St Dunstan's College - The Shield Lent Term 2020

THE SHIELD

TERMLY NEWSLETTER

LENT 2020 www.stdunstans.org.uk

WELCOME TO THE LENT NEWSLETTER 2020 Coronavirus website support

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o help the College community during the Coronavirus crisis, the Marketing Department launched a new support area on the website. The new area includes updates from the Headmaster, daily tips from both staff and students, mental health support and signposting, and news from our virtual learning. Those visiting the dedicated area will also find NHS and Public Health England guidance and useful resources that can be shared with family and friends.

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St Dunstan’s and Willmott Dixon celebrate ‘ground breaking’ event

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he College was delighted to officially mark the start of the new development by ‘breaking the ground’ with Willmott Dixon on Friday 17 January. The works will include a new Junior School, STEM building and Sixth Form Centre, which will all open in 2021.

During the day, Willmott Dixon gave a group of junior and senior pupils a tour of the building site and explained to them what would be happening over the next 18 months, before excited pupils got a chance to have photos in the large digger. Staff, including the Headmaster, Bursary Team and a group of Governors were then given a tour of the site.

New College Leadership Team Appointments

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his term, the Headmaster was delighted to announce two new appointments to the College Leadership Team.

G12 Summit at Lewisham Council

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n early March, our Student Parliament gathered in Lewisham Council’s Chamber for the College’s inaugural G12 Summit.

Pupils from junior to sixth form were represented by their Form and Year Group

Reps, and during the sessions discussed what they had achieved in the last two terms since the new parliament formed.

The Bursar, Mrs Wilkins, also spoke to pupils and praised all their hard work and commitment in the last 12 months.

Fundraising Committee meets

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he Fundraising committee, constituted of Governors, staff and parents, met to agree the fundraising timeline as we seek to raise additional funds for the Sports Centre, The Plaza and the Performing Arts Centre.

Junior pupils visit the site

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ollowing the ground breaking event, Year 1 pupils got the chance to explore the site on Thursday 6 February. The pupils met the Willmott Dixon team, and got to find out more about the special technology being used to build the new state-of-the-art development.

Meanwhile, our Nursery pupils have been enjoying regular walks around the building site to see the progress.

Record numbers interested in joining the College

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or the fourth year in a row, the college received record numbers of registrations from families wanting to join the College community.

Miss Laura Whitwood was announced as the Head of Junior School. Speaking about her new role, Miss Whitwood said: ‘I am delighted to have the opportunity to lead the Junior School through a particularly exciting time of development. It is a great privilege to be part of such a nurturing, kind and happy College, where the pupils continue to inspire me through their boundless energy, kindness to one another and love of learning.’

Following the news that Mr Andrew Johnson would be taking up headship of Truro School, Mr Jonathan Holmes was announced as the new Deputy Head Academic from September 2020.

‘St Dunstan’s is a truly special and unique place of learning, filled with caring teachers who know their students as individuals,’ Mr Holmes said. ‘They have high expectations coupled with their teaching expertise, and display tremendous passion for their subjects.’

www.stdunstans.org.uk

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SCIENCE Year 3 Rainforest Unwrapped

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his term, Year 3 pupils were joined by some friends from the rainforest. For a whole afternoon, the pupils met exotic creatures usually found in the rainforest, including snails, butterflies and a snake!

STEM Week

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his term, our Science Department hosted their annual STEM Week. During the week, a variety of activities took place across the College including a Periodic Table treasure hunt, a cake competition, a pig’s head dissection and various science master classes. Year 7 and 8 pupils also worked in their lessons on a project to honour the International Year of the Periodic Table, which took place last year.

Year 3 at the Horniman Museum

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ur Year 3 pupils got to explore the Butterfly House at the Horniman Museum this term. One of the pupils said: ‘We got to see lots of tropical butterflies enjoying the humid climate like their homes in the rainforest.’

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Year 1 building bridges

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he junior pupils enjoyed a special workshop on bridges on Friday 31 January. The workshop was led by a St Dunstan’s parents, Ms Gatto, who is an architect specialising in bridge design.

The pupils got to find out more about the design process behind bridges and how they are made to be strong.

Year 1 Healthy Eating Day

Alien invasion

Nursery rainbows

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ear 1 were lucky enough to visit the refectory kitchen on Thursday 27 February to mark their Healthy Eating Day. During the special tour, they met our brilliant chefs, who work hard to prepare the delicious lunches each day.

The Dentist visits

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ear 1 pupils enjoyed a visit from the dentist on Tuesday 10 March.

St Dunstan’s parent, Mr Prasad, who is a dentist, visited the classroom to talk to the pupils about the importance of cleaning your teeth.

eception returned to school after Exeat to find a space ship had crashed in their classroom! The excitement of this event launched them into their topic ‘Space’.

ur Nursery pupils visited the Physics Department to learn more about rainbows. During the lesson, the pupils met Mr Ford, Head of Physics, who spoke to them about how rainbows are made, before demonstrating and giving the children a chance to make their own colourful creations.

Year 5 graduate from SDC Space Academy

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ver the course of this term, Year 5 have become Space Explorers. They completed a day of SDC Space Academy to see if they had what it takes to become astronauts. In the two photos, they measured the planets to scale and then mapped out the solar system on the field. They also designed an experiment to test how the shape and size of meteors affect the size of craters.

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TRIPS AND VISITS India Scholars’ Exchange to Delhi

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efore Christmas a group of our Senior School scholars visited India on ‘a breathtaking’ trip, as part of our Exchange Programme with the Delhi Public School. During the visit, the pupils visited the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, Delhi Fort, Akshardham Temple and Raj Ghat, the tomb of Gandhi. The scholars also got a chance to practice their haggling at the markets, and took part in a variety of Indian lessons including sport, painting and dancing. Year 10 pupil Maggie said: ‘Going to the Taj Mahal was breathtaking, I still can’t believe that I was

Arvon Creative Writing Week

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uring the February Exeat, a group of 15 students from Years 9 and 10, spent the week at the Arvon

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there. The students and teachers were nothing but kind and extremely welcoming, it made the change so much more comfortable and I can’t wait for them to come and visit us so that they can experience our culture.’

Foundation Centre, at Totleigh Barton Manor in north Devon. The focus of the week was creative writing; professional writers Cliff Yates and Catherine Smith provided students with morning workshops and one-to-one tutorials during the afternoons.

Students produced some extraordinarily good work, and were given a real insight

into what it means to write well and engagingly. Speaking about the week, Mr Webb explained: ‘It was a truly fantastic opportunity to spend a week in idyllic surroundings doing creative writing without any of the normal pressures of school. It was a wonderful experience for everyone who took part.’

Year 2 visit the Golden Hinde

Sixth Form Scholars Retreat to Dorset

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s part of their People of the Past topic, Year 2 took a trip to Sir Francis Drake’s Golden Hinde on Friday 10 January. The Golden Hinde is the famous ship in which he circumnavigated the globe.

he successfully appointed Sixth Form Scholars from Year 11 were taken on a retreat to Dorset by the Headmaster and Head of Sixth Form.

They enjoyed learning about a range of enrichment topics, including sand dune succession and Papua New Guinean culture.

Year 9 attend concert at Royal Festival Hall

Year 1 visit The Shard

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ear 9 pupils were treated to an afternoon of music at the Royal Festival Hall, with a concert performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. The programme included a Bach Concerto, Steve Reich’s Clapping Music, and John Williams’ magnificent Theme from Star Wars.

Year 12 Scholars at the ENO

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s part of the Sixth Form Scholars Programme, Year 12 Scholars were taken by the Headmaster to see the beautiful and captivating production of Madam Butterfly at the English National Opera. For many it was their first experience of opera, and it would seem it will not be their last!

Year 4 trip to Buddhist Centre

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ear 1 visited the Shard on Tuesday 4 February as part of their IPC topic Buildings. The trip was an amazing opportunity for the Junior pupils to spot lots of the iconic London landmarks that they had been learning about. The Year 1 pupils also walked to London’s famous Tower Bridge, where they got to learn about HMS Belfast.

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ear 4 had an enlightening trip to Kagyu Samye Dzong, London Tibetan Buddhist Centre, where they learnt about the history and teachings of Buddhism and practised some mindfulness.

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Legally Blonde

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arvard came to the Great Hall for one performance only this term. Due to the College closure, the three public performances of Legally Blonde were cancelled. However, the dedicated cast were able to keep their spirits high and put on a stellar performance for Year 7 and 8.

ON SHOW...

Year 4 dazzle with Seussical Jr production

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ear 4 performed their eagerly anticipated production of Seussical Jr to an audience of friends and family.

Mr Gregg had transformed the Great Hall into a Seussian jungle, where the children brought an array of characters to life, including tree-climbing elephants, dancing birds, sour kangaroos, bullying monkeys, a world of tiny people on a dust speck and the infamous Cat in the Hat.

Performance of ‘Two’

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n February, our drama studio was transformed into a 1980s northern pub, for the production of Jim Cartwright’s ‘Two’. Pupils were rehearsing from November and drama teacher, Mr Duda paid tribute to their hard work and dedication.

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Junior Art Exhibitions

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his term has been a busy one for Junior School Art Exhibitions, with Year 4 and 5 both showcasing their work on two separate evenings this term.

A range of media has been used and all work has been to a very high standard in both year groups.

LRC Book Club attend awards

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n Thursday 12 March, a group of our LRC Book Club attended the Trinity School Book Awards at the City of London School. During the evening, pupils found out who the winners of the Book Awards were before sharing their own reviews and creative responses with the authors who were present and other pupils from other schools.

Big talk Seminars

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e were delighted to welcome the team from Big Talk to the College this term for a series of talks to pupils and parents on the importance of sex education. As always the team did a great job of engaging with the pupils and answering their questions and concerns.

TALKS & SEMINARS LGBT history month

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his term, the College marked LGBT History Month with an assembly led

by Mr Johnson. Speaking to pupils in the Great Hall, he said: ‘Pride and equality movements and groups, like our own Equalities Society, strive to celebrate diversity, enhance understanding and respect for difference, and to challenge prejudice. They are educational movements combatting ignorance and we applaud them.’

Opening Minds Lecture

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ur pupils have been fortunate enough to welcome a whole range of inspiring guest speakers as part of our Opening Minds Lecture Series this term. These talks are academically rigorous lectures taught by experts in their field, on subject matter outside of the College’s schemes of learning. Most recently, we welcomed an award-winning author,

Sarah Mussi, shark conservation expert, Greg Holder, rhino conservation expert, Matthew Johnson, Psychotherapist, Dr Grace Caluori and filmmaker and environmentalist Ross Harrison.

These lectures have inspired our pupils to write and create their own phenomenal stories, reflections and projects as well as stimulated connections for work experience placements, and aspirations for future careers.

Lord Drayson visits

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his term, Dunstonian Lord Drayson (’78) visited St Dunstan’s and spent an hour with Year 12 students taking their questions on a wide range of topics covering pharmaceuticals, motor racing and politics.

People of the Past Day

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ear 2 finished the term celebrating their learning by dressing up as a notable historical figure that interested them. They had a great time showcasing their learning with the other pupils in the Pre-Prep.

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Green Society host powerful assembly

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t Dunstan’s Green Society hosted a special assembly on Friday 17 January to raise awareness of sustainability. The society works closely with the College’s Bursar, Mrs Wilkins, to help sustainability at St Dunstan’s.

Speaking about the assembly, society leader Ottilie said: ‘My aim was to help inspire our whole community to begin to adopt a different and more sustainable outlook in everyday activities.’

SUSTAINABILITY Juniors win Gold Air Quality Award from Lewisham Council

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his term, the Junior School was awarded the Gold Award from Lewisham Council for its commitment to improving air quality.

The award, which is part of TfL’s STARS programme, follows three years of dedicated work by the junior pupils and staff in becoming more sustainable. Prior

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to the award, the Junior School held a variety of events to become more sustainable and raise awareness of the issue. This has included car free days, car sharing days, walk to school week. There have also been environmental afterschool clubs, dedicated health lessons and topics focused on saving the world and sustainability.

St Dunstan’s mark Earth Hour 2020

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he College joined millions around the world on Saturday 28 March to mark Earth Hour 2020. During the evening, the lights around the College building were turned off to highlight climate change. The now annual event was launched by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in 2007, and has since been marked every year with famous buildings turning off their lights each year between 8.30pm and 9.30pm.

Year 13 celebrate ‘last day’

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here was an impromptu goodbye on Thursday 19 March for our Year 13 ahead of the College closure.

The sixth formers spent their last day in fancy dress, before Mr Brewer hosted a mini party in the Sixth Form Common Room to mark the occasion. Unfortunately, due to the closure, the students’ Graduation Ceremony and official last day celebrations were put on hold. However, the Headmaster hopes to celebrate these milestones as soon as we can.

11+ and 13+ Post-offer Reception

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e were delighted to welcome more than 150 guests to St Dunstan’s College on Tuesday 25 February, for the annual post-offer reception. During the evening prospective families had the opportunity to hear from

the Headmaster, speak to College staff and meet current pupils.During the evening, prospective families had the opportunity to hear from the Headmaster, speak to College staff and meet current pupils.

NEWS IN BRIEF...

World Book Day

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he theme for this year’s Junior School World Book Day celebrations was ‘wild’ and the pupils and staff certainly rose to the challenge. All classes from Nursery to Year 6 read the same picture book for the week, ‘Wild’ by Emily Hughes and worked on a number of related activities. The week culminated in many pupils working collaboratively to produce their own fabulous picture books.

Year 9 GCSE Options Evening

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he College’s annual Year 9 GCSE Options Evening took place on Thursday 6 February. During the evening, parents and pupils had the opportunity to speak to teaching staff in the Great Hall and find out more about the courses on offer for GCSE. Parents also got to hear from our Deputy Head Academic, Mr Johnson, and Director of Studies, Mrs Latham in the Learning Resource Centre.

Royal British Legion record at St Dunstan’s

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n February, the Central Band of the Royal British Legion spent more than 20 hours inside the College’s Great Hall recording their annual album, which raises money for the Poppy Appeal. The album is due to be released later this year.

So Last Century Fair

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he latest So Last Century Fair took place at St Dunstan’s on 15 and 16 February. Despite the wet weather, more than 1,000 guests visited the vintage fair during the two days. www.stdunstans.org.uk

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Junior Rugby Success

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group of our Year 5 and 6 pupils competed in the Lewisham Games Mixed Year Tag Rugby Compeition in March, which was held at the Jubilee Ground.

The dedicated pupils demonstrated outstanding teamwork and skill to make it all the way to the final, where they took home the silver medal.

Junior cross country

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n February, 23 of our Year 3 to 6 pupils attended the Merton Court Cross-Country event. Competing against nine other schools, the pupils achieved fantastic results, with particular mention to the Year 3 boys who came first in the team event.

SPORTING HIGHLIGHTS Football tour to Holland

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t the end of a vey busy half term of football, 28 Year 9 and 10 students departed for Den Haag, Holland. During the week, the boys were treated to a session from Mike Obiku who played over 100 games for Feyenoord, scoring 25 times.

The boys enjoyed hearing his claim to fame - scoring the golden goal against Ajax in the quarter final of the Dutch Cup in 1995. The young footballers were lucky enough to rub shoulders with Liverpool legend Dirk Kuyt and even caught a glimpse of his training session with the U19 squad.

Despite Storm Dennis hindering the week, the boys got to play some brilliant football with top-quality Dutch opposition. Congratulations to Noah and Frank who scooped ‘Best Player’ Awards and Jack and Zain who earned their ‘Most Improved Players’ Awards. Special mention also to Finn who picked up ‘Best Tourist’ for his good humour.

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Netball

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ith our seniors having their last fixtures as a team they did not disappoint against some strong sides this term. A special mention must go to India, Portialee, and Shelby for their continued commitments to the sport throughout their time at St Dunstan’s.

A mixed team of girls from the U14/15 played in the Lewisham Schools Tournament, hosted by St Dunstan’s. The team did not hesitate to show their sporting prowess, winning all of their matches and being announced overall Winners of the tournament.

Special mention to Desiree for her enthusiasm and spirt that saw the team push themselves to new levels and Nastassja who has been playing Kent county netball all year.

The U12 saw great success at the Lewisham Schools Tournament. The U12 A team were determined to show they had improved over the season and they did this by winning the Lewisham Schools’ Tournament.

Hockey U13 Hockey The U13s are starting to really become a squad and in their first 11 a-side fixture managed a 5-0 win against Blackheath. This squad are one to look out for in the future!

U14 Hockey The U14s have improved so much over the last few weeks and had a fantastic week beating both Blackheath and Sydenham by playing some great passing hockey.

U15 Hockey The U15s have had a very strong second half to the season helped by some fantastic training on tour. The highlights were beating Ibstock Place at home and away as well as playing exceptionally well against Emanuel

School, despite narrowly losing 1-0.

Senior Hockey The seniors had a disrupted season due to cancelled and postponed fixtures, however they have continued to train hard, leading to a strong final game against Emanuel School.

Despite having a relatively young squad the SDC players put all of their practice into play and and battled hard, unfortunately losing 2-0 in a good competitive game.

Hockey Tour February saw the U15 and U14 hockey players head to Valencia to improve their hockey skills. They got to train with a local pro, Mario, as well as play in two matches. It was great to everyone embrace the Spanish culture whilst really improving their skills.

Basketball

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ell done to the U16 basketball team who made the last 16 round of the London Youth Games Tournament. In front of a big home crowd, St Dunstan’s started strong and took an early lead against their competition, Orlean’s Park. Despite their best efforts, Orlean’s Park eventually took the lead and won. Director of Sport, Miss Watkins, said: ‘The boys should be immensely proud of the achievements and should hold their heads high; their commitment to each other and work ethic throughout the season has been admirable. A final big thanks to coach Wilf for his relentless efforts with this group and also Sixth Form students Eshaan, Gabs and George for their efforts to basketball at St Dunstan’s throughout the years.’

Rugby

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he Rugby Sevens squads had an eventful season which has been dictated by the wet weather conditions. The U13 Squad enjoyed success at the St Olave’s tournament winning two of their four games against tough opposition, and the U15 squad playing well at the Kent County Championships before bad weather caused the tournament to be postponed due to heavy rain throughout the day.

The U14 squad enjoyed huge success peering well at the St Olave’s tournament against some large rugby schools. They used this experience and fine form to make it to the final of the U14 Kent Shield competition, narrowly losing in the final. www.stdunstans.org.uk

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Dunstonian Association’s online platform

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DConnect – the College’s alumni platform – is now open to all former pupils and parents. In March, the platform reached 250 members and continues to grow. Join and stay in touch with old friends at www.dunstonians.org.uk. We are hoping to launch a range of branded merchandise by Christmas, so watch this space.

ST DUNSTAN’S GOES VIRTUAL

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ollowing the school’s closure on Friday 21 March, the St Dunstan’s community embraced a new way of learning for the last week of term. Staff delivered their lessons virtually using Firefly and Microsoft Teams. Speaking about the first few days, Deputy Head Pastoral, Mrs Jade McLellan, said the leadership team were ‘delighted at some of the best practice’ they had seen during the week. ‘In the Senior School, we had our first virtual assembly hosted by Mr Holmes on the theme of scholarship,’ Mrs McLellan added. ‘In the Junior School pupils experienced their first interactive teaching sessions, combining Firefly and Microsoft Teams.’

Despite being the youngest pupils at St Dunstan’s, our Nursery and Reception children embraced the new virtual teaching. In Nursery, the children continued their learning about shapes and patterns, while also practising their sounds. Taking inspiration from the College’s new building developments, they have also continued with their construction sites topic and have created their own safety signs.

Meanwhile, Reception pupils continued to explore their topic on space, and spent the first few days in special astronaut training. As part of their training, the pupils learnt about Jill Murphy’s famous book ‘Whatever Next!’ which follows the story of Baby Bear who finds a rocket and heads to space for a picnic on the moon.

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Thank you NHS

COMMUNITY

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uring the Easter holidays, the College remained open for the children of key workers and during this time the pupils made thank you signs for NHS, care and key workers.

DT make PPE for local Community

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n early April, the College’s Design Technology Department started manufacturing personal protective equipment (PPE) amid the Coronavirus crisis. The department, led by Mr James Randall, produced PPE in the College’s workshop using the laser cutter.

Speaking about the production, Mr Randall explained: ‘Community is at the heart of everything we do at St Dunstan’s. We have been making PPE including visors for the NHS. We have been cutting them out on our laser cutter, and once they’re cut, they are then ready to be sent out to the local community.’

The PPE was distributed locally between University Lewisham Hospital, King’s College Hospital, Bethlem Royal Hospital and St Christopher’s Hospice. A number of GP surgeries were also given batches of the PPE from the College.

Pupils bake cakes for Koalas

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ollowing the devastating fires in Australia, St Dunstan’s pupils joined forces on Friday 6 March for a charity cake sale. During the morning break, the cake sale took place in the College’s Refectory with a queue leading out all the way to the ground floor corridor

Catford Community Soup Kitchen

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ollowing the College closure, we were pleased to contribute to the Catford Community Soup Kitchen. We delivered a selection of food including potatoes, apples, eggs, oranges and more. www.stdunstans.org.uk

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Stanstead Road, London SE6 4TY Charity number: 312747 A co-educational, independent College for ages 3 to 18 T www.stdunstans.org.uk HE SHIELD I LENT NEWSLETTER 2020 020 8516 7200

From the Archives: Construction of the Refectory in the 1960s