Knightsbridge School Helps raise £60K for DEBRA at Butterfly Ball

One of Knightsbridge School’s chosen charities this year is DEBRA.  DEBRA supports individuals and families affected by Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB) - a painful genetic skin blistering condition.

On 16 June DEBRA held its Butterfly Ball, and with the school’s help raised an impressive £60,000.   The school Choir performed on the night and supported the silent auction by creating butterflies for the Tree of Life which was a focal point of the evening and the means by which lots for the silent auction were displayed. 

Other highlights of the event included speeches from the charismatic James Dunn, who recently featured in the BBC show The Big Life Fix with Simon Reeve. James, who has a severe form of EB,  then gave an inspiring speech as did Georgia Bath, who lost her daughter to EB and has been a DEBRA fundraiser ever since.

The money raised at the ball is enough to cover the cost of two full-time DEBRA community support workers for a year.

Andrew Colville, Corporate and Events Manager at DEBRA , says “The DEBRA Butterfly Ball was inspirational and an unmitigated success.  I would like to thank everybody from Knightsbridge School who helped DEBRA exceed its fundraising target.  Such events are crucial for us as a charity because we rely entirely on voluntary support. Given how well the Ball went, we are already planning a bigger and better event for 2018, DEBRA’s 40th anniversary year.”

For more about the Ball and future DEBRA fundraising events visit www. debra.org.uk

Knightsbridge School creates ‘Tree of Life’ for the DEBRA Butterfly Ball

This year Knightsbridge school is supporting EB charity DEBRA, which holds its flagship fundraiser, the DEBRA Butterfly Ball, on June 16. The reinvigorated event takes place at the Jumeirah Carlton Tower Knightsbridge and will feature a ‘Tree of Life’ populated by butterflies created by the children of Knightsbridge School.  

Each butterfly represents blind auction lots, all of which are worth above their face values of £50, £100 and £250.  When a guest buys a butterfly at the ball they will exchange it for a surprise, high-worth item or experience.

Knightsbridge School’s Head, Shona Colaco, says, “We’re delighted to be supporting DEBRA this year.  Children with EB are called ‘butterfly children’ because their skin is so delicate and so creating the butterflies has been a fantastic exercise in creativity and empathy. Collectively they will be make a fantastic display on the night and I am confident they will raise a great deal for the charity.”

Speaking at the event will be Georgia Bath, the mother who lost her daughter Millie to EB but won the battle to build magic memories through her short and painful life supported by DEBRA.

Official photographer on the night will be James Dunn, the young man with EB who recently featured in the BBC series ‘The Big Life Fix with Simon Reeve’.  James will be using the technology developed for him during the programme to pursue his passion for photography and Simon Reeve, who will be away filming on the night, will be supporting the event with a short video broadcast.

And it’s not too late to buy tickets.  Contact fundraising@debra.org.uk to secure a table. 

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Junior Marathon Fundraising for the Matt Hampson Foundation

Our Head Boy ran the Junior Marathon last Sunday in aid of the Matt Hampson Foundation, which aims to provide advice, support and treatment for anyone suffering serious injury or disability. He came 28th out of 172 runners, with top young athletes taking part from across the U.K. Over £1100 was raised too, an incredible achievement!

Welcome Back to Summer Term at KS

Rounders, cricket, athletics, a swimming gala and Sports Day make summer an incredibly exciting time for KS sport. We also have trips to the theatre, Knightsbridge Barracks and Windsor Castle. Our young budding artists are going to Tate Britain, we have our annual KS charity walk in Hyde Park and we can’t wait for the annual residential trip to Devon. Our S8 pupils need to Keep Studying for their 13+ exams, the KSPA Fundraiser takes place in May, there is an S5 performance of ‘Evacuees’ in the last few weeks of term and of course there are plenty Knowledge Society seminars too. What a term we have in store!

KS Has Got Talent 2017

What a fantastic evening! KS is bursting at the seams with talent! A huge well done to all who took part this year. We had country singers, songwriters, dancers, magicians, ventriloquists and opera singers. Everyone was really incredible on the night but an extra huge congratulations must go to our three winners. Our overall winner, an S6 pupil, wrote and composed the song she performed... she completely blew everyone away with the quality of her voice and songwriting. I expect we will be seeing her name in lights one day! A huge thank you to everyone who helped make this year the best year yet. Bring on 2019!

Young Shakespeare Company Drama Workshop

S6, S7 & S8 pupils enjoyed a quite brilliant Young Shakespeare drama workshop on Thursday. Taking part in an interactive performance of A       Midsummer Night’s Dream was incredibly fun and was enjoyed greatly by our young budding actors

Super Spring Reception & J3 Shows

EYFS pupils wowed their parents and teachers at the EYFS Charity Fashion Show. It was all in aid of their chosen charity KIDS. KIDS are a national charity which provides a wide range of support services to disabled children, young people and their families. They support children with any disability from birth to 25 years of age and offer support to the whole family with the aim of giving disabled children a brighter future. The EYFS pupils, wearing their personally designed t-shirts which were created with the ‘Under the Sea’ theme in mind, brilliantly strutted their stuff down the catwalk to the delight of their parents and friends. Most importantly they managed to raise over £900 for the charity. Keep Selfless KS!

In a very busy period of the term we also had our annual J3 production. The J3 children acted and sang wonderfully in their marvellous performances of Seussical the Musical on Monday and Tuesday of last week. We’re so proud of how the children excelled in what is a challenging musical to perform, they sang and danced wonderfully and above all else it was incredibly funny!

Maths Week and the Secret World of Codes and Codebreaking

For Maths Week, where the whole school celebrates the wonders of mathematics by taking part in lots of exciting events and completing puzzles around the school, we had the brilliant Dr James Grime come and talk to the parents and Senior School pupils about the history of coding, computing, and the use of Enigma machines in World War II. This included a full demonstration of an original Enigma machine used by the Germans, found in a French field in the 1940s, as well as illuminating the room with the brilliant mathematical insights and innovative thinking of the great Alan Turing. It finished with a workshop all about codebreaking, which really inspired our pupils and opened them up to a whole new way of thinking about mathematics and computing. It was the perfect way to celebrate our annual Maths Week.

11+ Destinations 2016-17

The Senior School’s S6 year group have had a brilliant academic year so far in 2016-17. They’ve worked incredibly hard and have been rewarded with a whole host of fantastic 11+ offers. These places were not only offered on the basis of their academic ability, but also because of their strength as interesting and interested all-rounders. Teachers across the Senior School couldn’t be more proud of how the S6’s performed. A huge well done. We wish you all the best of luck at your future schools. Keep Striving and Keep Studying!

To see the full list of places offered click here

J1 Mini Harrods Heart Paintings for NSPCC

On Tuesday the J1 children were involved in an art initiative with local artist Ronald Diennet and Mini Harrods. The children worked collaboratively to create two heart canvases, each measuring 1.5m squared, and the finished results are spectacular. There was a lot of brightly coloured paint used, most of which went on to the canvases, but a lot ended up in hair, on hands and on feet! Ronald spoke to the children about what a heart meant to them, and encouraged them to work together as a group. The finished artwork will now be taken to the Halcyon Gallery to be displayed for 2 weeks, before being auctioned off for charity. The NSPCC will use the money raised to help children and teenagers in vulnerable circumstances.

A Blockbuster Book Week!

What a brilliant, bedazzling, blockbuster book week we enjoyed. The whole school celebratedlike never before – there have been workshops, events, competitions, mystery readers, dressing up… and a lot of reading. The main reception area was also transformed into a literary wonderland by our fantastic Parents' Association, it set the tone beautifully for the rest of the week. Our barnstorming English Department did an incredible job in keeping us all entertained and reading this week, topped off by a wonderful whole school poetry competition. Keep Scribbling KS!

S6 Trip to Normandy

Our S6's had an incredible trip to Normandy this week. They ate fine French cheese and bread, sampled lots of delicious local cuisine, learnt about farming practices, discovered some amazing markets, toured the historic Mont Saint-Michel island commune and spent the week honing their already impressive French language skills (our guides only spoke to the children in French!) Everyone had lots and lots of fun and teachers and pupils didn't let the occasional rain shower dampen their spirits.