KC News Round Up Friday 24th May 2024

This weekend, we hosted a very special Boarders' Celebration Day for our Upper Sixth students who are leaving this year. It was a very emotional day, where we were joined by some old faces, as well as many current members of staff, who all wanted to say goodbye and good luck.

Mrs Cable started the day with a speech in the theatre, in which she shared some personal words about each Upper Sixth student, and reflected on their time in boarding and at KC across the years. This was followed by an afternoon of fun in the glorious sunshine, where students and staff enjoyed inflatables, a photo booth and a tasty BBQ from our catering team. We wish all of our Upper Sixth boarders the best of luck in their exams and their future adventures after KC.

West Kent ISSP Masterclasses

On Saturday, the West Kent ISSP hosted a day of masterclasses at Mascalls Academy for students from KC, in collaboration with the other partner schools.

The topic was the Olympic Games; this was the third event in the series for the year. Students took part in one of four masterclasses where they explored the chemical composition of energy drinks and performance enhancing drugs, the differences between the ancient and modern games, creating a promotional video for the Olympics and developing a proposal to host the games.

It was a great day of learning and a fantastic opportunity for students and staff to work alongside people from other local schools.

Years 7 and 8 Film Making

Last term, Years 7 and 8 students participated in a workshop about careers in the screen industries. Upper Sixth student, Tara, spoke about her recent experience of making a short film in Italy with the Young Film Academy. Former Kent College Pembury student, Maisee, returned to KC to share news of the opportunities she has been given to work on professional television productions since starting her degree in Culture, Media and Creative Industries at King’s College London.

The workshop also launched the KC Filmmaking Competition, as students were encouraged to produce their own short film on the theme of ‘Dreams and Ambitions’.

Livvy, Emily, Sophie and Amelia from Year 8 were awarded first prize for their short film, ‘Rewind’. They all worked effectively as a team to produce an engaging short film on the theme of dreams. A runner up prize was awarded to Year 7's Ava and Hettie for their short film, ‘A Trip to the Moon’. Ava and Hettie demonstrated creativity through prop making. Both teams will receive a goody bag of movie-themed treats for their efforts.

Geography Trips

KC Geographers have enjoyed two trips this week, both learning about different environments and the respective challenges they face.

Year 9 Trip to Ashburnham

Year 9s spent the day at Ashburnham studying aspects of sustainability and challenges of food supply. They were fortunate to have Miles Irving, a world renowned forager, to help them explore the many edible plants that can be found locally. Each group cooked in the outdoor kitchen using locally sourced ingredients to produce soup, flat breads, hummus and elderflower cordial. We also explored the importance of healthy soils through counting worms! A truly inspirational trip.

Year 7 Trip to Port Lympne

As part of the Geography curriculum, Year 7 visited Port Lympne Wildlife Park to enrich our understanding of the impacts of people on wildlife. They had informative talks about the illegal wildlife trade and the impacts of climate change. They enjoyed a safari and even the rain could not dampen the students' excitement and enthusiasm at seeing all the amazing animals.

Music Vocal Performance

On Tuesday evening, singing students from Year 4 up to the Lower Sixth sang solos and ensembles in the Organ Room to a full audience.

It was a magical concert with all students performing with confidence and maturity. Styles ranged from original compositions to pop and opera, and all were performed to the best of the students' ability. At the end of the evening, everyone came together to sing “When I Grow Up” in three part harmony, which was a perfect way to end a truly inspirational and joyful concert.

STEM Talk

We welcomed KC Alumnae, Annabelle Cyster who met with A Level Sciences students to talk about STEM, women in STEM, degrees and careers.

Annabelle currently works for the Science and Technology Facilities Council at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, where the UK's neutron and muon spallation source (ISIS) is located. As part of her placement year, she is working within the Detector Systems Group, who run a detector development programme to enhance the performance of all the instruments, to maintain ISIS as a world leading facility. Specifically, she is developing a Micro Pattern Gas Detector, for various neutron scattering and imaging techniques that are employed across ISIS, CERN and the ESS. Following this placement year, she will return to the University of York to complete her Masters in the same field.

Annabelle was able to share her experiences from being at KC, to studying a male dominated STEM subject at university, and doing a placement degree, and moving on to a Masters.

Sporting News

Athletics

This weekend, Matilda in the Lower Sixth, took part in the Loughborough International 2024. Competing against Katarina Johnson Thompson, amongst other household names in athletics, Matilda finished sixth in the high jump with a season's best jump of 1m 71, which is an absolutely amazing achievement, given the calibre of athletes in the field. Huge congratulations to Matilda.

Gymnastics