A Message from Mrs Knox

The Concert at GLive on Wednesday evening was simply spectacular. Duke of Kent School children shone on stage performing with wonderful energy and talent. Mr Rye was brilliant on the mic and he and all of the teachers deserve the highest of accolades for nurturing our talented children.  In fact, all 4 Schools are to be congratulated on the hard work and effortthey put into their performances - the joy of music is something the children will carry with them for the rest of their lives. A huge congratulation also go to our girls U16 Netball team who competed in the USA Netball Tournament in Nottingham and won the Bowl, this was a terrific achievement against some really strong teams. Our parent breakfast seminars this week were well attended and the Community Forum Garden project is now underway. More information on that soon. Good luck to all of the children performing in the Prep Production and Ensemble Concert next week. Two more events not to be missed. Both Felix Macdonald and I are looking forward to the PADoK quiz night tonight. My husband, Tim, is great on general knowledge - I hope he is on form! Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Knox

U16 ISA Netball Tournament

On Tuesday 10 girls from Years 9-11 travelled to Nottingham University To take part in the ISA U16 Netball Tournament. The girls were in a strong group for the qualifying rounds. They first played Alderley Edge which was a fast paced and skilled game. The team put a great fight but lost the first game. Up next was King's High School which was equally tough but the girls have their everything and had some great moments of play but again lost by a narrow margin. The girls won their next two games against Northbridge House and Raddnor House School meaning they qualified for the Bowl competition. First up they played Northbridge House again and kept the same pace and flow of play leading to a big win. Some excellent was on display from Izzy B, Maddie I and Amelie W-B with superb support from Macy B, Aoife W and Ava W. In the Bowl Final against King Alfred School the girls took their play up a level to ensure finishing strong and in a dominant way. The defence was exceptional from Kora W, Abi W, Zoe L, Molly G and Ava W. The final score was 17-7 making Duke of Kent School the winners of the Bowl and received a trophy and gold medals. It was a brilliant day out and Miss Vickers and Mrs Woolgar was thrilled with the sportsmanship and play from every player congratulations, we are really proud of you all! 

Miss Vickers and Mrs Woolgar

Year 3 trip to Kew Gardens

Year 3 were very excited on Tuesday to be going on their first trip as a class. We headed off to Kew Gardens for a busy day out! The sun had its hat on, and the children couldn’t wait to explore. Both groups had a very insightful workshop. We pretended to be stranded in the Amazon rainforest and had to look out for plants we could use for shelter and food in the Palm House. The children also had the opportunity to conquer some fears and climb up the treetop walkway to imagine what it would be like to climb a rainforest tree. We also saw some incredible views of the London skyline. The children should be very proud of themselves for applying what they have learnt in the classroom and their behaviour on the trip.

Mrs Gritton

Spell It! Competition

On Tuesday 1st March, Duke of Kent School took a team of four Year 4 pupils to compete in "Spell It!", the first regional event of its kind, generously hosted by Longacre School. It's been so long since we've been able to gather for such multi-school indoor events that we also took the opportunity to provide transport to teams from Park Mead and Cranleigh Primary School. Working in pairs over ten rounds, the children were challenged in a variety of ways such as finding the incorrectly spelt word in a group, unjumbling anagrams, matching synonyms and then finishing with the 'Fierce Final Five" requiring them to spell some tricky words. Jasmine W, Halle S, Ben W and Arthur S gave it their all, with Ben and Arthur finishing as the third placed pair of eight, and helping to secure second place for Duke of Kent School over all. Well done to all the children for welcoming our travel companions, and participating so wholeheartedly. We hope to take other year groups to more "Spell It!" competitions in future.

Mr Wright

Another busy week comes to an end with a magnificent performance at G Live on Wednesday being a huge highlight. Not only was it an opportunity to witness the immense talent on display across the year groups, but the camaraderie and genuine warmth shown by all involved was what made the show such a success; Year 7 pupils reassuring those in Year 3 when they got nervous, the ferocious rapture of applause the Year 11s gave to the Prep Choir performance in rehearsal, year 10 pupil helping the year 4 girls get ready whilst reiterating that we are all behind them. These are the moments that cannot easily be replicated and make the whole event so special and I hope the performers are as proud of themselves as we are of them.

Elsewhere, it was fantastic to hear of the U16 girls success in the ISA Senior Netball Tournament in Nottingham, where their efforts and conduct was exemplary, whilst the U14 and U15 teams had varying fortunes in rugby and hockey matches against St Edmund's this week. Commendations have been awarded to Daniel M and Kai G (Year 9) for their outstanding Geography work regarding climate change, to Sam S, Eva L, Dan M, Ozzie H, Bobby F and Charlie G (Year 9) for their wonderful efforts during the KS3 SATRO competition and to Charlie C, Will W, Iris R, Zoe L, Casper C and Freddie B for their successful KS4 SATRO efforts. One also went to Annabelle R (Year 9) for her kindness and support for other classmates in DT. Well done to you all!

Today, we are excited to see the Science Department hosting an assembly introducing Science Week (11-20 March) and the events and opportunities this entails. Later we will be meeting Izzy Petter, the 2022 Olympic Hockey Bronze Medal winner, who will be hosting coaching sessions with various year groups, as well as welcoming local schools as part of a Coding Skills initiative run by the Computer Science department. As if that wasn't enough, tonight also sees the PADoK Quiz Night here at school, a hugely enjoyable event for which I wish all those attending the best of luck.

Mr Wilson

Following the fantastic House Music performances last week, a number of Prep pupils further distinguished themselves this week at GLive, either as part of the Prep Chamber Choir or the Ukes of Kent. It certainly feels like the time to sing and dance, with both the Pre-prep Spring Concert and the Prep Production taking centre stage next week, and we wish all the children lots of luck as they fine-tune their routines, practise their performances and run their lines in rehearsals. 

Wednesday's assembly saw a couple of recent House events reach their highly anticipated conclusions. The 'Recommended Reads' competition (to produce an informative, persuasive and entertaining book review for other pupils) prompted some lovely entries from the Year 6s; congratulations to Elliott S, John B and Theo C who came 1st, 2nd and 3rd, respectively. In the House Draughts, Eddie C emerged victorious (Peregrine), with Henry O'B (Hawk) coming second, and Patrick W (Buzzard) 3rd.  

In Pre-prep, the children have carried over their World Book Day enthusiasm, using stories in this week's lessons to inspire baking, modelling and puppetry. Year 1 loved developing their writing skills around 'The Gingerbread Man', and described the results of their baking efforts as 'tasty', 'yummy' and 'delicious'! Food has made it into STEM club, too, although not to be eaten; rather, the milk was used to help the children experiment with bottles as instruments, capable of producing a variety of notes and sounds depending on how much liquid they contained. Having seen the Senior 'STOMP!' brush-wielders in percussive action at GLive this week, it makes me wonder how long it will be before the Music department forms a 'Tuned Bottle' band!

Pre-prep parents will receive more information regarding the Spring Concert via email on Monday.  

Values Certificates

Kindness - Arthur H

Responsibility - John B

Stars of the Week

Nursery: Oliver A for settling into Nursery and approaching activities with enthusiasm and increasing confidence and independence.

Reception: Lottie F for great use of question words in sentences and writing words independently using her phonic knowledge.

Year 1: Finn H for his amazing reading and writing.  Finn is taking much better care of his presentation.

Year 2: Douglas S for a consistently positive attitude and superb contributions to class discussions.

Mrs Green

GLive

After two years it was a joy to be back at GLive to perform in the Rotary Club Combined Schools Concert.

The day was the usual combination of hectic rehearsal followed by lovely pizza followed by hanging around followed by incredible performance! And what an incredible performance it was. Our pupils stepped up and rose to the occasion as only they can. Every pupil from Years 3 to Year 11 shone and performed with enthusiasm and commitment, and it was a moment to be proud of everything we do at Duke of Kent School. A huge thank you to the many staff who helped on the day (and of course to Zizzi's who fed us all so efficiently), and most importantly to the children who behaved and acquitted themselves brilliantly throughout a very long day.

House Music

House Music was back with a vengeance this year, almost to its normal format. Sadly we were unable to rehearse House Song throughout the term due to Covid, but we could still hold the soloist and group elements of the competition.

Yet again over 100 pupils entered and after the first round and then semi-finals we had whittled it down to one or two pupils from each house per category ready to perform on finals day.

The guest judge this year was young up and coming pop star Nathan Gurd, who also held a couple of PSHE assemblies during the day discussing body image and cyber bullying, providing a fascinating insight into his experiences and how he has dealt with it in the past and now.

In the afternoon the Prep and Senior schools watched the soloists and group finals and were then treated to a wonderful performance by Nathan. It is fair to say he got the whole school rocking, jumping and vibing! It was a wonderful day all round and a massive thank you to Mrs Honey, Mr Browning, Mr Kaye and Mr Forrester who ran the day in My Rye's absence.

Ensembles Concert

Next Thursday evening is our annual Ensembles Concert which is a lovely chance to see the many groups that have been put together throughout the school. Ranging from a capella vocal groups to rock bands the evenigh will be a relaxed, short and eclectic mix with something from everyone.

Also performing will be our dance groups which are fabulous! The ballet group led by Miss Francis and the modern lyrical group led by Lisa Lee.

The evening will start at 6.30pm and there will be refreshments available beforehand..

We are none of us oblivious to the terrible events unfolding in the Ukraine at the moment and the upsetting, frightening and tragic stories which are dominating our media. As adults, this information can feel overwhelming and unfathomable, even more so for children and young people. Situations in which we feel we have little control can cause heightened feelings of anxiety. The opportunity to consider positive initiatives, such as PADOK’s fund raising for The British Red Cross aid initiative for Ukraine, can help to counteract the feelings of powerlessness. https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/padok4ukraine?utm_source=whatsapp&utm_medium=fundraising&utm_content=padok4ukraine&utm_campaign=pfp-whatsapp&utm_term=7892a5b85f964fec8d1f6390dde46803

Limiting exposure to media stories can also be helpful to protect mental health and mood but trying to avoid these issues altogether to ‘protect’ children from the upset these stories may cause is not helpful either. In the Senior school, the situation has been explained during an assembly and the pupils have had an opportunity to discuss in form times and ask questions. If you are struggling on how to broach the subject with your own children, this parental guide on how to talk to your children about events in the Ukraine or other worrying news stories may be helpful.

https://www.youngminds.org.uk/parent/blog/top-tips-for-talking-to-your-young-person-about-the-events-in-ukraine/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=march_newsletter_2022

On a different (but not unrelated) topic, I’d like to say how pleased I was to meet so many of you at Dr Siobhan Blackwell’s presentation about the importance of building resilience on Tuesday morning. It was a thoroughly informative and interesting presentation and we are very grateful to Dr Blackwell for joining us.

Dr Blackwell made reference to the Chimp Management mind model in some of her slides which is an interesting, child friendly theory of emotion and behaviour.  As promised, the texts which Dr Blackwell and myself referred to are, ‘The Chimp Paradox’ and ‘My Hidden Chimp’ (aimed for parent/carers working with their/a child) by Prof. Steve Peters.

Mrs Douglas

Year 5 and 6 Mixed House Netball

This week saw year 5 and 6 compete in their house netball competition. It was brilliant to see all boys and girls representing their house showcasing their skills. This was matched by the brilliant weather and everyone had a fantastic time! 

Results as follows:

1st Buzzard

2nd Kestrel 

3rd Hawk

4th Peregrine 

Mr Green

Football: Years 3 and 4 v. Belmont

On Thursday afternoon, Year 3 and 4 girls made the short trip to Belmont to play a football match. After a quick warm up the girls were raring to go. We played as one big team with regular subbing so everyone could give it their all when on the pitch. We started on the attack, creating opportunities, leading to a corner. Ruby W’s great strike from the corner took an unlucky deflection resulting in a goal for Duke of Kent School! The game continued to be end to end with both teams have some great chances that were just wide. Bea T-R, Florence A, Charlotte P, Seren G and Halle S all showed some great dribbling, with Evelyn C and Jasmine W making some accurate passes. Duke of Kent School managed to keep a clean sheet thanks to great goalkeeping by Eva W and Layla B and solid defence from Rebecca S and Evie B. Congratulations to Charlotte C and Ruby W for being awarded Girl of the Game. 

Miss Vickers and Miss Martin

Hockey: U8/9 Reds v. Frensham Heights 

On Thursday saw the under 8s and 9s travel to Frensham to play hockey. Duke of Kent School showed their dominance straight from the start with some lovely running with the ball. They were able to exploit the space behind the defence with some good link up play. Solid tackling from the team ensured that Frensham did not score. It was a brilliant performance from all of the boys involved resulting in a 4-0 win!! 

Mr Green

This week's suggested competitions and events are listed below. Remember there are many more that can be view on the Stretch and Challenge Website (https://sites.google.com/dokschool.org/stretchandchallenge/home)  

Life after Conflict Competition (9-18 years)

Brick by brick, life must be rebuilt after a conflict. It takes time to recover and resolutions may or may not be found. Countries and communities that were divided or destroyed need time to heal, to be reimagined, or sometimes even abandoned.  Share your thoughts on how people, communities and countries build a life after conflict using poetry, art, speech and song. For more information on this great competition that you can enter in a huge number of different ways visit - https://www.neversuchinnocence.com/2021-22-competition. Closing Date for entries is 18th March 2022

Big Bang Competition ( 11-19 years)

Do you want to be the next space explorer or are you a climate change hero? Have you got an idea that will transform people’s lives? The Competition is free and open to all students aged 11 to 19 studying in the UK. Competitors can only enter one project, either on their own or as part of a team. For more information visit - https://www.thebigbang.org.uk/the-big-bang-competition/. Deadline is 20th March If you would like to enter this competition contact - awyllie@dokschool.org 

Easter Egg Competition 2022 (5-10 years)

Get your drawing skills on for this ISA Easter egg competition.  The deadline for this competition is Tuesday 22nd March 2022.  More information can be found here - https://www.isaschools.org.uk/arts/isa-primary

Mr Wyllie

PADoK News

PADoK's JustGiving Ukraine Appeal for the Red Cross

Thank you so much to everyone who supported this appeal.  Over six days we raised £3,345 which will go directly to the Red Cross Ukraine Appeal. This will hopefully be a welcomed bit of support for the people of Ukraine from all at Duke of Kent School.

PADoK Book Club

We are looking forward to talking about The Promise by Damon Galgut next Thursday 17th March.  The meeting will now be held on Zoom at 8pm, for details please email padok@dokschool.org. We are really looking forward to seeing you there.

PADoK Singers

Singing will resume next Thursday 17th March, 8.30 in the PA Hall.  Come and lift your spirits and discover your inner Adele or Ed Sheeran!  Everyone welcome.

PADoK Walk

We have postponed the walk to 18th March due to clashes with other events.  Everyone welcome, 8.30, Car Park 3 Hurtwood Control, PItch Hill.

PADoK Fitness Club

Today was another fantastic session with the parents running group. We built on technique covered in previous sessions and recapped it for our two new joiners who picked it up quickly!  We revisited the pelvic alignment and incorporated the upper body into our core stability awareness. Using our arms to get better counter stabilisation and to practice pumping uphill. Then a bit more skipping which everyone is going to practice  at home now they see the benefits! We finished with some exercises to help with our forward momentum and position.  Next week won’t be on sadly but we will start again on 23rd March for our final session before the Easter Holidays!  Those interested in starting another 6 week block for next term please message directly to julia@therunningspecialists.com.

Mrs Phillips

Optional Senior School Hoodie

The Senior School hoodies have been redesigned by members of the School Council and the finished product can be seen above.  They have done a fantastic job at putting this design together and now finally getting to see the finished product.

This new hoodie is available from Stevenson's on their website: https://www.stevensons.co.uk/.  There is also the option to have your child's initials printed onto the front of the hoodie for a slight additional cost, something we would advise to avoid mixing up tops with other pupils. This hoodie is not an essential item of School uniform, so there is no expectation for pupils to have it.

If you wish to see the sample, please pop into the Main Office to see me and have a look at the new hoodie.

Mrs Woolgar

School Social Media

At Duke of Kent School we have three social media platforms; Instagram (dukeofkentschool), Twitter (@DoKSchool) and Facebook (Duke of Kent School).

Our Twitter and Facebook accounts are public however, our Instagram account is private to keep it strictly for the Duke of Kent School community only. To follow the School Instagram account you will need to request to follow the account. 

We recommend following all three accounts to receive push notifications with news, updates, educational articles, interactions with other schools, communities and public figures.

Mrs Woolgar