It was amazing to welcome delegates from The Independent Association of Prep Schools IAPS UK to their Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Conference today. This is something very important to us as a School and we were delighted to host this in collaboration with Rochester Cathedral.

We would like to congratulate Dylan, who was made up as a full Cathedral Chorister last night during EvenSong. What an amazing achievement Dylan!

Despite the freezing weather and the cancellation of our Toy services, pupils at the Senior School and Prep School still brought in gifts for the Strood Community project.  One of the coordinators managed to fill her car with toys, which will support around 200 individuals this Christmas time.  The project looks out for the most vulnerable families in the Strood area.

Our Open Mic Night last Friday 9th December was awesome. It was great to see such a range of talent on show, with acts from right across the Senior School. From emotional solos that really made us reflect, to dance numbers that had everyone up on their feet, every performance was different and special. All funds raised will go to our Senior School charity for the year, Cobbes Meadow Riding School for the Disabled. 

The School is saddened to learn of the death of Margaret Crofts AM at the age of 91. Margaret joined KSR in 1977 as an enthusiastic violin teacher and became Head of Strings; she developed the talents of many a KSR pupil until her retirement in 1993.

On Monday 5th December, Ben Charles, the Principal at King’s School Rochester announced the appointment of Air Commodore John Maas CBE MSc RAF (ret’d) as the new Chair of Governors at the School.

Today we had the pleasure of welcoming back one of our Old Roffensians, Professor Murray Biggs (OR 1943-47). Murray gave a talk to the Sixth Form English Literature pupils focused on the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, before a quick lunch with members of the Upper Sixth and Ben Charles.

Monday 26th September is the start of our Culture and Languages Week. To beat the Monday morning blues, we encouraged all our pupils to come to school wearing traditional clothing and jewellery from their different cultural backgrounds. Despite the wet weather, things are looking very bright and colourful at King's today, especially in the girls' boarding house.

On Saturday 24th September, the 108th bishop of Rochester was inaugurated in the Rochester Cathedral, as he officially began his ministry in the Diocese. The Right Reverend Dr Jonathan Gibbs was installed into his seat by Dean Hesketh, in front of a full congregation made up of representatives from the Diocese, the wider Church, Kent civic society and the Cathedral congregation. Bishop Jonathan joins us from the Leeds Diocese, where he was Bishop of Huddersfield. He and his wife Toni are very much looking forward to their time here, and we very much welcome Bishop Jonathan as our official School Visitor and look forward to his support and ministry over the coming years.

Yesterday, six new King’s Scholars were entered into the Foundation of Rochester Cathedral in a special cathedral service. Following the re-foundation of the King’s School and Rochester Cathedral by King Henry VIII in 1542, scholarships have been awarded in his name to pupils following exceptional academic achievement in school or public examinations.