ISA U11 National Football Finals
After qualifying for the National Finals last term, the U11 Football Team had been training hard, with extra sessions on Tuesday evenings and Monday lunchtimes. Last Friday, the much-anticipated day had come, with the team and parents travelling to St George's Park National Football Centre. All Duke of Kent School's matches were inside a huge indoor training building, with balconies for parents to support from above. The 4G pitch was in immaculate condition and the boys were extremely excited if not a little nervous.
There were some excellent teams in our group, the standard was very high! With some losses and a few draws, Duke of Kent School found themselves in the Shield Competition. With two wins in a row and the last game finishing with a dramatic penalty shoot-out, our U11 team finished the day on an absolute high, winning the gold medals as Shield winners. Well done to Alfie H, Japer W, Arthur S, Harlyn S, Oliver T, Mac Y, Ben W and Hubert S; you all made us very proud!!!
Mr Herbert
Boys' hockey: U11 A Team v More House School
Before the game, I asked the boys to work on three things: being disciplined with positions; finding space when not in possession; and communicating as a team. From the off, we dominated possession and showed maturity in trying to move the ball around our opponents, not through them. This soon led to a deserved 2-0 lead, but no let-up in levels of energy and commitment; indeed, rather than breed complacency, the luxury of being ahead spurred the boys on to seek more goals, which duly came before half-time. In attempting to give everyone fair game time, substitutions were regular and could have been disruptive, but I was impressed with how the team adapted to fluid formations and personnel. Even when I reduced our numbers in the second half, the boys embraced the greater challenge and upped their game. Any time we resorted to being a little too direct, impatiently forgetting to use the width of the pitch, the boys remedied things on the next occasion, and their tenacity was rewarded with several more well-worked goals in the second half. A special mention to Arthur S and Mac Y for the improvements in their skills, and also to Sonny C, who was a threat all game – well done, boys!
Mr Wright
Girls’ football: U12/13 A Team Football Tournament
On Wednesday afternoon, the U12/13 A Team made the short journey to Pennthorpe for a football tournament! We have focused on improving our football skills over the last few weeks in lessons and it was so wonderful to see the girls put their skills into action. We were in the A Team tournament and so came across some extremely strong teams, including Pennthorpe, who the Duke of Kent School A Team had lost to the week before. The girls showed great resilience, losing just 1-0 to Pennthorpe in a really closely fought match. Throughout the afternoon, their structure remained solid with Myrtille M holding strong as the last line of defence. Poppy F did a wonderful job in goal, only letting in four goals during the whole tournament. Willow D controlled the midfield and worked tirelessly to help the team in both attack and defence. It was fantastic to see such brilliant determination and work ethic and the girls were rewarded with a great final match, finishing 0-0, but with multiple shots hitting the posts and a strong attacking presence from the team! Well done to all the girls for their great effort and I hope you all enjoyed a fun afternoon of football.
Miss Vickers
Girls' football: U12/13 B Team Football Tournament
On Wednesday, the U12/13 B Football Team travelled away to Pennthorpe, who were hosting a tournament. The pitches were pretty sticky after all the rain, but it was a relief that it was a mild and dry day. Duke of Kent School had a squad of 11 for the 7-a-side tournament, but this was useful for the six matches they had ahead of them! Their first match was against Pennthorpe's B Team, and they played out of their skins! They connected with one another beautifully and Molly F and Sascha H both scored, resulting in a 2-1 victory. Duke of Kent School faced Cranleigh’s B Team next, who piled players into the box, putting our defence under a lot of pressure, but it was all a positive learning experience and a relatively close game. Next up was Barrow Hills’ B Team, who were a confident bunch, but Penny N was key at CM, strong in the tackle and brought fantastic energy and determination to the pitch throughout. Lola C was nippy up front and scored a clinical goal, taking the final score to a narrow loss. They then played the three teams again and drew two of those games. A particular highlight of the tournament was the last game against Barrow Hills, where players could hardly stand up for all the mud! There was a lot of laughter followed by an exciting finish to the afternoon as Lola C scored a goal in the last minute to equalise! Overall, Duke of Kent School finished third in their group, which was very respectable. Our team's aim of everyone getting stuck in and giving it their best shot had been achieved. Well done to everyone involved!
Mrs Dann
Girls’ football: U11 Football Team v Pennthorpe School
On Wednesday afternoon, the U11 Football Team faced Pennthorpe. Unfortunately, the recent damp weather forced our match indoors, a change which the players handled brilliantly. The first quarter saw Duke of Kent School go 1-0 down, however, Jasmine soon retaliated with a fantastic effort from just over the halfway line. It slipped out of the goalkeeper's gloves and ended up in the back of the net, 1-1! Some great attacking play saw Duke of Kent School then head into a 2-1 lead, and then 3-1. Pennthorpe were determined to get back into the game and really put Millie, as goalkeeper, to the test. Nevertheless, Millie's cool, calm, confident goalkeeping kept them at bay for the majority of the game. Pennthorpe did manage to sneak one more, however, taking it to 3-2. A final effort from Duke of Kent School and a fierce long ball from Ruby saw us take the win, 4-2, in the last few minutes of the game. With outstanding goalkeeping from Mille, fantastic defending from Charlotte and Hope, and strong attacking play from Halle, Ruby, Jasmine, Bea, Amelie and our visiting friend, Lauren, a fantastic effort was shown by all!
Mrs Green
Boy’s hockey: U10/11 B and C Hockey Teams v More House School
On Wednesday afternoon, the U10/11 B and C Teams played against More House School at home in two hockey matches. Both games were close affairs with great team spirit shown by all three teams. The B team played first and started off well with some great close control by Finn C with his dribbling and Rowan B being a persistent threat up the pitch. This pressure eventually told with a well-worked team move leading to the boys scoring the only goal of the first match. In the second game, the C team worked in a similar fashion, creating a lot of chances and eventually putting one in the goal, meaning another 1-0 win for Duke of Kent School. Oscar F and Simon F worked well together the whole game, making good runs and showing off some solid passing between the two. Although they were quick matches, all the boys enjoyed themselves, and they were able to display the skills they have been working on this half-term.
Mr Clayton
Boy’s hockey: U12/13 A Hockey v Handcross Park and Dorset House.
Wednesday saw the penultimate matches for the U12/13 A Hockey Team. Our first match was against Handcross Park, with Duke of Kent School starting slowly and going a goal down. This sparked Duke of Kent School into action, and they started to link up play better and get forward more. This resulted in two quick-fire goals after some good team play from Ollie K, Patrick W and Elliot S to win the match 2-1.
Duke of Kent School started brightly against Dorset House, getting a two-goal lead. However, Dorset House managed to score two goals before half-time despite the best defensive efforts from Henry S, Henry O'B and Jasper T. After half-time, Max S and Rommy B started to gain possession in midfield, resulting in Duke of Kent School scoring two more to win the match 4-2. Well done to all the boys involved as they showed great resilience in coming from behind in one match and being level in another to win.
Mr Green
Girls’ football: U8/9 Girls football tournament at Pennthorpe School
On Thursday afternoon, the U8/9 girls took the short journey over to Pennthorpe School to play in a tournament. There were nine teams in total (three from Duke of Kent School, three from Pennthorpe School, two from Barrow Hills School and one from Dorset House School) and each of these nine teams played the other teams once. The whole afternoon was a spectacular display of girls football, with brilliant play at times from all teams!
Focusing on our own teams, all the girls had a very enjoyable time, whilst also producing some fantastic moments. For the Purple Team, Charlotte L showed off her good close control when dribbling and Obie M was resolute at the back, putting in strong tackles. The Green Team had an outstanding partnership between Norah C and Lottie O, producing many goals throughout the different matches! Violet W powered the Red Team with a phenomenal number of goals in every one of their matches, as well as Flossie H showing off her skills high up the pitch, contributing well to the team. Lastly, a huge thank you to Pennthorpe School for the smooth and magnificent running of the tournament as a whole!
Mr Clayton
Boys’ hockey: U8/9 Hockey Teams vs Kingswood House.
Thursday saw the Year 3 and 4 boys play in their last hockey match of the term. It has been great to see them develop their skills throughout this term, with all of them learning the rules and improving their passing and tackling. Unfortunately, Kingswood House were too strong, but both the Duke of Kent School teams gave a good account of themselves, narrowly losing both the Tigers and Panthers matches.
Mr Green
Last Friday saw our annual House Music Finals, held all afternoon in the PA Hall and involving the whole of Prep and Senior School. With the finalists' concert first, followed by the House Song competition and then a performance from our guest judge Adam Martin, it was an afternoon filled with music, laughter and joyful group singing! With over 110 entries into the solo and group competition, it was a tricky process to whittle the entrants down to just a handful per category, and Adam found it incredibly hard to judge between the finalists. However, there has to be a winner, so congratulations to Layla B who won the beginner's category, Herb M who won the intermediate category, and to James B who won the advanced category. Congratulations also to Jess I, who won the composition category with a fabulous song, and to Max S and Harvey R who performed beautifully to win the groups' competition.
Every year we are lucky enough to be invited by the Guildford Rotary Club to perform in a joint schools’ concert with three other schools (Prior's Field, Christ's College and, for the first time this year, St. Teresa's) and it is undoubtedly one of the musical highlights of our year. This time we took 115 pupils (record!), and 11 staff to the G Live venue in Guildford, with a 35-minute set ready to go and a table for 121 booked at Zizzi's for the annual pizza! As always, our pupils were outstanding. Their behaviour and professionalism on the stage during the technical rehearsal was excellent, and then in the restaurant they were spirited but respectful, and as always drew positive comments from the staff working both in the theatre and the restaurant.
Our set in the evening was eclectic and entertaining, and I was so proud of our wonderful pupils who rose to the occasion as only they can! They learn so much from the experience. The thrill of performing on a big, professional stage to approximately 1,000 people is something that will stay with them for a long time, I am sure. Well done to The Ukes of Kent, Stomp, the Junior Chamber Choir, the Senior Choir, the DoK Big Band, Herb and Sonny, Lola, Tildy, Kai and Harris – and all the soloists. I must mention the gorgeous Year 11s as well, who put together a special performance of The Promise with 16 of them playing and singing on stage – a moment I shall certainly cherish. A massive thank you is also due to the Music Department staff – Mr Kaye, Mr Forrester, Miss Barnes, Mr Gunter and Mr Wilson – and to all the other staff who gave up their time to chaperone or drive a bus – thank you all!
With spring still struggling to establish itself, Pre-prep pupils have been relishing the opportunity to watch our tadpoles grow; some now have legs! Nursery have made the lifecycle of the frog a focus this week, handling small models of each of the stages of development, singing and counting as they leap around their lily pads. Year 4, too, have chosen the season as their jumping off point (sorry) for some wonderful narrative poems featuring similes and alliteration. 
