A full bloom of highlights from our spring term at King’s InterHigh

Learning and school life have been bursting with activity ever since we returned from the winter break, with so much to share from our spring term this year.

Let’s take a look back at some of the standout moments that made the past few months such a fun, successful, and memorable time for our community.

Students hard at work

With the academic year well and truly underway, our students have been making huge strides in their learning this term. Our sixth form students, for example, began the term by tackling their mock examinations. Mock exams are a crucial stepping stone in the last few months of school, and students were able to valuable insights into their progress to help plan their studies for the summer.

We were also proud to celebrate that two of our King’s InterHigh students achieving the highest marks globally in last year’s exams! One of the pair was Millie, who earned the highest mark in the world for IGCSE English Literature.

Highlight: IGCSE Art

Among all the great work happening this year, if we could only highlight one subject this term, it would be IGCSE Fine Art: one of our newest subject offerings and a vibrant addition to our curriculum. Our Year 11 artists have demonstrated outstanding commitment to their exam portfolios this term, refining their art to an impressive quality with regular, structured feedback from their teachers.

This week, as we round out our second year of offering IGCSEs in Art and Design, we’re also excited to be cheering on more than 120 Year 11 students who are taking their practical art exams fully online. As part of our pioneering partnership with Pearson Edexcel, King’s InterHigh students are able to sit their exams from home through remote invigilation, with 10 hours of examinations taking place across 15 virtual exam rooms this week.

Diving into Project Week

For our primary and lower secondary students, the spring term culminates with Project Week: an initiative where students get to transform their knowledge from the year into hands-on, independent learning.

Project Week is a highlight on our academic calendar, and students love getting the chance to self-direct their learning with guidance from our teachers. Our middle school students started Project Week exploring museums in London together, while our younger primary learners are each focusing on a different school value depending on their year group: belonging, individuality, curiosity, and potential.

Our inaugural Spring Concert

The evening of 26 March was an exciting milestone for our performing arts department, who were delighted to host our first ever King’s InterHigh Spring Concert! Students across the school submitted performances inspired by the theme of spring, complemented by outstanding pieces of work from this term’s music and drama classes.

The programme showcased an incredible range of talent and creativity, with standout works from students like Koda and Lucinda in Year 13 and Fleur in Year 11.

The House Drama Festival

Ahead of the Spring Concert, February brought the excitement of our House Drama Festival. This year’s diverse range of entries spanned across contemporary plays and timeless classics, with musical theatre and Shakespeare emerging as some of the most popular choices. Festivals like these are a great way to foster collaborative spirit and encourage our students to share their talents with confidence. Next up, we’re looking forward to our House Dance Competition!

Preparing for the future

Every child’s school journey is filled with important transitions, and we know how important it is that they’re equipped with the confidence and knowledge they need to embrace each new stage. This term, our Year 6, 9, and 11 students took part in events and assemblies to help them move up to secondary school, IGCSEs, and sixth form respectively. Particularly popular were our taster sessions, which gave learners the chance to explore the subjects they may want to pursue further in the next stage of their learning.

For our Year 13 students, meanwhile, the biggest transition of all is on the horizon: the future beyond school. Led by our Head of Sixth Form, Viktoria Papen, our team worked closely with students at the beginning of this term to finalise their UCAS applications for UK universities, with guidance every step of the way. We’ve also been supporting many of our students with global aspirations, which is why we were thrilled to host a guest speaker event with a Vice Dean of Admissions at a US college.

Excitingly, we’re already seeing that hard work pay off this term for students who submitted early applications — including one of our Year 13 learners who has been accepted to study law at the University of Cambridge, and Varun, who will be playing tennis at Yale University next year!

An IGCSE trip through history

For one of this term’s school trips, our Year 10 and 11 IGCSE students brought history to life with a visit to some of the most interesting educational sites in London. The day started at the Old Operating Theatre, where students were captivated by a talk on the history of surgery.

After sharing lunch together in the bustling Hays Galleria, the group headed to the Florence Nightingale Museum to explore her remarkable life and legacy. Alongside serving as a great way to enhance learning, one of the most special things about our school trips is seeing our students connect and collaborate in person.

Making sushi in Dubai

Alongside academic trips, students can also join social meetups with fellow families around the world. Our UAE community, for example, came together in Dubai this term for a relaxing and fun sushi-making session. As students tried their hands at making delicious rolls together, parents and carers got a chance to connect with like-minded families navigating their online school journeys too. Plus, it was a great opportunity for our school leaders to connect with students and their grownups face-to-face.

Walking the World

Our annual Walk the World event also took place this term, inspiring children and teachers alike to lace up their shoes and explore their local surroundings. Walk the World is one of the many ways we encourage our online school students to get active, with participants logging their steps and showcasing lovely photos from their walks. Nothing beat the sense of collective achievement everyone felt when we calculated our final tally!

Connecting in competitions

The start of term also drummed up excitement as we announced the winners of our Festive Craft Competition, filled with the wonderful art and creative works our students made during the winter break. From drawings to Lego builds, each submission was a real joy to view.

Competitions are woven throughout our school calendar, giving students the chance to showcase their skills and connect with peers across the globe — with some friendly rivalry as everyone tries to earn points for their house. Our Year 11 IGCSE Psychology students, for example, demonstrated exceptional creativity during the Neuron Competition. From constructing elaborate 3D models to illustrating complex synaptic transitions, it was a great interdisciplinary learning moment that brought art and science together.

Students also had the opportunity to participate in lots of wider competitions this year, from the Energising Futures Ultimate STEM challenge to events with fellow Inspired schools worldwide (like the Model UN with St. Peter’s in Portugal).

King’s InterHigh Coding Week

Technology was a highlight this term with our King’s InterHigh Coding Week, which took place this February. Together, students embraced technology, using their creativity, problem-solving skills, and collaboration abilities to tackle programming and computation activities.

Our secondary students, for example, entered the world of a computer fair using virtual reality (VR), navigating a series of challenging stalls that tested their logical thinking and ability to solve problems. The VR activities culminated with a virtual escape room, with the winners who solved all the puzzles receiving some well-earned achievement points.

Student initiative in action

Our school’s student-led initiatives, meanwhile, have been as impressive as ever to witness. Following their appointment last term, our King’s InterHigh Student Council representatives have been hard at work with lots of different ideas on the agenda. Secondary students have been focused on school pride and social activities, for example, while our sixth form fares gathered together ideas from all their classmates in an assembly.

And student-led assemblies aren’t just for our council members. Learners are encouraged to take part in leading these weekly events, with one of this term’s highlights coming from a Year 12 student. Co-hosting with English teacher Anne-Marie Olden, she brought together our IGCSE students to provide insights into life at our sixth form.

Mrs. Olden has also been working with our Middle East and Southeast Asia Student Newspaper team on their very first edition, being released this week! With a talented Year 9 student serving as Chief Editor, this co-curricular club has been a real joy for its members, who get to show off their skills in journalism, creative writing, and more.

Big student achievements

There have been so many academic achievements this term, from record-topping exam marks to our recent university acceptances. We were also proud to celebrate another of our learners who placed in the top 75 of over 10,000 regional entrants in the Harvard Crimson Global Essay Competition, going on to the global round this year.

Spring has also been a successful season for our students outside of academics. Take Amelia Minto and Maxwell Whitelock, for example, who starred in Netflix’s Adolescence and Channel 4’s Patience respectively this year!

The same goes on the sporting front, with one Year 9 student claiming first place in a figure sporting tournament and another receiving the extraordinary opportunity to train with Arsenal’s girls football team. Our National Schools Equestrian Association team has also been racking up wins, with two students qualifying for the finals to represent King’s InterHigh later this year.

Highlight: Inspired Alpine Cup

The slopes of Verbier, Switzerland were taken over by the Inspired Alpine Cup this March, and we were delighted to accompany five King’s InterHigh students from our school ski team to the competition. With so much talent on the snow, it was a fierce battle, but our skiers rose to the challenge (with one Year 8 winning first place in his race)!

A spotlight on primary school

Every key stage is working towards different goals this year. As Head of Primary School Dr. Penny Alston recently shared on our blog, the focus for our primary learners in 2025 is on mindfulness and self-care: two valuable skills that can ensure children’s wellbeing throughout their lives. Our teachers have been introducing students to various strategies for being kind to themselves this term, such as talking about self-compassion and how to transform negative self-talk into positive thoughts.

On the social front, the primary years have also been filled with endless fun this term with a Popcorn Party, Chocolate Cake Day celebrations, Storytelling Week, costumes for World Book Day, and so much more.

Celebrating our charity success

As for our staff, Hana at our sister school, Academy21, was honoured to place our bronze fundraising leaf Tŷ Hafan Children’s Hospice in Wales this month. Our commitment to making a positive difference extends beyond education, and it’s very important to us to give back to the community and those in need. This meaningful milestone is a touching representation of the combined efforts of King’s InterHigh and Academy21, having raised over £32,000 and counting for Tŷ Hafan over the years.