working on it...
KCSP Newsletter Summer 2026
NEWSLETTER
K E N T C A T H O L I C S C H O O L S ' P A R T N E R S H I P
S U M M E R 2 0 2 6 - I S S U E 1 9
Message
NEWSLETTER
K E N T C A T H O L I C S C H O O L S ' P A R T N E R S H I P
S U M M E R 2 0 2 6 - I S S U E 1 9
Message
03
04
12
06
21
24
Feature Focus:
Trust Leaders’ Retreat 2026
29
30
Feature Focus:
Secondary Schools’ Literacy
Festival: 18 June 2026
08
11
KCSP SCITT:
Train to Teach
IN THIS ISSUE
Our Schools:
Latest news and updates
www.kcsp.org.uk
A message from our
Chief Executive
A message from the incoming
Chair of the Trust Board
Summer Safeguarding Update
Trust Events 2026/27
S U M M E R 2 0 2 6 | 0 2
P i c t u r e d a b o v e : T h e n e w l i b r a r y a t S t M a r y ’ s P r i m a r y i n D e a l
( R e a d m o r e o n p a g e s 1 3 - 1 6 )
Our cover story:
Our Young Poet Laureate:
Chloe
Trust Governance News:
Welcome to our new directors
A message from the outgoing
Chair of the Trust Board
10
O U R T A L E N T E D P U P I L S
Our Cover Story:
Chloe, our Young Poet Laureate
A Young Poet’s Moment to Shine
Our cover image features Chloe, one of our Year 8 students at St Edmund’s Catholic School in
Dover, who has been named the South East Young Poet Laureate (11–14 age group) as part of the
inaugural national Young Poet Laureate Programme.
Chloe’s winning poem, When the World Goes Quiet (featured in full in the Easter edition of our
newsletter), earned her a place among just twelve Young Poet Laureates selected from across
England.
In a proud and memorable moment, Chloe performed her poem at the Trust’s first-ever Secondary
Schools’ Literacy Festival on 18 June 2026 (see the full feature on the festival on pages 21 - 23), in
front of more than 1,000 Year 8 students from the Trust’s six secondary schools and featured
special guest Michael Rosen, the acclaimed author and former Children’s Laureate. Chloe’s
confident reading received warm applause from students, staff and Michael himself.
We are incredibly proud of Chloe’s achievement. Her success is a wonderful celebration of
creativity, confidence and the power of words, and she represents St Edmund’s and the wider Trust
brilliantly.
Congratulations, Chloe – we look forward to following your exciting poetry journey!
S U M M E R 2 0 2 6 | 0 3
A MESSAGE FROM OUR
CHIEF EXECUTIVE
As we reach the end of another academic year,
it is a wonderful opportunity to pause, reflect
and give thanks for all that has been achieved
across our Trust family.
This year has been filled with countless
moments of learning, faith, service and
success. Whether in classrooms, on sports
fields, on stages, in churches or within our
local communities, our children and young
people have continued to inspire us with their
talents, kindness, resilience and
determination.
One of the highlights of the year was
undoubtedly our first-ever Secondary Schools’
Literacy Festival (pages 21 - 23), which brought
together more than 1,000 Year 8 pupils from
across our six secondary schools. It was a
truly memorable day, filled with creativity,
inspiration and a love of language. Our
students had the opportunity to work with the
renowned authors and poets - Michael Rosen,
Zohab Zee Khan and Christian Foley, and it
was a powerful reminder of the importance of
literacy in opening doors, building confidence
and giving young people a voice.
Talking of voices being heard, we are
immensely proud of Chloe from St Edmund’s
Catholic School, Dover, who was named the
South East Young Poet Laureate (page 3).
Watching Chloe confidently perform her
winning poem in front of hundreds of fellow
students and guests at the festival was a
moment that perfectly captured the talent
and ambition that exists within our schools.
There have been many other moments of
celebration throughout the year. We were
delighted to see a pupil from St John’s
Catholic Primary School, Gravesend, travel to
Rome and meet Pope Leo (page 17), sharing
news of her school’s faith life and receiving a
special blessing for the entire school
community. Closer to home, St Mary’s
Primary in Deal and St Thomas of Canterbury
Primary in Rainham have opened wonderful
new libraries (pages 13 - 16), creating exciting
spaces that will nurture a lifelong love of
reading for generations of pupils to come.
S U M M E R 2 0 2 6 | 0 4
Some of our pupils and staff at this year’s
Secondary Schools’ Literacy Festival, watching
Christian Foley, Poet, rapper and teacher-
performer!
A MESSAGE FROM OUR
CHIEF EXECUTIVE
We have also seen significant success through
inspection outcomes this year. Several of our
schools have received highly positive Ofsted
and Catholic Schools Inspectorate
judgements, reflecting the dedication of
leaders, staff, governance committee
members, and pupils, and the high standards
that continue to characterise our schools.
At the end of June, our Headteachers came
together for the annual Trust Leaders’ Retreat
at Aylesford Priory (see page 11). Amid the
demands of school leadership, this provided a
valuable opportunity for reflection, prayer,
and renewal. The retreat reminded us of the
importance of supporting one another as
leaders and remaining rooted in our shared
mission.
S U M M E R 2 0 2 6 | 0 5
Behind every achievement lies the
commitment of remarkable people. I would
therefore like to offer my heartfelt thanks to
all our staff - those in our schools and within
the Trust’s central team, volunteers, Local
Governance Committee members, Directors,
clergy and parish communities. Your
generosity, professionalism and unwavering
dedication make an extraordinary difference
to the lives of our children and young people
every single day. Time and again, you go
above and beyond in the service of others,
and our schools are stronger because of your
commitment.
Most importantly, thank you to our pupils.
You are the reason we do what we do. Your
enthusiasm, compassion, creativity and faith
continue to bring joy and hope to our school
communities.
As we look forward to the summer break, let
us take pride in all that we have achieved
together and give thanks for the many
blessings of the past year. We wish all our
families, staff and communities a restful,
happy and well-deserved holiday, and we
look forward to welcoming everyone back
for another exciting year in September.
With every blessing and best wishes for the
summer,
awhittle@kcsp.org.uk
Annemarie
Some of our senior leaders gathered in the Relic Chapel
at Aylesford Priory for Mass at this year’s Retreat
MESSAGE FROM OUR OUTGOING
CHAIR OF THE TRUST BOARD
CAROLINE STOCKMANN
As I steel myself to face the fact that I will no
longer be involved with KCSP, given my move to
Cumbria, I look back on my time with great
affection, if that makes sense. My initial
connection was from 2013 as a Governor of St
Gregory's Secondary in Tunbridge Wells, and I
stepped down from that after four years when I
became one of the first lay trustees of the
Archdiocese, as I felt there would otherwise be a
conflict. When my term there came to an end in
early 2021 I was offered the role of Board
member of KCSP (Foundation Director), and
then two years ago I took on the role of Chair.
So quite a long connection in all, though
nowhere near as long as some of you reading
this!
I was asked to share some of the highlights from
my time at KCSP, and it's very difficult to do that
without missing something or someone
important, especially as I pen this in 32-degree
weather! And of course there were so many
proud moments... Speaking more generally
therefore, I think nothing can be more thrilling
than going into one of our schools and meeting
a competent, passionate and committed
Headteacher and staff, and seeing how the
children are thriving - including those whose
only safe space might be at school. One
anecdote about buying new shirts for a young
lad who was growing very fast and kept splitting
them has stuck with me. It's about that extra bit
of support, and it's also about retaining
someone's dignity. It's going that one step
further. I saw that also in SEND provision, in
allowing young people to experience forest
S U M M E R 2 0 2 6 | 0 6
schools/art competitions/writing competitions
/Topical Talk, etc etc, and in ensuring all levels
of ability are nurtured in the most appropriate
way. I have seen first-hand the challenges when
there is a very high needs pupil in a school who
needs 1-2-1 attention all the time, the 'safe
space' situation I mention above, and also some
of the very high achievements nationally from
individuals - all being catered for within the
same system in effect. It's very impressive. I was
also really impressed with some of the PTAs I
met, as well as the school admin staff, who were
always friendly and welcoming. It's about a living
and vibrant community, for me, though when
times are tough we may not always feel that
way.
Our staff on the frontline, so to speak, are our
vital asset. Only through them can we achieve
what we want for our young people, and I know
it's not easy. Budgets are tight, parents are
demanding, there are always challenging
situations in one form or another - and our staff
deal with all this impressively, with the pupils'
interests at the heart of all they do. So thank you
all from the bottom of my heart.