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Written by Mr A White

Published: 04 February 2017

The past six weeks have been very exciting for the students studying Sport Science. 2017 started with two visits to Canterbury Christ Church Universities SportsLab. The year 12 students took part in a variety of fitness testing opportunities, looking at how their bodies respond to exercise in the short term. They also learnt how to assess body composition, heart and lung function. Meanwhile the year 13 students took their research proposal to the SportsLab to see if they can understand the science of talent identification. Each of these visits offer great opportunities not only to support their current studies but get a taste of what life after Dane Court Grammar can be.

The half term however came to a close with the visit of a sporting legend. Five times world champion and twice Olympic gold medallist Alex Gregory graced the sports hall to give students an insight into the world of elite sport and what it takes to be the best. Coupled with some rowing masterclasses, Alex spoke to the students about his journey, turning 8 years of disappointment into 8 years of unrivalled success. Words of wisdom echoed around the room, as his gold medals passed from hand to hand. Much of what he spoke about could be applied to the students own sporting lives, as well as using the lessons he learnt and applying them all areas of their life at Dane Court.

"A truly great bloke, it was good to see the smiles on the students' faces as they worked with Alex during the day...
We cannot wait for him to come back" said Head of PE Ian Wallace

As we move into the next half term we hope to see the students step up and take on board everything they have learnt so far in 2017 and build towards success in the summer.

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Written by Mr R Pugh

Published: 17 January 2017

For the third year running the Dane Court Girls, now playing as Under 16's, have reached the Regional Finals of the Butterfly National School Team Championships after clinching the Runners Up place in the Zonal tournament held at the Morpeth School,Tower Hamlets on Sunday 15 January 2017. This was definitely the toughest of the Zonal events both in terms of the number of schools taking part (6) and the standard of the opponents Dane Court had to play later in the competition.

The 6 schools were split into two groups of three and Dane Court breezed through both their matches starting with an 8-0 victory over the Essex Champions, Chelmsford High School, and then repeating the same result against Parmiter's School from Garston. Hertfordshire. Then the pressure really mounted for the girls in the Semi Final against a strong Christ the King College team from Newport, Isle of Wight who were the Hampshire County Champions.They had a really strong number one player who beat both her two Dane Court opponents and after the first six games the score in matches was 3-3 but then two fantastic wins from the Dane Court number 3, Annabel Cole, and the number 4, Angel Foster, saw the Kent Champions squeeze home 5-3 in a contest that saw all eight girls produce some very high quality play.

Amazingly the final saw the two best teams in the competition reach even higher standards and an even closer result. Again the Willingdon Community College from Eastbourne, the East Sussex Champions, had a top number one girl who won both her games but Dane Court never gave up and forced a battling 4-4 scoreline. However Willingdon had won two sets more over the whole contest so they were declared overall winners with Dane Court taking the Runners Up spot.
Once again all four Dane Court girls, Catherine Banks, Tayla Bayley, Annabel Cole and Angel Foster, deserve tremendous credit for the level of their play and their determination to never give up and fight for every point. Annabel in particular deserves a big pat on the back for remaining unbeaten throughout the whole event winning each one of her eight games.

So now it is on to Bristol for the Regional tournament in March where the opposition will be tougher still but the Dane Court team continue to improve and should be confident of giving anyone in the Girls Under 16 category a run for their money.

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Written by Mr B Forward

Published: 09 January 2017

Who are we following deep into the heart of the forest?
What demons or monstrous creatures stalk the trees?

Last week saw the publication of the first edition of 'Eloquent', Dane Court's new creative writing themed magazine. The first edition, entitled 'By Candlelight', has been written and edited by a talented team of Year 12 students, with other submissions coming from students in Key Stage 4. With the pupils' continued hard work, the magazine will become a regular feature at the school.

The publication contains an extremely impressive breadth of styles of writing, ranging from crafted short stories and amusing book reviews to insightful political comment and analysis. The publication showcases the impressive literary skills of our pupils and is testament to their team work and organisation.
Most importantly, it's an extremely good read.

Read Eloquent magazine (all issues)

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Written by Mrs J Baker

Published: 15 December 2016

A group of our year 12 students performed a Nativity play for two residential homes for the elderly in Thanet this Christmas. The students organised the play, sang Carols and made a selection of food for the residents to eat as well as arranging a pass-the-parcel, which was greatly enjoyed. These sixth formers are studying for a Level Three Diploma in Health and Social Care and as part of the course they to learn to work as a team, in preparation for professional life. One elderly resident said “It is so nice of these young people to do this for us. It was great fun, makes a change and we really enjoyed it”.