Weekly Newsletters

I hold a strong belief in the power of education to change children’s lives and the right of every child to receive an excellent education. I am dedicated to building opportunities for students to achieve the highest academic standards, ensuring that they are known well as individuals, that their unique personalities, talents and interests are nurtured and developed to the full.

Education at Ken Stimpson Community School is about developing the whole child and providing opportunities for them to flourish within and beyond the classroom. I very much look forward to getting to know you at forthcoming events such as the Parents’ Forum/surgeries (please see below for future meetings and times) and Parents’ Evenings. I also offer my pledge to be as accessible as I can.  Many of you will be aware that I am very keen to ensure your questions or queries are addressed promptly whether this be face-to-face or via electronic communication. 

I am delighted to share with you the summer results. 

At A level, the headline figures are as follows:

A* - C: 65.6%

A* - B: 32.8%

Overall Pass Rate (A* - E): 96.7%

Mr Abbott, Assistant Principal, added “The Post 16 team wish to congratulate all of our students who have experienced successes on their academic and vocational courses.  We share in their excitement as they now embark on a range of challenging university courses and prestigious apprenticeships. Once again, the vast majority of our students have secured their first choice University and this year there has been a marked increase in the number of students winning places at the leading ‘Russell Group’ universities. We wish all our students well in their chosen career paths.”

Amongst this year’s highest achieving students were:

• Josh Cartwright with 2 A* grades and 2 A grades.  Josh has secured a place at Trinity Hall, Cambridge University to study Natural Sciences.
• Katelyn Nash with 1 A* grade, 1 A grade and 2 B grades. Katelyn has secured a place at Girton College Hall, Cambridge University to study Anthropological Science.
• Ameena Nadeem with 2 Distinction* grades and 1 Distinction grade.
• Chris Campbell with 1 A grade, 2 B grades and 1 C grade.
• Maya Burns with 1 A* grade, 1 A grade and 1 B grade.
• Georgia Clarke with 3 A grades.
• Lu Lin with 2 A grades and 1 B grade.

At GCSE Level:

• the fantastic achievement of 75% of students gaining an A*-C in GCSE English
• an increase on our Maths GCSE results to 57% and the 5xA*-C including English and Mathematics increasing 51%, almost 10 % higher than last year.

What the headlines do not reveal, is the individual achievement of many students that may not be top performers. They have work tirelessly, accepted the advice from their teachers/mentors and acted upon it to achieve or better their target grades.  I am equally proud of them.  Well done to all of you – you deserve it!

One of my key objectives this year is to build upon and improve even further the solid student progress and achievement in examinations gained over the last three years and recognise recently by Ofsted rating us “good”.

In order to do this there will be a strict implementation of the school’s behaviour and uniform policy to ensure the right environment for learning for everyone. Behaviour that distracts learning or deliberate flagrances in uniform will simply not be tolerated.  I believe strongly in the mantra, ‘be smart, think smart’. It is important for students to have a sense of pride in their appearance, act with courtesy and respect and represent their school well both in and on their way to and from school.

You are warmly invited to the first Parents’ Forum Meeting of the new academic year on Wednesday 28 September at 18:00 in the Conference Room. The Forum provides an opportunity for parents to meet with senior staff, to comment on their impressions of the quality of education provided, to make suggestions for improvement and to comment upon proposed changes within school. We are also keen to showcase particular curriculum areas.  Please come along and help us to improve our school!  The surgeries will be an opportunity to drop in and speak to a member of the leadership team regarding any issues you may have.

It would be helpful if you would send a brief note, telephone message (01733 383658) or email (forum@kscs.org.uk) to Mrs Ware, my PA, at school, to let us know if you plan to come along to this meeting and, if so, if there are particular questions that you would like to raise.

Parents' Forum       Wednesday 28 September    18:00 - 19:15

Parents' Surgery     Wednesday 30 November     18:00 - 19:15 

Parents' Forum        Wednesday 25 January        18:00 - 19:15 

Parents' Surgery     Wednesday 22 March            18:00 - 19:15 

Parents' Forum        Wednesday 10 May             18:00 - 19:15 

Parents' Surgery     Wednesday 28 June             18:00 - 19:15  

I very much look forward to meeting with you in the near future and working in partnership with you over the forthcoming academic year to secure the best possible future for your child(ren).

Best wishes

Bryan Erwin
Principal

For the full story, see the piece in the local newspaper here.