Welcome by Matthew Leeming, Headteacher.

Dear all

Welcome to the 3rd edition of our newsletter! As you might remember, we are keen to develop links with former pupils because we want the school to feel more like a family. We think current pupils can benefit from knowing more about you, their predecessors; we also think it can be quite fun to stay in touch with the place you went to school and some of the people you went with.

The school remains a busy and (I hope) a happy place. This year has seen Deputy Headteacher Rob Jeckells out “on loan” at Westgate, following on from Jane Marsh’s successful spell at Henry Beaufort – we are delighted to be working with our neighbours more closely than ever. We have seen the retirement of Kings’ legends Bobby Poll from the PD team and Steve Williamson from his position as Head of English. We also said goodbye to Bruce Adie, Debbie Germain and Naomi Small.

In this edition of the newsletter you will find articles about the wonderful Christmas Cracker; about our annual memorial service with the St Thomas’ Old Boys Association and about our workplace interviews. If you would like to get involved with any of these 3 events we would love to hear from you – the date of the Christmas Cracker is always published on the website early in October and you are really welcome just to turn up; we are keen to welcome former pupils with a military connection to our Remembrance Day service; we are always looking for volunteer interviewers and former pupils are the very best!

Coming up later this term we have the KSA Comedy Night (16 March) and also the Spring Concert (26 March). Again, we would love to see you at either.

We hope the Kings’ Alumni network will continue to grow and develop. Some schools have regular sports fixtures and social events for former pupils. We have made a start in this direction, but if you would like to get involved and help us to set something up for your year group, please do get in touch.

With best wishes

Matthew Leeming

Headteacher

Kings’ School Remembers

On Friday 10th November pupils of Kings’ School in Winchester were joined by

members of the St Thomas’s Old Boys Association, as well as parents who are

veterans and current members of the Armed Forces, for their annual Service of

Remembrance. Among those attending were recent former pupils who have swapped

their school uniforms for military uniforms. St Thomas’s was the boys’ school in the

centre of Winchester which predated Kings’, Danemark and Montgomery of Alamein by

some decades. Their alumni are now part and parcel of the Kings’ family and were

welcomed with the usual respect and affection they are shown every year. It was

wonderful to see Mr and Mrs Tony Dowland, Mr and Mrs Roy Williams, Mr and Mrs Ray

Pearce, Mr Len Burke, Mr Brian Keating, Mr and Mrs Terry Keating, and Mrs Smith, the

widow of Cyril Smith.

Our service of remembrance was led by the Reverend Neil Birkett, a former Deputy

Headteacher at Kings’, and there were poignant readings by pupils who have recently

returned from the Battlefields Tour, as well as some who created moving poetry

following a poetry workshop with Lieutenant David Boyles, another past pupil of Kings’.

The Last Post was played by Flo Lindlahr in Year 10 while Reveille was sounded by a

member of the The Rifles Bugle Corps. Following the moving ceremony, pupils,

veterans and service personnel enjoyed an informal tea, where our pupils had the

pleasure of chatting to the guests and finding out about their lives.

The Royal British Legion was represented by Mr Derek Green, and it was our great

pleasure to welcome the following members of the extended Kings’ family to our service

of remembrance:

Sgt, James Littlewood, WO Gareth Williamson, Captain Nigel Hicks, Lietentant Alex

Noble, Sergeant Nathan Jessup, Lietentant Chris George (Sea Cadets), Squadron

Leader Paul Mitchell, Cdr. Mike Carson, Lietentant Colonel Tim Luker, and recent

ex-pupils of Kings’, Corporal Eddie Lane and Lance Corporal Richards.

Once again, the staff and pupils of Kings’ School have worn their poppies with pride,

respect and gratitude.

Edyth Miles.

Help us motivate and inspire our pupils to have career aspirations beyond Kings’

Business and Enterprise need your support, we would like to use your career journey to

inspire and motivate our pupils. We want to link the curriculum to a variety of real and

achievable employment pathways, using your stories to help promote the many

different career destinations.

It would really help us if you completed the brief form in the link below, filling in only the

sections that are relevant to you. We want to create a diverse database to help create

these realistic displays. We promise that we will not be including any personal

Information on the displays.

Please click the link (it takes two minutes max!)

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/businessenterprisesupport

On Wednesday 29th November, we hosted our annual Christmas fair. This year’s

event was busier than ever with more visitors, more quality external vendors and,

importantly, over 20 stalls run by pupils selling products they had created. The

quality of these products was extraordinarily high and included jewellery, t-shirts,

mugs, coasters, Christmas decorations and a variety of Christmas gifts.

Enterprise activity has been hugely important at Kings’ School for a number of

years but since the opening of our new Enterprise Suite last year, the number of

small businesses being set up by pupils is climbing rapidly. The attendance of a

number of these businesses at the Cracker certainly added a renewed vibrancy

to the evening.

Year 11 Workplace Interviews

Over two days in November Year 11 Kings’ pupils were given the opportunity to participate in mock interviews. The objectives of the interviews were to support pupils’ forthcoming college, work based training or apprenticeship applications and to highlight the importance of preparation and reflection in their daily lives. Each pupil was interviewed by a professional from a specific career sector to broaden their knowledge of sector specific careers, raise aspirations and develop self-confidence. Once interviews were complete constructive feedback was provided to help them prepare for the future.

We were very fortunate to have over thirty volunteers supporting our interviews, representing a variety of sectors and careers including: aviation, engineering, forensic science, uniformed services, journalism, law, sport, web design, veterinary science and education.

It was particularly pleasing to be able to involve so many of our Alumni in this process; a large number of whom still remembered their own Year 11 Mock interview experiences!

If you would like to get involved in this initiative and represent your job sector then we would be delighted to hear from you.

Please email J.turner@kings-winchester.hants.sch.uk

Class of 2008 - 10 Year Reunion

It has been ten years since the class of 2008 left Kings’ School and we would

love for you to all to come back and join the ten year reunion at our Summer

Fayre on May 12th.

Come back and reconnect with friends, teachers and be given a VIP tour

around the school as a trip down memory lane - some of you may still have

your photos up on the wall!

I’m sure that the celebration will continue after the Summer Fayre and a space

at a local pub will be reserved for those who want to spend more time catching

up!

It would be great if you could share this news with your friends and as many

ex-classmates as possible.

Find and follow the event on Facebook so you can stay updated and join in the

discussion.

(Kings’ School, Class of 2008, 10 Year Reunion!)

Class of 2007 (July 17)

You have received this newsletter because you have previously joined our alumni scheme. Please tell all your ex-Kings’ friends and relations about us and encourage them to join, either via this link or via the Alumni link on our website. If you would like to unsubscribe please contact us using the email below