As we come to the end of another busy and rewarding half-term, I want to take a moment to celebrate the many wonderful experiences our students have enjoyed over the past few weeks. From inspiring trips to academic successes, our school community continues to thrive.
Our Y9 students have had a particularly eventful term, with Discovery Days at the Science Museum sparking curiosity and creativity and Westminster Catering College where they have been getting to sample from some wonderful menus, giving them 'food for thought'! In Geography, their walking tour of London with Mr Stamp gave them a new perspective on the city’s rich history, architecture, and geography. We also welcomed some fascinating visitors with the Rainforest Animals experience, bringing learning to life in a unique and interactive way.
In addition, our Y9 students have been considering their futures through the Pathways interviews, an important milestone in their educational journey.
Meanwhile, Y10 students have explored exciting opportunities in STEM, with a Robotics trip and a visit to Cambridge University providing inspiration for what lies ahead.
Beyond the classroom, our students have also shown their generosity and compassion. The Mental Health Bake Sale was a great success, highlighting the kindness and community spirit that make our school so special.
We are also incredibly proud to share that three of our former students have been offered places at Oxford University — an outstanding achievement that reflects their hard work and dedication. Whether they choose to take up their places or not, they serve as wonderful role models for our current students.
To round off this enriching term, students enjoyed cultural experiences such as the Ballet Shoes trip and a visit to the Twist Museum—further expanding their horizons through the arts.
As always, thank you for your ongoing support. I hope you all have a restful and enjoyable break, and we look forward to another exciting term ahead!
Best wishes,
Emma Thurston
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY:
MONDAY 24th February - Start of Spring Half Term #2 - School starts normal time
Y11 PPE's continue for 2 weeks
TUESDAY 25th February - Y10 Make Your Mark from 1.20pm in Careers Hub
WEDNESDAY 26th February - Y7 & Y8 Speaking Up in RM 005 from 9am
THURSDAY 27TH February - Open Mic from 3.15 in RM 117
Y8 Creative Careers Visit Cockpit Arts Studios P1-5 with Ms Nembhard
Envision Cohort #2 launch in Careers Hub from 3pm
FRIDAY 28th - Ramadan begins
Y8 Museum of London Trip with Ms Daswani
MONDAY 3rd March - Y11 PPE Week #2
International Women's Week Begins
Careers Week Begins
Reading Week Begins
TUESDAY 4th March - School Council Mtg 12.40 in RM 121
Y10 Geography Trip to Battersea with Mr Stamp
WEDNESDAY 5th March - P6 Just Dance Competition with Ms Williams
THURSDAY 6th March - World Book Day
CYT Workshop for Girls In Y8 about Built Environment
FRIDAY 7th March - Move It! Dance Trip with Ms Williams
SATURDAY 8th March - International Women's Day
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!
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?
Y11 PPE EXAMS
From Monday 24th February - Tuesday 11th March our Y11's will be sitting their PPE's. Below is the timetable and here is a link to our guide to Revision for Exams. Click HERE
NATIONAL CAREERS WEEK
READING 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.
WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING AT SCHOOL?
Y7 READING ROYALE
As we start another round of this voluntary reading scheme, here is a celebration of the Autumn Term participants with their certificates, who got to have a fun time off-timetable just after the Christmas break. What an amazing group of young students they are!
They have all signed up to the next round. Parents of students taking part this half-term will be informed when we get back to school so that you can be aware your children are taking part and encourage them to KEEP READING please!
Thank you Mr Sinclair for the photo. Both Mr Sinclair and Mr Jacobs, are extremely proud of their Year group for taking part in the Reading Royale Reading Scheme.
Some Y7's in DT4 made the following Plush Toys out of recycled fabrics with Ms Swanson!
Wow! Some love and care have gone into making these! Well done Y7
Y8 RAINFOREST ANIMALS EXPERIENCE
Y8 got to see a range of rainforest animals. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to get photos of all the animals before the break, but I managed to get hold of the snake photos (thanks to Ms Wild). Students were only allowed to handle a snake. There was lots of excitement as they all got to experience seeing and holding it. Here are a few images of the ones brave enough to do that!
ell done to the snake! Well done Y8's - Ms Wild says you were fantastic!
The last Y9 Discovery Day adventure was a trip to the Science Museum in South Kensington. Students got to understand how scientists work and observed an engineering innovation timeline.
At the Science Museum, there is always something interesting to see and the exhibits are displayed in an interesting way. There are lots of interactive displays too, such as the welding and robotics machines. The trips were led by Mr Curran and Mr Chana from the DT department. Here are a selection of the images from the trips.
Students started off looking at energy generation during the industrial revolution such as steam power and beam engines, then spent some time in the ‘Exploring space’ exhibition, where they saw space suits and model rockets.
Thanks to Mr Curran and Mr Chana for some amazing photographs and for taking our students on such a fantastic trip.
Another Y9 class also visited Westminster Catering College on a Discovery Day trip with Mr Djordjevic and Mr Chana. They had a high quality dining experience combined with outstanding service by highly trained college students. The food was outstanding.
Thanks once more to Mr Chana and Mr Djordjevic for the report and the photos. It looks like our students got to enjoy themselves and will no doubt this has had an influence on their Pathways choices. Well done Y9!
Y9 visited The London Centre to explore a model of London with Mr Stamp. Here learners took part in a lecture and discussed how London has changed since Roman times. The lecture was underpinned by architecture and geography. Y9 saw current and future projects that are being carried out around London to improve the quality of life in London and make it one of the most sustainable cities in the world.
Olive said:
"On the trip to the London Centre, we got to learn about the history of London over the last 2000 years. It was cool to see a 3D model/map of london and we even found our school! " Thanks Olive.
Well done Y9 and thank you for the great photos Mr Stamp.
The wonderful Y10 photographers visited the Twist Museum in Oxford Street to gather inspiration and images for their current project 'Strange & Distorted'. What fun they had! You can see from the shots below that the museums' various illusion rooms really do make the mind boggle and the eyes frazzle!
This visit not only deepened their understanding of composition but also sparked creativity, encouraging them to think critically about the connection between art and illusion. We can't wait to see how their experiences will influence their future work!
Thanks Ms Thurston!
Y10 TRIP TO ROBOTICS PROJECT: KING'S COLLEGE LONDON
On Wednesday 5th February, Ms Kaseba kindly took a group of girls who are taking part in a Robotics Project organised by Ms Nembhard through KCL.
Here are some of the images from the day:
Well done girls - this looks fun and Ms Kaseba said you were perfect! Thanks Ms Kaseba for the photos.
CHILDRENS MENTAL HEALTH WEEK
Our Mental Health Ambassadors meet regularly and here Mr Callaghan is talking with them about upcoming events and other issues. Our Mental Health Ambassadors receive training on how to talk with students who may approach about any issues they are experiencing they want to share. Alison from PLace2Be also supports them in this. They are an amazing group of students who are kind and empathetic, and we are very proud of them for what they do.
They also helped run a Bake Sale recently, which went down VERY well with our students! They were sold out in minutes!
Millie in Y9 helping out at the busy stall
Y10 VISIT TO CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY
Setting off early on a cold and bright February morning, Y10 students visited our partner college at The University of Cambridge.
Gonville and Caius was founded in 1348 and counts many Nobel Prize laureates such as Frederick Crick who discovered DNA’s structure.
Students soaked up the atmosphere of the historical grounds and buildings during the tour and lunch in the dining hall. They also enjoyed a Q&A sessions with undergraduates currently living and studying at the college, one of them from Lewisham.
We also learnt invaluable information regarding applying to university and Cambridge in particular, and the unique features of living and studying there. For example:
Financial support available,: the university and the college have many different bursaries available to support students with living costs and extra-curricular pursuits
Myths: many Y10 students thought that studying at Cambridge is more expensive than studying at another university, but it is not and can work out cheaper as students do not have to rent their accommodation all year round from private landlords.
Supervision: students in Cambridge have one to four supervisions a week. Students are expected to write an essay or work through some problems in advance and then discuss it in detail, in a very small group or individually, with their supervisor.
SEE MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE COLLEGE - CLICK HERE
Our partner college at the University of Oxford will visit us on March 12th and we will visit them on June 12th .
We were delighted to catch up with some Deptford Green alumni who are now holding offers to study at Oxford from September 2025. Well done to all three of you! Everyone at Deptford Green is immensely proud of your achievements and wishing you all the very best!
If you have any questions about this or any other Careers and Enrichments topics, do not hesitate to contact Ms Nembhard directly at cnembhard@deptfordgreen.co.uk
Dot holds an offer to read Engineering Science at Worcester College Oxford.Her offer is for A*A* A and she is on track to achieve or exceed.
She is currently enjoying studying at Kings Maths School Sixth Form where she is doing A Levels Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Computer Science and highly recommend the sixth form for all students who love Maths.
Ruby holds an offer to read Biochemistry at Wadham College Oxford. Her offer is for A*A A and she is predicted A*A*A*A*.
Ruby highly recommend Harris Westminster Sixth form to any students who love studying and love their subjects. She is taking A Levels Maths, Further Maths, Biology and Chemistry.
Loki holds an offer to read Geography at St Peters College Oxford. His offer is A*AA and he is on track to achieve or exceed.
He enjoys studying at Prendergast Sixth form where he is doing A Levels Geography, History and Biology.
Learners in Y7, 9 and 11 should have received an email (at their school’s email address) inviting them to complete the Future Skills Questionnaire.
The email contains an individual link to the questionnaire for each learner (do not use the link in someone else’s email- if you have not received one, let Ms Nembhard know). Email: cnembhard@deptfordgreen.co.uk
If your child has not already completed it, we ask for your support with encouraging them to complete it. This is also a good opportunity to have a supportive conversation about their skills and interests and how they can explore how they link to their future options and careers.
Learners in Y8 and 10 will be invited to complete the questionnaire later this academic year.
The Future Skills Questionnaire (FSQ) is a set of questions that have been specifically designed for young people in schools and colleges to help them to think about their skills, strengths and what they might like to do in the future.
FSQ is a key feature of our school's careers programme. We will analyse learner responses to help evaluate our careers provision, plan future careers activities and also identify learners who may need additional support.
The questionnaire takes approximately 15 minutes to complete. There are up to three sections of the questionnaire that cover the following areas:
Careers knowledge and skills
Essential skills for life and work
Career Planning
Completing FSQ should be an engaging and insightful activity for learners that will encourage them to continue thinking about their future choices and next steps after school or college.
The Future Skills Questionnaire is completed online, through a digital product called Compass+.
All learner data is processed in compliance with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). More information about how Compass+ collects, uses and stores personal data can be found HERE.
If you want to know more about our careers programme, and/or would like to get involved, please contact Ms Nembhard , the school’s Careers and Enrichment lead, at cnembhard@deptfordgreen.co.uk
APPRENTICESHIP WEEK
This week was apprenticeship week and our amazing careers ambassadors did an amazing job running a lunchtime stall to raise awareness this pathway and of the range of roles that can be accessed through an apprenticeship. Take a look at some examples here (see picture and youtube video) - click HERE
Well done to Layla, Haylie, Scarlett and Ellie for organising!
Look out for some more careers activities coming up during National Careers Week.
You can look at current apprenticeship positions listed on Springpod - click HERE and read some apprentices’ stories such as Cyril Lekgetho's journey as a solicitor apprentice - click HERE
POINTS TO DISCUSS WITH YOUR CHILD
Have you used your Xello account (students can log in from the school home page)to explore your interests and keep track of your experiences?
Have you created an Springpod account (over 13- make sure you link it to Deptford Green) and have you started any of the work experiences and subject spotlights? Create an account by clicking HERE
How can this support you to set yourself some SMART goals and develop your skills and experience?
Which apprenticeship could suit you? Take the quiz with your child - click HERE
Lina said:
"The skills I had to use doing this were my critical thinking skills and I also had to utilise my planning skills too! Doing this is a very good way of adding to my CV and getting involved in such activities, could possibly open a lot of doors for you in your future!"
Ms Nembhard says:
"Congratulations to Lina in Y10 who has completed a Springpod work experience in Cybersecurity.
Well done Lina, you are GREAT!"
Thank you Ms Nembhard for all these contributions.
YOUNG MAYOR ELECTIONS
On the 5th February we held the Polling Station for the Young Mayor of Lewisham election. Deptford Green fielded 5 candidates in the race and, unfortunately, our wonderful students did not get elected, but what a brave thing to do, putting themselves forward and what an experience taking part in the whole process! Congratulations to all of them. They may not have won the election ultimately, but you were all our DG winners! Massive praise to Iqra, Olara, Noora, Henry and Kymani!
Shane Grant from Trinity School was elected the Young Mayor and Jimaine Lee from St Matthew Academy, his deputy. We wish them all the very best as they perform their new duties over the coming year.
Shane Grant said:
“Thank you to everyone who supported me and my campaign. I’m willing to make real change in Lewisham, so stick with me - you’ve made the right choice. I look forward to being the best that I can be in this role.”
All our other students who did not put themselves forward as candidates, got the opportunity to experience first hand, voting in an election. Hopefully, having experienced this, they will continue to vote in the democratic process as adults.
Thank you to all the staff - Mr Callaghan and Ms Joauvel especially - and all the students who supported and were part of the voting team and the visiting team from Lewisham who came and set up and oversaw the process on the day.
HALF TERM ACTIVITIES
Lewisham libraries (across the borough) are offering loads of free events - click HERE
Youthfirst offer after-school activities during term time - click HERE
Class for Kids is a website where you can see various clubs across the local area. Prices are listed when you click on the club - click HERE
The Horniman Museum offer lots of activities over the holidays - click HERE
Free Activities for teens in Lewisham - click HERE
Thanks Mr Bannon for suggesting some of these.
WHAT IS LPCF?
Lewisham Parent and Carer’s Forum (LPCF) is a voluntary group of parents and carers of children and young people (0-25) with special/additional needs and disabilities (SEND) living in the London Borough of Lewisham.
We provide an opportunity for parents and carers to express their views and input into the planning and delivery of SEND services.
We signpost, support and empower families to obtain the best possible support and services for their children.
Free membership is for all parents and carers in Lewisham
