Dear Parents and Guardian

It is a busy time as we approach the half-term break, which starts on Saturday, 15th October. A week after that, we have our Challenge Week activities, and our staff has been working hard to finalise arrangements for the 50-plus activities on offer.

Last week, I commented on our determination to grow our culture of inclusion and equity, where all students and parents feel safe, known and heard. This week our Year 7 Tutors met individually with the Heads of Year, Vice Principal and Response to Intervention (RTI) leaders to look at the initial data on all Year 7 students to see how they have settled in and progressing. The data considered includes:

• Comments from every teacher regarding engagement with learning and work habits

• Wellbeing and student engagement survey data completed by students

• Results of standardised testing

• Any preliminary subject achievement grades

• Current support and extension programmes the students may be engaged in

• Participation in school activities

Our teachers will repeat this for all other year levels over the next month. In many ways, it is a means to ensure that we take the time to discuss every single one of our 1890 students and have a conversation with key staff about how they are engaging and learning. We believe the most critical aspect of our work as teachers is to know our students well.

This information is captured and used by teachers during our subject-based parent-teacher interviews (Learning Reviews) in November. We will share the arrangements for this shortly, but the Learning Review days and evenings will provide an opportunity for all parents to have a conversation will all teachers of ‘your child and our student.’

Sorting out the pre-printed $2,500 Student Grant Forms has been quite a job! Tutors have begun handing out the forms today, and all students should be bringing the form today or early next week. Existing students will receive a pre-printed form, and new students (Y7 and new admissions this year) must fill out a blank document.  Once you receive your preprinted form, please verify your details, sign it and ask your child to return it to a drop box in the school reception.

Thank you to all parents who have updated the ESF App with updated vaccination records. We are moving closer to the required 90% vaccine pass rates target by the November 1 deadline. Your cooperation regarding this is appreciated as we strive to keep KGV open for full days. Vaccination records are updated via the ESF App by tapping on the Lionel VLE, scrolling down to COVID-19 Vaccination Pass and tapping on the blue ‘here’ button.

Have a good weekend.

Principal, KGV School

Year 10 Message

More RAT kits were distributed to students this week and we thank parents for continuing to complete RAT information in the ESF App each morning. Checking these each day places a considerable strain on our resources and, like you, we hope it will be unnecessary one day soon.

Tutors will be distributing the Student Grant forms during tutor time today and on Monday. Please ask your child for this form so you can complete it and receive funds from the government. Completed forms are returned to the main school office.

Next Wednesday will be the final Challenge Week meetings where students will find out all the details they need to participate safely during the week of 31 October to 4 November. You can see all details for your child's activity on the Challenge Week website.

Year 11 Message

More RAT kits were distributed to students this week and we thank parents for continuing to complete RAT information in the ESF App each morning. Checking these each day places a considerable strain on our resources and, like you, we hope it will be unnecessary one day soon.

Tutors will be distributing the Student Grant forms during tutor time today and on Monday. Please ask your child for this form so you can complete it and receive funds from the government. Completed forms are returned to the main school office.

In PSHE lessons, students in year 11 will start to receive information about their options for year 12. This will lead up to provisional option choices at the end of November. More information will be provided in the weeks leading up to this.

Next Wednesday will be the final Challenge Week meetings where students will find out all the details they need to participate safely during the week of 31 October to 4 November. You can see all details for your child's activity on the Challenge Week website.

Year 8 Message

In our Year 8-9 Assemblies this week we were very fortunate to have two outstanding musical performances. Rishi Butani from 08U12 played the piano piece 'Opening Night Jazz' by Martha Mier and Max Chan from 09N12 played drums to ‘This Feeling’ by The Chainsmokers. A big thank you to Rishi and Max for their performances. 

The second Challenge Week Meetings will take place during tutor time next Wednesday. There is a lot of planning going on beyond the scenes by the Challenge Week Teams and much excitement about this upcoming event. 

Student Council Meetings for Year 8 & 9 will also start next week. Each tutor group has one student representative. We look forward to working with our student reps and hearing their feedback, concerns or requests. 

Student Grant Forms are ready for distribution. If your child were at KGV last year, they would bring home a pink pre-printed form for you to check the details. New students who don’t have a pink form will have a blank form (Form A) to complete.  Your child must return the pink or white form directly to the KGV Front Office. 

Student interactions - we have recently seen a slight increase in Year 8 and 9 students speaking to each other or about each other in an inappropriate manner. This also includes social media and the use of phones in school (especially cameras). These reports are coming from staff, students and parents. Mr. Blackshaw spoke to students in assembly about how each of us should seek to make the most of our opportunities at school and seek to leave this school in a better place for the people that follow. He also highlighted our school values - Honesty, Courage, and Empathy. Mr. Tranter (Senior Head of Year) spoke about the importance of community and what our responsibilities are as members of a positive community. Please help us to reinforce these messages at home by talking to your child about their interactions with others, both in person and online, and their use of social media and phones in school. 

Year 9 Message

In our Year 8-9 Assemblies this week we were very fortunate to have two outstanding musical performances. Rishi Butani from 08U12 played the piano piece 'Opening Night Jazz' by Martha Mier and Max Chan from 09N12 played drums to ‘This Feeling’ by The Chainsmokers. A big thank you to Rishi and Max for their performances. 

The second Challenge Week Meetings will take place during tutor time next Wednesday. There is a lot of planning going on beyond the scenes by the Challenge Week Teams and much excitement about this upcoming event. 

Student Council Meetings for Year 8 & 9 will also start next week. Each tutor group has one student representative. We look forward to working with our student reps and hearing their feedback, concerns or requests. 

Student Grant Forms are ready for distribution. If your child were at KGV last year, they would bring home a pink pre-printed form for you to check the details. New students who don’t have a pink form will have a blank form (Form A) to complete.  Your child must return the pink or white form directly to the KGV Front Office. 

Student interactions - we have recently seen a slight increase in Year 8 and 9 students speaking to each other or about each other in an inappropriate manner. This also includes social media and the use of phones in school (especially cameras). These reports are coming from staff, students and parents. Mr. Blackshaw spoke to students in assembly about how each of us should seek to make the most of our opportunities at school and seek to leave this school in a better place for the people that follow. He also highlighted our school values - Honesty, Courage, and Empathy. Mr. Tranter (Senior Head of Year) spoke about the importance of community and what our responsibilities are as members of a positive community. Please help us to reinforce these messages at home by talking to your child about their interactions with others, both in person and online, and their use of social media and phones in school. 

Year 12 Message

Our Year 12 Tutors began distributing the Student Grant forms today and will continue on Monday. Please ask your child for this form so you can complete it and receive funds from the government. Completed forms need to be returned directly to KGV front office.

Next Wednesday will be the final Challenge Week meetings where students will find out all the details they need to participate safely during the week of 31 October to 4 November. You can see all details for your child's activity on the Challenge Week website.

Wishing you a great weekend.

Year 13 Message

As we approach half-term, our Year 13 student leaders have been helping us to plan a bespoke and blended Challenge week for our Year 13 students this year.

Please remind your son/daughter to complete the Google form below to help us finalise our numbers for our trip on Wednesday, 2 November.

https://forms.gle/rkqvux3TdJP9MPyt8

Our Year 13 Tutors began distributing the Student Grant forms today and will continue on Monday. Please ask your child for this form so you can complete it and receive funds from the government. Completed forms need to be returned directly to KGV front office.

Wishing you a great weekend.

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Your child should arrive home today with 2 x RAT kit boxes and a blank Student Grant Form. Please complete the Student Grant Form and ask your child to return it to the main school reception by Friday 14th October.

All Year 7 students will attend a Challenge Week meeting on Wednesday next week. We will be talking through the activities. Students will also have a tutor time session testing out their cycling skills. We will run a Parent Information Session on Tuesday 25th October, at 6.30pm, where we will run through the Challenge Week itinerary and answer any questions you may have. This session will take place online. We will send out login details next week.

Have a great weekend.

The Year 7 Team.

Student Wellbeing Update

Odd Socks Day

On Wednesday 12th October, please remind your child to wear odd socks to school! The more colourful the better. This is an annual event at KGV where students and staff wear odd socks in support of World Mental Health Day.

You can see more info on this event on our community presentation here.

Friendship and Belonging

I’d like to share with some of the findings relating to Friendship and Belonging from the Student Wellbeing survey last week, to which over 1650 students responded:

• 84% of our students tell us they feel a strong or very strong sense of belonging to the KGV community. The top 5 ways that give students this sense of belonging is:
  • Friends
  • Working with classmates in lessons
  • Creativity, Activity and Service (CAS)
  • House Spirit
  • Being part of a tutor group.
• 95% of students say they have a least one close friend who they can talk to about their wellbeing.
• 77% of student say they feel that ‘all’ or ‘most’ of their teachers care about their wellbeing
• In class, 99% of our students say they have others that they work with.
• The vast majority of our students, 88%, have friends that they hang out with every break and lunchtime. Of the remaining students, some said they like to be on their own, and only 1% reported being alone in a break or lunch or both. Tutors are now working with these students to help them find ways to enjoy these important social times at school.

If you are worried about your child’s friendships or sense of belonging at KGV, please consider attending the online talk for parents on Friendship and Loneliness, delivered by our Wellbeing Prefects. Details were shared last week. You can still sign up here. You can also visit the school CAS website to view the types of clubs available for our students to join https://www.kgvcasactivities.com/.

World Mental Health Day

For World Mental Health Day, 10th October, our KGV Counselling Team will be sharing simple ways with staff and students to prioritise mental health. Students can look out for these in the Student Bulletin.

Amanda Barton - Wellbeing Coordinator