News Stories

GCSE Results Day at President Kennedy School!

Congratulations to our Year 11 students on a brilliant set of GCSE results!

We are extremely proud of your hard work and determination.

We wish you every success as you move on to the next stage in your lives!

President Kennedy School A-level Results Day!

Well done to all our students who have worked incredibly hard.

Good luck with the next chapter in your lives!

Year 9 “Anglo-Saxons” at Sherbourne Fields Special School

The last few weeks have seen both the end of a long exam season and the start of a heatwave! They have also witnessed the History Project at Sherbourne Fields Special School, surely, one of the highlights of the School Calendar for many a year.

Dating back to the early 2000s, the History Project has created a close bond between the two schools and provided a major enriching experience for many young people. Not only does it offer the opportunity to make friendships and share fun experiences with a wider, diverse peer group, but it also presents a responsibility and a challenge. To be able to provide inclusive learning opportunities to students of a Special School is an untapped skill that few members of the group realised they had at the outset.

The project provided a great revelation that learning about the past can be great fun for everyone. All students rose to the challenge of dressing themselves in Anglo-Saxon outfits. Colour, sounds and images help the SF students identify this as a special topic. During the week, we made jewellery, we built boats, we told stories, we danced and we played. We did so with smiles on our faces and had genuine fun. It helped us to bring to life the legend of King Arthur, the various festivals which dominated the Anglo-Saxon calendar, the hard times that Anglo-Saxon workers had to endure to keep their families alive and the wonderful story of King Alfred the Great.

During Friday afternoon, awards were given out to members of both schools for their excellent efforts. For one member of the group, talented musician Dara Agbato, this provided a great opportunity to showcase her keyboard skills and play some Anglo-Saxon inspired marching tunes to help us put together a battle-march dance.

Those delivering the project were clearly buzzing from the experience as it ended. One member of the team, Scarlett Gray said “Meeting the kids from Sherbourne Fields was a once-in–a lifetime experience. It made me realise that education is far greater than our own experiences at Kennedy”.

Jeyani Murugananthan added that “going to Sherbourne Fields was a massive eye-opening experience for us. They showed us how to appreciate even the smallest things in life.” To Natalia Kolodiy, the whole experience was “unforgettable! The kids there were just so fun to be with and everything was interactive. Leaving brought me close to tears.”

So... a huge vote of thanks to the 2025 SF team…. Dara, Heya, Bisma, Madeena, Bella, Seb, Esme, Ollie, Scarlett, Natalia, Toba, Jeyani, Fatma, and Roark.

Smart Learner Driving School have made another significant contribution to the Echo Eternal Curriculum Garden with the purchase of 10 more Apple trees.

These trees were all planted before Christmas.
This latest purchase sees the school orchard increase to 25 fruit trees which include both eating apples and cooking apples.
Add to this the 20 Blackcurrant bushes and the 50 flowering cherry trees that have also been purchased by Smart Learner Driving School.

Essentially, this commitment to planting trees and bushes is designed to offset the carbon footprint of the driving school when they are working In the local community.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Rob Bromfield, School Gardener

President Kennedy School students had the pleasure of a visit from Royal Shakespeare Company and professional actor and former PKS student, Bally Gill.

It was wonderful to see Bally perform a section from Romeo and Juliet. Students then had the opportunity to ask many questions about his journey to becoming an actor and also had discussions about 'The Arts' being taught in school. Year 11 student, Gio then performed Act 1: Scene 1 from the play.

Bally was reunited with his former English teacher; Ms Von Rabenau who reminisced about his school days!

This was filmed by the BBC Midlands Today.

Bally is performing in 'Twelfth Night' at the Royal Shakespeare Company from 17 December 2024 until 18 January 2025

https://www.rsc.org.uk/twelfth-night/?gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI5KOL3disigMVI6JQBh2d_SmqEAAYASAAEgJgL_D_BwE

Rupert, The School Intervention Dog has been acclimatising to President Kennedy School in the last few weeks. He has been making friends and getting used to the school environment in a really positive way.

He was sourced from Medical Detection Dogs, who are members of Assistance Dogs International, a charity that trains dogs for medical purposes, and Medical Alert Assistance Dogs. He has had a career change after being assessed as a suitable dog for being in a school. Many students have been asking questions about him and he is looking forward to working with targeted students before the end of this term.

Mr Arnett said,

"Having a dog in school is an amazing opportunity for our students. It allows us to explore lots of avenues associated with dogs; careers; training; responsible dog ownership and of course helping with positive mental health. It's also an exciting opportunity for me to bring all the vast experience I have had with dogs in my previous profession as a Service Dog Trainer to my role as Pastoral Leader in the school. I have already seen the positive impact he can have firsthand on some of our students and know he will help to instill the school values of PRIDE."