Dates for your diary
- Thursday 23/02/2023 - Yr9 Parents' Evening
- Thursday 02/03/2023 - Yrs 10/11 Macbeth performance
- Tuesday 07/03/2023 - Yr 9 Options Evening
- Thursday 09/03/2023 - DRET Secondary Music Festival
- Monday 13/03/2023 - Yr7 Lincoln University visit
- Friday 17/03/2023 - Yr10 Stamford College visit
More calendar dates can be found on the school website here
Senior Leadership Team Update
This final week of the half term has been another busy one at KEVI!
Thank you to all families who took the time to attend our online Year 7 Parents’ Evening on Tuesday. We hope you found the discussions as useful as we did. Year 9 Parents’ Evening is next on Thursday 23rd February. A separate letter has been sent with details of how to book appointments. Our reception team will be making contact with anyone who hasn’t managed to book appointments from Monday 20th February.
On Thursday staff attended an online evening training session with the rest of our family of 11 DRET secondary schools. Teachers spent time looking at how they can get better at checking and supporting the progress of all students in our lessons. For teachers, and students, our aim is to always keep getting better at what we do. This isn’t because we aren’t good enough but because we can always improve.
It has been wonderful to see our netball teams competing against Havelock and Barnes Wallis this week. Well done to our Year 11 team who won 31-4 against Havelock!
At the time of writing we have just hosted our first House Talent Show! It was amazing to see such an array of talent on display. The show ended with Sam and Jacob performing a brilliant rendition of Wonderwall by Oasis with everyone singing along. Well done to everyone who displayed their KEVI courage by performing on stage.
Happy half term!
Please remember we have a programme of Period 6 after school lessons to support Year 11 students to prepare for their final examinations.
Each student in Year 11 should have a revision timetable and should be completing two hours' independent revision per day. During half term this should be increased.
Mrs S Jones - Executive Principal
Mr M Wilkinson - Acting Head of School
Values
Honesty and Respect
Our house assemblies this week focused on our core values of honesty and respect. Heads of House looked at two news stories which showed these values being lived:
Honesty pays off for homeless Boston man: Donations of more than $110,000 (£67,000) have poured in from across the US for a Boston homeless man who returned a lost bag with $42,000 in it. Glen James alerted police after he found the backpack containing cash and traveller's cheques last weekend, and the bag's owner was then tracked down.
Lost Spanish lotto ticket handed in to clear conscience: A man who found a multi million-euro winning lottery ticket in La Coruna, Spain said he would not have been able to sleep if he had claimed the prize. Manuel Reija Gonzalez's discovery of the 4.7m-euro (£4m; $6.3m) ticket has prompted a search for the real winner. "I never for a moment thought about keeping it because I wanted to be able to sleep well at night with a clear conscience," he told the BBC.
Both examples show people making the decision to be honest because it was the right thing to do. We explored the clear link between honesty and self-respect. Both stories, but in particular the second one, give us a clear link between honesty, self-respect and feeling good about oneself. We considered how they might have felt deep down if they had profited from being dishonest. A clean and sound conscience has benefits for our own mental health and wellbeing. At KEVI, we always do the right thing because it is the right thing.
Why we do what we do -Academy Rationale
Teaching and Learning - Review Learning at the start of a lesson
At KEVI we use a lot of evidence-based research to inform our planning and the way we deliver lessons. An educationalist called Barak Rosenshine has ten principles he recommends for effective teaching. We use his work to guide our delivery in lessons.
Throughout the rest of the year, we will explain the rationale behind each of the principles and how we use them in our lessons.
Principle 2
Present new material in small steps with student practice
Cognitive Load Theory explains how our working memory has a limited capacity. So, if students are presented with too much information at once, the brain suffers from something known as overload. This causes the learning process to slow down or even stop since the brain can no longer process all the information being presented at that one time.
As a result, our teachers present in small steps.
House News
The final week of term and we hosted our first KEVI Talent Show today. Of the 28 students who auditioned at the start of the week, 13 took part in the talent show at lunchtime. We were excited to perform the show to over 200 pupils who had tickets.
Next term we have Sports Relief cupcakes, Deal or No Deal, Photography, Tag Rugby and Bullseye Quiz.
Miss C Eyre - Games Master
Year 11 Update
After half term Year 11 enter an intensive three weeks of final mock examinations. This is the final chance to practice sitting the papers before the summer and they are so vital because they give teachers essential information about what to prioritise for teaching in the final weeks before the real exams.
This Saturday we are hosting another Saturday School with GCSE English poetry and GCSE Maths foundation classes taking place from 10.00 – 12.00am. Please support your child to attend and join everyone who will be making accelerated progress through these intensive sessions. Our goal is to ensure every single one of our students has the qualifications, and character to create a life of their choosing.
Here is the link for Saturday School if you haven’t managed to sign up yet.
Of course, everyone is welcome to attend, even without signing up. It is helpful to know how many are coming so we can plan the important logistics of rooming, resources and refreshments.
All Year 11 students should have created a revision timetable and we dedicated time in school, with support, to ensure this happened. We know that it can be difficult to motivate oneself to revise so sticking to a revision timetable, and ticking off the hours as they are completed, can be an effective way of ensuring revision happens.
Please support your child by asking to see their revision timetable this half term. As humans we often need someone to hold us to account. You can support your child by looking at what they should have revised the previous day and asking if they did it or not. If not, when are they going to make up the hours? Every single young person is competing for grades with students who will be doing at least two hours' revision every day. During the half term holiday all students should be completing more than the recommended two hours a day. We know that they will be competing for the best grades with students who are revising much more than that next week.
6th Form Update
Year 12 Next Steps
We have reached the time of year when Year 12 need to think about what happens next as they start to take part in sessions covering all the possible choices that they have Post 18.
Key dates are noted below and there will be sessions with organisations such as ASK, who deal specifically with apprenticeship. Other topics we look at are finance (applying for) and budgeting, transition to HE and university applications, including writing personal statements.
- Wednesday 22/02/2023 - Post 18 Options
- Tuesday 14/03/2023 – Decision Making
- Wednesday 19/04/2023 – Career Ready Skills
- Thursday 25/05/2023 – Building your Personal Brand
Year 12’s visit to Greater Lincolnshire Careers Hub - 7th February
This event was organised by the Greater Lincolnshire LEP (Local Enterprise Partnership) whose purpose is to drive economic growth and be the voice of the local business community, ensuring that the economic interests of the area are properly represented. The Greater Lincolnshire LEP is a business led partnership with both private and public sector leaders. By working with Government and stakeholders they deliver the strategic projects and programmes that will drive local prosperity and local economic growth.
As part of the flagship Lincolnshire Agricultural Society Agri-Food Careers Fair, students were able to visit the employer stands and hear from industry professionals as part of their next steps Post 18.
Mrs P Prince - Head of Sixth Form
Year 9/10 Careers Fair Lincolnshire Showground
On Tuesday 7th February 100 pupils from Years 9 and Y10 enjoyed a trip to the Lincolnshire Showground where a range of businesses who support the food and agricultural sectors were available to speak to pupils about career opportunities in the sector.
There were some great challenges, such as with Manor Fresh Limited who asked students to guess the vegetable and how to cook it, to Syngenta who showed pupils their drones. There were also business which pupils may not have connected with the industry including Wilkin Chapman, the law firm, and Savills property consultants. Even the Environment Agency were there with an interesting model of some murky water, which linked to pupils' learning in GCSE geography this term, and Orsted with a model of a wind turbine.
Overall, the pupils had an enjoyable morning with lots of freebies, such as pens and stress potatoes, but also lots of valuable knowledge to help them with their next steps in their career journey.
Our next career trip will be 13th March with Year 7 to Lincoln University. Please get in touch if you would like more information about this trip.
Thinking Ahead – My Future, My Choice
Attention Year 8 & Year 9!
- What are your future plans & career possibilities?
- What plans to do you have after you have completed your GCSEs?
- Do you plan to go on to further/higher education? If so what courses might you study?
- What career ideas do you have for the future at the moment?
In Years 7, 8 and 9 you will be learning new skills and knowledge that will give you the confidence to help you plan your next steps. This process starts with your careers education in school which will encourage you to think about your strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes. You will also start to make some important decisions that could influence your future career path as you will be choosing your subjects to study for GCSE. This process will begin for all Year 9 students early this year.
Each week we will show you examples of the various careers linked to the subject you are studying. This week’s career idea is . . .
KEVI Careers Support
Attendance
Attendance for last week was 91.4% which is disappointing in comparison to the previous week. Please continue working with us to improve attendance and ensure that your child is maximising every opportunity available to them by attending school every day.
House Attendance
If you would like to discuss your child’s attendance or need any support with attendance, then please contact Mrs Kwee or Mrs Ziller on 01790 756704 or tkwee@kingedwardacademy.co.uk to discuss ways to support your child's attendance.
Mrs T Kwee Attendance Manager
Table Talk
This is a quote from H. Jackson Brown. He was an American author who was best known for his inspirational book, Life's Little Instruction Book, which was a The New York Times' Best Seller (1991–1994). Its sequel, Life's Little Instruction Book: Volume 2, also made it to the same best seller list in 1993.
This quote embodies two of our KEVI values, Aspiration and Ambition. We want all our students to have dreams and to think big when dreaming of their future; we want them to have the opportunities to fulfil their ambitions and aspiration. Our dreams are often built from our talents, please take time to discuss with your children their talents and dreams. Every child has certain gifts and now is the time to pinpoint and develop them fully. Listen to them as they tell you their dreams and ideas and help guide them in the right direction offering full support.
Mr A Carrington - Vice Principal
Homework
Thank you for supporting your child with their homework this half term. The knowledge organisers for term four have been distributed to the pupils. Please see the following page on the website if you need further information about the expectations, or if your child has lost one of the knowledge organisers: https://www.kingedwardacademy.co.uk/Homework/
For your information spring term 3 homework will finish on Sunday 12th February. Therefore, the homework for Friday 10th, Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th will be checked by tutors on Monday 20th February.
Gino's Update
Price List – February 2023
Breakfast
- Bacon roll 95p
- Sausage bap (Wed only) 95p
- Large bacon roll £1.35
- Fruit – piece or small pot 40p
- Toasted teacake 50p
- Yogurt 45p
Break
- Bacon roll 95p
- Sausage bap 95p
- Large bacon roll £1.35
- Pizza slice 95p
- Toasted sandwich £1.35
- Cheese & ham bagel £1.35
- Toasted crumpet 40p
- Toasted teacake 50p
Break & Lunch
- Salad box £1.80
- Baguettes (small) £1.20
- Baguettes (large) £1.70
- Sandwiches £1.35
- Large roll £1.35
- Small roll 95p
- Tortilla wrap £1.60
- Crusty bread roll 30p
- Fruit – piece or small pot 40p
- Yogurt 45p
- Condiment sachet 10p
Lunch
- Main meal with 2 sides £2.10
- Vegetarian main meal with 2 sides £2.10
- Meal deal (meal, cake/dessert or small drink) £2.40
- Pasta pot £1.65
- Stir fry pots £1.65
- Curry, rice & naan bread pot £2.10
- Panini £1.40
- Pizza 95p
- Jacket potato with filling £1.70
- Cake/Cookie 60p
- Hot pudding 65p
Drinks (Breakfast, Break & Lunch)
- Fruit juice carton 65p
- Flavoured milk carton 65p
- Semi skimmed milk carton 65p
- Radnors fizz bottles 70p
- Large bottles water 80p
- Large bottles flavoured water 90p
- Yazoo milkshake £1.00
Angela Clark - Catering Manageress
Teen Support
Bereavement
Some of our students have to deal with bereavement throughout their time at school. We often provide support through Mr Pugh or referring to bereavement counselling. There are occasions when students don’t find it easy to open up to us at school and so here are a few areas of support for bereavement in children that they can access themselves.
Word of the Week
Insatiable
Insatiable: adjective – impossible to satisfy, appease or fulfil.
Word origin: in (Latin): not; satiare (Latin) fill, satisfy, satis (Latin) enough, insatiabilis (Latin) and insaciable (Old French)
He had an insatiable appetite for knowledge and never stopped learning. She travelled for years because of her insatiable thirst for adventure.
Satiate: verb – to satisfy completely.
She wanted to satiate his desire to beat his personal best record.
Sated: verb, past tense – to have become completely filled; to have over indulged or glutted on something; over exposed to something.
He ate lemon cake until he was utterly sated.
Related words: satisfy, satisfaction
Times Tables
Years 7 and 8 will be reciting their times tables to help embed them in their long term memory.
At the end of each lesson, they will stand behind their chairs in silence, preparing for themselves for the next lesson and just before they leave the whole class will chant the timetables assigned for that week.
Week commencing 20th February 2023 - we will be chanting our 12 times table.
Mrs H Johnson - Head of Maths
Accelerated Reader
Students have begun quizzing using Accelerated Reader after completing books this week.
Congratulations to Harry and James in Year 8 and Freya in Year 7 for becoming our first students with a perfect 100% score on their quizzes! A special shout out to Tori in Year 7 who is currently top of the Reading Points leader board. Well done, Tori!
Quizzes accurately record the quality of each student’s comprehension of a book they have read and give precise feedback to teachers. Students are able to see their total reading points scored, each book carrying its own value of points, and the total number of words read. In Term 4, not only will we be tracking how well individual students are comprehending the books they are reading, but we will be launching form and house competitions in Key Stage 3 to reward collective reading efforts. Please support your child to continue reading during half term and then quiz on their return to the Academy.
KEVI library books are part of the 180,000 books which have Accelerated Reader quizzes linked to them. Should your child wish to read a book from home, you can check to see if it has an Accelerated Reader quiz linked to it by visiting www.arbookfind.co.uk.
KEVI 20 WC 20th February: Period 5
Ms K Davis - Head of English Department
Careers Lead Biography
Miss Henshall joined KEVI in May 2022 and took over as careers leader in September 2023. She lead careers education for five years at her last school where she built a program from scratch was very proud to achieve the Gold Standard for Careers Education at that school. As well as being excited to help KEVI achieve the same, her vision is for a careers program that meets the needs of all our pupils as well as our local employers.
Before training as a geography teacher Miss Henshall worked as a researcher and tutor for a university so brings a wealth of knowledge to support any pupil interested in higher education. Her experience in research means she is able and willing to support pupils finding out about any industry and she is always excited to learn about the new career options that are being created with all the advancements we have in technology.
KEVI's career plan is in the early stages so you will find regular updates on the school website but if you have any input then please do get in touch.
Credits:
Created with images by tatomm - "close up of calendar on yellow background, planning for business meeting or travel planning concept" • nali - "values in golden circle stars and yellow background" • Nelos - "English Quote Big Journeys Begin With . Beach Grass At Sunrise Or Sunset In Background" • Drobot Dean - "Image of ginger beautiful girl looking out for exercise book" • sommai - "vegetables and fruits on white background" • NERYX - "Archeological tools, Archeologist working on site, hand and tool." • yanadjan - "A child in a wheat field. Sunset. Selective focus." • Pixel-Shot - "African-American teenage boy doing homework" • Dani - "Grilled Chicken Gyros With Chips Bread Wrap Salad Tomatoes Seasoning Fries Wrapped Up Presented Wooden Greek Food Fast " • sc Fotografie - "Herz in Baum" • Alexandr - "attractive and satisfied man, showing positive gesture with his thumb, satisfied human emotion, isolated on yellow background" • LIGHTFIELD STUDIOS - "Selective focus of colorful plastic numbers on blue surface" • Mumemories - "bookshelf straight class in library" • pkanchana - "Colorful pushpin for marking location at wooden world map on the wall."