Thank you to Olivia in Year 7, who spoke so well in assembly about the amazing Dance show that took place recently and then showed a film of all the dance images that were captured. The evening was a great success and Olivia reminded us of that through her speech.

It was widely agreed that this year’s Summer Concert was the best ever. Well done to all involved and we look forward to seeing how the Music Department continues to go from strength to strength under the leadership of Mr W Rees, Head of Music.

Achievement Assemblies have been held for nearly all year groups with only Year 8 to go, who have been on their residential at Sayers Croft. Overall the trip went very well with students taking part enthusiastically with all the activities and we look forward to seeing all of Year 8 for their Achievement Assembly on Tuesday. 

The Sports Awards Evening was our biggest ever with students from all year groups being joined by staff and parents/carers. The Guest of Honour this year was Roy Dickens, who spoke about how he became an international 400m athlete and attended the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles as part of the 4x400m squad. He inspired us all to enjoy sport, learn to pick ourselves up from disappointment and use what we learn in other areas of life. We are very grateful he could join us on this prestigious evening where we celebrated our many sporting successes this year. 

Consistency

Our May 2024 Ofsted inspection resulted in the School being judged Good in all areas. The report celebrated our inclusivity and wide curriculum. However, one of the areas for development was to ensure there is a more consistent approach to the implementation of our Behaviour Policy. One very obvious example of this is how we address issues with uniform (e.g. a student not wearing correct footwear, or a student who wears the wrong colour coat or rolls their skirt, or does not wear their lanyard). If we do not deal with this in a consistent manner, this is unfair on all those who adhere to our policy daily without fail. As stated in the policy here, expectations of high standards are a key feature of a Darrick Wood education, something which is underpinned and outlined very clearly by our insistence on school uniform being worn appropriately and smartly at all times.

Wearing the full school uniform smartly daily is indicative that students are part of our school community and are adhering to our agreed way of behaving when at school and to and from school. If we can get the basics of uniform in correct, other things tend to follow on well.

Whilst we already have procedures and consequences in place, we will be tightening up on these from September onwards. We will write to parents/carers ahead of the new term to explain these further and will be communicating about these matters with all year groups in assemblies at the start of the new term.

How can parents/carers help? Quite simply by ensuring your child has all the correct uniform and equipment for school each day and explaining to them why high standards are important.

As previously notified we are also introducing other measures that will support improved consistency including the introduction of an afternoon form time where tutors will catch up with their tutees, celebrate positive points from the day and ensure more negative behaviours are dealt with appropriately and detentions completed.

Please be aware we are also replacing the Pupil Planner with a “Contact Book”. This will not be for recording homework as this is set on Teams, but will for parents/carers and staff to write short notes and for students pupils to write themselves reminders. They will be expected to always have their Contact Book in their bag in school each day.

Proposed merger with Impact Multi Academy Trust

Our consultation period has now ended. Thank you to the small number of parents who responded to this. We will update the consultation page on our website in September in response to any queries and as we enter a period of due diligence on both sides.

Year 10 Poland

Year 10 were an absolute credit to the school on the Poland trip this year. They dealt with some incredibly challenging history in a mature and engaged manner. They also threw themselves into the activities, including some traditional Polish folk dancing. We were very impressed with a student who read a poem that a Holocaust survivor wanted us to read. The poem was written by her father, who she did not even know about until later in life when her adopted Polish mother told her she was Jewish on her death bed and that her parents had given her away as a baby before being deported from the Krakow Ghetto. Another student then read a message that the survivor we spoke to wanted to share with us. It spoke of the need for tolerance and peace and felt very pertinent, given all that is going on in the world today. Both read very well. Thank you to everyone involved in the trip,

Culturally Speaking Showcase at St. Margaret’s Church, Westminster Abbey – Tuesday, 16^th July

Congratulations to Ella who gave an inspiring and informative speech on ‘The Power of Music’  at the inaugural Culturally Speaking showcase event on Tuesday evening. According to The Speakers Trust, ‘Ella was fantastic on the night, a joy to work with and delivered a really brilliant speech, with such poise’. The newly named ‘Martinez-Fernando Jazz Duo’ also wowed the audience with their fabulous music and versatility – Guillermo started on the grand piano and moved to the electric guitar; Zachary started on the saxophone and moved to the grand piano. Overall, an evening to remember in a spectacular setting.

Subject Ambassadors

After receiving applications from every year group in every subject to be considered for ambassadors, Heads of Department and Heads of Faculty had the very difficult decision of appointing ambassadors in preparation for September.  The names have been given to tutors this week to share with the students and ambassador badges will be given out in September. We have 56 KS3 ambassadors, 78 KS4 ambassadors and 44 KS5 ambassadors which is incredible, and we would like to congratulate all of those who applied and have been given these posts. There will be two ambassadors in every subject in every year group who will work with the HODs and HOFs to support and promote the department/faculty throughout the year as well as developing their DWS Life Learning Skills.

Athletics

Over the summer term, Darrick Wood athletes have been busy competing in a variety events.  The main ones where we were successful included the English Schools Athletics Track and Field Cup where 12 girls competed for the Junior Girls and 14 girls for the Inter Girls.  Both teams qualified in the 1^st round and then competed in South East B Final.  The Junior Girls finished in 7^th place with 271 points, 7 points away from their PB.  The best results of the day came from Poppy and Holly in the 1500m, Izzy in the 800m and Mila in the 800m.  The Inter Girls had an amazing result coming 2^nd with a score of 343 which was a PB, 10 points more than the first round.  The best performances of the day came from Alice in the high jump and 300m, Annie in the 100m and long jump and Anabelle in the 200m and long jump.

Bromley minors

Every year, Years 7 and 8 take part in the minor girls Bromley Championships. This year the girls came 3^rd overall, very close to 2^nd position.  The Year 7 team came 5^th overall, with the best performances coming from Holly who placed 3^rd in the 1500m, Izzy who placed 2^nd in the 800m, Sadie who was 3^rd in the long jump and Freida who was 3^rd in the javelin.  The Year 8 team came 3^rd overall with Heidi coming 3^rd in the hurdles and high jump and Mojola came 2^nd in the shot putt.

Well done to all those that have trained and participated in the athletics season this year.

We saw a pleasing number of Darrick Wood athletes gain selection to represent Bromley Schools in the Kent Schools Athletics Championships which was held in June in Gillingham. These athletes qualified by achieving County Standard performances, which is no mean feat in any event!

The results are as follows:

Imani (Y10) placed 4^th in her heat of the Inter Girls 100m with a time of 13.67s.

Anthony (Y9) placed 11^th in the 1500m event with a new PB of 4:39.95s. Not content with this Anthony achieved the same result in the Discus event with 25.89m!

Alice (Y9) placed 2^nd in her heat of the 300m event with a new PB of 44.13s which qualified her for the Final. Alice finished a creditable 6^th in the final with a time of 44.97s.

Alex (Y9) competed in the javelin and went home with a Bronze medal around his neck! Alex threw a fantastic PB of 34.95m to finish 3^rd in the county!

Unsurprisingly, the highlight of the day was Charlie (Y10) who not only won the pole vault, but set a new Championship Record in the process with a clearance of 4.20m! Charlie gained selection to represent Kent Schools in the English Schools Championships.

Year 12 Work Experience

Year 12 students immersed themselves in the world of work on their placements recently. Staff visited the majority of students at their placements or contacted them by telephone/MS Teams and have been impressed by their professionalism. Students have shared with staff that the opportunity has helped with their post-18 decision making. Feedback from employers has also been excellent with many students being offered further opportunities of work experience, part-time work or apprenticeships.

Dates for the diary

Date	Event	Notes
Wednesday, 24th July	Last day of term	Early finish – details to follow
Thursday, 15th August	A level results	9am onwards, Main Hall
Thursday, 22nd August	GCSE results	10am onwards, Main Hall
Monday, 2nd September	Professional Development Day	Only staff attend
Tuesday, 3rd September	Years 7 and 12 to attend
Wednesday, 4th September	All year groups return