Category : Front Page News

Bright Futures

This week our year 9 students were introduced to the ‘Bright Futures’ initiative. All members of the year group were treated to a fantastic assembly that highlighted future options and a group of 30 students from the year has been selected to take part in the programme this year. 

The Bright Futures programme, funded by the Aldridge Foundation within the school term

Time is a number of group coaching workshops facilitated by a senior youth worker and other specialist providers. The coaching sessions help to improve communication skills, increase confidence, raise aspirations and help young people begin mapping out their next steps to prepare for the transition to KS4 and life after school. They will also be building a supportive community with their peers.

Students who took part in the workshops this week had an absolutely fantastic time – displaying loads of the Aldridge Attributes such as Team Work and Determination!

 

Upfront Theatre Company

This week also year 9 and 10 students watched a performance by Upfront Theatre Company. THe performance touched on issues around mental health and self harm with students taking part in a fantastic question and answer session after the performance. The actors were very impressed with our students and their responses to the performance. 

 

Science Week 

We’ve been celebrating British Science Week this week with assemblies from the Science Department and activities in Tutor Time. The theme of the week was ‘Time’ and this year we marked it with a special interactive assembly as well as launching a ‘growth’ competition in tutor groups – the theme of ‘time’ is highlighted with the seed growth contest! Good luck to all groups taking part!

 

International Women’s Day

International Women’s Day was marked last week with tutor activities as well as a special ‘Women in Careers’ activity that happened throughout the day (this linked IWD up with careers week!). The theme of IWD this year was ‘Inspire Inclusion’ and lots of discussion were held in tutor groups around the subject.

It was also really heartening to see a number of students in school bringing flowers to school to give to female teachers to say thank you! Well done to Romina is year 10 who (amongst others) decided of her own initiative to highlight female teachers as part of International Women’s Day in this way!

 

Y10 football team  2-1 win against Harris Tottenham!

Some more sporting success now – our year 10s played football against Harris Tottenham at their school this week. Our pupils were able to win 2-1, with our goals scored by Reece in year 10. A fantastic performance so well done all!

 

It’s been a busy week as ever at Duke’s. Here is run down of some of the events and activities we’ve had going on:

Book Week 2024

A key moment in the annual calendar Book Week 2024 went off with a real bang this year. A fantastic range of activities organised by the English Department and the library included a brilliant book sale on Purple Lane, reading activities and an amazing author visit by Jeffrey Boakye. Jeffery delivered some amazing assemblies to our students on his life through books but also talked about empowerment, masculinity and his own personal journey and sense of self – what an inspirational experience. 

As usual our Book Week culminated with our annual parade of characters with lots of students and staff dressing up as characters from books and stories – the theme this year was Heroes and Villains – some excellent costumes were on display and a great time was had by all!

National Careers Week

We’ve also marked National Careers week this week with student assemblies and activities relating to careers and employment – particularly in the Borough of Haringey. Some fascinating stats were discussed including the fact that the Public Sector is the largest employer in Haringey but that recently there has been a rise in artisan cheese production and craft beer in our local area!

Looking at careers across the curriculum has been a focus for us during National Careers Week and encouraging students to make the links between different subject areas and potential careers has been really illuminating for our students. 

More Badminton Success for Year 11

Some more badminton success has been achieved with our year 11 students. Mia, Isa and Andrey were invited for a trial to select the best Badminton players in Haringey to possibly represent the borough at the London Youth Games in the Summer.

This meant after sitting their GCSE PE mock exam they had to race down to Highgate Wood school for the trial to play against the very best Year 11s in the borough. It was all worth it though as all three have been selected! A very proud PE Department! 

Year 8 Football Success

Some further success was also achieved this week by our year 8 boys football team against Woodside High School. They won the group stage of the Borough schools football league with a 12 – 0 victory against Woodside!

This means that they will attend a finals day at New River, and will play against the best schools in the borough in the semis and hopefully finals.  

West End Theatre Trip – ‘Everybody’s Talking about Jamie’ 

On Wednesday 6th March a lucky group of year 9 and 10 students got to go into the West End and watch a performance of ‘Everybody’s Talking about Jamie’ at the Peacock Theatre. The students were entranced by the high octane singing, dancing and acting. The year 10 students were able to see lots of the skills and techniques we learn about in class on stage and the students came away totally enthused and exhilarated. 

MFL Trip to LAET 

Recently a group of year 9 French and Spanish Students took a trip to the London Academy of Excellence Tottenham (LAET) our Head of Modern Foreign Languages Ms Anthony had this to say:

El veintiuno de febrero dos mil veinticinco or le vingt février deux mille vingt-trois was a great day for 26 of Duke’s Year 9 French and Spanish students. It was the first time that many of us set foot into the prestigious London Academy of Excellence, Tottenham. We were also looking forward to discovering the identity of the guest speaker, who was going to remind us about The Importance of Modern Foreign Languages.

Chris Dennis, a multilingual Sports Broadcast Journalist turned out to be the speaker for the

Event. Radio 4 aficionados – one of whom was Arjol Kociu – recognised his voice and his name. His presentation was very inspiring and Duke’s Year 9 students weren’t at all fazed by the presence of LAET’s A-Level champion linguists.

Chris Dennis shared with us how his linguistic skills (he did a degree in French and Mandarin, and learned – after graduating from University – German & Spanish) enabled him to get an exclusive interview with Kodjovi Obilale, a Togolese former footballer.

The ‘take-aways’ from the talk were that Learning a Modern Foreign Language is very useful because:

 

Not everyone speaks English

Languages open doors and minds

They are key to relationship building

They make travelling more fulfilling

They are life-enhancing and life-extending

They add value to your life and to your future career.

They provide you with more opportunities in life.

 

I was proud (in a humble way!) of the question posed by Saad Khan, who asked Chris what

made him decide to become a journalist. The answer was intriguing; Chris stated that two

character traits motivated him to be a journalist: being nosey and his love of story-telling.

Many of us at Duke’s can identify with these traits. How many potential journalists are there among us?

 

Now that Duke’s has now forged links with the MFL Department at LAET, we look forward to a wealth of activities in the future.

Watch this space!

Á suivre!

¡Mantente atento!

 

Haringey Indoor Athletics Championships – 26th Feb 

The Dukes PE team attended the Haringey Indoor Athletics Championships at Lee Valley this week with some outstanding performances from our pupils, most notably:

Cavalli in Year 8 who won the 200m and Long Jump.

Kamarion in Year 9 who won the 200m for a second year running!

John who won the 800m for Year 9.

Zeeshan in Year 10 who came 2nd in the 60m.

Marcell In Year 10 who came 2nd in his heat in the 200m.

Darius in Year 8 who came 3rd in the 800m.

Diego Year 8  who came 3rd in the 60m.

As well as Nathan (Y10), Daniella and Tanaye (Year 8) who all represented their school with distinction. What a fantastic set of results – all students who attended did us proud!

Year 9 Trip – Tottenham Hotspur’s Training Ground

A lucky group of year 9 students also got to go on a trip to the Tottenham Hotspur’s Training ground this week. The pupils were supporting the delivery of coaching qualifications for the Spurs under 18 academy team. A member of their academy coaching team approached Mr Green to commend him on their behaviour and the standard of their football. Well done all!

‘Kindness: A Legacy of the Holocaust’ – Performance at Duke’s 

Our year 10 History, Sociology and Drama students this week got to watch a performance of ‘Kindness: A Legacy of the Holocaust’ presented by ‘Voices’ theatre company.  

The play was written by Cate Hollis and Mark Wheeller and used actual words from a Holocaust survivor; Susan Pollack MBE. Students got to experience the power and importance of this emotional production and were also treated to a fascinating question and answer session with the actors after the show. 

Some students in year 10 said:

“I learnt about how much individuals had to suffer silently with no care, no right or voice. They were outcast just for religion they believed in.”

“I liked how the production was historically accurate and didn’t repeat the mistakes of some more pseudo-historical works. The production was great at portraying the Holocaust in a respectful and sensitive way”

“Great acting by all involved, it provided a brilliant insight into what many families faced during the Holocaust.”

A Successful week for options interviews

Our year 9 students this week took part in their individual options interviews for their KS4 options. The students were really well prepared and mature during their interviews all displaying the commitment and forethought required for the process. It was brilliant for all students involved to have this opportunity and we know that all students are looking forward now to the next stage of their educational journey.

 

 

 

 

Pc Fontana 1160NA

Email: p251871@met.police.uk

www.met.police.uk

27/02/2024

 

Dear Parents/Caregivers

Subject: Warning Regarding Dangerous Vape Devices in Haringey

I hope this letter finds you well. We write to bring your attention to a concerning issue affecting our school community. There have been reports in London of young individuals experiencing health complications after using vape devices containing drugs.

We wish to emphasise the importance of informing parents about the hazards associated with unregulated vape pens, given the recent surge in related incidents. Law enforcement authorities across London, including our local police officers, have seized numerous vapes from students in the past weeks. Some of these devices are currently undergoing testing to detect dangerous Class B substances such as Spice or THC, the active component in cannabis.

It has come to our understanding that certain reusable vape pens are being illicitly filled with drugs by dealers. Officers have received information about students falling ill after using these altered devices, which are then believed to be distributed among young people through platforms like Snapchat and other social media apps.

Parents/Caregivers must be aware that unregulated vape pens pose a serious threat to the health of young individuals. Those contemplating the purchase of these unauthorised, home-filled devices are unaware of their contents and the potential dangers they pose. THC and Spice are harmful psychoactive substances that can lead to severe health problems, necessitating heightened vigilance on the part of parents/Caregivers.

THC, the primary psychoactive compound in cannabis, and Spice, a group of synthetic Class B drugs, are known to mimic the effects of cannabis. Inhaling Spice through a vaping pen is particularly hazardous for young people, leading to various health issues such as breathing difficulties, chest pains, heart palpitations, seizures, extreme anxiety, paranoia, suicidal thoughts, psychosis, vomiting or diarrhoea, and acute kidney injury. In some instances, a single dose can prove fatal.

Our Haringey Police Schools Officers are collaborating closely with our schools and partners to share information and intelligence on this matter so we can better understand the issues. We urge parents, guardians, and anyone with pertinent information about those supplying these vapes to contact the Police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously online at www.crimestoppers-uk.org, https://crimestoppers-uk.org/fearless or by calling 0800 555 111.

Thank you for your attention to this critical matter. Your cooperation and awareness are crucial in ensuring the safety and well-being of our children.

Sincerely,