A Message from Mrs Knox

Our Open Morning, last Saturday, was a great success. The visiting families were impressed by what they saw. A huge thank you to PADoK who talked to parents over coffee, and to our pupils who were absolutely brilliant tour guides. As you know, on a sunny day, the School and grounds look fabulous. And indeed, on Saturday, the sun shone! So many visitors came due to our parent recommendation - if that was you, thank you!  Today, I had the good fortune of holding mock interviews with our Year 11s who are now embarking on applications to sixth form colleges. I was so impressed by the way they conducted themselves, speaking with ease, confidence and maturity. Do have a lovely weekend and good luck to those of you competing in the London Marathon this Sunday.

Mrs Knox

European Day of Languages

Monday started full of colour as everyone arrived for school dressed in mufti in the colours of a world flag to celebrate Languages Day 2022! In assembly, we all greeted each other in the language spoken in our chosen country, ranging from French to Finnish and Greek to Gujarati. We were then lucky enough to be taught "Hello" in Bulgarian, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Korean, Polish, Swedish and Tagalog by native speakers within our school community. Macy, our languages prefect, spoke to us beautifully about the plethora of reasons why studying a language is both fun and useful.

The focus of this year's Languages Day was, for obvious reasons, on Ukrainian. Most of us will come into contact with Ukrainians over the coming months and everyone at Duke of Kent can now say "Hello" and "Welcome" to them: Privit, laskavo prosymo! Miss Francis read a very emotive email from a Ukrainian lady with connections to our school about the power language can have, both to unite and to destroy. She said, "Language does define you. It connects you to your ancestors, history and culture. Recognizing other languages will help you understand people from around the world more and cherish your own tongue. Also, knowing that some nations suffered to save their language will help us to understand how significant the way we communicate is, with a terrific tool - language." After a busy morning, we enjoyed a Languages Day themed lunch: Mexican soup, Spanish paella and French "tarte au poulet". Over the coming weeks, all Prep and Senior students will have the opportunity to take part in a worldwide Languages Challenge, using an app which they now have on their iPads or Chromebooks. Thank you, everyone, for embracing the day!

Miss Francis

Year 8 Trip to Strawberry Hill House and Gardens

Glorious sunshine welcomed Year 8 pupils and staff onto the grounds of Horace Walpole's 18th century gothic villa revival, Strawberry Hill House and Gardens, on Thursday. 

As Year 8 are studying gothic literature this term, it was a wonderful opportunity for pupils to explore Horace's ultimate legacy - his gothic empire surrounded by a landscape of history.  The beginning of the trip focused on the architecture and interior design of the castle-we travelled up and down spiral staircases, in and out of narrow passages, through Walpole's secret library and his majestic artwork gallery. 

As part of the trip, pupils took part in a 'what is gothic?' workshop using story dice. In another activity, pupils were handed costumes (and gothic props) from the Victorian era, where they devised freeze frames to create a gothic story. 

In the afternoon, the sunshine beamed over Strawberry Hill House and Gardens, where we all enjoyed a spot of lunch. The trip was a perfect opportunity for Year 8 to consolidate their understanding of gothic and its conventions. A special thank you to Mr Monk, Mrs Southee, Mr Watson and Mr Wilson, who accompanied me on the trip!

Miss Anand

Year 5 trip to Winchester Science Museum

What an unbelievably exciting visit Year 5 had to the Winchester Science Museum! They had the wonderful opportunity to attend a new workshop that the museum is running called "Heart Heroes". They were able to hold a pig's heart in their hands, study the way it is divided into different chambers and to observe how one side of the heart is thicker than the other. They all participated in a very sensible and mature way and were very excited- if a little nervous! They were also able to test the capacity of their lungs and used a very interesting app to examine the organs inside their bodies!

We also enjoyed a tour of our solar system in the Planetarium; absolutely fascinating and very beautiful. Much fun was had exploring all the different interactive exhibits too.

Mrs Lock

Year 5 Assembly

On Thursday morning, Year 5 performed an assembly about embracing challenges and setting yourself goals for their parents and the rest of Prep and Pre-Prep. Jasmine W's battle to become starjump champion highlights the importance of setting yourself challenging goals. Her hard work during a Rocky-style training montage and resulting victory at the next competition showed the audience how perseverance and patience are useful qualities when working towards your targets. The assembly finished with Year 5, sharing the challenges they have set for themselves and how other people can help you when overcoming a challenge. 

The pupils gave a confident performance and worked hard to learn their lines. Well done Year 5!

Mr Gritton

St Francis Animal Care (Hedgehog Rescue) visit Pre-prep and the Prep School

The Prep and Pre-prep School pupils had some beautiful (but spikey!) visitors today; Harry, Harvey and Henry the hedgehogs! These gorgeous animals had all been rescued by Graham from the St Francis Animal Care (Hedgehog Rescue). He looks after injured and orphaned hedgehogs until they are ready to be released back into the wild. We learnt that in the 1950’s there were an estimated 30 million hedgehogs in Britain but that now the number is around the one million mark; explaining why they are classified as endangered. The pupils were able to observe the hedgehogs closely and learn all about their habitats, their prey and how, as their vision is so poor they rely on their other senses. Did you know that a hedgehog has about 5000 prickles and that their main predators are badgers?

Mrs Lock

You'd think it might be hard to come up with additional highlights in Prep and Prep-prep in a week that started with a language-themed home clothes day, and then had real life hedgehogs in School, but when I asked a few pupils, it seems these were just two amongst many activities that have excited and inspired them across the department. Pre-prep pupils in STEAM club loved making clay penguins, which they will use next week for some stop-motion animation. The Year 1 pupils have continued their Topic work on castles by designing coats-of-arms, whilst the children in Year 3 have had their first attempt at using junior hacksaws in the DT workshop. Year 6 pupils have been considering the different conditions in which mould is most likely to grow, placing bread slices around the department to observe how moisture, light and temperature affect its growth. Let's hope they remember where they put them all! The Year 3 and 6 Socials are taking place on Friday evening, and next week we look forward to assemblies on Fundamental British Values, and also Harvest Festival; thank you to those who have already generously contributed to our food bank collection. 

Rising Readers - Norah C, Rowan B, Amelie C, Henry W

Aloud and Proud - Hope N & Violet W

Bronze Reading Certificate (50 reads) - Ben Wr

Values Certificate - Penny A (Effort)

Mr Wright

Star of the Week

Nursery: Humphrey G for his keen participation in phonic activities and improved maths skills.

Reception: Eliza H for sharing her knowledge with her peers and for asking thoughtful questions at our Hedgehog event!

Year 1: Maddie C for being engaged and interested and asking lots of questions during our hedgehog talk.

Year 2: Angus D for a wonderfully positive attitude towards his reading. You've moved up a level and should be proud of yourself.

Finn H for consistently brilliant listening and great focus during independent tasks.

Mrs Henry

Another exciting week started with the wonderful European Day of Languages with pupils participating in an excellent assembly celebrating the virtues of being multilingual and the many doors that can open. We also saw a great set of results from our competitors taking part in the ISA Indoor Ski Championships against a very large and experienced field on the same day whilst on Thursday Year 8 went to Strawberry Hill to visit the Gothic House, Here they took part in various activities based around looking at the architecture and structuring their own Gothic stories. We also saw a contingent of Senior Pupils attend the Schools Wellbeing Forum on Thursday where Duke of Kent won the prize for presenting the best ideas regarding how to improve school mental health. Well done to all of you who attended. On Friday The Science Department introduced Biology Week with a wonderful assembly discussing the importance of Biology and the events taking place next week. Something to look forward to no doubt. 

The Performing Arts Department is getting busy as we speed through the term, with rehearsals for Christmas (yes, Christmas!) well under way, 'The Addams Family cast' working hard to learn their lines, remember their moves and sing their harmonies, (don't forget the Sunday rehearsal on Sunday 9th October) and music pouring out of the practice rooms at break and lunchtime. 

At the end of last term we had a bunch of pupils taking instrumental and LAMDA exams as well, so huge congratulations to all of them. We had a very high mix of distinctions and merits and all are to be commended for their excellent effort. 

Music

Henry R - Grade 3 piano

Daisy R - Grade 2 piano

Maggie - Grade 4 cello 

Patrick W - Grade 3 piano 

Daisy N - Grade 4 piano

Alfie C - Grade 5 theory 

LAMDA

Tildy C, Mercy M, Rose S, William B, Jack M, Charlie L, Robert S, Jack P, Ethan K, Kit B, Oliver C, Rhys W,  Arthur D-K, Humphrey G  - Grade 3

Isaac P & Annabel O, Tabitha S-B, Troy K,  James B, Belles H - Grade 4

Jasper B, Henry P, Kai G, Alex F, Violetta P, Alessandro P, Frankie M, Bobby F, Oscar D-K, Pippa S, Luke M, Daniel M, Josie B, Ariane L, Johnny M - Grade 5

Jasmine K and Natasha B - Grade 6

Mr Rye

ISA National Ski Championship

Rufus B, Eva L, Quentin J and Thibaut J all took part in the ISA National Ski Championships at Hemel Hempstead on Monday. ISA schools from all over the country took part and the standard was incredibly high. After practice runs, each skier was given two runs to achieve their best time. All of the Duke of Kent School skiers performed extremely well and were positioned highly. Quentin and Rufus both finished in 17 place and Eva and Thibaut were both in 5th place in their age groups. Well done to all four skiers, we will look to enter again next year.

Mr Herbert

Boys' Football: U14/15 c v. St. Edmund's

This Tuesday, the U14/15 C team played a Football match against St. Edmund's. An evenly contested game which saw some good goal scoring chances at both ends of the pitch. Both goalkeepers made some great saves to keep their teams in the game, but St Edmund's made the breakthrough with a well taken goal to take the lead. Duke of Kent School kept playing to the final whistle, which was great to see. Well played to everyone involved. 

Mr Orme

Boys' Football: U12/13 E v. Cottesmore

On Wednesday, the U12/13 E team played a Football match on the astro against Cottesmore. It was a tough match for Duke of Kent School with Cottesmore always on the attack from the start of the game. The second half started better with some better passing moves and defending on display, there was some great goalkeeping from Robert S throughout saving shot after shot. Well played to everyone involved and especially George S for showing a fantastic work rate to defend and attack during the majority of the match. 

Mr Orme

Boys' Football: U10/11 B v.Cottesmore

The team may have suffered their first defeat of the season, but arguably put in their best performance thus far, showing an admirable fighting spirit. Trailing by a goal to nil at half time, the boys really sprang to life in the second period, chasing every ball, tackling more aggressively and putting our opponents under great pressure. It felt rather cruel, therefore, when a fortuitous break away goal left us 2-0 down with five minutes left to play. Yet far from falter, the team quickly got the goal their efforts deserved, from a corner, and looked likely to get an equaliser until the final whistle thwarted us. Special mention to Harry L and Thibaut J for stepping into the defence to make up the numbers, having already played a full game for the As beforehand, but all the boys should feel pleased with the progress they're making, and the way they are playing as a team.

Mr Wright

Netball: U14/15 A v. Farlington

On Tuesday the U14/15 A Netball team travelled to Farlington to play their first match of the season. It was a great game with some amazing shooting from Jess I and Sydney R. Movement around the court was great with Ella S, Bella S and Fleur S playing well together in the mid court to move the ball into the shooting circle. Defence was strong with Emily B, Saoirse W, and Emma F making great interceptions and playing the ball back towards our attacking players. All the girls worked really hard and this paid off as they came away with a win! Well done girls!

Miss Arnold

Girls' Hockey Tournament at King Edward's Witley

On Wednesday afternoon, the U12/13 B team travelled to King Edward's for a hockey tournament. They were very excited and enjoyed the bus ride with lots of singing! Once we arrived, we had a bit of time to warm up as we were in the second match of the group. Our first match, to the eventual winners of the group, was a tough one! The girls struggled initially and The Royal School scored a great goal. However, the girls showed great perseverance and played some really good hockey in the second half but the score finished 1-0 to The Royal School. The girls learnt from their mistakes in the next two games and Poppy F in goal managed to keep two clean sheets! The match v. Box Hill was end to end with chances for both teams but ended 0-0. The final match was against King Edward's and it was another really close game, Duke of Kent School had more possession with Isabella N and Willow D working brilliantly in the midfield to create goal scoring opportunities and it wasn't long until Erin C demonstrated great movement to score at the back post after a great cross into the D. The girls finished 2nd in their group and felt very proud of themselves for a great afternoon. Most importantly, each girl made progress throughout the afternoon and the hockey in the final game was fantastic! A huge well done to all the girls involved and in particular to Willow D and Emily N for winning awards for most improved player and most valuable player respectively.  

Miss Vickers

Netball: U10/11 A v. Belmont

On Wednesday the girls travelled to Belmont for their second match of the Netball season. The girls were focused and determined and started the match strong with a 2-1 lead. Belmont moved some players around and found a stronger combination of players which saw them take a big lead by the end of the third quarter. We, too, moved some players round and focused on being the more dominant team, looking to control the pace, snatch lose balls and contest for rebounds. Holly B and Lola C worked exceptionally well together in the circle and Ruby W worked hard with Rebekah S to close down their shooters and to make interceptions for the team. The girls narrowly missed on out a draw, but it was a fantastic match and the final quarter was nail-biting right up until the final whistle! Well done girls, this was a valiant effort.

Mrs Woolgar

Netball: U10/11 B v. Belmont

On Wednesday afternoon the Year 5 and 6 girls travelled to Belmont for a Netball match. It was a great match with Hope N and Amelie C working well together in the shooting circle to score goals for the team. There were some great interceptions from Penny A and Milly W and great passing between Lois M, Bea T-R, and Manon A. It was a great game with the team coming away with a win! The girls are already looking forward to another game next week.

Miss Arnold

Netball: U9 v. Belmont

On Thursday the year 4 girls travelled to Belmont School for their first away match of the season. It was a very close and all of the girls played really well. There was an excellent goal from Layla B, helped by very good passing between Seren G and Ivy B. Great interceptions were made by Evelyn C and Evie B when defending. Eva W and Charlotte P came on in the second quarter and played really well, making great passes and interceptions to really help the team. It was a great game and the girls really enjoyed pizza for match tea. Well done girls! 

Miss Arnold

 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)  

Young Geographer of the Year competition (Year 7-16)

Throughout the pandemic our ability to travel near or afar has been severely limited. This year, to encourage young people to widen their geographical horizons, whether locally or much further afield, the Society is asking pupils where, how and why. Closing date for entries is Monday 3rd October 2022
For more details visit - https://www.rgs.org/schools/competitions/young-geographer-of-the-year/2022-competition/

Poetry Stars - Poetry competition (5-11 years)

A great poetry competition to celebrate National Poetry Day. The closing date for entries is 21st October. For more information visit - https://www.youngwriters.co.uk/competitions/KS1/poetry-stars

Mr Wyllie

What Parents Need to Know about Reddit

Reddit describes itself as a ‘social news’ site where users connect and share stories, opinions and support; debate issues; ask questions; and chat to people with similar interests. Discussion topics are organised into communities (known as subreddits) that are created, run and populated by users, who remain anonymous throughout. Free speech is encouraged and users – or ‘redditors’ – can vote posts ‘up’ or ‘down’ so they get more (or less) attention. Reddit is free to join, although signing up to Reddit Premium unlocks an advert-free version of the platform.

Click on the link to find out more information about "What Parents Need to Know about Reddit".

Mr Boden

This Wednesday, Mr Rye accompanied our 10 Year 9 Mental Health Ambassadors to St Teresa’s School in Effingham to attend a Mental Health Conference along with 14 other schools, which was delivered by the teenage mental health charity, Stem4.

The students were engaged by two guest speakers sharing their own personal experiences, followed by discussions on topics ranging from resilience, managing stress and helping friends when they are struggling. Added to this they were asked to complete a task considering 4 actions that could be implemented in their own schools to raise awareness and understanding of young people's mental health. I am delighted and proud to say that the organisers were really impressed with our groups’ original and interesting ideas, and they were awarded winners with prizes to take home with them. Congratulations to them all.

I understand from them and Mr Rye that it was a really enjoyable event and that they found it hugely thought-provoking

I hope that in the context of their roles as Mental Health Ambassadors, that they will be able to help implement some of their initiatives at Duke of Kent over the course of this year.

For any parents concerned about supporting their teenagers with their mental health, Stem4 have a number of informative help guides on their website. https://stem4.org.uk/# and a free app for parents and carers to help support teenagers mental health https://combinedminds.co.uk/. 

They also have 3 self-help apps which are free to download onto mobile devices which students may find useful to them. These cover topics such as: self harm https://calmharm.co.uk/; anxiety https://www.clearfear.co.uk/ and low mood https://www.movemood.co.uk/.

Mrs Douglas

It's been a busy day at school today for the visiting School Immunisations Team.  A huge well done to the Year 8 pupils who very bravely had their HPV injections this morning, and to those pupils in Reception to Year 6 who had the tickly Nasal Flu Immunisation squirted up their nose!  It's reassuring to know we are gradually building up our immune systems at school as we head towards winter.

The vomiting bug unfortunately continues to circulate at school across the age ranges.  Please do not send your child to school if they complain of acute abdominal pain or nausea.  For those who do unfortunately vomit, please adhere to our strict 48 hour rule (no school attendance until a minimum of 48 hours has passed since the last episode of sickness or diarrhoea).  In the meantime, hand hygiene continues to be one of our best defences at home and at school.

Finally, please can we urge parents of pupils attending the ski trip, to return fully completed ski trip medical forms (to Mrs Sarjant) before the half-term holiday to allow plenty of time for planning medical resources for the trip.  Forms have been handed out by form tutors - please let Mrs Sarjant know if yours has gone missing csarjant@dokschool.org.

Thank you, and we wish you a healthy weekend if possible - keep washing your hands!

The School Nurses

PADoK News

Bingo Night – Friday 7^th October.  8pm in the Dining Room

Tickets are nearly sold out so if you are keen to try your hand at bingo, please do email padok@dokschool.org to get your tickets, £10 each and bring your own drinks, snack and glassware event. We look forward to seeing you there.

Duke of Kent School Singers

Duke of Kent School Singers met in the Meeting Room on Thursday morning and there was a good turn out despite some missing due to an assembly.  We began the session with warm up exercises and then continued with the song we started last week. Mr Rye said the group sounded great!  As always there were lots of laughs and singing together is such a great way to start a day.

Next week we will be in the Meetings Room (off Old Hall) at 08.20am

This is a very relaxed session, no pressure to perform but an opportunity to have a sing song and a laugh with a really friendly group. So whether you sing in a shower or studio, all are welcome to come and make Thursday mornings a bit more joyful!!!  Contact Cathy on rhodricathy@sky.com if you would like more information.

PADoK Walk

On Tuesday we met for our PADoK walk.  Normally on a Friday, it was good to try a different day so that others can come who find Fridays difficult.  We had a turn out of new parents which was lovely.   It was a great walk around Pitch Hill.   

Next week we will meet on Friday 7^th October.  Everyone is welcome and we meet at Hurtwood Control Car Park 3 (Pitch Hill) at 08.30am. 

PADoK Book Club – A Fatal Crossing by Tom Hindle

We wanted to read an old fashioned Who Dunnit and set the challenge to all that join us to send your guesses to Mrs Newman (claire@bluetreerecruits.co.uk) about who you think the Murderer is as you read the book and there will be prizes for those who guess who the killer is!  Join us at 8pm on Thursday 24^th November by the roaring fire in the great hall with a glass of wine to chat about the book, which has been described to have 'A very clever plot and a final twist which will delight Agatha Christie fans. You'll love it.' 

More information about the book is below:

A Fatal Crossing by Tom Hindle | Waterstones

Waterstones Thriller of the Month for August 2022

November 1924. The Endeavour sets sail for New York, with 2,000 passengers - and a killer - on board.

When a body is found on deck, ship's officer Timothy Birch is ready to declare the death a tragic accident. But Scotland Yard inspector James Temple is certain there's more to this misfortune than meets the eye. Mounting an investigation, the pair uncover the theft of a priceless painting, and encounter a string of suspects with secrets to hide.

Now, with just days remaining until the Endeavour reaches New York, their search for the culprit is fraught with danger. And all the while, the passengers roam the ship with a killer in their midst...

PADoK Second Hand Uniform Shop

We are planning on making improvements to the shop over the next year or so.  In the meantime, we were wondering if any of the parent community might be help us with a few items.  We are in need of more storage so does anyone have any of the following they no longer need:

4 x 2 Ikea Kallax cube storage units – we need three please.

65 litre plastic storage boxes with lids.

If you do have any of the above then please email padok@dokschool.org.

Thank you in advance.

Mrs Phillips

Senior School Optional Hoodie

The Senior School hoodies have 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