SUMMER NEWS 2013

SUMMER NEWS 2013
SOME FANTASTIC SCENES FROM THIS YEAR’S SPORTS DAY
So many students achieved their personal best 1 and at times the school’s best ever records.
Well done to Discovery House who won overall, to Endeavour House who won best supported House
and to all the students who took part. Lots more photos are on our website.

Dear Parents and Carers,
I have now been at Deptford Green School for just over a term and a half and I am
really enjoying being a part of the community. I had heard that the school was a
dynamic, vibrant and exciting place to work and study and that is exactly what I
have found.
In the last term there have been numerous successes and achievements to
celebrate. The priority for all schools should be to deliver the best quality of
teaching and learning as this inspires a love of learning and helps students secure
the best outcomes. I do not want to tempt fate but there is a real confidence
around the school that the outgoing Year 11 students will achieve some outstanding
results. This will be fully deserved as this group have set the tone for the whole
of the school and have set a very high standard for the younger members of their
houses to follow.
Although teaching and learning is our core purpose there are many other elements
that are necessary to make up a successful school. The numerous events that have
taken place in this last term show that our staff, students and their families are willing
to go that extra mile on behalf of their school and the wider community. Sports
day, numerous school trips, the Uganda exchange, the spelling bee, the community
fun day, the prom, debate mate, the 10,000 hands project, charity fundraising,
musical events and the outstanding summer production of “A Midsummer Night’s
Dream” are just a few of the events that have taken place in the final half term. The
support that these events have received from staff, students and parents highlights
the positive culture that permeates all aspects of our school community.
As we move forward into the new academic year it is extremely exciting to explore
how the partnership with Conisborough College can be used to raise standards
across both schools. In the last half term, there has been some interesting work
taking place across the PE and Maths departments of the two schools. In PE this has
involved students as well as staff working together. This is something we will look
to build on in the new year as we aim for outstanding outcomes for our students.
I would like to wish all members of the school community a restful and enjoyable
summer break. With the 6th form results day, GCSE results day and the two week
summer school we will be welcoming many of our students into school during the
holiday period. As well as enjoying time with family and friends I hope that some
time is found for the reading / enrichment lists that have been sent home for all
our students.
Mr R Ellis
Executive Headteacher
2

SHAKEN UP
SHAKESPEARE IN
DREAMY DRAMA
“DG Actors Company, Ahhh bless” said a voice in the Discovery
staff room as if they envisioned three children having a tea party
inside a Wendy House. But anyone who has witnessed the Drama
department working with our young people will note that playtime
it is not, and the professionalism expected of their performers is
substantial.
This was carried over on to the stage in what can only be described
as a notable production of Shakespeare by anyone’s standards. By
school show standards notable turned into phenomenal as Daniel
Gee’s ostentatious Bottom, Alfie Dempsey’s Flute and Tina Ajrizaj’s
Snout had you crying tears of laughter, whilst Ishaka Kalokoh and
the lovers romped through the forest with gusto and urgency. These
were just the tip of the iceberg in what can only be described as a
stellar cast of true talent. Ms Burton’s version of The Dream was
such an achievement, as was the support of Mr Fudge in makeup
and costume, and Harvey Knight and Willard Richards Grey up in the
box doing lighting and sound. As a school we thank all of those who
got involved and all those who attended the performances.
The DG Actors company’s next show will be the musical “Oklahoma”
on Wednesday 18th and Thursday 19th December at 7pm and
tickets will be sold for £1 students and £2 for adults in the week
from 9th December. Auditions were held after printing, but all
students wanting to get involved in any way should tell their drama
teacher. New Year 7 can join the chorus and a variety of backstage
roles, so look out for a special Year 7 audition in September.

JOURNEY OF
A LIFE TIME:
During the May half term 10 apprehensive Year 9
and 10 students accompanied by Mrs & Mr Woodier,
Ms Cummings and Ms Stanghon flew to Kampala
to continue our well established partnership with St Kizito School. They returned with
many stories to tell from two enriching and life changing weeks which were spent both in
lessons and workshops in our partnership school and also travelling around the North of
Uganda. Every student was given a pen pal before arriving; a student of a similar age in St
Kizito School. All the penpals were waiting to welcome us at Kampala airport with beautiful
flowers and smiles. A very welcome sight!
During the days we spent at school our students went
to many lessons, studying alongside their penpals. Our
students became significant members of the community and
thoroughly enjoyed life in school. Nina Solomon and Janet
Luong prepared and delivered an RE lesson to a senior class
based around the beliefs and practices of Buddhists. St Kizito
students only have the opportunity to study Christianity so
their lesson on Buddhism was fascinating and was followed
up with many questions!
Life in Uganda holds significant challenges for many people. The everyday conditions can
be challenging and there are hardships to be endured. Our students did not shy away from
any aspect of Ugandan life; in fact they embraced every challenge and approached each
day with a great spirit of adventure and camaraderie. The three days we spent exploring
the remote Murschison Falls National Park were extremely challenging at times but also
incredibly rewarding. We had a student leader for each day of the trip; their leadership
responsibilities changed depending on the days programme. Through all of the experiences
our students were incredible ambassadors for Deptford Green. They demonstrated
great reliance through significant challenges and we are all incredibly proud of their
achievements.
On their return the group have been writing their reflections. Here are some of the things
they wanted to share:
Nina Solomon “As much as I loved all the different
activities such as travelling on the Nile and going on
safari , my favourite
experience was
visiting the primary
school. The state of
the school made it
hard to believe that

TWO WEEKS IN UGANDA
GLOBAL SCHOOL
PARTNERSHIP WITH
ST KIZITO SCHOOL 2013
70 students sitting in one room could still have such positive learning attitudes and still be
smiling”
Bunmi Bisola “ My journey to Uganda was breath taking. Meeting my penpal was the best part
of the trip. Seeing how other people lived their lives really shocked me and also inspired me
in ways which I can’t even describe. I was really proud to be there and proud to be part of the
partnership. I felt I had a new family by the end of the trip.”
Saliou Dian Ba “One of the most amazing experiences in
Uganda for me was when we went to the source of the
Nile. It was also wonderful when we went to the primary
school, it really moved me. I also enjoyed being involved
and taking part in their Drama group and performing at the
Talent Show”
Danielle Joshua “No words can describe how amazing my
experience in Uganda was. It was a real eye opener. There
were a few challenging experiences such as staying at Red
Chili camp and going to a primary school next to a prison.
Another moment I will never forget was sitting on top of the waterfall at Murchison Falls. It was
the most beautiful thing I’ve seen. It felt like paradise”
Janet Luong “Uganda is the home of the most grateful people I know. We were greeted with
kindness, smiles and gorgeous flowers. Going on this trip made me realise how fortunate I am to
live in England and have free education and free health care.”
Mrs Woodier who led the trip and also coordinated a food research project in conjunction with
Oxfam said, “The Global Partnership Youth Exchange to St Kizito was a life changing experience
for both staff and students. I found the whole experience fascinating and inspirational. When
you think of travelling to a developing country with London students you expect to encounter
challenges, however nothing can prepare you for the challenges faced whilst there.”
Ms Stanghon who introduced aspects of fitness and sport into the curriculum reflects,
“This trip allowed all of our students to have life changing
experiences. The relationships they built up with their penpals
and other St Kizito students are truly amazing. They really
made the most out of all the opportunities offered to them
and fully engaged themselves in the Ugandan students’ daily
life. None of us will forget our Ugandan experience.”
Our work with St Kizito will continue to develop in the new
academic Year when we will be hosting teachers and students
from St Kizito at Deptford Green as part of our Connecting
Classrooms project which is funded by the British Council and
our own fund raising and will also now involve a new school Rainbow College in Lagos Nigeria.
We hope to shortly launch our new charity so that donations will be gift aided. If you would like
more information please contact Ms Bisiker: wbisiker@deptfordgreen.lewisham.sch.uk

PHILOSOPHISING WITH
PRIMARIES
On Thursday 4th July Deptford Green
hosted a debating competition between 5
local primary schools who were involved
in a philosophy and debating programme
called DebatEd. The Year 6s debated on
topics such as violent video games, pocket
money for work and animal testing. The
event was hosted and run by very keen G&T
students from years 7-9, who mentored
the teams and guided pupils, their teachers
and the philosophers around the school
and also judged the debates. Many of the
Year 6 pupils were very glad they were
coming to Deptford Green!
YEAR 9 TRIO TO
SOCIETIE
GENERALE
In May, 12 of our Year 9 students took part
in a workshop run by Societe Generale,
a world renowned investment bank.
During the afternoon the students had
the chance to meet and talk to a range of
people working for the bank to get a feeling
about what it takes to work in such a high
pressured environment. At Deptford Green
we set our students
high standards and
expect them to be
working for companies
such as Societe
Generale in the future,
not only shaping their
own future but also
helping to shape the
future of the country.'
6

SURVIVING IN YEAR 7
TRANSITION!
This term in Transition we have been
learning about all kinds of wierd and
wonderful things. Students have loved the
cross curricular and project based way of
learning which is a key feature at Deptford
Green and really helps the move from
Primary to Secondary education.
We have learnt about Plate Tectonics and
built home made seismographs.
We have been abandoned on a desert
island and worked in teams to build survival
shelters able to withstand tropical storms
and minor earthquakes. We have crossed
the Alps with Hannibal and worked out
exactly why the Romans were so very good
at winning battles.
Ismael, Morphe and
Lorenzo with their
seisometer
We explored the terrible fate of the people
of Herculaneum during the eruption of
Vesuvius and designed our own earthquake
proof houses. We have discussed a range
of ethical issues in RE and tiptoed in
trepidation through the Labyrinth to come
face to face with the Minotaur.
It’s been busy.
IT’S ALL GREEK
IN MATHS
Each term a maths challenge is set. This term’s maths
challenge was: Diophantus was a Greek mathematician
who lived in the third century. He was one of the first
mathematicians to use algebraic symbols. Most of what
is known about Diophantus's life comes from an algebraic
riddle from around the early sixth century. The riddle states:
‘Diophantus's youth lasted one sixth of his life. He grew
a beard after one twelfth more. After one seventh more
of his life, he married. 5 years later, he and his wife had a
son. The son lived exactly one half as long as his father, and
Diophantus died four years after his son. How many years
did Diophantus live?’
Olamigoke Olawale was the first to solve the puzzle this
time, winning himself 100 Vivos! The answer was 84 years
as the riddle, the "facts" of which may or may not be true,
results in the following equation: x/6 + x/12 + x/7 + 5 + x/2
+ 4 = x, where x is Diophantus's age at the time of his death. Therefore, Diophantus lived
exactly 84 years. Well done to Olamigoke Olawale (Year 9 – Endeavour).

SPELLING BEE
Year 7-10 students fought it out to be
crowned the champion speller at Deptford
Green’s 3rd Annual Spelling Bee. As well
as winning individual prizes, they also
gained points for their houses. New
exciting rounds this Year included ‘Beat
the sixth former’ and ‘Beat the teacher’.
The student and staff participation was
excellent.
Mr Allen who co-ordinated the event said
“It was a great day and the spellers really
impressed me. They had all clearly spent
a lot of time learning the words.”
Thank you to parents and form tutors too
for quizzing the students.
Amy Hoang receives
her Kindle prize for the
Spelling Bee
The winners were:
-Dylan Evans in Year 7
-Amy Hoang in Year 8
-Jacob Jackson in Year 9
-Tia McBean in Year 10
All winners received a kindle and a limited
edition DG Spelling Bee T-shirt.
Be sure to take part and start practising
your spellings for next Year!
GCSES TAKEN IN Y8-11!
Well done to all students from Y8
to Y11 for sitting all 4 parts of their
GCSE Community Language exams
this summer term. These tests are of
languages spoken at home, and the
pupils have shown great commitment
and courage, especially the very young
GCSE candidates.
Good luck to all of you and we will be
looking at entering students for AS and A
Level exams in their first language in the
new academic year.

DEBATE TEAM
Deptford Green’s highly successful Gifted
and Talented Debate Team who have
been participating in the international
organisation Debate Mate’s programme
entered two competitions. Firstly, they
were runners up in the regional final
of the Deutsche Bank Cup, which was
held at the London School of Economics.
The B Team of Jake Neil Knight, Oscar
Cartwright, Willard Richards-Gray and
Freddy Drabble, supported by the rest of
the team, narrowly missed the title but
were superb,
debating
about the
very topical
subject of
child labour
in the
developing
world.
Secondly, they participated in the Credit
Suisse Novice Cup in which they came
third out of 25 schools. They have
been named the youngest team ever
to get to the stage they did in a Debate
Mate programme since it began. We
welcome new students to the club who
enjoy discussing topical, ethical and
controversial issues and
want to achieve more in
subjects such as English, RE
and Citizenship.
TURKISH IMMERSION
ACADEMY @ SOAS
A group of students in Years 10 & 11 who
were entered for GCSE Turkish exams
attended the School of Oriental and African
Studies Turkish Immersion Academy in
April. This was a language programme run
by SOAS academics, aimed at preparing
them for their exam, as well as offering
our students the opportunity to meet
current SOAS students and find out more
about higher education as well as studying
languages at universities and other
language qualifications. Well done to all
students involved for attending the sessions
and good luck with your results.

ROBOTICS, POP-UP
BOOKS, COOKS & MORE!
This has been a very busy term in Design Technology. We have had Year 10 Design
Museum trips, Year 11 Controlled Assessment completion, a Year 9 Robotics competition
and the Food Technology Cook Off was taking place as this newsletter was going to print.
Year 10 Resistant Materials and Graphics pupils have attended the Design Museum at
Butler’s Wharf to see the winning products from the Designs of the Year competition.
Pupils from Key Stage 3 have been attending after school and lunchtime sessions to
practice programming skills and enter the Robotics competition, using LEGO NXT robots.
First place is Olawale Olamigoke in Year 9 who wins 200 vivos! A video of Ola’s entry can
be viewed on YouTube (search dt@dg robotics).
Year 11 pupils from Food, Graphics and Resistant Materials have worked
hard during all of their spare time in order to finish final projects. They
designed and made board games, pop up books,
olympics promotional items, storage units and
dishes all themed on “celebrate society”.
We would like to commend all pupils for their
excellent work this year and recommend they
enjoy the summer activities/ films suggested on
the DT enrichment list during their well earned
break!
YOUNG
INTERPRETERS
PROJECT
Deptford Green School is taking part in a
Lewisham Schools project to train students
to develop their interpreting skills. Some
very skilled young linguists have been
selected to become our school’s first Young
Interpreters who will be able to
use their skills to assist the school
in communicating with students,
parents and the community. They
will be awarded a certificate, which
will support their CV, and also
badges in a formal ceremony at
Sedgehill School in the last week of
term.
This project is open to students in Key
Stages 3, 4 and 5 who are proficient in a
language other than English or gifted and
talented linguists as well as fluent English
speakers.
Pop up books and board
games designed

Year 10 History pupils were involved last
week in a trip to West India Quays to see
The Great Gatsby. The purpose of the trip
was to consolidate understanding of the
Economic Boom during the 1920s, a topic
that pupils have studied for their GCSE’s.
Our students were a credit to the school
and were described as ‘lovely’ by the
cinema staff. Everyone enjoyed the film and
on return to school were able to explain
how many of the themes in the film related
to the content that they have studied in
their history lessons.
CREATIVE
ESOL SESSION
Rewrite is an established award-winning arts organisation,
based in Southwark, specialising in supporting EAL
students through the arts. ‘Rewrite’ has established a
pioneering Creative ESOL model and delivered a taster
session in our school for a selection of EAL pupils. It was a
very entertaining and active session in which our students
had the opportunity to practise their speaking, listening
and reading skills
VIVO MILES
REWARDS
Vivo miles is the reward scheme used by Deptford Green and
enables staff to allocate points for all in class and out of class extra
effort and achievements. Parents can log on to see their child’s
awards at www.vivomiles.com. (If you have forgotten your log in
details please contact Mr O’Halloran)
At the time of going to print, the top 5 students for vivo miles
points were: 1) Oscar Cartwright (Y8 Challenger), 2) Hok Wong
(Y11 Challenger), 3) Tapiwa Chichevo (Y8 Endeavour), 4) George
Turner-Gale (Y7 Endurance) and 5) Lewis Li (Y8 Discovery). Well done to them and to
everyone who has done their best this year.
“DI CAPRIO STUDIES” IN
HISTORY!

REFUGEE
WEEK 2013
Well done to all students who participated in a
very successful and powerful delivery of
Refugee Week assemblies. Our students
were actively involved in raising
awareness regarding refugees across
the school for the whole of Refugee
Week 2013. Our warmest thanks also
go to our AS Drama students who
gave an amazing performance of the
play ‘Fugee’ on World Refugee Day to
help us raise funds for local refugee
charities!
Assemblies raised
awareness of the issues
Refugees face
The 6th Form cast of
Fugee
EXCITING FREE
PARENTING
COURSES AT DG!
Deptford
Green, in
association
with Clyde
Early
Childhood Centre,are offering our
parents the chance of FREE ‘Triple P’
‘Positive Parenting Programmes’ - aimed
specifically for parents of teenagers. We
are hosting 3 courses over the coming
academic year and there will be a ‘Pre-
Parenting Event’ on 26/9/13 @ 6.30pm
where you can come along and find out
more. The courses last for 10—12 weeks
and the starting dates are:
1st course starts - 03/10/13 @ 6.30pm
2nd course starts - 16/01/14 @ 6.30pm
3rd course starts - 1/05/14 @ 6.30pm
This is a fantastic opportunity; raising
teenagers can be challenging and at times
we all need support and help. If you are
looking to improve your relationship with
your child/children and better manage
those difficult moments and phases, this
is the course for you! The programme
aims to make parenting easier and will
support you in how to cope with the
stresses of parenthood, avoid power
struggles, set boundaries and develop
positive parenting routines. If you are
interested in signing up for either the preevent
or if you know you want to join one
of the courses for certain, then please
email twalker@deptfordgreen.lewisham.
sch.uk. Spaces are limited so do reply
asap!

EXHIBITIONS &
EXCELLENCE IN ART &
TEXTILES
As always it has been an action packed and
fun filled Year in the Art and Textiles areas!
Key stage 3 students have now completed
their course showing significant progress
in their technical ability as well as their
critical understanding of Artist and Art
history.
Year 10 GCSE Textiles students have
completed unit one ‘Africa and Artists’ and
produced excellent outcomes in the form
of an Art Cushion or book cover. While
Year 10 Art students have made a smooth
transition into Year 11 showing a real
commitment to the Art & Design GCSE
course. Gallery visits to Tate Modern and
the National Portrait Gallery have taken
place also for KS4 students.This has been
a real success in terms of helping students
understand the importance of seeing
Artists’ work first hand.
Textiles students in both KS3 and KS4,
have been working with ‘Constructed
Textiles’ i.e.knit and weave and
innovative approaches to construction,
deconstruction and manipulation of
materials. Weaves
have been produced
by Year 8 students
The final piece from student artists/designers
Danielle Joshua and Debbie Ho
inspired by African Kente Cloth designs,
Japanese Kasuri fabrics and Scottish
Tartans. The KS3 enrichment class are
working towards Knit outcomes including
bags, scarves, and soft toys.
We encourage all our students to keep
up the good work, use the holidays to
develop and enjoy creative pursuits.
We hope you took the opportunity to
see the annual art exhibition of student
achievement this year with the theme
REJUVENATE! If not, don’t miss next
year’s show.
Students will be set summer homework so
please encourage them to use part of their
holiday to complete this.
Weave by Year 8

IB DIPLOMA -
HOMESTAY IN
SPAIN
Year 12 IB Spanish Ab Initio students spent
five days in Benalmadena in June on a cultural
homestay programme. In the morning pupils had
three hours of Spanish tuition, then visited the
local sites before returning to their host families
for evening meals. Students were encouraged to
speak as much Spanish as possible as this forms a
significant percentage of their IB exam. The trip
was a great success with obvious improvement in
everyone’s speaking skills. We were even lucky
enough to be in Benalmadena for Fiesta time!
The next International Trip for IB Diploma
6th Formers will be the work experience in
Uganda this summer holiday.
A-LEVEL BUSINESS
The AS Business students at Deptford Green
have graduated to A2 Business and are
working hard to achieve the best possible
outcomes. The Business students have
enjoyed a number of enrichment activities
and visits during their first year including
Borough Market (to look at niche marketing
in action and meet an entrepreneur) and
British Airways (to look at organisational
culture, structure and customer service).
They also visited a number of city firms to
find out about recruitment and selection,
strategy and city careers. These included
Herbert Smith Freehills LLP, Deutsche Bank,
Societie Generale and QBE. All of these
visits helped students to make links with
their classwork and the wider world of
work.
14

21ST CENTURY
BUILDING PROJECT IN
IB DIPLOMA SCIENCE
The Deptford Green IB students took part in their Science project. All IB students take
Science as one of their six courses or they can choose to take it for two courses. They had
the opportunity to research and report back on ‘How is Deptford Green’s new building a
21st Century building’. The students had to work collaboratively to think of their research
area and then split up the tasks. It was fantastic to see the vim and vigour with which the
students approached this task. Mr Woodier, Mr Knight and Mr Powell had the pleasurable
task of supervising the students during this time and we all commented on how well
the students worked together. On the Friday after lunch the students then presented to
the rest of the class as well as Mr Ellis, Mr Ashworth and Ms Bentley. Everyone present
was blown away by the professionalism of the students and the high level of work being
displayed.
If you would like to see their presentations they will be displayed in the science corridor,
and we recommend you have a read if you have time.
WELL DONE
YEAR 10
SCIENTISTS
This year everyone has been working exceptionally
hard in science. The science team are really proud
of the progress made by Year 10. They have had to
deal with many changes in the exam structure and
they have met every challenge head on. Wafi, James,
Cherie, Abdimalik, Ayleigh, Tina, Munira, Agboola,
Jonathan, Lily achieved the top ten results across the
whole year group this year, which is a great success.
10x4 BTEC Science have worked really hard this year
and a significant number have obtained two BTECs.
We have done so much this year but Ms Sarna’s
highlights were the rat dissection, visiting the centre
of the cell and working with Year 2 in Grinling Gibbons
primary school. The class planned and delivered a
session all about space to Year 2. Everyone enjoyed
the session and the class were a credit to DG. Well
done 10x4! Never forget the world is your oyster!
10x4 ready to teach at Grinling Gibbons
Teaching Space to Year 2 at Grinling
Gibbons
Rat dissection: Decker and Larissa open the
chest cavity ready to dissect the lungs.

KEY DATES
15/08/13: AS Exam Results Day 11:00-1:00
22/08/13: GCSE Results Day 11:00am followed by DGI Enrolment
23/08/13: DGI 6th Form Enrolment continues
05/09/13: Start of term Y7: 8:30, Y8: 9:15, Y9: 10:10, Y10: 10:45
Y11: 11:25, Y12: 9:55, Y13: 11:00
26/09/13: 6:30pm Pre-Parenting Course Event
03/10/13: 6:30pm 1st Triple P Parenting course starts - (see page 12 for details)
18/09/13: 9:15am and 6:00pm Year 6 Open Event
23/09/13: Languages Week
30/10/13: Connecting Classrooms Event (Teachers from partnership with
Nigerian and Ugandan schools)
04/10/13: 9:15am Year 6 Open Event
05/10/13: 9:15am Year 6 Open Event (Saturday)
14/10/13: Classical Music Recital Evening
17/10/13: HPV injections for all Year 8 Girls
17/10/13: Black History Month Celebration evening
18/10/13: Open Mic Night
24/10/13: Parent Social Evening
05/11/13: Y11 GCSE English Language Early Entry Exam
06/11/13: Y11 iGCSE Selected Y11 & Y11 GCSE Maths Early Entry
06/11/13: Last year’s Y11 and Y12 GCSE and AS Certificate Event
08/11/13: Y11 GCSE Maths
11/11/13: Year 13 Parents’ Evening
14/11/13: Y11 Post 16 Colleges and Careers Fair
21/11/13: DGI 6th Form Open Evening for Y11 and external students
07/12/13: Languages Day trip to France
09/12/13: Interhouse Sports week
09/12/13: AS Mock Exam week
13/12/13: Y7 Trip to France
18/12/13 & 19/12/13: 7pm Christmas show of Oklahoma
20/12/13: Deadline for all Applications for DG I 6th Form
20/12/13: End of Term
More photos from our
Community Fun Day are available online at
www.deptfordgreen.lewisham.sch.uk
along with loads more information about
Deptford Green School
Deptford Green School
Edward Street
New Cross, SE14 6LU
020 8691 3236
info@deptfordgreen.lewisham.sch.uk
www.deptfordgreen.lewisham.sch.uk
follow on twitter @DeptfordGreen