Social Media - Reminder for Students

Please could all parents remind their children not to send friend requests to members of staff on social media. This puts staff in a very awkward position. Students have been reminded of this and how it contravenes the IT Acceptable Use Policy they signed at the start of the year.

Mr Southee

Senior School Updates

It has been wonderful to have the opportunity to welcome the Senior School pupils back into the classroom this week and their conduct, both throughout the testing process and when back in school, has been magnificent. It speaks volumes about their character and resilience that they can embrace such changes with apparent ease and we are truly grateful for the way they have reacted to the new expectations upon them.

Within the classroom there have been many successes, not least the magnificent application shown in the Senior School Art Club during their 'draw off' on Wednesday lunchtime (pictures attached). Within the History classroom Year 7 took on the roles of advisors to the new Queen, Elizabeth I, in 1558. They had to use all their expertise to advise the 25-year-old Elizabeth on how to solve the religious, economic and political problems that she faced when she took the throne, with success being rewarded with honour and titles, whilst failure ran the risk of losing their heads! In Geography pupils reacted to the reports of the erupting volcano on Montserrat island and strategically worked in real-time to safeguard the people of the small Caribbean nation as the forthcoming disaster grew ever more real.

As we celebrate Pi Day today we also crown a new Senior School champion of Pi in the form of Saoirse W (year 7) who managed to recite an incredible 108 digits of Pi! The fact she was in front of the full (virtual) school makes her achievement even more impressive - well done Saoirse!

Mr Wilson

House Update

The Prep and Senior students are halfway through the House Wellbeing Competition. They have a selection of activities that promote mindfulness, which can be attempted at school or at home. Everyone that enters will earn points for each activity that they complete. More information can be found on the assignment posted in the House Classrooms. 

The race to be the House of the Year is the closest it has been for some time! As the Spring Term comes to a close, Chichester have been making excellent progress in closing the distance to 3rd place. Armstrong have a clear lead with the number of Commendations and Whittle have collected the most Values Awards (both are worth 15 House points each). Hillary have earned the most stars this week by a notable distance. You use this link (Leaderboard- 12th March ) to view the leaderboard for this week to see a more detailed breakdown. 

Mr Gritton

Weekly Wellbeing

It has been wonderful to welcome pupils back into school and I have relished the opportunity to have many face to face social interactions with pupils and colleagues. Humans are essentially a social species, thriving on other human contact for cooperative support, and also emotional comfort. The return to school has allowed for many social interactions with friends and teachers after a period of prolonged virtual interaction.

Whilst this has been welcomed and enjoyed by most, it is important to remember that it may also lead to some feelings of being overwhelmed or exhausted by the end of the day, as we cope with the readjustment.

Allow yourself time and the permission to readjust - rest your bodies and brains in preparation for each new day and the promise of reconnecting with missed friends and colleagues. You will not always be at the same energy level at the same time and it’s important to be aware and respect each others’ needs in that moment - that’s what friends do.

Mrs Douglas, Wellbeing Coordinator 

E-Safety Tips

HOW TO SPEAK DIGITAL

The essential dos and don’ts of family communication

DO - Be a team Everyone prefers a democracy to a dictatorship. Discussing and agreeing your family’s rules around digital with your child will help them remember, enforce and respect what you agree on.

DO - Be consistent If you’ve decided not to allow phones at the table or in bedrooms, stick with it or make a point of changing the rule or making an exception.

DON’T - Use their device against them If they do break the rules, punishment by confiscating or banning devices can do more harm than good. Try old fashioned time-outs or getting them to do chores instead.

Mr Boden

A Message from the Medical Room

Thank you so much to the Senior parents for consenting for your children to take part in the lateral flow test clinics at school - we've had outstanding uptake.  The children have really impressed us; they dealt with this slightly surreal return to school in true Duke of Kent School fashion, with maturity, courage, and humour when needed - we are so proud of them - well done seniors!  I'm very pleased to tell you that so far, all the tests have come back as negative.  

I'm aware that some of the pupils may be worrying about the stigma associated with a positive test result if that were to happen.  Please be reassured that any positive cases would be handled with appropriate sensitivity.  There is absolutely no shame in testing positive - this is a cunning virus, and even with following the rules by the letter, there is no 100% guarantee we can keep everyone free of Covid-19 - anyone can become susceptible to picking up the virus, but the measures we put in place do hopefully mitigate the risk.

The Senior pupils have one more lateral flow test at school next week (Years 11 and 7 on Monday, Years 8, 9 and 10 on Tuesday), and then we hand them over to your care.  Packs of home test kits will in theory be available in school by then for us to send home with the children.  My recommendation would be that you aim for the children to perform tests twice a week on Sunday and Wednesday evenings or Monday and Thursday mornings (only if you have time before school - they take 30 minutes to "cook"!).  Please ensure results are logged with NHS Test and Trace as per the instructions.  If any child tests positive, please let us know at school as soon as possible, and follow household isolation rules (10 days isolation for the whole household).  Home test positives need to be confirmed with an additional PCR (laboratory) test (book through 119 or www.nhs.uk).

Don't forget that parents and household members can also do their part in protecting the school, by accessing lateral flow home test kits to use twice a week.  Use this link to order a delivery.  https://www.gov.uk/order-coronavirus-rapid-lateral-flow-tests  Please remember to log your results with NHS Test and Trace (instructions come in the pack).

Have a lovely weekend everyone.

Mrs Sarjant

School Social Media

At Duke of Kent School we have three social media platforms; Instagram (dukeofkentschool), Twitter (@DoKSchool) and Facebook (Duke of Kent School).

Our Twitter and Facebook accounts are public however, our Instagram account is private to keep it strictly for the Duke of Kent School community only. To follow the School Instagram account you will need to request to follow the account. 

We recommend following all three accounts to receive push notifications with news, updates, educational articles, interactions with other schools, communities and public figures.

Miss Vernon