Please Meet our New Staff

Mrs Anita Pinnock is a highly experienced piano teacher who has taught all standards and ages for over thirty years. She is also an excellent accompanist working with local theatre groups and choirs, as well as being a musical director in her spare time!

Miss Olivia Younger is a versatile singing teacher with many years experience, working in all styles and settings, from opera to pop. She is also a published singer/songwriter and professional session singer, working with bands such as the Mercury Music Prize winning, Ezra Collective.

Mrs Fiona Rowland joins us as a Spanish teacher from Howard of Effingham School. After decades as a tax specialist, followed by raising her three children (all of whom attended Duke of Kent School!), Fiona decided to retrain as a teacher.

 

Mrs Fiona Durkin is joining the Learning Development team as a Maths specialist. Previously she has worked in the Inclusion Department at Rowan Prep School and before that was a form/ Maths teacher at Longacre School and Feltonfleet.

 

Mr Elliott Stuart is joining the PE Department this year as a Sports Assistant. A graduate from Chichester University in Physical Education and Sports Coaching, Elliott is keen to continue developing his teaching and coaching skills at Duke of Kent School. He is a keen footballer, playing for his local team, Horsley FC.

INSET is always a busy time - a crucial opportunity for staff to reconnect and plan for the year ahead. Yet it invariably feels most odd to spend time in the corridors in the absence of one key component - your children! Then, suddenly, they descend by the score and classrooms are once more filled with hubbub, the squeals of delight resound at playtime and stray pieces of uniform inevitably begin to reappear in the most unexpected places... 

There is, of course, a serious point in my last throwaway comment, especially at this time of the year, and I would urge you to kindly check all your child's belongings over the weekend to ensure they are clearly and securely named. We do our very best to keep pupils and belongings together, and having everything labelled is a huge help.

I do hope the children have come home buoyed by their first few days of term, and hope the various Information Meetings have been informative and reassuring for you, as well. If anything remains unclear, please do continue to ask any and all questions you may have - we will do our very best to help.  

Mr Wright

It has been the usual busy start to the term for the Performing Arts Department as we get all the timetables sorted ahead of instrumental and voice lessons recommencing on Monday 8th September. This term we welcome Anita Pinnock as our new piano teacher and Olivia Younger as our new singing teacher who each bring a wealth of experience to the team. 

If you have any queries about instrumental or LAMDA lessons please contact Chloe Elder on celder@dokschool.org

This term is as action packed as usual; workshops for our Senior Production of Made In Dagenham have already taken place and soon the choirs will be rehearsing for Christmas once more!

Here are some upcoming dates for the diary: 

Friday 28th November 19:30: Senior Production Performance

Saturday 29th November 14:30: Senior Production Performance

Saturday 29th November 19:30: Senior Production Performance

Friday 5th December 19:00: Prep School Christmas Concert

Monday 8th December 14:30: Pre-prep Nativity for Nursery & Reception parents

Tuesday 9th December 14:30: Pre-prep Nativity for Year 1 & 2 parents

Wednesday 10th December 17:30: School Carol Service at St. Nicolas Church, Cranleigh

Mr Rye

I’d like to wish a warm ‘welcome’ to our new families and ‘welcome back’ to our returning families after what has been a long break from School rhythms and routines. It will understandably take all of us a little bit of time to adjust to the earlier mornings, School runs, equipment organisation, timetables, groupings and general hustle and bustle of the School site.

There will have been many who relished the opportunity to manage their own time, meals, workload and alarm clocks over the last 8 weeks and the recalibration to a more structured environment can seem a little overwhelming. This coupled with the absorption of a lot of new information and instructions can be quite exhausting.

Mr Southee talked about our school focus this term - Kindness - in our assembly on Wednesday. This is something we are encouraging all the pupils to be aware of and demonstrate toward one another. It is important, however, that they also remember to practise kindness toward themselves.

It is ok not to always have the answers, to occasionally say the wrong thing, forget to do something you were supposed to, or ask for help. We are all only human, after all. When we make mistakes, that’s ok - berating ourselves isn’t going to help us do it better next time. Kindness will. If we can treat ourselves as we would our best friend, reassuring, caring and treating, we will feel a lot better for it.

Kindness to self can also be seen as self care in the form of allowing ourselves down time - switching off from the busyness of life by taking time to enjoy our hobbies, favourite TV show, exercise, music and sport. This is all so important in order to find balance and therefore resilience to navigate the demands of the busy term ahead.

Pupils will be understandably tired this weekend after their first few days back in school, so rest and the intention to be kind to themselves will be very important.

Self care isn’t just something we should be encouraging our children to do - we all need to be kind to ourselves in order to care for others https://www.youngminds.org.uk/parent/parents-guide-to-looking-after-yourself/

Have a restful and restorative weekend.

Mrs Douglas

What Parents & Educators need to know about Apple iPads

iPads are a familiar fixture in many households and classrooms, offering access to educational tools, entertainment, and the internet in one sleek package; however, with great versatility comes notable risk. From accidental spending and data privacy breaches to excessive screen time, there’s plenty for parents and educators to consider before handing over the device. While Apple offers built-in safeguards such as ‘Screen Time’ and ‘Family Sharing’, these features must be correctly set up and actively managed to be effective. 

The guide walks you through these options and highlights some of the more surprising ways children can get around restrictions – including with Siri – while offering practical advice on how to help keep young users safe and healthy online.

Click the link to learn more about "Apple iPads".  

Mr Monk

A warm welcome to the new school year to returning pupils and especially to all our new families from the School Nurses.

The Medical Room is open 08.00-15.30 Monday to Wednesday (Chloe Sarjant,  Lead School Nurse), 08.00-16.30 Thursday (Chloe until 08.30 and then Maya Garside) and 08.30-16.30 (Maya Garside).

We encourage parents to keep the School Nurses (and form tutors) informed of any pastoral and health issues that crop up throughout the year so that we are aware of the complete picture when a pupil attends the medical room feeling unwell.  Please email nurse@dokschool.org to ensure both Chloe and Maya receive your updates.

A reminder that medication should not be carried by pupils at School, unless with prior authorisation from the School Nurse.  Pupils with inhalers and adrenaline pens should carry these on their person (please ensure they are named, so that we can return lost items to the rightful owner).  

The medical room has a plentiful supply of over the counter remedies such as paracetamol ("calpol"), ibuprofen as well as cetirizine (an antihistamine), so there is no need for pupils to bring in their own supply if they are feeling a bit under the weather.   Pupils who have prescribed medications which need to be taken during the School day should hand the medication in at the Front Office or directly to the Medical Room (in the original packaging with pharmacy label showing) with a completed medication consent form.  Medication will be administered by the School Nurses or a member of School staff during the break time that closest fits the prescription request.

Finally, please keep an eye out for an email coming soon with regards to the Flu Immunisation available to pupils in Reception to Year 11 on Friday 17th October (Pupils in Nursery need to access flu immunisations via their GP).  For those of you who still have the original email sent at the end of summer term, please continue to complete the E Consent form for your child/ren.  You can now enter your child's year group as the correct year for this term!

Have a lovely weekend,

The School Nurses

PADoK News

Dear All Parents

A warm welcome from the PADoK committee.  Just a quick note about who we are for the new families who have joined the school…

PADoK is the parent association for the school.  Our class reps should have been in touch with you and are your friendly & helpful point of contact if there is anything about school life you are unsure about.  Our role is to create a strong parent community & we have a busy social calendar for you.   Any funds raised this year, apart from those for charity, will go towards the development of a new home education space to be used to teach cooking skills to the pupils of the school.

PADoK Meeting – Monday 8^th September 08.30 – 10am

Our first meeting of the academic year is on Monday 8^th September in the Meeting Room from 08.30 to 10am.  Please do come along if you are interested in getting involved, even in a small way, all welcome.  Could you ask your class rep for details so we can get an idea of numbers.

PADoK Second Hand Uniform Shop

The shop has had a busy summer and a particularly busy start to the term on Wednesday.  This is a valuable resource for parents and our opening dates will be uploaded to the calendar soon.

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:

PADoK Book Club – New Book Title

We are reading Intermezzo by Sally Rooney and we will meet to discuss this soon.  A date will be arranged soon.   

We meet once a term for a casual chat about the book.

Please do join in with book club if you enjoy reading, everyone is welcome.

PADoK Flyers Netball Team

We are just working out logistics of when and where and will post details soon.

DoK Flyers are looking for new players to join in the Autumn Term, lots of laughter, exercise & fun.  No experience necessary, everyone welcome!  Please do come along if you would like to play netball.  All welcome. 

Duke of Kent School Singers

Calling all Singers Great & Small!

Timetable issues – will be in touch with a day & time soon.

The DoK Singers are trying to organise a suitable new time to meet due to Mr Rye’s new timetable.  Please watch this space.

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

PADoK Core Control

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

First session will be Friday 13^th September.  You should have received all the information on your class Whatsapp group but here is a recap:

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 X (@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.