The weather this half-term may have been a damp squib, but the fire has continued to burn brightly here at Deptford Green with many more opportunities for our students to develop their learning in exciting ways, more of which you can read about in this packed newsletter.
Firstly, I would like to pass on my huge thanks to the team of parents and carers (and our wonderful staff too!) who worked together to deliver our first Maydayz Festival. It was an absolute joy to see so many of our students mingling with parents and other community members, enjoying themselves by launching dripping wet sponges at some of their favourite teachers in the stocks! From the students and staff performing, to the henna tattoos, from the popcorn and hot dog stands to the plethora of craft stalls, there was much on offer. I can announce that a grand total of £1258.56 was raised. Some of this money will be contributing toward our Dream Days activities later in the term,which is absolutely amazing news, and as the FODG team go from strength to strength, their efforts will further enhance the educational experiences and enrichment opportunities of our students' school life.
As we near the end of this academic year, our DG team are evaluating the past year and setting out our priorities for the year ahead. As important stakeholders, your views and opinions truly matter to us. Please take a few moments to complete the whole school survey - CLICK HERE. PLEASE COMPLETE THIS BY FRIDAY 7TH JUNE - thank you. This information will be gratefully received and enormously helpful for us with regard to future strategic planning.
Hopefully, over the next week, as the sun returns and the temperatures rise, with this in mind, we shall be moving to the summer uniform for the remainder of this half-term and returning to our usual uniform in September. Please check the expectations carefully and ensure your child/children are meeting these expectations. You should also ensure they bring a refillable water bottle every day in order to keep hydrated. Click HERE for the summer uniform information from our website.
I would like to remind you of some key expectations to ensure we finish the term on a positive note:
Our expectations for uniform and equipment remain the same. Please ensure your children leave home on time and fully equipped for school every day.
We shall maintain our high expectations of student behaviour and commitment to work during this final half-term.
Holidays in term time will only be authorised in exceptional circumstances with robust evidence to support the request. Students need to be in school every day until Friday July 26th please.
Thank you as ever for your support with the above and for every other way in which you support us here at Deptford Green.
Have a wonderful break and we look forward to seeing your children at 8:30am ready for an 8:35am start on Monday 3rd June and looking forward to all of the wonderful activities this final half-term holds.
Let us all hope the sun shines!
Emma Thurston
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY:
Wednesday 5th June - Y8 Parents' Evening 4-7pm
Thursday 6th June - Bronze D of E Parents Meeting
Friday 7th June - History Holocaust Trip (Y9) Ms Daswani
Monday 10th June - School Council Meeting 12.40pm Rm 121
Thursday 13th June - Y7 Graduation Event
Wednesday 19th June Y11 photography Trip with Ms Thurston
Friday 21st June - Sunday 23rd June D of E Silver Expedition
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
WHAT'S COMING UP @ DG
Y11 PROM!
SCHOOL OF ROCK
Also on the Tuesday at this event will be an Arts, Textiles and Photography exhibit of the Y11 GCSE coursework from 4-6pm where the FODG will be hosting a Bar & refreshments stand so please do come along and enjoy a drink whilst looking at all the amazing creative DG talent on show!
Don't forget Y8 Parents Evening on Wednesday 5th June! 4-7pm
WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING AT SCHOOL?
MAYDAYZ
Firstly a MASSIVE thank you to all our brilliant school community for coming along and helping make the first FODG parent-led event such a success!
Thank you to the wonderful Paula Flack, our FODG chair, for doing the main organising of the event and to the others who helped and contributed alongside her. We truly do have a small but strong group of committed parents/carers who believe in our school and who are willing to go above and beyond to get this group off the ground. Thank you everyone!
Special mention to: Heather Locklear who, apart from working hard to get the FODG group formally registered as a charity, has also paid for half of the hiring cost of the Inflatable alongside Dr. Benaliligha Francis Selemo, another of our amazing parents who runs a mental health service that supports families and organisations. Thank you to the both of you for your kind generosity, plus Suzanne McKenzie who not only donated all of the takings from her lovely stall on the day, but has also donated a lot of brand-new uniform to our uniform stand. A thank you to Mrs Hope Moss who gave lots of cakes and biscuits to the cafe for us to sell and to all the other parents who helped out on the stalls wherever they were needed. To Dr Rudolph Van Koningsveld who designed the poster and signage and helped run the bar/hot dog stand on the day. To the wonderful Jo Travers and Leah Halabi Canhoto whose help was invaluable, and to any others I have missed (forgive me if this is the case) who pitched in - you are amazing! Also to Mr Heelbeck and Mr St Luce for their wonderful work on the music side of things and to all the musicians who took part. To Ms Coffey, Ms Samms and Ms Power who supported me personally (and to Mr Walker) who came and just asked 'What can I do?' Again we couldn't have done it without you.
Thank you to every parent/carer and staff member who helped behind the scenes, who maybe couldn't come but still contributed to raffles and prizes. The weather may have been dull day but you brought us DG sunshine!
Check out some photos from the day and some reports from our wonderful students below!
Our wonderful school governor Lisa and Ms Joauvel helping at the cafe
A queue for Hot Dogs! Thank you Phi and Isaac!
Getting creative on our Graffiti Wall
Ilia's mum who successfully guessed the weight of the cake and won it!
A beautiful Henna design by our fantastic Y11 Trio - thank you girls!
One of our amazing parents Suzanne, who generously contributed all her takings to FODG with Paula our FODG Chair
Hello there! I am Ilia and I am in Y8 and I helped with the book stand at the MayDayZ festival.
I donated a couple of children's books to a stall and worked the afternoon before making cards - in total I made around a dozen cards or so.
On the morning of Maydayz, my friends and I met up at a bus stop and walked down to the school together. Once we had set up the stand, we had a fun time talking with each other and our friends before the festival opened. Once it did, we sold quite a few books and some cards.
I also performed in the School of Rock showcase where we sang 2 songs from the upcoming show which we will be performing for the end of year performance. We left the stall and went to a rehearsal, went through 2 songs and then went on stage after the warm-up. It was fun!
Then we got to throw sponges at teachers who were put in some wooden stocks and a bunch of teachers got soaking wet! Now that WAS truly fun!!!
Mr Sinclair preparing for Man City to beat Arsenal on Sunday!
Mr Watts with his film studies hat on 'Heeere's Johnny!'
My name is Katie and I am in Y7. The MayDayz Festival was absolutely chaotic for me! Originally, we were supposed to do a gardening club stall where we were going to sell plants and cuttings. However, unfortunately,we couldn't as due to unforeseen circumstances, Ms Manning was not able to attend.
Despite this, Nigella and I were still determined to create a stall and went to the library to discuss our plan. When we were there, we told Ms Walker the bad news and how we wanted to still help out, and then our superhero librarian let us sell the second-hand books. We were delighted and decided to do a Books and Cards stall, designing our own cards in record time! Then, we asked Micha and Ilia to help us with the stall also. We agreed to meet up on the day and Gracie joined us and helped to make the stall a real success!
The festival was amazing! We managed to make £141 plus we had some time to eat, play and buy loads of things to help out the other stalls. I also took part in the School Of Rock performance and came home with a bunch of nice things and a smile on my face (plus a packet of sausages). Who could ask for anything more?!
Truly GREAT students & friends, Nigella (Y7), Katie (Y7), Micha (Y9) and Ilia (Y8)
At the end of the festival, Ms Thurston got various participants to help draw the raffle (some prizes are still to be handed out). Ms Walker will be in touch with those winners who didn't receive their prizes on the day over the coming few days and we want to say a HUGE thank you to Jill Neilan who managed to get so many businesses to contribute to the Raffle. Thank you Jill, you are amazing!
THANK YOU SO MUCH TO THE FOLLOWING BUSINESSES WHO CONTRIBUTED TOWARD THE FESTIVAL'S SUCCESS
Please do join us at our next event which we will advertise very soon. FODG will also be selling refreshments at the Y8 Parents Evening and will be running the Bar at 'School of Rock' so please do come and support them as they try to raise funds to improve student opportunities at our school. Thank you.
PGL VISIT
Our Y7's went on a trip to PGL Liddington near Swindon on Wednesday 8th May - Friday 10th May. This trip gave our students the chance to explore, challenge and discover their strengths. To develop their teamworking skills and create new friendships, as well as improving their independence and resilience as individuals. The trip included well-planned adventure activities under the guidance of PGL staff and our wonderful DG staff of course too.
Please see below a selection of the photos from their trip and we hope that they all enjoyed themselves. It certainly looked fun!
One student said:
I thought the PGL trip was quite good overall. There were many activities and different things to do. My favourite activities were the swing, canoeing and abseiling was good too. The dorms were ok. We got to choose who we roomed with so it was fun being with our friends. Dinner time was funny as we got to eat with friends and try different foods. I also really enjoyed the coach ride as it was just a bunch of us laughing, having snacks and speaking to the people all around us. The weather was pretty good too so that helped. If I had a choice, I would definitely go again.
George said (very briefly!): PGL was pretty fun-we did a lot of height -based activities like abseiling and trapeze (jumping onto a hanging bar) as well as some others, like canoeing and problem-solving.
David said:PGL was a roller coaster of emotions! It was both annoying, exciting, and delicious (by delicious I obviously mean the food!) It was certainly one of my most jubilant journeys since the start of Y7, so I would like to talk about some of my experiences at PGL.
1. My group and one other group ended up a whole hour and a half late!
2. My three favourite activities were the trapeze, canoeing (where I lost my glasses) and abseiling.
3. One of the people in the room next to me threw up, meaning my friends had to move rooms entirely! Yuck!
Overall PGL was a semi-amazing experience that I hope to go back to, and maybe next time I can go to the top of the giant swing!
Thank you David and George for this feedback! You got Raffle Tickets and other Lorics for your efforts!
STUDENT SUCCESS
We are proud to announce that Oscar took 1st place in the U14 Swimming Championship at the Lewisham London Youth Games on Tuesday, having won all 15 races! Well done Oscar - this is amazing!
Y10 STRATFORD GEOGRAPHY TRIP
Y10 students embarked on an insightful fieldwork trip to Stratford for their GCSE, where they investigated urban regeneration first hand. Once known for its industrial past, Stratford has undergone a remarkable transformation, making it an ideal case study for understanding the impact of regeneration. Students will continue to explore key sites, carry out environmental surveys, and see how urban planning has revitalised the area. This hands-on experience will provide invaluable insights into the processes and effects of urban renewal, making classroom concepts come alive in the real world.
Thank you Mr Stamp and Ms Wild
SAYING GOODBYE (TEMPORARILY) TO THE WONDERFUL MS WILLIAMS
As Ms WIlliams left us last week to have her baby, do check out this moving video of the goodbye assembly with the Y11's. Click HERE
Dear Parents/Carers of Y11 students, IF you are happy to do so, as your Y11 child leaves, please would you donate any uniform that they no longer need (if it is in good condition - I am seeing a few holes in jumper sleeves!) - especially blazers, but also any revision guides that you have bought that you would be willing to pass on to younger students in the school. Your help would be very much appreciated.
Thank you.
Please find the link to the GCSE Exam Timetable - click HERE
Y11 we wish you a restful break over the half-term and when you are back...YOU'VE GOT THIS!
On the 7th of May Deptford Green took part in the Lewisham Schools' Athletics Competition. We took teams of boys & girls from year 7-10 down to Sutcliffe Park for the event.
All involved performed outstandingly on the day and represented our school excellently. Several of our students will be invited to the London school's competition for finishing in the top two of their events. More information on that coming soon.
Thank you Mr Melia...
CARNEGIE SHADOWING SCHEME 2024
This morning, minus our two Y10 girls who are on Work Experience this week, we read one of the books on the Carnegie Shadowing list, 'Choose Love' by Nicola Davies and Petr Horacek which is a beautiful, poignant book of poems all about refugees which had me in tears much to the student's surprise.
Do please ask your children to come in and read it. It is such a special book and I will be asking the English department to push it in lessons too as it really is a book filled with empathy and love for those who go through the upheaval of having to leave their country, their past and their futures behind in the land where they were born because of war and oppression.
Fancy writing a story?
And if you want to challenge yourself over the rest of this summer term to read more, why not take part in our independent reading challenge...
Help design a banner to go near the underpass near Fordham Park which we will hang from the trees by the ‘fake crossing’ asking drivers to drop their speed! We need photos or designs that are of a HIGH QUALITY RESOLUTION so that we can get the banner printed. Please send your images to twalker@deptfordgreen.co.uk with your name and tutor group so we can award Raffle Tickets and Lorics for your contributions. Thank you!
An amazing performance and workshop by Regent Hill school all the way from Botswana!
DG students thoroughly enjoyed working with the children and performing to our Y7 cohort.
As well as this, they participated in a Marimba workshop led by Ishe, where the Regent Hill students, through collaboration, taught them to play "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" on various traditional instruments such as Marimbas and Mbiras.
We are so grateful to the Daneford Trust, Wendy and James, who helped us organise this spectacular event and opportunity!
Thank you Ms Green.
Check out this You tube reel Ms Heiser created: Click HERE
In June, Kooth will be hosting Kooth info sessions for Parents & Carers to find out how kooth.com can support their child or young person's mental health. These will be virtual sessions delivered via Google Meet on various dates and times in June. To sign up to one of the sessions, please complete this form.
SUPPORT SERVICES FOR STUDENTS DURING THE SCHOOL CLOSURE
If you or someone you know needs any support during the school holidays, there are a range of different services available to you. Please contact one of the following support services who can give you more advice and guidance during school closure.
If you or somebody else is in danger, or it feels like a situation might get dangerous and you need support right away, contact the police on 999.
Childline is a free, private and confidential service that you can access both online and on the phone. They can provide help and support for people up to their 19th birthday. Call free on 0800 1111 or Log in for a 1-2-1 counsellor chat: click HERE
You can access confidential emotional support at any time from Samaritans either by calling 116 123 or email: jo@samaritans.org
Chat to a friendly counsellor, read articles written by young people, get free, safe, and anonymous online counselling support. Click HERE
24/7 text service, free on all major mobile networks, for anyone in crisis anytime, anywhere. It’s a place to go if you’re struggling to cope and you need immediate help. Text 85258.
CEOP help children stay safe online. If anybody acts inappropriately towards you or another child or young person online (such as sexual chat or being asked to do something that makes you feel uncomfortable), you can report it here.
Mental health services are free on the NHS. To get urgent medical help, use the NHS 111 online service, or call 111 if you’re unable to get help online. Only available in mainland UK. For life-threatening emergencies, call 999 for an ambulance.
If you're worried about a child or young person, you can contact the NSPCC Helpline for support and advice for free - call on 0808 800 5000.
YoungMinds - click HERE has information for both young people and their parents. They also have a parents help line which is open Monday to Friday 9.30am-4pm on 0808 802 5544 (free for mobiles and landlines) as well as an email address: parents@youngminds.org.uk They aim to respond to queries within 3 working days.
This morning, minus our two Y10 girls who are on Work Experience this week, we read one of the books on the Carnegie Shadowing list, 'Choose Love' by Nicola Davies and Petr Horacek which is a beautiful, poignant book of poems all about refugees which had me in tears much to the student's surprise. 
If you or somebody else is in danger, or it feels like a situation might get dangerous and you need support right away, contact the police on 999.
You can access confidential emotional support at any time from Samaritans either by calling 116 123 or email: 
Chat to a friendly counsellor, read articles written by young people, get free, safe, and anonymous online counselling support. Click 
24/7 text service, free on all major mobile networks, for anyone in crisis anytime, anywhere. It’s a place to go if you’re struggling to cope and you need immediate help. Text 85258.
CEOP help children stay safe online. If anybody acts inappropriately towards you or another child or young person online (such as sexual chat or being asked to do something that makes you feel uncomfortable), you can report it here.
Mental health services are free on the NHS. To get urgent medical help, use the NHS 111 online service, or call 111 if you’re unable to get help online. Only available in mainland UK. For life-threatening emergencies, call 999 for an ambulance.
If you're worried about a child or young person, you can contact the NSPCC Helpline for support and advice for free - call on 
YoungMinds - click