It has been a fun-filled and jam-packed term with much to celebrate as ever.
The term ended with a bang with the annual Christmas Showcase led by Mr Heelbeck and the Arts team.
Students prepared and served home made pizzas, our wonderful PTA volunteers hosted the bar and snacks stall, our Portrait of the Year competition entries were voted on and many students wowed the audience with their amazing performances. I was delighted with the Y8 boy band who were fantastic - such confidence and sass!
Our students have continued to show our GREAT values through fundraising events this term. The end of term collection will be raising funds for the Woodlands trust - the student Eco Committee selected this worthy cause. We were delighted to deliver over 15 boxes of goods to Lewisham Food Bank providing much needed Christmas food for the festive season for Lewisham residents.
I had a very productive meeting with the student council earlier this week. I fully agree with many of their recommendations about healthier food options in the canteen and plans to develop the playground into a more welcoming and green space. What voice they have!
Sadly, we do have some staff leaving us for pastures new as we end this term. We wish them all the very best for their future and hope they come back to visit us soon. I can confirm that we are fully staffed and that all teaching positions are filled for January which is no mean feat in the current climate.
We would like to start the Spring Term strong and encourage you to ensure your child is meeting our expectations regarding uniform, equipment and that any festive nails and eyelashes have been removed in plenty of time as we begin again. We shall be focusing on this during the first few weeks back, and ensuring ALL STUDENTS are adhering to our policies.
I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a wonderful festive break. May this holiday season be filled with love, laughter and good cheer.
Emma Thurston
OUR LEAVERS: FROM TOP LEFT - JENNY BAX (SLT), NICHOLE KNIGHT (IT) NGOZI ANIAGWU (BUSINESS & MATHS), AINSLEY EVERETT (PASTORAL LEADER Y8) CAROLINE GADNEY (ART, DT & PHOTOGRAPHY) , ERIC EMOKPAE (LSA) JOSEPH MOLTO (HISTORY)
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY:
Tuesday 9th January - Start of Spring Term – All Years prompt start 8.40am
Tuesday 9th January - Year 9 Revision Week Begins
Wednesday 10th January – Y10 Trip To Ravensbourne all day with Ms Nembhard
Monday 15th January – Y9 Assessment Week Begins
Monday 15th January – Summer Show Auditions Week
Wednesday 17th January – Y10 Parents Evening (on site) – 4-7pm
Thursday 18th January – School Council Meeting Rm 121 12.40pm
Tuesday 23rd January – Summer Show Cast Announced & First Meeting
Tuesday 23rd January – Y10 Catalyst Meeting (Careers Hub) 1.20-3.50pm
We have SO MUCH to be proud of at Deptford Green and the students, staff and parents/carers involved, certainly made this an evening to remember! Well done to EVERYONE who took part...
MR HEELBECK STARTED EVERYTHING OFF & FELIX & TOKY SOLD CANDLES AS PART OF YOUNG ENTERPRISE
THE ELVES WITH 'NASTY' SANTA!
THE ELVES BITE BACK & SANTA IS DOWN... BUT IS HE OUT?
ELLIE PLAYING THE PIANO & THE Y10 BAND
KY-MANI, KATE AND KEHINDE
ORSON, KATE, JACK & INALEN
TAIWO, MR HILL, SOLI & KARI
DRAMATIC MOMENTS WITH RAHEEM, TAIWO, QUEEN, ELLA, OLIVER & REECE
Bailey & Delina showing their culinary masterpieces!
The Y9 students were learning how to make Authentic Napolitano pizzas in preparation for the Christmas Showcase.
KAYLA O & ESAH Y9 WORKING HARD!
The pizzas were available for £1 a slice before the show and during the interval. Every slice was eaten up and they definitely went down a treat! Well done to our outstanding chefs!
Also a MASSIVE THANK YOU to Jo, Morgan, Saskia - our wonderful Parent/Volunteers - for helping out at the Bar/Refreshments stall and helping sell drinks and snacks and candy canes to our audience, performers and crew and to Paula for helping get the word out. Thank you one and all for helping make it so special and successful!
CHECK OUT THIS GREAT OPPORTUNITY!
INTERVIEW WITH JULIA - OUR Y11 SCHOOL CAPTAIN FOR DG VALUES
DANTE, KHYRN, JULIA & YUSSUF
Yussuf: This is an interview conducted by Khyrn, Yussuf and Dante with one of our school captains, Julia.
Khyrn: The first question we’ve got for you today is, what motivated you to become school captain?
Julia: I believe I have always been a leader throughout my life and not only do I believe it would be good for my CV and post 16 education, but I also believe it will prepare me for the outside world if I was to take a leadership role in a job in the future. I will already have had some practice.
Dante: What is your role as school captain and what does it entail?
Julia: My role is Values, meaning I am supposed to be taking care of the school growth values, making sure people follow them. For example, if I witness somebody acting incorrectly or going against the growth values, I am supposed to correct them.
Yussuf: What challenges did you face while applying, and how did you overcome them?
Julia: I think one of the obvious challenges is that there were multiple other contenders for the role who were also just as fit to become a leader as I was and to overcome that, I had to show the students that I was different, and able to be the best when giving them the voice that they needed.
Khyrn: What ideas do you have for your projects and how do you plan on implementing them?
Julia: An idea myself and the other school captains came up with was to ensure we always display GREAT behaviours to demonstrate to other students the correct way to act and to to maximize our learning.
Dante: What do you aim to change in the school as a school captain?
Julia: I aim to promote equity and support people with disabilities and those who might not be as able in social situations as others. Even those with learning disabilities – we need to make sure that they are not marginalized and/or ostracised and that they have the right support at school to succeed.
Yussuf: As a school captain, what legacy do you plan on leaving behind when you leave DG?
Julia: I want people to remember me as someone who included everyone, someone who was good at taking onboard others people’s ideas and implementing them in my 'position of power'. I want to be remembered as a selfless person and someone who others could look up to.
Khyrn: How do you plan on increasing inclusivity?
Julia: I plan on increasing inclusivity by including everyone in things such as extra-curricular activities, more specifically sports, because not everyone likes playing sports but sport is not only GREAT for your body physically, but GREAT for your mental health. This doesn’t mean people who don’t enjoy sport should be left out; the sport should be adapted to allow everyone to participate while still having fun.
Dante: This one is for the library. What is your favourite book?
Julia: I would recommend the series ‘The School of Good and Evil’ by Soman Chainani because it's good for a variety of ages and its quite enthralling and engaging and I found I didn’t want to put the series down
Khyrn: Our last question: What is something you do outside of school that aids you in your role as school captain?
Julia: Outside of school I do some modelling. Before doing that, I used to struggle a lot when speaking to people I didn’t know, but as a model you have to speak to people you’re not familiar with when you do photo shoots with them. This prepares you for a leadership role because, as a leader, you will have to speak to people you haven’t met or worked with before.
Dante, Khyrn & Yussuf: Thank you for your time Julia.
Julia: You are welcome.
PLEASE NOTE:
Following on from the interview with Abi Kasim from our last newsletter, we wanted to stress that Abi is now 27 years old, firmly an adult in her own right, and her meeting with an ex-teacher was by pure chance.
Current students are NOT allowed to follow staff on social media and are not allowed to have a personal relationship with teachers outside of school. NO staff member can liaise with students unless it is strictly through the school platform. Thank you...
WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING AT SCHOOL?
ART
PORTRAIT COMPETITION WINNERS
FROM AN AMAZING & CREATIVE SELECTION!
THIRD PLACE...
YLEIDA Y8
SECOND PLACE...
KATE Y9
AND FIRST PLACE GOES TO...
MEGI Y8
Thanks Ms Greenhalgh.
BUSINESS
BAKE & BRACELET SALE
LOTS OF FUN BEING HAD BY AMBER, AMELIA, KEMANEE AND JESSICA
The Young Enterprise Team made their own bracelets and cakes (hopefully they didn't combine them! although many of us remember when they would actually put coins in Christmas Pudding in school!) and carefully listed out all the ingredients to ensure customers with food allergies were aware of what their produce contained.
Updates from the team will be forthcoming in the new term on how they did financially and what they are learning about business practises as they are going along.
CAREERS
Earlier this term, Y11 Business and Enterprise students went on the 'Business of Football' Tour at Chelsea Football Club (CFC).
This tour is aimed at GCSE and vocational business students. The visit provided an exciting insight into matchday and non-matchday operations at the club for our business students. The tour lasted approximately an hour. We had an experienced guide who explained key operational matters and funny anecdotes on the club's history. As a case study, it focused on the merchandise, marketing, finance and staffing procedures, thus it served as a great resource for the coursework Y11 students are undertaking.
Our students enjoyed 'playing manager' as they sat in the manager's seat in the press room and practised taking penalties like the professionals. They also had trophies to show for it all!
Thank you Mr Aniagwu - we wish you well as you move on to the next stage of your career!
Y8 GIRLS & 'STEMIE' FLAMINGO
Y8 girls and their mascot, Stemie the STEM Flamingo, visited Imperial College for a Maths day.
Stemie working out what the Hohmann transfer orbit is!
Along with around 200 other bright Y8 girls from across London, they were challenged to ponder how Maths is used in different jobs.
Did you know that Florence Nightingale was first a statistician? Collecting Data and presenting it in a visually compelling way ensured that changes could be made to patient care and hospital management.
Students had a go at being Data Storytellers and Data visualisers and worked collaboratively to present data about inequalities in the UK. They also met a female entrepreneur working with AI to solve tech access issues for the elderly and a female cyber security engineer at Just Eat, who makes sure we can all get our favourite takeaways delivered whilst keeping our financial data safe. Students were also introduced to some high level maths used in space exploration and looked at the Hohmann transfer orbit.
Well done to all the girls who attended for displaying Deptford Green values beautifully throughout the day and being awesome!
DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY/FOOD TECH
Y7 - Animal Snapper Project - THis year group have been learning about mechanisms and linkages and have designed and made the animal snappers as a fun project. The students have used hand tools and machines to create their work.
Y9 - This was part of the DT exhibition at the Christmas showcase. The brief was to upcycle fabric to create new materials, students used recycled denim jeans and used weaving to create a new fabric, which then can be made into a new garment.
Y9 Light Project - The brief was to design and make a light for a specific user group and to be powered by an LED module and USB lead. The designs also needed to have an upcycling focus, in many of the lamps the students have used recycled wood or drinks cans as shades. The lights were displayed at the Christmas showcase
Y10 have been working on a storage container brief and Ella K, Jamie H and Leon were brave enough to have their photo taken! The brief was to design and make a container, which has compartments and uses traditional woodworking skills, this these examples you will see finger joints, housing joints and a cross halving joint, the material used is sustainable softwood. The students have also used CAD (computer aided design) and the laser cutter to etch designs onto the base of their container. The individual photos are of Ella K’s work. Well done to the whole class!
Thank you Mr Curran
On the 29th of November Y10's made Macaroni and Cheese with BBQ chicken. This ties in with our theory lessons on processed and manufactured foods - Thank you Ms Edy
ENGLISH/LIBRARY
OUR NEW POETRY ANTHOLOGY IS NOW AVAILABLE TO BUY FOR £2 THROUGH PARENTPAY
Well done to all our contributors who have been rewarded through our LORIC Reward System...
Just a reminder...
We have launched a short story writing competition - please encourage your child/children to get involved. Thank you for those who have already sent me your entries!
After its closing date and once the Short Story anthology is compiled and published, it will be available to purchase so get writing Deptford Green!
SPORT @ DG
FOOTBALL
Our Y7 girls team won 3-0 on Monday but lost 0-4 yesterday. Despite this last defeat, they were all still in really good spirits and had a fun time and most importantly were really supportive of each other! Well done girls!
Also really good news. The Y8/9 girls won 3-1 (scored by Eliza, Katia + Lolly) against Grey Coat's School in the Inner London Cup. The girls all played brilliantly and supported each other and communicated well, really showing our school values and they are now through to the next round!
Y8 & 9 GIRLS DOING REALLY WELL!
EX-STUDENT SUCCESS: LEANDRO PLAYS VIOLIN WITH THE PCO
Leandro, who left DG 2 years ago, has been playing violin with the Peckham Chamber Orchestra and several staff and students were invited along to the Rivoli Ballroom at Crofton Park on Sunday 10th December to hear them play. The whole concert was amazing and Leandro played first violin on one of the final pieces of the performance. Whilst at DG, Leandro was very involved with our Music Department and since leaving us, is obviously going from strength to strength.
Well done Leandro - we are very proud of you and thank you for inviting us along!
Christmas in Lewisham 2023: Useful Services, Free Meals and Free Food
Family Thrive Early Help Co-ordinators are running a free course for parents or carers of teenagers and pre-teens who are looking to better understand and communicate with them – It offers an opportunity to understand what’s going on in the adolescent brain and how to understand their feelings and behaviours using an authoritative parenting style. Sessions will focus on relationships within the family, communication, negotiation, decision-making and strategies to reduce conflict.
The group aims to develop:
relationships between teenagers and parents/carers
a calmer home life
confidence when talking about difficult issues
an understanding of teenage needs and development
Who would be eligible to attend this course?
Parents and carers of pre-teens and teenagers who are currently in years 6 & 7 but there may be availability for years 5 & 8
There is no physical or extremely challenging behaviour present in or outside of the family home. This course focuses on the importance of empathy and positive discipline
Family must reside in Lewisham borough or child must attend a Lewisham school
How long is the course?
Each group is 4 sessions over the course of 4 weeks
2 hours per session (10.00am-12.00pm on Thursdays)
The next course will be running on Thursdays at Clyde Family Hub on the following dates and times:
18th January 2024 - 10am-12pm
25th January 2024 - 10am-12pm
1st February 2024 - 10am-12pm
8th February 2024 – 10am-12pm
PLEASE NOTE: ALL ATTENDEES ARE REQUIRED TO ATTEND ALL 4 SESSIONS
Address: Clyde Family Hub, Alverton St, London SE8 5NH
Dear Parents & Carers,
As we come towards the end of 2023, we wanted to take this opportunity to wish you a Merry Christmas and all the best for the New Year. Our last National Broadcast of the year is released and in it, we’ll be rounding up some of our favourite media literacy habits. To watch it, please click HERE
What is ParentZone? We offer expert advice and information for parents around tech and digital. We will help you feel more confident going online. Click HERE to find out more about us.
Click HERE to learn more about Kooth's services for young people. So far this year, more than 130,000 children and young people have signed up to Kooth, and there have been over 1.1 million logins to the website.
FROM PLACE2BE
Dear Deptford Green Staff, Students and families,
It has been a pleasure to work alongside you in school this Autumn term.
As we near our winter break, Place2Be is thinking about how we celebrate light across cultures at this time of year. For centuries we have come together to celebrate sunshine and light to help support us through the darkness of the winter months.
Place2Be is aware that not all of us may be able to celebrate light.
Please note the Kooth Christmas hours information over the Christmas period, and know that there are also other services that operate 24/7 over the Christmas break as detailed below. The important thing to remember is that we do not have to be alone with worries, and what helps us most through darker times is reaching out to others. There is always someone you can reach out to.
We look forward to being with you again when we return to school on Tuesday 9th January 2024.
Alison and Lilly: Place2Be School Project Manager (SPM) and Associate School Project Manager (ASPM)
