News

This week, as part of the school’s vibrant virtual extra-curricular programme, pupils were encouraged to put away their phones and pick up a pack of cards, in a bid to build the “most impressive” house of cards out of everyone in their year.

In an important step to provide even more support for our pupils, Kingham was recently approved to be an SAT location, an important test for gaining entrance to American Universities.

School may have gone virtual, but that has not stopped our two nurses, Elaine and Mary, from continuing to put their wealth of skills and experience to practical and valuable use, as both currently volunteer with the local surgery in Chipping Norton to help deliver vaccinations.

The pitter-patter of tiny hooves is soon to be echoing around Kingham Hill as three of our goats welcome kids into the world!

With only a handful of pupils currently on site, the lives of the PA team have changed somewhat dramatically over the last few weeks... we have become masters of many trades, but it's not all work and no play!

You can take a pupil out of the classroom, but it transpires that you can also send the classroom to the pupil! Our team of PAs rose to the task of packing up books to be shipped off to pupils studying from home.

Top school came alive with light and song this weekend as pupils from across all the boarding houses gathered together for some socially-distant and seasonal carols in our annual Kingham Carol Service.

The Theatre at Chipping Norton is an important partner to Kingham Hill.   Pupils have enjoyed their support over the last week in a number of ways.

With over 100 acres, Kingham Hill is a great location for outdoor activities.   Active Adventure will be running a day camp for juniors before Christmas.

On Wednesday, 11th November 2020, the whole school came together to pay our respects to all those who have fallen in the service of their country, including former pupils of KHS. This drumhead service was conducted on the pitches in front of Top School and culminated with a two minute silence at 11am. This was the first whole school event of the year, a fact which made the ceremony all the more poignant.  

One of our favourite parts of the new sports hall is back in action.

Many of you may know our Cricket Pavilion from Speech Day or our summer cricket matches. It is of a generous size but has been in much need of some tender loving care.

Boy it looks good! Thanks to the generosity of former "Bradford Boys" and their families, a wonderful oak Heads of House Board now graces its atrium hall. We hope it will serve well to inspire past, present and future boys to learn of the stories that lay behind each of these names.

Football crazy first form pupil Kiera enjoyed a day out with the FA and Pokemon Futsal team to help promote the sport.

Kingham 5th Form pupils enjoyed a recent DofE expedition over the weekend.

Pupils had a great day of activities outdoors ending in a game of hunting the PAs around the school site!

In a year of unprecedented uncertainty, a pandemic, and government U-turns, I’m proud to say that this year’s 5th form at KHS have kept their heads down, overcome all the obstacles placed in front of them, and focused on their futures.

"I’m delighted to say that well over half of the grades they received were A*s and As - a record set of results, achieved in extraordinarily challenging circumstances by a phenomenal cohort, with unfailing support from a dedicated pastoral and academic team.

Drama, music, engineering, cinematography, a fashion show and countries and culture - a week full of things outside of (phew) the Virtual Classroom.

We celebrate our American "Class of 2020" and their recent High School graduation at Kingham Hill.   

Congratulations to Mr Selley and Miss Rutherford who were married on Saturday, July 4th.

Despite the fact this year's Mass was virtual, the event nonetheless retained much of its traditional character. A huge number of staff and pupils participated in the 2.2 mile run, and a hard-fought tussle for the top house position was evident with a great deal of in-house comradery on show as well as some fantastic individual performances (a number of staff and pupils on the KHS site were even able to run the real Mass route starting at top school -  socially distanced of course). 

Our annual cross country run took place virtually, from across the globe.  This year we had alumni and former staff joining in also.

As the 2019-20 school year is drawing to a close, a number of events are planned to celebrate our Upper Sixth Leavers.

Sixth Form suppers continue in VKHS

15,000 bees are getting settled into their new home on the Hill.

The KHS Virtual Quiz Club is off to a good start!  Available for all pupils to join -  from 19:00-20:30 each Monday evening.

Our Academy team put together a virtual performance of a song from Les Mis from their homes around the world.

Mr Seward had his 50th birthday during lockdown and in the middle of VKHS. With cake and a karting date, all is well.

As a member of the Boarding School Association (BSA),  Kingham Hill has joined the sector to breed confidence in pupils returning to School in September.  

In the week before half term, our 1st to 5th Form pupils participated in a series of daily events organised to get them away from the normal timetable and enriched with with thinking about the wider world.

'At the beginning of this week, I don't think most people had given any serious thought about the future beyond Kingham, but this week has provided everyone with lots of invaluable information.  Mrs Berkeley has given us an insight into a range of courses and the many different methods and places of study.  As a result, pupils have begun to constructively plan their futures.

Checking in with the KHS catering team...recipes included!

Next week our 1st -5th Form pupils will have a week away from their screens.  Details for the week are outlined in the attached article.

We asked some of our Hillians for their recollections of VE Day and what life was like on the Hill during that time. They were kind enough to share their stories from 75 years ago.

Our boarding houses are homes for our boarding houseparents and their families, even when pupils are not onsite.   We asked 7 year old William (of Norwich House) if he could report on what life is like on the Hill during  VKHS.

KHS alumnus Guy shares interesting stories and bass lessons from his home during Corona lockdown.

Ideas for the Easter Break; for the whole family.

We checked in with one of our KHS parents to see how things were going and what life is like with everyone at home...working and attending VKHS.

A word from Mr Martin ... on empty nest syndrome and homeschooling.

KHS moved to VKHS on Monday March 23.  Our first two weeks have been full of lessons and activity as pupils maintained a normal timetable and involvement in School community. 

Due to current restrictions placed on large group gatherings, our traditional Founder's Day was cancelled. Instead, our Heads of School paid tribute to CEB Young with a small service led by Reverend Savage. The pupils shared their own stories of how the Founder and Kingham Hill School has touched each of their lives. Hillian (and staff member) Tim Foster was able to represent our alumni on this very special occasion.

On Tuesday we visited three of London's major Art galleries to help the 5th Form find inspiration for their GCSE examination projects.

We are thrilled to announce that Kingham Hill School will be the first school in the country to take part in a new initiative in partnership with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. The “Eyes On Hands On” project has been set up for local volunteers to help with the oversight and care of some of the 160,000 war graves spread out across the UK, often in local churchyards.

On Wednesday our Chapel Choir went to Magdalen College, Oxford to hear their choir sing evensong. Before the service they were treated to a tour of the college grounds and some of the buildings, including the deer park and Addison's Walk, the path which circles the small island in the River Cherwell in the college grounds.

The success of general knowledge quizzing at Kingham Hill continues after a close-fought set of regional heats in the nationwide competition, 'Schools Challenge'. The competition consists of twenty-minute quizzes on buzzers, following the traditional rules of University Challenge.

Last Saturday, our 1^st - 4^th form boarders, visited the National Space Centre in Leicester. The Centre offered plenty to keep the children entertained with an abundance of interactive galleries, the impressive 42 metre high Rocket Tower and the Sir Patrick Moore’s Planetarium – the UK’s largest Planetarium.

Towards the end of last term, the Senior swim gala took place. With a great turn out the atmosphere was electric as the first swimmers took to the blocks.

On Saturday 7th December we welcomed Rendcomb College to the Hill for a morning of rugby. There were five matches in all from the U12s up to the seniors, with parents, house parents and staff providing excellent support and encouragement to the boys.

Our season began with pre-season training from Great Britain international Sarah Robertson and ended with Sarah returning to the Hill to present our annual KHS Hockey Awards. As well as presenting the awards, Sarah talked about her career and finished off by answering questions from the audience.

Cliff McNish, award winning author of fantasy and supernatural novels for middle-grade readers and young adults, was at Kingham Hill school recently to run a couple of workshops for our 4th form pupils who are about to start their GCSE Ghost Writing coursework.

This project, from first design meeting to practical completion, was three years in the making but on Monday 25th November the new Sports Centre finally opened to the pupils and staff with Mr Cartwright kicking off the morning with a lesson in his new classroom, teaching 4th Form PE.

Congratulations go to Bertie Barker of L6th Woodstock for being recognised as a future leader in engineering by the prestigious Arkwright Scholarship scheme. On Friday 1^st November 2019, Bertie was awarded his scholarship at The Institute of Engineering and Technology in London. 

Last year, with the encouragement and support of an alumni who went on to have a career in Eco-Science, we introduced an annual competition and award for pupils to think about how to be climate change activists.

The annual Third Form Battlefields Trip was a great success this year. Mr Williams, our resident military historian, took 50 Third Formers and five staff to the First World War battlefields of northern France and Belgium for five days just before Half Term in October. The trip was refined this year in order to teach as much as possible of the First World War curriculum in the field rather than in the classroom. Mr Williams admits it was very much an experiment to start with, but it soon became clear that taking this approach has made the trip much more engaging and interesting for the pupils.

This tour to Portugal was a great opportunity for the boys to experience a sports tour and come together and develop as a team. Three games in six days was a tough schedule but nevertheless we managed to fit in a tour of Lisbon, a surf lesson, a bowling trip and a number of training sessions on the beach. The games offered a great challenge and the opportunity to play and be hosted at some fantastic venues.

James Shand, one of our governors, spoke about bouncing back, focusing on his harder times in business and how he has responded.

For our Harvest celebrations, Houses worked together to raise money for food and household items for the Witney-based charity, BESOM.

Part of the BTec in Animal Management requires pupils to learn about different animals, birds and reptiles and also how to handle them. 

Congratulations to Luke Maslen who has been named Player of the Year by the Oxfordshire County Cricket U17 team.

Last Friday, a group of 11 cadets and accompanying staff departed for two days in Oxford and Northampton. Our bases of operation were the Oxford Sea Cadets - using the resources available at the Isis Canoe Club - and also the Nene White Water Centre in Northampton. The aim of the camp was to introduce cadets to adventurous activities and promote new skills and teamwork.

On Tuesday, most of the fourth form went to see a production of Macbeth at the Everyman Theatre in Cheltenham

Last week, our 1st Form spent two nights away on a residential trip to South Wales. We stayed at the Summit Centre, near Merthyr Tydfil, a fantastic facility full of activities and wonderful staff who made us all feel very welcome.

We're planning ahead for springtime and have just received our shipment of 7000 daffodil bulbs.  

Our Lower 6th A level geographers have recently returned from a two day fieldwork course on the Isle of Purbeck, Dorset where they learned about the formation of Stair Hole and Lulworth Cove and analysed how the geology has contributed to the landscape.

After two years' work, Peter Berry (Greenwich 1972-79) was able to install his new stained glass windows in Top School Hall at the weekend. These beautiful windows are the perfect addition to the hall and will serve to enrich the school both today and long into the future.

Last Saturday morning, the eight Bradford boys and two tutors who were in school 'served' at Kingham Primary School for a few hours.

One of the Latimer tutor group socials last week saw the 3rd form completing a 5K obstacle course. The girls had great fun crawling through tunnels, sinking in muddy swaps and scaling the high obstacles.

With Kingham Hill School being recognised in the Parliamentary Review as an example of outstanding academic and pastoral practice, Headmaster Nick Seward and his wife Hannah, attended the Parliamentary Review Gala in London last night.

Over the Christmas break a number of Kingham Hill pupils embraced the opportunity to develop their skiing skills on the slopes of Obertauern in Austria. This annual event has become a much anticipated part of the annual calendar and, as per usual, the snow did not disappoint. Following a week of constant snowfall our tourists were first onto the slopes which had some of the finest snow which Europe had to offer - even more than the Three Valleys. 

This Monday saw the annual Hockey Awards evening which gave a chance for all pupils and staff to look back together on this year's season and take stock of the progress made. It was an evening which gave the school much to be proud of and our special guest was Suzy Petty who is a current Great Britain Hockey play, who has represented this country in the World Championships and Commonwealth Games. Her story was very much down to earth and clearly resonated with pupils own experience of having to work hard to achieve.

We are starting of a week of remembrance here at Kingham Hill by highlighting some of the brave Kingham Hill Alumni who fell in World War I. Today, we feature Charles Moull.

It was a day of success at Kingham Hill School as Year 13 pupils celebrated receiving their A level results. The School’s Sixth Formers arrived this morning both excited and nervous to learn the outcome of their examinations. They were not disappointed as they achieved incredible results - the best the school has seen to date.

There were plenty of happy reactions as Kingham Hill School pupils collected their GCSE results this morning. Building on the record A level results of last week the GCSE pupils made it a double celebration as they achieved a school record for the second year running.

To officially draw the 2016/17 school year to a close we held our annual Speech Day celebrations on Saturday 1^st July. The school grounds, pupils and guests were bathed in glorious sunshine, adding to the joyful atmosphere. 

Pupils at the Hill have been celebrating a very successful term of fundraising after collecting over £6,000 for TeamHelps, a charity that works to improve education, medical care and living conditions for families in Guatemala.

Earlier this month the school's Chapel was full with beautiful music, as we were very proud to be joined by local primary and preparatory schools for our sixth, annual Junior Choir Competition.

Celebrated children’s author, Tanya Landman wowed our Year 8 pupils as she visited ahead of the Chipping Norton Literary Festival. Joining our pupils in the school library Tanya began her talk with recounting some hilarious tales from her childhood and school, notably describing her ambitions to be an astronaut, ballerina and monkey.

Just before the end of the Lent Term, all our pupils studying either French or Government and Politics took part in mock elections for the President of the French Republic.