Newsletter

Year 8 have been working hard towards the Fête, which takes place next Tuesday afternoon. 

Each year, Year 8 children select a charity to support and this year they have chosen ARC, a local homeless charity which provides accommodation, jobs and outreach support for the homeless in Taunton. 

Last year's Year 8 were fortunate to raise over £1000 for their nominated charity and I know that this year's Year 8 would love to raise a similar amount. Please note that, like last year, the Fête is just for children and no money should be brought in.  Please give via the link below – why not click it now and make a donation? 

What a magical experience Carnegie-nominated children's author Rachel Delahaye gave us. Her inspiring whole school presentation sparkled with enthusiasm and passion for writing children’s books. She encouraged us all to think of ourselves as story tellers and to embrace boredom as a greenhouse for our writing creativity.  

Many of the children were lucky enough to meet her in person and have their own copy of one of her 30 books signed.   Throughout the day quite a few pupils could be spotted dipping into their new reads around the school – it was clear Rachel managed to cast her reading for pleasure spell far and wide. 

The numerous workshops many of the children attended throughout the day were also pure magic. The children magicked up 3D characters and elaborate backstories. They learnt how to write stories using the “What if?” spell. Older pupils practiced conjuring with dark comedy to entertain rather than petrify their audiences.

Then, in a puff of smoke, Rachel was gone… but I think we would all agree she left a little of her magic with us all! 

What a magical and fantastical treat the Year 4 play was. It was a production full of characterful parts and the children really did Shakespeare proud. There was Puck and the fairies, alongside Oberon and Titania, twinkling across the stage or resting in the boughs of the Magnolia. The Dukes and lovers made us weep and cry with laughter from one scene to the next. The donkey and mechanicals were so endlessly entertaining and gave the production such a deep sense of fun and playfulness that it was a delight from start to finish.  
 
A huge achievement for all and well done once again to the relentlessly brilliant Mrs Keirle and her backstage crew and helpers for bringing such a wonderful story to life.  

To complete their year of drama at King’s Hall, Year 8 travelled to Bristol on Wednesday afternoon to experience a fabulous well known theatrical masterpiece ‘The Lion King’. 

They all had an amazing time watching an excellent cast, listening to marvellous music and watching movement, puppetry and mechanics to dazzle the eyes.  The opening number of the ‘Circle of Life’ makes the audience know they are in for something special and the huge elephants moving through the aisle showed the level of expertise the cast had at operating their animals.  

Year 8 certainly will remember their last theatre trip at King’s Hall and I am sure they will continue to enjoy and reap the rewards of seeing shows long into the future. 

Hello, we are Sienna and Erin, the Deputy Head Girls this term. 

Recently, we finished our Common Entrance exams and received our grades, which everyone in Year 8 should be proud of. 

On Monday, Year 8 visited King’s College for an induction day. Our day consisted of an orienteering activity around the school campus, a tour of the school, and some fun induction lessons like psychology, where we learnt about our brains, MFL and History, where we learnt about the history of medicine. We were also able to tour our new boarding houses and make some new friends. 

On Tuesday, Sienna played a cricket festival against Queen’s and Exeter whilst Erin prepared for her Speech and Drama VANGARD exam.  

On Wednesday, we visited the Bristol Hippodrome and watched the touring West End production of The Lion King. We think the cast were amazing and loved that we were able to have the opportunity to watch it. 

On Thursday, Sienna took part in the county cricket final, where she performed extremely well. Also, Erin had her Speech and Drama exam. 

On Friday, we continued planning for our Y8 fête by creating posters and planning how we are going to manage our stalls.

We hope everybody enjoys the final week of school, full of fun activities, as well as their Summer holidays. We will miss King’s Hall a lot, but we are thankful for our time here. 

Year 4 undertook the perilous mission of discussing this term’s Book Club read The Raven Riddle. With their suspiciously lolly shaped stun sticks the children thrashed out their opinions on this fast-paced adventure by award winning author Vashti Hardi. 

Inspired by the crime fighting clockwork raven of the book who is insulted when a character describes a group of ravens as a ‘gang’ instead of their correct name “An unkindness of ravens”, Year 4 devised their own collective noun. Suggestions included: “A giggle of Year 4s”, “An abomination of Year 4s” and “A whiff of Year 4s” – the latter clearly from a pupil who has spent time in the boys’ changing rooms after rugby!  
 
They also investigated how we should not pre-judge others, how we should keep trying when we are underestimated, as well as creating their own ideas for gadgets to save the world from needles to sew up the Ozone layer to vehicles that turn food waste into fuel. It’s clear they have all the wit, skill, and courage to take on any future mission the librarian assigns them!