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<strong>Parental</strong> <strong>Bulletin</strong><br />
<strong>14</strong>th <strong>December</strong> <strong>2017</strong>
The Knights Templar School<br />
Headteacher:<br />
Mr T. Litchfield, G.G.S.M.<br />
Park Street<br />
Baldock<br />
Herts SG7 6DZ<br />
Email: admin@ktemplar.herts.sch.uk Tel: 0<strong>14</strong>62 620700<br />
PARENTAL WEEKLY UPDATE – <strong>14</strong>th <strong>December</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
(available on our website)<br />
Dear Parents and Carers<br />
Thank you for your understanding when I had to close the school on Monday. This is always<br />
a difficult decision but conditions on our school site and surrounding roads were very dangerous.<br />
I was pleased that we were able to open on Tuesday even though conditions were<br />
very icy.<br />
The run in to the final day of term (midday on 20 th <strong>December</strong>) is a very busy one indeed.<br />
I have just popped my head into the Christmas Fair and the students have made a magnificent effort to sell a wide<br />
range of Christmas gifts. This event is run by the students, for the students and the community.<br />
I am looking forward to the Christmas Concerts in the school hall on Monday. This is a school event where lots of<br />
lots of our drama, dance and music students perform some of their work. On Tuesday we will be having our Christmas<br />
lunch and on Wednesday we will be finishing the term with our traditional carol services at St Mary’s<br />
Church.<br />
I do hope that you will be able to join us on Monday night for the re-arranged Nine Lessons and Carols service that<br />
we will be holding at St Mary’s Church starting at 7pm. Ours students will be singing and reading and for the first<br />
time this year we have a community choir singing a chorus from Handel’s Messiah – I look forward to seeing you<br />
there.<br />
I do hope that lots of students will be wearing a Christmas jumper on either Monday or Tuesday or both. Donations<br />
of £1 will go to Save the Children and for this students can wear their Christmas jumper over their shirt and tie.<br />
I was honoured to be invited to the Sixth Form Dinner Dance last evening. It was a wonderful event! The students<br />
looked fabulous in their ball gowns and black tie! Please look out for a report in a special Sixth Form <strong>Bulletin</strong> next<br />
week.<br />
The PE department have drawn my attention to the large amount of dog mess on the sports field at the moment. I<br />
am sure you are aware of the dangers to young people that dog mess presents. This land is private property and<br />
whilst the borders are not closed in with fences, members of the public should not be walking their dogs there.<br />
This will be our final parental bulletin before Christmas and may I take the opportunity to wish you a very happy<br />
and safe Christmas holiday. Please may I remind you that school starts for all students on Thursday 4 th January.<br />
This is a week B timetable. Please ensure that your child has the correct books and equipment on that day.<br />
Happy Christmas!<br />
Kind regards<br />
Tim Litchfield<br />
Headteacher
Dates for your Diary<br />
Thursday <strong>14</strong> 12 17 Christmas Fete, Hall, till 6pm. All welcome after school.<br />
Friday 15 12 17 Christmas Concert Rehearsals<br />
Monday 18 12 17 Christmas Concerts<br />
Carol Service, St Mary’s Church<br />
Tuesday 19 12 17 Christmas Dinners<br />
Brass Visit to Primary Schools<br />
Wednesday 20 12 17 St Mary’s Services<br />
Final day of term. School closes at 12pm.<br />
Year 7 Parents’ Evening – Tuesday 9 th January 2018<br />
The on-line booking system for this parents’ evening will be opening on Friday 15 th <strong>December</strong> and bookings can be<br />
made via the instructions on the letter sent home via email.<br />
If you don’t have access to use the online booking system then please let me know so that your appointments can<br />
be booked through the school.<br />
Kind regards<br />
Mrs K Curtis<br />
Year 7 Leader<br />
To all Year 9 and 10 Parents and Carers<br />
Meningitis and Diphtheria, Tetanus, Polio vaccine consent forms.<br />
I sent out the Vaccine consent forms to all parents and carers on Tuesday via email, and have asked<br />
that the forms are returned to me tomorrow, Friday 15 th <strong>December</strong> <strong>2017</strong>.<br />
If you have an issue with a printer or have difficulty accessing the attachment please let me know and I can send<br />
one to you. I need to have pages 3 and 4 returned using both sides of the paper.<br />
In the past we have had parents send back a scanned email of a signed copy, unfortunately the nurses will not accept<br />
this as a parent or carers consent; we do need to have a paper copy returned.<br />
Thank you for your help with this.<br />
Jane Mance School Medical Officer<br />
Priory Picnics serve up a lesson on e-commerce<br />
Rupert Prior, owner of Priory Picnics, visited the school this week to be interviewed<br />
by year 11 business students. Mr Vallier’s business class had the opportunity<br />
to ask Mr Prior questions relating to his business and to identify areas he<br />
could improve on relating to e-commerce and social media.<br />
The session was held after school and the students gained first hand information<br />
that will assist them in their controlled assessment in January/February.<br />
Mr Prior commented “the students really have an up to date knowledge of social<br />
media and how it can benefit businesses. I look forward to seeing their ideas later<br />
in the year.”
Year 7 Maths Workshop – Monday 4 th <strong>December</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
Approximately 70 pupils took part in a Maths Workshop a week ago and a good time was had by all. The pupils<br />
were given several opportunities to test their problem solving skills and the activity ended with the pupils<br />
constructing a giant pyramid in their groups. A special mention should go to Freddy Challis who was awarded the<br />
individual prize for the best individual performance on the day. Pupils asked said:-<br />
‘It was challenging and fun’<br />
‘It was really fun and I liked the problem solving<br />
activities’<br />
Karen Dixon<br />
‘I liked climbing into the giant tetrahedron’<br />
Head of Mathematics<br />
Stocking Fillers!<br />
Calculators make great stocking fillers and only cost £6.50 – available from Student Services<br />
Karen Dixon<br />
Head of Mathematics<br />
Library News<br />
Half Price Book Fair<br />
Thank you to everyone who supported the half-price book fair by purchasing books, stationary and posters.<br />
There was a fantastic selection of book titles and we enjoyed another successful year raising over £500. The<br />
commission from our sales will allow the library to purchase a large selection of books for the library collection.<br />
Second Hand Book Sale<br />
This year’s second hand book sale is in aid of North Herts Sanctuary, a charity tackling homelessness in the<br />
county, and Book Aid International a UK-based library development charity working in sub-Saharan Africa to<br />
help more people discover the joy and value of reading. The sale will be included as part of this year’s Christmas<br />
Fate.<br />
KTS Apple Juice—half termly supply!<br />
You can now order 6 week’s of apple juice in one go and save £3!<br />
For just £12, collect your apple juice every Friday morning from Reception.<br />
You can pay via WisePay (from tomorrow onwards) or by cash at Reception.<br />
Your first bottle will be available for pick up on 5th January 2018.
And London shops on Christmas Eve<br />
Are strung with silver bells and flowers<br />
As hurrying clerks the City leave<br />
To pigeon-haunted classic towers,<br />
And marbled clouds go scudding by<br />
The many-steepled London sky.<br />
From Christmas by John Betjeman<br />
KTS Art Department wishes all of our<br />
students and their families:<br />
A VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS<br />
& ALL THE BEST FOR 2018!<br />
Christmas shopping, London by Vivien Laura Verey<br />
Ski Trip Update<br />
A place on the ski trip to Colorado in April 2018 has become available. Please contact Mrs Curtis as soon as possible<br />
if you are interested.
DofE Update<br />
New Bronze Award holders in Year 10<br />
Congratulations to the following students in Year 10 who have achieved their Bronze DofE Awards .<br />
Aaron Oyston Samuel Matthews<br />
Billy Thompson Ewan Macdonald<br />
William Clark Jack Toombs<br />
Lotte Goddard James Naufal-Power<br />
Anna Wallis Olivia McNally<br />
Annie Buky Benjamin Ross<br />
Katy Wayne Rhys Davies<br />
Gage Harrigan Luke Brookes<br />
David Baldwin Shaan Chahal<br />
Lucius Wong<br />
New Gold Award holders<br />
We are delighted that the following Year 13 students and former students have completed their<br />
Gold Awards.<br />
Aldo Luggeri Luke Mills Samuel Tomlinson<br />
Leon Collis<br />
Samuel Prior<br />
Luke Mills and Samuel Prior are current Year 13 students. For his Gold<br />
Award, Luke volunteered with the Baldock Allotment Leisure Gardeners Association,<br />
staffing the members shop and working in and leading work parties<br />
to improve the allotment sites. His Skill Section saw him develop his allotment,<br />
growing some fantastic produce. For his Physical section, Luke went to<br />
the gym regularly. Sam volunteered with1st Baldock Knights Cubs, played in<br />
the Letchworth Roller Hockey team for his Physical Section and learned the<br />
saxophone for his Skill.<br />
At Gold level, a Residential Section also needs to be completed. Luke<br />
took part in a National Trust Youth Discovery Week in Ashridge, learning<br />
about conservation management and taking part in woodland/scrub<br />
clearance. Sam’s Residential saw him sailing with the Island Trust along<br />
the south Cornish coast from Plymouth on the Moosk (pictured),<br />
achieving his RYA Competent Crew during the week.
Success for ex KTS Student<br />
Oliver Wing, who graduated from KTS in 2013, left to study Geography<br />
at the University of Bristol. He is now a PhD student there<br />
and has been working on some ‘cutting edge science’ with the<br />
flood-mapping organisation Fathom. He has recently presented<br />
his research at a conference in the U.S.<br />
The BBC have published this<br />
article about Oliver’s research.<br />
He attributes getting to this point as being down, ‘in no small part, to my geography<br />
teachers at KTS. The dedication, patience and expertise that was exercised by<br />
the department sparked a hunger that I will be trying to sate for the rest of my<br />
career’.<br />
There will be a special Sixth Form Christmas<br />
bumper edition of the bulletin next week.