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King's College School, La Moraleja, January 2014 Newsletter
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Welcome to the January Newsletter 2014

From the Headteacher


Dear Parents,

Feliz Año, I trust that you all had an enjoyable and relaxing Christmas break with your families and, despite the wet weather; I hope that you and your children are as happy as I am to be back for the New Year. It was good to meet some of our new parents over coffee in our New Parents’ Welcome Breakfast, and I wish those of you who are just starting out at KCS La Moraleja a particularly warm welcome. It’s been a busy couple of weeks back and we are raring to go.
 
We began the term with a whole school planning day. Teachers have worked very hard to collaborate on planning and sharing success criteria with pupils. We aim to make learning fun and accessible to all by taking away the mystery of how to be successful. The pupils are responding well to this by asking teachers for the success criteria for assignments and when asked how they know how to improve one pupil explained recently that he uses the “things on the wall” to know how to be successful.
 
We are very pleased to win second place in the COBIS Creative Challenge and have lots of other plans to compete internationally on a range of subjects. We are always ready to hear of projects and encourage you to get involved with the school if there is something you can share or would like to give a talk to our pupils please contact me. This morning I talked to a parent who is keen to launch a King’s College School Cookery Book and also an attempt at breaking a World Record which would put us in the Guinness Book of Records. It’s all happening at our school.

Thank you for your support, this is an exciting place to be.

Kindest regards,


Dawn Akyurek
Headteacher
 

Choir sings at Residencia sanitas

 
Just before the end of term, Miss Martyn and the Upper School Choir visited the Sanitas Residencia in La Moraleja to sing Christmas carols. They sang in two short concerts for the residents, who thoroughly enjoyed the performances by the pupils. Jake and Cleo in Year 9 performed 'Somewhere in my Memory' on keyboard and flute and David G came to accompany us with percussion instruments.  
 
"It's a very emotional experience for us all. Each year that we perform there, we always come away feeling so affected by how much it means to the residents. It is such a wonderful way for the pupils to experience and understand what 'the true meaning of Christmas' is all about" added Miss Martyn.

Please click on the image below to watch a video of the choir performing:
 

High hopes for IGCSE options 


The start of a new year is always an important and exciting time for Year 9 as they start to think about their future studies and possible careers, in order to make choices about the subjects they will study in for Year 10.
 

 
“I have not really decided what I want to do in the future,” David G told Mrs Walters, “but my father has told me a lot about the financial crisis in Spain and what happened to all the money, and I found that really interesting. So, one of the subjects I have decided to study in Year 10 is Economics.”

“I would really like to be a comic book artist.” Cleo M explained. “I really love drawing and creating things so, for me, Art IGCSE is an obvious choice.”

“However,” she continued, “I might possibly become a journalist or even a writer and illustrator, so I have also chosen History because I really feel it will help to improve my English writing skills.”

“I would love to study Genetic Engineering in the future,” Adriana C confided, “I love Biology and Maths, and I often imagine what it would be like to specialise in discovering new medicines. As long as I can continue to study Maths, Biology and Chemistry I will be very happy.”

Jake L has certainly not found it an easy decision to make. “I really struggle to think about what I want to do,” he explains, “I like so many things, so deciding which IGCSEs to take is not easy. My overall aspiration is to be a music producer and so Music IGCSE is one of my choices. However, I would also love to run my own business so I think Economics will be good as I will learn about economy and business.”

Certainly, Music seems to feature as a high priority for many of our students. Both Cleo and David have also considered this as an IGCSE option choice. “I play the flute and piano,” Cleo said, “so I do want to keep up with my musical activities.”

“I play drums, guitar and all kinds of percussion,” David explained, “plus my grandmother taught me to play the piano, so I think I might choose Music as an option.”

Lucas P also has ambitions related to the Music industry. “I would love to become a music producer,” he told Mrs Walters, “In fact, I have already started an internet based company with a friend where we promote songs.” This is not, however, Lucas’s only idea for his future, “I have also thought about Architecture and Engineering, both of which I would love to study at university,” he said, “so I think focusing on all three Sciences and Maths is important for me.”

“It is so fantastic to hear about the hopes and aspirations our oldest pupils have,” said Mrs Walters, “I know they will be successful, and I wish every single one of them all the very best for everything they decide to do in the future”.

Diary


Monday 3rd January - Y3L Assembly

Monday 5th - 10th January - Internet Safety Week

Friday 14th February - Valentines Day

Tuesday 18th February - Y6 Viking Day

Friday 21st February - Upper School Science Day

Monday 24th _  28th February - Upper School Ski Trip Week


 
Click here to see the complete school calendar for the academic year.

Monthly Menu
Click here to see full list of monthly menus

ClaSSic
 

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Other Members of King's Group

King's College International, specialising in summer camps, language courses and academic year abroad. Please click on the image above for more information.
King's Training, your Human Resources partner offering adult language learning, coaching and professional development. Please click on the image above for more information.

The Madrid Players - I do, I do, I do!


The Madrid Players request the pleasure of your company at it's marriage in - I do, I do, I do!
 

 
The Madrid Players promises to to have and to hold you, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this moment forward until the final curtain do us part. 

Venue: Centro Gallego, C/ Carretas, 14, 3º.  Metro - Sol/Tirso de Molina

Date: 27th, 28th February and 1st March at 20.30

Gifts: 10€ entrance

RSVP: Email 
ticketsmadridplayers
@gmail.com to reserve your tickets

Join The Madrid Players at the evening reception of a wedding full of songs, sketches, joy and romance.  
I do, I do, I do! is sponsored by: 
 

Interview with the King's Group CEO, Elena Benito 


To read the full interview which featured in 'La Razón' Newspaper please click on the image below. 
 
Follow King's Group on LinkedIn
Keep up to date with King's on Twitter
Suscribe to the King's Youtube Channel

COBIS Our World Competition: Madrid


When we first heard about the COBIS “Its our world” competition, it was pretty much decided that it would be an amazing thing to take part in, and a great experience no matter where we were placed in the competition. The whole point of the competition was to enter a video, which we had made with Key Stage 2 students, talking about “our world”, which, for us, is obviously Madrid.

So Lucas P and Patrick B T decided to team up and plan out what we would do to make it as engaging, fun and interesting as possible. It was decided that a child from each class from Years 1-5 would be chosen to come on a trip to the centre of Madrid with us. The plan was to drive around the centre and stop at different landmarks / monuments and have all the kids do a dance in front of them, to bring an element of fun into the main idea of the video, which was to outline some of the most well-known places in Madrid. I was lucky enough to come along on the trip and take part in the exciting activity.

It was a fantastic day, it was really lovely to see everyone having such a great deal of fun and representing the King's Group in such a positive manner. I think we still would’ve been overjoyed if we’d have gotten last place, the experience was enough really, but as an added bonus we won second place. It is absolutely incredible that we managed to achieve something so big, but with the amount effort and enthusiasm put into the video it was certainly well deserved.
 

Speaking for myself (and most probably many teachers and parents) I am extremely proud of our work, and this is definitely something I won't forget for a long long time.

Emma G (Year 9)
 

Synthetic cubism art project


The Year 8 pupils at La Moraleja studied portraiture with a different twist last term. In addition to investigating human facial proportions and drawing their classmates, pupils also applied these skills to explore the work of Cubist artists Pablo Picasso and George Braque.
 
 
 
After working in pairs to practice drawing one another realistically we discussed and analyzed the work of Pablo Picasso his style of Synthetic Cubism.

Pupils experimented with the Cubist concept of multiple perspectives and superimposed several drawings of the same person into one composition. Pupils then developed their compositions into a colourful A3 painting using three colours.
 
 
 
As the term progressed the project eventually evolved into exploring Analytical Cubism and the style of George Braque, Picasso’s friend and rival. The pupils final pieces are amazing and are now on display in the corridor on the ground floor.
 
 
To find out about the Art Department and the work pupils are doing throughout the school find us on Twitter @KCS_Art La Moraleja Art.
 

Year 9 Trip to Thyssen Bornemisza Museum


In the week following Christmas the Year 9  pupils visited the Thyssen Museum to see both the permanent collection and an exhibition called, Surrealism and the Dream.
 
The Thyssen Bornemisza Museum is a wonderful private museum collection that spans a wide breadth of art history. In addition to informing the Year 9 about their new unit of work, this museum visit also enabled the pupils to view two Georgia O’Keefe paintings. This was the artist they focused on in their first term.
 
The exhibition was broken into two parts and included paintings, films, sculptures and photography. One of the main learning points we wanted the Year 9 to gain from the visit was that Surrealism was an art movement that influenced all art at this period of time in the 1920s. It is difficult to find art movements that effect all art, this includes writing and dance, as well as, painting, sculpture, photography and film.
 
As well as viewing the exhibition pupils had a substantial worksheet to complete before, during and after the exhibition. In the exhibition itself they completed two drawings, one of their favourite painting and another of a sculpture.
 
 
 
Overall it was a great visit and the pupils enjoyed the day tremendously, as well as those supervising. 
 

New teachers join KCS


Dhamayanthi Sangarabalan 

Hello, my name is Dhamayanthi Sangarabalan and I have just moved to Madrid after a year of working in the Seychelles.

I have had a really warm welcome at the school from all the children, staff and parents. A special mention goes to 5S for their enthusiasm for learning and their lovely smiles – we are working hard together everyday.

I have also been enjoying exploring the delights of the city and I have especially been appreciating all the cafés and restaurants. 

In my teaching career I have also worked in Japan, Edinburgh, Malawi and Ethiopia so travelling and learning about different countries is a big passion of mine and I am really looking to finding out more about the culture of Spain and o working with you all this year.
 

Zoë Glennon


After spending a wonderful Christmas with my family in the UK;  I knew I had to wave goodbye to them once again to embark on another exciting chapter in my life in Madrid.

I have previously worked in two other international schools in Bangkok and in El Gouna, consequently my friends and family are familiar with the farewell routine when I depart. Despite this goodbyes are never easy and a tear or two was shed.  

Any apprehension and nervousness felt before I arrived immediately disappeared when I spoke to and met other teachers who work at the school the following day. The relief of knowing such friendly, supportive people are on your doorstep is a feeling like no other.
 

This encapsulates the way that I have been welcomed into the community of both the school and Madrid. Friendly people surround me every day, staff, children and parents alike. Not only are the people wonderful, but Madrid offers so many opportunities for discovery and exploration as well as a chance to immerse yourself within the rich and diverse culture that the city houses. 

Madrid has been a fantastic place to move to. Who could resist the lure of the parks, the wonderful array of tapas and the shopping. For myself, Madrid is an easy place to live and King's College community has made it feel like home from the moment I arrived. Who could ask for more?

Zoë Glennon
Year 5G Teacher

Holocaust remembrance Day with the Hebrew School


On Friday 24th January Year 9 were kindly invited by the IBN Gabirol School to their Holocaust Memorial Service.

It was a happy, but at the same time sad day, and was quite emotional at times. Throughout the week we had been learning about the Jewish Religion, and the hardship that Jewish people went through in World War II, and by seeing this memorial service with our own eyes it really showed how painful and important the holocaust was.
 

 
We started off the week by joining together the two year nine classes, and watched a simple video. It showed evil creatures taking away one species of animal at a time. This however was a metaphor for the problems which occurred during the Holocaust when nobody spoke up for the people being taken. If people had all stood up against the evil creatures at the beginning then they could have prevented this from occurring. It is a lesson to us for the future, to know that when something bad is happening we can defeat it if we all work together.

We then read an article on the holocaust survivors, and the troubles that they had to struggle through to be able to tell us their stories. Furthermore, at the memorial today we heard the stories of other holocaust survivors. Whilst they were speaking it was very upsetting and you could feel the pain. One of the women which spoke (Rhoda Henelde Abecasis) was especially inspiring as she spoke about all of the hardships that she and her family endured during the holocaust. It was very interesting to hear her story, and quite sad with a few tears in the room.
 

 
Overall, it was a great day. Seeing and hearing all these different stories and having the opportunity to attend was a great honour. We thoroughly thank IBN Gabirol School for asking us to attend. The speeches were thought-provoking and have left us with very interesting . It is so sad that millions of Jewish people died, and we shall try to do them the honor of remembering them for the rest of eternity.

Hannah M & Carolina P

Media Studies Presentation 


On Thursday the 16th January in period six, Year 9 had an informative presentation about Media Studies by Ms Garrison, the Head of Media Studies at King’s College Soto.
 
When we were first given our subject choices for year 10, most of us simply ignored Media Studies and did not consider it for an option, and even those who did were not completely sure what this mysterious subject was all about. Sure, it was obvious that the main idea of said subject was to study media, however, we all had questions about Media Studies that needed to be clarified.
 
Luckily our school also realised that we needed to get to know Media Studies, so they invited Ms Garrison to talk to Year 9 about Media Studies. Ms Garrison came well prepared with an informative PowerPoint presentation on the mysterious subject and this, along with her deep knowledge on the subject, answered all of our queries. The presentation even included videos from Year 10 and 11 and other examples of their work.
 
Personally I believe that Media Studies is a very important subject as we live in a world, which is run by media, and will definitely be helpful for the future. It is interesting and after some research I have discovered that some schools do not give Media Studies as an option for students and it is a privilege for our school to give us the option to take such a creative and important subject for our IGCSE course.
 
 
“I really enjoyed the presentation and next year I am certainly doing Media Studies. I am sure I am going to learn a lot about my future”
Adriana Castro 

"Media Studies gives you the opportunity to understand the people and world around you "
Teresa Melero
 

2013 Christmas Alumni Reunion


At the end of last term, the King's College Alumni Association, in conjunction with our central Marketing team, held a Christmas Alumni Reunion at our sister school in Soto de Viñuelas.
 

The event was partnered with the King's College Christmas Carol Concert and gave ex-pupils the opportunity to re-visit their school, some of whom had not been back for many years.

"Alumni Events are so important, in order to give our alumni the chance to network, grow their professional contacts and keep in contact with one another and of course their school."  added Lauren Taylor, Marketing Manager.


The Alumni Event, held in our boarding residence; Tenbury House, was attended by over 30 King's College alumni.  Many of the attendees had passed through the doors of King's Infant School, King's College La Moraleja and had of course King's College Soto de Viñuelas during their time with King's.  

"It was great to hear about the success stories and careers of our alumni, as well as seeing some of them now going on to get married and have families of their own." commented Charlie Lewis,Marketing Assistant and event organiser.

One attendee commented "Already looking forward to the next event and would also love to attend the May Fair - I used to love this event when I was at school!"

For more information about the Alumni Association or indeed how to keep in touch with us, as a parent or pupil please click here.

You can also view our online photo album.

A Happy New Year to you all,

The King's College Alumni Association. 

     
 
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