A Message from Mrs Knox

We have finally come to the end of our School year and have had a wonderful week of celebrations which will culminate in our Parents’ Day tomorrow. The Leavers’ evening on Monday was a really joyful occasion as we said farewell to our Year 11s. The pupils looked absolutely stunning and grown up! So many of our teachers joined the evening to say farewell as we wished them all the very best for the future. We also say farewell today to a number of staff: Mr Ellarby, Ms Martin, Mr Kulczyk, Mr Browning and Mr Macdonald. A huge thank you to them all and in particular to Felix who has been such a brilliant teacher, coach, colleague and friend. We wish them all the very best for the future. Today the children thoroughly enjoyed the BBQ and ice cream. I do hope you can join us tomorrow to celebrate the pupils, hear from an inspirational speaker, meet our special guest (!) and enjoy a picnic together. Have a wonderful summer break. 

Mrs Knox

A Monster Calls

Last week Year 8 and 9 performed ‘A Monster Calls’ based on the novel by Patrick Ness as their end of year Production.The story's hero is a lonely 13-year-old, Cara, who is bullied at school and coping with her mother dying of cancer. In her grief, Cara turns to a dream figure: a monster who sprouts from a yew tree and offers to tell Cara three tales if the girl will, in return, tell them the truth.

The cast and crew were wonderful and performed with emotional honesty and a real commitment to tell the story as truthfully as possible. This maturity had a real impact on the audience who were emotionally drained by the end of the evening! I was so impressed by the cast's real unity as an ensemble who worked beautifully together to create the wonderful physical theatre scenes and the sensitivity of the crew when changing the scenes and who were so brave in how they communicated the grief, anger, selfishness and frustration of the characters they portrayed. They were  all professional, funny and utterly delightful to direct. 

Thank you so much to Lisa Lee for her wonderful direction of the physical theatre scenes, Mrs Punter for her focused brilliant feedback and direction and Mr Rye for being a one man technical wizard!

Mrs Honey

 

Year 7 Map Skills

This year's Map Skills Expedition to Hurtwood Forest was a terrific success! Well done to Year 7!

We began the afternoon by reminding the pupils of some key map-skills, with many of them orienting themselves on the school site before stepping into an OS map of the area. Once achieved, we set off in groups, navigating ourselves to Pitch Hill where we met Nancy Loates-Taylor, the Communications Director from Friends of the Hurtwood. Nancy gave us some information about Hurtwood Forest and a very interesting talk on how it is used. 

From Pitch Hill we hiked to Peaslake through the forest (after some well earned biscuits!) and finally back to the school site. It was a wonderful afternoon, and the pupils behaved impeccably. 

Mr Allen

Year 7 Watersports Trip

On a sunny Tuesday 5th July, Year 7 travelled to Aqua Sports near Redhill to take part in some water-based activities, including raft building, kayaking, sailing, and windsurfing. There was some excellent team work when building the rafts, which showed with all but 1 of them being successful on the water. In brilliant conditions, everyone managed to enjoy their time on the water, with a lot of happy, smiley faces returning to shore at the end of the day. Thank you to Mr Southee and Miss Martin for helping on the day and Mrs Coackley for organising the trip.

Mr Monk

Years 5 and 6 trip to Saddlescombe

The majestic South Downs provided the backdrop to the Years 5 and 6 trip this week, more specifically Saddlescombe Farm. Once everyone had been quite literally carted down Devil's Dyke in a Tractor, our host Roly helped the children appreciate the scale of their family-run farm and explained some of the methods they use to ensure the landscape is conserved for the benefit of hundreds of wild animal and plant species. With the scene set, the children learned about how to connect hurdles to make a pen, and the types of equipment found on the farm that help them care for the animals' health. We were also treated to a demonstration of how Fly - the farm's beautiful sheepdog and star of the show - is used to herd the sheep. Everyone agreed that she is, without doubt, the most obedient - and rapid - dog we had ever seen! After a delicious lamb burger lunch, and a reminder of the importance of knowing the origins of one's food, the children were set a challenge: to herd a small flock of sheep into a pen they had built themselves - all against the clock, and under the watchful eye of Roly (and Fly, in case she was needed!). All the groups completed the task and returned to school not only buoyed by a hugely fun day out, but also more aware of how their food is produced and what hard work it is to run a farm!

Mr Ellarby

Year 6 Final Assembly

Year 6 produced a wonderfully confident and charismatic performance in their Final Assembly on Wednesday morning. They began by thanking their teachers, and handed out some awards, including the Donald Duck award for Mr Macdonald for his famous impersonation and the Lockdown Legend award to Mrs Nicholson for her all-round awesome technology skills. They then treated us to a wonderful musical performance of this year's end of Prep School song and each spoke wonderfully about another member of Year 6 - complementing each other on their skills and achievements over the course of Prep School. It was heart-warming to hear the recognition of each other, and examples of how the pupils have inspired each other. Parents had their say too, providing lovely testimonials for their own child which - if the children's own words hadn't already - caused many a tear to well up.

Pupil achievements were further celebrated with the award of subject prizes, and the pupils were treated to a very poetic last register which showed how well the teachers get to know the pupils during their time in Prep School. Well done, Year 6, you will be missed in Prep School next year, but you have certainly left us with many memories to cherish.

Mr Ellarby

Years 3 and 4 visit Hever Castle

Years 3 and 4 had a spectacular day at Hever Castle on Tuesday. They enjoyed exploring the rooms where Anne Boleyn and her family lived and discovered much about Tudor history. The audio guides presented a variety of interactive challenges for the children to complete, including finding secret rooms and matching ailments with remedies of the time such as wearing a donkey skin if you burnt yourself. The Italian and rose gardens were stunning, and a particular highlight was the water maze, where the children tricked each other over stepping stones that squirted them with fountains of water, which was somewhat refreshing in such glorious sunshine. Thank you to all who came to help on this wonderful day.

Mrs Nicholson

Pre-prep Dance Show

On Thursday afternoon, Pre-prep pupils transformed into various characters including bunnies, flamingos, playing cards and a caterpillar! Accompanied by a mouse, March Hare, White Rabbit, Cheshire cat, Mad Hatter, Queen of Hearts and Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, to name but a few, the children retold the story of Alice in Wonderland through the medium of dance. With a rocking backing track, the audience were transported through the key events: a drink me bottle, eat me cupcake, crazy tea party, rose painting and flamingo croquet with a hedgehog, as Alice ventured through this new land! 

Each year group performed their own number, with many transition scenes seeing the children weaving in and out of each other's company. Whilst seeming a relatively minor point, it's the first Dance Show since 2019 that the children have been able to uninhibitedly integrate, and was truly wonderful to see!  

The pupils have worked incredibly hard in their dance sessions throughout the term - not least perfecting their 'Vogue' poses - and in particular this past week, where they performed to the Prep School for their dress rehearsal on Monday and focussed through subsequent practices to polish their performance as best as possible for the big show. All their efforts were well and truly worth it and greatly appreciated by the excited audience. 

Our sincerest thanks to Lisa Lee for her unerring enthusiasm, wonderful positivity and endless talent, to pull such an enjoyable masterpiece together. Well done Pre-prep, you were brilliant! 

Mrs Green

As our final week of the academic year draws to a close, it has been a time for reflection and special treats! Many of the pupils have enjoyed looking back on their achievements throughout this year and the progress they have made in a range of areas; they have much to celebrate! 

Prep and Pre-prep pupils have also enjoyed their end of year trips this week. On Tuesday, Years 3 and 4 ventured to Hever Castle, where we explored the grounds, had a tour of the Boleyn family's living quarters and cooled down in the water maze! Year 5 and 6 went to Saddlescombe Farm, where they experienced the art of shepherding and learned about equipment commonly used on a shepherding farm. On Wednesday, Pre-prep pupils went to Hobbledown Farm, where they admired the animals and had a fantastic time in the playground!

With our Year 6 Final Assembly on Wednesday, Pre-prep Dance show on Thursday afternoon and Year 2 Assembly on Friday morning, it has been wonderful to welcome parents, grandparents and other family members to celebrate and enjoy the children's various performances. The week's events have certainly been a perfect round off to this fantastic academic year!

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the pupils and staff for their incredible efforts since September. A big 'thank you' also goes to the parents and families for your continued support to the school and your children. All the children have a phenomenal amount to feel proud of as they conclude their year, with regards to every aspect of School life. I wish you all a relaxing and enjoyable summer and look forward to welcoming you back to do it all over again in September!  

Values Certificates:

Effort: Maddie C 

Mr Wright

Another school year comes to an end with a whole host of events and achievements to celebrate. This week saw us have our first Full School Photograph for four years after recent cancellations and we all now wait with baited breath for the outcome! We also saw our annual Year 11 Leavers dinner and concert take place on Monday, a fitting tribute to an outstanding year group who will be sorely missed. On Tuesday the Year 7 cohort went on their Watersports Day where a great amount of fun was had by all whilst LAMDA exams took place in school for those continuing to grow their dramatic skills. Today (Friday) sees our Final Whole School Assembly take place as well as the coveted School barbecue lunch. 

In Final Assembly today we had the opportunity to award commendation badges to those who have earnt 10, 20 or 30 commendations in their Senior Career (Year 7 -11). It was wonderful to see so many recipients, including some from Year 8 who have already earnt over 10 commendations and been rewarded with a coveted black badge. Black badge recipients were; Daisy N, Matilda R, Daisy R in Year 8, Rufus B, Bobby F, Charlie G, Kai G, Ozzie H, Ariane L, Will R, Ella S, Sam S, Rose S in Year 9, and Amber C, Tilly C, Alanna H, Tom H, Jas K, Hannah M, Calum M, John McN, Josh N, Max S, Alex S, Harry S and Sophie S in Year 10. Recipients of a white badge for 20 or more commendations were; Johnny McM, Violetta P, Annabelle R in Year 9 and Natasha B, Imogen C and Maddie I in Year 10. It is great to see some now so very close to gaining the orange badge for 30 commendations and I have no doubt some of those mentioned above will achieve this before they leave. Well done to you all and keep up the hard work!

I am hugely looking forward to seeing many of you tomorrow on Parents' Day and do hope you all have a well-earned, restful holiday.

Mr Wilson

What Parents Need to Know about Minecraft

Minecraft is a beloved classic of modern gaming. First released in 2011, this open-ended ‘sandbox’ game of building and exploration still has over 140 million players who happily return to play it at least once every month. Minecraft has also been utilised for much more than just entertainment: it’s sometimes used in schools to teach children coding, and it's also employed as a tool for computer-aided design, which is another valuable skill. Encouraging creativity and problem solving, Minecraft has plenty to offer gamers of all ages, and it's available on almost all video game platforms.

In the guide, you'll find tips on a number of potential risks such as in-game purchases, addiction and chatting with strangers.

Click on the link to help you find out more about "What Parents Need to Know about Minecraft".

Mr Boden

Senior School Sports Day

The sun was shining and the pupils were excited if not a little nervous for both the Prep and Senior School Sports Days. It was amazing to see so many pupils competing to the very best of the ability to gain points for their House. Parents supported the pupils brilliantly throughout the afternoon and the encouragement that the athletes received truly inspired them to produce some incredible performances. There were many close finishes and some wonderful moments of sportsmanship. The Prep School results from Thursday were carried forward to the Senior event on Friday. It was therefore only fitting that the Prep School were able to watch the thrilling Senior relays and be in the crowd for the overall presentation. Congratulations to all who took part and particularly well done to Ruby W, Arthur H, Abi W and Tom H who won the Best Athlete of the Day trophies. The House scores were close throughout; congratulations to Buzzard who finished as the 2022 champions! Well done to all who took part!

1st Buzzard - 427

2nd Hawk - 411

3rd Peregrine - 379

4th Kestrel - 354

Please click the link below to the Sports Day gallery:

Senior School Sports Day Photos

Mr Herbert

Alumni v. Staff Cricket Match

The first Alumni v. Staff Cricket Match was played on Tuesday evening with the winners receiving the Felix Macdonald Trophy. The staff won the toss and decided to bat. The Alumni team bowled well but the strength in depth of the staff batting line up enabled them to put on 209 in 16 overs. Mr Orme (22) got the staff team off to a fast start with some fantastic shots. There was some excellent batting from Mr Macdonald, Mr Hanvey and Mr Monk who all retired when they reached 40. Mr Green (36) was playing extremely well but finally got out to the local rule of six and out when hitting over the green fence! It was a tough run chase and the Alumni team did their very best with some powerful hitting particularly from Toby Gibbs. The Staff team came out on top, winning the match by 34 runs. This was a thoroughly enjoyable evening; it was fantastic to see some familiar faces who had previously played so many fixtures for the Duke of Kent School teams. Thanks also to Arthur Rogers who umpired for the evening. We look forward to playing for the Felix Macdonald Trophy again next summer and for many years to come.

Mr Herbert

Girls' House Rounders

This week, all girls in Years 7, 8, 9 & 10 have taken part in House Rounders matches! It has been a wonderful way to end a busy year of sport. Although the girls have had cricket matches throughout the term, we decided to finish the term with a classic - rounders! Considering the very small amount of practice the girls had before the House Matches, they performed brilliantly and the tactical knowledge all came flooding back to them! On Tuesday, the Year 9 & 10 girls enjoy their afternoon of rounders with some very close and exciting games. Kestrel and Peregrine started well with 2 wins from their first 2 matches, setting up a final when they played each other in the last match of the afternoon. Meanwhile, Buzzard and Hawk would fight it out for 3th and 4th place. Alex K demonstrated some fabulous striking scoring rounder after rounder for Kestrel whilst Tilly C was on a roll for Peregrine, it was a close game with Peregrine coming out on top! Buzzard showed great enthusiasm and team work throughout the afternoon with Annabelle R and Sophie S encouraging their team. Hawk played a great match against Buzzard and finished in 3rd place. Just 24 hours later, it was the turn of the Year 7 & 8 girls! Peregrine were very unlucky to lose their first 2 matches by just 1 rounder, you can only imagine the cheering and excitement in each of the games! Kestrel once again started with confidence and won their first 2 matches. Hawk played with great skill and fielded with precision in the big moments whilst each game for Buzzard had just 1 or 2 rounders in it! A wonderful afternoon with particularly consistent striking coming from Jess I, Niamh A, Sydney R and Emma F. The final results were as follows:

Year 9 & 10 House Rounders

1st - Peregrine

2nd - Kestrel

3rd - Hawk

4th - Buzzard

Year 7 & 8 House Rounders

1st - Kestrel

2nd - Hawk

3rd - Buzzard

4th - Peregrine

A huge well done to everyone involved for demonstrating great kindness to each other and enthusiasm for each match! 

Miss Vickers

Years 5 and 6 Mixed House Cricket

The year 5 and 6 Mixed House Cricket started on Wednesday 22nd June and was completed Monday 4th July. The first games were played between Buzzard vs Hawk and Kestrel vs Peregrine as semi finals, in these games each team had 8 overs to bat with 4 pairs per team,  with both matches being competitive it lead to some exciting cricket being played. Buzzard and Kestrel were victorious which lead to these two teams playing in the final and Hawk vs Peregrine in a 3rd and 4th playoff. In both matches they came down to the wire, in the 3rd and 4th playoff Peregrine won, thanks to a good final partnership by Theo C and Eddie C. In the final, Buzzard batted first starting well with a good opening partnership between Patrick W and Thibaut J, ending on a good score of 55 in their 8 overs. It was then Kestrel’s turn to bat and they played very well to tie the score in the last over, which lead to a super over being played. In the super over Kestrel batted first, scoring 8, with 9 to win Buzzard were just able to do it on the last ball of the match. Well played to everyone involved and congratulations to the winners Buzzard. Throughout all the matches it was great to see the boys and girls working as a team and also helping other teams by fielding for a team that had less players then their own and giving it their all. 

1st - Buzzard 

2nd - Kestrel 

3rd - Peregrine 

4th - Hawk

Mr Orme

It will have escaped nobody’s notice that tomorrow is the last day of the School year and the beginning of the summer holidays, something that I know many of our pupils, staff and parents are very ready for. It is worth remembering that this has been the first full year in school that pupils have had for three years and this has been reflected in both physical and emotional tiredness exhibited by pupils.

People will be hoping for some fun escapist activities though it is also worth remembering our need to rest and reflect.

As one School year draws to a close, there is an opportunity to reflect and appreciate what we have individually achieved or experienced  as well as to consider letting go of what has not gone the way we had hoped so that we can accept and move forward. In this way endings can be positive and productive.

I am sure there will be many enjoying holidays either in the UK or abroad, as well as those who will be spending their break at home. Wherever you spend the break, make sure you are allowing yourself time to recognise what it is you need and to care for yourself.

A lovely wellbeing scavenger hunt for Pre-prep and Prep school aged children.

https://educationcity2.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/07/2105-Scavenger-Pack-2021-1-1.pdf?utm_source=email&utm_medium=marketo&utm_campaign=supportnb&utm_content=email5&mkt_tok=NzgwLU5SQy0zMzkAAAGFa-x1RWnSvPVVTja6T5OT21xVhUslMUnAKvfRZsRpj2OFCheEZyEq0UBpXQ_3unWfgghHSYk4iNLROrw7_WjIh11KQucNZKtWTHHZtkR-Mux54WZ4Ag

Mrs Douglas

The annual school medical questionnaire is now available for you to complete online via the parent portal in readiness for the new school year in September (Parent Portal/Interactive/Electronic Forms).  This is not a compulsory exercise, but please send us an update if there are significant medical updates about your child, your contact details have changed, or if you haven't completed a form for several years.  It's particularly good practice for us to have recent/updated parental consent for first aid and medication to be given at school by the School Nurses (e.g. paracetamol or antihistamines as needed).  Similarly for those pupils who have access to our emergency supply of salbutamol inhalers or adrenaline pens (for asthma and allergies), it would be helpful to have an updated consent form.  Many thanks in advance for your help with this.  As always, do please continue to keep the medical room abreast of any medical/health updates throughout the holidays and the forthcoming academic year: email nurse@dokschool.org or csarjant@dokschool.org.

A year ago this weekend, we had the unenviable and painful task of advising certain year groups to isolate due to close contact with positive cases of Covid 19 as we headed into the summer holiday, due to government guidance at the time. What a relief it is this year to not have that burden, although we are well aware that covid cases are on the rise among the school community yet again with the Omicron sub variants BA4 and BA5 spreading easily, even among those who have recently had Covid 19.  We wish everyone who picks up the virus a swift recovery, and really hope it doesn't spoil too many holiday plans - goodness knows we all deserve a really relaxing/fun/joyous summer holiday!

Enjoy the break - stay healthy and happy, and we'll look forward to seeing everyone in September.  Good luck to year 11 for your GCSE results in August, and for your future life - it's all out there waiting to happen - how exciting! (For those of you who had medication at school, please collect from the front office on Parents day - see the white envelope with your name on!)

The School Nurses

PADoK News

On behalf of the PADoK team, thank you all for supporting the events we have held over the past school year.  We are already planning events for next year which we hope will continue to bring our community together.  Thank you to the PADoK Reps for keeping your Year Groups up to date with information throughout the year and to those who have worked tirelessly to put on events.   

Thank you and au revoir to Mrs Burr, Mrs Weston and Mrs Bimpson, who have done so much for PADoK over their years at the school.  You will be missed.

The 100 Club Winners

Fraser R, Year 10 - £225

Harley B, Year 10 - £135

Jobe M, Year 7 - £90

Prize money will be deducted from next term's bill.

Duke of Kent School Singers

The Duke of Kent School singers were delighted to be invited to perform at the Summer Concert on Saturday evening.  We performed “Fix You” by Coldplay, which we have worked on at our weekly singing sessions this term.  It was also an honour to be included in the finale singing alongside the pupils.

Thank you to Mr Rye for leading us, Mr MacDonald and Mr Kaye for accompanying us on the piano and drums.  Last but not least, a big thank you to Mrs Burr for coming up with the idea of a parent choir and making it a reality.  Mrs Burr leaves the school this term and will be hugely missed by so many.

Thank you to Mrs Williams for taking over singing club.

Running Technique Club

This week the focus was on CORE.  We worked through key running essential moves like single leg bridge dips and side planks with threading the needle plus other may work based exercises that challenge all those stomach and lower back muscles plus neck muscles needed for running.  We made sure we worked on ankle stability and flexibility while on the mat.  The whole group has progressed so confidently with thier solo runs, and we changed it up a bit and increased our distance as a group to push for Holmbury hill from School. Everyone felt great and running as a group is so good for motivation especially in the gorgeous countryside around School.  Please join us this next term from the first week back to start at week one of the six week course for all PADoK parents wanting to focus on technique :efficiency:protection in running with julia@therunningspecialists.com

PADoK Book Club

The PADoK book club met on Wednesday night at the Hurtwood Inn to talk about “Again, Rachel” by Marian Keyes, the follow on from “Rachel’s Holiday”.  For such an easy to read and engaging novel, it does delve deep into emotional and psychological issues such as addiction and recovery as well as regret and grief.

There is chaos and humour throughout the story and the characters are vividly depicted so you really feel like you know them and become fully immersed in Rachel’s life.  It was a resounding yes from all of us at the book club to recommend the book, it’s a great read to escape into.

Our next book will be a who dunnit with an exciting twist that we look forward to sharing with you … more to follow in the summer holidays. 

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). All of our social media accounts are public.

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