Our new Heads of School

It is an honour to introduce our Heads of School for 2023/24. This year we have our Heads as well as their Deputies. Kai G and Josie B will be assisted as Heads of School by Rufus B and Annabelle R, their Deputies. We have no doubt they will excel as role models, making positive changes and serving as a conduit for any concerns or suggestions the student body has. The election process is a rigorous undertaking, involving interviews, application forms and voting from students and staff alike, and it is testament to them that so many recognise they will be successful in such demanding roles. All four of the team have a great knowledge of the school and are excited to get started assisting the School community. Good luck!

Mr Southee

Meet our new members of staff

Helen Ward joins us from Cobham Free School where she was Head of Maths. Prior to teaching, Helen worked in Hedge Funds based in London and Jersey for nearly a decade after gaining her Masters in Engineering from Cambridge University. She is a keen runner and when not trotting around the Surrey Hills, enjoys spending time with her young family.

Caitlin Allsop joins the English Department from Hurstpierpoint College where she trained as part of the 'Teach Hurst' scheme. She is particularly interested in both environmental and postcolonial literature which stems from her undergraduate study at the University of Cambridge.

Rachel Dann joins the Sports Department for the year. She has a Sports Science Degree from Exeter University and has previously worked at both Senior and Prep Schools in Cambridge, London and Surrey; she is excited to start this new role.  

Arran Clayton is currently studying Sports and Exercise Science at Bournemouth University and this is his placement year between second and third year. He is excited to get started in his Sports Assistant role for this year and looks forward to meeting all the pupils. 

Lucas Watkins is a former pupil who is spending this year with the Sports Department and will be running a Strength and Fitness Club, every Tuesday evening. Lucas played many sports at a high level, especially Football and is currently completing his Level 3 diploma in Personal Training, having already achieved a Level 2 in Fitness Instructing. He is very excited to share his knowledge and ideas.

Ehsan Valaei has joined Duke of Kent School after a year of teaching Music in Brighton. Ehsan will be the technician/administrator in the Performing Arts Department and has a background in computer engineering and is a multi-instrumentalist. Ehsan is looking forward to assisting the department with awe-inspiring performances and making sure that the Surrey Hills are alive with the sound of music, (to paraphrase Julie Andrews).

Pamela Ioannides joins us from Cyprus where she has been a teacher in Pre-prep for the last two years. She was born and raised in South Africa where she completed her degree in Foundation Phase teaching from The University of the Witwatersrand. She will be joining us in the Pre-prep Department as a Teaching Assistant. Pamela is an avid sports fan and loves to stay active as well as enjoying art and getting creative.

Fabia de Caprio is joining us from ACS International School in Cobham, where she worked as a TA in the Nursery. Fabia prior to that spent 3 years at Busy Bees Nursery, where she completed her level 3 in Early Years Childcare diploma. Fabia is trained in Musical Theatre and loves using this training to make the children’s learning fun and exciting!

Floyd Steadman OBE visits Duke of Kent School Staff on INSET

Last week, Duke of Kent School had the privilege of hosting Floyd Steadman OBE for a transformative staff INSET session looking at unconscious bias.

Floyd, a remarkable individual with an incredible life story, engaged staff with his powerful and insightful life story. He shared the challenges he faced during his upbringing, the hurdles encountered in his rugby career, and the uphill battle to become a Headmaster, all because of the colour of his skin. He became captain of Saracens and Head of four different Prep Schools. Additionally, he opened up about the profound loss of his beloved wife, Denise, and discussed his book, ‘A Week One Summer’, which is dedicated to her memory.

His story serves as a testament to resilience, determination, and the strength of the human spirit. Amidst the awe-inspiring personal narrative, Floyd imparted invaluable insights:

Unconscious Bias Awareness: Floyd reminded us all the importance of self-reflection. He encouraged us to examine and confront any unconscious biases that may shape our actions and decisions. Recognising these biases is the first step towards creating a more equitable and inclusive community.

Grace in Adversity: Floyd's response to the injustices he faced was a masterclass in resilience and dignity. His ability to maintain composure in challenging situations offers a powerful lesson for us all.

A Brighter Future: Floyd's story also highlighted the remarkable progress our society has made since the 1970s and 1980s. He explained that deeply ingrained social norms and values take time and intergenerational change to truly improve. He pointed to the many young people today who are passionate advocates for equality, diversity, and inclusion. While we must remain vigilant, we can look to the future with optimism, knowing that they will be the leaders guiding us towards a brighter, fairer and more compassionate world.

His visit was a profound experience that reinforced the importance of embracing diversity, learning from the past, and working collectively to create a more inclusive and equitable future.

Mr Seeley

A very warm (perhaps even sweltering) welcome back to you all at the end of what has been a delightful week. I have heard many a tale of exciting holiday adventures, trips and discoveries, and I look forward to hearing many more over the next few weeks as I catch up with your children. Whilst there is, inevitably, a sense of trepidation in the air on the first day or two back, I think the children have done a remarkable job of taking the unfamiliarity of it all in their stride. I do hope they continue to settle into new routines, alongside their classmates and under the watchful eye of our staff team.

I have very much enjoyed seeing so many of you at our Parent Information meetings this week, and I hope to get more opportunities in the near future to chat to you all. As I said at those events, there really is no limit on the number of questions you get to ask at this time of year (or any other, for that matter!), and it is our job to answer them for you as best we can. Any query, big or small, please do just drop the Office or your child's Form teacher a line.

Some of the procedures are new to staff, too, particularly the change to drop-off and car parking, so please bear with us as we familiarise ourselves with the new systems. I very much hope the new security measures at the Pre-prep entrance and traffic flow adjustments will help us in our primary aim to keep the children safe at all times. Enjoy your weekend, and the continuation of this Indian Summer!

Star of the Week

Nursery: Rory O'K for being completely brilliant everyday, working hard and joining in all our activities.

Atalanta J for settling into Nursery life so comfortably and for joining in with all our activities with enthusiasm

Reception: Flynn H for his willingness to ‘have a go’ at new activities and a wonderful description of his favourite book - Mr Tod.

Year 1: Theodora J for her fantastic ‘have a go’ attitude to everything we’ve done this week.

Year 2: Jenson Br for settling into Year 2 with such a positive ‘can do’ attitude!

Mr Wright

We have hit the ground running in the Performing Arts Department, having had two great workshop days already for our Senior Production of 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'. Don't forget to check the School calendar for all the Sunday rehearsals, the first of which is on Sunday 1st October.

All Instrumental and LAMDA lessons will start next week, so pupils should check the board first thing on Monday morning. There will undoubtedly be a few hitches as we get underway, but we will do our best to keep everything running as smoothly as possible. And the smooth running of the department will no doubt be aided by our newest staff addition! Ehsan Valaei is our new Performing Arts Technician and Administrator - he will be responsible for the timetables so do drop him a line if you have any queries. The best email address is padept@dokschool.org. 

As always the Autumn Term is very busy so watch this space for more information - and here's to a great term.

Mr Rye

What Parents and Carers Need to Know about Live Streaming

Like a lot of digital services, live streaming really found its niche during the pandemic – think of Joe Wicks’ at-home fitness classes, Billie Eilish’s virtual gigs and Miley Cyrus’ chat show, for example. Real-time broadcasting of video content over the internet isn’t solely the province of celebrities, however: anyone with a device and something to say (or show) can take part.

With platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, TikTok and Twitch all offering routes to a vast online audience, young people have enthusiastically taken up the baton – streaming on subjects from gaming to sports to live shopping (yes, really!). Potentially having strangers among one’s viewers, though, is just one of many concerns. Our guide has the key information.

In the guide you'll find tips on a number of potential risks including a lack of age verification, inappropriate content and cyber-bullying.

Click on the link to find out more information about "What Parents and Carers Need to Know about Live Streaming".

Also, Internet Matters is a great website that can help you deal with online issues, give you advice for different age groups, and give you step-by-step guides for setting controls for different devices.

Mr Boden

Firstly, I’d like to extend a very warm ‘welcome back!’ to all our pupils and parents and a hugely warm ‘welcome!’ to all our new pupils and parents. It has been lovely to chat with so many of the pupils over the last few days and catch up with them about their summer breaks.

Our return to school in such a warm week has meant lots of opportunity to enjoy playing together in the grounds and imagine that Summer is not quite over.

Pupils are to be congratulated for their positive and enthusiastic return, though I know there will have been many whose smiles masked their nerves at a return to school routines, new and familiar faces. First day nerves and worries are perfectly understandable and all will have experienced them to some degree. 

What has been so lovely to see is how welcoming and supportive pupils are toward one another and I hope this has gone some way to allay fears.

If your children have any persistent worries, please encourage them to share them with yourselves, friends or form teachers, rather than carry them alone.

Expressing their needs is the first step to having them met. 

Any concerns you have about your child’s wellbeing should be directed to their form teacher in the first instance and together we will assess who may need more specific support from myself or one of our pastoral and ELSA staff.

I have introduced myself to our new Year 7’s and the Prep school pupils so they are aware of the support they can access independently by dropping into the Wellbeing room during one of my Open Door sessions, should they feel they need somebody to talk to.

These will run at the following times:- 

Prep School - Monday: 12:30 - 1:00 and Thursday: 10:00 - 10:20

Senior School - Monday: 10:20 - 10:40 and Thursday: 1:00 - 1:35

On another note, I hope to be offering another opportunity for parents to take part in a Shinrin-Yoku or Forest Bathing and Breath workshop with Nigel Grimes of https://thebreathingstudio.com/ on the morning of Tuesday the 26th of September here on site. More details will follow next week. Those who took part in the Spring term found it hugely enjoyable and therapeutic.

Have a restful weekend!

Mrs Douglas

A very warm welcome to the new academic year at Duke of Kent School for all our returning and new pupils and families from the School Nurses, Chloe Sarjant and Maya Garside.  We hope it's a healthy and happy year for us all!

Each week here in the Bulletin, we will update you all on the latest School health news, including important notices/requests, details of immunisations sessions, infections doing the rounds, school trips, PSHE/RSE lessons and much more.

Can all parents please communicate with the School Nurses (as well as your child's Form Tutor) if your child becomes unwell, or sustains an injury throughout the School year (even if the injury or illness occurs outside of School or in the School holidays), so that we can update medical notes and have a clear picture of your child's health history if they come to us in the medical room asking for help.  

Please email nurse@dokschool.org (which sends messages to both Chloe and Maya).

Our hours at School are as follows:

Chloe Sarjant (Lead School Nurse): Monday to Thursday 08.00 to 15.30 (I am in the Medical Room Monday to Wednesday and on Thursdays is my paperwork and teaching day).  

Email: csarjant@dokschool.org

Maya Garside (School Nurse): Thursday and Friday 08.30 to 16.30 (In the Medical Room).

Email: mgarside@dokschool.org

Please be aware that the Medical Room closes at 15.30 Monday to Wednesday and 16.30 Thursday and Friday.  After these hours, pupils are welcome to attend the Front Office until 18.00 to see Mrs Browning if they require first aid assistance.

This week we are encouraging all pupils to bring a full, named water bottle to School and to drink from it regularly (especially during this heatwave). We have some lovely new water stations at School where bottles can be re-filled throughout the day.  Good hydration is so important for physical and mental health and wellbeing - forgive us if we continue to send out reminders throughout the School year!

That's enough for week one; we hope you enjoy a wonderfully warm weekend (don't pack away the sun cream just yet!).

The School Nurses

PADoK

A warm welcome from PADoK.  We are the parent association and our main focus is to provide social events and communications for the parents.  We host an event each term, for example last year we had a bingo night, a Burns Night and a festival style summer party with live music.  We also have a Christmas Hamper Raffle, a Macmillan afternoon tea and support the school with Open Mornings and at other functions.

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