Dear Parents, 

This Wednesday was Careers Day at the Senior School.  We were delighted to welcome 24 visiting speakers, largely drawn from the parent body, covering a wide range of sectors, including AI, engineering, programming, medicine, sport, and the arts. Careers Day is an important event in our school calendar, as it provides our students with the opportunity to learn about a wide range of careers and to meet with professionals in their field. We believe that it is important for our students to start thinking about their future careers early on, so that they can make informed decisions about their further education and training; Wednesday would certainly have helped with that. 

Careers Day is just one of the many ways in which we support our students to develop their career aspirations and we were delighted to be nominated for Careers’ Programme of the Year for this year’s national schools’ awards. We have since been confirmed as a finalist and will hear next week if we are a winner. The full programme includes a range of other careers-related activities and events throughout the year, such as work experience placements, our Post-16 Fair, interview technique, InvestIN talks, Morrisby careers profiling, enrichment activities, guest speakers, assemblies and the Dukes Careers School. 

We were lucky to have a range of speakers on the day and they were largely drawn from our parent body.  I’d like to encourage any parents who are interested in helping out by speaking at next year's Careers Day to sign up using the following link: https://forms.office.com/e/WRpz6fm3xv 

In terms of what’s involved, volunteers are asked to do two sessions, one aimed at our KS3 children, aged 11-14, and one for KS4, aged 14-16.  Each talk is allocated an hour, although this includes time for Q&A and also, if time permits, an opportunity for the children to make notes and update parts of their Careers' Journal.  There will be no more than 25 children in each session.  Visitors have a teacher with them in each session, they can facilitate a Q&A or, if speakers have a presentation prepared, will ensure that this is shown. 
  
Our hope is that the children will learn more about the different opportunities available to them when they leave school and that these talks will help them understand more about the different routes into work they might consider, the skill sets needed to succeed in them, and the path through higher education that will allow them the best chance of success. 

You’ll find a pdf copy of the full programme of this year’s event in your Parent Portal. 

Thank you again for your support. 

Richard

• KS4 students attending the InvestIN talk on Impressing in an Interview.
• Scout, Y7, who loves athletics and cricket and attended the Sports Coaching talk on Careers Day. 

Senior Production – Arrivals and Departures 

Our crazy rehearsal period is coming to an end with the performances happening next week!

Don’t miss what promises to be an entertaining evening with some truly talented students performing – buy your tickets here: bit.ly/arrivalsanddepartures  

Sancton Wood Y7 Kingswood Trip - as told by Grace

We all cheered when we arrived at the Kingswood gates, excited to look around when we got off the coach. The Kingswood staff greeted us. They were very nice. Then we grabbed our bags and walked over to our rooms.   

When we got sorted into our rooms and put our bags away, they took us all around on a tour. We saw: a zip wire, climbing walls and a lot more fun and exciting things to do. Our favourite activity was the zip wire (I must admit it was scary for me, but it was fun!)  We all wanted to have another go. You had to go through a door on the climbing wall then you had to climb up the stairs all the way to the top. After that they would clip you onto the zip wire. Then all you had to do was jump! Easier than it sounds!

The most popular activity was going to the shop. We all came home with a sugar rush! We also enjoyed the disco. We all got ready to dance and they played lots of great music. The most popular song when most people got up to dance was the Macarena.  

We also did a fashion show where we used bin bags and leftover cardboard to create a fashion look. Then our models walked down the runway while their team sang a song of their choice for back up music. We all really enjoyed Kingswood and we had so much FUN!

Sancton Wood Y7 Kingswood Trip - as told by Marina

Following on from Grace's article, we enjoyed doing some more fun activities at Kingswood. Archery was amazing entertainment, as we got to shoot arrows and get a good technique and aim. The best part of archery was for sure a moment we can all laugh at when one buddy shot his arrow a bit off... into the ceiling! I definitely think we all enjoyed problem-solving as it was a mix of teamwork activities, which involved climbing, games with ropes, using tyres to make our way to the other side and balancing on a giant seesaw! One of the most hardworking activities was definitely fire lighting. This was really active and involved lighting a fire and trying to keep it going, which people from groups had to get pine needles that are a life source for fire. We all did a great job keeping the fires going and, in the end, we all smelled like a barbecue! 

Some of the prizes were given to Leia, Iris, Nancy and Grace for the tidiest room for the whole trip. Stellan for being so funny and happy and David for having the best moment when he shot that arrow! And a big thanks to all of the teachers who went with Y7 and looked out for us. And we're all happy to say that Kingswood was terrific! 

STEM Mentoring Scheme 

Students at Sancton Wood often advise and guide each other based on their shared experiences or more expert knowledge. This year, we would like to formalise one aspect of this informal, supportive friendship and use it to pair up Science experts with other students. 

We have selected a few students who demonstrate patience, kindness and strong Science understanding to be GCSE STEM Mentors. Once they receive training, they will meet their mentees regularly to review concepts; assist with homework; or support with revision. A member of the Science team will be available to assist or advise, and a brief record of the content covered in each session will be made. 

We will be inviting our first group of mentees this week by email, so please keep an eye out for those. 

Ski Trip '24 - Passo Tonale, Italy

Reminder:  Evolve has sent families booked on the 2024 ski trip two questionnaires: 

1: API form for the airline. 

2: A questionnaire from Mr Sadler about medical, sizes and room buddies. 

Please return completed forms as soon as possible and no later than 11th October. 

In addition, Mr Sadler has also requested: I x photocopy of your child's passport photo page, this should be sent into the office at BMS. 

For families who were unable to attend the Presentation Evening, the slides are available in Evolve.  

Duke of Edinburgh News 

Year 11 Bronze DofE Expedition 

Last weekend our Duke of Edinburgh participants headed off to Suffolk to complete the final part of the award - The Expedition. The group journeyed for more than six hours, following the Stour River from Long Melford to Bures. The students were surprised by the amount of effort and energy needed to complete the walk. We all walked into the night on Friday and were led to camp by torch light and the beautiful Harvest moon. Tents were up quickly, the group prepared themselves a hot meal and we all gathered by the campfire. The next morning, we saw a lot of cooked breakfasts including pancakes, croissants, and porridge (great carbs for the walk ahead). Once most of the food was eaten, students noticed bags were much lighter and they zoomed to the first checkpoint in no time. To lighten their bags even more, they stopped in a beautiful field beside a stream for another cooked meal and roasted marshmallows.  

Congratulations to all participants, they showed tremendous perseverance and resilience.  
Grace Grindrod and Edward Batty 


Calling Y10s 

We will launch DofE to the current Y10 students this half term, there will be an information assembly on 31st October (when all are returned from the Iceland trip). Following this, parents will receive the outline information in letter form and we intend to hold an information evening on November 16th. Our aim is for all students taking part to have completed the DofE before the end of the academic year, culminating in the final expedition in June.  

PE Kit
 

Monday:

• Y10 PE is indoors. PE kit is trainers, white socks, Sancton Wood shorts/skort and t-shirt. Students can also wear their tracksuit.  
• Y7/8 Games is outdoors. Boys are doing rugby (choice of contact or tag) and girls, hockey. PE kit is studded rugby boots for boys, astros or trainers for girls. Long blue sports socks for everyone, along with shin pads and gum shields (we advise gum shields for tag rugby too). Sancton Wood shorts/skort and t-shirt. Students can also wear their tracksuit. 

Tuesday:

• Y7/8 PE is indoors. PE kit is trainers, white socks, Sancton Wood shorts/skort and t-shirt. Students can also wear their tracksuit. 

Wednesday:

• Y11 can arrive to school in their PE kit. This is the only year group that is allowed to do so, as their PE lesson is at the start of the day. Y11 must bring their school uniform to change into after PE. PE is indoors and their kit is trainers, white socks, Sancton Wood shorts/skort and t-shirt. Students can also wear their tracksuit.  

Thursday:

• Y9/10 Games is outdoors. Boys are doing rugby (choice of contact or tag) and girls, hockey. PE kit is studded rugby boots for boys, astros or trainers for girls. Long blue sports socks for everyone, along with shin pads and gum shields (we advise gum shields for tag rugby too). Sancton Wood shorts/skort and t-shirt. Students can also wear their tracksuit. 

Friday:

• Y11 can arrive to school in their PE kit. This is the only year group that is allowed to do so, as their PE lesson is at the start of the day. Y11 must bring their school uniform to change into after PE. PE is indoors and their kit is trainers, white socks, Sancton Wood shorts/skort and t-shirt. Students can also wear their tracksuit.  
• Y9 PE is indoors. PE kit is trainers, white socks, Sancton Wood shorts/skort and t-shirt. Students can also wear their tracksuit. 

Safety summary:
Gum shield and shin pads for outdoor hockey/rugby Y7, 8, 9, 10. We also recommend scum caps for contact rugby. Students should always have a water bottle, and sunscreen if outdoors.  

Sporting Success: Thomas' Black Belt in Tang Soo Do

We are really proud of Thomas, our Y11 student who, after 10 years of training, completed his black belt grading in Tang Soo Do. Prior to grading Thomas submitted a 2000-word essay. On the day, it was a 4-hour gruelling session of weapons, sparring, forms (set moves) and self-defence as well as hundreds of sit-ups, push-ups and burpees. He finished by smashing a concrete breeze block. The video of this is really impressive and we look forward to showing it to the whole school during our next Celebration Assembly.

After School Sports Clubs - Michaelmas Term, 4-5pm 

Articles and Events 

• A guide to the BMAT (BioMedical Admissions Test) – A comprehensive guide from Oxbridge Applications for students applying to medicine
• A step by step guide to US University applications – from the team at A-List Education
• 12 most common questions answered on personal statements – a useful Q&A on personal statements and expert advice from Oxbridge Applications on how to tackle them
• A guide to writing your personal statement – Advice from Oxbidge Applications on how to tackle your personal statement and stand out from the crown when applying to university.
• 25% off Ultimate Activity Camps – Dukes Club members can claim 25% off Ultimate Activity’s half term and holiday camps across the UK.