Dear Parents and Carers,
I hope you have had a great week.
As another half term draws to a close, I would like to thank you for your ongoing support as we head into Summer.
Our Year 11's are halfway through their GCSE's. As a group, they have faced the exams with calmness and resilience, and we could not be prouder of their efforts. I know they now see the Prom on the horizon, after a final push after half term!
We are extremely excited for our school production of Matilda on the 26th and 27th June. As rehearsals gear up, the school has a tangible sense of anticipation and we hope to see as many of you there as possible.
Parents and Carers will be receiving a letter regarding our new behaviour rules after half term, which are Ready, Respectful and Safe. This is a positive response to feedback from students and parents regarding the most important elements that define good conduct.
We believe that good habits form the building blocks of a well-rounded character, which are at our school:
- Being READY to learn
- Being RESPECTFUL of Others
- Being SAFE in our environment
We feel that by defining our rules within 3 simple words, this will aid clarity and communication in all areas. Students will be taught what each of these means, and teachers will begin using these words when addressing behaviour in school. I say this often, but I am a very lucky Principal in that the students at this school are fantastic, and an absolute delight to work with. I frequently receive amazing comments about our students when visitors come into our school. As it stands, around less than 1% of the school population are asked to leave lessons each period, currently averaging 3 students from the whole school cohort. Given the current challenging educational lamdscape, this is already an exceptionally positive sign as we are able to ensure that students receive the optimal learning time in lessons. However, we aspire to 100% every lesson, every day and we continue to push for the highest standards. As we sign off for half term, I thank you for your support as so many of our students are already meeting these every day and are a credit to you. We continue to work on ways to highlight the children that get it right every day. You will be hearing more in Summer 2 about the following:
- Our new 'PROUD' initiative to highlight exemplary work across schools
- The Principal's excellence awards
- Our new student council
- The options choosing process for our new 'Super Curriculum'
- Rewards Trips
- An enhanced achievement strategy
- Our relaunched House system
Very exciting times!
I hope you have a great break.
Change (Eco) News
We recognise our community at KAR to be agents for Change as we prepare our young people and model our own practices for a world impacted by climate change. We have rebranded our Eco activities within the school with the word Change to support our ideas that everyone has the capacity to make changes. Our belief is that we can all make little changes and together many small changes can make a big impact.
Spade 2 Spoon Club
Tuesdays have been busy in the greenhouse. The student volunteers have planted many of the seeds that we were kindly donated by Staverton Nursery and we now have quite a few established seedlings which are enjoying the warmer weather. We have tidied up the green house are have cut back many brambles and encroaching weeds.
Last week our team of Change Ambassadors completed a litter audit around the school. Premises staff have been spending a lot of time picking up litter after the lunch break which is both a waste of their time and should be unnecessary as we have plenty of litter bins around the school site.
The Change Ambassadors collected the litter, noting hot spots in and around the school. Auditing the litter means asking questions about what the litter consists of, why it might be there and quantifying amounts. We sorted the litter into different categories; interestingly it was mainly food packaging and food waste and a little bit of lego!. Each category was weighed and recorded. We also counted 28 single use plastic bottles. We are hoping by highlighting this issue we can all be more considerate about how we dispose of our waste and be respectful to our community and school environment.
Some of our students from KS3 were treated to a fantastic talk from Ms Mortensen on her previous career as a journalist. We heard how journalism has changed over the years and the skills needed for this job. Ms Mortensen shared some fascinating insights from her wealth of her experience including some of the famous people that she had interviewed. She also gave advice on how one can get into this exciting career.
Open Doors Visit to King and McGaw
Some of our year 10 GCSE art and photography students visited King and McGaw this week. This global family run business exists to celebrate art producing museum quality prints and hand-crafted frames. They are licenced to produce famous iconic artworks by artists including Andy Warhol, Picasso, Matisse and Basquiat to name a few.
The students were treated to a behind the scenes tour of all the meticulous processes that go into producing the prints. This included state of the art printing, learning about pigments and papers used and how the frames and packaging are made. The company work with artists and supply some of the world’s greatest institutions including Tate, V & A, Royal Academy, National Gallery, British Museum and MoMA. They are also working in collaboration with Team GB and have produced commemorative posters in celebration of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
King and McGaw kindly turned an image from the students current GCSE work into printed booklets for them to take away.
Mrs Colbourne Careers Lead.
East Sussex College
Before you head off for half term, East Sussex College wanted to share some important dates for the summer term at ESC. These include their Year 10 Taster Days, Year 11 Welcome Days, and MiniFest Summer events. They are also preparing our diaries for 2024/25.
YEAR 10 TASTER DAYS
Bookings are still open for Taster Days until midnight Tuesday 4th June.
You can register and book your individual sessions using the link below. They have slightly extended the booking deadline - to allow for any last minute changes after half-term.
MINIFEST - Thursday 4th July
MiniFest tickets are now live! MiniFest is taking place on Thursday 4th July and they have a fantastic line-up which is being announced on their social media channels.
Tickets can be purchased via the link below - It is looking to be an excellent evening full of good music and fun activities!
Buy tickets here
YEAR 11 WELCOME DAYS
The upcoming dates for their Year 11 Welcome Days are as follows:
- Lewes - Thursday 20th June (A-Levels & Mixed Progammes) & Friday 21st June (Technical & Professional courses)
- Newhaven - Friday 21st June
- Hastings - Wednesday 26th June
- Eastbourne - Tuesday 2nd July
Their Welcome Days are open to any student who has applied to start at ESC in September 2024.
These days provide opportunities for students to meet the teaching teams and fellow students and have a good look around the College campuses. Their support teams will be available throughout the day to answer any questions.
Final Call for 2024 Summer Experiences – INVESTIN
Experience Your Dream Career
Last chance to register for our Immersive Career Experiences
This is the final call to join our 2024 Summer Experiences. This is a fantastic opportunity for you to make the most of your summer break by experiencing your future career first-hand.
Places on our programmes are filling up quickly, and we expect to close registration by Friday 31st May for our July summer experiences. Accommodation at UCL halls of residence is available for those who require it, with all meals, evening activities and guardianship included.
View Summer Experiences
Why join an InvestIN Summer Experience?
Our summer programmes offer the ultimate, immersive experience of some of the world's most desirable careers. Highlights include:
- Medicine: Enter the hospital and shadow doctors on simulated ward rounds
- Lawyer: Argue a human rights case in the Supreme Court with live feedback from expert advocates
- Fashion Designer: Build your own sustainable fashion brand with expert guidance for every stage of the design process
- Engineer: Visit an airfield to explore a range of commercial aircraft with aerospace engineers and pilots
- Investment Banker: Enter the trading floor and trade the London stock market live in an iconic London skyscraper
Charity Club raised an incredible amount of £45 for Raystede Animal Centre in Lewes from their sales. This money will help an animal in need.
Raystede are currently looking for good quality toys and games to sell in their shop. Please consider donating to them directly if you can. Well done again to our charity ambassadors!
Please see the leaflet below received this week from East Sussex County Council.
This leaflet contains information for parents/carers and students on home to school transport services. This includes information about lost bus passes, expectations of behaviour etc.
Please contact the Admissions and Transport team if you have a query about entitlement to free transport.