This week

Assemblies this week have focused on how we relate to our neighbours. This has been considered within different contexts. We reflected on the meaning of the Hindu festival of Makar Sankranti, which takes place this Sunday. We also considered how getting to know our neighbours, always aiming to be kind to others and going out of our way to help them leads to a better life for all. Students were reminded of our School Rule 1: Behave sensibly and with consideration for others at all times (including when travelling to and from school). Applying this and our values of Respect, Responsibility and Honesty helps ensure our neighbours in school (in class, in corridors, in lunch queues, in playgrounds) are treated well.

Teaching and learning focus

Our teachers usually start lessons with a “Do Now”. Students are expected to reach any lesson anywhere across the School within 5 minutes of the bell ringing. Once they arrive they are expected to place their bags on the floor, coat on the back of their seat and planner, equipment and reading book on their desk. They are then expected to complete the Do Now task quietly whilst the teacher takes the register. The Do Now task will not take long, should not need the help of their teacher and may give them the opportunity to recall information from previous lessons or get them thinking about the lesson to come. Whatever its purpose, it is an essential part of our lessons and an indicator that learning is always the priority from the earliest opportunity in all our lessons.

Uniform focus

Question: I read through last week’s uniform Q&A and found it helpful, but my child tells me they’re not allowed their hood up. Why is that?

Answer: We do not mind students wearing their coats around the site whilst the weather is cold and/or wet. We do insist that hoods are down except in the worst wet weathers and always when indoors. This means we are able to identify students around the School site more easily. A coat/hood should never be used purposely to disguise the wearer, or to reduce our overall ethos of smart appearance at all times.

Question: Can my child have a locker? It would really help their organisation.

Answer: Yes. We have enough lockers in the School for all in Years 7-11. They are all in easily accessible parts of the School (on ground floor corridors or the Dining Hall). If you would like your child to have a locker and help them be better organised for school and carry less around, all you need to do is pay a £5 deposit. This will be returned when your child finishes Year 11 (if they return the key). Most students in our youngest year groups have a locker, but many in the older year groups do not have them as they were not available during the COVID-19 pandemic. We would like to encourage all to have a locker. Please contact the Office for further details.

Reminders

Parents/carers of students in Year 7 are reminded to respond to the survey that was sent out recently. Thank you to those who have already done so.

All parents/carers – the travel survey which was sent out on the 3^rd January will close on Monday, 16^th January at 4pm. We encourage all to complete this.

Traffic – We had a few afternoons this week where too many parents/carers in cars attempted to pick up students near the School causing congestion and increased risk to safety on Lovibonds Avenue in particular. Please avoid this if at all possible.

Cologne Christmas Market Year 11 trip

On Friday 16^th December, 40 well wrapped up Year 11 students (and four equally insulated members of staff) made the coach journey from Darrick Wood School to the Köln Deutz Youth Hostel in Cologne. The morning ferry journey from Dover benefitted from the cold clear air and as we waved goodbye to the white cliffs, we could also make out the clock tower of Calais in the distance.

Once installed into our hostel and duly fed (the first night’s fish and mash wasn’t to everyone’s taste), our party made the 15 minute walk in the frosty cold across the Deutz bridge to our first destination; the harbour Christmas market. Huddled around the narrow strip of land in the Rhine, the market stalls were thronged on the Friday night. Soon many of our students had made up for not eating at dinner by feasting on chips and Würstchen.

The start of day 2 was an early one and we headed out straight after breakfast to the Schildergasse. The students had some time to satisfy their retail desires in the Schildergasse – a street that is sometimes described as Europe’s busiest shopping street. No time to relax, we then headed on to cathedral square in the shadow of the impressive Kölner Dom. More time for shopping and the buying of gifts in the Cathedral market.

Our next stop on the itinerary was the Schokoladenmuseum (chocolate museum). We snaked through the exhibition halls which described the history of chocolate and, more specifically, the history of chocolate in Cologne. The factory floor even showed the manufacturing process and you could avail yourself of some free samples as you went round. The gift shop of the chocolate museum was the provenance of many a Christmas pressie.

Immediately adjacent to the Schokoladenmuseum is the Deutsches Sport & Olympia Museum where visitors are treated to the story of sport and games from prehistory to the present day. This is an interactive space and soon our students were sprinting, jumping, boxing and lifting. One group of the students made their way to the roof of this re-purposed wharf building to play football. No matter that the temperature was hovering below zero, this pitch, picturesquely situated next to the Rhine and with a view of the cathedral and the Ferris wheel of the harbour market, provided a perfect opportunity for them to let off some steam.

Saturday night’s trip into the city was to the Nikolausdorf market at Rudolfplatz. Nestled against the 13^th century towers of the Hahnentorburg, this fairytale market was humming with visitors on the Saturday night. The students of Darrick Wood did yet more to support the German economy by buying traditional and artisanal gifts for loved ones at home.

The final day of our trip (aside from the journey home) was Wintertraum at Phantasialand. Brühl (the site of Phantasialand) had not been spared the snow and there were piles of ice punctuating the park. Once released, our students made the most of their time by being spun round and thrown up in the air by the best that the Phantasialand rides could offer. It was a tired and cold group that made their way back to the coach ready for a relaxing evening in the hostel.

Like the pathetic fallacy, our journey homewards on the Monday was no longer crisp, bright and cold but rather murky, damp and drizzly. It had been the perfect start to Christmas in what many consider to be the home of Christmas. Ein frohes neues Jahr für 2023!

Dates for the diary

Tuesday, 3rd January for two weeks	Year 12 assessments
Thursday, 19th January, 4-7pm on School Cloud	Year 13 parents’ evening
Thursday, 9th February	Staff training event in conjunction with Bromley Schools’ Collegiate. This will require a slightly earlier finish than usual for students. Information to follow.
Monday, 13th February to Friday 17th February	HALF TERM