Welcome back We hope everyone had an enjoyable half-term break. Year 11 came back to face their pre-public examinations in many of their subjects, their final mocks before their GCSE this summer. They have worked hard and will appreciate a break this weekend. As we move into the second half of this term, there is a buzz about school with so much going on as illustrated in the items in this week’s bulletin. There has been a big increase in…
Latest news Last week’s assemblies started with a fascinating account from Marcus and Shubhan of the Year 11 trip before Christmas to Cologne, Germany. The long journey was more than made up for by what Cologne had to offer and they ensured we all wished we had had the chance to go. In an assembly led predominantly by students, we then heard from some of our amazing eco representatives across all year groups – Aerin, Chelsea, Shreya, Scott, Shubhan, Olivia,…
This week With the focus in this week’s assemblies on freedom, we were delighted to hear from Sixth Form students Roshni and George talk about Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous speech and Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the USA. MLK Day is a public holiday, or better expressed as a national day of service where volunteering and helping others is encouraged. The assembly moved on to the democratic process, that there are over 50 national elections across the world…
This week Assemblies this week have focused on what it means to be a neighbour and in particular a good neighbour. Students also reflected on how technology is changing what we mean by neighbour and bringing people closer together virtually. The example was shared of how the Duolingo app is being used by millions of people worldwide to learn languages and how, by learning another language, we can then develop closer links with others that we might not otherwise have…
This week A Happy New Year to our whole school community. Whilst the relatively early return to school straight after New Year’s Day was probably a shock to us all, it was great to see our students and staff again on Tuesday. The Head Teacher wrote on Thursday about the challenges we faced in moving to a new catering company. Feeding the majority of the School’s 1700 students in 40 minutes at lunch time has never been an easy task…
End of autumn term As we reach the end of this first term we have been looking back over the term and reflecting on our students’ many successes and achievements. Achievement assemblies have been held for all year groups apart from Year 13 (currently completing mock examinations). Our assemblies each began with a Christmas themed performance by our KS3 Drama group, facilitated by our Sixth Form drama students. They did incredibly well performing from the stage in front of all…
Dear all, Please see our Curriculum Showcase from this half term. It is but just a small snippet of the fantastic work completed by students this half term. This showcase is a testament to the vibrant and innovative curriculum, and hard work completed by students, at Darrick Wood School. As you browse through the work, we hope you find it reflects the dedication of students to academic excellence, creativity, and personal growth that defines our DWS Life Learning Skills. Please…
Access thousands of free e-books and audiobooks on Sora using just your child’s school email and password. https://soraapp.com/welcome In an exciting development, pupils can now also access hundreds of magazines on Sora, from sports, music, and craft magazines to educational and news magazines – there is something for everyone. Notable magazines include National Geographic, Science Focus, New Scientist, BBC History, The Week Junior, Minecraft World and many more. The evidence is clear: reading for pleasure improves academic outcomes as well…
This week Assemblies have been themed around the build up to Christmas and the traditions that we follow at this time. Today, many of our students and staff supported Save the Children’s Christmas Jumper Day. You can still donate to this worthy cause via ParentPay. Next week we will hold our achievement assemblies to recognise students’ hard work and achievements through the autumn term. Christmas Concert On Thursday, 14th December the Music Department will present our Christmas Concert, the culmination…
This week As we enter December and start to look forward to Christmas, as if on cue, the weather turned frosty this week and the site team were busy with the salt spreader around the grounds. Inside, we were grateful our heating system is working well (most of the time!) and were uplifted in assemblies by some brilliant playing by Guillermo playing a guitar solo piece. Following his performance we were encouraged to think about light, how it can also…