This week Assemblies this week focused on a theme that many parents/carers might relate to – money and the cost of bringing up a child. Whilst the real message was that children are priceless to their parents, students were asked to appreciate what parents/carers do for them, what they sacrifice and research that indicates it can cost around £200,000 to bring up a child from 0 to 18. Fortunately, education in the UK is free and students were able to…
This week The theme of assemblies this week was Time. This was illustrated through a consideration of time travel (1980s nostalgia through the story of Back to the Future), reflections on the relatively short time of human life on Earth compared with over 4 billion years of Earth’s existence and finally on the invention of accurate clocks in the 18th century to aid navigation when travelling the world by sea. The story of clock accuracy is a fascinating one (if…
This week Parents/carers might have read or heard the headlines that nationally one in ten teachers is currently absent and at Darrick Wood the past few weeks and this week in particular we have experienced a similar level of staff absence, largely as a result of COVID-19. There has been more than one occasion where we have come very close to having insufficient numbers of staff on site and where we have had to consider sending at least one year…
Parents’ Evenings Following on from Options Evening, last week we held an online parents’ evening which we hope will have provided further information to help parents/carers support Year 9 students through the sometimes difficult choices they have to make. They should also now have access to our online resource with videos to supplement the booklet that has been distributed. Dates of remaining parents’ evenings are provided below. Pre-Public Examinations Well done to all of Year 11 for completing these assessments….
This week World Book Day was the theme of our assemblies all week. Here students were inspired by hearing the story of a teacher who overcame difficulties with reading when young to eventually become not only avid reader but even a Teacher of English! The assembly encouraged everyone to read more because books open up worlds that we might never otherwise experience. We might never climb Mount Everest, but we can read about it and learn from this. We might…
School production of Grease There were moments in the last few months where we really did not know if this year’s production of Grease could go ahead. On three nights this week, however, students and staff achieved something that will surely last in their memories for ever. Despite all the setbacks due to COVID, it all came together in the end thanks to the perseverance of students and staff alike. Those lucky enough to watch on any of the evenings…
Year 11 parents’ evening We are aware there were some technical issues with the SchoolCloud system yesterday. We have informed SchoolCloud of this and will be wanting ensure this does not happen again. Parents/carers who were affected should contact the School and if teachers have not done so already, they will then make alternative arrangements for feeding back to parents. Please accept our apologies if you were affected. We are also aware that parents will sometimes want more than 5…
This week Assemblies this week began in lively fashion with the Year 11 Band performing Yardbirds’ “For Your Love” and on one day this week they swapped over to play Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit. On all occasions they were brilliant and I think it was fair to say they woke us all up! We have had so many wonderful performances in assemblies this year and we look forward to many more to come. Live music is hard to beat,…
This week Assemblies this week have covered the theme of choices, freedom and equality. The civil rights movement in the USA, in particular the pivotal roles played by people such as Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr., were used to illustrate how individual choices and decisions can lead to positive change. Students were encouraged to consider how they can contribute to helping society become more equal and reminded that how they speak to each other, to friends and family…
New term reflections Parents/carers, students and staff will not need to be reminded that a year ago we were in the unfortunate position of having to experience another COVID-19 lockdown and most students were having to learn at home. Public examinations had been cancelled and we were very unsure about what would replace them. A year on and COVID-19 continues to affect life at school, but we are much more optimistic as we are able to do much of what…