ISA London South Junior Regional
On Tuesday, 21 Prep School pupils travelled to Radnor House Sevenoaks to compete in a very competitive cross-country field, to try and reach the national finals. Well done to all the pupils who took part as there were over 80 runners in each race over a tricky course. All the races started at a fast pace, with the front runners trying to get away from the pack. Then to finish off every race, there was a very tough hill that seemed similar to the Gladiators travelator. All the pupils performed brilliantly and should be proud of themselves.
Mr Green
Boys House basketball: Years 10 and 11
On Tuesday afternoon all boys from Years 10 and 11 took part in an afternoon of basketball. All four houses played three games, with each game being great fun for those participating. Each game showed great enthusiasm by everyone and also displayed great effort to both attack and defend! The overall results were very close, especially from second to fourth with points scored being the deciding factor. In fourth place came Kestrel, third place was Buzzard and second place was Hawk. Therefore, Peregrine claimed the top spot and, on the way to doing this, managed to win all of their games, producing great moments in all three games. All the boys looked to be having tremendous fun the whole time and made some great moments as a whole collective. Very well done to all the boys in Years 10 and 11 for such a great House match event!
Mr Clayton
Girls’ netball: U14/15 C Netball Team v King Edward’s School
On Tuesday afternoon, a mixture of girls in Years 9, 10 and 11 travelled to King Edward's School for some netball matches. It was a lovely afternoon and even featured a surprise appearance from the sun! The U14/15 C team had a large squad of players, so we rotated regularly to make sure everyone got lots of game play. Duke of Kent School started strongly with some great link-up play from Mercy M and Grace S to create opportunities for our shooters. Em F and Rose S worked brilliantly in GK/GD and kept King Edward's out of their shooting circle in the early stages of the game. However, King Edward's improved towards the second half of the match meaning the U14/15 C team also had to up their game! There was some well thought-out passing and movement by Eva P-R in C and the goals continued to come! Throughout the game, the team scored 13 goals in total with Annabelle O, Lucy M and Annabelle B all getting onto the score sheet! The score finished 13-7 to Duke of Kent School. A huge well done to all the girls involved!
Miss Vickers
Boys’ hockey: U13 B Hockey Team v Farlington School
The U13 B Hockey Team took to the Wilsons' pitch in trying conditions on Wednesday afternoon to play Farlington. The wind was raging and the rain relentless, but the team were buoyed by their team spirit and determination.
The game started evenly and, after some solid defending from Ben W, Ben J and Ethan N, Theo broke down the right and set John up for the opening goal. The rest of the first half the teams cancelled each other out but the second half was a different story...
Within five minutes Duke of Kent School had taken a commanding 4-0 lead. John completed his hat trick and Theo added one. George K then stuck in a fifth, and late on, after some great perseverance, Ben W struck. Harvey had worked relentlessly up and down the left wing and a special mention to Henry W in goal who kept a clean sheet. 6-0 Duke!
Mr Southee
Mixed netball: Year 2 Netball v Pennthorpe
On Wednesday morning Year 2 ventured over to Pennthorpe to play their first ever netball match. All the Year 2s were split into three teams and they all played three matches each against different Pennthorpe teams. It was amazing to see them display all the key skills they have been working on during their PE lessons. All three teams played brilliantly and all the children had great fun running around and experiencing their first time playing matches!
Henry P displayed some great defensive work, Archie H had good passing, both to others and to those on the bench when he was trying to score, and Alfred A had great moments on both ends of the court. Lottie F showed brilliant catching skills when passed the ball and Nola S found spaces on the court very well, leading to more room for her teammates. A huge thank you to all the parents who turned up and showed their support, it was wonderful to see you all there! Another thank you to Miss Vickers and Mrs Dann who made the matches run so brilliantly!
Mr Clayton
Girls’ hockey: U11 Hockey Team v Farlington School
On Wednesday afternoon, the U11 girls’ hockey team made the short journey to Farlington. Despite the drizzly conditions the team were very enthusiastic and raring to go! We started the match against Farlington's B team and showed dominance fairly early on with some lovely skills and goals from Halle S and Charlotte C. It was great to see the tackling confidence on show with some epic tackles from Bea T-R and Ruby W to regain possession for the team on countless occasions.
Next, Farlington's A team took us on! This was a brilliant, and very even, game with end-to-end play. Millie W and Hope N stood solid in defence, working well to make interceptions and pass the ball wide to their team-mates. This allowed Jasmine W to use her dribbling skills to get up the pitch and look for an attacker. The U11s had some great chances that fell to Amelie C and Ruby W with the Farlington keeper making some fantastic saves. As the afternoon went on the weather improved and everyone enjoyed a well-deserved match tea – what a great afternoon! Well done to all the girls involved and to Charlotte C who was awarded player of the game for a great performance in midfield.
Miss Vickers
Girls’ hockey: U8/9 Hockey Team v Farlington School
With the rain refusing to let up once again on a Thursday afternoon, the initial plans of an outdoor hockey match against Farlington had to change. With both teams keen to give the pupils the "match day" experience of a friendly and competitive match against another school (and a match tea!), we decided to adapt from an outdoor hockey match into an indoor netball/benchball tournament! The key was to get all the girls moving and enjoying an afternoon of sport. Farlington split into four teams, whilst Duke of Kent School split into two. All teams played each other and it was great to see how much the girls had remembered from last term's netball lessons and matches. It was lovely to see the enthusiasm and determination on show from all the teams. After a hip hip hooray from both schools, we headed up to match teas and enjoyed a well-deserved pizza. A wonderful afternoon considering the terrible weather!
Miss Vickers
Thank you everyone for all your generous donations! You gave so much our house was bursting with toys, clothes and especially teddy bears – Mum was worried when there was a chance that all would not be collected as it was so snowy in the Ukraine.
It was lovely to speak to many of you at our Prep Parent Meeting event yesterday, and I do hope you found your conversations helpful. Next Tuesday, we welcome Pre-prep parents for meetings with Form Teachers – more information on that will be emailed to you on Monday. Open Morning this week also gave us the opportunity to chat with many prospective families, and your children were super ambassadors for the School throughout their visit. At one end of the corridor we were able to show visitors Pre-prep dance lessons and at the other end, Year 7s less frenetic, but equally productive, essay writing in their history lesson; a wonderful illustration of the varied and dynamic all-through provision pupils enjoy here. 
Another busy week, as we returned from half-term with an enlightening and engaging assembly by Mrs Douglas regarding LGBT+ History Month. On Monday afternoon we hosted the ISA London South regional senior cross-country competition with a number of pupils qualifying for the upcoming national finals at Worksop College. Well done to all the competitors! On Tuesday we had our Open Morning, with many of the pupils taking the opportunity to engage with our visitors and show them around their School, conducting themselves with maturity and discussing their experiences openly. 
February is LGBT+ History Month, so on Monday I delivered an assembly to the Senior School, highlighting some historical figures who identified as part of the LGBT+ community, at times when these choices were not necessarily accepted. This year’s theme is medicine, so we looked at those who’d made a significant impact working within the medical field. People such as Sophie Jex-Blake, the first woman to enrol at the University of Edinburgh to study medicine and who campaigned as part of the Edinburgh 7, eventually seeing the 1876 Medical Act passed which allowed women to be licensed to practice medicine.
