Parental Bulletin - 10th July 2020

Parental Bulletin
10th July 2020

The Knights Templar School
Headteacher:
Mr T. Litchfield, G.G.S.M.
Park Street
Baldock
Herts SG7 6DZ
Email: admin@ktemplar.herts.sch.uk Tel: 01462 620700
Dear parents and carers
PARENTAL WEEKLY UPDATE – 10th July 2020
(available on our website)
I would encourage all parents and carers of all year groups to watch the address by the Prime Minister
this morning. It is intended for students in the current year 11 and year 13, but he refers to so many of
the themes that we as a school have been focussing on since March 20th.
Today, 43,000 people joined the Prime Minister’s live address to all school leavers congratulating them
on reaching the end of their final year at school. A recording of the address is now available to view on
Facebook and YouTube.
Please do have a look at the great articles below – there has been some wonderful achievements over
the last week or so. In particular I would like to pay tribute to our Duke of Edinburgh programme and
the impact our students have had on the community. With 3,588 hours of volunteering for our
community it is just another example of how amazing our young people are.
Ofqual consultation
Yesterday I shared with you that Ofqual are consulting on proposed changes to exams for summer
2021. This consultation is such an important one that I will share the link again today – I am sure that
many of you would wish to comment. The link to the whole document is here.
As we move into the last week of term, I would like to thank all parents and carers for their continued
support. Listening to the Prime Minister this morning, it reminded me of the challenges that we have
faced together and the even greater challenges to come.
Kind regards,
Tim Litchfield
Headteacher

Lockdown Extra Curricular Projects
The Project 2020
The Project, taking place every year, allows the cast of students to work together to create a piece of devised theatre.
This year, led by Mr Sills, myself, Maddy R and Molly L, the cast of the Project 2020 has been meeting on Microsoft
Teams to rehearse and discuss this year’s production. The Project 2020: The Project That No-One Wanted.
Before the school closures, the cast were exploring Verbatim theatre, which uses interviews and the words of the
interviewees as part of the piece. However, soon after this, the school closed, meaning that the project would have
to go online if it were to continue. So, each week the cast met on Microsoft Teams to work on The Project, and it
was amazing to see how enthusiastic the cast were and how well they could collaborate to make this piece, even in
the unusual circumstances.
As a company, we conducted interviews of our friends (over the internet, of course) and our families, and took
their words to create a piece centred on the ‘lockdown experience’ and the impact it has had on people personally.
The names of the interviewees were changed, but their words and stories have stayed the same. On top of this, in
our meetings we discussed our own experiences, exploring themes like mental health and how young people are
being presented in the media.
After the Easter break, we began working with a script, developing it as a group during our meetings. As it became
clear that a live performance wasn’t possible- at least, at this point- we decided to instead record the piece using
Microsoft Teams. This resulted in a truly unique project, relying not on live performance but on recordings, compiled
together to bring our script to life.
The Project 2020 has been an incredible experience and a pleasure to have been a part of. The dedication and
talent of the cast has really been at the centre of making this years’ project possible.
Jess P
From the cast:
I really enjoyed working on The Project 2020 and seeing some familiar faces. The verbatim style really suits the
theme we have chosen and has deepened my understanding of verbatim in general. I think when we first saw the
script it really felt as if it was coming together and it is amazing, I really like it. Despite the challenges we’ve faced I
think that it will turn out great!
Anushka D
I have found the project a really interesting process,
it’s been lovely to work alongside other people from
home so there’s still some form of interaction! I also
think this is something we can tell people we did during
lockdown and be happy with ourselves for taking
the opportunity.
Polly W
The Drama Department looks forward to sharing The
Project 2020 with you all as soon as we can.

Strictly Come Costume Designing
A group of students spanning year 7-9 have been meeting every week to explore costume design. Mrs Harper
selected a character and the group were tasked with developing design ideas set in an era of their
choosing.
Below are examples of moodboards created when considering Titania from A Midsummer Night’s Dream
by William Shakespeare.
Titania is a strong female character in the play, so I
wanted to display this on her clothing, with titanium
grey, cream, and blue as the most prominent colours.
The bodice is stiff, whereas the skirt is maneuverable,
to give the effect of an almost Victorian dress, though
in places like the skirt, the material moves easier, and
is less heavy. The dress and the play for me is set in the
15th, and I have tried to incorporate that- the headdress
on her head portrays this. Regarding my moodboard,
I tried to find dresses and materials that fit my
overall design, so it would help with inspiration- in the
end, I included a little bit of it all. Overall, in my eyes,
the dress looks like something Titania would wear,
which was my main goal for this outfit.
Esme
Jenny created her moodboard
with a medieval era in mind.
Summer’s moodboard took inspiration
from bold, modern colours.

Behind the Scenes Technical Theatre
Our dedicated Tech Club students have not allowed lockdown to quiet their creativity. Our enthusiastic techies
have been getting together virtually to share expertise and ideas. Mr Grover has been challenging these
students to broaden their knowledge and understand of technical and design elements of performance.
Included below are some examples of sketch designs produced by Kate.

Script Performance Club
Formerly Mystery Script Club, the students in this group began working independently. Each member of the
groups recorded performance of their own lines and shared them to be edited together. However, with the
dawn of video calls, the group have been able to work together.
They have been meeting each week, via Teams, to rehearse an extract from The Dream Collector by Finn
Kennedy. They will be recording the completed piece next week and hope to share their work in due course.
LAMDA Examinations
During this period of lockdown, when many things have been postponed or cancelled, we have been fortunate
enough to complete LAMDA exams for Year 10 and Year 12 students. We are very proud of the resilience
and hard work all of these students have demonstrated in working towards their exam.
Our Year 12 Public Speaking students have worked with Mr Sills to prepare two or three pieces of work to be
presented to a visiting examiner. Students were assessed in a number of ways with some delivering prepared
speeches they wrote based on a topic of their choosing, some reading examples of verse and prose and
some delivering performance readings of literary texts.
This group of 11 students, were unable to prepare a Public Speaking Evening event as has been done in the
past and, while this is unfortunate, it does not seem to have quelled their development.
We have an equally determined group of students in Year 10, who had been working towards their Grade 6
Acting exam before lockdown. These students have met with Ms James, their LAMDA tutor, via Teams video
sessions to complete preparations for their exam. They have been preparing monologue performances of
two contrasting texts and will be examined next week.
Well done to all!
We owe a debt of thanks to Mrs Brewer for doggedly liaising with LAMDA to ensure these exams were able
to take place. We are looking forward to supporting our Year 8 and Year 9 LAMDA students in completing
their examination in the future.

Drama Department News
Calling all budding young play writes…
BBC’s The One Show is running a competition which could lead to having your play performed on stage:
At a time when we are all missing out on the magic of going to the theatre, The One Show, along with The Shakespeare
North Playhouse is launching an exciting new playwriting competition, giving children and young people
across the UK the opportunity to see their ideas come to life on stage. We hope this will help inspire the next generation
of playwrights as well as encouraging a love of theatre and the arts in children and young people.
The competition is open to all children and young people aged between 7 and 16 years old. The deadline for entering
the competition is just before midnight on Monday 31st August 2020.
All you need to enter is an idea for a play, a short description of up to four of the main characters and the first few
opening lines. You’ll also need to tell us what having the opportunity to write your play and have it performed on
stage would mean to you.
What is the prize?
From the ideas submitted, three finalists from each of the three categories will be chosen and announced on The
One Show during autumn 2020. They will then have the opportunity to develop their ideas with professionals and
write their final play.
A winner will be selected from each category based on their final play and will be announced on The One Show in
early 2021 and an excerpt from their play will be shown on the programme. The final three winners will receive a
special award and have their play performed at The Shakespeare North Playhouse when it opens in 2022.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1SCKS8VmFFGvyggKbqGGyds/as-you-write-it-your-play-on-stage
Theatre at home
Digital Theatre Plus
Digital Theatre brings the live theatre experience to your screen by instantly streaming the
best theatre productions from around the world anytime, anywhere. ... For unlimited access to all current and future
productions, Knights Templar has a subscription available for all students to use their resources online with
the login details below.
Login: ktemplar
Password: ktemplar121
https://www.digitaltheatreplus.com/education

2020 Certificate of Achievement
Those of you who have completed the Volunteering, Physical and Skill section may have been emailed a personalised
2020 Certificate of Achievement directly from DofE. These were starting to be sent out this week to the email
that is on your eDofE account. Any issues, then please let us know. Over forty-seven students taking part in
Bronze DofE have already achieved these. There’s still plenty of time for others to achieve these as they will continue
to be awarded until the end of December 2020.
Any plans for expeditions remain on hold as overnight residentials continue to be advised against in the autumn
term. The expedition team are starting to look at plans for some expedition training in the autumn for all levels,
and the expeditions which will take place as soon as we are able to do these again. DofE have introduced a number
of temporary changes to the expedition section that will help us organise expeditions safely when the time is
right.
The social value of volunteering
We were also delighted to receive this certificate from DofE
regional office. The Volunteering section is particularly valuable,
helping participants engage with local communities and
developing ‘soft’ skills such as team work, communication, and
leadership. KTS students have taken part in a huge variety of
local volunteering, including support to Girlguiding and
Scouting, volunteering in charity shops, environmental/
conservation work, community gardens, helping in libraries
and sports coaching. Many have adapted to carry on Volunteering
during school closure through litter picking, supporting
self-isolating or elderly neighbours and supporting younger
children with school work. Many thanks to all students who
contributed towards the amazing figures in this certificate.

With work experience cancelled until further notice The Careers and Enterprise Company have linked up with
HOP into to help provide students with accessing employer encounters.
Live webinars have been taking place looking at various different sectors from the NHS, constructions
and the media industry, it is hoped that these free webinars will enable students to learn more about
particular careers or industries that they may have an interest in pursuing. By joining a live webinar
they will be able to ask questions and interact with the employee/employer thus creating a meaningful
encounter. Links have been, being emailed out to Year 11 and 6 th form students, but just in case you
missed one they have been recorded and can all be found here: https://www.hopinto.co.uk/explorecareers/webinars/virtual-employer-encounters/
We are looking to use our local community to help us to build something similar for our students to access in
the future. We would love to have a bank of short video’s to help our students understand the different careers
that are in their local area and beyond, as well as the many different pathways there are to take to get to
those careers. If you would like to be involved in this project please let Miss McGuigan know via email on nmcguigan@ktemplar.herts.sch.uk.
We would like the video’s to include;
Your name
Your Current career
What was your first job?
How did you get to your current career (did you do GCSE’s, A levels, University, Apprenticeship, internal
training and promotions)
What advice would you give to your younger self
KTS students in the community
Congratulations to Ella, 9Hine who has raised over £800 for Alzheimer’s
Society with her month of baking during lockdown. She has provided
delicious cakes and biscuits for neighbours, friends and KTS staff,
including Mr Litchfield. An amazing achievement Ella—very well done.