Parental Bulletin - 17th July 2020

Parental Bulletin
17th 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 – 17th July 2020
(available on our website)
As we close the school for the summer I would like to thank you all for your support this year and in particular since
March 20 th . These have been quite extra-ordinary times and your support has been greatly appreciated.
Mrs Levesley sent an email to you yesterday suggesting a whole range of activities that your child can do over the
summer break. I would like to suggest that 2/3 of these are completed every week (more if you wish or course) and
where possible, photos are sent to their form tutor. I would like to thank Mrs Levesley for pulling these ideas together.
In the last week of term we would normally have run our annual enrichment week and so I hope these
enrichment activities go some way to enrich our young people.
Today your child will have received a message from their form tutor with a link to the school ‘Final Assembly’. In the
assembly, we celebrate some of the achievements of our students both before and during lockdown. Do sit down
with your child and watch it please.
Over the last two days, I have shared with you my plans for how our school will open to all students, full-time
from September. I am delighted that we will have all students back but we know there will be many challenges
ahead. I have mentioned that each year group will be in their own bubble and that we will not be mixing the
students together. Please click here to see the rooms that you child will be taught in (some KS4 and 5 classes
will also be in specialist rooms) and to also see which entrances and exits your child will need to use.
We will of course be working to complete the ‘back to school’ programme over the summer and any updates will
be shared on the home page of the school website. Please click on the ‘returning to school in September’ section of
the home page.
Sets and classes for September
We will confirm sets and classes for students in September when the students receive their timetables. Where
current Year 8 students made choices regarding the Arts subjects that they will study next year, we have managed
to fulfil all requests and other subjects (modern foreign languages and computing groups) will be confirmed in
September.
Staff leavers
It is at this time of the year when we
always say goodbye to some of our
colleagues and this year is no exception.
I would like to thank the following
colleagues for their service to the
students and community of The Knights
Templar School. We wish them well as
they go onto the next stage of their
lives:
Staff leaver
Years of service
Mrs A Brown (Maths) 12
Mrs S Levesley (Assistant Headteacher/English) 8.5
Mrs M Nott (Cover supervisor) 6.5
Ms A Bailey 4.5
Mrs S Bailey (Science) 2.5
Mr M Ngwenya (Philosophy) 2
Mr Peter Thornley (History) 1

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you a happy and safe summer. Thank you again for your continued
support of the school and I look forward to seeing and meeting you again in the next academic year.
Kind regards,
Tim Litchfield
Headteacher
Over Sixty Super Summer Activities!
As we break for our long summer holidays we are aware that we were unable to hold our usual week of enrichment
activities as usual. We hope you all of you have a good break this summer and that you switch off fully from
school work but whether you are at home or away, these holidays might seem quite long so we have put together
this list of over sixty enrichment activities to give you somewhere to look when you are fresh out of ideas!
Click here to access the full list. Choose and complete as many activities as you like from any section you
like. Send photos of your challenges to your tutors and year leaders to brighten up their holidays too.
Whilst it is not how I imagined it this will actually be my last enrichment week at The Knights Templar School as I
am moving on to a new challenge in September. I would like to take this opportunity to thank parents and
students past and present for their fantastic support whilst I have been in post over the last 8 years. Have a great
summer holiday Knights Templar School.
Sara Levesley
Sport and PE celebration awards 2020
As a department we have been unable to host the awards evening as we usually would but we are happy to still
be able to recognise the achievements of some of our students. Unfortunately the sporting year was cut short
and therefore we have fewer awards than in previous years, however we were still able to successfully complete
some of the sporting seasons. Thank you to all the students who nominated via a google form, as a department
we selected our winners from these nominations. Congratulations to the following winners, they have been
awarded a certificate virtually. We look forward to a good year of Sport and PE from September.
Have a good summer,
Mrs Gamester
Year 7 Football
George Kingham
Year 8 Football
Nathan Lloyd
Year 7 Rugby
Year 8 Rugby
James Crone
Nathan Lloyd
Year 7 Netball
Year 8 Netball
Lily Fastier Brooke Woodbridge
Year 7 Hockey
Year 8 Hockey
Hannah Brewer
Zoe Jardin
Year 7 Basketball
Lila Birtwisle
Year 7 Girls Football Year 8 Girls Football
Cerys Davies
Esme Wastell
Sports Personality of the Year 2020
Zara Northern
Year 9 Football
Charlie Petre
Year 9 Rugby
Louis Burns
Year 9 Netball
Poppie Martin
Year 9 Hockey
Poppie Martin
Year 9 Girls Football
Olivia Sumner
Year 10 Football
Senior Football
Archie Groves
Gabriel Ryan
Senior Rugby
William Goldsmith
Year 10 Netball
Senior Netball
Shakirah Rashid
Millie Haywood
Senior Hockey
Zara Northern
Senior Basketball
Riley Sayer
Sports Personality of the Year 2020
Riley Sayer

Le petit déjeuner
Year 7 French students have been learning about breakfast in France and some have responded with lovely photographs
of their own French breakfasts, which they’ve had at home.
Message from Baldock Beats Waste
This summer holidays we are looking for as many people as possible to take part in our Create to Beat
Waste competition. We are looking for entries where you have used your creativity to raise awareness of the
impact of waste on our environment and our society. This could take the form of a story or poem,
a picture, sculpture or other art form. For example you can make use of waste items or fabrics, inspire people to
reduce waste or show what happens when waste gets where it shouldn’t.
There will be two prizes of £20 each for two quite wide age categories of 11 and under and 12 and over. To enter
please email a picture or document of your entry to baldockbeatswaste@gmail.com by the 6th September with
your name, age and contact email or address. A shortlist will be drawn up and entrants notified so we can gather
in the entries where possible. We will display all the best on our Facebook page and at the Baldock Arts and
Heritage Centre (Old Town Hall) when COVID permits.
We’re really looking forward to seeing all your creative efforts.
Christine and the team

A note to our Sixth Form students…
It has been an incredibly challenging academic year for all involved and no one has experienced these challenges
more so than our A Level students.
We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate our Year 12 students on the resilience and determination
they have shown throughout these challenging times. Whether you are a student who has thrived in the working
from home setting or have struggled and needed to reach out to staff for support, you should be commended on
the resolve you have shown at a time when there are so many excuses available to justify ‘giving up.’
For those students who have really struggled to work under the current conditions, we commend you on the
maturity you have shown to be self-reflective, pragmatic and to make difficult, (sometimes brave) decisions,
regarding your future.
Our Sixth Form community is just that, a community. If there is one positive thing to take from what has been an
awful period of time for many in our school, it is that our staff and students have embodied the school motto of
Courage and Courtesy in their supportive communication with each other and their actions, moving towards a new,
more positive academic year.
We are more excited than ever to get back into school and support the students in a way that we are more
accustomed to and we encourage the students to get plenty of rest over the summer holidays and position themselves
well for a return to school in September.
Take care and stay safe.
The Sixth Form Team.
The Project 2020
We would like to congratulate Jess Plant, Molly Luckett and Maddy Redfearn for the wonderful work they have
put in, alongside the Drama department, to produce a piece of verbatim theatre entitled The Project 2020.
The company began work on the project just before the lockdown restrictions were introduced and it would
have been easy for everyone involved to not prioritise its completion and focus on the many other challenges in
their day-to-day lives. Instead, our 3 superb Year 12 students led the company of younger students to create a
brilliant piece of theatre, via Microsoft Teams.
Initially, the project was due to focus on the portrayal of young people in the media and use the platform as a
chance to challenge some of the misconceptions and bias. However, when the pandemic reached a point that
lockdown measures forced school closures, the students changed their focus. Instead, the students used research
and comments from others to provide an insight into the lockdown experience for a range of different
people in our society. Having watched the final cut, their idea has been executed with a great deal of skill and
insight, providing an intriguing analysis of these challenging times.

The initiative, enthusiasm and dedication that the students have shown really is something to be admired and
we hope that the students involved feel as proud of their accomplishment as we do.
A message to prospective Year 12 students
While it will have been a very long break for Year 11 students we hope that you have been keeping busy with
the work that has been set over the past few months, building towards the subject specific taster lessons that
were recently released. This work is crucial in allowing students the chance to make final decisions about their
subject choices and to look at the bridging work required to make a smooth transition into the Sixth Form in
September.
Details of form groups and interview times have been sent to students and we encourage students and parents
to check their emails to ensure they are fully aware of the transition process to Year 12.
If you have any queries or concerns, please email Mr Raymen via draymen@ktemplar.herts.sch.uk
Thank you for your patience during these times.