Spring Newsletter

Springing into (Community) Action...

The Spring term is always a busy one for Community Action and Service: our Lower Sixth are out and about volunteering, students throughout the school prepare for charity events, and we continue to welcome partner schools to KGS for various initiatives.

We asked some of our students to give us a taste of what they’ve been up to this term.

Mrs K Pinnock I Head of CAS

FUNDRAISER: COMIC RELIEF

As Fourth Years, we are raising money for Comic Relief, a UK-based charity that uses the power of entertainment to tackle poverty and social injustice. It raises money through major fundraising events like Red Nose Day and Sport Relief, bringing people together to support important causes.

The charity funds projects that address homelessness, mental health challenges, domestic abuse, and global poverty. By supporting community organisations in the UK and around the world, Comic Relief helps people facing tough circumstances build safer, healthier, and more hopeful futures.

Each form in Fourth Year organised an activity to raise donations for this charity. Queen’s asked people to ‘guess the number of Mini Eggs in a jar’, Stanley hosted a quiz, Taverner ran a mini funfair with different activities, Walworth ran a bean bag challenge and Lovekyn hosted a bake sale.

If you would like to donate, please find our page here KGS Charities.

Year

SERVICE AND VOLUNTEERING

Volunteering at Kingston Mencap has been a very rewarding experience for me. During the sessions, I help run and support different activities for people with learning disabilities. These include games, group activities and spending time talking with members to make sure everyone feels included and comfortable.

One of the best parts about volunteering at Mencap is seeing how much each of the members enjoy the sessions. It is amazing to have the opportunity to support others to have fun and feel valued.

We have done a karaoke night, hip-hop classes and ukelele performances! One of the best parts about volunteering at Mencap is seeing how much each of the members enjoy the sessions. It is amazing to have the opportunity to support others to have fun and feel valued. Even the small things, like helping someone take part in an activity or encouraging them to try something new, can make a big difference.

Getting to know the members has been incredible, with everyone bringing such unique stories and perspectives that make every chat a joy. Through volunteering, I’ve developed skills such as patience, communication, and confidence. I feel I’ve strengthened my teamwork and collaboration skills by working closely with other volunteers. It’s great to be part of such a welcoming and supportive community where everyone can have fun and feel valued.

Talia I Lower Sixth

PARTNERSHIPS: CLASSICS WORKSHOP

We were delighted to welcome 47 pupils from King’s Oak Primary to a Classics Workshop devised by Mr Nolan which he delivered alongside Mrs Pytel. Xan and some of his fellow Classics students joined the group for part of the morning.

I really enjoyed seeing their enthusiasm during their first encounter with Latin and Greek. They were very keen, even when faced with unfamiliar language and context, and readily used their knowledge of other languages to help them translate. They enjoyed the challenge of writing sentences about their family in Latin and writing their name in Greek. This was a great opportunity for them to develop their interest in Classics as well as their critical thinking skills in unfamiliar situations.

Xan I Lower Sixth

LANGUAGE LEADERS

Being involved in the Language Leader Award equips our linguists with independence, organisational skills, teaching skills and self-confidence. They learn to share their love of languages with pupils in neighbouring primary schools, whilst adding an extra dimension to their own learning. There is a measurable impact on both our own students delivering the lessons and the primary school pupils who take part.

As part of the Language Leaders Award, we spend our Tuesday lunchtimes preparing for our lessons teaching languages to younger children in local primary schools in Kingston.

We work collaboratively in small groups to create presentations and flashcards in preparation for the visits. This enhances both their and our learning because it teaches them a language through interactive content tailored to their ability, and teaches us new skills such as leadership and teamwork.

We offer a variety of languages, including French, Dutch and Portuguese to ensure each child learns something new.

Louisa, Holly and Lily I Third Year

THE U13DS FINISHED THE SEASON UNBEATEN, WINNING 13 & DRAWING 2, SCORING 75 GOALS.

GIRLS’ FOOTBALL

House Football saw the First Year and Second/Third Year teams competing at Ditton Field. Stanley took the top spot in First Year, with Walworth topping the table for Second/Third Year.

The U13s made the National Quarter Finals of the ‘Sisters n Sport’ Cup Competition and were unlucky to lose 1-0 despite having most of the chances and against the run of play.

The U14s secured their place in the ‘Sisters n Sport’ Finals after a fantastic 2-0 win over a strong Bromley High School.

The U18s made the Surrey Schools Semi Finals but lost to eventual winners Blenheim Chelsea Academy. It was a fantastic effort from the girls as they played against a side who train full time as part of their studies. Special mention to Abla, Giulia and Emma who have been selected for the ISFA National Training Squad.

Huge thanks to the Girls’ 1st XI who helped out with the younger age groups throughout the season.

Mr M Hall I Head of Girls’ Football

BOYS’ HOCKEY

The U13As finished second in the ISHC National Cup. They put in an excellent display against Warwick in the semi-final, but fell short to a strong Whitgift side in the final.  The U15As just missed out on the National Cup Finals, after losing their quarter-final to St George’s on penalties. The U16As made the National Plate Semi-Final, losing a shoot-out away to KES, Birmingham.

Wilf, Sepp and Isaac (Fifth Year) played up an age group in the 1st XI this season, whilst in the same year group James and Ludo were selected to attend the National Finals in Nottingham. Wilf made his National League debut for Wimbledon 2s in the National Conference East (3rd Division). Tom, Upper Sixth, made his National League Debut, featuring all season for Surbiton 2s in the National Division 1 South (2nd Division).

Mr B Winter I Head of Boys’ Hockey

NETBALL

The U13Bs and U18Bs had League wins, whilst the U12As and Bs had a great tournament against Tormead.

REAL TENNIS

Real Tennis, the precursor to what we now call Lawn Tennis, is played on only 47 courts around the world. We are incredibly lucky to have access to some of the most historic, at Hampton Court Palace.

Mr J Dyson I Head of Art

GIRLS’ HOCKEY

The U16s finished 3rd in the Tier 1 National Cup. Losing to Repton 3-0 in the semi-final, they went on to beat Wellington College 6-1 in the 3rd/4th play-off. Goalscorers: Jo, Izzy, Connie, Jemima, Antonia and Emily

The U13As won the In2Hockey U13 London Finals and have progressed through to the National Finals. They take place at Old Loughtonians Hockey Club in May.

The U12As finished 3rd in the In2Hockey London Finals.

Connie (Teddington HC) and Olivia (Wimbledon HC) have made their National League debuts.

KGS hockey coach Miss Manton helped England qualify for the 2026 World Cup in Belgium and Holland.

Mr C Mackenzie I Head of Girls’ Hockey

STOP PRESS...

HUGE CONGRATULATIONS TO THE BOYS’ FIRST XI WHO ARE THE ISHC NATIONAL PLATE CHAMPIONS.

The 2026 KGS Ski Trip returned to Jasper, Canada, during February half-term. The notorious Canadian weather came back with a vengeance, but the group of hardy students still had a great time.

After a long journey, we arrived at The Crimson Hotel in Jasper on Valentine’s Day. The love was delayed for the following day when we hit the slopes at Marmot Basin on ‘Family Weekend’, apparently one of the busiest weekends in Jasper. Compared to European destinations it was positively peaceful: the occasional two-minute wait for a chairlift under blue skies and relatively comfortable temperatures was a great start to the trip.

As the ‘crowds’ cleared on the Monday, the cold weather hit, with temperatures of around -25⁰C. Day 3 started with a few inches of fresh snow and staff and students learned to cope with the freezing conditions by layering up and investing in chemical hand and feet warmers. By the time the temperatures increased back up to -10⁰C on the last day, the quality of skiing from the KGS students was most impressive.

While the skiing was the main part of the trip, the evening activities also added to the experience. A trip to the local swimming pool, complete with slides and inflatables, and an ice-cold nature walk around Lake Annette will certainly live long in the memory. A charity ice hockey match was a unique experience for all, and the famous Rodgers Ski Trip Quiz showed that the Fifth Year boys certainly know a lot of general knowledge.

The students were great company and conducted themselves admirably. Roll on, Jasper 2027!

Mr M Rodgers I Head of Biology

50,000 Scouts from around the globe...

In October, I received an exciting email saying that I had been selected to go to the World Scout Jamboree, with over 50,000 Scouts from around the globe.

The World Scout Jamboree is the largest educational youth event in the world and is built to promote peace, foster friendship, learn and exchange cultures and traditions as well as taking part in activities on a wide scale which help us grow and become better people.

The event, taking place in 2027, is going to be held in Poland where I will be sharing a campsite with contingents from over 150 countries. It only takes place every four years, making it a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for everyone attending.

My new troop and I are really excited to have this opportunity and as a part of this journey each Scout Jamboree have to fundraise £3,200 over the course of the next year and a half. Although this may seem a lot, only a small proportion of the money raised goes towards sending us to the Jamboree. The remainder enables scouts from less affluent countries to attend and benefit from this fantastic opportunity.

I am planning a number of different fundraising events over the next twelve months but if anyone would like to support this cause, I have set up a Just Giving page. I would be really grateful for your support.

Emily I Second Year

WORDS IN MOTION

The Anthea Bell Prize for Young Translators, run by Oxford University, is inspired by the work of the translator Anthea Bell OBE (1936–2018), one of the finest and most influential literary translators of the 20th and 21st centuries

60 of the our most promising linguists took part in a month full of imagination, creativity and, particularly for those completing Level 4, plenty of resilience!

Students are judged on a balance between creativity and accuracy on texts covering poetry, fiction and non-fiction. With the deadline for submissions fast approaching, our young linguists are working hard to finalise their pieces and ensure they have used both imagination and precision. We will then wait in hopeful anticipation for Oxford Modern Languages undergraduates and professional literary translators to mark the completed translations and see if we have any winners!

We were delighted to have entrants in all our core languages (French, Spanish, Italian and German) as well as in Mandarin and Russian! A very bright future lies ahead for MFL at KGS with students from every year group showing off their linguistic talents during the course of the competition.

Mr T Diamond I MFL Department

We celebrated British Science Week, a ten-day celebration of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, by immersing ourselves in a range of activities to celebrate the beauty and importance of science.

This dovetailed very nicely with last week’s #TECHOGNITION which is British Science Week celebration of technical support staff, recognising the importance of their essential roles in school and college education. We have technical staff in Art, DT, Science, Theatre, Reprographics and IT.

As the Fairfield building continues to morph into the Bridgen Science Centre, we were delighted to be able to use some of the fantastic new spaces.

This year, the Physics Department kicked things off with a ‘build your own rollercoaster’ session. A report from an Upper Sixth student (with an offer to study Engineering at Cambridge) reads, “Building rollercoaster tracks with pool noodles and copious amounts of tape was a unique experience that was heart-racingly time pressured and challenging in the funniest way possible!

Continued on next page

“THE SCIENCE MIGHT BE THEORETICAL, BUT THE FUN IS REAL!”

Blending creativity, teamwork, and quick thinking into one lunchtime was strangely enlightening, allowing me to learn more about stretching the possibilities of what can be built and what - in my case - was perhaps a little too ambitious. It’s something I would gladly do and develop every week, so it’s a shame that I have to leave the abominable Frankenstein’s Monster of a rollercoaster track me and my team built behind me.”

Teams competed to build a rollercoaster using pipe insulation. In their small groups they analysed the transfer of gravitational potential energy into kinetic energy so that their passengers, in this case a marble, would travel a long distance performing a loop on its travel.

They ended up having to think about how to strengthen their design and, most importantly, to ensure their passengers did not go flying off into the air!

Research in the Journal of Food Science suggests that the colour of drinks can confuse the identification of the flavour. Students were randomly assigned to two groups, and were each given 5 Jelly Beans to eat to identify the flavours. Out of the 41 tasted when students could see the colour, 23 flavours were correctly identified, a success rate of 56%. However, of the

66 Jelly Beans tasted when the colour could not be seen, only 27 flavours were correctly identified, a success rate of only 41%. This difference of 15% is likely to be significant but a statistical test would be required to test this empirically.

The outcome of the study, although limited in sample size and limited only to Jelly Beans, suggests that the perception of food, that is its colour in this instance, does have an impact on the ability to identify flavour. Put into context, this may suggest that the presentation of food in a restaurant could influence the enjoyment of the eating experience.

To round off the week students had the opportunity to send their code up into space to be run on the International Space Station (ISS). Astro Pi Mission Zero is a project run by the European Space Agency (ESA), allowing students to control the Astro Pi - a modified Raspberry Pi up on the ISS. Students did a great job and were able not just to code an image to be displayed by LEDs on the Astro Pi, but to use an on-board sensor to change the image according to the colour it senses! Having met the criteria of working code, we duly sent it off to the ESA to be sent up to space. We look forward to hearing when the program is run for real!

As recent world events demonstrate, we live in uncertain times. One thing that is for sure is that science is a body of knowledge that can be used for good to further the human experience. Whether that is this year’s hoped-for launch of Artemis and an opportunity to revisit the Moon, the continual development of medicines to treat Alzheimer’s disease, the improvement of chemicals to ensure that the newest versions are as eco-friendly as possible, or the continual improvements in AI, there is much for science to work on. As someone at KGS was heard to say, “the science might be theoretical, but the fun is real”!

Thank you to all the students who attended and all the teaching staff and technicians who went the extra mile to put on these events, allowing students to experience the beauty of our subject beyond the classroom.

Mr I Deepchand I Head of Physics

BRITISH PHYSICS OLYMPIAD

Huge congratulations to Fraser on achieving a Gold Award in Round 2 of the British Physics Olympiad

From an original 9,000 entries, just 69 candidates were invited to participate in Round 2. Fraser is one of only 14 students subsequently invited to this year’s Easter Training and Selection Camp to be held in the Department of Physics at the University of Oxford. This is a brilliant achievement: well done, Fraser!

Mr I Deepchand I Head of Physics

“I have thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to apply my problem-solving skills to advanced physical concepts and situations. The experience I have gained will help me to apply creative solutions both in my A Levels and in the wider world.”

Fraser I Upper Sixth

VEX ROBOTICS

We are delighted to share the success of the KGS VEX Robotics team, who took part in the Guild of Gears event at the City of London School in early February. This marked an exciting milestone: it was the first KGS VEX team in many years, and the students more than rose to the occasion.

This year’s challenge, ‘Mix and Match’, required teams to compete in both drivercontrolled and autonomous rounds, scoring points by stacking coloured pins. The KGS robot performed well throughout the qualification runs, despite a few dramatic setbacks, including some agonising lastminute tower collapses. This left the team in eighth place out of 17 teams after the qualification round. Many of the rounds were teamwork-based, and it was wonderful to see our students collaborating so positively with students from other schools whom they had only just met.

Finishing eighth meant KGS progressed to the fourth-to-last final, where they were paired with the City of London School for Girls team, ‘HACkers’. With only minutes before the match began, disaster struck when the HACkers’ robot fell from the table, sustaining major damage.

With their partner robot only partially functional, KGS were always up against it, yet they still gave a determined and spirited performance, finishing sixth out of eight teams in the final.

The experience was hugely rewarding for the students, who learned a great deal about robotics, engineering and competitive problem-solving. They are already eagerly looking forward to building on their achievements as they prepare for next year’s competition.

We are incredibly proud of the team and look forward to seeing the robotics programme continue to grow.

Mr T Benson I Head of STEAM

Team members: Finn (not pictured), Toby, Thomas, Hugo, George and Gunes.

The KGS robot performed well throughout the qualification runs, despite a few dramatic setbacks, including some agonising last-minute tower collapses.

Humour, emotion, action [and some terrific songs & dances]

UPPER SCHOOL MUSICAL I HEATHERS

I have been lucky enough to participate in several fantastic shows during my time at KGS. Playing football jock Kurt Kelly is a real highlight.

Heathers has a fantastic balance of humour, emotion and action as well as having some terrific songs and dances.

I must admit I was slightly nervous that my dancing skills may not have been up to the mark, but I ended up really enjoying all the routines and it was certainly very satisfying when it all came together, complete with me showcasing a signature ‘worm’ move!

The staging was also incredible. It completely transformed our performance from a school production to something that felt truly professional. The stunning costumes and props provided even more life and colour to the outstanding performances from all of the cast. The camaraderie shared by the cast and crew were what really made it special. A special shoutout to Mr Gee, who was so much fun as well as being a brilliant director! I think we will all remember Heathers forever.

I loved performing my take on Martha as I felt that her song added a contrast to the fast-paced storyline and she was a very loveable character. I also really enjoyed acting alongside the most amazing cast who made the show come to life. I will remember Heathers for the rest of my life, and I am so lucky to have been a part of it.

Anna I Lower Sixth (Martha)

And last but not least, huge thanks to our crew!

Being the Lighting Operator for Heathers involved controlling the lighting states on stage throughout the show…..all 420 lighting of them! I really enjoyed the experience. While my job was only a small piece of the production, it was fun to be part of the process. Overall, it helped me to really develop my tech skills and I would definitely do it again!

Hugo I Fourth Year (Lighting Operator)

Be proud. Be reliable. Be cheerful. Work hard. Make the most of the cards you’re dealt and focus on creating your own luck.

Andrew Rogers, radio journalist and broadcaster for BBC Radio1’s Newsbeat and 1Xtra, is part of the team bringing the biggest UK and global stories to millions, not just through live radio broadcasts, but across social media, online platforms and TV too. Having started his career in PR and digital marketing, he has helped shape how the BBC delivers news for younger generations, developing interactive smart speaker bulletins and podcasts for BBC Sounds.

This term we were delighted to welcome three more inspiring Kingstonians to the KGS Accelerator.

Peter Harris, Co-Founder of Hotel Chocolat, had a powerful message: “Be proud. Be reliable. Be cheerful. Work hard. Make the most of the cards you’re dealt and focus on creating your own luck.”

From qualifying as a Chartered Accountant to exploring the world of tech, Peter’s career is a mix of innovation and creativity, helping him co-found a brand that began with a single shop in 2004 and grew to a nationwide high street and online retail presence, cafés and a sustainable cocoa farm in Saint Lucia. Inspiring, grounded and full of wisdom, Peter’s story reminds us that success is rarely a straight line but always built on purpose and persistence.

Beaming in from Sydney, Lottie Naughton spoke to students about living and working in Australia and her international career in TV development. Her advice centred on the importance of resilience, relationshipbuilding, and the courage to take risks - qualities that have guided her through a dynamic and competitive industry. Highlighting how being adaptable, agile and open to change is key to success, her journey from an entry-level TV runner to shaping new programmes for leading broadcasters inspired students who are interested in a future in the creative industries.

As ever, we are deeply grateful to our alumni who so generously give their time to inspire the next generation.

Mrs D Sherwood I Director of International

We would love you to share your story to help shape the next generation of creative thinkers and risk-takers. If this is something you’d like to be part of, we’d be delighted to hear from you.

Please contact Deb Sherwood at dsherwood@kgs.org.uk for an initial conversation.

THE KGS ACCELERATOR IS A CAREERS AND FUTURES PROGRAMME FOR OUR LOWER SIXTH STUDENTS THAT PUTS THE ALUMNI EXPERIENCE FRONT AND CENTRE.

Building Bridgen

Work continues apace on the £6 million refurbishment of the Fairfield Building into the Bridgen Science Centre, and the ambitious project is on schedule for completion late in the Autumn term 2026.

As we returned for the Spring term, 5 new Physics labs, 4 new Science classrooms, a new Physics Prep room, a new office, 2 Chemistry labs and 2 Computer Science classrooms had all been completed and are now in daily use.

Phase three, taking us to the end of Summer 2026, includes the creation of Study Pods, the upgrade of foundations and a replacement courtyard roof in readiness for the Science Garden in the Autumn term.

Mr D Leen I Director of Finance & Operations