Bike Club

Four Sixth Form students have set up a club to help their younger peers learn to ride a bicycle. The club is an extension of a recent trip to Quinta where Year 7 students were taught by Mrs Woodrow and the Sixth Formers.

The Year 12s, Jotham, Meera, Sakthy and Viren, give up one lunch time a week to deliver the sessions where they identify the specific needs of each learner.

Jotham said “Bike club provides mental and emotional training by allowing students to increase their confidence; build determination; and get rid of the mental block that stops you from doing something outside of your comfort zone.”

Warda Batool, Year 7 student, said “Because I’m new, the Sixth Formers hold the seat and the handle for me. They tell me what I’m doing wrong and how I should improve. It makes me feel good that they are helping me so much. I would like to say thank you to them. It’s really helping me and I’ll try my best. I’m really looking forward to going next week.”

The Institute – Opening Ceremony 2015

On Saturday 24th January 2015 five Kingsbury High School, Sixth Form, students volunteered to lend a helping hand at the opening ceremony of The Institute, Masons House , Valley Drive, Kingsbury. Students had varied roles on the day including conducting guided tours to invited guests; handing out leaflets; preparing and arranging rooms for entertainment; and mingling with visitors. Students also had the opportunity to view stained glass and pottery classes; enjoy entertainment from the Shree Muktajeevan Pipe Band and classical Indian dancer, Meena Raj; and network with artists, musicians, local councillors and Deputy Mayor, Councillor Lesley Jones.

The Institute’s Outreach Manager, Rubena Jafery said “Sixth Form students from Kingsbury High School were a ray of sunshine, enthusiastic, warm and intelligent. They were very well received by everyone.  I will welcome them back on events planned for the future as they are familiar now with what The Institute offers and our ethos. They were fantastic – all of them.”

Volunteer and Year 12 student, Zoya Ahmed, said “The opportunity that was given to us gave us an insight into event management and it also improved our social skills. I enjoyed the day, it was fun. I enjoyed listening to the band play the bag pipes and I’m really looking forward to attending classes there as they look really interesting.”

The Institute has been based in Hampstead for over a hundred years and are dedicated to life-long learning. They offer courses in a range of subjects, but specialise in the arts. On relocating to Kingsbury, Greville Waterman, Chief Executive of The Institute said “Masons House represents a new beginning for The Institute and will provide us with all the space we need to put on the courses that our students enjoy.

We are very excited by the prospect of being able to continue the high quality provision of adult education in North London for which the Institute is renowned and believe that our new location will be ideally suited for all our needs.

We would like to thank all our students for their continued support and will do our utmost to retain the trust and loyalty of our existing student base, as well as work hard to attract new students from Kingsbury, the surrounding areas, as well as the Jubilee Line footprint.”

Urban Debate League 2015

Kingsbury hosted the first round of the national Urban Debate League on Thursday 22nd January 2015, as part of the school’s link with Debate Mate. With five outside schools participating in two rounds of debate involving over 100 students, it was a really successful evening, and Kingsbury High School students showed themselves and Kingsbury in the best of lights.

The form was fantastic, with enthusiastic and skilled speakers from visiting schools Hertswood Academy; Convent of Jesus and Mary Language College; St Gregory’s School; The Bushey Academy and Greenford High School. Our four Kingsbury teams did very well, winning a number of debates, and members of Debate Club on the floor made fantastic points too.

Results will be published, along with Kingsbury’s ranking, once all the first rounds have been completed. You can find these soon on the Debate Mate website. The second round of the Urban Debate League will be in the spring term: we hope the standard will be just as high next time!

Awards Evening 2014

On Thursday 17th December 2014, former students were invited back to Kingsbury High School to attend an Awards Evening.

The evening was made up with a mixture of nostalgia, as alumni looked back at photographs of their time at Kingsbury High School; pride, as they collected their awards; entertainment, as they watched current students perform in a musical interlude; and reunion, as they were reunited with their old classmates.

Awards included Achievement in the Face of Adversity; the Most Outstanding Contribution to the Life of the School; and Outstanding Public Service.

Xhesilda Kurtaj received the Outstanding Public Service award and said “For me it was just a great feeling to be reunited with everyone on such a lovely evening. It was a pleasure to receive an award that recognised my contributions to the school.”

Thanks to Bruce Viveash for the photography.

Mock Results Day 2015

On Thursday 15th January 2015 Year 11 students received their GCSE mock exam results in a results day simulation.

Students arrived to the school as normal, but were led to the hall to pick up envelopes containing their mock results; they then had some reflection time with their form tutors; and attended an assembly with various presentations.

Assistant Headteacher, Christopher Dias, said “We hope the results day simulation will be a springboard to energise the students in the run up to their summer exams. A lot of planning and preparation went into making this a meaningful experience for our students so they get a sense of what to expect in August.”