The Darrick Wood Way
Parent Bulletin
“Education is the most powerful weapon, which you can use to change the world”
– Nelson Mandela –
Message from the Head Teacher
Welcome to our first Parent Bulletin of this new academic year, which has been redesigned and will now be published fortnightly. The Parent Bulletin aims to provide parents/carers with news about the School along with helpful information and reminders for the term ahead. If there is anything you would like us to include please let us know.
I have been very pleased with how students have returned to school wanting to make the best start to this new year. The changes we have made for this year including afternoon Form Time and the introduction of Reflection Time for those not meeting our high expectations with uniform have ensured improved consistency across the School. This has also been supported by the overall positive attitude of our wonderful students and means we have high hopes for a very successful year.
We have also changed the categories for which we award positive points meaning students can focus on collecting points for the various DWS Life Learning Skills. We will continue to track these and award Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum certificates as we move through the year, but students and parents/carers will also be able to monitor which skills they have mostly been awarded for in lessons and around the School.
Attendance at school is currently a national focus as levels of attendance have not yet returned to what they were before the covid-19 pandemic. At Darrick Wood School, we have usually had higher than national average attendance and we thank parents/carers and of course our students for their support with this. It is indicative of the value we all place in education. We plan to publish our latest attendance figure on the Parent Bulletin so you can keep track of how close we are to our target of 96%. We are pleased this is definitely on track so far, but we need to work together to keep it there, or even improve further. I will write separately on this important topic soon but please be aware we do not authorise holidays in term time and we do request penalty notices to be issued by the local authority. Parents/carers can check their child’s individual attendance figure using the Bromcom MyChildAtSchool app. Parents/carers in Year 7 who have not yet received information on this will receive this imminently.
I was delighted to award Subject Ambassadors badges to students in Years 8, 9, 10, 11 and 13 this week. Further details can be found in the Leadership item below. Assemblies also allowed me an additional opportunity to follow-up on last week’s theme and remind our students of the importance of following the rules and being a positive contributor to the School community and wider society.
This Parent Bulletin features the Textiles Department as part of our Curriculum Showcase. Other subjects will be showcased in future editions as parent feedback has told us that you want to know more about the subjects we teach. Please visit the Faculty and Department pages on our website for further information in the meantime.
I look forward to seeing many of our parents/carers here at the School for our upcoming events such as the Information Evenings for Years 7, 11 and 12.
Attendance Focus
96.6%
Form Attendance
Congratulations to 7XF & 7XS both achieving 100% attendance so far.
Well done to 8XL, 9XB, 10XL and 11YM for having the top attendance in their year group.
Reading Recommendations
Click below for details
Upcoming Events
19/09/2024 – Year 7 Parents’ Information Evening (7pm in the Main Hall)
19/09/2024 – School Photos (Years 7, 8, 10 & 12)
20/09/2024 – Jeans for Genes Day – Click here
26/09/2024 – Year 11 Parents’ Information Evening (7pm in the Main Hall)
Useful Links
Highlights of the fortnight
Year 7 Team Building
On Tuesday students in Year 7 spent the day getting to know each other, their Form Tutors and other staff working alongside them in an exciting day of team building challenges. We spent the day developing our planning, communication and implementation skills across a wide variety of tasks including herding blindfolded sheep into a sheep pen, being inside a caterpillar track, balancing games and crossing stepping stones without falling into a grass river. Students participated enthusiastically throughout the day and we were all pleased when the morning’s drizzle turned to blue skies in the afternoon. A further glimpse into how much the students enjoyed the activities will hopefully be seen at the Year 7 Parents’ Information Evening on Thursday 19th September.
DWS Audio
This week on the DWS Audio blog we are launching a brand-new audio drama serial, entitled ‘Enquiry Agents’. It’s set in Brighton in the summer of 1969 and follows the adventures of a group of teenagers who have been employed by a local private detective to track down a missing girl.
Our Enquiry Agents – and guest cast- are played by a fabulous group of Darrick Wood students: Alex Kingsbury, Casey Joel, Anthony Adeoti, Lilly Steward and Isabel Williams. The theme music for the serial has been composed by Guillermo Martinez Munoz.
The serial comprises of six parts, the first of which you can listen to via the link below.
ENQUIRY AGENTS – DWS Audio (darrickwood.co.uk)
Hopefully there will be further stories to follow along with a new sci-fiction audio drama serial that the students are currently working on.
Curriculum Showcase
The first student work to feature in our Curriculum Showcase is from our amazing Textiles Department. Please see below photos of some of the fantastic work created last year by students across KS3 and KS4.
Year 7 Doorstops
Year 7 students, designed and made doorstops based on an animal of their choice. Students learnt a variety of skills such as, embroidery and applique .
Year 8 Day of the Dead cushions
Year 8 students, designed and made cushions based upon the Day of the Dead. Students learnt a variety of skills such as, poly-block printing, transfer painting, applique, and tie-dye.
Paper dresses
KS4 students modelled dresses on a mannequin using a variety of paper manipulation techniques. Realising their design intentions from 2D to 3D.
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
As we move into a new academic year, we would like to encourage all parents/carers to read the school’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policy. Our school values of respect, responsibility and honesty demand that we take a proactive and positive approach to ensuring that our school environment is one in which everyone is made to feel welcome. As a key part of our school community, it is vital that you, the parents, are included as well. Follow the link below to the School’s EDI Policy. Please pay particular attention to the section regarding parents. We would also encourage you to look out for events across the year that celebrate the diverse nature of our community and welcome any thoughts or feedback that you have.
Click her to view the Darrick Wood School Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy
Culture Week Fashion Show 2024
Sports and PE News
PE
Attached below is the ‘Kit policy poster’, as well as a ‘Fit for School-Fit for PE’ poster in relation to PE at Darrick Wood School. We are very happy to offer such fantastic kit at this school and hope students wear it with pride.
Key information on Kit Policy:
- For every single lesson students must have on them the compulsory items of kit: DW T-Shirt, DW Shorts, Yellow or Plain White Sports Socks and Trainers.
- It is highly recommended that students also carry football boots to every lesson but we understand this is another cost.
- Long hair must be tied up and jewellery removed.
- Student can choose to wear any of the optional extras: DW tracksuit trousers, DW leggings (students should still bring their t-shirts and shorts to every lesson)
- Missing items of kit on first occasion is a warning. Second would result in a teacher detention. Further problems will see sanctions escalate.
Fit for School – Fit for PE outlines the following:
- Students should bring kit to every PE lesson regardless of injury or illness.
- If students have an injury or illness then they should still bring kit and they will be given alternative roles in the lesson that may be non-physical or more suitable to their health and fitness that day.
- The only time we would not expect students to get changed is if they physically cannot e.g. cast/surgery
- We do read notes from home, but would still expect students to get changed and participate in the lesson in some way that may not be physical e.g. coach/timekeeper
- We believe that if students are well enough to attend school, then they are well enough to get changed and participate
- Any missing kit will result in normal missing kit sanctions
Sports
Darrick Wood PE Department are pleased again to share with you the Clubs and Sports we have on offer this Autumn/Winter/Spring. This week we have been holding trials for various teams. This timetable will go live as of Monday 16th September.
Form Tutors will be explaining the timetable and how clubs work to all students. However we have attached some FAQs below that will hopefully answer some questions.
What is the difference between Sport For All and Invite Only clubs?
- Sport For All means anyone can attend, boys or girls. Invite-only is more likely to be competitive teams’/squads’ practice and therefore only open to those that are specifically invited after trials.
What time are clubs?
- AM Football Academy training is 7.40-8.20am. Everything else after school is 3.10pm (get changed) 3.20pm (club starts) 4.30pm (rough finish). Some competitive fixtures may start earlier due to light and/or travelling time but those teams/individuals will be informed.
What do I need to wear?
- All clubs require PE kit. No personal sporting attire is to be worn. Same rules for core PE lessons apply to after school sport. Some clubs may require extra equipment such as shin pads/gumshields.
Do I need to let anyone know If I want to attend?
- For Sport For All clubs students can turn up whenever they want. All we ask is that student communicate home with their parents/carers that they want to attend so that there are no issues with worried parents ringing the School.
If I wasn’t successful in a sports trial, how do I get into a team?
- If you were unsuccessful at the first attempt then students could…..a) retrial at future trials, b) prove themselves in PE lessons, c) turn up to Sport For All clubs and prove themselves, d) be resilient, practise, practise, practise!
Safety & Awareness
Welcome to a new year and I hope you have settled back in well. Each bulletin we will share a PSHE Leaflet on a topic/theme. These are always very current, useful and something you can share at home to start a conversation about what are sometimes difficult issues. I hope you find them useful. This week looks at ‘supporting children to manage conflict effectively.’
Click below for details
Wellbeing
Bromley Y have produced a useful guide to living in healthy relationships. Please find the link and guide below.
Student Leadership
This week in the Main School assembly Subject Ambassador badges were given out to Years 8,9,10,11 and 13. Years 7 and 12 will be asked to apply in the next few weeks. Subject Ambassadors are students who are the face of a Department. They help run the extracurricular activities, go to clubs and generally help out in the departments. It is an important part of student leadership and helps to develop our Life Learning skills. Congratulations to those who have been awarded this role. Every department will have two ambassadors in each year group.
This week Tutors Groups were asked to nominate members to become Form Reps, Charity Reps and Eco Reps. This is an important role within each Tutor Group and will help to develop our Life Learning Skills. Year 7 will nominate a little later in the term once they know each other and the School a bit better. Badges will be awarded in a Year assembly in the next couple of weeks. Congratulations to all of you who have been nominated.