King's School Rochester Weekly News
Friday 27th February 2026
Engineer-ing Success!
Congratulations to Simran (U6) who has secured a prestigious degree apprenticeship with BAE Systems, following a highly competitive "Women in Engineering" insight programme. As one of only two successful applicants, she navigated a rigorous selection process, including site visits and a high-stakes final interview. To prepare, Simran worked closely with Mrs Miles, using mock interviews to translate her lifelong "King’s Experience" - from peer mentoring to volunteering - into the professional leadership skills that ultimately won over the recruiters.
This four-year apprenticeship allows Simran to earn a full degree while working at the forefront of global aerospace and defence. She credits her success to a strong support network, particularly the "tough but vital" coaching from Mrs Miles and her family. We are incredibly proud of Simran.
Saha’s "Smashing" International Tour
Huge congratulations to Saha on an incredible four-week international tennis tour, where he demonstrated exactly what it means to be a world-class competitor. Facing off against some of the top U18 talent from across the globe, Saha opened Week 1 with a dominant 6-0, 6-1 victory over the 5th seed to reach the second round, before progressing to the doubles quarter-finals. Week 2 saw further success with a gritty three-set win against the Indian U18 number 4.
Saha pushed the eventual singles finalist to a nail-biting 7-6 tie-break and staged a magnificent doubles run—defeating the 3rd seeds to reach the final. Although he narrowly missed out on the title against a strong Hong Kong and Chinese pairing, his sportsmanship and "heart" on the world stage were truly inspiring. We are immensely proud of Saha’s achievements and can't wait to see what’s next!
Dressage Success for Emilia
Emilia and her horse, Bugatti, achieved a fantastic victory as overall County winners while representing King’s at the National Schools Equestrian Association (NSEA) Dressage Championship Qualifier. Following this impressive performance, Emilia will now represent both the school and Kent at the prestigious Championships at Hickstead in May. We wish her the very best of luck!
A Law-fully Busy Day
We were privileged to enjoy a visit from Mr Tony Prosser, a retired barrister and a member of the Inner Temple, whose trial work has ranged from murders to rapes, explosives to child abuse, organised crime and major drug importation during a distinguished career of thirty-five years.
Mr Prosser spoke with pupils in Year 7 and 8 about the justice system before hosting a Careers Lunch for would-be students of Law.
During the afternoon he led a workshop with our A-Level Psychology and Sociology pupils before talking to the Academic Scholars. After exploring the merits of the adversarial system, Mr Prosser reflected on the pressures on the judiciary and Mr Lammy’s proposal for reducing the current backlog, by reducing the number of jury trials. Offering a stout defence of this model, Mr Prosser argued that juries are the “lamp that shows that justice lives”, before looking at a number of recent landmark rulings and the impact of AI.
At the conclusion of a busy day, Arthur G, one of our Scholars, thanked Mr Prosser for sharing his experience, wisdom and time so generously.
A Global Food Crisis
Earlier this week, pupils in Year 8 followed a collapsed timetable in an extended enquiry on the Global Food Crisis.
Using poetry and photographs, they began by exploring hunger in Sub-Saharan Africa and contrasted this with a consideration of food insecurity in the UK, the consequence of which, 2.8 m people used food banks in 2024. Pupils worked collaboratively to research hunger “hotspots” and they looked at the impact of conflict and climate change on selected countries. Jelly babies and crisps were used to explore the inequalities of food distribution in a World Diner Table Game.
Father Padfield spoke of the visit to Tanzania which he will undertake with Senior pupils in July and, against this backdrop, our Year 8s looked at the design principles of an infographic before using this format to outline the scope and impact of malnutrition.
In “The Journey of a Fish” they calculated the distance travelled by a herring caught in the North Sea and transported to their dinner plate in Rochester via a Shanghai packaging firm as pupils broadened their study to look at food sustainability.
Improved gender equality, Fair Trade Farming and consideration of harvesting marine ecosystems were all examined as creative solutions to problems of global hunger as the teams of pupils explored the interconnectedness of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Designing an app for a food bank and a “MasterChef”-inspired challenge on a food parcel brought the focus nearer to home as pupils concluded their in-depth studies which successfully promoted the Competencies underpinning the King’s Diploma.
February 2026