We wish all of them the best in these last few weeks of intensity and focus.
Kensington is a Candidate School for the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. The last two months of the term will be full of activity for our staff as we make preparations for the full accreditation. I know there is considerable interest in our community in learning more about the I.B., which we will be offering as an alternative and complementary option to our traditional Spanish bachillerato programme, and I look forward to sharing more information with you in a meeting on Wednesday 18th. May , where I hope to explain exactly what makes the I.B. such a widely-studied option in schools across the world.
In fact, I hope we’ll be seeing a lot of each other this month, as for the first time since 2019 we will be able to celebrate our Spring Fête in school, on Friday May 27th. Funds raised on the day will be donated to ACNUR, in support of their work in the current refugee crisis, and representatives of ACNUR will be coming in to school on Friday May 6th. to talk to all the children to explain their work. The Spring Fête perhaps epitomises everything which is special about Kensington School and our community, a single day where families, children, staff, and often former pupils, come together in a day where we can spend time together outdoors, hopefully having fun in good weather, to raise money for a good cause.
We will also be inviting parents of Nursery and Reception children into school for the concerts for the first time on May 10th. and May 12th. respectively : these days are always special, as the children receive their first experience of performing on a stage in public. Between this, Mr. Sánchez’s Year 1 and 2 musical shows, the Drama Club performances, a collaboration between the Secondary Drama Club and Miss Leonie’s choirs, and the secondary concert in May, it’s going to be a particularly busy time in our school auditorium; and on Friday June 10th., we’ll say a fond farewell to our graduating class of 2022.
It would be remiss of me to finish without mentioning two more details : the ongoing consultations the school has been running with both children and parents, to adjust the menus we offer to achieve the right balance between nutritious and well-balanced diet and children enthused and excited about their school lunch. We certainly seem to be moving in the right direction, and these consultations will continue to the end of the school year.
Finally, I’d like to make a special mention to the work of our P.E. Department, Mr. Roudette, Nacho Arce, Mr. Williams and Ms. Shields. It’s always nice to see our children returning from the International Schools’ sports competitions with medals; sport teaches children a lot about teamwork, about winning and losing gracefully, about the value of hard work, and it’s pleasing to see the school at the forefront of the Madrid schools’ competitions.
