The latest from Charles Darwin School
On Monday 9th May Thrive Dance Company performed at Step Around Town at Ravens Wood School, with Step Into Dance. There were nine schools performing in total, and it was great to see the wide range of pieces performed. They performed to an audience of around 150 people and our dancers were fantastic as always. Well done!
Miss C Abbotts, Head of Dance
Year 12 Art and Textiles students had a great time up in London where they visited the Alexander McQueen Fashion House and the Victoria and Albert Museum. They listened to a talk about the processes and techniques used by the Alexander McQueen team who create stunning catwalk garments and at the V&A students collected research to support their A Level coursework projects.
On the 26th of April, the famous Historian Marc Morris spoke to students at Charles Darwin School. The acclaimed historian described as “the genius of medieval narrative” delivered a presentation to students studying history at GCSE. With two bestselling books on the Anglo Saxon’s and the presenter of the Channel 4 series Castles the students were given an excellent learning opportunity by such a highly acclaimed historian.
The opportunity for parents to attend the event to share some of the narrative the students learn at GCSE was really valued. The History department made the event even more memorable by hosting a medieval themed afternoon tea before the presentation. The Canteen was transformed into a medieval banquet room. All students who studied history contributed to the wonderful array of decorations and historical themed cakes.
It was so pleasing to see students re-engaging with their curriculum and having these wonderful opportunities after Covid Restrictions.
On Thursday 21st April 2022 we travelled with15 students from Year 9 to Year 13 to the Southbank Centre in London to watch an evening show.
We watched Akram Khan's production Kaash which explored pure speed and energy and the theme of the Hindu God Shiva with the creation and destruction he creates.
It was an intelligent and mature piece suitable for A Level students as we study this choreographer in Year 12. I was however so please to hear that all students enjoyed the performance and were able to appreciate the sheer talent of the five dancers performing a 55 minute piece!
Thank you to all the students for being so well behaved, it was a truly enjoyable evening.
Miss C Abbotts, Head of Dance
On Tuesday 1st March and Thursday 3rd March the Year 11 GCSE PE students took part in their GCSE Road Cycling Assessment.
The first day was wet and windy but the students remained focused and knuckled down learning the skills ready for assessment day. They were cold and tired by the end but the hard work and positive attitude shone through.
On Thursday the sun was shining for their assessment and all students were highly motivated, determined and committed to doing well. They had to demonstrate isolated skills and then perform a 10 mile endurance race. The instructor on the day could not believe that we had 7 students who completed it under 35 minutes.
A huge well done to all students who took part in the two days and well done on gaining excellent results.
Thank you.
Miss Case and Mr Bidwell
A huge well done to the Year 11 students who took part in the escape room activity for History. With Baby Shark, dripping taps and ringing phones you were still able to translate the Germany Specialist Terms. The competition was fantastic !
A huge well done to our 1st place group winners : Lara Bell, Amy Coop and Honor Welsh. (They won a £15.00 voucher each!)
Close second was Olivia Howell, Keira Dukes and Daisy Kittlety
Our best effort was Ethan Ormes and Joe Lawerence!
16th March, the epic quiz run by Mr Lamb and Ms Swinscoe - 'Don't make revision Tedious!' Still time to sign up on Parent Pay
Mrs S. Davies
Congratulations to Millie Walker in Year 9 who was February’s Artist of the Month.
Each month our Head of Art &Textiles puts forward work that she feels is worthy of a mention. There are always so many amazing works of art that make the selection process very difficult however the Artist of the Month is Millie Walker in Year 9 who created a beautiful oil pastel mono print of a pomegranate. Congratulations Millie!
On Monday 28th February, Year 9 History students took part in an event to collaborate with Biggin Hill Primary School children in Year 2.
Our students looked at the story of 1066 and helped lead a 'Big Stories for Little Historians' workshop. The students were amazing, and I was so proud of how they interacted with the younger students. They were a real credit to Charles Darwin School.
A special thank you goes to Mr Archer and the Media Department for their help with filming and photography on the day. Ellis Hollman and Sean Cambridge did a great job at capturing the workshop and Paula Szczyrba will be making a promotional video for the book publishers Tarquin.
Below is some feedback from our students on how they felt about the experience:
" I thought it was extremely fun, and I loved Ms Davies story, it was a brilliant experience to use our knowledge and teach others" - Neve Ladd Talbot.
" I loved the activities from firing arrows to acting out the Battle of Hastings" - Sienna Hobbs.
" We got to hold artefacts that were nearly a 1000 years old" - Georgia Robinson.
" I think we would have been great at Archery in 1066!" - Freddie Sinclair and Jedd Hobbs
Mrs Davies and Mrs Ruth, History
On Monday 21st February I took students from Year 7 to Year 13 to perform in the Bromley Dance Showcase at Langley Performing Arts Centre. Here we joined Langley School for Girls, Langley School for Boys, Coopers School, Ravensbourne School and Darrick Wood School. Everyone showcased dances from extra-curricular activities to GCSE and A Level pieces and it was fantastic to watch!
We took a piece choreographed by Angelina from 'Step Into Dance' for Thrive Dance company which was a dance based around growing up, a contemporary abstract piece from the Year 9 GCSE group, a group performance from the Year 11 GCSE student and a duet from Year 12 A Level students.
They performed in front of a very large audience for the first time since the pandemic, and I was so proud of their professionalism and confidence to perform again. It was heart-warming to see everyone together again and to celebrate the world of dance in Bromley.
A special thanks goes to Miss Woods for accompanying us on the trip, and to Mrs Rees and Mr Culver for helping us get there via the extra mini-buses!
Well done to all the dancers.
Miss C Abbotts , Head of Dance
On 1st February I took the Year 9 and 10 dancers from Thrive Dance Company, the Year 11 GCSE Dance group and the Year 12 A Level Dance group on a valuable trip. Winchester University bought their Dance students to work with a number of the Bromley Schools and it was so nice to get together bringing all of the borough's dancers together.
At Ravensbourne, the Winchester students lead a University-level workshop and they then performed three separate pieces to us, including showing a dance for camera piece. I was very proud of the Charles Darwin students of having the confidence to mix with students from other schools and even performing in front of others watching - a massive well done. I may be biased, but I thought their technique and energy when dancing was also great! Well done to all.
Miss Abbotts
On Tuesday 11th January 2022, a group of our A Level English Literature students went to London's Globe to watch a performance of Measure For Measure in the Sam Wannamaker theatre. It was absolutely wonderful to get back to the theatre and see a live performance. As part of their A Level exam, students will be examined on this particular play so it really was a useful and enjoyable experience. As always, our students behaved superbly and it was a pleasure to run the trip.
Mrs Pitt
On Wednesday 10th November Year 9 and 10 students were lucky enough to have a visit from technology agents Brant, Aaron and Adam from Ecce, a website and app development company based in Sevenoaks. They were here to help 25 students generate ideas to demonstrate how can we use technology and digital solutions to make it easier for people to understand the true environmental footprint of products and services, allowing households, schools, universities and businesses to make choices that are good for the planet.
After getting background information and researching, students had just 2 hours to plan their digital solution, before presenting their ideas to the class and the technology agents.
“Today we have experienced the process of coming up with an idea in the digital world. Having help from professionals we were able to come to a decision as to whether we would want to pursue a career in the digital world. Despite the short amount of time that we had, it was still fun coming up with an idea as a team” Pierreice and Adrianna
Our digital partners ecce chose the winning team and had this to say:
Eco-Me was the winner "The premise is that a user sets up a profile-detailing lifestyle including travel options, recycling changes and daily challenges to help reduce this. The app shows the current carbon footprint and suggested lifestyle changes and daily challenges to help reduce this. Not only are users rewarded with the knowledge they are helping to save the planet, but are also awarded badges and points which are redeemable against prizes. The inclusion of a leader board was also a nice idea. A very well organised team - great presentation".
Well done to the Eco-Me team of Grace Kelly, Eloise Butterworth, Sonny Roberts and Oliver Rogers who have been entered into the national competition.
A huge thank you to Mrs Babe, who spent the day working with students to get their creative juices flowing.
Miss Edwards