King's School Rochester Weekly News
Nickless Prize 2025
In a fitting tribute to Christopher Nickless, OR, former Headmaster of the Preparatory School, the results of the 2025 Nickless Prize have been announced. This competition was originally initiated by Mr Nickless in 1969.
Classmates Zain B and Roman G (8L) scored “full houses” in the Second Round of the paper. This strong showing ensured that they retained their lead from the “blind” sitting in Round One earlier in the term. They are to be congratulated on their success, becoming joint-winners of the 56th Nickless Prize. They will receive their prize in July’s Speech Day.
In total six pupils recorded a century in Round Two, including Zain and Roman. Vivaan T (5N), Arturo W (5W) and Alfred W (8L) also accomplished this feat, while Rahul S’s (7H) 100 elevated him from sixth to third in the overall standings. Aside from Arturo and Vivaan, there were some very encouraging performances from younger pupils in Round Two with five of the “leaderboard” made up of pupils in Year 4-6, and Year 4 Maya V, the top-performing girl, finishing sixth overall. Kyan H (6W) and Milan H (4SM) won the unofficial “family” contest, while 8L narrowly topped the Form Competition.
Overall pupil scores improved over three times between rounds, suggesting that thoroughgoing research was undertaken in family libraries during the half-term holiday and many pupils worked hard at memorising the knowledge gleaned from Mr Google et al. Miss Walters, whose eclectic knowledge included the Classics, not unsurprisingly given her degree, and, perhaps, more surprisingly, Snooker, finished top of the staff league, with Miss Bower and Dr Thomson winning places on the podium.
In the House Competition, Roman and Zain’s success suggested that Crick was well-placed to win the House Challenge, but it was Storrs that outshone the other houses overall with greater strength in depth as they won this aspect of the contest by 6.23 points per child.
Thank you to Mr Medhurst and staff for marking and administering the quiz and Mr Williamson for his unwavering support and administration of scores.
Top Ten Finishers
Position Name Score Form House
=1st Zain B 123 8L C
=1st Roman G 123 8L C
3rd Rahul S 121 7H P
4th Arturo W 115 5N C
5th Kyan H 114 6W P
6th Maya V 113 4M W
7th Fola D 111 5W S
8th Milan H 110 4SM P
9th Alfred W 109 8L W
10th Eiliyah S 104 7H W
House Competition:
1st Storrs 33.64 points
2nd Crick 27.41 points
3rd Parker 27.00 points
4th Whiston 24.76 points
Diplomacy and Debate at Model UN
Eight King's delegates took part in the excellent Benenden Model United Nations conference, five of them for the first time. Representing Somalia and New Zealand, the pupils debated global issues including gang crime, the treatment of migrant workers, antibiotic resistance and the aftermath of the Assad regime in Syria.
MUN is an intensive experience, with our delegates researching hard beforehand to contribute for their country. Returning members Haneef B and Ben H spoke out in the current and historical Security Councils, with Ben's stand-out contribution noted in the speeches, while Laura K stepped up as vice-Chair in the Arab League. Of our novices, Iman M made three points of interest for Somalia in Human Rights, while Jana F, Josephine HR, Neha N and Vihr T added to the King's tally.
The United Nations is the world's largest global body, with 193 members; Model UN is a unique way to understand its work and develop skills in diplomacy, debate and collaboration. We are really proud of our delegates for their contributions at Benenden, and look forward to their next conference, at Epsom College in February.
Mind Over Machine
This final lecture in this term's Zetountes series took the form of a "conversation" with Mr Douglas Hamandishe, former Deputy Mayor and author of "The AI Leverage: Building Purpose, Resilience and Success".
Introducing himself as a "Creative Futurist", Mr Hamandishe challenged our academic scholars to think about the importance of identity and values in a tech-driven world. Blending personal storytelling with practical strategies like the revolutionary 360 Character Rule and the writing of a personal mantra, our speaker encouraged listeners to think differently about technology and review established ideas.
As one of our senior scholars noted in her vote of thanks, this was an empowering and optimistic talk, highlighting the importance of harnessing technology, leveraging it without just surviving the future. At its heart, our scholars were drawn to the realisation that often what you learn is more important than what you know.
Christmas Concert Celebration
The Christmas Concert was a wonderful, festive occasion, bringing together musicians aged 8 to 18 from across the Junior and Senior Schools. King's Brass started proceedings, presenting a lovely traditional carol, followed by a toe-tapping rendition of Jingle Bell Rock. Pupils from Year 4 and from Year 5 formed two choirs for this event. For many of them, this was their first time standing on the large stage in School Hall to give a musical performance in public. Both groups sang beautifully - well done to them! Super Strings had everyone singing along to a jolly performance of 'When The Saints Go Marching In'. Brass Monkeys also offered two well-known tunes: 'Little Donkey' and 'Carol of the Bells'.
The Senior Choir performed three items, the first of which featured superb solos from Alex, Ruby and Selena. The Choristers sang their two items stylishly and with such apparent ease. They showed everyone how committed they are, preparing and singing a wide range of music in front of members of the public on an almost daily basis. The final item in the programme was a suite of themes from the film 'Polar Express', played with impressive agility and flair by the Senior Orchestra.
With all the seasonal contributions in the programme and the two audience Christmas songs, everyone left the Hall with a smile and in no doubt that the magical season is truly upon us. Congratulations to all performers - you did an excellent job - and thank you many times over to the staff who contributed and collaborated to put such an enjoyable evening together.
December 2025