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King's College, Madrid, January 2014 Newsletter
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Welcome to the January Newsletter 2014

From the Headteacher


Dear Parents,

Reading through this newsletter, I feel so proud of being the Headteacher of King’s College. It is evident that King’s pupils are a very special set of young people. They really understand the importance of “doing something for others” through their charity work, which starts from a very young age by helping out at a Mighty Merienda.

They also join in a host of exciting activities at school, which encourage them to learn in a fun, practical way. You can read about how busy our younger pupils were in the run up to Christmas and how much they enjoyed their activities. Our oldest pupils, of course, have been studying hard as usual, and are reaping the rewards of their hard work as university offers come flooding in from the top universities in the world, including Cambridge,  Imperial, Durham and Manchester.

We have also been informed that some of our students were the top performers in the IGCSE and A Level exams taken last summer. Well done to all King’s pupils for their wonderful achievements.


Best regards


Elaine Blaus
Headteacher.
 

Whole School 

Charity Committee Says Thanks 


Dear Parents

This letter is to thank you and all the families who participated in collecting Christmas gifts for the Mujeres Opañel Association, and who generously donated funds, and used and new toys for this cause. It would not have been possible to complete this community project without the cooperation and solidarity of the families and pupils from across all year groups at the school.
 

Thank you for the overwhelming positive response, all underprivileged children connected with this association could enjoy Christmas despite the current crisis. 

Lara Santos and Kelsey Young
Heads of the Charity Committee
 

Some News From a King's College Alumnus


King’s College is well regarded for its high quality education in English. This allows its students to begin their degree studies in great universities, most notably located in the USA and the United Kingdom. There are countless success stories of King’s alumni, who have thrived in these countries, but I would like to tell you my own.

My name is Alberto and I am a former pupil of King’s College. I finished at the school in 2005 after my IGCSEs and two fabulous years in the the 6th form.

My post King’s career is a little bit different to the "norm", and I would like to share this with you, in the hope of inspiring our current pupils with what lies ahead.

I recently graduated in both my majors in Telecommunication Engineering and Software Engineering from two different universities in Europe. During the last two years of my university studies, I had the honour of attending KTH - Royal Institute of Technology, located in Stockholm, Sweden. This is one of the most prestigious and established engineering universities in Sweden and is internationally recognised for its excellence in engineering teaching and research; a recent visit to KTH in 2013 from US President Barack Obama demonstrates this.
 

 
I was given the option of enrolling in a special double degree programme shared with my home university, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid - the technical university of Madrid. This entitled me to obtain a Swedish engineering degree in the field of my major. In parallel, it forced me to learn Swedish. Due to my interests, I also followed a postgraduate Master of Science programme in Software Engineering of Distributed Systems.

I recently attended my graduation ceremony at Christmas. It was in the same place where the Nobel Prizes are awarded each year - an experience within itself. Now after graduation, I have managed to settle in Stockholm, one of the most beautiful cities and the capital of Scandinavia.
 

 
Swedish society is amazing, everyone has an exceptional level of English and Swedes are friendly and helpful. There is a lot of cultural life in Stockholm and living standards are very high. Stockholm has gained a great reputation in the high tech world as it has been described as part of the New Silicon Valley of Europe due to the huge amount of IT companies present there, such as Ericsson, as well as a broad range of start-ups like Spotify.
 

 
So from one capital city to another, my time at King's College allowed me to prepare for and achieve a career that I love. It is possible; if you work hard and set your mind to the challenges that lie ahead you too can achieve your dreams.

Signing off from Stockholm,

Alberto
 
 

Diary Dates


Junior:

Tuesday 11th February – KS2 Internet Safety Day, 6.30pm - Nursery Reading Meeting - Auditorium

Wednesday 12th February - 6.00pm – Meeting for Year 5 parents re the Residential trip to Benicassím & 6.45pm - Meeting for Year 6 parents re the Residential trip to Cullera - Auditorium

Tuesday 18th February – 6.30pm – KS1 Reading Meeting (Years 1 & 2) – Auditorium.

Thursday 27th February – 3.30pm – 3L – Class Assembly – Movement Room

Friday 28th February – Carnavales – Primary classes – P.N – Year 6


Senior:

Monday 3rd February -  Inspection Week. Start of House Debate competition. House Rugby continues 
 
Tuesday 18th February -  Yr 11 Trial Exam Reports Published

Tuesday 18th February - Yr 12 -13 Trial Exams 18th-26th   
                                         
Wednesday 19th February - Yr 11 Parents Evening 5-7pm Year 11 Options Meeting 7.15pm   

Monday 24th February - Yr 7-11 Trips Week           

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

Monthly Menu
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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 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

The School Councils Join Together 


In December the Primary and Secondary Student Councils joined together for a joint meeting. The issues on the agenda reflected whole school issues and included the Dining Room and the ways we enjoy learning in school. It was fantastic to see the pupils of King’s College working together to find proactive ways of improving the school. The meeting was very successful and some great ideas came out of the pupils' discussions. The Student Council members are already looking forward to their next Whole School meeting later this term.   

Save a Life


Nine members of King’s staff from the three King’s schools in Madrid and Head Office met at King’s College Soto de Viñuelas to undertake a ‘Paediatric First Aid Course' during the inset day in January.

This course consists of two units ’Paediatric Emergency First Aid’ and ‘Managing Paediatric Illness and Injury’.

Although a very serious subject, much fun was had while covering a range of topics that included: assessment of a situation, dealing with an unresponsive casualty, infantile convulsions, control of bleeding and shock, anaphylaxis, head injuries, fractures, asthma and more.
 

 
Assessment was ongoing throughout the day conducted by the instructor in order to assess the participants' practical skills, and there was also a multiple choice question paper to answer at the end of the day. All nine members of staff passed and will be issued with a certificate that is valid for three years.
 

Football Season Update 


We are having another great season thus far in the Saturday football leagues with two King’s teams sitting at the top of their league holding 100% unbeaten records. ‘Infantil A’ sit three points clear in their league with a game in hand, and they have managed to score an astonishing 28 goals in their first five games, whilst only conceding five.  Astonishingly,  â€˜Benjamin’ has already won their league; in their six fixtures they have played some outstanding football and have scored 45 goals in the process.
 

 

Benjamin – The Champions’ Success Story

 
It has been a fantastic season for the champions as they finish the season with a staggering goal difference of +35. Their goalkeeper Hector has made a number of great saves throughout the season and with the captain Joseph in front of him it provided the attack with the perfect platform to score their many goals. Lucas accompanies Joseph in his defensive duties and has been a rock at the back all season. The team’s creative players are Marcos and the two quick Gonzalos, who between them cause every defence all sorts of problems. Gabriel is a ‘Ronaldo’-like free kick specialist which is a great asset to have, whilst Iñigo has proved his quality throughout the season. Striker Alex, who is the youngest member of the team, has showed great pace and finishing ability against bigger and older opposition. He plays up front alongside Luke who is the deadly top scorer. We hope this talented team can go all the way this year.  
 

Primary

Happy Times in Pre-Nursery


November and December were very busy months for the children in Pre-Nursery.  As part of our topic on Celebrations we celebrated Halloween with a fun few days of themed activities, finishing off with a Halloween party for which the children made their own bat hats.
The children had great fun working together to create this firework display. 

 
Making and decorating candle holders.
 

 
Exploring colour, pattern and shape. 
 

 
The children learned about birthdays and made and decorated cakes as well as learning to sing ‘Happy Birthday’. To end the theme we held a birthday party, which was great fun.

In the run up to Christmas the children decorated Christmas stockings and giant pine cones with glitter and sequins. They also made Christmas cards with their hands and feet. They enjoyed learning Christmas songs and were very good during their first visit to the auditorium to watch the Nativity practice. 
 

Busy, Busy, Busy in Reception


The Reception pupils were very busy in the build up to Christmas. Much time was spent preparing for our Christmas show and pupils were very inspired by the theatre show that came to Kings College.

The story had all the children captivated as they tried to work out how Pinocchio was involved in the story of the missing books or whether the boat would move in the water because it was made from paper.

Pablo G from the Penguin Class was quick to point out that boats are made from wood not paper and all the children wanted to know what would happen to the boat when it went in the water.
 
  
 
We were all so intrigued that we found it difficult to sit down and many children were very keen to give their thoughts on what might happen. The children were held in suspense and could not wait to find out what would happen when the huge lump of ice was put in the water and were amazed when it floated.
 
 

After being inspired by the great acting it was the children's turn to put on a performance for the parents. This year we focused on celebrations from around the world. Children in Seahorse class told parents all about how Christmas is celebrated in China and Malawi.
 
 

Children in Penguin Class focused on how Christmas is celebrated in Poland and United States of America.
 
 

Then Children in Owl class showed us how Christmas is celebrated in Australia and Eire.


 
All the pupils learnt so much, for example
  • Did you know that in some parts of Poland a star called Gwiazdka brings the presents on Christmas Eve?
  • In Australia it is very common to have a barbecue on the beach on Christmas Day.
  • In Malawi the focus is on worship rather than the exchange of gifts, and on singing, dancing and eating together.
All the pupils really enjoyed the performance and the children were so well behaved when we visited a church to see the nativity scene and the wonderful stained glass windows.   


 
After the visit, pupils went back to school and made their own stained glass windows and prepared the classroom for our Christmas party. Pupils were even lucky enough to have Father Christmas come to visit.
 

Colour Day and New House Captains in Key Stage 1


In December, the children in Key Stage 1 enjoyed a House Colour Playtime. The children chose from a variety of activities and played with other pupils from their Colour House. "It was wonderful to see them playing with their friends from different classes and year groups." added Mrs Parkinson.
 

 
During Term 1 four children from Dolphin class worked very hard as House Captains; Alejandra A (Shield House), Mathew P (Lion House), Angela F (Knight House) and Ivan S (Shield House).

A ‘colour lunch’ was held for our House Captains to celebrate their hard work and each House Captain chose a friend from their House to join them.

Four children from Panda class have now been chosen as the new House Captains; Catalina M (Lion House), Ravi V (Shield House), Veronica S (Crown House) and Tiago G (Knight House). A special assembly was held to announce the new captains and for them to receive their captain badges.
 

Buddy Reading


At the start of the school year, the children in Year 3 were allocated a ‘Buddy’ in Year 6 to help them settle in and adjust to Junior life. This began as a break time activity where the older children helped their younger colleagues by introducing them to lunchtime routines and sharing some of their favourite games, but it has now developed into the classroom as well.

6E and their 'Buddies' in 3W recently began shared reading together, where the children in each ‘Buddy Pair’ had the opportunity to read a book of their choice and discuss what they enjoyed about it. This proved to be a valuable and rewarding experience for all involved.

Sofia in 6E said "It gives you a good feeling to see the little ones read and think that once you read like them; it makes you realise how much you have improved."
 

 
Both class teachers were impressed by the cooperation, enthusiasm and the positive supportive atmosphere within the classroom. Following the success of this experience, the buddy reading will be introduced across both year groups and it is hoped the links will extend into other subject areas too.

Nursery Classes Enjoy a Story-telling Christmas 


In the last weeks of the Autumn term the Nursery classes were very busy with preparations for Christmas. On one occasion we were thrilled to be invited to a session of story- telling in Spanish by the theatre company 'cuentameloconmusica'. 

The pupils really enjoyed the experience in which they met Pinocchio and Little Red Riding Hood among others. They joined in enthusiastically and helped the actor on his way to America. 
                                      
 
 
On the final Monday of the term the Nursery classes were invited to the Reception Nativity dress rehearsal. The Busy Bees, Elephants and Dragons had been learning about the Nativity story and acting it out in their classrooms; so they really enjoyed seeing the Reception version of the story.
                 

 
The Nursery classes also talked about the presents they wanted to give or receive and they made decorations for their classrooms. They practiced their creative skills with shiny papers, glue and glitter. The children counted the days to their Christmas parties on the last day of term and couldn’t wait to meet Father Christmas.

Making Christmas Cards for Charity


Just before Christmas, there was a hive of activity in Years 5 and 6, as the children were enthusiastically creating Christmas cards to be sold for charity.
 

“It was great fun listening to Christmas songs and carols, whilst making the cards with my friends,” added Lucia happily.

They managed to produce several hundred cards – all different sizes and shapes, using different materials and overall a lot of imagination and warmth.
 

 
“It’s so important to help other people, less fortunate than ourselves, especially at this special time of  the year” stated Fabio.
 

Spreading the Christmas Message 


On the 16th December the King’s College Junior Choir and Orchestra went to spread some Christmas cheer at 'San Camilo Residencia' in Tres Cantos.

With the pupils' Christmas hats and instruments adorned with tinsel, the residents were treated to a programme of traditional carols and modern Christmas songs. The audience, which exceeded 100 residents, joined in to the finale of ‘Feliz Navidad’, including a number of members of staff who danced around the auditorium.

After the performance, the children were given the opportunity to meet the residents and give out Christmas cards which some of the other pupils had previously made. It was a thoroughly enjoyable morning spent sharing the joy of Christmas.
 

Christmas Mighty Merienda 


On Thursday 19th December we held our annual Christmas Mighty Merienda here at Soto. This is always a very special event for us here at King’s College and always serves to put us in the Christmas spirit ready for the festivities ahead.
 

 
This year for the first time in the Christmas Mighty Merienda’s history we had to set the stalls up in the dining room as it was raining that day, but that indoor move did nothing to dampen the feelings of good will, and many parents and families came along to support the event.

Father Christmas paid his usual visit, and a group of our Teaching Assistants, supported by some of the Mums who kindly gave up their time to come along to help, created a spectacular grotto for Santa to greet the very many children who wanted to see him. Many thanks to those Mums who supported us.
 
 
We managed to raise an incredible 1,958.60€ for the children of Nyumbani, one of our 4 school charities. Many thanks to all those who donated cakes, biscuits etc to sell on the day, and of course to all those who came along to support the Might Merienda.

Secondary 

Scholar's Dinner 


This year’s annual Academic Scholars’ Dinner was, as usual, a wonderful celebration of the outstanding academic talents across the full range of King’s Group secondary schools.  Soto, Alicante, Murcia and St Michael’s were all represented on the night, and the mixture of student scholars, parents and staff were all captivated by the guest speaker, Dr Mark Lewney. Dr Lewney is a ‘physics evangelist’ from the UK who has featured greatly in the media, such as on Newsnight, The One Show and Radio 4 speaking on the wonders of physics, and more specifically on his greatest passion: the physics of the rock guitar. His inspiring words, depth of knowledge and Liverpudlian sense of humour connected with all and he was swamped by interested science students at the end of the evening. 
 

 
Not to be outdone, Inés Hidalgo (Soto’s Senior Scholar) replied with an equally inspiring speech thanking both Dr Lewney and the congregation of parents and staff for the boundless support they have given to the education of the scholars to-date. Each student received their certificate from Sir Roger Fry personally as an acknowledgement of their remarkable academic achievements at King’s in their education thus far.
 

Duke of Edinburgh Award


Like previous visits to Folly Farm the muddy conditions certainly didn’t put our Year 11 and 12 pupils off from getting ‘stuck in’, literally. But in stark contrast to previous training events the Bronze Award group were blessed with clear skies and warm temperatures during their walk in the Mendip Hills in the UK's South West for their first taste of adventure and training.
 
One group boldly walked close to 17 kilometres on the Sunday: a fantastic achievement. By the end of the weekend, all students were able to navigate very successfully and were happy to take on the mantle of 'map reader' for the group when required. But the best fun was reserved for the infamous ‘Wide Game’, with a secret twist involving Space Balloons, Light Sticks and real rockets. To find out more Year 10 will have to start thinking about signing up to DofE next year.
 
 
On their return, the staff commented that they had found the group to be the most considerate, open-minded and enthusiastic cohort yet.  
 

Cambridge Outstanding Learner and Edexcel High Achiever Awards

 
The College wishes to extend its warmest congratulations to the following current and past Year 13 students, who have been recognised by the exam boards for truly exceptional academic performances in their recent public exams:  
 
 
Guillermo S – Highest Mark in Spain for Cambridge IGCSE Coordinated Sciences
Ana H – Highest Mark in Spain for Cambridge IGCSE Economics
Andrea C – Joint Highest Mark in Spain for Cambridge IGCSE History
Alejandro R – Joint Highest Mark in Spain for Cambridge IGCSE History
Elvira O – Highest Mark in Spain for Cambridge IGCSE Mathematics
Hernando H – Joint Highest Mark in the World (excluding UK) for Edexcel GCSE Italian
Sara V – Joint Highest Mark in the World (excluding UK) for Edexcel GCSE Italian
Guillermo D – Highest Mark in Spain for Edexcel A Level Chemistry
Guillermo D – Highest Mark in Spain for Edexcel A Level Physics
Giancarlo L – Highest Mark in Spain for Edxecel A Level History
Yuxi L – Highest Mark in Spain for Edexcel A Level Chinese
 

Top University Offers for Year 13's

 
The Christmas and New Year period is such an exciting one for our Year 13's as, having ensured their application forms are in earlier than most students in the UK, they begin to receive their university offers.

Suddenly, all the hard work that has been put in at King’s over so many years becomes intensely relevant as they see the potential prize on the horizon. Our guidance, support and advice begins very early on within Year 12 and we are fortunate to have the wisdom of a highly experienced 6th Form staff team who go to great lengths to ensure King’s students stand out on paper and that they are as prepared as possible for grueling interviews.

Our students are given individual mentors for their applications and benefit from the advice of visiting Admissions Tutors and experts in their chosen fields.  
 

 
Thus far, two students have received offers from Cambridge (Alex A to read Chemical Engineering at St John’s College and Kelsey Y to read Economics at Murray Edwards College), in addition to a whole host of offers for other students for the most competitive courses at Russell Group universities including Engineering at Imperial and Modern Foreign Languages at University College London.

We also have offers in from Ivy League universities in the USA from the likes of Stanford and with time still on our side, to date we have offers from 4 of the top 7 ranked universities worldwide.
 

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 in our boarding residence here at Soto de Viñneulas, Tenbury House. 
 

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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