End of Term Newsletter - March 23

End of Term Highlights Spring 2023

Welcome

Dear Parents and Guardians,

We end the Spring Term with the days getting longer and hopeful promises of warmer and brighter days coming just around the corner. I can’t help but make a connection to the blooming flowers and trees I pass every morning on my way to school through St James’ Park and Green Park to what is happening at Eaton Square Senior and Sixth Form. Indeed, there is a palpable sense of positivity, vivacity and general verve around both sites that hints towards greatness in the future. This energy could be felt during recent events such as our drama play, Fairy Tale Courtroom, our whole school Cross Country Race on Monday, and the general vibe around the school both inside and outside of lessons. Indeed, it is a joy to be around the students and staff and to know we are heading in a positive direction together.

In this newsletter I would like to highlight some of my observations that I have made as I come to the end of my first term as Head, outline some of my key strategic priorities going forwards, and communicate some new initiatives for the Summer Term. As I outlined in my Head’s Welcome a few weeks ago, in which I reflected on my first 65 days as Head of ESS, I want to express what I love about the school and where I see room for improvement.

On the positive side, I believe the pastoral care at the school is outstanding. The pastoral team, led by Mrs Lobo and her Heads of Section and Form Tutors do a splendid job in structuring a robust programme of support that enables all of our children to feel both physically and psychologically safe. This is complemented by a deeper level of pastoral care, however, namely the intrinsic care and compassion that all of our staff, both teaching staff and those on the central team, give to your children on a daily basis. The relationships between the staff and students are special and this is the aspect of ESS that I love the most. The number of staff that came out to support the drama play is a prime indication of this and I look forward to forging more opportunities for our community to come together to celebrate not only the children’s successes, but the positive sense of community that is fostered when everyone comes together.

On the theme of community, I am so proud to lead such a culturally diverse school. Having students from 41 different countries studying the British curriculum based on British values provides us with such enriching learning opportunities. The exposure to other cultures, ideologies, religions, and perspectives empowers our students to become Global Citizens within our school walls. Indeed, I see ESS as a microcosm of what our students will experience when they leave school, especially if they remain in a cosmopolitan international city such as London. We are truly global on a local scale. It is for this reason that we will apply for the British Council’s International School Award and I am confident they will be impressed with our application.

Another aspect of ESS that I love so much is our location on Piccadilly. We can honestly say that London is our classroom and canvas as we are in walking distance to so many museums, galleries, theatres and historic sites. We will continue to utilise this when we think about enriching our curriculum. It is not only about location, however. Designed by the esteemed 18th Century architect Robert Adams, our Grade I listed building is an architectural treasure. That it is inhabited by the ghost of Lady Coventry, that it was the temporary home of Ian Fleming during which time he penned Goldfinger, not to mention many other exciting

historical facts, ESS has much to boast about in terms of its history. Indeed, the building exudes a sense of antiquity and scholarship juxtaposed with the modern and this combination entails that the building embodies a space for positive learning. We are about to publish a short history of 106 Piccadilly and will send you an electronic copy.

There is so much more about the school that I love and I am certain I will have the opportunity to communicate this in the months and years to come. However, there are also areas in which I recognise we need to improve. Foremostly, this has to do with driving academic rigour at the school, something I have mentioned on numerous occasions in my newsletters. I firmly believe we are doing a fantastic job at the moment in terms of Value-Added, ensuring that every student is the school is achieving higher than their baseline predictions. This is a direct result of the excellent teaching and learning that goes on in the classroom and the general atmosphere of purposeful study in the school. It is clear from the data that we are extremely successful in this regard. That said, I want to continue to improve and not rest on our laurels. This improvement begins with establishing an even better teaching and learning environment in the school. It means that we need to go back to basics in some areas, such as discipline, and ensure that every student is engaged and focused and prepared to learn. It means ensuring that we continue with a robust internal and external continual professional development programme (CPD) with our staff so that every teacher is aware of the latest pedagogical strategies and techniques and knows how to implement them in the classroom. This is happening every Wednesday in our after-school CPD sessions and many of our staff engage with courses outside of school.

Driving academic rigour also means continuing to recruit outstanding teachers and I am delighted to have recently appointed some incredible staff who will be joining our team in September. I will send a separate letter about all of our new joiners next term. I will also communicate next term how our timetable will change in September. We have been working hard thinking about how we can design the school day to optimise academic rigour and to be able to provide a more enriching co-curricular experience. More information to follow but I am certain these structural changes will have an immense impact on school culture.

The other area that I want to see us build on is our sense of community, and this strategic priority is two-pronged. I would like us to do much more in terms of community service, volunteering and giving back to those less fortunate than us (with privilege comes responsibility), but I also want us to develop our own internal community and culture. A main part of this is parental engagement. I have thoroughly enjoyed my meetings with the “Friends of ESS” and we are devising ways we can get the parent body more involved in the school. Our first initiatives will begin next term with a fortnightly evening programme in which all parents (and students) will be invited. On these evenings we will have guest lectures, musical events, and on one evening we will have a Family Quiz. I look forward to sharing the dates with you right at the beginning of the Summer Term. Please watch this space!

Ultimately, I have loved my first term as Head of Eaton Square Senior and Sixth Form. I have extremely high expectations for the school. However, I know I can achieve our strategic objectives because I am surrounded by so many talented and knowledgeable people who are committed to the same goal, namely that we provide an outstanding education so your children can flourish and be the best they can be.

I wish you and your families a wonderful Easter break and look forward to seeing you in the Summer Term.

Dr Adrian Rainbow

Academic Maths

Celebration of Pi Day

The Mathematics Department celebrated Pi day on 14 Mar 2023.

Our Year 7, 8 and 9 students memorised the pi digits and recited in front of the whole year.

Alexander Niman (Year 9) and Anna Roginsky amazed us all by memorising 137 and 62 digits.

Intermediate Maths Challenge

This year the Intermediate Maths Challenge took place on 01 Feb 2023 and we have managed to attain 7 students out of 10 certificates, i.e. 1 Gold, 3 Silver and 3 Bronze.

Gold: Year 11, Vladimir

Silver: Year 11, Alan; Year 10, Amanali and Year 9, Alex Niman

Bronze: Year 11, Perla; Year 10, Leon and Egor.

Academic Computer Science

GCSE Trip to the National Museum of Computing

This month the Year 10 computer science students had the exciting opportunity to learn about World War II Codebreaking and Modern Electronic Computing, as part of their visit to the National Museum of Computing in Bletchley.

Home to the world’s largest collection of working historic computers, the students were able to take a guided tour of the Museum’s key exhibits including the World War II Codebreaking machines, The Bombe, Tunny and Colossus; First Generation Computers; personal computers and retro games.

Providing valuable Key Stage 4 curricular links to Computer Science, the Museum’s Learning Programme also enabled the students to explore the areas of Computer Programming and Artificial Intelligence through a series of interactive workshops, and to participate in group challenges to reinforce their understanding of computer technologies.

Academic Art

Year 7 - Acrylic Paintings

Year Seven students have been exploring identity through the use of symbols. Looking at the artist Michael Craig Martin the students took inspiration from Matin's use of overlapping and block colour.

Year 8 Cubism Inspired Compositions

Year 8 Students have been looking at the artist Pablo Picasso and the work he produced that formed the Cubism movement. Students have examined the Cubist techniques such as shifting planes, shattering and overlapping when drawing everyday objects from observation.

Drawings

Year 9Perspective

Year 9 have been learning how to draw in perspective. Students were challenged to produce an image of the school corridor using the technique of perspective and then manipulate the drawing using a variety of art materials. Students looked to the 1960s movement Op Art when illustrating work and adding pattern and detail.

Year 10 - Acrylic Paintings

Year 10 students transformed photographs into relief prints, exploring printing on different surfaces and using specialist tools to produce detailed work.

Academic Science Week

Visitor - Bugfest

To celebrate Science Week this term, we welcomed Nick from Bugfest to deliver a session on natural history and exotic animals. We learnt about how big insects used to be and why they are much smaller now. The students even got to hold an array of little beasts such as tarantulas, millipedes, stick insects and many more....

Students really enjoyed learning about Nick’s growing collection of creepy crawlies from afar but weren’t so sure when they came in close contact!

Practical Projects

During Science Week our Year 10s completed a DNA extraction of a strawberry and also made a jelly baby wave. This is useful at showing how a wave moves.

Moreover, our year 9 students were involved in microbiology practicals and used aseptic techniques to look at how clean their classrooms are!

Bath Bombs

Mrs Baird and Ms Ameen went across to Sixth Form to host some workshops with the Year 5 students from our Prep School. Together they made bath bombs and also used thermochromic paint to decorate some mugs. These paints go white when hot water is poured into them!

Year 10 Science Museum Visit

This term, our Year 10s also headed off to the Science Museum to visit the new David Sainsbury gallery all about careers in STEM. The gallery is called the technician's gallery and has a lot of hands-on experiences including how to be a wind turbine engine and part of a sound and light stage in a film set.

The students also got involved in a workshop from an Explainer. They modelled a demonstration that the Explainers perform to visitors and students also had a chance to demonstrate this to the rest of the year.

Following Science Week, we welcomed Phil Williams to the school who delivered a very interesting session about respecting our planet.

This was a huge hit with the students. They discussed many environmental issues from fast fashion to how we can take ownership of our actions and help protect our planet.

Visitor - Phil Williams

Modern Foreign Languages

Year 9 Spanish Class

During Spanish this term, our Year 9 students were tasked to team up to play a revision game called "destruye la tortuga." To win this game, students have to answer all the questions correctly in order to be able to destroy the opposite team's turtle and keep their turtle intact.

This game helps to encourage the students to work together as a team, in order to retrieve information taught during the year, as well as using their grammatical skills to fix mistakes.

All the students got involved and contributed to the game, they all had a good time!

Natural History Museum

Year 7 trip to the Natural History Museum

Here’s what some of the students thought about the trip:

“My favourite exhibition was the vault as they had many interesting and one of a kind rocks like a mars rock from an asteroid and less than 50 are known to still exist. Before entering the vault there were very fancy gems that would shine the brightest rainbow colours, like the rainbow calcite which reflected every colour perfectly. There was also a picture of the queen embezzled with diamonds and rubies.

Another exhibition I enjoyed was Hope the whale hanging from the roof. Hope represents how the whale species was going to go extinct and how they were saved from extreme hunting. Now the population of the whale have grown to a safe amount” - Daniel

“My favourite part of the visit at the museum, was when we saw the earthquake exhibition upstairs. This was my most enjoyable one because I adored the simulation of an earthquake. It was really realistic due to the platform moving and objects toppling over each other. It was also set in a supermarket that was destroyed during the earthquake. There was also lots of facts about the famous Pompeii erruption and there was a real dead body exposed to the public. It was a bit sad because the person was lying next to his dog. I also liked going to see the skeleton of Hope the whale (hung above thousands of people walking by underneath it). It was really fascinating because there is an overwhelming story and conflict behind the precious skeleton of the huge mammal” - Edouard

P.E. Ski Trip

During the February half term Eaton Square Senior School took to the slopes of Ponte De Tonale. Lead by a fantastic group of professional ski instructors, the students attended ski school every morning and afternoon, and I can confidently, and proudly, say that every student made an impressive amount of progress over the course of the week.

Some key highlights include: the advanced group landing some off piste jumps and completing the longest and hardest black run in the whole of the resort; the intermediate group turning their turns from snow plough to parallel; and the beginner group successfully completing a slalom race!

Aside from skiing the students had the opportunity to go tubing, enjoyed a pizza night at a local restaurant, played some very intense games of mafia at the hotel, and became the instigators of the daily lunchtime snowball fight against another school. Although, I regret to inform you that ESS were never victorious, but their efforts were indeed valiant.

Blue skies and sunshine every single day, stunning mountain top views, and a group of exceptional students made this particular ski trip one to remember.

Therefore, by popular demand of this years attendees, I am delighted to inform you that we are already starting the planning for ESS Ski Trip 2024. So watch this space!

Drama Whole School Play

Those fortunate enough to be in the audience will have seen the explosion of joy and energy from the young actors...

Back in December, students from Year 7 to 10 were invited to audition for the whole school play, Fairy Tale Courtroom. From those auditions, 20 talented students were cast in the play. The students worked tirelessly over a term and a half to learn their lines and embody their character. They rehearsed three times a week during break and lunch times, and after school to ensure our performance was seamless. As well as directing, I was also busy behind the scenes collaborating with our venue, lighting and sound technicians, set designer and costume designer.

Finally, on the 23 March, the students were able to perform our show to two audiences. In the audience, for the matinee show was the Year 7 and 8 students from Eaton Square and Year 3 students from Knightsbridge School. In the evening parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, grandparents, friends and teachers were invited to watch the show!

For those that missed the show, the comedy showed the other side of several familiar fairy tales when two of their biggest villains, the Big Bad Wolf and the Wicked Witch, were brought to trial. Both the Wolf and the Witch had been frolicking from fairy tale to fairy tale wreaking havoc as they tried to prevent the general public from living happily ever after. Audiences heard the

personal accounts of what happened, as told in testimonies and flashback sequences, from characters such as Snow White, Dorothy, Sleeping Beauty, the Three Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood and many others, including the Witch and the Wolf themselves, as each trial unfolded. The audience was the jury, so each trial had two endings depending on the verdict.

I am so proud of the students' achievements! To nurture their growth in confidence and to observe them creating memories and building new friendships - this is what being a Drama teacher is all about. Here is what some of the cast had to say about the show:

'MynameisAdamRaufandIwasfortunatetobecastastheroleofDistrictAttorney.Iloved everyminuteofplayingtheDistrictAttorney(eventhoughtherewerealotoflinestomemorise) becauseitgavemeatasteofthelifeasaprosecutingAttorney,someoneIamconsideringtobe inthefutureandIfeltmyselfreallygetintotherole.Myfavouritepartaboutbeingintheschool playwasworkingalongsidemyfriendsandpupilsfromeachyeargroupaswewerereallyableto bondwell.Asanactor,Iwasalsoabletodevelopmyactingskillsfurtherandshowcasethemto theaudience.Mymostmemorablemomentwasperformingonstageinfrontoftheschoolsand myteacherswhomademefeelproudofmyselfandIlovedseeinghowengagedtheyallwere. ThankyousomuchforthisamazingopportunityMissFerguson-Youwereabrilliantdirector!'

'MynameisShaikhaAlJabirandIplayedtheroleoftheGrandmotherandaDwarf.EventhoughI hadtwosmallerrolesintheplay,Ienjoyeditjustasmuchaseveryoneelse.Mymostmemorable momentwasseeingtheexcitementoftheYear3studentsfromKnightsbridgeSchool!'

'MynameisNevaInanandIplayedPig#1andaDwarf.Myrolesarenotbigonesbutthatdidn't matterformebecauseeveryoneelsemademefeelasimportantastheywere.Imadesomany newfriendsandIhadsuchawonderfultime!Mymostmemorablemomentwasfinallybeing abletoseethatallofourhardworkhaspaidoff.ThankstoMissFergusonwhomadeallofthis happen.'

Many thanks to all those that came and supported the show.

I look forward to the Summer Term when there will be plenty more opportunities for students embrace the arts. Please save the date, 28 June, for our 'Night of MADNESS 2.0' where Music, Art and Drama students will showcase their talents.

Miss Jane Ferguson

Academic Geography

Cloud Mobiles

During this half-term, Year 7 and 8 students have been very creative in making some absolutely wonderful ‘Cloud Mobiles’ to help them learn about and distinguish between the different types of clouds in the atmosphere. They have also used digital technology to make some ‘climatic graphs’ of some of their favourite places around the world.

Students in Year 9 have been exploring the causes and impacts of climate change and have made some wonderful presentations that highlight some of the extreme climatic events that have affected out planet in recent times, whilst practising their visual and verbal skills.

Students in Year 10 completed their first GCSE unit based on the Economic World, are making excellent progress on Natural Hazards and have started a new topic of Coastlines and Rivers in preparation for a fieldtrip to Chesham that they will be going on next half-term.

GCSE AQA Revision Conference

On Wednesday 22nd March, students in Year 11 went on a GCSE Geography revision course at the Emmanuel Centre in Westminster. The day was vital preparation for their final GCSE Geography exam papers in May/June and much was gained from the sessions run by examiners. The day was interactive and lecture based and whilst all students were exemplary and maximised the opportunity to focus on exam content and technique, a special mention should go to Khush Malde (Year 11) who was brave and confident enough to stand up infront of the whole student conference and read out some perceptive geographic answers, to a rapturous round of applause. A big thank you to Mr Lobo and Mr Lee for taking us on this important day in the run up to our GCSE exams.

A-Level Geography

Students in Year 12 have been working on the topics of Coasts with Mr Lee and Regeneration with Mr Lobo during this half term. They have made use of digital technology by creating some polygon and point data mapping, based on their recent fieldwork to the Greenwich Peninsular and Canning Town.

“Well done to all the students who have worked hard in their Geography lessons this half-term” - Mr Lobo and Mr Lee

House Cross Country

This term ended with our fantastic House Cross Country event, ran in good spirits! We had some fantastic performances, and displays of our school values. A special thank you to those that ran, the students definitely appreciated the comradery.

The results are as follows:

Lower School

Once again, Hypatia blew away the field with a fantastic performance in the Lower School race. They were the best represented team, won both the boys’ and girls’ race, and achieved multiple podium places!

1) Hypatia (215 Points)

2) Hunlock (126 Points)

3) Browne (113 Points)

4) Waugh (108 Points)

Congratulations to the individual winners in the table below:

Year 9 Boys

Upper School

It was a far closer event in the Upper School race, with it being decided by just ONE point! We highlighted the fact that one extra finish, or a gained position could make the difference, and it has proved to be correct!

1) Hypatia (538 Points)

2) Browne (537 Points)

3) Hunlock (506 Points)

4) Waugh (422 Points)

Congratulations to the individual winners below.

Year 9 Girls

Year 10 Boys

Year 10 Girls

Year 11 Boys Year 11 Girls

P.E. Netball

Amazing week for our ESS netball teams

A few weeks ago, on Tuesday the lower school team travelled to Moon Hall school in Reigate for the inaugural ISA Small Schools Tournament. The girls demonstrated sportsmanship and gave 100% effort in all of their matches. A special mention to Seham, the captain, who made a consistent effort to motivate her team and keep morale high. This new team was a pleasure to coach, and I’m excited for future fixtures with them!

On the Thursday the Upper School were due to attend the ISA netball tournament, but sadly it was cancelled at the last minute. Driven to still compete Mr Green saved the day by sourcing a last minute match against another local Dukes School who who was also disappointed to not attend the tournament.

The opposition were a good team who clearly had a lot of experience playing together but that didn’t stop our team putting out a very good performance as well as clearly having alot of fun. The girls left the match very enthusiastic about wanting to improve as a team!

Table Tennis

Our Year 8/9 tabletennis squad took centre stage this week with a competitive fixture against North Bridge House School. The boys equipped themselves well in a range of singles and doubles matches, where some high level rallies were played out. The stand out performers were Ruggero, Alex, Lorenzo and Sasha who all performed well and won their respective matches.

Charity Rowing Challenge

This term, students across all years participated in the house rowing competition to raise funds for the British Red Cross. Both competitions were fiercely contested, where the team challenge saw Hunlock win the lower school race and Hypatia win the upper school race, with some huge overall distances being recorded. Students were also able to compete in individual time-trails throughout the day to row the furthest distance possible in a set time, earning crucial points towards their house total.

We would like to thank our friends at waterrower.uk who allowed us to use their fantastic range of water rowers for the day, the students enjoyed the experience and raised a superb amount of money to a great cause.

Academic Drama

Year 11 GCSE Drama - Blood Brothers Revision Workshop

On the 7th March, the Year 11 GCSE Drama class participated in a workshop led by Mike and Steve from Stage-ED.

The workshop focused on Blood Brothers (set text) and aimed to encourage students to consider the context of the play and how and why characters act in certain ways.

The students found the workshop beneficial as it helps to prepare them for their written examination.

Careers Workshop

Year 9 and 10 - Careers Workshop (Inspirational Learning Group)

Inspired by NatWest’s Climate ambitions, students were challenged to create a new product or service that would support NatWest’s business customers to Go Green by saving energy or reducing their carbon footprint.

Working in teams, students considered the steps required to establish a new business as they developed an idea for their new product or service.

Students not only considered how their company would operate and how it would help NatWest’s business customers, but they also considered the cost of their new product or service to NatWest. Students also developed a marketing and promotion plan before they pitched their business proposal to the judging panel.

The students created some really interesting designs from eco-friendly apartment buildings to incentive-based apps; however, the winners designed a sustainable sneaker with the sole of the shoe being made from chewing gum. The pitch they delivered to the judges was engaging, creative and imaginative and even included a rap song (which they wrote!).

The day was enjoyed by all students, and it was excellent to different mixes of students working together to create some innovative products.

Preparation for Life

Financial Life Cycle

It was a pleasure to welcome Mr Dean Martin, Bursar, as a guest speaker in Preparation for Life this term. Mr Martin spoke with the students about ones financial life cycle and encouraged them to reflect on their own and prepare for the future. Sharing advice given to a once-16-year-old Mr Martin by his father, Mr Martin recalled how saving 20% of all income was a sound starting block for any young person.

The Sixth Form asked some interesting questions about tax and pensions, whilst Year 9 shared some of their own savvy tips with Mr Martin, including how they are very adept at finding the cheapest options online and how they use prepay cards to help manage their expenditures. Ultimately the students were urged to think about “not being the person who lives for today but to be financially astute and responsible”. Since the year 12 are preparing for the future with university, careers and gap years on the horizon, such sage advice has come at a pertinent time. The students really enjoyed the sessions.

Thank you Mr Martin for sharing your experience and expertise.

Sixth Form Visitor

On Thursday 2 March, we were delighted to welcome Sue and Patrick Cunningham to Eaton Square who came to deliver an enlightening talk to Year 12 students about their work documenting the indigenous communities in the Brazilian Rainforest. Sue and Patrick have been supporters of the indigenous communities of Brazil for twenty years, working with nongovernmental organisations to promote their interests and safeguard their future through respect for their rights as tribal people and as individuals.

Sue is an experienced photojournalist who has been following Brazil’s indigenous Xingu people for over twenty years. Her work includes many educational publications, and she co-authored “Out of the Amazon” with Professor Sir Ghillean Prance, then Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Patrick is a writer and during a career spanning twenty years, he has written for many magazines including Geographical Magazine, BBC Wildlife and British Airways High Life. He has also carried out research in Brazil for Pro-Natura International and travels to Brazil frequently.

Sixth Form Imperial War Museum Visit

On Wednesday the 1st of March, we visited the highly acclaimed Imperial War Museum in light of Holocaust Memorial Week, which took place in the last week of January. The museum is home to many world-leading war and conflict exhibits, overflowing with informative displays and artifacts of the past that provide an incredibly moving experience for anyone that roams its walls. The day consisted of three sessions, 2 of which were spent as independent exploration time, and the third was a digitally guided, interactive tour of the world-renowned Holocaust exhibit.

We worked in groups to make our way through the extraordinary displays that were chronologically organized from post-WW1 Germany to the end of the Holocaust in 1945, allowing every student to unapologetically immerse themselves into that time. The cases were filled with personal items belonging to the victims themselves and walls were scattered with informative captions and heart-wrenching stories that could leave you reading for hours on end. The WW1 and WW2 exhibits were extravagantly decorated to resemble a dark, trench-like atmosphere, filled with the weapons of ex-soldiers and recreational displays of the conflicts that took place on British soil.

All in all, the experience was truly humbling in a way that allowed us as a student to expand our horizons and enrich ourselves with knowledge about monumental events in our history; an integral part of the future is to understand our past.

Written by Gia Premjee (Sixth Form student)

Higher Education Evening

On Wednesday 8 March Eaton Square hosted our inaugural Higher Education evening run in conjunction with Oxbridge Applications and A List. Attended by over 80 guests, including members of both Year 11 and 12 at Eaton Square, it was a fantastic evening dissecting the post 18, Higher Education landscape.

The evening was spearheaded by three bespoke presentations; Mariel Kessel, from A List Education provided a hugely informative talk about the US application process, given her valuable experience of admissions at Princetown University. This was followed by Theo Boyce from Oxbridge Applications who delivered an engaging and insightful analysis of how to navigate competitive admissions to universities such as Oxford and Cambridge.

Finally, our own Head of Sixth Form, Nick Lee, who delivered a candid presentation on the UK application process (UCAS), the perils and pitfalls of interpreting national university league tables and alternatives to university, such as taking up a degree apprenticeship.

The evening was a great success; not only it did provide everyone with up-to-date information on successfully applying to universities in the UK and the US, it also helped to inspire the next generation of Eaton Square Sixth form students to fulfil their own higher education and career aspirations. We hope to run a similar event at the same time next year.

Sixth Form MUN Conference

The Model United Nations (MUN) conference, hosted by Haberdashers' Boys' School (HABS), provided us with the perfect opportunity to engage in fruitful debate about global, geopolitical issues that the world faces today. MUN simulates the United Nations with student delegates representing different countries; Eaton Square students represented Mexico and we became diplomats for the weekend!

There were many important and topical issues to be debated, the global refugee crisis to the treatment of women in Afghanistan and the issue of global security. We, as delegates, had to prepare proposed solutions to some if these issues, known as UN Resolutions, which became the focus of debate within our respective committees. Within each committee, delegates represent their countries on these specific global issues. Eaton Square had to provide resolutions on the global drug trade, the ethical responsibilities of large multinational corporations and the treatment of refugees. Whilst not all the resolutions were passed within out committee, we were still glad to be part of the process.

On Friday, we were warmly welcomed with an incredible ceremony, featuring many humorous speeches presented by student representatives of HABS. There was also an address by Secunder Kimani, a BBC journalist who has worked in some of the most dangerous war zones in the world. Saturday was the most significant day, as we discussed resolutions the entire day. My committee was successful in passing 6 out 8 of the resolutions. Sunday featured the General Assembly, where all committees come together to debate a resolution submitted by each group.

We concluded the weekend with an awards ceremony and while I did not receive any award, I still believe that this journey has been more valuable than the awards. I am thankful to my school for allowing me to experience Model United Nations and gain a better understanding on how to strive for peace and cooperation through our international discussions. All in all, it has been an enjoyable and insightful weekend for me, and I hope more people will be able to join us next time.

Written by Daniela Kozhamzharova (Sixth Form student)

Cultural & Sports Trip - USA

Here’s a sneak peak of our Cultural and Sport Trip to the US, full trip details will be featured in our next newsletter

Currently 17 of our students are enjoying the fresh breeze in NYC, as our PE department organised a 10 day Sports and Cultural trip to New York and Miami. The students first day in New York was glorious with beautiful clear skys and sunshine, as they departed on foot to the 9/11 Memorial Museum, followed by a cruise to Liberty Island and Ellis Island.

In the evening, students were buzzing to watch the Brooklyn Nets vs Houston Rockets basketball game at the Barclay Centre! As you can see in the picture, they were delighted when Brooklyn Nets won the game!

Next stop....Yankee Stadium to watch NY Yankees vs San Francisco Giants MLB. Followed by a walk to Rockefeller Centre for the Top of the Rock Observation Deck, where students will get to experience evening views of NYC.

Look out for the full trip details in our next newsletter...

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Dukes Club Upcoming Events

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Goodwood Charity Golf Day – a fun-filled family day on the green in stunning West Sussex including lunch and a charity auction to raise money for our charities - 7th May

Ultimate Activity Camps in various locations – 25% discount for Dukes Club members

Dukes Study Club GCSE Revision camp with JK Educate – 10% discount for Dukes Club members

Rochester Independent College GCSE & A Level intensive revision course - 15% discount for Dukes Club members

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