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DEPTFORD GREEN NEWSLETTER

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ISSUE: 3rd February 2025

HEADTEACHER'S KEY MESSAGES 

Dear Parents, Carers, and Students,

The past few weeks have been buzzing with excitement, engagement, and incredible learning opportunities across the school. We are thrilled to share highlights and upcoming events that showcase the vibrant spirit of our school community.

Watch this space for more information about the Friends of Deptford Green (FODG) plans for an Autumn fair which will also coincide with the grand opening of the revamped and improved playground. Ms Walker will be needing many volunteers and we hope to see many families in attendance.

Recent Highlights have included:

  • GEOGRAPHY TRIPS: Students in Key Stage 3 have explored exciting fieldwork activities and developed their understanding of the world around them.
  • STOMP WORKSHOPS: A high-energy experience that had students rhythmically thinking outside the box.
  • DEBATE MATE: Our aspiring debaters honed their public speaking and argumentation skills over St Matthew Academy last week.
  • DISCOVERY DAY TRIPS : Students had the chance to explore learning beyond the classroom with visits to Westminster College and the Science Museum.
  • MJ THE MUSICAL: A dazzling theatrical outing that left everyone singing and inspired.

Upcoming Events:

  • CHILDREN'S MENTAL HEALTH WEEK: Our wonderful Place2Be team have worked hard to prepare many events dedicated to promoting well-being, including a fantastic Bake Sale that raises funds for mental health initiatives.
  • YOUNG MAYOR ELECTIONS (5th February): Democracy in action! Students will have the chance to vote for their Young Mayor. Fingers crossed one of our students is successful this year - the competition is certainly hotting up!
  • INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S WEEK & CAREERS WEEK (w/c 3rd March): Inspiring talks, workshops, and career opportunities celebrating the achievements of women and guiding students toward bright futures.
  • READING WEEK INCLUDING WORLD BOOK DAY (w/c 3rd March): Get ready to dive into the magic of books with fun reading activities and events!

Thank you for your continued support as always.

Best wishes, 

Emma Thurston

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY: 

  • TUESDAY 4th February - Y10 Cambridge University Visit
  • Y9 Discovery Trip
  • WEDNESDAY 5th February Y9 Celebration Breakfast
  • Young Mayor Election Day
  • Y9 Careers Drop Down Day
  • Y9 Pathways & Parents Evening - 4-7pm
  • Y10 Visit to TWIST Museum with Ms Thurston
  • FRIDAY 7th February - Y9 Walking Tour with Mr Stamp
  • TUESDAY 11Th February - Y9 Pathways interviews with senior staff 3:30–5:30 pm
  • Y8 Rainforest Animals Visit
  • DT Discovery Trip
  • Ballet Shoes Trip with Ms Mackness
  • FRIDAY 14th February End of Spring Half Term #1
  • MONDAY 24th February Start of Spring Half Term #2
  • Y11 PPE's Begin for 2 weeks

DG X FEED

Click HERE to see our AMAZING X account that truly gives you a broad perspective of things going on all across our school!

Thank you Ms Heiser

If you don't have an X account, you may need to sign up to see our latest tweets!

 Our handle is @deptfordgreen.bsky.social - click HERE

WHAT'S COMING UP?

Following on from the assemblies given by Mr Paish last week, here is our LGBTQIA+ Interactive Recommended Reading List - click HERE

MENTAL HEALTH AMBASSADOR BAKE SALE

On Tuesday 4th February at lunchtime, the Mental Health Ambassadors will be hosting a Bake Sale for Children's Mental Health Week. 

Our wonderful Place2Be School Project Manager Alison in front of her amazing and creative display.  Alison is such an asset to our school for both students, teachers and parents alike. We are very lucky to have her and her team with us, supporting us and our Mental Health!

 

Y9 PATHWAYS & PARENTS EVENING WEDNESDAY 5TH FEBRUARY

The Y9 Pathways Fayre will take place at Deptford Green on Wednesday 5th February. It is an opportunity for students and parents to meet subject specialists and students to learn more information. Y9 parents will receive an email from School Cloud to book their parents' evening slots with relevant teachers. 

  • Tuesday 11th Feb: Pathways interviews with senior staff (3:30–5:30 pm). Appointment details to follow.
  • Fri 28th Feb: Deadline for submitting pathways forms.
  • Summer Term 2024: Students receive their options and summer project work

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S WEEK 3rd - 7th MARCH

Students can go to Room 201 at lunchtime, Y7/Y9/Y11 on THURSDAY 30TH MARCH and Y8/Y10 on FRIDAY 31ST MARCH with a photo or object that celebrates a woman they want to honour and get their photo taken in the Photography Studio. These photos will then be made into a fabulous display to celebrate them and the women they honour.

 

READING WEEK 3rd - 7th MARCH

 

OUR FRIENDS OF DEPTFORD GREEN GROUP ARE NEEDING VOLUNTEERS!  

We have big plans for this group moving forward, and they have already successfully run or supported some fantastic events for us. 'Music Mayhem' with the Brand New Heavies and 'Maydayz' last year, but we need you to help us achieve our future goals. We are going to be holding an Autumn Fayre in September, so look out for a separate email about a planning meeting for that if you are able to support us. 

In the meantime, if you want to join our merry band, please email: twalker@deptfordgreen.co.uk and I will pass your contact details to the FODG. 

THANK YOU for all your support at Parents Evenings - buying refreshments whilst waiting for your teacher appointments and at the Music and Drama events, buying refreshments at the FODG staffed bar.  We appreciate you!

PLEASE GET INVOLVED IF YOU CAN!

Here are our Deptford Green Young Mayor 2025 candidate statements for you to discuss with your children so that they are ready to vote in the upcoming elections on Wednesday 5th February.  We hope one of our amazing candidates will be successful, however they are already successful in that they have put themselves forward which is no small thing to do.  We wish them all the very best in their campaign.

Here is a link to see Noora's Campaign video  click HERE

Here is a link to see Iqra's Campaign video - click HERE

Here is a link to see Henry's Campaign video - click HERE

Here is a link to see Olara's Campaign video - click HERE

Here is a link to Kymani's Campaign video - click HERE

All DG students will be called down to the voting booths throughout the day.

 

INTERVIEW WITH MS AHMED, JASMINE AND JAZMINE IN Y7

This interview is to introduce you to Ms Ahmed who hasn't long joined our DG Senior Leadership Team. 

JASMINE: Why did you choose Deptford Green and how long have you been here for?

MS AHMED: I’ve been at DG since just before the summer holiday.  I interviewed April time. I came into the school and there was just such a lovely warm feel about it from staff and students. I walked out and I wished, “I really, really hope I get offered this role because I’ll take it!” so there was a lovely feeling I got from the students. It was warm, it was friendly and that’s what I walked out with, so I really go by my gut feelings.

JAZMINE: What is your role here at DG?

MS AHMED: So my role is raising standards at KS3. What that means is that I am looking at assessments and at how Y7-Y9 are doing and how I can support them to do better so my role is really around education and how I can help KS3 students improve. I do have other roles as well so I’m a huge ambassador for Literacy, as I totally love reading and I enjoy other people reading as well and the other thing I’m just about to launch is Eco Ambassadors at KS3 so we’re looking at how do we make the school more green and sustainable and how do we get students to lead on that. So those are some of the things I am doing at the moment.

If you want to read the remainder of this interview, click HERE

 

Thanks to Ms Ahmed and our two wonderful Y7 students who are making an excellent start to their DG careers! A special thank you to Jasmine (left) who did some of the transcribing , although with the onset of all these AI packages, I will be trying to use one of these from now on! 

Students in an English lesson

WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING AT SCHOOL?

STOMP MUSIC WORKSHOP

Ms Daszek-Green said:

On the 22nd and the 29th January, we welcomed Carl from STOMP to Deptford Green this week, who led two full day workshops with our students. They learnt about rhythm, performance and how to make music with materials that wouldn't often be seen as 'musical'! These included brooms, buckets and bin lids! They put an outstanding effort in with Carl's help, and have now got a STOMP performance piece rehearsed and ready for the showcase to come. Thank you to Mr St Luce for organising this and to Carl for his incredible expertise.

Thanks Ms Daszek-Green.

Y9 WESTMINSTER COLLEGE FOOD TECH TRIP

Mr Djordjevic reports:

Another great trip to Westminster Catering College. We had a fantastic tour of all the kitchens (including the chocolate room!) followed by a beautiful 2 course meal in the brasserie. To top it all off, we were served lunch by my ex-Food Technology student Uma, who is studying at the college.

Ben, Zuka and Albert (right photo) all enjoying the meal!

Finally, on the trip home, the proof that after a good meal, everyone wants a good kip! Either that or Mr Djordjevic knows how to send them off to dreamland! Want to know the secret? Message sir directly! :)

Thanks Mr Djordjevic and well done Y9!

Y9 DISCOVERY DAY TRIP TO THE SCIENCE MUSEUM

Mr Chana reports:

On Tuesday 28th January, we had a great day exploring the Science Museum with one of the Y9 Discovery groups. Understanding how engineering works now and in the past, the museum aims to make sense of the science that shapes our lives, inspiring visitors with iconic objects, award-winning exhibitions, beautiful galleries, hands-on workshops, science demonstrations and incredible stories of scientific achievement.

Thanks Mr Chana.

MJ THE MUSCIAL

On Thursday 23rd January, students from Y7-Y10 went with Mr Heelback to see MJ The Musical and they had a cracking time!  Here are a few photos...

Thanks Mr Heelbeck for the photos!

Y8 TRIP TO THE CREEKSIDE CENTRE

Mr Dallimore-Levinson said:

On Tuesday 21st January, Y8’s had a fantastic day out at Creekside Centre exploring the River Ravensbourne. Students measured the speed and width of the river to see if rivers get faster as they get wider. Students analysed the data at the centre before going back out into the river in the afternoon to examine the river ecosystem. Students found crabs, shrimp, and eels. Students particularly enjoyed cleaning their very muddy waders after climbing out of the river!

Thank you to Mr Stamp for the photos and Mr Dallimore- Levinson for the text.

On Friday 31st January, Mr Stamp, Ms WIld and Mr Dallimore-Levinson took 3 Y9 Geography classes out to Deptford High Street to see how it compares to different high streets across London. They conducted questionnaires, a service tally and a land use map. Everyone was brilliantly behaved and engaged with the learning objectives.  They got to interview local residents and shoppers on the high street and managed to have some fun despite the rainy weather.  Well done Y9!

 

 

On the 29th January, Mr Ramsay visited New Eltham School for Debate mate with his excellent debaters!  Well done to everyone who took part. Here is what Mr Ramsay had to say:

First round. New league. New teams. New challenges. Yep! The debate mate is back, and we visited New Eltham school for our first round battle. Two teams from Deptford Green, one compiled of experts and the other, novices. Both teams went head-to-head with two other schools and battled their way through some challenging motions. The most challenging motion was “This house believes that international aid is most effective when delivered through local communities.”

The complexity of approaches to unriddle this motion and serve an argument that met a succinct criterion was difficult for all schools including DG. Participants worked hard with the use of technical language and articulated their way through cloudy comments posed by competitive schools.

What a day and what an experience! Please do ask your child, if they took part, for the results. 

Thank you Mr Ramsay!

They Y7 girls football team IN THEIR BRAND NEW KITS!!! did really well last week. They won 6-0!

Ruthie our goalkeeper, scored a free kick from the halfway line and was voted DG girl of the match. Elspeth scored a hat trick and was voted player of the match by Saint Matthew Academy.

Well done girls!  So proud of you...

 

Applications are open for Imperial STEM Summer Schools 2025  

Eden in Y11 took part in the residential STEM summer school at imperial and is now planning to attend Kings Maths School Sixth form and become an engineer, designing solutions to complex issues and improving lives. We wish her every success for her future.

Interested in free residential and non-residential opportunities?

Do you want to explore Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM)?

Are you considering studying these subjects in sixth form, college and university?

Do you want to know more about what careers they can lead to?

Do you want to have fun and make new, like-minded friends?

Do you want to build your experience and make your personal statement (for work experience and further education applications) even more interesting?

Ready to take part in lectures and activities alongside Imperial lecturers and current students?

Want to discover what it is like to study at Imperial and what life is like as a student in London?

We strongly encourage students in Years 9-11 who can answer yes to questions above to apply.  

Students who have previously participated have enjoyed it enormously and it helped them with their decisions for post-16.

“Hi Ms, I'm just writing to let you know how the Imperial summer school is going. I'm having a great time and everything is really great. I met some new people and we had some amazing lectures about unis, math and physics. We also had some social activities till late at night. We are having more academic sessions today and we will go to the Globe in the afternoon ??. I really loved it. Thank you so much for helping me apply.??” This was from Eden, who participated last summer.

If you would like to discuss the application or have any questions, contact cnembhard@deptfordgreen.co.uk or call 0208 469 4896. Students can complete their application in the careers hub.

If completing the application from home, ensure you link your application to Deptford Green School and enter Celine Nembhard, Careers and Enrichment Lead,  cnembhard@deptfordgreen.co.uk as the school member of staff/ teacher to ‘verify’ your application.

For Imperial go to  Summer Schools webpage to find out more about the range of Summer School Programmes and apply.

  • Year 9 Girls Engineering Summer School: 5 - 8 August
  • Year 10 Insights Summer School: 30 July – 2 August (Residential)
  • Year 11 Online STEM Challenge: 24 – 27 June

If you are interested in exploring courses in Performing Arts, check these out:

Click HERE for more information

FOURTH MONKEY DRAMA SCHOOL - CLICK HERE

Thank you Ms Nembhard as always

 

SEND HOLIDAY NEWS

Dear Parents & Carers,

Hello, I hope you are well today. My name is Becca and I am the Community Projects Officer at the Restorative Justice For All (RJ4ALL) Community Centre in Rotherhithe. I lead on our activities for children and young people, including our programme for those with SEND.

I am getting in touch to extend our offer of FREE HOLIDAY ACTIVITIES for children and young people (aged 4-18) with SEND and their families who might benefit from this.

We at RJ4All (Restorative Justice For All) are hosting a range of activities for young people with SEND and their families during February half-term. Through our series of workshops and trips, we are excited to offer young people and families a chance to be active, connect, and have fun in the holidays.

1. OUTDOORS WORKSHOP AT THE PAPER GARDEN

Date: 18th FEBRUARY - 12.30-3.30PM

We will meet at our Community Centre at midday and walk over to meet our friends who run The Paper Garden. As we walk, we will take note of sounds, views and smells as we go to engage our senses. When we arrive, we will have a tour of the Paper Garden and some outdoors education activities hosted by their team. The session will be supported by specialist SEND workers to provide 3:1 and 1:1 support as needed, creating an enriching afternoon of both active and more calm activities.

BOOK HERE: Trip to the Paper Garden

2. WELLBEING TRIP TO THE FARM

Date: 19th February - 12:00pm-3:00pm

We will meet at our Community Centre at midday and walk over to the farm together, taking note of sounds, views and smells as we go to engage our senses. When we arrive we will have time for a packed lunch at the farm, followed by a trip around the farm to feed the animals. After a classroom-based arts activity, we will walk together back to the centre. The session will be lead and supported by specialist SEND workers to provide 3:1 and 1:1 support as needed, creating an enriching afternoon of both active and more calm activities.

BOOK HERE: Farm Trip

3. DANCE 4 ALL!!

Date: 21st February - 12:30pm-3:30pm

This workshop will be led by the Dancer Teacher Virginia Poli. Virginia teaches dance with physical theater tasks to create a highly creative and physically engaging learning environment which is flexible and free of judgement. The session will be supported by specialist SEND workers to provide 3:1 and 1:1 support as needed. Three hours is a long time to dance so, of course, this session will have plenty of brakes and a mixture of active and more calm activities.

BOOK HERE: Dance 4 All!

We encourage interested families to book as early as they can to ensure their spot on these activities. I will be contacting bookers individually to find out a little more about the specific needs and preferences of their child/ren.

Please do get in touch if you have any questions ??

Many thanks,

Becca Email: r.funnell@rj4all.org