Ученики King James I Academy победили в национальном конкурсе инноваций и получили престижные награды

Brought to you by King James I Academy Introducing The Key+ Challenge King James has an extensive personal development programme with many opportunities for all ages to try new things, develop new skills and build confidence. This year, the school extended this provision by signing up to The Key, a charity which provides funding for young people to plan and deliver projects of their choice. So far, over 50 students have worked in teams to plan a range of activities and successfully bid for funding via The Key+ Challenge; this involves budgeting, assessing risks and presenting a pitch to a panel of judges. Following an impressive pitch, two teams from the Academy were nominated for an award; the first team, calling themselves The Gourmet Gurus won ‘The KEY+ Pitch Innovators of the Year’ award at The Key Awards 2026, which was held at Newcastle Crowne Plaza, and the second team called The Escape Artists, celebrated runner-up in the same category. It was The Gourmet Gurus creative video pitch for Stage 2 which impressed the judging panel the most and earned them the winning title. With access to green screen technology, film making equipment and editing software, the team decided to present their pitch, documentary style. At the event, King James I Academy also claimed runner-up in ‘The Key Outstanding Partner of the Year’ category, and Mrs Mulryan and Mr Blood were recognised in the category for ‘Exceptional Key+ Facilitator of the Year’. Supporting a generation of global citizens King James I Academy believes that international travel provides students with an invaluable opportunity for personal development and growth. Young people in all year groups have visited a host of countries, with each trip building confidence and independence, and expanding their cultural awareness and sense of belonging as a global citizen. Most recently, 35 students visited Normandy to develop their French speaking skills and learn about World War II history. There they visited the Normandy American Cemetery, the Overlord Museum, Omaha Beach, the Memorial Museum of Omaha and the D-Day Museum, alongside a number of war cemeteries. In September, students will be visiting Lanzarote to study the island’s volcanic landscapes and the art and architecture of Cesar Manrique, and in 2027, sports fans will be travelling to Holland for a football themed trip. In the past, students have travelled to diverse destinations including Malta, Barcelona, Venice, Majorca, Madrid, Poland, Ireland, Brazil and the USA. Focus on Science The STEM Co-ordinator at King James organises a calendar of special activities and events to give students lots of opportunities to explore all aspects of science and boost interest and engagement. Students have taken part in a hands-on robotics workshop, delivered by Kielder Observatory where they used programmable robots called ‘Sphero’ to complete a series of coding and problem-solving challenges, similar to how real space missions send step-by-step commands to robot explorers. Students also took part in a citizen science project with the University of Southampton and the Royal Society of Biology where they investigated how soil pH affects bean growth. This provided an excellent opportunity to contribute to real scientific research while developing practical investigation skills in the classroom. In a visit to Durham University, students explored skeleton archaeology and carried out a hands-on radioactivity experiment. Astronomy fans visited Wynyard Planetarium and Observatory where they learned about recent advances in manned missions to the Moon; there was even a Space Masterclass delivered by the National Space Academy, where students built telescopes, infrared cameras and mini hydrogen rockets. Students also explored solar power, learning how solar panels work before examining how much energy is generated by the solar panels on the Academy’s own roof, and this year, the Science Department held the Academy’s very first Science Fair. Developing confidence, resilience and new skills There are numerous opportunities for personal development at King James including the chance to achieve Bronze and Silver Duke of Edinburgh Awards. This year, following an expedition with overnight camping and a programme of volunteering, over 40 students gained the much-respected addition to their CV. To develop employability skills, students in Years 10 and 12 took part in a week-long period of work experience, with placements in sectors from early years education, social care, health and beauty and retail, to leisure, hospitality and tourism to name but a few. This is just one aspect of the careers programme at the Academy, which also employs a Careers Officer to advise students and organise special events and visits from industry speakers. Students also take part in competitions such as Future Business Magnates and UKMT Maths Challenges, and there are a host of lunchtime and after school clubs to give students the opportunity to try something new from art, textiles, cooking, chess and film making, to photography, journalism, drama, enterprise and astronomy. A place to read, learn and play The library at King James is a central hub for reading lessons, revision, social time and a host of clubs including comic book and graphic novel club, creative writing, poetry, trading cards, table top games, homework club, book review club and Carnegie club. Students can use their personal Chromebook to browse and reserve thousands of library books from ‘Oliver’, a cloud-based computer system launched this year. This gives instant access to a vast online library along with the facility to reserve and collect books from the library; it’s a tool which empowers students and promotes reading for pleasure. The Academy knows that regular readers achieve higher grades at GCSE, and therefore promoting reading is hugely important. Special events such as celebrating World Book Day, the annual book fair, virtual Q&A author sessions and book swap events all inspire students to read more.