Pride in ourselves as a diverse community is at the heart of celebrating our school where all children can thrive. I was immensely proud to represent TKA at the Lord Mayor’s Dragon Awards ceremony this week, where our collaboration with WR-AP Architects won the Innovation Award for involving young people in regeneration. This was a project that approximately 20 students worked on over the last 2 years, with Nathan C (now in Year 12) as their official spokesperson. The photo below is of Nathan and me with the award and Sean Weston, Trustee, and Founder and Director of WR-AP.
It has been fantastic to see girls’ and boys’ football teams wearing their new match kit with pride, and conducting themselves impeccably both on and off the pitch at fixtures. This pride in ourselves has also been demonstrated during school time, where almost all students have been meeting our uniform expectations, looking smart and ready for school. Please do note the second hand uniform sale coming up on 10th October.
We were proud of form group 10B-2 and the positive impact they have had on our community for their suggestion of the memorial bench dedicated to Her Majesty The Queen which was unveiled on Thursday (photo below!). Finally, our INSED day has been for staff appraisals, a day where we reflect with pride on the achievements of our fantastic team of staff, who are so dedicated to ensuring your children have the very best experience at TKA: my thanks to them is never-ending, as they really do Go Beyond time and time again.
With very best wishes Ms C Venter
Head of School
Ms Venter, Nathan & Mr Weston (Trustee)
Dedicated to the memory of Queen Elizabeth II
Sixth Form Open Evening : Tuesday 11th October
5.30 - 7.30pm
Applications for Sixth Form Entry in September 2023 open on Monday 3rd October. In advance of submitting an application, we strongly recommend applicants attend our Sixth Form Open Evening even if they have attended the lower school. The evening will give students and parents the opportunity to speak to Curriculum Leads about specific A Level course content and hear more from our Head of Sixth Form about the wider opportunities on offer.
Second Hand Uniform Sale
We will be holding a second hand uniform sale on Monday 10th October, 3:15-4:00pm. There will be a range of skirts, shirts, jumpers, trousers, hoodies, ties and blazers. There are no skirts or skorts. Please bring in any outgrown or unwanted uniform after this date, so that we can include it in next term's sale.
UKMT
Wishing our Year 11, 12 and 13 participants well for their upcoming United Kingdom Mathematics Trust (UKMT) challenge on Tuesday, 4 October 2022.
"There is a world of challenging problems for young people to tackle, no matter their age and stage. Our Mathematical Challenges and Olympiads are excellent sources of challenging problems." - UKMT.
The rest of our Year groups, here at TKA, will have the Intermediate Maths Challenge (open to Years 9, 10 and 11) and the Junior Maths Challenge (Years 7 and 8) to look forward to throughout the course of this year too! Exciting times ahead!
Does the perfect murder exist? Dahl is famous for his children's stories, but in this unsettling tale a wife has to desperately cover up the grizzly killing of her husband. What mark out of ten would you give this story and why? Click this link to tell us your thoughts, and your review could end up in the TKA Times. All responses receive a merit! Deadline 31st October. Classroom code is: dztwhzt.
Social Time
Here are some pictures from our first Social Time morning of the year. This initiative runs everyThursday and welcomes students from KS3 to work with our Year 11 Prefect Team to form important intergenerational links. This week's activity was origami pizza making, the winners were Hilit and Lucie!
Homework Club
I would like to thank the KS5 students who are so keen in helping the KS3 student in Homework Club, which takes place every day of the week
.
Ms E Davidson, Head of Y13 &
Student Leadership & Pupil Voice Coordinator
TEDI
TEDI London is a collaboration of King's College London, Arizona State University and UNSW Sydney. They just teach engineering. Their exciting general engineering degree bridges many disciplines, including mechanical, electrical and electronic, civil, environmental, and product design. A group of Y12 students went to visit the campus on Wednesday of this week.
Key Dates in TKA's Calendar 2022-23
Please see attached TKA's dates for this calendar year.
PE & Sport Roundup
Welcome to this week's PE & Sport Round up. This week has seen multiple football teams in action in the ESFA National Cup. Last Friday saw our U14 girls team defeat KIngsdale Foundation School 5-1 in what was a repeat of last season's London Cup Final. Amazing result from a talented bunch who were very nervous prior to kick off but jubilant on the way home. (Please see the report from Mr Arun). The U14s now face Russell School in the 2nd round.
Also Friday saw our Y7 boys team make their debuts for TKA. The Y7 team came away with a remarkable 9-1 victory against KGS - a very sweet victory indeed - well done to the Y7s for setting such high standards early on into their TKA journey. (Please see the report from the Captain, Sam P). They now face a derby match against Grey Court in Round 2.
Monday afternoon saw the return of our Y11 team under the stewardship of Mr Arun. The Y11 team, even though depleted through injuries, came away with a great 3-1 away win at Harris Wimbledon. (Please see the report from Mr Arun).
On Wednesday afternoon, we had a packed out Hawker centre as we had two matches taking place simultaneously. Firstly the U15 girls defeated Rosebery School 2-0 in their ESFA National Cup 1st round fixture. A thoroughly deserved victory after an all round good display from all the players. The girls now face Riddlesdown Collegiate on October 11th at the Hawker Centre in Round 2. (Please see the report from Amelia S - Y10 player).
Finally the Y9 boys team faced Hollyfield in a friendly match in preparation for their upcoming cup fixtures. A pulsating game ended 1-1. (Please see the report from Mr Arun).
The Y7 girls team received a walkover in their Surrey Cup 1st round fixture after The Matthew Arnold School pulled out. We await our opponents in round 2.
Unfortunately, our Y8 girls team bowed out of the ESFA Cup after an agonising 4-2 defeat in extra time against Orleans Park. Ioanna A was our goal scorer with both goals for TKA. The girls will look to bounce back in the Surrey Cup.
A spotlight on PE lessons this week is the Y9 classes who have begun their ‘Project Rugby’ unit of work alongside Harlequins Foundation. A project funded by Premiership rugby to increase participation in rugby in 14-16yr olds. All Y9 classes will take part in the project over the course of the academic year.
This week all Y9 students received an email from me with the opportunity of applying to be a lunchtime ‘Activity Leader’ at Fern Hill. All the details and form are here Fern Hill Activity Leader if you wish to still sign up. The deadline for applications is Monday 3rd October 9am.
Mr Waters, Director of PE & Sport
Y7 Football Report
On Friday 23rd September, the Y7 football team went to Ditton Fields to play a football match against Kingston Grammar School. Everybody played exceptionally well, with the whole team contributing to a wonderful 9-1 win!
Alex F scored 3 amazing goals, including a volley that went straight into the top corner. Freddie L pulled off some incredible skills in the match to secure us another goal! Sam C also scored a goal due to being in a great position and an incredible through ball from Freddie. I scored a simple finish that went top corner. Finally Lucus G scored two amazing finishes to end the match.
Our keeper, Oliver B, made some incredible saves but didn't have to make many due to our very solid defence who played fabulously and passed some lovely through balls to the wingers which set them up to cross the ball into the box where players then tapped it past the line into the net. We only conceded 1 unlucky goal by the KGS striker.
We are very grateful for Mr Locket who was our incredible manager for the game. It's safe to say that everybody on the TKA team had a very enjoyable time and we look forward to playing more games together in the future.
Report by Sam P, Captain, 7L-1
Under 16 Boys ESFA Cup v Wimbledon Harris
The Y11 boys were really excited about their fixture last week. There was a real sense of togetherness and seriousness about the squad. We arrived in Wimbledon 20 minutes ahead of the game and Captain Ensar K led the team through a vigorous warm-up. Mr Arun knew that the team were destined for a positive afternoon through the sheer quality and attitude towards the warm-up. The game started pretty even, but then 10 minutes in, the game started to sway in our favour - mainly through the good work of the midfield trio Andy R, Samad C and Fin O. Good awareness, excellent decision making and effective passing in the final 3rd. Scoring was opened by Samad C, a brilliant left-footed strike that was driven into the bottom corner. Although it was a great goal, man of the match was given to Andy R, with a near-perfect midfield performance.
A 3-1 win sees the boys advance to the second round.
Report by Mr Nim
ESFA National Cup
Today we faced Rosebury in the first round of the Schools cCup. We had a lot of possession in the first half but their defence was tough and despite our efforts the first half ended 0-0. We reset at half time and came on the pitch fighting for the win! A sharp defensive clearance landed at our Captain Anna's feet who did a perfect through ball to Emily who sped past the opposition's left back and then passed it across the box to me and with my left foot it was 1-0!!! 10 minutes later, a mistake from their keeper led to a direct pass to Anna who placed it home securing the win! Full time 2-0 TKA! Looking forward to round 2!
Report by Amelia S
Under 14 Girls ESFA Cup v Kingsdale
The U14 girls travelled away to Kingsdale on Friday 23rd. For those that remember, Kingsdale was the school that our girls took on in the London Cup final last year, where TKA won 2-1 to become champions.
The girls were most certainly aware of this as the hour-long journey was all about how the opposition would be really up for the game as they even stated they were ‘a bit worried’ about the game.
We set up in a 4-5-1 with Captain Sophie G leading the line. As soon as the game started, all the nerves seemed to leave the girls. We were in control of the game right from the start. A strong game by the whole team but the stand out player of the match was Jess M. She was literally everywhere and involved in everything - tackles, passes, shots, headers.
A 3-1 win sees the girls advance to the second round.
Report by Mr Nim
Next Weeks Fixtures
Monday
U15 Girls Football: Surrey Cup 1st round vs Harrodian School - 4.30pm KO (Away)
Y7 House Football @ The Hawker Centre - 3.15pm
Tuesday
Y8 Boys rugby vs Coombe Boys School (Away)
Y8 House Football @ The Hawker Centre - 3.15pm
Wednesday
Y8 Boys Football: ESFA Cup 2nd Round vs Haberdashers Hatcham - 3.30pm KO (Away)
Y9 House Football @ The Hawker Centre - 3.15pm
Thursday
U14 Girls Football: Surrey Cup 1st round vs KGS - 3pm KO (Away)
Y10 Boys Football: Friendly vs Holyfield - 3.30pm KO (Home)
GCSEPod
All pupils in Years 10 and 11 have access to an amazing resource called GCSEPod which breaks down their GCSE courses into short videos that they can access on any internet-enabled device. The videos use lots of key language that students need for their exams and are a great support throughout the course. We encourage all students to engage with GCSEPod.
To help maximise home learning using GCSEPod, they have created this 4-minute video for parents/carers and are hosting a free webinar on 6th October - further details and registration are here.
If your child is having difficulty accessing this fantastic resource, please contact Mr Holmes.
Young Carers
Is your child a Young Carer for someone at home? Perhaps they help look after someone at home with:
A sensory impairment
A long-term illness
A physical or learning disability
A drug or alcohol problem
Mental ill health
If you think that this applies to your child, and you haven’t done so already, please complete this Google Form. We have around 40 Young Carers who are known to us, however we also know that that number will be much higher.
We work closely with Kingston Young Carers Project who come in once a month for lunch with our Young Carers. Kingston YCP is a fantastic organisation that has a weekly youth club and provides excursions and activities to the Young Carers that they support. If your child is a Young Carer and you haven’t signed up yet, do consider registering with KYCP.
In school we run a weekly Young Carers Club after school on Tuesdays in Pupil Support.
If you would like any further information please contact Mr Holmes or Ms Jacques.
Support for low level anxiety and/or low mood
Due to our membership of the Mental Health Support Team we are fortunate to have an Education Wellbeing Practitioner based in TKA one day each week, doing group work and supporting individual pupils who are experiencing low level anxiety and/or low mood. Click here for more information. If you think that this would be a helpful service for your child, please complete this referral form.
Talking to your child about online sexual harrassment: A Guide for Parents
The Children's Commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza DBE, has recently published a guidance document for parents/carers helping to support them to understand online sexual harassment.
The commissioner's team brought together a group of 16 - 21 year olds and asked them talk about what they think parents should know, and what they should say to their children when talking about sexualised bullying and the pressures of growing up online.
The report and poster 'The things I wish my parents had known…' can be downloaded here.
Organisations Offering Support to Families
Please click on the link to access a number of organisations for support.
