Davis Cup Trophy Tour

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Written by Mr M Alderson

Published: 14 June 2016

On Wednesday 8 June 2016 Dane Court Grammar School students, all of whom are members of the school tennis teams, attended the Davis Cup Trophy Tour at Polo Farm, Canterbury. Great Britain wrote their name in history to lift the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas title for the first time in 79 years, the incredible trophy is embarking on a memorable journey of its own. Launched on April 1 in Glasgow, the Davis Cup Trophy Tour is visiting over 100 venues across the nation including tennis clubs, Summer Major Events, parks, communities, leisure centres, town halls and shopping centres. (Red text lifted from Lawn Tennis Association website)

The students were able to get up close to the Davis Cup Trophy, worth £400,000, which Great Britain famously won last November. The trophy is one of the largest sports trophies, weighing in at a spectacular 105kg! The students also participated in some expert coaching, took part in a cardio-tennis session and watched an inspiring demonstration which included wheelchair tennis.

Where do we stand on equality?

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Written by Mr J Rye

Published: 14 June 2016

Equality nowadays is sometimes taken for granted. People sometimes say that racism and homophobia are outdated beliefs that society has grown out of. Unfortunately events such as the recent shootings in an Orlando nightclub and the Islamophobia backlash show that this is not the case. This is the very reason that Dane Court works and will continue to work for all forms of equality. We have six particular equality characteristics that we promote throughout the school:

• Age
• Disability
• Ethnicity
• Gender (both between sexes and for gender reassignment)
• Religion
• Sexual orientation

On Tuesday 17 May Dane Court hosted a group of students from the University of Kent who ran an LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans-gender) Mythbusters session for our year 12 students. These university students held an open and honest question and answer session, addressing many issues raised by our year 12 students about a wide range of topics, from coming out, to support groups, to clarifying terminology, to how a heterosexual person can best support LGBT people. The session relied on the questions that our year 12 students asked, and to hear the thoughtful and genuine questions really showed how sensibly people take these issues. Numerous year 12 students commented about how knowledgeable and informative the Mythbusters were, and how helpful they were in explaining things in a clear fashion. This was the second year that the University of Kent have run this event for our year 12 students. They will evaluate this scheme as a pilot before hopefully rolling it out to other schools in the local area. We hope to be able to continue and develop this link with the university, broadening to tackle other equality characteristics as well.
Our Equality display board features a rotating series of role models for each of our six characteristics. These role models are selected from those suggested by students and staff in response to a whole-school questionnaire. It is fantastic not only to see the different people identified as role models, but also the explanation that accompanies their choice.

However, it is not just through special events and displays that we aim to tackle discrimination on these characteristics, it is also in lessons themselves. Teachers already include aspects of these equality characteristics in some of their regular lessons, and we are developing this further. As part of our equality ethos and the development of the key stage three and four Identity, Culture and Education curriculum, we are sourcing and creating resources to promote equality with our students. Next year, each of the six terms will include a specific equality characteristic as a theme within assemblies and mentoring to provide time for staff and students to reflect upon these particular issues. It is our aim through the work that we do that we are preparing our students to go into the wider world and hopefully make it a fairer and safer place for everyone regardless of sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, age, disability, or gender.

Parents: Do we have your correct email address?

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Written by Mr M Alderson

Published: 13 December 2014

We are making more use of email to send details of important events and opportunities for you and your child or children.

Picture story: Year 13 leavers fancy dress

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Written by Mr M Alderson

Published: 05 May 2016

For a short while last week, we hosted dozens of characters last appearing in nursery rhymes, action movies, fairy tales and vivd imaginations. Drawing to an end their hard work and learning over the years, our year 13 students indulged in the tradition which brings glamour and sparkle to the corridors of Dane Court. They later gathered in our theatre, along with their form mentors, to celebrate the highlights of their time at Dane Court.

IB exams are currently in full swing and we wish everyone in year 13 the very best success.

Girls U16s Schools Football County Cup Final

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Written by Mr M Alderson

Published: 02 May 2016

On a wild Monday evening, punctuated by squally wintery showers, Dane Court Grammar School’s girls contested the county cup final at Margate’s Hartsdown stadium. Although the overhead conditions were challenging the rain encouraged passing on the superbly presented pitch. Having battled through several rounds the Dane Court girls faced hot favourites Rainham Girls for the trophy.

Table tennis English regional championships

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Written by Mr R Pugh

Published: 22 March 2016

20 March 2016
After early starts over the last couple of years to play in tournaments at such places as Gillingham, Eastbourne, London and Bournemouth the Dane Court Girls Under 16 team had their earliest start, at 5:00am, and their longest journey, to Bristol, to compete in the Regional Finals of the Butterfly English Schools’ Table Tennis Championship.

IB options for year 11

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Written by Ms Hale and Mrs Snaydon

Published: 26 January 2016

This is an important time for our Year 11 students as they consider their options for post-16 study. During the first two weeks of February we will be interviewing all students in the year group for places in our Sixth Form and this will also be an opportunity to help them navigate choices for future careers. It is not in the least uncommon for students to have no idea, at this stage, of what they might want to do in the future, so it is important that they work to their strengths and keep their options open.

There is a wealth of advice and information available and it is always a good idea to become familiar with the UCAS (University and Colleges Admissions Services) website if a student is considering Higher Education.

The documents below outline some things to be considering and there are also helpful links to UCAS and university advice. As always, please contact us if you have any questions.

pdf How to approach making your IB subject choices 2016 (411 KB)

pdf University course subject requirements 2016 (9 KB)