Copy
TKA Times - Edition 16 - Friday 20th January 2023
View this email in your browser
FROM YOUR HEAD OF SCHOOL

Dear Parents and Carers
 

Our week began with a whole school Holocaust Memorial Day assembly which focused on the theme of ‘ordinary people’, set out by the Holocaust Memorial Trust. Year group assemblies and tutor group activities have involved spending time considering examples of ordinary people who played various roles in the appalling persecution of Jewish people during Nazi rule. 

 

These ordinary people played a full spectrum of roles, from being perpetrators of the Nazi regime, to those who were victims of the genocide, others who played their part in rescuing Jewish people, or people who were bystanders to the atrocities playing out around them. As a school, we are deeply committed to learning about the Holocaust throughout the curriculum, and we look forward to welcoming a speaker from the local synagogue later in the term. Furthermore, Year 10 Historians went to ‘Hitler on Trial’ today, to strengthen their understanding of this period of history.

 

I was struck by the link made by the Holocaust Memorial Trust to our daily lives, “we are all ordinary people today who can be extraordinary in our actions. We can all make decisions to challenge prejudice, stand up to hatred, to speak out against identity-based persecution…”

 

Wish best wishes for the weekend


Ms C Venter
Head of School

Jack Petchey Awards

During the winter term, staff and students were casting their nominations for the students who they believed deserved the prestigious Jack Petchey award. This award recognises young people who have gone above and beyond to achieve greatness for not only themselves, but for TKA. The award not only considers academic achievement, but it may be used to recognise a personal triumph for someone who has faced a challenge in the past and pushed themselves out of their comfort zone to achieve excellence.

Just before Christmas, we presented our first three winners with the award and here is a brief summary of the efforts that our winners demonstrated to grant them this prestigious award:

Ellie (Year 12) - 

For showing consistency, resilience and generosity in offering her own time to take an active role in helping with younger years by serving in the Breakfast Club on a daily basis. Ellie has shown to be considerate and calm in her approach to working with younger year groups.

Gloria (Year 8) - 

Since starting at TKA, Gloria has always been a student that both teachers and students can rely on. With her positive attitude to every challenge that she is faced with, Gloria embodies the TKA spirit of resilience and displays the qualities of an ideal role model, with her engagement in house competitions and her support in helping Year 7's find their way around the school. 

Ludivine (Year 10) - 

Ludivine has consistently demonstrated throughout her time at TKA that there is no limit to what you can achieve. She is an inquisitive student and actively strives to learn new things, regardless of the challenges that she may be faced with. Ludivine is never afraid to have a voice and share her passions, especially with her participation in the TKA debating club.
 
 
Ocean Conservation Going Viral

Kingston Grammar School is hosting an online webinar on Thursday 26th January at 6:00pm.  The presentation is free of charge but booking is required and can be made using the link here.  Marine biologist Dr. Nathan Robinson will be live online to host Ocean Conservation Going Viral.  In 2015 Dr. Nathan Robinson was filmed removing a plastic straw from a sea turtle’s nose driving global anti-plastic campaigns.  
Film Recommendation
 

The Swimmers (on Netflix, PG13) link

It tells the true story of Yusra and Sara Mardini, two Syrian sisters who have to flee the war in Syria as teenagers. Their journey to Germany is incredibly dangerous and they face many challenges. However, the name Yusra Mardini might sound familiar to you as she became an Olympic swimmer competing with the OC Refugee Olympic Team at the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games.

Kingston Refugee Action has supported refugees and asylum-seekers in and around the Kingston area for 30 years: 

  • Legal advice

  • Counselling

  • Language skills

  • Housing, health and education

  • Career and volunteering advice

If you in need of support, would like to make a donation or if you are interested in volunteer opportunities, please visit Refugee Action Kingston

Report by Mrs Mackay, EAL Coordinator
Home Languages Festival

The TKA Languages Festival is back in 2023! 

This year, we would like to invite parents to support this wonderful event with some international food donations (finger food only please). If you enjoy cooking or baking, please get in touch with your suggestions. 

We look forward to hearing from you! 

Mr Taylor jtaylor@thekingstonacademy.org (Head of MFL) 
Mrs Mackay kmackay@thekingstonacademy.org ( EAL Coordinator) 
Hosting Spanish teachers

Would you be interested in hosting a Spanish teacher for B&B during our Spanish exchange in March?  The Spanish school is visiting us from Friday 24th March to Wednesday 29th March.  We would need two rooms, in the same or separate houses.  There may be an allowance to help with the costs.  Please contact jtaylor@thekingstonacademy.org if you are interested.
INSED Day
 
There is an INSED day on Wednesday 1st February for staff training.  The School will be closed to pupils all day.
TKA Short Story of the Month: January

"All Summer in a Day" by Ray Bradbury;  Genre: Sci-Fi;  Reading Time: 20 minutes

In this strange dystopia it has been raining for so long that most children cannot even remember what the sun looks like. Except Margot. Margot remembers the sun well…
 

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 January

FUEL 
 
FUEL stands for Feed Ur Everyday Lives. FUEL is something which Achieving for Children helps to run so that young people can come to free clubs in the Easter, Summer and Winter holidays.

As our Key Stage 4 pupils are turning their thoughts to their A1 assessments, now is a good time for them to revisit GCSEPod - it is an amazing resource that breaks down their courses into short videos that highlight the key topic-specific language that they need in their exams.

You can find here a short parents'/carers' guide to GCSEPod and encourage all KS4 students to engage with this fantastic resource. 

If your child is having difficulty logging in please contact Mr Holmes.
Key Dates in TKA's Calendar 2022-23
 
Please see attached TKA's dates for this calendar year.
PE & Sport Roundup


Hello and welcome back to the third edition of the TKA Sports Round-Up of 2023! The cold weather which braced TKA this week put many of our exciting fixtures on hold, but with an action packed week coming up there is still plenty to look forward to!

The cold weather didn’t stop our U14 Girls team last Friday though, who despite being on a run of 5 wins in 6 games fell just short of the Quarter-finals in the ESFA Cup. Goals from Emily and Charlotte saw the team bring a highly competitive match to extra time against Dame Alice Owens, who just snatched a 4-2 win despite a hard-fought performance from the team. The girls matched their performance last year in reaching the last 16 of the National competition, something all the players should be super proud of, we certainly are here at TKA.

Fixtures Round-Up

Tuesday saw our Year 7 A&B Netball teams take on Tiffin Girls in a close friendly game against our neighbours. Despite a promising performance, Tiffin claimed the win in both games, as the teams now look forward to a rematch next week. 

Unfortunately due to the cold weather, all of our football fixtures were postponed as a result of frozen pitches this week, and will be reorganised for a later date, leaving a lot to look forward to in the coming weeks. 

Other Sporting News

Saturday features our Cross Country runners competing in the Surrey Championships for Kingston in Reigate, following much success in the Borough competition prior to the Christmas break. Best of luck to all of those involved! 

Reading in PE

Here in the PE department we aim to encourage all students to read for pleasure and this week Mr Arun has selected an article around recent Sports Personality of the Year winner Beth Mead. Please do take time to read this Beth Mead article.

Did you know?

  • Since the Lioness won the Euro 2022, the number of female players registered with the Football Association has risen by 12.5%.
  • Arsenal’s Women's  game against Tottenham at Emirates Stadium in September set a league-record attendance for a women's game of 47,367. 
Reminder: If you are on our U12-U14 Girls football teams, or are just looking to get involved in football, we highly recommend attending one of the Girls’ football sessions with Richmond Park FC. These are a great opportunity to improve your skills or take on a new sport! Sessions are run at Tiffin Girls (Nextdoor to TKA) every Friday from 7-8pm. If you are interested, please find more information on how to get involved on the link
 
Mr Waters, Director of PE & Sport 
U14 Boys vs Merton Harris - Surrey Cup - Last 16


Last week the U14 boys took on Merton Harris in the last 16 of the Surrey Cup, an incredible fixture with so many twists and turns which was eventually won by TKA.

Despite twice going behind, the team showed resilience and application to go through the next round. Ethan scored an excellent equaliser when we were 1-0 down and this took us through to HT at 1-1, in a first half which saw us get dominated by the opposition, but the boys showed a real sense of togetherness to stay in the game.

The second half started bright, but Merton found the game's third goal to make it 2-1. With 10 minutes to go, the boys started to take more risks and it paid off with a beautiful finish by substitute Joshua Q to make it 2-2.

The game finished and it was straight to penalties, with some great strikes from our boys and a fantastic save by Sahib in goal which meant that William W scored the 5th TKA penalty to give us the 4-2 win on penalties.

See you in the Quarter Finals!

Mr Arun, PE Teacher 
Next Weeks Fixtures

Upcoming Fixtures
 

Friday (20/01):

Under 16 Boys Home vs Raynes Park (Surrey Cup)


Next Weeks Fixtures

Monday
:

Y7 & Y8 Indoor Athletics @ TKA

Tuesday:

U16 Netball Home vs Holy Cross 

Y7 A&B Netball Away vs Tiffin Girls 

Wednesday:

U14 Girls Basketball Home vs Richards Lodge 

Sports Leaders Year 4 Football @ Richmond & Kew FC 

Thursday:

Y7 Girls Football Away vs Tiffin Girls (Town Cup)

Sixth Form Basketball Away vs Waldergrave 

Friday:

U13 Boys Football Home vs Challonor (Surrey Cup)

Connected Kingston

Please click on the link for information about cost of living information and support.

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.
Copyright © 2021 The Kingston Academy All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you are a parent / carer of a TKA pupil or a member of staff

Our address is:
The Kingston Academy, Richmond Road, Kingston Upon Thames, KT2 5PE

Our website is:
www.thekingstonacademy.org

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list



2023