This week

Thank you to parents/carers who were able to attend the Year 13 Parents’ Evening on Thursday. We hope you found the opportunity helpful and that students understand how they can make the most of their time before public examinations this summer. We wish them well in their final year at school. They have exciting times ahead but the next few months will no doubt be challenging. Their teachers and other staff are here for them.

Assemblies this week focused on the theme of Freedom. This was seen through the awe inspiring lens of space travel. In the news recently we saw the attempt of Virgin Orbit to launch a rocket into space from Spaceport Cornwall with the aim of placing nine satellites into orbit. Whilst this attempt unfortunately ended in failure it was a prime example of how difficult space travel is, how private enterprise is now a growth area in space travel and how failure on one occasion does not mean you cannot succeed the next time with enough effort. Reference was also made to William Shatner (Captain Kirk in “Star Trek”) who, in 2021 at age of 90, had the opportunity to travel into space on the Blue Origin sub-orbital capsule. Afterwards he said it showed that everything is, “so much larger than me and life. Everybody in the world needs to see this.” The message to students overall was that anything is possible if you have the freedom to pursue your dreams and what an exciting time the next few years should be.

We were delighted this week to welcome a representative from Transport for London to work with our Year 8 travel ambassadors to consider projects to support more sustainable transport methods. Darrick Wood School was recently awarded Gold level accreditation in recognition of our active and safer travel initiatives through involvement with the STARS TfL community project. This superb group of Year 8 students will now try to make an even greater difference in encouraging us all to travel sustainably.

Dr Airey attended Eco Club on Wednesday lunchtime to listen to students from all year groups who have excellent suggestions to support one of the School’s big priorities which is to become more responsible for the environment. They have already promoted a move to improved recycling – a project which will mean we start to recycle more than just paper and card. They are also very supportive of the School’s project to increase the amount of energy efficient lighting across the site. We recently received a government grant to support improved energy efficiency and difficult decisions will need to be made about how best to spend the £56,000. Whilst this seems a lot of money, further funds will be needed to ensure some of our oldest buildings can be made more energy efficient. Finally, the Eco Club has been making suggestions about how to reduce waste in the dining halls. A return to re-usable plates and cutlery is planned in the next few weeks, which will return the School to pre-covid times, but we will still need to think about other issues such as take-away packaging. All students are allowed to bring their own reusable container if they wish. If all did this, the amount of packing would be reduced considerably.

A huge well done to the 45 Year 12 students who have already completed over 10 hours of CAS (Community Action Service). These students have embodied the values of this school by taking Responsibility to help others.

DWS Audio

Our award winning student produce audio blog has again had episodes of Rough Diamonds broadcast on BBC Radio Kent this week. You can listen to these via the links to BBC sounds here:

DWS Audio (darrickwood.bromley.sch.uk)

Dates for the diary

Tuesday, 31st January	PSFA Meeting, 7pm
Saturday, 4th February	PSFA Secondhand uniform sale – details to follow
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
Thursday, 2nd March	Year 10 Parents’ Evening
Wednesday, 8th March	Year 9 Options Evening
Thursday, 16th March	Year 9 Parents’ Evening
Wednesday, 29th March	Year 8 Parents’ Evening
Monday, 3rd April to Friday, 14th April	EASTER HOLIDAY (return Monday, 17th April)
Thursday, 20th April	Year 7 Parents’ Evening