THE KINGS' MESSENGER - Kings of Wessex Community School

Year 12 students also underwent mock interviews in preparation for university and the world of work and Iam grateful to members of our Mendip Rotary, PTA and other local community friends for assisting us withthis useful exercise.The Arts at Kings are clearly thriving. Following on from the success of the school production “Grease”, welatterly held our Easter concert, featuring over one hundred performing students, a Dance Workshop andevening performance, as well as a Cheddar Valley Schools dance evening. Special congratulations must go toour Music Department and MuKows’ parents’ group for successfully raising over £10,000 for the purchase ofa grand piano, thanks in part, to our gaining an “Awards for All Grant”.Our Christian Leader has also been working hard this termorganising our Ash Wednesday Service, a student-led 24-hourfast for World Vision and an anti-slavery sit-in and recentEaster Services at St Andrew’s Church.“A Promise to Africa” fundraising continues tocommemorate thirty years of the Cheddar Valley tier-systemof schooling, supporting educational projects in the MasindiDistrict of Uganda, in collaboration with London-basednational charity Link Community Development. Studentsand staff will be donating money to LCD at the end of termfor a non-uniform day. In addition, some Sixth Form FoodTechnology students mixed project work with initiative bybaking cupcakes to sell at breaktime, raising over sixtypounds for the popular Red Nose Day.Extra curricular activities are flourishing and I am grateful tostaff for leading such exciting and edifying opportunities for our young people. Of international note this Easterholiday some Year 12 Business Studies students are due to go to New York and our annual skiing trip is also set tohit the French slopes. Back at base, our Geographers enjoy their fieldwork programmes around Somerset.We also latterly hosted the final of the annualRotary Young Enterprise competition with ourteam winning best Presentation Award.Parents will be able to read more about the wealth ofsporting endeavours later in this newsletter, but Iwould like to highlight our Year 9 girls’ and Year 10boys’ hockey triumph in the Somerset County Cupfinals and I thank our P.E. Department for theircommitment to students in practices and fixtures.Our building programme continues in earnest withwork due to start on our new Drama Centre in theEaster holidays, scheduled for completion inNovember.We are also working-up plans for the refurbishmentand extension to Technology and we intend to refurbish the IT1 and 2 classrooms.Sadly, a number of staff have suffered from unexpected illness this term involving hospital stays andprolonged absence from school, notably, our Subject Leader for Languages, Miss Rebello and Mr Needle, whowas on maternity cover for Mrs Pascoe’s Technology teaching classes. This always brings some regrettable, ifinevitable, disruption to normal teaching classes. But, to reassure parents, I am gratified that we successfullysecured subject-qualified teachers to cover this absence and I certainly wish colleagues a full recovery.It only remains to thank you all for your support this Spring Term and to wish you all a very enjoyable andrestful Easter holiday. I remind you that the Summer Term commences on Monday 16 April 2007.Yours sincerely,CHRIS RICHARDSONHeadteacher

Spring Term ‐ Roll of HonourSees a record number of awards celebrating the achievements of our students including new awardsto reward performance and effort in all Subjects and also contribution to extra curricular Enrichment SubjectsCommencing with Special Achievements: Bethany Bloodworth 9JR has gained a stunning fifty merits togain her Platinum Award; whilst, Kayleigh Skittrall 9EHE and James Soffe 9MB have started again ‐earning their second Bronze and Silver!Bronze (5 merits)David Foord 9EHELisa Nicholls 9EHEDaniel Blair 9LDJonathan Ham 9SJKatrina Douglas 10DPWThomas Grant 10DPWAlexander Parnell 10DPWSamantha Barrett 11ISElliot Hayes 11ISSilver (15 merits)Simon Addicott 9EHEAshle Bennett 9EHEJack Tonkin 9EHEJames Tyson 9EHEHannah Bloor 9LDMichael Ferguson 9LDAdam Pimm 9LDJessica Robins 9LDNathan Smith 9LDJo Gordon 9JREleanor Jones 9JREdward Kimmins Tonkin 9JRPhilip Martin 9JRKeanu Noad 9JRThomas Wynne 9JRJasmine Channon 9SJJason Homes 9SJTerri Durston 10DPWAlexander Parnell 10DPWDanny Griffiths 10GLPolly Wright 10GLGold (25 merits)Rachael Cherry 9EHERosemary Price 9EHEThomas Cotterill 9LDCharlotte Kidner 9LDHannah Lakin 9LDBenjamin Lucas 9LDDaniel Salway 9LDKirsty‐Marie Allen 9JRRebecca Bayliss 9JRNadine Close 9JRThomas Major 9JRHarriet Thompson 9JRHarley Williams 9JRThomas Haggerty 9LDRebecca Pinn 9LDRhiannon Black 9SJLaura Dover 9SJKatheryn Hansford 9SJAdam Willis 9SJSchool Colours – awarded to students for involvement in extra curricular activitiesJunior DramaRhiannon Black 9SJJessica Bull 9MBLaura Cussons 9CALiam Dale 9MBJess Gamlin 9KSCarla Gordon 9TPAlex Hicks 9TPEdward Kimmins 9JRChloe Kitching 9DPCori Martin 9MBAisling O’Brien 9JRMatthew Salmon 9CAHannah Shaw 9CAGeorge Shelley 9SJJames Soffe 9MBAnna Spanring 9MBJosh Stanley 9SJJames Tyson 9EHESophie Watkins 9TPNadine Williams 9CAZoe Bladon 10ECMatt Buhagiar 10SSAmy Dickson 10DERosie Dixon 10SSMark Foster 10DEJordan Hatton 10PA[[Aiden Hoyle 10DEAdam Kouidri 10SSAbigail Laurie 10ATJosh O’Shaughnessy 10SSMatt Salway 10ATZach Stitch 10ATGrant Stott 10ATPolly Wright 10GLSenior DramaAmy Barkus 11DRKelly Batt 11GCSean Besley 11VPRory Colthurst 11DRFaye Curley 11JGStephanie Georgiou 11SBACaroline Gould 11ERFran Inman 11ALFDamian Long 11VPSimon Mounsdon 11FSJess Mutlow 11ALFNathan Reynolds 11ALFLiam Young 11DRLinzi Furneaux 11JGAlex Bennetts 12JWNJunior MusicAlex Blake 9DPJess Gamlin 9KSArne Scott 9MBAnna Spanring 9MBJames Tyson 9EHENick Atherton 10MLRoss Babbington 10MLMichael Bancroft 10MLTom Campbell 10ECCameron Crook 10DECalum Dickinson 10PAJo Frost 10MLJoe Harris 10MLBen Jacobs 10DPWHannah Lane 10MLAlex Mott 10SJOLaura Pavey 10SSRyan Pridgeon 10ECFraser Wall 10SGMaddie Wrench 10PAKings and Queens News TeamAndy Burland 12JWNLaura Cussons 9CAEmily Richardson 10NRJames Soffe 9MBEve Woolway 10SS3

Senior MusicEmily Blake 13TTBecky Cripps 13JHCMatthew Dickson 13TTAlastair Haggerty 13SRSam Jones 12BRBethany Morgan 12LTLizzie Murray 12JWNFrances Rabbitts 13SRClare Ratcliffe 12DDCMatthew Scholes 12AJHTom Taylor 13JPFHarry Willoughby 13TTJoshua Wilson 11JGPublic SpeakingJodie Skittrall 9SJKayleigh Skittrall 9EHEAbbie Sweeting 9EHEJunior NetballRachel Cherry 9EHEHolly Freemantle 9SJHeather Matthews 9CAOlivia Owen 9TPHannah Puddy 9TPSam Stephenson 9DPEve Taschimowitz 9CEDJoanne Teagle 9CARebecca Teagle 9EHEAbby Woolway 9LDGabriella Ash 10PANicola Atkin 10GLDaisy Banwell 10SSFlora Emeney 10NRLorrie Hancock 10SGJessica Hemmings 10ECGeorgina Pollock 10PACarly Pope 10MLEmma Smith 10DPWMadeleine Stewart 10SSSenior NetballCharlotte Crandon 11RWHannah Gooding 11GCBella Jezard 11SBAJoanne Kidner 11ALFElizabeth Rabbitts 11GCAnna Teare 12LTGreen TeamCallum Higson 10SJoSenior FootballMatthew Cooper 13JHCJason Gupta 13SKJack Tinton 13SKTom Young 13SKJordan Cook 13SKShane Fear 13SKTom Brady 13SKJunior FootballDan Blair 9LDJoe Bound 9MBDaniel Burns 9DPJamie Chidzey 9KSBen Davidson 9TPMark Davies 9KSJames Ford 9MBJavier Gorodi 9CAPeter Hawkings 9CEDAlex Hicks 9TPHarry Hole 9CEDSam Jones 9MBTom Layton 9LDJamahl McMurran 9DPJack Mason 9MBFreddie Mehlig 9CEDAdam Peters 9DPDan Salway 9LDLuke Sealey 9EHEDean Thompson 9Jack Tonkin 9EHEFraser Ward 9CEDKianeau Whelan 9TPAdam Willis 9SJTom Coles 10JoshCook 10Tom Derrick 10Matt Fotheringham 10Thomas Knight 10Josh O’Shaughnessy 10SSAlex Smith 10Uday Vemulapali 10Junior DanceChloe Kitching 9DPLucy Stevens 9DPCharlotte Weight 9EHEGabriella Ash 10PADaisy Banwell 10SSHelen Cameron 10MLChloe Caple 10DELauren Chinn 10ECGeorgia Efford 10GLFlora Emeney 10NRJayne Gibb 10NRLorrie Hancock 10SGOlivia Hoyle 10SJOImogen Keane 10ATNatasha McCrea-Steele 10SGGeorgina Morris 10ECRosie Page 10MLLois Picton 10ATCarly Pope 10MLStephanie Powers 10ECEmily Richardson 10NRKathryn Willcox 10GLEve Woolway 10SSSenior DanceSamantha Collins 11RWAbigail Sweeting 11RWSports LeadersGabriella Ash10PANicola Atkin 10GLRoss Babbington 10MLAndrew Blair 10ECGeorge Booth 10ATChloe Caple 10DELauren Chinn 10ECLiam Cullen 10DERebecca Denham 10DETom Derrick 10DEKatrina Douglas 10DWPFlora Emeney 10NRLucas Eriksson 10ATBen Ferguson 10MLMark Foster 10DEMatthew Fotheringham 10SJOBrogan Grinstead 10DPWGeorgia Heaslip 10ATCharlotte Hockley 10SGDaniel Horwood 10GLImogen Keane 10ATEmma Kidby 10ATHolly Knight 10ATAlice McKinley 10SJOHenry McGinty 10DEJasmine Mitton 10SSHarlie Newsome 10ECJoshua O’Shaughnessy 10SSRosie Page 10MLLois Picton 10ATCarly Pope 10MLGeorgina Pollock 10PAWilliam Price 10GLRoxanne Schroeder 10ATCraig Scriven 10MLEmma Smith 10DPWAlexander Smith 10GLMadelaine Stewart 10SSRyan Tanner 10SGSophie Trolley 10ECUday Vemulapalli 10SSKathryn Willcox 10GLTom Barker 11JG*Amy Barkus 11DRCharlotte Crandon 11RWGeorge Fake 11JGCharlotte Fay 11ISEmily Ferguson 11JGZoe Foster-Smith 11SBACraig Gowan 11JGEdward Hunter 11ALFJoanne Kidner 11ALFJenny Knowles 11DRDan Layton 11JGLewis Matthews 11SBAOli Shepherd 11RWPeter Stott 11VPMatthew Teagle 11JGJohn Tee Boon 11FSYear 11 Sports Leader have justcompleted the course!4

Subject Awards Year 9 Year 10 Year 11 Year 12 Year 13EnglishLang ‐ LanguageLit – LiteratureMS – Media StudiesAlex Hicks Ed McCrea Steele Elizabeth Rabbitts Laura Carter (Lit)Sasha Davies (Lang)Alex Conroy (MS)Tom Young (Lit)Matthew Skuse (Lang)Lois Sankey (MS)Maths James Soffe Priyanka Singhal Tom Bosley Martin Zaenker Sam BrethertonTechnologyCD ‐ Child DevelopmentF – Food G ‐ GraphicsRM – Resistant MaterialsNathan SmithRosie Page (F)Kevin Churches (RM)Alex Peebles‐Brown (G)Danielle Emery (CD)Kayla Stephenson (F)Gemma Major (RM)David Musgrave (G)Lucy Cox (CD)Lisa Roper (F)Alistair Hall (RM)Jack Brady (G)Melissa Wood (F)David Ward (RM)Alex Travis (G)ICT Jorjia Leheup Lauren Chin Harry Lakin Louise Crocker David WardBiology Jamie Moore Katrina Douglas Elizabeth Rabbits Lizzie Freeman Sam HughesChemistry James Soffe Emma Hann Sandy Shaban Paul Fester Alena RichardsPhysics Eve Taschimowitz Priyanka Singhal Tom Bosley Rupert Smith Dave SmartPsychology ‐ ‐ ‐ Eleanor Taylor Laura SmithBusiness Studies ‐ Maddie Ventor Page James Webber Lawrence Mottram Tom MittonGeography Abby Woolway Kathryn Willcox Sam Fryer Laura Caton Emily GoodchildHistory Ashlee John Lauren Holle Jonathan Taylor Laura Carter Tom YoungR.E. Holly Burgess Emily Gardner Jonathon Taylor Ellen Davies Paul FosterLanguages Edward Clist Joanne Howe Rhiannon Evans Eleanor Taylor Richard FayArt Peter Hawkings Isabella Podpadec David Frost Candice Barrett Kate PurkissDrama Liam Dale Matthew Salway Damian Long Robert Baker Leanne HarrisMusic Jamie Chidzey Priyanka Singhal Joshua Greenfield Stuart Ponsford Frances RabbittsP.E. Ashley Bennett Joshua O’Shaughnessy Chris Knight Alex Kimmins Hazel RossiterPSHE Ashlee John Joshua O’Shaughnessy Miles TincknellLearning Support Philip Martin Hayden Tuttiet Charlie HelyarEnrichment AwardsEnglishSimon Addicott 9EHECatherine Attwood 9KSRory Butler 10SSMimi Bygrave 9LDLaura Cussons 9CAAlice Edwards 10PAHannah Lane 10MLJo Frost 10MLEmily Richardson 10NREve Woolway 10SSGeorge Fake 11JGDavid Ferguson 11DRElliot Hayes 11ISSally Kitching 11FSEllen Laken 11FSDave Musgrave 11GCCaroline Owen 11SBAElizabeth Rabbitts 11GCCasey Ryder 11SBAErica Schroeder 11ISNicola Sentence 11DRJonathon Talbot 11GCWilliam Waelchli 11VPAndy Burland 12JWNLaura Carter 12GRRachael Allender 13CWHLottie Buchanan 13CWHClare Macaulay 13SKSabina Savage 13CWHGemma Tidman 13TTMelissa Woods 13SKMathsPhilip Bristow 9MBJames Soffe 9MBBrent Stewart 9EHEMichael Wilmot 9TPStuart Cooke 10SJOJoshua Day 10SGJacob Gaudoin 10NRJoanne Howe 10ATRebecca Male 10ECJoseph Purves 10ECHelen Slingsby 10DPWEmma Smith 10DPWMadeleine Stewart 10SSTom Bosley 11JGBethan Tucker 12LTFrances Rabbitts 13BRMark Williams 13SKTechnologyTom Cotterill 9LDOliver Crandon 9CAVickie Ferguson 9LDPaul Jarvis 9TPRyan Llewellyn 9CAOlivia Owen 9TPJonathan Sheldon 9EHEHannah Wilson 9TPSophie Woolan 9DPDavid Frost 11GCJo Frost 10MLJoe Perry 9KSTom Stevens 9SJCiaran Worcester 10PAScienceHannah Reason 9CEDAmy Richards 9EHEJames Soffe 9MBNicole Close 11DRSally Kitching 11FSSara Puddy 11FPTorran Purchase 11FPElizabeth Rabbits 11GCJonathon Talbot 11GCBeth Moxey 11FPBecky Rolfe 12TRICTKirsty Allen 9JRAlana Bullock 9SJJessica Harraway 9TPKelly Holford 9TPMarisha Huxtable 9TPFelicity Millard 9SJBethany Robinson 9CAJodie Skittrall 9SJKayleigh Skittrall 9EHEAbbie Sweeting 9EHENadine Williams 9CAFloyd Parsons 10SGMichael Turner 10SG3

Year 12 Mock Interviews – an insight by champion Kim BroomOn Thursday 1 March Year 12’s underwent a Mock Interview.After spending weeks of tutor periods preparing our CV’s and a Letter ofApplication to a University and a course we are interested in, we actuallyhad the chance to have an “interview” with somebody who came infrom outside of school to improve our interview skills, which will beneeded in the future.Now, the first main obstacle of the morning was - “What am I going towear?”“Do I dress casually – I don’t want to look like I’ve tried too hard and it’s more about what Ithan what I look like” or, “Do I dress smartly? I know that the first impression is a very important part of the interview”.sayOvercoming that hurdle, the next worry was “What is my interviewer going to be like?”Waiting outside the office door was where my nerves got hold of me. Sitting in the room, the first questionwas the one I personally had been dreading “So…tell me a bit about yourself then”, where do you start with aquestion like that? So off I went talking about my chosen ‘A’ Levels and my reasoning behind choosing them.I noticed as I was talking my interviewer was scribbling away on my letter of application, making me morenervous than I already was.To be honest, as it turned out, I shouldn’t have been worried, as the notes were just questions she was goingto ask me during the interview!I think the whole process has helped me and probably many others to know what to expect in a realinterview. It was good to talk about yourself and what YOU think you are good at for a change, knowing thatwhatever you said could make a difference in your final mark, on whether you get on the “course” or not aswell as their personal opinion of you!There were prizes of £25 vouchers for the top ten students in the year donated by the PTA - coincidently Iwas one of the winners!!! My mark overall wasn’t top, but I must have said something that impressed myinterviewer as she described me as a “special, thoughtful candidate” - which was a lovely comment.We have been very fortunate to have this chance to familiarise ourselves with a situation which I’m sure willbe vital in the future. The whole experience was very useful, so a big thank you to the members of MendipRotary, the PTA and other friends of Kings, who gave up their free time to help make it happen.Robert BakerNatalie BlackhurstKim BroomEllie CanhamJack CantwellJames CovellSasha DaviesMark GoddardBethan MeadowcroftBethany MorganOf special mention, the following students were Highly Commended:Harriet AllenAlex BabbingtonSarah BallBen BloorCharlotte ChinnLouise CrockerEllen CullifordHannah GillingGlenn KarlssonLily MasonHeather PatersonClare RatcliffeImmy RigbyLisa RobsonHannah McKenzieEmily RalphAnna Elise TeareBethan TuckerLizzy TungateMartin Zaenker6

Vive les Languages!GCSE Revision DaysIn February, GCSE students visited BristolUniversity for Modern Languages RevisionDays run by Phillip Allan Updates, focusingon preparing students for their forthcomingGCSE exams.Frau Donovan and Barradas-Moralestook a group of twenty-five studentsto Bristol for a GCSE GermanRevision Day conference - led byThomas and Hanja:“Our German conference in Bristol was very informative, as well as being highly entertaining. Thespeakers gave us useful tips to help us pass our German GCSE. We especially enjoyed the FamilyFortunes game, which we both achieved national records in. Even though it was ‘sehr kalt’, it wasa useful day out and we would recommend it to anyone studying German at this level. Tschüss.”Zoë Foster-Smith & Clowance Cotterill (Year 11 German)“We both thoroughly enjoyed the day as it was extremelyhelpful and a great opportunity to practise our German. Wedefinitely recommend it to any future year groups.”Yvette Taylor & Nicola Sentance (Year 11 German)“It was really helpful to go over the grammar tasks. It also gaveus a lot of help for the speaking exam.” Stuart Cooke (Year10 German)“I really enjoyed the music videos and adverts in German. Theactivities were interesting and useful. Some of it I found a littledifficult because it was Year 11 level.” Becky Male (Year 10German)Madame Muscat and Madame Barradas-Morales subsequently took a group of twentyfivestudents to Bristol for a GCSE French Revision Day. The conference was led byRégis and Richard - an excellent duo:“The trip was very helpful for our oral exams in May. The booklet we were given was also veryuseful.” Grace Barrett (Year 11 French)“Going on the trip for a second time really reinforced how much we have learned over the past 18months. Having a whole day with Régis and Richard talking the language constantly was verybeneficial and boosted our confidence in the subject.”Eleanor Gall & Sarah Howard (Year 11 French)“It was a good experience, and helped me understandbetter the knowledge I got last time”Josh Wilson (Year 11 French)“I enjoyed the day because it helped me to understandFrench phrases” Sam Barrett (Year 11 French)7

“J’aime la France en direct. J’adore Régis!“ Max Ash (Year 11 French)“It was useful and got us involved using the booklets. They made it fun using rôle plays, and thatmade it interesting!” Holly Crompton (Year 11 French)“I found the most useful parts were the rôle plays, and the part where we had to spell out Frenchwords, because it is useful for the listening exam.” Faye Aston (Year 11 French)“It was really nice to meet girls from other schools!” Tom Knight (Year 10 French)“I loved flirting with the girls from other schools!” Tom Derrick (Year 10 French)In the absence of Frau Rebello, we would all like to thank Mrs Barradas for her help in theLanguages Department - not only with trips but also cover lessons. Merci! Vielen Dank!“Realites Francaises” Birmingham University February 2007In early February, a Sixth Form group braved a journey along the M4 for a day of total immersion inthe French Language at Birmingham University. No amount of clothing could have prepared theFrench students for the rare arctic conditions – unless, of course, you owned a pair of Mme Davies’Alaskan boots.After a brief flurry of snow-ball fights, Mme Davies forgave us for our “recherche du temps perdu”and rewarded us and our intrepid “chauffeur” Monsieur Heritage with un chocolat chaud from theuniversity café. We then made our way to the Great Hall, which really lived up to its name, to findmany of the seats unoccupied due to the severe weather conditions.Our presenters, Regis Faugier and Richard Peltier, created a welcoming atmosphere throughout thelectures on tourism, finding a job, pollution and advertising. Around 100 students listened intentlyfor almost three hours - teeth chattering - as the university students outside took advantage of thewinter wonderland, building 8ft snowmen.Overall the students felt they learnt and understood a great deal of the conference and will find thevocabulary and information very useful for coursework and exams.Here are a few individual comments:Natalie Blackhurst: “The conference was very helpful in improving ourlistening skills and allowing us to hear French people speaking theirlanguage. This allowed us to hear the fluency and accents accurately. Tomake sure we didn’t lose concentration, we had to fill out a booklet whichsummarised all the key points. We learnt about the French speaking world,jobs, tourism, television and pollution and listened to a debate aboutdrinking and smoking. The trip was very helpful and humorous.”Eleanor Taylor: “The conference was a very useful and interesting experience, with two nativeFrench speakers performing informative and often comical speeches and sketches on topics relatedto our course. It was sometimes challenging, but generally not too hard to follow, and provided usall with lots of facts and figures to use in the future. On top of this, we also had the opportunity ofan introduction to Birmingham University; and for plenty of snowball fights of course!”Hannah McNaughton: “The conference was full of extremely useful information which wasexplained in the form of presentations, facts and figures as well as the typical French humour,which, of course, kept hold of everyone’s attention. The information we learnt from the conferencewill come in handy, especially within our current unit two topic of mass media. We had the chanceto have a look around the university (which, was coated in snow), but although really beautiful, wesoon got distracted by the snow and were having snowball fights!”8

Bethany Hale: “The conference had been organised a week after we returned from Paris; totalimmersion in French most definitely! This factor was extremely useful, and the conference itselfwas relatively easy to follow, and I found myself surprised at how much I could catch from thefast-talking French adverts! They covered our chosen topics from Media to Immigration, withsome facts that I had never heard of! It was interesting as both topics are very different in Franceas opposed to Britain, so this again was really useful for our up-coming exams, which are muchmore focused on France and French culture.We also got to experience some of Birmingham University, despite the obviously academic andable students making snow men the size of trees and pelting each other, (and us), with snow balls.The snow itself had covered everything in its path, which caused a lot of excitement amongst ussnow-deprived Somerset students! Unfortunately our clothing was not the most suitable, asidefrom Madame Davies who had sensibly equipped herself with snow boots! Overall it was a veryinteresting, useful and exciting day, which was very much appreciated and I am sure it will helpmyself and my class with exams!”Kim Broom: “The conference was very interesting and helped me a lot with one of our Module 2topics-“media”. Unfortunately, we were soaking wet because of throwing snowballs at each otherafter getting very excited about seeing all the snow on the way! I was surprised at how muchFrench I could understand when the men were talking about the adverts. I enjoyed watching thelittle sketches that were put on by the men who took the conference about transport and otherissues. I thoroughly enjoyed the day and think it will be of much use when it comes to my speakingand writing exams."PSHE PonderingsThe Fairtrade Café in Languages3 on a Wednesday set up by agroup of Year 11 students -following work undertaken intheir Citizenship lessons onglobal poverty and the impact ofmarket forces - continues toflourish.A group of Year 9 students arenow running an “overflow”Fairtrade Cafe in their tutor room Languages 4. At the recent GCSE Options OpenEvening, parents of Year 9 looked at Years 10 and 11’s PSHE/Citizenship Schemes of Workand resources, whilst sampling Fairtrade coffee, tea, hot chocolate and cookies...!Kings’ PSHE/Citizenship team continue to be involved with the National Trust atTyntesfield and Somerset Racial Equality Commission (SREC) and Somerset RacialInclusion Project(SRIP). This partnership has been formed to research specifically theracial segregation of U.S. soldiers stationed at Tyntesfield during the Second World War.Continuing this work, at the beginning of February a group of students spent the morningat the Commonwealth and Empire Museum in Bristol, followed by an afternoon atTyntsefield, together with Afro Caribbean youngsters from SRIP.The day was a huge success and the students are now ready to begin the process ofinterviewing residents from the local communities about their recollections of the arrival ofAmerican G.Is in Somerset.By Katie Davies, Subject Leader for PSHE/Citizenship9

Enriching MathematicsThis Spring Term, Maths students have enjoyed the challenge of arange of activities:‐UK Mathematics Challenge:The Intermediate Tier of the UK Mathematics Challenge paper isaimed at Years 11 and 10. Like the Senior Challenge for Sixth Form students last term this is avery difficult and different Maths paper that tests intuitive problem‐solving.We offered the paper to Year 10s with all forty places being hopelessly over‐subscribed – somuch so, that we will open it to everyone in the top sets next year! Given it was a bit tough forYear 10, we might offer it mainly to Year 11 in future.Despite the difficulty and the students’ relative inexperience, they still managed to get ten SilverMedals and eleven Bronze Medals, with James Soffe 9MB winning a Silver medal – a futureMaths star we suspect in the making.The results are as follows and students will be receiving their awards in the end of termachievement assemblies:Silver Medals: Jacob Gaudoin and Emma Smith (Best in School), Stuart Cooke, Joshua Day, JoanneHowe, Rebecca Male, Joseph Purves, Helen Slingsby, James Soffe and Madeleine Stewart.Bronze Medals: Nicola Atkin, Ross Babbington, Matthew Barber, Matthew Day, Harry Edwards, FloraEmeney, Liam Jones, Alex Parnell, Benjamin Peverall, Georgina Pollock and Priyanka Singhal.Visiting Speakers (February and March):We hosted Mr Howard Burnett, Group Manager of Trading Standards and Chief Inspector ofWeights and Measures at Somerset County Council. Howard has spoken to our students before,many years ago, and has also spoken on the radio about the use of statistics in consumerprotection.Mr Burnett led a very interesting seminar with our own Year 13 statisticians and a group fromStrode College. The students learnt how to use significance testing to control processes in abiscuit factory in order to ensure that every packet met the minimum requirements. This, andother topics, were demonstrated by challenging mathematical activities for the studentsthemselves.Mr Ted Graham, from The University of Plymouth, gave an interesting and amusing talk on ‘A’Level Mathematics. The topics are often very different to GCSE (and a lot more interesting), whichhis talk aimed to demonstrate and spark the interest of potential ‘A’ Level students. Some of themore interactive moments are shown in the pictures over:10

Which way will the bike move if you pull a rope that makes the pedals turn forwards?Bubble sorting studentsMaths in Motion ClubThe final important activity has been thesuccessful start of our Maths in MotionClub. This is a fantasy Formula Onegame played on the computers in ourICT suite in the Maths Department. The task is to set up cars and plan races for your racingteam. The problems are almost endless and very mathematical.The software was developed by a company in Cambridge and is sponsored by the JaguarRacing Team. It is very popular around the country and our Year 9’s are keen to take on anotherschool soon!Future EventsIn the Summer Term we will runour popular Trigonometry andStatistics Field Trip to the EdenProject, as well as otherinteresting and fun days.T PowellMathematics Enrichment Leader11

Science and some ExperimentsNews from our Enrichment Leader for Science, Fay Simpsonon events this Spring Term:Guest Speaker - Alan McKenzie, Bristol Oncology Unit:A number of Year 11 students enjoyed a very informative talk byenthusiastic Physicist, Alan McKenzie from Bristol Oncology Unit.Alan talked about the wide range of careers you can do with Physics.A superb speaker, he was certainly passionate about his subject andcommunicated this well to the students. We are grateful to him forgiving us his time.The Liquid Nitrogen ShowSome of our Year 9 students were luckyenough to watch a liquid nitrogen show.We do not keep this chemical in school,so it was something really different tosee the amazing effects of the chemical.Mrs Coleman demonstrated a variety ofwonderful things with the liquidnitrogen, including freezing flowers anddemonstrating the effects on inflatedballoons. Our students even saw liquidair!!How many people can say they’ve seenthat?!! She even exposed a banana toliquid nitrogen, converting it intosomething able to hammer a nailthrough a piece of wood!!! Quitesomething to see...The students (and staff) werethoroughly entertained by thissuperb show and we are also reallygrateful to Mrs Coleman for givingup her time.Vet Quest Trip - Bristol UniversityThose students hoping to studyVeterinary Science went to thespecialist unit in Langford. BristolUniversity vets gave our students aseries of talks on the pros and conson being a vet.12

The speakers gave reference to what it would be like to work in anequine unit, small animal practice and farm animal.The students thoroughly enjoyed the day and got a lot out of it.Mind Mysteries Trip to Bath UniversitySome Year 11 students had aninteresting evening out at BathUniversity to experience a lectureon mind mysteries. Rob Eastwoodgave an interesting talk explainingthe mathematics behind some of themost difficult and interesting ofcard tricks - he performed them toamaze us and then explained howthey worked!Jono Talbot and Brendon Ware werekeen to assist when audienceparticipation was needed; bothwinning a prize for doing so. Ithas to be said however, that this was a consolation prize after Roboutwitted them with his tricks! But of course, it is the taking partthat counts!We also had a good opportunity to look around the university with manyof us impressed… it may well receive a few applications from us.Experiencing a lecture was also a good experience for our young people.But they must not get their hopes up – university lectures will notalways be as much fun as the lecture that we saw.They were a super bunch of students to take out and I hope they enjoyed it.Let’s all save our environment!Year 10 have been continuing their work on our Green Agenda with some winning slogans: Walk to school it doesn’t use fuel. Recycle paper, then it’ll be back with you later! Print only for your needs and you will save trees. Take a bus, it’s less fuss. Be cool. Walk to school. Eat locally today; keep juggernauts away. Do something bright and turn off the light.Thank you to our Green Team for all their continued organisation and work incollecting paper to be recycled around school.Coming Soon! We will announce the winners of Year 10’s green posterdesigns in our next Kings’ Messenger!13

Drama takes to the stageExamination PerformancesGCSE and ‘A’ Level Drama performance exams are taking placeover the next few weeks and I would like to invite you along tothose performances involving your sons and daughters.At the time of going to print, Years 12 and 13 Year will beperforming their examination performances, attended by theexternal examiner to assess their work.The Year 12 examination evening takes place on Tuesday 27 March featuring two plays both of aroundone-hour in length. The first play is called ‘FREE’, centred round eight characters living in London and howtheir lives intertwine. There are some shocking scenes and some incredible consequences to the actionsof some of the characters involved.The second group will be performing ‘The Real Inspector Hound’ by Tom Stoppard as a play within a playwe watch an ‘Agatha Christie’ type scenario, along with two critics. The play itself is deliberately badlyacted and the critics end up involved in the performance too. Both plays are funny, but have theirserious sides.On Wednesday 28 March, two Year 13 groups will perform their own versions of ‘Accidental Death of anAnarchist’ by Dario Fo. For this Unit students are expected to come up with an original interpretation. Oneof the groups compares the play to the recent ‘Russian Spy’ conspiracy and another group base theplay on Trisha-type chat show.After Easter, from Tuesday 24 - Thursday 26 April we will have three GCSE performance evenings:11C on Tuesday and 11B on Wednesday (both Mrs Friend’s groups), and 11A on Thursday (Mr Shorrock’sgroup).Each group has around five performance groups, each performing pieces of about 20-minutes.This will not be the actual examination dates, but these evenings are intended to give students theopportunity to perform prior to the actual examination.The examiner will be in school on Thursday 26 April (Mrs Friend’s groups) and Friday 27 April (Mr Shorrock’sgroup) – in the morning.The Year 9 PlayThis year’s Year 9 play is ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ by William Shakespeare.Along the same lines as last year’s production of ‘Macbeth’, we are using a shortened version of theplay. This text is being studied by all Year 9 English students for their SAT’s and accordingly, the dateof the performance has been brought forward to fit in with the SAT’s examinations. There will be aspecial performance in the Hall for the whole of Year 9 on Wednesday 2 May during lessons 2 and 3.Over forty students auditioned for half the number of parts and rehearsals have already started andare progressing well.Performance date: Thursday 3 and Friday 4 May at 7.00pm in the Corrick TheatreTickets will go on sale after the Easter break and I do hope you will be able to come along andsee this event.By Simon Shorrock, Subject Leader for Drama14

Musical MusingsFollowing on from the last Kings’ Messenger update, we have now securedthe services of a very experienced organist and pianist to teach students fromKings interested in having lessons:Keyboard lessons take place each week after school on Wednesdays in the Music Room.Lessons last thirty minutes and are given in groups of four depending on the age and previous experienceof students. Tuition fees are £5.00 a lesson, payable in advance.Piano lessons of thirty minutes are given individually on the Yamaha upright piano during school timeand by arrangement, after school hours. Tuition fees are £10.00 a lesson, payable in advance.Pipe organ lessons are for one‐hour and take place every two weeks at St Andrew’s Church, Cheddar, bykind agreement of Preb. Rev. Victor Daley. Tuition fees are £20 a lesson, payable in advance.In each case, practice of about twenty minutes a day or a couple of hours a week will be required.Access to the church organ, to the school pianos, keyboards and chamber organ will be given to thoselearning a keyboard instrument who do not have the facilities at home.I hope that interested students will take the opportunity to learn a new musical skill, or indeed improvetheir existing skill. If your son or daughter would like lessons, please fill in the form below and return itas soon as possible and return to school.Thank you, Mr Paul Taylor, Subject Leader for Music‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐Name of Student: …………….……………………………………Tutor Group: ..……………Lesson required in: Keyboard Piano Pipe Organ(please circle)Name of Parent: …………………………………………………………………………………………………Address: ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….Telephone Number: …………………………………………………………………………………………...Thank you for returning to Mr Paul Taylor, Subject Leader for Music,The Kings of Wessex School, Station Road, Cheddar BS27 3AQ15

Mukows’ ConcertContinuing our fundraising to support music at Kings, on Sunday 12February we organised a concert in East Brent Village Hall. Hoping toreach a new audience who perhaps would not normally come to ourconcerts at school, we timed the concert at 3pm and with a very variedprogramme of mainly well‐known and light hearted music.To save on expenses we only hired the hall for the afternoon, so with onlytwo hours for everyone to rehearse and set up their instruments, things were a bit hectic with peoplepractising in any available space ‐ including the broom cupboard!I don’t know why I was so worried, when the lights went down and the stage lights went up (yes, thanksto Luke Wilson, we even had lighting!) the students got on with the show like seasoned professionals, withAlex Blake and James Soffe as our very entertaining compères!A packed audience had a very enjoyable afternoon, sustained by yummy homemade cakes in theinterval, and we received many compliments both on the day and afterwards.The students involved really did themselves ‐ and Kings, of course ‐ proud and deserve to becongratulated for giving up their Sunday afternoon to raise money and entertain the community.Performing MusiciansHarriet Allen, Emily Blake, Cameron Crook, Sasha Davies, Alistair Haggerty, Thomas Haggerty,Emma Hanlon, Bethany Morgan, Alex Mott, Heather Paterson, Frances Rabbitts, Clare Ratcliffe,Lisa Robson, David Searle, James Soffe, James Tyson, Fraser Wall, Hannah Wilson, Joshua Wilson,Luke Wilson, and Rachel Wilson.A big THANK YOU to everyone who helped to make this such a successful afternoon.We made a profit of £310.50!!P.S. Would anyone like to organise a similar concert in their corner of the Cheddar Valley…?News from the PTAGreat news! We raised a magnificent £455 from the raffle and sale ofrefreshments at the recent school production of “Grease”. Thank you to allthose who helped and of course thanks to everyone who supported us.With our coffers suitably swelled, we have been able to help the TechnologyDepartment at Kings purchase a vacuum former, which we are reliably informedwill be of great benefit to this subject area.At the time of writing, there are still two more evenings in the schoolcalendar this term at which the PTA will be present. Firstly the SATsinformation evening when we hope to introduce ourselves to some more of theYear 9 Parents, followed by the Evening of Dance on Friday 23 March 2007 whenwe will be providing refreshments.The PTA meets on the first Tuesday of each half term in the school’sConference Room at 7.30pm. Our next meeting is on Tuesday 17 April 2007.If you would like to come along just to see what we do or to raise anyspecific issue then you will be most welcome.Lucy Rowntree, Secretary KOW PTA16

Christian Leader’s ReflectionsAs I write, there’s the smell of newly-mown grass wafting on the air, andthe days are warmer and lighter. The shrubs and trees have new budsappearing…All signs of new life and hope.Nature echoes the pattern of our human life and life of faith too. Days of despair can bebrilliantly transformed - perhaps through the kindness of another, a moment of insight or theawareness of God’s presence with us.Here’s a lovely poem by Jean Murdoch that I believe expresses the message of Easter hopereally well:The long dayStretched into nightAnd time crept onwardTowards the new day.With the first gold of dawnCame a resurrection,A new hope that grewWith the rising sun,and went out to a waiting world.I hope and pray that you’ll find Easter a joyful and hopeful time!And now for events that have happened this term and those on the horizon:We held a special service for Lent in St Andrew’s Church, kindly led by Rev Tim Hawkingsfrom Axbridge, including ashing and communion. I am also pleased to report that this SpringTerm, we have welcomed two new assembly speakers into school.Our Christian Union members have been busy leading assemblies on the ‘Stop the Traffik’campaign and we will also be holding an event in the palace ruins at the front of school onthis theme too.Some Year 9 boys and I recently spent a lovely afternoon ‘hedge-planting’ with some plantsprovided for us by the Woodland Trust. As a result we’re forming an after school gardeninggroup. Do contact me if you want to get involved and watch this space for more details ofthe projects will be undertaking!The Parents and carers Prayer Group continues to meet on alternate Thursdays at noon.Please contact me if you’d like to get involved.You can contact me at school on ext 108, or via e-mail at JBurridge@educ.somerset.gov.uk orthe contact facility on the school website at X@kowYou’re very welcome to come along to the group, or join in via e-mail.Have a great Easter - Joanna17

Learning Resource Centre ExploitsBritish Land UK Chess ChallengeFollowing on from last year’s challenge, five students have qualified to themegafinals: Becky Male 10EC, Alex Parnell 10DPW, Sam Puddy 10GL,Jon Sheldon 9EHE and Jonathan Taylor 11ER.The megafinals take place at Millfield School on Sunday 13 May2007 for an all-day event, and a gruelling six rounds to play.We wish our five players the very best of luck!Box Tops for Books TokensWe are still collecting Nestle cereal book tokens…so, please do bringthem in and put them in the collecting boxes in Reception, or herein the LRC. We receive free books for every ten tokens!Year 12 Reading ListThe reading list for Year 12 English students is now available on the LRC homepage of theschool website (www.kowessex.co.uk). Books are available in the LRC for borrowing.It’s Competition Time Again!We will be running another competition shortly, with prizes…Let’s see how good you are at spotting items that are in the wrong place, or how well youknow the Highway Code! Keep watching the school’s SIS boards for more details.FreebiesWe will also be holding a raffle before study leave starts, with great prizes on offer, bags,makeup, fishing items…Again, watch the SIS boards for more details.By Bridget Knutson, LRC ManagerAn advertisement:SOMERSET WILDLIFE TRUSTare repeating the successfulPLANT SALE and OPEN GARDENat ROOKERY HOUSE, The Causeway, Mark (on B3139)On SATURDAY 5 MAY from 10.30am-1.00pmEntrance is £2.00, including coffeeThere will also be cakes on sale and exhibitions.The Mendip Watch Group will have activities for the children.PARKING IN THE FIELD OPPOSITE, by kind permission of Mr J. Isgar18

Girls’ SportsNetballThe Year 9 netball squad have provided enough players to run two teams, attendingpractices twice a week.Two teams played away at Wells Blue, with the B team starting very well, only two goals adriftat half time. Unfortunately, they were unable to convert their shooting opportunities and lost18-7. The A team played in a very close game which was level for most of their game. Theywere also unable at times to convert their chances and lost by one goal.A total of three games have been cancelled so far this term. Matches against St. Dunstan’s andChew Valley were cancelled due to bad weather and a third game against Chilton Trinity wascancelled by the opposition. Hopefully the team will get to play their other matches and we lookforward to some future success.The Under 15 netball team has gone particularly well this Spring Term with around sixteen orseventeen full-time participants. Unfortunately however, some away games have bee cancelled.The majority of games have been well contested.The 1 ST V11We started off the netball season training every Monday lunchtime working on tactics andmaking our play stronger. This clearly showed in one of our first matches against King Alfred’swith a score of 31-2. Good defence from Hazel Rossiter helped with the high score, and goodfeeding into the circle to Lizzie Freeman and Annie Teare, who both had a strong gameshooting-wise.Later on in the season we had a match away against Sexey’s Bruton, winning with a score of24-26 – although it was a very close match. After the first half we had a clear ten goal lead, butthey managed to pull it back with accurate shooting so the game was neck-and-neck during thesecond half. Although the fitness and strength of our team showed and luckily we won.Another good match against Queens College resulted in us unfortunately loosing 16-8, but theteam’s effort did not fail. Everyone kept their heads up throughout the match and never gaveup. Playing a good team showed our ability and I feel that we gained a lot from this match.In general, I feel the season has been successful and we have improved as a team immensely.I would also like to thank Annie Teare for organising the team’s new netball hoodies!I am sure we will carry on improving and next year to see even more success!Reported by Alex KimminsHockeyThe Year 9 Hockey team recentlywon the County Cup, beating CastleSchool 3-0.Goal scorers were Emma Barberand Sam Stephenson. Well donegirls for some excellent games andgood teamwork!Squad players:Catherine Hansford, Sam Stephenson,Emma Barber, Emma Munt, Becky Teagle,Abby Woolway, Mehtab Arshad, MillieGibson, Sarah Kelly, Eve Taschimowitz,Harriet Gittings, Jorjia Leheup, Jo Teagle,Holly Freemantle21

Congratulations also to the Year 11 Hockey team (see photo below) who reached the finals ofthe Somerset Cup for the third year in succession.Once again, they faced Castle school and Wells Blue School in a three-way final – which is notideal in a County Cup final! We were successful in beating the Blue School 2-0, but lost toCastle School 1-0 in the play-off after they had also beaten the Blue School.This was the team’s final game together after many years and matches playing together as ateam. They have been a great group of students to work with and well done to Captains: HollyTyson and Charlotte Crandon.Squad players: Amy Barkus,Hannah Bates, Gemma Cooper,Charlotte Fay, Sam Foster, ZoeFoster-Smith, Bella Jezzard, EmmaKent, Jenny Knowles, Ellen Lakenand Fran Inman.Some more congratulations…Olivia Owen in 9TP, who competesfor the Weston AerobicsGymnastics Club, recentlycompeted in the Alex Strachen Cupagainst members of the G.B.squad.Olivia is ranked 3 rd in Britain in thepairs event and will compete inAustria during the holidays. Welldone Olivia!Striding to Success, Dan Layton 11JG, Patrick Day 11ALF and Naomi Taschimowitz 12BR wereselected to represent Somerset at this year’s national cross-country championships at TempleNewsam Park Leeds on Saturday 24 March 2007. We wait the results!Their selection followed hot on the heels of their regional success, competing for Somerset atthe South West championships on Saturday 3 March in exceptionally post-rainy, muddyconditions. Competing against seventy runners in the category, Dan and Patrick came 4 th and8 th respectively in the Years 10 and 11 Interboys; whilst, Naomi Taschimowitz, running in theSenior Girls came a stunning 1 st !Sports LeadersOur Sports Leaders continue to beactive with events here at Kings andalso at our First and Middle Schools.In mid-February all forty-threeLeaders went to Hugh Sexey’sSchool and ran a Year 4 Tag RugbyFestival. There were over 140visiting boy and girls students whohad a fantastic experience playingtag rugby.The Sports Leaders led a warm-upand coached their teams. As usualthe leaders were enthusiastic andprofessional throughout the day.22

Youth Sport TrustTop Link Conference for Sports LeadersEight Sports Leaders were chosen to go for a daytrip to Filton College, Bristol on Friday 2 Marchto a conference organised by students from alocal university.We firstly, split into groups of about twenty asthere were 300 Sports Leaders. Within oursmaller groups we started off with icebreakingactivities to get to know the other members ofour group, after which, we learnt how to plan afestival to prepare us for our summer sportsfestival.This included taking care of catering,activities, timetable, safety, advertising andfinances. We had a set budget to cover all ofthese costs.To end the day we played some fun gamesmade up by other groups of Sports Leaders.Overall the day was a great experience andwe are all grateful for being chosen.Reported by Lauren Chinn and Carly PopeDanceIn mid-March the Pretty Good Girls DanceCompany led our Dance Workshop Day.Fifty-three Year10 students fromKings danced theday away withLouise and Kateyand they puttogether twoexcellent dances.The studentsperformed theirdances at 5pmthat evening infront of parentsand friends.The dances werequite complexpieces and included all the students, with an exceptional final performance.The dancers should be really proud of their achievements!Reported by Sports Co-Ordinator Mrs Williams23