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Japanese Exchange Twenty students and two teachers from Hikawa High School in Japan visited KLB in the second week of March. They were hosted by students from Years 9 to 11 and enjoyed a busy week of English lessons at the Civic Centre, hockey and Spanish lessons and joining the Japanese lessons of Years 8, 9 and 11. They also visited Bath and saw a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Cheltenham. I would like to thank in particular our visitors’ partners and host families for providing such a fantastic welcome, as well as many members of staff around the school for their support and giving their time to help. At their farewell party, the students from Hikawa also had the opportunity to meet the Mayor of Wotton-under-Edge, Mr Roger Claydon, OBE, who talked about the importance of the school’s exchange programmes in promoting international understanding. We are already looking forward to the outbound leg of the Exchange to Japan in October and, for those who are interested, there will be a presentation evening for the 2015 Exchange in November. Mr Thompson Year 6 Mathematics Enrichment Day On Thursday 13 March, Year 6 students and staff from the Tyndale Cluster of primary schools (Coaley C of E Primary School, Hillesley CEVA Primary School, Kingswood Primary School, North Nibley Primary School, Slimbridge Primary School and Stone with Woodford Primary School) spent their day at KLB. The seventy students worked together to explore a range of maths-related activities. There was some very dexterous work in constructing flexagons and the fractal Sierpinski triangles. Meanwhile, mathematical detective work helped to identify the best place to sit in a particularly dangerous wedding reception. Euler’s theorem for 3D shapes was rediscovered and winning strategies were developed for horse races and for the ancient games of Nim and Mancala. Everyone threw themselves into the activities and the time raced by, with students showing off some impressive skills and collaborating very impressively. Thank you to the staff and Sixth Form students who supported groups during the day.

Headteacher: Mr A P Harris BSc MA

Tel: 01453 842227 Fax: 01453 845480

WWW address: http://www.klbschool.org.uk

non palma sine pulvere

Founded 1384Newsletter – 31 March 2014

A Sierpinski Triangle

You may recognise this from the 3D version on display in the

Reception area.

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Year 7 and 8 Drama Club Showcase Evening The Year 7 and 8 drama club students have been working really hard rehearsing a selection of scenes from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ready for a performance evening. Many of the students are even giving up time to come into school and rehearse during the holidays! The showcase will be on Friday 2 May at 6pm and tickets will go on sale after Easter. We hope that you will come along and support the students in their first KLB performance.

Engage Programme On 7 January a group of 15 Year 7 students started the Engage Programme at Gloucester Rugby Club for a period of 6 weeks. This is the second group of KLB Students who have taken part in the Engage Programme which was funded by the school in partnership with Gloucester Rugby Club. The standards of attendance and commitment from the students was excellent and although challenging, was enjoyed by all the students. The staff delivering the Engage Programme were equally impressed, “we would like to congratulate the students of KLB School on successfully completing our Engage Programme which is focussed around the principles of rugby; strength, agility, enthusiasm, resilience, respect, concentration, teamwork and thinking. It has been a challenging six weeks but they did extremely well tackling new challenges each week. Hopefully they will take their new skills back into the classroom.” All students received a certificate for successfully completing the course. Here are some comments from the students: “I liked working together to complete tasks” “I learnt to be resilient and not give up” “It was fun” “I enjoyed new challenges” Pictured at the presentation are KLB Students with Elliott Stooke of Gloucester Rugby Club. Lost Property The Lost Property office is based in the hut joined to the Snack Shack and is open Monday to Thursday morning breaktime. Lost Property operates on a four week rotation which means that after the fourth week unnamed items are

disposed of. Students are advised to name all items so that they can be informed that they are in lost property and need

to be collected.

Information for parents If parents wish to come to school to identify or retrieve items of lost property, they are welcome to do so

during the school break time (10:30 - 10:45) on Monday - Thursday. Would parents please let us know in advance that they wish to come in, as well as arranging for their child

to meet them at reception at 10:25 in order to accompany them to the lost property room. Items are retained in lost property for a minimum of four weeks. After this, storage space limitations mean

that we may dispose of unclaimed items.

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Library News Celebrating World Book Day

The ‘Prologue’ book group decorated the library for World Book Day with balloons and bunting and decided to add to the WOW! factor by jazzing up one of the office doors in the library. The group designed a cover for an imaginary new ‘Dairy of a Wimpy Kid’ book. The group came up with a title and art work and then persuaded Mr Ashford that his office door could do with a makeover – this is the ‘book’ they came up with. On the day itself Mr Penman and Mrs Lloyd entertained students and staff by reading an extract from their favourite book. Mr Penman read from Jerome K Jerome’s ‘Three Men in a Boat’ and Mrs Lloyd chose a passage from ‘Pride and Prejudice’. The audience was spellbound and thoroughly enjoyed listening to the performance.

Readathon ‘Reading Tree’ Well Done Year 7!

From 3 to 14 March all Year 7 students took part in a Readathon. During this period, every time they finished reading a book, they filled out a leaf with details of the book and gave it a star rating. The result? So far we have raised over £100 for the three children’s charities supported by Readathon and in just two weeks the tree went from –

leafless …………………………………………. to …………………………………… full leaf!

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Screen Reads In Screen Reads Club next month we will be reading ‘Skellig’ by David Almond, starting on Tuesday 1 April.

Do you love a great book and then enjoy the film? THEN JOIN

Screen Reads We meet in the Library after school every week:

Tuesdays 2.45 – 4.00 Refreshments included

Open to Years 7, 8 & 9 See Mrs Woolfrey to find out more or just come along

School Council The School Council has been busy working on developments put forward by students and recently made a bid to the Woodlands Trust for over 500 trees and shrubs. The bid was successful and a group of students have been planting around the site to improve the environment for both staff and students. Thanks go to John Ferraby, a parent of an ex-student, for his help in ensuring this was a success. Many other items are on the council’s action plan, one being the problem of litter around the site attracting birds. There has been a vigorous and very successful campaign entitled, ‘see food, see gulls’ to improve this situation and students seen putting found litter in a bin are entered into a draw and have the chance to win mall vouchers. This scheme is to continue for the remainder of the year. However anyone seen dropping litter will be severely sanctioned. The minutes for the most recent School Council meeting are available on the website.

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Re: Scarlet Fever – Increase in Scarlet Fever incidence The following information has been received from the Head of Health Protection at the Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Public Health England Centre: We are writing to inform you of an increase in the notifications of scarlet fever. These increases are above what we would normally expect at this time of year. Scarlet Fever tends to be more common in the winter and spring and peaks around end of March/early April Therefore, you may still come across cases over the coming weeks. Scarlet fever is mainly a childhood disease and is most common between the ages of two and eight years it is usually treated with antibiotics and children need to be excluded from childminder, nursery or school to help minimise spreading the infection. Children can return to their school once they feel better and have completed 24 hrs of antibiotic treatment. If a school, nursery or childminder suspects an outbreak of any infectious disease, they should inform their local Health Protection team.

You can contact your PHE Health Protection team on 0845 504 8668, option 1.

What is Scarlet Fever? Symptoms The first symptoms of scarlet fever often include a sore throat, headache, fever, nausea and vomiting. After

12 to 48 hours the characteristic fine red rash develops (if you touch it, it feels like sandpaper). Typically, it first appears on the chest and stomach, rapidly spreading to other parts of the body. On more darkly-pigmented skin, the scarlet rash may be harder to spot, although the 'sandpaper' feel should be present

Fever over 38.3º C (101º F) or higher is common White coating on the tongue, which peels a few days later, leaving the tongue looking red and swollen

(known as 'strawberry tongue') Swollen glands in the neck Feeling tired and unwell It usually takes two to five days from infection before the first symptoms appear. However, the incubation period may be as short as one day and as long as seven days. If you think you, or your child, have scarlet fever: See your family doctor as soon as possible Make sure that you/your child takes the full course of any antibiotics prescribed by the doctor Stay at home, away from school or work for at least 24 hours after starting treatment, to avoid spreading

the infection You can help stop the spread of infection through frequent hand washing and by not sharing eating utensils,

clothes, bedding and towels. All contaminated tissues or handkerchiefs should be washed, or disposed of immediately.

Scarlet fever is spread via the mucus and saliva of infected people. It may also be caught from any drinking glasses, plates or utensils they have used. To protect yourself from getting the illness you should: Wash your hands often Not share eating utensils with an infected person Wash, or dispose of, handkerchiefs and tissues contaminated by an infected person Be aware that you can catch scarlet fever by inhaling airborne droplets if someone with the illness coughs or

sneezes in the air near you.

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KLB School Uniform - Parental Satisfaction Survey Thank you to those parents who responded earlier this year to our survey concerning our new uniform supplier. The results and the responses from the supplier were as follows:

(A) Survey Results

Qu.1: Have you purchased one or more items of KLB uniform from the new uniform supplier since the closure of the KLB School Shop?

49 (83.1%) of the 59 respondents had purchased one or more items

Qu.2: Based upon your experience of using the new uniform supplier please rate

57% of respondents rated the new arrangements as Excellent or Good

The highest Excellent-rating was for In-store customer sales service 35%

Store accessibility and Car-parking were scored as Excellent by 30% of respondents

60% of respondents rated Stock Availability as Satisfactory or Poor (mainly due to unavailability of PE kit due to an under-estimation by the supplier)

44% of respondents rated Garment Quality as Satisfactory or Poor (principally relating to

blazers)

Qu.3: If you used the previous school shop, how do you rate your overall experience of the new uniform supplier compared to the previous school shop?

Opening times

Access

Goods ordering (on-line/in-shop) and goods delivery (home delivery/collection)

Shop environment

Customer service

Distance to travel

Ability to ‘size up’ students

Stock availability

Qu.4: If there is one thing you would like to see improved under the current arrangements what would it be?

- Blazer quality

- Stock availability and range of sizes

- Shop being open on Wednesdays and later hours on one or more days

- Shop closer to KLB School

- Changing rooms

- Cheaper prices

- ‘No fee’ deliveries to KLB school for collection

Qu.5: Other comments

Knowledgeable, friendly and helpful staff

Cheaper price of blazer (despite compromise on quality)

Easier access

Better opening times

Quality of blazers

Less personal service than previous arrangements

Incorrect size labelling

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(B) Response from Uniform Supplier We would like to say how encouraging it is that the survey was conducted, and would like to thank KLB School for the opportunity to respond. As your uniform supplier we welcome all information (good or bad) because communication between school and supplier is key to a successful relationship. Tackling the largest concerns first: Blazer quality The garment supplied now is one that was selected by school from a large number of options supplied for consideration. These options included continuing with the previous garment. The choice made by the school took price and delivery lead times into account. Stock availability We will hold our hands up to under-estimating the uptake on some items of PE kit – principally the rugby shirts and socks. We rectified the situation as soon as it was possible to do so. The garments in question are a “special make” which have long lead times from order to delivery – hence the out of stock situation towards the end of the summer. Last summer there was a large element of the unknown in commencing supply as we had no idea how much demand had already been satisfied by the former school shop. For the forthcoming season, we have ordered much greater quantities of the PE kit to hopefully avoid shortages. Store location and opening times Whilst we can do nothing to move our outlet closer to KLB, we can certainly consider a revision to opening times during the busy summer months. We currently open 6 days a week from July to September which includes a half day on Wednesday and a full day on Saturday. It is not economically viable to keep the outlet open for these hours all year round, so we do close all day on Wednesday and half a day on Saturday from October to May. We will look at the viability of opening one late night a week during August and advise the school accordingly. Other comments We do have changing rooms. Our prices are comparable to those being charged in the former school shop and given the garment mix

there is no scope for price reduction. As a business we have many more overheads to cover than an “in-house” facility. These have been largely absorbed for parents’ benefit.

We can offer free delivery of internet orders to schools on a fortnightly basis for onward distribution to parents. This facility is used by a small proportion of our primary schools but currently not by any of our senior schools. KLB have decided not to offer this facility at the present time.

In summary, it was pleasing to see the positive comments relating to shop environment, access and internet provision. Our staff were particularly pleased that their customer service and experience/knowledge was recognised by so many of your parents. Communication with KLB will be an ongoing feature of our relationship and all feedback from parents will continue to be valued.

Carole Lerway (Director) Initially Yours Ltd.

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U14 Girls County Football Finals - Silver Medalists After qualifying in 2nd place at the district football tournament the squad went on to the County Finals held at Rednock school on 20 March. After taking the lead with a goal from Melissa Jones they let in a disappointing equaliser by Chosen Hill. The team came back more determined against Deer Park and secured a 4-0 victory where the whole squad took part and goals came from Holly Hughes, Melissa Jones and Georgina Daniels. This was followed by a tense 1-1 draw against Churchdown but a dramatic last minute goal against Wydene resulted in a 1-0 win and through to the semi-finals. At this point we lost Lolly Stone, Jasmine Draisey and Beth Butcher to the U14 District hockey tournament. Fortunately our new recruit Amber Timol slotted straight into the goal keeper role and our strength and depth in the squad meant that the team play remained strong. We held Severn Vale to a 0-0 draw at half time and won in a thrilling penalty shoot-out with scores from Holly Hughes, Ellie Butler and Izzy Newnes. So, the final was once again an all Stroud affair and the girls held strong against Stroud High School with excellent saves from Amber. However, our luck had run out in the penalties and we came out proud in defeat being unbeaten all day, with Silver Medals, cheered on by the under 12's who had just missed out on semi finals positions. It was an excellent result! Well done all: Holly Hughes, Amber Timol, Georgina Daniels, Melissa Jones, Beth Butcher, Lolly Stone, Jasmine Draisey, Gwen Hughes, Abi Bates, Chloe Butler, Ellie Butler, Izzy Newnes. Laura Bell   Under 12 Girls’ Football After finishing in third place at the district tournament KLB progressed to the County Finals at Rednock School at the expense of first placed Stroud High who were unable to field a team for the event. KLB was in a very tough group but started off the tournament with a promising 1-1 draw against Pate’s Grammar School with the goal coming from Erin Hodson. Matches then followed against Kingshill, Ribston and Newent all of which were extremely competitive and close contests that resulted in 0-0 draws. The whole team defended very well and Sarah Challis was superb in goal making several notable saves. This meant that although KLB were unbeaten, their four points meant that they finished third in the group with only the top two teams progressing to the semi-finals. The girls played some fantastic football on the day; their work ethic, commitment and team spirit was exceptional. Well done all: Erin Hodson, Sarah Challis, Amelia Green, Susannah Holt, Esme Kenny, Jodie Dale, Emily Crowley, Emily John, Naomi Culpepper and Libby Taylor. Dr C Thomas

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Equestrian Team Competitions for the school teams have been quiet over the winter, but resume again in April, with a show jumping competition. April Joynson and her pony Rocky Robin, recently qualified for the Badminton Dressage Grass roots. After winning both classes, against nineteen adults, they are now qualified for the Championships in July. April & Robin also won both classes at the weekend at KLRC Dressage finals with over 78%. They are due to go to the championships in April. There are several Team Training events organised for dressage, show jumping, cross country & Derby Jumping. Please can I ask anyone wanting to be considered for the teams, to try to attend these sessions, as we are hoping to put riders into teams for the season. Any queries please email karenjoynson@gmail.com Stroud & District Table Tennis Youth League 2013-2014 Round 8, 21st March Division1 Romney’s Romp The much awaited top of table clash between the two previously unbeaten teams Katharine Lady Berkeley’s ‘A’ and Sir William Romney’s (SWR) ended somewhat surprisingly with an emphatic 4-0 win for SWR to leave them four points behind KLB with two games in hand and strong favourites for the title. Aaran Skinner and Connor Ward were on top form for the winners taking each game 2-0. Aaran takes over from Seb Culpepper at the top of the averages and look set to become Division 1 Champion. Prior to this match both teams had easy 4-0 wins against Stroud Table Tennis Club (STTC) and KLB C who were unable to field a team. Rednock ‘A’ consolidated third spot with a 4-0 win against Wycliffe and a 3-1 win against KLB ‘B’. Michael Barnes was KLB’s point scorer after putting in an excellent performance to beat high flying Harry Prescott. STTC’s Brandon Keveren was left to fight alone for the fourth match running and finished the day on a high note winning both matches in a 2-2 draw with Rednock ‘B‘. Matt Davey was Thomas Keble School’s (TKS) point scorer as they went 1-3 down to Rednock ‘B’. Matt Langdon won both his matches and Sam Crosbee beat Conner Brady for Rednock’s points. Matt and Connor had a win each for TKS in a 2-2 against a new look Wycliffe fielding two new players. TKS, Wycliffe, STTC and KLB ‘C’ are all on 17 points at the foot of the table and so the battle to avoid relegation goes into the final week. Division 1 Table  

Team  P  W  L  D  Pts 

KLB A  16  13  1  2  53 

SIR W ROMNEYS  14  12  0  2  49 

REDNOCK A  14  9  2  3  40 

KLB B  15  8  5  2  35 

REDNOCK B  14  3  8  3  19 

KLB C  15  4  9  2  17 

STTC  15  2  11  2  17 

TKS   15  2  10  3  17 

WYCLIFFE  14  1  8  5  17 

 

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KLB Friends Update Winners of the 80/20 Club for March were: 1st Paul & Mary Broad, 2nd RA & LM Cole, 3rd (name withheld by request). Our first and second prize winners have been in the draw since 2009 so we’d like to say a big ‘thank you’ to them for their ongoing support. It would really help our fundraising if more families joined the 80:20 Club… and boost the pot of winnings too! If every family paid the £2 per month it would make an enormous difference, so please do sign up. To give you an idea of where your money goes when you support us, the Committee of KLB Friends has just approved funding to help the school buy a baby grand piano, a cricket astro-surface and library resources, amongst other things. We try to ensure that we spend money to benefits as many students as possible and hope you will agree that these purchases are worthwhile. We would be interested to hear the views of parents and carers in respect of this, so please get in touch. We would also appreciate offers of help to run refreshments stalls at the International Hockey Tournament on 24 May as well as donations of prizes for the raffle and tombola. Please contact us about any of these matters at KLBFriends@klbschool.org.uk or via the Reception at school. Thank you. Parent Workshop Suzie Smyth-Roberts, our Pastoral Support Advisor, will be holding the next parent workshop on Tuesday 6 May at 6.30pm. The theme is 'Managing stress (including exam stress) and anxiety'. A further workshop is planned for this year: Tuesday 3 June (postponed from Tuesday 1 April) 6.30 -8.00pm - Managing challenging behaviour Dates for your diary (full calendar available at http://calendar.klb.org.uk) The school term and holiday dates for 2014/15 are available on the school website. 2 Apr Year 8 parents’ evening 4 Apr Last day of term 4 22 Apr First day of term 5 2 May Years 7 and 8 Drama Production 5 May Bank Holiday 6 May Parent Workshop (see above) 8 May Year 11 Drama Showcase Evening 23 May Last day of term 5

2 Jun First day of term 6 3 Jun Parent Workshop (see above) 12 Jun Year 12 Higher Education evening 18/19 Jun Year 6 information evenings 23-26 Jun June Art Exhibition 26 Jun Sports Day 7-11 July Year 10 Work Experience 9-11 July Activities Days 15 July Sixth Form induction day 18 July Last day of term 6