Celebrating Denefield Friday 10 September 2021
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Celebrating Denefield Friday 10 September 2021
Celebrating Denefield…
It gives me great pleasure to write to you at the end of our first full
school week back. I would start by giving a very big welcome to
parents/carers of Year 7 students. We are delighted with the way Year 7
have transitioned to Denefield – which may partly have been because of
the excellent summer school they enjoyed in the first week of the
holiday. I would like to congratulate Year 7, and all other year groups,
for their excellent conduct and for the way they have quietly slipped
back into the routines and expectations of school – including coming in
to take their Covid tests the day before term began.
I would also like to congratulate last year’s Year 11 and Year 13 students
for their excellent examination performance, details of which can be
found on our website.
It was wonderful to see so many of last year’s Year 11 at their rearranged Prom in Trunkwell
House on Wednesday. A great many have returned to the Denefield Sixth Form, and are already
proving excellent role models to younger students.
The beginning of the year also traditionally sees several staff arrivals. Denefield is fortunate in
attracting extremely high-calibre, passionate, and caring staff, and this year is no exception. I
would like to extend a warm welcome to:
Miss Anderson – Maths Mr Hopwood - Chemistry
Mrs Basham - SENDCo Mrs McHugh – Deputy Headteacher
Mr A Clarke – Geography Mr Long – Cover Supervisor
Mr J Clarke – PE Miss Pavanel – Spanish
Miss Golda – Maths Miss Unwin – Art
Parents/carers will note that we have made some changes to the school day, bringing tutor period
to the beginning of the day, and extending lunch time to 40 minutes. Early indications are that
these changes are beneficial. One of our reasons for extending lunch time is to ensure there is
plenty of opportunity for extra-curricular activities. We are in the process of setting these up, and
will be rolling these out over the next few weeks.
Finally, I would like to invite all parents/carers of Year 6 students to our Open Evening, taking place
on Thursday 23 September from 6.00pm to 8.30pm. This is a fabulous opportunity to see the
school, meet students and staff, and hear talks from the Headteacher, Head Boy and Head Girl,
and our new Year 7 students. Daytime tours are available every day from 27 September – 22
October.
I wish you all a pleasant and relaxing weekend
Mr E Towill MA (Oxon), Headteacher
Diary dates – academic year 2021 – 2022
Wednesday 15 September Year 11 online curriculum information evening
Thursday 16 September School photographs
Thursday 23 September Open evening for prospective parents/carers
and students – school closes at 12.20pm
Tuesday 28 September Year 7 curriculum information evening
Celebrating our curriculum…
Art Design and Technology
We’re all very excited to be back, and we are up for the new academic year in the art and design &
technology departments. Everyone has enjoyed a restful six weeks (mostly in Wales it would seem
…) and now we are raring to go again!
First of all, well done to everyone who was involved in summer school. Our new Year 7 students
made some lovely work in both the art department and the design technology areas. In design
technology students worked on the ‘The Great British Bake off Muffin Challenge’ an exciting and
fun activity in the food rooms. The students came up with unique ideas and were able to decorate
their muffins with different ingredients and components. Fun was had by all, and everyone
enjoyed both the making and the eating. Look out for the Great British Bake-off whole school
event coming soon.
In the art department we were particularly pleased with the fantastic mural students made with
the help of visiting art teachers (and also Denefield parents) Mr & Mrs Lockhart… The mural
represents the Thames Valley, and is loosely based on the work of English contemporary artist
David Hockney. The mural is now proudly displayed in the Da Vinci space.
Secondly I would like to pay tribute to a departing colleague, and to welcome a new member of
the team. Miss Leigh taught in the art and design technology departments at Denefield for seven
years, and was a much loved and respected member of the Faculty. She has now moved on to a
similar post near to her home in Swindon. Thanks Miss Leigh for all of your excellent work over
the years.
Welcome Miss Unwin, our talented new member of the team. Miss
Unwin studied art at the University of East Anglia, in Norwich. Her
passions are drawing and painting, printmaking, medieval art, and
German Expressionism. Her favourite museum is the Wellcome
Collection in London (https://wellcomecollection.org/). Whilst on her
degree Miss Unwin played for the university dodgeball team. When
she’s not playing dodgeball, she enjoys reading. Welcome to
Denefield Miss Unwin!
There is always a sense of excitement in the air at this time of the
year, as students begin their new courses, often with new teachers.
Celebrating our curriculum… In the art department Year 7 are working on the ‘Formal Elements’ project, during which they will learn about the basic building blocks of making art: Line, Tone, Shape, colour, pattern, texture and form. The skills they learn in these early lessons will help them in all future art lessons. Year 8 are working on the ‘Architecture Project’ during which they will explore the different architectural styles they may experience in a modern city. Year 9 are working on ‘The Food Project’ which aims to develop drawing skills in preparation for GCSE study. Year 10 are working on portraiture, while Year 11 are developing their coursework portfolios. Year 12 are working on an experimental term, in both A Level Fine Art and in A Level Photography, while Year 13 in both courses are developing the outstanding outcomes they will need to secure top grades next summer. In Design Technology students in Year 7 are working on a variety of different projects, including cooking and nutrition where they will be learning about the different food groups and how to produce nutritious dishes using fruits and vegetables, there will be exciting dishes like fruit crumble to enjoy! In product design students will be learning the basic skills for textiles, electronics and wood manufacture to produce a bedside LED lamp. They will also be learning to problem solve for different people’s needs in the prototype project. In Year 8 students will be learning about the safe handling of meat, and they will be making nutritious meals like Spaghetti Bolognese and Cottage pie. In product design they will be progressing from natural woods to the use of manufactured boards by making a laminated box. They will also be learning about computer aided design and how to use the laser cutter. In Year 9 students will be working on two new projects which incorporate computer aided design, the laser cutter and our new 3D printer. They will also be learning to make artefacts out of metal using our new casting machine.
Celebrating our curriculum… We will also be launching a number of extra-curricular clubs for students soon, in the art department these will include a KS3 art club, and a GCSE booster club. As well as this, our RIBA Architecture club will also continue this term, and we aim to take our budding young architects on a visit to Glancy Nicholls Architects, a major architects practice in Birmingham. In Design and Technology, we will be running more clubs to get our students engaged in the subject. These will include a baking club, the Design Ventura competition, a 3D printing club and a Textiles and Fashion club. Baking club will create dishes to take home, and will develop skills and confidence in the kitchen. We’ll be having lots of fun making delicious desserts, creative cakes and beautiful biscuits. The Design Ventura competition is open to all UK schools and is run by the Design Museum in London. It is open for students in Year 9 and the winning entry from Denefield will be judged against entries from other schools. The winning entry from the national competition will be sold in the museum shop. 3D printing club aims to increase the use of computer aided design and manufacture in the school. Students will learn how to use Tinker CAD and will use the 3D printer to produce innovative designs. Textiles and Fashion club will be open to all year groups, and will be an opportunity to learn how to make and decorate your own clothes. Greenpower is now in its fifth successful year. This year we have two cars competing, and as we come towards the end of the season, we are looking to secure places for both cars in the final which takes place on 10 October at the Goodwood racing circuit, in West Sussex. On 5 September, 12 Denefield students raced at Castle Coombe race track in Wiltshire, and our cars finished in 26th and 40th position. Hopefully we will do better in our next race at Dunsfold in Surrey, home of the Top Gear race track on Sunday 12 September. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all out sponsors this year Wood Engineering, Craven motor club, Russel Pike Financial management and sportbikeshop.com Reading branch.
Other news…
Library news
Miss Lloyd, your school librarian, must work from home in her third trimester and until maternity
cover is appointed the library will, unfortunately, remain closed. However, you can still access e-
books and audiobooks from Denefield library and the free Sora reading app!
Check out our library web app with
Accessit: (Or scan the QR code.) Log
in info, links to Sora, and a video
user guide are available online.
On Accessit you can also view recommended reading lists, save your interests (and receive an
email when new resources matching your interests are added to the library,) read/ post reviews,
save resources to a personal list (and use this to create a bibliography,) and so much more!
If you still have any outstanding library books, please return these asap by posting them in the
returns box at the top of the library stairs. There will be no charges issued in September so please
return all overdue items now!
Year 7s will receive a library induction as part of their English lessons in due course and Miss
Buckley will be taking over Book Club so keep an eye out for more information coming soon!
If you have any library related queries, please email Miss Lloyd at bld@denefield.org.uk.
16-19 Bursary
The 16-19 Bursary provides assistance to students in Years 12 and 13 facing financial difficulties.
You could be eligible for assistance if you are in one of the defined vulnerable categories or your
household is on a low income. You can find out more about the scheme by going to the 16-19
Bursary page on our website, where you can download a copy of the policy and an application
form. All applications are strictly confidential.
Current Year 13 students who received a bursary last year, must re-apply this year. The deadline
for applications is 30 September 2021. Applications after this date will only be considered if
funding is available.
Other news…
Early school closure – Open evening
To accommodate the open evening for prospective parents and students, the school will be
closing to all students at 12.20pm on Thursday 23 September.
Further information will follow
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