Blog week ending 8th March

This week our Year 8 students (really!) enjoyed their practical Food and Nutrition lessons.  Students have been learning the science behind why foods aerate or rise and what factors, techniques and ingredients can influence outcome.  As you can see from the below images, students applied the learned science exceptionally well, making the fluffiest Yorkshire puddings imaginable.  I doubt very much their toad in the hole made it home .. I strongly recommend they make them this Sunday!

Update on our “The Great Stone Lodge Bake-off” House Challenge – forthcoming dates,

Seacole - Cooking Day  ~ Tuesday 19th March

Johnson - Planning Day ~ Tuesday 23rd April & Cooking Day  ~ Tuesday 30th April

Grand Final – Tuesday 7^th May

Congratulations to all 8A students and Mrs Pearce-Fowler who enjoyed a Tutor Awards Breakfasts in recognition of them achieving the most House Points (November to February) 

Year 11 Exam preparation.  We are committed to ensuring that each of our students has the necessary revision tools, knowledge and support to achieve their full potential in their formal exams.  Year 11 have a comprehensive programme of structured revision sessions period 7 every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday with additional study skills and support every form time with specialist subject teachers.  All core subjects are scheduled every week with a carousel of additional subjects running in blocks.  Additionally, students have access to computer rooms and the library every Tuesday to Friday lunchtime.  Ms Clarke, Head of Year 11 and Ms Gibson, Year 11 Pastoral Wellbeing Manager are on hand to provide any further guidance to help our students feel emotionally and academically prepared for their exams.

We would encourage all students (parents/carers welcome too!) to participate in a webinar on March 25^th at 5pm (please click the link for more details and how to join. How to revise effectively : Unifrog Event. 

Year 11 Careers Support.  Students all take part in one-to-one career interviews to discuss their aspirations, and how to get there.  There are additional sessions delivered by an external specialist trainer providing CV workshops and tutorials with interactive worksheets.  Next week’s session will focus on labour market information and apprenticeships, outlining local employers and opportunities in each sector and the range of roles they offer.  The last session in this block is interview preparation and practice, whether for university interviews, apprenticeships, or jobs.

Physical Education Department Update.  Huge congratulations to Billy K of Year 9 who plays for Gillingham FC and Kent County.  Billy has gone through a rigorous selection process to be one of only 18 players to represent Kent County, with the added kudos of being the captain for his age group – a great achievement.  Billy has been selected to participate in the International Youth Soccer Tournament, the Dallas Cup and will be travelling to the US later this month to play with other professional teams.  We are incredibly proud of his positive attitude and obvious skill, in the classroom, and on the pitch and wish him continued success in Dallas.  Billy, we look forward to hearing about the tournament upon your return!

International Women’s Day – FA Football Event.  “We started the day with some light team building drills. Followed by some interesting talks from Kent Police and North Kent Caribbean Network focussed on keeping safe and the difficulties and barriers girls have with football.  Each player wrote down a reason they felt has caused a barrier, or think could cause a barrier.

The drills were great at team building and used a variety of skills such as agility, balance, teamwork and concentration. My personal favourite was Crab football where the girls had to play a game whilst pretending to be crabs!  Others included working on drill control and speed with giant balls to avoid being tagged by the giant ball. 

At the end of the day, a round robin tournament took place and we battled out against local schools which was a great experience for the girls, followed by a little award ceremony where Stone Lodge was awarded 'Valuing Every Player', crediting the girls for the sportsmanship and respect to the other girls that attended (one of only two awards presented!).  Myself and Miss Rutt are very proud of them.”  Miss Haynes

Last Thursday Year 7 students from Stone Lodge attended a Sportshall Athletics Event held at Cobham Hall. They all competed in a range of track and field events, showing respect and determination to represent both themselves and the school in the best possible light. The boys finished 3rd overall, with the girls finishing 6th overall! A fantastic showing against some of the strongest schools in the area. Well done to Alex, Junayd, Beau, Leo, Maria, Vienna and Liv!

Miss Gardner’s Year 8 PE students are studying trampolining this cycle as part of their gymnastics unit.  Students first familiarised themselves with the safety measures before practicing their ‘shapes’ techniques.

Our PE department offer a rich and varied range of clubs and resources to inspire and engage our students in sporting activities and opportunities.  This term’s clubs can be found on the display boards in the sports centre – everyone is welcome!

Miss Cogswell’s Year 8 Scientists have been learning about seed dispersal and the different transport methods employed by plants to spread away from each other and the parent plant to limit competition and increase chances of survival.  In the below lesson students made a model winged seed to simulate a sycamore seed that spins as they fall and are dispersed by the wind.

World Book Day £1 Book Tokens are available for all our Year 7 and 8 students from our Librarian during their Library lessons.  Students from other year groups who would like a token can collect one from the library.  The token can then be redeemed in your local bookshop to receive a FREE book from the selection below, or to receive £1 off a full price book of your choice. Students can use their tokens at loads of retailers including Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Waterstones, WHSmith, The Works and hundreds of independent booksellers.

 

We celebrated World Book Day in an assembly lead by Mrs Evans, Head of English.  We are encouraging students to take part in the Design A National Book Token 2024 Competition during their Library lesson.  There are great prizes on offer …

ONE OVERALL WINNER will win:

a £10 National Book Token for every child in their class

FIRST PRIZE in each age range wins: 

£350 National Book Tokens for the school

£100 National Book Tokens for the student

SECOND PRIZE in each age range wins: 

£200 National Book Tokens for the school

£50 National Book Tokens for the student 

For more details, and to enter, please click here https://www.worldbookday.com/competition/design-a-nbt/

PTFA Update.  We now have two clothing donation bins in our carpark – both help our students by raising money for school improvements outside of normal budget expenditure.  The large Black Clothing Bin is for all your unwanted clothing, towels, sheets, blankets, curtains, shoes and sleeping bags.  The smaller black bin is specifically for pre-loved items of our school uniform, for our PTFA uniform shop – our current stock levels are very low – so we would be grateful for all donations!  To contact our PTFA for a list of our current availability, please email ptauniform@stonelodgeschool.co.uk

Stationery items available for sale from the office!  The office has pens, pencils, rulers, protractors, highlighters and erasers at 50p an item.  Pencil cases are available at £1.50 each.  Additionally, fully equipped pencil cases are available for purchase at £7, payment to be made on ParentPay.

Forthcoming Dates;

School of Rock, school production – 12^th & 13^th March – tickets available on ParentPay or on the night on the door!

Year 10 International Women’s Day celebration – 15^th March

Kent Schools Trampoline competition – 19^th March

Year 10 Grades Report home – 28^th March

End of Term 4 – 28^th March, finish at 12.05pm

First Day of Term 5 – 15^th April

Year 11 Grades Report home – 15^th April

DofE Bronze Practice exhibition – 19^th – 20^th April

 

Best wishes,

Gavin Barnett

Head Teacher