On Thursday 4^th July – memorable for more than just the music – we held our final concert of the academic year. 70 students performed to a packed Big School to celebrate the musical achievements of the year. Very early into the programme I was concerned that the concert might not end until mid-night but with shorter items in the second part my worries soon passed.

The concert commenced with the impressive senior guitar ensemble which filled the stage and was led by Mr. Knight. The other ensembles performing were Lower School Woodwind Ensemble, Upper School Woodwind Ensemble, Lower School Choir, KEVI HGS Jazz Ensemble, String Ensemble, Guitar Sextet and KEVI HGS Orchestra. We enjoyed solo performances from Daniel Earle, Abel Shaine, Rajan Dhuphar, Ziona Paulson, Joshua Holdsworth, Alvin Chan, Maximus Rueff, Ritchie Rogers, Teghbir Singh, Enzo Lee, Hrithik Bansal, Jaswanth Panathala Venkata, Nicholas da Silva Xavier Woods, Daniel Alloh Mikael Mahmood, Arjun Dev Bagha, Sebastian Fernando and Amitoj Saggu.

This was the final concert for Daniel Earle and Max Rueff, both of whom have regularly contributed to the musical life of the school since joining us. Max is off to university in September and Daniel heads to Stourbridge for A-levels. On behalf of the department, we wish them well in the next stage of their education.

Thank you to all the staff and students that made this wonderful event happen with relative ease. We look forward to seeing you at our concerts next academic year.

Martin Ward

 

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On Monday 8th July 2024, year 9 computer science students visited the world-renowned Morgan Motor Company in Malvern, Worcestershire. The trip provided us with a firsthand look at how cutting-edge technology blended with traditional craftsmanship in the automotive industry.

We reached the Motor Company just after 10am and we were greeted by 3 members of staff. We were given a lanyard, with one being gold, and one being blue, to split us up into 2 working groups.

We received earpieces to use in case we visited loud areas of the site. We were all seated and were presented with an inspiring video of the Morgan Motor Company and how the application of technology blends with the intricate craftmanship that goes into each Morgan car produced.

After the video, we followed our tour guides to the industrial side of the site, where we got to see the aluminium framework of their 3 vehicles, the ‘Super 3’, ‘Plus 4’, and ‘Plus 6’. We then made our way to the showroom with a few special vehicles, with one being an elegant, limited-edition vehicle with only 50 being manufactured. We were given a brief overview of each vehicle and made our way to the chassis assembly area.

It was very loud, and we learnt how the workers would assemble the chassis of the vehicles, and how they would test the newly made vehicles to see if they fit to emission standards and can operate correctly. We then learnt how they made the parts of the Morgan’s through compressors and rollers.

We then made our way to a quieter area of the factory, the woodwork area. This area was where they would create the base of the exterior of the vehicle using ash wood due to its flexibility and low moisture content. After leaving the woodwork area, we made our way to the “trim room” where the innovative parts for the interior were handmade, ranging from the seats to the dashboard.

Finally, we were invited into the historical showroom to see many pictures of Morgan Vehicles throughout history. The trip undoubtedly sparked our curiosity into technology and automotive engineering and was an inspiring and enriching experience.

Balraj Nijjar 9 Galahad

From 3^rd March to 9^th March a group of 40 students and 5 staff visited Italy for a two-centred trip organised by the Geography Department.

We met at school very early on the morning of 3^rd March and travelled by coach to Heathrow airport for our flight to Rome.  After leaving our bags at the Hotel Archimede we enjoyed a walking tour of the capital city of Rome, where we were able to visit many places including the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps. We then headed back to the hotel to settle-in before heading out again for our evening meal at a local restaurant.  On the next day, we enjoyed another walking tour, this time including the Colosseum, where we saw where gladiators would have fought in front of an audience of 85,000 people. Shortly afterwards, we went to the Vatican City and saw the famous Sistine Chapel which has the magnificent ceiling designed by the artist Michelangelo, adorned with religious symbolism, and architecture that dates back to the 16th century.  We also visited St. Peter’s Basilica before heading back to our hotel.

On the next day we boarded a coach to travel to the bay of Naples and visited Pompeii on our journey where we were able to clearly see remains of life in 1st Century Italy. We were able to see ancient streets, houses and atriums all of which were preserved by volcanic ash and then uncovered and restored by archaeologists.  We were based at the Hotel Albatross in Sorrento for the next 3 nights.  From here, we visited the Island of Capri.  On our ferry journey there, the choppy water meant that many of our group were sick – our teachers (Mr Thaper, Mr Sanders, Miss Morgan, Mr Campbell and Mr Jones) were kept busy supplying sick bags to us (and some other passengers!)  We then had a boat trip around the island to see gorgeous cliffs, mountains and sea- caves.  On the following day we climbed the infamous Mt. Vesuvius which is famed for destroying the city of Pompeii. The climb was easy but exciting, as throughout we were met with incredible views. We then visited Herculaneum, which was also destroyed during Vesuvius’s eruption in AD79.

For the full duration of the trip, we ate authentic Italian cuisine, which was mouth-watering and flavourful. On our final day, we took part in a gnocchi-making session at a farm and, after taking a tour of the farm whilst our food was cooking, ate what we had made.  It was very tasty!  From here, we headed to Naples Airport for our flight home, after what had been a very enjoyable, educational and tiring week.

Amrit, Amaan and Yazan

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