London Marathon - Sarcoma

Amelie C in Year 8 has her Aunt running the London Marathon this year to raise money for Sarcoma UK (our chosen School charity). She is using Amelie’s story to help her raise funds. Below is a link to her page if you wish to donate! Duke od Kent School wishes her and all those running the Marathon this year the BEST of luck!

https://www.justgiving.com/page/rebecca-holburn-1736439057445?utm_medium=FR&utm_source=WA

Year 4 Ancient Egyptian Day

On Thursday, Year 4 embarked on an unforgettable journey back in time as we held an Ancient Egyptian experience day. The day was filled with exciting activities that brought history to life, allowing the children to immerse themselves in the fascinating world of pharaohs, hieroglyphics and mummification.

The day started with an impressive array of costumes, where the children proudly donned robes with headdresses and we even had a few mummies! We then spent some time preparing Egyptian flatbreads and creating jewelled necklaces.

We were lucky enough to have an exhibition of replica Egyptian artefacts for the children to get hands on with and experience the history they have been learning about. Thank you to Saskia Lavin and John Mantle for facilitating such a lovely experience. The day finished with action packed chariot racing as the children strived to pull their chariot across the finish line first.

Mrs Rigby

Alumni v. Staff Netball Match

Last Friday saw the return of the Alumni v. Staff Netball match. It was a great turn out of past pupils and parents, and the alumni certainly had the staff worried.

The alumni dominated the first quarter but the staff quickly came back with a vengeance making a narrow score margin for the whole match keeping it extremely exciting for all. It was a fast paced game with some incredible shooting from Megan and Kate Godfrey and Mr Hewitt. Mrs Clarke, Mrs Morris, Millie Katesmark and Issy Powell made it hard for staff with their defending in the circle. Hollie Bloomfield and Macy Browning were agile around the court accompanied by great passes into the circle, making various members of staff work incredibly hard.

The final score was 19-16 to the Alumni, a really well deserved win! Thank you so much for everyone who came to watch and play and an extra thank you to Cathy Wilson and Steph Barlow for umpiring - bring on next year!!!! 

Mrs Woolgar

Sustainability Parent Forum

On Friday, a small working group of parents, our Eco governor Jo Hendricksen, Mrs Knox, Mr Gritton and Mrs Wilkinson came together to discuss sustainability at Duke of Kent School.

Highlighting what we do well as a community, especially with Outdoor Learning and celebrating our beautiful surroundings, we discussed the aims of the Eco Council’s Action Plan to increase biodiversity, reduce litter and reduce our energy consumption this year, and how we can involve the whole School community more in our aim to reduce our combined carbon footprint towards Net Zero. Parents brought forward ideas such as external speaker evenings, eco film and book club choices, as well as discussing how parents and families can support initiatives within School such as swap shops and car sharing. A really productive evening left everyone buzzing about the direction of sustainability at Duke of Kent School.

The next Parent Forum will be at the start of the Summer Term, and we invite more interested parents to join the conversation.

Mrs Wilkinson

Senior School Careers Update

On Monday we were fortunate to be joined by Alex Bruford, father of Archie and Alaska, for a hugely inciteful Senior School assembly regarding careers in the live music industry. It was fascinating to learn about how the industry works and the many different opportunities there are, from being an agent representing the bands, to the on-hand sound engineer, via security, riggers, lighting technicians, accountants and promoters, to name but a few. It certainly sparked a lot of interest among the pupils and underlined how much hard work is involved in being successful in the music industry; it is not all luxury touring and hanging out at Glastonbury with the celebrities unfortunately! Many thanks to Alex for joining us and sparking so much interest in the field of live music amongst the pupils.

In other news, the UNIFROG online live Apprenticeship Fair takes place on Wednesday 12th February from 1600 -1830 (https://www.unifrog.org/teacher/webinars/upcoming/1217-preview), and can be accessed by all senior school pupils using their UNIFROG login details. Apprenticeships are on the rise in the UK and this event will involve many sessions including what apprenticeships are, how they're different to university and Degree Apprenticeships, as well as live sessions with top employers including BBC, NHS, British Army, KPMG, Lloyds Banking Group, EY, and Unilever. Parents can also access the UNIFROG site using the sign up code: TDOKParents (sign up here: www.unifrog.org/code). You can also sign up to Unifrog’s parent / carer newsletter when you first sign in to get expert advice and guidance on supporting your child with their next steps.

Lastly, NHS England are planning to facilitate two upcoming sessions to promote careers in the NHS; Midwifery and Podiatry. These are online and take place on Thursday 6th February 5-6pm, (A Midwifery Insight session) and Monday 10th February 2025, 5-6pm (Allied Health Professions Insight Event and Podiatry). These will cover how to become a midwife/podiatrist, the role and the different routes into the field. Please see the below flyers for more information and how to login, should this be of interest.

Mr Wilson

I'd like to kick off this week's update with a polite notice to ask that parents kindly do not enter changing rooms, including to collect or look for kit. We appreciate your understanding on this matter, to help us with the safeguarding of all pupils. 

In Year 2 this week, the children have been working hard, planning and beginning to write letters to their Malawian penpals. Malawi has also been the focus of Year 4's PSHE studies over the past few weeks, learning about the contrasting lives of children who live in rural and urban areas. We were all treated to a delicious Chinese lunch on Wednesday, celebrating Lunar New Year, for which Reception pupils made some wonderfully colourful paper chain snakes. 

Year 6 have been tackling Speed-Distance-Time equations, calculating their own running speeds in outdoor lessons, and they continued their understanding of speed in Science, investigating factors that affect the process of dissolving. Year 3 had lots of fun discovering new things about rainforests as they prepare to make their own factfiles, and also got to grips with 'Canva' software, which Year 4s have been using to edit photographs, too. I can't mention Year 4 without noting their awesome Egyptian Day on Thursday, about which you can read more elsewhere in the Bulletin. I think the other year groups were hugely jealous, but also grateful to be invited along to see the magnificent array of artefacts we had been lucky enough to have brought in for the day. It felt like we were in Cairo!

In assemblies, this week, Mr Gritton talked about the Big Garden Birdwatch, and we also enjoyed pupil-led talks on: Pets (by Obie M, Elsa H and Pia S); Dancing (by Charlie S and Alaska B); and also Sign Language (by all the members of the lunchtime Sign Language Club). Congratulations and thanks to all who informed and entertained us with your enthusiasm and knowledge. Lastly, from me, parents may wish to access the latest Spring Term Curriculum Overviews for each class, all now available within the Parent Portal on the School website. Enjoy the weekend. 

Reading Certificates: Bronze for Beth F and Seren G; Silver for Alfred A; Gold for Henry S and Evelyn C; Platinum for Max H and Henry G

Values Certificates: Kindness for Harry S; Effort for Josh B and Alfred A

Stars of the Week

Nursery: Finley F for setting such a good example to others in the way you play, take turns and share. Well done

Atalanta J for progress in numeracy and for working independently

Reception: Emilia VDB for careful independent work during writing challenges

Oscar S for always applying yourself with enthusiasm to new topics and super tuck jumps in P.E.

Year 1: Oliver A for consistently having a positive attitude towards your learning. Your listening during every lesson is fantastic! Well done.

Austin Y for a wonderful improvement in your reading. Your confidence has grown, and you flew through your flashcards. Overall, your effort is appreciated and so clear to see in your work.

Year 2: Grisha D for working with great care and focus during letter-writing lessons this week.

Marc W for fantastic effort during English lessons this week.

Swimmer of the Week

Bobby C for working hard to improve; having better body positioning and swimming with his face in the water.

Mr Wright

Mr Rye

What Parents & Educators Need to Know about Health & Fitness Apps

Over time, more and more fitness apps have been finding their way into circulation. Usually free to download – at least initially – these apps claim to offer helpful advice and assistance in routine management to those looking to lead a healthier lifestyle.

While these platforms can be useful, they do present several safety concerns. These issues become more significant when we consider that children and young people can use these apps to stay active – whether out of concern for their own health or for reasons of body image. This guide breaks down the risks of health and fitness apps and offers expert advice on how to address these concerns to safeguard younger users.

Click the link to learn more about "Health & Fitness Apps".

***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 various devices.***

Date for your diary: Duke of Kent School Parent Artificial Intelligence (AI) Webinar - Monday 24th February 2025 at 7 pm

Mr Boden

We are pleased to inform you that, as part of our current Microsoft licensing agreement, all pupils are entitled to a copy of the Office 365 suite web apps & the desktop versions, for use on up to five devices.

This includes both Windows and Mac platforms.

The software is licensed through the pupils' school 365 account, meaning that once a pupil leaves the school, licences are revoked.

To use the apps or install the software, your child will need their Duke of Kent School Windows credentials, parents or pupils should email Mr Charlton at acharlton@dokschool.org for these details.
Good security practice is encouraged and any usernames and passwords supplied should not be shared.

Any breach of this security practice will result in all licenses being revoked. 

Limited Support:

Licenses are issued with support limited to: Pupil account password changes and the supply of installation instructions, unfortunately, the School does not have the resources to support personal devices.

Notes:
The school's Microsoft licensing agreement expires in June 2026, at this time the licence structure will be reviewed, and this review will have an impact on the software platforms available to pupils.    

Next week is Children’s Mental Health week and the theme this year is ‘Know yourself. Grow Yourself’. 

Know yourself - the aim is to encourage children and young people to reflect on how they are feeling and recognise what their needs are. This may be journaling, creative activities, mindful time, regular talk with parents or friends etc. Hopefully, by identifying their needs, they are then able to consider how to address them, whether that is planning action for themselves or asking for help to have these met.

Grow yourself - refers to allowing themselves to experience new things or learn new skills, as well as growing their self-knowledge by allowing time to reflect or express themselves; physically, creatively, mindfully, musically, verbally.

With this in mind, Thursday the 6th of February has been allocated as The Duke of Kent School Wellbeing Day and pupils will have a chance to really focus on their own wellbeing.

Each section of the school will have an opportunity that day to focus on the idea of ‘Knowing and Growing’ themselves. Pre prep pupils will be enjoying opportunities to express themselves physically and creatively, and also possibly have a chance to read to Dixie, Mrs Douglas’ dog who many met last year at our Great British Bark Off.

Prep and Senior pupils have had the opportunity to sign up for a choice of wellbeing activity during the day. They will find out what they have been allocated at the beginning of next week. Please do ask your pupil what they have opted for - there is a Google form in their Google classrooms for them to complete.

I look forward to sharing with you how they all got on in next week’s bulletin

Mrs Douglas

Please can parents email nurse@dokschool.org whenever they take pupils for immunisations outside of school (for example for travel) so that we can update health records at school, letting us know what immunisations have been given and on what date.  This is particularly of importance for pupils who are attending the Rwanda trip in October.

Year 8 parents should have received an email this week about the forthcoming HPV Immunisations which will be administered at School on Friday 21st March by our visiting Immunisations Nurses (please check your junk folder if you have not received anything).  Please email Chloe Sarjant if you have any questions or concerns.  The consent portal closes Monday 17th March at 4pm.

Thank you to Ski Trip parents for returning medical forms.  Please can we have any outstanding forms handed in on Monday.  A reminder also of the meeting at School next Thursday at 6pm.

Parents of pupils attending the following trips, please note you will be receiving residential trip medical forms in the next week or so, which will need to be completed and returned promptly to allow planning of first aid and medical provisions. Thank you in advance for your help.

• Year 11 Barcelona 21st to 24th June (sending forms out early to allow planning before study leave)
• Year 9 Battlefields 27th to 29th April
• Year 10 - Combined form for Silver DofE (if relevant) 1st May to 3rd May and Year 10 Residential to Dorset 25th to 27th June

The School Nurses

PADoK News

PADoK Quiz Night - Friday 7^th March 8pm in PA Hall

Bookings are now open for PADoK Quiz Night. 

Please get a team together and come & have a fun night.  Prizes for the winning team.  

Teams of 6 or less. 

BYO drinks and snacks (no nuts please).

£10 per head. 

Please book at padok@dokschool.org

 

PADoK Clubs:

Duke of Kent Flyers – Netball training 

Monday at 5:45 – 6:30pm & Wednesday morning 08.20 – 09.30 – weather dependent/Ness Hall availability.

DOK Flyers had a great session on Wednesday. Please come along if you would like to play netball.  All welcome, including beginners.

Duke of Kent School Singers

Thursday at 08:20 – 09:00am

Calling all Singers Great & Small!

A fun session on Thursday morning for the DoK Singers.  Mr Rye gave us some warm up vocal work using our favourite tongue twister “made in a proper copper coffee pot”, which always results in lots of laughter.  We then started work on a new song for this term and began with looking at the three harmony parts.

Any queries or to express an interest please don’t hesitate to drop me a note. Hope to see some new faces next term!

 Email: rhodricathy@sky.com

Important Note: please always park at the bottom of the site and walk up to Old Hall.

PADoK Core Control

Strengthen your body, improve your health with our Physio-Led Stability Group. Friday morning at 08.30 in Ness Hall  From this term there will be a £5 fee for each week.

Do you have new fitness goals or want to build on what you are already doing?  Julia is a physio who will help build your core strength and help your fitness training.  

Please contact Julia direct to complete a medical form.

Julia Rowe (julia@therunningspecialists.com)

Phillips and Mrs Horsburgh

Senior School optional hoodie

The Senior School hoodies have been redesigned by members of the School Council and the finished product can be seen below. 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 and have a look.

School social media

At Duke of Kent School we have three social media platforms; Instagram (dukeofkentschool), X (@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.