Brothers and sisters often attend the same school, but as the new academic year begins, one West Norfolk secondary is welcoming a sixth sibling from the same family through its doors.
Eleven-year-old Max McKenzie has just started in Year 7 at Springwood High School in King’s Lynn following in the footsteps of his four sisters and his brother, whose ages range from 13 to 25.
Oldest sister Ciera joined the school in 2011, and liked it so much that she returned to work there.
“Ciera is now a Maths Teacher at Springwood,” explained Briony McKenzie, mother of the six. “She went away to uni, then got a job at Springwood as a Maths Tutor when she came back. She did her teacher training there and then started teaching.
“She loves it at Springwood and has recently taken over as one of the managers of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Scheme.”
Second sister, 21-year-old Jess, is in her fourth year at Bristol University, studying to be a vet, while the remaining siblings are all current students at Springwood.
Seventeen-year-old Belle has just begun her second year of A-levels, and is studying maths, biology, and chemistry, with a view to a career in medicine; while 15-year-old Sam is now in Year 11 and will be taking his GCSEs next summer; and Martha, aged 13, is in Year 9.
“Max has been really looking forward to starting at Springwood,” continued Mrs McKenzie. “He’s been going backwards and forwards to the school since he was a baby, so he knows quite a lot about it already, and knows a lot of people there. I think he felt a bit left out and was looking forward to being there himself.”
