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Celebrating DenefieldFriday 1 October 2021
I would like to start by thanking all parents/carers of all Year 7 and Year 12 students for attending their respective information evenings on Tuesday and Thursday. These evenings are an important opportunity for the school to share information about what students are learning and why, the extra-curricular and community service opportunities that the school provides, and how this prepares students for lifelong success. They are also an opportunity for parents/carers to ask questions and feed back on their child’s experiences at Denefield. You can access the Year 7 information evening slides here and the Year 12 information evening presentation here.
The final information evening is on 12 October and is for Year 11. This will provide important information and advice on the Year 11 curriculum
Celebrating Denefield…
Diary dates – academic year 2021 – 2022
Thursday 7 October Year 10 Parents Evening
Friday 8 October INSET day
Monday 11 October Deadline for student photo orders
Tuesday 12 October Year 11 curriculum information evening
Tuesday 12 October Parents forum – details TBC
Monday 25 – Friday 29 October Half term
our PPEs, or pre-public examinations (mock exams), and the final exams to be taken in May and June next year. This is particularly significant at the moment: the government has recently announced changes to the final exams to take into account the impact of the pandemic, as well as contingency measures should external exams not be able to go ahead.
This week is national Bike to School week. We are keen for students to cycle to school where appropriate, and are fortunate to have excellent provision for securely storing bikes in school. However, the roads around Denefield are busy with both vehicles and pedestrian, and it is essential that cyclists ride safely, and do not put themselves or others in danger. As a result, this week’s assemblies have focused on cycle safety, and yesterday I wrote to all parents/carers advising of cycle safety. If your child cycles to school, please do discuss cycle safety with them and ensure they are fully aware of their responsibilities to other road users. The cycle safety assembly powerpoint can be found here
I wish you all a pleasant weekend
Mr E Towill MA (Oxon), Headteacher
Included in this edition...
Celebrating our students…
Year 10 – Mr Fuller’s Tutor Group
S10-TFR have made a focused and conscientious start to Year 10, they have returned ready to embark on their GCSE journey. It is fantastic to see the mature attitudes they are approaching their learning with.
The group have been particularly engaged in recent current affairs and have discussed issues such as the current situation in Afghanistan which they have all discussed with such empathy and understanding.
This week we have started to look at the situation surrounding the safety of women on the streets of Britain and have discussed what we feel are the next steps that Britain as a nation needs to take to educate people and create a better, safer environment for females. In this group I am blessed with a number of strong female characters who know right from wrong and are willing to stand up for what they believe in.
We have also taken the time to celebrate the successes of the tutor group each week. We look at the number of achievement points each student has achieved and the subjects that awarded them. So far, our house point leader is Holly who has amassed 35 achievement points, and four top awards as a part of that, for her outstanding contribution to a number of lessons.
I am extremely proud of the supportive nature of the group; they are always keen to help others who need their support. This is displayed in the fact that seven students from the group – Holly, Ayah, Tanzika, Evelyn, Lucy, Kemi and Lily have all been successfully awarded the role of peer mentors for the academic year. They will all act as fantastic role models for the younger students.
Well done to everyone for such a great start!
Celebrating our curriculum…
History and Religious Studies
We have had a fantastic start to the year with Year 11 students being lucky enough to go on a school trip, a highly successful open evening, history club starting again and students producing fantastic work. As you can see from the student work included in this bulletin, students have thrived being back in school and enjoy being historians and theologians.
All students study History and Religious Studies in Years 7 to 9 . Following Year 9, students can choose History and or Religious Studies as a GCSE option subject.
As the year progresses, we hope to carry out more trips and visits as it is a fantastic opportunity for students to continue their learning outside the classroom.
History heroes
The following KS3, KS4 and KS5 students have been recognised by their teachers for going above and beyond in and out of the classroom. Well done to you all!
Year 7
Year 8
Year 9
Year 10
Charlie COrla C Darcey BJames S
Hailey WOli SLogan B Annie C
Joseph C Zachary J Sophie KEvie B
Alfie C Max H Elisha C
Year 11
Year 12
Year 13
George KSasha W Frankie BJake F
Harriet JErin SKatie R Sammy B
Tayla CLewis HSam H Caitlin J
Celebrating our curriculum…
We have had a fantastic start to the year with Year 11 students being lucky enough to go on a school trip, a highly successful open evening, history club starting again and students producing fantastic work. As you can see from the student work included in this edition, students have thrived being back in school and enjoy being historians and theologians.
All students study History and Religious Studies in Years 7 to 9 . Following Year 9, students can choose History and/or Religious Studies as a GCSE option subject.
As the year progresses, we hope to carry out more trips and visits as it is a fantastic opportunity for students to continue their learning outside the classroom.
Year 11 History visit to Winchester
The majority of Year 11 History students travelled to Winchester last week to visit the Cathedral. This was to enhance their understanding of the changes to Britain following the Norman invasion in 1066 which they will be examining in the 2022 exam series.
This trip was rearranged numerous times due to Covid-19 and we were all so happy that the students finally got to attend. They were impeccably behaved and a credit to Denefield.
Celebrating our curriculum…
Winchester
Last week, we took a trip to Winchester Cathedral in order to revise for the Anglo –Saxon and Norman topic that is part of our exams. This was a great opportunity as it enabled us to go out as a class for the first time in a few years and also engaged us in an interesting and pivotal part of English history. The day began with a guided tour through the cathedral and we were lucky to have a guide who included us in discussions and told us many stories such as Bill the diver who saved the cathedral from twenty feet of water. How the stained glass was shot out of the windows by Oliver Cromwell’s men during the civil war, and we also found out how it was buried by the monks for eighteen years before the reformation, when it was taken out again and displayed in the biggest window at the front of the cathedral. We went down into the crypt, walked up the pilgrims steps that were supposed to take us to heaven and stood in the same place as Mary Tudor on her wedding day and Colin Firth when he was filming the King’s Speech. We were taught how the Normans took over England with the help of these impressive, yet intimidating structures, how they changed the style of architecture with Romanesque arches and how they had to build an extension onto the back, so drunken pilgrims, who hoped to get time away from purgatory, wouldn’t disturb the irritated monks!
After a lot of pictures had been taken, the class made their way to the learning centre where there was a talk about the development of Christianity from the Anglo-Saxon to the Norman period which was good because our syllabus doesn’t cover the time period much before 1066. Extra contextual knowledge was gained about the beginnings of Christianity in England and the first churches that were built under one of the earliest kings. After lunch we all cracked on with an essay plan.
A three-page essay was completed over the weekend and personally I have to admit, I was thoroughly engrossed with the history of Winchester, William I and the changes he had brought to England after the Norman conquest.
On the way back we walked through Winchester and saw what the two of us would deem a highlight of the trip, Jane Austen’s house. Although it has no relation to anything that our class are studying, we firmly believe, that it’s necessary to give an honourable mention. Overall, it was an amazing trip and we would love to go back and look at all the things we simply didn’t have time to see. Our tour guide would be pleased as it seemed her life’s mission to get us to return.
We would like to say a big thank you to Mrs O’Donovan and the rest of the staff who
helped make this trip such a fun day out
Thank you to Katie G and Maddi S who have written about the experiences on the day.
Celebrating our curriculum…
Examples of fantastic History work
The following Year 11 work has been highlighted by Mr Peacock as excellent work on Civil Rights Movement in America.
Following the Year 11 visit to Winchester Cathedral, all students wrote an essay. Here is a fantastic copy from a student in 11C1.
Celebrating our curriculum…
The following Year 9 work has been highlighted by Mr Wheeler as excellent work on WW2.
Celebrating our curriculum…
The following Year 7 work has been highlighted by Mrs O’Donovan as excellent work on Silk Roads.
Celebrating our curriculum…
The following Year 11 work has been highlighted by Miss Plumpton as excellent work.
Celebrating our curriculum…
Find out what topics students will be covering until the end of the year.
Coming up this term
History
Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10 Year 11
Silk Roads Transatlanticslave trade and it’s links to Reading
Military events during WW2
The Norman invasion, 1066
The Civil RightsMovement in the USA; 1950s
Religious Studies
What is religion
Islam Ethics Islam Ethics
History club
Miss Plumpton is continuing to run the very successful History Club this year. It is based on conspiracy theories and students have to make their own decisions on the events. This week, students were debating the conspiracy that there was no landing on the moon in 1969. What do you think?
Other news…
European Day of Languages 2021
European day of languages is celebrated every year on 26 September and every year languages teachers across Europe like to celebrate with a range of different activities, which highlight the importance of languages and the diversity of languages around the world.
This year your child will have completed a quiz on European festivals, a ‘which teacher is speaking a foreign language’ quiz and the canteen offered a European themed menu on Tuesday 28 September for all to enjoy.
To celebrate business studies and languages being in the same faculty we also designed a logos quiz for European companies that are well known in the UK – do you know which companies’ logos are below? Why not have a go as a family? Correct answers can be handed to MFL staff for a prize!
Other news…
FUN FACTS from our Department
W o r d o f t h e W e e k :
W O R D O F
T H E W E E K
F a c t :
Trucmuche – means Thingummyjig in French
The mother tongues spoken by the most people in Europe are Russian, German, French, English and Turkish, in that order
A place I would love to visit:
With a structural height of 343m, Millau Viaduct is famous as the tallest bridge in the world. It is also renowned for its design, which was considered impossible to construct on its inception, and for being one of the greatest achievements in engineering. Designed by Michel Virlogeux and Norman Foster, Millau Viaduct was constructed in around 3 years with a cost of €394 million.
Please click here for a video about its construction
Other news…
Macmillan bake sale
On Friday 24 September Denefield staff participated in the annual Macmillan bake sale. Well done to all staff who baked and brought in delicious cakes and savoury treats to sell to staff at break and lunchtime – we raised an amazing £327.53 plus any online donations that were made!
Well done and thank you to everyone involved
Covid-19 Information
What to do if your child has Covid-19 symptoms, has a positive LFD test, or you have been notified they have been in close contact with a confirmed case
• If your child has a positive LFD test, then they should immediately self-isolate and take a PCR test. If this PCR test is positive, then they must continue to self-isolate; if it is negative then they may return to school.
• If your child has Covid-19 symptoms – a new and persistent cough, raised temperature or loss of taste or smell, then they should immediately self-isolate and take a PCR test (an LFD test is not suitable if you have symptoms). If this PCR test is positive, then they must continue to self-isolate; if it is negative then they may return to school once their symptoms have cleared.
• The school will no longer identify close contacts of positive cases and will no longer require students to self-isolate. Instead, if a person has a positive PCR test, NHS test and trace will identify close contacts, and advise them to take a PCR test. If this PCR test is positive, then they must self-isolate. Students who are identified as close contacts may continue to attend school until they receive their PCR result.
• If someone in your household has a positive PCR the rest of the household must get a PCR test too (an LFD is not suitable if you are a close contact).
