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A Message from Mrs Knox
There is something special about the start of a new term. The Summer term especially so, with the warmer weather and prospect of many exciting and interesting activities to look forward to. I have been really impressed by the way the pupils have hit the ground running this week with the vast array of learning initiatives taking place in the classroom. Music also pours forth from the PA Hall, with cheering on the sidelines as the cricket season gets underway. Lovely! Senior pupils at the World Scholar's Cup event this week are to be highly commended on the way they have tackled the challenges and on their success in the debating round. As things get back to normal, we are all looking forward to a super term. Have a lovely weekend.
Mrs Knox
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Reminders for the upcoming week
Wednesday 27th April - School video filming
Liverpool Choir Trip Concert for Parents - 6:00pm
Thursday 28th April - Years 7 - 10 Study Skills and Parent Presentation @ 6pm
Friday 29th April - Pre-prep Concert @ 14:30pm
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The Choir Trip to Liverpool
On the last Friday of the Spring Term, pupils from Years 9 -11 in the senior Choir set off to Liverpool, to sing four concerts, make a video and take in a jam packed programme of excursions.
This trip has been postponed twice and should have been the 2020 choir trip to Oslo! Even with a few days to go this year the spectre of Covid was hanging over the whole adventure, but, despite the odds, we all made it to Liverpool in one piece ready to perform, sing and have a wonderful time. And what a wonderful time we had.
I cannot overstate how utterly brilliant the pupils were. From start to finish they displayed enthusiasm, resilience and a willingness to engage and get stuck into whatever it was we were doing, from busking on the steps of St George's Hall in central Liverpool to making a video on the amazing Crosby Beach on a busy Saturday morning.
There is too much to go into here to get across how great the trip was, but highlights certainly include performing a flashmob on the stage of the Cavern Club, singing beautifully in both Liverpool and Chester cathedrals, the hilarious talent show evening, the team spirit and the mutual respect on display between teachers and pupils and an overall sense that the trip was a celebration of what makes Duke of Kent School such a special place.
A huge thank you must go to Mrs Honey, Mrs Punter, Mr Kaye and Mr Browning for being fabulous on the trip, to the parents and staff who came all the way to Liverpool to watch some of the performances and of course to the brilliant children for their commitment and effort.
Mr Rye
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The Forum Garden
The Forum Garden project is well underway with fencing installed over the Easter break. This garden will benefit all pupils in the School and enable them to grow vegetables, herbs and flowers as well as provide a lovely place to sit and talk. Adjacent to the swimming pool, the area used to form part of Henry Doulton's extensive kitchen gardens, and it is wonderful to be bringing this area back to life.
We are now inviting our community to donate items for the Forum Garden. Please click on this link to see what items are required. (link) Items can be placed in the new fenced-in area in the garden where they will be stored safely. If you have larger items to donate, please email Jenny Monk on office@dokschool.org. Monetary contributions, however small, are also warmly welcomed. If this is something you would like to do, please email Finance Manager, Nick Tearle, at ntearle@dokschool.org.
To bring the garden to life, everyone is invited to the Forum Garden Build morning on Saturday 7th May from 9 - 12am. Coffee and croissants provided!
Thank you so much for your support.
Mrs Knox
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Food and Nutrition Update
Firstly, I would like to say welcome back to everyone at Duke of Kent School, I hope you all have had a lovely Easter break with your families. We have so much to look forward to this Summer Term including the Queen's Jubillee Picnic, theme days, the Sports' Dinner, the end of term Summer BBQ and of course Parents' Day.
We have had some wonderful and constructive feedback from pupils and parents alike, and we are implementing changes as we go along to make sure we are offering not only is wanted but also needed by the pupils. We look forward to seeing you all around this term and please follow the link below to see the updated menus.
https://www.dukeofkentschool.org.uk/page/?title=Catering&pid=36
Mr Hanvey
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Alumni News
We are thrilled to add another Alumni club after School for parents, staff, alumni and the School community. The Football has been running for a while and starts again tonight and the rounders starts next Tuesday. Please do spread the worked and come along for some sport, fun and a catch up with new and old faces.
Mrs Woolgar
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Summer has arrived! With some beautiful weather, summer uniforms donned and cricket sessions aplenty our Summer Term is truly underway. We’re looking forward to all the remainder of our academic year has to offer, including the outcomes of Year 5’s jubilee celebration games being created for their Project Management badge in Endeavour.
The children have returned to School with their signature fantastic attitude and cheery dispositions. Many new topics have been started: Reception have begun their research on minibeasts; Year 2 have started their learning surrounding the Great Fire of London; Year 3 have been introduced to the Romans and Year 5 the Mayans.
Year 4 have been learning about what makes an effective podcast and look forward to recording their own over the coming weeks, and Nursery pupils have been immersing themselves in their new farm role play area. In science this week, Year 2 pupils escaped the wreckage of their ship, The Jolly Molly, but quickly needed to establish what they would need to survive on their new desert island home!
Here are a few of the pupils highlights from our first few days back:
‘I’ve really enjoyed doing lots of learning and swimming’, Lottie F, Reception.
‘I’ve really enjoyed all the warm welcomes from everyone, it’s lovely to be back!’ Patrick W, Year 6.
‘I like playing with the play dough!’ Oli T, Nursery.
Mrs Green
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I hope you all had a restful Easter and look forward to a rewarding and fulfilling term alongside the positive outlook that an upturn in weather brings. It has been a busy return to school with many pupils from a range of year groups taking part in the World Scholar's Cup at St. Teresa's School Effingham over Thursday and Friday this week. Initial reports have been very positive, with success in the debating element of the competition and a lot of head scratching during some other challenging rounds! We wish them all the best.
Commendations from the end of last term were awarded today, with both Ozzie H and George P (Year 9) receiving two; for their exceptional effort working on their media projects in English and their ongoing effort in History and Geography respectively. Also, Rhys W, Charlie L, Monty L, Ethan K, George C, Alice B (Year 7) received commendations for their exceptional effort in French speaking, as did Lucy M for her ongoing efforts in History and Geography. Matilda R, Esme P and Henry C have been commended for their excellent continued effort in History, Rupert H and Mercy M for their efforts in RS, whilst Ava W, Emma M and Johnny M have received commendations for their efforts in Geography. Well done to all of you.
Mr Wilson
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What Parents Need to Know about Facebook
With 2.9 billion users, Facebook, owned by the recently rebranded Meta, is the world’s most popular social media platform. It encourages interaction with other people by (among other things) adding them as friends, reacting to or commenting on their content, sharing images and videos, posting status updates, joining groups and playing games. Facebook is free, and anyone over 13 can join – but with no age verification, younger children can easily create an account: it’s likely your child is already familiar with the platform, even if they don’t yet use it themselves.
In the guide, you'll find tips on a number of potential risks such as cyberbullying, strangers and the addictive nature of Facebook.
Click on the link to help you find out more about "What Parents Need to Know about Facebook".
Mr Boden
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With the latest update of "Living with Covid" guidance (1st April 2022), testing for Covid 19, even when unwell, is no longer required. Anyone with symptoms of a respiratory infection should simply stay at home whilst they feel unwell, and may return to school when well enough (as long as they have no fever of 37.8 or higher). With this in mind, we hope to not have to mention Covid 19 too many times this term - a wonderful relief, after a couple of years in the medical room, that really have been dominated by the pandemic and managing it's impact at School.
Looking to the term ahead, there's a busy schedule of trips to look forward to. This week, medical forms for the Prep School residential trips (Year 6 PGL, Years 4 and 5 Isle of Wight and Year 3 camping) have been sent home. Please can parents complete and return these as soon as possible, and by 20th May at the latest. We particularly will need to know about any medications that your child may need to have administered by staff during their residential trip. Medications should not be carried by the children, so we will need them delivered to School by a week prior to departure for checking and packing in the medical bag. Thank you in advance for your help with this.
Enjoy a sunny weekend - Happy St George's Day for Saturday.
The School Nurses
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It has been lovely to see the pupils returning from their Easter break, hopefully rested and refreshed for the term ahead. There is lots to be excited and joyous for this term as many trips, fixtures and visits are beginning to return. For some, however, there is also concern and worry over impending exams. These emotions can lead to physical, mental and emotional stress so it is important to consider what we can do to help ourselves when experiencing stress.
April is Stress Awareness Month so all of us will benefit from becoming aware of our own personal stressors and identifying our own individual symptoms of stress.
The Mental Health Foundation recommends three steps to take when feeling stressed,
1. Realise when it is causing you a problem - is it impacting you physically? Over-tired, headaches, muscle tension, or your ability to decision-make.
2. Identify the causes - making time to consider what might be causing it and what has a practical solution, what will get better in time and what you can’t change - focus on the first.
3. Review your lifestyle - are you taking on too much? What can you let go/delegate? Can you prioritise/ slow down process?
Once you have taken these steps, here are some useful ways to calm stress:
For further advice on dealing with exam stress visit https://www.studentminds.org.uk/examstress.html
Wishing you all a stress-free weekend!
Mrs Douglas
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Another busy term is ahead of us in the Performing Arts Department, from the Pre-prep Summer Dance Show through to the Year 11 Leavers concert, the whole school is involved somehow! Please check the dates below for the programme.
Wednesday 27th April: 6pm - Liverpool Choir Trip Showcase
Friday 29th April: 2.30pm - Rescheduled Pre-prep Spring Concert
Friday 6th May: 7pm - House Music finalists concert
Friday 13th May: 8pm - Jazz Evening for parents (details to follow)
Friday 10th June: 6pm - An Evening of Original Works
Wednesday 15th June: 4.40pm - House Drama Presentations
Saturday 25th June: 6pm - Prep and Senior School Summer Concert
Wednesday 29th June: 7.15pm - Years 8 and 9 play
Thursday 30th June: 7.15pm - Years 8 and 9 play
Monday 4th July: 6.30pm - Year 11 Leavers Concert
Thursday 7th July: 2.30pm - Pre-prep Summer Dance Show
So, as you can see, there is a huge amount going on! Add to this the informal lunch and teatime concerts that each Peripatetic instrumental teacher will be holding for their pupils (dates to follow) and it promises to be a term wonderfully full of performing arts!
Mr Rye
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PADoK News
PADoK Meeting
Our first meeting for this term will be held on Monday 25th April at 08.30 in the Meetings Room. If you are interested in coming along to see what PADoK is all about then do join us.
Running Technique Club
The Running Technique Club is starting up next week. We are waiting for some information as to where and when and will let you know via your Rep as soon as possible.
PADoK Walk
Our first walk will be on Friday 29th April at 08.30 at Car Park 3 Hurtwood Control (Pitch Hill), everyone welcome.
DoK School Singers
DoK School Singers are going to be starting up again from this Thursday from 8.20am in the PA Hall.
It would be lovely to see as many of you as possible for a fun and relaxed (unless there's clapping involved!) singsong after far too long a break!
PADoK Book Club
Our Summer Term PADoK book is Again, Rachel, the No 1 Sunday Times Bestseller and the long-awaited follow up to Marian Keyes' bestselling Rachel's Holiday. The book focuses on our heroine having hauled her life back on track, only to suffer a spectacular setback when an old flame arrives in her life once more. We are looking forward to seeing lots of parents in person this summer term to catch up and talk about the book together.
Mrs Phillips
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Senior School Optional Hoodie
The Senior School hoodies have been 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
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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.
Mrs Woolgar
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