Newsletter from the Head – Week 8
Dear Parents and Guardians
The final half term of the academic year is upon us - and with it the clichéd comment about time flying by; but flown it really has.
I do hope the Half Term break provided plenty of rest and relaxation (and revision for the appropriate age groups) and your children have returned this week with a spring in their step. There is still so much learning time, so much to achieve and so many opportunities and I continue to be incredibly proud of all they do to bring this campus alive every day.
Giving Week 2023
The purpose of the week is to raise awareness of some of the wonderful charitable activity that already takes place across our school. There has long been a culture of philanthropy at Denstone College and every year we support a number of charities through non-uniform days, bake sales, and a number of other fundraising activities.
The College itself is a registered charity and part of that comes with a responsibility to ensure we are supporting those that most need our help. An important part of this is widening access to education through our bursary programme, including the work with do with the Royal National Children's SpringBoard Foundation.
In addition to this, we have a big vision for the future in terms of developing the facilities at the College, in parallel to protecting the ones we have. Projects this year include the restoration of our organ and the development of our sustainability pledge, ‘Denstone Green’, where we will accelerate our commitment to reducing our carbon footprint and energy costs in order to re-purpose funds to areas of greatest need across the College. Giving Week 2023 opens on the 20th June. Donations can be made online, or by contacting our Foundation ([email protected]) for further information and instructions. Every donation really does make a difference.
Uniform
Thank you to those of you who have provided feedback on the new look Denstone. Please be aware that the date for purchase of the new items is Monday June 26th. If you require any 'top up' items of the existing uniform, then please do ensure this is purchased before this date as it will not be available to purchase from June 26th.
Sets from September 2023
We are delighted to report that from September 2023, we will be introducing an extra set in First, Second and Third Forms. This will allow our class sizes to reduce significantly to allow greater teacher interaction and relationship building in our critical formation years at the College. This is not to accommodate an increase in pupil numbers (which is small), but to improve and enhance our academic provision and therefore, outcomes.
Weather
We are all very much enjoying this prolonged period of sunny weather. To that end, if your child is due to be outside for large periods of time (particularly those involved in cricket matches), we would be grateful if you could ensure your child has sufficient sun cream for regular applications as well as a named water bottle.
Fifth Form Parents' Oxbridge Information Virtual Seminar – Monday 26 June at 7.00pm
Please see the letter on the Parent Portal for Fifth Form parents whose children may ultimately want to consider an application to Oxford or Cambridge.
Senior Cricket and Netball Sports Tour to the Caribbean – Easter 2024
We are delighted to provide further details of the tour and invite expressions of interest by Friday 16 June. The tour is open to all pupils in the current Fifth and Lower Sixth Form, and selected Fourth Form senior netball players. Please see the letter on the Parent Portal for further information.
Communications Available on the Parent Portal
The following letters can be found on the Parent Portal by visiting https://denstonecollege.parents.isamshosting.cloud
- Lower Sixth Form Parents’ Evening
- Fifth Form Parents' Oxbridge Information Virtual Seminar
- Senior Cricket and Netball Sports Tour to the Caribbean Easter 2024 - All Current Fifth and Lower Sixth Form, Selected Fourth Form Senior Netball Players
With kindest regards,
Lotte
