Parental Bulletin

23rd February 2017

The Knights Templar School Headteacher: Park Street Mr T. Litchfield, G.G.S.M. Baldock Herts SG7 6DZ Email: admin@ktemplar.herts.sch.uk Tel: 01462 620700

PARENTAL WEEKLY UPDATE – 23rd February 2017 Dear Parents and Carers

It has been my privilege this week to take school assemblies for years 7 – 11. The theme has been based on the Dol-ly Parton quote: “If you want to see the rainbow, you have to put up with the rain”. We pride ourselves on provid-ing an all-round education and students have access to a wide range of enrichment and wider activities as well as being able to fulfil their potential academically. During my assemblies, I was able to focus on the ‘rainbow’ and the joyous moments we have, but I also talked about the ‘rain’ and the hard work that is needed to ensure we can have that ‘rainbow’ moment. Things do not come easy and everyone has to work hard. Our year 12 and 13 students have nearly finished their mock exams, our year 9 students have handed in their op-tions for Key Stage 4 subjects, our year 11 students are preparing for further ‘mock’ exams in English and Maths and are making decisions about post 16 options; that hard work is essential to realise full potential. I hope that my message through assemblies has been delivered in a clear fashion, so please do ask your child about the Dolly Par-ton quote and what it means to them. Many congratulations to our 5 former students who attended St James Palace yesterday to collect their Gold Duke of Edinburgh Awards from the Duke. Please see the article below for further details. Thank you to you all for your regular attendance at Parents’ Evenings. Please may I apologise to parents who have not been able to book places for the year 8 Parents’ Evening next week. If you would like to have some feedback from a teacher and you have not been able to see them on the evening, please do email them. We are aware that there are not enough appointment times for the number of students that some teachers teach and we are looking to solve this problem going forward. Thank you again for your patience.

Kind Regards,

Tim Litchfield

Headteacher

Dates for your Diary Friday 24.2.17 LAMDA Mock Exams

Protected Time for Yr10-13 until June 30th

Yr11 MFL Speaking CA preparation period (in lessons)

Yr13 Mock Exams

09:00-15:00 Yr13 Applied Business Trip [London]

Saturday 25.2.17 Bronze Practice Expedition 1 (leave 08.30am, return 4pm)

Monday 27.2.17 14:20-18:00 Yr9 District Netball Tournament [Marriott]

Tuesday 28.2.17 16:00-19:30 Yr8 Parents Evening (including Peripatetic Consultations for Yr7-13){Hall]

Wednesday 1.3.17 Yr11 MFL Speaking Tests - Students to be out of lessons for individual appointments.

08:30-11:20 Yr10 Practical Dance Controlled Assessment

08:30-16:30 Davids Book Fair [Library]

Thursday 2.3.17 World Book Day

Yr11 MFL Speaking Tests - Students to be out of lessons for individual appointments.

13:30-15:30 Yr7-11District Trampolining competition [HBS]

17:00-19:00 Governor Meeting (Student Welfare)

Amazing Year 7 Castles! Over the last couple of weeks, our Year 7 History students have been busy creating fantas-tic projects on medieval castles. As part of the project, they have designed and made their own models, written speeches and researched the features that medieval castles would have had. This week, they’ve been presenting their finished projects in class and there have been some outstanding pieces of work. Even Mr Litchfield came to watch and could not have been more complimentary about the time, effort and incredibly hard work that has gone into their projects. So far we’ve selected one winning group – Paul Price, Luke Roe and Akshat Mahesh – well done boys!!

Once again, thank you and well done to all our Year 7s who have created such wonderful pieces of work!

Stray trainers found in PE! Do you recognise these lost soles…! Please let Mrs Shaw know as soon as possible eshaw@ktemplar.herts.sch.uk

to save them from the bin - which is where they are head-ing very soon if not claimed.

Year 8 Parents’ Evening, Tuesday, 28th February, 4pm-7.30pm Booking is now open for Year 8 Parents’ Evening on the website. PE Kit Calling parents of all Year 10 Hockey Squad members…

Please could you all double check at home for a white polo used for Hockey matches. There are still several shirts missing which must be returned urgently to the PE Office.

Thank you.

SAINSBURY’S ACTIVE KIDS VOUCHERS Please spread the word with family and friends that Knights Templar School would like as many vouchers as possi-ble. These can be brought to the collection box at school reception and will be split between Food Tech & PE.

Thank you.

PE News

KTS dominate the district rugby league KTS rugby teams have qualified for the district final in every age group of the competition, illustrating the high lev-els of skill shown by our rugby squads throughout the season. The finals will take place next week at either Hitchin Rugby Club or Stevenage Rugby Club (depending on the age group) and we look forward to watching the boys strive to go 1 better than last year and win the title at every single age group.

Well done to all of the players involved and good luck for next week’s finals!

Year 8 football update The year 8 football team have had a busy period of fixtures, playing 3 matches within the space of 4 school days! The boys started this busy part of the season with a hard-fought 3-2 win over Barclay School, with Reece Martin popping up with an all-important last minute winner! The very next day, the boys were back in action, this time at home against Fearnhill! Despite the cold and the snow, the KTS boys performed brilliantly well and secured a convincing 4-1 win. Finally, our year 8 team travelled to Stevenage to face Barnwell School in a very physical and competitive encoun-ter. Despite going 2-0 down, the KTS boys battled back brilliantly and managed to salvage a point from the fixture with the final score 2-2. We now eagerly await the final league standings to see if our year 8 football team have made the district final! Well done to all of the boys involved. Year 9 District Hockey Tournament A fantastic team performance meant that KTS remained undefeated throughout the tournament, winning 2 match-es, drawing 3 and conceding no goals. However they were narrowly beaten to the gold medal place by a goal differ-ence of only one goal! Well done to the whole squad, a great team effort for a thoroughly deserved silver medal!

Molly Wright Abby Fairfield Zara Northern Millie Haywood Amy Northern Rachel Goward (vice-capt) Emma Gooch Maisie Tomlinson (capt) Zoe Nicholson Anna Wallace Imogen Stanley Sophia Davies Revae Tilbury Annie Buky

Year Group

Schools Date Venue Kick off

Year 7 Knights Templar V John Henry Newman Monday 27th February Hitchin Rugby Club

4:00pm for all finals

Year 8 Knights Templar V Thomas Alleynes Monday 27th February Stevenage Rugby Club

Year 9 Knights Templar V Thomas Alleynes Thursday 2nd March Hitchin Rugby Club

Year 10 Thomas Alleynes V Knights Templar Wednesday 1st March Stevenage Rugby Club

ART NEWS: Coming up are the Year 7 visits to the National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery in London, on Monday 6th and Tuesday 7th March. We have arranged guided tours with gallery experts and students will be able to see and draw some of the significant artworks in the galleries’ collections which form part of our national heritage.

All payments and permission slips should have been processed by now but if necessary a further copy of the trip letter is available on the KTS website or from the Art office.

Thank you Wild Fires in the UK lecture at the University of Cambridge On Wednesday 22nd February the Geography department took 6 year 11 students to the University of Cambridge for a lecture on Wild Fires in the UK. The lecture was presented by Dr. Gareth Clay who specialises in Physical Geog-raphy at the University of Manchester. The 6 students are all aspiring to study Geography at A-level so it was a fan-tastic opportunity for them to get an insight into what Geography is like beyond GCSE. The students learnt about the causes of fire, how it can be controlled and the effects it has in different parts of the world, as well as the UK. There will be further opportunities to attend similar lectures later in the academic year, for example the next lec-ture will be focusing on the issue of fracking. Please get in touch if you would like further information about these opportunities – sbow@ktemplar.herts.sch.uk.

Miss Bow, Head of Geography

A Message from Mr Allman (Year 11 Leader)

The Weekly Personalised Additional Sessions Schedule for Year 11 Students

The first week of Year 11 additional sessions has been and gone. Do you know which sessions your child attended this week? I have emailed next week’s additional sessions schedule to all Year 11 students tonight and I would ask all Year 11 parents check their child has:

Logged into their KTS email and looked at their own personal schedule.

A plan to attend sessions. Especially for subjects where they need extra support or clarification.

Why go to Drop-in sessions? With course-work deadlines looming, the drop-in sessions are an excellent oppor-tunity to make sure it's going alright, to check things over, and to see where extra marks can be achieved.

Why go to subject sessions? If your child’s schedule has a session listed for a particular time and room, their sub-ject teacher has specifically selected them to attend, as they will get the most benefit from the material covered in the session.

Please encourage your child to go to these sessions. I don't want them to miss-out on any opportunities in these final few weeks. View details of the sessions available by clicking here on the website .

Congratulations to Freddie Goldscheider, Daniel Barnicott, Laura Gregory, Emily

Hunter and Samuel Toombs who performed in the Young Arcadian’s recent produc-

tion of Little Shop of Horrors. They were all a credit to Knights Templar School.

DofE Update

KTS Gold Award holders collect their Awards at St James Palace We had 5 former students collect their Gold Award at St James Palace on Wednesday 22nd February. Tom Roper, Georgia Piggott, Kate Ben-nett and Thomas Luck (pictured left to right) finished their Gold Awards when they were in the sixth form last year. Although they’ve all left school, they reunited at St James Palace for a morning and col-lect their Gold Awards, presented by author Bill Bryson. They also met the Duke of Edinburgh. We were delighted that Tony Bennett (pictured centre), a long-standing expedition team volunteer (and Gold Award holder himself) was also chosen to marshal at the event.

Report from Bronze expedition training This took place just before half-term for 97 Year 9 students. Guid-ed by the expedition team, they learnt the basic expedition skills that will help them get through their practice and qualifying expe-ditions. Many thanks to the school expedition team for making this event a success. Charlotte Conder (pictured with Albany Lawrence) reports: ‘Friday was our first day of learning about DofE and we learned all about first aid. Saturday was fun - putting up tents, learning about pack-ing our rucksacks and labout how to put the stoves together. On Sunday we did a practice walk and tried our map work - we had a real giggle and did well working in our group. We also cooked our own lunch and washed up. We enjoyed the weekend and look forward to the next one.’ This weekend, the first 4 groups will do their Bronze practice in North Norfolk, putting their new skills to the test!

Year 10 enrolment for Silver DofE Award This is now open to those in Year 10 who have completed their Bronze Awards. A letter out-lining the requirements at Silver level, expedition dates and the enrolment forms are available on the school website under Recently Issued letters. Please note that the final date for return-ing forms to Top Office and paying the enrolment fee is now Friday 3rd March (not 24th Febru-ary as stated on the letter). Silver DofE is a great opportunity to either carry on with activities enjoyed at Bronze or try something new. With many students starting to think about their fu-ture after year 11, then it can also be helpful to use sections to explore interests or develop skills useful for employment or further study. The expeditions are planned to Shropshire and the Peak District. Please come to the DofE Drop-In session on Tuesday and Thursday to pick up

paper copies of letters if needed. New DofE website pages The main school website now has dedicated pages for those taking part in DofE through the school. These can be found under the Students tab, and there are separate pages for Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards. We plan to put copies of letters on these pages available to download, and there will also be other useful advice such as kit lists.

Library News

2nd March 2017 in conjunction with David’s Bookshop, Letchworth As part of the KTS Libraries World Book Day celebrations, we will be presenting all of our pupils with a special WBD token, entitling them to a £1 discount on a book of their choice. We are pleased to welcome David’s Bookshop on Wednesday the 1st March who will be bringing a selection of £1 WBD books and a large selection of Young Adult fiction, giving pupils the opportunity to use their voucher. Vouchers are being distributed, via form tutors, at the start of the week. If you think your child would be interested in purchasing a book please can they bring a small amount of money on the day, we advise £5-£10. Throughout the week, pupils will be offered the opportunity to take part in a book quiz, with the chance to win one of ten Harry Potter book bundles. On World Book Day, Thursday 2nd March the library will be hosting a live quiz, during lunchtime, open to all.

DIARY OF EVENTS Monday 27th February: WBD £1 tokens distributed via form tutors Wednesday 1st March: David’s Bookshop at the KTS Library Thursday 2nd March: World Book Day: deadline for quiz entries and a live library lunchtime quiz. Friday 24th February –Thursday 2nd March: World Book Day Quiz Music News: The Music Department had a busy end to last half term.

On Monday 6th February, Year 7 participated in a Sign to Sing assembly in order to highlight the Deaf Health Charity SignHealth. During lesson time, the students learnt a song with the accompanying sign language which they all performed together during assembly. A collection was also taken for this worthy charity. On Friday 10th February, 250 students from our feeder primary schools came to Knights Templar for the annual Pri-mary Singing Festival. The children spent the morning rehearsing together, before performing a short concert to family and friends. This is always a joyous event, and we would like to thank Rachel Thomas for directing the event and the primary school staff for accompanying and supporting their students on the day. Forthcoming events: A reminder that this year’s instrumental lesson consultation evening will take place next Tuesday, 28th Febru-ary. If you would like to meet with your child’s instrumental teacher, please email our music secretary, Sarah Fra-ser, to arrange a mutually convenient appointment (sfraser@ktemplar.herts.sch.uk). Please be aware that ap-pointments cannot be made online. This year’s Spring Concert will take place on Tuesday 14th March at 7pm in the School Hall and will feature perfor-mances by the Senior and Junior Orchestras, the Senior and Chamber Choirs, Musical Theatre Group, the Wind and Brass Bands and the Flute, String and Guitar Groups.

On Saturday 4th February, 15 Knights Templar students ran in the County Schools Cross Country at Verulamium Park

in St Albans. The standard in Hertfordshire is very high. All the students did extremely well and should be proud of

their efforts. With over 70 students in most of the races Knights Templar had some strong finishers (results listed

below).

Charlotte Spinks who ran in the Inter Girls age group finished 7th which

means she has qualified for the English Schools Cross Country Champion-

ships in March, this is phenomenal achievement and the PE Department

wish her luck in this competition!

The year 7 boys (L-R) Naysian Hamilton, Daniel Prior,

Christian Flood and Rory Gillham

Swing Into Spring with Mike O’Neil and The Mobb:

Pre junior boys (year 7)

26th Daniel Prior 51st Christian Flood

57th Naysian Hamilton 67th Rory Gillham

Per Junior girls (year 7)

28th Maisie Carley 45th Livie Hall 60th Ella Holm

62nd Keira Bhasin 65th Isobel Geere

68th Karshima Wil-liamson

Junior boys (year 8)

45th Ralph Baldwin

Junior girls (year 8)

62nd Evie Bishton

Inter boys (year 10)

49th Toby Ar-nold

Inter girls (year 10)

7th Charlotte Spinks 32nd Olivia Burley

Comet, 23.2.17:

Head Boy and Head Girl application deadline

This Friday 24th February is the deadline for applications for the roles of Head Boy/ Girl, Deputy Head Boy/ Girl and

Senior Prefects.

Completed applications should be submitted to Miss Bayfield in Sixth Form Student Services by 3.20pm on Friday

24th February.

Student finance evening

Parents of students who have applied to university this academic year are invited to attend a

presentation on student finance on Wednesday 8th March.

The presentation will cover all of the most recent changes to student finance arrangements, as

well as provide guidance on how to apply for financial support and effectively manage the cost of

higher education and student living.

The presentation will take place in the Sixth Form Common room between 7-8pm on Wednesday 8th March.

Oxbridge support for KTS students

Yesterday, Dr Thompson hosted a workshop for approximately 15 sixth form students

who have the ambition of attending university at either Oxford or Cambridge.

The workshop looked at the style of small group teaching at Oxford and Cambridge, as well as the distinctive com-

munity feel generated by studying in a college setting.

Students had the opportunity to explore some of the courses available at Oxford and Cambridge, before listening to

a very informative presentation by ex-KTS student and University of Oxford graduate, Christian Elliott. Christian

described his time at Oxford and provided detailed advice and guidance on the rigours of the application process.

At the end of the presentation, our students were able to ask Christian some very insightful questions and our

guest answered the students with a high level of skill and eloquence.

Those students in attendance will now have the opportunity to experience Oxbridge masterclasses and open days,

before receiving more support from Dr Thompson on how to piece together a successful application.

In addition to this opportunity, 15 year 11 students attended a workshop that focused on the advantages of study-

ing at top universities and what they can do at this early stage to research and prepare for their application.

We would like to thank Dr Thompson for utilising her vast experi-

ence in this field to provide such a wonderful opportunity to our

students.

Senior football update

The senior boys’ football team booked their place in the district final with an emphatic 4-1 win over

local rivals Fearnhill.

Despite going a goal down in the opening 5 minutes, the KTS boys rallied brilliantly and dominated

proceedings for the rest of the match.

Goals from Elliot Campbell-Gumb, Marcus Crowther, Elliot Powell and Sean Blyth ensured that the boys won the

game comfortably, although the KTS boys had numerous chances to make the score line even more impressive.

The senior squad now eagerly await their district league final, as well as the semi-final of the county cup which

takes place on Wednesday 8th March at KTS.

Year 13 ‘Bouncers’

Before the half term break, the year 13 BTEC Performing Arts class put on a wonderful performance entitled

‘Bouncers’ for staff and students to enjoy.

The performance focused on Britain’s alcohol fuelled nightlife, following the conversations and antics of both

bouncers and late night revellers, as the actors transitioned seamlessly through their various personas.

The production was insightful and very funny- the students involved should be proud of their accomplished and

confident performances.

Year 12 student profile- Amelia Chappell

Amelia joined the sixth form with a fantastic set of GCSE results which included 9 A*’s!

Amelia is now studying Geography, Maths, Chemistry and Biology at AS Level and has made a

fantastic start to her sixth form studies. In addition, Amelia has taken on a role as a mentor and

has proven to be very effective in this capacity.

As a high achieving student, Amelia had a number of options for her post-16 education and

when asked why she elected to remain at KTS, she had this to say:

‘I was really happy to move into the sixth form for a number of reasons. I know my teachers re-

ally well and knew that I would get high quality teaching every lesson. I wanted to stay with my

current friendship group…I really like the community atmosphere here and didn’t want to get ‘lost’ in a big college

where there are thousands of students.’

We are very pleased that Amelia chose to continue her academic career at KTS and we look forward to seeing her

build on her success at GCSE and achieve great things in the future.

Domino’s make year 12 Business students very hAPPy… The current year 12 Cambridge Technical business students are working on a project that involves them proposing if they should recommend to a small business the use of an APP that gives customers the facility to order sandwich-es from a local business. They have been researching the food industry and gathering data relating to customers tastes and use of Smartphones to purchase products. This has resulted in Priory Picnics presenting to the group recently and now involving Domino’s of Letchworth.

Domino’s were willing volunteers to have their ordering system assessed, the delivery and of course the finished product for quality and freshness. This primary research will help the students in a practical away to assess the suc-cess and issues businesses face when delivering fresh food to a customer. The students enjoyed the task and also thank Dominos for the complimentary pizza’s! Mr Haider Ali, Store Manag-er, Letchworth said “ It was an unusual request but once we found out we could actually help the students with the coursework I was more than happy to be involved with the task. The students were great and was glad that the ser-vice from ordering through the app to delivery met the students expectations”

Synovia said” Sometimes Mr Vallier has some unusual ways of teaching and getting us to learn, but even though we initially had reservations can now actually see the relevance to the course and in practical way. It gave us more ‘real’ information that we could use in our evidence and portfolio” Year 12 Cambridge Technical students