HEADTEACHER'S KEY MESSAGES

Welcome to the first newsletter of this half-term.

It has been wonderful to see the Y11’s return with such commitment to their PPE’s after obviously spending much time revising during the half -term. We wish them all the best and hope to see some good progress since the last round of exams.

I hope you will enjoy reading this newsletter as much as I have. It has been delightful to read about the work students have been completing in the Architecture Project in collaboration with the Royal Albert Hall in Mr Curran's DT lessons and I was over the moon to meet the Y10 Envision team, for Hot Chocolate Friday, who stormed to victory last term. I always ask the students during these sessions, what is the one thing they would change to make the school a better place to learn? This group's feedback was to bring in an interactive and energetic activity to Monday Tutor Times to wake them up and prepare the students for learning. I love this idea!

Alison, our school counsellor, led thoughtful assemblies for Children's Mental Health week alongside a wonderful stand where students were able to add to the ‘Wall of kindness’ with their own messages to support healthy minds for all.

We have had many successes too; I am hoping to get our trophy cabinet installed very soon as we are collecting a large range of silverware to display. The Y8 & 9 female football team, smashed their last game with an 11-1 victory over Sydenham girls and our Team A debaters won the last round of the debate Mate competition. Come on team DG! There are far too many trips, visits and opportunities for me to mention here, so please do remember to check out our X (formerly Twitter) feed for daily updates.

I would like to take this opportunity to not only wish the students and staff attending the Barcelona residential later this week 'Buen Viaje' but to also thank our staff for giving up their time to provide this opportunity for our students.

I hope that many of the Y9 families have completed the Parents Evening survey. Your voice really does matter to us.

I hope to see many of you at the Craft and Coffee session on the 15th March at 9 - 9.50am. We will be making some lovely Easter decorations whilst having an informal chat. We also have our May Fayre and WE NEED YOU! Please do sign up to get involved with our PTA in any way that you can. (see below).

As you know, we have been working hard these past few years to increase our first-choice places in Y7. I can now share with you that we are one of the most popular schools in the local area and have had 183 first choice applications for our 2024/5 cohort. This is AMAZING news and a huge thank you for all of your support.

As ever, attendance remains a key priority, so please remember holiday requests during term time will ONLY be authorised in exceptional circumstances.

Have a wonderful week ahead,

Emma Thurston

INTERVIEW WITH PAULA FLACK, OUR PTA: 'FRIENDS OF DEPTFORD GREEN' CHAIR

Jess: Hi Paula, thank you for agreeing to be interviewed by us.

Paula: Thank you for inviting me.

Jess: Please could you tell us a bit about yourself and how you’re connected to Deptford Green?

Paula: So I have two children at Deptford Green, one in Y10 and one in Y7. That’s my connection really. I guess I wasn’t involved with the school in any other way before they were here, and I got involved last year when we did an event. The school organised an event called ‘Music Mayhem’ and my husband, he designed the poster for that, and he mentioned to Ms Thurston and Ms Heiser, who is Ms Thurston's Personal Assistant, that I work in the music industry. At that point, I said maybe I can help out with Music Mayhem and helped organise quite a lot of it, and then Ms Walker asked me if I would help set up the PTA and I said okay, I don’t mind, and that’s it really; that’s how I got involved.

Amelia: What is a PTA?

Paula: So, the PTA is essentially a group of parents, and to be clear, it can be ANY parent from across the school, working with some teachers/staff to help organise events that students and their families can enjoy, at the same time, fundraising for things that the school needs that wouldn’t necessarily be funded by the government. At this period of our lives, that list includes quite a lot of things as school budgets are tight.

Jess: Thank you for that. Why did you want to be the Chair of the PTA?

Paula: Because Ms Walker asked me to be the Chair! (laughter) and because I had been heavily involved in my children's primary school PTA and that was a very successful group that managed to raise substantial funds for the primary school.

Jess: What are you planning to do to help the PTA move forward at Deptford Green, and how can other parents get involved?

Paula: Firstly we URGENTLY need a dedicated couple of parents who will work together to help get our PTA officially set up as a charity. That is our priority at the moment, along with our next event which is going to be a May Fayre on Saturday 18th May which will be like a summer fair that you might have been to at your primary school, but it’s going to be in May instead! Anybody can get involved who’s a parent or carer at the school just by contacting me - my contact details are below. Parents can let us know what they are prepared to do to help. We might ask people to do something as simple as writing a shopping list of things we might need for food to sell at the fair, or we might need people who can actually make things for the fair. We need input/suggestions about the stalls that we might have, or when I was doing it for Edmund Waller, we had a parent who made some stocks. Do you know what I'm talking about?

Jess: Yeah, I remember the one at our primary school.

Paula: I think years ago at DG they did something similar and 'Splashed the Teacher', so that’s the kind of thing parents can do in advance and it depends how much time they have and are willing to give. Then, on the day, we always need people to help run stalls. We also need parents to be placed around the school to stop people from going to parts of the school that will be closed off and to take card payments at the gate as the entry fee and basically, be there just to ensure that the day runs smoothly and everyone has a nice time. I definitely need their help; I cannot do this alone. (laughter) as my job is demanding and busy as many other parents are too, but if there are enough of us and we work successfully together, we can do this and raise some decent money for the school.

Jess: That’s great. Is there anything that the students in the school can do to help with this event or is it just the PTA in general?

Paula: Of course! You can persuade your parents to get involved, even if it’s just ten minutes of help! You know, there are always little jobs to do and the more people that help, the easier it is and the better the event will be, because there’s only so much I can do alongside my full-time job and if there are only a few people who help, then we are limited in what we can achieve. So the more parents who get involved, the better, and then when we have an event, please get your parents to come to the events, buy tickets in advance if you can, bring your family, bring your friends, and just enjoy the event! Sadly, we just had to cancel what we hoped would be our first PTA-led event - the Movie Night In February - because only a few parents had booked tickets and unless parents show interest, then it isn't financially viable for the school to put on the event, as the use of the building and the hiring of equipment (for example we had to pay a fee to publicly show a film) is wasted. Ms Joauvel is also going to ask the School Council to get involved, Ms Walker tells me.

Amelia: If the PTA is successful, how will it impact on our school?

Paula: I think it helps to build a community beyond the students, which is quite a major and positive thing to achieve actually, but then it also fundraises for the school, so as I said, where there are things that aren’t funded by the government, the PTA can fundraise specifically for those things or money can go into a pot and it can be used for future events, resources for students and rewards for students. Some of the money raised from the May Fayre will be able to go towards this summer's Dream Days Events.

Lisa: For us, (Lisa, Jess and Amelia), this will be our last Dream Days.

Paula: Ohhh. How come?

Amelia: Because in Y11, we won't be here when Dream Days are on because we will have finished at DG as our GCSE's will be over!

Paula: So hopefully, you will really enjoy this year's Dream Days! And maybe next year, if they run Dream Days again, you might want to come back and volunteer if you are allowed to? Also, you can encourage Y10's to get involved in the May Fayre. Also, the other thing we can get you to do; if we’ve got an event coming up, maybe students would want to design the posters for the event and put posters up around the school to make sure everybody knows what's on and that everybody comes? Tell your friends, spread the word, but please liaise with us first so we know what everyone is doing!

Lisa: Is there a way for students to help with the May Fayre events?

Paula: I’m sure that we can let you help on stalls as well, running stalls, whatever those stalls may be because I haven’t even had a chance to think about that yet! We are going to have a planning meeting shortly so I will have a better idea of what we are doing then, (look out for more info on that in the next newsletter) but if you think students would want to be behind the stalls and help run them, then that would be great because, lots of the time, parents can’t or won’t do it, so it’d be great to have some student support.

Lisa: Parents are busy guys! Technically speaking, some parents have two jobs, because being a parent is a job in itself!

Jess: Yeah. That's true!

Paula: Exactly! Well done. Being a parent is an unpaid job, some might call it a 'voluntary role' (laughter).

Jess: Well, that’s all the questions. Thank you for talking to us for the newsletter.

Paula: Great, thank you!

Many thanks to Paula, Jess, Lisa and Amelia for doing this.

PARENTS/CARERS: If you want to get involved, either in the upcoming May Fayre or in the PTA generally, please contact Paula on: friendsofdeptfordgreen@gmail.com

Here is a link to sign up to our PTA: Click HERE

HOT OFF THE PRESS:

COME ALONG TO OUR MAY FAYRE PLANNING MEETING ON MONDAY 11TH MARCH 6-7PM IN THE LIBRARY WITH PAULA

HERE'S A REMINDER OF WHAT WE NEED URGENTLY - SOMEONE TO TAKE THE REGISTRATION OF THE PTA, AS AN OFFICIAL CHARITY, FORWARD TO COMPLETION. Please contact Paula if you can help with this. Thank you!

OUR WONDERFUL PARENT VOLUNTEERS, HELPING AT THE Y9 PATHWAYS & PARENT EVENING - THEY WERE AMAZING!

A HUGE thank you to Heather and Rudolph, two of our wonderful Parent Volunteers who sold refreshments at our Y9 Pathways and Parents Evening. Simply brilliant! Cakes, Biscuits, Coffees, Teas & Juice for sale, helping raise money for our PTA and thanks also to Reuben and Arthur for helping out on the night!

Students in an English lesson

WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING AT SCHOOL?

CHILDREN'S MENTAL HEALTH WEEK

MILLIE IN Y8 IS ONE OF OUR AMAZING & PASSIONATE MENTAL HEALTH AMBASSADORS

The theme explored by Place2Be and the Mental Health Ambassadors was 'My Voice Matters'.

These are some of the things that Student Voice @DG has achieved and during the week students were able to put up comments of kindness for others to read... using our voices for good!

Many thanks to Alison and Lily and the other counsellors who support our students every day at school and to all our wonderful Mental Health Ambassadors.

VOTING FOR YOUNG MAYOR

Well done to Omari and Deborah in Y10 who stood as candidates for Young Mayor this year.

Voting for Young Mayor across Lewisham Schools is a fantastic opportunity for students to experience the election process and to vote for a Young Mayor to work to improve the borough for young people. Sadly on this occasion our students weren't successful, but the experience was a learning curve and we are proud of them both!

Y10 VISIT TO THE APT GALLERY

On Thursday 22nd February, Y10 Art students attended an amazing guided tour of local artist Steve Burden's solo show at APT gallery. Burden's artwork is about his own journey through life, from growing up on the Pepys estate to studying at Goldsmiths and becoming an artist. He talked to the students about gentrification, class and identity. Everyone was excited to see his large scale paintings and installations and had a lot of questions to ask!

Y10 VISIT TO THE TWIST MUSEUM

On Friday 23rd February our Y10 Photographers really enjoyed their visit to the Twist Museum! They explored colour, optical illusions and developed their understanding of how the eye and brain communicate!

Y10 & Y10 VISIT TO THE BARBICAN

On Thursday 29th February, our Y10 & 11 Textiles GCSE students visited The Barbican Centre to see Unraveled, such an inspiring exhibition! We can already see how the work will inspire them in their own creations and so great to see Textiles Art being powerfully celebrated in its own right.

On Monday the 5th February a group of DT students were involved in the Performance, Architecture and Design Workshop. This is being run by The Grimshaw Foundation and The Royal Albert Hall.

The project is to design performance spaces using a wide range of materials to enhance the acoustics and user experience. Deptford Green is fortunate to be working with the renowned musician Anna Lapwood MBE. She is Director of Music at Pembroke College, Cambridge University and also an organist / multi- instrumentalist.

Our students are designing an architectural space based around Anna’s personality and personal values. As part of the workshop, the students had a Q&A session where they were able to ask Anna a series of questions about Anna and her performances. The students, especially our girls, were really inspired by Anna and her backstory.

Thank you Mr Curran

Top Row left to right: Anna, Orson, Michael, Efeosa Nigella, Natasha

Next Row: Noora, Katie, Amon, Wesley, Zuka, Ashlee, Zak and Kareem

Final Row: Hepzibah (standing) Ilia and Xavier

WEDNESDAY 28TH OF FEBRUARY

Hi, I'm Orson from The Debate Mate Team. Our team won both rounds of our debates in this round of competition. We started off against some people from a school called J Micheal

I was the first speak,r Mikey was second, Ashley was third and we had Hepzibah as our summary speaker. This debate was probably the hardest as we went up against two year nines and two year eights who were older and had more experience than us. Even still, we pushed through and succeeded with our first win on team A. For our second win we had Wesley as first speaker, Hepzipbah in 2nd, Amon in third and Zuka as summary speaker.

I stand by this, we 'smoked them' with Wesley giving us that strong opening we needed, then we kept up a good flow and then some disrespectful comments from the other team lost them points, ultimately handing us the win! Yeah!!!

Noora had this to say:

Hello! I would like to tell you all about our amazing experience as team B! The journey was fun; we were excited about this trip, practising, planning, and improving every day, and our hard work paid off! The school the debate was being held at was amazing, and as soon as we walked through the door, we got extremely excited and then it was time for us to start!

First, we were against a school fighting for the proposition 'Why secondary students should be allowed to vote in general elections'. I can tell you, our team tried ridiculously hard and each one of us made excellent arguments! Unfortunately, we didn't win that debate, but I can definitely say the school we were against did excellently. Our second debate on 'Wwhether phones should be banned on school grounds' was tense, and both teams made great points! Overall, our experience was amazing!

Team B: Natasha (Y8), Joshua(Y8), Ese(Y8), Elliot (Y8), Anna(Y8), Noora (Y7)

'The Crossing' - A Creative Piece by Mr Ramsay

The smell was full of success and the noise drummed the air with passion. The authenticity aroused nature and its constituent parts. All had a part to play and all were in their top form….to play. Old hard bitumen splated on the paths that instruct the way forward and backward. An old-school way of ensuring the safety of all complex organisms. A safe journey from one path to another. A safe haven from one heart to another. In the near distance – acoustic sounds of memories old as the 50s and present as the swifties. An accolade for British artists who rocked the world at a time when the world was shocked. A set of simple steps that provoked the hearts and minds of fans across the globe. The attachment between the feet and the ground furnished with bitumen. The relationship of simplicity is art when executed with swagger. An art that stamped vinyl. The 12-inch type that stood out on any turntable and a group of debaters from Deptford Green trod on these steps as The Beatles.

A new club has started which will be really helpful for your children if they are getting negatives for not doing their homework or are falling behind at all or simply saying they just don't understand their homework (although of course we would hope that in the first instance, if that is the case, they would express that to their teacher).

Also, our Learning Support Assistants are available for one-to-one support. There are laptops available with full internet access and facilities for printing. Everyone is welcome in 115!

BOYS FRIDAY READING CLUB BEGINS

On Friday 23rd of February, we started our Reading Club with all too much laughing and getting what page number we are meant to be reading up to wrong! Zac was so convinced it was a certain page number, he stopped mid-chapter???? And Harley added a whole chapter to his reading! No wonder we packed him off to gardening this week! Anyway, we are reading and having fun (mostly)! Here's what a couple of them had to say about it and next week we have a couple more students joining us...

From left to right: Heath (Y9) Albert (Y8), David (Y7) Maurice (Y8) Zac (Y8) Harvey (Y8) and David (Y8)

Maurice says: 'We go on Forever' is set in the future and in a dystopian, alien sort of world. One of the two main characters, Arthur is the son of the company, M.A.D.E.'s boss. The company has somehow managed to switch people's bodies into different ones. The other of the two main characters, Alba, is in a boarding school type of place where she wants to be picked as the next 'apprentice' (not with Alan Sugar though!) so she can be reunited with her best friend and cross the wilderness.

David says: In book club, we have been reading a book called, 'We Go On Forever' by Sarah Govett. It is fantastic. Book club is enjoyable and has lots of treats!. We share opinions about the book but in a relaxed way rather than in English lessons, and we are going to make some nice displays. If you like this, talk to Ms Walker about joining the next book club.

FOR READING WEEK:

Dario will receive a £25 Voucher & a book, Maya will receive a £15 voucher and a book and Kareem will receive a £10 voucher and a book. Well done to all of you.

I am also giving Anna (Y8), Millie (Y8), Aimee (y7) Christine (Y7), Harley (Y8) add Katie (Y7) an honorary mention for outstanding entries. You have all received extra lorics & raffle tickets! Well done to all of you. Look out for the next competition COMING VERY SOON!

Y11 VISIT TO THE HORNIMAN MUSEUM

These are some comments by the students after:

Solomon- ‘As well as being extremely enjoyable, the museum allowed us to learn so much about music from all around the world. Listening to the musicians play was amazing, and it’s great to hear their personal experiences through the music. The instruments in particular were super- interesting, even how rhythm adapts to its place in the world.’

Kari- ‘The museum was extremely beneficial for our music education as well as being an all round fun time.’

Reece: ‘Some words I’d use to describe this experience are: Intriguing, Calming, Engaging, Enticing, Informative and Fun!’

Newsletters

DEPTFORD GREEN NEWSLETTER

ISSUE: 4th March 2024

HEADTEACHER'S KEY MESSAGES

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY:

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