Stringer Press | Autumn Term 2021

STRINGER PRESS AUTUMN TERM 2021

creativity I resilience I respect 1

Welcome to the new look of the Stringer Press Each term we will publish the Stringer Press sharing news, events and students’ success’. The Stringer Press encompasses our three school values, Creativity, Resilience, and Respect. We aim to celebrate our students and staff achievements, share news, and showcase work.

In this edition we would like to take the opportunity to remind and/or introduce you to, our new strap line ‘Education for Life’ and our three core values, we hope to show how they guide everything we do here at Stringer.

If you would like to read more about our school values please visit our website: https://public.dorothy-stringer.co.uk/ds/Pages/education_for_life.aspx Share your news We are always interested in hearing about students’ achievements in and outside of school, and would love to celebrate them in our termly news and on social accounts, please email any content or submissions to communications@dorothy-stringer.co.uk.

We would also love your feedback and input if you have any ideas or suggestions of the type of news you would like to hear about please email us - communications@dorothy-stringer.co.uk.

Weekly news updates Remember to keep an eye out for our weekly news update from the Headteacher in your email inbox each Friday or you can view it by logging onto the SLG, under ‘Newsletter’.

Follow us on socials To keep up to date with current news please follow our social media accounts, various departments run their own accounts and celebrate good work, events and success’.

@dorothystringerschool

@dorothystringer

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CONTENTS

Headteacher Letter Head of Year Letters Head of Year Letters Head Students & JLT Enrichment Week 2022 Drama Production Environmental News PE & Sports News Young Entrepreneur Club Student Work Art Department Threads of Lockdown Life Anti-Bullying Week School Trips Food Bank Donations Students Success General Knowledge Quiz Mental Health Champions Launch Siege at Nune High 2040 Streaming Waitrose Supports Local Wildlife Parent Calendar Photo Competition Winners | Autumn Term Swimming Pool Renovations Amazing Autumn Fundraising Social Feed Highlights Important Dates for the Spring Term

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Headteacher Letter

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message from the Head...

Dear Parents, Carers, Staff, Students and Governors, The last year has been one of the most challenging on record and it is amazing how adaptable staff, students and the community have been. Thank you for making sure those in your care are able to attend, participate and learn together in this wonderful school. I am hopeful that we can look ahead to 2022 with renewed energy and purpose and we are planning to run our trips to Dolawen, Austria and Italy as well as a full enrichment week in the summer.

Year 11 Throughout the Autumn term it has been noticeable how focused the Year 11s have been with their studies, working hard to prepare for their mock exams. It is especially hard for this Year group as exams have been cancelled for the two previous years, so their focus in the classroom and dedication to their studies is especially commendable. Their resilience bodes well for the second set of mocks and their examinations next Year.

Year 10 The Year 10s have made a really successful start to their GCSE subjects. Although it is early days for some of their option choices, feedback from staff and students, as well as our observations of lessons, show the rapid progress they are making so far.

Year 9 Many Year 9 students are starting to formulate their choices in preparation for Options evening in January. We are fortunate that in every year group we have dedicated pastoral care to support and nurture the students through these transitional periods.

Year 8 The Year 8 students continue to work hard and contribute to the life of the school both academically and through their involvement in extracurricular activities. It has been wonderful seeing the sports teams participating, both at early morning practice and in matches after school.

Year 7 The Year 7s have made a fantastic start to their time at Stringer. I am grateful to those staff who supported their transition from primary school.

The students have settled in really well, made new friends and are looking forward to their trips to Dolawen later next year.

Extra curricular The extra-curricular life of the school continues to flourish. This term students have been working on the school production and music rehearsals all restarted in preparation for the carol concert. The school teams have had excellent participation and have shown great camaraderie as well as respect for each other and the opposition. Some matches have unfortunately been postponed because of weather, or the virus, but uptake has been back to pre-pandemic levels and there is more on this later. We also have record numbers participating in the Duke of Edinburgh award and we have arranged to support two Year groups at once by using Enrichment Week as an opportunity for aspects of this adventure next year.

I do hope that over the Christmas break students can rest and enjoy time together with friends and family. I wish you all a safe and relaxing break over the festive period and a happy and healthy 2022.

Matt Hillier, Headteacher 4

Head of Year Letters

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To the parents/carers of the fabulous Year 11s. As we draw to the end of the first term back, we can all agree there have been struggles and stresses. However, there has also been some undeniable determination and resilience shown from our Year 11s, particularly during the mock exams. As well as this, our Year 11s continue to demonstrate their strength, kindness, and fantastic sense of humour no matter what they are faced with.

Now the festive season is finally upon us, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your continued support through this school term. It is the perfect time to reflect on the past year, our many achievements, and the moments we wish we could have dealt with differently. Most importantly, we can set new goals to reach for and think about how we can change things for the better. A New Year, a fresh start. Bring on 2022!

I personally would like to thank the parents/carers and the Year 11s for making my new role as Pastoral Manager so easy to settle in to. You’re all amazing! Stay safe and enjoy the holidays, I look forward to seeing you in January.

Miss Parrish, Year 11 Pastoral Manager I would like to add my thanks to Miss Parrish for all her efforts in supporting our families and students during the school day. I couldn’t have asked for more from anyone and have been astounded by how quickly and effectively she has built relationships with our community and her understanding of the systems within which we operate. I very much appreciate her hard work and the support she has offered to our students.

I would also like to extend my best wishes to all of our community and celebrate the resilience of our amazing Year 11s in the face of the effects of the pandemic at such an important time in their journey at Dorothy Stringer School.

The kindness, maturity, intelligence and thoughtfulness of our year group has been so obvious in how welcome and appreciated they have made Miss Parrish and myself feel as we have developed the pastoral support which is in place for them this year. There has been a lot of change and our students continue to shine in the face of the challenges which they face. They conducted themselves with admirable effort during the mocks, with an excellent attitude and high levels of maturity and respect. With a growth mindset and a can-do attitude anything is possible.

I would also like to thank Mr Furini, whose kindness, support and easy sense of humour is so important to the year team and I know our year 11s appreciate him greatly. There is also a wonderful extended team supporting our year 11s, from the counselling team to the attendance office, SLT to the canteen staff and all their teachers and support staff; and we are grateful for all of them.

The team supporting our students, of course, starts with their first point of contact every day and we are so lucky to have the brilliant team of tutors who go so far above and beyond and do so much on a daily basis for all of our students. Their input and work is so invaluable for the mental wellbeing of our year 11s, and also Miss Parrish’s and my own.

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Dear Year 10 Parents, Carers and Students,

Well, we made it to the Christmas Break.

The last term has felt long and tiring, but the resilience of the year group makes us incredibly proud!

A huge thank you to you for all your help and support along the way!

This term has seen some real highs: the return for a few weeks of in person assemblies, sporting fixtures both home and away, and rehearsals for the school play and carol service. As we walk round the school during lesson time, Year 10 continue to show engagement and dedication to their studies, showing that they really are a super year group!

We hope you all have a really restful festive break and we look forward to seeing Year 10 back on Wednesday 5th January. Please ensure that you check the school communication with timings for the day.

Stay safe, Mr. Knott, Head of Year 10 and Miss Moss, Year 10 Pastoral Manager

With very best wishes for the festive holidays and gratitude for your efforts in 2021. I am looking forward to seeing the achievements and successes of our year as the rest of Year 11 reaches completion.

Mr Shilladay, Head of Year 11

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Head of Year Letters

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Dear Year 9 students and parents/carers,

Dear Year 8 Parents and Carers,

We wish everyone in Year 7 as well as their families a peaceful and relaxing Christmas and a Happy New Year.

We have made it to December and what a whirlwind term it has been. We were introduced to Miss Carter and then said our goodbyes and have welcomed the wonderful Miss White back for the last few weeks.

We have almost reached the end of what has been a long yet extremely productive term. Year 8 have been working very hard.

Many of our students have improved their ATL scores, participated in extra curricular activities and the inter-house competitions.

Despite all the trials and tribulations, you Our students have been developing their have stayed positive and cheerful and have creativity and resilience. They have shown made us laugh daily. We have had some great respect towards each other and the brilliant sporting successes on the football wider community. They continue to work pitch and we look forward to cheering on our together and strive towards making progress teams in the New Year. throughout their Year 8 time.

Have a fantastic holiday, stay safe and make The Year 8 students and tutors make a sure you get some rest. great team! I feel everyone is truly ready for a well-deserved break. I would like to take See you in 2022! this opportunity to wish you a very Happy Christmas and New Year. We look forward Love from to seeing our students in the New Year and Miss Poole, Head of Year 9 and Miss embarking on a productive and exciting White, Year 9 Pastoral Manager 2022.

The vast majority of students in Year 7 have settled in really well since joining Stringer in September and deserve a huge pat on the back for their wonderful attitude to learning and the way they go about their school lives on a daily basis.

We hope that they return in January with the same enthusiasm and determination they have shown during this first term.

Mr Stone, Head of Year 7

Ms DeBrun, Head of Year 8 & Ms Smith, Year 8 Pastoral Manager

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Head Students & JLT

HEAD STUDENTS We would like to introduce our appointed head students for the 2021/22 academic year.

Head Students : Joshim and Nancy Deputies: Millie, Lulu, Joshua and Matthew

Click here to view.

This term has been our Head Students first term. We would like to congratulate them on their appointments and on their first duty of the year - speaking at Open Evening to our prospective students and parents.

We recorded our Head Students speeches, if you would like to view them please click on the videos.

Our head students regularly meet with SLT to discuss student’s wishes and plans for the future of Dorothy Stringer School.

Click here to view.

JLT We would also like to introduce out new Junior Leadership Team to you.

Nancy 11BCE Joshim 11LMB Lulu 11GDB Sophie 11GDQ Orissa

11LML Maya 10DMB Sylvie 10FMN Zac 10FMN Alex 10HND Ivy 10DMB Frasier 9STO Rowan 9GTT Elise

9GTT

Iona 8PBY Jonah 8PBY Cassidy

8PTN Annie 8PTN Emma 8DNN Lilith

8PBY ECO Lily

8PBY ECO Lotta 7LKR Arda 7LKR Emeric 7ETT Isla Allsopp 7FNS Aisha Rahman Fry 7TYL

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Enrichment Week 2022

ENRICHMENT WEEK 2022 Enrichment Week was launched at the end of term during assemblies and will be discussed during tutor time with all Year 7, 8 & 9 students. Enrichment week will take place from 11– 15 July 2022.

You can find a copy of our booklet which details all the activities on offer to the right. Please take the time to read through this with your child.

Students will be asked to pick a first, second and third option for the week. Activities offered may be limited to certain year groups or they may be open to all three year groups. These details are all in the booklet.

D o r o t h y S t r i n g e r Enrichment Week Monday 11th - Friday 15th July 2022

All students will need to return their completed Student Choice Form to their Form Tutor by Friday 21st January 2022. We will then allocate students to the activities and inform them of their selection in March. We will not ask for any payment until full details have been confirmed.

The Student Choice Form can be found at the back of the booklet or on the website as a separate document which can easily be printed and filled out- https://public.dorothy-stringer.co.uk/DS/Pages/enrichment_ week.aspx. There will also be some hard copies available in the Nexus office for students to pick up if required.

Click here to view.

We are really looking forward to what looks to be an amazing week and thank you in advance for your support with this The Enrichment Team enrichmentweek@dorothy-stringer.co.uk

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Drama Production

DOROTHY STRINGER DRAMA PRODUCTION PEAK Rehearsals for this Drama production ‘Peak’ are underway with the cast working hard after school and at the weekend.

Set in an urban secondary school in 2021, the narrative follows Sonny over the course of a very bad week.

The students have had the exciting opportunity this year to collaborate in the writing, creation, and performance of this brand new play.

Performances will be in early February with tickets on sale from mid-January.

We look forward to opening the theatre again and seeing you all soon.

Ms Ettinger | Head of Drama

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BHCC Transport Team Visit

Mock Climate Conference

Environmental News

We were delighted to have Brighton and Hove City Council Transport team come into school on Wednesday when Transport was the topic of discussion at COP26 in Glasgow.

A group of Eco Committee students were able to discuss ideas and explore the various options for developing a more sustainable transport system for Brighton and Hove. The students ideas will be fed back into the wider consultation.

Well done to the students involved and thank you to the BHCC transport team for visiting us.

Mr Sandercock | Sustainability Coordinator

Last month we were delighted to hold a Mock Climate Conference with WWF. The students explored a range of topics and took on roles of people in affected countries or that of leaders of countries making decisions. They also created ‘pledge leaves’ which stated one thing they would do and on the other side a message to the world’s leaders stating what they would like to see them commit to.

These leaves are were displayed on a tree in the middle of the conference in Glasgow for all the delegates to see.

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Youth Ambassadors

We would like to congratulate Fray Cox and Lilith Leonard who done a wonderful job at being Youth Ambassadors at the online Transform Our World Youth Climate Conference which ran along side the main conference this year.

Fray presented his own research around air pollution along with a quiz whilst Lilith presented her research on Greenwashing and also took part in a questions and answer event on the last day.

We are very proud that two members of the small team of youth ambassadors were from Dorothy Stringer School. Keep up the good work!

Mr Sandercock | Sustainability Coordinator Lilith’s Experience This term I had the opportunity to be a youth ambassador for a charity called Transform Our World. Every Wednesday I had to attend a meeting with all the other Youth Ambassadors from around the country to plan our presentation that we delivered at the COP26 summit.

I had to plan and present a section about ‘greenwashing’ as part of the ‘Calls to Action’ segment. This made me think a lot about how companies use green issues to try and sell their products without really changing what they are doing. I also got to be a part of the finale where I presented the results of polls of young people that had been taken throughout the two weeks of COP26. I was quite worried on the days of the presentations, but I had support from the people at Transform our World and they made me realise that I could do a good job.

It was exciting to be a part of something that might make people think more about the environment and the impact their actions and small changes can have.

Hopefully we have made people realise that they can make a difference to climate change.

Fray’s Experience Over the last few months, I have been a youth ambassador for the Transform Our World youth climate summit: A virtual summit taking place at the same time as COP26 for young peoples voices to be heard on climate change and to educate people on what can be done to tackle the climate crisis.

As a youth ambassador, my job was to help organize the summit and the many events that it would include. Each week we would meet and would decide on everything taking place during the 7-day occasion. Additionally, I was able to co-host one of the seminars where I spoke on air pollution and the action we can take to halt it. All of our events were streamed at COP26, meaning thousands of people and potentially world leaders would have seen it!

Overall, being a youth ambassador has been a fantastic experience and has opened opportunities for me to take part in other events.

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As you will know the Dorothy Stringer PE, Sport and Dance department run an extensive extracurricular programme both before and after school. We have been so pleased with the numbers that keep returning to clubs. You can find our Spring Term timetable on the SLG and school website - https://public.dorothy-stringer.co.uk/ds/ pages/Extra_Curricular_main.aspx.

In football, we have all but our U13 girls and U15 boys left in the football County Cup. In first round games we have some brilliant results; the U16 boys beat Holy Trinity 4 -1, U14 girls beat Uckfield 6 – 0 and the U12 girls beat Worthing 7 – 0.

We have also had some strong results in the new Brighton and Hove netball league, which is run by the Dorothy Stringer PE department.

Our U13 Netball team have been unbeaten so far in their Brighton and Hove netball league games, winning games against Hove Park and Patcham High. Whilst Year 10 also remain unbeaten.

In Rugby we continue to build a strong side in training, however some of our competitors have been a step above in the County Cup. We are looking forward to the start of the Brighton League games, which will be a competitive experience for our students.

Dance

Extra-curricular Sport

PE & Sports News

We have had a wonderful start to the year in extracurricular Sport.

Football, Netball, Rugby, and Basketball clubs have been incredibly popular, and we are very excited to have the swimming pool back in action. Since the start of the year, we have had some brilliant results in our external fixtures, yet what has pleased us most is the commitment and determination that students are showing every week by coming to clubs.

Rehearsals and preparations are well underway for the annual Stringer Dance Show at the Dome. Every week students are committed to coming to clubs in Contemporary, Jazz, Commercial, Street and Ballet, All the work in these clubs go towards creating pieces for the Dance Show.

We introduced our new Dance assistant – Miss Bishop Williams to the department who many of the students already know from her previous street classes at the school and her own Dance company ‘Project Female.’

Ellie has been taking many of the Dance clubs since starting in September.

It’s not too late to be involved in the Dance Show through the street Dance Class that is now run by professional dancer – Alice Rhodes. This class is on a Thursday 4-5pm at a very small cost of £15 per half term.

They started working on a piece for the show just this week so get involved!

Well done to Alexis Religa who was the first recipient of this academic year’s half termly Dance award for her commitment and dedication to clubs and GCSE Dance.

We hope to bring you more news and details soon about the show and any other events happening, until then…….

Keep Dancing!

Ms Sampson | Head of Dance

Training for Basketball has been going well and we are really looking forward to the start of the Basketball Sussex County Cup and the further tournaments taking place at Dorothy Stringer and BACA next term.

Mr Corrigan | Head of PE 12

Interhouse & Sports Awards

Interhouse Sports This half term the inter house competition has continued to thrive across Years 7-9.

Students have participated in Football, Basketball and Capture the Flag and completed the Stringer Run around the school campus. The sports captains have been fantastic and as always have helped organise and officiate these events for the younger students to take part in. Their help is much appreciated.

In each year group with one event still outstanding the results are as follows: Year 7 – Surrenden are leading the way with 78 points.

Year 8 – Ditchling are on top with a total of 52 points.

Year 9 – Ditchling also head this leader board with 54 points.

PE and Sports Awards Every half term we award students for their commitment, hard work and outstanding performances in PE, Dance and Sport. This term five students were chosen from a raft of nominees to take the half-term PE, Sport and Dance awards.

In GCSE PE Nathan was awarded for his incredibly hard work with revision and completing his NEA. Maisy and Lorien were awarded for their outstanding performances in Netball and Football respectively. Alexis was awarded for her commitment and improvement in Dance. And finally, one of new year 7 students, Samuel was awarded for his polite, dedicated and committed attitude in PE lessons.

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This term Young Entrepreneurs Club students have designed and laser-cut Christmas decorations.

Thank you to everyone who purchased the Christmas decorations we managed to sell out and rasie a total income of £195, this money will be put back into the club and a percentage of it has been donated to The Stringer Christmas Appeal.

We look forward to sharing the next venture with you, keep your eyes peeled for more updates from the YEC.

Senior Maths Challenge

Young Entrepreneur Club

The Young Entrepreneur Club (YEC) is an extra-curricular club where students design, create and market their ideas.

Many of our Additional Maths students took part in the Senior Maths Challenge this term. The Senior Maths Challenge is a national event with students from Years 11 to 13 competing.

Our Year 11 students took the challenge after three Science exams (!) with outstanding results. Seven students gained bronze awards, six silver, and Arthur Rainey achieved a Gold award and qualified for the follow-on round.

All those awarded with a certificate scored in the top 40% of all entrants across the country which is an excellent achievement! Well done to all who participated. We would like to wish Arthur good luck in the follow on round.

Mr Field, Maths Department

If you are interested in joining the YEC please contact Ms Smith in DT. Mr Russell & Ms Smith | DT Department

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Student Work

Year 7 Students have been getting creative in MFL classes.

This term we have been developing dictionary skills and learning about different types of words in French and Spanish.

Some classes have produced dictionaries of nouns in a foreign language.

We have shared some examples of the lovely work our students have produced.

Mrs R Revéreault | Head of MFL

Year 7 English Projects In English this term Year 7’s have been working on Creative Writing pieces and Reading Journals.

We would like to share some brilliant examples with you.

Mr Buchan | English Department

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Jo Thorne, Local Photographer - Art Photoshoot

Faye Bridgewater Visit

Art Department

We were so delighted to have artist, Faye Bridgewater, come in to meet Year 10 and Year 11 Art students this term. She came in to talk about her art education, creative journey and how she gathers inspiration for her vibrant artworks.

Amazing photographs from Ms Goodchild’s Year 10 Photography shoot with local photographer, Jo Thorne.

Jo’s visit to the school was so inspiring for students, giving them the oppertunity to meet a professional photographer and learn how to take a successful portrait shoot outdoors.

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Threads of Lockdown Life

THREADS OF LOCKDOWN LIFE We are really pleased to have the amazing tapestry created by students, parents and staff now hanging on display opposite the school Library.

Thanks to everyone for their contributions, a special thanks to the Art Department and Ms Eborn who helped to stitch it all together.

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Anti-Bullying Week The school joined in and supported Anti-Bullying week from Monday 15 - Friday 19 November. This year the theme is One Kind Word. Kindness is more important today than it has ever been. The isolation of the last year has underlined how little acts of consideration can break down barriers and brighten the lives of the people around us.

During Anti-Bullying Week students discussed with their form groups topics surrounding anti-bullying and worked through tasks and resources around anti-bullying with their peers.

The school supported Odd Socks Day which was held on the first day of Anti-Bullying Week. This happened to fall on our INSET day on Monday 15 November staff joined in with the campaign and wore their odd socks! We also encourages students and parents/carers to join in and send us some of their pictures from home. Thank you to everyone who took part.

Reporting Bullying If you feel unsafe in school or outside of school you must tell us. At Dorothy Stringer School we are committed to the safety and happiness of every student. Let us know if you are: feeling upset or unsafe, worried about a friend or a family member, being bullied, or have witnessed or have been a victim of harmful sexual behaviours.

Please speak to any member of staff you feel comfortable with and they will talk to the Safeguarding Team and we will help. You can report concerns anonymously through the SLG using the quick link section under 'Are you worried?'.

We have lots of information on the SLG parent newsletter for support for families over the holiday period.

Mr G Ward | Designated Safeguarding Lead

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We were delighted to offer a visit to the world-renowned opera house to see Beethoven's 'Fidelio'. We took a small group of Year 10 Music students, who enjoyed an amazing performance of this well-known opera.

Glyndebourne is a spectacular venue and this year's performance didn't disappoint. The students thoroughly enjoyed their visit and learnt a lot from the experience.

Mrs Flint | Head of Music

Food Bank Donations

School Trips Our annual Glyndebourne trip was back on this year!

On Friday 3rd December a small group of Year 9 students were given the responsibility of going to a local supermarket to buy food and other items for a local foodbank.

Having contacted a local foodbank asking which items were needed most, they made a list and were given £100 from the school to go and purchase the items.

After a quick supermarket dash, the students loaded everything into the back of the school minibus and made their way to Hangleton Food bank. On arrival at the foodbank they unloaded the boxes which contained everything from toilet rolls and deodorant to crisps, tins of beef stew and fruit squash.

The Hangleton Food bank were extremely grateful to the students and the school for the donations at such a key time of year!

Mr Smith | Learning Mentor

We Drama department were extremely proud of how our Year 11’s represented the school at The Theatre Royal Brighton. This was one of the first trips we’ve had in a while and the Year 11 Drama students thoroughly enjoyed the trip to see the Hairspray Tour. Impeccable behaviour and genuine excitement to be back watching live theatre again.

Ms Ettinger | Head of Drama 19

On 21 November two Dorothy Stringer students spent the weekend at the Junior British Open Championships for rhythmic gymnastics. Bella and Martha are in i-star Academy gymnastics group.

This was their in their first competition for two years and the first time that they have competed as juniors. There were two competitions, one in ball and one in rope. The group won gold in both competitions, which is a massive achievement. The girls showed great resilience and dedication to their sport.

The group were also filmed all day on Saturday and will be featuring in the CBBC series Gym Stars. We look forward to seeing the show.

Congratulations Bella, Martha and the other three members of their i-star Academy group, which also includes Mrs R Revéreault

Izzy Netball Success Well done to Izzy in Year 10 who competed with her netball team, The Surrey Storm and made it to the school games final, where they played Manchester Thunder and came away with silver medals.

General Knowledge Quiz

Students Success

Bella & Martha Win Gold in the British Open Championships - Rhythmic Gymnastics

Thank you and congratulations to the 70 students who took part in the annual General Knowledge quiz (GKQ) this term.

Well done to the following students who were the top four and will be invited to take part in the school Mastermind competition in February 2022.

Student Winners: Amelie 11LMB 20 pts Wilf 8SVZ 20 pts Mabel 9RBG 19pts Isla 10GRV 18 pts Staff Winners: Joint 3rd: Dave Foley & Tassia Rosenberg & Jeremey Holtom 2nd Ben Ellis Ben Elliott 1st Mr Watson | Assistant Head

It was an all round fantastic experience for Izzy and her squad spending four days at the finals together.

Congratulations Izzy, we look foward to hearing more about your netball success.

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Mental Health Champions Launch

We were pleased to take part in the Mental Health Champions launch event this term for our Mental Health Champions project. We have a self-selected group of 18 students from Years 7, 8, 9 and 10 who have chosen to be part of this project to plan and support the delivery of actions to support the emotional health of our students and staff.

Our focus for this year is ‘Acts of kindness’ and these will involve all of our students and staff and the way we are kind to our school environment. We will be taking part in six further workshops during the year to plan and deliver these, facilitated by Public Health Brighton, and will then present our project to other schools and colleges in the city in July. We had our first workshop on Tuesday 7 December with staff from YMCA Dialogue and Public Health Brighton, this was supported by one of our primary mental health workers.

Students involved in this project will also be involved in events and assemblies for our school during the remainder of the academic year and our supported by our Primary Mental Health workers form the School Wellbeing Service.

Mr Watson | Assistant Head

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Mr Buchan has written and will be directing the film but we are looking for students to join the cast and crew. We will be organising casting sessions next year - look out for the character bios and script pages on the SLG - but are looking for potential crew members now.

If students are interested in being part of this exciting opportunity there is a Forms Survey to fill out on the SLG where students can say what they are interested in and tell us a bit about why they would be suitable for the role.

2040 Streaming

Siege at Nune High

This term the film studies department introduced an exciting new project which is taking place in school. In what is possibly a first, the school is making a feature film.

Thanks to Eco Action Families we are able to share a unique code for the Stringer community to watch this positive uplifting film which is a welcome tonic to some of the negative news items from this year.

Concerned about his young daughter’s future, filmmaker Damon Gameau travels the world in search of new approaches and solutions to climate change. He meets with innovators and changemakers in many fields to draw on their expertise.

Please find below your digital screening link and password for 2040.

Screening Link: https://screeners.cinesend.com/view/60d60cc24fb8d16e b704e9c9 Password: 2040EAFDOROTHY https://www.ecoactionfamilies.life/

For those who want to know more about the film (or think they may be able to help in some way!) please contact Mr Buchan – bcn@dorothy-stringer.co.uk Mr Buchan | Head of Film and Media Studies

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Waitrose Supports Local Wildlife

Waitrose supports local wildlife Place: The Liz Williams Butterfly Haven, Stringer Way, Brighton, BN1 6QG. Time: 15:30 hrs on Tuesday 14th December 2021.

Students from Dorothy Stringer School - Brighton, joined the friends of the Liz Williams Butterfly Haven to receive a cheque for £1000 from the staff of both the Hove and Brighton branches of Waitrose on Tuesday 14 December.

The Liz Williams Butterfly Haven is located on the Surrenden Campus in the north of Brighton. It was created in 2007 to provide good quality habitat for wildflowers, butterflies and bees. Over the last fourteen years 33 butterfly species have been recorded from this site, which represent 89% of all the butterfly species (37) recorded in the city of Brighton & Hove and all of this from a patch of land only half the size of a standard football pitch.

The site is used by Dorothy Stringer School to aid their programme of environmental education and every pupil at the school can explore the reserve during their time at the school. This is an exceptional experience for the students because very few children in the UK have access to nationally rare butterflies outside their classrooms.

Dr Dan Danahar, a Friend of the Liz Williams Butterfly Haven, said: “Dorothy Stringer School requires independent expertise to help manage this very special nature reserve and this is why the Friends of the Liz Williams Buttefly Haven have come into being. This group of residents and members of the Dorothy Stringer School staff depend greatly on external funding to carry out their essential work. Without the financial support from organisations like Waitrose this would just not be possible”.

“The funding that Waitrose has provided will help us make a donation to the costs of sheep grazing (provided by the Sussex Wildlife Trust) allow us to purchase native downland shrubs of local provenance (from Special Branch in Stanmer Organics) and partly pay for the educational display design costs (undertaken in partnership with the South Downs National Park). Consequently, we are very grateful for Waitrose’s support.”

Christy Bean, Community lead for Waitrose (Hove branch) said: “We would like to say a huge thank you to the Friends of the Liz Williams Butterfly Haven for arranging our visit yesterday. We were very presently surprised by their work. It was great to meet everyone who has been involved in such a unique project in our local community”.

For more information, contact: Dr Dan Danahar – Friends of the Liz Williams Butterfly Haven Email: Dan@bignature.co.uk Telephone: 07791113918 or 01273621042 Christy Bean - Waitrose Email: Communitymattershove@waitrose.co.uk Telephone: 01273 329901 ext 411

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Parent Calendar Photo Competition Winners | Autumn Term

Staff Winner

By Ms Booth

Autumn

By Isabella Miller, 9FMN

Shapes and structures

Black and White

By Katherine Scott, 9KWD

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By Rowan Bradley Scott, 9DMB

Swimming Pool Renovations

Throughout 2021 extensive refurbishments were carried out on Surrenden Swimming pool.

In the early part of 2021, the swimming pool was drained and relined, while the old ceiling was removed and a white panelled suspended ceiling fitted. The old plant room was re-sited to the Southern aspect of the building and a new filtration system was installed in and around the pool, bringing it into the 21st Century for pool water treatment.

Then, in July 2021, works were started on the changing room areas to bring them up to standard.

These works are now almost complete, with an entirely new design layout which makes showering and changing in a brightly lit and heated area a pleasurable experience.

For Surrenden Pool users it has been quite a wait but the facility is now something of which to be very proud.

Chris Lyddon | Site Manager

Amazing Autumn Fundraising

£6.280

Now raised for Reading and Literacy In partnership with some amazing trusts and organisations we are delivering exciting projects in the school and raising important funds for our student wellbeing and the environment.

100 Sheep and 437 Preloved 400 trees uniform sales

2 Table Tennis Tables

The Stringer Zine Project We continue to work with Future Creators whose ‘BeWell’ programme funded our initial student zine making sessions and a staff workshop teaching teachers about zine making. The Fonthill Foundation Community Fund is funding a new Zine Club which will be starting in January with more events happening across the school to create more student publications for our new Zine Library.

Thanks to Future Creators and The Fonthill Foundation Community Trust for helping us raise over £6000 to set up our exciting new Zine Library.

PE Sponsorship Over the years Donatello have sponsored our school’s sports provision, helping the development of football, rugby, netball and basketball.

This year we are pleased to announce that they will be sponsoring our PE Department once again donating towards our sports kit and equipment.

Smarter Uniforms Uniform donations and sales have been incredible this term. Smarter Uniforms have now had to pause donations until the spring to allow time to process their current stocks. This term we raised £506.17 that will support our Diamond Fund. This fund, which is incorporated into the Dorothy Stringer School Fund, is used to support students with exceptional needs and circumstances supporting them with costs for school visits, activities, or classroom equipment not provided from the school budget.

This year we have made a contribution from uniform sales to Smarter Uniforms whose volunteer workforce was impacted heavily by recent restrictions. Our support will help them to continue their important work recycling, protecting our planets resources and continuing to make uniform more affordable.

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Following a Black Friday boost, we have raised £799.69 through online sales with Easyfundraising. These valuable donations will go towards supporting student mental health and wellbeing activities in school, allowing more students access to our school’s specialist counselling and provisions.

It’s easy to join us and #ShopForStringer go to https://public.dorothy-stringer.co.uk/ ds/pages/shop_for_stringer.aspx for more details.

More Fundraising Updates A £5000 grant from Brighton & Hove Communities Fund earlier this year enabled us to work with Big Nature to put up much needed fencing for the Butterfly Haven.

With the new fence now installed we will be grazing up to 100 sheep this winter that will help create the right conditions for many rare wildflowers and insects to survive. Year 7 students are also about to embark on planting over 400 trees from The Woodland Trust in our woodland.

Two outdoor table tennis tables from funds donated by Scottish Power are now in place next to our football pitches.

Micro volunteering for the DOTS

Easy fundraising

We are looking for parents/carers to contribute small amounts of time, fun ideas and expertise to the DOTS (our Dorothy Stringer Parent Fundraising Group) to organising community and school events for 2022. It is always fantastic to see parents, friends and staff of Stringer supporting the school and some interesting ideas already been proposed.

Next term we will having a ‘Meet and Greet’ event for parents and carers.

This will be an opportunity to get together with our fundraising team and the Headteacher to hear about our achievements to date and how the money we raise might be spent.

If you would like to join us, or are interested in finding out more or have ideas to share please fill in this form and we will get back to you with details of the meeting next term. https://public.dorothy-stringer.co.uk/ds/ Pages/parent_fundraising.aspx 27

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Social Feed Highlights

Important Dates for the Spring Term

SPRING TERM KEY DATES School will re-open on Tuesday 4 January 2022 we will be on a week 1 of the timetable.

Thursday 27 January 2022 ​

Year 9 Parents’ Evening

​ onday 14 February - Friday 18 FebM ruary 2022 ​

Half Term

​Thursday 3 March 2022

Year 11 Parents’ Evening

​Friday 18 March 2022

​INSET Day

Thursday 24 March 2022

​Year 7 Parents’ Evening

​Monday 11 - Friday 22 April 2022

​Easter Holidays

If you are interested in advertising your business or service to our school community through our weekly or termly news please contact us, or If you, or a business you know would like to sponsor our publications please get in touch with our team on communications@dorothystringer.co.uk.

The full school calendar can be viewed by clicking below:

Click here to view.

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