A Visit from St Nicholas

19th December 2025Leanne Johnston

As the term draws to a close, we are delighted to share our final Whole Class Reader of the year, A Visit from St Nicholas, brought to life by our Year 12 Reading Ambassadors, who have recorded the poem alongside their Year 10 reading partners. 

Since September, these pairs have been reading together weekly, with a clear focus on building confidence, fluency and reading habits. Over time, those regular sessions have also built strong, supportive relationships, which really show in the recording.

We are incredibly proud of our Year 10 students for the commitment they have shown and the progress they have made. Their growing confidence is a testament to their effort and resilience. We are equally proud of our Sixth Form Reading Ambassadors, who have volunteered their time week after week, turning up consistently, modelling excellent reading habits and offering encouragement and support.

This project reflects what we value at KEVI: reading at the heart of our curriculum, students supporting students, and traditions that bring us together as a school.

We hope you enjoy watching it as much as we enjoyed putting it together.

Happy Christmas!

Newcastle Red Bulls Academy Vs Australian Raptors

18th December 2025Leanne Johnston

A huge well done to Cameron, Sam and Angus following an outstanding performance for the Newcastle Red Bulls Academy.

The lads were part of a  very dominant 62–7 victory over the touring Australian Raptors side, putting in a massive shift from start to final whistle.  The effort, intensity, and teamwork on display were a real pleasure to watch.

All three boys played exceptionally well with Sam displaying a very dominant first half in attack and defence. Angus contributed to the scoreline with a try and two conversions and Cameron who controlled the set piece throughout the game.

Unfortunately, Sam suffered a dislocated elbow during the match. He showed real toughness, and we’re pleased to say he is recovering well. Wishing him a smooth and speedy recovery.

All three represented themselves  with real pride — an excellent performance all round.

Year 10 student Sofia signed for Sunderland AFC U16 Girls Academy

8th December 2025Leanne Johnston
We’re delighted to announce that 15-year-old Sofia has officially signed for the Sunderland AFC U16 Girls Academy.
Sofia has shown outstanding commitment, and a strong competitive mindset throughout her development. Her fast pace, vision on the ball, and willingness to learn has made her stand out, earning her a well-deserved place within the Sunderland pathway. Joining the Academy marks an exciting next step in her football journey. Sofia will continue her development in a high-performance environment, training with top coaches three times a week in addition to day release training with the U21 squad and competing against the strongest players nationally.
We’re incredibly proud of her achievement and can’t wait to see what she brings to the red and white shirt this season. Congratulations, Sofia.

Panto Season

3rd December 2025Leanne Johnston

Year 11 Drama students had a fantastic time at the very first show of the Theatre Royal’s Aladdin. Students were able to enjoy the show and see their learning come to life. For their GCSE students study the traditional British genre of pantomime, watching the show they were able to see the devices used to make it a truely unique form of theatre.

All of the students had a great time and really enjoyed the show.

Musical Advent 2025

1st December 2025Leanne Johnston

Students Helen and her younger brother Arthur are raising money for the sixth year in a row in support of the RNLI.

The are doing a “musical advent calendar” (posting a video of them playing a Christmas song each day).  The duo have already raised in excess of £13000 over the past few years and aim to raise another £2000 this year.

To support Helen and Arthur you can follow and donate, if you can, across a number of channels:

NCC COP30 Meeting

24th November 2025Leanne Johnston
Ten schools from across Northumberland attended the event on Friday 21 November. Each of them made a brief presentation about a particular country from around the world and the climate change issues that the country faced.  Phoebe and Anya from Year 12 gave a very professional speech about the climate issues affecting Nigeria and what was happening to try and address these. Each country then looked at ways that they could support and learn from each other and the financial costs they would incur to secure the future of their people and their country.
We are the delegation representing Nigeria, a country in West Africa.
Nigeria is one of the emerging nations on this planet, and we are the largest African economy. Climate change has an extremely heavy impact on us, as drought and desertification increases in the north, and major flooding worsens in the south. We
also have prolonged heatwaves, with temperatures sometimes exceeding 40 degrees. This is of course having a tremendous impact on us, with our agriculture, livestock and quality of lives heavily affected.
Currently, we are determined to reach Net Zero by 2060, and we aim to be 47% below ‘Business As Usual’ by 2030 (provided we have international support). Following 2030, we are committed to shifting towards renewable energy.
Already we have been extending areas of conservation, and in our megacity Lagos, we have a $40 billion dollar railway expansion, reducing carbon emissions and improving public transport. We are also a part of the African Union's ‘Great Green Wall’, where we combat desertification. To do more for our country, and this planet, financial support from other, wealthy countries is critical in our collective fight against climate change.
Although it may seem like we are behind other countries, we are as determined as we could possibly be. We must focus on opportunity, and our potential to make planet Earth a better place.
Thank you.
Chair of NCC Glen Sanderson gave a speech about all the things already happening in Northumberland to alleviate climate issues eg, recycling, transport etc. All schools also discussed things happening in their own schools and plans going forwards too.

Dear England

20th November 2025Leanne Johnston

Year 13 students visit the Theatre Royal to see Dear England as part of their A Level Theatre and Drama course. The group thoroughly enjoyed their performance.

England Athletics Success

12th November 2025Leanne Johnston

Congratulations on England Athletics Selection

We are incredibly proud to share that Alexandria, one of our talented Year 12 students, who has been selected for the prestigious England Athletics Youth Talent Programme. This fantastic achievement recognises her outstanding commitment, skill and dedication to the sport of Hammer Throw. Being chosen for this national development pathway places Alexandria among the most promising young athletes in the country, and we are excited to see her continue to excel both in training and in competition. Well done Alexandria.

Full Circle Food Project

13th October 2025Leanne Johnston

Our Yesr 10 King’s Trust classes had a great day at the Full circle Food Project as part of their Community Impact module.

The students had a great day and really challenged themselves to try new things and learn new skills.

 

KEVI’s Got Talent

18th July 2025Leanne Johnston

Our Senior Students organised an end of term talent show where our staff entertained students to raise money for MacMillan Nurses.

Showcasing their talents were:

  • Ms Tyley:  ‘Me and Mr Jones’ (Amy Winehouse)
  • Dr Fox: magicican
  • Mrs Anderson: comedic monologue
  • Ms Povey and Ms Ludbrook: ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ (Journey)
Other KEVI colleagues made up the judging panel and attributed scores.
In true KEVI style we raised over £200! A great way to end the term.