Stringer Press | Summer Term 2023

Stringer Press SUMMER TERM

Contents

Headteacher's message

Library news

Lower school production

Dolawen 2023

The Duke of Edinburgh's Award

Stonewall Bronze Award

Italy trip

Comic Con trip

English news

Upper school presentations

Employability workshops

Model UN conference

Shaun by the Sea

Children's Parade

RA Young Artists' Summer Show

Photography competition 2023

Humanities wall murals

History trips

River Cuckmere trip

Preston Park trips

Rampion wind farm trip

PE news

Student sporting success

Dance show

Get into Teaching

Year 6 Transition day

Work experience

Enrichment week

Year 11

Positive feedback

Social media photos

HEADTEACHER'S MESSAGE

MATT HILLIER

Dear Parents, Carers, Staff and Governors,

Welcome to our summer term newsletter

We are extremely grateful for your continued support and would like to say a huge thank you to staff who have continued to deliver exceptional lessons and learning opportunities beyond the curriculum as well. We now have the summer break to recharge and prepare for a new academic year When the school closes, the site will be a hive of activity as this is the best time to make changes and improvements where we can and prepare for the return of staff and students in September

The end of an academic year is a time to celebrate the successes of Year 11 and all that has happened over the year Year 11 were absolutely fantastic in the formal examinations, and we look forward to seeing them collect their GCSE results in school on August 24 I have no doubt they are well prepared for college next year Our entire Year 10 cohort were able to attend Varndean Sixth Form College on our city-wide transition day in addition to the many other college open events, so they will be ready to make their college choices early next term. As well as their work experience during enrichment week, the careers provision is very strong here at Stringer and I’m pleased that students get to know about the full range of opportunities on offer

In amongst the academic successes, Stringer continues to provide exceptional opportunities in sport, music, art and drama as well as other areas. Students have been successful for Sussex, England and Wales and we are extremely proud of the participation and team ethic of our PE department. A huge thank you goes out to all the parents who support the clubs and local teams in so many ways, and we must also thank Mr Corrigan and his team for putting in additional hours before and after school Mr Corrigan is moving on to an Assistant Headteacher role in another school in the city next year and his promotion is well deserved; we wish him well. Congratulations to Mr Gill who will be stepping into his shoes here at Stringer, and we know the department will continue to offer great opportunities in inclusive as well as competitive sport I am sure they will be looking forward to inter-school competitions!

In another Head of Department change, we are sad to say goodbye to Suzanne Flint, who has been a mainstay in the music department for over 20 years but is now retiring from teaching and moving on to another career. All those who have been taught by her will know how patient and supportive she has been with all those learning Music, and this year our Spring concert showcased the musical talents of our young people We look forward to seeing Suzanne at the Christmas concert in December, and I have no doubt that the Music department will continue to thrive at Stringer as we welcome our new Head of Music, Mr Reeve, next academic year.

We wish all the best to those staff who are moving on to new pastures and thank them being part of the Stringer community We look forward to staying in touch Huge thanks as well to all staff involved with putting on our wonderful school productions and the host of visits and trips to engage and enthuse students in their creative talents. Our staff are a talented bunch, and we are grateful to all those who are here early or late, or who commit to spending time away from home, to support the students in all these opportunities Trips and extra-curricular clubs and events really do help students build confidence as well as memories, helping them fulfil their potential

I hope you all have an enjoyable and restful summer holiday and I look forward to welcoming you back in September.

Stringer Library has continued its transformation this term! An Instagram account was set up for parents and students to follow, which includes Book of the Week, all new releases, and promotions of popular collections we have available. We also have a new library system which has modernised the way students can access the library. From September, the library webpage will be launched, allowing students to peruse our vast collections online, write reviews and even use our ‘click and collect’ service. New year 7 students will have an induction on how to use the library and the new system, which will be rolled out to all year groups throughout next year.

We celebrated Pride month with a new collection of LGBTQ+ fiction for students to borrow and we updated our very popular graphic novels section, thanks to some generous donations from Stringer parents…keep them coming!

Finally, we launched our first crowdfunding project to raise funds for a cosy book nook in our library. We hope having this calm, tranquil and dedicated reading area will inspire more students to read and promote its importance to mental health and wellbeing. Students will not have to wait long for the completion of the book nook, as the incredible generosity of the Stringer community has meant that we surpassed our target within one week of the project’s launch! Thank you to all those who supported us!

Blue Remembered Hills

This year's Lower School production was an ensemble performance of Dennis Potter's Blue Remembered Hills.

Set in The Forest of Dean in the middle of WW11, the play centres around a day-in-the-life of a group of seven-year-olds as they play, hunt and fight for acceptance.

Fair John, brutal Peter, sensitive Raymond, playful Willy, manipulative Angela, tough Audrey and poor old Donald Duck teach us that childhood, far from an ideal, happy time, can be fraught with the same challenges and fears as adulthood.

The production was performed over a weekend and two school days to appreciative audiences of parents, carers and the whole of Year 7. Thank you to everyone who came to watch, and to our Drama department for putting together a great performance.

Most importantly, congratulations to the cast on their creative performances and hard work in rehearsal.

We loved the play. It was moving and clever and the standard of acting was really high. It was lovely to watch it in the woods, too. Well done all involved! My son loved being part of it.

I thought the play was wonderful. The setting, the costumes, the music, the inventive staging which allowed all students to get involved, all of it was super successful. The standard of the performances was incredibly high, the students all seemed very engaged and enthusiastic. My daughter had such fun during both the rehearsals and throughout the production.

What a great setting for this play in the school woods. It set the tone perfectly. All the actors were compelling to watch. I loved the way they hid within the trees and foliage and sprung into action on cue to “Run rabbit run“ to act out their particular scene with such conviction. What a talented group of young people who worked so well together.

I was lucky enough to grab the last seat at Saturday morning's performance of Blue Remembered Hills. The Stringer woods provided a magical backdrop for this thought-provoking portrayal of Denis Potter's play. The committed ensemble of young actors took us on a journey through the jubilant and sometimes brutal energies of childhood. Huge congratulations to everyone involved.

Staged in a small glade in the woods at the back of the school on a perfect spring morning to the sound of live birdsong, the setting for year seven and eight’s production of Blue Remembered Hills, perfectly evoked the atmosphere of the English countryside that we all hold in our memories Each scene was performed by a different set of actors playing the same parts. The device of freezing the performers at the end of their section, to have their positions taken by the next set, allowed for a flow for the story to be told seamlessly. The level of energy and enthusiasm that each of the players put into their parts was clear and infectious. They were having a good time and so were we. Each was given their moment in the sun (both literally and metaphorically) and every single one took their opportunity to shine, yet they all were working in harmony with one another, as any ensemble should. It was simply lovely. Thank you.

I was lucky enough to grab the last seat at Saturday morning's performance of Blue Remembered Hills. The Stringer woods provided a magical backdrop for this thought-provoking portrayal of Denis Potter's play. The committed ensemble of young actors took us on a journey through the jubilant and sometimes brutal energies of childhood. Huge congratulations to everyone involved.

One of our favourite things about the Summer term is that we have the opportunity to take our Year 7 students to Dolawen!

We’ve had such a great time with the students this year, and a number of our staff who have been on many Dolawen trips have remarked that this year has been their favourite yet. Not only were the students willing to get involved in everything, challenge themselves and have a great time, but we were also blessed with some beautiful weather. This meant that in addition to the usual climbing, mountain walking, and gorge walking, we also had the opportunity to get some groups to the beach and take advantage of the sunshine. Relationships were strengthened, new bonds formed, comfort zones exceeded, and much fun was had!

Thank you to all the staff who came along on the trips. Getting so many students to Dolawen and back is no mean feat and we couldn’t do it without you.

We were also lucky enough to have a film crew with us on one of the trips - they’re currently busy editing the footage together to create a short video that we’re excited to share with you all next year. In the meantime, take a look at some photos of this year’s trips below!

THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH'S AWARD

In a thrilling Duke of Edinburgh camping expedition this term, a group of adventurous teenagers embarked on an unforgettable outdoor journey that left them inspired and empowered.

With boundless enthusiasm, they embraced the challenges that awaited them. From conquering rugged terrains and setting up camp to engaging in spirited football matches and lively sing-alongs, each moment was filled with excitement and camaraderie.

As the sun set on their campsite, laughter and songs echoed through the air, forging lasting bonds among the group.

This incredible experience not only tested their physical endurance but also sparked a deep appreciation for the natural world and the strength of teamwork.

With newfound confidence and treasured memories, these young explorers returned home forever changed by the remarkable Duke of Edinburgh camping expedition.

STONEWALL BRONZE AWARD

For the last year and a half Dorothy Stringer has been accredited with Stonewall which is the largest LGBTQ+ charity in the UK. This has allowed us to access resources to support LGBTQ+ inclusion in and out of the classroom, as well as staff training and support.

The school has also been working hard to achieve its Bronze Champion Award which recognises the work schools do to promote inclusion for LGBTQ+ students and staff. We are very proud to say that Dorothy Stringer School has just achieved this Bronze Award! This is a very challenging award to achieve and involved collecting evidence from every aspect of the school, from the curriculum, student well-being and safeguarding, student voice and leadership. The award is testament to how inclusive Dorothy Stringer is for LGBQT+ students in every area and this is a chance to celebrate the great work our whole school community does to support equality.

As well as celebrating our award, our canteen created some rainbow-coloured lunches to celebrate Pride month in June, and we also held a Pride bake-off and cake sale which raised money for the Rainbow Fund, a vital charity within Brighton and Hove helping to fund projects which make a difference to the lives of thousands of individuals within the LGBTQ+ community. Take a look at some of the colourful bakes below!

In the May half term we took 55 of our Year 8 students on our annual trip to Lido di Jesolo, an Italian coastal town near Venice.

Our Year 8 students had an amazing time and we took the opportunity to visit Venice and the Doge’s Palace as well as the islands of Murano and Burano. We were also able to visit the beautiful city of Verona, where we stopped at the amphitheatre and Juliet’s house, before continuing on to the stunning Lake Garda, where students went for a dip and picked up some delicious ice creams. The students also spent a lot of time on the beach, taking part in sand castle competitions and playing games, as well as having an incredible time at the local waterpark!

All in all it was an action packed six days and we were absolutely blown away by how well behaved the students were. Not only were they great company, but they took everything in their stride and really looked out for one another – well done, Year 8!

We’re always so excited to return to Lido di Jesolo and to Hotel Jalisco in particular - the staff there have been looking after us for many years. Watch this space for information on next year’s trip!

On 26 May we took a group of our Creative iMedia students to MCM Comic Con, the ultimate gathering for pop culture enthusiasts! It proved to be a mesmerizing adventure for our group of Creative iMedia students! Stepping into the convention hall was like entering a parallel universe where superheroes, fantastical creatures, and beloved characters came to life. The air buzzed with excitement as we navigated through a vibrant sea of cosplayers, immersing ourselves in a whirlwind of creativity and fandom. From meeting renowned artists and attending exclusive panels to browsing an awe-inspiring array of merchandise, the experience was a feast for the senses and taught students a lot about the many different revenue streams that are available to aspiring artists, creators and writers. We left Comic Con with unforgettable memories, new-found aspirations, and a deep appreciation for the power of imagination that permeated every corner of this extraordinary event.

The English Department hosted a series of Literature Lectures at the start of this term. The lectures provided an additional opportunity for Year 11 for some guided revision along with a chance to experience a style of teaching which may well be a part of their future:

Ms Richards gave the first lecture, asking: ‘Is A Christmas Carol a religious novel? Or is its message about kindness and generosity just about human nature, not religion?’ Ms Uren was next up, delivering a lecture exploring images of the natural world in Macbeth. Finally, Ms Taylor’s lecture addressed the question: ‘How do the symbols within An Inspector Calls reflect society and socialism?’

Focusing on building students’ knowledge of the texts and their contexts, the lectures were very well-received, and the attendees were enthusiastic and engaged, making us very proud of them.

MACBETH | BOX CLEVER THEATRE

MR SANDERCOCK

Also in KS4 English, our students were treated to an in-school performance of Macbeth by Box Clever Theatre. Our students loved the interactive performance, and it really gave them renewed energy and enthusiasm for tackling their revision.

On Wednesday 26 April, ten of our Year 10 HPQ students presented their work to the rest of the HPQ students and a selection of teachers. As part of the HPQ they had to choose a topic to research and write a 2,000- word essay on, and then present their findings. Topics chosen covered a broad range, including for example, CRISPR Cas9 Gene Editing, Abortion Rights in the US, Taylor Swift, and Digitalisation. All the students involved worked very hard (on top of their schoolwork) to produce incredibly high-level pieces of extended writing, and then bravely presented their work in front of their peers. The students should be incredibly proud to achieve the AQA Higher Project Qualification. It has given them a huge advantage on understanding how to write academically, learning skills such as referencing and time management, and means they will really stand out when applying for colleges in September. Congratulations to all!

PDES PRESENTATIONS

Back in April our Year 11 PDES students were tasked with creating a display board on a topic of their choice as part of their Project Based Learning unit. Students researched, planned and designed their boards independently, and an array of topics was covered, from Martial Arts to Child Development.

The students worked incredibly hard throughout the unit, and it culminated in an open morning where staff were invited to view the projects and discuss the topics with the students. The students should be very proud of their work and the skills they learned will stand them in good stead for college. Well done everyone!

MS ROSENBERG

MISS BRICE

EMPLOYABILITY WORKSHOPS

At the very start of this term we held a number of employability workshops for our Year 9 students. We were really pleased that so many parents and members of our local community volunteered to come in and speak to our students about their career paths. It was a really inspiring event for our Year 9 students who are just starting to think about career prospects ahead of their GCSEs and work experience next year. Thank you to everyone who volunteered and well done to our students for getting involved and asking some really thoughtful and interesting questions.

MODEL UN CONFERENCE

On the 26th June an enthusiastic and erudite group of Year 9 students participated in Hurstpierpoint College’s Model United Nations Conference. They acted as delegates for Brazil, India and Jamaica, delivering speeches and participating in debates on the controversial topics of gun-ownership, abortion, the death penalty and the right of citizens to protest.

Mr Sillery would like to congratulate all the students who took part. It was a fantastic event and all the delegates from Stringer demonstrated their mental acuity and impressive public speaking skills with aplomb! Special congratulations to Emma M, who won the Best Delegate award. Well done everyone.

MR SILLERY

May saw the arrival of our very own Shaun the Sheep at Dorothy Stringer! We welcomed our Shaun into the Art department and set about raising money for the Martlets’ Shaun by the Sea trail, which we achieved with a non-uniform day.

Once our Art department had selected their favourite designs from all of the excellent student submissions, our winning students, Beth and Lucy, began the painting process. Shaun has now been collected and will be in hibernation with the rest of the flock over the summer before being displayed somewhere in Brighton & Hove in September. Check our social media channels in September for more information on where you can find our Shaun!

After the trail, the sheep will then be auctioned off to raise further funds for Martlets.

CHILDREN'S PARADE

ART

In May our Art department were excited to once again take part in Brighton’s famous Children’s Parade. This year the theme was ‘One World’, with a focus on ‘Inventions; Culture, Cooking & Fashion’ and our Art club and Art staff worked incredibly hard to get their costumes and centrepiece ready. They went with a camera-themed creation and looked brilliant as they travelled through Brighton accompanied by our very own Samba band. Thank you to all of our staff and students who represented Dorothy Stringer at the parade – it was a great day!

ROYAL ACADEMY YOUNG ARTISTS' SUMMER SHOW

ART

We are so excited to share that two of our students have been selected to appear in the Royal Academy Young Artists’ Summer Show 2023!

Now in its fifth year, the Young Artists’ Summer Show is a free, open submission exhibition for students aged 4–19 studying in the UK. Artworks are judged by a panel of artists and arts professionals, with selected artworks displayed online and on-site at the Royal Academy of Arts.

Albert and Raphael, Year 7, submitted their work, New York High Street, and were selected from over 21,000 other submissions! We’re so proud of their achievement and would like to say a massive well done.

You can view their work alongside all the other selected artworks at the Young Artists’ Summer Show online exhibition, or in person at the Royal Academy from 18 July – 13 August. We’ve also included it below.

New York High Street

We wanted to make a collaborative drawing and we decided on a high street in New York. The picture features a scene with shops such as Burger Queen, Gucci, and The Tiny Nail Salon, and there is a burglar robbing Gucci and the police are trying to catch him. There is also an evil donut and coffee factory that are poisoning their products. We have made a joint drawing before and it's really fun. Here we drew two shops each and collaborated on Gucci. We hope you enjoy our drawing!

Albert L and Raphael K

PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION 2023

2023 saw the return of our annual photography competition. We were delighted to receive so many entries from students all the way through from Year 7 to 11, and the standard was incredibly high. We had a tough time making our final selection, but you can see the winning photographs below –all of which are featured in our 2023/24 school calendar. There is still time to purchase a calendar if you haven't done so already, just place your order via the payment gateway and we will deliver the calendar to your child.

HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY WALL MURALS

On our return to school after the May half term break, our students and staff were greeted with a number of brand new wall murals on our M-block staircase. Ms Banks and Mrs Morgan commissioned Brighton street artist Glimmertwin to create History and Geography themed murals that link to our school curriculum.

Ms Morgan, Head of Geography, said: ‘The Geography mural was designed to represent the human and physical geography of Brighton. The mural includes artistic representation of our coastal landscape, the rural South Downs landscape and the cityscape of Brighton's urban centre. It shows an overview of the diversity of landscapes that we have across Brighton & Hove and the surrounding areas. As a designated UNESCO biosphere reserve, our local area has significant natural value and can help us learn how to balance what people and nature need to thrive. The mural incorporates local wildlife and ecosystems, as well as human uses such as the Rampion Wind Farm, farming and walkers.

Ms Banks, Head of History, said: ‘The History street art mural depicts events and people of history embedded into our new KS3 and 4 curriculum. The first wall demonstrates events of 20th century history, from the industrial revolution seen by the child worker through to women’s political agency during the suffragette campaign for universal franchise and Indian soldiers receiving treatment in the Pavilion during World War One.

The second wall is a story of migration history, from The Windrush to Malala Yousafzai representing current day. It celebrates the contributions of Caribbean migrants in the NHS, Irish construction workers who rebuilt post-war Britain, Paul Stephenson’s protests to challenge systematic racism and Claudia Jones’ Notting Hill carnival. We are very appreciative of Sean’s fantastic work (Glimmertwin) to bring our new curriculum to life so creatively.'

We were also lucky enough to welcome Glimmertwin into school to present the murals to some of Year 10 students. Our students loved hearing about the design and creation process and had lots of questions about the artwork.

HISTORY TRIPS

It’s been a busy term in our History department as we’ve been extending our students’ learning beyond the classroom over the past few weeks.

Year 7 Historians visited Arundel Castle, a restored Medieval castle with original Norman keep and gatehouse features Students experienced a guided tour of the castle grounds from the dungeon to the keep and participated in an educational workshop on medieval weaponry. Students were able to dress up in chainmail and handle replica weapons to see if they had what it takes to be a Medieval knight. A great day had by all students!

Year 8 Historians visited Hampton Court Palace, a superb place to experience Renaissance architecture that the Tudors loved so much. The palace was even one of Henry VIII’s favourite residences. Students toured the Great Hall, identifying Anne Boleyn’s coat-of-arms and the Tudor kitchens to get a feel for the extravagant lifestyle of Tudor court Students had a great day and the weather stayed dry to explore the famous maze, commissioned in 1700 by William III Thanks Ms Dann and Ms Nevitt for organising.

Meanwhile, in the upper school Year 10 History students travelled to London to visit the Imperial War Museum, experiencing an interactive iPad-led tour of the newly curated exhibition. Students were able to go at their own pace exploring the lives of Jewish and Roma traveller victims of the Holocaust. Stories ranged from young to old and provided students with a wide ranging understanding of the expanse of Nazi terror across Europe Behaviour inside the museum was impeccable and Ms Banks was proud to accompany such an inquisitive group of Year 10 students

As well as this, Ms Moore organised a talk from the daughter of Auschwitz survivor, Henry Mermuth Henry and his father were forced to work for the Nazis and Henry took an opportunity to try and derail a train that Hitler was due to travel on Although unsuccessful, Henry was later awarded a medal for his attempt to assassinate Hitler The talk was well received by Year 10 and provided some reflection to their GCSE course.

RIVER CUCKMERE TRIP

In May, our Y10 GCSE Geography students spent a day per class collecting data at the River Cuckmere, Alfriston. This fieldwork component is a requirement of their exam board.

They were able to get into the river and collect cross-section and velocity data, in order to investigate if the discharge of the river changes over time. We were also able to take students to a picturesque viewpoint from which they could view the lower course of the River Cuckmere and see the river mouth as it enters the sea at Cuckmere Haven.

We were impressed by the enthusiasm and teamwork displayed by students over the six days of trips. Luckily, only one class got rained on!

In their subsequent lessons, students presented and analysed their primary data, considered secondary data and developed their ability to draw conclusions. They also spent time evaluating fieldwork sampling strategies and methods.

Overall, a very successful set of fieldtrips!

PRESTON PARK TRIPS

Year 7 Geographers were taken off timetable for a morning or afternoon session this term to take part in a series of mini fieldwork activities around Preston Park. The students took part in an orienteering exercise where they raced against other teams to locate a series of hidden key words, this helped them to develop their map reading skills and their ability to work together as a team. The students also had the opportunity to relax in the rose gardens and wrote Haikus centred around what they were experiencing on a sensory level, encouraging creativity and a mindful attitude towards the natural environment. Finally the students conducted a traffic survey, looking at the types of transport and numbers of vehicles on the road to better understand human impacts on the environment and develop their data collection techniques. Back in the classroom, students evaluated the experience and interpreted the data they collected. The students worked extremely well and enjoyed learning more about both the physical and human geography of their local area, it was a fantastic opportunity for them to thrive outside of the classroom environment and get back into nature.

RAMPION WIND FARM TRIP SCIENCE

On Tuesday 20 June, Year 9s visited the Rampion wind farms on two chartered boats. All the students have successfully gained their entry level certificate in Science this year and the trip complemented the renewable energy unit they had been studying. The boats sped out to the 35m2 area of wind farms and the students got to see the colossal size of the individual turbines. They learned about how they were set up and maintained, and how they generate electricity. There was also a chance to explore the micro-ecosystems that surround the turbines - our tour guide proved this by catching a fish in seconds. On the journey back the waves had picked up and we were rewarded by being soaked with sea spray. Needless to say, the students loved it!

This year our Sports Day returned to a whole Lower School event at Withdean for Years 7, 8 and 9 This was an amazing occasion with students showing their love for physical activity and sport You will have seen the results in last week’s weekly news, but for those who missed it, here are the highlights.

1st Beaconsfield

2nd Hollingbury

3rd Surrenden

4th Ditchling

1st MLN 2nd LAB

3rd MFT

1st Beaconsfield

2nd Surrenden

3rd Hollingbury

4th Ditchling

1st FNS

2nd CLR

3rd HLT

1st Ditchling

2nd Beaconsfield

3rd Hollingbury

4th Surrenden

1st DNN 2nd FNT 3rd PBY

1st Beaconsfield

2nd Hollingbury

3rd Surrenden

4th Ditchling

Special mention goes to 7MLN, 8FNS and 9DNN who accumulated the most points for their houses. This was undoubtedly due to their participation rates, with almost every event being filled. We also had some heroic performances that encompassed our school values of creativity, resilience and respect

Year 7 House Cup Year 7 form winners

Year 8 House Cup Year 8 form winners

Year 9 House Cup Year 9 form winners

Overall winners of the Addis Shield

We had some outstanding athletics on display with a number of students gaining their personal bests and breaking long-standing school records:

Murray D broke the Year 8 Boys High Jump record

Rufus W broke the Year 9 Boys 100 metre record

Dylan A broke the Year 9 Boys Shot Put Record

Jaiten B broke the Year 9 Girls Long Jump record

Martha C broke her sister’s 100 metre record

Poppy M O broke the Year 8 Girls Long Jump record

Kira D broke the 300 meters Year 8 record

Romy H O broke the Year 8 Girls Javelin record

Lara C broke the Year 9 Girls 800 metre record by 20 secon

Cecilia E broke the Year 7 Long Jump record

Well done everyone and thank you all for an amazing day

Athletics

Our Athletes have had a successful season across both the city and the county Our Year 9s have been particularly successful, representing the school well at the Brighton Schools’ Athletics and the Schools’ Track and Field Cup In the Brighton Schools we had outstanding wins from Gus F in the Javelin and our Year 9 Girls team won the Brighton Schools Athletics Cup. As these students move further into the ‘Inter’ category, we are really hopeful that they will have lots of success in the years to come In particular the girls should have a good chance at qualification in the National Track and Field Cup

Cricket and Rounders

Both Cricket and Rounders have been popular this year, particularly rounders in Year 7/8. For the first time we have had a number of Rounders Tournaments and Matches hosted by Blatchington Mill School. In Year 7 Savannah S, Fin L and Lois M have shown some outstanding match winning performances, particularly with the bat The Year 7 team came third in the first of their first Brighton Schools tournament In Year 8, captain Josh R led the team to victory in their first tournament – beating Blatchington Mill, BACA, PACA and Varndean

In Cricket, our Year 10s were successful in getting to the quarter finals of the County Cup, beating Patcham and then narrowly losing to St John Bosco School in Worthing Raffy Y had two good knocks with the bat and there were some great contributions from the Year 9s playing up Our Year 7s have been adjusting to hard ball cricket well, they have had two hard ball games for the school now with some playing representing the school for the first time. A special mention goes out to Blake H, Marco V and Raffy Y who have all been representing Sussex Cricket in their respective age groups this year.

The Girls cricketers have had a wonderful season, with over 40 girls representing the school in tournaments across Sussex A big thank you to Ansty and Burgess Hill Cricket club for hosting a number of all-day tournaments Performances by Romy H-O, Harriett M and Racheal W have ensured that the sides have won many more games than they lost this year. Stringer continues to do well in these tournaments and with the community link with St Peters we are hoping that even more girls choose to access the local club and continue playing Cricket over the summer

Basketball

The Girls basketball team have shown fantastic commitment to practice and training this year With a core group of committed participants, the girls have played two competitive fixtures which they will build on in September Their season started with a tournament win with four other Brighton schools competing The star of the tournament and player of the season was Kaizen A. She is now playing for our school linked team Brighton Cougars and progressing really well!

Football

The Year 7 Boys football team had an outstanding start to their Stringer career It was evident from September that they were a talented group of players with great competitiveness, resilience, and teamwork The result for the squad was winning the treble of the League, District Cup and County Cup. A fantastic season!

In total, they played 16 competitive matches (and some friendlies), scoring 68 goals and conceding 20. 8 players appeared in every game and Raph K was top scorer with 18 goals in 14 appearances, including a hat trick in the County Cup final! 18 players represented the ‘A’ team and over 80 players across all Y7 teams for boys and girls

Everyone involved should be proud of their contribution and efforts this year and a massive thank you to all Year 7 students who attend football club! Mr Haggart is looking forward to September for more opportunities, challenges and hopefully success!

Farewell from Mr Corrigan

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my colleagues, the parents and the students for making this last five years really special. I have loved being the Head of PE and Sport at Dorothy Stringer. In my time here we have navigated a really challenging time in PE and Sport, and we have always tried to provide a range of opportunities and competitions for our young people I have been immensely proud, not only of the external successes and trophies, but also of how we have made PE and Sport an inclusive place for everyone Increased participation through the interhouse and having inclusive clubs for everyone is a legacy that I am proud of!

The Dorothy Stringer PE department are looking forward to the start of the new term – this will bring new staff to the department, but also a new Football, Rugby, Netball and Basketball season The team are looking forward to welcoming students back to clubs in September I know that Mr Gill is going to do a great job and I look forward to popping back in for fixtures soon.

SPORTING SUCCESS

We also had a number of students who achieved sporting success outside of school this term.

Year 8 students Josh, Eddie, Freddie, Dylan and Alex represented Brighton and Hove Schools FA at the U13 District Cup Final back in May, beating Leeds 6-1! Students from eight schools across the city travelled to the Stoke City Stadium to play in the match and we're so proud to have had five players on the team. Well done, boys!

We’re also very proud to share that Year 9 student Huxley has been selected to play Basketball for England!

Huxley has been travelling and working with the U15 England team, and in June he also had the opportunity to play with a US team who have been on tour across London and the South, allowing him the opportunity to learn the tips and tricks that the US players use.

We look forward to hearing more about Huxley’s basketball journey in the future.

Congratulations are in order for Murray, Year 8, who raced over two days at the Atlantis gala in Horsham last month.

Murray came away with four gold medals, one silver, and two bronze. He also won the overall trophy in the boy's competition. Well done, Murray!

We're always keen to share student success with our school community. If your child has been involved in anything exciting outside of school, sporting or otherwise, let us know! You can email us at communications@dorothy-stringer.co.uk

DANCE SHOW

MS SAMPSON

The Dance Show 2023 DVD and photos are still available to purchase from www.megapixelmovie.com.

Please visit the website to make your purchases, no password is required. The DVD especially is a lovely memento to look back on in years to come. If we would like to continue to have the event filmed in the future, we need to get these orders in!

We hope you enjoy watching it back. Take a look at the photos below for a reminder of this fantastic evening at the Brighton Dome last term.

TRANSITION DAY

Welcome to Dorothy Stringer!

The sun was shining as we welcomed next year’s Year 7 students to Stringer earlier this month. We had a great day getting to know our new students and introducing them to life at school. Not only did they get to try their hand at some taster lessons, but they also took a tour of the school, had a go at playing on the Astro, and even enjoyed a fish and chip lunch. We hope that this experience has left the students feeling excited for September – we can’t wait to see you all again when term starts for Year 7 students on Monday 4 September.

It was also lovely to welcome so many of our new parents and carers to our recent ‘Meet the Tutor’ event and welcome them in person to the DS community. They got to meet their child’s tutor and see their form room, as well as ask any burning questions and visit our pre-loved uniform sale.

Have a great summer and we look forward to catching up in September!

YEAR 7 TUTORS

Mr Barrass Mr Bernal Ms Bryson Ms Dhanwatri Ms Evans

Ms Hand

Miss Hoskins Mr Mason Miss McMahon

Ms Meyer Mr Nott Mr Webb

Look out for a letter from your form tutor heading your way on 28 July!

WORK EXPERIENCE

CAREERS

We’re so proud of our Year 10 students who spent a week out at work experience placements in July. Students worked at a variety of businesses and organisations including local schools, cafes, film producers, libraries, theatres and jewellery designers. Our staff undertook visits to check in on how they were getting on and were delighted to receive lots of positive feedback from employers. Read what they had to say about our students below!

‘They have been very encouraging to the children and promoted our reading competition.’

‘The kids love playing football with him and he has helped in every area of the club from mending guitars to cooking. We have been very impressed.’

‘He has a natural talent for editing film to music. He has picked up in three days what took me years to learn.’

‘He has learnt about the whole business and made a ring. He has a real flair for design.’

‘We hope he will come back and work with us in the future.’

‘She has been great, we have even offered her a job!’

Could you offer a student a work experience placement? If you’re interested in providing a placement for one of our students next year, please get in contact with workexperience@dorothy-stringer.co.uk and they will send you all the details.

ENRICHMENT WEEK

Our penultimate week of term saw our lower school students taking part in Enrichment Week. During this action-packed week, we offered students a choice of a wide variety of activities that gave them the opportunity to extend their learning outside the classroom, be creative and embrace new experiences.

We were really pleased to see students enjoying the activities on offer and getting stuck in. Below is just a small taster of all the activities that took place over the week, including comic book workshops, surf camp, graphic design, screen printing, walks on the South Downs, stadium tours, paddle boarding, silversmithing and much, much more!

ENRICHMENT WEEK

Drama workshops – Pitch and Play!

As part of their enrichment week activities, the Drama workshop students created a ‘play-in-aday’. Two groups pitched their ideas for a modernday fairytale in a Dragon’s Den style. The winning pitch, ‘Lost’, was then devised by the whole ensemble and performed in the woods. A thoroughly enjoyable immersive and creative experience!

YEAR 11

CHRISTMAS FOOD BANK COLLECTION

It’s been a busy term for our Year 11 students as they approached the end of their time with us here at Dorothy Stringer They expertly handled their GCSE exams and we were so proud of their dedication – it was great to see so many of them at our pre-exam revision breakfasts where our staff were on hand to offer last minute advice and encouragement We’ll see our students on results day on Thursday 24 August when we’re confident that all their hard work will pay off.

Once exams were out the way it was time to party at our 2023 prom! It was great to see so many students there and provided an opportunity for them all to have one last evening together before heading their separate ways in September We would like to once again wish all our Year 11 students the best of luck with the future and thank them for an excellent five years – they will certainly be missed by everyone at Stringer.

POSITIVE FEEDBACK

CHRISTMAS FOOD BANK COLLECTION

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to send us feedback and kind words this term; it is always appreciated. We've been really delighted to receive some lovely feedback from parents and carers recently, so we thought we'd share some of the comments with you

We wanted to say a huge thanks to Mr Buchan, Miss Taylor and Mr Malone for my daughter’s trip to Dolawen. I have no doubt of the amount of extra time and effort that goes in to making this trip so fantastic. My daughter absolutely loved it... what a fabulous experience.

My son really enjoyed the trip and benefited enormously from having the opportunity to exercise autonomy in such a stimulating supportive setting

Thank you so much for organising and leading the Italy trip I imagine that this took a great deal of time and effort (not to mention that you gave up your half-term) Our daughter came back really excited by the trip and was telling us what a great time she had – I am sure she will always remember the trip and we are really grateful for the care you took of her

My youngest has just finished at Stringer and I just wanted to write and say thank you to all of you in the office and in admin I am an administrator myself and have been blown away at how efficiently the DS team works In all my time there has not been even one error! This reflects so well on the school particularly as you are the first people that parents have any contact with, right from registration

We really appreciate the huge effort that must have gone in to the planning of this trip. It seemed incredibly well-organised and action packed. For my son I know it really was the adventure of a lifetime so please pass on our thanks and gratitude to all the staff involved.

This is a cohort affected by repeated lockdowns, perhaps not as much as younger and older children, with more formative opportunities missed - but the effect on them has been just as profound. Experiences like this go a long way to addressing issues around confidence and communication, for which, as parents we are deeply grateful.

If you would like to leave us any feedback please email office@dorothy-stringer.co.uk

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