Career Days
- Details
- Created: Thursday, 23 September 2021 10:10
- Written by C Edwards
‘Career Days’ work experience courses (Y10 — 13) — for more information go to the Careers & Progression tab, then New & Events.
Many thanks, Mrs Edwards
S
eptember 2021
Dear Parents/Carers
I hope you had a restful and enjoyable summer break and are looking forward as much as we are to the new year ahead. We hope that you and your families are well. Well done to all of our students who have started the new academic year really positively. We are so pleased to be back to some degree of normality and we are excited to get cracking with them and see how well they can do!
More than ever, students have to show a good work ethic, resilience and determination, as well as receive excellent teaching, in order to do well in their end of year 11 and year 13 examinations. Amid the constant flux and challenge of the last 18 months, students have shown great tenacity and the GCSE and IBCP results were testament to their efforts — we are very proud of them all and wish them lots of luck with the next steps in their journeys, wherever that may be. We are delighted that the majority of our Y11s choose to stay on to study the IBCP in our 6th form; our sixth form has grown significantly over the last few years and this year we have approximately 140 students taking the IBCP now.
I know many of you saw our Y11 and Y13 results news on our school website and thank you to so many who sent in such positive comments and letters about our brilliant Year 11 and Year 13 students and our committed staff. Of course none of this success would be possible without the dedication and commitment of our staff team who do absolutely everything they can to help our students succeed. If our students work hard they will have every opportunity in the future to find the success and fulfilment they absolutely deserve. We know that with your support and backing our students can achieve great things and this makes King Ethelbert a very exciting place to be. It is also significant and important for you to note that at a time of a nationally publicised shortage of teachers, King Ethelbert consistently receives a wide field of excellent applications from teachers with the appropriate academic qualifications needed for each subject specialism whenever we advertise a teaching post. King Ethelbert is a good place to work as well as a happy place to be for everyone.
King Ethelbert School is celebrating some fantastic GCSE and BTEC results achieved by the relentless hard work of their year 11 students. Over half the students achieved a pass in both English and Maths and the very top grades of 9 – 7 were achieved in at least 5 subjects by 10% of the cohort. Students navigated the constantly changing challenges of the pandemic throughout their 2 year GCSE and BTEC courses and they coped with this with resilience and determination, working hard with their teachers to rise to learning challenges and adapt ways of working.
Headteacher, Vicky Willis, said: “I am so proud of the students and what they have achieved, especially given the substantial amount of face to face teaching that they lost. They have earned their grades by sustained effort and hard work over time and with the support and expertise of their teachers. A huge thank you must go to the teaching team who have navigated the constantly changing parameters and challenges with professionalism, intelligence and integrity, and to the wider staff team and parents for the numerous ways that they have supported the students and the school.”
There were some excellent individual successes. Among these were Oscar Reed, Olivia Brown and Sapphire Turner who all achieved 9 GCSE/BTEC grades, all at the top 9 – 7 grades. Olivia Dilloway and Amelie Judges achieved 9 excellent GCSE/BTEC passes, 8 of which were at the top 9 – 7 grades and similarly, Lois Mabberley and Alexandra Nedelcu secured 7 of their 9 at the top 9 – 7 grades.
King Ethelbert School are so proud of their year 13 students and are celebrating some fantastic IBCP results. Following the excellent IB diploma results in July with an average grade of 4.5 (graded 7 – 1), students have now received their level 3 BTEC results.
68% of BTEC extended diploma students (equivalent to an additional 3 A Levels on top of the IB diploma grades gained) achieved triple distinction or distinction stars and 32% of BTEC diploma students (an additional 2 A level equivalent) achieved double distinction or distinction stars. The overall average UCAS points achieved was 129 with 20% of students leaving with over 200 UCAS points. 80% of students passed the full IBCP with 96% of students passing 1 or more level 3 qualifications.
Vicky Wills headteacher said “We are thrilled with the fantastic IBCP results from our year 13 students. Students have worked with resilience and determination through challenging and changing circumstances this year. They are a terrific bunch of young people who have shown immense character, especially in the last few months, and we are really proud of them. Once again we have seen how the IBCP programme supports our young people in really finding their passions and developing their wider skills alongside rigorous academic studies. Our students are off to a wide range of exciting and challenging next steps.”
There were some outstanding individual achievements.
Taylor Bath achieved D*DD in Business, grade 6 in HL Geography, 5 in HL English and an A in the Reflective Project. He is off to study Politics at Loughborough University.
Jack Scott has achieved D*D*D in Business, a grade 6 in HL Geography, grade 5 in Maths and a B in the Reflective Project. He is off to the University of Kent to study Environmental Social Sciences.
James Protopapas achieved D*D*D* in Sport, two grade 6s in Biology and Business combined with a B in the Reflective Project; he is off to study Sport Science at University of Exeter.
Paulina Gruzdziunaite achieved D*D*D* in Applied Science, 5 in HL English, 5 in Psychology and a B in the Reflective Project and is off to University of Kent to study Law.
Tia Irving-Rahman achieved D*D*D* in Business, 7 in IB Business and 5 in Biology with an A for her Reflective Project; she intends to join the Navy.
Emma Preston achieved DD in Art and Design, 5 in Biology, 4 in Visual Arts , C in the Reflective Project and she is off to University of Creative Arts to study Fine Art.
Abigail Greetham achieved D*D*D in Sport, with 5 in Psychology, 6 in Ab Initio Spanish and C in the Reflective Project; she is taking a gap year and then is off to Portsmouth University to study Sport and Exercise Science.
Trinity Long achieved DD in Health and Social Care, 5s in Biology and Psychology, C in her Reflective Project and is off to the University of Plymouth to study Nursing (Adult Health).
Danny Gilbert-Wynde achieved D*D*D* in Business, 5 in HL English, 4 in Maths and A in Reflective Project and he is taking a gap year whilst he secures entry to the Royal Marines.
Chloe Watler achieved D*D*D* in Applied Science, 6 in Psychology and 5 in HL English with a B for her Reflective Project and she is going to Portsmouth University to study Forensic Psychology.
Antons Pimonovs achieved D*DD in Business, with 5 in HL English, 6 in History and A in her Reflective Project; he is off to University of Aberdeen to study Law with English Law and European Legal Studies.
Moreover, KES students are securing offers to more diverse university destinations than ever such as: Bath University, University of East Anglia, University for the Creative Arts, University of Winchester, University of Plymouth, University of Aberdeen and more.
Rebecca Darch, Head of 6th Form said “We are incredibly proud of each of our students and how they have achieved the requirements to progress onto their chosen next steps. Even with the unprecedented challenges they have faced this year, we have seen the average IB and BTEC grades increase and many of the cohort accepting their place at university, with some starting higher level apprenticeships and others who have secured employment including the Armed Forces and the Police service”.
Dear Parents and Carers
It is hard to believe that we are finally completing this strange school year. It has been one of challenge but remarkable stories of resilience, teamwork, community, learning new ways of working and utter determination from our students, parents, carers and staff. I commend you all.
Students have hugely impressed us. They have worked with tenacity and have adapted to all the rules and systems and remote learning we have had to introduce. I have been particularly impressed by how they have looked out for each other and their community with individual community projects such as sewing masks, running allotments and small businesses, supporting vulnerable members of our community and charities such as our local food bank and vast amounts of volunteering through the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme. Equally impressive have been their collective projects such as our brilliant 6th form Business students and their work to raise awareness and funds for the Young Minds mental health charity, as well as their events to support student wellbeing. Recent prefect interviews with Y10 and Y12 brought home how passionately they feel about looking after each other in the KES family and looking out for younger students too; I was so proud of them all. KS3 students have also been logging a vast range of brilliant evidence and activities for their LORIC portfolios.