Year 3 Social Evening

Last Friday, Year 3 children enjoyed their first Prep School social evening. In their excitement, they barely noticed the rain, during their energetic game of Sardines in Junior Jungle. This was followed by a game of pass the parcel and they soon discovered that having a forfeit included in each layer of wrapping was much more fun than the traditional sweet that they were used to. We had congas, cowgirls riding their horses round the circle, pictures being drawn with feet, ballroom dancing and impressive unwrapping of bananas (without using hands) to name but a few of the comical tasks they were asked to do! For many of the children, this was their first time staying for tea at school, which they thoroughly enjoyed. They also demonstrated superb eyebrow-twitching and nose-wiggling in the oreo game, where they had to manoeuvre an oreo from their foreheads to their mouths, without using their hands. Finally, it wouldn't be a Prep School social event without the inevitable game of Hide and Seek in the dimly-lit corridor. There was some truly impressive hiding but luckily we managed to find everyone just in time for departure, after what had been a thoroughly giggly and happy evening.

Mrs Nicholson

Coding Workshop

Last Friday, there was a real buzz of digital creativity as we hosted a small coding workshop. In addition to five of our own pupils from Year 5 and five from Year 6, we were joined by a group of students from Longacre School. The aim of the morning was to dive into the world of block coding and learn how to program the Microsoft Micro:bit, a fantastic pocket-sized computer. The session was filled with collaboration and discovery as the pupils got to grips with this small piece of technology.

The students had a brilliant time bringing their Micro:bits to life, successfully programming them to scroll their names and favourite animals. The highlight for many was programming the device to play a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, sparking a lot of excitement and friendly competition! It was a superb morning, and I was so impressed by the enthusiasm and problem-solving skills shown by all the pupils. I look forward to hopefully running another workshop in the future. 

Mr Monk

Year 10 French

This week, our Year 10 French students took on the role of teachers! They created and led a lesson on the past tense for Year 8, helping them reinforce their own learning while inspiring our budding linguists. Thank you to Issey N, Theo C, Alex W, Bob P, and Samuel H for their work! 

Mme Fellous

Pupils in Prep School kicked off the week with their first Paired Reading session of the year. Each Monday morning, 08.30-9.00 will now be spent with Year 3s and 4s reading to a buddy from Year 5 or 6, with pairings changing termly. When Prep Council representatives met this week, one mentioned that Paired Reading had been their highlight of the term so far. Amongst our wide ranging Council discussions, we agreed to consult with all Prep pupils to explore more opportunities for children to mix across the age groups, including Pre-prep and Seniors. Watch this space! Congratulations to those children elected by their peers onto the Council for the year ahead: Sienna H, Gabriel J, Alfred A, Olivia H, Felix B, Elsa H, Isabel W, Arthur M, Charlie Sw, Norah C and Georgia Car. 

Year 4 brought artistic flair to their Geography learning this week, creating models of a river's journey using natural materials found in the woods, whilst Year 6 also foraged in the forest for ingredients to inspire their potion instruction writing in English. In Maths, Year 5 were busy converting 12 to 24-hour time, Reception children looked at the composition of 3, Year 2 loved working in groups with the 'more than' and 'less than' symbols and Nursery have been practising their counting on fingers. Science saw Year 3s sporting some highly unusual grins as they experimented with disclosing tablets to check the cleanliness of their teeth (results highly confidential!), Year 6 were data collecting for their mould growth investigation and Year 5 ran tests on the impact of exercise on heart rate. 

There was also time for: Year 4 to stretch their French number skills through song; Year 1 to learn about proper nouns; Reception to make a memory basket of the items that Little Red Riding Hood took to Grandma's house and maps to describe her journey; and Year 6 to explore compositional tropes ahead of writing songs for their own musical theatre revue! I do hope those of you who attended our Pre-prep Open Swim on Wednesday found it enlightening, and my final words go to Mrs Gritton as she begins her maternity leave today - we wish you as much rest as possible over the next few weeks and look forward to meeting baby Gritton very soon! 

Values Certificates: Arthur M for Honesty

Reading Certificates: Bronze for Lottie O 

Values Certificate: Effort for Annabelle W

Reading Certificate: Bronze for Jasper B

Stars of the Week

Nursery: Lizzie W for making great progress settling in, learning so many new things and joining in with enthusiasm. Well done.

Charlotte A for using a good pencil grip and being focussed during mark making.

Reception: Atalanta J for super work in class, your amazing attitude is helping you to progress so well!

Imogen W for being kind and supportive to her peers and super helpful in class.

Year 1: Theodore M for his lovely attitude to learning and for playing kindly with the others in the class.

Atheda dPL for showing exceptional kindness to a nursery child and making sure they felt happy and cared for.

Year 2: Austin Y for his wonderful perseverance and approach to his learning.

Hector E for producing such a beautiful angelfish! You followed the step-by step instructions carefully and then considered blending colours to create your desired effect - well done!

Mr Wright

Made in Dagenham

Rehearsals are going well and the pupils are getting into their characters - keep working on those Essex accents! Tickets will be available after half term, so keep your eyes peeled for an email about that - please do not email before as the email will not be answered. Cast members please don't forget there is a Sunday rehearsal on November 2nd from 10am - 4pm.

Guitar Lessons

Mr Beale our Tuesday guitar teacher has some spaces available and after half term will be running a free trial lesson scheme. If any pupil from Year 2 - 11 is interested they can have two free trial lessons with him in the first two weeks after half term. Mr Beale has recently started teaching at  the world famous Royal Academy of Music -  so grab those free lessons while you can!

GCSE Devising Drama

Good luck to our Year 11 GCSE Drama pupils who are working incredibly hard for their devising exam, which is coming up very soon. This is the first part of their actual GCSE so we wish them all the very best.

Mr Rye

We have been celebrating World Mental Health Day in association with Young Minds Hello Yellow today. Staff and pupils have donned their best yellow to indicate that we are wearing it ‘loud and proud’. The loud colour shows we are not afraid to talk about mental health and as one of the pupils said, allows us to ‘wear our happy’. We are not hiding our feelings away, rather embracing the fact that we all have them and that’s part of being human.

The focus this year is ‘where do we go for help if we need it?’. Being able to identify how we are feeling and what we need in the moment is vital for maintaining good mental health. Maybe that’s quiet time, spending time with friends, exercising, fresh air, creative pursuits or talking to someone about what we are struggling with. Pupils were reminded that parents, wider family and siblings are all good to speak to as well as trusted adults, teachers, school staff or dropping into the Wellbeing room.

We began the day with an assembly and House quiz, all based on the theme of yellow. Well done to Peregrine who came first, followed jointly second by Kestrel and Hawk, and close behind by Buzzard. Well done to all those who took part with staff, prep and senior pupils in each team, as well as Josie, Marcy and Annie who led the quiz.

At first break, pupils were invited to take part in an interactive art installation, adding their words to the speech bubbles responding to ‘What would you say to a friend that needs you?’ and ‘How would you brighten their day?. Some of these included - ‘You’re a great friend!’, ‘You’re awesome!’, ‘There’s a great lunch choice today!’, ‘ Be yourself, be your best and be kind and happy!’ and ‘Love you, bestie!’

These will be displayed in the link along with some of the art created during craft club at lunch break. Pupils were able to create sunflower collages and yellow worry people; there were some amazing creations and lots of enjoyment. 

Many pupils also discussed their own feelings through doodling emotions and considered who they can go to when they need support during PSHE lessons. Some were even lucky enough to have a visit from Dixie the therapy dog.

We have certainly brought the sunshine to school today and I hope it follows everyone into a bright weekend!

Mrs Douglas

Mr Monk

The School Nurses

PADoK News

PADoK Second Hand Uniform Shop

The shop will be open on Wednesday 15^th October from 15.00 to 16.00.

We are always looking for donations of good quality second hand uniform and PE kit.  This can be put in the box outside the shop at any time.  Thank you in advance.

PADoK Clubs:

Duke of Kent Flyers – Netball training 

DoK Flyers training is on Monday late afternoons from 17.30 to 18.30 and we are looking for new players to join in this term while the weather allows.  Come along for lots of laughter, exercise & fun.  No experience necessary, everyone welcome!   Please do come along if you would like to play netball.  Contact Tara on 07734 888326.

Duke of Kent School Singers

Thursday 16^th October, 08.20 Meeting Room (off Old Hall)

Come Sing With Us!  Come along and discover how much fun singing can be! 

Calling all parents who love to sing, humming along to the radio or singing in the shower! Our Parents’ Choir at Duke of Kent School is open to everyone ~ no auditions, no pressure. A welcoming space to relax, meet other parents, and enjoy making music together. Lots of laughter guaranteed!

When: Every other Tuesday from 08:20 to 09:00 & every other Thursday from 08.20 to 09.00

Where: Meetings Room off Old Hall

We met on Tuesday morning with Mr Rye and after some tongue teaser warm ups we moved on to working on the song we are doing this term.  There are beautiful harmonies already taking shape.  Lots of fun and an uplifting start to the day.  Next week we will meet on Thursday, please do come along and see what it is all about.  Drop me a message any time (Cathy Williams - 07813 282910) if you are interested in knowing more about it.

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

PADoK Core Control

Thursdays – 08.30

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

A weekly session focusing on a range of body areas such as back mobility, pelvic strength, hip control, shoulder stability, neck and upper back patterning and ankle balance.  All this pulls into CORE activation.

All this with lots of giggles, trying something new and making friendships across the lovely parent year groups. If you have new fitness goals or want to build on what you are already doing? Why don’t you join in?  Julia is a physiotherapist 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)

Mrs 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), Facebook (Duke of Kent School) and TikTok (DoKSchool). 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.