Our School, Our News - July 2022
Our School, Our News
In this issue:
Food and Nutrition
Geography
Goodbyes
Jumble Sale
Lost Property
LRC
Music Successes
Poetry Collection
School Equestrian Team
Sports Day
Wellbeing Support
Food and Nutrition
Year 7 making crème pâtisserie to go in their fruit tart
Geography
Year 8 Geographers have been studying a Save Our Oceans topic. World Oceans Day was on 8th June and Year 8 showcased their sustainable, global learning strategies through educating both Year 7 and Year 9 students on the threats to our oceans, case studies of concern and ways in which students can help.
Year 7 were visited by Year 8s who took tutorial sessions and Year 9 had an assembly which was led by a fantastic group of students from 8BA.
Year 8 also took part in a non school uniform day and raised £81 for the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust who have a number of projects to try and restore ocean health, including planting seagrass.
Well done to all students who got involved in this day.
Year 7 Geographers have been studying a Wild Weather topic in Geography and have been using GIS skills whilst accessing the Ventusky website Ventusky - Wind, Rain and Temperature Maps. Students created a 3-day weather forecast for a number of different countries around the world.
Presentations were informative and engaging, from lightning to heat waves we saw huge variations in our weather case studies.
Au Revoir
We said goodbye to our lovely Foreign Language Assistants who we will welcome back next year. A huge thank you for all their hard work.
Mrs Riley, Mrs Grayling, Miss Grana-Cid
Jumble Sale
CHARITY JUMBLE SALE: Monday 11th - Thursday 14th July 2022
Following the success of the last jumble sale in March 2022, we are running another jumble sale before the end of term.
The money raised will be used to support the work of African Adventures and volunteering in support of this charity organisation.
The Jumble Sale will be run with the support of students volunteering with African Adventures.
Donating Clothes and shoes
Bring in your old clothes and be prepared to replenish your wardrobe in time for the summer holidays.
So, please have a good old sort over this next week and bring your donations into the main hall between Wednesday and Friday next week.
Please make sure all items are clean and in good condition, something you would be prepared to pay for.
Timings
These are the times that students, staff, parents and carers can come along, have a rummage and buy something.
· Year 7 and 8 - Monday 11th & Tuesday 12th -1:30-2:00pm
· Parents and carers – Monday 11th & Wednesday 13th - 3:40-5:00pm
· All students - Wednesday & Thursday 1:30-2:30pm
Don't forget to bring cash
Craft sale
There will also be hand-made jewellery and tote bags on sale.
Donations for schools in Kenya
There are 12 students from DRHS who will leave to volunteer with African Adventures for 10 days on the 16th July in Kenya. The two schools they will be working with have requested a number of items to be donated, if you are able to support this, please bring these items in separate bags clearly marked ‘Kenya’. The items requested include:
· School bags
· New underwear for boy, girls, men and women (including bras of all sizes)
· Stationery
· Toothbrushes and toothpaste
· Sanitary pads
· Soap
Thank you, in advance, for supporting the Jumble Sale - by donating and/or buying you'll be doing something practical to help those living in extreme poverty through the work of African Adventures.
Lost Property
There is currently a large volume of lost property, including a significant number of coats, watches and jewellery. If you have lost any items please check at lost property and reception before the end of term. Any items not collected will be donated to a charity shop.
LRC
Exciting news – the refurbished LRC is now open. Students have been exploring the redesigned 3space and I have seen a lot of new users over the past couple of weeks. There’s a community jigsaw puzzle in progress, the general fiction, graphic novels and journals are in place, and next week the “purple dot” titles (books with content for older students) will return to the shelves. Three Year 10 students have signed up for work experience in the LRC, so part of their week will be helping to return the non-fiction books, which are to be shelved in E3 (English). Poetry, PSHE/well-being and biographies will be kept in the refurbished LRC area, to increase their accessibility and usage. This will also help with organising library lessons with the English department next year.
Library Week is coming up (week beginning 11/07/22) with a number of events and activities planned. The Denner Best Book Award Team will be promoting, and we will be voting for, the shortlisted titles for our in-house book award. The Battle of the Books House Quiz will take place, in competition for a House Cup. There will be a quiet mindfulness hour one lunchtime too. In addition, I’ll launch the LRC Jubilee Summer Reading challenge and provide an opportunity to sign up for LRC volunteering opportunities for the 2022/23 school year.
Final reminder to Year 11 and 13 students to return school textbooks and library books before we break up for the summer – whilst a lot has come back, there are many more items still on loan.
The Scholastic Book Club is open for the next week or so, if you wish to place an order. The LRC gets 20% of the value of your order in vouchers to spend on more resources for our students, which is obviously a great bonus. Books will be delivered to school before the end of the school year.
Please contact me if you have any questions about libraries, books, reading and research – I am always happy to help.
Ms Carol Cordall, School Librarian
Follow the LRC on Twitter 
@DRHS_LRC and Instagram 
drhs_lrc
E-mail: library@denmarkroad.org
Music successes
Congratulations to the following students on their recent music exam results:-
Alice Upton - Grade 5 singing with merit
Orla Kay - Grade 4 cornet
Josie Anstey - Year 9 Saxophone Grade 5 Merit
Poetry collection now on general sale
We are delighted to announce that New Perspectives, a collection of poetry by students from Denmark Road, has been published by Honeybee Books.
Entries to this year's DRHS Poetry Competition were selected for inclusion in this beautiful, professional volume, which also features a striking cover illustration by Katie Miles, one of our A-level Art students.
These poems represent the independent voices of our young people at Denmark Road, without the limitations of an exam specification or the confines of a mark scheme; these are their ideas, feelings and reflections after a turbulent and unprecedented two years, and we are proud to be able to share them with the wider school community.
The collection is now on general sale and anyone can purchase a copy from the school shop here:
School Equestrian Team
On the 28th and 29th of May Isobelle Searle, Jemima Ramsden, Sophia Powell, Miriam Holmes and Cressie Farr travelled to Hickstead as the Gloucestershire County Champions in the 70 (Individual) and 80 (team and Individual) Arena Eventing and the 80cm (Team) Showjumping. They had a smashing time and did extremely well. They managed to get into the Jump Off and came Third out of Twenty other County Champion teams in the 80cm Showjumping, just missing out on representing the school at the Nationals, but in their first year competing together this is quite an achievement.
Sports Day
Our Sports Day is taking place on Friday 8th July 2022.
Students that are competing should come to school in their DRHS PE kit. They have the option of wearing a suitable t-shirt in the colour of their house.
Students should bring their own refreshments, sunscreen for the day. Face paints are permitted.
We will be having a whole school picnic at lunchtime on our far field and an ice cream van for students to buy an ice cream.
All parents/carers and young children are warmly invited to our afternoon session which will begin promptly at 13:30. Please arrive at least 20 minutes ahead of this and bring a picnic chair with you.
We hope you are able to join us.
Wellbeing Support
Dissertation publication
We are so proud of Miss Dimery, our Student Wellbeing Support:
I collaborated with one of the lecturers at the University of Gloucestershire to get my final year dissertation to a publishable standard and it was accepted in Jan 2021. The lecturer submitted the work to BESA for consideration, and it was presented at this year's conference
The paper was titled 'Death, bereavement and grief: the role of the teacher in supporting a child experiencing the death of a parent' and was published in PRACTICE.
Link: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/25783858.2021.1882263
Reminder of Wellbeing resources:
If you feel that your child needs some support with their emotional wellbeing, there are a number of useful websites and resources that can offer some helpful advice and support.
TIC+ (Teens in Crisis)
The TIC+ website is a place that we often recommend for support with mental health and anxiety. Through the website, you can complete an online referral for counselling support for your child or use the parent support pages for further advice and help. There is also a useful TIC+ chat function that is an anonymous, safe, confidential 1-2-1 support service for young people.
Gloucestershire Self-Harm Helpline
https://www.gloucestershireselfharm.org/
The Gloucestershire Self-Harm Helpline provides a safe, supportive, non-judgemental and informative space for people who self-harm, their friends, families and carers.
They offer someone to talk to via telephone, text message or online chat. They will listen to you, support you, provide options and ways of coping, give information of other places that can help if needed, and may access help for you if you need it.
Glosfamilies directory
https://www.glosfamiliesdirectory.org.uk/kb5/gloucs/glosfamilies/home.page
If you are looking for support, the Glosfamilies directory is a great place to start. It is a family information service that offers support for young people and their families. They can offer support with housing, benefits, education, parenting, difficult life events, employment and much more.
On Your Mind Glos
On Your Mind Gloucestershire - children & young people's mental health - NHS (onyourmindglos.nhs.uk)
You can also find support by using the Gloucestershire NHS 'Support finder', which is an anonymous service to help you find the most appropriate support for your child.
Work with us
If you or someone you know would like to work with us, please have a look at our current vacancies:
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. - Claire Giblin