THE KING'S SCHOOL, HARPENDEN
An Independent Christian School
SCHOOL NEWS
40th ANNIVERSARY 2022
The King's School is 40 years old! We have been so blessed by God's faithfulness over the years and we celebrated together on a sunny Saturday afternoon with cream tea and cakes. It was wonderful to meet up with past pupils, parents and staff as we reminisced, shared stories and praised God for His goodness. We heard from the Trustees the future vision of the school, what may be in store in the years ahead and where God is
leading us. Mr Steve Beegoo, CEO of
Christian Schools'
Trust, was the
guest speaker
who delivered
an inspiring
talk.
Year 11 Leavers 2022
A beautiful summer's evening on 23rd June saw us say farewell in style to our Year 11 class. A stunning multi-course feast was prepared by Mr & Mrs Farahat, and Year 10 ably assisted Mrs Williams in organising a lovely evening. It was a fitting finale to the pupils' time with us. Well done and thank you to all involved.
The class celebrated their Leavers' Day in May by beating the staff at Volleyball and then having a garden party at Mrs Hart’s house. Their race through the ‘exam barrier’ proved to be entirely justified as this cohort achieved a fantastic set of results:
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66% of entries passed at Grade 7 or above, our best ever!
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100% pass rate in English and Maths.
Well done and congratulations to all of you.
Gardening Club at the Tower! 2022
Our Gardening Club worked hard to maintain some raised beds planted with wildflowers to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. This was a joint project with The Tower of London who have planted the moat with beautiful wildflowers. We were fortunate enough to go and see the installation for ourselves and it was magnificent. Albeit much smaller, our own installation is looking wonderful and we give thanks to God for blessing us with such beauty.
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Falconry comes to the school 2022
On 4th May, the Primary School had a visit from The English Falconry Centre, based at Herrings Green Farm. We were introduced to a Kestrel named Enzo, a Barn Owl named Peanut and a Little Owl named Dee.
The children sat captivated by the beauty of the birds and had many great questions to ask the Falconer.
Some of the children were able to hold the Little Owl, who weighed the same as a tablespoon!
Anyone for tea? 2022
On the Friday before Whitsun half-term we celebrated the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and her dedication of service to our country. With china tea cups and cakes galore, patriotic bunting and everyone dressed in red, white and blue on the gorgeous, sunny afternoon. The pupils got into mixed aged groups to enjoy some 1950s playground games, including Bull Dog, Skipping and Hoopla. They then joined their well-fed parents in listening to a concert of items from the recent Secondary Arts Festival, punctuated by some items from the Primary school, which included a poem about the Queen, an energetic dance and a recital of ‘The Gruffalo’ by Year 1! Finishing with us all joining in song to sing the national anthem.
Harpenden Society
Writing Competition 2022
A number of Harpenden Secondary schools took part in a writing competition run by The Harpenden Society. Each age group was judged
by writing professionals, who made encouraging comments about the standard of the pieces and language devices used. Two of our pupils
came in 2nd and 3rd. Well done both on your achievements.
'Queen's Green Canopy' 2022
We have bought a plaque, made by war veterans, to commemorate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and the ‘Queen’s Green Canopy’ project. This seeks to encourage the planting of trees as a gift to the Queen to help increase and protect tree cover across the nation. Our beautiful white magnolia is pictured with Year 11 pupils from the ‘sustainability’ and ‘well-being’ student voice groups.
'The Legend of Troy' 2022
Tuesday 29th & Wednesday 30th March saw the performance of ‘The Legend of Troy’ by our Years 6-11 pupils. This musical theatre production was written by our very own Mr Burrett, who not only scripted the play but also composed all the music, and wrote the lyrics for the beautiful songs too!
The performers were brilliant, the backstage crew and artists were amazing, and we all thoroughly enjoyed the story played out by our talented pupils.
World Book Day 2022
World Book Day started at The King’s School with the talented Mr André SaxMan Brown (one of our parents) serenading the pupils with his wonderful saxophone playing as they arrived dressed in their favourite book characters. The day was punctured periodically with DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) which the Secondary School also participated in. The Primary School then had a whole week of activities, all endorsing the joy of books, stories and reading, with staff members visiting each class to read them a story or excerpt from a book, and parents coming in to read with their children. Each class decorated their classroom door to represent a particular book. The Book of the Week was “When a Tiger Came to Tea”, with the children enjoying tea parties and activities surrounding the story. Mr André SaxMan Brown again played his sax as the children arrived on the last day of Book Week, which was then followed by a special assembly.
Christmas 2021
It was so wonderful to celebrate Christmas together as a school community once again. To keep us all safe, we forfeited the school Christmas meal and sharing food together at certain events, but we were able to -
Senior Citizens' Christmas Party
- welcome senior citizens from the community back for their annual King's School Christmas Party, served by our Year 10s and Year 6s who were gentle, considerate and determined that all would enjoy their time with us.
Nativity
- tell the wonderful story of the coming as a baby of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus. The KS1 pupils performed beautifully on 4 separate occasions.
Secondary Carol Service
- worship and sing praises to our wonderful Saviour as we celebrated His birth at the Carol Service held in High Street Methodist Church.
Primary Day of Christmas
- create wonderful Christmas crafts, including Mary, Joseph & baby Jesus peg ornaments, tree decorations, 2022 calendars, Christmas keepsakes, cards and many other fantastic artworks to be treasured.
... and party, party, party!
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KS2 go climbing 2021
To make up for the lack of school trips over the last year or so, KS2 were treated to a visit to Climb Quest in Milton Keynes, where they climbed, swung, hung, jumped and slid - all safely harnessed. Great fun was had by all.
Primary Art Project 2021
The whole Primary school were privileged and blessed with a visit from parent and artist, Mrs Hannah Uzor, who painted the portrait of Sarah Forbes Bonetta, currently on display at Osborne House, Isle of Wight, which is one of the six English Heritage commissioned portraits of historic African figures whose stories have contributed to England’s rich history. Mrs Uzor held workshops for all the Primary classes where she supported, guided and clearly encouraged the children to develop their portrait skills. Foundation Class through to Year 6 all used mixed media to produce some wonderful works of art.
Fireworks Evening 2021
The PTC organised a wonderful evening of fun, fellowship, food and fireworks! We appreciated the relative warmth of the marquees as we enjoyed our hot potatoes, and the two intrepid "Mr Es", Mr Edmonds and Mr Edwards, put on an excellent fireworks display, all set to music.
GCSE Results of 2021
Well done to our class of 2021 for their hard work and for their teachers who supported them in navigating a challenging couple of years.
Here are some key headlines from the results:
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52% passed at Grade 7 or above
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18% grade 9 with one pupil all grade 9s!
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100% pass rate in English
-
95% pass rate in Maths
-
85% achieved a good pass (Grade 5) or higher
-
73% of CAT predictions exceeded
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52% exceeded CAT predictions by 2 or more grades
Back-to-School Bash 2021
It stopped raining, the sun came out, the BBQ sizzled and we were finally able to enjoy the PTC's Back-to-School Bash. Not in September as planned, but in October! After such a long time of uncertainty and doubt, it was wonderful to relax, eat, chat, watch the children having fun, and learn strange and unusual facts about certain members of staff!
Woodrow 2021
If King's can't go to Woodrow, Woodrow can come to King's! This year, instead of the usual Years 5 & 6 residential trip to Woodrow, the pupils were still able to have lots of fun. For two gloriously sunny days, Woodrow came to King's where the children enjoyed lots of fun in the sun. Then they went to Woodrow for two days - and enjoyed lots of fun in the wet and mud!
Bag2School collection June 2021
Thank you to all who contributed to the Bag2School fund-raising initiative. As a result of the bags of second-hand clothes collected, we were sent a cheque for £81.00. Great result all round - saving the environment and adding a few pounds towards the school's general fund.
Foundation Class Easter Art 2021
A beautiful Easter banner created by the Foundation Class with their new rainbow sponge paints. A collective project declaring the wonderful message -
Jesus is alive!
King's Art at COVID-19
vaccination centre 2021
One of our parents, who is a nurse and is working at a vaccination centre in Luton, invited the Primary Art Club to paint pictures to brighten up the hall where people waited for their jabs. We are grateful to all the many volunteers who have been working so tirelessly to vaccinate the Nation against the coronavirus. Thank you.
Treats from Spire Hospital December 2020
Each year the older Primary pupils are invited to walk along to Spire Hospital to sing carols with the patients and staff. Sadly, this did not happen this year due to COVID-19. However, instead of us blessing the hospital, they blessed us with boxes of Malteser chocolate reindeer for all the pupils in the school. Yum yum!
Christmas card 2020
Each year some of our Primary pupils enter the Harpenden Town Mayor’s Christmas Card Competition. This fabulously decorated collage of a Christmas tree, created by one of our Foundation Class pupils, was photographed and used to make The King's School Christmas Card 2020. As we were unable to host our Senior Citizens’ Christmas Party this year, we were able to send them all this card, bringing a little cheer and assuring them of our thoughts and prayers.
Bake-off Christmas 2020
Well done to everyone who entered Mrs Farahat’s Cookies and Gingerbread competition. There were some fantastic entries and it was very hard for our judges to pick the winners. See how beautifully imaginative this Christmas tree is - this one wasn't even a winner! The standard was extremely high and we are proud of all the amazing entries. We hope they tasted as good as they looked! Brilliant - well done to everyone who took part.
Visit to the Headteacher's office November 2020
Foundation class visited Mr Reeves' office during their Space topic to check out the Lego space shuttle on his desk.
JULY 2020 - Mr Clive Case retires as Principal
After nearly 21 and a half years as Principal of The King's School and Highfield Preschool, Mr Clive Case stepped down from this position and passed the baton of leadership onto Mr Andy Reeves, our new Headteacher. COVID-19 social distancing restrictions prevented us from having the planned gatherings to thank and honour Mr Case for his service to the school (we still await those celebrations!). However, the staff were able to gather together for a picnic on his last day - all seated 2 metres apart! We have not lost him completely as he still teaches RS, Geography and PSHE in the Secondary School. Thank you Mr Case for the godly and humble way you have led and built the school.
The last Whole School Assembly as Principal had to be done on Zoom! Videos and photos charting Mr Case's time as Principal were shown, with songs and tributes from pupils & staff.
Staff picnic - socially distanced!
A photobook gift was given which included messages from pupils and parents.
Sandra and Clive Case. Mrs Case continues as Manager of Highfield Preschool, and Mr Case remains at The King's School teaching RS, Geography & PSHE to the Secondary School.
Goodbye Mrs James
July 2020
After many years working at The
King's School, our Secondary
SENCo, Mrs Lynne James, retired in
July 2020. Mrs James was invaluable in supporting our pupils who needed extra help in their learning, and leading her team of SEN Assistants to ensure that all our pupils received the support necessary for their academic development. Thank you Mrs James. Mrs Jane Judson has taken her place as SENCo for the whole school.
Instrumental Concert February 2020
We enjoyed our annual Instrumental Concert on Thursday 13th February with pupils of all ages participating and entertaining their parents and classmates with a wide range of music. The event was rounded off with a performance by our new Djembe Group, during which the audience participated with much enthusiasm! Well done to all who entertained us, and to their music teachers who prepared them for the concert.
Life Skills Day February 2020
Secondary pupils enjoyed a day off timetable on Thursday 13th February, as we invited a number of guests into school to inform and challenge our pupils on a number of important topics. Sessions included managing your money, careers talks from professionals, how to respond in an emergency, making the most of your talents, teamwork and living as a responsible citizen in the UK. Pupils enjoyed a visit from a local policeman, informing them about a whole variety of aspects of law & order. We were also blessed to have a visit from a lady from Rwanda, who shared her story with each year group, a challenging message of forgiveness. Thank you to all who gave up their time to make the day possible.
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