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Head Master's News

28 January 2022

Dear Parents,

I hope that you and your families are well. We have had an exciting week in school with a huge range of inspiring, thought-provoking and joyful events and activities.

It was a pleasure to host our annual Higher Education Evening and for our team to talk with parents and students about the developments in the Higher Education landscape, and to promote some exciting ‘off-UCAS’ pathways, in addition to the prestigious Russell Group outcomes that a remarkable proportion of our students enjoy each year. It was good to see so many students showing interest in international universities and degree apprenticeships, and to hear from our visiting speakers from Exeter and Oxford Brookes universities.

Our annual Year Play in a Day is always a special highlight and it has been lovely to hear how much our students enjoyed the experience and the stunning performances at the end of the day on Wednesday. They showed impressive confidence and courage in performing together on stage with some outstanding examples of physical theatre and storytelling.

Thursday was Holocaust Memorial Day and our students in Key Stage 4 listened to Lesley Urbach, who recounted her family’s experiences in Nazi Germany. I then joined a number of students from King’s High and local schools at the memorial service at St Mary’s Church, where Florence in Year 8 read our school’s new prayer, composed by our Inter Faith Group. It is a powerful expression of hope and unity that was both inspiring and uplifting for the audience to hear.

I was delighted to visit the inaugural session of our new Collaborate Workshop Series, which saw students across King’s High and Warwick School come together to discuss, share ideas, and problem solve challenging ethical issues about business and the environment. The environmental focus was developed brilliantly by Dr Tim Middleton’s talk to Café Philo on Christianity and Ecology, which led to excellent discussion and deep thinking. As I write, we are looking forward very much to the visit of Sir Anthony Seldon this afternoon to talk to us about his work on British Prime Ministers.

I am very proud of all of our students involved in sport and representing our school with such commitment and success. I visited Bloxham School at the weekend to see some superb netball matches. It was also exciting to see our first netball team win against KES in the week as they get ready, along with our U16s, for the regional finals on Sunday - we wish them every success.

Tomorrow, we have around 60 students going on our King’s Links Trip to Cambridge to visit colleges and hear from several of our former students currently studying at Cambridge. It should be an excellent day and I have my fingers crossed for good weather. 

I wish you all a very happy weekend and thank you for your continued support.

Yours sincerely,

Dr Burley
Head Master

21 January 2022

Dear Parents,

I hope that you and your families are well and that your daughter has had a happy week at King’s High. 

Last night’s Gala Concert in Warwick Hall, marking our Foundation’s partnership with The Orchestra of the Swan, was truly outstanding. It was a very special occasion for our community and I am excited to think ahead to the future possibilities of our connection with this world-class orchestra. 

We were also delighted to welcome Professor George Caird, Principal of the London School of Speech and Drama. As part of our Inspire Music Series, he delivered masterclasses to pupils throughout the day on how deep inspiration can help create connections across a range of diverse intellectual topics. On Wednesday evening, Catherine Bott delivered a fascinating Landor Association lecture and spoke with great wisdom and humour. This afternoon we also hosted Stephen Sidaway, a retired detective inspector, who spoke about his experience of rowing across the Atlantic Ocean. 

It was a pleasure to welcome Mr Tim Satchell, Chair of KHAPS Committee, to our whole school assembly on Tuesday to launch the application process for this year’s KHAPS Personal Achievement Awards. These are fantastic opportunities for students to apply for a financial award to pursue a project to support their own personal growth and development, or to make a positive impact in the community. The deadline for applications is 28 February and the details have been sent out and uploaded to the Portal. 

Next week we are looking forward to the launch of our new Collaborate Series on Wednesday. The first workshop will focus on business ethics and the environment and will see students across King’s High and Warwick School work together to problem-solve topical issues. On Thursday Dr Tom Middleton joins us to discuss Christianity and religion in relation to the world’s ecosystems. Finally, on Friday at 4.15pm in the King’s High Hall we look forward to the visit of leading educationalist and writer, Sir Anthony Seldon, whose topic is ‘Three Hundred Years of Prime Ministers’ – do join us for what will be a fascinating lecture. 

The week has been cold and, at times, foggy, but this has not daunted our sports teams who have been competing with commitment and success. Our U13 A, B and C netball teams recorded good wins against Tudor Hall, and our U13 A and B football teams enjoyed a good morning of matches at Repton. Tomorrow we have 14 teams representing our school in fixtures against Bloxham – very good luck to everyone involved. 

I wish you all a very happy weekend and thank you for your continued support.

Yours sincerely,

Dr Burley

14 January 2022

Dear Parents,

I hope that you and your families are well. It has been a lovely week at King’s High as we all settle into the new term. I write to you having come from lunch in our Dining Hall where we were all treated to a stunning Friday Live, with live music and singing from students across year groups, and finished off with a song from our very own Mr Athavale, who delighted his audience. 

Fridays at King’s High are always special and it was a real pleasure to see our students engaged in such a range of superb activities from charitable work for Kissing It Better, volunteering at Evergreen Special School, to golf, Mandarin, and, of course, our hugely popular and successful Combined Cadet Force. 

It was a great pleasure to welcome Year 9 students and parents for our GCSE Options Talk, at which Dr Seal offered expert guidance and advice, whilst also introducing our two new and bespoke GCSE-equivalent courses for first delivery from September 2022: The Global Changemaker Programme and the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Programme. King’s High has a strong tradition of exciting curriculum innovation and we are very much looking forward to launching these course in the Autumn Term. Our 'How Many GCSEs?' brochure can be viewed on My School Portal

We were delighted to learn that 26 King’s High students have been selected to represent Warwickshire County Hockey in the U13, U14, U15 and U17 age groups. Many congratulations to everyone who has been selected. We have also been able to celebrate some superb Higher Education offers and outcomes for our Upper Sixth students. In recent years over 90% of our leavers have achieved their first-choice university destination, which is an exceptional measure of success. In addition, the number of students gaining places at elite Russell Group universities at King’s High has risen by more than 20% since 2016. 

Next week we look forward to our Landor Association Lecture from Catherine Bott on Wednesday, and the launch event and Gala Concert on Thursday to mark our partnership with the Orchestra of the Swan.

Thank you for all your help with our ongoing Covid mitigation strategies and especially the bi-weekly Lateral Flow Testing at home for our whole community.

I wish you all a very happy weekend and thank you for your continued support.

Yours sincerely,

Dr Burley
Head Master

7 January 2022

Dear Parents,

I hope that you and your families are well. It has been a delightful first week of the Spring Term and a real joy to see our students again and to hear their news from the holidays. There has been a strong sense of community, friendship and togetherness which has been a pleasure to witness. I have been very proud of our students in Year 11 and Upper Sixth, who have worked very hard over the holiday to prepare for their exams. 

I was absolutely thrilled to learn that Dr Mary Cusack, who studied at King’s High from 1985-1992, has been recognised in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List with an OBE for services to Healthcare and Child Welfare in India. Dr Cusack trained as a doctor and then worked as an NHS paediatrician before travelling in India. 

With a colleague, she set up a charity called Love the One and her aim was to bring health, education and a voice to some of India’s most deprived and vulnerable children. Through her hard work and dedication, she founded a children’s centre and clinic, six care centres and a school. In doing so, she has undoubtedly saved and transformed the lives of tens of thousands of children. I was delighted to share Dr Cusack’s story with students at the start of term as a wonderful example of working hard to make a positive impact in the lives of others. 

I also wanted to thank you all for your ongoing support of our Covid mitigation strategies, and particularly the testing of our whole community at the start of term and twice weekly thereafter. There has been one subsequent update from government: from 11 January in England, people who receive positive Lateral Flow Device test results for Covid-19 as part of routine testing will be required to self-isolate immediately and will not be required to take a confirmatory PCR test. A letter with further details has been sent out but I wanted to mention this and to reiterate the importance of ongoing bi-weekly testing for your daughters. 

It was very exciting to announce the partnership of Warwick Independent Schools Foundation and the Orchestra of the Swan, with the aim of creating a powerful centre for musical excellence for Warwickshire. The opening Gala Concert is on 20 January at 7.30pm in Warwick Hall so do book tickets as they will go quickly. A reminder, too, that our very own Catherine Bott, a very distinguished singer and broadcaster, is returning to King’s High on 19 January at 7pm to speak at the Landor Association Lecture. 

Next week we look forward to a talk on Tuesday at 4.15pm from Falkland’s Veteran, Simon Weston, in the Bridge House Theatre as part of the Encounters series. We also welcome Year 9 parents and students on Thursday at 7pm for our GCSE Options Talk, at which we will also speak more about our exciting new KS4 courses: The King’s High Innovation and Entrepreneurship Programme and The King’s High Global Changemaker Programme. 

It is also a big week for sport as our U13 hockey team play in the quarter-finals of the National Cup and our U15 netball team play in the quarter-final of their national competition. Very good luck to everyone involved! 

I wish you all a very happy weekend and thank you for your continued support.

Yours sincerely,

Dr Burley
Head Master