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A Year to Remember: Kingsley Senior School 2025–26

Celebrating Achievement, Character and Community

As another academic year draws to a close, we look back on twelve months that have given us so much to celebrate. From national sporting titles to environmental breakthroughs, from standing ovations on stage to medals in the Olympic pool, the Class of 2025–26 has reminded us, again and again, why education at Kingsley is about far more than qualifications. This year, achievements have been celebrated across a host of special occasions: from Speech Day and Sports Gala Dinners to the Scholars’ Awards Evening and our whole school Celebration Awards, each one a moment to pause, reflect and recognise not only what our young people have achieved, but who they are becoming.

At Speech Day this year, Headmaster Robert Pavis spoke with enormous pride about the year gone by, and this is that celebration.

Click on the visual to see an infographic of the Senior School Achievements

Academic Excellence

We began the year celebrating the strongest GCSE and A Level outcomes in Kingsley’s history — results significantly above national averages across every measurable category. These are extraordinary numbers, made possible by exceptional teaching, remarkable student effort and the unwavering support of families across our community.

But as Mr Pavis was clear to say, outstanding results are not the end goal. They are one important outcome of a much bigger mission: to send young people out into the world not simply with excellent qualifications, but with exceptional character.

A Year of Discovery in STEM

In STEM, our students have spent the year doing what young people do best when given permission to think boldly — solving problems adults haven’t yet solved.

They designed bionic hands and autonomous vehicles. Built engineering prototypes and programmed Raspberry Pi systems with ambitions reaching as far as the International Space Station. Built race cars powered by compressed CO₂ and designed edible water bottles to tackle plastic pollution. They explored cyber security, competed in chemistry Olympiads, and learned — perhaps most valuably of all — that failure is not something to fear. That prototypes break, code fails, experiments go wrong, and then you try again.

That is perseverance. That is resourcefulness. That is what education looks like at its best.

The Earth Centre: Growing Something Exceptional

Our Earth Centre continues to become something truly rare in British education.

This year, students planned the restoration and rewilding of the Belvoir pond, designed aquaponics systems, secured competitive funding for environmental projects and grew produce that found its way onto our hospitality students’ menus — everything from preserves and vegetable quiches to, somewhat surprisingly, beetroot brownies. They were excellent.

Students carried out river testing, conservation work, farm visits, beach cleans and sustainability research throughout the year. Our Year 9 cohort became the first students to complete all three years of the Kingsley Earth Centre Diploma, and our first sustainability qualification cohort impressed external moderators so much that they specifically commented on both the complexity of the curriculum and the quality of student understanding.

Environmental education is no longer optional. At Kingsley, we are determined our students are prepared for the responsibility that comes with it.

Coastal Adventures: The Sea is Our Classroom

Perhaps nothing defines Kingsley quite like our relationship with the coast.

Most schools might offer a trip to the sea. We built the sea into the curriculum.

From Year 1 onwards, students develop confidence in the water — surfing, kayaking, climbing, paddleboarding, skateboarding and navigating the North Devon coast. They build resilience by placing themselves in situations that demand genuine courage, and they learn that growth rarely happens inside a comfort zone.

Our Surf Academy continues to earn national recognition as the UK’s only Surfing England School of Excellence. This year, students travelled to France for elite coaching, shaped their own surfboards and competed at the highest level. Willow finished third at EuroKids against some of Europe’s strongest young surfers and has again been nominated for UK Under-18 Female Surfer of the Year. Lily has once again been nominated for Female Longboarder of the Year. And for the second consecutive year, the Surf Academy itself has been nominated for Surf School of the Year.

Equally important are the quieter victories — the student who enters the sea terrified and leaves confident. That matters every bit as much.

Expeditions: Character Forged Outdoors

Challenge reveals character faster than comfort ever can.

This year, our students hiked, cycled, navigated, camped and learned to lead teams in some of the most demanding and beautiful environments in the South West. At the Exmoor Challenge, our Year 8 team achieved an outstanding third-place finish against very strong competition.

On Dartmoor, our Ten Tors teams demonstrated extraordinary resilience. Thirty-five students began training in the autumn, completing five demanding training walks and two full camping weekends before eighteen were selected for Ten Tors teams and four for the Jubilee Challenge. On the day, both teams completed the 35-mile and 45-mile routes fully independently — a remarkable achievement at any age.

Duke of Edinburgh students also spent the year training and preparing for qualifying expeditions across moorland and open country. There are no shortcuts when you are carrying your own equipment in poor weather. And that is precisely why it matters.

The Arts: Courage to Create

Creativity requires enormous courage — the courage to step on stage, to perform, to make yourself vulnerable, to invite others to judge your work.

Our students did all of this, and more. From concerts and gallery exhibitions to open mic evenings and showcase performances, they filled Kingsley with music, drama and creativity throughout the year. For the first time, Prep and Senior students performed together in joint musical ensembles, bringing together brass groups, woodwind ensembles, and choirs in a wonderful expression of synergy across the whole school.

Students performed "On the Bridge", competed in national monologue competitions, exhibited at Burton Art Gallery and Museum and participated in workshops from Shakespeare to musical theatre. And then there was our spectacular production of Mary Poppins — complete with a student band formed especially for the show.

We are also incredibly proud to share that two of our students, Lily Abbott and Lincoln Whaley, have been named as South Regional Finalists in the National Youth Monologues competition. Lincoln will perform a monologue written by the wonderfully talented Lily Abbott on 24th May at the Stone Nest Theatre in the West End of London — a remarkable achievement for them both, and a moment that speaks to everything we believe about the arts at Kingsley.

At Kingsley, students are not simply encouraged to consume culture. They are expected to create it.

A Sporting Year Like No Other

The 2025–26 sporting year has been one of the most successful and inspiring in recent memory — not only for what was won, but for the sheer scale of who was involved.

Hundreds of Kingsley students represented the school across rugby, football, netball, judo, cross-country, athletics, gymnastics, swimming, and inclusive sport. That breadth matters enormously. Sport at Kingsley is for everyone.

That said, there has also been a great deal of winning.

The standout achievement of the year came from the U14 Rugby 7s squad, who were crowned ISA National Champions after an unbeaten run to the national final, defeating Finborough School 12–7 to claim the title. It is one of the greatest rugby achievements in Kingsley’s recent history. The same squad also won the North Devon Schools Championship and reached the County Final.

In netball, the PGL Tour brought outstanding success: both the Year 7 and Year 9 squads were crowned Overall Tournament Winners, with individual recognition going to players including Elsa Skelding, Olivia Ellicott, Sophie Elliott, Izzy Ley, Lena Nichols-Johnson and Mia Gibbs.

Kingsley’s judo programme continues to be one of the strongest in the country. Students competed at the Welsh Open, the British Schools National Finals and the West of England Championships, winning 13 medals at the West of England National Schools event alone, claiming the Overall County Team Title at the Peter Murphy Regional Championships and producing multiple national finalists at the British Schools Championships.

In the pool, Kingsley swimmers competed at the ISA National Finals in the London Olympic Pool, bringing home 1 gold, 7 silver and 2 bronze medals. Elise set a new ISA National Record in the 200m Freestyle Relay — a moment to remember.

Gymnastics teams earned multiple South West gold medals and qualified for National Finals. Cross country runners competed at county and national level throughout the Bremco League series, with Henry Maycock achieving numerous top-ten finishes and representing Devon at South West level. Sixteen students qualified for the ISA National Finals.

In athletics, students competed at the ISA National Championships at the Commonwealth Games stadium in Birmingham — with more set to return. In football, the senior boys’ programme delivered a series of dominant victories, while younger age groups demonstrated real promise for the seasons ahead.

Across all sports, students with SEND competed at the Devon Boccia Finals and took part in multi-sport festivals — a reminder that the Expansive Curriculum at Kingsley is genuinely, proudly for everyone.

ASPIRE in Action

What ties every one of these experiences together is something far bigger than any individual result.

They help our young people discover who they are. A scientist. An artist. A performer. An environmentalist. An athlete. An adventurer. A leader. Or perhaps someone who is still discovering all of those things — and that is absolutely fine too.

In a world that increasingly values speed, noise and shortcuts, the young people of Kingsley Senior School have spent this year showing what it looks like to live the ASPIRE values: Ambition, Synergy, Perseverance, Integrity, Resourcefulness and Empathy.

We are incredibly proud of every one of them. And we cannot wait to see what they do next.

Explore the Full 2025–26 Achievement Highlights

We have brought together the very best of this year’s achievements in one place. From sporting records to environmental firsts, academic milestones to performance highlights, our dedicated Senior School highlights page tells the full story of an extraordinary year.