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A Message from Mrs Knox

This week has provided many reasons to celebrate. Our Year 7 and 8 pupils deserve particular praise for the resilience and positivity they have shown during their watersports camp. Despite some very wet weather, they have embraced every opportunity and, by all accounts, have thoroughly enjoyed the experience. It was also a pleasure to attend our Evening of Original Works, where pupils confidently showcased their artwork, music and spoken word pieces. The creativity and talent on display were impressive, and all those involved should be commended. The week has been a wonderful reminder of the breadth of opportunities available at Duke of Kent School and the confidence with which our pupils embrace them. Today it was super to welcome three local primary schools for our community cricket workshop.  I am now looking forward to the Year 3 Sleepover residential and the Year 9 social evening tonight, both of which promise to be fun! Thank you to our pupils and staff for another successful week. I wish everyone a happy and restful weekend.

Mrs Knox

Year 5 Class Assembly – Race Across The Americas 

This week, 5T performed their class assembly, Race Across the Americas, taking the audience on a journey through the diverse biomes of the two continents. The children travelled from the Arctic tundra of Alaska to the rainforests of Brazil, sharing their geographical knowledge with confidence, enthusiasm and plenty of humour along the way. They worked very hard to learn their lines and support one another, resulting in a thoroughly enjoyable performance. Well done, 5T! 

Mrs Tuite
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Guildford Shakespeare Company Workshop

Year 6 and 7 started the new half-term in a wonderfully theatrical way! Our friends at the Guildford Shakespeare Company returned to deliver some fantastic performance-based workshops focused on Shakespeare’s language and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The actors were full of praise and admiration for the pupils’ enthusiasm and engagement with the drama activities.

Our morning culminated in every pupil performing, in groups, their own hilarious versions of The Mechanicals’ “play within a play”, which included superbly creative portrayals of the dramatic lovers Pyramus and Thisbe, shy and retiring Lions, bright and bold Moonshine, and stoic, judgemental Walls.

Well done, Year 6 and 7!

Mrs Southee
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Community Cricket Workshop Brings Local Schools Together

Today, we were delighted to welcome pupils from three local primary schools to Duke of Kent School for an exciting Community Cricket Workshop. Pupils in Years 5 and 6 from Duke of Kent School joined their visitors for a session of cricket coaching, teamwork and fun! The pupils were divided into four groups and took part in a variety of activities designed to develop their batting, fielding and bowling skills.

Throughout the session, the children demonstrated excellent enthusiasm, determination and sportsmanship as they worked together to improve their technique and confidence. The workshop provided a fantastic opportunity for pupils from different schools to meet and enjoy learning through sport.

We look forward to welcoming our local primary schools back to Duke of Kent School for future community sporting events.

Mr Herbert
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This week reception have been learning about snails this week, creating a snail using clay, painting one in a pointillist style and also doing some observational drawings. In Maths, they have begun to recognise numbers up to 100 on a hundred square, with a specific focus on counting objects up to 20. Nursery have started learning about oceans - just in time for World Oceans' Day on Monday! They have made their own boats and loved using them in their floating and sinking experiment. Sound of the week was 'o', leading them to make an octopus, eat olives and spot the Odd-One-Out! Year 4 have been recording themselves in English, reporting on a specific event in their class book, 'The Boy at the Back of the Class' and in Science they began investigating circuits and their components. Year 5 were understanding more about why Saxons chose to settle Guildford in their History lessons, considering evidence that proves the Earth is a sphere in Science and discussing a moral dilemma faced by the protagonist in 'Friend or Foe'. Year 3 loved planning a Roman banquet - menus brimming with dormice, flamingo brains and jellyfish, to name a few delicacies. And Year 6 were identifying which features they had inherited from their parents in Science and, in RS, explored the Buddhist concept of karma and rebirth and how our actions have consequences. Have a lovely weekend!

Reading Certificates: Bronze for Marc White; Silver for Jenson Bo; Gold for Eliza H and Finn H; Platinum for Reggie G and Elodie Y. 

Stars of the Week

Nursery: 
Nia for demonstrating excellent behaviour on our school trip and in class. What a good role model!
Frankie for always being so kind, thoughtful and considerate.

Reception: 

George VdB for progress with your reading.  You are putting in more effort to build fluency and expression.
Atalanta J for working hard in phonics and trying really hard in handwriting to correctly form your letters.

Year 1: 
Theo McA for your effort in Art. You always show great listening skills to the steps given to create some really lovely artworks. Well done Theo!
Athena dPL for showing number sequencing who is the boss. You have done some amazing work with place value and ordering 2-digit numbers. Keep going Athena!

Year 2: 
Annabelle S for demonstrating great skills when creating instructions and debugging algorithms on Code for Life.

Swimmer of the Week

Bobby C for showing determination to succeed and successfully jumping off the diving block! 

Mr Wright

It is hard to believe that we have already reached the final half-term of the academic year. The months seem to have flown by, and there is still plenty happening across the school community.

Our Year 7 pupils made an energetic start to the week, taking part in an engaging workshop delivered by the Guildford Shakespeare Company on Monday morning. It was fantastic to hear how positively they responded to the experience, throwing themselves into the activities with enthusiasm and demonstrating excellent levels of engagement throughout.

On Tuesday afternoon, Year 10 students participated in a leadership and teamwork workshop led by an Army Engagement Team from Aldershot. The session was facilitated by Corporal Nick, a tank commander with the Queen’s Royal Hussars, who provided an insight into the wide range of careers and opportunities available within the Army. Pupils then took part in a series of practical leadership and team-building challenges on the MacRobert pitch. The activities proved both enjoyable and thought provoking, with students showing great teamwork and determination. This workshop comes at an exciting time for Year 10 as they progress through the school leadership selection process and begin the interview stage. We wish all applicants every success.

Today also saw the return of our Year 7 and Year 8 pupils from their residential trip. Judging by the smiles, stories and excitement on their return, it is clear that the trip provided many memorable experiences. We look forward to hearing more about their adventures over the coming days.
 

Finally, congratulations go to Sam L who has exceeded 200 merit points and earned their merit badge, a fantastic achievement.

Mr Wyllie 
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School Song Competition

Congratulations to Herb M and Sonny C in Year 7 who have won the school song writing competition with their song 'House on the Hill'. The competition celebrates the 50th anniversary of the school and Sonny and Herb's song reflected the school's ethos and values wonderfully. Judged by ex House Music judge Chris Leonard, who is one of Ed Sheeran's co-writers, Herb and Sonny's song was a deserved winner. It will be performed by them and the Senior Choir at the Summer Concert.

Summer Concert

Our annual Summer Concert is on Saturday 20th June at 6pm in the top Car Park. With ensembles, choirs and soloists from across the Prep and Senior Schools it promises to be a wonderful event. Information will go out to those involved early next week.

House Drama Finals

The House Drama finals will be taking place on Tuesday 9th June in the PA Hall. The Prep finals run from 5.10pm - 5.40pm and the Senior Finals from 5.50pm - 6.30pm. 

Mr Rye

What Parents & Educators need to know about AI Toys

AI-driven toys are becoming increasingly common, offering children personalised interactions that can feel surprisingly lifelike. This guide unpacks how these toys listen, learn, and respond – and what that means for privacy, security, and healthy development. From data collection to the subtle influence of artificial voices, it highlights why adults may need to look more closely at the tech inside modern playthings.  

It also explores how features such as constant connectivity, engagement-boosting rewards, and behaviour-shaping responses can affect children’s play habits. Alongside outlining the risks, the guide shares calm, practical advice to help parents and educators set boundaries, check permissions, and balance AI toys with offline experiences, ensuring AI remains a support for real-world interactions, not a substitute for them. 

Click the link to learn more about "AI Toys". 

Mr Monk

This week marked the beginning of Pride month which we acknowledge in school each year. It is so important that every single member of our community feels recognised, accepted and represented. I have talked a lot about themes of community and belonging as being vital to our sense of wellbeing for positive mental health. Knowing that every individual is welcomed and important is why so many of you choose our school. A place of kindness and community.

Recognising other communities is part of the journey to care and acceptance in a diverse world.

Next week we will be acknowledging Pride month with an assembly led by Miss Allsop which will explore the Senior school pupils' understanding of the LGBTQ+ community, via a survey they completed this week. We will be acknowledging some of their questions as well as the kind, thoughtful and inclusive comments they have made in their survey responses.

Many of our pupils will also be visiting various local sites next week to offer their time and skills to our wider community. I know from my previous involvement in community week how appreciated the pupils are and also how much it builds their own empathy and community spiritedness. When we recognise that we can make an improvement in someone else’s day via listening to them, entertaining them, clearing spaces for them, it is a huge boost to our own sense of self worth.

Accepting that we are all people with different life experiences, needs, interests and values doesn’t mean we can’t learn from and appreciate each other.

A celebration of community and the support we can offer one another is what Pride month is all about.

Mrs Douglas

A very busy week ahead for school trips with Community Week and a few other trips planned.  Please remember that pupils must take the hay fever and travel nausea medication at home before school if they need it to ensure no delays to trip departure at school.  Pupils with inhalers or adrenaline should also have these on their person as they do on any school day.

Please can all residential trip medications for Years 5,6,10 and 11 be delivered to the front office by Friday 12th June.

A reminder that the Immunisations Nurses return to us on Friday 26th June to administer immunisations to year 8 and 9 pupils who were absent for the HPV, DTP and MenACWY sessions earlier this year.  Please contact Mrs Sarjant (csarjant@dokschool.org) if you have any questions or would like to add your child's name to the list.

The School Nurses

PADoK News

Summer Ball – Friday 12th June – Ticket Sales closed

We are looking forward to seeing you all next Friday.  Please do get in touch padok@dokschool.org if you have any questions before the event.

Why: We’re marking 50 years of Duke of Kent School with a spectacular Summer Ball!

Where: Join us at Denbies Vineyard for a night filled with great food, live music, and plenty of celebration.

Tickets: £35.  Your ticket includes:

  • Welcome drink
  • Entertainment
  • Wonderful food – two course buffet - no formal table plan
  • Live music from Mr Rye’s band

Book your tickets at padok@dokschool.org with your child’s name and year group.

PADoK AGM – Tuesday 23rd June – 08.30 – 10am

We will be holding our AGM next half term.  As always, we welcome Richard Brocksom, Chair of Governors, who will be coming to talk with us about plans for the school.  Everyone is welcome to attend, we just ask you to tell your class rep so we know what numbers to expect for refreshment and seating purposes.

PADoK Second Hand Uniform Shop

Wednesday 10th June from 3 – 4pm

Please note that we do sell school shoes, trainers, football boots and astroturf trainers, which are boxed in sizes.

If you would like to donate your outgrown uniform then please leave it in the box outside the shop.  Please ensure your child’s name is on the piece as if sold you will then receive 50% of the sale price.

PADoK Clubs:

Duke of Kent School Flyers – Netball training 

A link to the WhatsApp group should have been sent out by your Class Rep.  Please join if you are interested in starting to play netball, we are looking for new players so please do come along.  The WhatsApp group will publish when and where they are training as it varies.  Come along for lots of laughter, exercise & fun.  Everyone welcome!   Contact Tara at padok@dokschool.org.

Duke of Kent School Singers

Tuesday 9th June 08.20 – 09.00.

🎤 Come sing with us! The Duke of Kent Singers are looking for new voices, male & female. Whether you’re a seasoned singer or just curious, you’ll fit right in. ✨ Friendly group ✨ No pressure ✨ Tuesday mornings with Mr Rye & Cathy Come along, have fun, and make music with us.

Please do come along, it is a very relaxed and welcoming choir.

📅 When: Every Tuesday from 08:20 to 09.00

📍 Where: Meetings Room off Old Hall.  Contact Cathy Williams -padok@dokschool.org

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

PADoK Book Club – 10th June 8pm Old Hall

Please join us to discuss the latest book, The Names by Florence Knapp.  There will be light refreshments, chats about what we liked and didn’t like about the book and we will also choose our summer read.  Please join us if you would like to join our relaxed book club, you are most welcome.

Here is a summary of the story:

It is 1987, and in the wake of a great storm, Cora sets out with her young daughter to register the birth of her son. Her husband expects her to follow tradition and call the baby after him - but is it right for her child to inherit his name from generations of domineering men? Her choice will shape the course of their lives.

Seven years later, her son is Bear, a name chosen by his sister, hoping he will grow up to be brave and big-hearted. Or he is Julian, the name his mother set her heart on, keen for him to become his own person. Or he is Gordon, named after his father and raised in his cruel image - but is there still a chance to break the mould?

Powerfully moving and full of hope, this is the story of three names, three versions of a life, and the infinite possibilities that a single decision can spark.

A BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE SUNDAY TIMES, GUARDIAN, INDEPENDENT, IRISH MAIL ON SUNDAY, COSMOPOLITAN AND MANY MORE | A READ WITH JENNA AND HAPPY PLACE BOOKCLUB PICK

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.

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