News Stories

The Journey to Harvard

Zak Adams gains place to study at prestigious Ivy League University

Zak Adams from President Kennedy School has gained a place to study at Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher education in the U.S.A and one of the world’s most acclaimed and competitive institutions.

Zak joined President Kennedy School in September 2015 and from the outset consistently demonstrated an enthusiasm for learning both in and outside of a classroom setting. After an excellent performance at GCSE level, he has successfully gained four A Levels in History, Maths, Further Maths and Physics with grades A*A*A*A. and following a gruelling selection process will be travelling to the U.S.A to embark on his chosen Mathematics course.

His talents in both his academic studies and in his extracurricular pursuits were apparent from the outset and his consistent involvement in his school and wider community, combined with self-motivation and determination enabled him to stand out in the complex selection process. Academic excellence alone was not sufficient for Zak to secure his place and during his time at the school he has gone above and beyond to demonstrate his various skills and talents, not only linked to his subjects but also in his extra-curricular pursuits. Whilst gaining the most prestigious award for outstanding achievement in school, Zak was also one of 50 national winners in the Isaac Physics Award run in conjunction with the University of Cambridge. President Kennedy School have always supported Zak in the pursuit of his interests and this can be demonstrated in his involvement in the World Class Schools programme, forming an integral part of the school’s success in securing World Class school status, working collaboratively with his peers in developing presentations. In addition, he demonstrated a strong empathy towards other students who have been challenged educationally through either physical or mental disability in both his role as a Health and Well Being Ambassador and his involvement in a collaborative project with Sherbourne Fields school. Zak constantly aspired to learn more beyond the school curriculum and it is this thirst for knowledge which made him stand out. He applied himself diligently as a Performing Arts student being actively involved in both acting and dancing from the age of eleven up to the present day. He has won film awards as part of a team in several other countries, including an award for ‘Best Short Film’ at the San Diego Film Festival. He has also been part of a Young Entertainer team gaining first place and a subsequent special recognition award.

Zak is so much more than an outstanding mathematician and his academic excellence is only a part of what has led to his well-deserved success. Zak successfully combined his ability, passion, a desire to help others and a clear vision of the greater future purpose of his subject to gain this very much deserved opportunity. He was prepared to step outside of his comfort zone to learn more and was not averse to risk taking if he believed that his actions would have a positive impact on others. Zak fully embraced all opportunities presented to him both in and outside of school and he is now set to have a bright future in leading and inspiring others and we wish him every success from President Kennedy School.

Six Year 12 students made a trip to Snowdonia National Park to complete their practice expedition as part of their Gold Duke of Edinburgh's Award.

With mixed weather on the first day and some tricky navigational elements in the forest, the group arrived at camp just before dark to fight off the midges and quickly get their tents up, make dinner and get some much-needed sleep.

After heavy rain during the night, the group were greeted with blue skies on the morning of the second day's walk. With support from myself and DofE Leader Mrs Sly, the group worked on their skills for navigating in wild country, using a compass to take a bearing in order to get to a significant point on the map. By lunchtime, the group were confident to use the morning's teaching to navigate themselves across the hills and rest of their route that day. The group made excellent progress with precise timings across the distance, reaching the check-point within minutes of their estimation, giving themselves a more relaxed evening cooking and relaxing with some card games (and a little exam revision) at the campsite.

Another night of rain before the final day did not deter the group to get up early and prepare for the final day's walk. A windy but spectacularly picturesque walk across Conwy mountain to finish the expedition left the group with a feeling of pride and relief before a sleepy minibus journey home.

Over the course of the three day expedition, all students were a credit to the school, conducting themselves with real pride and maturity which was commented on by a number of members of the local community. Well done Year 12!

The group will now begin to plan their final Gold Award expedition which we hope will take place in October 2022. 

It is an immense pleasure to have been working with President Kennedy School pupils. The Year 9s have shown themselves to be thoughtful, creative and caring young people and we have thoroughly enjoyed each session. Time seems to evaporate in that studio! We have a lot left to do but we are excited about what we can achieve.

Our project has used drama, dance and digital arts to explore the often gloomy and overwhelming topic of climate change. The pupils have been working as co-researchers, alongside the Warwick academics Dr Rachel Turner-King and Dr Bobby Smith as well as artists Charlotte Hale-Smith (Flux), and Luke Newbold from Lens Change Ltd. 

For the first few weeks, we explored our connections to local and global places, they used their bodies to interpret complex scientific vocabulary and we invited them to discuss key issues connected to climate change and environmental pollution. 

They have been producing mini-verbatim scripts about why different particular ‘lands’ matters to them and are devising group movement and experimenting with creative writing techniques. Throughout this process, we are developing their sense of playfulness, risk-taking, peer-peer trust and self-confidence – key factors in adolescents’ social and emotional development.

 Alongside this, we visited President Kennedy School's unique and inspiring ‘Curriculum Garden’. We were lucky enough to meet the gardener, Rob and the Year 9s interviewed him after their tour. Their questions were thoughtful and led to a rich conversation. We hope to meet with Rob again and continue to use the garden as a creative resource for our work.

Throughout this process, the researchers and artists are working with digital artist and web designer Ashley James Brown who, alongside videographer Luke, is documenting and translating the Year 9’s creative work into an online educational resource that can inspire other teachers, young people and arts practitioners. We are excited to be doing one of our final workshops with the young people at Warwick University’s new Faculty of Arts Building on Thursday 23rd June. 

It is also our hope that the young people will join us to share the first phase of this at an international conference held at Warwick University in July. Not only this, but the project is connected to a wider international research study into ‘eco-citizenship’ with other young people based in Canada, Taiwan, Greece, Colombia and India. Some of the President Kennedy School students have been invited to join a virtual Global Drama Club which involves meeting young people in India to share their different experiences and ideas about climate change.

  Rachel Turner-King, Assistant Professor,Creativity, Performance and Education, Education Studies, University of Warwick

This week, our Year 10 students had the opportunity to participate in the 'Your Future Roadshow'. 

This event aims to support young people with providing impartial advice so that they are able to make well-informed decisions about their future education. 

Students had the opportunity to engage in four workshops learning about Higher Education, Further Education (College and Sixth Forms), Apprenticeships and T Levels and preparing for the World of Work.

Feedback from the external providers was very positive – they commented on the great interaction and interest shown by our students.                                   Mrs Fawcett, Careers Leader

Matilda Jr

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The Year 7 Rugby team, played in the Coventry Schools tournament on Tuesday night at Bablake playing fields. In the group games President Kennedy School beat Finham 20-0, Newman 20-5 and BKHS 'B' 30 - 5. 

This meant we won the group and played Coundon Court in the semi finals who we then beat 20-5, this set up a final vs BKHS 'A', this proved to be an exciting final with President Kennedy School taking the lead half way into the game, the President Kennedy School defence then worked tirelessly to halt the BKHS attack, unfortunately, with the last play of the game BKHS scored in the corner to tie the game. 

The trophy is shared for 6 months each and it truly was an outstanding effort by President Kennedy School.

Mr Garlick, P.E Department