KC News Round Up Friday 21st June 2024

Last Friday the Music department hosted an Open Mic Night, featuring original songs from students in Years 7 to Lower Sixth, some of whom had never performed before. The pieces displayed thoughts and feelings across a huge spectrum from love and friendship to climate change and political satire. The choir sang beautifully and students performed with confidence as they sang and played their instruments. The emotional evening culminated with a set by Bea in Year 12, whose ambition is to become a professional singer-songwriter. Her songs were magnificent, as was her spellbinding performance, which had the whole audience captivated. A truly memorable and special evening.

Thanks also go to Tilly in the Lower Sixth for the photos.

Year 7 Induction Days

On Wednesday and Thursday we welcomed our new Year 7 starters, who will be joining the Senior School in September. They spent time getting to know each other, finding their way around Kent College and meeting staff, including their new form tutors. It was a lovely way to begin their Kent College journey and we look forward to seeing them all again in September.

Year 8 Science

Year 8 Biology class 8P recently engaged in an exciting hands-on project, designing their own investigations into the distribution of species in both terrestrial and aquatic environments. Through this initiative, students explored the biodiversity of their local ecosystems, gaining practical experience in scientific methods and ecological studies.

Investigations included pond dipping (aquatic environment) to analyse species distribution in that area and quadrat sampling (terrestrial environment), where organisms in a certain sample of the habitat are counted directly to estimate population size, density, frequency and distribution.

Gold Crest Award Winners

Huge congratulations go to the Upper Sixth's Eleanor, Winsome, Katie and Harley, who have all completed their Gold CREST Award for their project designing a drone to deliver healthcare products.

CREST is a nationally recognised scheme for student-led project work in the STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths). Sixth Formers can choose their topic and conduct all their own research and investigation in collaboration with a CREST mentor. This is the first time Kent College students have won the Gold Award and we couldn't be more proud of them.

HALO Lecture

Mrs Edwards gave the final HALO lecture of this academic year on Thursday morning. Her lecture concentrated on the revival of the Modern Olympic Games and the five themes which have been noticed across the games.

She focussed on the Events, Participants, Sportsmanship, War and Peace and Protest. It was a very enlightening lecture and has certainly given us all a taste for watching the Olympics this summer to see what might come up!

I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the Olympic Games. I found some of the facts about gender equality in the original Olympics quite shocking - especially that this year is the first in which there is an equal number of males and females participating! I also found it interesting to discover that when the Olympic Games were first revived there were art and literature categories as well as sport. Bea, Lower Sixth

I enjoyed learning about the history of the Olympic Games and how politics and the role of women influenced the progression of them. I look forward to watching this year’s Olympic Games. Momo, Lower Sixth

I really enjoyed today's HALO lecture because I found it fascinating to find out about the gender inequality in sport and how we have progressed over the years. Sasha, Year 10

I really enjoyed the talk yesterday and found it very inspiring. I felt motivated hearing achievements by my peers, and I found it interesting learning how the Olympics started and how it has improved for the better. It was very insightful in general, and I would like to come for another HALO talk again. Adwoa, Year 9

It was really interesting learning not only about the Olympic successes but also the disqualifications and consequences of countries that did not follow the rules. Tabbie, Year 9

Sports News

Athletics

A team of athletes competed in the Independent Schools' athletics competition where KC students performed brilliantly. The results are:

Gold medal winners:

• Eve – Discus
• Seren – Shot and Javelin
• Jess R – Javelin

Silver medals:

• Erin T – 200m
• Emily H – High jump
• Lily – Hurdles

Bronze medals

• Erin – Long jump
• April – High Jump
• Bella – Shot
• Grace – Hurdles
• Immy – High Jump

Figure Skating

Anne-Marie, in Year 9 competed in an Artistic Figure Skating competition at the weekend and achieved a silver medal. Congratulations!

Mental Health Workshops

On Monday, students in Years 8, 9, 10, and the Lower Sixth took part in workshops delivered by our guest speaker, Satveer Nijjar.

Satveer is an award-winning speaker, who delivers training and workshops to schools and organisations on general mental health, self-harm and emotional distress, as well as coping strategies and supporting others. She also gave a training session to staff and a talk to parents on the same topic.

BSA Boarding Week

This week marks the Boarding Schools' Association's Boarding Week and to celebrate, our boarders have been busy taking part in a huge variety of fun activities. Chloe, in the Lower Sixth has written:

On Monday, all boarders engaged in Silly Olympics, where each team took part in wacky races of egg and spoon, three-legged race, sack race and so on. On Tuesday, H and H girls made delicious sushi with our lovely kitchen staff for dinner starters. Dinner was followed by a Year 10 and Lower Sixth boarders' bowling trip. The game was highly competitive! Final winners in each team were Emma, Helen, Jaslyn, Marta and Mazvita! On Wednesday, everyone enjoyed a BBQ dinner and then participated in a few games of Rounders, Bulldog, and red light, green light out on the lawns.

Physics Speaker

On Thursday, Year 10 and Lower Sixth Economics, Business and Physics students were joined by students from The Judd School, to hear from visiting speaker, Joseph Bradley, a researcher from King's College London, presenting on the fascinating field of Econophysics. Mr Bradley's research focuses on how statistical physics methods can play a role in understanding financial markets.

Econophysics is a cutting-edge discipline that applies the principles of physics to economic problems. Mr Bradley wanted to broaden students' understanding of the interconnectedness of various scientific disciplines, and used tennis balls joined together to highlight that when things are connected, they are infinitely more complicated!

LAMDA exam triumph!

Our Year 11 to Upper Sixth students have just received their London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) results. They all took acting exams at Bronze, Silver or Gold Medal level. Every student received a Distinction, the highest grade possible. This is a superb achievement by every student, especially as the LAMDA exams took place just before GCSE and A Levels began for all those involved. Huge congratulations to everyone!

Congratulations to Deeya!

Congratulations to Deeya in the Lower Sixth who has been accepted onto the week-long Ignite Summer Programme at Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge in July. Not only that, but Deeya has been awarded The Founder's Scholarship, which recognises outstanding students. This is an exclusive programme for only 50 students from across the world, which will teach leadership, presentation and communication skills, business education and teamwork. We wish her all the best for the summer.

Reading Angels

Congratulations to Hettie, Maddie and Ruby in Year 7 who have all achieved the Gold Level of the Reading Angels scheme. They have read at least 15 books by 15 different authors. Well done!

Tenner Challenge

The Tenner Challenge has been continuing this week with even more stalls set up on the lawn by Year 10 Business students trying to turn their £10 initial investment into significant profit. We look forward to seeing who wins!

Clothing Swap

As part of Pembury Council's Big Green Week, Chaplain Katie organised the first Kent College clothing swap. Students were encouraged to reduce, reuse and recycle their previously loved clothing, and swap up to five items of clothing for free or make a £2 donation to our charity pot. We hope to make this an annual event to help make our community more green.