Link Letter - July 2002

01963 32368

Success, celebration & experience!!

Ofsted

The school received its second good Ofsted report and came out with flying colours again. It is highly praised in many aspects of its work and is never judged less than satisfactory. It is crucial for all schools to do well in the core subjects of English and Maths : Maths is an excellent department and has an unequalled record at GCSE and in maths competitions. And the English department is always close on their tail! It was no surprise that the Physical Education department did well : the school was designated a sports college by the government from September 2002. The quality of the music and art at KA is there for all to see and hear.

But you expect schools to do well academically these days. There are no bad or weak schools in this part of Somerset. What was outstanding about KA was what Ofsted described as its ‘unique ethos’ : its students showed maturity and had good relationships with staff and each other; they have “lively self confidence”. This is what gives our students a sound basis for further education and a spring board to university life.

Badminton

Having won the SW Area Finals, five students from KA travelled to Luton for the English Schools Badminton Finals. This was the first badminton tournament we had entered : in the final the boys were competing against teams from all over the country and did extremely well to finish 5th.
Pictured are the successful team - Ian Stubbs, Tom Ackland, Nick Dwyer, Mike Taylor and Craig Alcock.
Following on from this success our U14 and U16 teams reached the finals of the South Somerset Badminton Schools competition. The U14 team won their section and the U16 team were runners up in theirs.
U14 Team - Amy Coombes, Zoe Dixon, Nick Dwyer, Ian Stubbs, Sian Stump.
U16 Team - Tom Ackland, Tom Edge, Kieran Ellis, Sarah Hiscock, Steph Kendall, Mike Taylor.

Summer concert

An audience of more than 150 people packed the school hall on Tuesday 2nd July to see the annual summer concert. There was a large and varied programme, from Mozart to Staind. Highlights included the orchestra’s performance of ‘The Pink Panther’ theme tune and Joe James playing and singing ‘Desperado’ by the Eagles. The Chamber Choir made up of teachers and students, sang a lovely rendition of ‘Here, There and Everywhere’. Miss Fletcher would like to invite any parents who may be interested in joining in to contact her as there may be some evening rehearsals next term to which parents would be invited. The Irish Folk Band made a lively contribution and the whole concert was completed by another Beatles’ classic ‘Hey Jude’ which involved all the students who performed and some lusty singing by the audience.

Everyone agreed that it was a very enjoyable evening.