Open Morning - Saturday 30 September 2023

Parents of prospective students are invited to visit our high performing school to view and sample the exciting opportunities we have to offer. Pre booking for a tour only (9am) or Headteacher’s presentation followed by a tour (9am, 10am or 11am) is essential by lunchtime on  Thursday 28th September. Priority will be given to Year 6 children.

Presentations will start promptly at the advertised time so please leave sufficient time for parking. (There will be very limited on-site parking available).

OPEN WEEK : Tuesday 3 -  Friday 6 October  2023 - Times: 08.45 & 09.00 

Tours are held at 08.45 and 09.00. Parents are required to pre-book tours and presentations.

If you wish to attend one of our Open Week tours you can pre-book a tour at 8.45am or 9.00am. Open week tours offer the opportunity to see the school in operation and to observe teaching taking place. This will be followed by a short Q & A session with the Headteacher. Please leave time for parking (none available on site). Pre-booking essential by 12.00pm on Monday 2nd October. Priority will be given to Year 6 children.

Please email the relevant tour/presentation with your name, your child's name, their current year group, their current school and the number of places required.

Please click here to  see our recent Ofsted Report 

 

With a tradition of high academic achievement and dedication to nurturing young minds, Charles Darwin School once again demonstrated excellent results, showcasing the hard work and determination of its students.

It is a great privilege to be able to pay tribute to our pupils, individually and collectively. It has been widely publicised in the media that results nationally were returning to that similar to 2019 levels and we are pleased that our results have surpassed our 2019 level in many areas, this was the case in the important measure of proportion of grades at A*-C, of which we had 74%.

These achievements are particularly commendable considering the unique challenges faced over the past couple of years, with students having not sat public exams since primary school.

Whilst today marks many personal achievements we would like to mention a few students who have achieved exceptionally highly, often in some challenging circumstances:

Charlie Long AA Dist

Charlie DeJonge A*AB

Tobi Abiodun AAB

Ethan Fergusson AAB

Jodie Shilito AAB

Lily Steen AAB

Isabella Antepim Dist, AB

Finn Barden Dist, AB

Connor O Shea Dist* AC

Alex Devlin Dist, Dist, B

Nyah Tomlinson Allen Dist, Dist, B​

Melissa Hewitt Dist* BB

Chardney Prata Neto Dist* BB

Ben Burgess ABB

Holly Doyle ABB

We are proud to announce that the majority of our students have taken up university places, including many Russel Group Universities. Others are moving on to take up apprenticeships and employment.

Headteacher, Mr Aston Smith said, “These results are testament to the endeavour of our pupils, the dedication of our staff and the support of parents. The students have achieved these fantastic results, however it has been made possible through some truly excellent teaching and support from the staff here at Charles Darwin School and I would like to thank them all for this.” Mr Smith also went on to say that “the achievements of Charles Darwin students were not limited to just academics. This cohort was known for the significant number of students that were involved in extra-curricular activities, community service projects, charity work and demonstrated leadership skills that will undoubtedly contribute to their success in higher education or the workplace.”

On Friday 19 May, Mrs Holloway and I took eight students to meet the award-winning author of Shadow Skye Trilogy, Joseph Elliot at  the Orpington Literary Festival.

We all enjoyed the talk from Joseph Elliot who inspired pupils with his lively storytelling and readings from his books.

Each student had been given a copy of one of the author's books to take with them so that they could get it signed by him if they wanted.

It was an enjoyable and informative afternoon and the students behaved impeccably.

Mrs Adams
Library Supervisor

Wir lieben Berlin! - We love Berlin!

During half-term Miss Wood and I had the pleasure of accompanying our six A Level German students to Berlin, the capital city of Germany.  Our three days spent there were packed with cultural delights and historical insights.  

​We stayed in a central area of Berlin, aptly named 'Mitte' which meant that we could visit most sights by foot.  Saying that we also had to navigate our way around on a number of different forms of transport :  plane, train, automobile, metro, tram, local train and national train.  All great experience!

Day One

​We paid a visit to the German Parliament Building, The Reichstag where we climbed up the spiral stairway of the glass dome, took in the 360 degree views of Berlin and learnt all about the Reichstag and the surrounding important state buildings. Not far from here we visited the Brandenburg Gate, a famous symbol of Germany both from nowadays and reflecting Germany's past.  Then we lost ourselves quietly in thought in the outdoor Jewish memorial.

Lunch of 'Currywurst' beckoned and this gave us the energy to head to Checkpoint Charlie (former crossing point between East and West Berlin) and then on to the Ampelmann (traffic light men) shop.  Such a fun and vibrant place.  We chose to take in the views from the top of the Fernsehturm (TV tower) just before sunset to see Berlin both by day and night.  This tower is the highest in Germany.  We had a capital cities quiz courtesy of Oscar to help some of us cope with the 42 second lift ascent!  The Fernsehturm was our highlight of the day and we loved spotting the tower throughout the rest of our trip as it popped up between buildings!

Day Two

Highlights included:  Exploring the many exhibits in the Judisches Museum (Jewish museum), followed by an amazing Turkish kebab in the Kreuzberg area.  Berlin has more kebab shops than Istanbul!  We walked along the longest remaining part of the Berlin Wall. This is called The Eastside Gallery and is an art exhibition featuring work from 175 different artists.  The evening was spent at Potsdamer Platz which has an ultra-modern collection of buildings on the former No Man's Land and then onto the Hackesche Höfe, a collection of courtyard buildings.

Day Three

We started today off at Bernauer Straße, where a former death strip section of the Berlin Wall still remains and you can climb a platform to see what it would have looked like.  Next we headed to West Berlin to the Gedächtniskirche (Memorial Church), where the Stalingrad Madonna painting is to be found.  The luxurious department store:  Kaufhaus Des Westens (KaDeWe) still managed to highlight the contrast between life in West and East Germany.  We were lucky to find yet another exciting view of Berlin.  This time from the top of a hotel (Bikini 25 Hours) that has a restaurant that overlooks the monkey and giraffe enclosures of the Tiergarten (zoo).​  We made our final journey back past the Siegsäule (the victory column) that lit up the sky with its sunlit golden angel on the top.

 We all had such a fantastic time.  Pupils prepared presentations and presented them to the group at each major tourist attraction, we all spoke as much German as possible and are looking forward to returning to Berlin, but next time, in the summer!

Mrs Kaye-Chubb
Head of Modern Languages

 

" I felt truly honoured and privileged to be back in this great city with our lovely 6th Formers for their first ever experience of Berlin, it was so wonderful for Miss Kaye and I to be a part of and share their excitement and enthusiasm - it was so infectious!  I felt like I had come full circle as my own A Level German teachers also took me to Berlin for the first time (a while back now!) so it really was such a special trip for me with memories I will always cherish. "

Miss Wood, MFL

Below some commentsfrom students who attended the trip:

"I really enjoyed our trip to Berlin because I was able to experience everything we have studied in class. The cultural aspects and exploring the city’s landmarks will allow me to speak about them more personally in exams! Seeing the difference in the East and West really interested me as the history is still relevant, especially at the Berlin Wall (my favourite bit was the East Side Gallery!)"

 

"It was amazing being in Berlin because everything we have been learning in the classroom, came to life in the history, the culture and the architecture we saw.  I’m hoping to go back with my parents because I know that they will love it too."

 

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­"One of the key highlights of our trip to Berlin for me was being up the TV tower during the day and night!  The panoramic view was picturesque at both times. Being able to experience in person the places we read about in our textbooks and form our own opinions on them was so beneficial for our learning."

 

"My favourite part about Berlin was getting to see the difference between the east and west. Even though it’s much more modernised now, you can still see the difference between them. Also getting to see to the Berlin wall  as it’s such a huge part of history."

 

"Berlin was an experience I would love to have over and over again. As soon as I returned to England, the one place I wanted to be was back in Berlin. Every day was packed with the most wonderful sights and laughter amongst us, which I think is shown perfectly in the photos!  The memories made are ones I won’t forget, from the moment we boarded the plane to when I returned to Gatwick. My favourite part was the TV tower, watching the sunset was surreal. Embracing the culture was great too, especially the food."

 

"My favourite part of the trip was the Jewish Memorial Museum – it was so moving and was beautifully designed with lots of amazing art and culture. Of course the whole vibe of Berlin was amazing, especially in the east. I adored it and can imagine working and living there."

It has felt like a long time coming for the MFL department... Christmas Market Trip time!  On 2nd-4th December, Miss Wood, Mrs Kaye-Chubb, Miss Corris and Mr Lamb had the great pleasure of taking 47 pupils from Year 9, 10, 12 & 13 who study French or German, to French, Belgian and German Christmas markets.  What a treat!  En route, we visited firstly Namur in Belgium, followed by two Christmas markets in Aachen and Monschau, Germany, and finally en route back home, Lille in France.  Our youth hostel was in the cosy and picturesque little German town of Monschau with its authentic Christmas market which we enjoyed on our second evening.  All the markets were fantastic, but the highlights of the trip according to pupils were the big Ferris Wheel in Lille, enjoying hot chocolates with lots of cream in boot-shaped mugs in Aachen and feeling like locals in Monschau whilst enjoying the traditional atmosphere and munching on Bratwurst mit Pommes (sausage with fries) and crêpes in Monschau!  It was such a successful trip that we are already looking forward to next year's trip!