Girls' Cricket: U14/15 B v. Box Hill School
On Tuesday the girls travelled to Box Hill School on a scorching hot day. We won the toss and started the match bowling. There were three overs per pair and there was so excellent bowling on display. We gave away very few no balls and the fielding closed down a lot of Box Hill's opportunities to score runs. The team also took some wickets and Fleur S took a brilliant catch in the field.
It was then Duke of Kent School's turn to bat, and they were focused on taking risks and looking for the gaps in the field and adjusting their batting to suit. Top scorers were Esme P, Eva L and Sydney R who all scored lots of valuable 6's and 4's, but the whole team batted really well. The final score was 171 - 198 to Duke of Kent School. Well done girls, it was a brilliant team effort and a well deserved win.
Mrs Woolgar
Girls' Cricket: U14/15 B v. Box Hill School
On Wednesday the girls' U12/13 B team played a game of cricket against Box Hill School. We won the toss and decided to field first. There was some great bowling from all of the girls, with very few wides given. Izzy N made a great catch out, to lose the opposition 5 runs. Box Hill ended the innings on 147 and it was now time for us to bat. Willow D and Eva were up first with 4 4s being scored in the first over! A great start. Lucy P and Izzy N were up next with solid batting from both again with 4s being scored. Next up Rose S and Annie B, followed by Erin C and Mercy M these 4 scoring a great number of runs to bring our final total to 165 runs! Well done girls, the popcorn after was definitely deserved!
Miss Arnold
Girls' Cricket: Years 3 and 4 v. Dorset House
On Thursday afternoon, the Year 3 & 4 girls enjoyed a wonderfully sunny afternoon of cricket against Dorset House! The Year 4 team batted first, they got into their stride and managed to run lots of singles with some good strikes, in particular from Evie B. Layla B hit a 4 for the team too! Meanwhile, Year 3 were fielding first, they showed some great fielding skills and even remembered to back each other up which helped them stop lots of boundaries from Dorset House. Mila S and Beth F bowled some lovely straight balls and the team managed to get two run outs. After a quick drinks break and rest in the shade, both teams were ready to go back out for the next innings. Year 4 were bowling and worked hard in the field against a very strong Dorset House team. The team bowled with consistency and much improved technique with Evelyn C and Ivy B bowling particularly well for the team. Year 3 were now batting and Miss Vickers was really impressed with the striking skills, Violet W started the innings by hitting a beautiful 4 off her first ball! The good striking continued with Charlotte L also hitting 4s for the team. A huge well done to all the girls involved for showing great improvement in their cricket skills. Well done to Mila S and Violet W in Year 3 and Florence A and Layla B in Year 4 for being awarded players of the game in their respective matches.
Miss Vickers
Girls' Cricket: U13 A v. Box Hill School
On Wednesday afternoon, the U13 A team welcomed Box Hill School to our Front Pitch for their second hardball game of the season. This time, we played 8 a side with 4 pairs so everyone had 3 overs to bat. Box Hill fielded first, so it was up to Duke of Kent School to get some runs on the board and make it difficult for Box Hill to chase their score. Clara H-S and Tildy C were our highest scoring pair, hitting multiple boundaries and scoring over 30 runs in their 3 overs. All the other pairs did well to lose only 3 wickets throughout the 12 over game, and it was great to see the girls getting more confident when striking the ball, particularly against the fast bowlers from Box Hill! The U13 A team finished on 166 runs (starting at 100 for pairs format). After a drinks break and a relaxing moment in the shade, the girls were raring to go and fielded with great enthusiasm. It was fantastic to see the progress the team has made regarding their positioning and understanding of the game. Each player in the U13 A bowled at least one over and they all showed great skill in the field. Clara H-S and Issy F got some important wickets for the team. The U13 A managed to get 7 wickets in total and won the game by 30 runs. Well done Issy F for doing a great job of captaining the team and congratulations to all the girls involved for their fantastic effort and team spirit.
Miss Vickers
Boys' Cricket: U13 Cricket Tournament
Last Friday the U13s took part in a 6 a side cricket tournament hosted by Belmont School. The boys started the tournament with a match against St Andrews School. The team played really well, posting a score of 73 runs off their 5 overs, before defending the total to win. The second match followed the same pattern, with an impressive batting display, setting up a good win against Belmont School. With 2 wins from 2 games, the boys went into their final game knowing a win over Parkside would secure top spot in the group and a chance of winning the whole tournament. It was a closely fought match, but unfortunately we could not get over the line, losing by a couple of wickets with 3 balls to spare.
The loss meant we went into the 3rd/4th place match against previous winners Feltonfleet School. After losing the toss, we were put into the field. The Feltonfleet School batters did really well, taking advantage of the small boundaries to post their highest total of the day. The boys gave it their all, with some good running between the wickets and powerful hitting, but unfortunately did not win. Plenty of areas to work on and take into our last remaining matches of the season. Well done to the whole team for finishing 4th overall.
Mr Monk
Boys' Cricket: U12/13 C v. St Edmund's
In the sweltering heat, Duke of Kent School enjoyed a very close game of cricket against a mixed St Edmund's team. We took to the field to begin with and limited our opposition to 75 from 12 overs. The pick of our bowlers were William B and Rhys W, keeping a steady line and length. Sharpness in the field is definitely an area for further development, and experiencing match play is the best way for the children to realise how best to position themselves. Set a tantalising run rate of 6 per over to win, Eddie C batted cautiously but was alert to run singles wherever possible; Benedict L in contrast hit a few powerful boundaries and fell quickly to an excellent ball. Declan E guided us closer to the target with some confident strokeplay, and was retired with the match evenly poised. Whilst Elliott S and Paddy W were watchful in keeping the bowlers out in the last four overs, we just fell short of the chase, finishing on 65. It's worth noting that we outscored our opponents with the bat, but our generosity with extras was, ultimately, our downfall; hopefully more practice bowling consistent line and length in the nets will help in the coming weeks. Well done, everyone!
Mr Wright
Boys' Cricket: U10/11 A v. Moon Hall
On Wednesday, the U10/11 A team played a pairs cricket match vs Moon Hall. Duke of Kent School won the toss and bowled first, the team bowled well and were backed up by the fielding. A few great catches by Thibaut J and Henry W displayed the teams great effort in the field. In the second innings Duke of Kent School got off to a good start and this continued to get better throughout with some great boundary hitting from Arthur H. Well played to everyone involved, and it was great to see all the great teamwork throughout the match.
Mr Orme
It was a pleasure welcoming all of the new pupils and parents to our Familiarisation Day this week. There was a real buzz around the School as the new children found their way around, participated in some fun activities and enjoyed getting to know one another. Our own pupils were warm and welcoming hosts. A delicious lunch was a real highlight for many of our new pupils! It was also lovely meeting new parents and I look forward to welcoming them into our community in September.
The development of community is front and centre of much of what we do at Duke of Kent School. This week's Community Week has really highlighted this and has served to strengthen links within the School community, as well as those beyond the School gates with the wider community. 
Over the week pupils have thrown themselves into a wide and varied range of tasks and challenges. Some worked on environmental projects on the School grounds, including the renovation of our willow deer and birdbox building. There were further opportunities for pupils to put their environmental credentials to the test as they repaired overgrown paths and removed invasive plant species alongside the wildlife rangers at Warnham Nature Reserve and Southwater Country Park. Others shared their skills and talents, including our brilliant artists, who designed and painted a mural for Horsley Riding For The Disabled. In addition, and perhaps most importantly, pupils supported some of the fabulous charities in our area. These included Cherry Trees, Horsham Foodbank, and, in between petting the horses, Elysian Animal Therapy. 
I would like to thank all the charities and organisations for hosting us and allowing our pupils to experience the positivity that comes from acts of charity. In particular, I would like to thank the Kalupka family and Ingrid from The Loop, without whom our inaugural Community Week would not have been the resounding success it was.
Year 5 went on the best trip in the world to the New Forest last week! It was full of great activities like laser tag, canoeing and lots more! 
On Thursday afternoon, we went canoeing. Luckily everyone had enough skill not to capsize! First we got in our boats and practised in an area with lots of space. We then went along the side of the Beaulieu River until we got to a checkpoint where we started our hunt for jellyfish. The jellyfish couldn’t harm us and were just floating blobs in the water. We paddled to the next checkpoint and the instructors chucked some plastic ducks in the water. Each duck was worth a certain amount of points and whoever had the most won! We then canoed around for a bit before heading back home.
We welcomed Anthoine Sumbede to School at the start of the week. Anthoine is studying at the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU) of the University of Oxford for 9 months, as part of their scholarship programme to help train conservationists from developing countries. Anthoine gave an assembly to Prep and Senior pupils, explaining how the NGO he works for is helping to educate people about the importance of environmental protection and mitigate conflict between people and wildlife in and around Korup National Park. He inspired us all with his story of his childhood, particularly how he overcame a debilitating bout of polio, which left him crawling until the age of 7. After being bullied for his disability, Anthoine resolved to give up on using his stick, and over many years has taught himself to walk unaided, albeit slowly. After being given a tour of the School by Kai G and Annabelle R in Year 10, Anthoine joined pupils in class, sharing his experiences and expertise. His highlights were talking with Year 10 Biology students about data capture and analysis, and the Year 6 pupils who are conducting their own research into species adaptation, not forgetting - of course - reading to the Reception pupils at the end of the day, and even getting to turn his hand to table tennis for the first time ever. Huge thanks to Anthoine for spending time with us, and we wish him well with the remainder of his stay in Oxford. 
On a warm and muggy Monday, Year 9 embarked on their Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) Bronze Award Training Day. This began with an excellent First Aid lesson led by Mrs Sarjant and Mr Garrood. Each group made a (guided) presentation on the following: asthma attacks; allergic reactions; bleeding; bone, muscle & joint injuries; burns & scalds, and extreme heat and cold(!) injuries. Walking groups then departed at staggered intervals accompanied by a member of staff: Mrs Punter, Mrs Coackley, Mr Wyllie, Mrs Turnbull, Mr Garrood and Mrs Vermeulen.
The 11km course took the groups between 3.25-4 hours before they caught their breaths and lit their fires! Using the school trangia cookers assorted wonderful creations appeared, including from the character who tried to cook his spaghetti directly over the fire. It is no cliche to say they all did well, individually and as teams. All 41 pupils (and staff) started and fiinished on what was a thoroughly warm day. We now look forward to the Qualification Expedition, scheduled for Fri 22nd-Sat 23rd Sep next term.
This much anticipated event is happening tomorrow and we cannot wait! 
