Successful John Kyrle Athletes, with Headteacher Nigel Griffiths and Head of PE Mike Donaghue.

Highlights amongst the boys came from Luke Clarke who won the Intermediate boys’ 100m and 400m and came second in the Long Jump, Dan Maisey who won the Inter Boys’ Shot and came second in the 200m, and George Hemingway and Steven Howie who claimed the top two spots in the Inter Boys’ Discus.

County Champion Hannah Ralphs and PE Teacher Claire Godwin

Not to be outdone, the girls also excelled. Bethan Samuel in year 7 broke Vanessa Brann’s old     school record in the Junior Girls 800m, and Hannah Ralphs, Ellie Osborne Ford and Becky Bailey made it a clean sweep in the Inter Girls’ Triple Jump.

Those athletes finishing in the top 3 spots then represented Hereford District at the County Finals in Worcester with both Hannah Ralphs and Dan Maisey being crowned County Champions in their respective events.

 Other medalists at the Championships were Jon Evans (Javelin), Amber Probyn (Long Jump), Matthew Leask (800m), and Stephen Howie (Discus). All these athletes will now represent the County at the prestigious Mason Trophy competition.

Irene and Annet in the JKHS technology department

John Kyrle students, staff and governors were delighted to welcome Ugandan visitors from Kisiki College, Namutumba this week. Headteacher, Irene Nairuba and teacher of English Annet spent time in lessons interacting with students who were keen to learn more about life in Uganda, particularly comparing the experiences of students at Kisiki College with those of John Kyrle High School. Irene and Annet also met with JKHS Headteacher Nigel Griffiths and senior leaders from the school. 

At a welcome lunch on Monday, JKHS Chair of Governors Karen Frost commended the strength of the bonds between the two school communities; she herself had visited Kisiki College in 2008. It is now twenty years since the link was made and during that time over 250 JKHS sixth form students have taken advantage of the opportunity to visit Kisiki College where they have taught lessons, taken part in sport activities and been guests at the homes of Kisiki College students. Funds raised by the school and wider Ross on Wye community have helped provide new classrooms and facilities at Kisiki College. Students have also raised money to buy mosquito nets for new mothers as well as sponsor the education of sixth formers in Namutumba.

Irene and Annet have a busy schedule whilst staying in Ross but will be visiting JKHS again next week to meet sixth formers and take an assembly. JKHS Geography teacher Ruth Till will be leading the next visit of JKHS students to Uganda next month. Former students who have visited Uganda can keep upto date with developments via the Ross / Namatumba link website: www.rossnamutumba.org.uk

Annet and Irene with JKHS Chair of Governors, Headteacher and staff

Headteacher Nigel Griffiths & Music Teacher Ed Arnold, with staff Rotary Club members and students at JKHS Music Department

Teacher, Ed Arnold explained that the donated music technology equipment complemented successful courses in live sound, studio recording and performance. The analogue and digital outboard signal processors would allow far more students to experiment with alternative ways of providing high-quality mixes from recordings. Mr Arnold explained further, that given the high number of live concerts that take place at the school, additional sound reinforcement systems would enhance what can be achieved and provide greater access to live sound equipment for an ever-increasing number of music and music technology students ranging from KS3 to Sixth Form students, who frequently work together to provide a full calendar of live entertainment throughout the academic year.

Headteacher, Nigel Griffiths thanked the Rotarians on behalf of the school for their fantastic donation towards equipment for the Music Technology department. He went on to add that the school puts great emphasis on encouraging student participation in music and drama as a way of building self-esteem and developing expertise.

She joins an elite group of Chairs of Governors, all from schools with an Ofsted grading of Outstanding for Leadership and Management, trained by the National College to offer support and advice to other Chairs of Governors in an environment of significant challenge and change for school governance.

Karen said ‘With almost 10 years of experience under my belt as Chair of Governors at John Kyrle, I now have the experience and credentials to help and support other governors around the county and beyond.  I am looking forward to the new experiences this will bring’.

Nigel Griffiths , seen here congratulating Karen, said, “With her experience, credibility and integrity, Karen will excel in this new role.  She will be able to draw upon her experiences at John Kyrle and also the multi-national organisations and smaller companies with whom she works as part of her business. Her focus upon educational standards and entrepreneurialism have helped drive up standards at John Kyrle and will be of great use to other schools.”

Mr Griffiths said he was very proud of the outreach work undertaken by John Kyrle which has been complemented with Karen’s new role.  As a National Leader of Education, he works with Academy Trusts and Local Authorities across the country, and the school has designated 5 Specialist Leaders of Education who assist schools and academies at teacher and management levels in Maths, English, post-16, Finance and Curriculum Design.

A huge amount of work and effort from one of John Kyrle High School’s Sixth Form students, Abi Middlecote, resulted in ‘Gig MD’, a charity concert in aid of Muscular Dystrophy. The concert was held at Penyard House, near Ross on Wye, and featured the band ‘Daniel and the Scandals’, a top rock band who have strong links with Herefordshire.
Other performers included Charlie Farmer and Ed Arnold. The representative for the charity for the evening was Team GB gold-medal-winning Paralympic swimmer Sam Hynd, who gave a fascinating insight into his career. The event raised nearly £750 for the charity. Abi offered a big thank you to all those involved, including fellow sixth form students, Zoe Hutton and Katie Stewart and Ed Arnold and Emma Foster for helping with the organisation.

There was also a hive of activity in the music department at school as the BBC Hereford & Worcester Introducing team geared up to record in the school studios. Presenter/producer Andrew Marston was responsible for bringing along a number of up-and-coming bands and artists from the two counties. The show was recorded entirely using the studios at John Kyrle, which feature state-of-the-art equipment and was engineered by former student, Jacob Cooper and teacher, Ed Arnold. Programmes are being broadcast weekly and can be found on the front page of the BBC H&W Introducing website, or locally on 104 and 94.7FM.

This trio of musical events was concluded with the school’s Spring Concert. The Spring Concert was the final major musical event of the academic year, where students and staff performed a variety of modern and classical performances ranging from Tchaikovsky to Mumford and Sons. Amongst many great performances were the Cello Quartet performing Smooth Criminal, Ben Ray and Bailey Hoare with their rendition of Mack The Knife and the piano duet by George and Eliott Gooch.

Head of Music, Deb Blake said, “The concert had not only further established the talent at John Kyrle but also demonstrated the fantastic support given by staff and parents.”

Headteacher, Nigel Griffiths, praised his talented students and his excellent staff in the Music Department who allowed them the opportunity to perform to a wider audience. He said the school’s recent strategy of investment in Music Technology, led by Finance Director, John Docherty, had been very successful.

CMCA have sponsored tour t-shirts and have also offered further funds towards netball dresses and rugby kit.  Headteacher, Nigel Griffiths, met with Rob Crawford, Managing Director of CMCA and thanked him personally for his company’s generosity. Mr Griffiths said, “The opportunities my staff are able to offer young people to experience different cultures such as North America, South Africa and Uganda are enhanced greatly by our co-ordinated work with sponsors and benefactors.”

 Professional Photographer Philip Price captured the entire evening and photos are available to view and purchase via the following links:
Part 1 - http://www.phot.me.uk/JKHS2013/  & Part 2 - http://www.phot.me.uk/JKHS2013b

More students than ever enjoyed the added bonus of free or discounted tickets for the event, thanks to an innovative Passport to the Prom rewards scheme run by the school. Students could obtain a free or discounted ticket by fulfilling a range of criteria throughout the year such as maintaining high attendance, taking advantage of the numerous revision sessions on offer at school and membership of school clubs.

During the celebrations, Headteacher, Nigel Griffiths congratulated the Year 11 students on their contributions to John Kyrle since they began in 2008.  He noted their academic progress, successful participation in Sport, the Arts and fund-raising activities.

Chris Elias, Head of Year 11, echoed Mr. Griffiths’ comments on how fantastic the students looked. He thanked the tutors and all staff at school who had supported the year group and told them how proud he was of what they had already achieved. He added that he would be disappointed if results’ day was the high point in their lives as he hoped they would use their results as a stepping stone to go on and accomplish far greater things.

The Prom Night was also a chance for reflection on the life of Lauren Hughes. Lauren tragically passed away, last year, when she was in Year 10 and would have been excitedly attending the Prom with her many friends. An open letter from Lauren’s family was read by Mr. Elias, thanking the year group for their support, asking them to enjoy their evening and to raise a glass in Lauren’s memory.

The evening continued with alternative awards, musical performances and a disco.

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