KAR Newsletter 05/07/2024

Dear parents and carers,

A very busy week at KAR! We held our third production of Matilda this week, performing to our Chinese visitors who have been with us all week. I am immensely proud of the students, with 12% of our school (57 students) taking part in the production. The performances have simply been incredible and it has been great to see.

Last Friday saw our year 11 Prom, with arrivals in fast cars, tractors and even a helicopter! They had a fantastic time and conducted themselves brilliantly. We wish them all good luck for their results in August.

Our Chinese visitors leave today, and they have passed on how impressed they have been with the school and how friendly, polite and accommodating our students have been. Each student has been assigned with a KAR ‘buddy’ all week, and I thank them for all their hard work. They have integrated into our school so seamlessly, and again this is down to the great students and staff we have at the school. This morning, we have presented them with some PROUD awards for fantastic work across the week. Our students have learnt a lot from the students, and we believe it has been a real two way learning experience. I would also like to thank Mrs Taylor who has worked extremely hard to organise the exchange. In years to come this may even open the opportunity of a trip to China!

On Monday and Tuesday we had our transition days for our new Year 7 cohort. The group had an assembly led by myself, and activities throughout the days which included experiencing lessons. A big thank you to Ms Thompson and Ms Bailey for organising an excellent transition process, and we look forward to welcoming the students from September. On Tuesday we held our transition evening for our new Year 7 cohort from September. It was fantastic to see a packed hall full of new students, parents and carers. This year we had 450 applications for 150 places, a positive sign and one which I believe will help support a further rise in standards given the demand now for the school.

Next week sees our enrichment week, with a huge range of activities occurring through the week. This includes the Science and Space museum, Chessignton and multisports, Butterfly Farms, Art workshops, Portsmouth Docklands, Culture Kitchen, London Landmarks, Bushy Wood and Mount Caburn, the Natural History Museum and Prop Design at the West End! To organise something on this scale takes a lot of organising, and I am grateful to Ms Bailey and Ms White for overseeing the week. Lots of excited students this week and we hope the weather holds out for many of the activities! On that note, we were disappointed to cancel our Sports Day today. As I’m writing this on Friday morning, it appears a good decision as the weather is very typically British! We look forward to running this on Friday 19th June.

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend.

Best wishes,
Mr Harvey

King’s Academy Ringmer goes to the polls!

On Thursday July 4th, students at King’s Academy Ringmer were given the opportunity to show who they wanted to vote for in a Mock General Election. There were four candidates to choose from - Orlando Clegg representing Reform UK, Ava Elphick representing the Liberal Democrats, Lola Pettitt representing the Labour Party and Daniel Shettle representing the Green Party. After a closely-fought four weeks of campaigning, including assemblies where the candidates made speeches to the whole school, Daniel Shettle for the Green Party won the most votes, narrowly defeating the Reform Party, with the Lib Dems and Labour not far behind. These results were reflected in the national Mock Election results published by Hansard, which had Labour winning, followed by the Greens and then Reform UK.

Huge thanks and congratulations go to the four candidates who conducted themselves with enthusiasm and dignity, their electoral agents who produced the posters, the Senior Students who actually ran the election on the day and, of course, everyone who voted.

Natalie Moorhouse

Year 7 Transition

This week we welcomed 150 year 6 students to our school for their 2 Transition Days. We had students attending from 43 primary schools and from all corners of East Sussex! The days involved lessons in Maths, English, Science, Computing, Art, Design and Technology, Food Tech, Drama, Dance, Spanish, French, History, Geography, Religion & Philosophy and PE. Thank you to the teachers who facilitated these. Students also got to do tours of the school, meet KAR staff and try the delicious canteen food; which got rave reviews.

After meeting the majority of our new year 7s across the last month and a half either in their primary schools or here at KGA last week, I was delighted to see all their happy faces and hear how excited they were to be at the school and to meet their classmates.

I also had the honour of announcing the winners of the Find Mr. Harvey escape room challenge that the students did as part of my transition visits. Polegate took first place with a truly astonishing 9 minutes 18 seconds! Congratulations!

The days ran very well thanks to the excellent organisation and exciting schedule arranged by Mrs. Bailey and the support from the student helpers, LSAs, support staff, and amazing kitchen staff. Thank you to all involved in making these transition days a huge success. We can't wait to welcome these students back in September.

Mrs. Thompson - Transition Manager.

Matilda Jr. Review

“When I watched this fabulous school production only positive comments filled my mind. I thought and many could agree with me when I say, this was an amazing performance, which was performed by a bunch of talented students. Overall, l thought the whole cast was superb and performed the musical of Matilda perfectly. A special thank you to Ms Urquhart and Ms Bailey for taking the time to make this musical possible, I think they have out done themselves with the standard they set for future plays.”

- Lottie and Nylah - Senior Marketing Students.

Buzz Active Visit – Enrichment Week

If your son/daughter is going on the Buzz Active visit next week, please see the list of equipment which Buzz Active recommends you bring for the trips.

Trainers, beach shoes or wetsuit boots to wear in the water. Shoes should be closed toed and should not come off the foot easily (No crocs, wellies or heavy boots or loose slip-on shoes)

A towel,
A swimming costume
Spare Clothes
T-shirt
Shorts
Sunscreen
Water/snacks/lunch

Please note

Wetsuits, windproof tops and safety equipment including Buoyancy aids, will be provided, which must be worn at all times.

Year 8 Design & Technology:

Year 8 have been working on a brand new project inspired by the local National Trust beauty spot, Wakehurst Place. They’ve developed fantastic skills in finger joints, CAD/CAM, repeat patterns, knock-down fixings, templates, and finishing of materials. The DT team have been blown away by their excellent work, and many students have been rewarded with #ProudToBeRingmer stickers and treats! Well done, Year 8 – you’re wonderful

Mrs White

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Change News

We welcomed some of our visiting Chinese students to the greenhouse this week. They got stuck in with the jobs. This week we celebrated our first (albeit a bit tiny) courgette!

ECO Local Event this weekend

Greening Chiddingly celebrate their 3rd annual ‘Green Weekend 2024’. Events will be taking place across the weekend of 6th and 7th July.

Saturday 6 July is National Meadows Day. To celebrate, they have organised a Guided Nature Walk through their public meadow, the Jubilee Field in Muddles Green. The walk will start from the village shop at noon, last around 30 minutes and is suitable for all ages.

For further details visit www.greeningchiddingly.org/green-weekend-2024.html

Vaping and E-Cigarettes

Please see the attached flyer from ESSC to support parents and carers to have a conversation with your child about vaping and its risks.

Do you qualify for Free School Meals?

To make applications easier for parents/carers we have changed the way that you can apply for free school meals. Applications are now processed online via East Sussex County Council, the criteria for being able to apply and for the online application please see the details below.

Free school meals for children in Year 3 and older

Older children may get free school meals if their parents or carers get any of these benefits:

Universal Credit - GOV.UK – if you apply on or after 1 April 2018 your household income must be less than £7,400 a year (after tax and not including any benefits you get)
Income Support - GOV.UK
Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) - GOV.UK
Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) - GOV.UK
Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 - GOV.UK
The Guaranteed element of State Pension Credit -GOV.UK
Child Tax Credit - GOV.UK, only, if your annual household income (assessed by HM Revenue & Customs) isn’t over £16,190

[Anyone who gets Working Tax Credit - GOV.UK, won’t get free meals regardless of income]

Working Tax Credit run-on – paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit

Children will get free school meals if they meet the criteria and are in school both before and after lunchtime.

Children eligible for free school meals on or after 1 April 2018 will remain eligible until they finish the phase of schooling (primary or secondary) they’re in on 31 March 2023 even if your circumstances change.

Apply for free school meals online

Our Electronic Checking Service might be able to confirm entitlement. If not, you’ll need to show recent proof that you qualify. Meals cannot be given until eligibility is verified.

Apply online if your child goes to school in East Sussex.

ParentPay account for lunch money

We would appreciate it if parents can keep an eye on your child's balance for lunch and top up payments when needed please. We are having more students asking us to call home to "top-up" their lunch account on ParentPay.

To top up your child's account you need to log into your ParentPay account (details of link are below) and it will show you a balance of your child's account. To top up click on the blue tab that says pay for meals. You then add the amount that you would like to top up the account with and add to the basket. Once you have finished adding items you click on the basket and choose the payment option and complete the purchase. This is then on your child's account usually within a few minutes.

https://www.parentpay.com/

If you haven't set up a ParentPay account yet or have lost the details, please email ringmer.finance@kingsacademies.uk and we will get another letter issued with details of how to set your account up.

Thank you Mrs Duckworth, School Business Manager

Pre-loved school uniform outlet at Raystede

At Kings Academy Ringmer, we recognise that school uniforms become outgrown or redundant at some point. As part of our commitment to reduce waste and ensure there are opportunities for these items to be reused we now have an exciting new partnership with our local charity Raystede.

Raystede will now start stocking preloved uniforms at their headquarters and animal rescue centre premises: Raystede Centre for Animal Welfare, the Broyle, Ringmer, East Sussex, BN8 5AJ . They will have a dedicated area for Kings Academy Ringmer uniforms and we are encouraging families with uniforms that still have life in them but are no longer needed to be donated to Raystede. The stock will be dependent on donations from our school community.

Pre-loved uniforms can be donated to Raystede directly at the address above, (or via the school where we can take them to the premises). The charity will take 100% profit from any money raised from the sale of these items. So please only donate items that you believe are suitable for resale.

Alternatively, preloved uniforms can be obtained from our school uniform Facebook page (Kings Academy Ringmer Uniform Group) will continue to operate if parents prefer to directly trade second-hand clothes amongst themselves or you can still purchase new uniforms at the new uniform outlet, www.monkhouse.com