During the Summer of 2021, we received the truly devastating news that Thando had gone missing. The tragic outcome was that he had drowned whilst swimming with friends in the River Trent near Swarkestone. We will miss Thando hugely, but our heart and prayers go out to his extended circle of family and friends. It’s been said before, but Thando was a big shining star, who always put others before himself. We were privileged and honoured to have known him and to be involved with his funeral. We’re planning to create a memorial to him in the form of an annual Maths Challenge, the winner of which will be awarded the Thando Ndlovu Trophy for the year.

The challenge will be based on our iKip platform and will be age-appropriate, to ensure that everyone has the same chance of winning. It will take place over 4 weeks each January and will capture progress made with Times Tables. Even if students are only doing English at Kip, they will still have the opportunity to enter. Your child’s teacher will record the scores and then apply their knowledge of the student to arrive at a final score. There will be a prize for the “best” progress with each teacher and the overall winner will receive the Thando Ndlovu Maths challenge trophy to keep. We’re planning to run the competition each year in January.