Assembly

This week’s assemblies focused on the Cuban missile crisis and how the actions of individuals at the time helped avoid a possible escalation towards nuclear war. The overall message was that we all have a role in trying to keep the peace by reaching out to others, helping understand their point of view and developing positive relationships with all that we meet. This linked back to last week’s assemblies on Anti-Bullying and the School’s core value of Respect and motto Revereor Vitam (to have a reverence for life).

School Production

The excitement has been building up for some time now and the long hours been put in, especially over the past week, including Saturday. The result was an amazing three nights of Oliver, our School Production for this year. Everybody involved, students and staff put so much into each night, playing to a packed Hall. The music, the acting, the singing – everything came together to entertain and make us feel proud of our brilliant students. This was the first production which also included sign language and emphasised the vision we have for not just the production, but the whole school of a truly inclusive education.

BBC Children in Need

Well done to all who took part in today’s fundraising for the BBC’s Children in Need. The Darrick Wood uniform looked ‘interesting’ when worn with something spotty! You can still donate via Parent Pay if you would like to. Year 10 are also planning a Bake Sale at school on Tuesday, 22nd November.

Next week

We wish all our Year 11 students the very best with their mock examinations. These might not be the ‘real thing’ but they are a vital measure of their progress so far, a way of getting used to the additional stress that public exams brings and provide evidence of what to work on for the remainder of Year 11. They are also important in case of absence in the public exams themselves as exam boards can ask for mock exam evidence if a student misses a paper due to ill health.

PSFA news

It is time to get your tickets for the Big PTA Raffle. There is cash to be won whilst raising funds for the School. See below for further details:

 Darrick Wood School PSFA – Support – The Big PTA Cash Draw (bigptaraffle.co.uk

There is still time to order your Christmas Trees. The deadline is this coming Thursday. See below for details:

Cross Country success

On Wednesday, 9^th November the Bromley Schools Cross Country Championships were once again hosted at Darrick Wood School. 17 schools across Bromley took part competing in the following age groups Year 7 Girls, Year 7 Boys, Junior Girls, Junior Boys, Inter Girls and Inter Boys. Over 20 of our Sixth Form students marshalled the route with our talented Matthew Smith (Year 13) being the hare for all six races – a good training session for him. Millie Rushmere, Lily- Mae Cooper (Year 13), Christopher Barrett (Year 12) were tail runners and supported the runners at the back of the pack.

31 runners from Darrick Wood took part with the highlights of the day coming from:

Poppy (Year 7) – 11^th in the girls race.

Year 7 Girls team – 3^rd overall

Havir 7th and George 13^th in the Year 7 Boys race

Year 7 Boys team 3^rd Overall

Isabella (Year 8) 19^th in the junior girls race (she has another year in this age group)

Anthony (Year 8) 9^th in the junior boys race and Vlad 18^th (both have another year in this age group)

Charlotte 8^th in the Inter Girls

Sasha Newton 9^th

Sofia 14th

Annamaria 15th

Inter Girls team 2^nd Overall

All of the pupils above have been selected to represent Bromley in the Kent Schools Cross country on the 21^st January 2023. This is an amazing achievement in itself, but we look forward to hearing how they get on at this high level of competition.

Young Reporters Plant a Tree

The Young Reporter Scheme has planted a tree on behalf of Darrick Wood School. Many of our students have participated in this scheme so we are pleased to hear this news, especially given we have a strong environmental priority this year as a school.

Dates for the diary

21st November to 2nd December – Year 11 mocks

24th November – Pathways careers event

5th December to 15th December – Year 13 mocks

7th December – Year 12 parents’ evening (4-7pm on SchoolCloud)

13th December – Christmas Music Concert

16th December – last day of term, early finish

Tuesday, 3rd January 2023 – Start of spring term