A Message from Mrs Knox

The Liverpool Tour showcase this week was just fantastic. Listening to the pupils sing their wonderful repertoire, hearing funny stories about the trip and seeing the photos that captured each day made for such an enjoyable evening. The children and staff will, I am sure, have memories that will last a lifetime. Do watch the fabulous video of the Tour below by Dexter Browning. Well done to all. Hosting Year 10 for lunch this week was highly enjoyable and gave me the opportunity to hear what they are looking forward to next year. The common room, wearing their own suits and being leaders of the School were high on their list. Finally, you may have seen Sydney the cat around and about again. She had gone to stay with my parents as company during lockdown but is now back. It did not take her long to reconnect with her favourite warm spots and catch the odd mouse!  Have a lovely Bank Holiday weekend.

Mrs Knox

World Scholar's Cup

On Thursday and Friday last week a team of three students from Year 7, 8 and 9 competed in the World Scholar's Cup hosted by St Teresa's School. 

Year 7 - Edie H, Mercy M, Tildy C

Year 8 - Matilda R, Xander S, Lucy M

Year 9 - Luke M, Violetta P, Kai G

Over the course of the two day competition, pupils took part in a variety of different events including Debating, Scholar's Challenge, Collaborative Writing, Scholar's Bowl, Scholar's Show and Debate Showcase.  

The teams found the Scholar's Challenge, a version of a multiple choice quiz particularly hard, however they excelled at the Collaborative writing task. In the afternoon of day 1, pupils took part in the Team Debates with our Year 7 and 8 teams winning  two of their three debates against other schools and the Year 9 team winning all their three debates with one of them being against a team of Sixth formers. 

On the second day as part of the Scholar's Bowl an additional challenge for members from each school was to balance a toy alpaca (the 'Mascot' for the World Scholar's Cup) on their head. Edie took to this challenge like a duck to water and successfully completed several challenges against the other schools to win an extremely prized large toy alpaca! 

The afternoon for the second day concluded with a debate showcase where the best debaters from the first day demonstrated their skills in one final debate. This featured Luke and Matilda being chosen for the debate and Mercy taking on the role as one of the Judges. Following on from this the Scholars show completed the day during which scholars could volunteer to demonstrate a talent. As part of this Tildy and Edie did a wonderful rendition of Lava from Disney. 

As part of the awards ceremony all our pupils did brilliantly and won both silver and gold awards for many parts of the competition, far to many to mention individually. However it is important to mention Luke M who took the overall Gold medal for debating, Violetta who took the overall Gold medal for the writing challenge as well as becoming the reserve overall Scholar and our Year 9 Debating team who won the competition. All of our teams also qualified for the global round of the World Scholar's Cup

Overall the pupils did amazingly well, enjoyed both days, and took a lot away from all aspects of the competition. It was also great to see the pupils collaborating and socialising with pupils from other local schools, as well as competing against them.  

Mr Wyllie

Year 10 GCSE History trip to Whitechapel

On Wednesday, we took our Year 10 GCSE History pupils to Whitechapel, scene of acute 19th century poverty, and the infamous murders carried out by Jack the Ripper in 1888. Our guide, Mr Richard Burgess, who had spent part of his career as a police Detective Inspector, kept us all excellently informed. Using local landmarks such as the narrow alleyway of Artillery Street, a Jewish synagogue, a women’s refuge, and a former soup kitchen, Richard explained the impact of the squalor, danger and hardships for local people and the Jewish community fleeing persecution from Europe. He was ably assisted by contributions from Imogen C, Oli Y, Josh N, Harry D, Jamie L, Luke I, Alex W and, especially, Harley B.

Harley’s great-great-grandfather’s brother was a stable boy in Whitechapel and upon coming to the stables had found the body of one of the Ripper’s victims. Harley’s great grandad used to tell them about this - it was his own uncle - and how the horses remained very distressed that morning having sensed or smelt the violence and death. 

The whole group were noticeably cooperative and patient on what turned out to be a chilly day, with several of the stops right next to enticing food establishments! They did at least enjoy some break time in Spitalfields Market. Many thanks indeed also to Mr Seeley and Mr Browning for supporting the trip.

Mr Lodge

Visiting Author, Danyah Miller

On Wednesday morning, we welcomed Danyah Miller to school for some Spontaneous Storytelling! During assembly, Prep and Pre-prep pupils listened to the story of Gormless Nesbitt as he ventured 'over the snicket and down the lane, round the corner and on and on and on again' in his search for Mama Money and Lord Luck. Over the course of the morning we were then delighted to have pupils from Peaslake School, Scott-Broadwood Infants and Glenesk join our Year 2s for a variety of story-telling workshops. Danyah introduced games that encouraged the children to think of creative adjectives, start sentences in a variety of ways, create characters and subsequent stories that involved them when pulling items from a bag, and creating tales centered around a selected object. Danyah finished her series of workshops with a session for our Senior English Stretch and Challenge pupils, who explored and discussed a moral dilemma through a story.  

It was truly wonderful to see the children using their imagination and creativity to enter into stories and bring them to life, as well as their confidence grow as they explored open-ended scenarios and the endless joy that storytelling can bring.

For those interested in seeing more of Danyah, she has two performances coming up at Cranleigh Arts Centre on Tuesday 31st May and Saturday 16th July. More information can be found using the link below.

https://cranleigharts.org/event/spontaneous-storytelling-with-danyah-miller-2022/ 

Mrs Green

Year 4 trip to Milestones

On Tuesday we went to Milestones Museum. When we got there we went to our first workshop all about the iron works. At the workshop there was a friendly Victorian lady named Miss Tasker. We went in and she told us we were her apprentices for the day. She told us about her great uncle, Mr Tasker. She gave us cream and green papers with a fact on it. We had to find the person with the matching fact and find out which was about the 1800s and which was about the 1900s. Then we had to find places on a map. After that, she showed us the forge where her great uncle worked. They heated up the iron till it was red then hit it with a hammer on an anvil and when it cooled down they would heat it up, then hit it again and again. Later on they started pouring molten iron into a sand mould. This is called cast iron.

After that we went to a Victorian school to learn like a Victorian child. The teacher was very strict and made the girls wear pinafores and the boys wear waistcoats. We were told to line up in separate lines - boys in one and girls in the other. We sat on benches in the classroom, with the boys and girls separated. We had to call the teacher Ma’am. We first had to recite a prayer. Then we learned about the three rs - reading, writing and arithmetic. She asked who was the oldest boy and girl and made Charlotte and Alfie the class monitors. We started reading and had to learn a poem by Edward Lear by rote. After that we did writing and had to write A, B and C on a slate. Then we did arithmetic with an abacus and had to do some sums. If Victorian children didn’t follow one of the rules, they might have got the cane. The boys would have been smacked on the bottom and the girls would have been smacked on the fleshy part of their legs and hands.

After lunch, we went to a penny arcade. Then we went in groups and explored. At the end of a secret alley there was a pretend man on the toilet! There was a teddy museum, a garage and a bicycle shop as well as a post office, a fire station and a train. We dressed up. Finally, after all of that we went to the gift shop and left. It had been a really exciting day.

Hope N, Year 4 pupil

Year 1 visit to Wakehurst

On Tuesday, Year 1 visited Wakehurst Place to start their topic: The Rainforest. 

We started our trip by going into the magnificent house and entering the billiard room where we looked at plants  and discussed the different parts of the plants. The children were very keen to show their knowledge and were able to identify which part of the plant certain fruits and vegetables come from. 

Our next activity was a trail walk around the gardens; here the children split off into 3 groups and explored the beautiful gardens. We smelt the herbs in the vegetable garden along with finding radish, strawberry, rhubarb and carrot plants. We looked at the giant Redwood and learnt that the trees in the rainforest are three times bigger than their biggest Redwood! Ottilie H really enjoyed seeing all of the plants and Johnnie G loved seeing the fish. 

Our final activity was Ephemeral Art, this was an activity where the children had to use nature to create a picture of their choosing, The children made a snowman called Jeff, a flower drum, a lollipop, a football pitch and various islands...Jack M really enjoyed making the nature art.  Daniel L said he enjoyed everything! 

We had a fantastic trip and introduction to our new topic, the children were superb, our guides were outstanding and best of all the sun shone brightly all day! 

Miss Walpole

Mountain Bike Club

Our Mountain Bike Club (DoK MTB) got underway once again this week for an epic Summer of shredding the Surrey Hills trails. We really are lucky to have such a wonderful resource right on our doorstep. For our first ride we sessioned Captain Clunk before hitting Bo Selecta. These are great trails for budding intermediate riders who want to build up their confidence jumping, navigating technical descents and riding drops.  Bo Selecta, with its little kicker, offered us a great trail for the more advanced riders honing their jump skills, before we move onto tougher gap jumps and larger drops in the next few weeks.

If any new riders are still interested in the club we are looking to start a beginner group if there is enough interest. Also, if there are any girls who fancy a go then please let me know.

Mr Seeley

This week, Nursery children enjoyed a visit from some of their parents, who came into the classroom and spent time reading with them. From the looks on their wrapt faces, they were clearly thrilled - and the children appeared to have fun too! We very much hope to have more parent storytellers come and tell a tale or two in the coming weeks. 

In Prep School, it was a real joy to see the return of Thursday morning talks. This slot offers the children an opportunity to speak to the rest of the Prep School about a topic of interest or a hobby, often revealing hidden expertise or talents we wouldn't otherwise have discovered about the children. With limited chance to gather together since Covid struck, pupil talks have been much missed from our routine and so it was especially wonderful to hear Grace and Lola share their love and knowledge of horse riding. Not only did they inform and entertain us all, they had clearly put a lot of thought and effort into how they would present to their audience. Lessons learned during the House Public Speaking Day in January were brilliantly showcased, and everyone was thoroughly impressed - the bar has been set very high for future talks! 

Mr Wright

Stars of the Week

Nursery: Ottilie H or her continuous effort, kindness and good humour. What a star!

Edie B for displaying enthusiasm and a positive attitude to all areas and working with greater independence.

Reception: Josh B for coming back to school with super positivity and a great first try at ‘dictation’ sentences!

Year 1: Angus D for coming back to school with the best attitude to his learning and such increased confidence.

Finn H for his upbeat and enthusiastic attitude and for producing an excellent recount of our trip to Wakehurst Place.

Year 2: Violet w for showing amazing skill when adding 3 single digit numbers in Maths this week!  You are the doubles and number bond Queen!

Mrs Henry

Mr Wilson

Liverpool Choir Showcase

On Thursday evening the Liverpool Touring Choir performed a showcase for their parents.

It was a wonderful celebration of this superb trip and a chance for the kids to show what they sang in Liverpool, as well as a chance for some story sharing and embarrassment!  Once again the coming together of the School community highlighted how much it has been missed over the last two years, and it was lovely to see pupils, teachers and parents celebrating the choir's success. 

One of the highlights of the evening was the premiere of the music video  we made while on tour, filmed at Crosby Beach and the various locations we visited and performed at. Filmed and edited by Mr Browning it is definitely worth a watch!

The Youtube link is here - https://youtu.be/2cT9rtg_X1s

Thanks so much to parents and staff for attending and of course to the brilliant choir who once again brought their A Game!

Mr Rye

Spotting Ads on Social Media

Can young people always recognise when what they’re seeing on their social media feed is an advert? The evidence suggests there’s a good chance they might not. What often complicates matters is that many ads are virtually indistinguishable from a regular social media post. They’re frequently designed to be funny, exciting or cool, which distracts younger users away from the reality that they’re being sold something. Our #WakeUpWednesday guide has some top ideas for helping youngsters to spot ads like a pro!

In the guide, you'll find tips such as paying attention to the account name, studying the hashtags for clues and being savvy with high numbers of likes and shares.

Click on the link to help you find out more about "Spotting Ads on Social Media".

Mr Boden

Girls' Cricket: U16 v. St. Edmund's

On Tuesday, the U16 girls' cricket team played a pairs cricket match against St. Edmund's. Duke of Kent School won the toss and decided to bowl first. The game started well with some nice accurate bowling and good fielding efforts to back up the bowlers. St. Edmund's played very steady throughout the first innings, finishing on a good score of 294. In the second innings, it was Duke of Kent School's turn to bat. The innings started steady and started to gain pace in the middle overs with Izzy B/Amelie W-B and Kora W/Emily B batting very well in their pairs, scoring plenty of boundaries. Duke of Kent School ended their innings on a score of 286, an evenly contested game that came down to the last over. Well played to everyone involved. 

Mr Orme

Girls' Cricket: U14/15 v. St Edmund's 

On Tuesday afternoon, a team of Years 9 & 10 girls travelled to St Edmund's for their first pairs cricket match of the season. Duke of Kent School batted first and got off to a good start with Ava W and Helena K communicating well and constantly scoring single runs throughout their 4 overs. Next up were Macy B and Maddie I, they also played a steady game and began to get into their stride in their final over scoring 19 runs in 1 over! Emily B and Alex K played some very attacking cricket, scoring boundaries left, right and centre with Alex hitting multiple 4s and 6s. However, they also lost some wickets (-5 runs) with some quality catches being made in the field by St Edmund's. Last up to bat were Jasmine K and Tilly C, they were also unlucky losing a few wickets but managed to score plenty of runs too! After a short break, the U15/14As were ready to field. Each member of the team bowled 2 overs, the team demonstrated some solid fielding skills and St Edmund's found it hard to hit boundaries due to some excellent bowling. Some particularly good overs were bowled by Helena K, Macy B and Emily B, with very little wide balls and multiple wickets being taken! Duke of Kent School finished 50 runs ahead of St Edmund's and took the win. Well done to all the girls involved for a great winning start to the cricket season!! 

Miss Vickers

Girls' Cricket: U12/13A v. St Edmund's 

On Wednesday afternoon, all the girls in Years 7 & 8 travelled to St Edmund's for an afternoon of pairs cricket. The U12/13A team were raring to go and won the toss, deciding to field first. Sydney R and Daisy R opened the bowling and demonstrated great technique with Daisy R picking up an early wicket in the second over! The quality bowling continued with Clara H-S and Alice B bowling with excellent accuracy and without giving away a single run for wides or no balls. The quality bowling continued with Jess I and Saoirse W as well as Niamh A and Bella S, with each girl managing to pick up a wicket within their over! St Edmund's posted a decent amount of runs but the U12/13A team knew it was possible to chase! After some great catches from St Edmund's within the first few overs, the girls started slowly, but the runs began to flow once the girls settled into their batting. Jess I, Daisy R and Niamh A all demonstrated great striking skills, hitting important boundaries for the team. It was a fantastic game and a huge congratulations to the girls as they managed to secure the win by just 2 runs!!

Miss Vickers 

Boys' Cricket: U12/13 v. Belmont

U12/13On Wednesday, the U12/13 B Cricket team took on Belmont in their first cricket match of the season. After winning the toss, Josh W-D elected to bowl first on what looked like a very good wicket. The boys got off to an excellent start with Theo C and Vir O'R both taking a wicket in their first overs. This continued as Rupert H took two wickets in his first over, one of which was an excellent caught and bowled. The momentum swung as two experienced Belmont batters came to the crease and built an excellent partnership which looked like it could take the game away from Duke of Kent School. However, the partnership was broken thanks to a superb ball from Alex G, which managed to clip the top of off stump bringing the boys back into the game. The wickets continued to tumble, including two wickets in one over from Vir to leave Duke of Kent School needing 90 runs to win from their 20 Overs. After a good start, the U12/13’s needed to build a partnership early on if they were going to chase down a tricky target. Some excellent batting from Kit B, Harry L, and Jack D resulted in the boys needing 25 runs from the last 5 overs. They continued to chip away at the total and thanks to a lovely cut shot from Jack, they managed to win the match by 7 wickets with an over to spare. An excellent performance by all, well done to the whole team.

Mr Monk

Boys' Cricket: U13D v. Belmont

On Wednesday saw the first ever cricket match played on MacRobert. Duke of Kent School hosted Belmont in a very a close match. Duke of Kent School batted first scoring 120 from their 18 overs, with everyone contributing with some hard hitting and decisive running. Belmont started nicely with the bat and were keeping up with the run rate. Wilfred K bowled a tight 2nd to last over leaving Belmont to score 10 off the final over. Chester B held his nerve, after being hit for a 6 from the first ball, to then getting a wicket and stopping any more boundaries from being hit in his over. Duke of Kent School won by 4 runs!!! Well done to all of the boys involved as you showed accuracy when bowling and concentration in the field. 

Mr Green

Boys' Cricket: U10/11 v. Belmont

This Wednesday, the U10/11 A team played a pairs cricket match against Belmont. Belmont won the toss and decided to bowl first, they bowled very well to start the match but Duke of Kent School started to get into the swing of things as the innings went on. A very good partnership between Elliot S and Patrick W, in the middle overs helped Duke of Kent School finish on a total of 60. In the second innings it was Belmont's time to bat. Similar to how Belmont started well with the ball, so did Duke of Kent School, keeping the scoring steady in the early overs. Eddie P was the stand out bowler, taking a very good wicket, while being consistent throughout. Belmont batted well and ended on a score of 90, thanks to a very good partnership by the final batting pair. Well played to everyone involved, and keep working on your cricket skills for the next match. 

Mr Orme

The Summer Term is always packed full of House Competitions and this year is no different! Pupils in the Prep School have played their first matches in the chess competitions while the Senior School competition will be starting soon. Pre-prep will also be attempting a multiple choice quiz about some of the incredible members of the animal kingdom. With 100 points going to the House with the most correct answers! You can use this weblink to see the schedule of events and competitions that the students can take part in this term. 

The race to become House of the Year is entering the final stages and it is tight as ever! With all of the competitions and opportunities to earn stars and other rewards, each House has a huge opportunity to gain ground on its closest rival and jump above them in the standings.

Mr Gritton

It's Allergy UK's Allergy Awareness Week! Please go to the Allergy UK website for more information:  https://www.allergyuk.org/news/its-allergy-awareness-week-2/

The School Nurses

Yesterday, I finished writing a ‘Success Story’ requested by the rescue charity, Underdog International, from whom we rescued our Brittany Spaniel cross, Dixie last year. The stories are featured on their website in order to encourage adopters into rescuing one of the many dogs they are hoping to find loving forever homes for. The process really made me focus, not only on the changes we have seen in Dixie as she settles into our family but also the huge rewards she has brought to us.

You may be aware that April is National Pet Month and it struck me what a fitting topic this would be. National Pet Month promotes responsible pet ownership and the benefits of taking care of animals. Children develop numerous skills whilst taking responsibility for the feeding, health and maintenance needs of an animal (or even a plant, if animals are not possible). 

Much research has been done around the mental and physical benefits of pet ownership or interaction such as: reducing stress, anxiety and depression; reducing loneliness; encouraging exercise and playfulness, and providing a sense of security.

Animals are used to support humans in many ways: working animals, such as rescue dogs; assistance dogs for the disabled and as therapy animals in hospitals, schools, prisons, and care homes.

Personally, I know the therapeutic benefits of animal ownership, which myself and my family receive from our animals every day. Anecdotally, many of the students talk animatedly about how much their animals help and mean to them. It is clear how high in regard they view them as part of their famillies.

In awareness of this, my hope is to introduce some animal therapy visits to The Duke of Kent in the coming terms but in the meantime, students are welcome to visit the newest addition to the Wellbeing Room, which Year 3 stopped in to cuddle yesterday - a giant stuffed toy dog named, Duke!

Mrs Douglas

This week's suggested competition is 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)  

ISA Film and Digital Art Competition 2022 (5 - 18 years)

The ISA Film and Digital Art Competition is held annually. It is a fantastic opportunity to use both creative and technical skills combined to produce art works in the digital genre. The three categories, Computer Animation, Short Film, and Digital Art, offer a range of ways for you to showcase their work.

Closing date for entries is 12th May 2020.

More information can be found here

(https://www.isaschools.org.uk/arts/art/film-and-digital-art)

If you are interested in entering contact awyllie@dokschool.org

Mr Wyllie

PADoK News

Bond Themed Casino Night

Please SAVE THE DATE for PADoK’s 1st premier event since lockdown. It’s time to dust down the dinner jackets, get out the sparkle and join us for a night of glitz and glamour at our Bond themed night on the 18th June! Dress code is black tie or general 007 themed. Further details to be sent out shortly. Tickets on sale from the 9th May. Don’t miss out! Make it a night to remember!!

PADoK Book Club

Our Summer Term PADoK book is Again, Rachel, the No 1 Sunday Times Bestseller and the long-awaited follow up to Marian Keyes' bestselling Rachel's Holiday.  The book focuses on our heroine having hauled her life back on track, only to suffer a spectacular setback when an old flame arrives in her life once more. We are looking forward to seeing lots of parents in person this summer term to catch up and talk about the book together.    

Duke of Kent Singers

It was lovely to be back singing again in the PA Hall.  Mr Rye always makes it fun and relaxed.  Do come along, it is the perfect way to start a Thursday and so uplifting to hear laughter and the strength of combined voices in song..  Next week at 08.20 in the PA Hall, everyone welcome and we would love to see some dads if possible...

Running Technique Club

If you are a runner or would love to learn how to run with technique training, learn how to build muscle or to just try something new, come along to our Running Technique Club!  A medical form needs to be completed prior to participation.

Friday morning at the bottom pitch 08.30 - 09.00.  Contact julia@therunningspecialist.com for more information.

Mrs Phillips

Senior School Optional 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