The Kimberley School Newsletter March 2016 | Page 6

Sixth Form News Charity Events University offers Valentine’s Day Fund-raising In the week before Valentine’s Day, the Charity Committee delivered over 100 pre-ordered Valentine’s roses, cards and messages to students and staff across school. Students also baked cakes to raise extra funds and we would like to thank the Kimberley Sainsbury’s for very generously donating the necessary ingredients for the students’ cake sale. Staff then held another cake sale on the 12th February during the staff INSET day. A grand total of £240 was raised in aid of Bone Cancer Research in memory of Emily Barker. Apprenticeships The organisation and coordination of the Year 12 and 13s was superb. They even managed to fulfil an order for a rose to go to France for a member of staff’s wife! Very sadly missed... Very sadly, Emily Barker, who left school in 2011 and was one of the school’s Head Girls, passed away just before Christmas at the age of 22 after suffering from bone cancer for some time. Emily went from school to complete a Primary Teaching course at Nottingham Trent University and was clearly ideally suited to a future in primary teaching. In December, she was awarded a First Class degree based on the superb work she had completed. Despite having to undergo a great deal of very unpleasant treatment and pain in the last two years, she had kept up with her work and even gone on school placements where she took charge of full classes. Emily was a really lovely, kind, caring and extremely brave person and, as a school, we were very privileged to have had her as a pupil here and we will always be grateful for all that she contributed during her 7 years. As an ongoing memorial to Emily, the staff and Sixth Form Charity Committee have decided to use our last fund raising day of the Summer Term each year to raise money for The Bone Cancer Research Charity which Emily supported. Year 13 Alex Aldred on tour in Sri Lanka In February Alex was chosen to go on tour with the Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club academy to Sri Lanka - this meant he had to take his mock exams before half term! He is safely back now having had an amazing experience and has managed to write this article about his trip- congratulations Alex. “Eleven and a half hours after leaving the UK in a snow storm, we arrived in 35 degrees heat in Columbo, Sri Lanka. Training in the heat and humidity in the first few days was difficult but, once I became acclimatised, it became easier and enjoyable. The food was very different to what I'm used to as there was a whole range of spices included and every meal came with rice, even breakfast! The people were very friendly and welcoming. They live a very different life to what we do here. Their life is very simple. We played 2 matches, one against the airforce and one against the Sri Lankan army. Even though we lost both games, the experience gained by playing in different climates and on different pitches was invaluable. I thoroughly enjoyed the tour”. 44 students in Year 13 have now applied for and received offers from universities. We are delighted that students are gaining offers of places on highly competitive courses such as; Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing, Teaching, Law, Radiotherapy, Speech and Language Therapy, Engineering, History, English, Geography, Events Management, Psychology, Sociology, Architecture, Biochemistry, Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Anatomy, Police Studies, Sports Science and Accounting. It is also great to see students receiving offers from a wide range of universities such as Oxford, Bristol, Nottingham, Warwick, York, Manchester and Birmingham to name but a few. The time for applying for apprenticeships is now upon us. To help students with the process, we have two sessions being run by the career service this half-term for students wishing to apply for apprenticeships. In one they will meet people already undergoing apprenticeship training and will receive advice on interview techniques. In the other they will receive advice on choosing the most suitable apprenticeship as well as on the process of applying. Think for the future Last month, we welcomed a group called Think for the Future into school to work with our Sixth Formers, focusing on the importance of healthy relationships. Students commented on how interesting and informative this was. Over the next few weeks, the same group are coming into work with them again, this time on drugs education. If you or your son/daughter have any concerns about drugs, advice can be sought from Think for the Future on 07963727344 or through email to [email protected] Work Experience Our Year 12 students have already begun to apply for a week long Work Experience placement for the week beginning the 27th June. They are at varying stages of the process but some students have already secured placements in for instance; a nursery, a solicitor’s office, a local hospital and we have one student who has a place working with BBC East Midlands Today! One of our students has actually already completed one week’s experience, spending her February half-term working in Anna Soubry’s offices (the local MP). If you or anyone you know would appreciate the voluntary help of a Year 12 student in your business, please do get in touch and let us know.