Autumn - Queen Katherine School

Queen Katherine School
NEWSLETTER
Christmas 2006
SCHOOL LOSES TALENTED LANGUAGES TEACHER
The loss of Nathalie Locicero from the Languages
Department, has overshadowed, to some extent, all
the achievement recorded elsewhere in this
newsletter.
Nathalie was killed when she was thrown from
the pillion of a motorbike driven by her partner,
resulting from a collision with a car. There were no
other casualties.
The School has lost one of its most distinctive
characters. Nathalie was an exceptionally talented
teacher, held in great affection by both her students
and colleagues. As a native French speaker, she
was, of course, very useful to the rest of the department
in updating their skills in French, but her own
idiosyncratic use of the English language was what
endeared her to many. She was also held in great esteem for many
other qualities – perseverance, good humour and commitment to the
welfare and progress of her students perhaps being the ones
A new career
After Christmas, Mrs McIntosh, Head of
Careers, is taking up a new challenge.
Mrs McIntosh came as an English teacher in
1982, and
quickly established
herself as
a no-nonsense,
yet approachable
member of
staff. She became
Head of
Careers in
1980, and thus
took over one
of the most
onerous jobs in
the School, as
the role of the Careers teacher expanded
within the curriculum. One of her more
demanding jobs was finding work placements
for all of year 10 in June each year, which
demanded a lot of administrative expertise, as
well as dealing sensitively (and persuasively, at
times) with local employers. It is greatly to her
credit that only rarely has the students’ first
foray into the world of real work gone really
wrong, and that, indeed, the work placements
have often greatly enhanced the school life of
students, and have motivated them to achieve
more highly in year 11 than they might have
done. Her expertise and wisdom will be greatly
missed by the School, but they will surely be put
to good use as she undertakes a challenging
role as deputy head at Witherslack School. We
wish her well in her new career.
The Head writes:
Every term has its ups and downs, but this
one takes some beating. John Nicholls, our
Editor, is adding a little more about
Nathalie Locicero.
All I would like to add to my recent
letters home is my thanks to all those who
made the Celebration of Nathalie’s Life in
November such a memorable occasion.
Nathalie’s mother Reca, father Gaby and
sister Stephanie were delighted to learn
what a popular and inspirational teacher
she was. They were equally delighted by the
size of the gathering and the 2,000 Euro
collection which will go towards seating
around an established oak tree and the to
the Lupus charity.
Can I also thank all the staff and
students who visited Normandy, Chile,
Japan and Switzerland this term for various
educational and professional development
reasons. All were superb ambassadors of
the school. Preparations are already underway
for our World Challenge Expedition to
Bolivia in 2008 and a visit by some Chilean
teachers and students to QKS.
Closer to home, we say farewell to Tina
McIntosh who leaves in December for
promotion to Deputy Headship. We thank
her for all her work at QKS for nearly a
quarter of a century and wish her every
success in the challenges ahead.
Other highlights of the term include our
contribution to Kendal Youth Radio,
participation in the Kendal Rotary club
Youth Speaks competition as well as an
enormous amount of participation in
associated most with her.
A celebration of Nathalie’s life was held on
November 4th at the Parish Church, and it was of
great comfort to her parents and sister, who came
across for the service, that so many people attended
the event. A retiring collection was made for Lupus
charities. Lupus is a condition which is an autoimmune
disease where the body appears allergic to
itself. Nathalie was a sufferer from this disease, but,
remarkably, it never seemed to affect her teaching
or attendance at School, in spite of the disease being
sometimes quite painful.
Anyone wishing to make a donation to this charity
as a memorial to Nathalie Locicero should contact
the School, and a memorial bench is being erected
near the Junior Building.
Nathalie will be greatly missed, but not forgotten by those fortunate
enough to have been taught by her, or to have known her.
sporting events both at home and away.
Although we have not yet had the validated
examinations data, 2006 is looking like an enormously
successful year for us at Key Stage 3, 4
and 5. The sixth form results are by far the best
in Cumbria.
Have an excellent Christmas break and can I
wish you a successful New Year.
Stephen Wilkinson
Headteacher
QKS Head –
Teacher of the Year!
Stephen Wilkinson, Head Teacher at QKS was
given the accolade of Teacher of the Year at the
Radio Lakeland dinner in October, in an
award sponsored by Goodacres Carpets.
Mandy Dixon, of Lakeland Village, in her
speech to award the prize, said: “From day to
day, this gentleman is head of over 1400
students. He has been described as a hardworking,
extremely kind family man, who is
totally committed in everything he does. His
daily life in ensuring quality education to over
1,400 students and the Ofsted reports and
league tables are the
greatest example of
this. Since the summer
of 2000, his school has
seen vast changes,
including a new Music
Centre, 6th Form
Home Economics and
Science block.”

Design and Technology News
Another Arkwright
Jonathan Cook in Year 12 has recently been
awarded an Arkwright scholarship.
This is an award for students who show prowess
in the field of engineering and have chosen to
study a combination of D&T, Mathematics or
Physics at A-Level. Jonathan was presented with
his award during half term at the Institute of
Electrical Engineers in London.
This is the fifth time that a student from Queen
Katherine has gained this prestigious award. If
other students are considering a career in engineering and are considering following this
pattern of A-Levels please see Mr Bell for further details.
Young Engineers for Britain
Students from Queen Katherine School Young Engineers (YE) came away from the
above event with in excess of £2000 worth in cash and prizes at the National Celebration
of Engineering at the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich on Sept 11th.
4 students, Ben Stuart, Peter
Butcher, Liam Moffat and Niall
Till, from Y9 and Y10 (who were
representing the 15 or so students
who regularly take part in club
activities and competitions) won
£200 as runners-up in the ‘New
club of the year’ category. They
added another £250 to this by
being judged to have the best
teamwork that was observed
during a two-hour-long problem-solving activity. They were presented with two cut-glass
trophies and the cheques by Linda Sanford (a Senior Vice President of IBM) who had
flown over specially for the awards ceremony.
The School entered a series
of photographs, after an internal
YE competition, of wind
turbines taken by Jacob Deane
for a competition run jointly by
Young Engineers and The
Royal Academy of Engineering
(in remembrance of the 200th
anniversary of the birth of
Isembard Kingdom Brunel).
Jacob Deane
receives his award
Jacob won his age group category
and with it also the top
overall prize of £1000 (to be
D&T teacher Mr. Weightman receives
his award for his winning photo of
Jacob’s entry
split between him and the school) In addition to this he won a
compact digital camera worth around £150. On top of this the school won an 8 mega
pixel SLR digital camera and printer docking station worth around £500.
Young Engineers are a nationwide organisation who promote engineering activities in
schools. There are hundreds of clubs in schools up and down the country. The organisation
has a variety of major sponsors, including Airbus, BAA, The Royal Navy, Lloyds
of London, to name but a few. Engineering is promoted by competitions, resources and
sponsorship.
Year 8 Visit to Normandy
The 25th Year 8 visit to
Normandy took place in
October.
Once again, the party stayed
at the Château du Baffy, near
Caen, and completed language
talks as well as visiting Paris,
the Bayeux Tapestry and other
sites of interest and having a
generally good time!
The group at Pegasus Bridge, near Caen
Magistrates Court
competition
This year, QKS reached the North West finals at
Manchester… one of the QKS team members, Ali Sadek,
takes up the story.
“A group of thirteen year eight and nine students from
the Queen Katherine School found great success in the
2006 Magistrates Court Mock Trial Competition. After
winning both the local and regional heats at Kendal
Magistrates court, we found ourselves competing in the
national finals at Trafford Magistrates Court against
hundreds of greatly talented students from all around
the U.K.
We are all very proud to have been the only Queen
Katherine team ever to reach the national finals, and I
can’t express enough how much we all appreciate the
fantastic help from Mrs. McIntosh and Miss Atkinson.
Saturday 24th June finally arrived and we all met at the
school ready for our big day. We all breathed a sigh of
relief as we got off the coach in Trafford. Minutes later
we were greeted with music from Trafford’s finest youth
band, and as if that wasn’t enough, we then had a team
picture with the mayor of Greater Manchester. We could
already see this was going to be an experience we’d never
forget. We were then escorted to our seating area by our
team’s own personal guide. Our area was decorated with
balloons and ribbons. We all put our bags down and
decided to have a look around. The place was huge –
home to thirteen courtrooms in total! We began to practise
our roles as the prosecution awaited their trial.
The clock hit 11 o’clock and our prosecution team was
called in. Once again they performed to a very high standard.
We were positive they did well, however, we soon
became aware of the standard we were up against. The
pressure soon shifted onto our defence team. Around
twelve thirty we were given lunch to prepare us for the
afternoon. We had time for one more practice before the
defence was called in.
1:30, and it was time for the defence. We entered the
courtroom knowing this was our last shot, we gave it all
we could but the witnesses on the other team were excellent.
Again, the verdict rested in our favour, but was that
enough to have won the competition? We all felt the day
really tested our confidence and gave us a great insight
into how the court really works. The competition was
nearly over and we were all told to go to the main room
for the presentation. We waited in great anticipation and
finally the chairman of the competition came to
the stand.
It turns out we didn’t win. In fact we don’t know what
position we were. All we knew was we were somewhere in
the top 16 teams out of over three hundred from all over
the U.K. Finally, we have all benefited so much from this
experience and would like to thank Mrs. McIntosh for
making it all possible. Such skills as citizenship and teamwork
have developed throughout the competition and
I’m sure we will use them a lot in later life. So well done
everybody in the team, you were brilliant!”
A new team sets out on this competition this term, and
we wish them the best of luck!
Other citizenship initiatives included ex-deputy heads
and local councillors Austen Robinson and Sylvia
Emmott coming in to talk about local politics and that
was followed up by councillors visiting the School and 70
students being involved in finding out about their roles
and how to get the student voice heard.
There was also a session to raise motivation for a group
of students in Year 9, which also involved QKS staff.

Music
New Saturday
Morning
Music Centre
The Kendal Youth Training
Orchestra got off to a flying start on
Saturday 16th September.
Meeting every Saturday the flexible
orchestra now has in excess of 25
members playing the full range of
orchestral instruments. Repertoire
includes an arrangement of The
James Bond Theme in addition to
Baroque Dances and compositions
by the director Peter Crompton.
Students also round their musical
training by studying music theory as
part of the session. The orchestra is
now looking forward to giving its
Book week
The School Library celebrated
Book Week in October by taking
30 excited Year 7 students to meet
popular children’s author Michael
Morpurgo at the Leisure Centre.
This is what some of the
students had to say about the visit:
“We got our books signed. It was
Mr Morpurgo’s birthday the day
after we went to see him. He was
funny and told us lots of jokes.”
Chelsea Turrell
“I thought Michael Morpurgo
was a great experience. I got his
autograph and a picture of me with
him. That was great! He was really
funny and I learned a lot about his
life. Thank you!” Melissa Bean
Author Visit
On 5th July, children’s author Joe
Delaney visited QKS to launch his
new book, Spook’s Secret.
The books are set in the Preston
area, and so have a local flavour.
Despite an extremely high temperature
in the LRC, a large and lively
audience was held spellbound for
an hour listening to the author
first public performances over the
festive season which include playing
introductory music to the annual
Christmas Carol Concert.
New Peripatetic
Staff Sub
The department is pleased to
welcome four new peripatetic staff.
Frances Chiasson teaches voice
and piano and conducts the
Chamber Choir, Claire Windsor
teaches piano, Stuart Burton
teaches guitar and Jamie Fyffe
teaches drum kit and orchestral
percussion. It is wonderful to see
so many more students learning
instruments and voice within the
department; however, there are still
vacancies in each of these areas for
students keen to take up a new
instrument.
Library and Resources (LRC)
Author Joseph Delaney with
satisfied fans
talking and reading. Later Mr
Delaney commented that QKS
was the nicest school he’d visited
so far, and he was delighted with
the enthusiasm and interest of the
students.
Kids’ Lit Quiz
On 21st November, Mrs Bowers
and Miss James took teams from
Year 7 and Year 8 to Bolton
University to take part for the first
time ever in the international
schools’ challenge, The Kids’ Lit
Quiz.
In-house form teams will be
battling for the school prize
throughout the spring term, and
the in-house winners then will be
next year’s regional competitors.
Will The Kids’ Lit Quiz be the new
football? Watch this space!
Launching the
New LRC Teen
Book Collection
As part of an on-going ambition
to keep older students reading as
keenly as they do in the lower
school, the LRC has launched a
book collection especially for
older teenagers. Filled with challenging
books by contemporary
authors like Melvin Burgess, Meg
Rosoff, David Almond and Sarah
Dessen, the collection covers a
wide variety of genres and tastes,
but all with teen appeal. These
books are tagged “Teen Zone”,
and will not generally be available
to younger readers.
Trade Justice:
A CALL TO ACTION
The Second South Lakeland
World Development Movement
conference took place on Monday
16th October.
The conference was attended by
some 50 students from around the
South Lakes area including ten
students from the Queen
Katherine WDM youth group.
The conference built upon
issues raised during the previous
conference last April and included
topics such as Fairtrade, climate
change, the impact of big business
on the environment and the effects
of our purchasing habits on the
world’s poor.
The day was a great success and
ended with students sharing ideas
on how they can help to improve
the lives of people in developing
countries. These included buying
more Fairtrade products, promoting
Fairtrade within the School,
forming youth focus groups in
each school to campaign on WDM
issues and highlighting the current
unfair bias in world trade that
benefits the richest countries at
the expense of the poorest.
Typical comments from the
students included:
“The day was very informative
and a great opportunity to share
ideas with students from other
schools” J. Lawson (13JSC)
“It was a great opportunity to
find out more about fairtrade and
how it works, which made us all
the more determined to campaign
to keep up the sale of Fairtrade
goods within the school.” Vicky
Loader (13DF)
“We all got a lot out of the conference
and hopefully people will
be attending on behalf of our
school next year” Ruth Leahy
(13NB)
The conference is a yearly event
and the third is planned for next
October. The Queen Katherine
WDM youth group is currently
recruiting members from Year 12
who might like to get involved so if
you are interested please see any
of the above students or Dr Khan.
Chile visit
Over half term, four QKS
members of staff, Ms Jones, Ms
Cooper, Mr Park and Mr Mullen
visited Miapu in Chile to carry
on the linking work started by
Mlle Locicero last year.
There, they met students and
staff at the local school, and they are developing a School Council in Miapu
and pen friends between the respective Years 7 and 8 as part of a global link
for Geography and Citizenship work. Shortly, they will start a fundraising
initiative to provide Miapu with up to date computers so that a live link can
be set up between QKS and Maipu. Our photo shows Mr. Park, just visible in
the middle of an enthusiastic group of his new Chilean friends.
Extra-curricular events
and activities
September 2006 saw the introduction of even more extra-curricular
activities to complement the department’s busy programme.
Peter Crompton has launched the Concert Band giving a large number
of brass, wind and percussion players the opportunity to play popular
classics – at the moment there are around 40 students in the band.
Additionally a new cello ensemble has been established as a well as a
saxophone quartet. Many pop bands take the opportunity to rehearse
during lunch and after school. The three choirs; Senior Choir, Chamber
Choir and Junior Choir are now hard at work preparing for the Carol
Concert in addition to providing music for the Christmas Fayre. The
Chamber Choir made a wonderful contribution to the Memorial Service
of Nathalie Locicero, singing in both French and English. All ensembles
are keeping The Westmorland Music Festival and Arts Evening in mind,
and it is hoped that there will be an additional concert celebrating
popular music at school in the Spring Term.

Dramatic News!
CALAMITY JANE
Once again, the summer school musical, staged
at the Brewery in July, proved a triumph, and
was greatly enjoyed by large audiences.
One of the great values of school performances
is the experience and opportunities
for learning given to the cast, and is illustrated
by the following quotes from Jason Airey, who
played the main male
lead, Wild Bill Hickock,
and also designed and
made much of the
scenery, and Emma
Russell, who played the lead part of
Calamity Jane herself.
Jason, first:
“ Like me, if you want to go into a career
in any part of theatre or the performing arts, I
would recommend the school musicals – everyone
is appreciated and valued, no matter how
big or small your part. One piece of advice I
would give is don’t give up. If you get into one
chorus scene one year, it doesn’t mean that you
won’t get a lead role the next year. Gaining a
principal part wasn’t only enjoyable, it was a
great experience, and even provided me with
new skills. Singing with Mrs. Pater was a particular
highlight, and as I had never sung on my
own before, and she gave me great advice and
the confidence to perform in the show.”
Emma commented:
“Mrs. Barber and Mrs Pater were both
absolutely brilliant to work with and really
helped me feel comfortable and confident in
preparation for the shows. The week went by
really fast and the adrenalin rush we got from
being on stage is one I will never forget. The
performances went by really fast, and I didn’t
want the week to end.
Being part of “Calamity Jane” has given me
some amazing memories and I am so grateful for
the opportunity I was given.”
Those who saw the production are grateful for
a great show. We look forward to “The King
and I” next year!
The King and I
Performances of next year’s School Musical,
“The King and I” will take place on
11th–14th July 2007.
Details of auditions in January have
already been posted, and are open to
students from years 7, 8, 9, 10 and 12.
Rehearsals start for this production on
Thursdays soon after.
Arts evening
The annual Queen Katherine School Arts
Evening is to be held at The Brewery Arts
Centre, Kendal on Sunday 11th March,
starting at 7.30pm.
The evening is a celebration of the work
that students undertake within the
Performing and Visual Arts at the school.
There will be a feast of Dance, Drama and
Music performances in the main Theatre,
whilst an exhibition of GCSE, AS and A2 Art
work will be mounted in the Malt Room.
Tickets are available from The Brewery Arts
Centre Box Office 01539 725133.
Dance
at Queen Katherine
Dance at The Queen Katherine School is
really starting to take off. We now have
Dance GCSE in years 10 and 11.
Last year saw dance students involved in a
range of dance workshops led by professional
groups culminating in a performance at the
Nuffield Theatre in Lancaster by the present
year 11 Dance GCSE students as part of
Bedlam Dance Company’s show. This year
we are extending our Dance provision and
are now able to offer the following Dance
extra-curricular opportunities:
The Year 7 Dance Club – Fridays 3.45-4.45
The Year 8/9 Dance Club –
Wednesdays 3.45-4:45
Youth dance (Years 10–13) –
Wednesdays 6.00-7.30
All the dance groups meet weekly and
from January will be creating dances for
March’s Arts Evening (see above.) In addition
the Youth Dance group will be also
participating in The Brewery Arts Centre’s
Dance Platform in March. If you would like
to get involved with any of the above groups
please see Mrs Barber.
Drama
at Queen Katherine
The Drama Department has extended its
extra-curricular provision this year to
include the following:
Year 7/8/9 Drama Club –
Thursdays 3.45-4.45
This group is currently working on adaptations
of Roald Dahl’s ‘Revolting Rhymes’.
Year 10/11 Drama Group –
Thursdays 3.45-4.45
The Year 10 and 11 group is taking part in
the National School’s Shakespeare Festival,
and on Monday 5th February they will
perform, as part of the Festival, a 30 minute
reduced version of that Scottish play
(MACBETH) at The Brewery Arts Centre,
Kendal
Year12/13 Drama Group –
Wednesdays 3.45-4.45
This group is currently rehearsing a
reduced version of ‘A Midsummer Night’s
Dream’.
SHORTS
● A party of QKS visited Japan this term – more
details in the next newsletter.
● On Nov 27th, a group of Year 10 students visited
the Low Wood Hotel on a Catering and
Hospitality Day.
● A group of 12 Duke of Edinburgh students,
Ailsa Rowley, Vicky Schofield, James Stokes,
Peter Forsyth, Ashley Wallace and Michael
Evans, completed a 30 mile 3-day, 2-night expedition
in the Yorkshire Dales, in spite of some
particularly nasty weather on their first day. The
independent assessor praised in particular their
timekeeping, teamwork and navigational skills.
● The Awards Evening and School Open Evening
both took place this term, and both went well,
and showed off the School in a justifiably good
light.
● A School Environmental Group has been set up
by Mr. King, of the Science department, in
order to ensure maximum use of recycling, deal
with litter and involve themselves with the local
community.
● Year 12 and 13 students attended a performance
and discussion of “The Bomb” put on at The
Brewery by the Action Transport Theatre
Company.
● Year 12 and 13 Art Students have spent time
this term working with artist Ian Murphy.
● Year 8 visited St Thomas’ Church this term as
part of their work on worship in the local
community.
● No less than 18 QKS students were involved in
the triumph of the Amabile Girls’ Choir, which
won the title of BBC Radio 3 Youth Choir of the
Year at the Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff,
on November 11th.

Sports round-up
As usual, this term has seen a very full sports programme, with fixtures
at all levels in boys’ and girls’ football, rugby, netball, hockey (boys, girls
and mixed) cross country and orienteering.
Obviously, it’s not really practical to give a comprehensive list of
results, (although this is available via the PE and Games department) but
the following are some of the highlights.
❑ In inter-school football matches up to half term, there were 10
fixtures (boys and girls) in which QKS teams took part, resulting in 9
wins and only one loss. During the same period, there were 16 rugby
fixtures in the first half term with 9 victories and one draw (a 37 all
thriller for the under 16 boys at Carnforth.)
❑ The QKS 6th form girls’ football tournament took place on 16th
October at QKS. Carlisle College came out as overall winners on the
day, following good results against QKS and QES. It was, however,
wonderful to have enough keen female players to enter 2 teams, one
from Year 12 and one from Year 13. Both teams played extremely
well, resulting in a good afternoon being had by all.
❑ The Year 10 gifted and talented day was a chance for 30 Year 10
students who show talent across a wide range of sports to visit
Blackburn Rovers football club for a full day of activity. The purpose
of the trip was to provide an insight into what is required to and how
to use talent in order to progress in sport. Students visited the
Blackburn Rovers Academy for a tour, a question and answer session
and some practical activity. A tour of Blackburn Rovers’ stadium
demonstrated the attention to detail required at this top level of sport.
❑ The Girls’ Active Roadshow was organised by the Youth Sports Trust
and Norwich Union and promoted by double 2004 Olympic
Champion, Kelly Holmes. QKS students Gemma Martindale (left)
and Rebecca Thexton are here pictured with Kelly Holmes during the
event, which was designed to promote girls’ participation in PE and
school sport. The roadshow provided a fantastic day of practical activity
(outdoor activities and dance) and planning for the future of
girls’ sport.
Kendal Youth Radio
QKS took part in Kendal Youth Radio, and their broadcast was a
huge success.
The students involved were mainly from Year 9, with some from
year 10 and the 6th form offering services as willing interviewees and
news team.
Three Year 10 students, Laura Leach, Jess Lightley and Adam
Jamieson went to a “Meet the Media” Conference. They asked questions
to a panel of Media personalities and their questions were
aired on Kendal Youth Radio.
The highlight of the event for the School, however, was that a
group of 6th formers (Alex Peace, Martin Davies, Sophie Scott,
Bethan Lumb, Chris Cook and Katy Forster) won a competition
where they had to produce a radio advert for Cumbria Safety
Cameras young driver campaign. They created a 30-second ad using
facilities at Kendal College, which will be used on Lakeland Radio.
EXTENDED SERVICES
A lot has been happening during the course of this year including:
● “The Red Shed” – continues to thrive with a daily lunchtime drop
in for students, health clinic delivered by the school nurse, counselling
service and drug & alcohol support. Regular group sessions
are now running which include both boys’ and girls’ groups to
increase self esteem and peer friendships and a group of students
in Year 11 are about to embark on a course to raise awareness of
risk behaviour and strategies to stay safe. We now have the addition
of Rosie Naish our inclusion co-ordinator who is working with
students on specific areas of their learning.
● Youth work in schools – The youth work in schools initiative began
in September with 2 youth workers delivering weekly youth work
to a group of Year 11 students. This is delivered off site at the
Castle Street community centre and now co-ordinated by Tasha
Jones, Deputy Head of year 11.
● Breakfast Service – After obtaining a £17,000 grant to fund this
service for the first year, the service has been in more demand
since moving to the lower school hall. Breakfast is available from
7.40am until 8.40am each morning with Jaqui and Shelly. Typical
menu options are: bacon on a bun, scrambled egg and bacon
wraps, toast, hot & cold drinks, fruit, yoghurts etc, all at low prices.
● QKS Meadow View Nursery – The nursery is now expanding its
provision of after-school care and play for three local primary
schools, including Stramongate and Castle Park, with St Thomas’s
due to open in January. The nursery continues to deliver high
quality nursery education and full day care and has recently undergone
refurbishment both internally and outdoors.
For more information contact: Helen Hardaker (Nursery Manager)
on 01539 722888.
● Community Education – September saw the re-launch of courses
under the new management. We had a slow start to enlisting learners
but within the first 3 weeks of September most of the courses
where full. Courses are running over 2 nights (Monday & Tuesday)
with a plan for new courses to be launched in the spring term.
Language courses have been very popular, as has the counselling
course.
For more information on courses contact: Wendy Kalra ext 259
● Extending the opening of the LRC (Learning Resources Centre).
This provision is currently open from 8.30am until 4.30am.
Students make good use of this resource to access the computers
and Internet to complete homework and other activities and often
stay after school until 4.30pm. There is an opportunity to extend
the opening hours of this service and we are looking at the best
and most appropriate way to make this happen. More information
will be available shortly.
● Kendal Service Directory – We now have a directory that documents
all services available to children, young people and their
families within the area, including childcare, youth services, family
support and much more.
The directory is available electronically and to obtain a copy email
Wendy on: w.kalra@queenkatherine.cumbria.sch.uk.
● MAST project – Building on a training event in May of this year
meetings have taken place to develop a multi-agency support team
working with schools, children/young people and parents/carers in
an integrated way. This project has taken several months to
develop and now has the commitment and time of key practitioners
to go live during November. This project is an early intervention
and prevention team and is initially working with Kendal
Nursery School, St Thomas’s Primary and Year 7 QKS.
(A plan is available if you would like further information).
● Survey and Audits of extended services – During the summer QKS
completed a survey of their extended services and future developments.
This was then audited by the TDA (Training &
Development Agency) on behalf of DFES, culminating in the
school being recognised (from Sept 06) as delivering extended
services by the DFES. Acknowledgement of this in came writing
from Moira Swann, Director of children’s services.

QKS students on top of the world
Northern India was a fantastic destination for
a challenging month-long expedition for 39
students, accompanied by five staff.
This was no ordinary summer holiday and
students were pushed far beyond what they
thought they could achieve in a multitude of
ways. The students and staff travelled in three
distinct teams, following their own itineraries
that they had researched and chosen. All teams
flew to Delhi in July and then made the long
overland journey to Manali in the Himachal
Pradesh state. Team 1
also ventured further
into the Himalayas
reaching the town of
Leh in Ladakh.
Students were in
charge of the budget for the expedition
and had to arrange transport, accommodation
and places to eat throughout. They also had to
negotiate with local guides and cooks throughout
the trek. Teams needed to work together
and delegate tasks to ensure success.
All three expeditions included a muchneeded
acclimatisation phase, high altitude
12–14 day trek reaching passes and summits
over 5,000m and work in a project in a local
school. The final rest and relaxation phase
provided a chance for some sightseeing in
Delhi and two groups visited Shimla and all
finished with a fantastic visit to the Taj Mahal.
Manali (2,050m above sea level) was an
interesting town and was the first night where
students managed to sleep in a bed after a long
flight and overnight bus journey. Many were
pleased to have escaped the intense heat and
humidity of Delhi and were pleased to have a
chance to start acclimatising to the altitude
gradually. Manali was very green and lush in
contrast to the higher barren mountain landscapes
encountered on the trek. The monsoon
rains seemed to have started and many
invested in umbrellas to cope with the downpours.
Visits were made to Buddhist temples
and blessings were made for the safe return of
the teams.
The trek proved a great but rewarding challenge
for all. The first two teams had unusually
wet weather and although the cooling rain was
a much-appreciated break from the intense
heat, it was difficult to get washing dry and
forced many hours to be
5,500m into the itinerary. This really showed
them what walking at high altitude was like and
students coped marvellously to succeed to the
top. Return journeys were made interesting by
landslides blocking the roads, flooding and
collapsed bridges. The groups really experienced
what travelling in a remote region of a
developing country is all about. Students had to
adapt and make changes to original plans.
For many students the project was the highlight
and they realised the more they put in,
the greater the reward. Working with local
people and children in the school was a
pleasure. The groups planned what they
could do in 5 days and after liasing with the
local teachers and head teachers set to
sanding, painting, cleaning and, of course,
some teaching of English and playing lots of
games. The murals painted were of an
exceptionally high standard and students
felt proud of their efforts to
improve the very poor school
environments that they found.
Team 1 took out technical
drawing equipment for the
engineering students at
Secmol and taught students
how to use scale rulers.
Seeing the sights, trekking and
helping out.
spent in a wet tent. Still
this was a great way to
recover and catch up with a well-earned sleep
after a long day. There were some dry afternoons
when students played rounders and
cricket to use up any energy that was left. The
scenery was awesome and the rivers that
needed crossing provided lots of entertainment
and a test of nerves. The local cooks always
provided us with a refreshing cup of sweet chi.
On the trek, food was cooked by a team of local
people and we experienced a multitude of
dishes, naturally including rice, curry and delicious
bowls of soup. Birthday cakes were even
made in remote camps and singing and guitar
playing always helped to settle the group
before returning to the tents. Teams 2 and 3
seemed to also have the addition of the same
resourceful dog on their trek, to make the team
complete. Needless to say the hound ate better
than anyone! Some students in teams 1 and 3
also added an extra challenge of a peak of over
Team 3 raised some extra
funds and commissioned local
tradesmen to make 25 tables to make their
school the only primary school in the Kullu
valley to have desks. They also sponsored and
kitted out two young Indian men to attend the
local mountain institute to train them to
become mountain guides.
The whole experience was amazing and
students and staff would like to thank everyone
for the support that they received in raising the
money for what truly was an experience of a
lifetime.
We are now delighted to be launching
the second QKS expedition to Bolivia in
South America in the summer of 2008.
This is being offered to students in Years 10, 11
and 12. Bolivia is often referred to as the
Tibet of South America and the Andes and
the Amazon will provide a different and
equally as challenging and stunning country
to explore.