As the temperatures have dropped, with the windshield ice scrapers becoming a daily tool, School life has remained as busy as ever. The Senior Sustainability Committee has started to plan future projects with the tasks of creating our own bat and bird boxes mooted as well as how we can help in the Surrey Hills AONB Boundary Review and the dive Cornwall initiative to reduce the amount of plastic pollution in our oceans, whilst two wonderful assemblies have bookended the week, hosted by Mr Green and Mrs Lwambo, on the subjects of resilience and volunteering in Africa respectively. 

Effort commendations this week have been awarded to Quentin J, Jess I, Vir O'R, Tom B, and Tildy C (Year 8) for their excellent ongoing efforts in Geography. Robert S (Year 7) has also received TWO commendations this week relating to his conduct around the School, one for Kindness due to his unprompted help with returning kitchen items used in the Pre-prep department and one for Respect due to his holding doors, helping others at breakfast and general courtesies displayed daily. Lastly, Effort commendations have also been awarded to Fleur S, WIll R, Violetta P, Luke M, Johnny McM (Year 8) for their detailed presentations showcasing new media knowledge. Well done all of you! 

Mr Wilson

On Tuesday Nursery pupils headed off to Little Street for a day of role play and fun. They have also begun their ‘Birds Around the World’ theme this week; kicking off their topic by looking at flamingos, which are proving to be a definite favourite! The children have made bird headdresses and copied a flamingo dance whilst wearing them.

As part of their work on Forces in Science, Year 5 had an exciting time investigating "How far will an elastic band stretch?", discovering that it is a lot further than you might think! One group was able to add over 2kg to their elastic band and it still didn't snap!

In Year 6 Science, pupils have been discussing what factors they thought would affect how quickly something dissolves. They began what will be a series of investigations by trying out different sugars; wondering if particle size makes any difference to the speed of dissolving.

In English, Year 2 have been planning their letters to our friends in Malawi as part of their topic ‘Home and Away’ and Year 6 have been working hard at their descriptive writing in order to set scenes that evoke mood. We've had some super examples of personification and simile, as well as imagery that appeals to a range of the reader's senses. Theo exemplified this with: "It was like she could hear the mumbling of the dead in the walls as she looked at the hieroglyphics beside her." and Elliott also wrote: "She reached the top, just as the sky started bleeding with rain."

Beyond the classroom curriculum, the Sustainability Committee met this week and began the process of applying for accreditation as an Eco School. The first step has been for the reps to complete a questionnaire, reviewing the Prep School's current practices in areas ranging from Litter to Healthy Living and Energy, and Transport to Global Citizenship and Biodiversity. Once this baseline review is complete, we can begin to draw up an action plan.

Values Certificates

Effort - Ben W, Lola C and all of the Prep School for their outstanding effort in the House Cross-Country competition!

Responsibility - Alex J

Respect - Harry L

Stars of the Week

Nursery: Maisie J for her continuing development in social skills such as sharing, taking turns and involving lots of friends in her games.

Reception: Harry R for a showing increased positivity and great focus in artwork

Year 1: Florence H for willingness to challenge herself and a great improvement in presentation.

Elsie S for approaching all classroom activities with such cheerful enthusiasm and focus.

Year 2: Tombi W for an incredibly positive attitude to his learning and for completing each task to an exceptional standard

Mrs Green

House Cross Country

Over the past week, all year groups from Years 3-10 took part in the House Cross Country. There was the usual excitement, nerves and trepidation but once the races started it was clear to see that not only do we have some talented athletes at Duke of Kent but also pupils that show grit, determination and are overwhelmingly supportive of their fellow pupils. 

The races were hotly contested and once finished the pupils could chat over their performances whilst drinking a hot chocolate; a fitting reward for such great work on the cross country course. The final results will be revealed in an upcoming assembly. Particular congratulations go to our Year group winners.

Click here to view all the pictures from House Cross Country

Mr Herbert

Year 11 visit the University of Sussex

On Thursday the Year 11s spent the day at the University of Sussex.  This was, in part, to give them a day out of school following the stresses and strains of the mock GCSEs, but also to give them an insight into what it might be like to go to University.  They had lectures on University life, and how to choose a course and a Uni.  They were told all about the expectations, the dos and dont's and they were able to speak to students and ask questions to do with absolutely anything about life as a University student.  The day ended with a campus tour. 

Mr Macdonald

Year 7 Trip to Waverley Abbey

Year 7 enjoyed a History excursion to Waverley Abbey near Farnham, the site of a 12th century monastery founded by the Bishop of Winchester in 1128. It was 'dissolved' (closed) by Henry VIII and Thomas Cromwell in 1536 as part of their plan to break free from the religious control of Rome, and also take the wealth of the monasteries throughout England. Some impressive ruins still remain however! The visit was timed exactly to coincide with our study of this turbulent period.  Year 7 were also impressed to find WW2 pillbox defences sited alongside the nearby River Wey. All these buildings, separated by 400 years, represent examples of fantastic local history on our 'doorstep'. Mr Seeley, Mr Macdonald and I enjoyed sharing the sights of such sites!

Mr Lodge

Prep School Council Assembly

It was the turn of the Prep School Pupil Council to lead assembly this week. The Council have been working hard on making the ATLs pupil friendly and wanted to share some of their ideas. They explained that we will be focusing on key words: Effort, Resilience, Motivation,Response to feedback, Positive attitude, Focus, Embracing mistakes and Challenge to help us understand the expectations of the different ATL levels. The pupils read out examples of what these words meant to them and also asked the rest of the Prep School to volunteer their suggestions; there were some excellent ideas which we look forward to using. This was also an opportunity to announce our new House Competition which is to design a DOKtopus. The winning DOKtopus will be used on all the new ATL posters, each of its legs displaying one of the key words. The Council are very excited about seeing all the different entries which they are sure will be very imaginative and full of character.

Mrs Lock

Kinamba Community Project Update

I wanted to extend a big thank you for all the bras that were donated before the Christmas holidays. I had one 30kg suitcase purely packed with bras and then another suitcase with all the sports bras. When I arrived at Kinamba Community Project the director, Epiphaine, was amazed at the variety of bras. I was so pleased to find out that she is pregnant and she was particularly excited about the nursing bras that were donated. Epiphanie was really pleased with all the training and sports bras for the girls, because pre-covid they had both girls cricket and girls football teams so sports bras were in high demand. It was also so wonderful to catch up with everyone at Kinamba and to find out how they have been coping with all the changes and with the lockdowns that have happened since I left Rwanda. My daughter Leah and I also got to catch up with Gloria, one of the pupils. Gloria is sponsored by my sister and is also a year younger than my daughter so over the last few years she has received many of the clothes Leah has grown out of. We also went to say hello to the sewing ladies, who have made us clothes, bags and even mosquito nets over the last six years. It's just a wonderful place to visit and I was so happy to be able to take the women one thing that they will normally struggle to find at an affordable price in Kigali.

Mrs Lwambo

Last week, over 120 pupils in the Prep and Senior schools took part in the latest House General Knowledge Quiz. Buzzard won the quiz overall with 515 correct answers but it was very close between Peregrine, who took second place with 447, and Hawk who came third with 441. Well done to everyone who took part in the quiz earned 3 points for their House.

Hawk has currently earned the most House points this term which has helped them maintain their lead in the race to be crowned ‘House of the Year’. Kestrel’s hard work collecting stars and Values Awards is allowing them to maintain their pressure on Peregrine in the battle for third place.  There are lots of House competitions this term so the other Houses will have many opportunities to improve their positions. Along with House Music, some of the other competitions that will be launched this half term are:

• Prep School ATL Mascot Competition- begins Monday 24th January

• House Crafts competition- begins Friday 4th February 

• Senior School Debate Competition- Friday 11th February

You can use this link to look through the up-to-date leaderboards and results. Spring Term leaderboards 

Mr Gritton

Mr Boden

As this week closes, pupils are again learning to adapt to the new announcements regarding Covid protocols. The primary effect on them being, the easing of mask wearing in the classroom from yesterday, and the plan to ease the wearing of masks altogether, at the end of next week. The willingness and good humour with which pupils have accepted not only the restrictions but the ever-changing expectations, is admirable and will hopefully reflect in developed skills in their flexibility.

Ironically, when considering the topic of this week, I was struck by the barrier to communication that masks can sometimes present and chose to address this before the announcement was made. Whilst masks have their place in the continued safety precautions during the pandemic, there is no doubt that they have been troublesome to some. Yes, physically people have sometimes struggled but it is the effect on human connections that struck me.

When walking through the corridors of the school, myself and many of the staff and students greet each other if not with a ‘hello’, then a smile. I have often felt deprived of this ability to communicate warmth and receive it back, when unable to see others’ mouths.

In fact the two areas of the face with which we communicate most are the eyes and mouth. The mouth, in particular, is the most expressive indicator of happiness. Wearing a mask still allows our eyes to be seen, however ‘In general, humans tend to process faces as a whole, rather than focusing on individual features, says psychologist Rebecca Brewer, who studies the role of facial expressions in the way we communicate emotion at the Royal Holloway University of London. “When we cannot see the whole face, such holistic processing is disrupted.”’

Perhaps, we will find a generation who have become even more skilled at reading other emotional indicators such as posture, proximity and body language. However, for those that have little human contact outside public spaces, such as the elderly and those living alone, the opportunity to make human connections and receive the warmth of a smile at the supermarket checkout or doctors surgery, a return to uncovered faces will certainly be welcome to their sense of wellbeing. Equally, there will be those who feel vulnerable to this change and are free to choose to continue to wear theirs. I believe the opportunity to return to personal choice will be beneficial to wellbeing in general. 

Mrs Douglas

GLive

I am delighted to announce that our annual GLive concert is going ahead! March 9th - 7pm. Tickets will be on sale for £12.50 through the school - information will be emailed shortly but it promises to be a wonderful evening involving 100 of our pupils from Prep and Senior schools performing on the stage at this great local venue, so please pop it in your diary. It is always a highlight of the year and after a break last year we are very excited to be back!

House Music

Plenty of pupils have taken part in the first round of House Music already, but there is still plenty of time left. All auditions must be completed by the last Wednesday of this half of the term, so that those who make it through to the semi-finals will have the half-term holiday to practise. 

GCSE Drama

Congratulations to the Year 11 GCSE Drama pupils, who recorded their final devised performances this week. They worked incredibly hard, putting in many extra hours, and all the hard work was absolutely worth it. Both pieces were powerful, poignant and funny. Well done everyone and of course huge thanks to Mrs Honey, who put in many hours of extra time to help and inspire her pupils.

LAMDA Showcase Evenings 

The LAMDA showcases are taking place on Mon 6th and Tues 7th March. (Years 7 and 8 on the Monday, Years 9,10 and 11 on the Tuesday).  Again, an email will be going out very soon to the relevant parents, so please keep an eye on your inbox. 

Mr Rye

Mixed Hockey: U13 v. Frensham Heights

On Thursday, a selection of Year 8 pupils played in a mixed hockey match v. Frensham Heights after school. It was our first mixed hockey match of the year and it was most definitely a huge success! The U13 team were raring to go, after a quick team talk and a run through our positions and formation, the whistle went and play began. Duke of Kent School got off to a positive start with excellent runs with the ball from Oscar H and Niamh A in midfield. There was some pressure on our defence early in the game but Josh W-D at centre back didn't let anything get through! At various points throughout the match, we had Dante D, Leo T-R and Vir O in defence demonstrating great skills when regaining possession of the ball and delivering passes to the midfield and forward players. Niamh A got the breakthrough goal that the team had worked hard for, a wonderful strike from the top edge of the D! After this goal, the attacking play just kept on coming with excellent runs down the line by Chester B and Matthew A on the right and Bella S and Jess I in the middle. Throughout the game, the team continued to connect their passes and the goals just kept on flowing! With just 3 minutes to go, Maggie B made an incredible stick save in goal to keep an impressive clean sheet! Niamh A got a hat-trick and Jess I converted 2 excellent goals in the second half to give Duke of Kent School the 5-0 win. It was a brilliant game of high quality hockey from both teams, a huge well done to all of the pupils involved in an e

Rugby: U15 v. Kingswood House

On Tuesday saw the U15s play their first match of the season. From the whistle Duke of Kent School showed dominance with the ball in hand. Lovely team play from Calum McK and Tom H allowed Duke of Kent School to score their first try of the match. Due to a lapse of concentration Kingswood House were able to score a try before half time. This fired the U15s up with them running over 2 more tries with some good running from Tom H and a good finish from Calum McK. It was great to see the U15s in action as they showed great determination in the tackles and handling skills throughout the match winning 17-2.

Mr Green

Boys' Hockey: U14/15 v. Kingswood House

On Tuesday, the U14/15 hockey teams played two 7 a-side matches against Kingswood House School. The first match involved the U14 team, it was a closely contested match with some great passing moves leading to a few goals for the team. The U15 team played the second match and they struggled to create goal scoring opportunities. Throughout both matches Jack B played in goal and made some great saves in the first matches to keep a clean sheet, in the second match he helped to keep the game competitive. Well played to everyone involved. 

Mr Orme and Mr Wilson

Rugby: U12/13 v. Kingswood House

This Wednesday, the U12/13 D team played a tag rugby match against Kingswood House School. The match was evenly contested with both teams putting together some great passing moves leading to lots of tries being scored. The game ended in a tie 8-8, with James B and Quentin J being the standout players making some great plays throughout the match in both attack and defence. Well played to everyone involved and I hope you are all looking forward to your next match. 

Mr Orme

Rugby: U10 v. Kingswood House 

The U10s played their 2nd match of the season on Wednesday against Kingswood House. It was end to end in the first half with both teams scoring 5 tries each and showed great tackling technique. This carried on into the second half with both teams running well with the ball and showed bravery executing their tackles. Unfortunately, it finished 11-8 to Kingswood House but it was great to see all the boys showing great skill and confidence when tackling.

Mr Green

Rugby: U9 v. Kingswood House

On Thursday saw the U9s continue with their rugby season vs Kingswood House. This week they played tag which allowed them to work on their passing and running with the ball skills. It was great to see all of the boys being involved and scoring many tries as a team and working hard to defend their try line. 

Mr Green

Netball: Years 7 and 8 Tournaments

On Wednesday afternoon, all girls in Years 7 and 8 travelled to Downsend School to play a mini netball tournament against Downsend and Belmont. It was the first netball match this term for the girls and a wonderful way to get some match experience with each team playing 3 games throughout the afternoon. 

Mrs Woolgar took the A team, and they had a fantastic afternoon. They had a really tough first match against Downsend A's, but they took that first defeat and used it to their advantage against Belmont in the second match. They worked really hard and Jess I got her eye in early, and they soon got a well deserved win. The final match of the afternoon was against Downsend B's. The girls gave it everything and every single player gave everything they had. I have never seen so many turn-overs in one seven minute half from our team and to say I was proud was an understatement. A special mention to Sydney R and Jess I who work exceptionally well in WA and GA, this partnership paid off, and they finished the afternoon with another big win, well done girls!

Miss Vickers took the B team for the afternoon. The girls showed great determination and fight from the very first moment in their match v. Downsend B team. The team quickly found a rhythm in their passing with Tildy C, Annie B & Clara H-S linking up nicely. However, Downsend B's were too strong and came away with the win. Duke of Kent School were not disheartened and came out with great energy in their next match v. Belmont Bs, with a switch of positions, Iona H went into GS and was awarded Girl of the Game for some great shooting. The B team won their match 8-2 with great play in the mid court from Edie H and Belles H. Finally, it was a match against Downsend D team to finish off the afternoon. This game was on an Astro netball court and so the girls found it tricky to readjust. It was a thriller game with end to end action throughout and particularly great defending from Matilda R and Tabitha S-B, ending in an extremely rare 0-0 draw!!

Miss Vickers

Netball: U8/9 v. St. Edmund's

A very cold afternoon saw the u8/9 girls welcome St.Edmund’s for two hockey matches. Because St Edmund’s had slightly fewer girls than us, a few Duke of Kent girls took it in turns to very kindly play for the other team, so that no one was just standing getting cold! Miss Martin’s game ended 0-0 but it definitely wasn’t boring or without its chances. We had some shots which narrowly missed or were well defended. Ruby W even had one that went in the goal but unfortunately was from just outside the D! On the other pitch, with Miss Vickers, there were some goals with Jasmine W and Charlotte C both scoring. Along with some great defending, this match finished as a 4-0 win.

Miss Martin

This week's suggested competitions and events are listed below. Remember there are many more that can be view on the Stretch and Challenge Website (https://sites.google.com/dokschool.org/stretchandchallenge/home)  

RHS Photographic Competition (4-18 years)

The RHS Photographic Competition inspires young and old alike to get outdoors and record how enriching and inspiring gardens and plants can be. All information on how to enter this competition which is open to all can be found here - https://www.rhs.org.uk/promotions/rhs-photo-competition. The deadline is the 1st February!

Why do some cats prey on Humans? Online Lecture (15-18 years)

This talk weaves together beastly tales of big cats that make prey of humans in India to ask what may they be telling us about a planet in crisis. This free online lecture is delivered by Nayanika Mathur who is Associate Professor in the Anthropology of South Asia and Director of the South Asia centre at the University of Oxford. This lecture is on 27th January at 6pm. For more details please visit:

https://members.linnean.org/events/61a792b42294860007e7faa6/description

Cheshire Prize Literature Competition (4-16 years)

With tackling climate change at the forefront of the world’s agenda, this year’s Cheshire Prize competition will focus on the theme of Sustainability.  The judges would love to hear your responses to these issues through fiction – either a short story, piece of poetry, script or children’s literature piece (this can be a script, story or poem, for children ages seven to 14). 
For more information visit:

https://www1.chester.ac.uk/press-office/cheshire-prize-literature-2021
Closing Date for entries is 31st January 2022

ISA Musical Theatre Competition 2022 (8-18 years)

From Legally Blonde to Les Misérables, the world of musical theatre has something for everyone and is the perfect way to showcase both musical and dramatic skills. To take part in the ISA Musical Theatre Competition, choose a song from your favourite musical and learn it off by heart as either a solo or duet.
Closing Date is 3rd February 2022. Contact awyllie@dokschool.org if you would like to enter. More information is available here:

(https://www.isaschools.org.uk/arts/music/musical-theatre-competition)

Mr Wyllie

PADoK News

Please make a note of our events this term.  Macmillan Afternoon Tea Party on Friday 25th February and the PADoK Quiz Night on Friday 11th March.

PADoK Book Club

Our new book is The Promise by Damon Galgut, which was the winner of the 2021 Booker Prize for Fiction.  The Promise, set in South Africa explores the interconnected relationships between members of a white South African family navigating the end of apartheid and its aftermath.  We do hope you will join us when we meet up, a date will be decided on next week.

PADoK Walk

Last Friday we met for the first walk of this term.  We had a good number of parents and dogs and all enjoyed a good walk around Pitch Hill.  We welcomed a new parent who recently joined the school.  It is such a good and relaxed way to meet other parents from across the School community.

Thank you Mrs Hogan-Smith for leading the group.  Next walk is on Friday 29th January, 08.30, Car Park 3 Hurtwood Control, Pitch Hill.

Mrs Phillips

Optional Senior School 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

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