science, International Relations, Law, Marketing, Politics, Psychology and Renewable Energy all feature on this year´s application forms.

Outside the classroom this is the time of year when frequent rehearsals dominate schedules. The Junior School children are practising very hard for the online Christmas shows and the learning potential of such productions cannot be overemphasised.

The Kenny Show, enthusiastically organised by Mr Vanderheyden, is one of the highlights of the year and, for the first time, it is splendid to see pupils from Key Stage 2 joining the older students on the programme. The finale, by tradition, allows the teachers to demonstrate their thespian potential and this year Mr Mellon´s Kvengers promises to be thoroughly memorable – and great fun too!

Our student committees have never been more active and Student Voice, the Charity Committee and the Eco Committee are all involved in stimulating, worthwhile and imaginative projects.

The Reading Buddies and Study Buddy programmes have been successfully launched and it is lovely to see parents, recently retired teachers and senior pupils giving their time so generously.

In the final week of term there are many activities and trips being planned which we hope will be enjoyed by all. After a long Autumn Term full of much purposeful learning and assessment it is good to see so many enjoyable events being planned to end the term on a high note.

A NOTE FROM THE HEAD OF JUNIOR SCHOOL, Mr Matthew Kelly

How fortunate we are in Barcelona that despite being in November, the Junior School has continued to enjoy outdoor assemblies every Friday afternoon. This month we have moved round to the front terrace as the Infant Playground continues to be redeveloped with new playground equipment and an expanded and renovated garden section.

November has also been the month where the Early Years have moved into their brand new classroom, after weeks of watching it take shape from the playground. Several editions of the ever popular Miss Wendy’s Kitchen have already been filmed from the new kitchen area and the Early Years students seem very happy in their new surroundings!

Further up the school, J5 have enjoyed a fascinating history trip to the Ancient Egyptian Museum, where they learnt about the process of mummification and were able to see many things they have studied first hand in the museum’s impressive artefact collection.

J3 and J4 are now coming to the end of their Forest School sessions, but have thoroughly enjoyed their experiences. Each week they are presented with new challenges, responsibilities and activities and I am always impressed by the stories of success and enjoyment that the teachers and pupils report back. Overall, the introduction of the Forest Schools program has been a highly successful one and we look forward to offering it to more classes in the Spring and Summer Terms.

This month has seen the launch of the reading buddies scheme and it has been wonderful to see our expert team of older students, retired teachers and parents giving up their time to read with our willing and enthusiastic Junior pupils.

With just a few weeks of the Autumn Term left, the Junior teachers are hard at work, with Christmas preparations already underway; singing rehearsals in multiple languages can be heard from the theatre and a myriad of festive costumes are being created up and down the corridor. Several classes are eagerly taking up the Eco Committee’s challenge of building recycled Christmas trees and we are looking forward to a busy and enjoyable end to the Autumn Term.

J1

Junior 1 students have been learning about the life and works of Antoni Gaudi in Barcelona as part of their Geography topic. They visited the Dragon Gate and listened to the story of the Dragon Ladon and the Hesperides guarding the golden orange tree. Students did some amazing sketches of the gate! They then used their senses in Park Guell, looking for different things like the Washerwoman and the wiggly bench and smelling lavender in the Austria gardens. What a great day had by all!

J2

Dance

Junior 2 students perform the routine they have been learning in dance to their parents on the school grounds! We hope you enjoy their performance.

Art

Here are some of Junior 2 students still life autumn fruit pictures, using oil pastels and watercolors that are displayed in the Junior School corridors to be enjoyed by the whole school.

J3

Our new topic in science is Rocks and Soils. We have been learning about the structure of the Earth. We made plasticine models to represent the different layers of the Earth.

J3 & J4

J3 and J4 have been going to Forest School on Friday mornings for the past 6 weeks. The pedagogy behind Forest School is that it is a process driven course which works on developing the social and emotional goal of the student where gradually they grow in independence and autonomy as the weeks progress.

Every Friday the children travelled to Can Caralleu where the students engaged in a range of exploratory activities. They have learnt to respect boundaries and therefore have enjoyed the freedom to run around a designated area of the forest. The activities have been exciting and fun. For example the pupils created sculptures from natural materials, enjoyed making their own mud and built a shelter. They also loved to play 'TreeTag' with Jerry, the Forest School leader.

A WELCOME FROM THE HEAD OF SENIOR SCHOOL, Ms Vivien Canwell

As we are coming to the end of another successful term it is great to see so many of our new initiatives really taking off. We are starting to see the results of the students’ hard work with several events being organised for the end of term. I am sure all participants are finding their involvement very rewarding indeed.

At the end of October each pupil in the Senior School received a half-term report. During November, each student was allocated a time to sit down with their tutor to discuss the report and agree a target to work on during the coming months. Hopefully when the follow-up meetings take place in February the students will be able to show their tutors evidence of the progress they are making in meeting their chosen target. These target-setting meetings are an important part of the strong pastoral relationships we are proud of in our small, caring school.

As the Head of Maths I was delighted to receive the results of Senior Maths Challenge that took place at the beginning of November. I hope you enjoy reading about this, along with other work that has taken place in our school during the last few important weeks before exams.

Art

F1

Form 1 have been learning about the formal elements of art and natural forms this term. They have been studying the work of world famous Japanese abstract artist Yayoi Kusama, the ‘princess of polka dots’, who works in a range of different media. They enjoyed creating their own, highly decorative and colourful pumpkins using watercolour and posca pens.

F3

Form 3 have created mixed media Street art, Banksy and Shep Fairey inspired propaganda posters this term. They explored climate change and social issues to create colourful artwork using a range of media and techniques such as collage, stencils for spray painting and screen printing. They also edited their own photographs in the style of American street artist Shep Fairey and created spray paint portraits.

Sixth Form

Sixth form Fine Art students had a busy art day this month and visited a number of art galleries in Barcelona to gather inspiration for their current projects. They visited MNAC, MACBA and MEAM.

At MNAC the students visited the exhibition Intrusive Dialogues and analysed and interpreted a collection of contemporary artwork that was exhibited alongside the collections such as Romanesque mural paintings, and Renaissance and Baroque paintings.

They visited MACBA, and had a guided tour of the permanent collection of 20th and 21st Century contemporary art there and finally visited MEAM in El Born, Museu Europeu d’Art Modern. A gallery that exhibits a collection of works by living artists, mainly figurative art. All students then reflected on their experience in their sketchbooks.

Geography

F3

This term, students in Form 3 have been learning about plate tectonics. They have learnt about the causes of volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis.

Students have also explored the global distributions of these geophysical hazards. These topics have been explored in more depth through the case studies of the Japanese Sendai tsunami in 2011 and the Indian Ocean Boxing Day tsunami in 2004.

In addition, they have been researching the causes and impacts of the recent eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on La Palma.

F4

Students in Form 4 have been studying hazardous environments. They have learnt about a range of both geophysical and hydro-meteorological hazards including earthquakes, volcanoes and tropical cyclones.

They have learnt about the causes of these hazards, their global distributions and their impacts. They have also learnt how these hazards can be managed to minimise both their social and economic impacts.

There are many components to management but one important part is preparation. This is especially important for managing earthquakes as these hazards are almost impossible to predict.

Form 4 students were given the task to design an earthquake preparation leaflet to be given to individual households living in areas at high risk from earthquakes.

F5

Form 5 students have been studying coastal environments. They have been learning about different coastal processes and how different coastal features, for example spits and stacks, are formed.

They have also learnt about different coastal ecosystems, including coral reefs, sand dunes and mangroves. We have explored why these ecosystems are so valuable and need protecting.

Physics

F5
Form 5 students have been building their own loudspeakers from magnets, wires and card cones. This was a way of understanding how electromagnetism works, one of the topics students have been focusing on this term.

All of the loudspeakers worked excellently!

Maths

We were delighted to give all of our Sixth Form students, and some of our top Form 5 students, the opportunity to participate in the Senior Maths Challenge organised by the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust (www.ukmt.org.uk). The students really enjoy the opportunity to test themselves against thousands of similar aged children in British schools both in the UK and around the world.

We were proud to receive a record number of certificates with our top performing student, Marco in U6, only two marks away from achieving the coveted Gold Award.

Well done to all students who took part but special congratulations to the following students who all won awards.

Christmas Card Competition

It’s Christmas card competition season again and the senior students from Form 2 to the Sixth form, have been busy designing their unique and wonderful Christmas card entries.

Here are some of the bold, bright and festive cards that have been handed in this year.

The Virtual Kenny Show

Charity Committee

It's been a busy month in the Charity Committee as we prepare our Christmas fundraising events. Unfortunately, Covid is still making it difficult to host traditional events such as bake sales and Christmas markets; however, this year's initiatives will hopefully ensure we help the wider community at this time of the year.

Our first event, the Christmas Raffle, asks for donations from Kensington families which can be used as prizes. So far two families have kindly participated by donating a voucher for tailor-made clothing and a vintage bottle of red wine. Needless to say, we still have a long way to go and urge any families who are willing to make a donation to be used as a prize.

Suggestions include: food prizes (food hampers, bottles of wine/cava, boxes of chocolates/biscuits etc.), gift cards, vouchers for use at Kensington family businesses, among other ideas. Tickets will be sold to enter the prize raffle from Thursday 7th December at 2€ per ticket with all proceeds going to the Sant Joan de Déu Pediatric Cancer Centre. Winners will be announced at the end of the day on Thursday 15th December.

Secondly, the "Sakado" initiative will see both the Senior and Junior School uniting to collect items such as prepared foods (packets of biscuits, tinned tuna etc.), hygiene products (shampoo, shower gel, soap, face masks etc.) and warm clothing (gloves, scarves, hats, socks etc.) which will then be donated to the homeless on the 3rd of December.

We hope that, with your help, we will be able to provide a little bit of joy and care to those in need at this time of year.

Farewells at Kensington

At the end of this term, along with Mr Bayes, we also bid farewell and wish a happy long retirement to Jose who has been greeting you in the mornings and looking after our school building and grounds for the past 6 years.

We wish him the best of luck in the next chapter as he spends more time with his grandchildren and exploring the mountains of Spain.

New Headmaster at Kensington School

As from January 10th, our Executive Head, Mr Duncan Giles will be taking on the role of Headmaster at Kensington School following the retirement of outgoing Head, Michael Bayes.

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Next Monthly Newsletter Issue - Friday 28th January