Denmark Road High School

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Our School, Our Week

 

Student News

Year 9 

DRHS Diversity Symposium

To coincide with Black History Month, Year 9 students spent a day exploring a range of historical and geographical topics to celebrate diversity and inclusion.  Looking both across the globe and into the past they went beyond BHM to explore African, Asian, LGBT, sporting, cultural and gender issues.

 Mr Hathaway

 

Elisabeth’s present to Mrs Munro

A beautiful baby quilt was hand-made by Elisabeth Needs in Year 8 for Mrs Munro's baby. The quality and level of detail on the quilt is exceptional. So much thought and effort has gone into this. Mrs Munro, now on maternity leave, was very grateful to receive this kind gift. 

 

Sports Review 2019/2020

This term we have recognised the contribution and success of our students towards school sport during the last academic year. Students were recognised for being ‘most improved’ and ‘player of the year’ across a number of sports. A review of the house competition winners was also completed. Finally, special recognition went to our nominated ‘Team of the Year’ and the ‘Individual of Year’. A huge well done to all of our prize winners!

Netball	Most Improved	Player of the Year
7A	Gabby Russell	Millie Wrathmell
7B	Georgie Shaw	Tilly Palmer
7C	Louise Swetnant	Adele Archer
8A	Dulcie Davidson	Millie Baldwin
8B	Molly Buckley	Myrtle Wood
9A	Jessica Smart	Rebecca Moore
9B	Julia Kriznic	Fran Fraser Hook
10A	Coco Sanger-Davis	Annabel Goodrum
10B	Julia Wadsworth	Ruby Earle
11A	Leigh Phillips	Molly Stephens

Hockey	Most improved	Player of the year
7	Bea Whitelock	Amelia Moore
8	Edie Blackwell	Sarah Doughty
9	Tilly Hall	Keira Robson
10	Sophie Paulus	Katie Toner
11	Olivia Brock	Grace Matthews

Football	Most improved	Player of the year
7	Roisin Parker	Lydia Wang
8	Isobel Watts	Dominica Kodeeswaran
Cricket	Most improved	Player of the year
7	Annabel Reed	Amy Rowan
8	Molly Buckley	Flo Hampton
9	Fran Fraser-Hook	Katie Jones
10	N/A	Sophie Paulus
11	N/A	N/A
Archery	Most improved	Player of the year
	Tofunmi Folayan	Emily Kaloo
Badminton	Player of the year
U14	Bhuvana Senthil-Kumar
U16	Komal Krishna Kumar
Cross Country	Athlete of the year
7	Kate Mills
8	Isobel Watt
9	Keira Barry
10	Coco Sanger-Davies

House Dance Winners

Solo	- Caitlin Walls and Cora Gray          Duet - Ellie Murphy and Kira Gorodetskaia

 

 

 

 

 

Group                        Mynd

 

Overall Winners      Mynd

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

House Netball Winners

Year 7                  Bearland

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Year 8                   Barwell

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Year 9 & 10           Mynd

Team of the Year - U14 Badminton Team

They were crowned County winners and made it through to the Regional Finals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bhuvana Senthil Kumar, Aabha Kurtkoti, Katie Jones, Nandana Umesan, Emma Milne, Rishita Kari.

Individual of the Year Amalia Widdowson Amalia is in Year 7 and she is a GB tennis player. She was a pivotal member of the Great Britain’s Girls U12 team who were the first British girls’ team to win the Tennis Europe Winter Cup in February 2020. An amazing achievement for a very talented individual.

Mrs Davidson   Year 11 Artwork   Future super star in the making? Shannon Maher in Year 11 has been independently working on a covers album which is being released on 23rd October on different streaming platforms.  The artwork was designed by her friend Zoe. Mrs King   Poetry@Denmark Road Poetry update 1: The entries for Poet Laureate were competitive and of a high standard. Very difficult choices had to be made. The Poet Laureates for this academic year 2020-2021 are: Leigh Philips 12PLC Sophie Green 10K Aleeza Shahzad 7BE   Commended Entries: Wajeeha Khan 7H Nia Rodway 8H Ellie von Oven 8M Anna Dickins 9BE Verity Greenald 9K Udaya Chandar Anjani 11M Thank you to every student who entered. There were some lovely pieces and it was inspiring to see the creative endeavours of the students.  The first request of the Laureates was to write a poem reflecting on what it has been like back at school since September. Here are their responses: Something’s Missing by Aleeza Shahzad 7BE It’s new, different. I like it, It’s a fun change. Yet something’s missing. I’ve accomplished lots, And even remembered names, Yet something’s missing. I don’t get lost now, I know this school like my house, Yet something’s missing. I found a hobby, And some classes that I like, Yet something’s missing. I’ve met new people, Made friends whom I really like, Now nothing’s missing. 'School's Back!' by Sophie Green Groans and protests from lively students, who'd rather be sleeping till eleven, Being pushed through the one way corridors, Analysing books and studying Heaven. Mountains of homework for us to do - A nasty trait the teachers kept from May - And extracurriculars we're being forced to do; I'm beginning to lose track of the days. God save me from the education system! Can the snow come early this year? If I hide enough of my face with my mask, Maybe I can just disappear? Term One of Many by Leigh Phillips I cried over Chemistry on my first day back, slumped over in one of the chairs in the independent study room. I was warned A levels were hard; Prepare to fail, said everyone around me.  I guess I didn’t expect it to come so soon.  The days start to blur after a while - Monday to Tuesday to Thursday…  Make sure I do all my homework  before I even step outside the gates. A bare Show my Homework is a feast for my eyes. Do your work in the evening, my form tutor said, but how can I do homework, watch Inkmaster, shower, and sleep  within four hours? We don’t all live in Gloucester, so if you don’t mind, I’ll be doing my homework inside tutor time.  I know how to meditate or relax my head, But honestly I’d rather just go to bed.  Don’t put rhyme in your poem, a teacher told me But hey, it’s poetry, I’m allowed to be free.  This eight week term is finally coming to a close.  The drag’s been long, my mind’s not gotten smarter, but at least I got an A in my history thirty marker.   Poetry Update 2: Poetry By Heart Competition at Denmark Road This year DRHS is looking for students who are up for the challenge of entering the National Poetry By Heart competition, which is run by The Poetry Society. We will be undertaking a range of activities before school entries are uploaded in February, and the first activity starts this week! The first challenge is simple. Find one poem you love on the Poetry By Heart website, they learn it by heart and get ready to share it aloud in this term. You can take the challenge on your own or with friends. Guidance and instructions for parents or students are in the Learning Zone here – it’s all free, no login is required and you can share it with everyone. There is also a chance for adults working at the school to enter, so don't be shy, check out the link above and start learning a poem off by heart.   Mr McMahon   Great art and art textiles

Year 7 Reading Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’

As part of the Year 7 wider reading strand, some students are being asked to read Dickens' "A Christmas Carol." There is a very evocative scene of a high street just before Christmas, and one (very long!) sentence is striking:

"There were pears and apples, clustered high in blooming pyramids; there were bunches of grapes, made, in the shopkeepers’ benevolence to dangle from conspicuous hooks, that people’s mouths might water gratis as they passed; there were piles of filberts, mossy and brown, recalling, in their fragrance, ancient walks among the woods, and pleasant shufflings ankle deep through withered leaves; there were Norfolk Biffins, squat and swarthy, setting off the yellow of the oranges and lemons, and, in the great compactness of their juicy persons, urgently entreating and beseeching to be carried home in paper bags and eaten after dinner."

Mr McMahon wondered what a Norfolk Biffin was, and found out it is a type of ancient apple that was slow baked and then served cold to children as a seasonal treat. This custom died out in the 1930s. Through his contacts he managed to get hold of some Norfolk Biffins over the autumn break and on the first day back served them to some Year 7 students just after they read the above passage. Verdict: Delicious with a touch of sugar and cinnamon. 

Mr McMahon

 

News from the LRC

LRC’s Click and Collect Service

All are available via the LRC’s Click and Collect Service.  Remember that students can add anything they read to the DRHS Reading Marathon, using links emailed to them by Mrs Shaw and on the LRC Google Classroom. 

A couple of years ago the LRC commemorated both staff and student relatives involved with the Forces or who had been lost during war through the ages.  If any of your sons or daughters would like to bring in a picture or details I can place on the noticeboard, please have them come and see me before Wednesday so that I can include them on the display. November is also National Non-Fiction Month and NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) so I’ll be talking about that next week!

Stroud Book Festival

Stroud Book Festival (November 4 – 8) is running completely online this year – and, thanks to a successful crowdfunding campaign, is free of charge.  Take a look at the website to register and view the schedule of events: https://stroudbookfestival.org.uk/.  There are talks and activities for adults and children, including Abi Elphinstone (Unmapped Chronicles, Sky Song) and Ben Miller (The Day I Fell Into A Fairytale) as well as a Zoom family quiz.  The Children’s Organiser is Jane Churchill, a former parent at DRHS, and LRC supporter who has donated many contemporary children’s/YA books to us over the years. 

As always, if your son or daughter has any questions about authors, books, genres or how to find information, they can always email me or call in to the LRC and I will help them find what they need. 

Ms Carol Cordall, School Librarian

Follow the LRC on Twitter   @DRHS_LRC and Instagram   drhs_lrc

E-mail: library@denmarkroad.org

 

Forward Look – dates for your diaries:

Monday 9 November           

KS4 & KS5 Revision CPD Session for Parents/Carers – 6.00-7.00 pm

 

Wednesday 11 November    

Remembrance Day Assembly

 

Friday 13 November             

Non Uniform Day for Children in Need

 

Tuesday 17 November         

Year 10 Excellence Evening (Video appointments)

 

Thursday 19 November        

INVEST Day 2 – House Drama

 

Monday 23 November         

Year 11 Mocks

 

Friday 27 November             

INSET Day – School closed

 

Monday 30 November         

KS3 (Year 7-9) Revision CPD Session for Parents/Carers – 6.00-7.00 pm

 

The DRHS calendar 2020/21 is available here.

 

Finally, Follow me @DenmarkRoad365

Please follow me on Instagram at drhshead and Twitter @denmarkroad365.  You will see a snapshot into DenmarkRoad365 and the life of a Headteacher at one of the most amazing schools in the country.