Rethinking education with music at its heart

Parent Information

Firstly, and most importantly our only admission criteria for a regular school place is “do you like music?”

If they can answer yes to that, then you’re already most of the way there.

At Kimichi, bursaries are funded directly by the school; there isn’t a separate pot.

In return, we ask bursary pupils to give back to our community in positive ways (e.g., leading ensembles, helping at events, mentoring younger pupils).

It’s part of our culture of support and shared responsibility.

Maintaining last year’s accessible price of £35, our new school hoodies unite uniform compliance with contemporary style. Offered in sand, lilac, classic white, and black, each hoodie is crafted from durable, easy-care fabric that retains its shape from study sessions to weekend outings.

We can provide a folder for each child if they would rather keep any worksheets together; alternately worksheets should be stuck in their exercise books immediately. We have planners that they can keep information in, eg. homework. These only work if they bring them to school and keep them filled in, and if you also ask to see them at home. If they lose them, there will be a £10 replacement cost. Do please check school bags for these; teachers always spend some time at the end of a lesson ensuring that homework is filled in by everybody in the class if given, and we spend an entire lesson on how to fill them out so there can be no confusion.

Full time, fee paying children will be allocated one private lesson per week. If more are needed, that can be discussed. They will all receive ensemble playing, choir and theory as well. For those that flexi-school, music lessons are statutory at a cost of £100 per term.

Mobile phones, tablets and smart watches are not allowed around school and must be placed into the lock box at the beginning of the day. This is something we have done for many years now and the resulting impact on education and overall wellbeing in school has been immense.

Laptops are available for use by students at any time in lessons or DSAW’s if wanted/needed.

Full-time, fee-paying pupils receive two individual instrumental lessons per week as standard.

Additional lessons are available on request at £50 per term.

All pupils are expected to take part in ensembles, sectional rehearsals, and choir as part of our core musical provision.

For families on Flexi-schooling, we’re happy to arrange private tuition for a fee separately if desired.

Please send a packed a lunch; we simply do not have the facilities to manage cooking for everyone yet.

Students are welcome to go over the road at break or lunch (with parental permission: see permission form), but must go in groups of at least three with one being an Inter (Year 9) or above, must sign out and also must sign back in.

The shops over the road know us by now, and have always been fabulous with our children.

Takeout Tuesdays
We want to encourage our students to eat a healthy and balanced diet; to help with this, the only day they can consider eating anything that might resemble pizza and chips is a Tuesday. All other days must be filled with a rainbow of food and delight!

Students will be expected to provide their own equipment for lessons and it is naturally expected students will be well-equipped for all lessons.

Specific lesson equipment includes (not an exhaustive list):

GENERAL

  • Pens
  • Pencils
  • Pencil sharpener
  • Eraser

MATHS

  • Ruler – 15cm minimum and preferably clear
  • Protractor (360° or 180°)
  • Pair of compasses
  • Scientific calculator
  • Eraser

For BIOLOGY, please see above plus

  • Colouring pencils
  • 30cm ruler

All to be placed in a pencil case please.

Our uniform is not very prescriptive; we ask that it is plain, smart and dark.

Most children wear black/dark grey trousers or skirt with a white/black shirt. Everyone will have a house tie that feeds into our behavior policy, and blazers or hoodies are also allowed. This should be adhered to by everybody, unless sensory issues have previously been discussed with HT/DHT.

Branding, patterns or pictures are not allowed.

Your child will continue to have PE lessons and will be expected to bring appropriate PE kit (sportswear) on their prescribed day according to their timetable. This includes trainers: school shoes will not be accepted. There is space to change, and it is not pleasant for them to remain in sweaty clothes throughout the day.

School site closes at 5pm; joyously, most of our teachers are also practising musicians and so the evenings provide time for rehearsals and performances.

We understand that traffic or other bit of ‘life’ get in the way of a well-made plan, so please call us on 01216795298 or email attendance@kimichischool.co.uk as soon as you are able, letting us know what time you anticipate collecting your child.

School site opens at 8am and registration starts at 9:45am
Please let us know if your child is going to be late or unable to attend as soon as possible by emailing attendance@kimichischool.co.uk

We have decided to redistribute the weeks your child attends school to better suit their specific needs both socially and academically

Our term calendar and events can be found here and our terms dates are below:

Autumn Term 1

Wednesday 2 September 2026 – Friday 16 October 2026

Half Term

Monday 19 October 2026 – Friday 30 October 2026

Autumn Term 2

Monday 2 November 2026 – Friday 11 December 2026

Christmas Holiday

Monday 14 December 2026 – Friday 8 January 2027

Spring Term 1

Monday 11 January 2027 – Friday 12 February 2027

Half Term

Monday 15 February 2027 – Friday 19 February 2027

Spring Term 2

Monday 22 February 2027 – Friday 19 March 2027

Easter Holiday

Monday 22 March 2027 – Friday 9 April 2027

Summer Term 1

Monday 12 April 2027 – Friday 28 May 2027

Half Term – Whitsun

Monday 31 May 2027 – Friday 4 June 2027

Summer Term 2

Monday 7 June 2027 – Friday 2 July 2027

Half Term – Summer

Monday 5 July 2027 – Friday 9 July 2027

Summer Term 3

Monday 12 July 2027 – Wednesday 28 July 2027

Please key checking back to see if any more exciting and calendar-worthy dates have been added!

  • 9th September – Welcome meeting for all parents 5-7pm
  • 25th  September – Sports Day
  • 4th November – Parent Forum 5-7pm
  • 4th December – Christmas Lectures 7-9pm
  • 9th December – Christmas Concert 5-7pm
  • 12th March – GCSE Coursework deadline
  • 15th – 19th March – GCSE Geography Field Trip/Snowden Trip
  • 18th June – Speech Day and the Leaver’s Ball
  • Saturday 26th June – KimichiFest
  • 12th July – Music Tour
  • 23rd July – SteamFest

Parent Communication

As ever, we welcome parents as part of the family. Our door is always open, and if you have any questions, concerns or simply want to have a chat, please do get in touch.

If in doubt, please send us an email and a member of staff will get back to you as soon as possible. We kindly ask that communication is made during reasonable and respectful hours, and we appreciate your understanding that staff may not be able to respond during evenings, weekends or school holidays.

We value positive relationships with our families and welcome opportunities for parents to become involved in school life. If you would like to find out more about supporting the school community, please get in touch.

Permission Forms & Contract

All parents and carers are asked to sign digital permission forms that range from allowing us to administer medication through to the thrill of the possibility of going on a random day out. You will receive a link to these before you begin with us.

The Parent Contract is an important part of our admissions process and will be sent out digitally and is to be signed before your child’s place begins. It includes important clauses to do with deposits, fees and other important terms and conditions so please do take some time to read it.

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