ISA: Cross Country
On Saturday, a selection of pupils from Years 7, 8 and 9 made the journey up to Worksop College in Nottinghamshire to represent London South Region in the National Cross Country Championships. Each pupil finished in the top 10 at the Regional Event held at Duke of Kent School in February in order to secure their place in the National Finals. We made it to Worksop College in good time and so after registering and walking the course, the pupils had time for lunch and to soak up the amazing atmosphere. With around 45 pupils in each race, it was a huge event with hundreds of supporters! First up were the Year 7 boys; Ollie C, Felix C and Sam R, they ran 2.7km and did a fantastic job! The next race was the 3k race for Year 8 and 9 girls, Emily B and Jess I both ran a great race, particularly as Jess was running up an age group! Finally, it was time for Rufus B and Will R to run their slightly longer 3.8km race including an extra lap. The boys were in a highly competitive field of runners and finished within a couple of places of each other in the top 20, well done boys! We were extremely lucky with the weather and enjoyed the beautiful scenery and blue skies throughout the day! A huge congratulations to all of the pupils involved for being so brilliantly behaved throughout the day. Miss Vickers, Mr Green and Mr Herbert are so proud of you all for representing the school and the London South Region. A particular thanks should go to Mr Herbert for doing a brilliant job organising our runners but also leading the London South region as the Senior Manager on the day. Well done everyone!
Miss Vickers
U8-U14 Swimming Gala v. Belmont
Duke of Kent School's Swimming Squad hosted a gala against Belmont on Monday afternoon. This was the first inter school gala that we have hosted in quite some time and it was incredible to see so many swimmers and parents in attendance. The younger swimmers were helped superbly by the older and more experienced team members who gave them advice and reassurance when needed. The standard of swimming was very good from both teams with Belmont narrowly leading after the individual events. Duke of Kent School came back strongly in the relays with both schools only one point apart as we started the final race. The noise from the swimmers and parents was so loud that teachers and pupils could hear the cheering from the top of the school. The U14 freestyle relay team of Rufus B, Emily B, Helena K and Violetta P swam a great race to give Duke of Kent School victory by three points.
Well done to all who swam and to the parents that created a marvelous atmosphere.
Mr Herbert
Girls' Football: U16 v. Box Hill
On Tuesday afternoon, the U16 girls' football team travelled to Box Hill for their first football match of the term. The girls have been working really hard in their netball and hockey lessons and matches and so were excited to have the opportunity to play some football. Initially, some of the girls were a little unsure about the match but they soon got stuck in. It was fantastic to see the whole team pull together and improve throughout the match. Towards the end of the first half, the girls had begun to create more opportunities and defended well. Aoife W and Hannah S played brilliantly in attacking roles and managed to feed the ball through for Amelie W-B who took her chance fantastically and scored our first goal. After a quick half time talk (and a hello to Mrs Vermeulen with baby Casper and toddler Max - our supporters!) the team were back out for the second half. The standard of football really improved as the girls demonstrated some quality passing. Our second goal was crossed in and then scored by Aoife W, another great finish! Izzy B, Lucy P and Kora W all took shifts in defence and did a sterling job with the help of Zoe L and Molly G who played a half each in goal. The team managed to keep a clean sheet! Well done to all the girls involved for a fabulous 2-0 win and most importantly for a great afternoon!!
Miss Vickers
Girls Football: U15 v. Box Hill
On the lovely sunny Tuesday afternoon, the U15s girls travelled to Box Hill for a football match. The girls hadn’t had much football practice but that didn’t seem to matter! Box Hill got an early goal but the girls kept on working hard and before too long Audrey W scored our first goal, with Amber C scoring a second not long after. Despite the heat, the battle continued. Box Hill scored two more but the girls just didn’t stop running and their hard work was rewarded with Macy B scoring a goal to bring us to 3-3. The excitement didn’t stop there, in the final minute Audrey W made a great save and Maddie I was so close to scoring! The girls should all be very proud and a special thank you to Jasmine K, Tilly C, Amber and Audrey W who all did a stint in goal.
Miss Martin
Girls Football: U14 v. Box Hill
On Tuesday our U14s went to Box Hill for a football match in the gorgeous spring sunshine! The girls were apprehensive but excited and started the match strong. There was great possession of the ball and Pippa S was making some excellent tackles in defence. Alex, K, Eva L and Emily B had some great shots on target but not quite getting it past the goalkeeper. Fleur S was certainly tested in this game as Box Hill had some exceptionally strong forwards, but she had a brilliant success rate of saving the ball and wowed us all on the sideline with her determination to stop Box Hill scoring.
In the second half we approached the game with a different focus of attack, attack, attack. Every player was determined to make a great run or tackle any ball coming their way, and it showed. Eva L, assisted by Alex K, scored a brilliant first goal closely followed by a hat-trick from Alex K. Ava W, Helena K and Violetta P worked so hard in defence, but we could quite catch up with Box Hill. The final score was 8-4 to Box hill. Well done girls, you all played so well and worked brilliantly as a team!
Mrs Woolgar
Girls Football: U12/13 v. Box Hill
After a very wet tournament last week the girls were very happy to be playing in the sunshine! The girls got off to a very good start with lots of pressure during the first half. Just before half time Sydney R played a lovely ball to Iona H in space who then crossed it for Tildy C to finish. Going into the second half after a break in the shade the girls were ready to go again. Isla B scored two goals in quick succession and the end of the half saw Sydney and Isla both hit the post! Well done to all of the girls, especially Isla for being awarded Girl of the Game.
Miss Martin
U11 Girls' Football Longacre Tournament
On Wednesday afternoon, the girls in Years 5 and 6 travelled to Longacre to play in their second football tournament in as many weeks! The sun was shining and the girls were in good spirits, it was set to be a wonderful afternoon! The U11s first match was against one of the Longacre teams, it was a close game with chances for both sides but finished 0-0. The next game was set to be the hardest of the afternoon, with the eventual winners of the tournament, Farlington, proving too strong for us. The girls were not disheartened and managed to get another draw and a 1-0 win in their next two games against Longacre and St Edmund's respectively. The results put the U11 team into the 5th/6th play off, it was another close game and Poppy F continued to play brilliantly in goal. Towards the end of the game, Duke of Kent School managed to get the crucial goal to finish with a 1-0 win and meaning the girls placed 5th out of the 10 teams at the tournament. Well done to all the girls involved for great effort and demonstrating a positive attitude throughout the afternoon. The girls watched the final match whilst eating their hot dogs and banana cake in the sun - what could be better!!
Miss Vickers
Boys' Hockey: U15 v. Box Hill
On Tuesday saw the U15s travel to play Box Hill School at hockey. Duke of Kent School got off to the brighter start with Will P just being outside of the D to score the first goal of the game. Ben E made some fantastic saves in goal to reduce the score. Unfortunately, Box Hill School were too strong for us and made their possession count, scoring a couple of goals before half time. The second half continued how the first finished with Box Hill having most of the possession. However, good tackles from Toby C allowed us to create some attacking chances. Max K carried the ball well from the back and was able to find Will P unmarked in the D for a lovely first time deflection into the goal. Well done to all the boys involved as you showed good determination and strength throughout the game.
Mr Green
Boys' Hockey: U14 v. Box Hill
On Tuesday, the U14 Hockey team played against Box Hill. The match started evenly with both teams playing some quick attacking hockey and both teams scoring early goals. Jack B made some big saves to help the defence keep the score even. After Box Hill scored a couple of good team goals, Duke of Kent School had to work hard to get the score to 4-4. Near the end of the match the team were starting to get tired and unfortunately conceded a couple of late goals. Well played to everyone involved, it was great to see the high energy levels throughout, especially while playing on a small pitch in the sunshine.
Mr Orme
In Physics, Years 9 to 11 gained a deeper appreciation of how speakers work through electromagnetism. I was particularly delighted to hear from Mr Wyllie that Josh N and Fraser R linked their speakers together to make headphones - great innovation in action! Years 7 and 8 have had an enjoyable time investigating flames and learning about how metals give fireworks their colours by heating metal salts in a bunsen flame - firm favourites were the vivid red from lithium and greeny-blue from copper. Finally, we held a House Chemistry Competition with the four House Captains assembling their best Scientists to compete. Each year group carried out a practical that goes beyond the specification and pupils enjoyed the opportunity to demonstrate their chemistry skills in an attempt to bring home the win for their House. Congratulations to Peregrine House which came Top of the Chemistry Bench. 
On Monday morning Year 7 travelled with Mr Macdonald, Miss Francis and myself to a Sikh temple, the 'Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha', in Southall, London. This was to reinforce their learning of Sikhism which we have been learning about in Religious Studies this term. We were hosted by Navraja Singh (which means 'lion') and WO1 Chauhan MBE. This was a terrific opportunity for Year 7 to see their knowledge 'come alive', no more so than by experiencing the communal 'langar' or food, available to any visitor at any time. The food is always vegetarian so anyone can eat it, and is enjoyed by everyone while sitting in rows on the floor. This shows how everyone is equal, a key part of Sikh beliefs. While wearing their headovers ('patkas') The pupils also paid their respects in the prayer room and could show off their own knowledge of, for example, the meaning of 'guru', which means 'spiritual teacher'. 
Final assemblies really do bring home just how much we cram into a term! Yet this week alone, we've hosted a swimming gala victory, been entertained by Year 3's super 'rocking' assembly, marvelled at a fantastic array of Easter Bonnets and welcomed many mums into Pre-prep to be pampered by their children ahead of Mother's Day. And that's all beyond the ever-present sense of endeavour and progress in the pupils' classroom learning. Watching the Pre-prep children present the fruits of their creative labours to their mums this week has been a highlight of the academic year so far, for me. You could see they were immensely proud of what they'd painted, written or baked, and it was just lovely to be able to do such social events again - on the two-year anniversary of the first School lockdown, no less! 
And so we end the term on a sunny high, but appropriately tired and ready for a break. Next term will be no less busy, I'm sure, but in the meantime, I wish all of our Prep and Pre-prep families a relaxing and fun-filled Easter holiday. 
